CO129-362 - Public Offices - 1909 — Page 146

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to caniels and ponies; the change of temperature from the heat of the plain to the cold of the plateau had, however, so seriously affected me that I felt entirely unable to travel except by cart, and obliged the carters, much against their will, to carry us on to the next post station. From now on for eighteen days we travelled by these stations, which are from 16 to 18 miles apart, being furnished at each with fresh camels, ponies, and guides, in a very few cases carts being supplied instead of animals,

By this means we covered some 30 miles or so a-day, sleeping at every other station, though in rare cases we were able to make as many as three instead of two stages a-day. In this way we came into close contact with Mongols all day long, whereas had we come from Kweihuacheng with a Chinese caravan we might have passed days without seeing a single Mongol. In this manner we reduced the time, and thereby the monotony, of a journey across the Gobi to the minimum possible for loaded camels. Few people except those who have actually travelled for many days in the Gobi Desert can appreciate the intense monotony of the journey. One lies down to rest knowing that on the morrow nothing can be different; that on either side, in front or behind, as far as the eye can reach, will be nothing but green rolling downs, with the streak of brown which is the track worn by the hoofs of passing animals stretching away to the crack of doom. The comparison of a desert to a sea and a camel to a ship is very close. From the top of the camel one looks down on to wave after wave of downs, with little to catch or hold the eye. The monotony is enhanced by the absence of bird and animal life, for, with the exception of an occasional deer and still more occasional hare, there are no wild animals to be seen, while the birds, too, are extremely rare, even the Mongol lark, whose carol charms the ear so on reaching the plateau, being unable to support life in the desert. Perhaps, too, the tedium would be relieved were the perpetual green to be varied by stretches of bare sands, such as exist in the Ordos and elsewhere in the Gobi (to the west), but all is green and there is no change of colour to please the eye. The traveller sometimes has the experience that he is approaching the edge of the world, but on reaching what appears to be this a still greater expanse of downs unfold before him. It was with genuine relief that we reached the hills--treeless and insignificant though they were at first a few stations to the south of Urga. Here, where the valleys were more pronounced and rain more abundant, there were small occasional ponds of water, in which wild duck, geese, and numerous small birds were to be found.

The Tai System.

Connection between China proper and the centres of government in the distant dependencies of the Chinese Empire is maintained by a network of posting stations, maintained at the expense of the Central Government. The system of the upkeep of these need not, one would imagine, be anything but simple. It is, however, rendered intricate by the corruption which obtains in its administration and by the abuses which attend the journey of every Chinese official traveller. These routes, which are known as Tai-lui.e., official or Government tracks-run, as regards the administrative centres of Urga, Uliassntai, or Kobdo, from Kalgan and Kweihuacheng across the desert in a northerly or north-westerly direction, and are simply tracks worn on the sandy soil by the feet of camels or ponies and by the imprint of the wheels of carts. There is no expense connected with the upkeep of the track, which is invariably good even after rains, a most welcome change after the terrible roads in China proper. The tracks connect a number of Mongol settlements, where wells are of course to be found, at which the Chiuese Government have at one time deposited a number of camels, ponies, and sheep, and these settlements receive an annual subsidy from the Chinese Govern- ment. The distance between them varies from 15 to 20 miles. While caravans both may and do use the Tai-lu, there are other tracks across the desert known as the caravan routes, which merchants usually prefer as being a little shorter than the official track. While these caravan routes make use of what wells the Mongols have dug, they may travel for days without meeting any of the inhabitants. By the Tai-lu one is sure to come into contact with Mongols twice or thrice or more times a-day, according as to speed and method of travelling. One can compare the Tai-ln system to Emerson's description of manners: "They aid our dealings as a railway aids travelling, by getting rid of all avoidable obstructions of the road and leaving nothing to be conquered bat pure space." These post stations are administered by the Chinese official at Kalgan or Kwueihuacheng, known as a Tutung, who pays the annual subsidy and issues the necessary written permits to travel by this route. These are, of course, issued by the Governments of Kobdo, Urga, and Uliassutai at the other ends. The permit calls upon every station to furnish animals, or such transport as is in their power, to the traveller,

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to house him (for which purpose every Tai-lu has an official gher), to supply him with necessary food in the way of mutton, and to escort him to the next Tai. The permit precedes the traveller along the track by mounted messenger from Tai to Tai, and without it he is entirely unable to make use of the Government animals.

While one would imagine that the surest method of conducting the administration would be for each Tai to keep a book in which their expenses would be noted, and which would be forwarded annually to head-quarters for inspection, this does not appear to be done.

It is true that a book is kept by some Tais, but it is never sent to Kalgan or Kweihuacheng. The amount which the Government pays to each Tai annually is said to be 450 taels (681. roughly). Though several inquiries clicited the same figure, I hesitate to think it a correct one, as I can hardly suppose the Govern- ment to pay the same amount to a station on a lesser-used Tai-lu as they do to those on the main roads. In explanation of the phrase "lesser-used Tai-lu," I must remark that from Kalgan run two Tai-lu, one to Urga, and the other Uliassutai; this latter is joined at a certain point by the Tai-lu from Kweihuacheng; at Sair Ussu a branch runs north to Urga. This latter branch is not much used, as officials travel direct from Kalgan to Urga by the main Tai-lu. From Urga a small Tai-lu runs south-west to Uliassutai, joining the main Kalgan-Uliassutai Tai-lu north-west of Sair Ussu. These branch tracks are the lesser-used Tai-lu.

The officials at all the stations are Mongols, and rarely speak a word of Chinese; occasionally, however, a resident Chinese storekeeper is to be found at a station, whose services are employed as interpreter. These Mongol officials are entirely immune from taxation of any kind, either local or Imperial. Their duty is to forward the traveller at I was informed that there are any hour of the day or night and to supply his needs. 100 camels and 100 ponies at each Tai belonging to the Government. The former can do 100 i (30 miles) at a jog trot with a fairly heavy load, quite comfortably in eight hours and even less, but as they only eat grass and never get fed on beans or straw, they would be unable to maintain that rate for more than a day or two if called upen to do so for military purposes. By changing animals at each Tai (as the traveller does, i.e., several times a day) military stores could be sent to the outlying centres of Government from Peking very rapidly if necessary and if the transport were well organized. As the Tai animals are used for no other purposes than Government use, they have a remarkably easy life. It has, I have reason to believe, been supposed in the past that these post stations shifted their positions from time to time without due warning to anybody. This I think to be entirely erroneous as regards the main Tai-ln, along which officials and despatches are constantly being forwarded. It is different in the case of the lesser-used branches, e.g., the Sair Ussu to Urga Tai-lu. In this case the station is a geographical name, the name of a district where there is, along the track, a well with one or more yourts not far off. The subsidy-holders invariably live away from it, 10 or 20 li perhaps (3 or 6 miles). When the official pass reaches the family they repair to the district, erect the official yourt, and set to work to capture as many camels and ponies as they think will be required from the surrounding pasture lauds. On the departure of the traveller, they take the gher to pieces, fold up the red hangings, remove the felt and rugs, and hand them over to the safe keeping of an adjacent family. The Tai family, equipment, and dogs In consequence of this then return home to await the arrival of the next permit.

the position of the station varies slightly, and the Tai will sometimes be erected in It is, however, never far from where it was one valley, sometimes in the next. before, and the guides from the preceding Tai invariably know where to expect it, I am entirely though some times as much as ten minutes are lost searching for it. unable to explain why the Tai family do not reside permanently in the district where the station is officially, and where there is abundance of water and pasturage. Two explanations were offered me, neither of which seem suitable. The first was that the Government do not allow women to live at the Tai except such as are employed ia looking after the rugs, mending the hangings or felt, &c., and those who help in the leading of the caravans to the nearest Tai. The other was that the family fear so much the exactions of the passing Chinese officials that they prefer to live at a distance, and make the excuse that thay keep their money at home the reason why they cannot supply the official with any. This latter reason does not scem to me to be worth much, as the Chinese official would never allow such an excuse to hold water, while as regards the first explanation, it may be mentioned that the stations on the big Tai-lu by no means consist of only Mongol officials and their tents, but form real villages of from fifteen to thirty yourts, most of which belong to mere residents in no way connected with the Tai.

As regards the payment of the subsidy, I learnt that the money is sent twice a year