Great difficulty is being experienced in getting boats to start for Chungking and the West. The difficulty arises from a demand by the trackers for a rise in wages. Every boat must have so many men on to pole the boat off rocks; and.so many men on shore to track the boat when.the wind is unfavourable. The number of men'employed depends on the size of the boat and the quantity of cargo. Some boats will have as, many as fom 50 to 70 trackers," while at the rapids 100 and more are added. Formerly the price per tracker from Ichang to Chungking was under 3,000 cash; now with extended trade und a larger demand for boats the price has gone up steadily, till Theat it quoted at 7,000 per man, Conse quently the boat rates have gone up. Passenger boats used to be dear at Tis, 120, and T have known boats engaged at Tls. 70 and 80; now, for a small 3-roomed boat Tis, 120, 150, 180 have to be paid, and for larger boats over Tls. 200.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.