726 HEPORT— 1901. 



and Denver was selected, as it is perfectly straig-ht, has a bridge at each end, but 

 none in between. The height of the parapet of Welney bridge above the water 

 level was measured, a mark was set up on Denver bridge at the same height above 

 the water-level, and midway — three miles from each end — a mark was set up on a 

 pole at the same height above the water-level. A telescope was then directed 

 from the parapet of Welney bridge to the mark on Denver bridge, and the middle 

 mark was seen to stand up about six feet above the line of sight, agreeing with the 

 efl'ect calculated to be produced by the curvature of the earth's surface. 



6. Travels in China. By R. Logan Jack, LL.D., F.R.G.S. 



The party, consisting, besides the writer, of hia son R. Lockhart Jack and Mr, 

 J. F. Morris, employed by an English capitalist who had obtained mining conces- 

 sions in Szechuan, left Shanghai on January 4, 1900. 



Having reached Ichang (1,000 miles) by steamers up the Yangtse, a houseboat 

 was chartered by which the party made the voyage to Chung King, a further dis- 

 tance of 3t)2 miles. 



An overland journey of 209 miles was then made to Chengtu, the capital of 

 Szechuan, via the coal mines of Lung Chang and the brine wells of Isei-Kiang- 

 Hsien. 



The party bad occasion to cross five times the Chengtu Plain, whose fertility, 

 enhanced by a perfect system of irrigatitm, enables it to support four million in- 

 habitants. They visited and mapped the valley of Tung-ling-tse, where copper 

 mines are worked by the Chinese, and made a ' loop-cast ' of C07 miles to the 

 'Northern Alps,' at first through a large tract of undescribed country and after- 

 vards over Gill's route of 1877, via Lung-an and Sungpan. 



Leaving Chengtu on June 19, this time accompanied by Mr. Herbert Way, 

 who represented an English company, the party travelled by road (3.50 miles) to 

 the Maha Gold Mines, which overlook the left bank of the Ya-lung River. Here 

 their stay was cut short by long-delayed commuuicatious from Chung King 

 relating the capture of the Taku forts, the tragedies of Tientsin, and the supposed 

 massacre of alL foreigners at Pekin. The ]?ritish Consul at Chung King ' most 

 strongly advised' the party to make for Burma. 



An attempt was made to reach Kampti, un the Upper Lrawadi, by the route 

 followed by Prince Henri of Orleans, and the party got as far as Hsiao Wei-si, on 

 the Mekong, where a French missionary related some of Prince Henri's experi- 

 ences and demonstrated the uselessness of the attempt so late in the season. 

 It was judged imprudent to run such risks. Nine days after leaving Maha the 

 party were the guests of a Lolo chieftain, the Toussa of Kwa-pit. Between the 

 Yangtse and the Mekong extra precautions had to be taken in crossing a pass 

 infested by robbers armed with crossbows and poisoned arrows. 



Very unwillingly, the party, whose leading idea was to keep as much as 

 possible among the Lolo aborigines and half-Tibetan Sifan tribes, retraced their 

 steps, and leaving the Yangtse ot Shi-Kii made for Sin Kai or Bhamo, a route 

 which brought them again into contact with the Chinese. They crossed the 

 Mekong and Salwen Rivers, and finally reached Bhamo, in Upper Burma, on 

 October 21, after overcoming many obstacles. At Yung-chang further progress 

 seemed to be barred by the refusal of the Carriers' Union to transport the baggage 

 of foreigners, and the tales which the coolies had been told of the terrors of the 

 ' fever valley ' (Salwen) bad so demoralised them that they were with difficulty 

 prevented from deserting in a body. 



Interesting observations were made on the Lolos and Sifan.«, as well as on the 

 Shan tribes of the Tai-piug Valley and the Katchins of the mountain regions on 

 the border of Burma. The distance from Maha to Myothet- '>n the Irrawadi, was 

 estimated at 874 miles. 



The journey afforded opportunities of mapping, to some extent, the margin of 

 the Chengtu Plain and the rivers which fall into it from the north. Portions of 

 the courses of the Ya-lung and Yangtse, near Kwa-pit and Li-Kiang respectively, 



