Note 31 — Chapter XVII

It should be remembered that by the first and second bar are merely meant sand-banks or flats, which impede the navigation of the river, of course contracting, to a certain extent, the channel for large ships. The second bar is a large shoal on the left side of the river, ascending (or geographically on its right bank) upwards of ten miles above Tiger Island. The pagoda, near which the conference was held, stands near its upper extremity, on the same bank of the river. The first bar, however, lies about seven miles higher up on the opposite side of the river, and is not so extensive a flat as the lower one. It seems to have been formed by a deposit from the waters of one of the larger of those numerous rivers, or their branches, which empty themselves not only into the Canton River, but into all the principal rivers of China. Indeed so numerous are these water communications in every direction, that Keshen was perfectly correct in his observation that small vessels could proceed wherever they pleased, even up to Canton itself, without passing through the main river. Of course the channel becomes both narrower and more intricate in the neighbourhood of the bar; and therefore the Chinese shewed considerable judgment in attempting to defend this position, which was in fact the most tenable one between the Bogue and Whampoa; from which latter place it was distant about four miles.