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228 the backbone of Yün-nan, a strip of elevated country draining to the Yang-tsze on the north and to the Red river basin on the south.

Of the three lines talked of, but not yet begun—i.e., the Bhamo-Tali Fu line, the Tali Fu-Yün-nan Fu line, and the Yün-nanSsuch'uan railway—the Tali Fu-Yün-nan Fu line would undoubtedly prove the easiest to construct, and would, under existing conditions, tap an area rather less populous and productive, perhaps, than the Bhamo-Tali Fu line, but undoubtedly more populous and productive than the Yün-nan-Ssŭch'uan line. The scientific and systematic development of the mineral wealth of the country might very considerably modify existing conditions and enhance the value of the Yün-nan-Ssŭch'uan line, copper, lead, zinc, iron, and coal existing in considerable quantities in the vicinity of Tung-ch'uan. Mining enterprise in this part of China, however, is pushed forward with an extreme caution and deliberation; and it was only while I myself was in