sf;t;r,t',r DS 1/58 aassJUSJULS: Rnnk AT B 9 OFFXCIAL DON^AXION. WAR DEPARTMENT, - - ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE. No. XXX. NOTES ON CHINA. August, igoo. washington: Government Printing Office. 1900. WAR DEPARTMENT, / t/ 2 3 U ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE. No. XXX. NOTES ON CHINA. August, igoo. •• ••• • • •• • • • • •"• •'• • • • • : •'• • • • •• •• • • ••• ••• washington: Government Printing Office. 1900. -^*H«r WAR DEPARTMENT, \DJurANT General's Office. Document No. 124. M. I. D. ** , e c » c • « 'ft cce c «ce tc« cc e e c c c c c c c c c c c ill C c c c t,c C,c s INTRODUCTORY NOTE. This pamphlet does not pretend to furnish a full account of China. Its purpose is simply to give, in condensed form, information which may prove useful and interesting at this time, and which has been gathered from all available sources, some of which are not generally accessible. "China, "by James H. Wilson (copyrighted by D. Appleton & Co.); "China in Transformation," by A, R. Colquhoun (copyrighted by Harper & Bros.), and "The Break-Up of China," by Lord Charles Beresford (copy- righted by Harper & Bros. ), have been freely quoted, the publishers hav- ing kindly given their permission. A great deal of valuable information has also been obtained from the Hongkong Directory for 1900 and the Statesman's Year Book for 1900, It has not been practicable to consult the publishers, and acknowledgment is hereby made. August 1, 1900. (3) TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page. Introductory note 3 General description 7 Area and population 9 Mountain system 10 Rivers __. 11 Means of communication 19 The railway system in operation in China 24 Ports and cities 29 Population of ports 31 Peking 31 Tientsin 33 Taku 37 Newchwang 38 Talienwan 39 Port Arthur 39 Chefoo 39 Wei-hai- wei 40 Kiaochou 41 Shanghai 41 Soochow 43 Chinkiang 44 Nanking 45 Wuhu _._ 45 Kewkiang 46 Hankow 46 Ichang 47 Foochow 48 Amoy 49 Canton 50 Reigning sovereign and family 51 Government and revenue J 51 Climate '- ._. ._. 53 Flora and fauna 55 The Great Wall .... 55 The Chinese army : Permanent military organization 57 Provincial militia 59 Irregular forces 60 Visit to the army under the command of General Yuan Shi Kai . 62 General Sung's army 63 General Soon Ching's army 64 General Tung Fu Chan's army 64 (5) 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS. The Chinese army — continued. Page. General Nieh's army 64 The Peking field force 64 Cavalry camp at Kaiping 65 General Yi-Ke-Tong's army 65 Mongolian cavalry 65 His excellency the Viceroy Chung Chi Tung's army 65 His excellency the Viceroy Liu Kwen Yi's army 60 His excellency the Viceroy Hsu Ying Kwei's army 66 His excellency the Viceroy Tau Chung Lin's army 66 His excellency the Viceroy Kwei's army 67 Forts and arsenals 70 Forts 70 Arsenals 71 China's fortifications in 1895 75 The Chinese navy . 79 Foreign forces in the Far East 80 Great Britain 81 Russia 82 Germany 83 France 85 Italy 85 Austria 87 Japan 87 United States 88 The country from Taku to Peking 89 NOTES ON CHINA. *'In order that a definite conception may be had of China, as it was and is, it should be borne in mind that with the exception of Russia, it is the largest empire that has ever existed. It occupies nearly the whole of Eastern and South- eastern Asia, and lies in a regular, compact, and unbroken mass of conterminous subdivisions and outlying territories. It is composed of the original eighteen provinces correspond- ing to our States, and constituting what is generally described by geographers as China Proper, but sometimes as the 'Middle Kingdom,' together with the outlying and encircling posses- sions of Manchuria, Inner and Outer Mongolia, Hi, or Chinese Turkestan, Koko-Nor, and Tibet." * * * ccr^i^^ nineteen* provinces, covering an area of about 1,800,000 square miles, are all densely populated by the Chinese, but the outlying dependencies, which are of far greater extent, are mostly arid, elevated table-lands, occupied generally by nomadic and pastoral tribes commonly known as Tartars, thinly scattered over an almost illimitable succession of plain, desert, and mountain country." "Although a country of such vast extent, China has always been nearly as completely isolated as an unknown island. Surrounded as it is on the land side by deserts and trackless wastes, hundreds and at places almost thousands of miles wide, no certain or regular communication between it and Europe could be had either for commerce or intelligence. From the dawn of history down to the beginning of this century, only one great traveler, Marco Polo, ever succeeded in cross- ing Asia and reaching China, or in giving to the world an intelligible account of whav he saw, and even he found it necessary, after eighteen years of wandering, to return to Venice, his native city, by sea. An occasional merchant may have preceded him or followed in his tracks, but they were so few and far between that they produced no impression whatever upon the Chinese or their civilization. * Since the above was written, Formosa has become Japanese territory. There are now eighteen provinces. (7) 8 NOTES ON CHINA. ' ' The Titter impassability of the steppes and wastes lying between Southeastern Europe and the thickly-settled portions of China, except by the appliances of modern travel, or by the nomadic and semibarbarous hordes which occupied them, will be still better understood when it is remembered that a line drawn from a point on the sea near the mouth of the Amur River, west-southwest across Asia, to the west coast of Africa and the Atlantic Ocean, lies everywhere, throughout its ten thousand miles of extent, in an arid and inhospitable desert region. It crosses no considerable country of high civilization unless Egypt and the valley of the Euphrates be excepted, or which has ever had a high civilization, or which has ever exerted a dominating influence upon the civilization of any other country. This vast trackless region has effectu- ally separated the civilizations of all Southern and Eastern Asia from those of Europe, from the earliest days of the historic period down almost to the present time. Railways are now being pushed out from Russia ; Merv and Tashkend are already or soon will be in daily communication with Moscow, St. Petersburg, Berlin, and Paris, and the civiliza- tion of those places will surely make its way overland into the heart of Asia, and ultimately down the Amur, if not through China, to the western shores of the Pacific. "China Proper is called, by its own inhabitants, the Middle Kingdom, or the Central Flowery Land; but by the Russians and other people of Northern Asia it is called Katai, whence comes the name of Cathay. The Persians designate it as Tsin or Chin, easily changed by foreigners into China, but the significance of this word, or the root from which it is derived, I have not been able to discover. "The country, as before stated, is subdivided into nineteen provinces, each presided over by a governor general, and sometimes by a viceroy, appointed by the throne. These provinces, beginning in the northeast and sweeping west- ward around the Great Wall, are Chili, Shansi, Shensi, Kansu, Szechuen, and Yunnan; then, sweeping back to the eastward, and along the seacoast, come Kweichau, Kwangsi, Kwangtung, Fukien, Formosa or Taiwan, Chekiang, Kiang- su, and Shantung. The center is occupied by Honan, Hupei, Hunan, Kiangsi, and Anhui. The entire area of these prov- inces is not materially different from that of the States lying east of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, with Arkansas HE MORRIS PCTERS CO . KHOTO-LiTV" lW*SHINGTO^ D NOTES ON CHINA. 9 and Texas added. It is included between about the same parallels of latitude, and, so far as cold is concerned, it has about the same climate; but the two great rivers of the coun- try, running generally eastward to the ocean, have formed an extensive delta of low, alluvial lands nearly seven hundred miles long from north to south and from three to five hun- dred miles in width, so that the prevailing south and south- east monsoons coming in from the tropical regions of the Pacific Ocean laden with watery vapor find no high ranges of mountains to intercept them, but carry their refreshing rains far inland during the summer months. These rains last from three to four months only, but are frequently excessive, and, when such is tlie case, the great plains are often swept by devastating floods. But in the fall, winter, and spring, or for two-thirds of the year, the prevailing winds are from the north or northwest, and almost constant sunshine prevails. It hardly ever rains, and still more rarely snows." ["China," by James H. Wilson; copyrighted, 1887, 1894, by D. Appleton &Co.] The location of the provinces is shown in the accompanying outline map. Their area and population are given in the following table, taken from the "Chronicle and Directory for China," Hongkong, 1900. The figures with an ** are from Chinese official data for 1882, and those with a f from the data of 1879, and those for Fukien are estimated on the basis of the census of 18-44. Pru%'iiice. Provincial capital Chilit Shantung* Shansi* Honan * Kiangsu* Anhui* Kiangsif Cbekiang* Fukien Hupei* Hunan* Shensif Kausuf Szecliuen * Kwangtung * Kwangsit Kweilin, Kwcichaiif ' Kweiyau Yunnan t Yunnau . Peking Tsinan Thai-yuan Khai-feng Nanking "( An-khing j Nanchang Hangchou Fuchau AVu-tchang ) Changcliau / Singan Fu | Lanchau ) Chingtu Canton Area, Eng- lish square miles. 58, 949 53,762 56, 268 66,913 92, 961 72, 176 39, 150 38, 500 144, 770 192, 850 166, 800 79, 456 78, 250 64. 554 107! 9G9 Estimated population. 17,937,000 36,247,835 12,211,453 22, 115, 827 20, 905, 171 20,596,288 24, 534, 118 11,588,692 22, 190, 556 22,190,556 21,002,604 8,432,193 9, 285, 377 67,712,897 29, 706, 249 5,151.327 7,669, 181 11.721,570 Popula- tion jier square mile. 304 557 221 340 470 425 340 290 574 473 282 126 74 4(16 377 65 118 108 1,312,328 383, 253, 029 292 10 NOTES ON CHINA. MOUNTAIN SYSTEM. "The ranges that penetrate the region south of latitude 45° north may be said to have their nucleus in the Pamir plateau, the 'Roof of the World.' From this plateau extend the Thian Shan, or Celestial Mountains, separating Mongolia from Chi- nese Turkestan and the Gobi Desert. To the south of the Thian Shan the Kuenlun range takes its exit, and, proceeding- due east, separates Chinese Turkestan, the Desert of Gobi, and Koko-Nor from Tibet, ultimately striking the Yungling Mountains near 104° east. At the southeast corner of the Pamirs a huge range leaves the plateau, and, joining the Kuenlun with a cross spur, forms the western border of the central Tibetan table-land ; thence, making a great curve, it continues as a barrier round the southern and eastern sides of the high plateau, until it joins the Kuenlun about 95° east. Under the name of the Himalaya it separates that portion of Tibet drained by the Sanpo or Brahmaputra from India, some of its peaks being 30,000 feet in height. East of Assam it is broken through by the Brahmaputra. Continuing in an east- erly direction, it throws out a huge arm southward, which forms, with its ]3lateau and mountain ranges, the primary base of Indo-China. This arm is cleft lengthwise by the Salwen and Mekong rivers, and partly in its length and in part transversely by the Yangtse and its branches. The Irawadi rises in its western armpit; the Si kiang (West River) and the Song-ka (Red River) in its eastern one. The main range then continues in a north-northeast direction, and, under the name of the Yungling, impinges on the Bayan Kara, which springs in 95° east, 35° north from the eastern flank of the hill barrier that incloses the central Tibetan table-land. Running nearly due east, and known on most European maps (but only there, as Richthofen has shown, for ' ling ' is applied in China only to a mountain pass) as the Pehling and Tsingling ranges, it forms the water parting between the Yangtse and Yellow River systems. The moun- tainous belt of the southeastern provinces forms the northern watershed of the Canton River, and is the divide between it and the Yangtse system. All the ranges which penetrate China Proper, with the exception of the mountains of Shan- tung, jutting out south of the Gulf of Pechili, are connected with the western Tibetan system. The average heights of the western China highlands may be roughly given as NOTES ON CHINA. 11 follows: the Pamir plateau, 15,000 feet; Tibet, 15,000 feet; Koko-Nor, 10,500 feet; the Mongolian plain, 4,000 feet; the Shansi table-land, 3,000 feet to 6,000 feet; Yunnan, 5,000 feet to 7,000 feet." [From " China in Transformation," by A. R. Colquhoun; copyright, 1898, by Harper & Bros.] RIVERS. [Condensed mainly from Wilson's "China."] The greatest river in China is the Yangtse, which rises in the mountains of Tibet, and after flowing to the south and southeastward crosses China Proper from the extreme western border of Szechuen, in a generally east-northeastwardly direc- tion to the Yellow Sea, which it enters within a hundred and twenty miles of the old mouth of the Yellow River. It, how- ever, traverses a region in which the snows are heavier and the rains more frequent and deeper, and it has in addition a watershed of much greater area than the Yellow River, and consequently it discharges a much greater volume of water at all seasons of the year. Its discharge has never been meas- ured, but enough of it is known to justify the statement that it is one of the greatest rivers of the world — navigable to the Great Rapids, 1,300 miles from the sea, for ocean steamers, and for those of the greatest draft to Nanking, while river steamers can ascend five or six hundred miles farther into the heart of Szechuen. The rapids, which are found just above Ichang, have hitherto been regarded as impassable by steamers under their own motive power, but it is now known that the cur- rent does not exceed 9 miles per hour, and that the channel is sufficiently deep and clear of sunken rocks to admit of free nav- igation by boats having enough power to make head against the current. The rapids are habitually passed by junks, which are warped through them by means of ropes and man- power. Under the treaties, foreign vessels are entitled to enter and ply upon all parts of the river without restriction, after it has been shown that the rapids can be safely passed. It is not possible to give the exact length of this river, for its course through the mountains of Tibet has never been explored or accurately laid down, much less has it been cor- rectly measured. It, however, approximates 3,000 miles, and flows through every variety of land and climate met with in China. Each new province that it waters gives it a new name. 12 NOTES ON CHINA. The main trunk in Szechuen is called by the natives Kin-sha- kiang, or the River of Golden Sand, until it is joined by the Yalung, after which it is called Ta-kiang, as far as Wuchang, in Hupei. Below this point it is designated as the Chang- kiang, or Long River, and finally, in its reach next the sea, as the Yangtse. Unlike the Hoangho, it has many large tributaries, the most important of which is the Kan-kiang in the province of Kwangsi. This affluent drains the water of the Po-yang Lake, and continues the navigation of the Grand Canal and the Yangtse River into the southern part of the empire. There are many other streams flowing from the southern mountains into the river and swelling its enormous flood. The Han- kiang in Hupei is perhaps the largest tributary from the north, and its junction with the main river marks a spot of great commercial and strategic importance known as Hankow. The Yangtse differs from the Hoangho in many other respects than those already mentioned. Its outflow is more regular, and this is due as much to the configuration of its watershed, and to the occurrence of lakes like the Po-yang and Tungting, which hold back the water of the region tributary to them, as to the meteorological conditions which obtain in that part of China. The floods are very great, because the annual downfall of rain is also very great, but the river banks are generally not so low as to be frequently overflowed, even by freshets which rise 30 feet, as they sometimes do. The bar at its mouth permits the passage of large, ocean-going- steamers at all times, and, although the estuary contains shoals and flats at several places, they do not interpose any serious obstruction to navigation. At a distance of about a hundred miles from the sea, the shores, although low, approach near enough to each other, and are so broken by detached but commanding hills that they lend themselves readily to the defense of the interior by fortifications, a number of which have already been located and constructed. The Grand Canal, which has lost much of its utility and importance since the Yellow River changed its bed in 18^3, enters the Yangtse from the north, about 3 miles above Chin- kiang, an important city, admirably situated on the south bank of the river 170 miles above its mouth. The river is also connected at this city with Shanghai, Hangchou, and many other important cities south of the Great River by a NOTES ON CHINA, 13 continuation of the Grand Canal, or by other canals, creeks, and rivers leading out of it. Indeed, the whole region between Chinkiang and the sea, on either side of the Yangtse, is a network of canals and creeks, with their necessary embank- ments, which so cut up and divide the land as to make it almost impassable for an invading army. These canals are everywhere the same in general characteristics, and hence the description of the Grand Canal, which will be found further on, will answer for all. The watershed of the Yangtse is given by Williams at 548,000 square miles and by the "American Cyclopsedia" at 750,000. The Hoangho, or Yellow River, rises in northern Tibet, between the Shuga and Bayan-kara Mountains, in latitude 35° north and longitude 96° east, and not more than a hun- dred miles from the sources of the Yangtse River. Its course from the lakelets in the narrow plains at its head, called by the Chinese the Starry Sea, is at first south, then Avest, and then north and northeast, for about 700 miles, till it reaches the Great Wall, which follows it northwardly for about 400 miles. It then crosses the Wall, makes a great bend north and eastward around the country of the Ortous Mongols, and impinges against a spur of the Peling Mountains, which turns it again almost due south, in which direction it flows for over 500 miles, between the provinces of Shensi and Shansi. In this part of its course it traverses the loess plains and receives no tributaries worthy of the name. It is also in this part of its course that it changes its character from a clear mountain stream and takes from the loess clay the yellow color which gives it its nam e. At the southwestern corner of Shansi, and about 1,850 miles from its source, it receives its greatest affluent, the Wei, and changes its course to the eastward again, in which direction it flows for about 200 miles, to the vicinity of Khai-feng, the capital of Honan. The place of its con- fluence with the Wei is about 550 miles on the shortest line from the sea, and may be regarded as the head of its delta. From Khai-feng it now flows northeasterly to the southwest- ern corner of the Gulf of Pechili, but in this part of its course through the plains it has had many channels to the sea, though so far as is now known never more than one at a time. Since the beginning of the historic period it is certain, if we may rely upon Chinese chronicles, that it has changed 14 NOTES ON CHINA. its bed at least six times, but no one can now do more than guess how many times it did the same thing in the countless prehistoric ages, during which, aided by the Yangtse farther south, it was slowly pushing back the borders of the ocean and building up the delta plains which constitute so great a portion of the China with which we are now concerned. It is clear, however, that the wanderings of the river were coex- tensive with its delta, which extends from Shanhaikwan, in latitude 39.30° north, to the mouth of the Yangtse, in lati- tude 31° 45' north. It is known that it has occupied in succession the beds of what are now called the Pei-Ho, the Old River, and the Tat- sing-ho, all entering the Gulf of Pechili north of the Shantung promontory, and that prior to 1853 it followed a former bed to the sea, in latitude 34° north, south of the promontory. The distance between those mouths, measured along the sea- coast, around the Shantung promontory, is about 600 miles, while the distance from the northernmost limits of the delta to the mouth of the Yangtse, measured in the same way, is nearly 1,000 miles. But the deltas of the Hoangho and of the Yangtse are conterminous, and not separated by high- lands, and the total distance from the northern limits of one to the southern limits of the other, on the seacoast, is about 1,100 miles. Winding its tortuous course, as it does, for 2,700 miles through an arid and treeless region, the Hoangho carries, during the dry season and for two-thirds of the year, but a small volume of water compared with that carried by the Yangtse, or the Amazon, or even with the Mississippi. It is so shallow and narrow, and its bed has so great a declivity till after it enters the delta, that it is entirely unfit for navigation. At many places it is broken by rapids, and its current is so swift that it can not be crossed except at considerable risk. Its width, even after it enters the Great Plain, does not gener- ally exceed 1,500 feet, though at one or two places along its new bed, where it has not yet excavated a well-defined channel for itself, it spreads out to a width of several thousand feet, and is filled with sand bars. It is navigable to Yushan, near the western border of Shantung, for light-draft junks, and steamboats drawing 10 feet of water might readily ascend it to Tsinan, the capital of that province, and even a hundred miles above, if they were authorized to run, and could get NOTES ON CHINA. 15 over the bar at its mouth. Generally, the river resembles the Missouri at and above Bismarck, in width, color, and volume of water, and even in the character and appearance of its fore-shores ; but, after it enters the delta, unlike the Missouri, it has no river valley, with hillsides near by, rising to the higher level of the rolling prairies. To the contrary, its shores are never higher than 10 or 12 feet, and at places not more than 5 feet, even in the driest season. The plains are almost perfectly level, and stretch away in either direction from the river's margin hundreds of miles, without the slightest rise or depression that can be detected by the most practiced eye. They are absolutely as level as flowing water. But, however insignificant and harmless this remarkable river may be in the dry season, and for the greater part of the year, its character becomes entirely changed during the rainy season. Its watershed, which is estimated by Williams at 475,000 square miles, is almost entirely bare of trees, and hence the water which falls upon its upper portions in the short rainy season runs rapidly into the main river and causes the most destructive floods. When there is a con- currence of heavy rains in the delta-plains, with a descending high-water wave from the table-lands, the embankments, erected with such painful labor, and neglected with such cer- tainty everywhere, are frequently broken and swept away, and whole districts, many miles in width, are laid waste by the devastating and irresistible inundations. Houses are melted down, crops are destroyed, and, at times, thousands of people, with all their flocks, are drowned. The erection and repair of the embankments are now and have been, from time immemorial, matters of the greatest solicitude to the provincial and imperial governments ; but, when the floods have come and gone, and the long dry season is at hand again, the improvident or corrupt officials, and the still more improvident people, seem alike to forget that the embankments can ever be required again, or that there is any necessity for looking after or repairing them. Some of them are laid out and constructed with great care, but many of them are badly located and aligned, and poorly built in every respect. They are generally placed from 1 to 2 miles back from the river, and are from 12 to 14 feet high, 20 to 25 wide on top, and have slopes of two base to one perpendicular. They are not habitually protected by willows, reeds, or grasses, 16 NOTES OX CHINA. and whatever vegetation grows upon them is scrupulously raked off in winter for fuel. They are freely used for roads and paths, and are rarely provided with ramjos or suitably constructed road-crossings. The consequence is, that they are not only injured and weakened at many places, but fre- quently, where the traffic crossing them is considerable, they are cut through to the level of the j)lain upon which they stand. They are at all times the favorite resort of burrowing animals, and during the dry season the river, wandering from one side to the other of the space included between, frequently impinges against and undercuts them. Nothing is ever done beforehand to repair or prevent such injuries, so that when the floods come again the weak spots are found, and the neg- lected embankments, as might be expected, are broken through and swept away, notwithstanding the most strenuous exer- tions at the last moment to prevent it. Large detachments of the army are hurried to the spot, and thousands of men, and even women and boys, are gathered in from the neighboring- towns and villages, after a break has taken place. Frantic efforts are made and great expenses are incurred to repair the embankment, through which a cataract is pouring, and which might have been maintained intact by the exercise of a little timely foresight and the honest expenditure of a little money. In the middle ages the embankments seem to have been placed closer to the river margins, and to have been given a stronger profile than at present. The practice now, however, is to place them farther back, as before described, but near important towns where the local circumstances seem to require it, a smaller and lower embankment is sometimes constructed close to the river front. The most remarkable embankment examined by me was one built by the great Emperor Kien Lung, whose long and prosperous reign was contemporaneous with the life of George Washington. It is located on that jDart of the river near Khai-feng, and extends many miles in either direction. It is from 40 to 50 feet high, and from 50 to 60 feet wide on top, has the usual sloj)es of two base to one perpen- dicular, and was exceedingly well laid out and constructed. A better idea of its enormous dimensions can be had by con- sidering its solid contents, which I estimated on the ground to be an average of a million cubic yards per mile, and to have cost, even with the abundant labor of China, $50,000 per mile. NOTES ON CHINA. 17 The next great river of China is the Chu-kiang, or Pearl River, which, with its three principal branches, drains a water- shed of about 130,000 square miles, lying south of the Nan- ling or South Mountains. It enters the sea near Canton^ and its western branch, rising in Kwangsi, drains and affords com- munication to nearly all the country on the southern border of the empire. The middle or northern branch heads near the Che-ling pass, on the direct route to the Po-yang Lake, and the Yangtse River at Kiukiang, and at no distant day will doubtless be occupied by one of the principal railroad lines of the empire. Both of these, and also the eastern branch, are navigable for steamboats, and are important arteries of trade, as well as noticeable agencies in shaping the topography of the region drained by them. There is another considerable river known as the Min, which enters the sea at Fuchau, about midway between Canton and the mouth of the Yangtse, but its watershed is of much less extent than either of those heretofore men- tioned. The Pei-Ho, which enters the Gulf of Pechili at Taku, is a considerable river, and at times discharges a large volume of water, but it is principally remarkable from the fact that it lies, with all its tributaries, entirely in the Great Plain, and has at widely separated intervals constituted the bed of the Yellow River for many years at a time. It drains but little mountain or hill country, notably small areas lying northwest of Peking, west of Pao-ting-fu, and in southeastern Shansi. It is navigable, notwithstanding its great crookedness, for ocean steamers of 10 or 12 feet draft to Tientsin, 50 miles from its mouth, and is the principal means of access for both native and foreign officials to Peking, as well as for nearly all the foreign goods consumed in the country north of the Yellow River; it is of great importance to the Chinese in connection with commerce and also with the national defense. Its southern branch, the Ylin-ho, is occupied by the Grand Canal from Tientsin to Linthsing, a distance of about 300 miles by its tortuous course. Its northern branch is similarly oc- cupied for about 150 miles between Tientsin and Tungchou, 15 miles east of Peking. The entrance to the Pei-Ho is obstructed by a bar, which effectually closes the river against steamers except at high tide, and even then they can not enter drawing more than 12 or 4339 2 18 NOTES ON CHINA. 13 feet, but it is fully Avitliin the range of modern engineer- ing skill to remove tlie bar and make a port at Taku, just within the mouth of the river, accessible at all times for vessels of even 20 feet draft. The river carries but little water into the gulf at any time, except during the rainy sea- son, and as it lies altogether in the Great Plain, and has but little fall, it silts up rapidly, as soon as the outpour of flood- water has ceased, and then even the light-draft ocean steamers which ply between it and Shanghai have the greatest difficulty in ascending it more than 15 or 20 miles. It is entirely devoid of rocks, and, there being no forest trees anywhere on its banks, it is also free from snags and sawyers, such as used to make the navigation of our western rivers so difficult ; hence steamers suffer no danger and no inconvenience even from running ashore or getting aground, except from the delay and expense which follow. The accompanying plate shows the course of the Pei-Ho River from above Peking to its mouth. The Pei-thang, which enters the gulf about 10 miles farther north, has a deeper channel across its bar than the Pei-Ho, and is of some importance from a military point of view on that account. The seacoast between these two rivers, being only about 110 miles from Peking by the traveled roads, has been selected more than once, notwithstanding the shoal water along it, by foreign powers at war with China, as a landing place and base for hostile operations against the capital, and this circumstance must always cause the Chinese Government to regard it, as well as the Pei-Ho and the Pei- thang rivers, with peculiar anxiety. They occupy important positions in connection with both the invasion and defense of the country, and hence have been carefully surveyed by foreigners, and elaborately fortified at their entrance and at various points higher up by the Chinese. In the future development of the country, the entrance to the Pei-Ho must necessarily be improved, and the dry docks and other facilities for repairing ships at Taku must be increased. There are many other rivers shown on the maps of the Great Plain, but with the exception of the Newchwang, in the province of Shenking and the Ta-wen-ho, which rises in the western part of the Shenking Hills, and supplies the Grand Canal south of the Yellow River with water, they nearly all dry up during the rainless season, and are indicated generally ^n^-chwan^ 18 13 J ing wit ves wa SOI] litt wa wh in of ba: ma ste ru] ex; r Ki no an til on be W<' la: ca G. th Pc tb fo Yi di n( fc G tl tl C d NOTES ON CHINA. 10 by a swale in the plain bordered by embankments to restrain the water during flood-time. In the dry season they are so faint in outline and so perfectly dry that there is great diffi- culty in locating them at all. The great rivers of the country are the Yangtse and the Hoangho, which have through countless ages been slowly cutting down the mountains and loess terraces, and building up the great delta plain. The Chu-kiang and Min have in a lesser degree been doing the same kind of work upon the southern and eastern slopes of the mountains and borders of the sea south of the Yangtse. MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. Although China is traversed in all directions by roads, they are usually mere tracks, or, at the best, footpaths, along which the transport of goods is a tedious and difficult undertaking. It was owing to the imperfect means of communication that such a fearful mortality attended the last famines in Shansi, Honan, and Shantung. The enormous mineral wealth of Shansi is practically nonexistent for the same reason, and there is every reason to fear that the present year (1900) will see in this province a repetition of the famine horrors of the eighties. A vast internal trade is, however, carried on over the roads and by means of numerous canals and navigable rivers. "The 'Grand Canal' or Yun ho, so often spoken of by travelers in past times, is, in its way, as great a monument of human industry as the Great Wall, although perhaps at first sight it may seem less wonderful. Not a canal in the western sense of the word, it is merely, as has been explained, ' a series of abandoned river beds, lakes, and marshes con- nected one with another by cuttings of no imjDortance, fed by the Wan-ho (or Tawan-ho), in Shantung, which divides into two currents at its summit, and by other streams and rivers along its course. A part of the water of the Wan-ho descends toward the Hoangho and Gulf of Pechili; the larger part runs south in the direction of the Yangtse.'* ' ' It has generally the aspect of a winding river of varying width. As related by Marco Polo, the Emperor Kublai-Khan, toward the end of the thirteenth century, created the Yun- ho — i. e., 'River of Transports,' as it was named — chiefly by connecting river with river, lake with lake. Even before * Richthof en. 20 NOTES ON CHINA. that epoch goods were conveyed partly by water and partly by land from the Yangtse to the Pel- Ho basin. The Grand Canal connects Hangchon, in Chekiang, with Tientsin, in Chili, where it unites with the Pei-Ho, and thus may be said to extend to Tungchau, in the neighborhood of Peking. After leaving Hangchou it skirts the eastern border of the Tai-hu (or Great Lake), surrounding, in its course, the beautiful city of Suchau, and then runs in a northwesterly direction through the fertile districts of Kiangsu as far as Chinkiang, on the Yangtse. Thence it passes through Kiangsu, Anhui, Shantung, and Chili, to Tientsin. When the canal was in order, before the inflow of the Yellow River failed, there was uninterrupted water communication from Peking to Canton, and to the many cities and towns met with en route. "For many years past, but especially since the carriage of tribute rice by steamers along the coast began, repairs to the Grand Canal have been practically abandoned. Numberless instances of the manner in which the waterways and the river embankments are neglected could be given. Nothing is attempted till too late, and several hundred coolies, some- times thousands, are requisitioned and hurried off to under- take what could be done by a few men and a little application of mechanical skill, if taken in time. The higher waters of the streams and rivers are difficult to navigate. But the absence of cataracts, the cheapness of wages, and the small value of time, and even of life, it may be said, make it possi- ble for the Chinese to employ boat navigation advantageously where the difficulty, expense, and risk would make it a sheer impossibility in any part of Europe. The Chinaman drags his boat over rapids that in most countries would form an absolute barrier to navigation. He takes them across shal- lows only a couple of inches deep and flowing with great velocity over a pebbly or shingly bottom. The amount of freight carried in this manner in the face of almost super- human difficulties is astounding. Little has been attempted to maintain, nothing has been done to improve, either by land or water, the interprovincial communications, the urgent necessity above all else for China. ' ' The roads in China, confined generally to the northern and western sections of the country, are proverbially the very worst in the world. The typical western China road is a thing to be experienced, it can not be described. NOTES ON CHINA. 21 " ' The paving is of the usTial Chinese pattern,' says Baber, ' rough bowlders and blocks of stone laid somewhat loosely together on the surface of the ground, ' ' good for ten years and bad for ten thousand," as the 'Chinese proverb admits. On the level plains of China, in places where the population is sufficiently affluent to subscribe for occasional repairs, this system has much practical value. But in the Yunnan Moun- tains the roads are never repaired ; so far from it, the indi- gent natives extract the most convenient blocks to stop the holes in their hovel walls, or to build a fence on the wind- ward side of their poppy patches. The rain soon undermines the pavement, especially where it is laid on a steep incline ; whole sections of it topple down the slope, leaving chasms a yard or more in depth ; and isolated fragments balance them- selves here and there, with the notorious purpose of breaking a leg or spraining an ankle.' * " Where traveling by water is impossible, sedan-chairs are used to carry passengers, f and coolies with poles and slings transport the luggage and goods. The distances covered by the sedan-chair porters across these highland roads are re- markable, sometimes as much as 35 miles daily, even on a journey extending over a month, and with only a few days' halt altogether. " The transport animals — ponies, mules, oxen, and donkeys — are very strong and hardy, and manage to drag the carts along the most execrable roads, six or eight animals being harnessed, often as a mixed team, in a cart drawing about a ton. Many descriptions of travel in a springless Chinese cart have been attempted, but no pen can reproduce the sen- sation. The ponies of western China are admirable, a rougher edition of the Shan or Burma pony, hardier and more endur- ing. The mules are unequaled in any other country. The distances ponies and mules will cover are surprising, and * "China, No. 3. 1878." f ' ' No traveler in western China who possesses any sense of self-respect, " says Baber, " should journey without a sedan chair, not necessarily as a conveyance, but for the honor and glory of the thing. Unfurnished with this indispensable token of respectability, he is liable to be thrust aside on the highway, to be kept waiting at ferries, to be relegated to the worst inn's worst room, and generally to be treated with indignity, or, what is sometimes worse, with familiarity, as a peddling footpad who, unable to gain a living in his own country, has come to subsist on China. A chair is far more effective than a passport." ^^ NOTES ON CHINA. this on the very poorest of fodder. Their endurance and patience are equaled only by the coolies. The two-humped or Bactrian camel met with at Peking, and employed in the Mongolian trade, is characteristic of Mongolia, where the one-humped species common in Turkestan is unknown. "From Peking four highroads branch in various directions, one leading to Urga, by way of Suenhwa fu, which traverses the Great Wall at Chankeakou ; another which enters Mon- golia through the Ku-peikou in the northeast, and after reach- ing Fungning proceeds with a northwesterly bearing to Dolonor; a third going due east by way of Tungchau and Yungping fu to Shanhaikwan, the point on the shore of the gulf where the Great Wall terminates; and fourthly, one which leads, in a southwesterly direction, to Paoting fu and on to Taiyuen fu, in Shansi. "The Central Asian trade route from Sian fu, turning north- west, leaving the fertile loess valley of the Wei and traversing the once rich but now devastated and depopulated hills and valleys of Shensi and Kansu as far as the confines of the Gobi Desert, passes through a country of great agricultural wealth, possessed of a magnificent coal, and probably also iron, supply.' The only line of approach for a railway from Central Asia to central China and the Yangtse basin is the present cart road from Sian, leading south of the Yellow Eiver to Honan, Funcheng, and Hankow. From its favorable position, Honan^ according to Colonel Mark Bell,* is destined to be a great future railway center, for thence at least two good lines can be carried to Hankow, while it is an easy passage via Kaifong to Peking. The iron and coal of Shansi can be tapped by a line from Tungkwan up the valley of the Fuenho to Tai-yuen and beyond. The tunneling required in the Shansi hills for a line to Peking could pass through strata of coal, which is also found in northern Shensi. Richthofen very properly lays special stress upon the value of the Tungkwan road, as 'of supreme importance in a political and strategical respect, as it mediates, without exception, the entire traffic between the southwest of the Empire (Szechuen, Yunnan, and Tibet) and Peking, together with the whole northeast. It is one of the chief roads of travel in China, and the greatest military road.'" [From "China in Transformation," by A. R. Col- quhoun; copyright, 1898, by Harper & Bros.] * "Asiatic Quarterly Review," April, 1890. NOTES ON CHINA. 23 General James H. Wilson, in his book on China, gives an account of a trip overland from Peking south to the Yellow River and Grand Canal. In this account he makes the fol- lowing remarks about the roads : "The roads were found to be in excellent condition for China, dry, hard, and dusty, but very crooked, as is gen- erally the case throughout this country. There being no fences, no hedgerows, or ditches to mark the boundaries of farms or gardens, and apparently no work done upon the roads either in their original construction or for their main- tenance, every traveler feels at liberty to mark out a road for himself, and this is a liberty of which everyone is com- pelled to avail himself in the rainy season, when the alluvial soil of the plains becomes a sea of mud. The consequence is that it is no infrequent occurrence to see a road go around three sides of a field instead of along the fourth side, or run zigzag like a ship tacking against a head wind. Even the roads laid down on the maps as imperial highways are un- necessarily crooked. They are neither paved nor graveled, even where the materials can be had, and macadamizing seems to be entirely unknown. Indeed, it is not too much to say that roads in China are never worked and could be hardly worse in the rainy season. "During our entire journey we saw only one stretch of road, about 10 miles long, which showed that it had been laid out, heaped up in the middle and ditched, and that was through an unusually low and desolate portion of the plains, which would have been otherwise impassable for most of the year. Judging from the crookedness of the canal embank- ments, as well as of the roads, it is difiB.cult to believe that the Chinese who laid them out ever had the slightest con- ception of the fact that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points. There are few running streams and no mud in winter, and as the plains are everywhere as flat and smooth as any floor, wheeled vehicles can drive indefinitely in any direction. It is curious that the Chinese never put springs in their carts, and, in fact, seem to be ignorant of their existence or of the use which is made of them in other countries." 24 NOTES ON CHINA. THE RAILWAY SYSTEM IN OPERATION IN CHINA. According to the latest reports on the subject, railroads in China have been completed and are in operation as follows : Miles. From Peking to Tientsin (double track) 80 From Tientsin via Shanhaikwan and Chunghouso to Chenchoii (Kinchow) 287 From Kaochiao to Tienchiaochang 10 From Nuerrho to Nanpiao 30 From Fengtai ( near Peking ) to Paotingf u 88 From Linliho to Choukoutien 10 From Shanghai to Woosung ___ 14 Total 519 The Statesman's Yearbook for 1900 says: ' ' In the north of China a considerable extent of railway (mostly British) has been constructed and is open for traffic. From Peking to Tientsin, a distance of 80 miles, the line is open^ and thence to Tang-ku, on the coast, a distance of 27 miles. From Tang-ku it runs through the coal district to Shanhaikwan, 147 miles, and thence along the coast, 113 miles, to Kin-Chou, at the head of the Gulf of Liaotung. As the railway approaches Kin-Chou, two lines branch off, one of 7 miles from Kao Chiao to Tien Chiao Chang, on the coast; the other runs 30 miles inland from Nu Err Ho to the Nan Pao coal mines. The total length of line open from Peking to Kin-Chou, including the two branches, in December, 1899, was 404 miles. The line is being continued round the head of the Liaotung Gulf to Yung Kow, where the system will be connected by a Russian branch line with the railway which is being constructed from Port Arthur and Talienwan to the Siberian railway. Another prolongation of the British line is being laid from Kin-Chou to Hsin Min Tun, 106 miles to the northeast, and about 40 miles west of Mukden. The Russian railway through Manchuria is being constructed and will probably be completed in 1902. The main line will have a length of 950 miles, and the South Manchuria branch to Port Arthur, 650 miles. Toward the southwest, Peking is con- nected with Pao-ting-fu, the capital of the province of Chili, by a line 88 miles in length, from which, at Liu Li Ho, a branch runs to the Chou Kow Tien coal fields, 10 miles dis- tant. The Pao-ting-fu line, constructed with British capital, was in January, 1900, transferred to a Belgian syndicate, and NOTES ON CHINA. 25 will be extended southward to Hankow on the Yangtse River. From the Yangtse another projected line (American) will run to Canton. Railways (British) are to be constructed also for the development of the mining and petroleum industries of the province of Shansi, and others to connect the Honan mines with the Yangtse River opposite Nanking, via Kaif ong. The Shanghai-Wusung railway of 12 miles has been open for traffic since August, 1898. From Shanghai a projected line will run to Hangchou, Ningpo, Wenchau, and j)i'obably to Canton. Other lines (British) are to connect Chingtu in the province of Szechuen with Wuchau and with Canton. French lines are proposed to bring Tonkin into communication with the treaty ports of Mengtsz, Wuchau, and Pakhoi, and also with the province of Yunnan." In this connection the China Association of Great Britain, in its last annual report, states that concessions have been granted for the following railways in China, which are in the course of construction or projected : 1. To Russia, for the so-called Chinese Eastern railways in Manchuria. (This road is complete from Port Arthur to Mukden.) 2. To The Russo-Chinese Bank from Cheng-ting to Taiyuen, capital of the Province of Shansi. 3. To a Franco-Belgian syndicate from Peking to Hankow. 4. To an American syndicate from Hankow to Canton. 5. To Germany for a railway triangle from Kiaochow to Tsinan, Kiaochow to Yi-hien, and from Tsinan to Yi-hien in the Shantung Province. 6. To an Anglo-German syndicate from Tientsin to Yang- tse, opposite Chinkiang. 7. To the British and Chinese Corporation : (a) From Shanghai to Soochow and Nanking ; (b) From Shanghai to Hangchou, with possible exten- sion to Ningpo ; (c) From Pukou (opposite Nanking) to Hsinyang in Honan ; (d) From Canton to Kowloon. 8. To the Peking syndicate (British) : (a) From Taokow, on the Wei River, to Weill wei and Tsechow ; (h) From Tsechow, via Honan-fu, to Siang-yang, on the Han. 26 NOTES ON CHINA. 9. To France: (a) Pakhoi to a point on the bank of the West River (presumably Nanning) ; (h) Lungchow to Nanning or Pes^; (c) From frontier of Tonkin (presumably Laokai) to Yunnan ; (d) From Kwangchou Bay to Om-pu. Perhaps a portion at least of some of the roads mentioned as in course of construction have been completed and are in operation. For instance, it is known that work has been going on on both ends of the Russian line from Port Arthur to Yladivostock for some time, and it has been stated that these two points would be connected by rail during the present month. The following information about the railroad from Peking to Tientsin is taken from a report of James Ginnell, district engineer Imperial Chinese railways, to the chairman and directors of the British and Chinese Corporation, Limited, London, October 8, 1898: "Peking to Tientsin, a double-track line laid with 85- pound steel rails, and including a short spur to the west from the Peking junction in connection with the Han Kan sys- tem — 83| miles; Tientsin to Tan Ku, a single-track line laid with 70-pound rails — 27 miles; Tang Ku to Shanhaikwan, a single-track line laid with 60-pound rails — 146f miles; total length of lines to be mortgaged, 257^ miles. There is a far- ther section of 40 miles in operation outside the Great Wall (Shanhaikwan to Chung-Hon-So), the earnings of which, together with those of the 253 miles of extension proposed to be built out of the proceeds of this loan, are to be pledged as additional security. The value of the lines to be mort- gaged may be gathered from the following details : "Permanent Way. — The permanent way is substantially laid and is maintained under a staff of British officers and superintendents. The country through which the lines pass is generally an alluvial j)lain, consequently the grades are very moderate and the principal curves good, water ways form- ing the chief items of engineering difficulty and experience. "Bridges. — The double-track bridges from Peking to Tien- tsin, making an aggregate length of 7,140 feet, consist of steel girders, resting on masonry, and viaduct piers and abutments sunk by compressed air to a proper foundation. A single- NOTES ON CHINA. 27 track bridge, aggregate 17,147 feet, of similar construction, witli the exception of 800 feet of steel girders on timber piers, and this is about being brought into substantial conformity with the remainder of the line. The largest viaduct is that over the deep gorge of the Lan Ho, and is 2,200 feet face to face. "Station Houses, etc. — There is a fine station building almost completed at the Peking terminus and an elaborately designed station yard, capable of accommodating a large pas- senger and goods traffic. From the terminus to Peking City a heavy rail tramway has been laid and is being equipped for electrical working. At Fengtai, 5 miles south of the terminus, is the junction with the Hai Kan system, which is destined, in the process of railway development, to become a very impor- tant center, and is a fixed point on the western route, owing to its proximity to the heavy viaduct across the Hun Ho at Lu Kia Chiao City (from terminus the line as far as Pao-ting-fu is being constructed departmentally). At this junction ex- pensive provision has been made for handling heavy traffic, and sheds, stores, shops, etc., have been erected of a substan- tial and commodious character. The stations, station accom- modations, water supply, turntables, shops, sheds, stores, etc. , are generally in keeping with the character of the line and suited to the requirement of traffic and efficient working. The sidings on the line to be mortgaged make an additional aggregate length of 30-|- miles. "Wharves. — The wharves at Tientsin have a river front- age of 600 feet, and an area of 180 acres. The wharves at Hsin Ho have an area of 150 acres. The wharves at Tang Ku have a water frontage of 3,300 feet, and include a timber wharf of 720 acres, with 5^ miles of sidings. Tang Ku, on the Pei-Ho, a few miles up stream from the Taku forts, is the port of Peking and of the contiguous districts of North China. There is a large and growing export and import trade, as may be gathered from the customs rejDorts, and owing to the silting up of the Pei-Ho (Tientsin River), steamers, instead of going up to Tientsin, discharge at Tang Ku, and a large and increasing percentage of this cargo goes up to Tientsin by rail, and a decreasing quantity by boat. The value of the property at Tang Ku is estimated at fully a half million taels, although the original cost was trifling. At Tang- shan are situated the principal workshops, where there are 28 NOTES ON CHINA. 2,000 men employed in carriage and wagon building; tlie general repairs to the rolling stock, the output from which last year was 400 vehicles of various denominations. At Tangshan and vicinity are situated the Haiping Coal Com- pany's mines, which form an important source of traffic. The mines are working as a Chinese concern exclusively and em- ploy about 6,000 men, with an output of 2,500 tons per day. "At Shanhaikwan are situated the shops for girder build- ings, in full working order, in which appliances and hands are employed capable of turning out about 6,000 tons of girder work per annum. "The value of the principal shops, including machinery, stores, and spare parts, is estimated by Mr. Kinder as under : Taels. Fongtai, repair shops for rolling stock 60, 000 Tangshan, for construction and repairs _ 400, 000 Shanhaikwan, for girder building 200, 000 Total value 660,000 "Rolling Stock. — The rolling stock is built ' somewhat after the best American types and designed by the engineer- in-chief with a boldness of conception unhampered by the settled conservatism of the home railways, particularly in freight trains is the contrast so remarkable between the North China trains of forty to fifty 30-ton cars; and the freight trains on the home lines is a fifth or sixth of this capacity. The heavy freight and passenger locomotives number 34, and the lighter ones for auxiliary work 22. The vehicles of all denominations number 1,515. The passenger cars consist of two classes, with the exception of mail trains (Peking-Tientsin), on which there are extra first-class accom- modations provided on board the postal cars. The passenger coaches are built on American principles, having through passenger and end platforms. They are 60 feet long, carried on bogies, the second-class accommodating 90 passengers each. In the freight stock, the 30-ton capacity long frame bogie cars are a special feature, and are available to the utmost. Westinghouse air brakes are on all express trains, and hand brakes on freight cars. "It may be mentioned incidentally, as a sample of Tangshan work, that the principal imperial state car is 75 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 15 feet high from rails, carried on two bogies, each resting on six 42-inch wheels ; electric light from axle. NOTES ON CHINA. 29 Steam heated, Westinghouse air brakes, and the general design, workmanship, and finish are of the highest order. The locomotive engineers, inspectors, and passenger drivers are British, as are also the traffic manager and principal con- ductors. The secretarial department, directorate, and such accountancy as exist are exclusively Chinese. The privilege of appointing an English accountant of your choice, and to be in effect under your control, is to be made a condition of your agreement, and this fact in itself enabling you, as it will, to publish certified periodical traffic return, should be regarded with satisfaction, and I might add that it is indica- tive of the bona fide action, spirit of liberty, and business- like capacities which characterize the present heads of the Imperial Railway Department. "Capital Cost of Line. — The capital cost of the existing railway property, including the 40 miles outside of the Great Wall, is put down by Mr. Kinder at 16,000,000 taels. Owing to the Chinese method of bookkeeping this amount can not be subdivided or apportioned. At present the engineer in chief requires a considerable sum for renewals and repairs, and to develop still further the efficiency of the line. But it is well at the same time to point out the numerously enhanced value of the wharf and land property." PORTS AND CITIES. The most important place in China, so far as foreign inter- ests are concerned, is undoubtedly Hongkong. This is an island about 11 miles long and from 2 to 5 miles broad, with a circumference of about 2T miles. It is situated off the coast of Kwangtung Province, near the mouth of the Canton River. It is distant about 4 miles from the Portuguese port of Macao, and about 90 miles from Canton. The name of the qity is Victoria, but that term is very seldom used, and the name of the island, Hongkong, is used instead. The harbor of Hongkong is one of the finest in the world. It has excellent docking facilities, and in the amount of shipping is the third port in importance in the British Empire. In addition to the island of Hongkong, which is a crown colony, China, in 1898, ceded to Great Britain for ninety-nine years territory in the vicinity of Hongkong to the extent of about 3T6 square miles, 286 being on the mainland and 90 on the 30 NOTES ON CHINA. adjoining islands. The jurisdiction over this territory was assumed on the 16th of April, 1899. Hongkong has been a British crown colony since 1841, Other concessions have recently been granted, as stated in the Statesman's Yearbook for 1900, to other foreign powers, as follows : In November, 1897, the Germans seized the port of Kiao- chou, on the east coast of Shantung, and in January, 1898, obtained from the Chinese a ninety-nine-year lease of the town, harbor, and district. By agreement with the Chinese Government, dated March 27, 1898, Eussia is in possession of Port Arthur and Talienwan and their adjacent territories and waters, on lease for the term of twenty-five years, which may be extended by agreement. Within the territories and waters leased Russia has sole military and naval control, and may build forts and barracks as she desires. Port Arthur is closed to all vessels except Russian and Chinese men-of-war. Part of Talienwan harbor is reserved exclusively for Russian and Chinese men-of-war, but the remainder is freely open to mer- chant vessels of all countries. To the north is a neutral zone, where Chinese troops shall not be quartered except with the consent of Russia. The territory acquired here by Russia has been formed into the Russian province of Kwangtung. For such period as Russia may hold Port Arthur, Great Britain is, by agreement with China, April 2, 1898, to hold Wei-Hai-Wei, in the Province of Shantung. To compensate for these advantages given to the Russians, British, and the Germans, the Chinese Government granted to the French, in April, 1898, a ninety-nine-year lease of the bay of Kwang- Chau-Wang, on the coast of Lien-Chau Peninsula, opposite the island of Hainan. In November, 1899, China conceded to France the possession of the two islands commanding the entrance of the bay. This territory has been placed under the authority of the governor-general of French Indo-China. Foreign nations have, in virtue of various treaties with the Chinese Government, the right of access to certain ports of the Empire. The following is a list of these treaty ports, with their estimated Chinese population : 1 Imperial Palace 2 Gaie of Gveai Purity 3 Buddhist Monastery 4 Monastery of Eternal Eeposc 5 Marble Bridge The Golden Lake 7 The Gate of Heaven 8 Academy of Han-Lin The Tjejs:ations 10 Temple of Glorious Devotion 11 Examining College 12 Observatory Tower 13 Monastery of Li'ng-fii-tse 14 Great Buddhist Monastery of Yung-ho-kiing 15 Temple of Confucius 10 Imperial L'niversity 17 Clock Tower 18 Drum Tower 19 Temple of Ancient Dynasties 20 Pe-ta-tso 21 Catholic Church 22 Temple of Heaven 23 Altar of the Earth 24 Buddhist Monastery Manhattan Island and Peking, drawn tu tlie same scale. THE NORRlS KF.TtRS CO. KHOTO L THO WASHlNCrOK O C NOTES ON CHINA. [From Statesman's Yearbook, 1900.] 31 Names of ports. Provinces. Newchwang Tientsin Chefu Chung king Ichang Shasi Hankow Kiukiang Wulm Chinkiang Shanghai Suchow Ningpo Hangchou Wenchan Fnchan Amoy Swatau Canton Wuchau Samshni Kongmun and Kumchuk. Kaulnn Lappa Kiungchan -. Pakhoi Lunchau : Mengtsz Szemao Yatung Shenking _- Chili Shantung _ _ Szechuen . - Hupei Hupei Hupei Kiangsi Anhui Anhui Anhui Anhui Chehkiang . Chehkiang . Chehkiang . Fukien Fukien Kwangtung Kwangtung Kwangsi Kwangtung Kwangtung Kwangtung Kwangtung Kwangtung Kwangtung Kwangsi -_. Yunnan Yunnan Tibet Population. 60, 000 , 000, 000 35, 000 300, 000 34, 000 73, 000 800, 000 55, 000 80, 750 140, 000 586, 000 500, 000 255, 000 700, 000 80, 000 650, 000 96, 000 35, 000 500, 000 50, 000 4,000 40, 000 20, 000 22, 000 12, 000 15, 000 The following account of the principal cities of China is taken almost entirely from "Chronicle and Directory of China," etc., Hongkong, 1900: PEKING (SHUN-TIEN). The present capital of China was formerly the Northern capital only, as its name denotes, bnt it has long been really the metropolis of the Central Kingdom. Peking is situated on a sandy plain 13 miles southwest of the Pei-Ho River, and about 110 miles from its mouth, in latitude 39° 54' north and longitude 116° 27' east, or nearly on the parallel of Naples. A canal connects the city with the Pei-Ho. Peking is ill-adapted /- 1 Imperial Pnlaoo 2 Gate of Gieiil Purity 3 Buddhist Monastoiy 4 Monastery of Eternal Repose 5 Marble Bridge f. The Golden Lake 7 The Gate of Heaven 8 Academy of Han-Lin ft The Ijegalions 10 Temple of Glorious Devotion 11 Examining College 12 Observatory Tower IS Monastery of Liinp-fii-tse 14 Great Buddhist Monastery of Yung-ho-kiing 15 Temple of Confucius 10 Imperial Lfnivevsity 17 Clock Tower 18 Drum Tower 19 Temple of Ancient Dynasties 20 Pe-ta-tse 21 Catholic Church 22 Temple of Heaven 23 Altar of the Earth 24 Buddhist Monastery n Island ;:, drawn ! scale. j 1 I 1 f )£ S' I ^ ^>f IV I -L^ i -L / r-LAN OF THE CITY OF PEKING. 32 NOTES OX CHINA. by situation to be the capital of a vast empire, nor is it in a position to become a great manufacturing or industrial center. The products of all parts of China naturally find their way to the seat of government, but it gives little save bullion in return. The present city of Peking is divided into two portions, the Northern, or Tartar, city and the Southern, or Chinese. The former is being gradually encroached upon by the Chinese, and the purely Manchu section of the capital will soon be very limited. The Southern city is almost exclusively occupied by the Chinese. The general shape of Peking may be roughly represented by a square placed upon an oblong, the former standing for the Tartar and the latter for the Chinese city. The whole of the capital is, of course, walled. The walls of the Tartar city are the stronger. They average 50 feet in height and 40 feet in width, and are buttressed at intervals of about 60 yards. The parapets are loopholed and crenelated. They are faced on both sides with brick, the space between being filled with earth and concrete. Each of the gateways is surmounted by a three-storied pagoda. The walls of the Chinese city are about 30 feet in height, 25 feet thick at the base, and 15 feet wide on the terreplein. The total circum- ference of the walls around the two cities slightly exceeds 20 miles. The accompanying illustration gives an idea of the wall, with the surrounding moat, and level space between the wall and moat. The Tartar city consists (Dr. Williams tells us) of three in- closures, one within the other, each surrounded by its own walls. The innermost, called Kin-ching, or "prohibited city," contains the imperial palace and its surrounding buildings ; the second is occupied by the several offices appertaining to the Government and by private residences of officials ; while the outer consists of dwelling houses, with shops in the chief avenues. The Chinese city is the business portion of Peking, but it presents few features of interest to sight-seers, while the inclosure known as the "prohibited city" is, as the title de- notes, forbidden to all foreign visitors. The numerous tem- ples, the walls, the Imperial Observatory, the foreign legations, and the curio shops are the chief attractions to the tourist. The streets of the Chinese metropolis are kept in a most dis- graceful condition. In the dry season the pedestrian sinks deep in noxious dust, and in wet weather he is liable to be o LU a. X NOTES ON CHINA. 3:> drowned in the torrents that rush along the thoroughfares, where the constant traffic has worn away the soil. The year 1899 saw the innovation of Legation Street being cleaned, leveled, and macadamized, the greatest urban improvement in three centuries. Experts say that the money lost in time, wear and tear of men, mules, and carts, every year is greater than the prime cost of macadamizing all the main thorough- fares. The congestion of the traffic and the personal discom- forts of cart transit are inconceivable to people who have not experienced them . There is an air of decay about Peking which extends even to the finest temples, and which powerfully im- presses every visitor as symbolic of the decadence of empires. The population of Peking is not accurately known, but accord- ing to a Chinese estimate, which is probably much in excess, it is 1,300,000, of whom 900,000 reside in the Tartar and 400,- 000 in the Chinese city. There is no direct foreign trade with Peking, and the small foreign population is made ujd of the members of the various legations, the maritime customs estab- lishments, the professors of the College of Peking, and the missionary body. In August, 1884, the city was brought into direct telegraphic communication with the rest of the world, by an overland line to Tientsin via Tungchau. The year 1899 witnessed two other innovations, which would have been regarded as impossible ten years ago, namely, the erec- tion of large two-story buildings on prominent sites for the Austrian legation, and the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank. These are breaks with immemorial tradition that the feng- sJiui must resent elevation in houses other than those of the immortal gods and the son of heaven. A railway line to Tientsin was opened in 1897, but prejudice still keeps the ter- minus outside of the walls, and the gates are ruthlessly shut every night at sunset without reference to the convenience of travelers by rail or otherwise. TIENTSIN. Tientsin is situated at the junction of the Yun-how, or Hwae, River (better known as the Grand Canal) Avith the Pei-Ho, in latitude 39° 4' north, longitude 117° 3' oG" east. It is distant from Peking by road about 80 miles, but the bulk of the enormous traffic between the two cities is by the River Pei-Ho as far as Tungchau, 13 miles from Peking, and thence by carts and wheelbarrows over the once magnificent, but 4:539 3 34 NOTES OX CHINA. now dilaiDidated, stone causeway. The traffic is now, how- ever, being rapidly diverted to the railway, which was opened in 1897 and the line doubled in November, 1898. Tientsin was formerly a place of no importance, and till recently had few historical associations. Till the end of the Ming Dynasty (A. D. 1G44) it was only a second-rate military station, but at the northern terminus of the Grand Canal it gradually assumed commercial importance, and by the end of the seventeenth century had become a great distributing center. The navigability of the Pei-Ho for seagoing junks ceases at Tientsin, and this made it the emporium for the very large quantities of tribute rice yearly sent up to the capital, after the Grand Canal shoaled up so as to be unfit for carriage in bulk. The trade of the city is now imperiled by the silting up of the Pei-Ho. A river-improvement scheme of some magnitude was inaugurated in 1898 under Mr. A. de Linde, and is now rapidly approaching completion. It is, however, generally believed that no lasting success will attend the remedial measures until steps are taken to deal with Taku Bar by permanent dredging ; meanwhile it is hoped that, by closing the canals and creeks which take off most of the flood tide, the navigation of the river will be restored to its normal state before the year 1900. The expeditions of the allies in 1858-1861 greatly enhanced the importance of the city, as it then proved to be the mili- tary key to the capital and an excellent base. It was here, on June 26, 1858, that Lord Elgin signed the treaty which was to conclude the war, but which unhappily led to its prolonga- tion. The temple in which the treaty was signed is about a mile distant from the west gate, and is now inclosed in a small arsenal (Hai Kwan Tze) and surrounded by factories for the manufacture of small-arm ammunition. It is worth a visit, if only to see the large bell, which, as usual, has an interesting tradition associated with it. During the long satrapy of Li Hung Chang the trade and importance of the city developed exceedingly. Li, by the vigor of his rule, soon quelled the rowdyism for which the Tientsinese were notorious throughout the empire, and, as he made the city his chief residence and the center of his many experiments in military and naval education, it came to be regarded as the focus of new learning and national reform. The foreign affairs of China were practically directed from Tientsin during the two decades 1874-1894. NOTES ON CHINA. :]o The city will ever be infamous to Europeans from the mas- sacre of the French Sisters of Mercy and other foreigners on June 21, 1870, in which the most appalling brutality was exhibited; as usual, the political agitators who instigated the riot got off. The Roman Catholic Cathedral, which was destroyed on that occasion, has since been rebuilt, and the new building was consecrated in 1897. The building- occupies a commanding site on the river bank. All the mis- sions and many of the foreign hongs have agencies in the city. The population is reputed to be 1,000,000, but there is no statistical evidence to justify such large figures. The area of the city is far less than that of the Portsmouth boroughs with their 180,000, and the houses without exception are one storied. The suburbs, however, are very extensive, and there is the usual vagueness as to where the town begins and ends. The city walls are quadrate and extend about -1,000 feet in the direction of each cardinal point. The advent of foreigners has caused a great increase in the value of real estate all over Tientsin, and, as new industries are introduced every year, the tendency is still upward. Li Hung Chang authorized Mr. Tong Kin-Seng tb sink a coal shaft at Tong Shan (60 miles northeast of Tientsin) in the seven- ties ; this was done and proved a precursor of a railway, which has since been extended to Shanhaikwan for military pur- poses, and from thence around the Gulf of Liaotung to King- chou. This line will have been pushed in to N^ewchwang by 1900. In 1897 the line to Pekin was opened, and proved such a success that the line had to be doubled in 1898-9. From Feng- tai, about 7 miles from the capital, the transcontinental line to Hankow branches off. This line has been already made as far as Pao-ting-fu, the provincial capital of Chili, and is now open to traffic. Its continuation is in the hands of the Belgians. About 435 miles in all are open to goods and pas- senger traffic. As usual, the railway has brought all sorts of foreseen and unforeseen contingencies with it. Farmers up near Shanhaikwan are supplying fruit and vegetables to Tientsin. An enormous trade in peanuts (with Canton) has been created. Coal has come extensively into household use. The foreign residents are developing a first-rate watering place (Pei-tai-ho) on the Gulf of Pechili, and all the various indus- tries have been stimulated. Brick buildings are springing up 30 NOTES OX CHINA. ill all directions and the dei)ressing-looking adobe (mud) lints are diminisliing. The foreigners live in the three concessions (British, French, and German) which fringe the river below the city and cover an area of less than 500 acres. The Japanese are now (1900) taking np a concession in accordance with the terms of the treaty of Shimonoseki. Very extensive building operations are going on throughout the concessions, which have excel- lent roads with police, oil, gas lamps, etc. The British munici- pality has a handsome capitalized town hall, completed in 1889 ; adjoining there is a well-kept public garden, opened in the year of jubilee and styled Victoria Park. An excellent recreation ground of 10 acres is also being developed, and 3 miles distant there is a capital race course. There are two hotels (the Astor House and Globe), two clubs (Tientsin Club and Concordia, the latter chiefly German), a theatre, an excellent library, three churches (Roman Catholic, Anglican,, and Union), and no public houses. Distilling is one of the largest local industries ; it is chiefly from kowliang (sorghum) or millet. Although a spirit, it is called "wine," and is exported to the south in large quantities. The manufacture of co^^e" unrefined salt by the evapora- tion of sea water is also carrie*d on. near Taku; the produce is stacked along the river bank just below the native city, and sometimes gives off very offensive smells, rendering life a burden. The trade in salt is a government monopoly. Carpets, shoes, glass, coarse earthenware, and fire works are also made in large quantities in the city, but Tientsin, is at present essentially a center for distribution and collection rather than manufacture. The exports include coal, wood (from Kokonor, Kansu, etc.), bristles, straw '^^aid, goat skins, furs, wine, etc. The export trade is a r^ent creation, and is largely due to foreign initiative. Wool cleaning and braid and bristle sorting are the chief industries in the foreign hongs except those of the Russians, who are exclusively engaged in the transit of tea. ' The imports are of the usual miscellaneous nature; tea for the Desert and Siberia, and mineral oil, matches, and needles figure next to piece goods. The fine arts are unknown to the Tientsinese except iii' the shape of the cleverly made mud figures; these are painted and make really admirable statuettes, but are difficult to carry away, being remarkably brittle. ff'fihfy euhivtxiai- wah ' / MiiUi. Sy Indian, dm. Tk* »*iif «/ T&Tt -dnrt- E Lion Guicheii Charnei- Friaiit Protel Bugeaud Chasselonp-Laubat . Sfax 8,114 3, <)90 4,109 4. Olo f,27 50:i 8, 277 4, 792 •A, 739 4,055 3. 740 3,758 4. 728 Principal arniaiiu'Ut. Two 9.4-lnch ; twelve 5.5-inch, q. f Four G.4-inch, q. f. ; tenS 7-incli, q. f Four G.4-iuch, q. f. ; six •'i.o-iiicli, q. f Four 6.4-inch, q. f. ; ten 3.9-inch, q. f Two 3.9-incli, q. f Two 5.5-inch, q. f Two G.4-incli, (j. f.; six 5.5-incli, n. f Two 7.G-inch ; six 5.5-inch, q. f Six G.4-inch, q. f. ; four 3 9-iiicli, q. f Four 6.4-inch, q. f. ; ten 3.".l-inch, q. f Six G.4-iu(h, q. f.; four 3.9-inrh, q. f Six 6.4-inch, q. f. ; four 3.9-inch, q. f Six 6.4-inch, q. f. ; ten 5.5-:uch, q. f Coraple- nient. 521 386 332 378 99 84 625 375 .358 384 358 358 473 From the French ships, under command of Rear Admiral Courrejolles, a force of blue- jackets was landed, and the offi- cers and men on shore on June 30 were about 400. Marine troops were also sent from Saigon, and by July 3, 2,000 men in all were expected to have arrived, and 2, 500 more left Tou- lon on June 29. The Nive has also embarked a battalion of * The military attache to the American embassy at Paris, France, reports as follows, under date of July 26, 1900, in regard to the composition of the French expeditionary force for China : Qeneral in command. General (of Division) Voyron. The force will be organized into two brigades, the first formed of troops from the department of marine, the second from the department of war. First Brigade — General Frey, commanding. Sixteenth marine infantry, three battalions, 600 men each. Seventeenth marine infantry, three battalions, 600 men each. Eighteenth marine infantry, three battalions, 600 men each, . Four mountain batteries 3.15-inch guns, Two field batteries 3.15-inch guns, Telegraphers, 50. Artillery mechanics, 50. Hospital corps men, 50. Engineers organized from the marine artillery, to be replaced by regular engineers later, 50. The battalions above mentioned will be raised in strength later on to 800 men each. 800 men, 720 mules. 80 NOTES OX CHINA. GOO men, a battery of artillery with 110 men, 75 horses and mules, with stores and ammunition, and left Tonlon at the beginning of July in company with the Cachar, which had a battalion of GOO men on board. The Colombo followed with 600 men, a battery with 110 men, and sections of telegraphists and hospital attendants. Another battalion of marine infan- try is being formed at Toulon intended for service in China, and a brigadier general is to proceed to Taku to take com- mand of the forces. Colonel Lalubin is in command of the regiment of three battalions already formed in the far East, and Lieutenant Colonel Bonfils is to command the batteries. At the request of Admiral CourrejoUes, the dispatch boat Bengali has been sent to Taku for river service. ITALY. Class. Name. Displace- ment. Principal armament. Comple- ment. c. 3. Elba _ _ _ _ 2,730 2,442 6,500 6,500 3,475 3,427 Four 5.9-inch, q f ; six 4 7-inch q f 257 c. 3. Calabria Four 5.9-inch, q. f. ; six 4.7-inch, q. f 257 a. c. Yettor Pisani Carlo Alberto Twelve 6-inch, q. f. ; six 4.7-inch, q. f 460 a. c. Twelve 6-inch, q. f. ; six 4.7-inch, q. f 460 c. 2. c. 2. Stroniboli _ Two 9.8-inch ; six 5.9-inch 315 Vesuvio Tw'O 9.8-inch ; six 5.9-inch 315 Officers and men have been landed from the ships to the number of about 150. An expeditionary force of 2,000 men. Second Brigade — General Bailloud, commanding. A regiment of zouaves, four battalions of 1,000 men each— 4,000 men. A regiment of infantry of the line, three battalions of 1,000 men each — 3,000 men. Three batteries 3-inch guns (presumably the most recent French model, 75 (mm, gun), 550 men, 518 mules. Two companies of engineers, 500 men and 95 mules. Two squadrons chasseurs d'Afrique, 300 men, 300 horses. A detachment of the park artillery, 1 30 men. A detachment of the divisional engineers, 40 men. Detachments of general service men for various special services, 800 men. Of the above, the Sixteenth marine infantry, two mountain batteries and one field battery are already at Taku ; the remainder of the troops of the first brigade have left France, except one battery, which is expected to sail from Toulon about August 1. The second brigade is expected to sail from France and Algeria between the 10th and 20th of August. The minister of marine has also under consideration the sending of a battery of short 4. 7-inch guns, two companies of troops of the train, a section of railroad troops, and a balloon section, but this matter is not yet settled. It is intended that at Saigon a detachment of coolies, amounting to 10 for each company or battery, will be taken on board for the service in China. NOTES ON CHINJ. 87 consisting half of infantry of the line and half of bersaglieri, is to sail from Italy about the 15th. AUSTRIA. Class. Name. Displace- ment. t. c. Zenta 2,250 a. c. K. Maria Theresia I 5,270 a. c. I Karl VI 0,350 c. 2. \ K. Elisahelh I 4,064 Principal armament. Eight 4 7-inch, q. f Two 9.4-incli ; eij?ht 5 9-inch, q. f Two 9.4-inch ; ei;;ht 5.9-incli, i\. f Two 9.4-inch ; six 5.9-iuch Comple- ment. 270 450 450 450 Officers and men numbering 140 have been sent ashore from the Zenta. JAPAN. Class. Name. c. 2. c. •? c. 2. c. 3. ; c. 3. c. 3. b. a. c. c. 2. TOKIWA Kasagi C'HITOSE Takasago Akitsushima Suma AK.^^SHf Yaveyama __ Fvgi Ai^ama Takachiho Displace- ment. Principal armament. 5, 4, 4, 3, 2, 2, 1, 12, 9, 3, 750 416 760 160 i.-o 700 700 700 3-iO 750 700 Four 8-inch ; fourteen 6-inch, q. f_. Two 8-inch ; ten 4.7-inch, q. f Two 8-inch ; ten 4.7-inch, q. f Two 8-inch ; ten 4.7-inch, q. f Four 6-inch, q. f. ; six 4.7-inch, q. f. Two 6-inch, q. f. ; six 4.7-inch, q. f . Two 6-inch, q.f. ; six 4.7-inch, q. f. Three 4.7-incli, q. f Four 12-inch ; 10 0-inch, q. f Four 8-inch ; fourteen 6-inch, q.f_. Two 10.2-inch; six 5.9-inch, q.f ._. Comple- ment. 500 405 405 400 330 250 250 200 600 500 365 Also the Shir anil i and other torpedo destroyers. The Japanese forces landed in China up to June 30 were over 3,800 in number. One battalion of infantry left Yokahama on June 19, and another battalion with artillery sailed a few days later. Great activity prevails in all the naval and mili- tary departments, and the sea and land forces for service in China are being greatly strengthened. The British Govern- ment having approached the Japanese Government with the view of the latter taking the chief immediate part in the operations in the province of Chili, and no other Power having raised any objection, it may be expected that Japa- nese troops will be dispatched forthwith to bring up the total Japanese force in China to about 22,000 men. The Japanese Army is now organized in twelve divisions, divided between four principal commands, and, exclusive of the guards, the peace strength is 145,000 and the war footing 520,000, The movements of the naval forces have not been fully reported. The new battle ships now in the far East are the Fuji, Shihi- shima, and Yashima, and the Asalii is about to join them from England. In addition to the first-class armored cruisers Tok'iwa and Asama, the Idzuno and Yakimo are ready. 88 NOTES OX CHINA. UNITED STATES.* Class. b. C.2. C.2. g.v. g-v. g-v. c.d. g-v- Name. Displace- ment. rrincipal armament. Comple- ment. Oregon I 10,288 Baltimore Newark Helena Nashville yorktown Monocacy Don Juan db Austria 4, 413 4,098 1, 397 1,371 1,710 1, 370 1, 130 Four 13-inch, eight S-inch ' 473 Four 8-inch, six G-inch 386 Twelve 6-inch, q. f | 384 Eight 4-inch, q.f j 176 Eight 4-inch, q. f , 176 Six 5-inch, q.f ' 200 Four 8-inch 12i> Four 5-inch, q. f 13u Rear Admiral Kempff landed 350 men with guns from tlie sliips at Taku. The Ninth Regiment, 1,400 strong, has been dispatched from Manila, followed by two others, and General Chaffee, who is to command, left San Francisco with the Sixth Cavalry on July 1. The total strength of the United States in the Philippines is 60,000, and a much larger force could be detached for service in China. It is understood that Admiral Remey, whose flagship is the armored cruiser Brook- lyn (9,215 tons), will assume command of the United States naval forces in Chinese waters. * Since the above was written General Chaffee has arrived, and the fol- lomng troops have been landed : Troops. Officers, Enlisted men. Total. Sixth Cavalrj' and recruits F, Fifth Artillery, oue battery Ninth Infantry Fourteenth Infantry, eigiit companies Total 27 1,083 1,110 4 138 142 39 1,271 1,310 •J 6 1,118 1,144 96 3,610 3,706 The following-named troops have been ordered to Nagasaki and will be available for duty in China in the event of their services being necessary : Officers. Men. Total. E, Engineer Battalion First Cavalry, eight troops Third Cavalry, four troops Ninth Cavalry, eight troops Third Artillery, four batteries Seventh Artillery, three batteries First lufantry, eight companies Second Infantry, eight companies Fifth Intantr_>, eight companies Eighth Infantry, eight companies __ Fifteenth Infantry, eight companies Total _ 2 150 152 20 834 854 10 428 438 20 834 , 854 11 452 463 9 469 1 478 24 1,058 1,082 22 1,058 1,080 22 1,058 1,080 22 1,058 1,080 22 1, 058 1,080 184 , 8,457 8,641. There are now on the way to Nagasaki 500 marines. When they arrive there will be, with the marines already there, three battalions of 400 men each. — [Washington, August 1.] NOTES ON CHINA. 89 THE COUNTRY FROM TAKU TO PEKING. [Compiled from various sources. ] The country from Taku up to Matow is a very flat plain, broken, however, by embankments and ditches. Beyond Chang-chia-wan the country becomes more undulating, as the hills are approached. The valley of the Pei-Ho River is similar in character to the flat portion of the river valleys along the Carolinas and Georgia coast. The Pei-Ho River is not navigable for large boats above Tientsin, and the water is foul. In the dry season the river is low; in the rainy season it overflows its banks, and, as the channel is not marked in any way, it is difficult to find it. Light-draft junks and barges can go as far as Tung-chou. They are towed from the banks by man power. It is reported, however, that the Chinese have obstructed the river with junks loaded with stone, and are prepared to cut the embank- ments and flood the country. The road from Tientsin to Peking varies from half a mile to 5 miles from the river. The road has been worn from cen- turies of travel until its level is below that of the surround- ing country. There is no road covering, and, consequently, in rainy weather it becomes almost impassable. In the rainy season such a vehicle as the army wagon, with a heavy load, could hardly be hauled from Tientsin to Peking. Chinese carts or pack trains would be much better as a means of transport. The country would be excellent for marching in any direc- tion in drv weather. Bull carts and mule teams, hitched tandem, are the principal means of transportation. The road is so narrow that two carts can pass only with difficulty. The rainy season is in the summer. The heaviest rains are in July and August. At this time the valley of the Pei-Ho is frequently flooded for miles on both sides of the river. About the first of October the weather changes perceptibly, the nights becoming very cold. The frosts set in about the end of October, when also strong northerly winds prevail. For three or four months in the winter North China is practi- cally cut off from the outside world. Navigation ends on the Pei-Ho about the end of November or the beginning of December, the river being frozen over down to the bar at Taku. There is an anchorage not frozen over, however, at 00 NOTES OX CHINA. Tsin Hwang Tao, not far from Shanhaikwan. Supplies conld be taken thence and transported by rail to Tientsin, provided this line should remain in the possession of the international troops. This is the route by which mails and freight have been carried to Tientsin in winter time since the railway was constructed. Even at the best of times the landing of troops and supplies is very difficult, as shallow water compels ocean- going steamers to anchor miles out from Taku, and thence everything must be lightered ashore. This difficulty might be obviated by transshipment at Nagasaki into smaller, coast- wise steamers, whose draft would allow them to cross the bar. The water is very bad. Most of it comes from the Pei-Ho River, which is polluted with sewage. Water should be boiled before being used. Water can be obtained almost any- where by digging a few feet. The natives burn millet stalks for fuel. No wood or fuel of any kind is to be found in that region. If the whole line of the railroad were in the possession of the international troops native coal could probably be obtained, but under present conditions all fuel, as well as forage for animals and supplies of all kinds, must be taken. No fresh beef is to be had. Hams do not keep very well. Bacon keeps fairly well. Farinaceous foods of any kind keep very well with ordinary packing. Dried fruits should be tinned. ^ MILITARY INFORMATION DIVISION PUBLICATIONS. No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. No. 5. No. 6. No. 7. No. 8. No. 9. No. 10. No. 11. No. 12. No. 13. No. 14. No. 15. No. 16. 1893. (Edition (Edition ex- (Edition No. 17. No. 18. No. 19. No. 20. No. 21. No. 22. No. 23. No. 24. No. 25. No. 26.- No. 27. No. 28.- No. 29. ''The Hawaiian Islands, with Maps and Charts." exhausted.) "The Organization of the German Army." 1894. hausted.) "The Organized Militia of the United States." 1893. exhausted.) "Notes on Organization, Armament, and Military Progress." 1894. (Edition exhausted.) "The Organized Militia of the United States." 1894. (Edition exhausted. ) " The Autumn Maneuvers of 1894." (Edition exhausted.) "The Organized Militia of the United States." 1895. (Edition exhausted. ) " Notes on Organization, Armament, and Military Progress." 1896. (Edition exhausted.) " The Military Schools of Europe." 1896. (Edition exhausted.) "Sources of Information on Military Professional Subjects." 1896. (Edition exhausted.) "Notes on the War between China and Japan." 1896. (Edition exhausted.) " The Military System of Sweden." 1897. (Edition exhausted.) " The Organized Militia of the United States." 1896. (Edition ex- hausted.) "The Military Sj'-stems of Greece and Turkey." 1897. (Edition ex- hausted.) "The Autumn Maneuvers of 1896 in Europe." 1897. (Edition exhausted. ) Parti: "Subsistence and Messing in European Armies." 1897. (Edition exhausted.) Part 2 : " CaJValry Pioneer Tools, and High Explosives." 1898. Part 3: "Extracts from the New Drill Regulations of the Russian Cavalry." 1898. ' Sources of Information on Military Professional Subjects." 1898. 'Selected Professional Papers." 1898. (Edition exhausted.) ' The Organized Militia of the United States in 1897." 1898. ' Military Notes on the Philippines." 1898. ' Military Notes on Cuba." 1898. 'Staffs of Various Armies." 1899. ' Observations Abroad." 1899. 'A French-English Military Technical Dictionary." Parti. 1899. ' A French-English Military Technical Dictionary. ' ' Part II. 1 900. ' Reports of Explorations in the Territory of Alaska." 1899. 'The Autumn Maneuvers of 1898." 1899. 'The Autumn Maneuvers of 1899." 1900. 'Report on the Island of Guam." 1900. 'The Organized Militia of the United States in 1899." 1900. -iBRARY OF Congress ranch Bindery, 1901 LIBRARY OF 019 627 779 1 1 1 t