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On one occasion, at an early stage of the journey, the procession was so large that we only made an easy journey of 20 miles, stopping for the night at 4 P.M., when a smaller party could easily have gone 10 miles further on-this we were precluded from doing owing to lack of sufficient accommodation at any reasonable distance for so many people. I then complained strongly at the size of our party, and while agreeing to stop on the particular occasion, stated that in future I would simply go on with my servants and luggage until we had covered a reasonable distance for the day, leaving my colleagues to follow or not as they pleased. The useless members of Mr. Hau's staff were then sent back to Hangchow, and the retinue considerably reduced. Matters improved after this, and though the party was unnecessarily large throughout, we were not seriously impeded, but a smaller party could probably have made more progress.
The party travelled in chairs and on foot, nothing else being possible for most of the journey.
The inspection party assembled at Ningpo and left that place on the 10th April by Chinese gunboat for Hsiang Shan, touching at Ting Hai en route to wait for the tide. We did not inspect any of the islands in the Chusan archipelago, but Père Procacci, of the local Roman Catholic Mission, who was constantly travelling in them, told me that there was no opium to be found anywhere this year.
Leaving Hsiang Shan city, where the effective part of the journey began, on the 11th April, we crossed the peninsula to Ssu Chou tsun. Hsiang Shan opium was formerly known as being of a particularly fine quality, though the production was not comparatively on a very large scale. Having visited some of the hills in the neigh- bourhood of Seu Chou tsun, we proceeded by junk across San Men Wan to Hai Yu Bo, landing at one island on the way, and being able to inspect portions of numerous others near which we passed with glasses. From here we made our way, partly by main road and partly by ciucuitous bye-paths, to Taichow. Hence we proceeded to Wu Yen, and by bye-roads to Ta Ch'ing ying. We then struck westwards, and finally reached what seems to be an old, but now disused, main road from Wenchow to Taichow at Feng Lin. There were no inns on the route, no large towns, and the few wayfarers were merely local country people going from one village to another. From Sha Tou we took boat to Wenchow, travelling by night to economise time.
The whole of this section of the journey was exceedingly mountainous, passes of 2,000 to 3,000 feet having to be crossed constantly. These enabled one to obtain excellent and extensive views of secluded cultivation on hilltops.
The Prefectures of Taichow and Wenchow, through portions of which the above- described route passed, are those in which opium used to be most largely cultivated in former times, and missionaries at both places, who travelled largely in the surrounding country, told me that they had not seen the plant anywhere this season.
The above journey occupied nine days, some 760 li (253 miles) being covered. this the distance by water crossing San Men Bay was 180 li (60 miles).
Of
From Wenchow the party went by Chinese gunboat to Jui An, visiting Tung Huang Shan en route. A number of other islands were also passed, the cultivation on which I had a good opportunity of examining with glasses. I was recommended to visit Tung Huang Shan, the island being a hotbed of pirates, and being shunned by the authorities on that account.
I am told that cultivation of the poppy only began a few years ago on these islands. They are not well adapted to growing opium, and only commenced to do so when the rigour with which the drug was being put down on the mainland enabled their seclusion to be turned to profitable account.
This journey occupied the best part of two days, and a distance of some 240 li (80 miles) was covered.
From Jui An the party proceeded to Ping Yang, where it appears the magistrate No opium was grown in the has had great difficulty in suppressing opium this year. plains, but a fairly determined attempt it would seem was made to do so in the hills, where the clans are turbulent and pay little attention to the authorities. Even here, however, little field cultivation was attempted, farmers generally contenting themselves with growing a few plants for the purpose of preserving the seed.
Père Boisard, from whom I derived the above information, told me that the magistrate had made himself a veritable scourge of the people in the matter of suppression-not entirely from altruistic motives. During the past two months he had inflicted fines to the extent of some 50,000 dollars, of which he kept two-thirds for himself. In order to increase his profits he had been employing men to go round with opium plants and place them in the fields of unoffending farmers. Shortly afterwards
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they would be followed by soldiers who would hale the unfortunate cultivator before the magistrate. Two months before five men had been shot for growing opium, and 100 houses in the neighbourhood were burnt down. Père Boisard had good reason for believing that the men were innocent, and that no opium had been grown in the place. The magistrate's harshness and injustice in the matter generally had made him so unpopular that gentry and people alike were working to obtain his dismissal. He had offered 2 dollars for each plant brought to him, and the day previous to my arrival country people had brought over 1,000 to the yamên. They had, however, been sent away without any reward whatever. These reports were on Chinese information, but Père Boisard believed them to be true.
While I was with Père Boisard I heard that a man had some plants of opium which he had brought into the city. If there was opium I wished to see it with my- own eyes, and I therefore offered to purchase it. Considerable difficulty was made as it was given out among the Chinese that any one assisting me would be shot; finally, with the assistance of Père Boisard and through the smartness of one of my servants, I obtained one plant and three rootlets for 20 dollars. I did not see the man, who would
give no information beyond the fact that they had been taken from some twenty plants which a man had grown (and since pulled up) within 10 miles of Ping Yang. The plant was a stunted specimen, but was fresh enough to show that it must have been grown in the neighbourhood. I told the officials with me of the episode and showed them the plant when I was a couple of days from Ping Yang. An attempt to procure a guide to show me opium growing was quite fruitless.
Père Boisard did not think, however, that I should find anything beyond a few plants growing in different places in the whole district cultivation on any larger scale had, in his opinion, ceased. Acting on his suggestion I made for Ching Ning direct from Ping Yang by a route which he gave me. The first day's journey-an easy one through the plain-was on main roads, but I visited some hills off the track to look for opium. On the second day we entered stiff mountain country, where we took the wrong direction and did not discover our mistake for half a day. Being unwilling to retrace our steps, and the roads being right off the main track, we tried to find another way to Ching Ning. En route the villagers, who travel little, could not direct us for more than 10 or 15 miles beyond where they lived; finally, after struggling forward for two days without getting any definite information of the route, we decided to make for Tai Shun, whence we proceeded to Ching Ning and on to Yun Ho. This country was extremely difficult to travel in owing to its mountainous nature, without any flat land anywhere, even in the valleys.
It took us, however, into what is probably the most secluded part of Chekiang, which is rarely visited by foreigners-missionary or traveller-and as rarely by Chinese, for there is nothing in the way of trade to take them there. The magistrate of Tai Shun told me that I was the only foreigner to visit the place in his experience of two years there. This part of the country is sparsely populated, wild, and much is uncultivated. Its seclusion, however, served our purpose well, and enabled us to judge what effect was being given to opium suppression in the out of the way parts of the province. After leaving the Ping Yang plain one and a half days were spent in the mountains of that district before reaching the border of Tai Shun.
A tribe who are possibly akin to the Miaotzu and speak a language of their own inhabits the mountains in the Ching Ning, Yun Ho, and Ch'u Chou districts.
Subsidiary roads were followed from Taishun via Ching Ning to Yun Ho, where we took boats to Ch'u Chou which we reached on the 29th April, having taken eight days from Ping Yang, 730 li (243 miles).
At Ch'u Chou the Rev. Pastor Röhn told me that two men had been shot three weeks previously for cultivating opium there, both had only grown a few plants. In the course of extensive travelling in the district he had seen no opium this year, and thought that there had been very little attempt made to grow it.
Mr. Dickie, of the China Inland Mission at Kinwha, whom I met here gave me a similar account as to the state of affairs around that district.
The time at my disposal did not now permit of my visiting the west of the province, excepting by following main roads which would have been useless for my purpose. I therefore decided to return through the centre of the province. The party then went by main road from Ch'u Chou to Chin Yun and by a circuitous route from there through part of the Yung Kang district to Tung Yang and Chu Chi, which was reached on the 5th May. At Chu Chi an English missionary told me that in the course of numerous journeys through the Pukiang, Yi Wu, and Chu Chi districts he had seen no opium growing this year.
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