Directory_and_Chronicle_1908 — Page 1054

TENGYUEH-SZEMAO

935

transport, and the time occupied on the trip is usually about eight days. Pack animals seldom travel during the rains (June to September) when through traffic is practically at a standstill, which means that, contrary to expectations, the construction of the "new" road, which is passable all the year round, has not resulted in any increase of summer trade, the cessation of business during this period being due more to un- favourable climatic conditions than the inferior communications. From Tengyueh to Yunnanfu the road is divided into 24 stages for caravans and 12 for Imperial Postal couriers. It crosses a succession of mountain ranges varying from 4,000 to 10,000 feet in height, besides being intersected by numerous rivers, including the Sweili and the Mekong, which would appear to render any railway project too speculative and too costly to be commercially practicable. Referring to the question of railway construc- tion the Commissioner of Customs in the course of an interesting report for 1906 remarks:-"Should the visionary project of connecting Yunnan and Burma with a trunk railway be ever seriously considered, an initial difficulty will be the selection of a suitable route. Two have been suggested—the so-called Bhamo route via Tengyueh; and the valley of the Salween route via Kunlun Ferry. Opinions are divided as to which is the better, but the latter perhaps allows of easier gradients and is, for various reasons, the more preferable. Both, however, are difficult, and it must be admitted that neither is really suitable for railway construction. Considering the almost insur- mountable physical difficulties presented and the colossal expenditure which would be involved, the practicability, viewed commercially, of such a scheme may well be questioned."

Owing to its elevation (5,400 feet) the climate of Tengyueh is temperate and heaith- ier than any of the valleys in the vicinity which are rendered excessively unhealthy by malignant forms of malarial fever. Malaria is, however, very prevalent in the town itself during the rains when mosquitoes are plentiful, and when the general health of the place is bad. The average yearly rainfall is about 65 inches, most of which falls from June to September, when the incessant dampness is trying to the most robust. The value of the trade during 1906, as taken cognizance of by the Imperial Maritime Customs, was Hk. Tls. 1,397,877. The chief imports were cotton goods, Japanese matches and American kerosene oil; the export trade remains unimportant. The principal local industry is the manufacture of jadestone ornaments.

CONSULATES

GREAT BRITAIN

also

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

Consul -E. C. Wilton, C.M.G.

DIRECTORY

關新越腦 Teng-yueh Hsinkuan

CUSTOMS IMPERIAL MARITIME

Commissoner--F. W. Maze

Examiner--B. Cavanagh

Tidewaiter-F. R. Mann

Medical Officer-R. L. Sircar

POST OFFICE-IMPERIAL CHINESE

Postmaster-F. W. Maze

SZEMAO

茅思 Sz-máu

Szemao, opened to the Tonkin frontier trade by the Gérard Convention of 1895 end to British trade by the Burmah Convention of 1896, is situated in the south- western part of the Province of Yunnan in latitude 22 deg. 47 min. 29 sec. N. and longi- tude 100 deg. 46 min. E. It is a sub-prefectural walled town built on a gently rising ground overlooking a well-cultivated plain. The elevation is 4,700 feet above the sea level, and the population is estimated to be about 15,000. The climate is delightful, the temperature rarely exceeding 80 degrees (Fahr.) during the summer and seldomi falling below 50 degrees in the winter months. The plague, such a common visitor

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