I ec lied on our Hsien magistrate the otter diy, to return his cal! on me in Jun. lust, shert'y afte taking over his seals. 1 found him an intellige: t-look a of about 60 years of age. In conversation he that the project of starting a line of Jaunches running from Sising (the terminus of the Shaohsing system of cowals opposite Hanzchow) to Zaongo, which lies abou as far to the east of Shavhsing, wu the way to Ning, as Sixing do s to the west, hid Deen crushed; as when the water in the canals was low the hosts would run aground, and when it was high they would not be able to yet under the bridges, What would happen when, as is the ewe the great-r part of the year, the water is neither high nor L.w he did not say. Asked wh-t had become of the scheme to re-open the od bugalo haulage at Zaongo, by which 1 bats were formerly able to go right through from Ningpo t Sising, he said it could not he carried out, as the peo; e obj otod, saying that their fi-ids would be flood d when th" high tides came up t'e river! This haulage was closed up over ten years og" owing to an accident that took' place. As the closing was done ly Royal Decree it ix difficult to get it annul led. Last. spring we were told that Ningpo Maritime Customs were yoing to open it, and that a foreigner lid been to inspect the o'd place. I har also that Ningpo by a Me of sea-going shallow-draft the project of connecting Hangshow and Seamers has been abandoned, though it is so d that a foreigner with considerable influence amon st th - officio s at Hangchow personally interceded wih tie G vernor for it, but unsuccessfully. Whether this is correct or not I can't say. With the passing of our cal line of launches ha also pa sed a <chem- for running a line of horse-trims from the canal terminus st Sisive along the river bank to the ferry opposite Himgehow. The two ~chem were quite unconnected, but the attitude of hostility shown by officials and gentry towards the one was so uncompromi ing and c-nery tive tua the over was considered to have n" chance at present and accordingly dropped, fortunately b—fore any expens~ had been incurred, which was by no means the case with the launch scheme.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.