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trade, will eventually come to an end; but a relaxation of vigilance on the part of the authorities will probably be followed by an immediate recrudescence of cultivation in these two remote provinces for the purpose of supplying the rest of North China with native opium.
The population of Shensi was probably in the past more sodden with opium than that of any other province, and smoking, though theoretically illegal, continues to be commonly indulged in by all who own their own stocks or can afford the present high price of local opium, about 5 taels per ounce, or five times its weight in silver. Instances came to my notice of smokers amongst the district magistrates, and even higher officials, including a Taoyin. But the consumption, like the trade, will come to an end eventually with the exhaustion of existing stocks, provided there is no recrudescence of cultivation.
Our party consisted, when we left Tungkuan to commence the inspection, of myself, the deputy from the Wai-chiao Pu, the deputy from the Nei-wu Pu, the Sian- fu Taoyin and his secretary, the Assistant Director of the Provincial Opium Suppression Bureau and his secretary, three returned students deputed by the Provincial Government, an officer of the Military Governor's staff deputed by the latter, five officials of the rank of district magistrate acting as delegates of the Provincial Government, an officer and half a company of soldiers, and trains of pack mules, coolies, and miscellaneous followers of all kinds. The absurd size of the party entailed many difficulties as regards transport, accommodation and supplies, as well us terrorising the inhabitants of the districts traversed, on whom forcible contributions were levied in the usual Chinese official manner. These difficulties fortunately soon proved insuperable, and we had not been en route very long before the superfluous members of the party began to drop out, and by the time we had been travelling for a couple of months the hardships of travel on the mountain roads and the extreme poverty of the brigand-infested districts in the north, had finally reduced us to myself, the two Peking delegates, the two deputies of the Provincial Govern- ment, and a military officer with a small escort.
The officials accompanying us, the district magistrates, and the provincial authorities at Sian-fu did their utmost throughout to facilitate cur journey, and there can be no doubt whatsover of the sincerity of the latter at present in regard to the suppression of poppy cultivation, bampered though they are by the prevalence of brigandage and the weakness of civil authority in many parts. There was, indeed, some difficulty about our proceeding to the north of the province, which was largely in the hands of the brigands; but conditions in that region were so insecure that I was agreeably surprised that they did not refuse to proceed there altogether. The importance they appeared to attach to securing that the inspection should be satisfactorily carried out can hardly be exaggerated.
As regards the future, I am of the opinion that after a
few years the people and the authorities will probably drift back to so-called secret cultivation in Shensi and Kansu, once the stimulating effect of the treaty is withdrawn. A real and final suppression of cultivation could, I consider, only be attained by thorough inspection every few years by resident British missionaries. each in his own district, acting in conjunction with the Chinese officials until all trade and consumption had ceased. As it is, it is to be feared that without the stimulus of a foreign interest, the authorities in these backward and remote provinces will be unable to maintain the standard of suppression they have attained.
The following is an account of the tour of inspection :-
Tungkuan to Hsingan.-We entered the province from Honan by the T'ungkuan passage at the Yellow river bend, and travelled south viâ Lonan, Shangchow, Shayang, and Chenan to Hsingan-fu on the Han river. This portion of the journey, which took two weeks' hard travelling, was by unfrequented mountain trails, only negotiated with great difficulty by pack mules, through country little known to the Chinese officials themselves. The districts traversed were not notorious in the past for opium production, but many remote little valleys of great fertility and well suited for secret poppy cultivation were passed through, especially as the Han river was approached.
Hsingan to Hanchung-From Hsingan-fu we travelled up the basin of the Han river to Hanchung-fu by the main road viâ Hanyin, Shihch'uan, and Hsihsiang, ten days' journey. We were forced to travel by the so-called main road, which is much of the way only a mountain footpath 18 inches wide, because it was necessary
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to visit the rich valley plains of Hanyin, Hsihsiang and Hanchung, which were formerly great centres of poppy cultivation, and there was no other route available.
Hanchung to Fop'ing. As a result of the enquiries I had been making since entering the province we travelled from Hanchung down the Han river as far as Yanghsien, and thence north through the mountains to Fop'ingt'ing, an isolated little place hidden between the high ranges of the Chinglingshan. There were strong rumours, of which the Chinese authorities did not pretend to be ignorant, that, since the adoption of strict suppressive measures two years before, there had been an exodus of poppy cultivators from the more settled parts of the Han basin into this wild and inaccessible mountain region for the purpose of growing opium. The officials did their best to dissuade me from going there, but I do not think that this was so much owing to any fear of our coming upon any poppy cultivation as to their natural reluctance to travel along a trail which was so rough that it entailed walking most of the way; and when they realised that I insisted on proceeding, they did their utmost, as usual, to facilitate the journey. We duly reached Foping after a difficult journey over a series of passes over 8,000 feet in height, and I remained there two days exploring as far as possible the neighbouring valleys. We found no signs whatsoever of poppy cultivation. But a satisfactory inspection of such a district, where it sometimes takes a day's march to get from one valley to another across the intervening range, would have taken a month or more. Further, owing to the difficulty of securing reliable information about this region from either missionaries or officials beforehand, I found the elevation of the principal valleys and of Foping itself (over 6,000 feet) to be greater than I had expected, and the wheat barely above ground (during the first half of May), which meant that the poppy would be only about 6 inches high and not yet in flower. The local magistrate admitted secret cultivation in preceding years, but maintained that the severe punish- ments now in force had been entirely successful in putting a stop to it this year. I left him under the impression that we should return for a more thorough inspection of his district later on; this we were unfortunately unable to do, though we visited the similar mountain districts of Fenghsien and Liupa marching with Foping on the west. It is probable that the rumours of secret cultivation in this district were not unfounded, but I hope that as a result of our visit very little, if any, opium will be harvested there this year. From the point of view of the Chinese authorities the difficulty of suppressing secret cultivation in these wild and inaccessible mountains is that they are entirely in the hands of their inspecting deputies, who cannot be trusted to undergo the hardships of a really thorough inspection of such rough country, nor to be proof against an offer of a share in the spoil, where the chances of detection are so small. If there should ever be rumours in future of extensive secret poppy cultivation in Shensi, these districts in the Ch'inlingshan and some of those in the north of the province are those which should be thoroughly examined.
Foping to Fenghsiang. From Fop'ingt'ing we continued north-east across another series of difficult passes in the Ch'inlingshan to Chouchih in the Wei valley, whence we turned west through Meihsien to Fenghsiang-fu. These districts extend- ing along the Wei valley and embracing the fertile plain between the mountains and the river were formerly notorious for poppy cultivation, and a good deal was grown as late as last year. In the old days opium sold locally for 100 cash or less per ounce, and grain was dear and insufficient for the needs of the opium-sodden population. Nowadays the uplands are one vast wheatfield, the alluvial plains are devoted to cotton and indigo, and opium sells for 12,000 cash or more per ounce, while grain is plentiful and the people prosperous. From Hanchung-fu to Fenghsiang-fu by this route was about a fortnight's journey.
At Chouchih and Meibsien I met with the same rumours as at Hanchung, namely, that, since it had become too dangerous to grow opium on the plains, people had been going up into the mountains to cultivate the poppy, preferably on virgin land in the most remote valleys and forests of the Taipaishan in the haunts of leopard, deer and takin. With the limited time at my disposal it was impossible to attempt at this stage of the journey an examination of the forests on the slopes of T'aipai- shan, but the Chinese officials assured me they would not relax their vigilance.
Fenghsiang to Yaochou From Fenghsiang-fu we commenced our tour of the loess regions of Northern Shensi, striking first north-east through the districts of Linyu, Yungshoa, Pinchou, Sanshui and Chunhua to Yaochou, a week's journey by little-used mule trails through the mountains connecting one hsien city with another. It was in these out-of-the-way western districts along the Kansu border that much of the opium that went to enrich Lu Chien-chang was produced in 1915.
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