Directory_and_Chronicle_1842 — Page 402

FRE:

Topography of Kiangsi

JULY

line, ran horizontally across the valley looking towards the river." The embassy had also a good view of "the city of the Lake's mouth,” which Mr. Davis says, is embosomed in high hills in a manner not unlike the one already described.

VI. The department of Kiencháng is a small tract of country, comprising five districts, situated on the borders of Fukien, at the head of a valley lying off to the southeast from Náncháng. It is high, mountainous, and not very fertile.

VII. The department of Fúchau is situated between Kiencháng and Náncháng. The face of the country is much diversified with plains, dales, bills, and mountains. The air and climate are good, and the ground is watered by numerous small streams, besides the inain river which pours down the middle of the valley from Kien- chang. This river, which rises near the frontiers of the province, runs from the southeast to the northwest, and, after passing the city Fúchau, divides into two branches and empties itself into the lake.

VIII. The department of Linkiáng is situated southward from Náncháng, and on both sides of the river Kán. The boats on this river are peculiarly light, being made as buoyant as possible. As Mr. Davis and his fellow travelers proceeded from Náncháng, they found the bed of the river composed of shingle and gravel.

After passing

over the low country about the lake, it was to them a gratifying change to travel along this clear and fresh-looking stream, where the country began to assume a more varied and picturesque appearance. The massive camphor tree, with its dark green leaves, was very abundant, and a great ornament to the landscape. The character of the mountain stream was marked by the great banks of gravel and stones, which constantly appeared above the water in the channel of the river. Stone embankments were occasionally observed on each side, to serve as a security against the sudden swelling of the stream. Having passed "the station of camphor trees" ten or twelve miles, they reached the mouth of the Sin kiáng (a small tributary of the Kán), on which about six miles distant, stands the chief town of the department. Mr. Davis “was surprised to see so much of the banks of the river in what might almost be styled a state of nature.” Field and garden cultivation was more unfrequent than they had hitherto observed. The tallow-tree, as well as the camphor, was abundant. Near Sinkán, the chief town in the most eastern district of this de- partment, he "observed some little approach to the fruit and vegeta- ble cultivation prevailing about Canton. On the sides of the river were groves of the orange-tree, and the tops of the barren hills were Mucky planted with fi