Items

• 01 Dangerous Rapids on the Yangtze River
  Image of Yangtze shoals. This refers to the German steamer Sui Hsiang which, on its maiden voyage in 1900, struck this rock and sank within 15 minutes. Two CIM missionaries who were on board were saved by the Chinese lifeboats that were stationed here due to the frequency of accidents at this place (Davidson 1905).
• Horse Carriage in Victoria
  Photo shows Newton Bowles in a group of people riding on a horse-drawn carriage through a residential street in Victoria, British Columbia. Three houses are captured in the background. This shows North American transportation at the port where the "Victoria Eight" were about to board the ocean liner, the Empress of China, on their inaugural journey to their chosen mission field in West China.
• Bowles and Friends at Whitby
  Portrait shows 18 women and 6 men at Whitby, Ontario. The group is posed in front of a large tree on the grounds of a church or school visible in the background. The women are lined up with their hands on each other's shoulders. The men are sitting on the ground in the foreground. Two of them are holding up a sign that says, "CHINA." This probably represents a going away party for 6 of the "Victoria Eight" in Bowles' hometown of Whitby, Ontario.
• Six of the Victoria Eight
  Group portrait of six graduates of Victoria College of the eight who joined the Canadian Methodist Mission to China in 1906. Front row (left to right): Newton Bowles, Edward Morgan, Charles Jolliffe; Back row (left to right): William Sibley, Harold Robertson and Edward Wallace.
• 1906-1907 Bowles' First Yangtze River Journey
  Bowles was a member of the "Victoria Eight," graduates of Victoria College at University of Toronto who pledged to become missionaries in China. These six did so, several of them featuring prominently in Bowles' narrative.
• 15 Houseboat with Sail on Yangtze River, 1911
  Looking across the front of a houseboat, the photographer captures two crew members on the deck looking over a placid river to another houseboat is making its way through the gorges. If it is 1911-01-02, then the Johns' would be heading upstream for the first time and the Abrey's would be aboard the companion boat to the Johns'. If Dr. Charles Service and his wife were passengers, then it would be late 1911 or early 1912 when the missionaries were evacuating on the way downstream toward Shanghai and safety from the Nationalist Revolution.
• Captain and Crew of a Yangtze River Houseboat, 1911
  Shot from the back end of a houseboat looking toward the bow, five crew members pose while the captain stands with his back facing the camera, looking towards the companion houseboat, said to be the one with fellow missionaries aboard, which is stuck on a sandbar. Note the rope extending up into the cliffs where the trackers are using it to pull the boat.
• 17 Rapids through a Narrow Pass of the Yangtze River Gorges
  A lone missionary wearing a pith helmet stands on a rocky shore next to a narrow passage of water between two cliff faces.
• 16 Rapids with Missionary Standing on Rocky Shore
  A lone missionary wearing a pith helmet stands on a rocky shore overlooking a river rapids with mountains in the background. Passengers or crew members on the bows of both boats watch the procedure.
• 09 Johns' and Abreys' Houseboat Beached for the Night between Hankow and Ichang
  Houseboat with sail down anchored at a rocky shoreline with a calm Yangtze River and rocky opposite shore in background. Inscription on the back describes the scene. The location is likely the first overnight stop on the houseboat after leaving the steamboat at Hankow (current Wuhan), which would have been near present day Yanziwo, Hubei. Frederick William Baller wrote grammar books with Wade-Giles romanization.
• 19 A Chinese Cemetery with a Wealthy Man's Grave in Foreground
  Scene shows a hillside covered with graves. In the foreground is a very large mausoleum with three tiers, said to be the grave of a wealthy man. A lone leafless tree stands on the grave partially obscurring a mountain range in the background behind.
• 14 Trackers Pulling Johns's and Abrey's Houseboats
  A large group of men called "trackers" on a rocky shoreline pull a junk (Chinese houseboat) up river by means of long ropes. These trackers are probably the crew of the junk who would also row the boat when conditions permitted. Further up river in the Yangtze Gorges, up to 100 additional local trackers were needed to get the boats through the rapids.
• 11 Houseboat Stuck on Sandbar with Military Men in Foreground
  Seven men with various guns and amunition stand on the shore in the foreground. In the background dozens of men are attempting to dislodge a large houseboat from being stuck on a sandbar. A group of passengers stand on board awaiting the outcome. The boat flies a Canadian flag of that time period.
• 10 Two Houseboats on Yangtze with Four Missionaries
  Two houseboats are seen anchored on the shore with two missionaries standing in foreground - Gordon Jones on right and unknown on left. Two missionary women are on the boat on the left. Also on that boat can be seen a Chinese mother and child, and many crew members on the deck. Similarly, the crew on the right boat are out on the deck, probably preparing and eating a meal.
• 13 Village on the Yangtze River with Smoke Rising
  This image, which bears the caption "Yangtze Village on River," portrays a village with copious amounts of smoke rising and a pagoda in the background. Is this the normal smoke from evening hearth fires, or a tragic event of warfare or banditry?
• Houseboats Beached on Shore Near Cliff
  Many houseboats are beached on a shore with a large looming cliff behind. Many people stand near the boats and on the shore. Some of the boats have flags, including one American one. The same location as in AEJ_12.
• Houseboat Crew Working when Moored for Night
  In the foreground manual laborers carry buckets and perform other duties for the boat, crew and passengers on the nightly stopover. The houseboat has laundry drying on a line between the mast and cabin, as well as mats covering the deck. In the background a building sits about a quarter way up the steep incline of the opposite shore. The same location as in AEJ_12.
• Houseboat Moored for Night
  In lower right corner of the image is a houseboat on the very calm waters of a very narrow portion or branch of the Yangtze River. In the background is a rocky shore and steep cliff with an elevated building on the left and a pagoda on the peek in the upper right. The same location as in AEJ_14.
• Yangtze River Boats at Shore
  A group of four houseboats are at the edge of a rocky shoreline on the Yangtze River. The opposite shoreline is visible in the background. This is the upper Yangtze above Ichang during the Johns's first trip to West China.
• 1910-1911 Johns' First Yangtze River Journey
  Alfred and Myrtle Madge Johns of the Canadian Methodist Mission took their first trip to West China leaving Vancouver on the Empress of Russia in 1910 and travelling up the Yangtze River in December 1910 through January 1911. Alfred took photographs of scenes and stops along the way, documenting their progress from Shanghai up through the Yangtze Gorges to Chongqing in great detail.
• 12 A Chinese Gunboat on the Yangtze
  A boat with flags is parked at the river shoreline where several women are washing their clothes in the water. The boat has several flags folded above the cabin. Steep cliffs are seen on the opposite shore in the background.
• The Riverboat Captain Getting a Haircut
  A Chinese riverboat captain is seated and posing in the formal posture of the upper classes, while a man at his side prepares to cut his cue. Following the 1911 declaration of liberation, men stuggled in the decision to cut their cues, a symbol of imperial domination. If the revolutionaries were not successful, having no cue would be a visible sign of siding with the rebels. Both men wear padded cotton gowns. A man in the background appears to be carrying some food on a tray. The scene takes place on the riverbank.
• The Riverboat Captain with His Son and Crew
  A group of Chinese stand on a rocky shore. The man in the center is the riverboat captain of the Service's boat. He is holding the Johns' captain's infant grandson, who wears a hat with protective talismans. On his right stands the Johns' captains daughter wearing a white side-closing gown. The two men wearing caps are the Chinese language teachers of the Johns and Services.
• Row of Houseboats Tied to Shore on the Yangtze River
  A group of four houseboats are at the edge of a rocky shoreline on the Yangtze River. The opposite shoreline is visible in the background. This is the upper Yangtze above Ichang during the Johns's first trip to West China.
• 06 Sailboat on Lower Yangtze River
  Small sailboat with two crew members in the waters of the lower Yangtze where it is wide and calm. The flat countryside of the opposite shoreline is visible in the background.