Our Italian group had a ship specially sent from Hankow to take us there. We left Kiukiang at 5 a.m. on the 19th for Hankow. At 9.30 a.m, we met H.M.5. Capetown bound for down river, and half an hour later we were following on her trail, in order to get through the upper boom before it was closed and no more shipping would be able to come down from Hankow. We did not sight the Capetown again that day, but we felt we could not be far behind her.
That afternoon, we anchored above Anking for the might. When we moved down to Anking we found the Capetown had anchored there for the night, The bànks of the Yangtze are always rather bleak looking in ihe winter, but never previously have I seen them as they are now. For mile after mile we did not see a human being. Villages there were, but scarcely a living thing near them® An occasional fisherman manipulating his clumsy net from the bank, and small boat now and again moving slowly along under the banks of reeds were all we saw,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.