The Yellow River so very
frequently overflows its banks, and brings so much peril and calamity to
the people, that it has been called "China's Sorrow;" and the European
trade at Canton has been very heavily taxed for the damage occasioned by
it.
The Grand Canal and the Yellow River, in one part of the country, run
within four or five miles of each other, for about fifty miles; and at
length they join or cross each other, and then run in a contrary
direction. A great deal of ceremony is used by the crews of the vessels
when they reach this point, and, amongst other customs, they stock
themselves abundantly with live cocks, destined to be sacrificed on
crossing the river. These birds annoy and trouble the passengers so much
by their incessant crowing on the top of the boats, that they are not
much pitied when the time for their death arrives. The boatmen collect
money for their purchase from the passengers, by sending red paper
petitions called _pin_, begging for aid to provide them with these and
other needful supplies. The difficulties which the Chinese must have
struggled against, with their defective science, in this junction of the
canal and the river, are incalculable; and it is impossible to deny them
the praise they deserve for so great an exercise of perseverance and
industry.
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