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Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023274172 
 
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 FURTHER REPORT 
 
 ON THK 
 
 BORE OP THE TSIEN-TANG-KIANG. 
 
 I5Y 
 
 Captain W. U. MOORE, R.N., H.M.S. " Penguin." 
 
 1892. 
 
 PWBLISHBD BY ORDER OF THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THE ADMIRALTY. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOE THE HYDE06RAPHIC OFFICE, ADMIRALTY, 
 
 By DARLING & SON, Ltd., 1, 2, 3, & 5, Great St. Thomas Apostle, 
 
 AND SOLD BY 
 
 J. D. POTTEB, Agent for the Sale of Admiralty Charts, 
 31 POULTRY, AND 11, KING STREET, TOWER HILL, 
 
 1893. 
 
 Price Ninepence. 
 
 Cornell University Library 
 GC 376.M82 1892 
 
 Further report on the bore of the Tsien' 
 
FURTHER , REPORT 
 
 ON THE 
 
 BOEE or THE TSIEN-TANG-KIANG, 
 
 BY 
 
 Captain W. U. MOORE, R.N., H.M.S. " Penguin." 
 
 1892. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDBH OP THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THE ADMIRALTY. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE HYDRO&RAPHIC OFEICB, ADMIRALTY. 
 
 Bt darling & SON, Ltd., 1, 2, 3, & 5, Great St. Thomas Apostle, 
 
 AND SOLD BY 
 
 J. D. POTTEK, Agent for the Sale of Admiralty Chaki's, 
 31 POULTRY, AHD 11, KING STREET, TOWER HILL 
 
 1893. 
 Price Ninftpencd. 
 
CHINA. 
 
 REPORT ON THE BORE OF THE TSIEN-TANft- 
 
 KIANG. 
 
 H.M.S. " Penguin," 
 
 Chinhai, 
 
 15th November 1892- 
 Sir, 
 
 When making my report to you in 1888 on the Bore of the 
 Tsien-tang-kiang, it was a matter of regret to me that I had no photo6 
 to attach ; and on my return to the north of China I determined, if 
 possible, to procure a photographer to accompany me to Haining to 
 obtain pictures of the phenomenon at the time of full moon following 
 Autumnal Equinox. When we arrived in Shanghai in Seg^tember, 
 Mr. E. Q. Cooper, a chemist, of the firm of Messrs. Watson & Co., 
 agreed to go. I asked Mr. Walker, Chief Engineer, to accompany me, 
 and we started on the 2nd October, intending to photograph the Bores 
 of October full moon in Perigee and three succeeding days. 
 
 Full moon at 2h. 14m., October 6th. 
 
 Perigee at Ih. Om., October 7th. 
 
 Declination of moon at full, .5° 38' N., increasing. 
 
 Declination of sun, 5° 26' S., increasing. 
 
 Latitude place, 30° 24' N. 
 
 Mr. Cooper took with him a large camera with 10" x 8" plates; I 
 had a half plate camera. Mr. Walker agreed to observe the phases of 
 the Bore from the pagoda. We arrived at Haining on the afternoon of 
 the 5th. 
 
 Unfortunately we only enjoyed one sunny day, the 6th. On the 
 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th, the sun was behind clouds. On the 7th and 8lh 
 it rained slightly at intervals. This gloomy weather has, to a certain 
 extent spoilt the photos as pictures ; but for purposes of discussion 
 as to form, height, &c., they seem to be good enough. 
 
 It is not easy to photograph a Bore. In the first place there is the 
 difficulty of focus. No boat, of course, is in the river for 5 hours 
 before the flood comes in ; and, in fine weather, there is not sufficient 
 S 11508— 200— 2/93 Wt 24738 D & S, 
 
ripple to make a definition clea?- eaoijigii for the purpose. Then, 
 whatever place is selected, it must not be less than 14 feet above the 
 low line of the river, and somewhere at the side. The speed at which 
 the flood approaches is so great, (20 feet a second,) that tl^e. exp.o,8Tjre 
 must be limited to a fraction of a second. See this impression of a 
 half plate, which I exposed by cap, for one second. 
 
 If the sun is obscured, as it generally was with us at the time the 
 Bore passed, this great speed gives th^ photographer a poor chance. 
 Finally, no photo, whiqh gives a distinct view of the front of the Bore 
 within, .5,00 yards, co^iprises more than a portion of its breadth ; and 
 as the camera is, necessarily, much nearer one side, the highest part 
 of the cascade, which'is 350 yards from the Haining shore and retarded, 
 is not shown to advantage in perspective. 
 
 We found that the buttress west of the pagoda had beea backed up 
 on its western side by a massive stone wall, the- top of which was 
 lf> feet above low water. Mr. Gooper established himself on the edge 
 of'.this w^l, at a distance of 50 yards from the western- fascines of'the 
 buttress, and 80 to 90 yards from the spot where the left or- northern 
 edge of the cascade comes round the buttress. From this position he- 
 observed the Bore every day ; and on the 7th, 8-th, Sth and'- lOth he 
 managed to take it when its foot reached identically the same spot. 
 On the 6th (the only day he had the sun), he took it when it was 
 some 200 yards east of the buttress. The picture then, obtained, 
 though of no use for purposes of comparison with those of the 
 succeeding days, gives a good general idea of an average Bore on the 
 day of full moon ; and it comprises a greater breadth than those taken 
 nearer, possibly it takes in as much as one-third of the whole line of 
 cascade. 
 
 The buttress is 27 feet above low water. People standing near the 
 edge, but not actually on the parapet would be, say, 31 feet above 
 low water. The distance from the camera to the south or right edge 
 of the photograph was f ron^. 40O to 450 yaj-d.s. Oijly 350 yar,dg..of! tjip 
 cascade is included in the picture, but we tliink that thp higl^est paiji 
 of the cascade just comes iii, 
 
 My photographs, with half plate camera, were taken from various 
 buttresses. On the 6th I was on the second buttress west of Haining, 
 ahpu^. Qiip^^.ij).jle froiqa tj^e pagoda and, 28 feet above th§. rjy.er ;. on thp 
 7tl},^ftf} 8th, on, th§. first but,tpess,WQst qf tJiB pagoda (thftt wl^ich is 
 in^M^.Qoop^r/s picture), 31 fset ajjpye.the r.iver ; andioq.tte 9.tfe ap(l. 
 
lOtb. oa the- buttress 500 yards east of the pagoda, 3& feet abov& thS' 
 riyer* 
 
 Tile principar results obtained by the the photos are the exhibition of 
 the extreme regularity of the datlyiform of the bore*, the convexity of 
 the flood, and a better td'ea of height than can be suggested by any 
 deecriptions. 
 
 Ti=e \KegAher during our stay at Hainjiag was "vteiry naufih th* sainae' 
 throughout,, the river being undisturbed. On iim 8th, 9th aad 10th.. 
 stroftg N.E.. winds prev^ed in, the Chusan. ArchipelagQ, (-P.. & 0... 
 S.S, " Bokhara, " left on 8th), but in the rive-Bjthe wnde. were ligiht firom 
 north, and the water smooth. 
 
 As regards the main features of the phenomenon, I have very little 
 to add to my report of 1888. The Bore which we considered the 
 highest was on the 9th, and attained an altitude over the deepest pari 
 of the river channel of 12 feet. This was a somewhat remarkable 
 Bore, About 1^ million of tons of water passed in one min.ute. 
 Directly the cascade had passed, Mr. Cooper reversed his slide and 
 took the buttress again (h.e tells, me in less than a minute from, the 
 first photo). Please notice the vei;y small space between the top, of 
 the cascade on the right of the picture,, and the horizon. I should 
 say about one-fourth the height of the cascade. Agjiin,. take the 
 difference of height of water at the buttress before and after the Bore, 
 remeijabering that the latter photo was- taikeni Ipng* before the flood 
 had' lost' its. convexity ;■ or take the height of the man,, divide him 
 
 by 5 „ ' y^'^ /* .' and'' compare this dividend' with the right part of 
 oU yards 
 
 the cascade. 1 think you will allow that 12 feet is not too great 
 
 an assessment forheight. The camera was lO'ffeet'high. 
 
 The statement made toi me by, theiHaining people- in- 1888 that. tbe,> 
 highest tides, reached, to. wthin. 2. feet of the top of, the sea. w«lli 
 abreaftti the pagpda> (pages 23, Beport).wasj corroborated, on this viaii.. 
 On the 8th, high water was 1 foot 6 inches from the top of the waU,.»,&,. 
 a range of 22 feet for the day, the Bore being 11 feet high ; and on 
 the 9th, the water was only & inched' lowerj 
 
 On the 8th, Chinese. 18th day of the.8thi Moon, the Tao taii of, 
 Hajig, Chan, and, some • 5,000 tp 6.000 peopja assembled om the. wall; to.. 
 
 *'Only two of the series of photographs are reproduced with this pnntof the report 
 Thf»e< tws> Jbtare been selected i as- giying^the-besti gm&nei. ide«,-Qf.'the-b<»re^ antdliuw 
 Tgi»ij?^ja,ii,Tip.,^d.. 
 
6 
 
 witness the passage of the Bore, and propitiate the God of the waters 
 by throwing in offerings on to the flood. On this, and the following 
 day, the rebound from the sea wall, and sudden heaping up of tjie 
 waters as the flood conformed to the narrow mouth of the river, here 
 barely one mile wide at low water, was a magnificent spectacle. A 
 series of breakers were formed on the back of the advancing flood, 
 which, for over 5 minutes, were not less than 25 feet above the level 
 of the river in front of the Bore. The height of my' eye was, on the 
 8th, 31 feet ; on the 9th, 28 feet ; and the top of these rollers were 
 much higher than the horizon for some time : the distance of the 
 cascade being in the first instance about 2 miles, in the second about 
 1^ miles from my place of observation. 
 
 There is no doubt that the flood has a convex transverse surface on 
 entering the river, and it did not appear to me to flatten out to the 
 side for a long time after the Bore passed. This convexity, which 
 occurs partly from the heaping up of the waters in the middle on 
 entering the mouth of the river from the broader estuary, and partly 
 from the ever-recurring deflection caused by the numerous buttresses, 
 is noticeable in photos 4, 6, 11 on the sheet of smaller photos ; but as 
 the highest portion is retarded and consequently further from the 
 camera, it is not always so conspicuous in photos as you might expect 
 from the report. 
 
 On the 9th, no less than 30 junks were swept up in the after-rush, 
 and passed Haining with all sail set, but their bows in every direction, 
 several proceeding stern first at a rate of 10 knots towards the City of 
 Hang chau. 
 
 All these Perigee Bores were before their time, as might be expected ; 
 and they were travelling faster than usual. That of the 10th was 
 1^ hours early, and travelling at the rate of 14 knots an hour. The 
 night Bores of the 6th, 7th and 8th were distinctly heard 1^ hours 
 before they arrived, when they must have been at least 12 miles 
 distant. 
 
 By this mail, I am sending, by parcels post, a hinged box with some 
 ' photos, which I hope you will accept. As a picture, you will probably 
 consider the large one of the 10th the best. Mr. Cooper exposed for 
 one-fiftieth of a second. Had the sun been out, he would have 
 succeeded in producing a beautiful picture. On the 9th, the sun 
 was out, and actually shining on the part of the Bore not in the field 
 of the lens, which was most exasperating. On the 10th I got a profile 
 
view of the cascade (the last photo on the right hand lower comer of 
 the card with the series) just as it passed me at the east buttress, 
 2^ minutes before it came to Mr. Cooper, which gives a notion of the 
 flood fighting its way against the river stream. As I have before 
 remarked, all the photos are from too high a position to do justice to 
 the scene. 
 
 Attached is a list and description of the photos on the second card. 
 
 I have the honour to be, 
 Sir, 
 Tour obedient Servant, 
 
 W. USBORNE MOORE, 
 
 Captain. 
 
 Captain W. J. L. WHARTON, R.N., F.R.S., 
 Hydrographer. 
 
LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OPFICfi, 
 
 By darling & SON, Ltd., 1, 2, 3, & 5, Geeat St. Thomas Apostm, E.G. 
 
 1898. 
 
-\ 
 
 •.^dftewjiiieca.' 
 
 Bore of the 10"- October 1892 
 
 DISTANT 100 YARDS. 
 

 "Llitf'-.Tiim^Si*^- 
 
 
 
 Bore of the 67 October 1892. 
 
 DISTANT % OF A MILE.