CHAPTER II.
FROM ICHANG TO WANHSIEN, WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF CHINESE WOMEN AND THE RAPIDS OF THE YANGTSE KIANG.
The agreement was brought me in the morning; all the afternoon I was busy, and at 8 p.m.I embarked from the Customs pontoon.

The boat was a wupan (five boards), 28 feet long and drawing 8 inches.

Its sail was like the wing of a butterfly, with transverse ribs of light bamboo; its stern was shaped "like a swallow's wings at rest." An improvised covering of mats amidships was my crib; and with spare mats, slipt during the day over the boat's hood, coverings could be made at night for'ard for my three men and aft for the other two.

It seemed a frail little craft to face the dangers of the cataracts, but it was manned by as smart a crew of young Chinese as could be found on the river.

It was pitch dark when we paddled into the stream amidst a discharge of crackers.