We have often enough declared how entirely unjustifiable we consider the recent conduct of France towards Siam, and so far we are perfectly in accord with periodicals published at home. But on the other hand a great deal has been written upon this Siamese question, with which we cannot possibly agree. For instance we hold as utterly erroneous the statements which we have read in important English magazines to the effect that the advance of the French will close against us what is the best means of reaching the whole of southwestern China, or that it will seriously effect our steadily increasing trade with Yunnan and the other southwestern provinces of the Empire. Europeans in China, who know some-not feely to be taken in by such stuff thing of the real facts of the case, are
as this; but many people at home have only a very slender acquaintance with the political and commercial geography of the East, and are apt to give undeserved credence to whatever they read on such matters, particularly when the articles are signed by gentlemen who pose as authorities on Asiatic questions.
We will leave out for the moment the rest of south-western China and give our attention solely to the province of Yunnan, The fact is that there is no one road to Yunnan, One may compare it roughly to the Austro-Hungarian Empire which is approximately of the same size. To one portion the easiest; means of access is from 'I'rieste, to Bohemia on the north the natural route is by the valley of the Elbe, and a large part of the country is served by the Danube. It is much the same in Yunnan, except that no one route has the preponderance over the others that the line of the Danube has in Austria. 'I'he extreme south-west of Yunnan has its easiest communication with Bhamo and the Irrawaddy. The south-east is best approached by the Red River from haiphong or by the West River from Canton or Pakhoi. For northern Yunnan the Yangtze is in every way the most advantageous road. Thus there is a different line of access for each portion of the country. Ihe several areas fed by these channels overlap more or Jess towards the centre of the province; but on the whole they are kept very distinct. he reason for such a state of things is this, hough goods can be brought by water on all sides to the border of the province, there are no navigable waterways in Yunnan itself; and the country is one of the most mountainous in the world, All merchandise is carried on pack animals, which climb painfully up and down the steep hill sides. Not only are the roads continually ascending and descending, but they curl and twist in every direction. After perusing the itineraries of various travellers, we find that on the very easiest lines of
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.