Observers' Field Reports 105 



rumors of disturbances in the western part of Kwangsi, I determined to reach the center of 

 Yunnan Province by way of the French railroad from Tonkin. After 2 days of preliminary 

 observations at Honglok (Canton) and 3 days spent on correspondence and arrangements 

 for the expedition, we left Canton on October 9 for Hongkong and there took coasting-vessel 

 to Pakhoi, which was reached on the morning of October 12. Here, through the good 

 offices of Dr. Neville Bradley, of the Church Missionary Society, the steam launch of the 

 taotai at Limchow was put at our disposal for carrying our party along the coast to the 

 boundary between Kwangtung and Tonkin. 



We arrived at Chushan on the forenoon of October 17, and, after observing, left that 

 same evening by sailboat for Timghing, which is the Chinese city just opposite to Moncay, 

 the French settlement at the northeast corner of Tonkin, whence a small coasting-steamer 

 was taken to Haiphong. Arriving there on the 20th, I forthwith conferred with Director 

 Le Cadet, of the Phu Lien Observatory. No magnetic work had thus far been carried on at 

 Phu Lien, so that our observations were very welcome and Director Le Cadet afforded every 

 possible assistance. From Haiphong we proceeded by rail on the 23d to Hanoi and there 

 consulted with the government and railway officials, to whom introductions had been given 

 by the French consul-general at Canton, M. Beauvais. The government verj' courteously 

 extended the privilege of free transportation on all the railroads throughout French Indo- 

 China, and the engineer-in-chief of the Yunnan Railway did the same for the journey to 

 Yunnanfu. Before proceeding into Yunnan I, therefore, endeavored to occupy as many 

 stations within easy reach of Hanoi as were feasible, and for this purpose made round trips 

 by rail to Vinh, in Annam, and to Langson, in northeastern Tonkin. 



Leaving Hanoi on November 4, and, after observing at Yenbay en roule, we reached 

 Laokai on the night of the 5th. On the morning of the 7th we crossed the border into the 

 Province of Yunnan and proceeded by rail to Posi, which was reached on the forenoon of 

 November 10. On account of severe landslides due to excessive spring rains, we could go 

 no further by rail and at Posi made arrangements for a caravan of donkeys, with the aid 

 of which, bj^ withdrawing from the line of the railroad, we were able to cross the intervening 

 mountains and arrived at Kaokaitseu on the evening of November 14. Thence we 

 proceeded by train to Yunnanfu, arriving on the 15th. 



Because of the distiu-bed state of the Province as a result of the revolution, which had 

 begim since my departure from Canton, and because the reports of trouble on the border 

 between Yunnan and Burma were quite alarming, it was deemed best, in conference with 

 the British and French consuls-general at Yunnan, to abandon the plan to proceed west- 

 ward; neither was it possible to proceed northward toward the Yangtse for a similar reason. 

 We were forced, accordingly, to return into Tonkin as we had come, and on arrival at Hanoi 

 in the first week of December, we received, in response to a cablegiam which had been for- 

 warded from Yunnan through the courtesy of the British consul-general, instructions author- 

 izing an expedition throughout French Indo-China and Siam. Consequently, after re- 

 observing at Phu Lien Observatory, we left Haiphong on December 8 by steamer for 

 Tourane, on the coast of Annam, which was reached on the evening of the 9th, and from there 

 we ascended by rail via Hue to Quangtri, whence, having secured a guide and carriers 

 under the auspices of the French Resident, we started on December 19 westward across 

 Annam and Laos to reach the Mekong River at Savannakhet. 



This journej', including just such stops as were necessary for observation at 3 stations 

 en route, required 13 days and was accomplished by small boat and on foot as far as Lao- 

 bao, where canoes were secured in which we descended the Sebanghien to Songkhon. The 

 trip was very trying owing to the intense heat and lack of protection during the day. Prog- 

 ress was also very slow on account of numerous rapids, rendering the unloading and reload- 

 ing of the canoes necessary several times a day. With the exception of one night, all the 

 nights during this journey were spent in native huts, through the courtesy of the chiefs 



