Page:A wandering student in the Far East vol.1 - Zetland.djvu/214

154 The crew of ten hands received precisely one-tenth of this sum between them, the foreman and helmsman receiving 2000 cash each (4s. 4d.) and the ordinary boatmen 800 cash each (1s. 7d.) for the journey of seven days,—2d. a-day for an able-bodied labourer working from dawn till dark.

By evening on the 18th we tied up at Chang-kou, at the junction of the Ch'êngtu branch of the river and the main stream which comes from Kuan Hsien. This latter place is the headquarters of the vast system of irrigation which gives the Ch'êngtu plain its immense agricultural prosperity, and which dates back over 2000 years. Two Chinese officials, Li the first and Li the second, father and son, are credited with the authorship of this great work, and in their memory two temples stand to this day overlooking the waters which they tamed. "Dig deep the bars; keep low the dykes," is the command given by Li, and carved in stone in the temple standing in his honour; and strange to say, "during the long succession of years since Li's death,