The outstanding landmark at. the juetion of the Yangtze and the Han is Tortoise Hill. The ity of Han-at its foot and its lower covered with the graves of form Thirty years ago, a tramp on Tortoise Ill was one of the enjoyments life in Hankow, for the few vil agers were friendly, and the road he Ilan to the foot of the hills was as pretty an avenue of could find anywhere in ina, The road itself was and the waters of the Moun Lake washed the embankment slong one side of it, Foreigners oven went to bathe in the lake by moonlight. The Byitish community owned two shall bungalows on a neighbouring hill and the Russian community had another, The development of the ironworks, the arsenal and other works thas completely changed the foothills fon the an River side, whilst the tipping of slag: has turned the form.
Moon Lake into a filthy morass Small shops and hovels have sprung. up like mushrooms on the slag-heaps, and large clusters of houses built for the work-people furnish a popuation not at_all distinguished for politeness to foreigners. The trees Rave for the most part been cut down and used as fuel.
Saved by Soothsayers it had not been for the sooth-avers and geomancers, who are now 30 much despised, even the other side of the hill by the Hanyang city wall would have been di Hirured long ago. The great Vice roy Chang found that he had estabished his ironworks on a very suitable piece of ground, and the swirling current of the Man River more than once destroyed the bund. ing ho had erected, 80 he conceived the idea of driving a tunnel through the hill and using the ground. the city side for an extension of the works. The wail of horror. that went up from the geomancers suffieced to make the Viceroy abandon his plan.
AL the time of the revolution, there wax much fighting on and around Tortoise Hill for it con munded the stretch of country over which the Notherners had to ade vance if, they were to strike at wang. 'The position of the Repub-Hicans' could have "been made Practically impregnable as against the poor equipment of the Northern forees, but then, as always in. the history of China's wars, treachery. accomplished what ammuniti could not achieve. The way was loft open and the slaughter of the Republican forces was one of the nose ghastly events of those weeks horror.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.