Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/655

.] near Yun-nan Foo, which measures from 70 to 80 miles in circumference. Several important roads intersect the province, the chief of which are—1, The road from Yun-nan Foo to Bhamo in Burmah viâ Ta-le Foo (12 days), Tăng-yuĕ Chow or Momien (8 days), and Mamwyne,—an easy road as far as Ta-le Foo, but beyond this city the mountain ranges spoken of above present obstacles of no little difficulty; 2. The road from Ta-le Foo northwards to Batang viâ Le-keang Foo, which thus connects western Yun-nan with Tibet; 3. The road spoken of in the description of Sze-chuen, from Ta-le Foo to Ching-too Foo viâ Ning-yuen Foo and Ya-chow Foo; 4. The road from Yun-nan Foo to Seu-chow Foo, viâ Tung-chuen Foo and Chaou-tung Foo; 5. The road from the same city to Wang-ping Chow, in Kwei-chow, viâ Kwei-yang Foo, and down the Yuen River to Chang-tĭh Foo in Hoo-nan; and 6. the ancient and important trade road to Canton. This route connects Yun-nan Foo with Pĭh-se Foo, in Kwang-se, on the Canton west river, a land journey which occupies about twenty days. From this point the river furnishes in quiet times an easy communication with Canton, but of late, owing to the disturbed condition of Kwang-se, this route has been little used. The agricultural products of the province are fully sufficient to supply the wants of the inhabitants, but its chief wealth lies in the minerals with which it abounds. On this subject Baron von Richthofen says, &ldquo;We are now in an extremely remarkable region, which is highly worthy a detailed examination, because a great variety and quality of metalliferous deposits are distributed throughout its extent. The country so distinguished comprehends nearly the whole of Yun-nan, from Ta-kwan-ting in the north to Po-urh Foo in the south, and from the eastern boundary of the province to Tăng-yuĕ Chow (Momien) in the west. Besides, it extends across the Yang-tsze, and comprises the whole department of Ning-yuen Foo, till Tsing-ke Heen, a district of Ya-chow Foo; and in the east, the district of Wei-ning Chow in Kwei-chow. There are no positive indications to show that the metalliferous region extends beyond those limits to the south, west, and north, but this is different as regards the direction to the east, or rather north-east. I have had several statements given me concerning the occurrence of ores of copper and silver through a large portion of Kwei-chow; but as no mines are worked outside of Wei-ning Chow, the statement cannot be considered as proved. It is, however, a remarkable fact, that immediately adjoining the metalliferous region of Yun-nan to the north-east, commences a belt distinguished by the occurrence of quicksilver and its ores. It extends through the whole width of the province of Kwei-chow. Quicksilver is found only in this belt, and not in Yun-nan.&rdquo; Silver and gold are among the metals produced in Yun-nan, but they are not known to exist in any large quantities. Lead is of frequent occurrence in the province, and indeed the area through which copper, silver, lead, tin, and zinc are distributed in sufficient quantities to make mining answer, comprises at least 80,000 square miles. The ores are generally of good quality, and are so deposited as to be easy of extraction. Tea from Po-urh Foo, in southern Yun-nan, which is well known and appreciated throughout the empire; opium of an inferior quality; medicines in the shape not only of herbs and roots, but also of fossil shells, bones, teeth, and various products of the animal kingdom; and precious stones, principally jade and rubies, are among the other exports from Yun-nan.

The imperial province of Shing-king, in southern Manchuria, is bounded on the N. by Mongolia and Tsi-tsi-har; on the E. by the newly-acquired Russian province of Amoor, the Sea of Japan, and Corea; on the S. by Corea, the Yellow Sea, and the Gulf of Leaou-tung; and on the W. by Mongolia. It occupies an area of 43,000 square miles, and contains a population of 6,000,000. Its capital city is Moukden (41° 40′ N. lat., 130° 30′ E. long.) or, as it is otherwise known, Shing-king, &ldquo;the Flourishing Capital,&rdquo; or Shin-yang; and besides this it has one other prefectural city, namely, Kin-chow Foo. The surface of the province is divided between plain and mountain, the latter feature largely predominating. A line drawn from King-chow Foo (41° 12′ N. lat., 121° 10′ E. long.) north-east to Moukden, and then south by west through Leaou-yang and Hai-ching to Kai-chow and the sea, would define the level country, the rest of the province consisting of mountains intersected with valleys. A large portion of the plain being an alluvial deposit is extremely fertile, but in the neighbourhood of the sea that saline exudation so common in the north of China renders futile all attempts at cultivation. To the north and east of this district run numerous mountain ranges, for the most part in a north-and-southerly direction. The climate of Shing-king is marked by extremes of heat and cold. In summer the temperature varies from 70° to 90°, and in winter from 50° above to 10° below zero. The mountain scenery is extremely picturesque, and the trees and shrubs are such as are common in England, the mountain ash being the only common English tree which is there conspicuous by its absence. The most important rivers are the Leaou-ho and the Ta-yang-ho. The former takes its rise in Mongolia, and after running an easterly course for about 400 miles, turns in a south-westerly direction, and empties itself into the Gulf of Leaou-tung, in the neighbourhood of Ying-tsze, up to which town, 20 miles from the bar, the river is navigable for large junks. The Ta-yang-ho rises in the mountains to the south of the plain, and empties itself into the Yellow Sea. The principal roads through the province are—1st, The imperial highway from Peking, which passes through the Great Wall at Shan-hai-kwan, along the shores of the Gulf of Pih-chih-li to Moukden, and after leaving this city divides into three branches—one going eastward to Corea, another going by Kirin and Alchuku to San-sing, the limit of the empire in this direction, while a third diverges N. by W. to Fa-kwo-mun, thence through Mongolia to Pe-tu-na, and then to Tsi-tsi-har, Mergen, and the Amoor; 2d, A road from Ying-tsze southward to Kin-chow, in the extremity of the promontory of Leaou-tung; and 3d, a road from the same point in an easterly direction to Fung-hwang-ching and the Gate of Corea. The Treaty Port of the province is New-chwang, but owing to the difficulty of reaching this town, the foreign settlement has been established at Ying-tsze. During 1874 the value of goods imported into this port was 2,433,135 taels, and that of exports was 1,753,543 taels. The chief agricultural products of Shing-king are wheat, barley, millet, oats, maize, cotton, indigo, and tobacco. Coal, iron, and gold are also found in considerable quantities in various localities, but as yet they are very little worked.

History.

Far reaching as is the history of China, it yet fails to give us any account of the origin of the Chinese race. Its first page begins by describing the nucleus of the nation as a little horde of wanderers, roving among the forests of Shan-se, without houses, without clothing, without fire to dress their victuals, and subsisting on the spoils of the chase, eked out with roots and insects. Investigation, however, has proved beyond doubt that these wanderers were no indigenous sons of the soil, but were strangers and pilgrims from other lands. Some believe that their point of departure was in the region to the south-east of the Caspian Sea, and that, having crossed the head waters of the Oxus, they made their way eastward along the southern slopes of the Teen-shan. But however this may 