Villages were passed in rapid succession, and the density of the population was in agreeable contrast to the desolation of many parts of the lower Amoor.  It was a panorama of houses, temples, groves, and fields, with a surrounding of rich meadows and gentle hills.  There was a range of low mountains in the background, but on the Russian shore the flat prairie continued.

In the middle of the afternoon we passed the town of Yah-tou-kat-zou, situated on the Chinese shore where the river makes a bend toward the north and east.  It had nothing of special interest, but its gardens were more extensive and more numerous than in the villages below.  Just above it there was a bay forming a neat harbor containing several boats and barges.  When the Chinese controlled the Amoor they occupied this bay as a dock-yard and naval station.  Had my visit been ten or twelve years earlier I should have seen several war junks anchored here.  When the Russians obtained the river the Chinese transferred their navy to the Songaree.

From this ancient navy yard the villages stretched in a nearly continuous line along the southern bank, and were quite frequent on the northern one.  We saw three Manjour women picking berries on the Russian shore.  One carried a baby over her shoulders much after the manner of the American Indians.  These women wore garments of blue cotton shaped much like the gowns of the Russian peasants.  Near them a boat was moving along the shore, carrying a crew consisting of a man, a boy, and a dog.  The boat, laden with hay, was evidently destined for ‘cows and a market.’  Near it was another boat rowed by two men, carrying six women and a quantity of vegetables.  Some of the women were sorting the vegetables, and all watched our boat with interest.  From the laughter as we passed I concluded the remarks on our appearance were not complimentary.

The scene on this part of the river was picturesque.  There were many boats, from the little canoe or ‘dug-out,’ propelled by one man, up to the barge holding several tons of merchandise.  The one-man boats were managed with a double-bladed oar, such as I have already described.  Nearly every boat that carried a mast had a flag or streamer attached to it, and some had dragons’ heads on their bows.  Would Lindley Murray permit me to say that I saw one barge manned by ten women?

[Illustration:  FISHING IMPLEMENTS.]

Though subsisting mainly by agriculture and pastoral pursuits, the Manjours devote considerable time to fishing.  One fishing implement bore a faint resemblance to a hand-cart, as it had an axle with two small wheels and long handles.  A frame over the axle sustained a pole, to which a net was fastened.  The machine could be pushed into the water and the net lowered to any position suitable for entrapping fish.

Occasionally I saw a native seated on the top of a tripod about ten feet high, placed at the edge of the river.  Here he fished with pole, net, or spear, according to circumstances.  He always appeared to me as if left there during a freshet and waiting for the river to rise and let him off.