of the two great rivers of China,[1] It is cut through that vast plain, which extends from Peking, over the southern districts of Chihle, part of Shantung, and the whole breadth of Keangsoo, to Hang-chow-Foo, in Chekeang. This stupendous canal which was dug by command of one of the Emperors of the Mongol dynasty Yuen, at the close of the 13th or commencement of the 14th century, joins together the rivers Hwangho and Yang-tsze-keang, at a point near their mouths at which they are not above 100 miles apart. It does not, as seems implied in the description given of it by Grosier, and after him by Malte-Brun, extend from Peking to Canton; being but a portion of the almost wholly uninterrupted communication, which exists between those two places. Were it not that the Yangtsze-keang and the Che-keang meet other streams in the province of Keangse which conduct to the borders of Kwangtung, the work of communication would be but half completed by the Grand Canal; which could not have been cut with the same ease through the hilly regions of Chekeang, Keangse, and Kwangtung, as through the marshy plains of Keangsoo, or the sandy flats of Chihle.—There are many other minor canals throughout the Empire; but none of them are of any considerable note.
The Lakes of China are chiefly found in the central and eastern provinces,—along the majestic course of the Yang-tsze-keang, or spread over the level country of Keangsoo. The largest of these lakes are the Tung-ting-hoo, the Po-yang-hoo, the Tae-hoo, and the Hung-tsih-hoo. The Tung-ting-hoo, in Hoonan, is said to be 220 miles in circumference. It receives the waters of several southern rivers, which, rising in Kwangse and Kweichow, find their way through this lake to the Yang-tsze-keang. From the eastern side of the Tung-ting-hoo to the city of Woo-chang-Foo, over an area of about 200 miles east and west, by 80 north and south, the course of the Yang-tsze-keang lies between a great number of lakes almost touching one another; which circumstance gives to the provinces Hoopih and Hoonan their names, north and south of the lakes.—The Po-yang, in Keangse, is of less extent; but, like the Tung-ting, it receives four large rivers, and discharges their waters into the Yang-tsze-keang. The tides reach partially to this lake, though above 300 miles distant from the sea, and it is subject to severe tempests, which render its navigation dangerous. The scenery of the surrounding country is pleasing and romantic, the favourite seat of the Chinese
- ↑ The Yellow river, which by its frequent innundations appears to be more injurious than useful to the country, cannot, in consequence of its very rapid course, be at all navigated; and even to cross from one side of it to another, is frequently attended with difficulty and danger. On the Yang-tsze-keang trade is far more practicable, and is carried on to considerable extent; but strong and protracted ebb tides with short floods, render the navigation of it also difficult.
