that sent its author spinning headlong into the stream, from which he emerged below the rapid, a good deal shaken and bruised, but with no serious injury.
This rapid is one of the grandest spectacles in the whole panorama of the river. The water presents a smooth surface as it emerges from the pass ; then suddenly seems to bend like a polished cylinder of glass; falls eight or ten feet, and finally curves upwards in a crest of foam as it surges away in wild tumult down the gorge. At this season sundry rocks enhance the peril of shooting the rapid. On our way down we persuaded Chang to come in the boat with us; but as the vessel plunged and groaned in an agony of straining timbers, he became per- fectly sick with panic fear. It was indeed hardly to be wondered at. The pilot we employed at this time was a tall bony man with dark piercing eyes, a huge black moustache and a mouth full of protruding teeth. He and his assistant guided the boat to what seemed the worst part of the rapid, and then launched her into the raging waters broadside on. After the first plunge she swept round, bow foremost, tossing and writhing until I thought she would go to pieces and disappear. Meanwhile the pilot, flinging his arms on high, shouted and danced about the deck, conveying the notion that the craft was doomed, although in reaUty he was only guiding his men at the helm. But the boat, regardless of oaths, oars and rudder, sped forward with a fearful impetus, bearing right down for the rocks, dodged them at the last moment, and then darted into comparatively smooth water far below. The pilot's buffoonery is probably part of his game. It pays when at last he presents himself for his legiti- mate fee, and for the trifle extra which he expects for saving our lives at the risk of his own. That there is great danger in shooting this rapid may be gathered from a survey of the
