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and rapid transit. Everyone who has been in China knows the 
value of her waterways, but there are no waterways in Yunnan, 
and all the transit has to be done by coolies, and coolies at 250 
cash a day for 14 days would be very expensive work. It is plain 
the import trade in Yunnan is not going to be a very great success. 
There are eleven millions of inhabitants in Yunnan, of whom two- 
thirds are cultivated savages. When he heard of trade routes that 
were going to be opened up to Yunnan and Burma he always asked 
what is going to be the result of them. There is a certain amount 
of import trade now going on in Yunnan; goods can be carried 
from Hankow to Yunnan for. considerably less money than in any 
other part of China, but when Yunnan comes to be generally 
supplied with goods, the question of where she is going to be 
supplied from is one possessing special interest for the natives of 
Shanghai. From what General Mesny had said, he seemed to think — 
that Burma will be the ultimate source of import into Yunnan, but 
would that do people here any good? Referring to the condition 
of Yunnan generally, Mr. Bredon said he was very much inclined 
to think that the remark made by Lord Salisbury about the Sister 
Kingdom, that it wants a few years of strong government, applies 
in an eminent degree to the province General Mesny had just 
described. He just dropped these few remarks hoping General 
Mesny would tell them something about the prospects of Yunnan, 
and how far the popular opinion that it is a kind of El Dorado or 
Golconda, and the hopes of the great future in store for it, are 
likely to be realised. 
The Crarrman said Mr. Happer spoke of musk and tin as articles 
of export from Yunnan, and he noticed the export of these articles 
is increasing rapidly. If the imports cannot be great the exports 
may be very valuable, and of course the expense of carrying articles 
is decreased in proportion to the value of the goods. There is 
every reason to hope that in the going forward of Christian 
missions immense good will be done for the development of 
Yunnan, because in Burma the success of the missions had been © 
attended with a remarkable improvement in the condition of that 
country. o 
