They had bought new provisions of excellent quality, and had made the boat much more comfortable.

The three kind missionaries came down to wish me Godspeed.
Brave men! they deserve a kinder fortune than has been their fate hitherto.

We crossed the river and anchored above the city, ready against an early start in the morning.
The day after leaving Wanhsien was the first time that we required any assistance on our journey from another junk; it was cheerfully given.
Our towrope had chafed through, and we were in a difficulty, attempting to pass a bad rapid among the rocks, when a large junk was hauled bodily past us, and, seeing our plight, hooked on to us and towed us with them out of danger.

On this night we anchored under the Sentinel Rock (Shih-pao-chai), perhaps the most remarkable landmark on the river.

From two hundred to three hundred feet high, and sixty feet wide at the base, it is a detached rock, cleft vertically from a former cliff.