October 16, 1917 At breakfast time we were steaming up the muddy waters of the Gulf of Pechili through the arid debris carried down by the Hwang Ho which is now in flood and has broken its banks and drowned hundreds of Chinese south of Tientsin. We reached the sandbar at 10am and dropped anchor to await high tide for crossing. The Captain said that in mid-Winter, the bay and approach to Taku are frozen over and vessels must break through it for a month or more. I was surprised that it is so cold so far south as this bay considering how tropical Hong Kong is at no great distance south. The bar has recently silted up and now only a very shallow draft vessel can cross. The Tungchow discharged all her cargo into lighters to allow her to cross, but at 2pm it was very windy and the water too shallow so we remained at anchor for the whole day, but will cross tonight at 3am at high tide. The shore line with a few buildings near Taku is just visible.