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Chapter
VIII
Inland Communication
FROM one end of the Chinese Empire to
the other there is not an instance of a road
whose quality would be termed in any other
country as even moderately good. China's riv-
ers and waterways are her highways, and it is on
them that she relies for means of internal com-
munication. In the way of rivers and sea-coast,
nature has been most liberal. Her coast line is
as long as both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of
the United Statesthat is, as long as the distance
from Florida to Maine added to the distance from
Southern California to Washington, and from it
there are noble rivers penetrating to the very
western confines of the Empire.
No attempt has been made by the Chinese of
their own motion to improve the rivers by remov-
ing their bars or deepening their channels in
order to render them more navigable. Such a
course for the general good is still far beyond
Chinese comprehension. Along the coast and for
short distances in the estuaries, the Government,
through the agency of the Maritime Customs and
Sir Robert Hart, has established and maintains
light-houses, has located beacons and buoys mark-
ing channels and dangerous places, while other
Governments, principally the British, have sur-
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