Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/782

774 took over the government of our "sphere of influence." The unexpected dénouement of the Russo-Japanese War, while giving a new, if temporary, lease of life to the "sick man," also negatived the prognostications of the European chancelleries, and with the decision not to fortify Weihaiwei the raison d'être of the regiment also went, and its brief, but not inglorious career closed in 1906. The Chinese Regiment contributed two companies towards the international force which, during the Boxer outbreak, marched to the relief of the Legations at Peking. Their knowledge of local conditions enabled the officers and men of this small contingent to render invaluable aid to the British force in collecting transport, &amp;c., and it may safely be stated that of all the different sections composing that heterogenousheterogeneous [sic] army none was so well supplied with interpreters and means of transport as the British force. That these two companies of the regiment also did their share of the harder and more serious business of war is silently attested by the small monument that now stands at the main entrance to the barracks of the defunct regiment and bears the following inscription:—"Erected by the Officers of the 1$st$ Chinese Regiment in memory of the Officers, N.C.O.'s and Men of the regiment who were killed when serving with the British Contingent, China Field Force, between June and November. Capt. A. J. Hill, Capt. L. A. E. Ollivant, 21 N.C.O.'s and men."

In particular, their gallantry in the attack by the Allied Forces on Tientsin city seems to have received well-merited praise, and led to the adoption by the regiment of a Chinese city gate as its badge.

On sentimental grounds the disbandment of the regiment and the discontinuance of the interesting and, to a certain extent, successful, experiment of turning the Chinaman into an efficient soldier under British officers are regrettable, but for other and more weighty reasons it will generally be agreed that it was justifiable. Latterly, if not from the beginning, the cost to the British taxpayer of this military experiment was out of proportion to its usefulness.

The Territory of Weihaiwei consists of the "Island of Liu-kung, all the islands in the Bay of Weihaiwei, and a belt of land, ten English miles wide, along the entire coastline of the Bay of Weihaiwei." In addition to this, "the region east of the meridian 121° 4′E. of Greenwich," is a neutral zone, in which Great Britain has certain rights, and which none but British or Chinese troops may occupy or traverse. The area of the territory "leased" to Great Britain is rather less than 300 square miles, say, twice the size of the Isle of Wight.

The district is very hilly, and the hills are to a considerable height terraced out by the patient and diligent local husbandman, who succeeds admirably with his primitive methods in making the most of hill-sides which the European farmer would consider scarcely fit for cultivation. In rotation he grows wheat, barley, millettmillet [sic], the giant "kaoliang," the sweet potato, and ground nuts. The climate also permits of the production of the usual fruits and vegetables which the Englishman is accustomed to find on his table.

During the "rainy season" (July and August) most of the valleys and gullies of any size are furnished with "running water," and at all times of the year any one who takes the trouble to dig a well a few feet deep on low-lying ground, or in a valley, will find an ample supply of good water.

Unfortunately, the Chinaman of the north has apparently little love of scenery and no knowledge of forestry. To provide fuel for heating the family brick-bed in winter, he turns his whole family out to rake up even the grass by its roots. At the approach of cold weather, he cuts down, ruthlessly and indiscriminately, all available trees and shrubs. For a superstitious reason, apparently, he will allow trees to grow in the village graveyard, and he has sufficient taste to tolerate them in the village itself. Weihaiwei, therefore, shares with the rest of the province, a bleak and barren aspect, especially in winter, and, as Sir Frank Swettenham has put it, a visitor's first impression is that he has come to a "colder Aden."

The Government has already done a great deal towards remedying this defect, and many trees have been imported and planted, especially along the road-sides. A great deal more could be done—and probably would be done—in this direction if the British tenure of Weihaiwei were more assured.

By far the greater part of the rainfall occurs in July and August—the "rainy season." The average rainfall for the five years ending December, 1906, is 32·5 inches per annum, and the number of days on which snow or rain fell during these years averaged 82. Even in the warmest weather the thermometer seldom records 90° Fahrenheit in the shade. In winter, when the "north blow" is at its height, severe cold is usually experienced. But these cold spells are separated by intervals—sometimes of weeks in duration—of exhilaratingly bright sunshine and calm. In fact, the climate of Weihaiwei is essentially that of a "white man's country," and, in some respects, is distinctly superior to that of England. It is mainly through its high reputation for salubrity that Weihaiwei Is becoming increasingly popular with the British communities in the Far East as a seaside resort in the hot weather. For this reason, too, it is popular with the Navy. A certain type of naval man may feel inclined to grumble in moments of depression at the absence of facilities for indulging in the festivities which he enjoys at many other ports in the East, but even he generally admits that, from the point of view of healthfulness, Weihaiwei in summer is not to be equalled. And it is no doubt due in part to the excellent facilities for gun practice and general training for war that exist at Weihaiwei that the China Squadron took the lead in the gunnery competitions of the British Navy in 1907, and the flagship, H.M.S. King Alfred, broke all previous records in target practice with her big guns.

Summer visitors to Weihaiwei find excellent accommodation at King's Hotel, Port Edward, under the management of Mr. J. W. Loureiro; at Messrs. D. Clark &amp; Co.'s hotel on Liu-kung-tao; or at the hotel opened by the same firm,