November 6, 1885.] 



SCIUJ^CU. 



401 



Tai or Red River of Tong King), the Me-Khong or 

 Great River of Cambodia, the Salwen, and the 

 Irawaddy, all have their sources, with the possible 

 exception of the Canton River, in the unknown 

 mountain regions of southern Tibet. Another 

 noticeable feature is a spur of the Tibetan ranges, 

 which, extending southwards between the valleys 

 of the Bramaputra and Irawaddy, completely 

 interrupts direct overland communication between 

 British India and the north-western provinces of 

 China. Another important fact is that through- 

 out this whole region, excepting, of course, the 

 great deltas of the Irawaddy and Me-Khong, the 

 river valleys are very narrow, the remainder of 

 the country being little else than a confused mass 

 of hiUs. 



There is no regular overland communication 

 between the interior and the seaboard over which 

 bulky goods can be transported with any fair 

 chance of profit. The rivers must be utilized to 

 the greatest possible extent, and it is a singular 

 fact, but a fact nevertheless, that only one of these 

 five great rivers is capable of being navigated with 

 profit by steamers of a suitable size. The Canton 

 River abounds in rapids and difficult navigation, 

 and at the end of his tedious boat journey the 

 trader is still far from the coveted tea mart of 

 Puerh in southern Yunnan, — a mart at which the 

 best tea grown in China, the so-called Puerh tea, 

 is distributed. The Son Tai, or Red River of 

 Tong King, at first seemed to offer a solution of 

 the problem ; but on further investigation it has 

 proved to be filled with rapids, and to run through 

 a wild and savage country sparsely inhabited by 

 hostile tribes ; and, as every one knows, the French 

 have found, at the cost of much blood and treasure, 

 that Yunnan and Kwang-Si are as far off as ever. 

 The Me-Khong, owing to its length alone, is obviously 

 out of the question, while the Salwen is navigable 

 for less than one hundred miles. The last river 

 on the list is the great Irawaddy, which, rising in 

 the unexplored fastnesses of Tibet, flows in a gen- 

 eral southern direction, by Bamo (at the head of 

 navigation), by Mandalay (the present capital of 

 upper Burma, and incorrectly spelled Mandelay in 

 our map), by Prome (at the end of the only piece 

 of railway in either Burma), and by Rangoon (the 

 capital of the British Province of Burma, and the 

 seaport of the Irawaddy. Strictly speaking, Ran- 

 goon is on the Rangoon River ; but as the whole 

 country between Cape Negrais and the Salwen is 

 one vast alluvial plain, in which the Irawaddy, 

 Rangoon, Pegu, and Sittang intermingle in the 

 most reckless confusion, it is not improper to speak 

 of Rangoon as situated on the Irawaddy, with 

 which it is in direct communication by a delta 

 branch of this great river. Eight hundred and 



forty miles above the sea, Bamo (pronounced 

 Bamaw) stands at the head of navigation, and only 

 fifty miles away in a straight line is the Chinese 

 frontier. The Irawarldy is thus the key to the 

 trade of this part of the world, and the valley of 

 the upper Irawaddy is Independent Burma. Can 

 we wonder, then, that the English nation welcomes 

 the excuse which the recent suicidal action of the 

 Burman government has given it for taking posses- 

 sion of what will undoubtedly prove to be one of 

 the most important trade routes of the world. 



It may be said that I have overstated the desires 

 of the English in this matter, and, to guard against 

 any such reproach, a few sentences culled from the 

 leading editorials of the London Times for October 

 15 and 17 are here introduced. The first is from 

 the issue of the latter date, and is as follows : " It 

 is as a high road to China that upper Burma is 

 most valuable to us, and this road we shall now 

 insist on keeping open, at any cost." The other 

 quotation is somewhat longer, but is still more to 

 the point : " Upper Burma is a strip of country 

 interposed in the direct line between the eastern 

 provinces of India and China. It is most impor- 

 tant for our trading interest that the route between 

 the two empires should be' open. The establish- 

 ment of another European influence [French?] in 

 upper Burma could be regarded by the English 

 only with dismay. But with the trade routes in 

 English hands would come, not only trade, but, in 

 time, not an alliance, but a friendly understanding 

 between England and China, — two countries whose 

 interests are identical, and whose enemies [Russia 

 and France?] are the same."' At first sight it 

 may seem strange that such a valuable trade route 

 should have remained unknown and closed to 

 Europeans for so many years, and should have 

 almost ceased to be used as a trade route within 

 the past two decades. Yet such is the fact, though 

 the causes of this strange development are not far 

 to seek, and are to be found in the character of 

 the races which inhabit upper Burma and south- 

 western China. 



With the exception of the regions surrounding 

 the poles and a small portion of central Africa, 

 there is probably no part of the earth's surface 

 about which geographers are so ignorant as they 

 are of the topography, hydrography, and ethnog- 

 raphy of this part of Indo-China lying between 

 the twentieth degree of north latitude and the 

 sources of the Bramaputra and Yang-Tse-Kiang. 

 It is known, however, that three routes lead from 

 Bamo to Yunnan, and they have been traversed 

 repeatedly in the last few years by Europeans, and 

 will be found described in the books. 



The Burmans are the ruling race of Bm-ma, and, 

 if we had space, would receive more than a passing 



