Page:The Chinese Empire. A General & Missionary Survey.djvu/345

 THE PROVINCE OF KWANGSI

By the Rev. Louis Byrde, B.A., Church Missionary Society.

Situation. — The province of Kwangsi — "Extensive West" — stretches roughly for 450 miles from west to east between longitude 105° and 112° east, and for 250 miles from north to south between 26° and 22° latitude north. Though situated in the south of China, it is entirely cut off from the sea, its natural coast-line, on the Gulf of Tongking, being reckoned to the neighbouring province of Kwangtung.

Size. — Its area as given in The Statesman's Year-Book is 77,000 square miles, but as no attempt has been made to scientifically fix the positions of its borders, such figures are only approximate.

Physical Features. — The outstanding feature of Kwangsi is its river system. The West River, rising in Yunnan, enters the province above Peh-Seh (or Pose, Cantonese Pak-Shek), where navigation begins, and generally following the southern border of the province, leaves it five or so miles below Wuchow, flowing thence through Kwangtung to the sea below Kongmoon. At Hslinchow (Kwaipeng), 90 miles above Wuchow, the main stream is joined by an important branch, which itself is formed by the Red Water River (geographically the longest but the least important), and the Liuchow (Willow) River, made up of two important affluents rising in Kweichow. Two other important tributaries are the Left River to Longchow, a treaty port 35 miles from the French Tongking border, and the Cassia