Boat-travel.—Vegetation.—Trackers.—Terrace of the Sun.—Gold Diamond Mountain.—Meng Liang's Ladder.—Great Szechuan Road.—Steamer Voyage.—Chinese Hades.—Caves
船隻旅行。——植被。——纖夫。——太陽台（Terrace of the Sun）。——金鑽山（Gold Diamond Mountain）。——孟良（Meng Liang）的梯子。——大四川路（Great Szechuan Road）。——蒸汽船航行。——中國的陰間（Chinese Hades）。——洞穴
Boat-travel.—Vegetation.—Trackers.—Terrace of the Sun.—Gold Diamond Mountain.—Meng Liang's Ladder.—Great Szechuan Road.—Steamer Voyage.—Chinese Hades.—Caves.
Of all ways of travel, surely boat-travel is the most luxurious. For one thing, it is accounted roughing it; and that means that there is no bother about toilets: the easiest boots and gloves, the warmest and most comfortable of clothes, are the appropriate wear. But that seems to be the whole of the roughing of it. For naturally each boat-traveller takes care to start with a favourite chair and a comfortable bed; and it is his cook's business to provide the most recherché of little repasts whenever wanted. What else is he there for? Nor do soufflés and pheasants taste any the worse because the supply of fresh air is unlimited, and the cabin as cosy as nothing but a perfectly well-built house, or a boat floating in water warmer than the surrounding air, can be. The first time we went up to Chungking, we had a sleeping-cabin and sitting-cabin, each 9 ft. 4 in. by 7 ft. 7 in., the former well warmed by a most conveniently arranged kitchen adjoining, with a plentiful 32supply of warm water for our travelling-bath. Thus our only drawback was that the wind was always favourable; and whereas our captain had been bound over to pay us six shillings a day for every day over the agreed-upon twenty-two between Ichang and Chungking, we were equally bound to pay him six shillings a day extra for every day under.
舟行旅行——植被——纖夫——太陽台——金剛山——孟良梯——川藏大道——輪船航行——中國陰間——洞穴
在所有的旅行方式中，舟行無疑是最奢華的。首先，這被認為是粗略的旅行，這意味著不用擔心穿著問題：最舒適的靴子和手套，最溫暖和最舒適的衣服，都是合適的穿著。但這似乎是唯一的粗略之處。因為每位船上旅行者自然都會確保帶上自己喜愛的椅子和舒適的床；而他的廚師的職責就是在需要時提供最精緻的小餐點。廚師的存在就是為了這個目的。更何況，蛋奶酥和野雞的味道並不會因為新鮮空氣的無限供應而變差，船艙也如同一座完美建造的房子般舒適，或者像漂浮在比周圍空氣更溫暖的水中一樣。我們第一次去重慶（Chungking）時，有一間睡艙和一間客艙，各自大小為9英尺4英寸乘7英尺7英寸，前者由毗鄰的廚房便利地供暖，提供充足的熱水供旅行浴使用。因此，我們唯一的缺點是風總是順風；而且由於我們的船長被約定在宜昌（Ichang）和重慶之間的約定二十二天中，每超過一天就要支付我們六先令，我們也同樣約定每少於一天要額外支付他六先令。
BOW OF TRAVELLING-BOAT. By Mrs. Archibald Little.
My first trip up the Gorges was, however, very different. To give its impressions in their freshness, I will quote from a letter written at the time:
"June 20th, 1887.
"It depends, I suppose, a good deal upon how much people like or dislike the journey, whether it is worth while to come half round the world, and then steam a 33thousand nautical miles into the interior of China, in order to visit the Gorges of the Yangtse; but we have just returned from a five-days' trip, and what I have seen far surpasses my anticipations. Indeed, in all my travels, I know no country more altogether delightful. Although it is June, one of the worst seasons for going there, we have been able to walk about all day long, and without getting tired too. The air felt fresh, and, oh! so fragrant with delicious flowers. The feature of the region, of course, is the precipices. I should guess the precipices at nothing under two thousand feet, and perhaps not more than that sheer down, as far as I have seen: sometimes dolomitic white limestone, which 34always reminds me of dead men's bones, sometimes weathered a rich yellow-brown. The grandeur and massiveness of the bastions, and towers of rock, and overhanging pinnacles, and projecting isolated blocks, or pillars, standing bolt upright in fine relief against the sky, are not picturesque like the scenery round Méran, not exciting like some of the Alpine scenery in Switzerland, but awe-inspiring and sublime.
然而，我第一次穿越三峽的旅程卻大不相同。為了保留當時的新鮮印象，我將引用當時寫的一封信：
1887年6月20日
“我想，是否值得繞半個地球旅行，再蒸汽航行一千海里深入中國內地來訪問長江三峽，很大程度上取決於人們對這趟旅程的喜愛程度。不過，我們剛剛結束了一次為期五天的旅行，我所見到的遠遠超出了我的預期。事實上，在我所有的旅行中，我不知道有哪個國家能如此令人愉悅。儘管現在是六月，是去那裡最糟糕的季節之一，我們仍然能夠整天四處走動而不覺得累。空氣清新，哦！還有美味花朵的芳香。當然，這個地區的特點是懸崖峭壁。我猜這些懸崖絕不低於兩千英尺，也許不過如此，至少我所見是這樣的：有時是白色的白雲岩石灰石，總是讓我想起死人的骨頭，有時是風化成富含黃褐色的岩石。城堡的宏偉和厚重，岩石塔樓，懸崖峭壁，突出孤立的岩塊或柱子，筆直地矗立在天空背景下，這些景觀不像梅蘭（Méran）周圍的風景那樣優美，也不像瑞士一些阿爾卑斯山的風景那樣激動人心，但卻令人敬畏和崇敬。
