Accepted as the river's
tribute to the Dragon Throne, it now forms a district of the province
with a population of over half a million. About the same time,
a large tract of land was carried into the sea by the Hwang Ho,
the "Yellow River," which gave rise to the popular proverb, "If
we lose in Tungking we gain in Tsungming."
[Page 29]
The former river comes with its mouth full of pearls; the latter
yawns to engulf the adjacent land. At present, however, the Yellow
River is dry and thirsty, the unruly stream, the opposite of Horace's
_uxorius amnis_, having about forty years ago forsaken its
old bed and rushed away to the Gulf of Pechili (Peh-chihli). This
produced as much consternation as the Mississippi would occasion
if it should plough its way across the state that bears its name
and enter the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile Bay. The same phenomenon
has occurred at long intervals in times past. The wilful stream
has oscillated with something like periodical regularity from side
to side of the Shantung promontory, and sometimes it has flowed
with a divided current, converting that territory into an island.
Now, however, the river seems to have settled itself in its new
channel, entering the gulf at Yang Chia Kow--a place which foreign
sailors describe as "Yankee cow"--and making a portentous alteration
in the geography of the globe.
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CHAPTER VI
PROVINCE OF SHANTUNG
_Kiao-Chao--Visit to Confucius's Tomb--Expedition to the Jews
of K'ai-fung-fu--The Grand Canal--Chefoo_
In Shantung the people appear to be much more robust than their
neighbours to the south.
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