A Puh hai is said to be a "Gulf," and we find a Gulf—the Gulf of California—at the mouth of the Colorado.
It should, however, be observed that the term Puh by itself stands for "an arm of the sea." A Puh hai is a Gulf which forms "an arm of the sea." The Gulf or sea should be shaped like an arm—an arm of the ocean (see Williams' dict. p. 718.)
Now, a glance at the map shows that in a very peculiar sense the Gulf of California is a hai or "sea" which meets the requirements of being shaped like an arm. It is a sea and a gulf and at the same time "an arm" of the ocean. Truly it is a Puh hai.
A great many "gulfs" are quite unlike "arms," being too broad to admit of such a comparison. But our Gulf of California is comparatively narrow and is truly an "arm" of the sea. And notice how the water of the river—our Colorado—"accumulates and so forms a gulf." Such are the words of the existing translation and they apply completely to the American situation. Here we find the water of the Colorado accumulating or widening out until it becomes a great body of water—a Gulf. Indeed this development or process of expansion is so gradual that it is impossible for navigators to tell where the river ends or the gulf begins.
In the Chinese comment immediately before us, however, the hai or sea to the Canyon's river mouth is called a Sheu.
Now this term signifies "to rinse the mouth, to scour; to wash out a thing; to purify." (Williams, p. 757.)
The word Sheu is written by combining the characters for "water" and "to suck in."
It is evident that our Gulf of California is "an arm of the sea" and no less a Sheu. A "mouth" it undoubtedly has, and this mouth is being ceaselessly "washed," "scoured," and "purified." Even a dentist would be satisfied! The immense stream rushes out, and tides from the Pacific rush in. Moreover the Colorado "sucks in" the tidal wave known as the Bore. Surely we have here the Eastern Gulf sea which is both a Puh and a Sheu.
The water of the noisy, restless, purifying stream within the Ta-Hoh was it is said,—
1. Yu (which means "used or employed.")