ing yard. Chuangchang was the name by which the present City of Kirin was known for years down to 1750. In that year the military government of the Province was transferred from Ninguta to Chuangchang, the place was rechristened Chilin-wula, or the "River of Chilin"; and the military Governor called himself the General of Chilin. Later the "wula," which is a Mongolian word for river, was dropped, and the city has come to be known simply as Chilin or Kirin. It was in those days following the establishment of the headquarters for the military governor that the city was dignified by the wall around it.

All through the wooded mountain valleys down to the City of Kirin the Sungari is fit only for shooting rafts of timber. That section, as we have already seen, is one of the richest timber-producing regions in South Manchuria. At Kirin the great river enters the career of a trade route. Between Kirin and Taolaichao, down the stream, is a stretch of about 124 miles. Here the river attains the depth of from two and a half to nine feet and the width of about two-thirds of a mile at places. Light river steamers of less than two and a half feet of draught can make this course, but it takes an extreme degree of care and watchfulness. The current is swift, and the bottom of the river is treacherous. The steamer even of the lightest type does not dare to navigate it at night. Over this section it is common practice with river steamers to have barges with them for the purpose of unloading such extra cargo as it may be necessary to shift to make some of the more difficult passages along the course. For in this section of 124 miles there are no less than forty-odd shoals. For some distance down the stream from Kirin mountain spurs pile down along the left bank of the river; but with that exception it flows through open and well-cultivated fields. The extent and degree of development of this section

of the country are apt to strike a traveler with a decided sense of surprise. The farther he floats down the stream the more does he note the sandy character of the level soil. The river becomes extensive and shows the tendency of wandering loose in several directions, so much so that it is difficult to say which is the main stream and which the branches.

From Taolaichao the Sungari makes its way steadily westward toward the eastern skirts of the wide-flung steppes of Eastern Inner Mongolia. The river remains about as deep and wide as it has been for some miles above Taolaichao, depth from two to eight feet; and it widens at some points to about a mile. All along the northern bank the cultivated fields, dotted here and there with farming villages, stretch level to the horizon. On the southern bank, with the exception of about three Districts, the land presents the aspects of a Mongolian steppe, entirely virgin. Between Taolaichao and Petuna is a length of about 101 miles, where as one proceeds toward Petuna he views a great open stretch of excellent grazing-ground in the rolling plain covered with grass. Many herds of sheep and cattle are seen over the vast country. As for the river, it becomes more and more trying to negotiate as it opens out into the steppe country. It loses its depth as the result of constantly dividing itself into innumerable branches and spreading over the level plain at the least excuse. As if that were not enough, the Itung River, which flows into the Sungari not far from Taolaichao, brings along with it a constant flow of silt. It makes the river-bed shallow and everlastingly shifting.

Between Petuna and Harbin there are 172 miles of the river's course. Here the Sungari takes on an entirely different aspect in its rôle of a trade route. Less than twelve miles below Petuna the Sungari adds unto itself the greatest of its tributaries, the Nonni. This brings

about a sudden and tremendous increase in the volume of water in the river course. It becomes four and a half to nine feet deep. Its current rolls with majestic grace at greater leisure. From this point on it is no trouble for river steamers to make their way through all the hours of night.

From the City of Harbin the Sungari flows 434 miles to the point where it joins the Amur. All along this long course it maintains the depth of about four and a half to nine feet. It flows through level and fertile plain, with the exception of two mountainous sections: one between Mulan and Sansing, some 105 miles down the stream from Harbin, where the spurs of the Changkwansai overshadow its right bank for about 106 miles, and another section about thirty-three miles below Sansing. This valley has been developing at so sensational a pace that its production of pulse and grains has been the talk of recent years.

The development of the past ten years seems to spell a singular story-the story of the Sungari taking the place of the Liao as the premier river trade route of Manchuria. Shipments up and down the Liao have been steadily declining with the building of the South Manchuria Railway since the early days of the Twentieth Century, and through the same years the fruitful valley of the Sungari seems suddenly to have waked into har

vest.

The agricultural products of the valley of the Sungari are estimated at about 6,612,000 tons, composed of 1,264,000 tons of kaoliang, 902,000 tons of soya beans, 361,000 tons of wheat, 271,000 tons of barley, about the same amount of millet, and other grains to the amount of 542,000 tons. It is a mere question of time when all this output will find its way to the central market of Harbin. Perhaps the largest interrogation point in the situation at present is just when will the

Chinese Eastern Railway recover its efficiency as a carrier. As soon as that line returns to full function then all these products of the Sungari plain will find their way to Harbin to be distributed from that point east to Vladivostok or south to Dairen or westward into Siberia through Manchuli. Even under the present disturbed condition it is said that 400,000 tons of soya beans, 180,000 tons of wheat, 72,000 tons of other grains, 652,000 tons in all, are finding their way out annually through Harbin into foreign markets.

The commonest type of boat used on the Sungari is the native junk built along similar lines to the junks afloat on the Liao. They are all fitted with sails and have cargo capacity of from 20 to 200 tons. The Chinese Eastern Railway Company owns and controls a large tonnage on the Sungari. Its flotilla is made up of twelve river steamers, five tugs, and thirty iron barges. Their total loading capacity is about 25,000 tons. It is reported that the total number of river steamers on the Sungari to-day is close to 100. Most of them have been brought down to the Sungari from the Amur by their owners, who had fled from the Bolshevik régime. A Chinese semi-governmental shipping company called Wutung Company is reported to have twenty-six river steamers on the Sungari, of which ten are of wood and sixteen of iron and steel. They range from 131 to 1,307 1,000 tons each, and the total tonnage of the twenty-six boats amounts to 12,591.

tons. Three are above

NO CANALS IN MANCHURIA

China built her Grand Canals in the days of the Sui Dynasty (589-618 A.D.). The Erie Canal, the greatest work of the kind in the United States, was completed in 1825. In 1850 the United States had 3,700 miles of canals. The history of transportation in Manchuria