xxli The British Sphere of Influence 



The watershed or catchment area of the Yang-tse basin 

 comprises, outside the Tibetan plateau, the six large pro- 

 vinces of Szechuan, Hupeh, Hunan, Kiangsi, Nganhui and 

 Kiangsu, part of Chekiang, the greater part of Honan, 

 besides the northern drainage area of the provinces of 

 Yunnan and Kweichow ; a large order certainly, but in no 

 way incommensurate with our present share in the foreign 

 trade of the Empire. Of this trade British imports and 

 exports amount to fully two-thirds of the whole, while the 

 area in question barely covers two-fifths of China proper, 

 entirely excluding the vast and potentially rich regions of 

 Manchuria, Mongolia, Turkestan and Tibet, all which are 

 still in name subject to the " Son of Heaven." This region, 

 forming the British sphere, extends roughly between the 

 twenty-eighth and thirty-second parallels of north latitude, 

 and between the ninety-eighth and one hundred and 

 eighteenth meridians of east longitude. South of this wide 

 sphere we find the five rich provinces of Fuhkien, 

 Kwangtung, Kwangsi, Kweichow and Yunnan ; the last 

 three generally acknowledged as the French sphere, 

 together with the former Chinese dependencies of Aimam 

 and Tongking, now definitely annexed to France. Co- 

 terminous with our sphere on the north, the boundary line 

 being the crests of the mountain ranges that divide the two 

 basins, lies the great valley-plain (Tiefebene) of the Yellow 

 River, the ancient home of the Chinese race and southern 

 boundary of China until about the beginning of the 

 Christian era. 



This Yellow River basin comprises the provinces of 

 Kansu, Shensi, Shansi, Shantung, and the Metropolitan 

 province of Chihli — all provinces with a rich soil and 

 prosperous population, said to be immeasurably rich in 

 minerals. Their climate is temperate, and hence wheat 

 and millet take the place of the rice-fields, the sugar, 



