Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/39

create every year an island one mile square and fifty fathoms deep, and that the coast line is thus rapidly gaining on the ocean, so that Shanghai may soon become an inland city unapproachable by tidal waters, a result which the inhabitants are now strenuously endeavouring to avert. From Ichang to the source of the great river some of the grandest scenery in the world is to be witnessed, the waters having effected passages for themselves through the mountains by cutting gorges sometimes twelve or thirteen hundred feet deep and in one instance twenty-five hundred, where the ruggedness of colossal cliffs and vast piles of rock contrasts with soft woods and a dazzling profusion of flowers. Mr. A. Little, in "Through the Yangtse Gorges," writes: "A few of the most common flowers to be met within a day's walk up any of the glens are camellia, rose, larkspur, Chinese daisy, begonia, sunflower, virgin lily, begonia, wistaria, lavender, gardenia, honeysuckle, yellow jasmine, orange lily, besides many others equally beautiful which have no common English names. The cottage gardens abound with pomegranates, loquats, peaches, plums, orange and other fruit trees. On the higher slopes above the precipices we find glorious woods of walnut and chestnut trees, while the useful tallow tree, with its beautiful tinted foliage and exuberant scented blossom, grows everywhere." The same writer mentions thirteen kinds of fruit trees and several species of ever-