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Hsia-kuan River and the Yangpi, that go whirling through their deep beds, one flanked by tropical jungle, the next by steep rocky gorges, whilst the Hsia-kuan can be seen for miles winding between grassy slopes, a white and foaming torrent descending 1,600 feet over rocks and boulders in one day's mareh. The tropical sun is tempered by the mountain breezes, and the country was full of familiar northern flowers growing in vigorous profusion; the hill sides were bright with rhododendrons red and white, with azaleas of many colours and long sprays of clematis, whilst roses and meadow-sweet grew in luxuriance in the sheltered valleys. The country is unlike the east and south and north of China in that its mountains are covered with forest, and its streams run clear over their rocky beds, whilst for days at a stretch there is little sign of human habitation, save in the well-cultivated and populous valleys. Such people as we met between the towns were, however, friendly, and willingly offered their rough hospitality; their faces, their homes and the unbound feet of their women mark the people as tribesmen with a slight mingling of Chinese blood. In the Menghua district and along the northern route many of them are of pure Lolo race, though the handsome, clean-cut faces of the Szuchnanese Lolos are seldom seen. All, however, who have the slightest tinge of Chinese blood claim to belong to the "
Family of Han," and there is little wonder that they cling to the traditions and name which represent on the one hand all power and wealth, whilst treating with a relentless contempt the "barbarian" of the hills.
Opium.
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Opium Centres.In dealing with the production of opium this circuit may divided into two distinct spheres, the first comprising the districts under the direct control of the Chinese territorial officials, the second consisting of the frontier regions under the rule of the Shan Sawbwas, including the fertile low-lying valleys and the Kachin hills, for which the Sawbwas are nominally responsible. It was generally admitted that the Shan valleys were still under opium crops this season, and I there- fore decided to send a Chinese assistant to get any possible information in this diree- tion, whilst proceeding myself to the east of the circuit, where the Taotai claimed that the preventive work had been successfully carried out. My route was chosen through the greatest producing areas of the district and timed just before the opium harvest.
"Destruction of Onum Crops in Chinese Sphere.-Speaking generally, the work of prevention inaugurated by his Excellency Hsi Liang, Governor-General at Yunnan-fu, It was naturally has been carried out in the Chinese sphere with vigour and success. impossible to penetrate into the remoter regions during the short period at my disposal, but by careful enquiry and by watching the local markets for the drug it has been possible to gain a fair estimate of the conditions of the present season. From the high passes of these districts can be obtained a broad view of the surrounding country, and the unmistakable colour of the poppy crops may be detected from à considerable distance when they exist to any extent. In the course of my journey, however, I did not see a single field of poppy, and the only evidence of cultivation was in the straggling flowers, which were freely scattered over the fields, and were evidently the The few survivors after the crops had been uprooted by order of the officials. consulate writer reports similar conditions in the country lying between Yünchon and Menghua Ting. I have also reliable information from Mr. Coggin Brown, of the Geological Survey of India, and from other English sources, that, in the country to the north-west and north-east of Talifu (under the jurisdiction of the sub-prefects of Yunlung Chon and Pinchuan Chou), the main crops have been vigorously destroyed, though a little cultivation is reported in the remoter districts, which are difficult of access for the preventive officers.
Local Riots.-During December and the early part of this year the prefects and junior officers of the circuit were constantly under orders from the Viceroy, first to exhort the people to devote their land to other crops, then to destroy the crops if their earlier orders had been disobeyed. In many cases the latter course was necessary and, from officials and people alike, one heard reports of crops which had been uprooted when nearing maturity. Trouble occurred in many districts, and it is rather to he wondered at that no serious outbreak has disturbed the province than that there have been local riots in isolated districts
At Chennau Chou, a notably rowdy city, the official was driven away and it was In the necessary to send a detachment of soldiers in order to disperse the rioters. district of the Lung-ling Ting serious trouble was threatened and the sub-prefect applied for an armed guard, his request being refused, however, lest friction should be
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created with the neighbouring Shan Sawbwas. Early in April the Tengyueh Ting went into the Shan districts to the west to uproot the crops, but he was shot at, his chair was wrecked and he narrowly escaped with his life at the hands of the Kachin tribesmen from the hills. The Menghua Ting was also attacked on his rounds and a serious rebellion threatened for a time in his district, the Lolos joining forces with the Chinese farmers and refusing to return to their homes, until the decapitation of fourteen men convinced them that the authorities were in earnest. At Yu-tien the Ting endeavoured to compromise with his people by destroying the crops in the "pa-tzu" or valleys and ignoring the hill cultivation. The Viceroy's deputy, however, discovered the omission and the Ting has paid for his clemency by the loss of his post. The prefect of Shunning has endeavoured to propitiate his district by posting a proclamation to the effect that he had made a tour in December last and, on finding only a half of the usual area under opium crops, had petitioned the governor-general to approve this decrease; that he had received stern commands to destroy the remaining half also and that an independent deputy appointed from Yunnan-fu would tour the district to ensure obedience. Deputies from the provincial court have been appointed to all the producing centres; I met several of them on their rounds, and, as they have spent three months in travelling through the districts allotted to them, there seems little probability that Hsi Liang has failed in his desire to clear the region of the usual winter crop. Proclamations were posted all along the road forbidding the cultivation of the poppy and exhorting the people to free themselves from the drug. It is a common practice in these parts for surers to advance money to the farmers on their opium crops as soon as the plants are above the ground. This practice is now forbidden, and the notification that no law-suit will be entertained in this respect will undoubtedly weigh heavily with the people. The teachings of the Sacred Edict have also been enlisted in the service of the preventive officers, and the neighbours on either side of a field are held equally responsible with the owner if the forbidden crops are found.
It is needless to say that the people are angry and unsettled. Throughout the districts in which I travelled the main winter crop is opium and from a-half to eight- tenths of the arable land is annually devoted to poppy cultivation. Those who listened to the earlier commands of prohibition have managed to raise crops of wheat, beans, peas, or maize, but the people have not learned by past experience to put implicit faith in proclamations of far-reaching reform, and a large proportion of the farmers have seen their poppies uprooted when it was too late to plant another crop. They have paid dearly for their want of faith, and they pointed to their bare fields with fearful curses on Hsi Liang. The winter has been unusually dry and the substituted crops have proved but a moderate success, so that everything has tended to unrest in the rural districts, and, were it not for the fact that the people of Yuanan are by nature lethargic and law-abiding, there would certainly have been serious and far-reaching trouble for the provincial authorities.
Opium in the Shan States. In the Shan districts, which include roughly the country to the south of Tengyueh lying between the Salwen and the Burmab frontier, conditions are entirely different. The prefect of Yungchang and the sub-prefects of Tengyueh and Lung-ling have made prolonged tours but, even in the country inhabited by and directly subject to the Chinese, they have not been entirely successful in destroying the opium. I estimate that about two-tenths of the usual crops have been harvested by the Chinese farmers, and about seven-tenths by the Shans. Some of the Sawbwas have yielded to pressure from the Chinese officials and Mangshil (Mong Hkwan) has consented to the prevention of all crops in his valleys, though not in the hills. Other Sawbwas, however, have not proved so complacent, and in Chetang, Mongpan (Mengka), Lungchuan (Mongwan), and Mongmao, there has been little decrease in the area under cultivation. It is interesting to notice that even in Chen-kang, a State which has nominally reverted to Chinese control, the suzerain power has not felt sufficiently strong to enforce these objectionable measures, and the poppy crops have been up to the usual standard. The prefect of Shunning has, however, posted a proclamation, aimed at Chen-kang and the neighbouring Shan States, forbidding them to bring their opium for sale to Shunning, its usual market, and imposing severe penalties on Chinese traders who proceed to the Shan States to purchase the drug. The market for the western States is at Tengyueh, and it is estimated that Nantien will have only a-half and Kangai one-third of their usual supplies for sale this year. The Sawbwas depend to a great extent on the opium tithes for their incomes, Nantien's receipts being estimated at about 1,000. during 1908. This year he will receive only half of this amount, and it can be readily
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