Not long after this the officer told us that we should have to stop during the night. Still everyone seemed to be hopeful that we should reach Chinkiang at the proper time. The reason for stopping during the night was the low water. So after we had made about 120 fi we stopped. The reason for the low water was, that the small official who has charge of the canal bank opens the sluice and lota the water out of the canal directly after the passage of every steam tug. When the next tug comes to the place the water is too low to pass with toty. So the "chief officer" has to pay said small official a smal] sum—from two to three dollars—to induce him to put down the lock, and in addition has to wait the greater part of the night for enough water to. pass the shallow place. All this iniquitous imposition the Chinese submit to with their characteristic patience, but the marvel is that the foreigners under whose names the tugs are run do not raise protest. Perhaps they do not know of this piece of villainy.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.