Captain Alexander Bowers, of the Royal Naval Reserve, has performed
an exploit as important, if not as interesting, as the dis- covery of the source of the Nile. He has taken a thousand-ton aliip into the heart of China, ascending the Yang-tee to Hankow, the great tea entrepOt, fourteen hundred miles, by map measure, from Shanghai. He found a great city and flourishing trade, with about thirty British hongs, built upon land granted by the Chinese Government, more hongs building, and every sign of great commercial prosperity. A club-house and church are build- ing, and, of course, the third sign of civilization—a gallows— cannot be long delayed. The anchorage opposite the town is fairly safe, the risk of the voyage is not excessive, and there seems little doubt that Ilankow will henceforward be in direct communication with London. This is really a great result from the capture of Pekin, the valley of the Yang-tee being as productive as that of the Ganges.
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