Through the Yang-tse Gorges Or, Trade and Travel in Western China

Through the Yang-tse Gorges is Archibald Little's diary (published in London in 1888) of his journey up the Yangtze River from Shanghai to Chongqing by a native junk boat in 1883. Little strongly advocated the introduction of steam travel on the upper part of the river between Yichang and Chongqing, a port open to Western trade. The upper Yangtze was full of gorges and rapids which made travel treacherous; Little's journey by junk boat took a month, whereas the journey by steamship would have taken only 36 hours. He was repeatedly rebuffed in his attempts to introduce steam travel to the upper Yangtze by the Chinese government, which he accused of standing in the way of modernisation. He successfully introduced a steamship on the upper Yangtze river in 1898. Several other books by Little and by his intrepid wife are also reissued in this series.

Introductory; 1. The physiography of the Yang-Tse Valley; 2. Shanghai to Ichang; 3. Ichang and its environs; 4. Start for the Gorges; 5. The customs at Kwei-chow; 6. Iron workers; 7. Chung-King; 8. Chung-King; 9. Chung-King; 10. Adieux; Conclusion; Index.

Published in London in 1888, this is Little's travel journal from Shanghai to Chongqing in 1883, in which he advocates for the use of steamships on the upper Yangtze River. Little became the first Westerner successfully to navigate the upper Yangtze River by steamship from Yichang to Chongqing in 1898.