Page:The Chinese Empire. A General & Missionary Survey.djvu/20

xiv Wingate and to the Topographical Section of the General Staff of the War Office, and especially to Major Eraser. For the region of the Poyang Lake, charts by the Admiralty and by Consul W. J. Clennell. For the region of the Tungting Lake, the Admiralty Chart; and for the same region and Hunan generally, tracings and maps lent by Mr. A. H. Harris of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs and by the Rev. G. G. Warren of the Wesleyan Missionary Society. For Yunnan, a map by Major Davies; and for parts of Kweichow, the maps of Consul Bourne's Blackburn Commercial Mission. For parts of Kwangsi, maps by the Rev. Louis Byrde of the C.M.S.; and for Hongkong and Kowlun, the Topographical Section of the British War Office. For Western Kwangtung, maps by the Chambre de Commerce de Lyon; and for Hainan and Indo-China, the Carte de la Mission Pavie. For India and the adjacent countries, the maps compiled in the Burma Surveys Drawing Office.

The unexpected delay in the publication of the Atlas has been occasioned through the difficult question of Chinese orthography. Almost as soon as the work was determined upon, the question of what orthography to employ had to be decided. It was soon recognised that the orthography adopted by the Chinese Imperial Post Office would ultimately carry the day, since conformity to that is necessary in all postal communications, which as a determining factor is of no small importance. The Editor therefore immediately put himself into communication with China upon this matter, and was thankful to ascertain that Sir Robert Hart had already undertaken the careful consideration of this subject, a thorough revision of the former postal spelling being well advanced.

Although the authorities of the Chinese Imperial Post