J R ANS-FRON T J Ell TRADE . 3 1 



into connection with the sea at Haiphong in 1910 has, contrary to 

 the opinion of all authorities, had no adverse effect on the Burma- 

 Western China trade up to the present time. I shall return to 

 this question in a later paragraph. 



The value of the overland trade then, reached a record in 1913 ; 

 in the early months of 1914 further prosperity was witnessed and 

 the record of 1913 promised to be exceeded, when the war broke 

 out and this remote trade route like most others was at once adver- 

 sely affected. 



In the years 1904, ? 05 and '06 the value of the export trade 



from Teng-yueh was i, £ and £ that of the 

 tradc. lg ~ } U ° l & XP ° r import trade respectively. During the rest of 



the decade the proportion rose and the value 

 of the import trade averaged 2-6 times that of the export. The 

 average figures taken from the Burma lists for the whole decade 

 for the total trade with Western China, excluding specie, was 2-1. 

 The principal export is raw yellow silk from Ssu-ch'uan which 

 rapidly increased in quantity and value in the years preceding 

 the war, reaching about 90 tons with a value of £76,560 in 1913. 

 The rise and fall in the importation of this commodity depends 

 on the state of the market in Burma, as the material is almost 

 entirely used in the weaving of silk garments in Burma. The 

 beautiful silks of Amarapura and Tavoy are alike made from this 

 imported raw stuff. The competition of cheapei machine-made 

 Japanese silks seems to have left the better classes of indigenous 

 hand manufacture untouched and it would appear that there is 

 every prospect of a continuous market for it. 



After raw silk, hides form the next export in order of value. 

 The value of this trade has increased during the decade and still 

 more since then, owing to the greater demand from Europe. In 

 1913, 230 tons of hides, worth £11,821, were sent to Burma from 

 Teng-yueh. Complaints are often heard about the bad condition 

 and packing of Yunnan hides, but it is very doubtful if anything 

 can be done to remedy these defects. 



Musk occasionally figures in the returns as a valuable export. 

 Thus in 1912, 348 lbs. valued at £10,356 were sent out. The trade 

 in musk is an erratic one. It is controlled by a famous Parisian 

 firm of perfumers whose European agent periodically visits A-tim* 

 tzu in Yunnanese Tibet and stays there until he succeeds in buying 



