ABSTRACT
April 9th.—We passed a comfortable first night in our new quarters. Before going to bed ourselves we watched our men bestowing themselves for the night in that portion of the bows which was set apart for them to work, feed, sleep and cook in. First they made a hearty meal of rice and vegetables, shovelled into the mouth by means of dexterously manoeuvred chop-sticks. Supper over, in an incredibly short time they removed the floor of the boat, and produced from the hold beneath a number of poles and crossbars with which they erected a shed, fixing thereon a number of bamboo mats, one overlapping the other so as to make a watertight covering. This done they sat and gossiped till bedtime when they curled themselves up in the bottom of the boat. From ten p.m. to five a.m., not a sound except snores from them disturbed our rest, although only the thinnest partition of wood divided our quarters from theirs. We were awakened early by the distressing sound of rain falling steadily upon the roof over our heads; when we looked out we could see nothing, so grey was the day, so heavy the rain. Our captain or " Laoban," to give him hte Chinese official designa214tion, of course refused to make a start in such unpropitious weather, for there is nothing a Chinaman hates like rain, and our spirits sank proportionately low, for charming as a " Kwatsze " may be in sunny weather when it is conveying one steadily forward through lovely scenery it is but a sorry place of residence when tied up in a muddy river, with Chinese junks almost touching it on all sides, and a pitiless cold rain falling steadily. Fortunately, there was a rift in the clouds towards nine o'clock, and the laoban immediately took advantage of it to make a tardy start. The first hint we had of this good fortune was the removal of the awning mats over that part of the ship set apart for the crew, and soon the cheerful but weird sound of the men chanting as they worked the huge side oars backwards and forwards convinced us that our journey was really begun. A careful study of our crew soon taught us to distinguish one from another. There were the laoban or captain, and two pilots, one stationed fore and the other aft, also fifteen trackers, and eight sailors, four to each big oar. Then there was a cook for the men and a nondescript boy, brother of the laoban, who seemed to be at the beck and call of everybody, and began the day by receiving severe castigation for I know not what offence. Our personal servants include a cook who produces wonderful dishes out of a kitchen about 6 feet by 14, having a huge rudder operating through the centre of it, also a <target id="page_214a" target-type="page">214a</target>Lang Wang Tung Miao Dragon Prince Cave Temple Above Ichang https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429283604/90d75590-e982-4e89-8ee4-c642a0d449e5/content/fig2_15_19.jpg"/> 215"boy" possessing a smattering of English, and a coolie. I believe the laoban has a wife on board concealed in some tiny dwelling-place in the stern of the boat, but so far I have not set eyes on her. In addition to the ship's company above described, we have as before mentioned the official " red boat' or life-boat accompanying us, manned by five men, who are picked for this particular service, being trained to the Rapids, and whose special duty is to render assistance, and if needs be pick up the pieces in case of accident! The weather got better as the day wore on, but was never really good, rain falling at intervals; nevertheless, the Gorges were lovely, wrapped in a sombre mantle of grey velvet shot with green, the steep and rugged rocks falling straight to the water's edge on our right and left. Nothing sensational happened on this our first day, the heavy kwatsze being towed by the trackers wherever the face of the cliffs offered a hold to their nimble bare feet. The tow-line of plaited bamboo was fixed to the top of our mast. Over the rocks the trackers climbed with the agility of mountain goats, jumping, diving, scrambling, but always managing to keep the line taut. If at moments it slackened, or if some danger unseen by the trackers was perceived by the pilot in charge of the boat, a signal was given by beating loudly upon a drum, and immediately the trackers stopped dead as if they had been shot, waiting for another signal to move on. Where the cliffs offered literally no 216foothold for them they were fetched off by the red boat, and brought back to the kwatsze where they immediately set to work, four at each of the huge side oars, thus propelling the clumsy craft along the river until another propitious spot offered where they might resume their tracking operations. All the time they work the oars, and indeed during all the twelve hours of their long day's labour, these curious people keep up a frenzied chant, every man stamping and shrieking in chorus, the voice of the laoban heard above all, as from his perch on the roof of the cabin he directs their movements. Every now and then one or other paused to rest, and sitting on his heels took a puff or two at the pipe which appeared to be the common property of all the crew. And nearly all day the forecastle cook laboured patiently in their midst boiling the everlasting rice, green vegetables and beans, which from time to time they devoured in large quantities. In the evening the kwatsze was made fast to the shore in a little sheltered bay under the lea of a cliff. The day's work over, the crew having fed, once more rigged up their awning, and after indulging in a quiet smoke composed themselves to rest, an example which we were not slow to follow.
