FROM TONKIN TO INDIA 



of 2,185,200 taels, in which Tonkin unfortunately is only repre- 

 sented by 313,983 taels. The slowness in the development of 

 our commerce with China is to be attributed to three chief 

 causes : — 



(i) Our houses do not study the taste or pocket of the natives. 



(2) Freight on the Red River is too high. For instance, 

 wicker chairs at fifty piastres have to pay thirty piastres from 

 HonCT-Kongr to Manhao. 



(3) Salt, which formerly served as a medium of exchange 

 between Tonkin and Yunnan, can no longer, thanks to a clause 

 in the Treaty of 1885, be introduced into that province. 



We know our errors ; it is for us to remedy them, if we 

 would profit by the privileged commercial position which Tonkin 

 gives us on the flank of China. I cannot too strongly insist 

 on the danger there is of our playing the role of the hare to the 

 English tortoise. Whilst writing these lines I have before me 

 the last Report of the Royal Geographical Society, in which is 

 marked by a dotted line the railway in course of construction 

 from Mandalay to the frontier of China. The English have 275 

 miles in a straight line to traverse. We, who from Hanoi to 

 Laokay have only 135 miles, or htilf as far, — what are we 

 doing ? 



The reader will pardon this digression, and impute it solely 

 to my desire to attract attention, whenever I have the occasion, 

 to questions often neglected, and moreover of exceptional gravity 

 for the future expansion of our trade. 



The grounds of the custom-house adjoined those of the 

 consulate. A house is valued here at from 2,000 to 3,000 taels, 

 the expense being largely enhanced from the distance which 

 wood for building has to be brought. Although verandahs are 



