9
:
8
cloudless northern sky. The few travellers who have made a rapid crossing of the Salween during the dry and bright winter months have been inclined to ridicule Mists of the native traditions, which regard the river with a superstitions horror. various colours are reported to rise in the rains, bringing death and destruction to all who are caught; monsters are believed to lurk in the waters for the unwary boatmen ; and there are few who will venture near the banks when once the summer rains are set.
One needs only to see the men who pass their lives in the valley to realise that there is something in this deep hemmed-in valley which is inimical to human life and health; their enlarged spleens, their pinched and discoloured faces, and their lifeless manner all hear traces of a constant malaria, and their report that the demon of the mists first strikes men dumb, then dooms them to a lingering death, seems a probable sign of a virulent malaria which affects the brain, and from which in its advanced stages there is no hope of recovery. In talking to an old Lisu, to whom I had entrusted some quinine, I ventured to suggest the theory of mosquitos in relation to malaria, and the prophylactic properties of the tabloids of quinine; he shook his head, paid a compliment to the wisdom of the West, promised to dose himself and his people as directed, and remarked sadly that he feared those words could scarcely be relied on, that he was an old man, and that the vapours were an explanation sufficient for hira.
Conclusion.
In conclusion, I can only add that my visit to Pienma (Hpimaw) removes all doubt as to the reality of the raid by Tengkeng, and to the extent of the damage inflicted on the people. I trust that my action in crossing the range will not be considered in excess of my instructions, as I was faced by unexpected conditions and decided on the course which appeared to give the best hope of obtaining accurate information for His Majesty's Government without prejudice to the Chinese under whose auspices my journey was undertaken, whilst I am convinced that no information would have been available at Tengkeng. I was careful to explain to the villagers in the unadministered territory that I had no power to settle cases or to appoint headmen, and that my visit was merely for purposes of enquiry into the raid. After careful consideration I am convinced that the Chinese exercise no sort of administrative control beyond the watershed, and that their hold over the people has considerably weakened since the report of Mr. Litton, dated the 20th May, 1905, For the past two years there has been no payment even of the petty tolls claimed by Tengkeng, and, in the words of the villagers, the administrative efforts of his representatives have been confined to eating the people," a duty which they perform with some enthusiasm if one may judge from the list of pigs, wine, and grain entered to the account of the raiding levies, or to the official requisitions foreshadowing the advent of the magistrate of Paoshan.
"
At the same time, there is conclusive proof that the Chinese authorities have determined to make a last bid for control of this area, as evidenced by the visits of deputies of the Yungchang Prefect in the autumn of 1908 and during the present month; by the proclamations regarding the establishment of schools; and by the proposal to appoint headmen, for which the way was paved by the raid of the Tengkeng Sawba after his return from a visit to Yungchang; whilst additional evidence is provided by the grant of a concession in the autumn of 1909 to the Chinese trader Li Fa-ming to work salt and silver in the neighbourhood. The reasons for this sudden access of activity may, I think, be traced in part to the failing revenues of Tengkeng consequent on the prohibition of opium cultivation and their indirect effect on the income of the Paoshan magistrate and the Yungchang Prefect, but more directly to a general aggressive spirit in regard to frontier policy which owes its inception to Chin Shu-sheng, ex-Taotai of Tengyueh, and now provincial judge, and to Peng Chi-chih, the ex-Frontier commissioner, who is now Prefect of Yungchang. The effect of Tengkeng's raid has been very definite; the Pienma villagers, and in all probability those also in other parts of the unadministered territory, evidently believe that their homes are in British territory; they have resisted Tengkeng and his claims with some spirit, but they feel that he is too strong for them, and they have bowed to his present authority, as they have for the moment ceased to hope for relief from the direction of Burmah. The departure of the Paoshan magistrate, who has never heiore visited Tengkeng, at a time when the prefect also was absent from Yungchang, is an event of so exceptional a character that there can be no doubt of the intentiou of the Chinese to push the advantage by every means in their power, and I submit
that there is no alternative for the Government of Burmah but to arrange an administrative expedition in the early autumn, if they intend to assert their claim to the watershed boundary without an appeal to arnis. I am of opinion also that, if the Chinese should successfully establish themselves in the Pienma district, they will not rest until they have pushed their outposts to the N'Maikha, or even beyond that line, and His Majesty's Government is in possession of the facts which render such a frontier undesirable. In a recent conversation the Taotai formulated to me the belief that Great Britain had stolen from China the whole of the country of Burmah, a superstition which is widely current in Yunnan, and he also spoke of the frontier as 70 or 80 miles east of the Salween--Irrawady watershed, whichi would carry back the boundary to the limits of the Irrawady itself, as was claimed by Sir Lo Feng Lu. In recent despatches (of the 3rd March and the 5th April, 1910) I have had the honour to bring to your attention the vigorous efforts which are being made by the Yunnanese authorities to extend their administrative border, and the claims which they have brought forward in regard to other sections of the Burmah-China boundary; the line to the cast of the Wa country is still unaccepted. Representatives of the Wei-hsi Ting are reported to make frequent visits to the Chiu-tzu country west of the watershed (in latitude 27-28); a number of British boundary pillars on the section between the Taping and Namting Rivers are called in question, and I respectfully submit that some action for the definite establishment of the entire frontier line will be necessary in the near future, unless the Government of Burmah is willing to reopen the whole threadbare question. By the institution of a series of petty intrigues the Chinese evidently hope for an eventual revision of the years of laborious work spent by successive frontier commissions, maintaining as their objective the acquisition of territory and outlets, which are obviously desirable for the landlocked province of Yunnan, which formed the motive and incentive of every Chinese war with the old Burmese kings, but for the attainment of which their military expeditions struggled for centuries in vain.
In Camp, April 25, 1910,
ARCHIBALD ROSE.
Tengyueh, April 30, 1910.-Since my return I learn that the Paoshan magistrate with the Tengkeng Sawbwa and a party of about 100 men has crossed to the Pienma villages, where he has appointed headmen and distributed badges of office. Two Chinese officers with a party of twenty soldiers also left the city this morning in the direction of Mingkuang, and I understand that they have been instructed to proceed by Hparé and Lagwé to the N'Maikha River, and to enforce the submission of local headmen whenever possible.
Upper Pienma (Hpimaw)-
Enclosure 2 in No. 1.
LIST of Claims against Tengkeng.
Twenty houses. Headmen, Tung La-sao and Teng Chung-tou.
Tengkeng and his levies, belonging to-
1. Tung Sao-pa
2 Tung Li sao (the heauinan).
3. Tung Pen-tang (a very old man).
1. Tung So lang ( youth)
5. Tung Lang-tsung.
6. Thng Trang sao (a woman).
A. R.
Six houses were burned by
Houses, furniture, stockades, and all movable property destroyed by fire,
Taels.
1. Elis harvests had not been reaped; they were gathered and eaten by raiders. 7 pigs, a large number of chickens, and a quantity of grain. Property assessed by Elders of five villages at..
200
10
3. House and furniture, sow, chickens
30
4. House and furniture, pig, 15 chickens
20
80
40
2. Small house, little furniture..
5. House and furniture, 1 sow, 12 pigs
6. House and furniture, pigs, grain
380
327
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