Directory_and_Chronicle_1850 — Page 542

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Topography of the Yellow River.

SEP.

rocks have been removed from the bed of the river to improve the navigation; the banks are here steep, and rapids like those in the Nile, embarrass the navigation. The country on both sides of the river is a succession of mountain ranges and valleys, and some of the former traverse the bed obliquely, causing it to form short and abrupt bends, and doubtless making the channel more zigzag than the map indicates. The entire course from Páuteh through Shánsí to the R. Wei is probably available for the descent of boats without danger, but the rapid current, as in the Mississippi, prevents their return.

The R. Fan 汾河 and R. Loh 洛河

are the largest tributaries of the Hwang ho in its Middle course. The former rises in the latitude of Páuteh near the centre of the province of Shinsí (see Chi. Rep., Vol. XI, page 625); and after a S. and SW. course of nearly 500 miles joins the main trunk at Hotsin or River-mart, below Lungmun, thereby connecting nearly half the towns in the province with the Great Plain. Few valleys in the north of China present denser population than that of the R. Fan; thirty cities and towns of the largest size are inserted in the map. The R. Loh is about 250 miles long, taking its sources in the edge of the Desert in the borders of Shensí, and draining the northern half of the province. Several important towns lie along its banks, and the city of Tungchau fú is near its embouchure, but the whole valley supports a smaller popula- tion than that of the Fan. In both of them, and in general in all those smaller valleys whose streams pour their waters into the great artery, the valleys are wide and well cultivated, producing every kind of grain which does not require a great degree of heat, for this whole region experiences severe cold in winter.

Lower Course. This is the best known portion of the Hwáng ho, and during this distance it receives its largest tributaries. The Lower course commences at the mouth of the R. Wei, just below the en- trance of the R. Loh, where the main trunk turns eastward and enters the Great Plain, being stopped in its southern progress by the Tá- hwa shina spur of the Peh-ling or Tsin-ling, the range which here divides the basins of the Yellow and Yangtsz' rivers. At the turn, the waters of the river are compressed between high cliffs; the defile is well known in Chinese history as the Tung kwán, or Tung pass. Across the river from the town of Tung- kwán lies the city of Púchau fú, and here the outlet of a lake called Wangsing hú

empties into it opposite the mouth of the

R. Wei.