314

THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE

on  the  Zuider  Zee  and  the  intricate  system  of
Netherlands  dykes.  The  supply  of  water  and  the
sacrifice  of  land  are  carefully  measured  and  jealously
watched  with  a  view  to  keeping  open  the  canal  and
preventing  disasters  of  great  magnitude."
The  next  section  is  the  worst  :  it  starts  from  Tsingkiangpd
and,  passing  Tsining,  debouches  on  the  present  course  o*
the  Yellow  River  near  Tungping,  full  450  miles  from  Chinkiang.
  This  section  was  made  by  improving  and  connecting
existing  rivers,  and  follows  all  their  original  meandering^-Though
  the  country  is  flat,  there  are  still  some  differences
of  level—of  20  or  30  feet  at  most—and  these  are  provided
for,  not  by  locks,  which  do  not  exist  in  China,  but  by
barrages  across  the  canal,  over  which  the  boats,  aft#
discharging  their  cargo,  are  hauled  by  windlasses.  Th e
whole  of  this  part  is  much  neglected  and  silted  up,  and  lS
only  available  generally  for  navigation  during  the  summ#'
and  even  then  is  generally  traversed  only  by  the  tribute
rice  boats  which  go  together  in  fleets.  North  of  the  Yell#*'
River  the  newest  part  of  the  canal—made  by  Kublai  Khan-^
continues  until  it  strikes  the  Wei  River,  cut  in  places  to  a
depth  60  or  70  feet  below  the  level  of  the  surrounding
country,  and  prolongs  the  route  for  another  250  miles  t°
its  northern  end  at  Tientsin  ;  water  transport  continu#
for  another  120  miles  by  the  winding  course  of  the  Peih°
to  Tungchow,  and  thence,  for  tribute  rice  only,  for  13  mil#
by  an  artificial  canal  to  the  government  granaries  on  th e
eastern  side  of  Peking.  This  is  the  Grand  Canal,  fr 0lïl
Hangchow  by  Chinkiang  to  Tientsin,  and  thence  to  Peking’
a  main  artery  of  trade  traversing  a  network  of  water-way 5
which  provide  means  of  transport  for  a  country  incredibly
rich  in  material  resources.  No  estimate  can  be  former
of  the  number  of  millions  in  which  the  value  of  the  tra$ c
on  its  surface  must  be  stated  ;  its  chief  value  to  the  empl re
lies  in  the  fact  that  it  provides  a  safe  inland  route  fo f  a
thousand  miles  from  south  to  north  in  a  country  in  which'
in  the  past,  time  has  had  no  value,  and  that  thereby  trad e
was  enabled  to  escape  the  perils  of  the  sea  passage.  O* 10