which could be dimly seen the
greater Orphan Island, where towered a large pagoda said to be two
hundred and fifty feet high. From now on, the scenery changed rapidly,
and first one side of the shore and then the other side claimed our
attention and admiration; the river being very wide, and the steamer
also constantly changing its course, we were thus given a fine
opportunity for observation.

[Illustration: _Road to Kaling above Kia-Kiang_]

Our next excitement occurred when we approached Kia-kiang. We first saw
a high rocky promontory on which a tall seven-story pagoda stood, like
a veritable sentinel; rounding the point, a long shore line was
protected by a seawall which stretched to the extreme point of land
where Kia-kiang is situated. Near the pagoda were homes and native
buildings, then some business houses; farther back from the shore rose
another towering pagoda, and farther still another, while a tiny temple
was perched on an eminence. Embowered in trees, we also found the white
homes of foreign residents, presumably English. There was a great deal
of shipping in port which gave evidence of the city's being a business
centre. Three hours' time was given us on land, but few availed
themselves of the privilege because of a heavy rain. On leaving
Kia-kiang a low shore was seen, then a long island, covered with homes
of a simple kind, with their little gardens; every inch of ground was
under cultivation. The shades of night soon shut off our view, but at 9
A.M. we were again anchored--this time at Wu-such. Only the gleaming
lights in the distance were visible. Two more places were to be passed
during the night, Wang-tu-kiang and Wen-chou; and Hankow was to confront
us on the morrow.

The Yangtse River rises three thousand miles away, near Tibet, and
covers the whole of the Empire; thus far we had traversed six hundred
miles of it. Despite what we praised, however, we could not help
longing to meet with the bolder scenery which a longer trip would have
revealed to us. A heavy rain prevented much sight-seeing at Hankow on
the first day, which was fortunately Sunday; thus we received our
initial impressions of the city from the steamer, a view which took in a
long Bund, fronting the water's edge, and filled with fine buildings,
evidently of a European style of architecture; we were told that they
were the different homes of the English, French, and German consulates,
the French even having a special park attached