[142] Marco Polo describes very well how the bamboo in China is twisted or plaited into cordage. He says: “They have canes of the length of fifteen paces, which they split, in their whole length, into very thin pieces, and these, by twisting them together, they form into ropes three hundred paces long. So skilfully are they manufactured, that they are equal in strength to cordage made of hemp.”
[143] I take this description from two photographs belonging to the Church Missionary Society.
[144] On the 4th of August this important bridge was guarded by Territorials.
[145] Not all bridges should be military, of course, since those near a frontier may have to be destroyed at a moment’s notice in order to check the advance of a surprise attack.
RAIN
APPENDICES
APPENDIX I
CHINESE GABLED BRIDGES