Page:A wandering student in the Far East vol.1 - Zetland.djvu/130

84 A German endeavour to follow her example met with disaster, the boat being wrecked and her captain drowned; but since 1900 the passage has been made with increasing frequency and success by one French, one German, and three British gunboats, the most modern of which, H.M.S. Widgeon, steamed from Ichang to Ch'ung-k'ing in under six days, or just over forty-seven steaming hours. Germany, whose earlier efforts were crowned with disaster, did not succeed in reaching Ch'ung-k'ing until May 1907, when the gun-boat Vaterland, which I found at Ichang waiting for a favourable opportunity to make a start, was successful, leaving Ichang on April 16th, and reaching Ch'ung-k'ing in nineteen days.

Nevertheless, the fact that light-draught steamers with powerful engines (leaving little or no room for cargo) can ascend the river at favourable times of the year is no proof whatsoever that they could be run as a commercial success. The mere fact that since Mr Little disposed of the Pioneer to the British Government in 1900 no further attempt in this