In modern times of our country, there were many rivers which occupied great facilities for freight traffic, and opened inland ports up to the interiors.
Thrown light in this essay is the development of both rivers where lie in the upper course of the Chikugo and the connection with their hinterlands.
The both rivers of which beds show the gradient of one in 200 are rich in rapids and torrents. The reason by which those rivers had become to be opened as transport facilities caused from the conveyance of various kinds of products from the hinterlands covering two basins of Hita and Kusu and such valleys as Oyama and Tsue.
The traffic by boat ranked high in those times as means of transport facilties. Prior to the opening of traffic route up to Mameda-machi and Kuma-machi where lie in the center of Hita basin, the former set a vote on this plan from the reason that the plan would cause the prosperity of Kumamachi and the decline of Mameda-machi.
The hope to traffic route, however, was gradually elevated and the pending problem was settled with the condition to utilize irrigation flume having many limits as traffic route (1825).
Thus, the above two towns built river ports and owned 26 boats, respectively. Moreover, the hinterlands of both sides of the river were justly divided into two parts lest each of them should have different conditons.
As the feaudalistic connection with which the traffic was governed was dissolved in the Restoration of 1868, Mameda-machi was declined due to the inconvenience in geographical conditions and the other side Kuma-machi prospered until the time of the opening to railway traffic. The success of water transport made along the Hita promoted the opening of traffic also in case of the Kusu in 1845, accompanying with the quickness of transport plan covering areas of Oyama dnd Tsue.

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