Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/644

630 The area of China Proper is not more than half that of the whole ; it extends as far north only as 41° undefined., and as far west as 98° undefined. It is about 1474 s in length, and its breadth is about 1355 s. Its line measures about 2500 s; its land frontier is described as being 4400 s in length, and its is said to contain 1,399,609 square s.

Surface.—One of the most noticeable features in the surface of China is the immense in the north-eastern portion of the, which, curving round the ous districts of undefined, extends for about 700 s in a southerly direction from the neighbourhood of undefined, and varies from 150 to 500 s in breadth. Commencing in the prefecture of undefined, in the province of undefined, its outer limit passes in a westerly direction as far as undefined, north-west of undefined. Thence running a south-south-westerly course it passes westward of undefined and undefined till it reaches the upper waters of the undefined in undefined. From this point it turns westward and crosses the undefined, or, in the prefecture of undefined. Leaving it takes a course a little to the east of south, and passing west of undefined, in the province of undefined, it turns in a more easterly direction as far as undefined. From this prefecture an arm of the, in which lies the undefined, stretches southward from the undefined to the undefined, and trending eastward occupies the region between the river and undefined. To the north of this arm rises a y district, in the centre of which stands ''undefined. The boundary of the plain round the mountainous region of undefined begins at undefined, and describes a huge bow to the west and south, reaching westward to the prefecture of undefined, and southward to the frontier of the province of undefined, which boundary it follows to the. The greater part of this vast descends very gently towards the, and is generally below the level of the ,—hence the disastrous which so often accompany the rise of the undefined. It is the of the, and also to some extent of the undefined, and it is chiefly remarkable for its semi-annular shape, within which it encloses the  districts of the province of undefined. Owing to the great quantity of which is brought down by the waters of the, and to the absence of ic s, this  is rapidly increasing and the adjoining s are as rapidly becoming shallower. As an instance, it is said that the of undefined was 1 le west of the -, in the year 220 B.C., and in 1730 it was 140 le inland, thus giving a ly encroachment on the  of about 100. Again, undefined on the undefined was on the - in 500 A.D., and it is now about 18 s inland.

The rest of the may be described as being either ous or y. Several s of high s, in connection with of, enter the western provinces of the, and after traversing the western and southern provinces in various directions dwindle down to low s as they approach the -. In the eastern portion of the undefined  throws off a number of branches, which spread first of all in a south-easterly direction, and eventually take a north and south course, partly in the provinces of undefined and undefined, where they divide the  of the s which flow into  and, as well as the principal northern  of the undefined. Another range, known as the undefined, or undefined, which appears to be the eastern termination of the great undefined of, and which is said to have several -clad s, enters China in the soutern portion of the province of undefined, and stretches in an easterly direction across the province of undefined into that of undefined, where it finally disappears. This separates the  which enter the undefined, or, through the undefined and the undefined from those which flow into the undefined, through the undefined and the undefined. Forming the northern frontier of the province of undefined runs the undefined or undefined, which entering China in 102° undefined, takes a general course of east as far as 112° undefined, at about which point it is lost sight of in the province of undefined. In the south the undefined s, some s of which are said to reach above the -level, take their rise in undefined, and after spreading in a series of s over the south and east portions of undefined trend in an easterly direction, covering the entire province of undefined. Then turning north-eastward, they occupy the whole area of the provinces of undefined, undefined, undefined, Hoo-nan, and southern undefined, until they reach the undefined; which, from the to undefined, forms their northern boundary. It is reckoned that this region occupies an area of about 300,000 square s. Besides these more important s there are the undefined in undefined, the undefined in undefined, the undefined in undefined, and many others, among which may be mentioned the s which form the northern frontier of undefined. It will thus be seen that there is a general subsidence from the districts in the western portions of the  to the central and south-eastern provinces, where the s dwindle down to s, and where the y s and rugged sides of the s in undefined and undefined are exchanged for the  tops and carefully- terraces of the  provinces.

Rivers.—The rivers of China are very numerous, and, with the canals, form some of the most frequented highways in the empire. The two largest are the undefined and the undefined, or, the latter of which is less known to fame for its value in a sense, than by reason of the vast and destructive s which have from time to time caused it to  the low-lying country on either side of its. According to Chinese the undefined takes its rise in the “Sea of Stars,” on the eastern side of the undefined, in the n  of, where it has gained for itself the name of undefined, or , from the colour of its s. For some s it runs in two streams, and when united takes at first a south-easterly course. Next trending in a north-easterly direction it traverses the province of undefined and passes northwards through the until it reaches the rising ground in the neighbourhood of the undefined. Thence curving to the south-east and south it re-enters China through the and continues its southerly course, forming the boundary between the provinces of undefined and undefined, as far as undefined. Here it makes a sharp bend and runs nearly due east to undefined. In the neighbourhood of this it enters on the great eastern plain of China, and the alterations which have taken place in its  between this district and the  has earned for it the well-deserved title of “the Sorrow of Han.” According to the  this portion of the  has changed its course nine times during the last 2500 years, and has emptied itself into the  at as many different, the most northerly of which is represented as having been in about 39° undefined., or in the neighbourhood of the present  of the undefined, and the most southerly being that which existed before the last change in 1851–53, in 34° undefined. The breaches that were made in the northern of the  east of undefined during the s of 1851, 1852, and 1853 caused its s gradually to overflow the low-lying country to the northwards; and these, after