INTERNAL  TRADE  3%3
long  straight  stretches  to  Chinkiang,  another  ioo  miles.  It
is  here  unlike  our  preconceived  ideas  of  a  canal  a  currentless ­
  water-way  barely  wide  enough  to  allow  two  streams  of
boats  to  pass  each  other—and  has  often  a  width  of  over  a
hundred  feet  between  its  sides,  faced  in  many  parts  of  its
course  with  cut  stone  bunding.  Many  of  its  picturesque
accessories  were  destroyed  by  the  Vandals  of  China,  the
Taiping  rebels,  but  much  still  remains  to  attest  its  past
magnificence  ;  here  and  there  are  fine  stone  bridges  spanning
the  main  canal,  some  with  their  three  arches,  graceful  to
an  extreme,  others  with  a  single  arch,  lofty  and  imposing,
and  well  adapted  for  a  country  with  no  wheeled  traffic  ;
along  the  banks  are  numerous  specimens  of  single-span
hump-backed  bridges  by  which  the  tow-path  is  carried  over
side  canals  connecting  with  the  system  of  canals  which
intersect  the  country  for  many  miles  ;  and  from  the  canal
are  to  be  seen  on  both  sides  many  memorial  arches  of
stone  and  lofty  tapering  pagodas.  In  these  200  miles
there  is  no  difference  of  level,  and  therefore  no  locks  ;  and
after  all  these  years  of  neglect  there  is  everywhere  a  safe
depth  of  5  feet  of  water  at  the  lowest  stage,  the  depth  at
the  Hangchow  end  being  ordinarily  7  feet  at  low-water
stage,  rising  after  prolonged  rains  ton  and  at  times  to
13  and  more  feet  ;  only  at  Tanyang,  some  20  miles  south
from  Chinkiang,  the  depth  is  frequently  too  little  for  the
larger  boats  during  the  season  of  low  water.  In  this  section
boats  up  to  40  tons  dead-weight  capacity  ply  regularly.
At  Chinkiang  the  traffic  crosses  the  Yangtze  and  enters  the
oldest  section  of  the  canal,  which,  passing  Yangchow,  goes
to  Tsingkiangpu,  130  miles  from  Chinkiang  ;  in  this  section
there  is  a  constant  depth  of  water  sufficient  for  boats  of
30  to  40  tons  capacity.  Of  this  part  of  the  country  it  is
that  Mr.  Parker  says  :—
“  The  Chinese  engineers  who  manipulate  the
complicated  system  of  lakes  and  levels  forming
the  network  about  the  Grand  Canal  and  Hungtseh
Marsh,  are  almost  as  expert  in  an  empirical  sense  as
the  wary  Dutchmen  who  keep  an  ever-watchful  eye