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native; and that its possibilities as an opium-growing district are conspicuously small compared to other parts of China.
I append an itinerary* of my route through Eastern Yunnan, and also a map with
the route indicated.
Enclosure 5 in No. 1,
Consul Tours to Mr. Alston,
(No. 20.) Sir,
Ichang, July 12, 1917. IN accordance with your telegraphic instructions of the 3rd March last, I have inspected the province of Kueichow for opium-poppy cultivation, and I now have the honour to enclose herewith my report thereupon.
I have, &c.
Enclosure 6 in No. 1,
B. G. TOURS,
Report of an Inspection of the Province of Kueichow, to learn the Amount of Cultivation of Opium Poppy.
UNDER instructions from His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires at Peking, sent to me by telegram dated the 3rd March, 1917, I left Icheng on the 10th March, aud, travelling via Chungking, reached the Sau-chuan-Kueichow border on the 5th April. Arrange- ments had been made through His Majesty's consul at Chungking that the Chinese official delegates for the inspection of Kueichow province for opium-poppy cultivation should meet me at Sungkau, a town due south from Chungking, lying 3 or 4 miles within the Kueichow border. The delegates met me at midday on the 5th April at a village just inside the provincial boundary. They were four in number, the special commissioner being Mr. Shen Chi, director of the land office at Kueiyang. Mr. Shen is a native of Chekiang, 35 years old, and a graduate of the military college in Japan. He was formerly commissioner in the Bureau for Suppression of Opium poppy in Chekiang province. Of the three assistant-commissioners only one Mr. Chien Chih-wan, took any prominent part in the inspection. Mr. Chien is also from Chekiang; 30 years
old. His post is secretary in the Kueiyang post-office; he was formerly Deputy for Foreign Affairs at the port of Wenchow.
On arrival at Sungkan I found the town gay with flags and the streets thronged with people.
Semi-military hands, chiefly recruited from the schools, joined our cavalcade outside the town, and played us into our destination for the day a yaшon of the Salt Administration. On arrival I held a conference with the Chinese delegates to settle our daily procedure; but the only point on which they appeared at all interested was the route which I proposed to take through the province. I told the delegates that the route depended on so many things, such as our rate of progress and weather conditions, that it was impossible to lay down any fixed route. We arranged some minor points regarding the daily despatoli of the luggage caravan at 6 A.M. and our own daily departure at 7 A.M., and to these hours we adhered throughout the journey.
ย
I had decided in my own wind to proceed to Tsun-vi, although I felt tolerably certain that that was the route designed by the Chinese authorities. My reason for this was that it had been reported in Chungking that a priest of the Roman Catholic Mission in Kueiyang had travelled from Kueiyang to Chungking via Tsun-yi in December and early January, and had seen a considerable amount of opium-poppy
in flower along the route, I had great doubts as to the possibility of the correctness of this statement, the flowering season in Kueichow being April in a forward season and May in a late season. However, the statement had been made so definitely that I deemed it advisable to travel over the priest's route as far as Tsun-yi. I was, however, very soon satisfied, from the state of the crops generally, that no flowering had been seen in January, and that flowering could scarcely have commenced in early April, the season this year being a late one.
From Sungkan to Taun-yi (83 miles) the country consists of gently rolling hills and fertile valleys, all thickly cultivated. The main crops were beans, rape, and peas, in the order named; all were just coming into lower, and looked very strong and
• Not printed.
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healthy. A good number of fields were cropless, and I looked carefully for any signs of destruction of young poppy plants, but if there had been touch destruction the work had been thoroughly carried out, so that not a vestige remained except the bare fields.
At Tung-tzu, half-way between Sungkan and Tsun-yi, I found a Roman Catholic mission, and I called on the resident priest, Père Drouhot, who told me that in January stringent orders were issued for the destruction of ail opium poppy plants in the neigh- bourhood. Severe punishments were inflicted on those who did not immediately comply, and three of the more recalcitrant planters were killed by shooting. As a result of these stern measures all the poppy crops had entirely disappeared, and Père Droubot was of the opinion that not a single plant remained growing for many miles round Tung-tzu. I told him the Chungking story of poppy flower having been seen iu Kueichow in January, and he said there must be a mistake, as such a thing was impossible. He mentioned that the Tung-tzu officials had been much exercised in mind over my visit, and were very desirous to receive me well and not to give me any ground for placing Tung tau in my black books.
Our escort from Sungkan had consisted of a few men of the local magistrate's police, although the frontier districts are popularly supposed to be infested with briganda; but at Hsin-chan a body of soldiers arrived from Kueiyang as our escort to accompany us through the province. Mr. Shen informed me that the Governor of Kueichow had originally sent 200 soldiers from Kueiyang, but that a large number of them had found the marching too strenuous, and had dropped off at various places; 50 that our escort really numbered only some eighty men. Apart from such dignity as they were able to lend to the expedition, however, a dozen men would have been just as useful and more convenient.
At Teun-yi (210 miles from Chungking) I rested the caravan for one day. I failed to meet the Roman Catholic priest in churge of the Tsun-yi mission, but Mr. and Mrs. Olesen, of the China Inland Mission, received me very kindly, and Mr. Olesen
gave me much local information. He corroborated Père Drouhot's information regarding the official energy and the drastic steps that had been taken in the last three months to destroy every trace of the poppy crops. Many punishments had been inflicted, and any owner who was considered dilatory in uprooting and destroying his crop was punished by confiscation of his land. I visited one large temple, with grounds extending over several acres, which had been so confiscatel; the land was marked off into lots, which had been sold or rented by the authorities to various schools and institutions for use as vegetable gardens. Rewards had been offered by the Chinese authorities for any poppy plant discovered in the district; and this had led to many cases of blackmail, chiefly by the soldiery. Many wild rumours had been rife in Tsun-yi as to the scope of the official inspection. One rumour had it that I should make a house-to-house visitation, and should severely punish any person suspected of being an opium smoker, As a result of this rumour many opium smokers had fed the town a day or two before my arrival. Another, still more ridiculous, rumour stated that Great Britain was arranging a peaceful acquisition of the three provinces of Szechuen, Kueichow, and Yunnan, and I was the pioneer to make the preliminary arrangements for taking over the provinces.
"Mr. Olesen was on the point of making an extended journey in the north-east of Kueichow province; and I asked him to be good enough to let me know what conditions he found on his travels. He informs me that from Sze-nan to Chen-yuan conditions were much the same as in the Tsun-yi district drastic official measures for suppression of the
poppy crop and severe punishment of those disobeying the official instructions, the death penalty being inflicted in a few cases.
It was
The road from Sungkan to Teun-yi had been one continuous triumphal procession. Every village and town was decorated with flags, and triumphal arches of bamboo and evergreen were erected in the streets of the larger towns. I was clearly on the expected route, I had, however, satisfied myself that no flowering poppy had been seen as stated in Chungking, and I decided to turn my road towards the west. fairly clear that the Chinese expected me to visit the capital of the province, and that the country on the way thereto would be thoroughly cleared of any poppy in anticipation of my visit. On the evening before our departure from Tsun-yi, therefore, I signified to the Chinese delegates my intention of proceeding westwards. The delegates at once came to see me, objecting to my proposal, and saying that the westerly roads were bad and dangerous, and that part of the country was infested with brigands, and that there were no villages large enough to accommodate our party at night. I brushed aside these objections. Where there was a path we could go; where there were brigands we had our brave escort; where there was even a small village we