Page:Illustrations of China and Its People vol. III.pdf/58

 boat had been caught in an eddy by a sudden gust of wind, and was on the point of heeling over. Freed from the tension of the tracking rope, she righted herself and spun away down the rapid till she settled on the right bank about half a mile below the scene of the accident. The breadth of the river now parted us from our men, and it was with great difficulty, and at an exorbitant rate, that we were at last enabled to hire a boat to bring them all across.

We reached Wu-shan-hien, in Szechuan, at about three o'clock, and we terminated our journey at this point, distant over 1,200 statute miles from Shanghai. It had been our intention to ascend the short pass which still separated us from Kwei-chow-fu, but we were detained by a storm of sand and wind, against which we could make no headway with our craft. In Wu-shan Gorge there are a number of caves, and we were told that one of them is used as a prison. This prison cavern was pointed out high up in the face of a precipice. It can only be reached by chains which are hung down over the rock. In another cave, nearly as inaccessible, we found an aged hermit, who had been living there alone on herbs and meditation for many years past.

I quit this part of my subject with some reluctance, leaving the incidents of our downward voyage untold for fear lest my readers may already have grown weary of my narrative.