Varied Experiences En Route to Scldom-Explored Territory: Beautiful Scenery and Tasty Fruit By J. Hansox-Lows During the summer of 1936 vas engaged in geographical and geomor= phological reconnaissance workin Western China, but as T particularly desired to study in somewhat more detail the terraces of the Yangtze river I travelled, not on the large sleamerships that go up to. Ichang, but largely on the. small launches known to foreigners as chiekenboats, In this way one kept close to the banks and not only "could good observations be made but also, when anything likely to be of real ea Requence was observed one could easily disembark at small villages at which "no steamship yould ever stop. These boats, go pretty fast and almost rival the big boats, except that they do not run at night.
In parenthesis, no one should miss paying a visit to the premises of the private bus company which operates the Kuonhsien service. The com= pound is the most pitiful ear graveyard {0 be seen anywhere. 'There, sheer hulk, without any wheels moreover, lies' a poor Tom Ford, or whatever brand it maybe. Tu' the opposite corner ties a taxi that can occasionally be galvanized into life afler hours of tinkering, with no glass in the windows, a wooden seat and absolutely everything from magneto to spare wheel tied together with bits of "string and wire. On the other hand this yard forms a somewhat inadequate' museum Ilustrating advance in the motor world from, say, 1695 to 1925.
T went frst from Nanking to Wahu by train, and then took a series of these chicken boats to. Hankow, stopping a great many times. T won der if Thold the record, My total fare between Nanking and Hankow was only $6. 'There is certainly no luxury on these bonts—but how terlaining they are. How interesting it is {0 sec all the excitement at these incredible embarkations, with, everyone doing his best to' keep smiling and everybody pushing and shoving in an endeavour to get first on to the boat with bulging baskets and, often as not, a live hen under the arm. 'The boat officials are very polite and T often was offered the use of a clean aubin, Then. comes the chance {0 practice' one's Chinese, T continued this way a for us Chenlingki, from Hankow, with two companions. This boat went at night, and added a further $2.30 to the Beyond there such transport ws not easy, and so we took a foreign boat to Shasi, the fare being $27. From there we went by chicken-bent to Tt, where some investigations were finally spent a glorious day going by sampan to Tehanys, at 8 cost of about $1.60 for the three 1 do not want to write a paean on chicken-boats, but T thor them to anyone who wants {o interest himself in the real Chins. Here you are offered both instruction entertainment. On the foreign boat there was no pianoforte, mail library, no radio—and, but this sheer chance, no passengers on ur deck, Wore we lad 10 reach Shasi,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.