Page:The Chinese Empire. A General & Missionary Survey.djvu/382

 defeated the main body of the Chinese army. It was a more difficult task to restore order in the country. Bands of marauders were everywhere; in the eastern hills of Fengtien the broken fragments of the army united with the robber bands till they numbered 20,000 men. The Russians defeated this force in successive expeditions, but order was not finally established till after they retired and handed the administration back to the Chinese.

In 1902 the Russians evacuated the west side of the Liao, and in the following spring they partially retired from the province of Fengtien; but when the time came to evacuate the northern provinces, in accordance with their agreement, they replaced their guards at the gates of Moukden, and sent an armed force to the mouth of the Yalu. Then followed the war of 1904-5, of which we can hardly yet see the outcome.

Much money was thrown away by the Russians during their construction of the railway and the succeeding military occupation. Yet it is questionable whether the country at large benefited, as the Chinese who took the Russian roubles were chiefly new-comers from Shantung, while the prevailing disorder interfered with traffic and disorganised commerce. Still more was this the case during the war. Large districts were laid waste, especially on the Russian side, the villages destroyed, the inhabitants driven away, and the soil untilled. Some time will elapse ere the country can recover from the losses of those two years; yet there is every hope that, under the more enlightened administration now prevailing, the magnificent resources of the country will give it renewed prosperity.

Shenghing Province.—The population of the province of Shengking or Fengtien is estimated at 13,000,000, and the area is stated at 60,000 square miles, but if we include the recently opened lands it cannot be under 70,000.

The principal river is the Liao, which rises north of Peking at an altitude of 3700 feet. It flows thence eastward through Mongolia under the name of Shara Muren