494 PROCEEDINGS. 
It will not pay however to send merchandise by this route, as 
~ duty must be paid on such whilst passing through Kuei-chou. The 
eighth route, the Pak-hoi Kai-hua route, is a long and tedious 
route, entirely overland along the frontiers of Tongking, and around 
by the prefectural city of BA {i ff K‘ai-hua Fu, Lat. 23° 10'N., 
Long. 104° 50’ E., Yunnan province, and on to the provincial 
capital, It is a journey of fifty-two days. It is the route followed 
by large bands of armed traders from Pak-hoi, who carry foreign 
goods to Yunnan and return with opiam from that province. The 
ninth route, the Lao-kai Man-hao Route, is now the shortest of all 
land routes to the capital of Yunnan, from the surrounding countries. 
Steamers ascend from Hanoi, in Tongking, to Lao-kai, and junks 
get up to the port of Man-hao, at the head of the navigable part 
of the now famous Red River. At Man-hao, pack animals and 
coolie carriers are obtainable, and the journey thence through 
Se -F- BA Meng-tzn Hsien, Lat. 23° 34' N., Long. 103° 36' E., 
Yunnan province, to Yinnan Fu, is usually accomplished in eleven 
days. This is a very important matter to people who are interested 
in trade generally, but more especially to Chinese merchants in 
Yunnan. Yet, strange to say, the Chinese Government abandoned 
this important trade route to the tender mercies of the Black Flag 
filibusters for years without attempting to improve it or even to 
protect its own enterprising merchants, who, from time to time of 
late years, have attempted to trade thereon with the neighbouring 
states in that region, All other routes from the highest point of 
navigation to Yiinnan Fu are longer by half, and no better off in point 
of convenience and accommodation for travellers and merchandise. 
China has lost a favourable opportunity to benefit her people in 
Yunnan, and it is now too late to repair the fault by which she lost 
it. The tenth route, the Assam Wei-Hsi route, is one by which 
Yunnan may be reached from the British possessions in Assam, and 
which might be opened up to trade, for the mutual benefit of all 
parties concerned, The journey to Yiinnan Fu, passing through 
the cities of #£ Pi 4 Wei-hsi-t‘ing, Lat. 27° 30' N., Long. 100° 
05’ E.; and BE YO ff Li-kiang Fu, Lat. 26° 52'N., Long. 100° 
27' E., is also a toilsome and trying one, and occupies three or four 
