The Great River flows through the south, where it connects with all the lakes on both its shores, and nearly doubles its volume of water. The Han kiang, or Han shui rises in the southwest of Shensí, between the Fuh-niu shan and Tapa ling, and drains the south of that province and nearly the whole of Hupeh, joining the Yangtsz’ at Wuchang. It is very tortuous in its course, flowing about 1,300 miles in all, and is navigable only a portion of the year, during the freshes, as far as Siangyang, about 300 miles. Boats of small size come down, however, at all times from Sin-pu-wan, near its source in Shensí. The mouth is not over 200 feet broad, but the bed of the river as one ascends soon widens to 400 and 500 feet, and at Shayang, 168 miles from Hankow, it is half a mile wide. The area of its whole basin is about the same as the province. The extraordinary effects of a large body of melted snow poured into a number of streams converging on the slopes of a range of hills, and then centring in a narrow valley, bringing their annual deposit of alluvial and silt are seen along the River Han. The rise of this stream is often fifty feet where it is narrowest, and the shores are high; at Íching the channel varies from 300 to 1,500 feet at different seasons, but the river-bed from 2,000 to 9,000 feet, the water rising 18 feet at the fresh. In these wide places, the river presents the aspect of a broad, winding belt of sand dunes, in which the stream meanders in one or many channels. Navigation, therefore, is difficult and dangerous, since moving sands shift the deep water from place to place, and boats are delayed or run aground. In high water the banks are covered, but the current is then almost as serious an obstacle as the shallows are in winter. The southeastern part of Hupeh is occupied by an extensive depression filled with a succession of lakes. The length and breadth of this plain are not far from two hundred miles, and it is considered the most fertile part of China, not being subject to overflows like the shores of the Yellow River, while the descent of the land allows its abundance of water to be readily distributed. Every spot is cultivated, and the surplus of productions is easily transported wherever there is a demand. The portions nearest the Yangtsz’ are too low for constant cultivation. The Ax Lake, Millet Lake, Red Horse Lake, and Mienyang Lake, are the largest in the province. The remaining parts of both the Lake provinces are hilly and mountainous; the high range of the Ta-peh shan (‘Great White Mountains’), commencing far into Shensí, extends to the west of Hupeh, and separates the basins of the Great River from its tributary, the Han kiang, some of its peaks rising to the snow line. The productions of Hupeh are bread-stuffs, silk, cotton, tea, fish, and timber; its manufactures are paper, wax, and cloth. The climate is temperate and healthy. ~WUCHANG AND HANKOW.~