Archibald John Little, Alicia Little Editor Across Yunnan a Journey of Surprises Cambridge Library Collection - Travel and Exploration 2010

Travel and ExplorationThe history of travel writing dates back to the Bible, Caesar, the Vikings and the Crusaders, and its many themes include war, trade, science and recreation. Explorers from Columbus to Cook charted lands not previously visited by Western travellers, and were followed by merchants, missionaries, and colonists, who wrote accounts of their experiences. The development of steam power in the nineteenth century provided opportunities for increasing numbers of ‘ordinary’ people to travel further, more economically, and more safely, and resulted in great enthusiasm for travel writing among the reading public. Works included in this series range from first-hand descriptions of previously unrecorded places, to literary accounts of the strange habits of foreigners, to examples of the burgeoning numbers of guidebooks produced to satisfy the needs of a new kind of traveller - the tourist.

Across YunnanPublished posthumously in 1910, Archibald Little’s memoir of his journey across the Yunnan Province in Southwest China was one of the first comprehensive accounts of the region to be published in English. Little, a skilled linguist, worked as a merchant in China for over fifty years and opened up the Upper Yangtze area to steam-powered commerce. He was well known for his intrepid travels into territories not yet explored by Westerners, and his record of this journey was originally published as a series of letters to the North China Herald. This book also contains Little’s account of the building of the French Railway Line to Yunnan-Fu, which provided a trade route from India to the Upper Yangtze region. Across Yunnan was completed and edited by Little’s wife after his death in 1908. The book includes a detailed map of the area and several photographs.

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Across YunnanA Journey of Surprises

Archibald John L it tle Edited by Alicia L it tle

CAmBRID gE UnIVERSIt Y PRESS

Cambridge, new York, melbourne, madrid, Cape town, Singapore, São Paolo, Delhi, Dubai, tokyo

Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, new York

www.cambridge.orgInformation on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781108014090

© in this compilation Cambridge University Press 2010

This edition first published 1910This digitally printed version 2010

ISBn 978-1-108-01409-0 Paperback

This book reproduces the text of the original edition. The content and language reflect the beliefs, practices and terminology of their time, and have not been updated.

Cambridge University Press wishes to make clear that the book, unless originally published by Cambridge, is not being republished by, in association or collaboration with, or

with the endorsement or approval of, the original publisher or its successors in title.

ACROSS YUNNAN

ACROSSYUNNAN:

A Journey of SurprisesIncluding an Account of theRemarkable French Railway Linenow completed to Yunnan-fu

BY

ARCHIBALD LITTLEAUTHOR OF

" THROUGH THE YANGTSE GORGES "" TO MOUNT OMI AND BEYOND ""THE FAR EAST"

EDITED BY

MRS. ARCHIBALD LITTLE

WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAP

LONDON

SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO., LTD.1910

EDITORIAL NOTEORIGINALLY written as letters to the North China Herald,of which my husband's brother, R. W. Little, was thenthe Editor, and now for the first time publishedin England by the kind permission of the presentEditor, this volume lacks the final corrections of theauthor; although in Shanghai he wrote the intro-duction here given. Before publishing it in book formhe wished, I think, to add to it and somewhat toremodel it. But the time for that never came.

Now, however, that the French have so far com-pleted their railway from Hanoi to Yunnan-fu, thatit is to be officially opened on April 1st, 1910, I havedone my very imperfect best to revise the volume,as I think my husband would have wished, and tobring it out also in April as a tribute to that Frenchenterprise on which he touches so often with warmadmiration in these pages. Had he lived, I know whatvaluable additions they would have gained from hisrichly-stored memory and original tone of thought;whereas I could but diminish the value of what he haswritten by additions. Regarded as his freshly-writtenimpressions of our last travel together in China, thefollowing pages will, I hope, convey to the readersomething of his intense enjoyment at the time.

I must acknowledge the kindness of Major H. R.Davies in allowing use to be made of a portion of thevaluable map at the end of his " Yunnan, the linkbetween India and the Yang-tse " (Cambridge UniversityPress), in place of the rough outline map sketched atthe time by the Author, as also of Major L. Fraser'shelp in the matter.

MILES.6020

132107152

STAGES42657

ITINERARY

LAND ROUTE FROM SUI-FU TOYUNNAN-FU

Sui-fu to Szechuan BorderSzechuan Border to Lao-wa-t'an..Lao-wa-t'an to Chao-tungChao-tung to Tung-chuanTung-chuan to Yunnan-seng

471 24YUNNAN-FU

TO HONGKONGLand journey from Yunnan-fu to

M&ng-tse, via the Y-liang defileand the Chen-kiang lake, 720 li,say 215 12

Land journey from Meng-tse toMan-hao, 130 li, say . . . . 39 2

Man-hao to Lao-kai, by Red River 70 1

N. B— The distance by the new 319 15direct alignment fromYunnan-fu to Lao-kai is448-2 kilometers = miles280.

Lao-kai to Yen-bay by Red River . .Yen-bay to Hanoi do.Hanoi to Haiphong by rail . .

N.B.—The distance by the 268 3railway direct from Lao-kaito Haiphong will be 395kilometers = miles 247.

Haiphong to Hongkong, viaPak-hoi,Hoi-how, and Kwang-chow-wan, by sea . . . . . . 580 4

1,167 22

9111562

111

INTRODUCTION

Yunnan is situated in the S.W. corner of the ChineseEmpire proper and is a mountain-covered plateau,—nota simple tableland or " Hochebene," as is the Mongolianplateau in greater part. It averages 5,000 feet abovethe sea-level in the actual and dried-up lake basins thatyield a limited level area between the mountains, and8 to 10,000 feet in its innumerable mountain crests;whereby is indicated the general ancient level of thewhole plateau. It may be classed as a S.E. peninsularextension of the high Tibetan plateau to which it isdirectly attached on its N.W. border. It is the thirdlargest province of the empire and covers an area of108,000 square miles. Compare Great Britain with88,000 square miles and Tonking with 50,000. Insituation and climate it bears a marked analogy to thatof the high plateau of Mexico, the mean temperature ofwhich likewise ranges from 60° to 70° (the extremes being50° to 86°). The new French Railway from Haiphongto Yunnan-fu may be compared with that from VeraCruz to Mexico, which rises 8,000 feet in 263 miles withgradients of 2.51 per 100. The population was estimatedby Davenport in 1877 to have fallen, in consequenceof the ruthless extermination of the Mahomedans

8 INTRODUCTION

and the mutual massacres of the contending parties,from the original estimate in 1850 of 6,000,000, to about1,000,000. But, owing to the great recuperative powersof the Chinese, as well as by immigration from over-populated Szechuan and from the adjoining province ofKweichow, the population is now believed to haveincreased, during the generation that has succeededthe suppression of the Mahomedan revolt by the captureof Ta-li-fu in January, 1873, to about 12,000,000,—almostthe full number that this rugged province is capable ofsupporting.

The Yunnan plateau falls abruptly to the valley of theYangtse to the north, to the valleys of the Mekong,Salween, and Irrawaddy on the west and to that of theRed River on the south ; involving, in each case, asudden change from a temperate to a tropical climate,which the inhabitants of the plateau (and vice versathose of the border lands) are unable to withstand :hence the isolation of its people. On the east an easiergradient slopes to the basin of the West River of Canton ;this gradient provides the most convenient access tothe province and a lively traffic by this route formerlyexisted, until it was practically closed by the long con-tinued disturbances in the province of Kwangsi and theresultant prevailing brigandage. This traffic has nowbeen diverted to the more roundabout route via the RedRiver and Tonking. When the intervening countryshall have again been restored to orderly government,a railway along the West River valley will provide theeasiest and most natural means of access from Cantonand Hongkong to the Yunnan plateau.

The general trend of the mountain ranges is from north

INTRODUCTION 9

to south ; hence the difficulty of entering Yunnan fromthe Burma side by way of the present trade route fromBhamo to Tali and so on to Yunnan-fu. The interveningrivers run in deep troughs, difficult to cross, while theTien-shang range west of Tali reaches an elevation of14,000 feet. The ranges in this north-west corner ofthe province are, in fact, long spurs running down fromthe eastern extremity of the great Himalayan range,and alone effectually bar off the province from directaccess to the upper valley of the Irrawaddy, and so fromUpper Burma. On the other hand, it would appearfrom recent surveys that, by the line from Mandalaycrossing the Salween at the Kun-long ferry, a fairlypracticable route, following the north and south trendof the ranges, has been traced up to Ta-li-fu ; and thafcthis western route presents fewer natural difficultiesthan those which the French are successfully surmount-ing in the East. But, like the French line, it passesthrough a very sparsely inhabited country and is thusnot likely, for years to come, to pay as a commercialventure; hence, without some sort of extraneousGovernment support, there is little prospect of its beingbuilt. Yet the supply of Yunnan with the cottonsand hardware it now imports in exchange for its opiumand mining products, would seem to be worth competingfor, even at the cost of some present sacrifice. Britishmanufacturers generally and the merchants of Rangoonin particular, cannot but be interested in the earlydevelopment of a practicable trade route betweenYunnan and Burma; the only present means of inter-communication being a precarious mule track, dangerousat all times, and impassable in the rainy season, which

10 INTRODUCTION

connects Tali with Bhamo by the mountain-barredroute via Te"ng-yueh.

Yunnan lies between the parallels of 21 and 29 latitudenorth and between the meridians of 98 and 106 of longi-tude east: across the province, from Indo-China to theYangtse, the plateau extends for a distance of 600 miles.From Bhamo to Tali the distance is 280 miles, and fromTali to Yunnan-fu 227 miles. Although, as abovestated, the mountain ranges of Yunnan,—northernand western Yunnan especially,—run generally northand south ; yet, through the centre of the province,uniting the eastern and western capitals,—Yunnan-fuand Tali,—there runs an ill-defined backbone from whichradiate north and south valleys, on the slopes of whichthe streams watering these valleys take their rise.Hence these 200 miles, separating the two chief citiesof the province, can be bridged by a line following thisbackbone with comparative ease ; and presuming, asis only natural, that Yunnan, the eastern capital, fallswithin the French " sphere of influence," while Tali,the western capital, drops into the British sphere,then a race will ensue to build this connecting link.From Yunnan-fu to Man-hao the distance is 255 miles,thus making the total travel across the province, eastand west from Bhanio to Man-hao, by the existing traderoute, 761 miles. The general formation of the country,north of Yunnan-fu, as we have told in the account ofour travel, may well be described as " clusters of greylimestone islands emerging from a sea of red clay "—the product of their detritus.

Yunnan is bounded on the north by Tibet and WesternSzechuan, on the east by the provinces of Kweichow

INTKODUCTION 11

and Kwangsi, on the west by the Shan States and Burma,and on the south by Tonking, the French Laos States,and the British Shan States of Xientong and Xienhung;the point of junction where " three Empires meet,"being on the Mekong river, 30 miles south of the Yunnan-ese town of Kien-hong.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

IRRIGATING WHEEL . . . . FrontispieceFACE PiOB

F I R S T B R E A C H I N B A R R A G E ACROSS M I N R I V E R . 14

W A T C H T O W E R O N P R O V I N C I A L B O U N D A R Y . . 22

C O R K - S C R E W S T A I R C A S E U P T H E L I - S H A N - T I N G . 28

S T E E P S T E P S I N M A I N R O A D 28

K I A N G - T I B R I D G E 38

O U T S I D E A Y U N N A N T O W N 48

S O L I T A R Y H O R S E M A N 48

S T O N E C O L U M N N E A R C H A O - T U N G - F U . . . 60

B U L L O C K C A R T O U T S I D E M E N G - T S E . . . 60

V I C E R O Y T S E N C H U N - H S U A N W I T H H I S T W O L I T T L E

S O N S 80

S W A L L O W S ' C A V E F R O M T E R R A C E . . . . 1 1 0

P A C K A N I M A L S 110

S W A L L O W S ' C A V E F R O M B E L O W . . . . 1 1 4

G A T E W A Y O N M E N G - T S E P A S S . . . . 122

O P I U M S M O K I N G 136

ACROSS YUNNAN

PART I

BETWEEN TWO CAPITALSFrom May 2—June 12

TJAVING found the province of Yunnan andthe journey thither very different from my

expectations, notwithstanding that I had readalmost everything written on the subject, Ithink others may like to hear more about thisunique region and to read the fresh impressionsmade upon an old traveller in visiting thissequestered corner of the empire. The pro-vince of Yunnan is farther of special interest atthe moment, since its boundaries have becomecoterminous with those of the British Indianand of the French Indo-Chinese empires; andthat a race has set in between the two Powersfor the development of their respective interestsin this land of great potentialities—a race in

13

14 ACROSS YUNNAN

which undoubtedly so far our French friendsare a good first.

From the capital of Szechuan to the capital ofYunnan, a distance of 700 miles by the nearestroad, but of little more than five degrees oflatitude, the time occupied by us in the journeywas exactly forty days. The water in thebranch of the Min river that washes the walls ofthe provincial capital being, at the time of ourdeparture, the end of April, very low, in con-sequence of the irrigation requirements of thegreat Chengtu plain ; we started out from thecity by the land route to Kia-ting, proceedingthence by boat to Sui-fu and thence again forthe remainder of the journey by land, therebeing in Yunnan no alternative choice ofwater carriage such as we find in so many of, ifnot all, the other provinces of China, and notablyin the well-watered province of Szechuan.

We travelled to Kia-ting by way of Mei-chou,a district artificially irrigated in the simple butmarvellously effective manner devised by thehydraulic engineers of old—the westernmostarm of the Min river, as it descends from thehigh mountains to the north of Kwan-hien, being

BETWEEN TWO CAPITALS 15

utilised for this region. A barrage of bouldercrates, over one mile in length, laid diagonallyacross the stream, holds the water up ten feetabove its natural level and diverts it into a net-work of channels skilfully planned to cover thewhole plain between Hsin-tsing (New ford) andKia-ting, a distance north and south of aboutsixty miles.

The vegetation was wonderfully varied in thisdistrict. We saw at once rape being reaped,buckwheat in full flower and looking like heatherin the distance under clumps of trees, wheatripening to harvest, oats and rye ripe, poppyplants, some in flower, some with their headsalready slashed to extract the opium juice;groves of trees, fine Nan-mu in fresh green dress,bamboos sending forth new shoots, funerealcypress with graceful pendulous branches, alders,Hoang-ko trees (Ficus Infectoria), and mulberrytrees grown for feeding silk worms. This wasbefore we took to our boats. The Min river wasvery pretty at times, being beautifully wooded,with many oaks among the trees. We lookedlongingly on the road leading to magnificentMount Omi, about thirty miles to the west.

16 ACEOSS YUNNAN

Han-yang-fu we found mostly burnt down,through the over-turning of a candle at theworship of the silkworms, thirteen days before.We had twice before passed this way, and,curiously enough, each time found this citymostly burnt down.

From Kia-ting onwards, our progress wasagreeably accelerated by a sudden freshet; theTung river, which descends from Ta-chien-luand from Ya-chou in two branches, being at thetime in spate : we thus made the 100 miles fromKia-ting to Sui-fu at an average speed of sevenmiles an hour, shooting a constant successionof fierce rapids, and so reaching Sui-fu in oneday's journey.

Sui-fu is an important distributing mart,situated at the point of junction of the Min withthe Kin-sha,—the " small river " as it is styledby the Sui-fu folk, navigation on the Kin-sha,the main branch of the Yangtse, as marked inour maps, ceasing a short distance above Sui-fu;whereas the Min river, in its different branches,is navigable for hundreds of miles, and is themain channel of communication with Chengtuand all the wide country to the north and west.


The Min too at this season brings down thelarger body of water, until later, in June, theKin-sha begins to swell, as the monsoon rainsgain force in Yunnan and bring about thegreat summer freshets of the main Yangtsestream. Hence travellers, as well as goodsproceeding from Szechuan to Yunnan, take theland road at Sui-fu, which, by way of the Yunnanprefectural cities of Chao-tung and Tung-chuan,leads to Yunnan-fu, in a journey of twenty-fourstages,—not including necessary halts to restthe coolies.

With our servants we started from Sui-fu onMay 13, a party of twelve carrying coolies, sixcarrying the great kangs of the province,large receptacles into which every kind of thingcan be crammed at the last moment; twosedan chairs with eight coolies to carry them,two ponies and our servants' donkey; makingour way through crops of large leaved tobaccoand poppies, now grown tall and black, and beingtorn up by the roots. By the side of the road bythe river were fine Hoang-ko and ash trees,and on the other bank of the Yangtse we passed bya rock wall recalling the palisades on the Hud-

18 ACROSS YUNNAN

son. The road then follows much the samedirection as does the course of the Kin-sha,—herepointing nearly due south, and, were this rivernavigable, one could proceed by it almost to thegates of Yunnan-fu, i.e., within two days' longjourney of the capital in latitude 25 north.As it is, we proceeded by the valley of one ofits affluents, the " Ta-kuan " or "Lao-wa-t'an,"which runs parallel to that of the Kin-sha,separated from it by ranges of lofty, sparselyinhabited mountains; and so we saw nothingmore of the Great River after once having beenferried across it at the village of Anpien, thirtymiles above Sui-fu. This port of trans-shipmentfaces the mouth of the Ta-kuan river, twenty milesabove which the navigation of the Kin-sha entirelyceases at the city of Ping-shan—Blakiston'sfarthest, and the highest limit which the Wood-cock, one of H.M. light-draft, twin-screw gunboatsordinarily stationed at Chungking, had succeededin reaching.

The road follows up the left bank of the Kin-sha,through undulating, richly-cultivated country,—the foothills of the high mountains behind,—until Anpien is reached. Above this point the


Kin-sha flows in a deep gorge and at Pingshan therich foothills merge into the wild mountains,—inhabited by the independent and inaccessibleLolo.*

At Anpien we crossed to the right shore ofthe Kin-sha, at the point where the river comingdown from Lao-wa-t'an in Yunnan, and commonlycalled the Ta-kuan-ho, enters the Yangtse. At thetime of our journey, in May, the Kin-sha wasrolling down thick yellow-ochre coloured waterto join the clearer waters of the Mm and itsaffluents at Sui-fu; but-the contribution of theTa-kuan, alias Lao-wa-t'an, was transparentlyclear, coming from a purely limestone region,and its contribution added about one-third to thevolume of the Kin-sha. It flows down from themountains to the south with a rapid torrentwhich would render it unnavigable in any othercountry but China. Yet, notwithstanding, wesaw numerous junks of from five to ten tons'burden and crowded with passengers on their

* Anpien is a dirty little town situated at the confluence of theGolden or Yangtse River and the Kwan; but we took a pleasantwalk there, and silently and longingly gazed on the further unknownreaches of the red Yangtse, with the distant mountains beyond, yetwithout knowing that we were then taking a final farewell of thatupper Yangtse that had been our home for so many years.

A. E. N. L.

20 ACROSS YUNNAN

decks descending safely, aided by huge bow-sweeps. Later on we passed by numerouswrecks, but goods and passengers encounterthe undoubtedly serious risk in preference toplodding over the execrable land-trail it wasnow our fortune to enter upon.

From Anpien we proceeded up the narrowvalley of the Lao-wa-tcan river, which threadsa devious course between steep, high mountains,its bed nowhere wider than the actual valleywhich the torrent has cut out, and which flow3from the south in a course ahnost parallel tothat of the Kin-sha further west;—the latterhere separating the Chinese territory of Szechuanand Yunnan from that of the independent Lolotribes who inhabit the " Terrace of the Sun," thelofty, ahnost inaccessible range which hereforms the left bank of the Kin-sha river. Theright bank of the Kin-sha in this stretch is formedby a second range of high mountains, runninglikewise north and south, which separate itsvalley from that of the Ta-kuan, or Lao-wa-tcanriver ; the mountains on both sides running upin height to ten and twelve thousand feet. Forten days we marched steadily up the valley until


the water-parting which forms the naturalboundary between the low moisture-laden basinof Szechuan and the high, dry plateau of Yunnanwas reached at the head of the Lao-wa-t'an river;but we crossed the political frontier between thetwo provinces on the third day out from Sui-fu,at the small village of Hsin-chang (Newmarket),where a picturesque side-valley from the eastforms the boundary. This is crossed by ahandsome many-arched slab bridge and Yunnanis entered. It is not, however, until the city ofTa-kuan, from which the river takes its name,is reached on the ninth day, that the " Red Basin "is left behind and the characteristic vegetation,the banyan and the bamboo, and the warmclimate of Szechuan, come to an end. We hadnow ascended 4,000 feet, and in the evening, inthe inn overlooking the torrent, the thermometer,on the 22nd May, showed 86 degrees, whereasafter we had entered upon the real Yunnanplateau, it never rose to 80; 70 to 75 degreesbeing the usual day maximum, even in July,at the commencement of the " Fu-t'ien " ordog-days.

Before we arrived at Lao-wa-tfan we passed by

22 ACEOSS YUNNAN

a cliff on the far or left bank of the river, andin a cleft of the rock in a place now inaccessible,saw a coffin. Afterwards we saw a river gushingforth out of a lofty yellow cavern with stalactiteshanging from it, caves in the rock above, and amountain overhead. At one place we dis-tinguished square holes in the face of the rock,like Meng-liang's ladder on the Yangtse, bywhich an army is said to have climbed during thenight, and so succeeded in overwhelming the otherarmy encamped at the top. After this we cameacross a number of coffins in inaccessible caves ;in one cave thirteen together. No explanationhas yet been discovered of these coffins, nor howor why they were hauled up the face of theselofty cliffs, yet always in sight of the main track.The race that deposited them there seems to havepassed away, and with it all records of itsexistence. The people call them " fairy " coffins.

The city of Ta-kuan-cheng is the capital of theT'ing or district of Ta-kuan (Great Barrier), andonce formed the frontier fortress against the wildaborigines,—the Miao-tse and Man-tse, who 1000and more years ago formed the sole populationof Yunnan. The walled city of Ta-kuan is built


on the high flat to which the steep ascent fromthe valley leads up, and in the midst of an im-posing amphitheatre of lofty-fluted limestonemountains.

Owing to the devious course of the riverand the precipitous gorges in which it is inparts enclosed, the path fails strictly to followits banks, and so has to cross intervening moun-tain ridges, ascending, and again descending,3,000 to 4,000 feet, by the most miserable pathmasquerading as a high road that it has everbeen my unhappy fate to traverse. Again, whenmarching along the valley bottom, it oftenhappens that a cliff 500 or 600 feet high hasto be surmounted, and in such places a climb,at first sight seemingly impassable to man orbeast, has to be made over it. Instead of ashort gallery along the face of the cliff itself,which it would have taken hardly more labourto cut out, steep steps have been cut up anddown in the hard limestone, so as to surmountthe cliff, and some of these I measured with mypocket foot-rule and found to be exactly one foothigh and one foot deep,—thus making the path,in places, an ascent,—and what is still worse,

24 ACEOSS YUNNAN

a descent, at an angle of 45 degrees. And over

this, passes the main traffic between the two

rich provinces of Szechuan and Yunnan. The

men of old did good work when they cut out these

steps, but the path has not been relaid for

hundreds of years, and the pack animals have

worn pot-holes, leaving what Coleridge, writing

of German paths a hundred years ago, well calls

" Fangs," and these the sandalled feet of the

coolies (shod with iron clamps beneath) have

polished to a surface of blue glass :—" In Koeln, a town of monks and bones,

And pavements fanged with murderous stones,And horrid sights and ghastly wenches,I counted two and seventy separate stenches," etc.

We will omit reference to the stenches inthe Chinese inns, which the traveller in Chinapays the penalty of enduring night after night,and draw attention only to the miserable con-ditions under which trade and traffic have to becarried on in China to-day. Germany has beenmetamorphosed in the past hundred years, butit needed the shock of a Napoleon to break upthe old regime. Will a like convulsion be neededin China to rid this magnificent country of theopium-smoking debauchees who now rule it,


who keep the people in poverty and ignorance,and to whom the word public-spirit is a deadletter ? These thoughts naturally occurred tous as we sat in our sedan-chairs, each of whichnow had its staff of six coolies, and were carriedpainfully over paths, upon which we couldourselves neither walk nor ride. Owing to theheavy toil demanded of the coolies, the " chan "or stage is here only eighteen miles in lieu of theusual twenty-seven. The dry winter season isnaturally the best for travel, but we were therein the rainy season : notwithstanding that theroads are thus rendered all but impassable,a large traffic was going forward. We mettrain upon train of coolies carrying the larvaeof the wax insect, raised in Yunnan, for develop-ment in Szechuan, where the insect eggs areplanted out on forests of Fraxinus sinensis, aspecies of ash, cultivated for the purpose in thedistricts of Sui-fu and Kia-ting. Great care hasto be taken to prevent premature developmenten route : the larvae are carried in paper bagsspread upon well-ventilated bamboo trays, and,upon arriving at their destination each night,the carriers have to open out each bag and so

26 ACROSS YUNNAN

expose the contents to the air. Before turning inafter their hard day's tramp, the coolies haveto repack the parcels, and so have their loads allready for an early start the next morning.

We also met long trains of miserable sore-backedponies laden with copper, tin, and spelter fromthe mines in Yunnan on the way to shipmentdown the Yangtse from the port of Sui-fu; thereturn loads into Yunnan being largely Sha-si(Hupeh) cotton cloth and silk hat covers and" notions" from Szechuan. Needless to saythat the route is strewn with likin stations, whichcause long delays to the porters, there beinglarge variations in the value of copper cashand silver between every prefecture we passedthrough. Chao-tung boasts 1,400 cash to thetael (worth now about three shillings), Tung-chuan-fu 2,000 odd, and Yunnan-fu only 900 odd,—the cash varying in value according to theamount of copper they contain, which varies fromnil up to the full quantum; but the great troubleis that one district will not accept the cashcurrent in the next, and the traveller hasto make provision or be mercilessly squeezedaccordingly.


The corkscrew ascents by which we mountedon to the Tibetan plateau presented many strik-ing view points, as, rising into fresh air andsunshine from the enclosed valley, we pausedand looked down on the rushing river 800 feetbelow us. Mimosa trees were opening theiryellow flowers round us, wistaria in blossom;pomegranate trees, prickly pear, Paotung trees,bamboos, lovely tallow trees, and the varnish treewith its dark, rich foliage clothing the rocks.

Although patches of the Szechuan red sand-stone are found on the hill-sides, growing rarerand rarer as one proceeds south, and vanishingentirely ere the valley of the Ta-kuan river is leftbehind, one may classify the whole region fromSui-fu to Yunnan-fu as a country of ruggedlimestone mountains, with valleys between filledby its weathered detritus. We had been follow-ing up a valley, walled in by white cliffs, whichopened out, yielding ground for a city, for thefirst time at Lao-wa-t'an : this and the twoprefectural cities of Chao-tung and Tung-chuanare the only places above the rank of villagestraversed between Sui-fu and Yunnan-fu. AtLao-wa-t'an (" Cormorant Bar ") the river valley

28 ACROSS YUNNAN

is intersected at right angles by a wider valleyrunning east and west, and the town is pictures-quely situated at the junction. It is a busy placeof about 20,000 inhabitants and possesses astation of the Bible Christian Mission undera native pastor, in whose clean dwelling it wasa true pleasure to be received. The town,which is the head of junk navigation, standsnearly 2,000 feet above sea level, and 800 feetabove Sui-fu on the Yangtse. Above Lao-wa-t'anthe river is nothing but a roaring torrent, butwith a considerable body of water; the roadcontinuing south here crosses it by a handsomesuspension bridge seventy-five yards in length.At this place porters and teams generally putin a day's rest, partly to fulfil the demands ofthis, the great likin station on the Szechuan-Yunnan trade route ("La douane la plus pro-ductive de la province"—Rocher's Yunnan.

Paris, 1880), and well-named " CormorantBar " ; partly to prepare for the nine mile, highpass which is surmounted immediately on leavingLao-wa-t'an (the Li Shan Ting,—4,000 feet),a zigzag ascent cut out in rough steps, descendingfrom which we find ourselves once more in the


valley of the Ta-kuan river. The view from thesummit roams over a sea of rugged mountains,with smooth-sloping backs and jagged edges,as the strata dip at an angle of 35 from S.S.E.

to N.N.W. Patches of purple shale cover inplaces the general surface of pale brown andbrick-red fields of limestone detritus : maize,potatoes (now in flower), together with smallfields of stunted poppy, cover the slopes ; butwherever the numerous springs afford irrigation,the land is painfully terraced for paddy, manyembanked fields of this prime necessity beinghardly larger than a Soochow bath-tub. Wehere bought dumplings of glutinous rice, theinterior garnished with poppy-seeds. The vil-lages were small, filthy, and ruinous, the peopleabjectly poor and apparently steeped in opium :our coolies all smoked opium and declared theycould not carry loads up these terrible pathswithout its stimulus. Possibly! as things thenwere. But a paternal government that shouldimprove the roads and absolutely prohibit thenoxious drug might see a hardy race developsuch as we find the Miaotse,—deep-chested,rosy-cheeked, and, though men and women

30 ACEOSS YUNNAN

carrying heavy loads up the steepest mountainpaths, yet free from the curse which is ruining theChinese. The latter are pale and sickly-looking,but being united, whereas the Miao-tse andMan-tse, split up into independent tribes, have nocohesion, continue to drive the latter back intothe most inaccessible and barren regions in thesurrounding mountains.

The valley we had been ascending came toa sudden and romantic termination, on thetenth day out from Sui-fu, at the village ofChu-shui-tung or " Issuewater Cavern," sonamed from its being the site whence issues thesource of the Ta-kuan river. Here the whitelimestone cliffs, between whose walls we had beenslowly toiling until we reached an altitude ofnearly 5,000 feet, approached to within onehundred yards of each other, when they dis-appeared under a transverse wall two thousandfeet high, smooth-faced, with a rounded, green,grass-grown summit—apparently an insurmount-able barrier to further advance. Looking up fromthe crystal stream gushing forth from the cavernat our feet and being told that our way led upand over this barrier, we experienced the sensa-


tion we felt as children when we read of Jackpreparing to ascend his beanstalk and mountinto regions unknown and bearing all theattraction of novelty. It was a most dramaticscene, apart from the intrinsic beauty of thelandscape, and well repaid us for the toil we hadendured to reach it. We left behind clusters ofsweet-smelling white roses hanging over thefoaming stream, birds of many kinds hoveringover the face of the water, with beautiful butter-flies among the flowers ; and admired a fresh,wonderful view into the recesses of the precipitousxocks and valleys, as at each turn of the pathsthe ponies paused to rest and crop grass, theirtired feet at each fresh bite threatening to goover the precipice. Another stony zigzag path,hidden in low verdure,—a couple of hours'steady climbing and lo!—we reach the summitof the ridge and find ourselves suddenly trans-ferred to an absolutely new land,—as differentfrom that we had left behind us as though wehad crossed the Mediterranean from Africa toEurope. We were at last on the Yunnan plateau.The ridge is known as the " Lohan Ling " or"Araha t " Pass.

32 ACEOSS YUNNAN

We had now left Szechuan behind and found

ourselves crossing a level plain bordered by rugged

limestone ranges on the right and left, the plain

averaging from one to two miles in width. The

scene reminded us of a valley in the west of Ire-

land,—level bog-land enclosed by mountains,—

and a cold, drizzly rain, with the mountain

summits enclosed in mist, completed the illusion.

The path lost itself in the moor, and suddenly,

much to the alarm of our Szechuan coolies,

we found ourselves crossing a quaking bog,

from which we only extricated ourselves coated

with black peaty mud. The bog was covered

with a weed then in flower,—a rich mauve blos-

som which gave the plain the appearance of

being under crop, but neither dwellings nor

cultivated land were visible, making the wildness

of the scene very impressive. It was dark when

we arrived at the small village of Wu-tsai or

" Five stockades," where the usual odours

were smothered in the sweet smell of burning

peat which is here used for fuel and which, with

the accompaniment of excellent potatoes for

supper, completed the illusion of having suddenly

reached the Emerald Isle. At this point a small


clear stream, coming from the valley to thesouth, falls into a rock chasm on the west sideof the plain, and is said to be the true source ofthe Ta-kuan or Lao-wa-t'an river, the streamreappearing again at the foot of the ArahatPass. It would seem therefore that the romantichollow bounded by this ridge is probablya " sink " on a grand scale, such as is common inlimestone regions. The villagers also pointed outa dyke which runs through the plain and whichthey stated was the remains of an attemptedcanal to drain the marsh, begun by a late Fu-taiof the province, with intent to carry the waterover and down the pass, but after spending somemyriads of taels the work had been stopped forwant of funds and so the plain remained the wildmarsh we have described. We continued ourjourney up the valley by a level earth road,where we were at last able to have enjoymentin riding our ponies, the road passing betweenhedges white with May blossom and the hill-sides covered with rhododendron and azaleabushes, now in full flower, the blossoms of theformer being especially fine specimens. Wehad constantly to ford the wide shallow stream

34 ACROSS YUNNAN

meandering over a pebbly bed, through grassycountry with scattered scrub and small trees andpatches of cultivation along the foot-hills. Inthe little village where we halted for tiffin onthe second day out from Chu-shui-tung, we boughta fine Reeves pheasant for 100 cash (3 pence)then ascending to the water-parting—a ridgewhich closes in the valley on the south, to aheight of 7,500 feet. Here is the alleged truesource of the Lao-wa-t'an river, the drainage onthe other side being into the Chao-tung plainwhich we now entered.

It was pleasant riding through the uplands,and down the earth road by a gradual descent,past grand graves with lofty stone pillars infront of them, between hedges red with roses,pink with roses, among tangles of sweet flowers.There were also many small plantations ofbush-like trees for breeding wax insects,cypresses trimmed up and looking very hand-some ; with also a pleasing view of distanthills across the wide valley. But we weretired out before we arrived at the end of thethirty miles we had set ourselves to do thatday.


The prefectural city of Chao-tung is a walledtown of 30,000 inhabitants, built in the midstof a dry but fertile plain of considerable extent,being some ten miles wide and about twenty mileslong (N. by s). The city stands about 7,000feet above sea-level and the plain is surroundedby rugged mountains which rise from one totwo thousand feet higher. The soil of the plainis the same yellowish limestone detritus, whichyields excellent natural roads, drying up im-mediately after rain and only swampy where thetraffic of centuries has worn the road down intohollows, in which the water collects and formsveritable quagmires for the toiling pack cooliesand pack ponies to struggle through. Here,however, the greater part of the local trafficis carried on by primitive bullock carts. Thevalley produces large crops of maize, poppy,oats, barley, buckwheat, and potatoes, besidesrice along the banks of the many small streamsthat descend from the surrounding hills and goto unite in the Chao-tung river below. A pleasingand homelike appearance is contributed to thescene by numerous flocks of sheep and herds ofcattle and ponies as well as of swine, grazing on

36 ACROSS YUNNAN

the hill-sides, the want of which in the rangesbordering the lower Yangtse valley gives to theselatter such a bare and unfriendly appearance.Chao-tung boasts a flourishing establishment—teaching and medical,—of the Bible ChristianMission, and we much enjoyed here the hospi-tality so freely offered by our inland missionariesto passing travellers, and the meeting with cul-tured people who, unlike the Chinese, upon whomone is so largely thrown for social intercoursein these remote parts, have a soul above the all-absorbing interest of " cash." We left Chao-tungfor the journey of five stages south to Tung-chuan,with a north-east gale blowing and cold rainfalling,—fortunately at our backs,—the ther-mometer marking 55. Upon reaching the edgeof the plain and entering the foot-hills of thehigher mountains to the west we passed overslopes of brick-red earth (much like the redlaterite along the Yangtse near Kiukiang),intermixed with pebbles; ancient lake bedsfilling the hollows in which black peat marshesalternated with irrigated paddy-fields. Farmsof thatched adobe occupied the slopes of these" bottoms," picturesquely ensconced in groves


of Scotch fir, fine large walnut, apricot, andligustrum lucidum trees. These latter, a kindof privet, are grown to breed the wax insect upon,prior to his transportation to Szechuan. The airwas sweet with the scent of roses, while beneaththe trees the grass was often white withanemones, but the extraordinary number of greatyellow hips on the hedges was perhaps the moststriking feature.

Huge cubical blocks of a shaley lime-stone lay scattered in many of the bottoms,and we passed several abandoned coal adits andiron-mines, the latter traceable by the vastmasses of slag thrown out by the workmen of old.The strata hereabouts appeared mainly horizon-tal, whereas farther south we were struck bythe sight of limestone mountains, the stratain which had been tilted to the vertical. Weascended to 8,000 feet to cross the pass ofTa-shui-ching or " Great Spring," from thesummit of which issues a fine stream of clear coldwater whose course we now followed down by abreak-neck descent to the valley of the Niu-lanriver, four thousand feet below. The viewfrom the summit of the pass extended over

38 ACROSS YUNNAN

ridge upon ridge of steep rugged mountains asfar as the eye could reach, and, it being a fine,clear day, we sat long and enjoyed the view,while our coolies took a well-deserved rest in thegrove which overshadowed the gushing water.Around us were bracken and pines, strawberrieswith fruit already reddening, limestone rockspointing up through the earth, like so manysharp teeth. We slept on the banks of theNiu-lan river in the village of Kiang-ti: whichwe found uncomfortably close and smelly afterthe mid-day temperature of 51 degrees atTa-shui-ching. Kiang-ti, which means "Riverbottom," is a dirty one-street village, squeezedin between the almost vertical cliffs and theriver -bed : the river itself is a raging yellow-ochre torrent about 100 feet wide, which hererushes on its way to the Kin-sha at a level of2,000 feet below and thirty miles distant. Theriver is crossed by a handsome suspensionbridge, decorated with supporters of lions andmonkeys cut life size in solid bronze. Thesebridges are a great feature along the main routesof travel and without them during a great part ofthe year travel would be impossible ; pity that


the same attention has not been paid to theupkeep of the roads which they connect!

We delayed our start the next morning inorder to give time for the path to dry after theheavy rainfall of the previous night; yet ourcoolies had a hard struggle notwithstanding—we were over two hours doing the first threemiles—to carry us up the ravine formed by aside torrent which falls into the Niu-lan, and upwhose bed the path now led. At times we fordedthe torrent; at times crossed by substantialbridges remarkable for the variegated-colouredlimestone blocks of which they were built.An ascent to 7,000 feet brought us to the " Sum-mit Notch" (Ya-kou-tang) from which wedescended into a remarkable " Pa-tse" or Flat,characteristic of the region. Tsung-kai or " Cen-tral market" consists of a perfectly flat level-bottom land walled in by steep mountains, thefeet of which, in places vertical cliffs, dip under thepresent plain. The old lake bed, whose waters onceopened a way out through a gorge to the south,by which it was eventually drained, is un-mistakable. The fertility of the soil wasshown in the well-built, tiled farm-houses,

40 ACROSS YUNNAN

surrounded by extensive fields of paddy, thenjust ready for planting out, and the groves offruit trees with which the " Pa-tse " was studded.Blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries allbut ripe, an extraordinary provision of berriesof all kinds, now gladdened the road, togetherwith huge forget-me-nots, and very velvetyflowers of the different brilliant hues of theZinnia ; but the previous descent from theSummit Notch had been like a garden laid outin coloured sands and not yet planted, the moun-tain sides, red, yellow, and slate-coloured, bareof trees, shrubs, and even grass in long stretches,and worked by water into what looked likecrowds of men massed together. We could nothelp thinking what eerie work it must be climbingthese mountains by moonlight, when the shadowswould give the men the effect of moving. Butprobably no one moves after nightfall in theseregions.

Our road now led on for five days up and down,through similar diversified country, across ridges7,000 and 8,000 feet high, barren limestone moun-tains with intervening small fertile plains; all oldlake basins, well cultivated with comfortable


farms embowered in groves of firs, cypress, andfruit trees. Occasionally we crossed the dry bedsof lakes, which are flooded as the rains increasein volume, but which were then level, brown earth,affording good going for man and beast. Someof the lakelets (" hai-tse " or seas they are calledin Yunnan) were already filled with yellowwater; some, we were told, are perennial; the" wet" lakes we had to circumvent by longdetours along the edges of the surroundingmountains ; some of the " dry " ones, whichwe were able to cross in a straight line, hadrocky islets covered with coniferee projectingfrom their floor and reminding us of similar isletsrising from the sea in the sheltered bays of theJapanese Inland Sea : many of the " hai-tse "were still unreclaimed marsh, and the absenceof inhabitants led us almost to fancy we wereexploring a new world. A wild hai-tse of thisdescription, many tens of miles in extent, liesat the foot of the Chin-niu-shan or GoldenCalf mountain, a high range in the distanceon our right, away in the direction of theKin-sha.

The mountains we passed over were deeply

42 ACROSS YUNNAN

scored by dry ravines, brick-red gashes in thegreen slopes which we had often to make longdetours to head off. At the extreme pointsof such ravines, a fragile bridge of a few sticksof fir branches covered with earth, formed thepath. These gashes would seem to originate incloudbursts which carry off the surface detritusand expose the bed rock below : this was ex-posed in the shape of pyramids of hard limestone,from the size of a sugar-loaf to that of a smallchurch steeple. In many places on the mountainsides, where the strata appeared to be tiltedvertical, parallel rows of such pyramids gave astriking appearance to the landscape. Themountain slopes are mostly barren and un-inhabited, contrasting wonderfully with thefertility of the valleys, but their flanks aresometimes covered with thick forests of coniferse,the green foliage forming a striking complementto the red soil in which it grows. At the topof one pass, Lung-shui-ching, there was a deliciousspring of cold water, from which it takes itsname, also a most beautiful cluster of orchidsgrowing in the fork of a fine maple, and in fullblossom, but too high up for examination. Few


of the ravines, gashed as we have described,showed actual traces of water, the dry thirstysoil being very absorbent, and we can only quotecloudbursts, or as Chinese say, "Chu Chiao,"the " Eruption of a Dragon," to account fortheir existence. At times our way led throughnarrow valleys, along the path of a purlingstr am mostly tree-lined, with rich fields andgood farmhouses, when the sudden ascent of awall barrier at the top of the valley would takeus into wild uninhabited country. At length, onthe first of June, we crossed the last of the inter-minable passes separating Chao-tung from Tung-chuan by a Ya-kou or " Notch " rising to nearly9,000 feet, and the vale of Tung-chuan-fu lay1000 feet below us.

Chao-tung-fu, as we have seen, lies in a wide,open plain : Tung-chuan-fu, the second and lastcity passed after leaving Ta-kuan-tcing on theway to Yunnan-fu, lies, on the other hand, onthe north side of a steep range of mountains,hemming in the old lake basin, which formsthe centre of the prefecture, on the south. Fromthe top of the gap, or notch, we looked downon the flat " Hai-tse " ; here, some three miles

44 ACEOSS YUNNAN

wide, and with a glass could just distinguish thewalls of the city at the foot of the opposite range,which looked green and well-watered. Thesteep slope we had now to descend to reach this" bottom " was covered with knobs of limestoneof all shapes and sizes, projecting from the redsoil, and produced the effect of a huge graveyardadorned with rows of tombstones ; some stones,however, appearing like goblins, gnomes, people,antediluvian animals, or teeth, and the generaleffect very uncanny. The scanty herbage af-forded pasture to flocks of goats, herds of swine,and not a few sore-backed pack-ponies turnedout to regain condition. Our own ponies fromSzechuan were as fresh as paint and seemedthoroughly to relish the cool bracing air, andgreatly to enjoy being ridden again, after theirexperience of being led up and down the awfulpaths of the Lao-wa-t'an valley-a nightmare uponwhich we ourselves looked back with delight atour escape as we now rode freely over the dryearth roads of Yunnan. On reaching the bottomwe found ourselves upon the edge of paddy-fields, the rice being grown right up to thelimestone rock; across these our way led to the


city, where we were to repose a couple of daysbefore going further.

The plain, or more correctly, " hai-tse," ofTung-chuan we found to be still in part un-drained marsh; it and the paddy-fields, reclaimedfrom it, being intersected by drainage canalsflowing between high tree-planted dykes, witha practicable pathway, about 18 inches wide,along the top. The high road traversing thevalley thus meanders between paddy-fields andswamps, the remains of the old "hai-tse" orlake, until the city walls, erected on the highground, are reached. These drainage canalsprovide water intercommunication to the smallvillages nestling on their banks, and we noticedmany scows conveying loads of peat to theback doors of the houses. The populationwere all busily occupied planting out the youngrice in the flooded fields, this work here, asgenerally in Yunnan, being performed by women ;and it was pitiful to see them stumping aboutin the slush with their tightly-bound, mutilatedfeet; yet they were singing at their work, happyto earn sixty iron cash per day, for what iseminently skilled labour.

46 ACKOSS YUNNAN

We were again hospitably entertained hereby the Bible Christian Mission, and here, as inChao-tung, opportunity of our visit was takento hold anti-footbinding meetings, overflowingmeetings which were attended by many of theofficials and notabilities of the place. Tung-chuan is a poor mountain city with not half thepopulation of Chao-tung and, notwithstandingthe rich valley in which it stands, the populationhas a poverty-stricken aspect, especially in thesurrounding villages, while in the city itselfwe did not notice any good shops, and were toldthere was not one for the sale of silk, whereasin Szechuan silk is an article of dress commonto all but the very poorest. Our missionaryfriends informed us that all the good land wasowned by a few rich gentry, ex-officials, whoreside within the city walls and extort half thecrop from the wretched farmers for rent. Therewere once very productive copper mines in theneighbourhood, but these, being under officialmanagement, were no longer flourishing. TheGovernment provides the funds, but the MiningCommissioner and Treasurer of the provincewere said to be over half-a-million taels in arrear


and only then furnishing about 500 tons of copperannually to Peking. All the copper mined inthe district having to be dehvered to Peking ata fixed rate—considerably under the currentmarket value of the metal—the weiyuan, ordeputies in charge, feather their nests by sellinga portion of the output surreptitiously at itsfull value. I have often asked—seeing that allthe copper mined has to be sold to Peking—Whence comes the supply for the coppersmithsfor which Yunnan is famous, copper incense-burners and bronzes generally being in evidenceeverywhere throughout the province ? Anofficial will reply : " There are wicked men whomelt down the copper cash as we coin it." Butit is really impossible to discover the truth aboutanything in this topsy-turvy country, as allChinese-speaking foreign residents know to theircost. We found the climate of Tung-chuanquite wintry, a cold rain falling during our forty-six hours' stay, and we could have done wellwith a fire indoors,—much as often at the sameseason of the year in country places in England.

We started again from Tung-chuan on a lovelysummer's morning—the air bright and fresh

48 ACROSS YUNNAN

after the late rains—passing through the cityand out at the west gate at 9 a.m. UnlikeSzechtfan, where business commences at daylight,the shops there were then only just beginningto take down their shutters, and one meets fewof the opium-smoking citizens moving aboutin the streets before noon. Thus we neversaw the good brass work for which Tung-chuan is famous, nor had any opportunityfor investing in the red felt, the best ofwhich is made there. A new red felt cloakon a horseman often adds a very picturesquetouch to a Yunnan landscape.

The path at first led west towards a steep range,about 2,000 feet above the valley, and then turnedsharp south up a side ravine, down which floweda swift, muddy river, 80 yards wide and 3 or 4feet deep, the path pleasantly sheltered from thenow hot sun by many large trees. We passedlarge stacks of firewood from the mountainspiled along the river bank for conveyance in theflat-bottomed boats of the city. The narrowvalley was well cultivated with paddy andmaize, water being drawn off from the riverinto side irrigating channels and the river itself


being endyked in places with solid stone em-bankments. Where the river impinged uponthe valley walls, forming cliffs, these had, asusual, to be surmounted by steep up-and-downpaths, which our ponies, now accustomed to therough foothold, negotiated without difficulty.The hill slopes exhibited patches of purple shalealternating with jointed limestone. At onepoint in the valley, a river of clear water gushedforth from under the rock-wall, and thus we hadthe spectacle of two rivers flowing down the samevalley, each on its own side, one of clear and oneof muddy water. We continued to follow up themuddy stream to its source near the villageof Shao-pai (Patrol Station). Here thevalley came to an abrupt termination, beingwalled across by a steep mountain barrier,reminding us, on a small scale, of the greatbarrier at Chu-shui-tung, up which we had madeour first great step on to the Yunnan plateau.We now suddenly climbed another 1,500 feetand ascended a second step which brought usto a higher plateau of about 10,000 feet altitude.Originally a broad stone road, in zigzag, had beenbuilt up this barrier; but now the bulk of the

50 ACROSS YUNNAN

paving had been washed away and a steep,

slippery path alongside, upon which it was

not easy to keep one's footing, had been trodden

out of the steep hillside and formed the only

means of access to the summit.

The plateau, when we at length reached it,

exhibited a patchwork of brick-red and dingy

green, disintegrating limestone with patches of

coarse grass, and appeared uncultivated and un-

inhabited, but the hard, dry, sandy track

made good riding. This new upland was by no

means level, but consisted of rounded hill-tops,

with higher ranges in the distance on either side,

to east and west, our course being always

steadily south. We descended from the high

plateau to a level some 500 feet below, by the

wide, pebbly bed of a stream, into a more cultiv-

able country, though still the same barren-

looking red soil: but here the level lands were

being sown in wide fields of potato and buck-

wheat. The ground was being ploughed by

oxen, and as the furrow was opened out, a

boy followed with a sack of seed, already mixed

with a dry, powdery manure of burnt dung and

earth, which he carried over his shoulder and


which he deposited in the furrow, seed and man-ure together, by means of a wooden shootattached to the sack which he carried on hisshoulder. The Chinese could not afford ourmore liberal method of a preliminary manuringof the whole field to be cultivated, and hence,when not adopting the system just described,dibble a spoonful of the precious stimulantseparately in the hollow assigned to each groupof seedlings. On the hill slopes were flourishingfir plantations and comfortable-looking adobefarms.

The country now, on our third day outfrom Tung-chuan, became more rugged and lessplateau-like ; we rounded numerous tarns, somefull, some dry, some large enough to deserve theChinese appellation of hai-tse, and everywherewe found the land ploughed and crops in seedwherever cultivation was practicable, althoughwe saw few inhabitants, and only at verywide intervals came across small villages of tenor a dozen cottages. At a place called Yeh-chu-t'ang (Wild Boar Hall) we left the highplateau, here 9,500 feet, to descend into a valley1,800 feet below, bounded on our right (west)

52 ACROSS YUNNAN

by a steep range of mountains sloping abruptlydown to a narrow river valley, fine forests cover-ing the lower slopes. The path on our side ofthe valley descended a slope nearly as steep, andled through woods exhibiting countless varietiesof conifers as well as deciduous trees ; the samered soil of limestone detritus yielding a dry pathnotwithstanding the torrential rains throughwhich we had to keep on our way. The sceneryhere was very fine, the clouds rolling along themountain tops as we rapidly descended.

It was already darkening in as we reached thelittle mountain village of Siao-lung-t'an (SmallDragon Fountain : fan having apparently thatmeaning throughout Yunnan), and we put up ina rough but clean earthwalled inn. The DragonFountain turned out to be a reality as wellas a name, being a fine stream of beautifullyclear water which gushes forth from undera limestone rock at the head of a wooded glenabove and supplies the village below withwater. We had seen much goitre as we camealong and it seemed especially prevalent in lovelySiao-lung-t'an; this the villagers attributed tothe fallen leaves from the trees overhanging the


stream, these decaying made the water unwhole-some if drunk unboiled. Why they did notadopt the obvious remedy of removing thedead leaves which lined the bed of the sparklingstream, remained unexplained. We ourselvesfound the water delicious and preferred it un-boiled. In our descent from Wild Boar Hallwe had met with neither houses nor inhabitants,and now we found Dragon Fount villageconsisted only of twenty-six cottages and onelarge brand-new Buddhist temple. The north-east wind and rain increased during the nightand we found our shelter uncomfortably coldand leaky, having some trouble to shift ourtravelling beds into dry spots, but the fresh,sweet air reconciled us to any amount ofdiscomfort when we thought of our friends inChungking, stewing wearily in the still, hothouseatmosphere which distinguishes the UpperYangtse Valley at this season. Yet we hadnot bargained for two days' stay at theDragon Fountain; but the incessant rain ledus to give ear to our coolie headmen, as theyprotested that the quagmires would be im-passable and the streams dangerous to ford.

54 ACROSS YUNNAN

Prepared for summer travel, we shivered in atemperature of 53 maximum, with a keen windblowing. At length, on the third morning, wemade a start and descended by a steep path ofloose stones floating in red mud, through finewoods of walnut and fir trees, to a rolling country,more like our idea of a plateau than any we hadyet traversed.

It continued raining for some distance, butthis did not prevent the birds from singing.Since we had left Tung-chuan the songs of thebirds had been our great refreshment. Birds arevery numerous in Yunnan, and as there seemto be no sportsmen there they are quite fearless.We crossed ridge after ridge of low hills, the vividgreen of the fresh grass making a fine setting forthe dark pine forests; altogether we saw moretimber in this region than in any part of Chinahitherto visited. Constant streams from theneighbouring heights provided irrigation forextensive paddy cultivation in the little dells andflat valley bottoms, the slopes of such basinsbeing covered with young crops of buckwheat,red pepper, the oil-seed plant, potatoes, andmaize.


The soil was here more shaley and variedthrough all the shades from yellow ochre to deeppurple, but the outcrop of bare limestone pin-nacles and nodules was still noticeable in alldirections ; innumerable such blocks were wornby what looked like the potholes cut out of thesimilar formation in the Yangtse Gorges by theaction of water and of the gneiss boulders broughtdown and worked in the potholes by the summerfreshets. But, as one cannot imagine the wholeYunnan table-land to have ever been subjectedto a similar torrential washing, it is evident thatthese circular openings are here due to the con-cretionary nature of the limestone, out of whichnodules have been worn in the course of timeby atmospheric weathering. The vast extent ofthe limestone formation in West China is veryremarkable : it spreads from the western borderof the alluvial plain of Hupeh—which is firstmet with some fifty miles east of Ichang—rightacross the two provinces of Szechuan and Yun-nan till the snow-capped mountains that runnorth and south along the Tibetan border areencountered, where igneous rocks first come tothe surface. This statement, however, has to be

56 ACROSS YUNNAN

accepted with some qualifications. The lime-stone below Ichang passes under the Hupehalluvium but crops up again in isolated ranges,all round Hankow and east as far as Wusueh,where it reappears in the high range cut throughby the Yangtse in the pass of " Split Hill."Again, there is one (and only one) notable in-trusion of igneous rocks in the limestone expansedescribed, viz., in the section of gneiss and por-phyry exposed by the Yangtse in the brokenmountain-range that intervenes between theIchang and Mu-kan Gorges. In Eastern Szechuan—in the " red basin " proper—the limestone islargely overlaid by the new red sandstone, whichhas filled in all the hollows between the parallelridges of limestone mountains, that still raisetheir heads above it. In Yunnan the remark-able feature is the great height to which the hme-stone expanse has been raised since its originaldeposit under the waters of the sea, and theamount of folding, besides denudation, to whichit has been subsequently exposed.

We continued through similar dry, wooded,red-earth, rolling country until, on our sixth dayout from Tung-chuan, we reached the first town


on the route, the large, dirty, and apparentlyprosperous settlement of Yang-kai (Willow-Market). Here, June 10, we found a fine two-storied inn with a central courtyard 100 feetsquare, then a sea of black-green slush whichhad to be crossed on stepping-stones; theplace farther boasted two likin stations. On theprevious day we had come across a busy likinstation in the village of Kung-shan, the courte-ous superintendent of which informed us thathis collection amounted to the large sum of 10,000copper cash daily; there the passing coolie andfarmer had to pay a few cash on every basket-load. At Yang-kai the superintendent informedme that his collection amounted to Tls. 30 permonth only, just sufficient, as he said, to meetthe expenses of the staff of four men employed inthe office. Anyhow, our man-servant had hereto pay 75 cents on two pieces of Szechuan silkhe was carrying to Yunnan-fu to trade with,having neglected the precaution he had adoptedat the dreaded likin station of Lao-wa-t'an, ofhiding the silk amongst our luggage, which thelikin officials were good enough never to search.We had passed a file of Hua Miao-tse, so called

58 ACROSS YUNNAN

from their " flowery " or parti-coloured petticoats,coming into Kung-shan, whom we should haveliked to have examined and photographed, but oncatching sight of us, as we rounded a corner on ourponies, the timid creatures bolted up the hill asfast as they could run—and they run uphill likedeer—nor could their shyness, as we had alsofound with the Man-tse in Szechuan, be overcomeby the, generally in China, all-powerful " cash,"for which indeed they have no use.

On the seventh day we descended (the groundnow sloping steadily to the south, until theTonking frontier is reached) into anotherancient lake basin, now a level expanse, some fiveby ten miles, surrounded by an amphitheatre ofmountains. The bulk of this area was then trans-formed into rice fields; the population there like-wise being all occupied in planting out the youngrice-shoots: a portion of the plain was still un-drained mere, intersected by narrow clear waterchannels by which small, shallow boats were takingpeat to the villages, scattered amidst the swampfields. Part of the road by which we had des-cended was actually thirty feet wide, a charmingcountry lane between banks covered with wild


flowers and lined with fine trees; but now thehighway across the plain had narrowed to thirtyinches and less, and we had a difficulty to keepour footing on the slippery narrow mud pathswhich meandered amongst the paddy-fields.

There is little doubt that in the " good old days "China was traversed by practicable roads, wellkept up ; but under the present Manchu dynasty,—never truly at ease on their usurped throne,and so discountenancing everything tending tofree gatherings of the people,—these fine roadsof inter-communication—canals and highways,—have been allowed to go to ruin, while the officials,who have paid dearly for their posts and areuncertain of their tenure, will not move a handor spend a cash in attempts to restore them.

On the far edge of the plain we ascended a riseto the town of Yang-hn (Willow Grove), a busycrowded place,with well-paved streets, good inns,and a population of 1,500 families. Command-ing the high road to Szechuan, Yang-lin was longa bone of contention between the contendingforces at the time of the great Mahomedan re-bellion, finally suppressed just thirty years ago.No trace of the desolation of that period is now

60 ACEOSS YUNNAN

visible in Yang-lin, and, as an outpost of thecapital, from which it is distant thirty miles,it enjoys considerable importance. The townstands 7,000 feet above sea-level, being 500 feethigher than Yunnan-fu. Leaving Yang-lin, awide paved road leads across undulating moor-land country, and in places through thick forest,amidst the shelter of which we halted for tiffin,warming ourselves and drying our wet clothesat a blazing log fire on the floor of a woodman'scottage. Thence across a broken country, avery garden of limestone pinnacles, " island "hills, crags and serrated ridges, to the walledvillage of Ta-pan-ch'iao, situated in a smallrich " haitse " of paddy-fields. The depressionof Ta-pan-ch'iao is left by a long ascent throughwooded country, leading up to a " ya-k'ou " ornotch, from the summit of which our eyes wererejoiced with a glimpse of the famous Sea ofYunnan, our present destination, and the longed-for termination of our arduous journey.

The view from the " notch " beyond Ta-pan-ch'iao was very fine, another wide prospect ofmountains with the thin silvery streak of thelake, here looking like a river, thrown in. The


far western horizon was bounded by the cliff-like wall of the Hsi-shan, the range that shutsin the lake to the west, its cliffs falling verticallyinto the waters at its feet. The plain of Yunnanand the pagodas and walls of the city were hiddenfrom view : another ridge had to be surmountedbefore we were able to look down on the city itselfand its setting of bright green paddy-fields.

PART II

YUNNAN-FUJune 12—August 21

A S is the case with all Chinese mountain cities,the capital of Yunnan enjoys a most pictur-

esque situation. Emerging from the plain it standson a limestone ridge, along which its north wallruns; the southern wall encloses much flatland, including a considerable extent of paddy-fields and lotus ponds, across which run stonecauseways leading to temples and tea-houses;a bit of Japan with Chinese dirt and decaythrown in. The view over the city and thedistant lake and the amphitheatre of surround-ing mountains is very beautiful, as one takes aseat on one of the rugged limestone rocks, thatcover the face of the slope of the ridge insidethe north wall. Like Peking and Ch&ngtu, thecity is full of fine trees, amidst which glitterthe variegated tiled roofs of the many temples

62

YUNNAN-FU 63

and guildhalls. The eye reaches across the city,with its very elegant twin pagodas marking thespot where the Burmese tribute bearers used toassemble—the stable for their elephants was nearthe British Consulate, where a new school wasbeing built—and across the wide lake to themountains beyond: these distant mountainsform the water-parting between the valley of theYangtse, to which the drainage of the YunnanLake basin belongs, and the drainage of the lakesin the east of the province which goes to feed theWest River of Canton. At this season the cloudeffects are very fine ; showers are constantlyproceeding at some portion of the circumference,and, night after night, the sunset was precededby a rainbow in the east. A walk through thecity is not so pleasing: the streets are narrowand the shops extraordinarily small and necess-arily accommodating a very limited stock ofgoods ; they are more like booths at a fair, butbuilt of adobe bricks, with roofs too low for meto stand upright under; the population lookswell-dressed and well-fed, although the menappear to spend their time mostly in smokingcigars out of inordinately long bamboo pipes,—

64 ACEOSS YUNNAN

and a foreigner in the streets attracts no noticewhatever.

I had pictured Yunnan-fu as a sort of Geneva,with a beautiful lake washing its quays; buthere is another disillusion ;—unless you ascend aneminence you see no lake at all; its shores arefive miles distant from the city walls and youhave to cross five miles of intervening paddy-fields to reach i t : to do this occupies about threehours in the big clumsy sampans which carry oncommunication with the lake ports by means ofthe deep winding creeks that intersect themarshy plain, at whose north-east corner thecity is built. The water may originally havecome up to the walls, for the lake is now receding,as the monsoon rains bring down yearly countlesstons of detritus, and new land is being constantlyendyked and reclaimed by the industrious Chinese.The marsh has been persistently drained bycanals, the high embankments of which, plantedwith trees, are a pleasing feature in the landscape.By these creeks firewood, stone, lime, and vege-table produce are brought right up to the citygates from the mountainous western shore, andthe refuse carried off. Outside the South Gate,

YUNNAN-FU 65

in what was then a desolate region, mostlycovered with ruins of the mud-walled houses ofthe country, the ground was being laid out forthe new French railway station;—and thisquarter, at that time still in ruins from the lateCivil War, promised to be ere long the centre ofa large population and of the activity attendingthe railway terminus of a great trunk line. Weknew that the railway had been authorised, butwe were not a little surprised to see the works onthe embankment, and on the station, in fullswing, and a large yam&ti as the residence of the" Chef de Section " and his staff,—some twentyFrenchmen all told.

The whole line from Lao-kai to Yunnan, adistance of about 300 miles, had been let out in lotsto contractors who tendered for the work. These" entrepreneurs " were mostly Italians, who hadhad experience of similar work in EasternEurope and Africa, and who employed Chineselabourers at the rate of $1 each every four days.There were said to be altogether 1,000 Italiansand 10,000 coolies then (1904) at work on theline. Everything in these parts appeared to begoing on smoothly, but below Meng-tse, where

66 ACROSS YUNNAN

the ascent is made from the Red River valleyto the plateau (a rise of some 3,000 feet), theline being carried up by the valley of an affluentof the Red River, called the Nam-ti, difficultieshad arisen and the work there was temporarilyat a standstill. This was in consequence of thedeadly malaria, due to what the Chinese callthe Chang-ch'i, or poisonous air, which seemsto infest all the descents from the Yunnanplateau to the valleys at its feet, especially on itssouthern and western borders. In the summerall employed, Italians and natives, appear tohave been seized with the malaria and to havehad to quit the valley, large numbers having suc-cumbed to this fatal fever. Henceforward pro-bably work in the Nam-ti valley will only becarried on in the winter. Notwithstanding theseinevitable delays the French superintendentswere confident of having trains running toYunnan-fu in four years' time. In accordancewith their contract with the railway company,the Government of Indo-China were underpenalty to complete the line through Frenchterritory in 1905, i.e., from Hanoi to Lao-kai,by which time the cuttings and embankments

YUNNAN-FU 67

between Lao-kai and Yunnan-fu would be readyto receive their rails and material. The revolu-tion that the accomplishment of this boldly-conceived work will effect in stagnant Yunnanis inconceivable,—besides the boon conferredupon the European residents of the surroundingtropical regions by making this unrivalledsanatorium accessible by steam to the outerworld.

For the most remarkable feature of thisprovince of Yunnan is its climate, which is,I should say, the most equable in the world.The capital is situated at the medium altitudeof 6,500 feet above sea-level and in latitude 25north. Here, in June and July, we have beenenjoying delightful spring weather—warm sun-shine and cooling showers with the heaviestrainfall always taking place at night; the airbeing at the same time fresh and pure and dry,the average day maximum being 75°, and nightminimum 65°. In winter there is perpetualsunshine, and a range, as we noted from the recordof the past two years kept in the French hospital,of only about ten degrees lower, so fires areseldom needed. The biting north-west winds

68 ACROSS YUNNAN

which make eastern China north of the Yangtse

a purgatory during their spell, are unknown in

Yunnan, notwithstanding its high altitude. The

prevailing winds in winter, as we saw from the

register above-mentioned, are south-east and

south-west: in summer, short spells of north-

east winds are common and these bring rain and

cool weather. In short, you can live in Yunnan-fu

with open doors and windows all the year round

as in the tropics, and enjoy the fresh air minus

the tropical heat and damp. No wonder that

a recent French traveller, after languishing in

the steamy heat of Indo-China, writes :—" Le

Yunnan doit etre considere comme le prolonge-

ment economique necessaire de notre Indo-

Chine, sa citadelle aussi et son sanatorium, son

grenier de ravitaillement en ble, orge, betail,

moutons, chevaux, et en general toutes produc-

tions des climats temperes, sans perdre de vue

le vaste domaine minier offert a notre activite."

Yunnan is the third largest province in the

Empire, and has an area of 108,000 square miles.

Compare Great Britain, 88,000 square miles.

All thanks are due to the enterprise of the

French Government in opening up this splendid

YUNNAN-FU 69

country to the world : Tonking, acquired bythe French at about the same time as UpperBurma by ourselves, has been pacified later;but, no sooner were the Black Flags and thepirates on the Red River cleared away than theconstruction of a railway into the jungles northof Hanoi was taken in hand : while we havebeen talking the French have been acting. OurIndian Government commenced a railway, whichwas to " t a p " Western Yunnan, in a half-hearted way, and then stopped short one hundredmiles from the Yunnan frontier; and so theMandalay-Kunlong line now runs one hundredand seventeen miles north-east of Mandalay,and there ends in the jungle and has, of course,little or no traffic. The French railway toYunnan-fu will cost about five millions sterling,and it will doubtless, for many years, be depend-ent upon the Government subsidy for a dividend—but the cost of this subsidy will be amplyrepaid by the indirect advantages which therailway will confer upon the French possessionsin Indo-China. A similar guarantee from theIndian Government would enable the connectionof Burma with the western capital of Yunnan,—

70 ACROSS YUNNAN

Ta-li-fu, to be effected, and the guaranteedinterest would be amply repaid in the indirectadvantages to British trade : for the cotton-goods and hardware that Yunnan requires fromabroad can be more cheaply supplied fromRangoon than from Tonking. But it is as asanatorium that Yunnan will prove of thegreatest value to the European inhabitants ofthe surrounding countries,—Indo-China, SouthChina proper, Siam, and Burma. The wastageof European lives in all these countries is verygreat and, of course, means a great pecuniaryloss. With Yunnan accessible by railway, anepochal change in the conditions of life in theseadjoining tropical countries will be broughtabout; and we should take our share in render-ing this change available to Indo-Burma by ashort cut from British territory, even at somepecuniary sacrifice.

Another point which I had read much ofbefore actually visiting Yunnan was the wantof population. But certainly, in the countrythrough which we passed, there was no derelictland: every furlong available was under culti-vation, with dry or wet crops according to the

YUNNAN-FU 71

nature of the soil, while large tracts of moorland,such as in England would be given over to gorseand bracken, were under the plough. Railwaysand the opening of mines, provided the officialsare ever seriously compelled to welcome foreignmining instead of as now endeavouring to ob-struct it by every device they can put forward,will develop new industries, and so provide fora larger population than Yunnan under presentconditions can possibly support. Should thecontemplated occupation of eastern Yunnan bythe French be carried into effect, the people,as distinguished from the officials, would un-doubtedly be the gainers, and, with the presentcordial relations between our two Governments,it ought not to be impossible to agree uponterms mutually beneficial to the trade of ourrespective countries. That some such eventu-ality was the original meaning of the Hanoi-Yunnan railway cannot be doubted.

The Confucian temple within the city is excep-tionally grand, the dignity of the images in manyof the other temples, together with the serenityof their expression, very impressive, whilst theenvirons of Yunnan-fu teem with interesting

72 ACROSS YUNNAN

antiquities. The traces of the great Mahomedanrebellion are to be seen all around the city intemporary forts and trenches, bearing witnessto the bitterness of the struggle which lastedfor twenty years (1855-1873). It had its originin a secret decree sent out by an imbecileGovernor to all the prefects of the provinceto massacre the whole of the Mahomedanpopulation in a single night; —another St. Bar-tholomew, which, though only partially carriedout, drove the then utterly unprepared Mahom-edans to rebel in self-defence. The rebellionwas ultimately suppressed with the aid of foreignbreech-loading guns, which the Mahomedanswere powerless to resist, and culminated in theterrible massacre of the whole population ofTa-li-fu, after the city had surrendered upon thepromise given by the then notorious Governor,Ts&n Yii-ying (the father of the present Viceroyof the two Kwang, Tsen Chun-hsuen), that thelives of the inhabitants should be spared. Allthis history is well described in the fascinatingaccount of the rebellion given in Rocher'sstandard work. To-day the Mahomedans ofYunnan form the most energetic and civilised

YUNNAN-FU 73

portion of the population, being clean in theirhabits and not addicted to the vices that areundermining the stamina of the purely Chinesepopulation,—who are mostly from Szechuanand the other neighbouring provinces.

According to the R.C. priest who had lived inYunnan-fu since before Margary's murder, TsenYu-ying, towards the end of his life, used to becarried about in a sedan chair, with incenseburning underneath, and all the people prostrat-ing themselves and adoring as he passed along,temples being built in his honour even in hislifetime. He had so many heads cut off that inthe end—haunted by phantom heads, heads every-where begging for life—he would put to death oneafter another of the officials accompanying him,till one by one all fled. At last, returning fromTa-li-fu, he shut himself up mad, and in a fort-night was dead, as was believed, by his ownhand. Then the people destroyed the magnificentsepulchres of the Ts&n family, about five milesoutside the west gate.

But whether all this is true we had not time toinvestigate, any more than to examine the Lolovillage hard by the spot. These villages seem

74 ACROSS YUNNAN

always to be a little off the direct road; the menlike gypsies, with pale, thin faces, and felt hatswith high brims in front, crushed down behind ;some of the women wearing a curious hood, withthree points in front.

During our stay in Yunnan-f u we made variousexcursions to the picturesque mountains whichencircle the basin in which lies the city withits great lake, a fine sheet of water 23 miles N.by s. and 12 miles across at its greatest width.On the western shore the mountains (there about1,500 feet) dip steeply into the lake, the watersof which, when we first crossed it, were coveredwith lilies so frail and tiny as to produce theeffect of white foam studding the water. Azigzag, well-paved road led up to a group oftemples situated over half-way up, the road beingcut through a forest of fine large fir trees—theabsence of the usual bare mountain slopes beingdue to the presence of the temples. Thesetemples are invariably surrounded by extensivegroves, proving what a valuable resource intimber the Chinese neglect by their thriftlessannual burning of the mountain slopes in thedry season—besides the calamities of alternate

YUNNAN-FU 75

floods and drought for which they have onlythemselves to thank. Here the priests, in oldentime, had cut out a gallery ia the face of thecliff and had left in situ pillars and ornamentalbalustrades excavated in the original rock, ata point whence there is a sheer drop to the deepwater below, and from which there is a mag-nificent prospect across the lake to the picturesquecity of Yunnan and its amphitheatre of mountainsto the north and west. There is a fresh, airyroom with stone images on the walls, and a roundstone table in the middle, all cut out of the rock,and there were light, airy half gateways alongthe gallery; the other, inner half being solid rock,and the rock overarching cut into the semblanceof fantastic windows, with towards the end lightpillars, resembling Ionic columns in their graceand simplicity, with clouds carved in stone at thetop. Behind in the rock is a dragon in highrelief, a spring of deliciously cold water proceed-ing from its mouth, a frog in relief looking upat it, and a fat frog altogether cut out, lookingup across the roadway, another dragon in slighterrelief opposite. There are many other suchfancies, but nothing appealed to us so much as

76 ACROSS YUNNAN

a very fine lion of grand proportions lyingamong some ruins, half hidden by shrubs, besidethe landing-place. The site of our tiffin on theterrace in front of the temple was truly unique,and the air, then in mid-August, was fresh andcool, though the direct rays of the sun in thislatitude (25° N.) are always hot.

Crossing the mountain at the north end of thelake, we came upon a village inhabited entirelyby Lolo, tame Lolo as the Chinese call them, incontradistinction to the sSng or raw " Lolo, whohave not yet fallen into line and taken on Chinesecivilisation. The tame Lolo wear Chinese dress ;they are generally smaller, athletically built, andfar more lively than the Chinese proper, who inYunnan are mostly the descendants of immi-grants from the neighbouring provinces of Szech-uan and Kweichow. Whether owing to the factthat they cannot stand the altitude and so taketo opium smoking as a relief, the fact remainsthat the Yunnanese are, of all Chinese, the mostilliterate and the most apathetic, and are cer-tainly not equal in energy to the aboriginal Loloand Miao-tse, whom they so cordially despise.

In the range to the N.E. of the city is a re-

YUNNAN-FU 77

markable mountain with twin peaks, known asthe Tieh-ling, or Iron Mountain, sacred toFe*ng-shui, with a temple surrounded by a finegrove at its foot. The limestone strata are heretilted to the vertical, and the consequence isthat, from a distance, the mountain has astriped appearance. As we climbed the steepsides of its peaks, which rise some 800 feet abovethe average of the range, we found these stripesresolve themselves into ridges of harder stone,broken up into more or less isolated blocks ofrugged weathered limestone, while between theridges were depressions, where the softer inter-vening strata had been denuded. These arenow all grass-grown and afford pasturage tomobs of ponies, as well as to cattle and swine.The lines of black rock and the interveningstrips of grass give the mountain its stripedappearance and, in the eyes of the Chinese,its sacred character. The story goes that theTieh-ling forms the head of a dragon, whose tailis in Szechuan, and hence that he devours theriches of Yunnan to cast them forth again inthe favoured province to the north.

Another charming spot in the same range,

78 ACEOSS YUNNAN

ten miles east of the city, is Hei-lung-t'an, BlackDragon Spring, where is also a fine templeguarding a stream of pure water which gushesfrom the limestone and afterwards goes to forma small river; the meandering course of thestream being traceable, as it winds across therice plain, by the triple row of fine old fir trees,originally planted on the slopes of its embank-ments. This, its principal affluent, falls intothe lake opposite the Hsishan. The hill sidesare here covered with a fine variety of deciduoustrees, bamboos, and coniferse, the property of thetemple. The city itself, being built on the slopeof a small limestone ridge rising out of the plain,which disappears under the expanse of paddy-fields intervening between its walls and the lake,forms a prominent feature in the landscape.This ridge, scattered over with picturesquelyshaped protruding limestone blocks, both outsideand inside the city wall which runs along itscrest, falls to the south in fantastic cliffs, yieldingcaves adorned with ancient inscriptions, whilehandsome temple pavilions, reminding us ofPeking by their architecture and spacious courts,are built on the level ground below. Beyond

YUNNAN-FU 79

is the Lotus Lake, which, with stone causewaysrunning through it, leading to pavilions, tea-houses, and paddy-fields, is all enclosed withinthe city walls. Here too is the provincialarsenal, employing some two hundred men,the workman superintendent being then aShanghai man once in the employ of Farnham,Boyd & Co. The nominal head was a Taotaifrom Hunan (Mo), who commanded a divisionof Hunan braves in the inglorious Chinese cam-paign in Manchuria in 1894.

The city of Yunnan successfully withstoodthree sieges during the Mahomedan war of 1856-1872, the last siege having been raised as theplace was about to surrender, owing to thehitherto successful Mahomedan General Ma Ju-lung, having surrendered to, some say havingbeen bought over by, the Imperialists at themoment when final victory was within hisgrasp. This defection of his best generalrendered hopeless the cause of the Panthay chiefat Ta-li-fu, and gradually the rebellion was sup-pressed and the country " pacified" by theruthless Governor Tse"n Yii-ying, in the finalmassacre of the inhabitants after its peaceful

80 ACROSS YUNNAN

surrender in January, 1873. Ma Ju-lung's timelysurrender saved Yunnan-fu from a like fate, andthe desolation within its walls that still char-acterises all the other towns of the province withfew exceptions. A life-like statue of the famousFutai has been erected in a spacious temple builtin his honour. Dressed in his official robes,his painted features show a striking familylikeness to his hardly less famous son, one timeGovernor of Shansi, afterwards Viceroy ofSzechuan, and then Governor-General of thetwo Kwang provinces.

The extensive suburbs had not yet recoveredfrom the total destruction to which they weresubjected during these successive sieges, notwith-standing that the last took place over a genera-tion back. The new French railway station,the buildings for the staff, and the proposedforeign concession, were being erected amidstthe ruins of the south suburb. Apart from therailroad staff of some twenty Frenchmen locatedin this suburb, the city then contained, of foreignresidents, a British and a French Consul-General,two China Inland missionaries with their families(rosy-cheeked children, testifying to the healthy

YUNNAN-FU 81

climate), a French postmaster, and a Frencharmy surgeon, who had charge of a hos-pital erected for the benefit of the Chineseinhabitants by the French Government, whichalso grants the services of the surgeon, paid bythe French Groverment. By the time the railwayis completed, Yunnan will doubtless be made a" Treaty Port," as is the case with Chi-nan-fu,in Shantung ; when cheap and rapid communica-tion with the coast will afford opportunity forthe establishment of foreign merchants, as aconsiderable trade is certain to be done, providedonly that the present onerous transit duesthrough Tonking be removed or modified by theFrench Administration of that otherwise pro-gressive colony. As it is, hundreds of laden packanimals now pass daily between Yunnan-fu andthe head of navigation on the Red River.

As to the Yunnan plateau itself, we have al-ready shown how different we found it to be ascompared with our previous expectations. Wehad imagined a comparatively level, in partsrolling, upland, similar to our experience of theMongolian plateau and the highland to thenorth of Sung-pan—we found it a sea of broken,

82 ACROSS YUNNAN

rugged mountains varied by a succession ofrich oases, the product of now reclaimed lakebottoms. We had yet to traverse the countrybetween Yunnan-fu and Tonking, along theline of the railway which was being pushedforward with such energy through a very diffi-cult and, as we were told, an extremely pictur-esque country, but before doing so, whilstall our journey hither was still fresh in mymemory, I thought it well to write an accountof what we had so far experienced in this extra-ordinarily interesting corner of the vast Chineseempire.

PART in

FROM YUNNAN-FU TO LAO-KAIAug. 25-Sept. 15

•"THERE are two routes open to the travellerdesirous of escaping from the remote capital

of Yunnan to the outside world and the civilisa-tion of the West—both arduous and difficult,both leading over high mountain passes and bydeep river valleys—the one due west to thevalley of the Irrawaddy, across the defiles ofthe Mekong and the Salween, and so on to Ran-goon—the other due south to the valley of theRed River and thence to the coast at Haiphong,the seaport of French Tonking. If bound toEurope, the road to Rangoon is the more direct,and by much the shorter: returning to China,we chose the way by the Red River ratherthan traverse once again the terrible pathwaysof Lao-wa-t'an and northern Yunnan; not-withstanding that the latter leads across the

83

84 ACROSS YUNNAN

healthy uplands of the northern plateau, whilethe southern route dips down to the low encasedvalley of the Red River, which has at this seasona bad reputation for heat and malaria, and bywhich we found the discomforts of travel fargreater than those on the land journey. Onthe other hand Haiphong could be reached fromYunnan-fu in about a fortnight, while the journeyoverland to Sui-fu—where the Yangtse is reachedand the luxurious travel on the Great River isresumed—would occupy a full month's time.

In leaving Yunnan for the coast, we divergedfrom the direct road to Meng-tse in order tolearn somewhat of the progress of the railway thenbuilding : so, instead of proceeding due southand following along the east shore of the Yunnanlake, we turned off almost due east across themountains to the city of Y-liang, the seat of theheadquarters staff of the northern section of theroad. The " tracet " or alignment of the railwayhad been a sore subject of discussion and hadbeen twice changed ; the question being : Shouldthe line follow the old Chinese trade route toMeng-tse and Man-hao, thus taking in the principalcities and tapping the more populous valleys of

FROM YUNNAN-FU TO LAO-KAI 85

the region ; or should the alignment be theeasiest obtainable from a technical point ofview ? Both presented great engineering diffi-culties, involving heavy outlay for cuttings andtunnels, so that it is not surprising that theengineers should have finally decided on takingthe line round by defiles which nature had ex-cavated, although the country passed through ismostly without population or trade.

The Yunnan plateau, as we have before stated,is nothing but an endless succession of smallisolated oases—cuvettes or basins—some filledwith deep-water lakes, others partially occupiedby shallow meres,—dotted about amidst a seaof rugged mountains. These basins, wherealone the Chinese staff of life, paddy, is cultivable,are naturally the only abodes of population, whocommunicate with each other by passes over thewalls of their respective basins ; the few smallrivers that flow above ground have cut out deepnarrow defiles in the limestone and have providedno surplus room for villages or agriculture, whiletheir gorges form a practically impassable barrierto inter-communication. The main problem,therefore, before the Yunnan Railway Company,

86 ACKOSS YUNNAN

was how best to climb the wall-like ascent of5,000 feet from the Red River valley on to theplateau ; whether to ascend by a natural gorgeand so proceed in the direction of least resistance,but through a wild, unpeopled country, orwhether to follow the old road and so pass frombasin to basin either over the interveningmountains or beneath them. This latter wasthe plan originally selected, but, after much timeand money had been spent on the survey andsome preliminary work had been executed, itwas ultimately determined to follow up thedefile of an affluent which rises on the highplateau to the east of Meng-tse, and 2,000 feetabove that town, and thence falls into the RedRiver at Lao-kai. North of Meng-tse and betweenit and Yunnan-fu, the line now determined uponfollows up the comparatively easy valley of theTa-cheng-kiang up to the "basin" in whichstands the city of Y-liang, leaving the high roadfrom Meng-tse to Yunnan, from which it isseparated by a lofty mountain range, some 30miles to the west. After traversing Y-liangthe railway turns west, winds through anotherdeep gorge and then, crossing a low pass (500'),


at length emerges in the Yunnan plain. Thetotal distance from Lao-kai to Yunnan-fu by thenew " tracet " is 448.2 kilometres (=280 miles),which is six kilometres longer than by the old" tracet." This is the work to be carried out bythe Yunnan Railway Co., who will eventuallyhave the exploitation of the whole line fromHaiphong to Yunnan-fu, a distance of 521 miles,in their hands, for which a loan of £4,000,000has been guaranteed a t 3 j per cent, interest bythe French Government. From Hanoi to Lao-kai,a distance of 311 miles, the railway, which followsup the left bank of the Red River, is being built bythe Pub he Works Department, i.e., by theGovernment of French Indo-China, and this linethe department is under penalty to the YunnanCompany to complete by April of 1905. At themoment the line was only in working order asfar as Vietry, 225 kilometres short of Lao-kai;the line had been laid up to Yen-bay, 82 kilo-metres farther, but on this section the embank-ments along the river had been washed away bythe summer freshets. When trains are runningthrough the whole 521 miles from Haiphong toYunnan-fu, as it is expected they will be three

88 ACROSS YUNNAN

years hence, the Yunnan sanatorium with itsdry bracing air may well take precedence ofJapan as the health resort of Tonking and SouthChina.

We reached Y-liang on the second day out fromYunnan-f u, passing along the "chemin de service,"a " cornice " road, cut by the railroad men, whichskirts the mountains to the north of the Yang-tsung-hai, a charming mountain lake, about 12 by2 miles, which the French call " Petite Suisse,"and where it was in contemplation to open astation and build a summer hotel when the lineis completed. The scenery thereabouts was verypleasing, the mountains being wooded andabounding in orchids, which we picked as wewent along, especially one like a white birdwith wings dispread, six inches across, and witha tail as long in comparison as that of a Reevespheasant. The good Father Maire at Yunnan-fuseemed to think it new to Europe. Chinesehabitations are conspicuous by their absence,and the whole country has the charm of aregion newly opened to travel. The little lake isentirely enclosed by mountains and its watersare deep blue. We descended to the ford of the

FEOM YUNNAN-FU TO LAO-KAI 89

small river which drains the lake eastwards andwhich joins the Y-liang basin by a deep gorge,of which the engineers have taken advantage torun the railway through it. All gorges inlimestone country have a family likeness, andthis one might be the Wushan Gorge of theYangtse on a small scale, with its cliffs risingvertically from the water's edge, capped by steepmountain slopes above. The gorge is some tenmiles long, while the river, that has cut it out, isbarely twenty yards in width : it flows with afierce current, the city of Y-liang lying nearly1000 feet below the level of Yunnan-fu. Theroar of the stream and the boom of the explosionswhere the tunnels, of which there are sixteen inthis one defile, are being blasted out, was audibleon the chemin de service, which is cut at a levelsome six hundred feet above the water, themountain peaks rising nearly 1000 feet higher.

The first night we slept in a temple, which therailway company had cleared out and built onto for their staff. There were no tables nor chairs,and our servants were for the first time at faultand could suggest no substitutes for these in-variable concomitants in every Chinese inn.

90 ACROSS YUNNAN

Our only companion in the building was aGreek from Egypt, only arrived that morningfrom Tonking, until a poor fellow was borneinto the courtyard on a litter and lay theregroaning terribly, his face and chest all blackened,he having been blown up with fifty pounds of gun-powder two days beforehand. His friends wereconveying him to the capital, which we had justleft, in hopes of there finding some medicalassistance. The unhappy man's groans forcedhome the terrible need there is of doctors andsurgeons in China.

Our stage on the second day (26th August)was Y-liang, but shortly before sunset we werecaught in the heaviest thunderstorm it hasever been my fortune to be out in; the roadbecame a quagmire, and as the day darkenedin we came to a full stop within some fourmiles only of our destination; the flashesof lightning showed a village ahead, to which wepainfully made our way, and took refuge in anempty outhouse: our carrying coolies failedto put in an appearance, and we went supperlessto bed, sleeping on the floor, and only learnt nextmorning that this house had been built to rest


coffins in, as also to offer a refuge to houselessvagabonds—like ourselves. This is the secondtime only, in years of travel, that we experiencedsuch a contretemps and had to pass a nightwithout our bedding, but it was actually im-possible for the heavily-laden carrying coolies,having once dropped behind, to come on in suchweather in the dark; they had found sheltersome two miles to the rear, and were veryapologetic when they joined us at Y-liang on thefollowing day. Fortunately the weather wasmild, and we suffered nothing worse than anight's discomfort.

The Hsien or district city of Y-liang is a smallbut busy place built on the edge of a rich" pa-tse," through which flows the Y-liangriver on its way to join the Ta-cheng, whichultimately finds its way through Kwangsi pro-vince into the China Sea. Here we found aFrench colony of railway people—thirty-fiveforeigners living in a pretty little enclosure all tothemselves—and from them we received everykindness, Mr. Prudhomme, the superintendent,together with his hospitable consort, regaling uswith a true Parisian dinner.

92 ACROSS YUNNAN

At Y-liang we left the line of the railway and,turning west, crossed the range of mountainsthat separates the valley utilised by the railwayfrom that through which passes the main roadto Meng-tse. Our object was to visit the biglake of ChSn-kiang, which, lying in a fold ofthese mountains, aloof from any of the mainthoroughfares, had been little visited by Euro-peans, excepting by those engaged in surveyingthe country with a view to laying out therailway. We took two days from Y-liang toreach the city of Che'n-kiang, from which thelake takes its name, and which is built at itsnorthern end ; although, measured on the map,the distance between the two cities is withintwenty-five miles. But we had to cross thetwo walls of an intervening basin—theTsaopu "hai-tse"—a flat about five miles byone and a half, with the remnant of the oldmere filling up its northern end—ascendingon one side 1,200 feet, and on the other 2,800feet above Y-liang to do so. The little villageof Tsao-tien, in the midst of the hai-tse, is charm-ingly situated in a grove of trees surroundedby fields of paddy, maize, tobacco, and sun-


flowers ; grass and furze-covered moorland lead-ing up to the mountain slopes, which are, as ismost usually the case, bare of trees and unculti-vated. On the way, there were beautiful orchids,and, as when approaching Y-liang, mostly whiteflowers, but besides these a pretty little geranium,the flower white with pink centre, growingdownwards from the stem, so that one could neversee it and the leaves at the same time ; therewas also a strange blue flower, all blue featherystamens, calyx and corolla almost invisible.Blackcaps were singing very sweetly, but forYunnan there were few birds in this part.We spent here our first night out from Y-liangin a primitive but clean inn, having come onlysixty li.

After crossing the ridge, on the followingmorning, we descended through a wooded valleywith small clearings of buckwheat, but with nohouses or population visible, until we came tothe foot of a steep cultivated mountain on ourright hand, rising about 3,000 feet above thevalley. This conspicuous mountain dominatesthe northern shore of the large Chen-kianglake, the prefectural city of Ch&n-kiang being

94 ACEOSS YUNNAN

built on a " flat" between it and the greatlake. Fifteen miles out from Tsao-tien we tiffinedin the outskirts of the small village of Niu-chuang(cattle depot) in a grove of acacia, palm, pine,willow trees, and bamboo, in which we soughtshelter from a heavy shower. We had nowrisen to 1,900 feet above Y-liang, and therewas a delicious freshness in the air and a coldautumnal feeling, although we were still in themonth of August. There were few birds, butlanes with hedges composed of all sorts of plants,and on the way down many azaleas, also thecurious blue flowers again, and very large yellowevening primroses. A steep descent of twelvehundred feet for a distance of six miles, throughbroken country and by paths of red shale,afforded grand views over the mountain-embosomed lake (in size and appearance com-parable to the Lake of Lucerne, but minus thesnow peaks in the background), and broughtus to the walled city of Chen-kiang. Chen-kiang,though a walled city and looming large on themap, covers less ground than does the districtcity of Y-liang; its area is about half a squaremile, and—most exceptional in China—it has


no suburbs without the walls: it is builton the northern edge of a strip of level paddy-fields which, similarly to Yunnan-fu, separateits walls from the deep water of the lake, thiscultivated strip being about a mile in depth andextending a distance of three to four miles alongthe northern shore of the lake. The city istraversed by wide but dirty streets, and wefailed to find any tolerable resting-place withinits walls, so, after a long search, ultimatelysecured rooms in a horse inn outside the southgate, sleeping over a malodorous stable crowdedwith galled ponies, where all night through,

" Champing golden grain the coursers stoodHard by their pack-loads, waiting for the dawn."

We left Chen-kiang by a path coasting thelake, the waters of which a strong south windwas dashing in breakers on a pebbly beach, withnot a single sail to break the water horizonglittering in bright sunshine: the poorly-foundlake boats (and, such as they are, there are veryfew of them) only venturing out when the windfalls after sunset. After three miles thus follow-ing the north shore, we turned south and pro-ceeded by a path which runs up and down

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along the foothills of the mountains dividingthe lake basin from that, through which runsthe high road to Meng-tse, and which rise im-mediately from the lake shore. We passed oneor two small villages where a narrow flat allowedof rice cultivation, until, towards evening, weapproached a conspicuous cliff-sided limestonepeak, some fifteen hundred feet in height, knownas the " Chien-shan." Yesterday we hadthought it like the Sphinx, to-day like theMatterhorn. Here we ascended steeply eighthundred feet, the path leading past the top ofa smooth, straight slope of detritus, newly fallenfrom the cliffs above, to a " col" created bya precipitous limestone cape, which here jutsout into the lake, and from the crest of whichwe enjoyed a fine view over the lake, and thedimly perceived higher mountains that boundits eastern shore; A rapid descent on the otherside led us into a small, enclosed valley filled withpaddy-fields, but without a house visible: thenceover a second "co l " similar to the preceding,—the point enclosing a small, snug boat harbour,—into another terraced valley running backbetween wooded precipitous mountains, the


rice-fields following up the mountain streamalmost to its source. Here we found the littlevillage of Lu-tsung ("Midway "), where we putup for the night.

We left Lu-tsung by a path still continuingalong the shore, occasionally rising over pro-jecting headlands affording lovely views overthe lake,—having close on our right a steep,rugged, cloud-capped range which divides thebasin of Chen-kiang from that of Kiang-chuan,—a range rising to about twenty-five hundred feetabove the lake. The lake is a dark blue colour,and probably very deep,—a true mountain rift.In this showery weather the farther shore wasgenerally invisible, and, with the waves breakingon the clean boulder beach, close along the edgeof which the path now led, we seemed to becoasting a sea shore. Again, to-day, not a sailwas visible, the lake, although twenty-two mileslong, being of little use to the natives as a channelof communication. Along our narrow trailwe met a few teams of pack ponies carryingcotton yarn from Me"ng-tse and the Red River,but the traffic here is very small compared withthat between M&ng-tse and Yunnan-fu.

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Shortly after passing Mi-shin, a village situatedfive or six miles above the southern or lowerend of the lake, the country opens out, and thehills there, being composed of softer materialas compared with the hard mountain limestoneof the road so far traversed, have been washeddown, and a comparatively easy road acrossthe water-parting is thus available into thevalley of Kiang-chuan. A wide break in themountains had been formed, leaving a com-paratively large area open to cultivation, whichhere as elsewhere was chiefly devoted to paddy.The divide between the two basins, which mayrise to five hundred feet, is formed of shales,including a tough whitey-grey marl, which hasbeen denuded into terraces and cliffs, andpossibly the strangest rock shapes we had yetseen—Lot's wife, clasping her knees; a cathedral;every sort of fantastic shape. We descendedon the west side into the basin filled by theNan-kwang lake (so called locally), at the upperend of which is situated the walled city ofKiang-chuan. Though a hsien or district city,Kiang-chuan measures only about a quarter of amile each way, and seems to contain little else


than an imposing three-storied drum tower, builtat the intersection of its main north and southand east and west streets,—the distance fromLu-tsung, whence we had set out in the morning,being about fifteen miles.

Our destination for the night was, however,the village of Hai-m&n-ch'iao, ten miles to thesouth as the crow flies.

The road, after leaving this little town, wasespecially pleasing, with magnificent trees by theside, also a row of very handsome graves; then,two columns with little laughing lions on top,and fine laughing lions sitting underneath,and graves again. And again, beyond thegraves, the little Nan-kwang lake smiling inthe sunshine, as seen through acacia trees; acrescent chasm of red rock at the top of the cliffto our left, and, as if fallen out of it, sitting atthe bottom, a red stone frog.

The road was bad, at first winding throughpaddy-fields and then leading up and down overthe out-jutting promontories of the Nan-kwanglake. The naturally poor road was made worseby the continuous rains, but we were reconciled tothe attendant discomfort by our arrival at Hai-

100 ACROSS YUNNAN

men-ch'iao,and its attendant interests. The mean-ing of the name is Sea-gate Bridge, and the villageis reached by a picturesque three-arched stonebridge, beside a quaint two-storied house; thebridge crosses a narrow river by which theNan-kwang lake drains into the lake of Chen-kiang. This river, which is little over tenyards broad at its narrowest, and is about amile in length, flows with a swift, deep currentpast limestone cliffs on its left bank, to its outfallopposite a small, high, wooded island situatednear the southern extremity of the larger lake.The small river would seem to have cut out agap for itself little wider than its actual bed,leaving, along its right bank, room for a path,along which we walked, shaded by fine banyantrees, to take our farewell view of the big lake,now illumined by the setting sun; returningin the dusk, as heavy rain again set in, to findthe main street of Hai-men-ch'iao flooded, andour inn door only accessible by wading. We hadnow rejoined the high road to Tung-hai and Meng-tse, which we quitted, not far from the city ofYunnan, in order to make a detour by way of theY-liang defile and the shores of Lake Ch§n-kiang.

FKOM YUNNAN-FU TO LAO-KAI 101

These twin lakes, as one might well call them,united as they are by a short river which makesits way through this curiously narrow gap inthe dividing range, are the third and fourthin the series of the five lakes that lie to thesouth of Yunnan-fu, and which make such anattractive feature on the road thence to Me*ng-tse;the great ChSn-kiang lake being the third, and thesmaller Nan-kwang lake, upon the east shoreof which stands the village of Hai-men-chciao,being the fourth. The following morning foundus posting along the east shore of this latterlake, which we estimated to measure nine milesnorth and south by four miles east and west, thesurrounding mountains being low, not over 1000feet. It stands, of course, at nearly the same levelas its sister lake, the CMn-kiang, which is about100 feet below that of the lake of Yunnan-fu,say 6,300 feet above the sea. A noticeabledistinction is that the ridge south of the Yunnanlake forms the water-parting between the Yangtsevalley drainage and that of the " West" riverof Canton, these four lower lakes all draininginto the latter. The Nan-kwang lake is prettybut not sublime as is the Chen-kiang lake,—at

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least when seen in stormy weather as we sawi t ; its banks are fertile and we passed throughmany prosperous villages embosomed in finetrees and orchards of the Chinese date (so-called);tobacco plantations were also largely in evidence.

We left the lake by a two hundred feet ascentover barren moorland, grass-covered but gashedwith vermilion red ravines, from which limestoneblocks protruded—the same formation we hadfound to pervade the province. This moorlandgives pasture to herds of cattle and goats, butis bare of all culture. Thence we descended200 feet to another " patse " or flat, a smallfertile oasis in the midst of which stands theflourishing but extraordinarily filthy village ofTien-sze-pa, the heaven-born, an old lake bottom:then over the enclosing ridge into the valley ofthe fifth lake, the Tung-hai or " Eastern Sea."The Tung-hai lake is more striking than theNan-kwang, although rather smaller: the sur-rounding mountains are higher and descend incliffs of crystalline limestone and white marbleto the old lake shore, which now stands a half-mile or more inland, leaving a richly-cultivatedlevel border between them and the present lake,


and again giving space for flourishing villages.The weird appearance of the surrounding cliffsmust have struck the holy men of old, fortemples abound and the mountains behind themare covered with rich forest in consequence.Many of these cliffs are curiously waterworn,and in places overhanging. Turning round andfollowing up the south shore of the lake uponwhich stands the district city of Tung-hai, wetraversed an extensive rice-plain (the rice nowbeginning to be harvested), two to three milesin width; all land recovered from the lake,the level of which is now several feet lower thanit was many millennia ago, when the waters ofthe lake undermined the present inland cliffs.

Tung-hai-hsien is a fine old walled city, coveringlittle more than a half square mile, with clean,broad streets, lined in parts by elaborately carved,two-storied shop fronts. There are fine carvedstone bases, supports for flagstaffs, before thedoors of many of the houses, and the two-storiedwalls of a dark yellow adobe add much to thepicturesqueness. There are also handsome en-trances to the houses where Chin-tse live,(men who have taken high honours), very

104 ACROSS YUNNAN

fine golden characters above them stating," This is the humble lodging of ." Tung-haiis the centre of a flourishing trade in opium,that of Yunnan being famous throughout Chinafor its superior quality,—being more akin toIndian opium, say the smokers, than is thelighter drug of Szechuan. We slept here out-side the town in a temple converted into aninn; the inn, as are many in Yunnan, beingkept by a native of Szechuan.

We crossed the southern lip of the basinof the Eastern Sea by an ascent of 900 feet,traversed another moorland, and then descended600 feet by a very rough path composed of awhite limestone shale, with frequent minorascents and descents, into the basin of Chung-ho-pa—" Central River Flat"—a fertile rice plainsurrounded by wooded mountains. Thence thepath descended rapidly through a thickly-woodedvalley, so much wooded indeed that we couldhave imagined ourselves in Thuringia rather thanamongst the usually bare-burnt mountains ofChina. The glen we were now traversing wasindeed very beautiful, full of very fine trees,then rosy and brick-red earth, water ragged, and


terminating in two limestone portals, barelya hundred yards apart, which opened on to a wide,well-watered valley, terraced with rice-fields.We had now effected a net descent of 250 feetbelow the level of Tung-hai. The inhabitants ofthe picturesque glen through which we had justpassed were mostly disfigured by goitre. Theytold us the land was " cold," and that both thecrops and the water were indifferent.

We now descended into the extensive valleyof Kuan-yi, through which flows a swift-running,wide, shallow, muddy river coming from themountains to the west, and spreading out inmany channels over the here level plain. Wecrossed its different arms and intervening sand-banks by a narrow, wooden, pile bridge, 500 yardslong. Then, across a second swift, deep streamand over a low divide, a slippery clay-shalepath brought us to the walled city, where weput up for the night, glad to get out of the rainwhich had fallen heavily every day since ourdeparture from Yunnan-fu.

Kuan-yi is a city of ruins. The landlord ofthe newly-built spacious inn told us that it wasnow only inhabited by 300 families, whereas

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before the Mahomedan rebellion it had held3,000 families. This city was a stronghold of theMahomedans, who held the place from 1860 to1867, when it was finally taken by assaultby the Imperialists and its inhabitants put to thesword, the Fu-tai rewarding his soldiers by un-limited licence, as was common in the religiouswars in Europe three centuries earlier. In 1903Kuan-yi had again the ill-luck to be overrunby rioters, this time from the neighbouringprefecture of Lin-ngan. The walls were in ruins,and we passed out the next morning through thesouth gate of the city, of which nothing remainedbut the bare brick lining of the ancient archway.

The Kuan-yi basin appears to have beenscooped out of a marly white shale, and so itssurrounding hills are less precipitous; it isabout six by three miles in extent and its marginlittle over 500 feet high. The path up thelip had been worn into a defile over-arched byflowering shrubs and trees, down which rusheda red torrent, in places two feet deep, throughwhich our coolies had perforce to wade. Therewas beautiful vegetation on either side, andhollowed out trunks of trees from time to time


conveyed water across the road. A butterflylike a bit of flame fluttered across our path, thenbecame mixed up with the deep red blossomsof the Coral tree, and a creeper with a beautifulred flower.

We had the pleasure of eating our mid-day meal not in a dirty inn, but under theshade of fine spreading trees at Lung-shui-kou,where we also bought our first persimmonson this journey. There was much woodlandand some pine groves on the slopes of themountains bordering the defile, which rise to aheight of about 1000 feet on either side of thenarrow roadway. This " stage " ended at Hsin-fang, a poor village of adobe houses (commonthroughout Yunnan), with flat roofs of clay andlime, spread upon rafters of fir poles. Thebasin of Hsin-fang measures some eight milesby four, and is filled with terraced paddy-fields.As we descended the glen which breaks throughthe boundary ridge, we had a fine view of loftyranges to the south, amidst which scatteredrainstorms were falling; we had now, after anendless succession of ascents and descents,reached a level 1,500 feet below Yunnan-fu, and

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the temperature was distinctly milder. Weflattered ourselves that we were now steadilydescending to the Red River valley, which, atMan-hao, about 400 miles from the sea, stands atan elevation of 600 feet, but the sequel showed usthat we had still many long ascents to overcomeand we gradually understood why the engineershad abandoned the obvious line along the highroad for the unpromising country throughwhich the railway was now being built. Wewere interested here to meet some of the abor-igines, whom the Chinese in these parts call I-jen.

The soil still consisted of a dry-looking, porous,limestone detritus, with projecting cliffs of hardlimestone with red and white faces, and thecountry generally, after leaving the paddy andmaize in the bottoms, was unfertile, wild-looking,and in no way picturesque. Over such desolatemoorland we crossed, the next day, a plateau-like ridge, rising 450 feet above the valley.Leaving the busy and turbulent prefecturalcity of Lin-ngan, the headquarters of the tin-mining industry as well as being an importantopium mart, on our right, the road, which hithertohad taken us due south, here turned east and


south-east to Meng-tse, an important centre,

the seat of a branch of the Imperial Maritime

Customs, the residence of a French Consul,

and the headquarters of the M&ng-tse-Lao-kai

section of the new railway. Approaching

M&ng-tse, now two and a half stages distant,

we crossed many wide, substantially built

stone bridges, and came upon patches of

well-paved roadway, the remnants of a once

Imperial highway, now mostly buried under the

accumulated soil borne down by centuries of

rain and wind. In the middle of a magnificent

bridge over one river there was a beautiful

inscription, and in the middle of that a small

figure of the Goddess of Mercy (Kwan-yin),

austere, but beautiful; a little shrine with

twisted columns underneath the figure. Before

that we crossed a bridge with a very lovely roof.

The very wide road was here so strangely laid

out that we crossed it occasionally, but never

kept to it for many minutes, till it descended

a very narrow defile full of pretty flowers. We

halted at Mien-tien, a village almost totally

destroyed in May, 1903, by the Lin-ngan rebels

under Chou-ma-tse (pock-marked Chou), and on

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the following day diverged from the main roadto Chi-kai, our next stage, in order to visit thefamous Yen-tse-tung, or Swallows' Cave.

The Swallows' Cave shows no signs of itsexistence from the outside. You approach itby a small footpath winding over rolling moor-land until a very ordinary-looking Chinese templeis visible in a fold of the hill surrounded by theusual grove. We had difficulty even in findingour way there, but were fortunate in meetingwith one or two peasants in the depopulatedcountry, who were able to put us on the rightroad. We walked into the temple and saw no-thing unusual in the courtyard beyond a Chien-lung bronze incense burner, dragons climbinground the pillars supporting the roof, fine bronzeKia-hing vases, and two standard shrubs, hibiscus,one yellow blossomed, the other red, both verylarge-stemmed and somewhat contorted; to-gether with surrounding low temple buildings.But a Taoist priest appeared and led us througha sort of back door, upon entering which one ofthe most fantastic scenes we had ever witnessedburst upon our view. It reminded us of nothingso forcibly as the built-up grottoes one sees on


the stage in a fairy extravaganza. We hadseen before many grottoes and caves such as arecommon in limestone regions, but nothing equalto this natural phenomenon hidden away inremote Yunnan. We now stood near the top ofthe grotto and looked down on a swiftly flowingriver, about 20 feet wide, which entered the cavefrom the north on our left and disappeared in thegloom of a side cave on our right, its watersillumined by the sun shining through the treeswhich surrounded the entrance, 80 feet belowwhere we stood on a narrow terrace near thesummit. Another tree hung over the openingto the sky above, thus adding beauty by thecross lights filtering through the green leaves onto the red and swollen river below. A steepstaircase cut out of the rock wound round to aflat terrace, thirty feet beneath us,—overlookingthe water across an elaborately carved stonebalustrade, surmounted by stone lions—aterrace about forty feet square, upon which weafterwards spread our breakfast table, avery fine solid rock column supporting theupper roof to our left. Side caves, alsowith stone stairs leading to them, and filled

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with shrines and carved inscriptions, offerednumerous fresh points of view, some of theinscriptions being stuck on to stalactitesso high up that we wondered what steeplejackhad dared to climb up to them. Thus art hadcombined to enhance nature in an unobtrusiveway, making, as it were, a frame for the picture.But the wonderful charm of the grotto lies in itsstalactites. These hang in thousands likebanners from the roof, wavy, ribbon-shaped, indelicate tints of white, pink, and yellow. Nophotograph, apart from the difficulty of findinga suitable light, can do justice to the play ofcolour or even of the light and shade on a sun-litday such as that on which we were fortunateenough to see it. When the Yunnan sanatoriumis opened by rail, this will be one of its chiefshow places. We may add that the Swallows'Cave does not belie its name. Swallows' nestswere offered us for sale, and hundreds of swallowsflew in and out of holes in the rocks during thetwo hours,—which we would, if we could, haveprolonged into two days,—while we were feastingour eyes on this magic picture. The river, wemay mention, comes to the surface again two


miles lower down, and after disappearing again,ultimately reaches the West River of Canton.

Crossing over more grassy " divides," withlimestone blocks protruding everywhere as thickas tombstones in a well-filled cemetery, wetraversed three more basin-like valleys, allterraced one-third of the way up their sides until,eighteen miles from the Yen-tse-tung, we reachedour destination for the night in the small but busytown of Chi-kai. We crossed two rivers on theway, one clear stream flowing over a pebblybottom to the south, one yellow ochre streamflowing swiftly to the north, both crossed bysolidly-built, wide-arched, stone bridges. Chi-kaiis situated not far from a high serrated range,3,000 or 4,000 feet high, running east and west,and so at right angles to the prevailing directionof the mountains in Yunnan. This range, inwhich are situated the famous Yunnanese tinmines, dominates the Meng-tse plain, and formsthe most conspicuous feature in the view fromthe town of Meng-tse, situated at the other ex-tremity of the " basin." The Meng-tse " hai-tse "measures about twelve miles north and south,by about half that distance east and west, and

114 ACROSS YUNNAN

contains two meres, the remnants of the old lake.The town is situated in the south-east corner atthe foot of the mountains which separate itfrom the Red River valley and which riseabout 2,000 feet above the M&ng-tse plain. Wecrossed the smaller mere on a stone causewayand passed through magnificent fields of maize,the largest I have seen in China, 300 to 500acres in extent, the grain, now being harvested,growing to a height of ten feet—a tribute tothe fertility of the limestone detritus, carefullymanured, which forms the soil. Nearing thetown, we found the land laid out in paddy-fields,irrigated by the streams from the neighbouringmountains. These mountains are singularly bareof everything but grass, owing to the annualwinter firing of the grass whereby all the youngtrees are destroyed. Their eastern side is nowscored by the railway cutting along their flank.This runs at 1000 feet above the plain andnowhere descends to the Meng-tse level; itenters the basin by a high pass in the S.E.corner after emerging from the head of theNam-ti canyon.

Meng-tse is a hsien (district) city,with well-kept

PEOM YUNNAN-FU TO LAO-KAI 115

walls and a busy retail trade, but the main activityof the place is now centred in the east suburb,where are situated the offices of the ImperialMaritime Customs, the French Consulate, theextensive buildings in which are housed thelocal railway staff, a French hotel and threeFrench trading stores, these latter mainly estab-lished to supply the needs of the railway people,of whom some sixty Europeans resided in thissuburb and in the immediate neighbourhood.Meng-tse is the lowest town in Yunnan we hadyet visited, being situated at only 3,500 feet abovesea-level, and the air, after our residence in thehigher altitudes of the interior, felt almostuncomfortably warm. The Imperial MaritimeCustoms at this " open por t" possesses a finecompound several acres in extent, in whichstand a series of isolated buildings surroundedby trees ; many of these are eucalypti, whichthe equable climate seems to suit admirably ;planted little over ten years back, they are nowlarge trees, overtopping the native acacias.The buildings are new, the original buildingshaving been destroyed in a raid by the workmenin the tin mines in 1898, when the Customs

116 ACEOSS YUNNAN

staff had to fly for their lives ; the raid beingdue to a rumour that the French were about toacquire the mines. The Customs collect dueson the goods imported from Tonking for con-sumption in Yunnan, chiefly cotton yarn,and on the exports, which are chiefly tin andopium; these dues are, by special agreementwith the French, one-third less than thosecollectable under the fixed tariff,—a small boonto trade more than neutralised by the exorbitanttransit tax collected in Tonking itself. Transitpasses are issued here at half tariff rates and freegoods from all detention at likin stations through-out the province, and the French take good carethat these passes are duly honoured. Railwaymaterial and all stores for the railroad staff havebeen imported free of duty and the land requiredfor the roadway had to be provided by the Chineseofficials free of cost. As the greater part wasvalueless mountain land, this was not a seriousmatter ; only where the road traversed bottomland had rice-fields to be purchased; the scalefor these was ten, twenty, and thirty taels permow (a seventh of an acre), according to quality.

While in Meng-tse we received all possible


kindness and information from the French headsof departments, who kindly arranged an excursionfor us to the celebrated Nam-ti valley, in whichthe most difficult work of the whole route wasbeing executed ; and I must not here miss theopportunity to express my gratitude for thekindness and hospitality we enjoyed at the handsof all concerned in the work. The Nam-ti, asthe French call it, or Nan-hsi as it is called inChinese, is a stream which has its source in theMeng-tse mountains and which has cut its waydown through a deep narrow canyon to the RedRiver. This it enters, now increased to a streameighty yards in width, at the frontier town ofLao-kai, where it is spanned by a wide bridgeconnecting the French settlement of Lao-kaiwith the Chinese town of Ho-k'ou, and over whichthe railway passes. The building of the roadwas in the hands of a separate constructioncompany working under the supervision of theYunnan Railway Company proper. This con-struction company had been recently engagedin railway work in Salonica and the Levantgenerally, and their work was let out in sectionsto Italian contractors or " entrepreneurs." One

118 ACROSS YUNNAN

of these, who had his headquarters at Mi-la-ti,a village situated near the source of the Nam-ti,at a height of 2,000 feet above Meng-tse, we set outto visit. Riding up a steep pathway over brokenrugged country, we reached the embankmentof the line then being cut out along the mountainside ; the soil is the same as everywhere inYunnan—red sandy detritus in which the prim-eval harder limestone blocks lie buried, and itwas curious, in a spot where a deep excavationhad been dug out and the looser detritus had beenremoved, to see the limestone pinnacles leftin situ, awaiting removal by blasting, much aswe saw them washed out and exposed in theinnumerable dry watercourses with which wefound the mountains scored the whole way fromthe Szechuan border to the Red River.

Mi-la-ti stands in a charming wooded valleyhigh up, surrounded by mountain peaks ; herethe hospitable Italian entrepreneur invited usto partake of an excellent dejeuner in his im-provised Chinese house, the office and head-quarters of his section staff, after which heaccompanied us to the head of the canyon,some five miles farther south, where the line


begins its romantic descent of 5,000 feet to theRed River. The Mi-la-ti plateau, though brokeninto ridges, is a comparatively level basinsurrounded by peaks covered with thick forestcontaining many fine trees of varied sub-tropicalgrowth, the few villages being entirely hidden infoliage. Towards the southern end of this highbasin the Nam-ti river has worn its way deep downthrough the soil into the underlying limestone,in which it has cut out a miniature gorge linedwith vertical cliffs only a few yards apart. Asit approaches the defile leading to the river,it breaks into falls, and lower down these arefound of sixty and even a hundred feet in height;the railway is carried alongside of them, the linebeing run by the side of the gorge, piercingprojecting points by over fifty tunnels, thelongest of which extends a distance of 500 yards.Owing to the valley being practically confinedto the width of the river bed, and to its beingenclosed between high mountains on eitherside (encaissk), it is so confined and so closelyshut in that, as the tropical lowlands are ap-proached, the air is completely stagnant, and sounhealthy that all employed in it, as well natives

120 ACEOSS YUNNAN

as Europeans, sooner or later succumb to themalaria, which is here of a deadly kind. Themortality this year had been so great that workwas practically suspended,—to be resumed onthe return of the cold season, provided sufficientcoolies could be found to work there. Nothingwill induce the Yunnanese to descend from theirplateau nor, per contra, will the Annamites leavetheir tropical rice-swamps for higher levels.

Thus, not only are the natural difficulties ofthe land almost insuperable, but a still greaterstumbling-block is the task of obtaining therequisite labour to overcome them. In truth,the completion of this railway in the wilds willbe a lasting tribute to the boldness of its con-ception, and to the determination and per-severance with which it will have been carriedto a successful conclusion. These eighty oddmiles through the gorge of the Nam-ti form thecrux of the whole undertaking.

Whether it is right to put so much powerinto the hands of rough men bent on makingas much money as they can, is anotherquestion. The entrepreneur here frankly toldus he was a drunken good-for-nothing till he


had to do his three years' term of militaryservice, when he learnt to read and write.The others laughed and said " Not much." Thisman and men like him have the absolutely irre-sponsible management each of his piece of theroad.

After a very pleasant luncheon party wewent to see a great wall he had built, and thebeginning of a bridge he was making just wherethe railway enters the Nam-ti valley. The riverwas very clear and swift there, yet with a weird,uncanny look about it, partly perhaps because itwas so shut in that no sunshine ever reached itschannel there, partly perhaps because of thenumbers of pointed mountain tops all round.

Our hosts told us how they had been working nearPaotingfu in 1900, and were among the few whohad escaped from the Boxers, one, a very wellbuilt fair Italian, relating how he had carried alittle girl upon his shoulders for three days,when she could no longer walk, sometimes hidingin rivers, with her still on his shoulders, almostall the time without food.

Parting with regret from our kind host, theCommissioner of Customs, we left Meng-tse

122 ACROSS YUNNAN

by the high road over which passes the by no

means inconsiderable trade at present carried on

between French Indo-China and the province

of Yunnan, a trade conveyed entirely by pack-

animals, for whose benefit mainly exist the fine

fields of maize that distinguish all this region.

After traversing the usual narrow path between

paddy-fields we commenced the ascent of a low

pass crowned by an imposing gateway, past

groves of the wide-spreading Wan-nien-ching

(myriad years green)—a tree not unlike the

banyan; a very strong hedge, made of big cactus

with prickly pears in front, blocking the way

before arriving at them. On over a treeless,

grassy upland, after which we descended again

into a wide, well-watered valley terraced in rice-

fields then harvesting. We rose again by a

well paved path skirting another richly-cultivated

and well-wooded valley on our left, until the

paved road disappeared under an accumulation

of soil which the heavy rain, that now began to

fall, soon reduced to a wretched quagmire. From

this time on we saw no more cultivated, or even

inhabited country, barring halting-places for

the pack animals on the mountains, and the

FROM YUNNAN-FU TO LAO-EAI 123

transhipping stations cleared out of the junglethat lines the Red River, until we reached thepopulous Annamite delta, then three hundredmiles distant. We were still ascending thesouthern lip of the Meng-tse " cuvette" by arise of over 3,000 feet, a distance of seven oreight miles over barren limestone ridges, untilwe reached an upland whence the eye extendedover countless peaks and pinnacles,—the summitof the high range that forms the north shore ofthe Red River. This upland was remarkablefrom the number of " mamelons" from onehundred to two hundred feet in height, whichrose from the level surface,—steep cones oflimestone, the formation consisting of stratalying at an angle of 45 or 50, the slope on oneside, the edges of the strata on the other; buthow denudation has produced such a series ofperfectly shaped cones it is difficult to explainalone by the relative hardness of the stone of whichthey are formed to that of the mother formation.Crossing this upland, the only flowers on whichwere white everlasting, golden rod, and blue lark-spur, we encountered a high cold wind, whichchilled us to the bone, and were right glad when,

124 ACROSS YUNNAN

after cautiously feeling our way over the roughdescent, an hour after dark we took shelter forthe night in a small " horse " inn, a mud hut inthe little village of Shui-tien, 2,000 feet below thesummit, where we slept under double rugs andChinese wadded gowns.

We left Shui-tien by a narrow defile with finemountains on either side and followed down asmall stream, which we quitted to suddenlyascend a pass of four hundred feet on our left,whence we looked down direct upon the valleyof the Red River. The river itself is too closelyshut in its ravine to be visible until quite near,but we were able to see the corresponding highrange which bounds its right bank and so knewthat we were at last approaching the terminationof our long land journey and were on the pointof exchanging the vicissitudes of inland travelfor the comparative luxury of the water.

The crest of the high range before us formed,in part, the boundary between Tonking andChina, the Red River not being the boundaryuntil the French frontier station of LungpS isreached, some fifty kilometres below Man-haoand sixty above Lao-kai; at which point the river


finally crosses the frontier and from thenceonwards flows entirely through French territoryuntil its embouchure is reached in the Gulf ofTonking below the port of Haiphong.

These forest-covered mountains must, inancient times, have formed an impassable barrierbetween Tonking and China, and account forthe marked distinction in race between Annamitesand Chinese. A wide belt of unpopulatedcountry separates Yunnan as well as Kwangsiand Kwangtung from the Annamite region.

We now descended some five thousand feetin about five hours and dropped from a tem-perate into a tropical climate even moresuddenly than we had risen three months previ-ously from the stagnant valley of the Kin-shaon to the breezy uplands of Yunnan. As weturned a corner of the little village of Tao-taowe really felt as though entering the door of ahothouse, and the illusion was completed by thechange to the tropical vegetation by which wewere now surrounded. Tao-tao is remarkable asbeing the spot at which the trains of pack-mulesand sore-backed ponies pass the night beforedescending to the port of Man-hao ; it being

126 ACROSS YUNNAN

reputed fatal for man or beast to pass the nightin that deadly spot. So the men load up theirbeasts in the early morning, descend to Man-haoand there deliver their packs, receiving theirreturn loads the same day and re-ascending toTao-tao the same night to sleep. At length,when about eight hundred feet above it and half-way between Tao-tao and Man-hao, we caughtour first sight of the famous river, our goal forso many days past,—a narrow ribbon of smooth,oily-looking, pink-red water between steep,green banks, the hills opposite covered withdense tropical jungle and with no signs ofcultivation. The river appeared small andinsignificant, though its valley is imposing fromthe height of the steep mountains that formits shores. Only a high bribe will induce aYunnanese to pass a night there or indeed todescend within a day's journey of the Red Riveron any terms.

It was extraordinary the stories we heard inYunnan-fu and Meng-tse of the deudly air of thisvalley, and, had we not been old travellers, weshould have been persuaded either to put ofl ourjourney thither until midwinter or to return by


land the way we had come. The Chinese, with theexception of the natives who are born and livein them, seem far more susceptible to malarialinfluences than even Europeans are, and it isa fact that numbers of Szechuan and Yunnancoolies, who, under the temptation of high pay,have consented to go to Man-hao, have fallensick and died there. Hence nothing wouldinduce our own servants, who had promised toaccompany us to the end of our land journey,to go on with us when the time came, and wewere compelled to send them home from Meng-tseand from thence on to " d o " for ourselvesuntil we ultimately got on board the " Messa-geries fluwales " steamer in Laokai.

We put up for the night in a Cantonese inn inMan-hao, which is a small place built on a narrowflat along the left bank of the Red River, andarranged to take passage in a native boat, thesize of a small " wupan," floored with slabs oftin, to Lao-kai for the sum of thirty dollars.Man-hao seemed very quiet and still, the businessof the place,—the unloading and reloading ofmules and the transfer of their packs to and fromthe boats moored under the bank,—being over

128 ACEOSS YUNNAN

for the day at the time of our arrival shortly

before sunset. The one street is composed of

Cantonese " hongs " which attend to this busi-

ness. The air was certainly hot and steamy and

between the showers the sun was intensely power-

ful, but otherwise we noticed no difference in the

climate from what we had experienced on similar

days at the same season of the year in Chungking.

All the same, we were glad to get on board our

boat the next morning and be rowed rapidly

down stream. The river below Man-hao, the head

of junk navigation, runs from one hundred to

one hundred and fifty yards in width and flows

down to Lao-kai in an almost continuous rapid.

In the first forty miles we traversed fifteen

true rapids, similar to those on the Min River

above Sui-fu, which, but for our experience on

the Yangtse and the adept management of the

Chinese boatmen, we might have thought

alarming, the water at some of them coming

into the boat. The whole way the banks were

covered with impenetrable jungle, masses of wild

banana and many unknown trees and flowering

shrubs, acacias predominating, but all weighed

down by an omnipresent creeper, a sort of


convolvulus which gave to the landscape amonotonous one-shade of bright green, and sodestroyed the variety we had expected to seein tropical scenery. There were some palms,some, but few, birds. One looked particularlybeautiful shrined in greenery, of a brilliantpeacock blue, with a big, hooked yellowbeak. The jungle is so thick that no towingpath exists and the upward-bound junks areslowly propelled by painful poling along theshore. We made the downward journey toLao-kai of about eighty miles in ten hours, butwere told that the upward journey under favour-able conditions occupied as many days and,when, as then, the freshets were on, it took a fullmonth to get from Lao-kai to Man-hao. Thescenery as we rushed past it, was very pleasing,owing to the steepness of the wooded foothillsthat formed the banks and the picturesqueoutline of the lofty jungle-covered mountainsbehind them. Each bend in the river, and therewere many such sharp turns, disclosed a newpicture and showed up new peaks in the distance.We especially noted two jagged, isolated peaks,one a precipitous cone flat topped, the other

130 ACEOSS YUNNAN

mysterious with serrated summit, both withmists floating round them.

At noon we sighted a small clearing in whichstands the village of Shin-kai (Newmarket),which seems now to have been abandoned forMan-hao, thirty miles higher up. Shortly after,we came to the French military frontier stationof Lung-po, consisting of a small clearing on theright bank in which stands a white-washedbungalow surrounded by palisades with a fewlow thatched native cottages to the rear. Atlength, at sunset, our boatmen moored alongsidea steep muddy bank, while we demanded to belanded in Lao-kai.

Never before in China have I been so non-plussed by a total inability to comprehend aword of the language of our boatmen. Theseappeared to be Cantonese by origin, but speakinga dialect, a mixture of Cantonese and Annamite.We shouted " Lao-kai," but they only pointeddown river, and so instead of putting up at thehotel, as our host in Man-hao, through whomwe had chartered the boat, had told us we shouldbe able to do, there was nothing for it but tounpack our camp-beds and await the dawn. In


the morning it again poured in torrents, andnothing would induce the boatmen to move, andit was not till ten o'clock that the pangs of hungerforced me to climb up the slippery mud-bankand find out where we were. I learnt from afriendly shop-keeper who spoke Chinese, thatwe were moored off the town of H5-k'ou,which is on the right bank of the Nam-ti, theFrench town of Lao-kai being on the left bank,a railway bridge over the Nam-ti connecting thetwo places. H5-k'ou has one long, busy, verymuddy street running between retail shops fora mile or more along the left bank of the RedRiver. My intelligent friend informed me thatthere was an Imperial Maritime Chinese Customshere with foreigners in the office, and directedme to the " Hai-kwan," consisting of a sort ofmat-shed built amidst the jungle on the slope ofthe hill, where the kindly Commissioner in chargeat once permitted and directed our boatmen toproceed to Lao-kai and to moor below the hotelthere. Our detention was due to the boat carry-ing tin and not yet having entered, owing, Isupposed, to the rain, although no one couldunderstand the lao-pan's talk sufficiently to makesure. Anyhow, now our troubles were over.

PART IV

THROUGH TONKING TO HONGKONGSept. 15—Sept. 27

I AO-KAI presents the same contrast to H8-k'ou, that the Model Settlement does to the

Shanghai city; on crossing the railway bridge thatnow unites the two towns, one passes abruptly fromfilth and disorder into wide macadamised streetslined with shade trees ; clean white bungalows,one and two-storied, a small bund with pontoonwharf—a miniature Point de Galle with the sametropical air and vegetation, but also a close,steamy atmosphere due to its situation in anarrow valley distant 265 miles from the sea.There are few or no Chinese in Lao-kai (it coststhem about six shillings a head to enter Frenchterritory) and, in the siesta hour, in which welanded, there were apparently no inhabitants.The military are stationed on the right bankand have to cross the rushing river by ferry

132

THROUGH TONKING TO HONGKONG 133

to come into Lao-kai; the piers of a high bridge,solid circular pillars of brick and stone, wereerected some years ago, but the idea of com-pleting the bridge seems to have been abandoned.The chief buildings are the offices of the admini-stration, a spacious Custom-house with godownsattached, the offices of the " Messageries Flu-viales," the Post Office and the Hotel Fleury,where we put up, also a roomy military " cercle,"pleasantly situated on a bluff overlooking theriver, and a bandstand in the central " Square."Towards evening, after an enjoyable dejeuner

at the hotel, we sat on the verandah listening toa military band, we having happily arrived onband-day, and felt that in crossing the Nam-ti wehad re-entered civilisation ; but we pitied thefolk whose duties relegate them to this depressingspot, with little to occupy them, no sports, nosociety, nowhere to go; hemmed in as they areby pathless jungle. There is the excitement ofthe arrival of the " chaloupe " from Yen-bay,143 kilometres lower down (ninety miles) fromMay to October, i.e., during the season of thesummer freshets, after which communication isconfined to the tedious native junks. Of course

134 ACROSS YUNNAN

the advent of the railway will change the posi-tion, but even then Lao-kai, up to the time whenthe surrounding country shall have been clearedand brought under cultivation, hardly seemsto offer any commercial future. Its importanceconsists in its being the frontier station on theborders of Tonking and China and in its militarydepot, which serves admirably to encourage theobstructive Chinese officials at the provincialcapital to take a complacent view of Frenchenterprises in their province.

We were fortunate in finding a " chaloupe "of the Messageries Fluviales making her slowway up stream on the following day, and by herwe forthwith took passage to Yen-bay, a day'sjourney down river. The " chaloupe " turnedout to be a small sternwheeler, heavily ladenwith cargo and crowded with " relief " soldiers,French and Annamite, very badly kept, extremelydirty, with one saloon on the upper deck but noaccommodation for sleeping or washing. Thecrew, including captain and pilots, were allAnnamite and the engineers Cantonese. Uponcrossing the frontier and entering Lao-kai wehad left China behind; H<5-k'ou has the usual


crowded population of all Chinese towns, Lao-kaiseemed to have none; the boys in the hotel wereall Annamite and appeared to us far below theChinese in intelligence and willingness to oblige.They mostly speak French ; few Europeans inTonking except the French employed in theadministration, who are paid to learn thelanguage, speak Annamite. The language itselfhas a marked affinity with Cantonese, andany one conversant with the latter should soonpick it up. The steamer was leaving at 6 a.m.,and neither on the evening before nor on themorning itself could the hotel proprietor findcoolies to take our luggage down to the boat,and but for the kindness of Mr. Shrigardus, theCommissioner of the I.M. Customs, who broughthis own Chinese across from H5-k3ou for thepurpose, we should have been in evil case.

Lao-kai is the administrative depot for thetroops stationed along the river down to Yen-bay,a distance of ninety-one miles, and our steamer,the Yen-bay, had the task on this trip of furnishingthe different garrisons with their supplies forthe coming quarter; these consisted mainly ofcases of flour from France, packed in tin. The

136 ACROSS YUNNAN

steamer swung round as we reached the differentstations and landed her cargo on the bank, whichwas carried up by the soldiers, French andAnnamite. The stations are little more thanclearances in the jungle, and now that the BlackFlags and pirates that formerly infested the riverhave all been happily suppressed, the troopshave little to do ; anything more monotonousand depressing than the life led in these lonelyspots it is difficult to conceive, and it is hardlyto be wondered at that opium-smoking is com-monly resorted to as a pastime as well as aprophylactic against the prevailing malaria.Our fellow-passengers were mainly non-com-missioned officers, either on short leave for a visitto the capital (Hanoi), or else being invalidedhome ; one of these frankly informed us that hesmoked opium regularly and that only thosewho did so were immune from dysentery and theprevalent jungle fever.

We reached Yen-bay shortly before sunset andwent ashore to dine at the hotel, only breakfastbeing provided on the steamer, on board of whichpassengers cannot pass the night. We werehowever again fortunate in finding a connecting


steamer in port, leaving in the morning for Hanoi,and by paying $4 extra for a cabin (we hadalready paid $55 each for our passage tickets)were enabled to sleep on board and so be readyfor the early start in the morning. This " cha-loupe," the " Chobdo," was a large sternwheelerthat runs all the year round between Yen-bay,the winter head of navigation, and Hanoi, 115miles distant; better found than the wretchedYen-bay and with ample accommodation and con-veniences, her crew were equally Annamite and herengineers Cantonese, but she carried in additiona French purser, to whose civility we were muchindebted. The river banks still looked muchthe same, only there were more palms andbananas, some trees covered with brilliant redflowers, and some creepers with equally brilliantyellow flowers. The trees were still drowned increepers. At our first place of call there weresoldiers of the Legion Etrangere busy digging avegetable garden. They spoke cheerily andpolitely, and it was difficult to believe that allhad left " ruined lives" behind them. Thewomen from Hanoi were now very conspicu-ous in their huge hats with lacquer crowns,

138 ACROSS YUNNAN

surmounting cheery, pleasing faces. Mist andrain prevailed all day.

Yen-bay, as a residence, was hardly moreattractive than Lao-kai. In fact, the latter withits well-kept roads, abundance of shade trees,neat tropical bungalows and background offorest-covered mountains, was very pleasing tothe eye and decidedly picturesque. Yenbay isa far busier and more populous place, besidesbeing the then terminus of the Yenbay-Hanoirailway. The country there is more open, butas we arrived towards the close of the summerrains, which were still continuing, the roads weredeep in sticky red mud, and the white-washedbungalows presented a muddy and dilapidatedappearance ; the main road, by the river, throughthe foreign quarter to the railway station, passesby a long wide street lined with untidy nativeshops and dwellings, reminding us of the suburbannative streets at Singapore. The railway toHanoi was interrupted from Vietry on, theembankments having been washed out by thetorrential rains ; the same was the case with theembankments laid for the extension to Lao-kai.These follow up the left bank of the river and


have apparently been built by the " TravauxPublics " too near the water at too low a level,and have suffered accordingly from the summerfreshets ; trains will thus hardly be runningto Lao-kai by April of next year, and a heavyindemnity will be in that case due to the YunnanRailway Co. by the colony, which has guaranteedto complete the line by that date.*

After a very heavy hot night, much disturbedby discharging of cement and other noises, weleft Yen-bay the following morning in pouringrain by the " Chobdo" and at 2 p.m. reachedthe town of Vietry, pleasantly situated at thepoint of junction of the Riviere Claire with theRed River. As its name implies, the RiviereClaire is a stream of clear water which descendsfrom the limestone ranges on the Yunnan borderto the north, and the " Myriad Mountains " ofKwangsi,—whence it flows in a course formingan angle of twenty degrees with that of the turbidRed River coming from the north-west. Itschannel at its mouth is 320 yards in width, whereit is spanned by a fine bridge which carries therailway. The Riviere Noire, which rises in Yun-

* The colony kept its word.

140 ACROSS YUNNAN

nan, rises west of and flows a long distanceparallel with the Red River; after turning sharplynorth it joins the main stream on the oppositeshore. All these, and indeed the major numberof the streams traversing Tonking, have theirorigin in the mountains bordering the greatplateau (Yunnan), and flow in nearly parallelcourses from north to south. Vietry stands atthe head of the delta which we were now entering,and was already an important commercial centre.Between Yen-bay and Vietry we called at moremilitary posts, occupied some by Annamite,some by French troops of the Legion Etrangere ;the Annamites form good soldiers, are smart andwell-behaved, and we were told that they giveno trouble and are free from crime and even mis-demeanours. They wear a becoming uniform ofyellow khaki with putties and flat-topped hatsof plaited bamboo, trimmed with red, and lookfar neater and cleaner than their French comradeswith their loose trousers, blue coats, and pithhelmets.

Our glimpse of Vietry was very picturesqueand attractive ; two magnificent banyans shadeda very pretty shrine, from which a lovely avenue of


overarching acacias, Flamboyantes, led up to thetown. There were persimmon and custard appletrees in sight, also more tropical trees, and a littlegroup of loungers staring just as in Italian towns.

At Vietry we left behind the mountains, anda country apparently bare of inhabitants, andentered the densely-peopled rice-delta, a levelexpanse 5,000 square miles in extent, that formsthe kernel of the colony. From here on, but forthe banana trees round the villages, we mightbe traversing the upper reaches of the Huang-pu,although we are never out of sight of distantblue ranges which form a fine background to thevivid green of the paddy-fields, the second cropof which was then maturing. The delta producestwo crops of rice : one reaped in May and onein November. The usual endyked banks hereline the river, as also the numerous transverse" arroyaux," or creeks, and protect the fields frominundation : this year, however, the embank-ments had given way and large areas had beeninundated. Hanoi, the capital, which is builtin a swamp, comparatively even more low-lyingthan Shanghai, was seriously threatened. Al-though by the time of our arrival the inundation

142 ACROSS YUNNAN

had drained off, yet the grand railway bridge,which carries the line from the right to the leftbank of the Red River, was so near the waterthat our " chaloupe" with lowered funnelcould only just scrape through without touching.

Among our fellow-passengers was a padre ofthe Missions Etrangeres, who superintended achretiente of some 20,000 Christians in theinterior ; he spoke very highly of the Annamitepeople and praised their women as being exceed-ingly well conducted ; this is noteworthy, inthat the Annamite women, unlike their Chinesesisters, appear to have absolute freedom, anddo most of the business besides hard manuallabour. Although their civilisation came fromChina, they refused to accept crippled feet asa mark of distinction, though they adopted theChinese cut in their dress but with more sobercolours, generally brown and black; indeedthe gaudy, " criard " colours that the Chineseglory in are totally foreign to the Annamitetaste, except in the state dress of their mandarins.The hair is worn in a top-knot at the back of thehead, much as in China in the days of the Mings ;the conspicuous feature is the hat of bamboo


and palm leaves, which with the men is alwayspointed (as in Kweichow and Yunnan) and withthe women flat, as large as a cartwheel and nearlyas heavy. Men and women generally go barefootand their carriage is excellent—a great contrastto the bowed Chinese. As a race they are farmore homogeneous than are these latter, thehead generally broad with regular features, theskin a more pronounced but soft yellow, andgenerally better-looking; the women especiallycompare very favourably in this respect with theirChinese neighbours. They would appear to bean ancient race, cut off by rugged mountainsand pathless jungle from free intercourse withtheir neighbours, and so there has been lessadmixture ; a purer race (of Malay-Mongoliantype) has resulted and they are generally freefrom the "mongrel" appearance, noticeableespecially in Southern and Western China and inWestern Japan, while doubtless they are at thesame time wanting in the energy that" mongrel "parentage would seem to favour, where thedisparity between the parents is not too wide.

Hanoi boasts a very fine bridge (supplied bya Parisian firm) which carries the railway and

144 ACROSS YUNNAN

foot passengers across the Red River. It iscantilever, reminding us of the great ForthBridge, is over a mile in length and spans theriver proper, here about a half mile wide, togetherwith the sand flats, rarely covered, that line theopposite bank. The deep water channel is onthe Hanoi side, along the right bank, and hereis a wide bund lined with scattered offices andstores ; but the main residential and businessquarter stands half a mile back from the riverand surrounds a small lake, originally a swamp,which has been happily reclaimed and so con-verted into an extremely ornamental featureof this well-planned city. Another very largelake bounds the northern suburb; the sitelies low and the inhabited portion has beenartificially raised as in Shanghai. Hanoi hasbeen so often described, together with theimposing scale upon which it has been laid out,as compared with the haphazard way in whichBritish colonial towns in the Far East are leftto grow of themselves, that we need not go intomore detail.

Suffice it to say that, with its broad, well-kept streets, squares, cafes, and abundance


of foliage, it makes a most pleasing impressionand is a worthy setting to the Govern-ment of Indo-China, which now has its seatthere. Nor must the streets of Annamite shops,picturesque with wonderful paper lanterns likefishes, butterflies, or crabs, be forgotten. Wedrove in ricshas or, as the French call them" pousse-pousses " to the Hotel Metropole, thebest hotel in the Far East, magnificentlyappointed, furnished and decorated in excellenttaste, and with a frontage of 300 feet to thestreet. There is also a finely situated clubnear by—the " Cercle de l'Union "—and a grandopera-house was being built, at a cost, we weretold, of £20,000. The botanical gardens werealready laid out on a large scale, affordingfine shady drives and possessing a menagerie ofthe chief fauna of the region, including a mostintelligent elephant.

A "haras," or stud-farm, was also in fulloperation, at which experiments on the ameliora-tion of the breeds of domestic animals werebeing carried out on an imposing scale amongAustralian horses and Mongolian ponies ; short-horns and native cattle; Southdowns, French

146 ACROSS YUNNAN

sheep, and those from the Yunnan plateau,

together with pigs, geese, ducks, Numidian

hens and barn-door fowls. Large numbers of

these animals were housed in roomy buildings

suitable to the climate and a wide acreage of

land was laid down in pasturage for their main-

tenance. The superintendent, an ex-army

veterinary surgeon, informed us that the pastur-

age was excellent and the return of reaped fodder

per acre extraordinarily high, seven or eight

times that of grassland in France. Our visit to

this " haras " was full of interest as showing the

results obtained by scientific selections of breeds,

and how much is being achieved by the French

authorities for the benefit of the colonists and

natives of Tonking. The animals were all in

excellent condition, and it was a great pleasure

to see them.

The main building of the Exhibition of 1902,

a well-lighted solid structure in renaissance

style, was being utilised as a museum of the

natural products, arts, and manufactures of

Indo-China. Thus there is plenty for the visitor

to see and investigate, and we found the three

days, which were all we could allot to Hanoi,


far too short to do the city justice, even withoutvisiting its environs.

Haiphong, the port of Hanoi and the centreof outer communication by rail and water for theTonking delta generally, is distant 100 milesfrom the latter city and is reached in four hours'time. The railway line, whether proceedingnorth or south, equally leaves Hanoi by way ofthe great bridge over the Red River, and runsthe whole way through the paddy-fields of thedelta, with the high mountains (5,000 feet) thatmark the frontier between Tonking and theChinese province of Kwangtung visible in thedistance, on the left. In the foreground of thosemountains, as Haiphong is approached, therestands out conspicuously the curiously rugged,low ridge of limestone pinnacles which extendsinto the Baie d'Along, and there forms the groupof picturesque rocky islets which make thisbay so famous. The town of Haiphong isbuilt on the right bank of the Cua-cam river,a stream fed from the Than-noi mountainson the north, near the Canton border; andis connected with the Red River by crosschannels.

148 ACEOSS YUNNAN

The whole country here, on the ocean edge ofthe delta, is a vast low-lying swamp, from whichthe site of the city has been painfully reclaimedand which is still intersected by wide tidalcreeks. The river at this point is about a quarterof a mile wide and fifty to sixty feet deep, andaffords good anchorage ; at the mouth, however,which is fifteen miles distant, a sand-bar limitsthe draft of vessels trading to Haiphong toeighteen feet, but by dredging it is intended toincrease the water to twenty-four feet. AlthoughHaiphong boasts only some 20,000 inhabitants,as against the 100,000 or more attributed toHanoi, yet the former struck us as the busierplace—more movement in its streets and morebusiness at its wharves—due, of course, to itsbeing a sea-port. The town is well laid out,in wide streets; as in Hanoi every provisionhas been made for future expansion ; the housesare well-built, the principal residences havingample gardens surrounding them. The resid-ents of Haiphong, of whom nearly 1000 areEuropean, enjoy further the proximity of seaand mountain, and so possess an endless choiceof summer resorts within the compass of an


afternoon's drive on the excellent roads that

surround the city.

After spending a day in Haiphong and enjoying

the comparative freshness of the air there (mid-

September) we embarked on board the " Marty "

steamer, Hue, for Hongkong. Our passage

through Tonking gave us but a glimpse of what

the French were doing in this their great new

colony, but with what we did see we were

fairly astonished. When one considers that the

French have had quiet possession of the country

for barely fifteen years, the solid work that

has been accomplished is truly surprising;

no labour has been spared in opening up the

country to colonisation by roads and railways

and in rendering the cities healthy and attractive

for residence. If, as is sometimes reproached,

French colonies are overdone with " function-

aires," at least these are not idle ; the main

criticism of one coming from British colonies is,

that too little is left to individual initiative and

too great demands made upon " radministra-

tion.'' Yet we learn from the admirable summary

of Progress in Indo-China by " Pierre Padaran "

that at the end of 1900 there were already 650

150 ACROSS YUNNAN

European planters engaged in tropical plantations

over an area of 815,000 acres, which is equal

to the sum total of European plantations in the

island of Ceylon, whilst in Upper Burma, acquired

by us about the same period, so far there are

none.* The unoccupied mountain area open to

colonisation in Indo-China is, however, infinitely

greater than in either of the preceding countries ;

the total area of the colony being 817,000 square

kilometres (314,000 square miles), of which

practically the river deltas alone are populated.

The terms offered to would-be colonists are

extraordinarily favourable ; while the French

Administrators are now paying more attention

to the outside world around them and are

studying the methods of Java and Ceylon and

profiting thereby. The " aleas " or drawbacks

to the progress of the colony lie in the narrow

spirit of the mother country—the Metropole—

who would make of it a French preserve—by

means of differential tariffs and by regulations

* Les possibility Economiques de l'lndo-Chine. Paris, ausiege du comity de l'Asie francaise, 19 Rue Bonaparte, pp. 124.—A most informing book in email compass, and though itonly carries UB up to 1902, it ia certainly the best short accountof the topography and resources of the colony of Indo-Chinayet published.


tending to exclude all non-French elements, bethey European or Asiatic, British or Chinese—from taking part in its development. Excessivetransit dues are imposed on goods from Hongkongand Singapore destined for the hinterland ofYunnan, with the impracticable design of com-pelling such Hinterlander to draw their suppliesfrom direct French sources. The monopoly ofsupply accorded to the mother country in thecolony itself enhances to residents the cost ofmost necessities and of all the luxuries of life,and so makes living dearer than in the neighbour-ing free colonies. On the other hand, it must beacknowledged that the " Metropole" spendsmoney upon her colonial children with a lavishhand, and so is entitled to a special return ;yet, while the population of France remainsstationary, this exclusive policy must greatlyretard the industrial development of Indo-China,a country which, forming as it does a link betweenthe dense population of British India on thewest and the teeming millions of China on theeast, and with natural resources equal toeither, should, in the nature of things, developinto one of the most productive countries, if not

152 ACROSS YUNNAN

into the greatest entrepot that the world hasyet seen.

We cannot take our leave of Tonking withoutcommending it to our fellow-residents in theFar East, nor without bearing grateful testimonyto the courtesy we enjoyed at all hands duringour brief visit. When the Yunnan railway is inrunning order, Tonking will become as well-known as Japan, and then the climate of Yunnanwill be found more bracing and, in summerespecially, the air far drier and fresher than inJapan at that season. The total distance fromHaiphong to Yunnan-fu by the new line of railis 853 kilometers, or 533 miles; so that, whenit is completed, Hongkong will be brought withinless than a week of the Yunnan sanatorium andthe delightful region of its great lakes.

The steamer Hue, on which we were now boundto Hongkong, via Pakhoi, Hoihow, and Kwang-chouw-wan, turned out to be an old acquaintance,being one of the fine boats built by Chineseorder, some sixteen years earlier, to run betweenFormosa and the mainland. But how fallenfrom her high estate ! She came out from thebuilders, Hawthorn, Leslie & Co. of Newcastle,


as the Smith, while the Chinese christened herthe Mei-shih, at which time her speed was four-teen knots and all her appointments first-class;she now steamed ten knots only and her passengerquarters were cruelly dilapidated and ill-kept.On the third day out from Haiphong we put intothe new French port, situated on the mainlandof the province of Canton, Kwang-chow-wan(=Canton Bay), and were much interested invisiting this new " free port " on Chinese territoryand, according to our French friends, the pre-destined rival to Hongkong.

The bay of Kwang-chow forms one of the finestharbours in the world, whether for trade ordefence. It is entirely landlocked, an island offthe mouth admitting access through two narrowentrances : once inside, it furnishes an anchorageground ten miles by three with a depth of waterof ten fathoms. After traversing this wide ex-panse, the bay narrows at its northern end toan arm of the sea one to two miles in width, atthe head of which is the embouchure of the Kam-hoor Gold River, which descends from the rangeenclosing the valley of the West River on thesouth and marks the limit of the territory ceded

154 ACROSS YUNNAN

to the French in 1898. The land area of thisterritory covers some 317 square miles, andthough the soil is sandy—much as at Pak-hoi,situated on the opposite side of the Lei-choupeninsula, eighty miles to the west—the landis well cultivated and contains a population of200,000 Chinese distributed in 800 villages. Thisnew free port is under the administration of theGovernment of Indo-China, who are representedby a local resident, together with an ampleadministrative staff. As is customary with theFrench, in laying out their new acquisitiongrand views have prevailed and the future great-ness of the port has been amply foreseen ; thusone inlet had been relegated to a naval port,and there the warships lay at anchor, out of sightof the administrative and commercial ports.

These latter were also distinct and were estab-lished on opposite shores of the northern arm ofthe bay, across which, in bad weather, as at thetime of our visit, communication was by no meanseasy. The administrative town was on the left,(treating this " arm " as the estuary of the Kamriver) or east shore, and consisted of the " Resid-ence," the offices of the Administration and the


dwellings of the administrative staff. I t alsoincluded a market with a small surroundingstreet of native shopkeepers. A jetty had beenbuilt, and the adjoining, mostly flat, countrylaid out in wide, metalled, rectangular, houselessroads, then mostly grassgrown. This Settlement,known as Matche, had a most desolate, unin-habited appearance, and, as it was there that wefirst landed, we received a decidedly unfavourableimpression of the place; but it is only fair tostate that it had been devastated by a typhoonin the early summer. On the opposite shore wasthe commercial settlement and military stationknown as Fort Bayard, off which the " Hue "was anchored. We crossed the strait in a galeof wind and rain in one of the cockle-shelllooking, but solidly built and excellent sea-boatsof the place. These sail well with a single Chineselug and, being provided with a centre-board(which is inserted before the mast and close tothe bow), sail remarkably close to the wind.The " invention " of the centre-board is usuallycredited to a naval lieutenant 100 years backonly, but it appears to have been in use in Chinafor over 1000 years. At Hoihow, the " port "

156 ACROSS YUNNAN

of Kiungchow in the island of Hainan, are to befound the best centre-board boats on the coast.Ships there lie in the open roadstead, off a flatsand-beach, and communicate with the shore bymeans of these boats, which, being flat-bottomed,are hauled up on the beach when not in use.

We found " Fort Bayard " a more lively placethan was the " administrative capital; " but itsliveliness was limited and only noticeable in com-parison with the peaceful calm that reigned inMatche. We put ashore at this latter place asmart young Frenchman, a pillar of the Adminis-tration at Matche, a fellow-traveller who hadbeen for a visit to Haiphong. We could hardlyhelp envying him the retreat provided for him—a fine climate and excellent sea bathing,—as we left him regretfully, " the world forgetting,by the world forgot."

Fort Bayard is built on ground that slopes tothe sea, and, the houses being less scattered thanat Matche, had more the appearance of a town,and indeed of a well-built town. The chiefbuildings were spacious barracks for the consider-able garrison of French and Annamite troopswhich were stationed there. The south coast of the


Canton province, exposed to the China Sea andopen to the monsoons, with mountains shelteringit on the north, is exceedingly healthy; the soilis light and porous and raised in low undulatingswells well above the sea-level. Consequently thestation here provides an excellent change fortroops enervated by the damp heat of Tonking.We were courteously shown over the men'sbarracks, which were in roomy, detached build-ings covering a large area of ground and affordingthem every comfort, not to say luxury. There wasa really fine military club installed in a handsometwo-storied building and open to all ranks,presented to the new colony by the all pervadingM. Doumer. This late Governor of Indo-Chinahas left his mark everywhere ; he would appearto have been a veritable " hustler; " to him isdue the equilibrium established in the budget ofIndo-China, the late Hanoi exhibition, and theYunnan railway; he appears to have beenphysically and mentally untirable, we even heardof his riding from Meng-tse to Yunnan-fu in fourdays ; the time by the usual stages being eleven.A new cathedral, with two towers, also adornedthe Settlement, which otherwise consisted of a

158 ACROSS YUNNAN

street of Cantonese shops and a single Frenchstore, well provided and selling at the moderateprices which one expects to find in a " portfranc." The genial proprietor, M. Champesteve,we heard referred to as " le colon," the one seriouscolonist so far of the new Hongkong.

From Kwang-chow-wan to Hongkong thedistance is 237 miles on an E.NJS. course, andwe reached our destination after a most inter-esting five days' coasting voyage. Our last visitto Hongkong had been in days before the grandforeshore reclamation scheme had been thoughtof, and we were accordingly not a httle astonishedat the appearance which the modern town ofVictoria now presents.

The magnificent new buildings, the crowdedpiles of new offices, the throngs in the streetsand the traffic in the harbour contrastedmarvellously with the lotus-eating lands wehad been travelling through, and we felt morethan ever enamoured of free trade and of freeintercommunication for all alike. Hongkongraises an annual revenue of six million dollars,chiefly from land and excise taxes, and heremergence from the barbarism of Custom-


houses is a fine object-lesson in Eastern Asia.In these days of protective tariffs and subsidised

industries, we could wish that our Mother Countrylikewise might so arrange her revenue as to shakeoff the incubus of Custom-houses in toto, andso provide a still more striking object-lesson toher European and American neighbours thandoes even her marvellously successful colony onthe whilom barren islet of Hongkong.

INDEX

ADOBE, Thatched, 36Animals, Domestic, 35, 102Annamites, Different race from

Chinese, 125Annamites, Good qualities of

the, 142Annamites, Language of the,

135Annamites, Make good soldiers,

140Anpien, Port of transhipment,

18, 19nArahat Pass, 31

BAIB D'ALONG, 147

Beautiful surroundings at Chu-shui-tung, 31

Bible Christian Mission, 28, 36,46

Birds, 93, 129Birds, Song of, 54Bogland, 32Boxers, Escape from, 121Brasswork, 48Brickfields, 29Bridge, Cantilever, at Hanoi, 143Bridge, Handsome suspension,

at Kiang-ti, 38Bridges, Fragile, 42Bullock carts, 35

CANALS for drainage, 45Centre-board, Ancient use of,

155Chao-tung city, 35Chao-tung plain, 34Chen-kiang, 92, 93, 94Ch§n-kiang lake, 101Chien-shan, 96Chi-kai, town, 113Chung-ho-pa, Basin of, 104Chu-shui-tung, Beautiful view

from, 31Chu-shui-tung, Village of, 30Clear and muddy water in one

river, 49Cliffs, Steps cut in, 23Climate, Variety of, 53, 67, 70Cloud bursts, 42, 43Coal adits, 37Coffins in caves, 22Coins, Variations in value, 26Copper articles, 47Copper mines, 26, 46Copper, Surreptitious trade in, 47Cotton cloth, 26Cultivation of the land, 70

DOCTORS, Need for, 90Domestic animals, 35, 102Doumer, Monsieur, 157

161

162 INDEX

Drainage, Canals for, 45

EUCALYPTUS trees, 115

FELT, Red, 48

Fertility in Red River Valley,146

Firewood from the mountains,48

Five Stockades, Village, 32Flowers, 15, 31, 33, 34, 37, 40,

42, 88, 93, 94, 107, 123Food, 29Foot binding, 45, 46Fort Bayard, 155, 156Free Trade, Good effects of, 158French in Tonking, 149,153,154Futai, Statue to, 80

GEOLOGICAL observations, 55

Goitre, 52, 105Gunpowder accident, 90

HAI-MEN-CH'IAO, 99, 100

Haiphong, Port, 147Hanoi, 137, 141, 143Han-yang-fu burnt down, 16Heilungt'an, 78H5-k'ou, Town, 131Hongkong, 158Hongkong, To, Route and Dis-

tances from Yunnan-fu, viiHsin-chang, Village of, 21Hsin-fang, Village, 107

IGNEOUS rocks, 56

Ijen, Aborigines, 108Ireland, A Resemblance to, 32Iron mines, 37

Irrigation, Artificial, At Mei-chou,14

JUNGLE on Red River, 128

KlANG-CHUAN, 98

Kiang-ti, Village of, 38Kuan-yi city, 105Kwangchow, Bay of, 153

LAKES, 41

Landlordism, Baneful effects of,46

Land, Cultivation of, 70Land, Price of, 116Lao-Kai, 132Lao-wa-t'an, River, 33, 34Lao-wa-t'an, Town of, 27Lao-wa-t'an, Valley of the, 20Likin stations, 26Limestone region, 19, 23, 27,

29, 30, 33, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40,42, 44, 49, 50, 52, 55, 60, 62,77, 89, 96, 102, 118, 123, 147

Lin-ngan city, 108Lohan Ling ridge, 31Lolo, 76Lotus ponds, 62Lung-po, 130Lung-shui-kou, 107Lunp5, French frontier station,

124Lu-tsung, 97

MAHOMEDAN'S, Massacre of, 72

Maize, Large fields of, 114Malaria, 66, 120, 127Mamelons, 123Man-hao village, 127

INDEX 163

Manure, Careful use of, 50Matched Settlement, 155Meng-tee, 109Meng-tse city, 114Miaotse, A Hardy Race, 29Mientien, 109Mi-la- ti, 118Min river, 14, 15Mi-shin, 98Muddy and clear water in one

river, 49

NAM-TI Waterfalls, 119Nan-hsi, 117Nan-kwang Lake, 99, 101Navigation, Clever, of Chinese

rivers, 19Niu-chuang, 94

OFFICIALS, Bad influence onindustry, 46, 71

Opium of Yunnan, Superiorityof, 104

Opium smoking, 29, 136Opium smoking rulers, 24Oxen used for the plough, 50

PACK animals, Trade by, 122Paddy, 29Peat as fuel, 32Peat marshes, 36Potatoes, 32Produce, 29, 35, 38, 40, 54, 64,

102Produce in Meic-hou district, 15Protection, Bad effects of, 151Eailway, English, 69Railway, French, 65, 69, 80, 82,

84, 85, 91, 108, 109, 114, 115,117, 119, 152

Rapids, Navigation of, 128Red earth, 36Red River jungle, 128Red River scenery, 129Red River valley, Air of, 126,

128, 132, 136Red River valley, Fertility in,

146Ricshas, 145Riviere Claire, 139Riviere Noire, 139Roads, Reasons for neglect of, 59Roads, State of, 23, 25, 59Rock cut gallery, 75Rock shapes, Peculiar, 98

SAMPANS, 64

Sandstone, New Red, 56Sandstone, Red, 27Seed, Sowing, 50Shale, Purple, 29, 49Shales, 55, 94, 98Shao-pai, Village of, 49Shin-kai Village, 130Shui-tien Village, 124Siao-lung-t'an, Mountain vil-

lage, 52Silk, A common wearing appa-

rel, 46Silk hat covers, 26Sowing seed, 50Spelter mines, 26Stalactites, Remarkable, 112Stenches at Chinese inns, 24Studfarm or " haras," 145Sui-fu, Distributing mart, 16Swallows' Gave, The, 110

TA-KTJAN-CHENG, 22

164 INDEX

Ta-kuan River, Source of, 30Tao-tao, Village of, 125Ta-pan-ch'iao, 60Ta-shui-ohing, Pass of, 37Taxes on goods, 116Thunderstorm, Severe, 90Tibetan plateau ascents, 26Tieh-ling, 77Tien-sze-pa, A filthy village, 102Tin mines, 26, 108, 113, 115Tonking, 149Tonking to Hongkong, 132Trade, Miserable conditions of,

24Travelling, Method of, 17Trees seen on the way, 27, 34,

37, 38, 41, 42, 51, 52, 54, 62,78, 94, 122, 137, 141.

Ts6n Yu-ying, His frequentbeheadings, 73

Tsen Yu-ying Worshipped, 73Tsung-kai, 39Tung-chuan, 46Tung-chuan-fu, 43Tung-hai city, 103Tung-hai lake, 102

VALLEYS, Fertility of the, 42Vices undermining stamina, 73Viotoria, Hongkong, 158

Vietry, Town of, 139, 140Villagers, Poor, and opium

smokers, 29Villages, Filthy and ruinous, 29

WAX insects, 25, 34, 37Women planting rice, 45Wu-tsai, Village of, 32

YA-KOTT-TANG, 39

Yang-kai, 57Yang-lin, 59Yang-tsung-hai, Beautiful

scenery round, 88Yeh-chu-t'ang, 51Yen-bay, 138Yen-tse-tung, 110Y-liang, 91Yunnan, Climate of, 67, 70, 80Yunnan, Description of, rii, 13,

21Yunnan-Fu, 62Yunnan-Fu, Excursions from,

74Yunnan-Fu to Lao-Kai, 83Yunnan-Fu From, to Hongkong,

Route and distances, viiYunnan, Journey to, 14Yunnan, Mines in, 26Yunnan plateau, 31

Archibald John Little, Alicia Little Editor Across Yunnan a Journey of Surprises Cambridge Library Collection - Travel and Exploration 2010

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