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had seen no opium-poppy cultivation anywhere on his various routes in Yunnan. The missionaries resident at Kaihua, Messrs. Boyd and Lewer, also informed me that they frequently visited the villages on the Kaihua plain, but had seen no opium- poppy cultivation there this spring.
Villagers on this part of my journey complained of lack of rain; the very skimpy crops testified to the state of drought which I found along a considerable tract of country in Eastern Yunnan. But the country itself is so stony and full of rocks that even with favourable weather conditions crops could never be anything but poor. Among the rough hills I occasionally saw Lolo women planting out paddy.
Goitre is very prevalent in this district, especially among women.
Beyond Kailua, to Ma-kuan (40 miles), the country was still very hilly and rough; villages were few and far between, and cultivation thin and poor. A great deal of pine scrub thinly covers the country in this district. Crops now included sugar-cane.
The rainy season was now setting in in earnest, and we were on the point of descending from the Yunnan plateau to the valleys near the Tonkin border, notorious for its fever and malaria. Coolies were daily falling out sick; and the Taoyin again. endeavoured to induce me to change the route in the direction of the railway. I was obdurate, however, and by pressing on managed to reach Hokow, 93 miles from Makuan, in four days.
On the second day we reached Hsin-tien, a Chinese fort close to the Tonkin frontier. The height here above sea-level was 4,420 ft. Next day we commenced to descend, rapidly reaching tropical heat and vegetation. Putting up for the night in a small Lolo village, we were able to arrive on the following evening at Hokow which town adjoins the French town of Laokai. The inhabitants of the country between Hsin-tien and Hokow are chiefly frontier tribes; the country is wild and uncultivated, except in the immediate vicinity of the villages. Some maize was being grown in the lower country.
In my direct route through Eastern Yunnan I traversed 484 miles. This does not include the excursions I made each evening from our day's destination. I saw no opium-poppy cultivation, nor did I see many signs of fields from which poppy may have been uprooted prior to my arrival. I am of opinion that in any case Eastern Yunnan is a particularly poor and arid country; that it is sparsely inhabited by a very poor type of 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 mapt with the route indicated.
Sir,
Enclosure 5 in No. 29.
Consul Tours to Mr. Alston.
Ichang, July 12, 1917.
IN accordance with your telegraphic instructions, 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. 29.
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, 1017, I left Ichang on the 10th March, and, travelling via Chungking, reached the Ssu-chuan-Kueichow border on the 5th April. Arrangements 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 Sungkan, 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
† Not reproduced.
• Not printed.
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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-commis- sioners 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 1 found the town gay with flags and the streets thronged with people. Semi-military bands, chiefly recruited from the schools, joined our cavalcade outside the town, and played us into our destination for the day-a yamên 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 despatch of the luggage caravan at A.M. and our own daily departure at 7 A.M., and to these hours we adhered throughout the journey.
I had decided in my own mind to proceed to Tsun-yi, 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-vi. 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 Tsun-yi (83 miles) the country consists of gently rolling bills and fertile valleys, all thickly cultivated. The main crops were beans, rape, and peas, in the order named; all were just coming into flower, and looked very strong and 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 much 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 all opium poppy plants in the neighbourhood. 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 Drouhot 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 Hower having been seen in Kueichow in January, and he said there must be a mistake, as such a thing was impossible. He mentioned that the T'ung-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-tzu 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 brigands; 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 Kneichow 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; so 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.
I
At Tsun-yi (210 miles from Chungking) I rested the caravan for one day. failed to meet the Roman Catholic priest in charge 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
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