The remaining cities and districts of Kiangsu present nothing worthy of special remark. The Grand Canal runs from north to south, and affords a safe and ample thoroughfare for multitudes of boats in its entire length. Tsing-kiang-pu and Hwai-ngan, near the old Yellow River, receive the traffic from the north and Hungtsih Lake, while Yangchau near the Yangtsz’ River, takes that going north. In this part of the channel, constant dyking has resulted in raising the banks; the city of Hwai-ngan, for example, lies below the canal which brings trade to its doors, and may one day be drowned by its benefactor. Salt is manufactured in the districts south of the Yellow River, where the people cultivate but rare patches of arable land.
The island of Tsungming, at the mouth of the Yangtsz’, is about sixty miles long, and sixteen wide, containing over nine hundred square miles, and is gradually enlarging by the constant deposits from the river; it is flat, but contains fresh water. It is highly cultivated and populous, though some places on the northern side are so impregnated with salt, and others so marshy, as to be useless for raising food. This island produces a variety of _kaoliang_ or sorghum (_Holcus_), which is sweet enough to furnish syrup, and is grown for that purpose in the United States.
~POSITION AND TOWNS OF NGANHWUI PROVINCE.~
The province of NGANHWUI was so named by combining the first words in its two large cities, Nganking and Hwuichau, and forms the south-western half of Kiangnan; it is both larger and more uneven than Kiangsu, ranges of hills stretching along the southern portions, and between the River Hwai and the Yangtsz’. It lies in the central and southern parts of the Plain, north of Kiangsí, west of Kiangsu and Chehkiang, and between them and Honan and Hupeh. Its productions and manufactures, the surface, cultivation of the country, and character of the people, are very similar to those of Kiangsu, but the cities are less celebrated. The terrible destruction of life in this province during the Tai-ping rule has only been partially remedied by immigration from other provinces; it will require years of peace and industry to restore the prosperous days of Taokwang’s reign.