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THE PEOPLES AND POLITICS
OF
THE FAR EAST
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TRAVELS AND STUDIES IN THE
BRITISH, FRENCH, SPANISH
AND PORTUGUESE COLONIES,
SIBERIA, CHINA, JAPAN, KOREA,
SIAM AND MALAYA
BY
HENRY NORMAN
AUTHOR OF "THE REAL JAPAN"
WITH SIXTY
ILLUSTRATIONS AND
FOUR MAPS
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN
PATERNOSTER SQUARE
MDCCCXCV
PRAESIDI SOCIISQUE HARVARDIANIS
rpo(f)ela
P R E FACE.
Tins book is the result of nearly four years of travel
and study in the countries and colonies of which it
treats. I have described and discussed no place that
I did not visit, and in every one I remained long enough,
and tvas fortunate enough in learning the views and
experiences of the local authorities and best-informed
residents, to make sure at any rate that I was not
misled into mere hasty impressions. If I appear to
present some of my conclusions with excessive confidence,
this fault is to be explained, and I trust excused, first,
by my conviction of the importance to Great Britain of
the issues involved, and second, by my faith in the
accuracy and wisdom of my many informants.
The Far East presents itself to the attentive traveller
under two aspects. It is the last Wonderland of the
World ; and it is also the seed-bed of a multitude
of new political issues. I have endeavoured to reflect
in these pages this twofold quality of my subject. There-
fore the record of mere travel is interwoven with that of
investigation : the incidents and the adventures of the
Vlll PREFACE.
hour are mingled with the factors and the statistics of
the permanent problems. By this means I have hoped
to reproduce upon the reader's mind something of the
effect of the Far East upon my own. It is a picture
ivhich is destined, either in bright colours or in sombre,
to become increasingly familiar to him in the future.
I find myself wholly unable to acknowledge here even
a small part of the help and hospitality I received, and
I can only express this general but deep obligation. To
Sir Robert Hart, Bart., hoivever, first of all; to Sir
Cecil dementi Smith, ex-Governor of the Straits Settle-
ment ; to Sir G. William Des Voeux, formerly Governor
of Hongkong ; and to Mr. F. A. Swettenham, C.M.G.,
British Resident of Feral; I have to offer my special
thanks. To my friend Mr. B. L. Morant, tvhose know-
ledge of Siam is more intimate than that of any foreigner
living, and ivho at the time of my stay in Bangkok was
governor of the late Grown Prince and tutor to the
Hoyal children, I have to aclmoivledge great indebted-
ness. I need hardly add that these gentlemen must not
be forcibly connected with any of my opinions. Mr. J.
Scott Keltie, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Geo-
graphical Society, the Librarian of the Colonial Office,
and the Librarian of the Hoyal Statistical Society,
have been good enough to give me valuable technical
assistance.
In a few instances I have reproduced here, with
considerable alterations, parts of contributions to the
PREFACE.
daily and periodical Press, chiefly descriptions of places
ivritten on the spot. The greater part of the illustrations
are from my own photographs ; one or two are by that
excellent ph-otographer A. Fong, of Hongkong, one or
two by Mr. Chit, and one by Mr. Loftus, both of
Bangkok. The maps, ivhich present certain geographical
facts not so far as I know to be found in conjunction
elsewhere, have been drawn under my own supervision.
H.N.
LONDON, December 31, 1894.
ERRATA.
Page 134, line 12 from foot : for 257,008,654 read 257,048,654.
136, 5 from top : for 63,231,047 read 63,211,047.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
PREFACE vii
THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN THE FAR EAST.
I. OUTPOSTS OF EMPIBE : SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG . 3
II. A SCHOOL OF EMPIRE : THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS . 37
III. ANOMALIES OF EMPIRE : THE PROTECTED MALAY STATES 52
FRANCE IN THE FAR EAST.
IV. IN FRENCH INDO-CHINA : LEAVES FROM MY NOTEBOOKS 71
V. ON THE FRANCO-CHINESE FRONTIER . . .95
VI. A STUDY OF FRENCH COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION . 103
VII. THE COST OF A FRENCH COLONY :'" ':' ';' 124
RUSSIA IN THE FAR EAST.
VIII. VLADIVOSTOK: THE "POSSESSION OF THE EAST" . 141
IX. THE POSITION OF EUSSIA ON THE PACIFIC . '; 151
X. THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY AND ITS RESULTS . 159
SPAIN IN THE FAR EAST.
XI. MANILA : THE CITY OF CIGARS, HEMP, EARTHQUAKES,
AND INTOLERANCE ./,. 169
Xll CONTENTS.
PORTUGAL IN THE FAR EAST.
CHAP. PAOB
XII. MACAO : THE LUSITANIAN THULE 183
CHINA.
XIII. PEKING AND ITS INHABITANTS . . . 195
XIV. To THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA . . .211
XV. CHINESE HORRORS . . . . .219
XVI. THE IMPERIAL MARITIME CUSTOMS : SIR ROBERT
HART AND HIS WORK .... 231
XVII. THE GRAND SECRETARY Li . . . . 244
XVIII. CHINA AMONG THE GREAT POWERS . . . 260
XIX. CONCERNING THE PEOPLE OF CHINA . . 276
XX. THE FUTURE OF CHINA . . . .297
KOREA.
XXI. ON HORSEBACK ACROSS KOREA . . . 323
XXII. THE CITY OF SEOUL AND ITS INHABITANTS. . 341
XXIII. THE QUESTION OF KOREA . . . .356
JAPAN.
XXIV. THE JAPAN OF TO-DAY . . . .375
XXV. ASIA FOR THE ASIATICS? . . - . 394
SIAM.
XXVI. BANGKOK AND ITS PEOPLE. .... 407
XXVII. THE PRINCIPLES AND PERSONALITIES OF SIAMESE
GOVERNMENT ..... 434
XXVIII. FICTIONS AND FACTS OF SIAMESE AFFAIRS . . 451
XXIX. THE TRUE STORY OF FRANCE AND SIAM . . 468
XXX. ENGLAND AND THE FUTURE OF SIAM . 502
CONTENTS. Xlll
MALATA.
CHAP. PAGE
XXXI. THE POLITICAL POSITION OF THE NATIVE STATES . 523
XXXII. A JUNGLE JOUBNEY IN UNKNOWN MALAYA . . 534
XXXIII. ON A BAFT THROUGH A FOBBIDDEN STATE . 558
CONCLUSION.
AN EASTERN HOROSCOPE 589
INDEX . 603
LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS.
LAW IN CHINA : THE CONFESSION OF GUILT UNDER
TORTURE. (Facsimile of a drawing by a Chinese
Artist) . . . . . -.'/. Frontispiece
A NATIVE AT HOME, TONGKING . .; To face -page 72
A MUONG BEAUTY, TONGKING . .^ ,, ,, 76
A GROUP OF NATIVES, TONGKING . ; . . ,, ,, 82
How I EARNED A HUNDRED FRANCS .-. ,, ,, 82
FRANCE AND CHINA : WATCHING THE FRONTIER ,, ,, 96
AT THE GATE OF THE FORT, MONKAY . ,, ,, 100
VLADIVOSTOK . . . . . :* ,, 144
THE BOYS' BAND, MANILA . L,/> u& 172
FRENCH PRISONERS AT HANOI . :* . ,, ,, 172
THE FIRST SIGHT OF PEKING . -._ , .* 196
THE BRITISH LEGATION, PEKING . , - ,, ,, 200
THE EXAMINATION CELLS, PEKING . I . ,, ,, 204
THE OBSERVATORY ON THE WALL, PEKING . ,, ,, 204
A STREET IN PEKING . . > .' ,, ,, 208
THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA . i:.ij. ,, ,, 214
A WATCH-TOWER ON THE GREAT WALL . ,, ,, 214
A MAGISTRATE'S YAMKX ... ,, ,, 220
CHINA : " DEATH BY THE THOUSAND CUTS " . ,. ,, 224
CHINESE JUDICIAL TORTURES . . ,, ,, 228
A PRIVATE CART, PEKING . . . ,, ,, 236
THE TOP OF THE WALL, PEKING . . ,, ,, 236
THREE YELLOW JACKETS . . . ,. ,, 248
THE MONGOL IN PEKING . . . ,, ,, 278
A CHINESE LADY'S FOOT . . . ,, ,, 288
THE PROTECTION OF FOREIGNERS, CANTON . ,, ,, 288
THE TSUNGLI YAMKN, PEKING . . ,, 298
A CHINESE SCHOOL: VICTIMS OF CONFUCIUS . ,, ,. 312
MY START ACROSS KOREA . . . K'U^IJ. t> 325
THE KOYAL APARTMENTS, MONASTERY OF AN-BYON ,, ,,- 332
A KOREAN HOTEL 338
XVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
MEN AND WOMEN OF KOREA . . To face page 338
A GATE OF SEOUL ....
THE OLD PALACE AND NAM- SAN, SEOUL . ,,
THE CONSUL GOING TO AN AUDIENCE, SEOUL. ,, ,,
KOREAN DANCING GIRLS : " LOVE'S YOUNG DREAM " ,, ,,
BANGKOK: "THE VENICE OF THE EAST" . ,,
THE HALLS OF AUDIENCE, BANGKOK . ,, ,,
WAT CHANG, BANGKOK, FROM A PINNACLE . ,, ,,
A TEMPLE ON A CANAL, BANGKOK . , ,, ,,
A LOVE-SCENE ON THE SIAMESE STAGE . ,, ,,
A TYPICAL SIAMESE WOMAN . . . ,, ,,
AT KO-SI-CHANG : THE KING OF SIAM AND
THE SECOND QUEEN . . i. ' , ,, ,, 436
THE FIRST QUEEN, SIAM . . . ,, ,, 440
THE LATE CROWN PRINCE OF SIAM AND SOME
OF HIS BROTHERS . s.U a , ,, ,, 444
A BOYAL COURT- YARD, BANGKOK . . ,, ,, 444
AN AFTER-DINNER GROUP, BANGKOK . ,, ,, 448
IN THE PALACE TEMPLE, BANGKOK . . . ,, ,, 454
THE GREAT BRONZE BUDDHA, AYUTHIA ...>%? ,, ,, 460
WILD ELEPHANTS BEFORE THE KING, SIAM ,, ,, 464
PEKAN, THE CAPITAL OF PAHANG . . ,, ,, 536
A BELLE OF THE JUNGLE . . . ,, ,, 536
MY KITCHEN IN THE JUNGLE . . ,, 542
A GROUP IN CAMP . > k . . ,, ,, 542
IN THE JUNGLE: AN EARLY START . . ,, ,, 548
MY CAMP AT KUALA LEH . . - ..-, ,, ,, 552
THE LAST BRITISH OUTPOST, PERAK . ,, 552
NATIVE MILLS FOR CRUSHING GOLD-QUARTZ, TEMOH ,, 556
MY EAFTS ON THE KELANTAN EIVER . ,, ,, 562
SHOPS IN A MALAY TOWN . . . ,, ,, 566
A MALAY DRAMA BEFORE THE SULTAN . ,, ,, 566
THE MAIN STREET AND ENTRANCE TO THE
SULTAN'S EESIDENCE, TRINGANU . ,, ,, 578
MAPS,
THE HARBOUR OF VLADIVOSTOK . . . Page 153
THE SETTLEMENTS AND HARBOUR OF WON- SAN . ,, 324
THE PROBLEMS OF INDO-CHINA . . To face page xvi
THE MALAY PENINSULA ,, ,, xvi
THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN THE FAR EAST.
CHAPTEE I.
OUTPOSTS OF EMPIBE: SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG.
A N Englishman writing an account of the Far East finds him-
r^- self in a dilemma at the outset. If he follows his natural
inclination to describe at length the British Colonies there, their
astonishing history, their race-problems, their commercial
achievements, and their exhibition of the colonising genius of
his race ; and especially if he yields to the temptation to dwell
upon their extraordinary picturesqueness, he lays himself open
to the just criticism that these are matters already familiar to
every one of his readers. On the other hand, if he takes this
familiarity for granted, and omits them from his survey, the
brightest colour is lacking from the picture and the most potent
factor from the problem. This would obviously be the greater
evil, and therefore in my own case, risking the reproach, I pro-
pose to touch upon the external aspects of the British Colonies
in the Far East just enough to convey some notion of the
physical conditions and surroundings under which our country-
men there live and labour, and to write at somewhat greater
length of a few vital matters which do not present themselves
on the surface. One thing, at any rate, can never be told too
often or impressed too strongly, namely, that our Far Eastern
Colonies are not mere outlying units, each with a sentimental
and commercial connection with Great Britain, but bone of the
bone of the Empire, and flesh of its flesh.
Among the many surprises of a journey in the Far East,
one of the greatest is certainly the first sight of Shanghai,
4 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
I was writing below as we steamed up the Hwang-pu river,
and did not come on the deck of the Hae-an till five minutes
before she anchored. Then I could hardly believe my eyes.
There lay a magnificent European city surrounding a broad
and crowded river. True, the magnificence is only skin-deep,
so to speak, all the architectural beauty and solidity of
Shanghai being spread out along the river; but I am speak-
ing of the first sight of Shanghai, and in this respect it
is superior to New York, far ahead of San Francisco, and
almost as imposing for the moment as Liverpool itself. A
broad and beautifully kept boulevard, called of course " The
Bund," runs round the river, with a row of well-grown trees
and a broad grass-plat at the water's edge, and this Bund
is lined on the other side from one end to the other with mer-
cantile buildings second to none of their kind in the world the
" hongs " of the great firms, and the banks ; the fine edifices of
the Masonic Hall and the Shanghai Club ; and the magni-
ficent new quarters of the Imperial Customs Service. At
the upper end of the Bund a large patch of green shows the
Public Garden, where the band plays on summer evenings.
At night all Shanghai is bright with the electric light, and
its telegraph poles remind you of Chicago I believe I counted
nearly a hundred wires on one pole opposite the Club. And
the needed touch of colour is added to the scene as you look
at it from on deck, by the gay flags of the mail steamers and
the Consular bunting floating over the town.
The first sight of Shanghai, moreover, is only its first surprise.
As I was rolling away to the hotel the 'ricksha coolie turned
on to the right-hand side of the road. Instantly a familiar
figure stepped off the sidewalk and shook a warning finger, and
the coolie swung back again to the left side. It was a police-
man no semi-Europeanised Mongolian, languidly performing a
half-understood duty, but the genuine home article, helmet,
blue suit, silver buttons, regulation boots, truncheon and all
just " bobby." And his uplifted finger turned the traffic to the
SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG.
left in Shanghai precisely as it does in front of the Mansion
House. A hundred yards further on there was a flash of
scarlet in the sun, and there stood a second astonishing
figure a six-foot copper-coloured Sikh, topped by a huge red
turban, and clad also in blue and armed with the same trun-
cheon, striding solemnly by on his beat. Then came the
Chinese policeman, with his little saucer hat of red bamboo
and his white gaiters, swinging a diminutive staff a reduced
and rather comical replica of his big English and Indian
comrades. Then as we crossed the bridge into the French
Concession there appeared the sergent de mile, absolutely
the same as you see him in the Place de 1'Opera peaked
cap, waxed moustache, baggy red trousers, sabre, and revolver.
And beyond him again was the Frenchified Chinese police-
man. In fact, Shanghai is guarded municipally by no fewer
than six distinct species of policemen English, Sikh, Anglo-
Chinese, French, Franco - Chinese, and the long-legged
mounted Sikhs on sturdy white ponies, who clank their
sabres around the outskirts of the town, and carry terror
into the turbulent Chinese quarters.
Shanghai, like so much of the Empire, was originally spolia
opima. It was captured from the Chinese on June 19, 1842, and
opened to foreign trade in November, 1843. It is in the middle
of the coast-line of China, in the south-east corner of the province
of Kiang-su, at the junction of the rivers Hwang-pu and Woosuug
(or Soochow Creek), twelve miles above the point where these
flow together into the estuary of the Yangtsze. Shanghai is
thus practically at the mouth of the great waterway of China,
and it is the chief outlet and distributing centre for the huge
northern and central provinces. It has been called the " com-
mercial metropolis of China," since so large a percentage of
the total foreign trade of China passes through it. The native
city, which has about 125,000 inhabitants, and lies behind the
foreign city, was an important emporium of trade for centuries.
Its walls, which are three miles and a half in circumference, were
6 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
built in the sixteenth century to keep off an earlier Japanese
invasion. The French obtained a grant of their present Settle-
ment in return for services rendered in driving out the rebels in
1853. Shanghai has been the scene of a good deal of warfare.
In 1853 the native city was captured by the rebels, who held it
for seventeen months. In 1861, the Taiping rebels, after cap-
turing Soochow in the previous year, advanced upon Shanghai,
but were driven back by British and Indian regiments, aided by
French marines. It was at this time that " Chinese Gordon"
appeared upon the scene. The Imperial authorities, at their
wits' end, allowed an American adventurer to enlist a number
of more or less disreputable foreigners, and with their aid to
raise and drill a horde of natives. These passed under the com-
mand of another American named Burgevine, who finally deserted
to the rebels. The Imperialists were thus left with a mutinous
and almost uncontrollable band of their own people to deal with,
little more dangerous than the rebels themselves. It was these
that Major Gordon, E.E., was allowed to discipline and lead
against the Taipings, as the self- christened " Ever-Victorious
Army," and it was no doubt owing to his extraordinary prowess
that the Imperial authority was re-established. Opinions differ
among students of Chinese history as to whether it would not
have been better for China had the Taipings succeeded. I came
upon many curious reminiscences of General Gordon up and
down the coast of China. He was a man of remarkable virtues
and of no less remarkable weaknesses, and the stories of him
which survive in the Far East would make very interesting
reading. I do not give them, however, because public opinion
seems to have determined that this many-sided man shall be
known under one aspect only of his life that of hero. I will
only say that there is correspondence of his still in existence in
China, some of which I have read, which should in the interests
of history be published. His opinions of the Viceroy Li Hung-
chang, whom he greatly respected and whom he had once spent
some time in trying to shoot with his own hand, were of a par-
SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG. 7
ticularly striking character. The original regulations under
which Shanghai is governed were drawn up by the British
Consul in 1845. These were amended in 1854 by an agreement
between the Consul and the inhabitants; and in 1863 the
American Settlement was amalgamated with the British. A
number of vain efforts have been made to induce the French
to join this, but although much smaller both in area, population,
and trade, it has declined to do so, and remains under the
" Reglement d'Organisation Municipale de la Concession Fran-
caise " of 1862. The other two nationalities have not yet suc-
ceeded in agreeing with the diplomatic authorities for the revision
of the " Council for the Foreign Community of Shanghai North
of the Yang-king-pang " of 1870.
Modern Shanghai is thus divided, like ancient Gaul, into
three parts : the English settlement, the American settlement,
called Hongkew, and the much smaller French " Concession."
Three creeks divide these communities from each other
Yang-king-pang, Soochow Creek, and Defence Creek between
the English settlement and China. One wide thoroughfare,
called " the Maloo," runs through Shanghai out past the
race-course and the Horse-Bazaar into the country, and along
this in the afternoon there is a stream of ponies and smart
carriages and pedestrians and bicyclists. It is the Rotten
Row of Shanghai, leading to the Bubbling Well, and the one
country drive the community possesses. But in truth there
is not much " country " about it, the environs of Shanghai
being flat and ugly the nearest hill being nineteen miles
away, and covered with grave-mounds as thickly as the
battlefields round Gravelotte.
Shanghai dubbed itself long ago the " Model Settlement."
Then a noble English globe-trotter came along, and afterwards
described it in the House of Lords as " a sink of corruption."
Thereupon a witty Consul suggested that in future it should be
known as the "Model Sink." For my own part I should not
grudge it the first title, for it is one of the best governed
8 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
places municipally at any rate, so far as the Anglo- American
quarters are concerned that I have ever known. The
French, as I have said, live apart under their own Municipal
Council, presided over, and even dismissed at pleasure, by
their own Consul. The English and American elected
Municipal Council consists of nine members, with an elected
chairman at its head. And a short stay in Shanghai is
sufficient to show how satisfactorily this works. The roads
are perfect, the traffic is kept under admirable direction
and control, the streets are quiet and orderly, and even the
coolies are forbidden to push their great wheelbarrows through
the foreign settlement with ungreased wheels. The third
surprise of Shanghai does not dawn upon you immediately.
It is a Kepublic a community of nations, self-governed and
practically independent, for it snaps its fingers politely at the
Chinese authorities or discusses any matter with them upon
equal terms, and it does not hesitate to differ pointedly in
opinion from its own Consuls when it regards their action as
unwise or their interference as unwarranted. Over the Chinese
within its borders the Municipal Council has, however, no
jurisdiction. In the " Maloo " there is a magistrate's Yamen,
and there the famous " Mixed Court " sits every morning, con-
sisting of the Chinese magistrate and one of the foreign Consuls
in turn All natives charged with offences against foreigners or
foreign law are dealt with there, petty criminals being punished
in the municipal prison or the chain-gang, serious offenders, or
refugees from Chinese law, being sent into the native city.
The Chinese magistrate in the Mixed Court is, of course, a
figure-head, chiefly useful, so far as I could see, in lecturing
the prisoners while the foreigner made up his mind what
punishment to award. In criminal cases the Mixed Court
works fairly well, but in civil suits it gives rise to numerous and
bitter complaints. The population of Shanghai on December
31, 1891, was estimated at 4,956 foreigners (British, 1,759;
Japanese, 751; Portuguese, 542; French, 332; American, 450;
Spanish, 245 ; German, 330), and Chinese, 175,000,
SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG.
The Eepublic of Shanghai has its own army, of course, com-
posed of volunteer infantry, 159 strong ; artillery, with 4 guns
and 45 men ; and a smart but diminutive troop of 38 light
horse. It has also volunteer fire-brigades, and no fewer than
seven distinct postal systems of different nationalities. An
amusing fact in connection with the artillery amusing chiefly
to any one who appreciates the red-tape which binds the military
authorities at home, is that the latter presented the Shanghai
volunteers with four excellent field-guns, and send out an
annual allowance of ammunition. No doubt they believe that
Shanghai is a British colony, whereas the fan lies in the fact
that it is simply some land leased in perpetuity from the
Emperor of China, and that it is always possible it may
be the case to-day for all I know that a majority of those
serving the guns are non-British subjects. But this is only for
the joke's sake. The volunteers get great praise from the official
inspector each year, and they may be called upon to protect
British lives and property at any moment, So the War Office
did a wise thing after all, in spite of the fact that the volunteers
are a " politically anomalous " body
The social life of Shanghai is the natural outgrowth of its
Eepublican institutions. It is democratic, and characterised by
a tolerant good-fellowship. Upon this point a well-known lady
was kind enough to set me right. "In Shanghai," she explained,
"everybody is equal. In Hongkong everybody is not equal.
There are those of us who call at Government House, and those
who do not." After so lucid an analysis it was impossible
to err. All male Shanghai meets in the Club one of the
most comfortable and complete in the world before tiffin and
before dinner, to exchange news, make up dinner-parties, and
do business all three with equal zest. And the hospitality
of Shanghai is another surprise. You might as well attempt
to give your shadow the slip as to escape from the gratuitous
good cheer of the Model Settlement. As for sport, on the
whole Shanghai is ahead of the rest of the East. It has
10 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
Us charming country club, its races twice a year, its regatta,
when the Chinese authorities stop all the native traffic on the
river, its polo, its two cricket clubs, its base-ball, and its shoot-
ing parties in house-boats up the Yangtsze and to the hills twenty
miles away. And on Saturday afternoons if you walk out to
the Bubbling Well about four o'clock you can see the finish of
the paper hunt and a dozen well-mounted and scrupulously-
dressed jockeys come riding in to the finish and taking a rather
bad fence and ditch which has been carefully prepared with the
object of receiving half of them in the sight of their fair
friends. Finally, there are the hounds and their master. And
what matter if a slanderous tradition does fret their fair fame,
to the effect that once upon a time, discarding the deceptive
aniseed-bag, a fox was imported from Japan, and that the end
of that hunting-day was that one-half the pack ran into an
unlucky chow-dog and broke him up, and the other half chased
a Chinese boy for his life, while the master stood upon a grave-
mound winding his horn to a deserted landscape ?
The trade of Shanghai may be roughly divided under five heads :
imports cotton piece-goods, metals, and kerosene oil ; exports
tea and silk. The tea trade, as elsewhere in China, has fallen
off grievously of late, owing to the gradual fall in quality, and
the competition of Ceylon and Indian teas. Foreign tea-men
have made efforts of every kind to induce Chinese growers to
improve their processes of preparation, but without much result.
It is chiefly in the English market, however, that the trade has
suffered. Improvement in quality (says the Commissioner of
Customs) is an absolute necessity, but " China can never hope
to produce a tea which will compare with Indian according to
the only standard which now seems to be applicable in England
the standard of strength, the capacity to colour, to a certain
point of darkness, so many gallons of water to each pound of
tea." It seems as unlikely that the Chinese will learn to improve
their qualities as that we shall learn how to know good tea from
bad, and how to '' make " it when we have secured it. To every
SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG. 11
Eastern tea-drinker the tea served at the best houses in England
would be a horror. Nobody who has not travelled in the East,
and arrived, after a day's tramp through a malarious and steam-
ing jungle, at some poor Chinaman's shanty, and thankfully
drunk a dozen cups of the beverage freely offered, can know how
delicious and invigorating even the most modest tea can be.
The same cause has already produced a standstill and will soon
produce a reduction in the Chinese, silk trade. Chinese silk
would be as good as any in the world if it were properly pre-
pared, but it is now used only to add to other kinds ; whereas
Japanese silk, because prepared with Western methods and con-
scientious intelligence, has increased its output tenfold since
Japan began to sell it to foreigners. This is the old, old story
of China, and it will probably never be altered until foreigners
contrive or their governments for them to exert authority in
the Celestial Kingdom, as well as to tender advice and drive
bargains. The figures of Shanghai trade are, of course, a
striking testimony to the preponderance of British interests
and enterprise. In 1898 the number of ships entered and
cleared, both under steam and sail, was 6,317, with a total
tonnage of 6,529,870. Of these, 3,092 were British, and their
tonnage 3,664,175. Or, to exhibit the comparative insignifi-
cance of the shipping of all other foreign nations, out of the
above grand totals British and Chinese ships together numbered
no fewer than 4,721, with a tonnage of no less than 5,280,310.
The total foreign trade of Shanghai for 1893 was 139,268,000
Haikwan taels,* of which Great Britain, Hongkong, and India
stand for 80,826,000, or over 58 per cent., besides trade with
* It is practically impossible to give the accurate gold equivalent of these sums.
First, because silver falls so rapidly that a calculation of exchange is obsolete before
it gets back from the printer ; and second, because the purchasing power of silver
in the East has not fallen to anything like the same extent as its exchange against
gold. The average exchange of the Haikwan or Customs tael for 1893 was 3s. ll^d.,
and the British Consul calculates at this figure, making the total foreign trade
27,418,388. In dealing with the figures of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs
later on I have reckoned the tael at 3s. 4d., as a nearer approximation.
12 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
other parts of the British Empire which it is impossible to cal-
culate separately. The direct trade with Great Britain, both
imports and exports, has fallen off greatly during the past twenty
years, largely because the Suez Canal has brought the southern
ports of Europe into closer communication with China. But the
trade between China and India is growing rapidly, although the
export of opium to China from Indian ports is falling steadily
and will ultimately all but disappear.
It is curious that by the " Land Eegulations," which form
the Constitution of Shanghai, the Chinese are forbidden to
reside or hold property within the Foreign Settlements, and
yet there are 175,000 of them afloat and ashore ; and I fancy
even Shanghai itself would be astounded if it could be told
exactly what proportion of the whole property is in their hands.
There has been a good deal of talk about this, and in reply to
a "Cassandra" who wrote to the papers that nothing could save
Shanghai but amalgamation with the Chinese, a local writer
produced some witty verses, telling how in a vision in the
twentieth century
" I passed a lawyer's office, on the shingle
Was ' Wang and Johnson, Barristers-at law ';
Where'er the nations had begun to mingle,
Chinese came first, I saw.
" A steamer passed ; a native gave the orders ;
An English quartermaster held the wheel ;
The chain-gang all were white, the stalwart warders
Yellow from head to heel."
Physically, at any rate, the Chinese are undoubtedly crowd-
ing out the Europeans. The wealthy Celestial keenly appre-
ciates the fact that his person and his property are infinitely
securer under the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes than
under the rapacious and unrestrained rule of the representative
of the Son of Heaven. He is therefore prepared to pay what-
ever may be necessary to secure a good piece of property within
which to live and trade in the foreign settlement. Whenever
such a piece comes into the market it is almost sure to be
SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG. 18
knocked down to a Chinese purchaser. " Very many retired and
expectant officials now make their homes in Shanghai, also
many merchants who have made money. As a result, the best
paying property is Chinese occupied, and of that the best is the
property on which stand the pretentious establishments which
furnish amusement to the Chinese jeunesse doree a class which
in pre-Taiping days counted Soochow and Hangchow earthly
paradises, and which now finds that the pleasures of those
capitals are as abundantly supplied in the Foochow Koad. This
influx of Chinese has had the effect of compelling foreigners, and
especially those of small means, to seek every year dwellings
farther away from the busy centres, which the Chinese now
monopolise. The rents of foreign houses in the Settlements are
gradually rising, for as each old foreign building is pulled down
Chinese houses take its place." *
Another very great and indeed vital change has come over
Shanghai of late years. Formerly business was done by real
merchants that is, traders who bought to sell again. Those
were the days of quickly-realised and enormous fortunes of the
merchant-princes of the Far East, whose hospitality, formerly
famous the world over, is now but a golden tradition, since
" luxurious living is practised by old-timers rather in obedience
to ancient custom than justified by present affluence." Now the
merchant, if not already extinct, is rapidly becoming so, and his
place taken by the commission agent. Competition and the
incalculable and ruinous fluctuations of exchange are the two
factors which have brought about this result Both as regards
the character of business done, and the personnel of those who
do it, the change is for the worse. Little or no capital is neces-
sary, as every detail of the transactions is fixed beforehand by
telegraph the price of the goods, the freight, and the rate of
exchange. It is therefore possible to do business on a very
small margin, with the result that men under-bid one another
* Mr. E. E. Bredon's very able Report on Shanghai, Chinese Imperial Maritime
Customs, Decennial Reports, 1882-1891.
14 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
down to the last fraction, and the further result that an
unscrupulous member of the trading community is tempted to
get business of this kind by any and every means. It is obvious
that more intimate relations between the Chinese themselves
and the European markets would soon result in the elimination
of the foreign agent altogether.
Two other causes are also appearing to transform the
Shanghai of old time, and indeed all the business relations
between foreigners and Chinese. The first is the growth of
Chinese manufactures. The Chinese Cotton Cloth Mill Com-
pany, the Chinese Spinning Company, the Shanghai Paper Mill
Company, the Min-li Ginning Mill Company, and the Yuen-chee
Ginning Mill Company, are all Chinese concerns, with Chinese
capital and under Chinese management, with foreign technical
assistance. The first-named of these is supposed to be financed
by the Viceroy Li Hung-chang himself. It was recently com-
pletely destroyed by fire, but is being rebuilt on a much larger
scale than before. These enterprises have not yet paid much
in the way of dividend, owing probably to inexperienced direc-
tion, but there is no reason to suppose that they will not be
successful in the end. And their success would probably mean
a nearly proportionate amount of European failure. The reader
will naturally ask at once why foreigners have not started such
concerns themselves. The answer is based to a great extent
upon the supineness of a recent British Minister to China. The
Chinese claim without any justice, so far as I can make out
that the treaties give no right to foreigners to manufacture
within the treaty limits, and their claim has never met with
serious official resistance. They even go so far as to prohibit,
without a special permit, the importation of machinery on
foreign account, which is ridiculously in contradiction of plain
treaty rights. It is to be hoped that one among the innumer-
able results of the present war will be the settlement of this
question in favour of Europeans. The benefits to Chinese con-
sumers would be incalculable, and the whole world might well
SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG. 15
gain an enormous and unexpected advantage from the opening
of China which would almost necessarily ensue, since, as has
been truly said,* if China were only fairly open to foreign enter-
prise, there is room in her vast territories and among her
millions of inhabitants for all the surplus silver of the world for
many years to come.
In connection with this probable cause of a change in the
future of Shanghai must also be mentioned the great and
increasing amount of purely Chinese capital invested, not only
in native enterprises within treaty limits, such as those I have
mentioned, but also in foreign companies, with foreign manage-
ment, and known by foreign names. The China Merchants'
Steam Navigation Company, with its fine fleet, represents a
large native investment, in which the Viceroy Li is again
prominent, and it is freely said that many ships trading under
foreign flags are in reality Chinese property. Moreover,
although this is a well-kept secret, a surprising proportion of
the deposits in foreign banks is believed to stand in Chinese
names. In view of all this extensive and constantly growing
Chinese investment in property, mortgages, shipping, manufac-
turing enterprises, and banking deposits, it is inevitable that
those who thus pay the piper should claim more and more the
right to call the tune. The second cause of the change to be
anticipated is Japanese competition with European firms for the
foreign trade of China. This is a factor of the greatest future
importance, but discussion of it will come more appropriately
in a later chapter. Though Shanghai may change, however,
and indeed must change, there is no reason to despair of its
future as an outpost of British Trade. The openings for
foreigners and foreign capital may both decrease, but tbe bulk
of trade will increase. Mr. Commissioner Bredon says, "I
think the future of Shanghai depends on China and the Chinese
and their interests, and that foreigners would be wise to run
with them," and his opinion should carry great weight. Two
* By Mr. Consul Jamieson, F. 0. Reports, Annual Scries, No. 1442, p. 23.
16 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
events, on the other hand, may open up for Shanghai a future
brighter than its brightest past. The Chinese railway may make
it into the link between the whole of China and the rest of the
world ; or the present war may end by throwing China open at
last, in which case the unequalled situation of Shanghai would
give it the lion's share of the enormous trade that would arise.
The first sight of Hongkong, the farthest outpost of the
British Empire and the fourth port in the world, is disappoint-
ing. As you approach it from the north you enter a narrow
and unimposing pass : then you discover a couple of sugar-
refineries covering the hills with smoke ; and when the city of
Victoria lies before you it is only St. John's or Vladivostok on a
larger scale. It is piled up on the steep sides of the island
without apparent purpose or cohesion ; few fine buildings
detach themselves from the mass ; there is no boulevard along
the water-front ; and the greater part of the houses and offices
in the immediate foreground, though many of them are in
reality large and costly structures, look a medley from a little
distance. In one's disappointment one remembers Mr. Howell's
caustic characterisation of the water-front of New York
that after London and Liverpool it looks as though the. Ameri-
cans were encamped there. The face of Hongkong is not its
fortune, and anybody merely steaming by would never guess the
marvel it grows on closer acquaintance. For a few weeks' in-
vestigation transfigures this precipitous island into one of the
most astonishing spots on the earth's surface. By an inevitable
alchemy, the philosopher's stone of a few correlated facts trans-
forms one's disappointment into stupefaction. Shanghai is a
surprise, but Hongkong is a revelation.
When you land at the city of Victoria (it is strange, by the
way, that almost everybody at home and half the visitors there
are ignorant that " Victoria " is the name of the city and
" Hongkong " of the island), the inevitable 'ricksha carries you
through a couple of streets, far from being beautiful or well-
SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG. 17
managed, but you forget this in the rush of life about you.
Messengers jostle you, 'rickshas run over your toes, chair-poles
dig you in the ribs. The hotel clerk smiles politely as he in-
forms you that there has not been a vacant room for a month.
Later on your fellow-passengers envy you the little rabbit-hole
of a bedroom you have secured at the top of the Club. When
you come down again into the hall you find it crowded with
brokers of many nationalities, making notes, laughing, whisper-
ing, drinking, but all just as busy as they can be. The Stock
Exchange of Hongkong was the gutter, the local Eialto ex-
tending from the Club for about a hundred yards down the
Queen's Eoad, and it was filled with Britishers, Germans, Anglo-
Indians, Chinese from Canton, Armenians from Calcutta, Parsees
from Bombay, and Jews from Baghdad, and with that peculiar
contingent known as the " black brigade," recognisable by the
physiognomy of Palestine and the accent of Spitalfields. And
on the Club walls and tables are a dozen printed " Expresses,"
timed with the minute at which they were issued, and the mail
and shipping noon and afternoon " extras " of the daily papers,
announcing the arrivals and departures of steamers, the dis-
tribution of cargoes, the sales by auction, and all the multi-
tudinous movements of a great commercial machine running at
high pressure. For, to apply to the Far East the expressive
nomenclature of the Far West, this colony " just hums " all
the time. At least, it hummed in this way on the many occa-
sions when I was there, as it will hum again, though just at
present, what with the utter reaction from over-speculation, the
general depression of trade, the fluctuations of silver, and
the paralysing effect of the plague, Victoria is a depressed
and rather unhappy place. Then the chair a friend has
sent to take you to dinner arrives, with its four coolies
uniformed in blue and white calico, and by another twist
of the kaleidoscope you find yourself, three minutes after
leaving the Club, mounting an asphalte roadway at an angle
not far short of forty-five degrees, hemmed in above and on
3
18 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
either hand by great green palms and enormous drooping ferns
with fronds yards long, among which big butterflies are playing
round long scarlet flowers. For as soon as you begin to ascend,
the streets of Hongkong might be alleys in the tropical con-
servatories at Kew.
Hongkong is built in three layers. The ground-floor, so to
speak, or sea-level, is the commercial part of the Colony. The
" Praya " along the water's edge is given up to shipping, and is
altogether unworthy of the place. It is about to be changed,
however, by a magnificent undertaking, now in progress,
the " Praya Keclamation Scheme," originated and pressed to
a successful issue by the Hon. C. P. Chater, by which the
land frontage will be pushed out 250 feet, and a depth
of twenty feet secured at all states of the tide. The next
street, parallel to it, Queen's Eoad, is the Broadway of Hong-
kong, and all the business centres upon it. In the middle
are the Club, post-office, courts, and hotels ; then come all the
banks and offices and shops ; past these to the east are the
different barracks, and as one gradually gets further from the
centre, come the parade-ground, cricket-ground, polo-ground, and
race-course, and the wonderfully picturesque and pretty ceme-
tery, the " Happy Valley." In the other direction you formerly
passed all the Chinese shops for foreigners and then got into
Chinatown, a quarter of very narrow streets, extremely dirty,
inconceivably crowded, and probably about as insanitary as any
place on the globe under civilised rule. I never ceased to
prophesy two things about Hongkong, one of which, the epi-
demic, has come true indeed. The other waits, and as it is
rather alarmist it is perhaps better left out of print. The worst
parts of Chinatown have now been destroyed, literally at the
cannon's mouth, and in spite of every possible Chinese threat,
so that this blot on the Colony is erased. This is all on the
island of Hongkong, while across the harbour, in the British
territory of Kowloon, a new city is springing up a splendid
frontage of wharves and warehouses ; a collection of docks, one
SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG. 19
of which will take almost any ship afloat ; half a dozen summer-
houses, a little palace among them whose splendid hospitality
is for the moment eclipsed ; and the pleasure-gardens and
kitchen-gardens of the community.
The second storey of Hongkong lies ten minutes' climb up
the steep side of the island. Here nearly everybody lives, and
lives, too, in a luxury and ease that are not suspected at home.
Here is Government House, a fine official residence in beautiful
grounds ; Headquarter House ; and the wonderful streets I have
already mentioned, although one might as properly call Windsor
a house as describe these palm-shaded walks and groves as
streets.
Finally, there is the third layer, the top storey of Hongkong,
known collectively as " The Peak." The Peak itself is one of the
highest of the hundred hills of the island, rising precipitously
behind the city to the signal station, 1,842 feet above the sea,
where a gun and a flagstaff announce the arrival of mails and
ocean steamers. But " The Peak " as a residential district
means all the hill-tops where cool breezes from the sea blow in
summer, where one can sleep under a blanket at night, and
where, in a word, one can spend a summer in Hongkong with a
reasonable probability of being alive at the end of it. Here
everybody who can afford it has a second house, and so many
are these fortunate people that the " top side " of the island is
dotted all over with costly houses and bungalows ; there are
two hotels, and a steam tramway runs up and down every
fifteen minutes. The fare up is thirty cents a shilling and
down half as much. This is startling enough, but a better
notion of the expense of life here is conveyed by the fact that
to have a second house at " The Peak " for the summer
you must rent it for the whole year, as it is uninhabitable in
winter, at a rental of 150 to 200 dollars a month about a
sovereign a day all the year round for four or five months'
residence. Besides this, there is the tramway fare, the cost
of coolies to carry your chair up and down, and the expense
20 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
of bringing every item of domestic supplies, from coals to
cabbage, a forty-five minutes' climb uphill. But what is the
summer climate on the second storey of Hongkong which forces
people to flee from it at so much trouble and cost? To be
frank, almost every man I asked before I had experience of it,
described it to me by the monosyllabic appellation of the ultimate
destination of the incorrigible unrighteous. One of the chief
summer problems of Hongkong is to determine whether the
mushrooms which grow on your boots during the night are
edible or not. The damp is indescribable. Moisture pours
down the walls; anything left alone for a couple of days
clothes, boots, hats, portmanteaus is covered with mould.
Twenty steps in the open air and you are soaked with perspira-
tion. Then there are the cockroaches, to say nothing of the
agile centipede whose bite may lay you up for a month. When
the booksellers receive a case of books, the first thing they do
is to varnish them all over with a damp-resisting composition
containing corrosive sublimate. Otherwise the cockroaches
would eat them before they had time to go mouldy. If you
come home at night after dinner very tired, beware of carelessly
throwing your evening clothes over a chair, as you would at
home. If you do, the cockroaches will have destroyed them
before you wake. They must be hung up in a wardrobe with
hermetically fitting doors. It does happen, too, that men die
in summer in Hongkong between sunrise and sunset without
rhyme or reason. And the community is a pale-faced one, though
it is only right to add that it numbers probably as many athletes
and vigorous workers as any other. The place used to be known
as " the grave of regiments " a stroll through " Happy Valley "
tells you why. Now the men are not allowed outside barracks
in summer until five p.m., and there is a regular inspection to
see that every man has his cholera-belt on. The " down side "
of Hongkong is damp and hot ; the " top side " is damp and cool.
That is the difference for which people are prepared to pay so
heavily. The first time I stayed at " The Peak " I noticed round
BH \NGHAI AND HONGKONG. 21
the house a number of large stoppered bottles, such as you see
in druggists' windows, prettily encased in wicker-work. On
inquiring of my host he showed me that one contained biscuits,
another cigars, another writing-paper, and so on, each hollow
stopper being filled with unslaked lime in filtering paper, to
absorb any damp that might penetrate inside. These bottles
tell the whole tale. People run over to Macao, that Lusitanian
Thule, four hours' steaming away, for Sunday, and when the
summer is proving too much for them and their thoughts begin
to run on "Happy Valley" and a grave there like that of
Martha's husband in Padua, " well-placed for cool and comfort-
able rest " they just go on board a steamer and disembark at
Nagasaki or Yokohama. Japan is the sanitarium of the Far
East.
A striking feature of Hongkong is the elegance and solidity of
its public works. Its waterworks at Tytam, on the other side
of the island, are almost picturesque, and the aqueduct which
supplies the city is the basis of a footway three miles long,
called the Bowen Eoad, of asphalte and cement as smooth and
solid as a billiard-table, which laughs at the tremendous down-
pours of the rainy season. "Happy Valley" is the pride of
Hongkong, and the palm-shaded road I described above was a
dangerous and ugly ravine called "Cut-throats' Alley" a few
years ago. Speaking of cut-throats reminds me that Hongkong
even now is not a particularly safe place. People avoid walk-
ing alone at night in one or two directions ; every Sikh
constable carries a rifle at night and several rounds of ball
cartridge, and if you hail a sampan at night to go to dinner on
board some ship in the harbour, the constable at the pier makes
a note of its number, in case you should be missing the next
day. For these sampan people used to have a pleasant habit of
suddenly dropping the mat awning on the head of a passenger,
cutting his throat in the ensuing struggle and dropping his
pillaged body overboard. The Sikhs make admirable police-
men, obedient, trustworthy, and brave, and are correspondingly
22 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
detested by the Chinese. If they sin at all, it is from too much
zeal, and I believe they take a keen personal pleasure in whack-
ing a Chinaman. There is a story to the effect that during an
epidemic of burglaries general orders were issued to them to
arrest all suspicious-looking people who did not halt when
challenged at night, especially if they had ladders. Next night
a Sikh on duty saw a Chinaman on the top of a ladder. Nothing
could have been clearer, so he challenged the man, who paid no
attention, and then fired and brought him down. It was the
lamplighter. Even now no Chinaman is supposed to be out
after nine p.m. without a pass.
Unlike Shanghai, which is an international republic, Hong-
kong is, of course, a genuine Britisb_colony , and in no part
the world is the colonising^enius qf^ the British race, or the
results of its free-trade policy, better shown. It was ceded to
the British in January, 1841, as one result of the war which
broke out between Great Britain and China in 1839, and its
cession was finally recognised by the Treaty of Nankin in 1842.
At that time its population consisted of a few thousands of
Chinese fishermen, since it was to all intents and purposes a
barren island. So far were even competent judges from fore-
seeing its marvellous future, that in a valuable book on China
written by E. M. Martin in 1847, there is a chapter called
" Hongkong, its position, prospects, character, and utter worth -
lessness in every point of view to England." From the begin-
ning, however, it has been the Aladdin's palace of commerce.
The island itself has an area of only twenty-nine square miles,
and the whole colony, including a couple of little islands and
the strip of territory known as British Kowloon on the main-
land exactly opposite, just over thirty-two. Kowloon constitutes
our frontier with China in the Far East. It is two and
one-third miles in length, and is guarded in a peculiar way.
The duty on opium going into China is so high that tljejprofits
on smuggling it have always tempted the Chinese, the most
expert smugglers in the world, to evade the Customs in any
SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG. 23
way and at any risk. From the free port of Hongkong the
greatest danger in this respect was to be apprehended. The
Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs have a station at Kowloon,
with the business office situated, for purposes of convenience,
within the British colony. They have a small fleet of revenue
cruisers to stop all junks and Chinese steamers, and they have
built an impassable fence of bamboo, eight feet high, between
British and Chinese territory. In this there are six gateways,
each guarded by a post of revenue officers, while on the Chinese
side there is a broad solid road ceaselessly patrolled night and
day by a Customs force, consisting of over one hundred "braves"
armed with loaded Winchester repeating-rifles, and under the
command of six foreigners. To avoid possible frictions or
collusions, these are all of non-British nationality. It is a
curious fact, by the way, as will be seen from my photograph
of the advanced French frontier-post at Monkay, that both
England and France are separated from China by a rampart
of bamboo, that strange and accommodating plant which serves
more purposes than anything else that grows.
The situation of Hongkong has, of course, had most to do
with its unexampled progress. It is the furthest eastern
dependency of the Crown, and forms the end of the arm of
the Empire which stretches round the south of Asia. The
next step in advance northward will be forced upon us within
a very short time by both commercial and strategical con-
siderations, but nothing can seriously interfere with the import-
ance of Hongkong as the next station north of Singapore, from
which it is 1,400 miles. A coaling station and naval base at
least a thousand miles further north has become a necessity
if we are to hold our predominant position in the Far East,
and for this purpose Port Hamilton -will certainly not do.
Hongkong is 79 miles from Canton, the greatest trading city
of China, and an excellent service of daily steamers keeps the
two in touch. Macao, of little and decreasing importance, is
40 miles away ; the Philippines are 650 ; Saigon is 900 ;
24 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
Shanghai, 824 ; Bangkok, 1,454 ; Yokohama, 1,575 ; and Vladi-
vostok, 1,670. The former barren and almost uninhabited
island is thus the focus of the Far East to-day.
From a military and naval point of jiew Hongkong is one
of the -most important stations in the Empire, Its docks and
machine-shops are worthy of its position, several large ships,
and countless small ones, having been built and launched from
them. The Admiralty dock is 500 feet long, 86 in breadth at
the top and 70 at the bottom, and 29 feet deep. The laud
defences of the Colony consist of six divisions : Stonecutter's
Island, Belcher's Bay, Kowloon West, North Point, Kowloon
Dock, and Lyeemoon Fort. The armament of the chief of
these consists of the justly-abused 10-inch and the admirable
9.2-inch guns. The place is probably quite impregnable from
the sea on the harbour side, but to make sure there is need to
fortify Green Island, since otherwise ships coming round the
island would not be visible from Stonecutter's or Belcher's till
they were almost in sight of the town. Any nation except our
own would have fortified this point years ago. Hongkong is
one of the few defences armed with the famous Watkins
" position-finder," for which the British Government paid so
much. By this all the guns of all the chief batteries can be
aimed and fired by one man in a commanding and secure
position. With the principal entrances mined all preparations
for which exist in the most complete and detailed manner any
hostile fleet attacking Hongkong harbour would in all human
probability come utterly to grief. The weak point is well known
to be on the other side. In the military manoeuvres the
attacking force has got in again and again. The redoubts are
all planned, and there are plenty of machine-guns and a few
howitzers, but with the large forces of infantry possessed by
Eussia in Siberia, and by France in Tongking, to say nothing
of the powerful Japanese army, it is impossible to feel quite
happy about Hongkong until its southern side is protected as
well as its harbour. Especially is this the case if the common
SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG. 25
remark of naval men, that in the event of war the fleet would
at once put to sea and leave Hongkong to take care of itself, is
to be taken literally.
To my thinking, however, Hongkong is in more danger from
the Chinese than from any other quarter. Kowloon City is
a mass of roughs ; Canton is the most turbulent and most
foreigner-hating city in China ; 20,000 Chinese could come down
to Hongkong in a few hours ; and a strike of Chinese servants
would starve out the Colony. Before Kowloon was added to
the Colony, a Hongkong head was worth thirty dollars, and
" braves " used to come down to try and get them. The
defences have lately been increased by a regiment of Indian
troops, with a strength of 10 British officers and 1,014 natives
of all ranks, who were raised in a marvellously short time, and
have been brought to a high point of discipline and efficiency,
and besides these there is always a regiment of British troops
and a force of engineers and garrison artillery stationed there.
As an example, however, of the power of the Chinese, it may be
remembered that when it was found necessary to isolate and
fumigate the horrible Chinese quarters during the recent out-
break of plague in the Colony, this could only be done under
the guns of the fleet, and the actual work was performed by
British volunteers,* Asia always excepting Japan never has
been civilised and never will be, till a greater change comes
than this age is likely to see, otherwise than at the mouth
of the cannon and the point of the bayonet. At home this
statement will doubtless be regarded by many excellent people
with feelings akin to horror, but all who know the East will
know it to be trur\
This question of the relations of foreigners and Chinese
presents much the same general aspect in Hongkong as it
does in Shanghai. Here, too, the Chinese merchant is
* It is to be hoped that the permanent committee of the Sanitary Board, and
the soldiers, will receive some official recognition of their efforts, for it was chiefly
by them that the plaue was ^radicated.
26 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
crowding out the British middleman ; here, too, it cannot be
very long before the bulk of the real estate of the Colony is
owned by Chinese. Every clay they are advancing further into
the European quarter, and Chinese merchants are among the
richest men in the community, " In every dispute between
the Chinese and the Government," said a well-informed resident
to me, " the former have come off victorious." By and by,
therefore, we shall have virtually a Chinese society under the
British flag, ruled by a British governor. Such is "Empire,"
and I see no particular reason to regret the fact, even if it
were not impossible to do anything to alter it. The Empire
depends i upon trade first of all, and such a community, must
always form the strongest trading link between Great Britain
and China. By means of trade alone the Empire stands for
the welfare and civilisation of the greatest number, and these
are undoubtedly to be found in the direction here prophesied.
At any rate, whether we like it or not, and whether we welcome
it or oppose it, this change is inevitable.*
Besides this " danger," however, if it be one, there is the
real danger arising from the unruly and criminal Chinese.
In spite of all denials, piracy is still rife in the waters round
Hongkong. Chinese junks are the constant victims, and the
eyes of the Colony were opened in 1890 by the piracy of the
British steamer Namoa, which was seized by her Chinese
passengers, two of her officers and a number of her crew shot,
the remaining officers and European passengers imprisoned in
the cabin, like another " Black Hole," for eight hours, the
captain dying there, the loot transferred into six junks which
came alongside at a signal, and then abandoned, after the
windlass had been broken, the fires drawn, the lifeboats stove
* To escape being misunderstood, let me make it quite clear that I think this
Chinese progress absolutely dependent upon British guidance and control, both
political and commercial, and ask that what precedes and follows about the Chinese
in our Colonies may be read in connection with my chapters about the Chinese
in China.
SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG. 27
in, and the side-lights thrown overboard. A long time after-
wards a number of men were beheaded in Kowloon for the
piracy, among them being at least one man who had been
concerned in the piracy of the Greyhound years before. Only a
few months ago disturbances broke out in Hongkong between
the members of two rival clans, the Sze Yap and the Tun Kun,
and work among many coolies was suspended for a time in
consequence, and many steamers delayed. The police were
kept very active and the military under arms, while a guerilla
warfare was carried on among the rival clans. " the combatants
watching for victims of the opposite party, and attacking them
individually in quiet places, or shooting them from the tops
of houses." Another piece of terrorism occurred when five
hundred men employed on the new reservoir were frightened
from their work. " A military procession," said a local paper,
" with a few small dragons in the shape of field and Maxim
guns, would probably exercise a wholesome influence upon the
Cantonese swashbucklers who now fancy they can work their
own sweet will in this British Colony." Hoagkong is in fact,
an Arcadia for the criminals of the neighbouring province, who
first ph.n their outrages there and then take refuge in it when
their coup has been effected. If the hue and cry after them
becomes too hot, they commit some small offence against the
laws of the Colony, with the view to getting committed to prison
for a few months, under which circumstances they are absolutely
safe against the pursuit of detectives from their own country.
Even if they are discovered, arrested, and formally charged, the
difficulties in the way of their rendition are so great that they
have a good chance of getting off after all. For as the British
authorities know very well that torture and punishment await
all whom they give up, they are naturally chary of handing
prisoners over, notwithstanding any assurances of fair trial
that may be given, and they therefore insist that a man shall
be proved guilty prima facie before he is surrendered, with the
result that the Chinese authorities regard British law as a
28 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
means whereby their own criminals escape punishment, as
many of them undoubtedly do.
The population of Hongkong in 1893 was 288,724, of whom
the whites were 8,545, the Indians 1,901, and the Chinese
210,995. This included the strength of the garrison. In addi-
tion there was a boat-population of no fewer than 32,035
Chinese. The expenditure of the Colony was 1,920,523 dols.,
and its revenue 2,078,135 dols.,* the latter showing a net
decrease of 158,000 dols. and the former of 422,000 dols. The
assets of the Colony are put down at 2,417,054 dols., and its
liabilities at 928,031 dols. Its military contribution is 40,000,
paid in quarterly instalments. The ascending scale of Colonial
contribution in the present state of silver may be judged from
the statement that the four quarters of 1893 were paid in the fol-
lowing amounts of dollars 72,000, 72,000, 75,000, and 77,000,
and that for 1894 the total will amount to 400,000 dols., or one-
nfth of the entire revenue. Hongkong being a free port there
* It is useless to attempt to translate these figures into sterling, as explained in
footnotes elsewhere. During 1893 the Mexican dollar fell from 2s. 8|d.to 2s. 3fd.,
and now stands at 2s. Ifd., with entire uncertainty as to the future. The
Chambers of Commerce of Hongkong and Singapore have petitioned in favour of a
British dollar, and it seems clear that such a coin should be introduced. There is
not the slightest reason for the persistence of the Mexican dollar, and many against
it, and a British dollar is the only alternative to the legalisation of the Japanese
yen, the objections to which are too obvious to mention. It is preposterous that
the Power doing beyond all comparison a preponderance of trade with the Far East
should be dependent upon foreign coins like the Mexican dollar and Japanese yen.
A British dollar, now a rare coin, was introduced in 1866, but time was not allowed for
its general acceptance, and the Hongkong mint was closed two years later and its
machinery sold to Japan. (See Chalmers's " History of Currency in the British
Colonies," pp. 375 sqq. a work of great industry and ability.) The British dollar
should, of course, be the metallic counterpart of the familiar " Mexican," and it
is to be hoped that among the opportunities for reform offered by the results of the
present Japanese war with China, this question may not fail of solution. As an
example of the inconvenience now prevailing I may add that when I was preparing
for the exploration of the unknown north cf the Malay Peninsula, of which an
account is given in a later chapter of this book, I was indebted to the courtesy of the
Penang branch of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China for a supply
of the old " pillar " dollars which alone are accepted there, and that I had to pay
a premium of nine per cent, for them. [Since the above was in type, the coinage
of a British dollar has been sanctioned.]
SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG. 29
are no custom-house statistics available, but the record of
shipping gives some idea of the trade of tbis astounding place.
The total shipping entered and cleared in 1893 was 14,023,866
tons, of which the British flag covered 7,732,195 tons. This is
already an extraordinary proportion, but a little investigation
shows it to be far more striking than thus appears. The non-
British shipping of the Port of Hongkong remains from the
above figures at 6,291,671 tons, but of this Chinese ships carried
4,389,551 tons. Excluding Chinese ships, therefore, the British
shipping trade of Hongkong was 7,732,195 tons, against
1,902,120 tons carried by all other foreign nations put together.
In spite of all its commercial progress, however, and its vital
position in the Empire, Hongkong is in many respects curiously
behind the civilisation of its time. One may say roughly, for
instance, that the law of the Colony to-day is the law both Com-
mon and Statute that was in force in England on April 5, 1843.
I saw several Europeans in Hongkong gaol for debt. There is no
Married Women's Property Act in force, although this actually
exists in Chinese law. There is no copyright for British authors
under their own flag, and I saw the counters of the foreign book-
sellers crowded with pirated reprints of contemporary authors.
An Englishman living in the foreign settlement at Canton
Shameen is under one law ; an Englishman living in Hong-
kong under another. Hongkong is still or to be quite exact,
was when I was last there under the Bankruptcy Acts of 1849
and 1861. A petition had been presented, signed by all the
Chinese merchants of the Colony, suggesting amendments
suitable to local circumstances, but the authorities would have
none of them, so it was referred home, and the Secretary of
State ordered the suggestions to be introduced. This was
already six years ago, and nothing had been done. The
amalgamation of Law and Equity has never been introduced in
fact, whatever may have happened in theory. " Our law," said
a leading local lawyer to me, " is antediluvian. You cannot
even get a copy of the Hongkong Ordinances that is, of the
80 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
complete law of the Colony. If Hongkong had not been blessed
with reasonable judges, we could never have got on at all."
Hongkong has long desired a Municipality, to deal with all
local matters except such the defences, for example as are of
a purely Imperial nature, but this justifiable ambition has been
snubbed again and again. A growing dissatisfaction, however
has been shown with the system of official and unofficial
membership of the Legislative Council. The former all vote as
they are required by the Governor, and the latter are in a
minority The official members once showed some signs of
voting according to their own views, but the Governor promptly
put his foot down upon such insubordination. "Gentlemen,"
he said to the official members at the next Council meeting,
" you are quite at liberty to speak and vote as you like ; but if,
holding official positions, you oppose the government, it will be
the duty of the government to inquire whether it is for its
advantage that you should continue to hold those positions."
Official salaries, therefore, are consequent on official votes.
Among my notes about Hongkong I find this remark was
made to me: "An official member has never made, a full and
free speech on any subject since Hongkong was a Colony."
The spirit of free criticism, however, has now sprung up,
thanks chiefly to the independence and tenacity of one un-
official member, the Hon. T. H. WhiteheacL From the time
of his election, five years ago, as the representative of the
Chamber of Commerce, he has refused, in spite of every species
of pressure and influence, to fall into line with the old tradition
which prescribes that the unofficial member should make a
speech, including a mild protest in extreme cases, accept with
a deferential bow the Governor's assurance that " the honour-
able member's remarks shall not fail to receive every consider-
ation," and then let the matter drop. Mr. Whitehead, on the
contrary, has been unkind enough to make the lives of govern-
ment officials burdens to them by his insistence upon expla-
nations, justifications, facts, statistics, records and appeals to
SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG. 81
the higher authorities in England. It is not supposed, to adapt
Mr. Kipling's amusing verse, to be good for the health of an
unofficial member to hustle a Colonial Governor, but Mr.
Whitehead has thriven greatly in the exercise. He holds a
position which gives him an intimate knowledge of the affairs
and finances of the Colony, and it is doing him bare justice to
say that he is on the way to revolutionise the management of
official matters. He is strongly supported by the commercial
community, whose interests he thoroughly understands, and
the Chinese gave him such farewell honours when he left the
Colony the other day for a holiday in Europe as have never
been seen there before.
Mr. Whitehead has devoted himself to exposing the weakness
and defects of the existing system of government and the
constitution of the Legislative Council, and has just brought
home a petition, signed by nearly ninety per cent, of the British
ratepayers, praying for a measure of local self-government equal
to that possessed by the smallest community at home and by
colonies abroad with not a fraction of the wealth, importance,
or experience of Hongkong. This petition explains the position
of the unofficial inhabitants of the Colony so clearly, and sets
forth their grievances so temperately, that I cannot do better
than reproduce it almost in extenso, especially as its prayer will
have to be granted sooner or later. It runs as follows :
It is a little over fifty years since the Colony was founded on a barren rock, the
abode of a few fishermen and pirates. To-day it is a city and settlement with
upwards of a quarter of a million inhabitants ; a trade estimated at about forty
millions of pounds sterling per annum, and a revenue of some two millions of
dollars, wholly derived from internal taxation. Hongkong is a free port, through
which passes upwards of fourteen millions of tons of shipping per annum, and it
ranks amongst the very first in the list of the great seaports in Her Majesty's
dominions. It is the centre of enormous British interests, and is an extensive
emporium of British trade in the China seas, and, while it remains a free port, it
is destined to expand and develop, and to continue to be the centre of vast traffic
and of constant communication between Europe, the Australian Colonies, the United
States, and Canada on the one baud, and China, Japan, the Philippine Islands,
British North Borneo, Java, Indo-China, Siam, the Straits, and India on the other.
Hongkong has attained to its almost unequalled commercial position, through
the enterprise, skill, and energy of British merchants, traders, and shipowners;
82 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
through the labours of Her Majesty's subjects who have spent their lives and em-
ployed their capital on its shores ; through the expenditure of many millions of
dollars in roads, streets, and bridges ; in buildings, public and private ; in extensive
reclamations ; in docks, piers, and wharves ; and last, but not least, in manufactures
of great and increasing value. The prosperity of the Colony can best be maintained
by the unremitting exertions and self-sacrifice of your Petitioners and the valuable
co-operation and support of the Chinese, and only by the continuance of Hongkong
as a free port.
Notwithstanding that the whole interests of your Petitioners are thus inextricably
and permanently bound up in the good administration of the Colony, in the efficiency
of its Executive, and the soundness of its finance, your Petitioners are allowed to
take only a limited part or small share in the government of the Colony, and are
not permitted to have any really effective voice in the management of its affairs,
external or internal. Being purely a Crown Colony, it is governed by a Governor
appointed by Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, and by an Executive and a
Legislative Council. The former is composed wholly of Officers of the Crown,
nominated and appointed by the Crown ; the latter consists of seven Official
Members, selected and appointed by the Queen, and five Unofficial Members, two
of whom are nominated by certain public bodies in the Colony, while the other three
are selected by the Governor, and all are appointed by Her Majesty.
The Executive Council sits and deliberates in secret. The Legislative Council
sits with open doors, and its procedure appears to admit of full and unfettered dis-
cussion, but there is virtually no true freedom of debate. Questions are considered,
and settled, and the policy to be adopted by the Government in connection there-
with is decided in the Executive Council. They are then brought before the
Legislative Council, where the Government the Official Members being in a
majority can secure the passing of any measure, in face of any opposition on the
part of the Unofficial Members, who are thus limited to objecting and protesting,
and have no power to carry any proposal which they may consider beneficial, nor
have they power to reject or even modify any measure which may in their opinion
be prejudicial to the interests of the Colony.
In the adjustment and disposal of the Colonial revenue it might be supposed
that the Unofficial representatives of the taxpayers would be allowed a potential
voice, and in form this has been conceded by the Government. But only in form,
for in the Finance Committee, as well as in the Legislative Council, the Unofficial
Members are in a minority, and can therefore be out-voted if any real difference of
opinion arises.
Legislative Enactments are nearly always drafted by the Attorney General, are
frequently forwarded before publication in the Colony or to the Council for the
approval of the Secretary of State, and when sanctioned are introduced into the
Legislative Council, read a first, second, and third time, and passed by the votes of
the Official Members, acting in obedience to instructions, irrespective of their
personal views or private opinions.
The Legislation so prepared and passed emanates in some cases from persons
whose short experience of and want of actual touch with the Colony's needs, does
not qualify them to fully appreciate the measures best suited to the requirements of
the Community.
Those who have the knowledge and experience are naturally the Unofficial
Members, who have been elected and appointed as possessing these very qualifica-
tions, who have passed large portions of their lives in the Colony, and who either
SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG. 33
have permanent personal interests in it, or hold prominent positions of trust which
connect them most closely with its affairs, and are therefore the more likely to have
been required to carefully study its real needs, and to have thoroughly acquainted
themselves with the methods by which these are best to be met. On the other hand
the offices occupied by the Official Members are only stepping stones in an official
career ; the occupants may be resident for a longer or a shorter period in the
Colony, and for them to form an opinion on any question which arises, different
from that decided upon by the Government in Executive Council, is to risk a con-
flict with the Governor, and they are therefore compelled to vote on occasions
contrary to their convictions.
Your Petitioners humbly represent that to Malta, Cyprus, Mauritius, British
Honduras, and other Crown Colonies, more liberal forms of Government than those
enjoyed by your Petitioners have been given : unofficial seats in the Executive
Council ; unofficial majorities in the Legislative Council ; power of election of
Members of Council ; and more power and influence in the management of purely
local affairs : in none of these Colonies are the commercial and industrial interests
of the same magnitude or importance as those of Hongkong. Your Petitioners,
therefore, pray your Honourable House to grant them the same or similar privileges.
Your Petitioners fully recognise that in a Colony so peculiarly situated on the
borders of a great Oriental Empire, and with a population largely composed of
aliens whose traditional and family interests and racial sympathies largely remain
in that neighbouring Empire, special legislation and guardianship are required.
Nor are they less alive to the Imperial position of a Colony which is at once a
frontier fortress and a naval depot, the headquarters of Her Majesty's fleet, and
the base for naval and military operations in these Far Eastern waters ; and they
are not so unpractical as to expect that unrestricted power should be given to any
local Legislature, or that the Queen's Government could ever give up the paramount
control of this important dependency. All your Petitioners claim is the common
right of Englishmen to manage their local offairs, and control the expenditure
of the Colony, where Imperial considerations are not involved.
At present your Petitioners are subject to legislation issuing from the Imperial
Parliament, and all local legislation must be subsidiary to it. Her Majesty the
Queen in Council has full and complete power and authority to make laws for the
island, and local laws must be approved and assented to by the Governor in the
name of the Queen, and are subject to disallowance by Her Majesty on the recom-
mendation of Her Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies.
Your Petitioners recognise the necessity and propriety of the existence of these
checks and safeguards against the abuse of any power and authority exercised by
any local Legislature, and cheerfully acquiesce in their continuance and effective
exercise, but respectfully submit that, subject to these checks and safeguards, they
ought to be allowed the free election of representatives of British nationality in the
Legislative Council of the Colony; a majority in the Council of such elected
representatives ; perfect freedom of debate for the Official Members, with power to
vote according to their conscientious convictions without being called to account or
endangered in their positions by their votes ; complete control in the Council over
local expenditure; the management of local affairs; and a consultative voice in
questions of an Imperial character.
This power to control purely local affairs is but the common
right of every Englishman, and to deny it to Hongkong the
4
34 THE BEITISH EMPIRE.
absolute authority of the Crown over all purely Imperial
matters being safeguarded is without a shadow of justifica-
tion. Besides being signed, as I have said, by ninety per cent,
of the British ratepayers, this petition has the strongest
support of the entire Chinese community, who pay nine-tenths
of the whole taxation. The inhabitants of Hongkong claim
that nothing could have shown more clearly the necessity for
municipal government than the muddle made by the Govern-
ment in dealing with the plague. This cost Hongkong a
million dollars, thousands of lives, many thousands of its
Chinese inhabitants, and inflicted a loss hardly calculable upon
its vast shipping interests. Much of all this, it is declared,
could have been saved by proper management. As an example
of a state of things against which the Hongkong press and the
unofficial members of Council have constantly protested, it may
be pointed out that at this most critical period of the Colony's
history it was administered by a Government most of whose
officials were " acting " men, and many of them, therefore,
necessarily less competent than the holders of their offices
should be. "Why is it," asked the Daily Press, " that so large
a number of officials can claim leave all at once? ... It should
not be possible for any administration to become so depleted of
its responsible members as this Colony is at the present moment."
Without the actual list of the " acting " officers the state of
affairs would not be believed. It is as follows : Acting Colonial
Secretary, Acting Chief Justice, Acting Puisne Judge, Acting
Attorney General, Acting Director of Public Works (an untried
junior), Acting Assistant Eegistrar General (who was really
Acting Registrar General), Acting Clerk of Councils, Acting
Postmaster General, Acting Police Magistrate, Acting Clerk to
Magistrates, Acting Sanitary Superintendent, Acting Superin-
tendent of Civil Hospitals, Acting Assessor of Eates, Acting
Registrar, and Acting Deputy Registrar. This list by itself
is enough to show that something is seriously wrong. By
appealing single-handed to the Home Government, uvei the
SHANGHAI AND HONGKONG. 35
heads of the Governor and his officials, Mr. Whitehead has also
obtained the appointment of a Eetrenchment Commission, of
which it has been truly remarked that if its recommendations
bear any resemblance to the Report just issued by a similar
Commission in the neighbouring Colony of the Straits Settle-
ments, which has recommended economies to the extent of
nearly a quarter of a million dollars per annum, Hongkong will
have reason to be thankful.
Above all other considerations and criticisms, however, it is
the greatness of this outpost on the edge of the Empire that
must always finally recur to any Englishman who has studied
it. I doubt if there can be a more remarkable view in
the world than that of the city of Victoria and the ten
square miles of Hongkong harbour from " The Peak." At
night it is as if you had mounted above the stars and
were looking down upon them, for the riding-lights of the
ships seem suspended in an infinite gulf of darkness, while
every now and then the white beam of an electric search-light
flashes like the track of a meteor across a midnight sky. By
day, the city is spread out nearly 2,000 feet directly below you,
and only the ships' decks and their foreshortened masts are
visible, while the whole surface of the harbour is traversed
continually in all directions by fast steam-launches, making
a network of tracks like lacework upon it, as water-spiders
skim over a pool in summer-time. For Hongkong harbour,
as I have said, is the focus of the traffic of the East, though
what this means one cannot realise until one has looked down
many times into its secure blue depths and noted all that
'is there the great mail liners, the P. & 0., the Messageries
Maritimes, the North German Lloyd, the Austrian Lloyd, the
Occidental and Oriental, the Pacific Mail, and the Canadian
Pacific; the smaller mail packets, to Tongking, to Formosa,
to Borneo, to Manila, and to Siam ; the ocean " tramps "
ready to get up steam at a moment's notice and carry any-
thing anywhere ; the white-winged sailing-vessels resting after
36 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
their long nights; the innumerable high-sterned junks plying
to every port on the Chinese coast ; and all the mailed host of
men-of-war flying every flag under heaven, from the white ensign
of the flagship and the black eagle of its Russian rival, to the
yellow crown of the tiny Portuguese gunboat or the dragon
pennant of China. On one day, the Governor told me, no
fewer than two hundred and forty guns were fired in salutes in
the harbour. All these vessels cross and recross ceaselessly in
Hongkong harbour, living shuttles in the loom of time, bearing
the golden strand of human sympathy and co-operation between
world and world, or like the Zeitgeist in Faust, " weaving the
garment divinity wears." I am not prepared to say that divinity
would always find itself comfortable in the garment that is woven
in Hongkong, but one thing I can affirm, and that is that a visit
to our furthest Colony makes one proud to belong to the nation
that has created it from nothing, fills the word "Empire"
with a new-born meaning, and crystallises around it a set of
fresh convictions and resolves.
CHAPTER II.
A SCHOOL OF EMPIRE: THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.
OINGAPOBE, says an old chronicler, "presents to the eye of
the voyager a scene that has repeatedly excited the most
rapturous admiration." The rapture probably began -with the
descendant of Alexander the Great, who the story goes came
over from Sumatra and founded it, the first Malay settlement
on the Peninsula, exactly a century after the battle of Hastings,
naming it Singhapura, " The City of the Lion," from a lion-like
beast he saw on landing. Camoens felt the rapture, too, when
he sang
"But on her Land's end framed see Cingapur,
Where the wide sea-road shrinks to narrow way ;
Thence curves the coast to face the Cynosure,
And lastly trends Auroraward its lay."
And diluted to the thinner consistency of a less impressionable
age, the same rapture is experienced by every traveller who
enters the harbour. But his eye soon falls from the setting of
exquisite green hills to the marvellous multi-coloured wharf of
Babel awaiting the touch of the steamer. There Malay jostles
Chinaman, Kling rubs shoulders with Javanese, Arab elbows
Seedy-boy, and Dyak stares at Bugis, all their dirty bodies
swathed either in nothing to speak of, or else in scarlet and
yellow and blue and gold. Among them a dainty English lady,
come to meet her husband or brother or lover, her eyes full of
laughter or tears, and her face flushed with anticipation, looks
37
38 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
so white and fair and frail that one marvels in pride at the
thought that she and such as she are the mothers of men who
impose the restraints and the incitements of Empire upon the
millions of these dark races of the earth.
If it is unnecessary to describe Shanghai and Hongkong,
because of the hosts of people who visit them and the super-
abundance of books which discuss them, still less is it needful
to give a detailed account of Singapore. The Colony, however,
has several points of interest peculiar to itself, besides those
which it shares with other parts of the Far East, and though
a glance at the latter will suffice, the former call for considera-
tion at greater length. Singapore is interesting for its remark-
ably beautiful situation ; for its history, so full of vicissitudes
and bloodshed until it finally came under the administration of
Bengal in July, 1830 as an example of vicissitudes, Malacca
was captured by us from the Dutch in 1786, restored in 1801,
retaken in 1807, restored in 1818, resumed for good in 1825 ;
for its geographical situation as the extreme southern limit of
continental Asia, and the " corner " between the Far East and
the rest of the world ; for the fact that it was the first free-trade
port of modern times ; and very interesting, of course, as one
of the keystones of Imperial defence. To a casual observer,
however, Singapore does not present such striking features as
many other places. The business town is two or three miles
away from most of the private residences ; these are not in
groups but in units, each solitary in its own charming grounds ;
you cannot make a call under half an hour's drive, and until
you have learned a little Malay it is a most difficult community
in which to find your way about ; and the Club is practically
closed at seven o'clock, and if you make arrangements to dine
there, your single lighted table only emphasises the surrounding
darkness.
This evergreen island, almost on the equator, where neither
Christmas nor Midsummer Day brings much change to the
thermometer, and in whose tropical jungles the cobra and
THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 39
hamadryad live and a stray tiger is occasionally found, is the seat
of a large number of very ticklish problems of government, and
the visitor would be surprised indeed if he could see for a
moment, through the eyes of the Governor of the Straits Settle-
ments, the variety and responsibility of the questions requiring
decision and action every day. It is a singularly complicated
problem, to begin with, to govern the city itself, with its six
thousand Europeans and Americans (including the garrison), its
four thousand Eurasians, its four thousand Javanese, its sixteen
thousand Indians, chiefly Klings (natives of India, from the
Coromandel coast), its thirty thousand Malays, its hundred and
twenty thousand Chinese and all its mixed mass of Bengalis and
Bugis, Jawi Pekans and Boyanese and Burmese, Persians and
Arabs and Dyaks and Manilamen. These native peoples are quiet
enough when left alone, but a single unpopular ordinance is
sufficient to bring them rioting into the streets. A few years
ago Singapore was in the hands of a mob for two days in fact,
until the government gave way because it was decided to make
the causeways clear for passengers. The city used to be the
headquarters of several of the principal Chinese Secret Societies,
the most inscrutable and ruthless and law-upsetting organisa-
tions in the world. These were suppressed by formal enactment
on the initiative of Sir Cecil Smith, four years ago, and a
" Chinese Advisory Board " created to deal with their legitimate
work, but it may well be doubted whether a system to which the
Chinese have an irrepressible tendency has not been made more
secret rather than extirpated. Mr. Wray, the "Protector oi
Chinese," in his latest report, says that " sporadic attempts are
still made, and will always be made where Chinese congregate
in large numbers, to start illegal organisations," but he believes,
or perhaps one should say, hopes, that " secrecy is impossible
amid a heterogeneous society like ours, and incessant vigilance
and prompt action on the part of the Chinese Protectorate arc
all that is necessary in such cases." The chief societies were
the Ghee Hin, the Ghee Hok, and the Hok Hin. The former
40 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
was the original and the most powerful one, and when it was
suppressed, after great difficulty and many disputes among its
members concerning the distribution of its property, its
membership in Singapore was thirty thousand and in Penang
forty thousand. The other two have been "registered" and
permitted, as they are ostensibly only Chinese mutual benefit
societies. There is still not the slightest doubt, however, that
they stand between their members and the foreign law. Profes-
sional bailers attend the courts to bail out any member of their
society, and they help their members in all sorts of ways to flee
from justice. A chapter, and a most romantic one too, might
be written about these societies. They have, for example, the
most elaborate system of signs for mutual recognition. One of
them bases its signs upon the numeral three. At table, a
member wishing to make himself known to any fellow-member
present places three glasses together in a certain way, or passes
a cup of tea held peculiarly with three fingers. A man fleeing
from justice and praying for refuge, puts his shoes outside
another's house, side by side, with the heels turned towards the
door. If the owner turns one shoe over on the other, the
fugitive knows he can take refuge there. In spite of the sup-
pression, I fancy that Hoan Cheng Hole Beng "Upset Cheng,"
the present Manchu dynasty of China, "restore Beng," the
former dynasty still has a magic and compelling significance in
Singapore, for these are the pass-words of the famous Triad
Society, which honeycombs China and has more than once put
the throne in terror. The Triad consists of the characters
Thien Tay Hoey" Heaven, Earth, Man,"
To appreciate Singapore as a city of Orientals, one must
spend a day or two in the native quarters, and this is just what
the ordinary visitor fails to do. From this point of view it
is certainly one of the most astonishing communities in the
world. To begin with, it is enormous. For days you may
wander about without ever turning on your track, through miles
upon miles of semi-native houses and shops, through crowded
THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 41
streets, in variegated bazaars, with all the merchandise of all
the East spread out endlessly before you. Each race has its
own quarter there is "Kampong Malacca," "Kampong Kling,"
" Kampong Siam," " Kampong China." In one spot you are
dazzled with the silks of India ; in another the sarongs of Java
are spread out like a kaleidoscope ; in another you are suffoca-
ted with an indescribable mixture of Eastern scents ; in another
an appalling stench meets you, strange rainbow-like birds utter
raucous cries, and the long thin hairy arm of a gorilla is
stretched out between bamboo bars in deceptive friendliness ;
in another there is such a packed mass of boats that
you hardly know when your foot has left dry land. And all
this mixed humanity exists in order and security and sanita-
tion, living and thriving and trading, simply because of the
presence of English law and under the protection of the British
flag. Eemove that piece of bunting from Government House,
and all that it signifies, and the whole community would go to
pieces like a child's sand-castle when the tide rises. Its three
supports are free trade, fair taxation, and even-handed justice
among white, black, brown and yellow, and these exist in the
Far East under the British flag alone. At least, I have been
almost everywhere else without finding them. Of course, in all
this the Chinese enormously preponderate. The foolish opinion
is sometimes heard at home that this Chinese community
represents China that it is a specimen of what China may
become, a standing bond of union between ourselves and China.
The very opposite is the case. This community has grown up
and exists precisely because it is not China because the con-
ditions of its existence are precisely the antithesis of Chinese
conditions. The Straits Chinaman would not exchange his
British nationality for anything else in the world ; he plays
cricket, football, and lawn tennis ; he has his annual athletic
sports ; the recreation ground, and indeed every open space, is
covered in the afternoons with Chinese engaged in these games ;
he goes to the Free Library and he reads the newspaper ; he
42 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
attends a Debating Society and he carries off prizes at the
Baffles School ; he eats foreign food and imitates foreign vices.
When he has prospered he drives through the streets in a
carriage and pair with a European coachman on the box. He
knows that he is the equal of the Englishman before the law,
and considers that he is slightly superior to him in other
respects. He looks upon the Civil Service as his servants, upon
the Governor as his ruler, upon the forts as his protection, upon
the whole place as his home. A Chinaman is one of the most
influential members of the Legislative Council
Mr. George C. Wray, the Protector of Chinese, whom I have
already quoted above, writes as follows in his last report : " We
have developed an ever-growing, permanent, law-abiding, Straits-
born population, who are proud of being British subjects, give
their children a liberal English education, and are rapidly con-
solidating themselves into a distinctive, loyal subject- race, of
whose abilities and behaviour our Government may well be
proud." The number of these Straits-born Chinese, according
to the census of 1891, was 12,805 in Singapore, and 34,757 for
the whole Colony, and they are rapidly increasing. The
business of the European firms and this is true of almost the
whole Far East could not be carried on for a week without
their Chinese "shroffs," "compradors," and clerks. Between
the census of 1881 and that of 1891 the Chinese inhabitants of
Singapore had increased from 86,766 to 121,908. During the
year 1893 there were no fewer than 144,558 Chinese immigrants
into Singapore alone, to say nothing of the 68,751 who went to
Penang, to which the same remarks apply. It is therefore not
surprising that even the lethargic Chinese Imperial Govern-
ment has at last been struck with this new and strange China
growing up under a foreign flag, and that it has despatched
commissioners to inquire into the reasons why Chinese who
make money in the Straits never come back to their own land,
and has published an invitation to its self-exiled citizens to return,
and an order to its own officials to refrain from interfering with
THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 43
them when they do so. The hilarious scorn, however, with
which this invitation has been received, and the almost brutal
frankness of the reasons given in reply to the inquiries, show at
the same time the value the well-governed Chinaman sets upon
his privileges, and his opinion of the prospects of reform even
when backed by Imperial command in his native land. Even
to the Chinese woman who is a prostitute in China, Singapore
is by comparison a paradise. Mr. Wray says : " There being
no supervision or means of redress in China, women of the
lower classes better themselves by coming to a land where debt-
slavery is not tolerated and where the mere act of reporting to
the nearest official means immediate freedom." *
* It would not be fitting to discuss here the whole question of the relations of the
prostitute class to the Colonial authorities, but I must put my opinion on record
somewhere in this book. I am profoundly convinced, after much study of statistics
and careful investigation into the question in the Far East, that the action of
Parliament and the Colonial Office in over-riding the repeated requests and protests
of the highest and most responsible local authorities is so seriously wrong that the
word " blunder " is wholly inadequate to describe it. From the point of view of
morality it is as wrong as from the point of view of administration it is improper.
The conditions of life and character are so utterly different in Europe and Asia that
any comparison between them for the purpose of justifying recent legislation is not
only impossible but absolutely ridiculous. What may be wise and imperative laws
for the women of Europe, may quite well be wrong in every respect for the women
of Asia. Hongkong and Singapore were in this respect two of the healthiest com-
munities in the world ; they are rapidly becoming, if indeed they are not already,
centres for the propagation and distribution of pestilence. From this the native
society and the British garrisons suffer in identical proportions. As for the fate
of the unfortunate women themselves, the pen of Dante would be required to
describe what it will soon become again. To the familiar horrors of the slave-
trade, add an equal amount of other and indescribable horror, and you will have
some notion of what life will be for the thousands of Chinese women under the British
flag but without its protection. Anybody who desires to inform himself upon the
normal condition of Eastern prostitutes should pursue inquiries into the lot of the
young women who are sold into this slavery, even by the female members of the
Siamese royal family, and who pass a great part of their lives in the district of Bangkok
known as Sampeng, behind barred windows and padlocked doors, from which they
never emerge until, dead or alive, they leave the place for good. The action of
Parliament and the Colonial Office has simply condemned thousands of Chinese
women to a fate of almost unimaginable woe, from a great part of which they were
previously shielded. As the Protector of Chinese in Singapore says, to suppress
the evil altogether is utterly impossible, though it may be greatly mitigated. All
that this legislation does is to afford a certain relief to the consciences of partially
informed people at home, at the cost of enormous and unnecessary suffering to
44 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
The Straits Settlements, which were incorporated as a Crown
Colony in 1867, having previously been under the jurisdiction of
the East India Company, consist of the large island of Singapore;
the smaller island of Penang ; Malacca and Province Wellesley
on the mainland ; another strip of territory and the island of
Pangkor together known as the Bindings ; the Cocos Islands,
and Christmas Island. The three latter call for no special
mention ; Province Wellesley is a sugar-growing district, which
may become of importance if a railway runs into the inland
side of it; and Malacca is reposing, after its varied history
and its former prosperity as the outlet of the products of the
Peninsula, in a condition of peaceful stagnation. Its colourless
condition is well typified by its sole product tapioca, produced
in large quantities by Chinese labour and capital. Commercially,
as the Governor has recently said, it is "a mere suburb of
Singapore," and it will remain so until the Chinese develop its
strip of very fertile land, which its own Malay inhabitants are
far too lazy to do. Camoens wrote of
41 Malacca's market grand and opulent,
Whither each Province of the long seaboard
Shall send of merchantry rich varied hoard. "
Three centuries ago Malacca was " the great emporium of
the Eastern Archipelago." * But its walls were " blown up
at great expense in 1807," and its history virtually ceased
long ago. There are compensations, however, for the quaint
and quiet little place, for its Resident Councillor has just
described it as "a favourable example of a prosperous agri-
cultural district, where crime is almost unknown and the
people are happy and contented." Penang, on the contrary,
has been a discontented community lately. Singapore has
many thousands of natives in the Colonies. And it is of no use for the people who
hold a contrary opinion to denounce those who express this one, having formed it
after conscientious inquiries favoured by unusual opportunities.
* Lucas : " Historical Geography of the British Colonies," I. 107 a work of
which it would be impossible to speak too highly.
THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 45
inevitably taken away much of the advantageous trade Penang
formerly enjoyed with the neighbouring Protected States ;
it claims that it has contributed more than its fair share
toward Colonial expenditure, and received less for its own
purposes ; and it has been refused the large amount it desired
for the erection of wharves. Much bitterness between the two
chief partners in the Colony has thus been aroused, and a
wordy war in paper and pamphlet, and even in Parliament, has
followed. The Government also declined to grant the Koyal
Commission of inquiry which Penang desired. According to the
Acting Governor's annual report, however, this discussion is now
at an end. Mr. Maxwell writes : " A number of real or supposed
grievances were also ventilated, but when the chief ground of
complaint had been proved by a reference to statistics to be
without foundation, the agitation, to which some of the Penang
Chinese had somewhat blindly given their support, rapidly died
away." It is probable that the growing influence of the Chinese,
which is even truer of Penang than of Shanghai or Hongkong,
and the great depression of trade, were as much as anything
else the causes of the discontent of Penang. Last year the
expenditure of the municipality exceeded the revenue by 17,000
dols., and the cash balance was reduced from 24,107 to 6,860
dols., while its municipal indebtedness is 350,000 dols. This,
however, is a very small matter compared with the fact that
the revenue of Penang, as a whole, has increased yearly since
the "low-water mark" of 1891 by 3,000,000 dols., and this
although no new sources of revenue have been established. And
the figures of Penang's trade, 87,603,854 dols., are the highest
for the past five years. The outlook, therefore, does not warrant
any particular depression of spirits. In regard to the question
of municipal expenditure (for all parts of the Straits Settlements
have their municipalities, unlike Hongkong, which is still in
official leading-strings), I may add that in every case, and not
in that of Penang alone, the expenditure last year exceeded the
revenue. With regard to Singapore, a few statistics are of much
46 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
interest. The total trade for 1893, excluding the movements of
treasure, was 260,982,169 dols., an increase over 1892 of more
than 26,000,000 dols. In spite of this, however, owing to the
depreciation of silver, these same figures for the two years,
translated into sterling at the average rates for each year, give
87,135,141 for 1892, and 36,769,590 for 1893 a silver
increase of 26,000,000 dols. thus appearing as a gold decrease
of 365,551 ! It would be difficult to find a more striking
object-lesson of the position of a silver-using colony in regard
to a gold-using mother country. That the trade of Singapore
is healthy enough, apart from the question of silver, is evident
from the shipping returns, which were 6,944,346 tons entered
and cleared in 1893, an increase of nearly half a million tons
over 1892.
In the finances of Singapore, however, one question far out-
weighs in importance, both Imperial and Colonial, all others
that of the military contribution. Upon this matter Singapore
has been on the verge of revolt hardly too strong an expression
to describe the bitterness aroused in the Colony by the action of
the home authorities. This is the more to be regretted since to
an outsider studying the dispute it seems eminently one which
could have been amicably settled by a compromise. When the
Straits Settlements desired to be removed from the jurisdiction
of India in 1867, and formed into a Crown Colony, the British
Government assented on the understanding that the Colony should
bear the cost of its own defence. At this time, however, there
was a distinction made between the troops and their accommoda-
tion at Singapore, Malacca, and Penang, for the defence of those
places ; and other troops and their cost and accommodation at
Singapore, for Imperial purposes the latter being maintained
by the home Government. Up to 1890, the Colony had paid
a yearly contribution of 50,145 towards its defence, but in
that year the Secretary of State for the Colonies suddenly de-
manded that the contribution be raised at once to 100,000 per
annum, with an addition, first, 'jf 28,976, being one-half of the
THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 47
alleged loss of the Imperial Treasury by exchange on previous
payments ; and second, of an indefinite sum for further barracks.
Now here, beyond any possible doubt, the Colonial Office made
an initial blunder. Admitting that an increased contribution
was necessaiy, and admitting that the sum asked for was entirely
just, to send a peremptory demand that it be voted immediately
by the Legislative Council, without having extended the courtesy
of an inquiry beforehand as to the views of the Colony upon
a matter so seriously affecting its income, was an act to arouse
resentment in the most loyal community in the world. Its
instant result might have been foreseen by the least imagi-
native person. The Governor of the Straits, Sir Cecil Smith,
passed the vote as ordered. "For my own part," he wrote to
Lord Knutsford, " I found myself wholly unable to conscien-
tiously support the justice of all the claims which Her Majesty's
Government had made, and the same views which I held were
shared in by every member of my Council. My instructions,
however, were perfectly clear, and I had to require each member
of the Executive Council to vote against his conviction and in
support of the claims of Her Majesty's Government." And
in reporting the vote, he wrote : " It is very important that I
should not omit to point out that the course which has been
followed on this occasion has placed the Executive in very
strained relations with the Legislative authority, and has tended
to imperil good government. The constituted authorities in this
Colony have been required by Her Majesty's Government to meet
a money claim without having had an opportunity of having
their views on the justice and correctness of the claim considered.
Such a case is, so far as I am aware, wholly without precedent."
In studying the history of British colonial administration, the
student occasionally comes across acts on the part of the mother
country which might have been inspired by some demon of mis-
chief, so deliberately unfortunate do they seem. The method of
this demand is one of them.
Protests, appeals, minutes, and resolutions of public meetings,
48 THE BRITISH EMMRE.
were of no avail, and Lord Knutsford simply replied that " Her
Majesty's Government would have been glad if they could have
allowed themselves to be influenced by arguments put forward
so temperately and so fully; " and somewhat sarcastically added
he had learnt " with satisfaction " that the Colony had included
a similar vote in the estimates for the ensuing year. For the
four years ending December 31, 1893, therefore, the Straits
paid a regular contribution of .100,000 a year, during which
time the Colonial revenue was further decreased by depression of
trade and dislocated by the fall of silver. Public works in the
Colony had to be abandoned, and almost imperative improve-
ments postponed, and at last a loan had actually to be raised.
" The financial arrangements," said Sir Cecil Smith to his
Legislative Council on October 15, 1891, " have been completely
upset; and although every endeavour has been made, and is
being made, to reduce our expenditure, it has been found
necessary, in order to meet our liabilities, to dispose of all our
realisable assets namely, the investments in gold amounting
to 1,013,762 dols., and in Indian stock amounting to 350,000
dols." Even this state of things did not move the stony heart
of the home authorities, and the people of Singapore made one
more desperate set of appeals at the beginning of 1894, when
the first series of payments came to an end. In response the
Colonial Office removed 10,000 by way of solatium, and added
20,000 for additional barrack accommodation thus meeting
the appeals of the Colony by raising the total contribution for
the present year from 100,000 to 110,000 !
A little calculation shows the situation of the Straits Settle-
ments to be as follows : The revenue of the Colony for last
year was 3,706,308 dols., an increase on 1892. Its expenditure
was 3,915,482 dols., a decrease from 1892. Thus there was a
deficit of 209,174 dols. The military contribution is therefore
increased at a time when there is positively a financial deficit.
To see, however, how bad the case really is, we must look at
the effect of the depreciation of silver. The average Singapore
THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 49
exchange at sight of the Mexican dollar for 1892 was 2s. 10d. At
the moment of writing it is 2s. If d. To remit 100,000 to London
in sterling during 1892 would therefore have cost the Colony (say)
700,000 dols. ; to remit the same sum home to-day would cost
932,000 dols. That is, the military contribution of the Colony
has risen between 1892 and 1894 by 232,000 dols., apart from
anj 7 act of either the British Government or the Colonial
authorities. Finally, the amount to be paid during the present
year, at the present rate of exchange, is 1,025,200 dols. rather
more than twenty-seven and a half per cent, of the total revenue
of the Colony ! It is hardly surprising that such a state of things
" tends to imperil good government."
Yet, as I have said, the question at issue seems one which
should be settled without much difficulty on the time-honoured
principle of give and take. Everybody admits, to begin with,
that each part of the Empire ought to bear its proper share of
the defence of the whole. Unfortunately, many parts escape doing
so. Singapore, on the contrary, has always been eager to subscribe
its proportion. Lord Knutsford will remember, I am sure, how
in the famous confidential Colonial Conference of 1887 he held
up Singapore as a shining example to the lagging Australian
colonies. The Secretary of State bases his claim upon the
" colossal trade " of Singapore. The Colony retorts that at
least three-quarters of this trade merely passes through the
harbour on its way to other parts of the Far East, and that
therefore it is Imperial trade and not local. This is an indis-
putable fact. Lord Knutsford wrote : " The large stores of
coal which your trade requires, of themselves invite attack."
Singapore replies, first, that this coal belongs to ship-owners in
London, and that therefore it is they who should be asked to
pay for its defence ; second, that it is used chiefly for the transit
trade aforesaid ; and third, that by common consent and the
definite statement of a Eoyal Commission, Singapore is an Im-
perial coaling station second in importance only to the Cape
itself. And I may here remind the Colonial Office that when
5
50 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
the Russian " scare " broke out in 1885, the home authorities
instantly telegraphed to the Governor of Singapore asking how
much coal was there. He replied, 200,000 tons ; whereupon
they fell into a panic lest the Russians should get it and our
ships be deprived of it, and telegraphed in all directions for
ships to go and guard it. And this was the origin of Imperial
interest in the speedy and efficient arming of Singapore, The
Colonial Office has made one very misleading statement in
this controversy, namely, that the batteries of Singapore were
armed with heavier guns at the special request of one of its
own officials. But this official was, at the time of his recommen-
dation, lent by the Colony to the Imperial Government, and was
therefore an Imperial officer, acting in the interests of the Empire
as a whole. Singapore is, of course, a link of the greatest value in
the armed chain of Empire. Without it, or some similar place not
far away, Great Britain could not pretend to hold her position in
the Far East. On the other hand, the Colony has been hitherto
a very nourishing one. In it, therefore, Imperial and local
interests are pretty well divided. This is exactly what the
Colony says. It has built forts (which were kept waiting a
long time for their guns) at a cost of 81,000 ; it has
paid 28,976 to recoup the Imperial Treasury for loss on ex-
change ; for four years it has contributed 100,000 a year,
though its allowance of troops has generally been below the
strength promised ; and now, though its revenue shows a deficit
and its public works and imperative improvements are at a
standstill, it offers to pay gladly one-half the cost of its defence,
say 70,000 a year, notwithstanding the augmentation of this sum
by the ceaseless fall of silver. If this is not a fair and indeed
a thoroughly loyal offer, then facts and figures have no value,
and the people of Singapore are right when they declare that
the home Government exacts this contribution simply because
the Colony is able to pay it, and for no other reason whatever.
Before the British Government finally refuses the appeal of the
Colony, let the authorities ask themselves what would be their
THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 51
feelings if the inhabitants of the Straits Settlements absolutely
refused to pay it, and requested that the forts which they them-
selves have built should be dismantled and the garrison with-
drawn. This has already been suggested. When the despair
in Singapore was at its height, I asked a highly-placed official at
home if there were anything more the Colony could possibly do
or say to avert their fate. " No," he replied, " the matter is
settled unless, perhaps, they were to do one thing." " What
is that?" I asked eagerly. "Shoot tbe Governor," he said.
The joke was heightened by the fact that there never was a
more deservedly popular governor than Sir Cecil Smith. There
are less desperate steps than this, however, in the. power of
any Colony, which would still be very disturbing to the Colonial
Office ; and while we are straining the loyalty of Hongkong in
one direction by refusing it the measure of self-government
which its neighbours possess, it is to be hoped that we shall
not strain that of Singapore too much in another direction.
Our pride in these propugnacula imperil should be too great
to permit us to treat them unfairly.
CHAPTER III.
ANOMALIES OF EMPIRE: THE PROTECTED MALAY
STATES.
TN point of size the Straits Settlements are dots on the map of
-*- the Malay Peninsula. One dot is Singapore ; a little way up
the coast Malacca is another ; still following the coast the Bind-
ings form a third ; Penang and Province Wellesley are two more.
Around and beyond these is a vast expanse of country of which
Europe may be said to know virtually nothing. Yet the lower
part of it is the scene of a successful experiment in government
second in interest to none in the world, while of the upper part,
Mr. Alfred Russel Wallace's statement made in 1869 that " to the
ordinary Englishman this is perhaps the least known part of the
globe " is still literally true.* Omitting the Straits Settlements
the Malay Peninsula may be said to be divided into two parts by
what has been aptly called " the Siamese bunga mas line," that
is, to the north of the line lie the great Malay States whose in-
dependence is only impaired by their annual offering to the
Siamese Government of the bunga mas " Golden Flower " in
acknowledgment of nominal suzerainty. It is the latter which are
still as unfamiliar as the remotest parts of Africa to the foreign
explorer, and the journey I made through several of them, some
parts of which covered ground visited by no white man before,
* An admirable little handbook, edited by Capt. Foster, R.E.,and issued in 1891
by the Intelligence Division of the War Office, under the title " Precis of Informa-
tion concerning the Straits Settlements and the Native States of the Malay Penin-
sula," should be better known than it is. Its information about the native States
is very meagre, but Capt. Foster conscientiously collected all that was then
accessible. Very few Europeans have travelled there.
52
THE PROTECTED MALAY STATES. 53
will be found described in later chapters. It is the so-called
Protected Malay States lying between these semi-independent,
unknown regions and the flourishing British Colony discussed in
the preceding chapter, that I propose to consider here.
If the traveller from Singapore should embark on a steamer
and land at one of several ports along the coast without any
previous knowledge of the existence of the Protected States, he
would be greatly puzzled to explain his environment. He would
arrive at a perfectly appointed foreign wharf ; his landing would
be supervised by a detachment of smart Sikh and Malay police ;
he would buy a ticket exactly as at a small country station at
home, and be conveyed to the capital town by aline of admirably
managed railway. There he would find himself in a place of
tropical picturesqueness and European administration. Man-
grove and bamboo-clump, coconut palm and sago-tree, would
meet his eye on every side; Malay in sarong and baju, Kling in loin-
cloth and turban, Chinaman in the unvarying dress of his race,
and Englishman in helmet and white duck, would rub shoulders
with him in the street ; the long-horned, slow-stepping buffalo
harnessed to a creaking waggon, and the neat pony-cart of his
native land, would pass him in alternation ; he would drive away
along streets metalled and swept in foreign fashion and lined
with buildings of Eastern material and Western shape. This,
he would say, is not a British Colony, it is not a native king-
dom : what is it ? The answer would be, It is one of those
political anomalies, a Protected State of the Malay Peninsula.
Of these there are five Perak, Selangor, Sungei Ujong and
Jelebu, Pahang, and the Negri Sembilan. Each was formerly
a Malay State or congeries of States, and is now a British
possession in all except the name. To each a British Eesident
is appointed, who is nominally the adviser to a Malay ruler, but
practically administrator of the whole State, subordinate only to
the Governor of the Straits Settlements and the Secretary of
State for the Colonies. Each Protected State is theoretically
ruled by a Council of State consisting of the Sultan, his
54 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
" adviser," the British Resident, several of the principal chiefs
of the former, and the higher administrative officers of the
latter. This meets perhaps half a dozen times a year to give
final sanction to new laws and changes of local policy. Its
meetings, however, are merely formal, since, although the
Sultan might be consulted as a matter of courtesy upon a
new law affecting natives, it is out of his power to place any
effective opposition in the way of an ordinance drawn up by the
Resident and approved by the two superior authorities I have
mentioned. The Sultans receive a liberal allowance from the
finances of the States for their personal expenses, and their
principal officers either receive a proportionate allowance or a
salary if they perform under the British Resident any of the
duties of government. These five States have become pro-
tectorates in the familiar and inevitable method of Imperial
expansion in several cases at their own request. Perak re-
ceived a Resident in 1874 in consequence of a prolonged series
of hostilities between rival groups of Chinese tin-miners, in the
course of which British interests and investments were jeopar-
dised. The first Resident was Mr. J W. W. Birch, who was
treacherously murdered in the following year. The Perak War,
which followed, will be remembered by many people. Three
native officials who had planned the murder were hanged, and
others, including Sultan Abdullah, were banished to the Sey-
chelles. The protection of Selangor and Sungei Ujong dates
also from 1874, and was equally due to internecine warfare.
The large State of Pahang was for many years a thorn in the
side of these two, owing to the disorderly condition of its
inhabitants and the hostility of the Raja towards British sub-
jects. This culminated in the unprovoked murder of a China-
man, a British subject, in the streets of Pekan, the capital, in
1888. Whereupon the Colonial Government, at the limit of its
patience, placed the State under British protection. The fifth,
in order of time, the Negri Sembilan two Malay words mean-
ing pimply " nine countries " quarrelled among themselves to
THE PROTECTED MALAY STATES. 55
the destruction of their prosperity and begged to be taken under
British protection in 1889, which was done.
The change in the condition of each State as it was removed
from native maladministration and placed under British con-
trol has been one of the most astounding spectacles in the his-
tory of the British Empire. Pahang, as I shall explain later,
lags behind the rest, but the others have surpassed the
condition of even the Protected States of India, and present
most of the features of a British Colony in a population
composed entirely of Malays and Chinese. They possess
hospitals, both paying and for paupers, leper hospitals, lunatic
asylums, and dispensaries ; there is a State store, a State
factory, and even State brick-fields ; there are sanitary boards
and savings banks, fire brigades and printing offices ; water-
works, roads, and railways ; post offices, telephones, and tele-
graphs; schools and police; and vaccination, which is compulsory,
though there is no necessity for compulsion, is performed with
" buffalo lymph," obtained from the Pasteur Institute in Saigon.
Order is preserved by forces of Sikhs linked with an equal
strength of Malays, and all the duties of administration are
carried out under the Eesident by a mere handful of Europeans,
forming an uncovenanted civil service, directing a native staff.
The revenues have risen by almost incredible leaps ; two of the
States have large credit balances. One hundred and forty miles
of railway have been built by them, and their extraordinary
prosperity shows no sign of diminution. As Sir Andrew Clark
has said, " The result of our policy of adventure is one of which
England may well be proud. A country of which in 1873 there
was no map whatever, has been thrown open to the enterprise of
the world. Ages of perpetual fighting and bloodshed have ended
in complete tranquillity and contentment." All this has been
accomplished by the administrative genius of literally a score of
Englishmen.
To exhibit the condition of the Protected States at a glance
and thus save much unnecessary description, I have compiled
56
THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
the following table, which shows the area, population, revenue
(with its increase), expenditure, volume of trade (with its increase),
and the present credit or debit balance in the assets and liabili-
ties of each State. With two exceptions marked below the
figures are all taken from the Residents' reports for the
year 1893.
ABBA
square
miles.
POPULA-
TION
(1891)
REVENGE
Dollars.
IN-
CREASE
OVER
1892.
EXPENDI-
TURE.
Dollars.
TOT At.
TRADE.
Dollars.
IN-
CREASB
OVER
1892.
ASSETS
AND
LIABILI-
TIES.
Dollars.
10,000
214,254
8,034,094
314,528
2,395,539
24,687,923
2,968,124
+ 444,534
3,500
81 592
2,765,351
629,903
2,605,588
19,546,459
4,092,375
+ 1,090,289
SUNGEI UJONQ
AND JELEBU . .
PAHANO
1,660
10,000
23,602
57,462
388,976
83,688
34,972
33,644
376,562
278,392
4,304,107
(1892)
672,869
622,617
- 195,689
-- 948,700
NEGRI SEMBILAN .
2,000
41,617
130,938
12,989
132,067
No returns.
-
- 257,354
From this table it will be seen that Perak * is at the head of
the Protected States. Its area is much greater than any except
Pahang, its population is nearly three times that of any other,
and its revenue and volume of trade are much larger. Its
credit balance has been reduced chiefly by heavy and at present
unproductive expenditure in extending its railway system, of
which sixty-eight miles are now open for traffic. Perak has
been called the " child of Penang," but much more truly should
it be called the child of the two enlightened men who have in
turn directed its administration, first, Sir Hugh Low, and
from 1884 to 1886, and from 1889 to the present time, Mr.
F. A. Swettenham. The former of these set Perak on the
right road, and to the foresight and administrative ability of
the latter the present happy condition of the State is largely
due. Mr. Swettenham has been connected with Perak since it
* The word perak (of which the last letter is not pronounced) in Malay means
" silver." There is, however, no silver found in the State, and the word is supposed
to refer to the silver-like masses of tin which are its principal product.
THE PROTECTED MALAY STATES. 57
came under British influence. He was three times sent on
special missions there in 1874. He took an active combatant
part in the Perak War, and with Lieutenant Abbott and a
handful of men defended the Eesidency, after the assassination
of Mr. Birch in 1875, until it was relieved by British troops sent
hastily from Singapore, for which service he was three times
mentioned in despatches. At the conclusion of the war he was
placed in charge of the Eesidency for a time in succession to
Mr. Birch. He is one of the two or three best Malay scholars
living, and his annual Reports are models of administrative
ability. As an example of the progress of Perak the following
passage from the report to the Resident by the magistrate of
the district of Kinta is instructive : " The advancement of this
district is almost incredible. Ten years ago it was little more
than a vast stretch of jungle, unapproachable except by a
shallow and rapid river, and possessing not a single mile of
first-class cart-road nor a village of any importance." During
the year, 4,492 acres of mining land were taken up, and
822 acres of agricultural land ; 15,847 acres of mining land
and 2,958 acres of agricultural land were about to be
assigned to applicants ; 29,143 acres of land had been applied
for, and fresh applications poured in every day. Mr. Swetten-
ham has proposed a scheme for the irrigation of 50,000 acres of
rice-growing land, and experts lent by the Indian Government
reported favourably upon it. The First Battalion of the Perak
Sikhs, which has a strength of 685 of all arms, has attained
a high pitch of discipline and efficiency under Lieut.-Colonel
Walker, and conducted itself with great credit on several
occasions when it has had to take the field, especially in
suppressing the recent revolt in Pahang.
In Selangor, substitute for the name of Mr. Swettenham
that of Mr. W. E. Maxwell, at present Colonial Secretary
in Singapore, and the history of the State might be told
in the same words. It has a yearly trade of over twenty
millions of dollar?, and possesses in its treasury or on loan to
58 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
other States a balance of over a million. During the past
year no fewer than 47,773 Chinese immigrants arrived within
its borders. Its railway pays over 12^ per cent, interest, and
would have paid more, as Mr. W. H. Treacher, the present
Resident, explains, but for a deficiency of rolling stock, owing
to the traffic having increased beyond expectation. Selangor
has always been the rival of Perak in the race for the best show
of prosperity, and it is difficult to say to which the palm belongs.
The allied States of Sungei Ujong and Jelebu are administered
by an Omcer-in-Charge, who reports to the Resident of Selangor.
The total number of tin-mines in these two States is 150,
covering 4,176 acres, and employing 4,000 Chinese miners, and
Sungei Ujong contains the most flourishing example of coffee
plantation in the Peninsula. This is the Linsum Estate, and
its crop in 1893, upon 210 acres, some not in full bearing, was
no less than 94,796 Ibs. of clean coffee. The Negri Seuibilan
occupy the district between the last-named and Malacca, and
have already attained a sufficient degree of prosperity to enable
them to pay the interest upon their loan. In these States, as
the Resident writes, " a population of 40,000 Malays is con-
trolled by three Europeans and a few police," the remainder of
the police being required for the Chinese coolies at work in the
mines and on the estates.
The story of Pahang, the great State which extends from the
borders of all the above to the eastern coast of the Peninsula,
is unfortunately a very different one. When it was taken under
British authority its population was reduced to almost the
lowest level by Oriental rule. Mr. Rodger, the first Resident,
described its condition prior to his arrival in 1888, in the
following words : " A system of taxation under which every
necessary as well as every luxury of life was heavily taxed ; law
courts in which the procedure was the merest mockery of justice,
the decisions depending solely on the relative wealth or influence
of the litigant, and where the punishments were utterly bar-
barous ; a system of debt-slavery under which not only the
THE PROTECTED MALAY STATES. 59
debtor but his wife and their most remote descendants were
condemned to hopeless bondage ; an unlimited corvee, or
forced labour for indefinite periods, and entirely without re-
muneration ; the right of the Eaja to compel all female
children to pass through his harem a right which has
desolated almost every household in the neighbourhood of
Pekan, such are some of the more striking examples, although
the list is by no means exhaustive, of administrative misrule
in a State within less than twenty-four hours of Singapore, and
immediately adjoining the two Protected States of Perak and
Selangor. The condition of the Pahang ryot may be briefly
expressed by stating that he had practically no rights, whether
of person or property, not merely in his relations with the Eaja,
but even in those with his immediate District Chief."
The distances in the State are enormous, and no means of
communication existed, while the most promising part was that
situated a considerable distance from the sea-board, around the
headwaters of a river rendered almost unnavigable by rapids.
The Sultan, moreover, a man of violent and depraved character,
conspired secretly against the authority of the Resident while
openly professing to support him. Two revolts subsequently
broke out, each of which had to be suppressed at great expense
and by prolonged fighting, with the result of plunging the State
heavily in debt to its neighbours and the Colonial Government.
To add to its embarrassment, during the year before the
arrival of the Resident, the Sultan had given away vast tracts
of his territory in concessions to Europeans, who used them
for speculative purposes, as thousands of investors in England
have good reason to know. Enormous districts were thus shut
out from native or Chinese development, while the European
concessionnaires were endeavouring to dispose of them for pre-
posterous sums. One of the first acts of the Resident was to
give notice that all concessions thus granted, which had not
been actively taken up by a certain date, would be cancelled,
and accordingly twenty of these were annulled a short time ago.
60 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
Owing to the monsoon and the lack of harbour accommodation,
the entrance to the rivers of Pahang is closed from the sea for
nearly half a year, from about November, and the State is only
accessible by a long and difficult overland route, when some
small steamer cannot be found to take the considerable risk of
attempting to cross the bar. During 1893 the pitiful sum of
21,205 dollars was spent on public works, and the whole trade
of Pahang only amounted to 672,869 dollars. Of this the output
of gold was 9,616 ounces, and of tin 265 tons. The only road in
Pahang is an 8 ft. bridle-path 52 miles in length, which affords
an instructive comparison with the 200 miles of good metalled
roads and the 68 miles of railway of Perak. This State is,
in fact, the " sick man " of the British possessions in the
Malay Peninsula. It is heavily in debt, with no prospect of
being able to discharge its liabilities, and all the money that it
can raise is expended on administration, leaving little or nothing
for the Public Works which alone would ensure its development.
Its native inhabitants have suffered so much from their past,
that even in so simple a matter as the procuring of a better
species of rice seed and planting it, Mr. Hugh Clifford, the
present Eesident, says, " they are at once so ignorant and
unenterprising that it would be futile to look to them to take the
initiative in such a matter." Although the State has thousands
of square miles of extremely fertile land, it imports all the rice
used by the non-agricultural class. During the speculative
period of 1889, houses were erected at Pekan, beyond any
possible need. At the present moment many of them are
deserted and are actually falling into ruin. The Sultan resides
at Pekan, therefore this is the capital, although the true centre
of the State ought to be moved, as Mr. Clifford shows, in the
very able Eeport from which I have already quoted, to Kuala
Lipis. In the interior are tribes of semi-wild natives, called
Sakeis and Semangs, who are treated with the greatest bar-
barity by the Malays, and for whom British administration has
done nothing. There is undoubtedly great mineral wealth in
THE PROTECTED MALAY STATES. 61
Pahang, and the notorious Kaub gold mines are at last actually
paying interest upon their capital. Little can be done with
this so long as the present system of administration continues.
The native of Pahang is, of course, in a vastly happier state
than he was seven or eight years ago, and the changes effected
by British rule must be looked for almost entirely, as Mr.
Clifford says, " not in a vastly improved system of communica-
tion, nor yet in a very marked advance in the material prosperity
of the State, but rather in the great improvement noticeable in
the condition of the bulk of the native population." The
fertile and sianniferous lands of Pahang are no better than
those open in Perak and Selangor, and it is therefore unreason-
able to expect settlers for the former until all the latter are taken
up. Year after year like the past two or three may go by without
any improvement in Pahang, and therefore, to quote Mr. Clifford
once more, " no one having the interests of Pahang at heart can
pretend to regard the continued adoption of the present policy
with any degree of satisfaction." The salvation of this great
tract of the Peninsula must come, if at all, from a much wider
scheme of reform.
The present Sultan of Perak, His Highness Eaja Idris ibni
almerhum Eaja Iskander Shah, C.M.G., succeeded on April 5,
1889. He is the twenty-eighth of his dynasty in succession
from Merhum Tanah Abaug, who was buried by the Perak
Eiver four hundred years ago. " Before that time," says Mr.
Swettenham, " Perak was known as Kastan Zorian, and the
Malays of Perak had not then embraced the religion of Islam."
His Highness is a man of attractive character and agreeable
presence ; and a conversation I had with him at Kuala Kangsa,
where he resides, showed him to be a keen and appreciative
observer of foreign ways. He visited England in 1882, and
told me that what most struck him was the fact that in London
there were " ten thousand times ten thousand carriages." The
two things that had interested him most were the making of
great guns at Woolwich, and the instrument-room at the General
62 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
Post Office. He was also much impressed by the urbanity of
British royal personages in general, and of the Prince of Wales
in particular. " In five minutes," he said of the latter, " I felt
as if I had always known him. A Malay prince not worth five
cents would make a thousand times more fuss." The Sultan
has written a very lengthy account of his life, beginning with
the genealogy of his own family, with the object of instructing
other Malay Eajas ; though, he adds, it will make them very
angry, because it says, for example, that the lavatories of
Western peoples are better than the palaces of the Malays.
"The Malays." he continued, "are like the frog under the
coconut-shell they think there is nothing but what they can see.
But Malaya is waking up look at Perak and Selangor." His
Highness remembered the guidance of Sir Eobert Meade, of the
Colonial Office, and desired that his respects might be presented
to him. As an example of the friendliness existing between the
protected and their protectors, I may quote Mr. Swettenham
again, who wrote in his Keport for 1890: "As regards my
relations with His Highness, I do not think they could be more
cordial than they are," and " His Highness's interest in the
administration is as great and intelligent as ever, and his
unvarying sympathy and good feeling are of the greatest assist-
ance to me in my work." The extent to which bygones are
bygones in the British protection of these States is sufficiently
shown by the fact that two sons of the ex-Sultan Abdullah, who
was banished for complicity in the murder of Mr. Birch, occupy
posts in the Government service on the same terms as Europeans,
and fill them faithfully and well. The Sultan himself has
recently put on record his opinion that the Residential system
has " vastly improved the material condition and prosperity of
the Perak Malays of all classes." One fact may be adduced in
support of this loyal admission. The Government of Perak now
pays more than 180,000 dols. a year in allowances and pensions
to Malays, whereas when the State was taken under British
protection its total revenue did not reach 80,000 dols. yearly.
THE PROTECTED MALAY STATES. 63
These figures should he interesting to the Aborigines' Protection
Society. The truth is that the British Government is the best
aborigines' protection society that has ever existed.
The State of Johor is neither a Colony nor a Protected State
in the same sense as the preceding, but it must be mentioned
here to complete the survey of this part of the Peninsula. Johor
forms the point of the Peninsula, and contains about 9,000
square miles and 200,000 inhabitants, of whom the Chinese
outnumber the Malays by four or five to one. The capital,
Johor Bahru, is fifteen miles from the town of Singapore, and
less than a mile from the island. Its ruler is His Highness
Abu Bakar,* G.C.M.G., whose father was Temenggong, or Chief
of Police, to the Sultan AH, and was placed on the throne by
the Indian Government, when the latter was deposed in 1855.
He succeeded in 1885, and receives a considerable annual subsidy
from the British Government, which controls the foreign relations
of the State. He will probably be the last of his line, as Johor
is understood, by the terms of his will, to pass to the British
Crown on his decease. The Sultan is a familiar figure in certain
circles in London, and he is well known to the inhabitants of
Singapore as an exceedingly genial and hospitable potentate,
who is always ready to entertain a distinguished visitor, or lend
the use of his territory for a horse-raffle or other mild form of
dissipation not sanctioned by the laws of the Colony. But his
State offers a painful comparison with the other Malay States
under British influence. It is undeveloped, without roads,
without any modern system of administration ; it contains only
two towns, the greater part of it is virgin jungle, and it differs
from the ordinary Malay State only by the absence of actual
misrule. The Sultan, however, has rendered great services to
the Straits Government as go-between in many negotiations
with other Malay rulers, although the latter do not regard him
as an equal, on account of his far from royal birth.
Such, in its briefest form, is the remarkable history of those
* Hence " Mr. Baker, in Brighton.
64 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
political anomalies, the Protected Malay States, down to the
present time. For the future, however, their history will have
to proceed along other lines. The experiment has been an
extremely successful one, but not much more success possibly
only retrogression can be looked for in the same direction. The
States have now outgrown the Eesidential system. While they
had yet everything Western to learn, and their affairs were on a
comparatively small scale, the personal rule of the Eesidents
was the best education and control they could have, though even
this would not have shown such good results if the Eesidents
themselves had not happened to be men of unusual ability and
courage. But now that the original Malay population is exceeded
in numbers by the Chinese settlers, that the finances deal with
millions of dollars, that to the protected areas have been added
huge tracts of country which cannot possibly pay their way for a
long time to come, and that inter-State co-operation is therefore
absolutely necessary, I am convinced that the administration can
no longer profitably be left in the hands of half a dozen men, neces-
sarily often antagonistic to one another, none of whom possesses
any higher nominal standing than that of servant to a native
ruler. While the problems were small, the Eesidents were left
almost unhampered in their decisions, and their rule therefore
showed all the advantages of the " free hand." Now, however,
they have at once both too much and too little authority. In
details their control is virtually absolute, and it is they who
must invent and propose every important policy. This will be,
of course, of a piece with their action in small matters. At
this point, however, they sink back into the position of merely
subordinate officials. First, the Governor of the Straits Settle-
ments investigates the matter with much less experience and
knowledge than the Eesident who has proposed it; and if he
disapprove, there is an end at once. If he approve, the question
goes before the Secretary of State for the Colonies, with still less
ability to pronounce upon its merits sometimes with not even
enough local knowledge to enable him to pronounce correctly
THE PKOTECTED MALAY STATES. 65
the name of the place whose destinies are in his hands. The
usual conclusion is that the Eesident is either overruled, or his
policy sanctioned with such conditions as deprive it of nearly all
value. As against the Governor and the Secretary of State, the
Resident is helpless, and all he can do is to wait two or three
years for the opportunity of pointing out in his Report how much
better it would have been if his original suggestions had been
sanctioned. The Protected States, therefore, must be governed
by a man whose position enables him to deal direct with the
Secretary of State at home, and with much more authority than
at present.
Another reason for a change is that the less flourishing
States can only be set upon their feet with borrowed capital,
and as the Colony has none to lend them, while two of
their neighbours have substantial cash balances, it is easy
to see where this must come from. But Perak and Selangor
will be extremely unwilling to lend money to Pahaug, unless
they are able to bring their knowledge and experience to bear
upon the spending of it, and under the present system they
would have no more control than if they lent the money to
Argentina. They might see their own savings being employed
just across their borders in a manner which they knew to be
futile, yet they could not stir a finger. In his Report for
1893, the Resident of Perak says : " As Perak has no direct
interest in Pahang, and could profitably spend in Perak all the
revenue likely to be raised here, financial help can only be given
by making some sacrifice. There is no security for the advances
made, beyond what can be hoped for from the future develop-
ment of Pahang ; and it is therefore only reasonable that, if the
idea of advising the native rulers in the administration of the
Malay States is to be maintained, those States which now find
the means of financing Pahang should have a preponderating
voice in the expenditure of their own money, and the schemes
to which it is applied." But if the Residents of Perak and
Selangor direct the spending of practically all the money spent
6
66 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
in Pahang, then it is they, and not the Eesident of Pahang, who
control the latter State ; and why keep up the fiction of separate
control ? For this reason also, therefore, the time appears to
me to have come for the substitution of one head for five.
But there is a further consideration in support of this view,
which far outweighs in importance both those I have mentioned.
It is this : the prosperity of the Protected States rests upon such
an insecure basis that having risen as brilliantly and conspicu-
ously as the rocket, it may come down as rapidly and irrevocably
as the stick. It is based solely upon the products of the tin-
mines. The Perak Report shows this clearly, though indirectly.
The total value of exports for 1893 was 14,499,475 dols., and
of this no less than 11,895,465 dols. was tin and tin-ore 82 per
cent. The total revenue collected was 3,034,094 dols., of which
Customs " that is, duty on tin " amounted to 1,342,741 dols. ;
and of course many of the other receipts are dependent upon
the tin industry. The Selangor Report puts the truth more
bluntly : " The revenue of the State hangs directly on the
output of tin." Now all prosperity dependent upon mining is
precarious, but that dependent upon alluvial tin-mines and
lode-mining hardly exists must be the most precarious of all.
It may be replied, however, that mining is a very good basis
upon which to start; that California, for instance, owes its
present agricultural wealth to the original attractions of its gold-
fields. Undoubtedly, but the Malay States are not attracting a
class of people who will develop into agriculturists. At present,
when a tin-mine is exhausted, its neighbourhood becomes a
desert. A paragraph in the Report for Sungei Ujong illustrates
this: "The valuable tin- mines at Titi were in part worked
out, and the mining town which sprang up there so rapidly
has begun to dwindle." If the prosperity of these States is
to continue, it is therefore clear that something else must
be found and cultivated to take the place of mining when
this becomes less profitable or ceases altogether. This some-
thing must, of course, be agriculture, and fortunately there
THE PROTECTED MALAY STATES. 67
are no more fertile lands in the world than are here open
to every comer on the best possible terms. I have given one
example of coffee-growing, and it would be easy to multiply
testimony. The manager of the Waterloo Estate in Perak
writes : " The cultivation of coffee promises well, and where
land is judiciously selected and opened, it cannot, in my
opinion, fail to be a success." The Officer-in- Charge of Sungei
Ujong reports : " Liberian coffee will grow on almost any kind
of soil here. I have seen it growing on the ' spoil bank ' of an
old tin-mine, and at the present prices no form of agriculture
could be more remunerative." And what is true of coffee is
equally true of tea, pepper, gambier, tobacco, and rice. The
States governments have done everything in their power to
dispel the general ignorance of British settlers and planters
about Malaya, and they offer the very warmest welcome to any
who will come. Certainly no part of the Empire presents a
better field for the agricultural investment of capital and personal
efforts, yet what was said by the Resident of Perak in 1889 is
still only too true : " Ten years ago, when almost nothing was
known of the capabilities of the Malayan soil and climate, it
seemed likely that the field just opened would attract many
experienced European planters and a considerable amount of
European capital. Now that the possibilities of agriculture
have been to a large extent proved, communications greatly
extended, and many facilities offered which did not then exist,
the State seems to have lost its attractions for the planter."
To assure the future of the Protected States, therefore, it
seems to me imperative that they should be formed into some
kind of separate confederation the Crown Colony of the Malay
Peninsula, for example. This would remove them from the
jurisdiction of Singapore, which now hampers and robs them ;
place them on a strong footing before the Secretary of State for
the Colonies ; enable their problems to be solved in a uniform
manner, instead of by the conflict of interests; group their
resources so that the stronger can afford the needed help to the
68 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
weaker in the wisest and fairest shape ; develop and advertise
their agricultural possibilities ; protect their forests ; codify their
laws, and place the administration of them under a British
judge; and finally, present a firm and permanent foundation
upon which to build when the inevitable moment comes for the
absorption of the rest of the Malay Peninsula.
FRANCE IN THE FAR EAST,
CHAPTER IV.
IN FRENCH INDO- CHINA: LEAVES FROM MY
NOTEBOOKS.
TT is one of the curious and significant facts of the Far East
~ that to get to a French possession there you must go in
either an English or a German boat, with the single exception
of the heavily subsidised Messageries Maritimes. I went to
Tongking the first time in the little Marie, hailing from
Apenrade, wherever that may be. As soon as we had crossed
the restless Gulf of Tongking and were in sight of a low-lying
green and evidently fertile country, wholly different from the
rocky and forbidding coast of China, Captain Hundewadt
hoisted the German flag, and the pilot came off. There are
two bars, one hard, which must not be touched, and the other
soft mud, upon which a ship can rush at full speed and
either get over or stick, as the case may be. We stuck.
Within gunshot of us as we lay in the mud was a large white
European house, built on the point of an elevated promontory.
It is the summer house Paul Bert built for himself, just before
death put an end to all his plans and ambitions for Tongking.
It has never been occupied, and the Government was thinking
of turning it into a sanitarium for the forces near the coast.
Once over the bars we steamed a mile or two up the river, past
half a dozen odd-looking river gunboats, and dropped anchor off
Haiphong. The port of Tongking is now a pretty little town,
with excellent broad streets, planted with trees on each side,
with spacious warehouses and solid wharves, with one Boulevard
of extensive shops, many pleasant bungalows, and an astonishing
71
72 FRANCE.
hotel. At six o'clock its cafe holds a hundred people, taking
their pre-prandial drink. To see them it is difficult to realise
that you are at the other end of the earth from Paris, and there
could not be a better illustration of the saying that a Frenchman
takes France with him wherever he goes. The business part of
the town consists of several crowded streets of Chinese houses,
and the native town, which is miserable and very dirty, lies on
the other side of a narrow creek. There are three excellent news-
papers, one daily, one bi-weekly, and one weekly, and almost
every characteristic of a French town, including the duel,
which flourishes greatly in Tongking. Not a little money and
much intelligent labour have been expended to transform the
original malarious swamps into this bright and pleasing little
place, reminding one of Algiers, with its broad green and white
streets and constant sunshine. But I fear that both the labour
and the money must be looked upon as little better than wasted.
There is nothing to detain one in Haiphong. An afternoon is
enough to see it all. So next morning at eight I went on board a
big, powerful, twin-screw steamer, Le Tigre, for the trip to Hanoi,
the capital and largest town, upwards of a hundred miles up
the Red River. The navigation is extremely difficult in places,
owing to the mudbanks and sharp turns, but the twin-screw and
the Chinese pilot between them managed every twist but one.
There was no European captain, only a purser, and the China-
man was apparently in sole command. A stack of Snider rifles
stood in the saloon, and a plate of half-inch iron was suspended
on each side of the pilot and the two men at the wheel, com-
pletely shielding them from bullets fired from the shore. We
had a capital breakfast, and a charming French priest, in
Chinese dress and pigtail, who was returning to his inland
station in China via Tongking, told us string after string of
adventures and incidents of his work among the Celestials. For
hours the trip is monotonous. The banks are flat, the country
is always green and fertile, the water-buffaloes wallow in the
mud, and enormous flocks of teal rise in front every few minutes.
IN FRENCH INDO-CHINA. 73
A diversion came at one o'clock in the shape of a little post of
soldiers halfway between the seaboard and the capital. The
steamer came slowly alongside the high bank, a plank was
thrown out, and the garrison invited us on shore. They were
an officer, two non-commissioned officers, half-a-dozen privates,
and about fifty native troops. The post was a strongly stockaded
little place a hundred yards from the river, well able to keep off
any ordinary attack. But the garrison was a sorry-looking
band. The officers were in pyjamas, and the men's old thick
blue and red French uniforms were only recognisable by their
shape, nearly all the colour having long ago departed. Their
coats were patched, their trousers torn and ragged, their
boots split. As for their faces, anaemia of the most pro-
nounced character was written plainly across them. I have
never seen such a ragged and worn lot of soldiers. The arrival
of the daily steamer is the only distraction of the little force,
and they were profusely grateful for a bundle of illustrated
papers. We also gave them a little more entertainment by
running aground just opposite their post when we left.
The steamer reached Hanoi at midnight. The only hotel was
closed; vigorous hammering at the door produced no effect
whatever, and I was beginning to contemplate the prospect of
spending the night in the street, when a jolly captain of artillery
came past, evidently fresh from a good dinner, showed me a back
way into the hotel, and even accompanied me, because, as he
explained, I probably did not yet know how to treat the natives.
Certainly if he did, I did not, although his method was simplicity
itself. We discovered six " boys " sleeping sounder than I ever
saw human beings sleep in my life, on a table in the dining-
room. With one shove he pitched the whole lot in a heap on
the floor, and as they even then showed unmistakable symptoms
of an intention to finish their nap as they lay piled up on one
another, he fell to work on the heap with his cane so vigorously
that he soon had them scampering all over the room like a nest
of disturbed rats. " Tas de cochons," he said, and resumed his
homeward way.
74 FRANCE.
Like almost every city of the Far East, so far as my experience
goes, Hanoi is less interesting than you expect. The foreign
town, of five or six hundred inhabitants, is little more than one
street, named, of course, after Paul Bert, and even that is dis-
figured by a narrow, irregular tramway, running down the middle
and carrying military stores all day long. There is a small
lake in the centre of the city, with a curious islet and pagoda,
that gives one pretty point of view, and the ride round the walls
of the Citadel, a square mile or so of enclosed land, is interesting
for once. And the "Pont de Papier," where the ill-fated Kiviere
met his fate so wretchedly on the afternoon of May 19, 1883,
with the tiny pagoda just beyond it, where the brave Balny dis-
appeared, are historically impressive if one has the whole story
of these days in mind. But Hanoi makes a poor showing as
the capital of Tongking. The Hotel Alexandre is the very
worst I ever set foot in. The monuments are second to those
of an ordinary Chinese town. The advent of the foreigner has
killed native art and handicraft, without contributing anything
to replace it. You may walk the length of the " Eue des
Brodeurs " without finding a piece of embroidery worth carrying
home. There is a "Eue des Incrusteurs," named after the
workmen who inlay mother-of-pearl into ebony, but I spent half
a day there before picking up a decent piece, and that was made
before the French were thought of. The native metal-work,
that sure test of the art-tendencies of an uncivilised people, has
vanished with their independence. Even the Governor-General
apologised for his surroundings. " I shall be able to receive
you better," he said courteously, "when you come to Saigon."
But there is this compensation for Hanoi as compared with
Haiphong. The faster Tongking prospers, the faster will
Haiphong decay ; while Hanoi always has been the capital, and
nature has so placed it that it always will be, and the two will
prosper, if at all, together.
Of the native inhabitants, of whom Hanoi has 70,000, there
is much that might be said. After China, with its hundreds of
IN FRENCH INDO-CHINA. 75
thousands of great brown coolies, and its slim ones who will walk
all day up-hill under burdens that would break down a European
athlete on the level, the Annamites strike the visitor as a nation of
pigmies. Their average height must be under five feet ; they are
narrow-chested and thin-legged, their mouths are always stained
a slobbering filthy red with the areca-nut and lime they chew
unceasingly, and they are stupid beyond the power of words to
tell. Whether it is in any degree due to the fault of their con-
querors or not, I cannot say, but they appear to be a people
destitute of the sense of self-respect. At any rate, the French
treat them as if they had none. The first time I went into
dejeuner at the hotel at Haiphong one of the " boys " had left a
dirty plate on the little table to which the host showed me.
" Qu'est ce que tu fais, toi ? " demanded the latter, pointing to
the plate, and smack, a box on the ears followed that you could
have heard fifty yards off. And this in the middle of a crowded
dining-room. You would no more think of striking a Chinese
servant like that than of pulling a policeman's nose in Piccadilly.
Before a Frenchman, an Annamite too often appears to have no
rights.
Both men and women in Tongking wear their hair long and
twisted up into a kind of chignon on the top of the head. It is
of course always lanky and jet-black. Their dress is of the most
simple. The men wear a loose jacket and short trousers, and
the women a long, straight shift reaching from neck to heels.
The Annamite man is a very poor creature, and it is only among
the upper classes that one sees occasionally a well-formed or
handsome face, with some elevation or dignity of expression.
The women are much better looking, and would often be pretty
except for the stained mouth and teeth, which renders them
horrible to a European eye. But in figure they are the most
favoured of any I have seen in the Far East, as my illustration
may go to show, and in the course of a walk in Hanoi you may
meet a dozen who are straight enough and strong enough and
shapely enough to serve as a sculptor's models. Their native
76 FRANCE.
dance is a burlesque of the Japanese, to the accompaniment of
a fiddle six feet long. The few women you see with clean
mouths and white teeth are almost sure to be the mistresses
of Europeans.
The most curious of the surface impressions of Tongking is
the language you must learn to talk with the natives. Your ear
becomes familiar with "pidgin English " before you have spent
a day in the East, and, pace Mr, Leland, a horrid jargon it is,
convenient, no doubt, but growing positively repulsive after a
while. But "pidgin French," or "petit negre," as it is called,
comes as a complete surprise. And it is all the funnier because
of the excellent native pronunciation of French. " Petit negre "
is characterised, as compared with French proper, by four
features omission of the auxiliary verbs, ignoring of gender,
employment of the infinitive for all moods and tenses, and
absence of words taken bodily from the native, like "maskee,"
" man-man," and " chop-chop," in Pidgin. The one expression
which recurs again and again with an infinity of meanings is
"y-a-moyen," or " y-a-pas moyen." And after this comes
" fili," for " fini," nearly as often. The " You savvy " of Pidgin
is " Toi connaitre ? " The " My wantchee," is " Moi vouloir."
The native servant is everywhere called by the English word
" boy," pronounced " boi-ee," in two syllables. And the
language is further enriched by a number of words recalling
the nursery, like " pousse-pousse," for jinrikisha, " coupe-coupe,"
for a big knife, and so on. " Beaucoup " does duty for " tres "
and " bien," so one is constantly hearing sentences like these :
" Moi beaucoup vouloir avoir sampan," " Soupe beaucoup mau-
vais moi donner vous beaucoup bambou," and " Toi beaucoup
imbecile." " Petit negre " is of course much younger than
Pidgin ; for one person who speaks it a hundred thousand speak
the latter ; and it is not capable of the flights of oratory to
which the accomplished speaker of Pidgin can soar. Nor will it
ever become what Pidgin has long been the lingua franca of
communication between vast numbers of people otherwise
A MUONG BEAUTY, TONGKING.
IN FRENCH INDOCHINA. 77
acquainted with only a score different dialects and tongues. I
may add here that " Tongking " is the same word as " Tokyo,"
meaning " Eastern Capital," and that the former is the only
correct spelling to express the Chinese sounds. " Tonquin "
and " Tonkin " are indefensible, either in French or English.
The northern part of the peninsula of Indo-China is Tong-
king, the French territory adjoining China ; the central part is
Annam, which was formerly a long narrow strip of coast, but
by the recent Convention with Siam stretches back to the
Mekong; and the southern end of the peninsula is Cochin-
China, with Cambodia lying behind it. Of all the possessions
of France in the Far East, Cochin-China is the most imposing,
as it is also the oldest. Saigon, the capital, was first captured
by a combined French and Spanish expedition in 1859, and
held by a small garrison until 1861, when Cochin-China was
finally taken by France. For inhabitants it had in 1891, 1,753
French, 207 other Europeans, 6,600 Annamese, and 7,600
Chinese. It is connected by a steam tramway with the
Chinese town of Cholon, three miles away, which has 40,000
inhabitants. The severe fighting which took place in and
around Saigon practically destroyed the original native town,
and the French were therefore able to rebuild it on their own
lines. The result is that the Saigon of to-day is virtually a
French town. It is laid out on the chess-board pattern familiar
to all who have visited the western towns of the United States,
and French taste has made it very attractive in appearance.
The streets are lined with rows of trees, the roads are just like
those of any European city, the public buildings are numerous
and stately, the shops have all the external appearance of the
magasins of Paris, the cafes are at every corner and are
patronised with true French conviviality, and there is a very
good reproduction of the Jardin d' Acclimation. The Palais
du Gouvernement cost twelve million francs, and except
perhaps the European-built " Audience Halls " of Bangkok,
is the finest edifice in the Far Eaat. The Cathedral is
78 FRANCE.
almost equal to it, and every house is a little earthly
paradise in its trim garden. But Saigon has many draw-
backs to set against these advantages. The climate is
simply appalling. Hundreds of people avoid the journey
home from Shanghai or Hongkong by the comfortable Mes-
sageries Maritimes line, simply because they have once had
experience of a night passed in the river off Saigon. I have
seen a passenger fall on the deck, struck with heat-apoplexy
under a thick double awning, and I have twice paced the deck
for a whole night, fan in hand, sleep being out of the question
because of the heat and the mosquitoes. And except for the
Chinese, there is little commerce worth the name. It is a city
of fonctionnaires, and nine out of ten Frenchmen are occupied
in purveying either French luxuries or French personal services
to the official and military classes. Take away the shop-keepers,
the barbers, the tailors, the wine merchants, the tobacconists,
and the restaurant keepers, and there would be virtually no
Frenchmen left who was not a soldier, a sailor, or a Civil
servant. Even many of the former have recently left the place.
While I was at Bangkok the foreign community learned with
pleasure that a French barber had arrived, and everybody went
to him at once, thankful to escape from the doubtful comb and
fingers of the native. He had left Saigon in despair, thinking
that even in the Siamese capital he might do better. Like other
French colonies, Saigon is the victim of protection and of the
inability of the colon to shake off the depressing conviction of
exile.
I paid a flying visit to another French colonial town, and it
left an ineffaceable impression on my mind. I was on board a
private ship sailing down the coast of Annam, when we ran
short of medicine for one of our party who was down with fever.
So we anchored off Tourane, and two of us went ashore in the
ship's boat. It was in the middle of the afternoon on a week-
day, but the main street of the town was almost deserted. Not
a score natives were about, hardly a European was to be
IN FKENCH INDO- CHINA. 79
seen, except a group of officers sitting in front of a cafe. It was
half an hour before we could transact business at the post-office.
The whole town was a spectacle of stagnation, though it is one
of the Annamese ports described as " ouverts au commerce
international." Tourane, in fact, was a vivid commentary upon
the words of Pierre Loti about precisely this part of the Far
East " C'est le voile qui se tisse lentement sur les choses trop
eloignees, c'est 1'aneantissement par le soleil, par la monotonie,
par 1'ennui."
One very pleasant reminiscence of Cochin-China I have. The
city of Saigon is situated 60 miles from the mouth of the river,
where there is the well-known light of Cape St. James.
There is a charming little hotel there, where the Saigonnais
come to seek refreshment from the dreadful heat of the town.
One of the most important stations of the Eastern Telegraph
Company is at the Cape, for there the cable between Hong-
kong and Singapore touches land,* and connects with the
French cable to Tongking and the land lines to Cambodia and
Siam. It is a curious little colony at Cape St. James, a dozen
Englishmen for the service of the English cable, three or four
Frenchmen for the French cable, half-a-dozen pilots, and the
few invalid Saigonnais who come to the hotel. The electricians
get their supplies in a launch from Saigon every Sunday morn-
ing, and for the rest of the week their only communication with
the great world is by the zig-zag line which trickles interminably
out of the tiny siphon of Sir William Thompson's recorder. And
this tells them little, for even news messages come in code. The
great French mail steamers pass them twice a week, and the few
* At last a direct cable connecting Hongkong, Labuan, and Singapore has
been arranged for and is now being laid. In the interests of the Empire this
means of communication, independent of foreign soil, was absolutely essential.
The next step, which ought not to be delayed a single day, should be to
separate entirely from the British office in Hongkong the foreign employes
of the Danish Great Northern Company. Their presence might conceivably
constitute an Imperial danger of great magnitude. It should not be forgotten
that the King of Denmark once took an attitude in this connection hostile to
British interests.
80 FRANCE.
other steamers which ply to Saigon for rice pick up a pilot.
The Company keep them well supplied with newspapers, and
they have an excellent billiard-table, but their life is not a
happy one. On Sundays, when the fresh supplies are in, they
feast. On Monday they feast again, for all meat must be
cooked at once. On Tuesday, cold meat. On Wednesday,
hash. On Thursday, back to tinned meats, and by Friday
there is probably neither bread nor ice at the Cape. Then,
too, fever makes its regular round among them. Their pale
faces, scarred with prickly heat and other physical nuisances of
a damp tropical climate, are a painful reminder that our
convenient telegrams, like everything else we enjoy, mean
sacrifices on somebody's part. The staff of the Eastern Com-
pany are everywhere among the most intelligent and hospitable
compatriots that the British traveller in the Far East can meet,
and the station at Cape St. James became like a home for me
for a few days. A good deal of romance is connected with this
remote pulse of the great world. Not many years ago, for
instance, the clerks used to work with loaded rifles beside them,
and on one occasion the sleeping staff were aroused in the night
by the report of a rifle, and on rushing out found that the night
operator had been visited by a tiger while working at his
instrument. The neighbourhood is still supposed, with more
or less scepticism by those who live there, to be infested with
tigers, and the government offers a standing reward of one
hundred francs for the destruction of one. During the few
days I spent at Cape St. James I made the acquaintance of an
Annamite hunter, named Mitt. He was a grave and sedate
man, extremely poor, and stone deaf, but his kno^wledge of
the jungle and its inhabitants might have rivalled that of
Mowgli himself. In the course of a long talk about shikar I
consulted him on the possibility of getting a tiger, though I had
already found that even in tiger lands tigers are not so common
as one's imagination at home pictures them. And moreover,
whenever there is a tiger there are a hundred men of his
IN FRENCH INDO-OHINA. 81
locality bent on trapping him, or poisoning him, or snaring him
with bird-lime, or, if needs must, on shooting him. My first hopes
had been set on Vladivostok. There are the woolliest tigers in
the world, and before reaching that remote spot I had been filled
with stories of how they were in the habit of coming into the
back yard for the scraps, and how men never walked abroad at
night in parties of less than a dozen, all armed to the teeth.
But once in Eussian Tartary, I found the tiger was a tradition,
and the leading merchant told me he . had standing orders from
three different high officials to buy any tiger-skin that came
into the market, at almost any price. So I transferred my
hopes to Korea. Was not the tiger a sort of national emblem
of the Hermit Kingdom ? And is there not a special caste of
tiger-hunters, the very men who once gave such a thrashing to
a foreign landing-party ? In a ride across the country, there-
fore, I might well hope for a chance. From sea to sea, however,
I never caught sight of even the hunter ; only with much difficulty
did I succeed in finding and buying one poor skin, and the most
satisfactory response I could get to my earnest inquiries was
the information, " There are two seasons in Korea : one in
which the man hunts the tiger, the other in which the tiger
hunts the man. It is now the latter; therefore you must come
at another time." So in Northern China, so, too, in Tongking,
though there I once actually saw a tiger's footprint at the
entrance to a coal-mine. Mitt was disposed to be encouraging,
and at last he declared, " Moi aller voir." So he disappeared
for a couple of days, and returned one morning with instructions
for me to be ready in the afternoon, and we started at five
o'clock, Mitt walking and running ahead and I following him on
a pony.
For a time we followed a road through the woods and then
struck off into the bush. An hour later Mitt motioned me to
dismount. A coolie waiting for us jumped into the saddle and
galloped off. We were on a small rising ground, dotted with
bushes, in the middle of a rough tangle of forest and brush-
7
82 PKANCE.
wood. I looked everywhere for the mirador, and not finding it,
I yelled an inquiry into Mitt's ear. He pointed to a tree fifty
yards away and I saw how marvellously he had concealed it.
He had chosen two slim trees growing four feet apart, behind
these he had planted two bamboos at the other corners of the
square, and then he had led two or three thickly-leaved creepers
from the ground and wound them in and around and over a
little platform and roof, till he had made a perfect nest of live
foliage. The floor was about twenty feet from the ground, and
it looked perilously fragile to hold two men. But it was a
masterpiece of hunting craft. In response to a peculiar cry
from Mitt, two natives appeared with a little black pig slung on
a pole, yelling lustily. The mirador overlooked a slight de-
pression in which an oblong pond had been constructed for the
buffaloes to wallow in, as these creatures cannot work unless
they are allowed to soak themselves in water two or three times
a day. By the side of this the pig was securely fastened. The
two natives took themselves off with their pole, Mitt gave me a
" leg up " into the mirador, which shook and swayed as we
climbed gingerly in, and we arranged ourselves for our long
watch. We loaded our rifles at half-past six, and till half-past
ten we sat side by side like two stone Buddhas. Then five wild
pigs came trotting down to the water to drink, which was an
intensely welcome break in the monotony. At half-past eleven
Mitt made signs to me to go to sleep for a while and he would
watch. At half-past twelve he woke me and immediately fell
back in his turn, fast asleep. It had been moonlight, but the
moon was now hidden behind clouds. On the horizon broad
flashes of summer lightning were playing. There was a chorus
of frogs in the distance, night-birds were calling to one another,
the great lizards were making extraordinary and grotesque
noises, and it was so dark that I could no longer discern the
black patch of the pig's body on the ground twenty yards away.
This is not a book of sporting adventures, though there are
many such memories upon which I should like to dwell, so
A GROUP OF NATIVES, TONGKING.
How I EARNED A HUNDRED FRANCS.
IN FRKNCH INDO-CHINA. 83
I will only say that at two o'clock, suddenly, in perfect silence
and without the slightest warning, a big black object flashed by
the far side of the little pool. It was like the swoop past of an
owl in the starlight, like the shadow of a passing bird, utterly
noiseless and instantaneous. I fired, and a minute afterwards
a loud cough showed that the bullet had found its place. At
daylight we descended and sought everywhere on the hard
ground for footprints. The search brought us for a minute to
the edge of a stretch of tall grass. That moment came very
near being the last for one of us. While we were peering about,
the tiger suddenly sat up in the grass not ten feet away, and,
with a tremendous roar, sprang clean out into the open. He
was so near that it was out of the question to shoot. If I had
flung my rifle forward it would have fallen on him. I could see
his white teeth distinctly and the red gap of his throat. I
remember even at that moment wondering how he could possibly
open his mouth so wide. Mitt and I were perhaps eight yards
apart and the tiger leaped out midway between us. Instinctively
the Annamite made a wild rush away on his side and I on mine.
The tiger had evidently walked just far enough into the grass to
be hidden and had then lain down. His presence there took us
so completely by surprise that we were helpless. If he had been
slightly less wounded than he was, it is perfectly certain that
in another instant he would have sprung upon one or the other of
us, as we had not the remotest chance of escaping by running
away. But the first spring was evidently all it could manage,
for it turned immediately and sneaked back into cover. It was
evident that the beast was no longer in fighting trim, so after
a few minutes we followed it into the grass and I despatched
it with a couple of shots. Every sportsman knows that at such
a moment one is ridiculously happy. It turned out to be a
tigress, a little under eight feet long, and very beautifully
marked. Six coolies carried her on crossed poles ; the natives
came out and " chin-chinned " her to Cape St. James, for the
tiger is "joss " to them; her skin went to Kowland Ward's; her
$4 FRANCE.
claws were mounted as a necklace by a Chinese goldsmith ; her
body was eaten by the Annamites, and I had a reward of a
hundred francs from the French Government for killing an
animal nuisible. With that reward and a little addition Mitt
was able to settle down for life as a landed proprietor. Since
then I have found out a place where a dozen tigers may
certainly be shot in a week or two, but this is for another
time.
The French war with China or the " reprisals," as it was
called by France has left many a memory in the Far East.
Some of these are instructive for the future, some of them should
be put on record for the historian, while some are too dreadful
to tell at all. Among the first-named are the advantages
attaching to the state of "reprisals." During the war the
bullocks for victualling the French forces used to stand in the
streets of Hongkong. The Hongkong coolies at first refused to
work for the French, and the French mail steamers were loaded
by "destitutes" from the Sailors' Home. Hongkong was on
the eve of a general strike of the Chinese. The coolies refused
under threats from China, but when they saw that the French
could get on without them, and that the coolies who replaced
them were getting a dollar a day, they returned to work. The
French fleet established coaling-stations in the Pescadores, and
at the anchorage of Matsu, a few miles north of the mouth of
the river Min, and at these points they were regularly supplied
with coal from a non-British firm in Hongkong. The same
firm were dealing at the same time with the Chinese govern-
ment. One curious incident of the war was narrated to me by
the chief actor in it. There was an American-built craft of five
hundred tons, named the Ping-on, sailing under the British flag.
She was sold by her owners to the Chinese government to be
delivered in Foochow, and sailed for that port with nine hundred
Chinese soldiers on board. They mutinied and refused to be
taken to Foochow, and forced the captain to take them to
Taiwan, in Formosa, which he did, receiving there the first
IN FRENCH INDO-CHINA. 85
payment of seventeen thousand dollars. There the Chinese put
another captain on board, and in some unexplained way,
succeeded in getting her to sea still under the British flag. For
some time she ran between Amoy and Formosa, until one day,
with a full load of Chinese soldiers, she ran into the midst of
the French fleet in Rover's Channel, in the Pescadores. This
was a very curious " accident " for an experienced navigator to
make. As soon as the Chinese saw their position a number
of them jumped overboard, and the Ping-on was captured
and taken to Saigon. That there was something very wrong
about her right to fly the red ensign is proved by the fact
that the British Government took no steps whatever on her
behalf, as they did, for instance, in the case of the Waverley,
which was captured by the French and given up again. The
blockade of Formosa gave rise to many strange and painful
incidents. Before Keelung was taken, one of my informants
had seen thirty-two heads of French soldiers in the market-place,
all having either deserted or been captured at the unsuccessful
attack on Tamsui, where French troops in heavy marching
order were landed with three miles of paddy-fields between
them and the enemy, whereas a mile above the fort they might
have found an excellent landing-place. Being over their knees
in mud they were of course simply mown down by the Chinese
riflemen. For every one of these heads a reward of a hundred
taels had been paid. The foreigners in Formosa protested so
strenuously against this barbarity of the Chinese that the reward
was altered to a hundred taels for a live Frenchman, and I have
talked to the man who had thirty under his charge at one time.
They were then treated very well, most of them being ultimately
given a free passage to Amoy, and a few entering the Chinese
service, where some remain to this day. These thirty had all
deserted from the French ships, and all but two or three were
men from Elsass-Lothringen and spoke Jittle but German.
"You may guess," added my informant, who was a foreigner
occupying a high official position, " how miserable they must
86 FRANCE.
have been on board, for them to desert to a pi ace like Formosa ! "
As an example of the way the Chinese were swindled by certain
foreign purveyors, I may mention that they were supplied from
Europe with five hundred thousand rounds for Winchester rifles,
and that the whole of this ammunition was found to be worthless,
when a foreign officer examined it, and was destroyed. Another
dreadful incident of which I find all the details in my notebooks,
arose from the necessity the French found or believed themselves
to be in to shoot a number of women in Keelung. An alarming
number of French soldiers were being reported as missing, and
it was alleged that these women had decoyed them into houses
and there made away with them in horrible ways. Twenty
women were identified and found guilty, and they were all shot.
In judging of any acts of punishment or retaliation by Europeans
against Chinese, it must never be forgotten that acts of appalling
and almost incredible barbarity are the common accompaniment
of all Chinese warfare. If it were not that the details are inde-
scribable I could give a blood-curdling list of horrors that have
been described to me. And as I have more than once had a
narrow escape myself at the hands of Chinese ruffians, I speak
not altogether without personal experience.
There is one other event of the Franco-Chinese "reprisals"
upon which public opinion, particularly in France, is ill-informed,
and which, in the interests of history, should be recognised in its
true light. I mean the engagement between the French and
Chinese fleets at the Pagoda Anchorage in the Min river, off
Foochow, on August 23, 1884. This is generally regarded as a
battle, and as Admiral Courbet's greatest achievement : in fact,
it was a massacre. M. Pierre Loti calls it "la grande gloire de
Fou-tcheou," and all French writers follow in the same strain.
For weeks the Chinese fleet had lain at anchor, covered by the
shotted guns of the French fleet, and considering the utter and
instant cowardice shown by the Chinese when the critical
moment at last came, it can only be supposed that they were
under the impression that the French would not really attack
IN FRENCH INDO- CHINA. 87
after all. The Chinese ships numbered eleven, all of wood,
mounting forty-five guns, only a few of which were of large
calibre, and carrying 1,190 men. The French ships were nine
armoured vessels and two torpedo boats, with seventy- seven
guns and 1,830 men. The signal for the engagement was given
immediately on the arrival of the Triompliante, by the hoisting
of the red flag on the Volta at fifty-six minutes past one o'clock.
At three minutes past two all was over. Two Chinese vessels
sank in a few seconds. Two others ran ashore in attempting to
escape. Two more were so moored that their big guns could
not be fired, and they were immediately adrift in a sinking
condition. Three more were disabled at the first discharge.
One, the Yangivu, fired her stern chaser once, killing several men
on the bridge of the Volta and almost killing Admiral Courbet
himself. Before she could reload, a torpedo-boat from the Volta
reached her and she was blown to pieces tvithin twenty-seven
seconds of the beginning of the fight. One Chinese vessel alone
may be said to have been fought. This was the little Chenwei.
" Exposed to the broadsides of the Villars and the d'Estaing,
and riddled by a terrific discharge from the heavy guns of the
Triompliante as she passed, she fought to the last. In flames
fore and aft, drifting helplessly down the stream and sinking,
she plied her guns again and again, till one of the French
torpedo boats, dashing in through the smoke, completed the
work of destruction."* " The captain reserved one loaded gun
till the last moment, and then as the battered and shot-rent
ship gave the last mournful roll, he pulled the lock-string and
sent hissing on its errand of hate the last farewell of the unfortu-
nate Cliing Wai."-\- " Though in seven minutes from the firing
of the first shot every Chinese vessel was practically disabled,
the French continued to pour in shot, shell and Hotchkiss fire,
* Imperial Chinese Maritime Customs, Keport of Mr. Deputy Commissioner
Carrall, which may be regarded as an official account of the engagement.
f " The French at Foochow," by James F. Roche and L. L. Cowen, U.S. Navy,
which confirms the above in all essential details,
88 FRANCE.
regardless of the wounded and helpless men in the crippled ships.
. . . The casualties on the French side were 5 killed and 15
wounded, and on the Chinese side 419 killed and 128 wounded,
and 51 missing, besides 102 killed and 2'2 wounded on hoard
war junks." Such is the true story of the Foochow fight. Of
course war is war, and the French Marshal was right when he
said, " Quand je fais la guerre je laisse ma philanthropic dans
les armoires de ma femme." And it is the business of a fleet to
disable the fleet of the enemy in the shortest possible time.
But with the exception of the Clienwei on one side and the
ten men on the torpedo-boat of the Volta on the other, the less
said about " gloire " on this occasion the better. French
soldiers did cover themselves with glory when their commander
made his fatal blunder before Tamsui, and many a time in
Tongking, but Foochow belongs to another category.
I have in my notebooks the following striking story of the
death of Riviere, which I took down in these words from the
lips of the narrator, who sufficiently describes himself. It will
be remembered that Commandant Riviere, an extremely gallant
but very nervous man, ambitious of literary honours, who had
said, " Je m'en vais par le Tonkin a 1' Academic," had been
compelled to spend nearly a year in possession of the citadel of
Hanoi, while the Chinese Black Flags came in thousands into
the town and gathered in impudent strength in the neighbour-
hood. At last the reinforcements he had prayed for came, and
slight hostilities began at once. Then the Black Flag leader,
the famous Liu Jung-fu, issued his challenge to the French
commander. "You send out teachers of religion," it said, " to
undermine and ruin the people. You say you wish for inter-
national commerce, but you merely wish to swallow up the
country. There are no bounds to your cruelty, and there is no
name for your wickedness. You trust in your strength and you
debauch our women and our youth. . . . He who issues this
proclamation has received behest to avenge these wrongs. . . .
But Hanoi is an ancient and honourable town. It is filled with
IN FRENCH INDO-CHINA. 89
honest and loyal citizens. Therefore could he not endure that
the city should be reduced to ruins, and young and old put to
the sword. Therefore do I, Liu Jung-fu, issue proclamation.
Know, ye French robbers, that I come to meet you. Rely on
your strength and rapine, and lead forth your herd of sheep and
curs to meet my army of heroes, and see who will be master.
Wai-tak-fu, an open space, I have fixed on as the field where I
shall establish my fame." * This was stuck up one night upon
the gates of the citadel and all over the stockades, and was
followed by an attack next day. So much by way of introduc-
tion : now for the story which was told to me. My informant
said: " Riviere was at Hanoi doing nothing, in spite of the fact
that the Chinese were known to be gathering round the place.
People talked a good deal about it, and one day the challenge
came from Liu Jung-fu. So Riviere said, ' That's nothing but
humbug I'll show you.' And next morning he went out with
four hundred men, himself in a carriage and pair, for he had
been suffering from fever. It was to be just a morning's walk
nothing else. Berthe de Villers was with him, and when they
reached the Pont de Papier he came up and said, ' Vous feriez
bien, Commandant, de faire fouiller ces bois.' ' Vous avez
peur?' asked Riviere. ' Je n'ai jamais peur,' replied Villers,
and turned to walk off, when a volley was fired from the wood.
Villers was hit in the stomach, and a quarter-master, standing
close by, in the chest. Riviere sprang out, placed Villers and
the man in the carriage and ordered it back to Hanoi at
once. The horses were turned, bolted, and carried the two men
at full gallop back to Hanoi, where they arrived locked in each
other's arms in the death-grasp. In the meantime the volleys
had continued and men had fallen by dozens and lay in heaps
along the road. Riviere rushed ahead to get a gun on the bridge
turned round so that it could be brought back, when he was
struck mortally in the side and fell. A lieutenant named
* For the whole proclamation see J. G. Scott, " France and Tongking," 1885,
p. 32, and C. B. Norman, " Tonkin," 1884, p. 210.
90 FRANCE.
Jacquis ran up, and Riviere, seeing that he had made a horrible
and fatal mistake, and that he was mortally wounded, ordered
Jacquis to kill him. ' Jacquis, brule-moi la gueule ! ' ' Je ne
veux pas, Commandant.' 'Je vous le commande ! ' ' Je ne
peux pas, Commandant.' Then Riviere drew his revolver and
blew his brains out, and Jacquis, seeing it, did the same.
Riviere's head was carried away after the sauve qui pent, and was
only recovered a long time afterwards after much negociation.
It had been put in spirits of wine in a kerosine oil tin, and was
perfectly recognisable, whiskers and all. I slept on that tin for
several nights. Then I was a member of the committee who
drew up the proccs verbal uniting the head to the body. He had
shot himself in the mouth and the bullet had come out behind
the left ear." With regard to this story I can only say that I
repeat it exactly as it was told to me in Tongking by a thoroughly
respectable informant. Of course Riviere's sortie, the rout of
the French, the return of the defeated troops into Hanoi, the
distribution of wine, the consequent drunkenness of the over-
strained men, the officers themselves doing sentry-go on that
" black night " of May 19, 1883, the seizure of Riviere's head
and the subsequent surrender of it, are matters of history.
With this strange story I close my notebooks so far as souvenirs
of the war are concerned.
One of the most remarkable romances of modern Eastern his-
tory is connected with these French colonies. In the spring of
1889 there appeared at Hongkong a tall, well-built Frenchman,
with a bushy brown beard and very long legs, who called himself
Marie David de Mayrena, and distributed visiting-cards with the
words " S.M. le Roi des Sedangs " printed upon them. He had
had an adventurous career in the Far East, in the course of
which he had more than once displayed great personal courage
in guerilla warfare. At last his wanderings brought him to the
region of the Sedangs, a tribe inhabiting part of the Hinterland
of Annam, a region not so well known then as it has since
become. By these people he had been elected king, and of the
IN FRENCH INDO-CHINA. 91
genuineness of his election there can be no doubt whatever.
He was at first recognised by the French missionaries and
by the French authorities, and I have myself seen corre-
spondence and treaties which establish his claim beyond
question. Of these treaties there were a score signed between
Mayrena and the chiefs of the different tribes ; with the
Hallongs and Braos, signed by Khen on June 3, 1888 ; with
the confederation Banhar-Eeungao, signed by Krui, President ;
with the Jiarais, signed by Ham on August 19, 1888, pro-
mising tribute of " un elephant domestique dresse " ; with the
village of Dak-Drey and half-a-dozen others, signed by Blak,
chief, translated and witnessed by P. Trigoyen and J. B.
Guerlach, " missionnaires apostoliques "; and finally, a treaty
of alliance between "les E. P. Missionnaires et les Sedangs,"
concluded " entre Marie, roi des Sedangs, et le E. P. Vialleton,
superieur de la Mission des Sauvages Banhar-Eeungao." This
treaty provided that " a partir d'aujourd'hui, toutes les tribus ou
villages qui ont reconmi ou qui reconnaitront a 1'avenir 1'auto-
rite du Eoi des Sedangs seront les amis et allies des villages
des Peres Missionnaires. En cas d'attaque des Missions, ils
preteront aide et secours." I should add that I give these
details not only for their romantic interest, but also because
when Mayrena was thrown over by the French authorities
and the missionaries, he was poohpoohed as a common liar,
and now that he is dead and the whole strange adventure at
an end, I take a pleasure in showing that he was not wholly an
impostor, in spite of his vanity and his follies. It should be
added in explanation of certain phrases that his French was
by no means always above reproach. To continue, the rela-
tions which had subsisted between Mayrena and the priests
are clearly shown by the following passage in the treaty,
which, like most of this strange history, is now published for
the first time so far as my knowledge goes : " Considerant que
si nous detenons la couronne du Eoyaume Sedang, nous la
devons aux EE. Peres Missionnaires de la Societe des Missions
92 FRANCE.
Etrangeres de Paris ; que c'est grace a leurs concours que nous
avons pu expliquer notre volonte et parcourir le Royaunie
avant d'etre elu ; que ce sont eux qui ont servi d'intermediaires
entre nous et les chefs pour traduire nos pensees " complete
liberty to preach is granted, all religions are promised toleration,
but that of the Roman Catholic Church is declared the official
one; the right of refuge is given, too, in chapels, and finally
lands for a new town to be chef-lieu of the province of Kon
Trang, and to bear that name, are conceded to the R. Pere
Trigoyen. This treaty is dated Kon Jeri, August 25, 1888.
The " Constitution " is dated July 1, 1888, and its Article III.
reads, " M. de Mayrena, deja elu Roi des Sedangs, portera le
titre Roi Chef Supreme," and Article V., " Le drapeau national
sera bleu uni avec une croix blanche a Petoile rouge au centre."
It was signed by thirty-seven chiefs, of whose names I copied
only the first and the last Kon Tao Jop and Pelei Tebau.
When Mayrena first turned up in Hongkong, he was vouched
for by the French Consul and introduced by him to everybody,
including the Governor, in consequence of which his social posi-
tion was sealed by an invitation to dinner at Government House.
At this time he was an astounding figure, when in his royal
attire. He wore a short scarlet jacket with enormous galons on
the cuffs, a broad blue ribbon, a magenta sash in which was
stuck a long curved sword worn across the front of the bod}*,
white trousers with a broad gold stripe, and a white helmet with
a gold crown and three stars. He distributed broadcast the
" Order of Marie I.," beginning with the captain of the little
Danish steamer Freyr, in return for the hoisting of his royal
standard in Haiphong harbour, and continuing with the
Governor of Hongkong, who was caused no slight embarrass-
ment in getting rid of the impossible ribbon and cross. He
used notepaper with a huge gold crown and coat-of-arms upon
it, gave large orders for jewellery, and conducted himself
generally like a crowned head. I have seen a private letter he
wrote at this time, from which the following passage is perhaps
IN FRENCH INDO-CHltfA. 95
worth putting on record : " II est un fait bien certain, c'est que
entre 1'Annam et le Siam il existe un vaste pays qui a nom
Laos. ... Or, les Sedangs et les Hamongs sont (illegible), je
parle des chefs marques au bras et dans le dos par le roi du
Laos. La France a-t-elle quelque droit sur le Laos ? Non !
. . . Le Laos . . . n'a aucune relation avec les nations Euro-
peennes." Mayrena succeeded in getting a few Hongkong
merchants to enter into an arrangement with him, by which he
conceded to them the right of developing the country of the
Sedangs, in return for certain duties upon trade and exports.
But the collapse came, of course, when the French authorities
changed their policy and took a line of direct opposition to him.
Even the missionaries who had enabled him to secure the
treaties of which they themselves were the official witnesses,
denounced him as an impostor. He then offered himself and
his country to the British, who would naturally have nothing to
do with him, so he next tried the Germans, and was actually
indiscreet enough as to send a telegram to Berlin in open German,
offering his allegiance, forgetting that this must pass through a
French office in Saigon. Of course it was read and reported
from there and orders were issued for his arrest. He believed
that he was condemned to be shot for high treason, so he went
to Europe by the German mail steamer, a few of his acquaint-
ances in Hongkong passing the hat round to pay his passage.
After he had left, the police succeeded in recovering most of the
jewellery he had presented and failed to pay for. A man of this
stamp, however, is never very long without money, and after
spending some time in prison in Ostend for debt he next
turned up in Paris and lived there in luxury for awhile, the
French press not being quite sure what to make of him.
Finally, he returned to the Far East, settled down with one
male companion and two or three female ones on an uninhabited
island off the coast of the Malay Peninsula, where a cobra
brought his strange career to a sudden end by biting him in the
foot. All that remains of " Marie I., King of the Sedangs," is
94 FRAtfCE.
the set of postage stamps he issued, which are among the most
prized curiosities of the philatelists. Such is the true story of
a " man who would be king," and it is perhaps worth telling as
an illustration of the fact that even in these late days there
may be as much romance in reality as in fiction, at least in the
wonderland of the Far East.
CHAPTER V.
ON THE FRANCO-CHINESE FRONTIER.
T WAS particularly fortunate in having the opportunity of
making a flying trip to the frontier between China and
the French possessions. This is far off the beaten track; no
vessels go there except to carry military supplies, and no private
boat-owners could be induced to go for fear of the pirates. I
had been to see the coal mines of the "Compagnie fran9aise
des Charbonnages du Tonkin," and the Managing Director, M.
Bavier-Chauffour, was good enough to place his steam yacht, the
Fanny, at my disposal. The trip was one of great interest, and
at the time of my visit no Englishman had been there, except
Mr. James Hart, who represented China on the Commission to
delimit the frontier.
From Hatou, where the coal mines are, we steamed due north
along the coast, entering almost at once the unique scenery of
Along Bay. For hours here we threaded our way among rocks
as thick as trees in an orchard enormous towering hills a
thousand feet high, great boulders hanging over sea-worn caves,
tall trembling steeples, tiny wooded rock-islets, shimmering
grottos, and an infinite number of grotesque water-carved forms
the monk, the inkstand, the cap of liberty. All the afternoon
there was one of these within gun-shot on each side. This is
the pirates' haunt, and it is indeed a glorious thing to be a
pirate king when you can run from your pursuer into Along
Bay and disappear instantly at any point. On our way down
we came across a fleet of sampans, carrying a thousand wood-
95
96 PRANCE.
cutters to their work, convoyed by a gunboat. The commander
hailed us, and we went on board. "I engage you to be
cautious," he said; "there is a well-armed band of pirates
reported on the coast. I would come a little way with you, but
I have just received telegraphic orders to stand by these boats.
However, keep a good look-out."
By the evening of the second day we were close to our
destination the mouth of the river separating Tongking and
China. It was very foggy intermittently, and the pilot was
about at the end of his knowledge. He believed us, however,
to be just off the mouth of the river. So we held a council of
war on the bridge, and decided to anchor. The word was hardly
out of our host's mouth when scrunch, scrunch, under the keel
told us it was too late. Full speed astern, anchors laid out,
everybody on board run backwards and forwards across the
vessel none of these things moved us. We were high and dry,
on a falling tide. Then the fog lifted for a moment, and we saw
where we were far beyond the mouth of the river, within a
quarter of a mile of the mainland of China, and in probably the
very worst spot for the very worst pirates in the whole world.
And in these seas there is only one tide in the twenty-four hours,
For twenty hours we should be on the sandbank, in two or three
hours we should walk round the launch ; never in their lives
would the pirates have had a chance at such a prize as the
Fanny; and they could come in any number from the mainland.
We tried to laugh at our bad luck, but the situation was
decidedly unpleasant. One of our party knew the country very
well, and the natives, as he speaks Annamese, but we all knew
enough to know one thing namely, that it would never do to
be taken alive. To blow one's brains out if necessary is one
thing; to be skinned alive is another. So we made prepara-
tions for our defence. No craft travels in these waters without
being armed ; and we were particularly well off. We had each
his gun, rifle, and revolver ; three Sikh guards from the mines
had their rifles, and there were six Winchesters in the rack in
ON THE FRANCO-CHINESE FEONTIER. 97
the saloon. The Chinese captain and crew could all be depended
upon ; so we posted a sentry forward, one aft, and one on the
bridge, to be relieved every two hours, with orders first to
hail and then to fire at anybody or any boat that might approach.
Then, after dinner, we laid our revolvers on the table and
commenced an all-night game the second time in my life that
I have assisted at the unholy union of poker and pistols. Once
only were we disturbed. About two o'clock the Sikh in the
bows shouted " Sampan ! " In an instant we were on deck,
and there, sure enough, was a big black boat approaching from
the sea. We waited till it was within a couple of hundred
yards long enough to see that it was full of men, and was
being rowed in unusual silence ; then our Annamite-speaking
member shouted, " If you don't show a light instantly we shall
shoot." There was no answer, and still the boat came on.
He shouted again, and the rifles were at our shoulders, when
the boat showed a lantern. Then slowly it disappeared back
into the darkness.
So ended our desperate affair with the pirates. Their exis-
tence is no joke, however. Numbers of native junks fall into
their hands, and a few months before I was there several
Europeans had been murdered by them, and two or three others-
with sums of money in their possession, had completely dis
appeared. A fortnight previous two redoubtable pirate chiefs
were captured, two hundred men with 120 breechloaders, after
an expedition costing seven thousand dollars and a hundred
killed and wounded. At a place called Caobang they are still
formidable in the field, kept by their leaders under strict
discipline and training, and, when hard pressed, make their
escape across the frontier into China, where the mandarins help
them. And, of course, every junk that leaves the Canton river
is heavily armed with brass cannon, and every European
steamer that plies on it has an open stack of loaded rifles in
the saloon for the passengers' use.
It is a long row up the river to the little frontier town of
8
98 FRANCE.
Monkay. This is or rather was a very peculiar place. It
was built half on each side of the little stream that forms the
actual frontier. Two halves had different names, the Tong-
king one only being called Monkay, and the Chinese town
Trong-King. (The reason for using the past tense will be
plain presently.) The town had no poor quarter; its streets
were mathematically laid out ; its houses were all of brick and
stone, with richly carved and ornamented lintels and eaves ;
its inhabitants were all rich. In some way or other, this was
the outcome of the alliance of piracy and smuggling. When
the French came they did not interfere with the town on their
side of the stream, but on the top of a sugar-loaf hill, three-
quarters of a mile back, they began to build a little fort, and
under its guns they laid out a " citadel," inside which to locate
the barracks, officers' quarters, magazines, &c. Among the
first to be sent there was a civilian officer named Haitce. One
day they were attacked by a band of Chinese soldiers. They
resisted as long as possible and then fled ; some were shot, some
escaped, Haitce only was captured. He was taken back to a
house in the principal street of the model little town of Monkay,
tied down upon a table, and skinned alive.
Now, at this time, the famous Colonel Dugenne was in com-
mand of the Foreign Legion in Tongking. Everybody knows
what the Foreign Legion is almost the only force in the world
where a sound man is enlisted instantly without a question
being asked. No matter what your nationality, what your
colour, what your past, you are welcome in the Foreign Legion.
A man may even desert from the regular French army and
re-enlist, unquestioned, in this heterogeneous force. In return
for this preliminary indulgence, however, you must put up with
many inconveniences the worst climates, the hardest work, the
front line of the attack, the forlorn hope, and the most iron
discipline. Once out of civilised parts, and there is practically
only one punishment in the Foreign Legion the punishment
that can only be awarded once. To keep such a body of men
ON THE FRANCO-CHINESE FRONTIER. 99
in order, this is perhaps necessary, and the officers to enforce
it must be hard men men with bodies of steel and hearts of
stone. And the hardest of them all was Colonel Dugenne.
Some day I must tell the stories I heard of his methods of
pacification in Tongking. "When the authorities learned of the
outrage I have described, they understood that it was no use to
wipe it out with rose-water. So they sent Colonel Dugenne and
his "children." He came and looked at the place. "Burn it,"
said he. But it wouldn't burn, being all brick and stone. " Blow
it up," said Colonel Dugenne. And they did they blew the
whole town literally to bits. Compared with Monkay, Pompeii
is in good preservation. You need an alpenstock to get through
the streets. And the house where Haitce was tortured is now
a hole in the ground twenty feet deep.
You are not long in discovering that Monkay is not like other
places. As we were rowing up, a big red pheasant was sitting
in a tree not twenty yards away. I picked up my rifle to try
and shoot its head off, as I have done with partridges in the
Maine woods. " Don't fire here," I was told ; " the people at
the fort would think there was trouble, and probably turn out a
lot of men." The Eesident, M. Kustant, walked down to meet
us and take us to the Eesidency. This proved to be an old
temple, or pagode, as the French call all native buildings, divided
into rooms by board partitions, and very meagrely provided with
modern furniture. Outside a six-foot moat was dug, and lined
with spikes of bamboo so thickly that a hen could hardly walk
about in it. On each side of the moat was a stockade built of
heavy bamboo, eight feet high, and sharpened to a spike at the
top. At each corner a look-out was built of sods and bamboo,
in which a sentry stood always with a loaded rifle. The front of
the Eesidency faced the river, where a little gun-boat lay at
anchor. The back of it looked towards the frontier, and there-
fore the back entrance, with the kitchen and offices, was further
protected with thick walls of sods en echelon, to guard against
the bullets fired across at it from long range. The Eesident's
100 FRANCE.
guard consists of a hundred and twenty native militia, under two
European officers. But at night as we sat at dinner in the
cold, bare, cob-webbed, bat-tenanted central hall of the former
temple, the door was pushed noisily open, and a night-guard of
thirteen men and a sergeant of the Foreign Legion tramped
past our chairs to an ante-room, and grounded their arms with
a crash on the stone floor. At midnight we were awakened by
the same tramp and crash as the guard was changed. And
there is no " show pidgin" about this : all these men and their
ball-cartridges may be needed at any minute.
Next morning we went to pay our respects to the commanding
officer, and look round. First we climbed up to the fort in on
the top of the sugar-loaf hill, where there were half-a-dozen
light guns and a small force of French artillerymen, and into
which no native is ever permitted to set foot. The frontier river
winds along like a silver thread three-quarters of a mile off : the
citadel is just below, and the half-dozen houses of the foreign
population ; and through a glass you can see the Chinese guns
and soldiers in their own fort, on a similar hill, a couple of
miles off, or less. All these guns, of course, are trained straight
at one another. And over the hills you can see the telegraph
wire connecting the furthest extremities of the Chinese Empire,
stretching down into the town, a solid and prosperous-looking
little place, like Monkay on this side before Colonel Dugenne
blew it up. The French have no telegraph, but a line of helio-
graph to within a few miles of Haiphong, only allowed to be
used for official messages. Indeed, there is nobody else to use
it, although the Resident was kind enough to allow me to
receive a private message from home by its aid.
Then we walked, always with an escort, through the ruins
of the town down to the river. As we entered the street the
quick eye of the Commandant caught sight of new marks on a
blank brick wall. Climbing into the inside we discovered that
somebody from across the frontier had come, probably during
the preceding night, and actually loop-holed the wall for rifles,
ON THE FRANCO-CHINESE FRONTIER. 101
80 that they could steal across the next moonlight night and
pick off the sentries at the fort ! From the arrangements made
then and there, I fancy those gentry would get a reception to
surprise them. The river which constitutes the actual frontier
is only about forty yards wide, and can be forded at low tide.
On the French side the bank is higb, while the Chinese town is
built almost down to the water's edge. As soon as we were seen
on the opposite bank the Chinese soldiery came down to the river
in crowds, in their bright yellow and red jackets, to stare at
us, and when I set up my camera they evidently became rather
nervous, thinking it a new engine of war. Indeed, the Com-
mandant said, " Don't stay there any longer than is necessary ;
it's just possible they might take a pot-shot at us." Across this
river, of course, not a soul ventures. If a Frenchman should
try, his head would be off his shoulders, or worse, in five
minutes. With a good deal of difficulty, I bribed a Chinaman
to take a telegram across, addressed to Sir Eobert Hart, in
Peking, but they refused to despatch it, and sent it back. In
fact, the relations between the French and Chinese are
about as strained as they can possibly be. The Commandant
pointed out to me a small cleared and levelled spot on the top
of a hillock, and told me its gruesome story. Two months
before my visit a block-house had stood there, garrisoned by a
sergeant and six French soldiers and eight native regulars. One
night the people at the fort suddenly heard rapid firing, and
shortly afterwards the block-house burst into flames. The night
was pitch dark, and it was no good for them to move out to the
rescue, as they did not know that there were not a thousand
Chinese, and, as the block-house was burning, their comrades
had either escaped or been killed. At daylight they marched
down and found the eight natives and five Europeans dead, the
sergeant headless and horribly and indescribably mutilated, and
one European missing evidently carried off into China, as he
was never heard of again. No wonder tbat a Chinaman from
across the river who falls into French hands here gets a very
102 PRANCE.
short shrift generally about as long as it takes to pull a
trigger. In fact, I believe any Chinaman at Monkay at night
is shot on sight. The Chinese who come across on these
murdering expeditions are not pirates at all, or "black flags,"
or dacoits, or anything of that kind ; they are Chinese regulars,
who leave their jackets behind and resume them on their
return. And, of course, if the practice were not encouraged or
at least winked at by the Chinese officials, it could not go on.
The native troops are not very smart soldiers, but they take
kindly to the loose French discipline, and on several occasions
they have fought very well indeed. Their dress consists of
dark blue cotton knickerbockers and jacket, a little pointed
bamboo hat, and a sash. They wear no shoes; and the only
difference between the militia or civil guards and the regulars is
that the sash and hat of the former are blue and of the latter
red. At Monkay the total strength at the time of my visit was
about seven hundred and fifty men three hundred and fifty
Europeans and four hundred natives not nearly enough, the
Commandant complained bitterly. Once as I stood with him
in the fort he showed me a valley miles off, and said, " There are
five hundred pirates over there. The day after to-morrow I am
going out to say ' Bonjour ' to them." And two days after I
got back to Hongkong, I read in the newspaper that he had
made his expedition, the Chinese had attacked his carnp during
the night, and that he had been the first man shot. " Don't
forget to send me some of your photographs," he had said to me
at the same time, when I was taking those which now illus-
trate this chapter; "they will be very dramatic." A Customs
officer named Carriere was captured and carried off by pirates
last year. Three Frenchmen, MM. Eoty, Bouyer, and Droz-
Fritz were captured at different times in 1892, and kept prisoners
for many months before their surrender was effected. And in
August of the present year the Chinese made a raid at Monkay,
killed a M. Chaillet in his own house, and carried off his wife
and child. So the Franco-Chinese frontier is still a place
that " repays careful avoidance."
CHAPTEE VI.
A STUDY OF FRENCH COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION.
O OCIETY in French Indo-China is sharply divided into three
classes, and each of the three is at daggers drawn with the
other two. They are the official, the military, and the civilian
the Governor-General, the Colonel, and the Colonist. To the
official eye the military class is constantly endeavouring to usurp
functions to which it has no right, and the civilians are an un-
reasonable body of incapable people, impossible to satisfy. The
military class are furious against the Government, represented
by the officials, for their reduced numbers, and cling all the
more tenaciously to privileges which only belonged to them
as an army of occupation ; and they desire to be allowed a free
hand to "pacify" the country by the only means known to them
the sword. The civilian colonist, finally, detests the military,
in the conviction that if he could only once get rid of nearly
all of them the country would "pacify" itself fast enough by
commerce and agriculture, which it will never do so long as
it is a happy hunting-ground for crosses and promotions. And
how can he feel either respect or sympathy for the Governors
who come and go like the leaves on the trees, and who must
needs hold the helm, in Hanoi with their eyes fixed on the
Quai d'Orsay ? Society in the French colonies of the Far East
is a perpetual triangular duel.
Let me give a few of the experiences upon which this analysis
is baed. The first person with whom I had any conversation
after setting foot of Tongking was a well-informed, intelligent
103
104 FRANCE.
bourgeois who had passed six years there. I began by saying
I was sorry to hear of the heavy casualties of a column then
operating in the interior, a hundred men having been lost in
one action. " He'll arrive, all the same," replied my acquain-
tance, speaking of the officer in command. " He wants his
third star, and what does he care if it costs him five hundred
men ? He'll get it, too, attez! " There is the civilian's view of
the military. Now for the functionary's view, and I should not
tell this story if M. Eichaud's terrible death let me throw a
word of recollection and respect over his " vast and wandering
grave " had not untied my tongue. When I was at Hanoi
I asked him, on the strength of my French official letter, for
an escort of a few men to accompany me to a place one day's
march into the interior. " Certainly," he replied, " with
pleasure. They shall be ready the day after to-morrow." The
same evening I was dining with him, and when I entered the
drawing-room he took me on one side and said, " By the way,
about that escort, I am exceedingly annoyed, but it is impos-
sible." And answering my look of surprise, for my official letter
had been given for the very purpose of making such facilities
certain, he continued : " The General replies that he has not
five men of whom he can dispose at this moment. Frankly, you
know, you should properly have asked him in the first place,
and not me." The Governor-General's annoyance and em-
barrassment at having to acknowledge to a stranger this
humiliating snub were so visible that of course I dropped
the subject, and his secretary's whispered request afterwards
not to reopen it was unnecessary. But I could not help asking
him next day as we were driving whether in French colonies, as
in English, the chief civil authority was not ex officio comniander-
in-chief. He saw the point instantly and replied, " Yes, that is
my title too," and after a pause " sculement, jc dctiyue mcs
pouroirs." After thus being refused an escort, I was refused
permission to go alone at my own risk, so my proposed journey
was doubly impossible. At the time the General had not five
FRENCH COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION. 105
men " disponibles " there were, of course, twenty times that
number kicking their heels in barracks. The Governor had
promised the escort, therefore the General refused it. That
was the only and the universal explanation offered me. And
it was the true one.
To pass on again to the civilian colonist. Half way up the
river between Haiphong and Hanoi I noticed heaps of fresh mud
lying along the bank. " Then you have been dredging, after
all ? " I asked. " Hush," was the reply ; " we have been doing a
little of it at night, because the Administration would not allow
us to do it openly, and we stuck here every day." Why not ?
Heaven only knows. It is simply incredible, and therefore I will
not waste time in attempting to enumerate what " 1'Administra-
tion" denies. It is, as Mephistopheles described himself to
Faust, der Geist der stets verneint. Whatever you want, though
it cost the Government not a penny, though it be a boon to
the community, though it be the opening-up of the country so
enthusiastically toasted, the authorities are absolutely certain
to refuse your request. Said a French civilian, " Les consuls
fraii9ais ne sont bons que pour vous donner tort quand vous
avez raison." This is no joke if you think so, stop the first
man, not a " functionary," you meet in the street in Haiphong
and ask him. It is almost as easy to get into Parliament in
London as to get a concession of land for any purpose what-
ever in Tongking, although the whole vast country is on public
offer, although the laud almost throws its crops and its minerals
in your face, and although the inhabitants are " pirates " by
thousands simply and solely for the employment and sustenance
which welcomed capital and encouraged enterprise alone can
furnish. This point has been urged frankly and strongly by a
French critic who is intimately acquainted with Tongking:
" Soyez certain que si la pacification du Tonkin est si longue,
cela tient surtout a ce que nous n'avons pas su empecher la
misere qui pousse les indigenes au brigandage. Si Ton avait
laisse le champ libre a Fesprit d'entreprise, si 1'on avait appele
106 FRANCE.
1'element indigene, a tous les degres de Techelle sociale, a par-
ticiper au developperuent de notre nouvelle colonie, la pacifica-
tion serait bien avancee, sinon achevee. Au lieu de nos 15,000
hommes pourchassant des pirates, nous verrions, a 1'heure qu'il
est, ces memes pirates employes paisiblement a des travaux
publics, car, il ue faut pas nous le dissimuler, nos ouvriers de
demain sont les pirates d'aujourd'hui, les cultivateurs d'hier,
cb asses de chez eux par uos precedes belliqueux de ces dernieres
annees."
It is the fact, though it seems almost incredible, that after all
these years of French administration, the scores of military
expeditions, the spending of countless millions of francs, the
loss of tens of thousands of lives, Tongking is only " pacified "
so far as the delta is concerned. The rest of the country is not
safe from one day to another, and almost every transport of
valuables has to have a military convoy. Within the last year
a number of Europeans have been carried off and only a few
weeks ago a train was actually stopped and pillaged while but a
short distance from the capital. Mr. Consul Tremlett, whose
Keport from Saigon is dated February 25, 1894, writes of Toiig-
king as follows : " The delta may be considered as being fairly
under control, but, apart from that, the province is continually
raided by so-called pirates. There are now at least three
Frenchmen in captivity of whose fate the public knows nothing;
they are no doubt being held for ransom." One of these, an
official, was captured at Sin-gam, not 40 miles from Hanoi,
upon a line which is running several trains a day, and not a
hundred yards from a military post. And at the close of 1893
the Courrier d'Haiphong said : " Since two years, not a month,
not a week has passed without reports of shots exchanged,
gangs of ' pirates ' broken up, engagements more or less bloody.
The number of ' pirates ' has certainly not diminished, and their
audacity has increased." For my own part, I should not be
surprised to hear at any time of a new outburst of " piracy "
on a large scale, supported by the Chinese across the frontier.
FRENCH COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION. 107
If the government of Tongking were administering a hostile
province which it desired to crush out of existence, it could
not do much better than follow the tactics pursued almost
without interruption since the colony was created. I have
told how it refuses privileges, and when it does give
them, what are they, too often ? Shortly before my arrival,
a concession had been given for the " Magasins Generaux"
at Haiphong, a monopoly of Custom-house examination in the
warehouses and on the wharves of one firm, to whom and
whose terms everybody was obliged to come. In vain the
whole community protested and protested. The monopoly was
granted, and Chambers of Commerce of both Haiphong and
Hanoi immediately and unanimously resigned, and the Chinese
merchants sent in a declaration that unless this additional
restriction were removed they would leave in a body. And a
single example will show the practical evil of this monopoly.
The storage of coal per ton per month cost at that time (for
comparison I employ French currency) at Hongkong (Kowloon
Godowns) 20 centimes ; at Shanghai (Jardine, Matheson & Co.)
28 centimes ; at Haiphong (Magasins Generaux) 4 francs ! One
resolution of the Chambers of Commerce was truly pathetic.
The Government consulted us, they said, and then took no notice
whatever of all our representations. It is therefore useless to
maintain an institution whose powers are purely illusory.
Please let us go.
Again, take the matter of railways. Everybody you meet in
the Far East will assure you that the jobbery in connection
with the extension of railways in 'Tongking passes description.
I cannot, of course, speak from personal or certain knowledge
upon this point, but the reader may be invited to consider for
a moment the scale of railway concessions now pending there.
M. de Lanessan has sanctioned the following : To MM. Vezin
and Eaveau, a line of 700 kilometres from Hanoi to Hue and
Tourane ; to MM. Soupe and Eaveau, a line of 800 kilometres
from Saigon to Tourane and Hue ; to the same, a line of steam
108 FEANCE.
tramway from Hanoi to Phu-lang-thuong ; to M. Portal, who
represents the Kebao mines and a syndicate of Paris capitalists,
first, a line of 450 kilometres from Kebao, on the coast, to
Laokay, on the Chinese frontier ; second, a line from Kebao to
Langson; third, a line from Haiphong to Sontay (one would
have supposed this to be almost a physical impossibility) ;
fourth, a line from Hanoi to Thai Nguyen ; fifth, a line from
Kebao to Monkay, on the frontier. A condition of this last set of
concessions is that all the materials for the railways shall be
supplied from France, and that the locomotives shall consume
only fuel mined in Tongking. Thus a premium is put upon
failure to begin with. The railway from Saigon to Khone,
again, is to cost about 16,500,000 francs for 410 kilometres, the
Colony having agreed to pay 500,000 francs per annum for it, if
the home Government will pay the remaining seven-eighths of
the cost. And another concession is promised for a line from
Tien- Yen, on the coast, via Seven Pagodas and Hanoi, to
Laokay (obviously including one of the concessions mentioned
above), to cost 40,000,000 dollars. Now I say nothing, for I
know nothing, about jobbery in these concessions, but I am at
liberty to ask what prospect there is of any capital being
honestly put into such enterprises, and what prospect there is
of their paying then* way, in view of a few facts known to every-
body. Take the case of the " Cornpagnie Fran9aise des Char-
bonnages du Tonkin." After the most tenacious and romantic
efforts, a concession was obtained in 1887 by M. Bavier-
Chauffour to develop the coal mines of Hongay. The course of
the negociations reads like a chapter from an Oriental "Arabian
Nights." To make an indisputable legal tender a ship was
chartered to carry 100,000 silver dollars to Tongking, where the
whole foreign population turned out armed to escort the bullock-
carts carrying the twenty-five wooden cases through the streets.
Refused there, the dollars were taken on board again and carried
to the court of Annam, the ship narrowly escaping destruction
in a typhoon. Then they were brought back to Haiphong,
FRENCH COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION. 109
where the authorities finally accepted them. Now this conces-
sion appears to be I speak, of course, without the least claim
to expert knowledge of the greatest value. At a place called
Campha, I have seen a " boulder- stream " of remarkably pure
antimony, 3,000 yards long with an average thickness of 20
feet, and I have stood on a solid block of pure oxide of anti-
mony weighing 16 tons. In the same concession I saw a vein of
oxide of cobalt measuring 100 yards by 500 by one yard. And
from a little further north I have seen remarkable specimens of
copper ore. Infinitely more important, however, than all these,
are the coal-fields. For years the existence of these was well
known, and many times the commanders of French gunboats,
who had been struck by the multitude of outcrops, sent home
reports calling attention to them and to the enormous advan-
tages which would accrue to France if they could be successfully
worked. The Societe has spent millions of francs upon these,
it has built lines of railway, it has created a town and a
harbour, it has employed thousands of miners, it has erected
machinery, sunk shafts and driven galleries under the direction
of the most experienced engineers it could secure. I have been
over the whole of the workings twice and into every one of the
galleries, and even taken photographs of the miners at work.
So I can speak with some confidence. As regards the quantity
of coal, it is practically inexhaustible. There are millions of
tons in sight and nobody can guess how much lies below. I
have been in a score galleries, each of them in a solid seam
from 10 to 20 feet thick. At Hatou there are seven seams side
by side, aggregating 54 feet of coal. And yet these were merely
the preliminary works of prospecting. The " Marguerite Mine "
at Hongay is simply a great mountain of coal.
A few years ago the French Ministries of Marine and the
Colonies sent out a distinguished mining engineer, M. E. Sarran,
on a special mission to report upon the mines of Tongking.
After tests in the laboratory, at sea, and upon briquettes, he
wrote of the Hongay coals as follows : " Our opinion is that
110 FRANCE.
Tongking possesses an immense wealth of excellent combustible
that the navy may employ with marked advantage over all other
coals of the China seas and Australia, rivalling Anzin and
Cardiff by its extreme purity, by the absence of iron pyrites,
and by a development of heat at the very least equal to that
furnished by these coals." These coals are selling at a first-rate
price in Hongkong to-day, they have been supplied by contract
to a number of British lines and to the French navy, they have
been reported favourably upon by British men-of-war, and there
is no longer any possible doubt as to their value. The Societe
has recently set up machinery for making briquettes, or patent
fuel, out of the coal-dust, and a preliminary order was given for
10,000 tons by the French Government for the navy. The first
two lots offered were refused as not up to the required standard,
but were accepted at a lower price, and on April 19th of this
year new trials were made in the presence of M. Jaouin,
Engineer of the Navy and Director of the Workshops. The
following were the results obtained : Weight of water vaporised
by a kilo of briquettes, 7'57 (the contract demanded 6'50, and
the first trial had given 5'698) ; ash and clinkers, 811 per cent,
(the contract allowed 27 per cent., and the first trial had given
56'30 per cent.). The Superior Commission of Examination
unanimously recommended the acceptance of the consignment.
I am not in possession of the latest returns, but the output from
the Hongay mines from January 1 to April 22, 1894, was 85,716
tons. The actual shipments during this time were 86,721 tons,
and 9,000 tons were left in stock. Of the deliveries to customers,
40 per cent, was first-class screened coal, and the rest smaller
grades. Now my reason for going thus into the details of a
single enterprise is simple. Here is a commercial undertaking
of the very best character, the results of which are proved
beyond doubt, in the French colony of Tongking, where are also
the railways I am discussing. Yet from beginning to end the
local authorities have done nothing but obstruct the Societe in
every way. The whole of the capital, with trifling exceptions,
FRENCH COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION. Ill
has been found by two British subjects in Hongkong, Messrs.
Chater and Mody, to whom and whose money the development
of this Tongking wealth is wholly due. Again and again have
they tried to induce French capitalists to take a share of the
burden. I believe this is now about to be accomplished, but I
am speaking of the past. Moreover, the most childish restric-
tions have been enforced, of which one may be given as a
specimen. No man not a French subject may be employed by
the Societe in any capacity. That is, if the directors desired to
obtain a report upon the value of their property or upon the
best means of developing it, from a distinguished British or
American expert, they could not charge his fee to the accounts
of the Societe, but would have to pay him out of their own
pockets as a purely private matter. Such are some of the con-
ditions and history of investment in Tongking, while the country
is starving for want of capital, and "pirates " hold possession of
the greater part of it for want of opportunity to work for wages.
I ask, therefore, what are the prospects of these tremendous
railway concessions I have enumerated, or what reason is there
to think that they are bond fide commercial investments ? The
reply is obvious.
These huge concessions have been granted right and left,
apparently by the fiat of M. de Lanessan, while the really
essential line from Hanoi to Langson, for which trade is
actually waiting, was begun in 1889, and although the route is
an easy one and the total distance from Phu-lang-thuong to
Langson is but 72 miles, it has only reached the station of
Song-hoa, a distance of 31 miles. In addition to this, there is
the stretch between Hanoi and Phu-lang-thuong, and that
between Langson and Bi-ni or Lang-nac on the frontier, to be
built before the trade of the district of Lungchow, estimated at
3,000,000 dollars annually, can be tapped. Yet M. Etienne
officially promised to the Chamber of Deputies that the line
should be completed by the end of 1891. If the French, both
official and private, were really in earnest about their railways,
112 FRANCE.
it is evident that they would have devoted every franc and
every effort in their power to complete their one promising
line before launching out upon a score of other questionable
lines. Finally, in support of my whole argument, I may
quote the following passage from Mr. Consul Tremlett's latest
Report: " The Saigon-Mytho railway is always in evidence ; it
cost, although constructed along a great highway, over 200,000
francs per kilometre (crossing two rivers), or about 15,000,000
francs altogether; it has now been in existence some seven
years, but has rendered no real service to trade."
Lest it be thought that there is exaggeration or prejudice
in these suggestions of impropriety in the administration of
French Indo-China, I will reproduce a passage from the verbatim
official report of the discussion of the national Budget of 1891
in the Chamber of Deputies. M. Etienne, Under-secretary of
State for the Colonies, was making a long and important speech
in explanation and defence of the portion of the Budget relating
to the Colonies. He was interrupted at one moment by M.
Clemenceau, and the following conversation occurred :
M. CLEMENCEAU. While you are still upon the question of Tongking will you
be good enough to say a word to us about the exemptions from the customs duties ?
That is one of the important points of the Eeport of M. le Myre de Vilers. You
have forgotten to speak of it.
M. ETIENNE. M. Clemenceau points out to me that the Governor-General has
taken it upon himself to exempt from import duties certain classes of goods
intended for young industries in Tongking and Annam. He declares that the
Governor-General had not the right to deprive the Budget of the Protectorate of
these receipts. I reply that the Governor-General acted by virtue of the powers
which he holds from the State ; he has done what is done I am obliged to say it
in the other colonies. The Councils-General, when a customs tariff has been
voted and has received the sanction of the Council of State, have the right to
reduce duties without incurring remarks from any one.
M. LEYDET. In favour of private persons ?
M. ETIENNE. Precisely.
M. CLEMENCEAU. Then there is no law any more.
M. ETIENNE. It is the Constitution.
A MEMBER OF THE LEFT. It is the absence of a Constitution !
M. ETIENNE. It is thus.
M. LE COMTE DE MONTFOKT. Then everything is explained ! *
* Journal Officiel, November 28, 1890, p. 2295.
FRENCH COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION. 113
The reporter says that " mouvements divers " took place in the
Chamber at M. Etienne's admission. It would have been
surprising had this not been so, for it is of course obvious that
when the Council-General that is to say, the Governor-General
may exact customs duties from one person and exempt another
from them, the door is opened wide to every kind of political
scandal.
I might fill pages with other examples of French adminis-
tration and colonial methods. For example, a few months ago
the price of the dollar was fixed at 3 francs by order of the
Governor-General, at a time when the commercial price of it
was from 2'70 to 2'75 francs. Some speculators purchased
200,000 dollars at the latter price and sent them to Hanoi.
They were accepted by the Treasury there, and remitted at the
official price of 3 francs. Thus the speculators made some
55,000 francs, while the Government lost the same sum. Again,
a Paris paper tells of a contract which was given to a local
firm to demolish a part of the old citadel of Hanoi. This is
described as a very simple operation, the cost of which would
have been met by the value of the materials accruing to the
contractor. But the contractor received 40,000 dollars for his
work, and a concession of nearly 100 hectares of land in the
town of Hanoi to boot, the value of land there being often as
much as 5 dollars the metre. Thus, adds the paper in question,
the contractors received a present of about 400,000 dollars.
Again, the Chinese capitation tax is the subject of much natural
criticism. In one year this was farmed out for Cambodia to a
Chinaman for 72,000 dollars, though his predecessor had only
paid 32,000 dollars, and as the number of Chinese had not
increased to any great extent it is obvious that he would make
up the difference indeed, that he was expected to make it up
by additional " squeezes " from his unfortunate compatriots.
There are in France a few publicists and politicians who have
made a special study of French colonisation, and the opinions
of these men are expressed with the greatest sense and modera*
9
114 FRANCE.
tion. But to the ordinary French writer the colonies are a
sealed book. His equipment for discussing them consists of a
vague sentimental idea that colonies mean strength and com-
merce and glory, and since he is generally actuated, as Lord
Eosebery has just said, by a profound jealousy of Great Britain,
and knows of her fame as a colonising nation, he insists that
France must be a colonising nation too. He does not stop to
reflect that everything depends upon where the colonies are and
how they are administered. In despair at the difficulty of
obtaining French official facts and figures in any instructive
shape I recently wrote to a friend at the head of one of the
most important departments of the French Foreign Office,
begging him to send me any volumes he could find on the
subject. After some searching he was good enough to forward
to me an official work bearing this description : " Ministere des
Colonies. Protectorat deJ'Annam etdu Tonkin. Administration
des Douanes et Regies. Rapport Sommaire sur les Statistiques
des Douanes et le Mouvement Commercial de 1'Annam et du
Tonkin en 1893." Here at last, I thought, is what I want, and
indeed the volume contains many instructive figures to which
I shall refer later. But it is evidently intended for popular
circulation, and this is a specimen of its advice to the French
emigrant :
" We may affirm that in the very near future this country [Tongking] will offer a
vast field to the emigration of our compatriots who till now have sought land and
work in South America, but always under the conditions of economy mentioned
above and of determined work. In the hill country and at slight altitudes the
European can work in the fields all day long for five months of the year. For
four other months he can work three hours in the morning and as much in the
evening ; while during the three months of great heat he must take precautions at
all hours of the day, on account of the sun. Under these conditions the colonist
can take his personal share (contribuer ptrsonellcment) in the labours of clearing
the land, planting, and teaching the natives he employs the use of French tools,
which are greatly superior to the rudimentary tools used in the country."
It is difficult to comment upon this in fitting terms. To any-
body who knows the East no comment will be necessary, and to
those who do not hardly any words would bring home the truth,
PKENCH COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION. Il5
so wildly preposterous is the suggestion that a European agricul-
tural labourer should go out to work in the tropics with his
spade and hoe. If the author of this book had suggested to the
native of Tongking that he should come to Paris and seek
employment as a clerk, he would not have gone much further
astray. Yet this is the kind of thing that is offered officially to
French readers on the subject of French colonies.
In the preceding chapter I spoke in general terms of the
proportion of " fonctionnaires," civil servants, to the French
population of Indo-China. The details of this are so astonish-
ing that they would hardly be credited from the mouth of a
foreigner. I will therefore give a French official statement of
them. M. Etienne, while Under-secretary of State for the Colo-
nies and speaking in defence of the Administration, made the
following remarks about the state of things in Cochin-China :
" What is the population of that country ? It is 1,800,000
souls. There is a French population of 1,600 inhabitants, of
whom 1,200 are 'fonctionnaires.' How is it administered? It
has a Colonial Council: elected by whom? By the 1,200
' fonctionnaires,' who have also a deputy. And you expect that
confusion and disorder will not reign in that country ! How,
indeed, can you expect an administration to work smoothly,
when thanks to this system of organisation, all this world of
' fonctionnaires ' throws itself into the electoral arena, and
divides itself into two, three, or four camps, one supporting the
actual President of the Colonial Council, another the Mayor of
Saigon, another the deputy, another the candidates for deputy ?
... In 1887 I tried to reduce the number of the ' fonction-
naires.' I did reduce the cost of them to the extent of 3,500,000
francs out of 9,000,000. I took that step in October, and in the
following December the Ministry of which I was a member
disappeared. Six months later, the ' fonctionnaires ' whom I
had dismissed had all reappeared in Cochin-China." * When
this is admitted by the defenders of a system there is nothing
* Chambre des D6putes, Seance du 27 Novembre, 1890.
116 FRANCE.
left for its critics to say. In the very same year that the salaries
of the "fonctionnaires" of Cochin-China amounted to 360,000,
the sum spent upon public works in the Colony the one expen-
diture upon which the entire productive future of such a place
must depend was 16,000 ! But even this pitiful figure is far
from telling the whole astounding truth. When the " mouve-
ment prolonge " which followed his words had died away, M.
Etienne continued : "And while public works in the present
year are only represented by 16,000, what do you think is the
sum allotted to the personnel of the public works department ?
It is 16,000 16,000 worth of personnel out of 16,000 worth
of public works ! " That is, not a centime of work was
done. Moreover, during the years when millions of francs
were spent on public works in Cochin-China, what was
there actually done to show for it ? " Only a few roads
round Saigon " -" routes luxueuses," according to M. de
Lanessan elsewhere, " pour les fonctionnaires qui vont se
promener le soir autour de Saigon." It is fortunate in the
interests of truth that we have these facts from the lips of
responsible Ministers and ex-Ministers ; as I said, nobody would
have believed them from the mouth of a foreign critic. We owe
the revelations to a curious and amusing circumstance. There
is a cynical proverb to the effect that when mothers-in-law fall
out, we get at the family facts. And all this information arose
from a falling-out between M. Etienne and M. le Myre de Vilers.
As " rapporteur," the latter had bitterly attacked the financial
regime of the former. M. Etienne retorted that however bad
things might be at that moment, they 'were much worse when
M. le Myre de Vilers was Governor of Cochin-China. M. le
Myre de Vilers protested against the expenditure for eleven
carriages for the service of the Governor. M. Etienne replied
that his critic had himself had eleven carriages and had
spent more money upon them. M. le Myre de Vilers criticised
the sum of 12,000 francs which M. Piquet was spending as
Governor in secret services. M. Etienne retorted that M. le
FRENCH COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION. 117
Myre de Vilers himself had spent 15,000 francs. Finally, when
the duel had at the same time delighted and shocked the
Chamber for an hour the combatants exchanged a couple of
terrific blows, and sank exhausted. M. Etienne produced a set
of dreadful figures showing that expenditure had risen by leaps
and bounds in all directions during M. le Myre de Vilers'
tenure of office in Cochin-China. This blow his adversary made
no attempt to parry, but riposted with the proof that whereas
M. Etienne was posing as the reformer of administrative
methods, he was himself directly and personally responsible for
the extreme centralisation which had produced the very evils he
was deploring. In support of this he read two despatches from
M. Etienne to himself, ordering that every change in personnel
in the Colony should in future be submitted by him to M.
Etienne in Paris, before it was made. " Thus," he concluded,
" M. the Under-secretary of State for the Colonies reserves to
himself every nomination, and M. the Governor-General has not
the right to appoint a school-master ! " Such an effect did this
instructive duel produce upon the Chamber that the Budget was
adopted by the small majority of 85 in a total vote of 483, and
this only after the Ministry had made a series of impassioned
appeals to the memory of the thousands of Frenchmen who had
laid down their lives for their country in Indo-China.
One recent French writer and traveller, I may add, has
spoken out bluntly about Tongking. This is Prince Henri
d'Orleans, who has certainly had abundant opportunities of
seeing French colonial methods for himself. " Almost every-
where," he says, "there exists a latent antagonism, if indeed it is
not overt, between the colonist and the Government." And this
is his pronouncement about French colonial administration :
" It is too numerous; it is partially composed of incapables and
of men with bad antecedents; it is too ignorant and meddle-
some ; it endeavours to raise difficulties and to check all means
of action ; for the most part born of favouritism, it endeavours
to indulge in the same practice and displeases those who
118 FRANCE.
obtain what they apply for as well as those who are passed
over." *
So much for the colonist and the Government impersonal.
What is his attitude towards the personal Governor-General ?
He sees him come, he watches him while he is learning the
A B c of Tongking affairs, he reads a few official decrees, he
hears a few official after-dinner speeches, eulogizing France,
Tongking and the colonist himself, and then some day a tele-
gram conies and the colonist sees him go. The heads of the
colonial Government succeed each other in Saigon and Hanoi
like the figures of a shadow pantomime. M. Richaud boasted
to me with a laugh that he was tolerated longer than any of his
predecessors. His term of office had been thirteen months ! t
Before the Governor-General comes, he is unknown ; while in
the East even his public speeches are addressed to Paris ; he
returns and is forgotten. It is the merest farce of supervision,
and what wonder that the colonist sinks deeper year by year in
disgust and despair ? He has described himself in a bitter
epigram : " le colon est un pretexte a banquets." Instability is
the dominant characteristic of French administration in the
Far East. Does anybody seriously believe that the solid
foundations of future prosperity can ever be laid in this shifting
quicksand? For an Englishman who cares for France it is
positively distressing to hear Frenchmen talk in Tongking.
Fifty times during my two visits was it said to me, " Ah, if only
you English had Tongking ! " Matters have somewhat improved
for them lately, and a new hostility to England has sprung up,
but I seriously believe that if a secret ballot had been taken
then, a majority of the French in Tongking would have voted,
* " Around Tonkin," 1894, pp. 88 and 423.
t This is the list of Governors-General since the creation of the " Union Indo-
chinoise " by the decree of October 17, 1887: M. Constans, Nov., '87-April, '88;
M. Richaud, April, '88-May, '89 ; M. Piquet, May, '89-April, '91 ; M. Bideau, Aprili
'91-June, '91 ; M. de Lanessan, April, '91, en conge; M. Chavassieux, March, '94,
acting; M. de Lanessan. Between December, 1884, and November, 1887, there
were ten Residents-General of Tongking an average service of about three months.
FRENCH COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION. 119
in spite of their undying love of country, to baud over Indo-
Cliina to England. Then at least they would have been able
to buy and sell, manufacture and import, create and develop,
with no man to hamper them and no "Administration" to
forbid. As it is, the French colonist's attitude to his govern-
ment is summed up in the exclamation that I heard fall from
the lips of one of them when he saw an official approaching him
on duty " Nom de Dieu ! voila encore 1' Administration qui
arrive ! "
But the shadows on the picture are not yet complete. First,
as to the Chinese. Nobody can advocate more strongly than I
the absolute necessity of keeping them out of a civilised settled
Western country. But it is as plain as the nose on one's face
that no colony in the Far East can dispense with them. Their
labour, their easy and willing adaptability to any job by which
money can be earned, from nursing the baby to driving the steam
engine ; their commercial insight and comparative trustworthi-
ness, these make them an ideal substratum for a new commu-
nity, as Shanghai and Hongkong and Singapore and the Protected
Malay States prove to demonstration. Yet Indo-China taxes
them till they are giving up their established businesses, and
puts a price on the head of each as he comes and again as he
goes. The impot personnel upon every Asiatic is from 7 dols. to
80 dols. ; the impot des patentes ranges from 2 dols. to 400 dols.;
and the price of the passport without which no Asiatic can
leave French territory is 2.50 dols.
Second, the port charges. Take the little steamer I returned
in, the Freyr, 676 tons, from Eanders, in Jutland. At the port
of Newcastle she had paid 4 ; at Nagasaki 70 dols. ; at Yoko-
hama 50 dols. ; at Hongkong 4 dols. ; while to get in and out of
the port of Haiphong costs her every trip 302.40 dols. And this,
too, is only for the ship's charges, pure and simple. The char-
terer must pay a dollar and a balf wharfage for every ton of
cargo landed say 750 dols. for an average cargo. Thus at a
port where common sense teaches that trade should be tempted
120 FRANCE.
and nursed in every possible way, the authorities hegin by
making trade all but impossible. There can hardly be a more
needy port in the world than Haiphong, yet it is doubtful if
there is a more expensive one. The consequences are inevit-
able and obvious.
Third, the enormous Customs duties of the " Tarif general."
These need no specifying. Saigon prospered exceedingly under
a free-trade regime, and she has been forced to give protection a
good trial. What is the position of Saigon now ? A critical, if
not a hopeless one. Yet she long ago discovered that only
one thing could save her. A unanimous report of the Chamber
of Commerce concluded with these words in big type: "We
demand the absolute abolition of the Customs regime in Cochin -
China from January 1, 1889." Yet is there the faintest shadow
of a coming change ? On the contrary. In one of the last
public speeches he made, at a banquet in Hanoi, M. Richatid
exclaimed, " Eenounce the chimerical hope of the return of
absolute commercial liberty ! " The subsidised newspaper
added that this was followed by a " triple salve d'applaudisse-
ments." The only possible comment is, that the colonists of
Hanoi who applauded that sentiment should be refused Christian
burial, for they are suicides.
Again and again have the Colonies protested against these
duties by every means at their command, and their protests have
been supported by several of the most influential writers and
administrators in France, such as M. Leroy-Beaulieu and M. le
Myre de Vilers, but almost wholly in vain. Some slight amelior-
ations have heen granted under the pressure of absolute necessity.
A series of modifications in the "Tarif General" have been
applied to Indo-Chma, reducing the duties on a number of
articles and abolishing them on others. And after it had
become perfectly clear that transit trade to southern China
through Tongking would not arise so long as customs duties
were levied upon goods in transit, the authorities conceded a
detaxe of 80 per cent, upon such goods. And when this was
FBENCH COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION. 121
proved to be prohibitive they took off the tax altogether. Thus
what should have been dictated at the outset by an elementary
knowledge of practical economics was only conceded after a long
struggle and when it was enforced by necessity. I need hardly
say, I presume, that the tariff is constructed primarily to keep
out the manufactures of all nations except France, but in spite
of this, as I shall show later, the trade between France and
her colonies in Indo-China is a mere bagatelle, not to be com-
pared for an instant with the subventions necessary to keep the
colonies going. The foreigner is regarded as an enemy, and the
most petty restrictions and partialities are adopted to handicap
him. Here is an example which I take from the London and
China Express : " On a firm whose total earnings in 1892 were
182 dollars, and in 1893 749 dollars, the resident of Annam
imposed the patenU to the modest sum of 316 dollars yearly."
At the port of Haiphong French ships pay fifty centimes per
ton, foreign ships one franc. At the "ports ouverts au com-
merce " French ships pay one cent, per ton, foreign ships ten
cents. Will it be believed by those who only know France in
Europe, and love her gallantry, her freedom from intellectual
prejudice, and her constant striving after an ideal of equality,
that France in the Far East positively bars her paying hospital
at her chief port against foreign sufferers by a differential tariff?
Yet this is the case. In the General Hospital at Saigon foreign
seamen must pay 9 francs a day and foreign officers 13 francs
charges just double what French patients of corresponding
ranks have to pay. "I addressed the Governor upon the
subject," says the British Consul, from whose last Eeport I take
the fact, " pointing out that in the hospitals of Hongkong and
Singapore no distinction was made as regards nationality, but
no reply has as yet been received." Is it too much to say that
a nation which deliberately does this has still to learn one of the
first principles of civilisation ?
The result of any careful study of French colonial administra-
tion in the Far East, as I have now perhaps shown alike from
122 FRANCE.
my own investigations and the testimony of the best French
critics both in France and on the spot, is therefore that Indo-
China is grievously misgoverned. Instead of finding a helping
baud, the French colonist encounters a closed fist. The
" functionary," dressed in his little brief authority, has utterly
forgotten that he is the servant of the colonist, that he has
no other reason for existence except to aid and protect and
encourage his self-exiled countryman. As it is, while the
colonist is the blood of the new country, the " functionary " is
the leech. Day by day the cry of the French colonial civilian
goes up to heaven, " Pas tant d' Administration ! " Everywhere
else in the world, capital is welcomed, no matter whose pocket
it comes out of. In French colonies alone gold must be stamped
with " liberty, equality, and fraternity" before it is received, and
a man must be a Frenchman before he is allowed to labour with
the rest. The Eevolution seems a joke when one learns in
Tongking that one of the conditions attached to a concession is
that nobody but Frenchmen shall be employed on it, and that a
sick Englishman or German must pay twice as much for his bed
in the hospital as a sick Frenchman. I do not believe there is
another country in the world which would make such a pitiful
stipulation. Does France not know what is done in her name ?
or is she not ashamed, remembering '89, to adopt such an
attitude to-day before the world ?
In conclusion I will say simply this. I believe, as every one
who has looked into the matter believes, that Tongking might
have a prosperous future under the control of a colonising
nation. But I know, as everybody who has looked into the
matter knows, that she will never reach it along the present
road. A certain permanency of appointment for the Governor-
General ; a relaxing of restrictions upon the colonists all round;
a hundred times more respect paid by officials to colonial wishes
and requests ; far greater consideration for native rights and
sentiments ; the encouragement of the Chinese ; a glad welcome
to capital and enterprise from any source ; an immediate and
FRENCH COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION.
equable reduction of the tariff; the decentralisation of autho-
rity ; these are some of the primal conditions of progress. If
they do not come, then France may prepare for the humiliation
which the very name of " Indo-China " will ultimately carry
with it. In the words of the editor of the Courrier d'Haiphong,
"To continue as at present means the loss of Indo-China it
means the ruin of French influence in the Far East."
CHAPTER VII.
THE COST OF A FEENCH COLONY.
TN preceding chapters I have endeavoured by a brief descrip-
tion of the external aspects of the French colonies in the
Far East to place before the reader a picture of the results in
life and administration which have been attained in about
thirty-six years. And by my own criticisms, supported by the
testimony of distinguished French writers and speakers, I have
tried to show how completely France has misunderstood the
problem she set herself to solve, and how persistently and
wilfully her administrators have taken the wrong road. These
criticisms, however, have been for the most part in general
terms, whereas to produce an adequate effect they should be
proved to demonstration by actual facts. What one man
affirms, another may deny. Without figures a criticism may
be dismissed as largely a matter of opinion. I decided, there-
fore, to collect from French official sources the figures relating
to a typical French colony ; first, concerning its cost, and
second, concerning its returns : that is, to draw up a national
balance-sheet for this one national enterprise, in the form of a
debit and credit account.
If I had foreseen what this decision involved, I should not
have attempted the task at this time. I had, however, no sus-
picion of the extraordinary complexities of French official
finance and the difficulties, amounting almost to impossibility,
which beset any one, not a professed statistician, who attempts
THE COST OF A FRENCH COLONt. 125
to disentangle the plain fact from the mountains of figures.
The French as a nation are addicted to the exact sciences, and
this national proclivity comes to its finest flower in the French
Budget. It is issued every year in a number of volumes ; it is
subdivided in the most elaborate manner; it contains the
minutest details upon every possible point ; it is arranged on a
theoretical system so arbitrary that a lifetime would hardly be
too long to enable one to grasp its principles. If you desire to
learn the details of the movements in the potato-market, or the
duty upon areca-nut collected in Cambodia, the French Budget
with its local additions will satisfy your curiosity at once. If,
however, you desire to calculate the cost of a French colony
through a series of years, you must unite the path-finding
instincts of a Red Indian with the patience of the patriarch and
a willingness to believe that no contradiction is involved when
1,000 francs in one book appears as 1,200 in another. More-
over, the French are never satisfied with their own official
statistics : they are constantly varying the form and polishing
the principle. And after prolonged investigation one is forced
to the conclusion that the body of statisticians desires to
remain a close corporation, and to construct out of its own
figures an impenetrable barrier to exclude the impertinent
independent inquirer. No sooner, for example, have you
discovered in what way a certain fact of finance is presented
during a series of years than you are brought up short at a
foot-note explaining that by a " mouvement d'ordre " this fact
has been transferred to another portion of the Budget and
incorporated in a wholly different series of tables. One of the
most accomplished French statisticians, M. de Foville, whose
handbook is or should be upon the desk of every writer about
France, frankly admits all this. " Nothing is more dangerous,"
he says, " than amateur statistics, where errors swarm, and
which prove everything that one desires to prove. The only way
effectually to combat this false statistic is to put true statistics
within the reach of all to make the truth in relation to econo-
126 FRANCE.
mical and social questions very accessible in the first place, and
very intelligible in the second. But this point has not yet been
reached, especially in France. A hundred times we have heard
men, who were certainly not the first comers, express their
regret that it is so difficult to obtain exact information upon
even the most common facts of the national life." * And even
while I was gathering the figures which follow, M. Leroy-
Beaulieu, certainly the most capable of living Frenchmen in
such matters, has lifted up his voice in a complaint which
echoed my own growing despair. He says : " Quite at the end
of the last session, at the sitting of July 24, 1894, M. Poincare
laid upon the table the ' rectified project ' of the Budget for 1895.
This ' rectified project,' very far from being final, is the subject
of new manipulations and rectifications. Our unhappy Budgets
are retouched and altered to such an extent that it is impossible
to recognise them or to find one's way about in them." t As an
example of this lack of finality, I may add that a French Budget,
whether national or colonial, is not closed until years after the
date of its appearance. Thus the Tongking Budget of 1891,
for example, may appear in one shape in 1890, in another in
1891, in still another in 1892, and possibly even in a fourth in
1893.
After the above it will easily be understood that I put in
no claim for the completeness of my own figures. They are
the result of many weary days of research both in London and
in the official libraries in Paris ; and I doubt if there is a
contemporary French book of reference which I have not
examined. More than once I have been on the point of
giving up the task, but I have reflected that this would be to
leave the lesson untaught, since it is very improbable that
any Frenchman will desire in the present state of colonising
enthusiasm to become the mouthpiece of facts so unpleasant
to the majority of his fellow-countrymen. I claim only, how-
* Alf. de Foville, " La France Economique," 1887, p. i.
t Journa *es Debatg, November 3, 1894.
THE COST OP A FRENCH COLONY. 127
ever, that the following figures have been conscientiously
sought, and I present them as an attempt to answer a
question of the greatest interest, until some more skilful
investigator shall correct them. Complete and final accuracy,
I may add, will never be attained by anybody, since in not a
few instances the official figures are hopelessly self-contra-
dictory.*
I have chosen Tonglung as the typical French colony because
of the amount of discussion that has already raged around it,
and because the whole of its history is included within a
modern and comparatively brief period. It will be remembered
that Tongking was under the suzerainty of Annam when the
French became possessed of the latter country in 1862, the
Annamese having driven out the Chinese long before, although
China still claimed suzerainty, as she has done over every
country adjoining her vast empire. The explorations of Senez,
Harmand, Dupuis, and, above all, of Francis Garnier, the most
gallant and devoted explorer France has ever had, filled up the
interval until 1873, the year of what has been called the first
Tongking expedition. Garnier seized the delta of Tongking in
the winter of 1873, declared the Eed River open to commerce,
and was killed in an ambush on December 21st. The fol-
lowing years were remarkable chiefly for the explorations of
M. de Kergaradec a naval lieutenant and French Consul at
Hanoi and those of a rapidly increasing number of French
officers and travellers. Up to 1882 nothing further had been
accomplished, except theoretical work. In March, 1882, Riviere
was despatched to Tongking with two ships and four hundred
men to bring the anomalous situation to an end. He fought
several actions against the Black Flags, but his force was too
small to enable him to do anything of importance, and he
* " Comme nous 1'avons fait remarquer dans notre precedente edition de cet
ouvrage, nos documents statistiques coloniaux officials se contredisent sans cesse."
Leroy-Beaulieu, " De la Colonisation chez les peuples rnodernes," Paris, 1891
p. 557, note.
128 FRANCA.
remained for nearly a year virtually a prisoner in the citadel
of Hanoi. At last the French Government, under the famous
ministry of Jules Ferry, voted credits and reinforcements, and
as soon as these arrived Biviere attacked and was killed in the
sortie of May 19, 1883, under circumstances which I have pre-
viously described. When this news reached France, a wave of
colonial and military enthusiasm broke over the country, and
the Chamber and the Senate unanimously voted a credit of
5,300,000 francs, and a powerful expedition was despatched
under General Bouet and Admiral Courbet.
At this moment, therefore, the history of Tongking may be
said to begin, and the calculation of its cost accordingly
commences here, although of course not a little money had
been previously spent in the country. For the next four years
French treasure and French lives were spent with so lavish a
hand that at last France became thoroughly alarmed at the
outlook ; and after General Negrier had attacked and captured
Langson in defiance of orders, had been driven out by the Chinese
and mortally wounded, and Colonel Herbinger had lost control
of himself and retreated precipitately in the most discreditable
manner, public opinion turned against Tongking, and the Ferry
Ministry succumbed to an onslaught by M. Clemenceau on
March 30, 1885. This first chapter of the financial history of
Tongking presents the following figures :
1883
1884
1885
Francs.*
14,858,900
73,250,368
115,694,4151
65,998,696
269,802,379
In four years, therefore, France had spent, at the most
moderate computation that could be made, nearly two hundred
* These figures are taken from M. Jules Ferry, " Le Tonkin et la Mere-Patrie,"
1890, p. 386, a source in which they are not likely to be found exaggerated.
t In 1885 and 1886 the credits voted were 164,385,512 and 75,203,901 fianca
respectively, but I have taken the sums described as actually spent.
THE COST OF A FRENCH COLONY.
129
and seventy millions of francs. The preliminaries of peace
with China were signed at Paris on April 4, 1885.
For the second chapter, from 1887 to the estimated Budget
of 1894, I have collected the figures from the national Budget
of each year. They present the following results :
From France.*
From Cochin-China.
Totals.
Francs.
Francs.
Francs.
1887
30,000,000t
11,000,000
41,000,000
1888
19,800,000
11,000,000}
30,800,000
1889
15,615,000
11,000,000 26,615,000
1890
12,450,000
11,000,000
23,450,000
1891
10,450,000
11,000,000
21,450,000
1892
10,450,000
8,000,000
18,450,000
1893
24,450,000
5,000,000
29,450,000
1894
24,450,000
4,700,000
29,150,000
147,665,000
72,700,000
220,365,000
Thus, during the eight years which have followed the estab-
lishment of peace and the final passing of Tongking under
French dominion, France has spent over two hundred and
twenty millions of francs. We therefore arrive at the following
first estimate of the cost of Tongking :
1883-1886
1887-1894
Total
Francs.
269,802,379
220,365,000
490,167,379
I am prepared to show, however, that even this enormous
figure is a long way short of the fact. The French official
* Inclusive of the subvention for the Tongking submarine cable,
f In round numbers from Jules Ferry.
J In the Budget, " Service Colonial," for 1888, this figure appears as only
1,727,000 francs, but as M. Etienne said in the Chamber of Deputies when pre-
senting the Budget of 1891, "Nous avons demande, en effet, 11 millions a la
Cochin-Chine en 1887, et nous avons du, en 1888, en 1889, et en 1890, lui reclamer
la meme somme," I have made 1888 no exception to this regular credit. The
difference probably appears in some other part of the Budget, where it has escaped
my search.
10
130
FRANCE.
figures for the Budget of the Protectorate of Armani and Tong-
king, from 1887 to 1891, are the following :
"SITUATION DES RECETTES ET DES DEFENSES DU BUDGET DU
PEOTECTOKAT DE L'ANNAM ET DU TONKIN." *
BUDGET DE
RECETTES.
DEFENSES.
1887
Francs.
Ordinaires. Extraordinaires.
ll,377,104f 58,266,566
Francs.
Ordinaires. Extraordinaires.
11,392,485 58,251,185
1888
69,643,670
13,572,132 37,297,210
69,643,670
10,292,093 40,577,249
1889
50,869,342
15,445,626 37,007,534
50,869,342
12,905,562 39,547,598
1890
52,453,160
15,297,415 32,269,398
52,453,160
17,775,176 29,791,637
1891
47,566,813
18,814,721 24,765,079
47,566,813
16,594,789 26,985,012
43,579,801
43,579,801
These budgets, it will be noticed, balance in a manner to
provoke the most sceptical examination. A little investigation
shows that the system of subdivision into " Eecettes ordinaires,"
" Eecettes extraordinaires," " Depenses ordinaires," and " De-
penses extraordinaires," is misleading in the extreme. The
"ordinary receipts" mean simply and properly enough the
revenue raised locally. The "ordinary expenditure " similarly
* Every figure in this table and in that which immediately follows it was very
courteously furnished to me by the Ministers des Colonies, for which I beg here to
return my best thanks. I have altered the arrangement of the figures, to display
them more instructively, but all the sums and the theoretical form of the budgets
are absolutely official. I have ventured to omit the centimes.
f These budgets appear originally in dollars. Up to and including 1892 the
dollar is reckoned at 4 francs, in 1893 at 3.33 francs, and in 1894 at 3 francs. All
these gold-prices of the dollar, it is perhaps needless to say, were in excess of the
facts of exchange.
THE COST OF A FRENCH COLONY.
131
means the cost of the civil administration of the country. The
" extraordinary receipts " mean neither more nor less than the
exact sum necessary to make up the deficit in the "ordinary
receipts," plus the cost to the mother country of the military
and naval operations.* I do not say that this system was
adopted for the purpose of throwing dust in the eyes of the
casual inquirer, but it could not fail to have this effect. At any
rate in 1891 the French statisticians no longer felt equal to
presenting the annual results in this preposterous form. At
this point, therefore, a change was introduced into the form
of the budget of the Protectorate of Annam and Tongking.
Beginning with the year 1892, the budget was reduced to the
resources derived from local revenues alone, the French govern-
ment having decided to include the military expenditure in the
general budget of the "metropolis." Those are the words of
the official explanation. For the next two years, therefore, the
budgets of Annam and Tongking assume this pleasing shape :
BUDGET DE
RECETTES.
DEFENSES.
ExCfiDANT DBS EECETTES SOB LES
DEFENSES.
1892
1893
Francs.
20,820,680
18,531,450
Francs.
19,385,035
18,040,098
Francs.
1,435,645
491,352
The results thus became more attractive than ever : the
revenues of the colony showing an actual excess over its
expenditure. I need hardly point out that in these two years
no account whatever is taken in the local budget of the vastly
preponderating part of the expenses. To get at the facts, there-
fore, we must place these budgets from 1887 to 1893 in a
different form. The expenditure is obviously both " ordinary "
* " Les ressources extraordinaires proviennent de subventions de la metropole et
de la Cochin-Chine, et de remboursements effectues par le Ministre de la Guerre
pour les depenses normales de ses troupes." "Organisation des Colonies franchises
et des Pays de Protectorat," par E. Petit, Paris, 1894, p. 607.
132
FRANCE.
and " extraordinary " added together, while the real and only
actual revenue is the " ordinary " one. We thus get the
following results :
BUDGET OF
EXPENDITURE.
EEVENUE.
DEFICIT.
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
69,643,670
50,869,342
52,453,160
47,566,813
43,579,801
37,835,035*
47,490,098*
11,377,104
13,572,132
15,445,626
15,297,415
18,814,721
20,820,680f
18,531,450t
58,266,566
37,297,210
37,007,534
32,269,398
24,765,080
17,014,355
28,958,648
Total deficit 235,578,791frcs.
Instead of the cost of Tongking from 1887 to 1894 being
220,365,000 francs, we find, therefore, that from 1887 to 1893
it reached 235,578,791 francs. The conclusion arrived at above
therefore takes the following corrected shape :
1883-1886
1887-1893
Total
Francs.
269,802,379
235,578,791
505,381,170
* These totals are arrived at, in the absence of the complete budget for these
years, which has been suppressed, by adding together the " depenses ordinaires,"
the " subventions " from France and from Cochin-China, and the subsidy for the
cable. Theoretically they should be quite accurate, but I am convinced they are
under the mark, though I cannot trace any other figures.
f These official figures are obviously based upon the revenues as they were
reckoned in 1893 to have been. But in the official Annuaire de VIndo-Chinc for
1894 the revenues are revised to be for 1892, 4,792,502 dols., and for 1893, 5,509,543
dols. These sums, multiplied respectively by 4 and by 3-33, the official (though
incorrect) rates of exchange into francs, give 19,170,008 and 18,346,778 francs.
These are therefore the latest figures. I have, however, adhered to those
furnished me officially. As in the case of Singapore (see p. 46), the revenue of
Tongking for these years, when given in dollars, shows an increase, and when
given in francs a decrease. But it is important to bear in mind that the same
injustice does not arise in the French as in the British colony, for all the customs
duties of Tongking are collected in francs, and have therefore to be translated
into dollars for the purposes of the budget, whereas in Singapore they are alike
collected and expressed in dollars. In Tongking, accordingly, every fall in the
price of the dollar tends pro tanto to inflate the revenue as expressed in terms of
silver dollars ; in Singapore it makes no difference.
THE COST OF A FRENCH COLONY. 133
To this must be added the subsidies to Tougking from France
and Cochin-China for 1894, namely, 29,150,000 francs as
shown above. The conclusion, therefore, at which I have
finally arrived is that from 1883, when the history of Tongking
began, down to the latest accessible official statistics, the cost of
Tongking to France has reached the colossal figure of 534,531,170
francs, or 21,881,247, a yearly average of 44,544,264 francs,
or 1,781,770.* Or, to put the fact in a popular form, the
satisfaction of including " le Tonkin " among the possessions
of his country has cost the French taxpayer 122,039 francs
4,881 a day, Sundays included, for every day that he has had
it. It may safely be foretold that when at length he comes to
realise this fact he will be surprised, and his surprise will
manifest itself in a striking manner.
So much for the debit side of the account. Let us now
compare it as briefly as possible with what Tongking has to
show on the other side of the ledger. This is, after all, the
point of real importance. It does not matter what France has
spent upon Tongking, if she has thereby secured an adequate
return in trade. At the present moment, too, the balance-sheet
of Tongking is of more interest than ever as an example of
French colonisation, since France has just voted 65,000,000
francs to repeat the experiment in Madagascar, under similar
conditions of native opposition and problematical results. The
following table exhibits the foreign trade of Tongking from
1883 to 1892, inclusive, the figures for 1893 not having yet
been published.
* I am aware, for reasons unnecessary to give at length, that a number of items
have escaped me. Though I cannot trace them with sufficient uniformity to
include them, the following extracts will show I am not wrong in asserting that
the above falls short of the actual total :
" Le budget du service colonial est done une portion du budget metropolitan!, ou
budget general de 1'Etat, appliquee aux colonies, mais il ne correspond pas a la
totalite des depenses des services compris dans le budget de 1'Etat et executes aux
colonies ; les depenses du ' service marine ' relevent, en effet, du budget des defenses
de la marine." " Le budget de la guerre [1893] participe pour 1 million aux
depenses militaires du Tonkin." "Organisation des Colonies francaises et des
Pays de Protectorat," par E. Petit, Paris, 1894, pp. 490 and 531.
134
FRANCE.
FOREIGN TRADE OF TONGKING, 1883-1892.*
IMPORTS.
EXPOBTS.
From France and
From Foreign
To France and
To Foreign
French Colonies.
Countries.
French Colonies.
Countries.
Francs.
Francs.
Francs.
Francs.
1883
405,606
2,922,601
649,987
3,440,359
1884
2,015,763
7,126,304
79,483
541,147
1885
3,421,610
14,667,087
49,713
593,287
1886
4,654,829 18,220,173
65,206
605,879
1887
7,328,127 20,824,664
82,175
335,476
1888
6,521,408 17,479,220
164,228
6,586,848
1889
6,574,572
17,170,312
477,444
10,161,564
1890
8,907,688
11,896,984
1,700,052
5,321,564
1891
9,604,491 15,554,409
583,518
11,146,254
1892
9,504,926
18,927,846
420,221
10,315,629
The figures of the above table present the following sum-
marised totals :
TOTAL FOREIGN TRADE OF TONGKING, 1883-1892.
France and French
Colonies.
Foreign Countries.
Totals.
IMPORTS from ...
Francs.
58,939,020
Francs.
144,789,600
Francs.
203,728,620
EXPORTS to
TOTALS
4,272,027
49,048,007
53,320,034
63,211,047
193,837,607
257,068,654
* The figures for 1883 are taken from " Le Regime Commercial de 1'Indo-Chine
francaise," Paris, 1894. Those for the following years from the " Rapport general
sur les statistiques des douanes pour 1892," Hanoi, 1893. There is good reason to
believe the latter to be inaccurate in the direction of exaggeration, aud indeed in
one or two cases I have proved them to be so. But after many vain attempts to
secure a set of accurate and uniform figures I have been obliged to fall back upon
these as they stand. The variations of figures in different French official and semi-
official publications would be incredible to any one who has not attempted to
reconcile them. In the above table the figures of coasting trade, and the trade
between the different members of the Union of French Indo-China, are, of course,
not included.
THE COST OF A FRENCH COLONY. 135
From this it may be seen at a glance what effect the "tarif
general" has had upon the development of trade between
France and French Colonies on the one hand, and Tongking
on the other. This tariff was forced upon Indo-China in spite,
as I have already said, of her vehement and unceasing
protests, and in defiance of the prophecies of every enlightened
French economist. Its intention was, of course, to exclude
foreign products from Tongking, and to make of the colony a
great market for French domestic and colonial products. Its
result has been that French imports were comparatively little
more in 1892 than they were in 1887 ; while foreign imports
are more than in 1886 and comparatively little below 1887.
And that the total trade between France and her other colonies,
and Tongking, has amounted in ten years to the pitiful sum of
63 millions of francs, or 2,520,000; while the total foreign
trade during the same time has been nearly 194 millions of
francs, or ^97,760,000. That is to say, the high protective
system has been the most disastrous failure, or, as M. Leroy-
Beaulieu says, " the application to Indo-China of a general
Customs tariff is a colossal error."
In the debate in the Chamber of Deputies, to which I have
already frequently referred, M. Armand Porteu said : " The
French Colonies together contain a population of 20 to 24
millions of inhabitants. Now let us see what they cost and
what they bring in. Our French Colonies cost us yearly 70
millions of francs : 53 millions inscribed in the colonial budget,
12 millions in the budget of the navy, and 5 millions in the
budget of post and telegraphs. . . . Their total commerce is
410 millions per annum. Of that sum the share of France
by sale and purchase is 170 millions, and our importations
into the Colonies reach only 70 millions. You thus spend
70 millions in order to dispose of 70 millions' worth of goods.
That is the result of your Colonial system. I ask you if it
is not grievous." From the figures I have here given with
reference to one colony, I can leave the statement of M.
136 FRANCE.
Porteu far behind. Excluding the deficit of 1893, namely,
28,958,648 francs, the total cost of this colony to the mother
country to 1892 inclusive has been 476,422,522 francs, and
the total French trade with it during the same period has
only amounted to 63,231,047 francs. Or, to afford a com-
plete parallel to the figures given by M. Porteu, France has
spent 476 millions of francs upon Tongking in order to dispose
of 59 million francs' worth of French products.*
One final lesson remains to be drawn. Eegarded from the
ordinary point of view of the political economist, the above
figures present the following result :
Francs.
TOTAL IMPORTS... ... 203,728,620
TOTAL EXPORTS... 53,320,034
Balance of Trade against Tongking ... 150,408,586
A blacker result than this from the conventional point of view
could hardly be imagined ; but these last figures point another
moral even more unmistakable. To quote M. Leroy-Beaulieu
again : " We are practising a systematic exploitation of the
public funds for the profit of a thousand or so persons. . . .
What is needed is the suppression of a Colonial Council which
only represents a handful of furnishers and functionaries."
That remark hits the last nail upon the head.
As a matter of sober fact, in conclusion, the French
colonisation of Tongking and Tongking is only one ex-
ample of a truth which every other French colony would
illustrate to a greater or less degree has amounted to this :
France has taken possession of a country ; she has des-
patched to it an army of soldiers and a second army of
* This general statement, as I wish to make quite clear, is not an absolutely
accurate one, since the details of expenditure given in the above tables refer for
the most part to Annam and Tongking, while the figures of trade refer almost
exclusively to Tongking alone. But the share of Annam in both cost and returns
is of course a very minor factor in comparison with that of Tongking.
THE COST OF A FKENCH COLONY. 137
functionaries ; a handful of dealers has followed to supply
these with the necessaries and luxuries of life ; the dealers
have purchased these necessaries and luxuries from France
(the foreign imports being chiefly for native consumption),
as the Customs tariff prevents them from buying cheaper
elsewhere ; these purchases have practically constituted the
trade of France with the Colony. Castra faciunt; coloniam
appellant.
RUSSIA IN THE FAR EAST.
CHAPTEE VIII.
VLADIVOSTOK: "THE POSSESSION OF THE EAST."
rPHE Russian Government and the geographical situation of
-* Russian Tartary have succeeded between them in keeping
their Pacific stronghold well out of the world, and ten thousand
miles nearer to it in body bring you little or no nearer to it in
knowledge. " Going to Vladivostok ? Dear me ! " people said
just as naturally at Nagasaki, a hundred yards from the vessel
which was getting up steam to go there, as they did in London
on the other side of the world. But the journey is easy enough
to make. From Yokohama the magnificent steamers of the
great Japanese steamship line, the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, take
you southward along the coast to Kobe, the pleasantest foreign
settlement in Japan ; then to Shimonoseki, famous for its foreign
bombardment in 1865, and now strongly and skilfully fortified
with coast batteries of the latest design, armed with heavy
howitzers of Japanese manufacture most efficient weapons ;
then through the Inland Sea, ranking high among the " show
scenery " of the East, and drop you at Nagasaki. From Yoko-
hama to Nagasaki is 692 miles ; from Nagasaki to Vladivostok
is 659 more. At noon next day the Takacliiho steams out into
the Korean Straits ; during the night she passes Port Hamilton
a long way off, those bare islands of which the world talked
for a year, and about which, too, opinions are as divided in the
East as at home, the truth probably being that England did
very well to give them up, since they would have been quite
untenable in the event of a bombardment ; and on the follow-
141
142 RUSSIA.
ing afternoon she drops anchor at Fusan, the treaty port and
Japanese settlement on the south coast of Korea. Then came
a revelation of head-gear among the white-robed Koreans, a
chat with the Commissioner of Customs, and an afternoon
with a hammerless companion, resulting in three brace of
pheasants, a snipe, and a small deer ; and off again. For
twenty-four hours we steamed along a rocky, desolate, and
forbidding coast, and next morning the anchor dropped again
in the splendid harbour of Wonsan (Gensan), the western
Treaty Port, alongside the big white French ironclad, the
flagship Turenne. Soon a smart petty officer came up the
gangway bearing a courteous invitation to Captain Walker
and myself to dine with "M. le Contre-Amiral Layrle, com-
mandant en chef la division navale de I'extreme Orient," and
that night on board the Turenne a dozen merry guests, all very
far from home, the flashing of many wax candles over silver
plate and glittering glass, the skill of a decorated French cook,
the witchery of old Burgundy, and the strains of Offenbach
and Suppe, all combined to dispel the thought that we were
lying off the uninhabited Port Lazareff, in the wild and lonely
seas of the Hermit Kingdom. But at midnight our anchor
was heaved again, and at daylight next day but one the helm
was suddenly put over to starboard opposite a break in the
high wall of cliffs, the man in the chains took up his
monotonous cry, and we swept round into the harbour of
Vladivostok the proudly-named " Possession of the East."
An old-fashioned theologian would say that Providence had
intended this place to be made impregnable. The harbour is
shaped, speaking roughly, like the Greek capital F. It has two
entrances, one at the south-east corner, the other in the middle
of the west side, both narrow deep-water channels, the latter,
indeed, being only a few hundred feet wide. The Eastern
entrance is the one used for traffic, the other being dangerous
on account of currents and sandbanks. As you steam straight
north up the long leg of the T, you notice first an ex-
VLADIVOSTOK. 143
tensive beach on the right, then several large bays open out in
succession, and you pass through a narrow opening between
Capes Novosilsky and Nazimoff, and leave the western entrance
on the left. The hills around are densely wooded, and all
the defences visible so far have been extensive earthworks
building on your right, and loads of bricks for them lying on the
shores below. Now, however, as the ship passes Cape Goldobin
you discover a large two-storied battery from which six black
muzzles look down. What may be behind the earthworks of the
upper storey you cannot tell, but the guns below are visibly
6-inch breech-loaders. They constitute only an inner line of
defence for the interior of the harbour, but they would, of
course, make it very hot for a ship in the harbour with their
plunging fire at short range, but Vladivostok is defended by
altogether different weapons, however dreadful these may look
to the captain of peaceful merchant vessels. Soon after pass-
ing Fort Goldobin, a sharp turn to the right, almost at a
right angle, brings you into the harbour, which then stretches
out due east in a straight line, upwards of two miles long
and half a mile wide. This is the Eastern Bosphorus, and the
" Golden Horn " of the Pacific.
The town of Vladivostok extends nearly the entire length of
the north side of the harbour, and in configuration it rather
resembles St. John's, Newfoundland, the houses beginning at
the water's edge and gradually thinning out as the hills behind
get steeper. They are of all sorts, from the log-cabin and
Chinese shanty to the neat wooden cottage in its little garden
and the handsome brick business house of several storeys. Over
all rises the cathedral the one thing in Vladivostok that
remains unfinished for want of money. The anchorage is
so admirable that the Takachiho (now, alas ! at the bottom of
the sea, off Tsushima), a vessel 327 feet long, lies within
a stone's throw of the wharves, and the same anchorage exists
all round. Directly in front are .three little parallel streets
constituting the Chinese bazaar. On the west is the Chinese
144 RUSSIA.
and Korean town of wooden shanties ; behind are five or six
blocks of fine brick buildings forming the winter barracks, while
straight away ahead is a broad street soon disappearing over the
dusty hill, to become two miles away the great Siberian post-
road. The main street runs parallel with the harbour, and on
this are the chief stores and many of the private houses. A
quarter of a mile along it to the east is the Governor's residence,
buried in a square mass of foliage the gardens where a first-rate
band plays regularly and the society of Vladivostok comes to
walk and to gossip. Further on, always between the water and
the street, is the " Staff," the Governor's official head-quarters,
a large handsome building, and further still, a mile or more
from where we lie, a tall chimney marks the situation of the
" Port," as the Eussians call it, a score or more of storehouses
and machine shops forming the Navy Yard or Arsenal. This
extends along the shore for a quarter of a mile, and the torpedo
boats and small ships of the Siberian Squadron lie alongside,
with a confiscated American fishing-sloop, while the ironclads
and gunboats are anchored a little further off. On the opposite
shore of the harbour there are no buildings of any kind, except
an iron storehouse deep in the woods here and there, isolated
presumably on account of inflammable or explosive contents.
On the summits of the two high hills behind the town are two
stations for the fire- watch.
The streets of Vladivostok are gay enough. Civilian costume
is the exception, almost every figure being either a soldier or
a Chinaman. The rank and file have none of the smartness
of European troops. Their uniforms are rough and simple
white blouse and cap, long black boots and belt they are
evidently expected to last a long time, and their wearers
do a lot of hard manual work. If not exactly dirty, therefore,
the soldiers look very unkempt. The officers also, and their
clothes, have the hardened appearance of active service, but
their flowing cloaks make them picturesque. Blue and white
Chinamen, sombre-suited Japanese, and shrouded Koreans,
VLADIVOSTOK. 145
with marvellous hats of cardboard and bamhoo fibre, variegate
the scene. An element of picturesqueness and noise is added
by the droschky-drivers in their long scarlet blouses and black
" zouave " waistcoats, their long unpolished boots, and their
flowing hair. They congregate at the corners, and dash up and
down the main street at a gallop, their whips cracking like
pistol-shots.
The chief hotel of Vladivostok is at a pastrycook's shop,
so I remained in my comfortable quarters on board, and after
breakfast I went on shore to present my semi-official introduc-
tion an imposing-looking document, a foot square, with the
Eussian Eagle on the back to the Military Governor, Rear-
Admiral Ermolaiew. His Excellency received me with the
utmost courtesy, but his efforts to conceal his vast surprise at
my visit were in vain. He read the letter a long one then
he looked at me; then he read it again and looked again.
"Yes," he said, finally, "anything I can do for you, of course,
but what on earth do you want to see at Vladivostok?" I
modestly replied that, with His Excellency's permission, I
wanted to see everything. " But what ? " As I had only been
an hour in the place, however, I was not in a position to specify
my desires in detail. " But what shall I do ? " To dictate to
a Russian Military Governor was naturally repugnant to me,
and as Admiral Errnolaiew's French the only language in
which we could communicate was of a rudimentary character,
the conversation was rapidly approaching an embarrassing
dead-lock. Suddenly, with an explosive "Ah!" the Governor
sprang from his chair and disappeared, returning in a minute
with his wife, a most attractive and energetic lady, charming
even at that early hour of the morning. Madame Ermolaiew
spoke French perfectly : with the native tact of a Russian she
straightened matters in a moment, and five minutes later I was
bowed out between the salutes of a bluejacket and a sentry,
with the Governer's card in my pocket bearing a written
permission to go almost anywhere and see almost anything,
11
146 misslA.
and with an appointment to meet an officer the next morning
at eleven, who would act as cicerone. I was slightly out of
breath, it is true, at the speed of the interview, but naturally
very grateful for the distinguished courtesy.
Vladivostok is a purely military town technically, a
" fortress." That is, not only does it owe its existence to
strategic and military considerations, but even after it has
been thus created no other interests or enterprises have grown
up around it. In this case trade has not followed the flag :
the place is just Eussia's one stronghold and naval base on
the Pacific, and nothing else. Its imports consist of the
supplies for the military and naval population and those who
minister to them ; its only export at present is a little sea-
weed. Two other industries might be developed here, how-
ever, and these are well worth the attention of energetic
men with some capital. Siberia contains vast forests of the
finest and largest timber, and a very important export trade
in this could easily be cultivated. And the authorities find
great difficulty in supplying themselves with fresh meat.
Cattle are imported regularly from Korea, but the supply is
poor and uncertain, while Siberia is probably as well suited in
many parts for cattle-raising as Western Canada. I believe,
moreover, that the Eussian authorities would materially help
the right man to introduce this. At present, however, all its
commerce is a tribute to the God of Battles. A Eussian store
has just closed, and the two great stores, magnificent stone
and brick buildings, employing scores of clerks and sales-
men, where you can buy absolutely everything, from a pound
of butter to a piano are owned by Germans, the one by
Messrs. Kunst and Albers, the other by Mr. Langeliitje.
There is also the smaller general store of Mr. Hagemann,
almost the only English resident. The population of tbe place
when I was there was about 15,000, of whom 5.000 were
Chinese, 2,000 Eussian civilians, and 6,000 troops and blue-
jackets ashore. But the strength of the troops has no doubt
been considerably raised lately.
VLADIVOSTOK. 147
The Chinese and Koreans are under very strict regulations,
being only allowed to reside in their own quarter, and any
found in the street after nine o'clock at night are arrested and
locked up. This was found necessary to prevent disturbance.
The Koreans, I should add, have an intense hatred for the
Eassians, due largely, no doubt, to the harshness with which
they are treated. There are large numbers of them in the
immediate neighbourhood, and they are always in a state of
discontent bordering upon revolt. Whenever they can get
hold of a Russian by himself, they are very apt to murder
him out of hand. Of course, their power is but that of the
mosquito on the elephant, but if Russia were engaged in
hostilities they might well prove an annoying thorn in her side.
Probably 2,000 Chinese labourers are employed in the arsenal
alone, and they fill the streets when they come streaming
out from work, and all the harbour-front population, boatmen,
cargo-handlers, &c., are Chinese or Koreans. The stores
employ many Chinese ; they are patrolled all night by Chinese
watchmen, and the only domestic servants are Chinamen or
Japanese women. Many of the Chinese come in the spring,
when the harbour opens, and leave again, mostly for Chefoo,
in the late autumn when it closes. There has been some talk
about putting a prohibitory tax upon poor John Chinaman here
too, but it will come to nothing ; he is indispensable.
Life in this corner of Russian Tartary is lively enough,
especially in winter. Communication with the outside world
is easy by mail and telegraph. Letters come by sea (very few
go overland) from San Francisco in four weeks, and telegrams
to European Russia are ridiculously cheap. During the
summer there are the constant festivities attending the arrival
of foreign men-of-war. All the Russian officers, too, are fond
of society, and there is a first-rate band. In winter it is of
course dreadfully cold, and a frozen stick of milk is left at
the door in the morning, and the beef is kept frozen in a tub,
and chopped out as wanted, But from Christmas onwards for
148 RUSSIA.
a couple of months there is a ceaseless round of social gaiety.
Excellent pheasant and duck-shooting is to be had over the
surrounding bays and hills, and large deer abound in an
island a day's sail to the south. This, however, is strictly
preserved as an Imperial reserve, and Russian game-keepers
are stationed there, and periodically murdered by Korean
marauders. The famous thick-coated Northern tigers are
sometimes to be found by seeking. One of the traditions of
Vladivostok, and a true one, too, tells how a young fellow
named Chudjakow was out shooting one day, when a tiger
met him. He fired and killed it. Scarcely had it fallen,
however, when a second walked out of the woods. He fired
again, hitting this one, which turned tail and disappeared. A
moment later a tiger appeared again from the same place.
He fired for the third time, supposing this to be the same
animal, and wounded it slightly. Before he could reload,
however, it was upon him, and he was fighting it for his life.
His rifle was useless, and he had only a long hunting-knife.
As he did not return at night his father and friends organised
a search-party, and at last found him unconscious between the
paws of the dead tiger. A little way off lay the body of the
first, and just inside the wood they found the second, which
had died of its wounds. The days are gone by when the
houses at Vladivostok were barricaded against the great cats,
which used to come into the back yards at night to revel in the
family slops put for them, and when men did not venture out
after dark except five or six together, all armed ; but I have
seen one of the tigers thus shot by Chudjakow, and a photograph
of the young man himself and the three skins.
Everything in Vladivostok is made subservient to military
interests, and there is no pretence to the contrary. As is
the case in all " fortresses " no civil rights exist, and the
merchants can be required to leave at twenty-four hours'
notice, without any explanation being given. The Mayor is
merely the vehicle of the Governor's will. The neighbourhood
VLADIVOSTOK. 149
of every fortified point is strictly guarded by sentries, whom no
civilian ever passes. The local weekly newspaper, the Vladivostok,
with a circulation of 450 copies, is edited (excellently so far as
geographical, ethnological, and other non-contentious informa-
tion is concerned) by a member of the Staff, and the Governor
himself is the Censor. In return for this, however, it receives
an official subsidy of 2,000 roubles a year. The police, who
are supposed to know everything that passes and the move-
ments of every one, resident or stranger, are of course the
Governor's pawns, under the command of a military officer.
No foreign consuls are allowed to reside at Vladivostok, the
only foreign representative being a Japanese called Commis-
sioner of Trade, or some such non-political title. Most
foreign newspapers and books are forbidden, as in European
Kussia, and at the only bookseller's in town I could not
buy a single volume in any foreign language, except a few
French works of world-famous innocence, used everywhere
as school reading-books ; and inquisitiveness or gossip on the
part of the foreign population about local naval or military
affairs is sternly discouraged, and trespassers against this
unwritten law soon learn very distinctly that they will be more
comfortable if they obey it. I ran up against this before I had
been in Vladivostok four hours. My first day there I was lunch-
ing at a foreign house, and happened, naturally and quite inno-
cently, to put some question or other about the batteries. "That
is a matter," I was immediately told by my host, "that we make
a point of knowing nothing about. We find that ignorance on
such subjects is the only way to get along pleasantly with our
Kussian' friends. Besides, it is none of our business, any wa} 7 .
We are here as traders, not as possible combatants." So I
put no more questions of that kind. The regulations against
publicity have recently been made much more severe. It is
now forbidden to ascend the neighbouring hills, and patrol
parties are frequently sent to scour the surrounding country,
their orders being to deal promptly with any investigator,
150 RUSSIA.
The many Eussian officers that I met and talked with, told
me of course just as little as they liked, and the sources
of information were therefore distressingly conspicuous by
their absence. I must add, however, that the authorities put
no ridiculous restrictions or professions of violent secrecy in
my way. I was immediately told that I could not inspect
the batteries or fortifications from within a permission I
should never have dreamed of asking ; but several places
where no Englishman had ever been before^-the whole of the
Navy Yard and Arsenal, for instance were thrown open to me ;
the Governor's card took me almost everywhere ; I had a written
permission to take photographs, with certain specified exceptions
a permission unfortunately nullified to a great extent by
rain ; I was immediately introduced at the Naval Club ; and
finally the Governor's Adjutant lent me his own boat. As
I thus sped across the harbour of this Eussian stronghold, in
a Eussian official's barge, pulled by six lusty Eussian blue-
jackets, with a Eussian rear-admiral's flag trailing behind
me, it struck me as a decidedly unique position for an English
journalist, and as an interesting commentary upon the suspicion
and unfriendliness that are so freely attributed to the Eussians
in some quarters.
CHAPTER IX.
THE POSITION OF EUSSIA ON THE PACIFIC.
T7LADIVOSTOK is of great interest to the rest of the civilised
' world, and chiefly, of course, to England, the United
States, and Japan, as the Powers with most at stake in the
Pacific, for exactly the same reasons that it is of importance to
Paissia, namely, as the one great naval stronghold and base
from which Eussian ironclads could issue in time of war to
fall upon their enemies in the Pacific, and to which they could
return for supplies, for repairs, or for refuge. Is it a great
stronghold? Could it defy a hostile fleet? Is it provided
with the necessaries of an efficient naval base ? Does it, as
its name declares, confer upon those who hold it "the posses-
sion of the East"?
The last so-called " scare " showed exactly what would be
done at Vladivostok in case of war. The lights on Skrypleff
Island in the east entrance and near Pospaloff Point to guide
ships through the west entrance were extinguished ; the west
entrance was completely blocked from Larioneff Point to Cape
Tokareffski with contact mines (one of these got adrift and
blew up a Kussian fishing-vessel some time afterwards); the
narrow passage from Cape Novosilsky to Cape Nazimoff was
blocked with contact and electric mines, except a channel
fifty feet wide under the former, and a gunboat lay near by
to stop merchant vessels and send an officer on board to
pilot them through ; while preparations were made to remove
all the civilian inhabitants to a sheltered valley some distance
151
152 RUSSIA.
inland. Supposing now that these precautions were all
carried out to-day, could a fairly powerful fleet reduce the
place ? We will say for the sake of argument, to begin
with, that the Russian fleet is out of the way. Until a few
years ago, what were the defences of Vladivostok ? The inner
ends of both channels were commanded and their mine-fields
protected by Fort Goldobin, and this was armed with a
number of 6-inch breechloading guns of Russian manufacture.
Its upper part was only, I believe, a battery of mortars. In the
centre of the long narrow strip of land forming the western side
of the harbour were two powerful batteries, each containing, I
believe, two breechloading Krupp guns, probably about 27-ton
guns, throwing a shell of 516 lb., and these were the heaviest
guns with which Vladivostok was armed. Further to the north
was another battery, formed, I believe, of two 8-inch breech-
loading cannon, two more of the same Krupps, and four rifled
mortars. These two batteries are designed to protect the weak
point of Vladivostok the shelling of the town and arsenal over
the land. That was all. The answer was therefore easy.
Vladivostok, in the absence of men-of-war to protect it, could
undoubtedly have been taken, and if the last " scare " had
become a struggle, there can be little doubt that the British
fleet would have first shelled the town and then forced an
entrance to the harbour. For the town could have been shelled
easily at 8,000 yards, while the bombarding ships constantly
moving would present a poor target for the Krupp guns at
nearly 4,000 yards ; the men fighting the inner forts would have
been terribly exposed ; while removing or exploding mines which
are not well protected by batteries is a comparatively easy matter
nowadays. If defending ships had been present they would
have added to the difficulty by exactly their own strength.
But after an attack made a few years ago, Vladivostok would
certainly not be the "possession of the East" it would be
the possession of the enemy.
The truth of the foregoing assertion can be almost proved, as
RUSSIA ON THE PACIFIC.
153
you prove a sum in division by another in multiplication, by the
fact, hardly yet appreciated, that the Russian Government has
been adding to the defences of Vladivostok in every respect and
on the most lavish scale. An estimate was passed by the
THE HARBOUR OF VLADIVOSTOK.*
Governor-General of Eastern Siberia, and submitted to St.
Petersburg for approval, for strengthening Vladivostok by
engineering work alone at an expense of no less than 6,000,000
roubles. The Arsenal is being greatly enlarged by both new
* It should hardly be necessary to explain that I do not present this sketch-map
as anything even remotely resembling a map for naval or military purposes. It is
merely a reduction from the Admiralty chart, with such additions as are of general
interest and my eyes and information enabled me to add. Nor is my account of
the place intended to serve naval or military ends in the slightest degree. The
British authorities, at any rate, as is well known by experts, stand in no need of
information about Vladivostok. They have plenty of it from a very different
source.
154 RUSSIA.
buildings and new machinery ; an addition to the great floating
Stanfield dock is just finishing ; all along the harbour side
of the west arm are rows of fine new barracks ; and several
new forts were already half finished when I was there, of a
size and arrangement far in advance of anything existing
previously. One of these forts, just to the north of Cape
Tokareffski, will command both entrances to the harbour and
ships in position to shell the town; another of great size will
command the mine-field with which Novik Bay, from which
Fort Goldobin and part of the town could be bombarded, is
to be protected ; and two or three others, including one on
Skrypleff Island, will command the harbour and its approaches
from the east. It is only reasonable to suppose that these,
which should all be complete by this time, are armed with guns
of the latest pattern and great power. If the Government
sanctions the engineers' estimate recently submitted, batteries
will also be placed on some of the large islands south of the
harbour, an extremely important situation. By this time,
therefore, it is not too much to say that Vladivostok is im-
pregnable from the sea. The Russians admit that the Chinese
town can always be destroyed from the sea, but I believe
they estimate that they can burn this and rebuild it for
24,000 roubles. They deny, however, that the town proper and
the Arsenal are open to shell fire from beyond the west
batteries, but I cannot agree to this, as with my field-glass I
have distinctly seen the church over the southernmost of the
two west land batteries, within bombarding distance. This,
however, is of comparatively small moment, for all war stores
would of course be removed to a place of perfect security,
and Vladivostok would be little weaker as a naval stronghold
after the town had been destroyed than before. Moreover, it
is an accepted military and naval maxim that under modern
conditions ships stand practically no chance whatever against
well-equipped and well-handled coast batteries, and that it is
little short of suicidal for a fleet to attempt to reduce a fortress
RUSSIA ON THE PACIFIC. 155
by bombardment alone. In case of war an enemy would
probably try to find the Eussian Fleet and blockade it some-
where, for if the ships were once destroyed or captured,
Vladivostok would cease to be worth attacking. It should be
clear, however, from the foregoing, that the Eussian authorities
are determined on no half measures. They have got Vladivo-
stok and they mean to keep it, and it is doubtful if there is
at present any army and fleet in the whole East strong enough
even to try to take it away from them.
The new restrictive regulations so much discussed and so
severely criticised in naval circles, by which only two ships of
any foreign fleet are allowed to anchor in Vladivostok Harbour
at one time, were officially stated to have been made in accord-
ance with similar regulations by other Powers. But they were
really the result of one particular incident. On August 21,
188G, the British squadron on its summer cruise north reached
Vladivostok while all the Eussian vessels happened to be away,
and our eight ships entered in a thick fog, and were not
discovered by the Eussians on shore until they were dropping
anchor in faultless order in the inner harbour. It was a most
brilliant piece of seamanship the Eussians themselves would
never have attempted it but it was surely most indiscreet, as
the consequences soon showed. For naturally enough the
Eussian authorities were thrown into a panic, and said to
themselves that an enemy might do this very thing a short
time before war was suddenly declared, when Eussia on the
Pacific would be at his mercy. Therefore, rather' than risk
multiplying unpleasantness by prohibiting the entry of foreign
vessels from time to time as circumstances might seem to re-
quire, they decided to cut off the danger once for all. It was
natural and explicable enough on the part of the Eussians, but
it is an innovation far from welcome to the greater part of any
foreign fleet, which must remain knocking about outside at gun
practice or steam tactics, while the flagship and one other vessel
are comfortably anchored and politely entertained within, The
156 RUSSIA.
Eussians, by the way, do not seem to navigate their own waters
very well, for a gunboat had gone aground near Vladivostok
just before my visit ; a foreign merchant-captain told me that
he had once steamed after two other gunboats on the coast to
warn them they were running into shallow water ; and the Vitiaz
was totally lost a short time ago and actually in Port Lazareff
the very harbour which Eussia is supposed to have selected
for her base on the Korean coast.
The impression made by the rank and file of the land forces
at Vladivostok is that of soldiers who have been on active service
for six months, long enough to have grown careless about the
polishing of leather and steel and the details of personal care
which go to make up the much admired " smartness " of crack
regiments. Their clothes are solid and coarse, their boots are
unblacked, and their weapons look as if they had seen several
campaigns. The men themselves are hardy enough, but they
appear to be extremely poor and far from happy. It is
certainly very astonishing to see soldiers in uniform hawking
wild flowers at street- corners, as I did in Vladivostok itself.
They are mostly much younger than troops with us, and they
are evidently drawn from the lower classes of a farming popula-
tion. Their winter barracks are spacious and handsome build-
ings, but their summer barracks, several miles inland by the
shore of a beautiful part of the Amur Bay, are rather ram-
shackle, and if the truth is to be told, much dirtier than
Tommy Atkins would be satisfied to live in. But I spent a
jolly evening with them when I rode out with my military
guide, and shared their palatable if frugal supper of black
bread, potato soup, and kvass a kind of thin bitter beer.
The detachment I visited was under the command of a
lieutenant who looked fifteen, and was certainly not twenty.
They would make good rough fighting material Kammcn-
futter as the Germans cynically call it all the better for
war work in this far-off hard country because they do not
know what it is to be petted or pampered in time of peace. In
RUSSIA ON THE PACIFIC. 157
fact, peace means perhaps more hard work for them than war,
for they are employed on huilding fortifications, making bricks,
and several other occupations that are not included in the
military curriculum elsewhere, very much like common
labourers. The following estimate of their numbers at Vladi-
vostok is not far from the mark : two battalions of infantry,
2,000 ; artillery, 350 ; sappers, 250 ; total, on peace footing,
2,600 men. This is doubtless much smaller than is generally
supposed, but the tendency is to distribute the forces all over
this part of Eastern Siberia, and only to collect a large number
at Vladivostok in times of danger. Probably 30,000 men could
be concentrated here in a short time.
The officers, on the whole, struck me as a fine body of men,
dignified, devoted, and intelligent. But they must suffer
intellectually from being cut off by the strict Eussian censor-
ship laws from the information which circulates so freely else-
where. The growing importance, by the way, of this stronghold
in Eussian Tartary, is shown by the fact that officers are no
longer liberally pensioned for short service here and elsewhere
on the Siberian coast. Officers used to elect to serve in Siberia,
and after ten years' service were entitled to retire upon half-pay,
and after twenty years' service upon full-pay. For service in
European Eussia, on the other hand, retirement upon full-pay
comes only after thirty-five years' service. Full-pay in Eussia,
however, does not mean the same as elsewhere. A Eussian
officer's total military income is made up of three parts, pay
proper, lodging allowance, and table-money, in the proportion
that a total income of say over 3,000 roubles a year, a lieu-
tenant's pay, would mean only 1,400 roubles of pay proper.
Half-pay for him, therefore, after ten years in Siberia would be
700 roubles, and full pay 1,400 roubles. These liberal terms
of pension naturally made service in Siberia popular, but the
whole system of naval pension was altered a year ago, and the
above only applies now to officers who entered the navy before
1887. An occasional officer there speaks a little English,
158 RUSSIA.
several speak French, and almost all speak more or less German.
To Lieutenant Vladimir Maximoff, " flag-officer to the Com-
mander of the port," in whose charge I was placed, and who
combined the maximum of courtesy and hospitality with an
irreducible minimum of information, I owe very hearty thanks.
As for the naval and military hospitality of Vladivostok, it was
generous and constant, and as everybody was familiar with the
Biercomment of German student-life, it was also both formal and
hilarious.
I made one peculiarly interesting discovery. It is universally
believed that Vladivostok is a closed port for four months out
of the twelve isolated by impassable ice from about December
17th to April 17th. And this is regarded as the sole ex-
planation of Eussia's Drang nacli Silden-, her necessity to
press gradually southward for an open port in Korea or
below it. Such is not the case. A man-of-war and there-
fore a dozen can be got in or out of Vladivostok Harbour
in case of urgent need at any time of year. There is an
American ice-breaking machine, which on a trial trip broke
a channel through the thickest part of the ice, one hundred feet
long and six fathoms wide, at a pace which would take it out
beyond Goldobin Point, where the ice is naturally more or less
broken, in three or four days. Moreover Patroclus Bay, and
especially the bay further to the south-east, are practicable bays
all the year round. At any rate two American ships came up
there unaided a few winters ago. Indeed the authorities are
considering whether they will not make this the mercantile
terminus of the railway.
In conclusion, T may add that the Amur peninsula is fine
wooded country for at least thirty miles, with small rivers
running east and west, and one or two good roads. The west
side presents to the eye a succession of sandy beaches, whilst
the east side ends abruptly for the most part in precipitous
cliffs.
CHAPTER X.
THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY AND ITS RESULTS.
IN the relations of Eussia and the Far East, one matter far
outweighs in importance all others put together the
Trans-Siberian Bail way. It is my conviction that this
colossal enterprise is destined to alter the map of that part
of the world at no very distant date. To Englishmen it is
therefore of the first interest, for if I am right they will
shortly be called upon to decide one point of the utmost
moment in connection with it.
The absorption of " Siberia" that is, the whole of Eussia's
Asiatic possessions with the exception of Transcaucasia, the
Transcaspian territory, and Turkestan occupying an area of
not far from 5,000,000 square miles, has proceeded, now
quickly, now slowly, but without interruption, ever since the
traders of Novgorod began to raid the Finnish Yugra tribe
in the twelfth century, for the valuable furs they secured.
For centuries the conquest proceeded, through the efforts of
hunters and fishermen, the ransackers of mounds, and the
mere raiders, their advances being gradually recognised from
time to time by the Government. After a while, expedition
after expedition added huge territories in a more formal
manner. An important date is 1581, when Yermak, a Don
Cossack, entering the service of the immensely wealthy Stro-
ganov family, who ruled and practically owned the Ural district,
defeated the Tartar Khan, Kuchum, and sent his lieutenant,
loaded with furs, back to Moscow to " humbly salute the
159
160 RUSSIA.
Lord Ivan Vaselivich the Terrible, with the acquisition of a
new Siberian Kingdom." Slowly but surely Russian settlers
and soldiers pressed eastwards, and the eighteenth century was
distinguished by a number of remarkable exploring expeditions.
One by one, every territory was absorbed, the final great achieve-
ment, the annexation of the whole Amur district, coming in
1854. All the territory on the American Continent was ceded
to the United States in 1867, and the Kurile Islands were
exchanged with Japan for Sakhalin in 1875. At that date
Siberia practically took its present shape.
It is an interesting fact that the first person to lay before the
Eussian Government a proposal for the Trans-Siberian railway
was an Englishman. He was an engineer named Dull, and his
plan was to construct a tramway, on which horses should supply
the motive power, from Nishni-Novgorod, through Kazan and
Perm to one of the Siberian ports. It is not surprising that the
Eussian Government passed over in silence so fantastic a scheme,
unsupported by any estimates. Simultaneously with this pro-
posal, Count Mouraviev, afterwards Governor-General of Siberia,
proposed to unite De Castries Bay in the Tartar Straits with
Sofiisk on the Amur by a carriage road which could be after-
wards converted into a railway.* The surveys for this road
were actually made in 1857, but nothing came of the proposal.
In the same year an American named Collins petitioned the
Government for a concession to found a company to unite
Irkutsk and Chita. Next, three more Englishmen, Messrs.
Morrison, Horn, and Sleigh offered to build a railway from
Moscow to the Pacific shore of Siberia, but asked for such privi-
leges in connection with it, as in the opinion of the Eussian
Government would have led to the concentration of the whole
trade of Siberia in the hands of foreigners for a long period. In
the same year, 1858, a Eussian named Sofronov proposed a line
* Most of the facts here given are taken from a volume published last year by
the Eussian Department of Trade and Manufactures. I have also drawn slightly
from an interesting article by Mr. Frederic Hobart, in the Engineering Magazine
for June, 1893.
THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY. 161
through the Kirghiz steppes to Peking, and four years later
another Eussian named Kokorev conceived the idea (based
upon the schemes of a Government mining official named
Eashet) of uniting the basins of the Volga and the Obi. His
scheme, however, although favourably received, was soon after-
wards abandoned for that of Colonel Bogdanovich, who was
despatched in 1866 to inquire into the famine of two years
before. He sent the following telegram to the Minister of the
Interior: "After removing all difficulties in the provisioning of
the governments of Perm and Viatka, and investigating the
local conditions, I am of opinion that the only sure means of
preventing famine in the Ural country in the future, is the
building of a railway from the governments of the interior to
Ekaterinburg and thence to Tiumen. Such a line, being subse-
quently continued through Siberia to the Chinese frontier, would
acquire a great importance both strategical and for international
trade." Two years later many surveys were carried out in con-
nection with this plan. A third scheme starting, like the two
previous ones, from Perm, but ending near Kurgan on the river
Tobol, was planned by a trader named Liubimov in 1869.
These three schemes were carefully investigated, and it was
decided to build a line 463 miles long to join Kama and the
Tobol. A Special Commission decided that it was impossible to
make the line serve as a link in the chain of the great Siberian
railway of the future without sacrificing the mining interests of
the Ural district. The idea of the through route was therefore
relegated to the future. Surveys, however, continued, and in
1875 it was at length decided to build the first section of a line
to approach the Pacific from Nishni-Novgorod, but via Kazan
and Ekaterinburg to Tiumen. In 1878, the Ural railway was
opened, and two years later the Imperial order was given to
continue it to Tiumen.
For some time afterwards preference was given to the plan of
crossing Siberia by a route which should utilise the vast stretches
of water-communication, joining these by means of railways.
12
162 RUSSIA.
The obvious advantage of this scheme was the enormous saving
of cost. In detail it was to proceed from Tiumen, by the Tura,
Tobol, Irtish and Obi rivers, to Tomsk ; then by rail to Irkutsk ;
thence by the Angara river, and across Lake Baikal ; thence by
rail to the head of the Amur and down it for 1,600 miles ; thence
by rail to Vladivostok. One fatal objection caused the abandon-
ment of this scheme namely, that in winter the eleven hundred
miles of railway from Tomsk to Irkutsk would be isolated, 1 for it
would begin at one frozen river and end at another. Therefore,
after much discussion, and in spite of the greatly increased cost,
an all-rail line was decided upon in 1891 at the instigation of
the Tsar himself. The railway from Samara to Cheliabinsk had
been completed in the meantime, and the Siberian railway was
to begin at the latter place. On May 17, 1891, the Tsarevich,
being at Vladivostok at the conclusion of his tour in the Far
East, formally announced by the will of the Tsar that the Grand
Siberian Eailway should be built, and inaugurated the Usuri
section. To take charge of the enterprise the " Siberian Railway
Committee " was formed at St. Petersburg, and the Tsarevich
appointed president.
The entire railway is divided into seven sections. First, the
Western Siberian Section, from Cheliabinsk to the river Obi, an
easy section, through an agricultural country, ending at Pochi-
tanka, whence a branch line of 82 miles will connect it with
Tomsk; 1,328 versts, at an estimated cost of 47,361,479 roubles.
Second, the Central Siberian Section, from Obi to Irkutsk, a
difficult and tortuous section, through a mountainous and
mineral country and across many rivers ; 1,754 versts, at a cost
of 73,272,898 roubles. Third, the Baikal Circuit, round the
southern end of the "Lake of Death," from Irkutsk to Mysovsk
pier, the shortest and most difficult section, with the heaviest
grades and the sharpest curves, and a tunnel 12,500 feet long
at the height of 770 feet above the lake ; 292 versts, at a cost of
22,310,820 roubles, which is likely to be much exceeded. Fourth,
the Trans-Baikal Section, from Mysovsk to Stretensk, the most
THE TEANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY.
163
rich in minerals and containing the highest point of the whole
line, the Shoidak Pass, 3,700 feet; 1,009 versts, at a cost of
53,309,817 roubles. Fifth, the Amur Section, from Stretensk to
Khabarovka, the longest, easiest, and most promising section,
through the " Garden of Siberia," the valleys being fertile and
well- watered, and abounding in timber, and the climate milder
than elsewhere ; 2,000 versts, at a cost of 117,555,835 roubles.
Sixth, the North Usuri Section, from Khabarovka to Grafsk,
347 versts, cost 18,738,682 roubles. Seventh, the South Usuri
Section, from Grafsk to Vladivostok, along the valley of the
Usuri, through coal-bearing and mineral country ; 382 versts,
cost 17,661,051 roubles. Total length, 7,112 versts; total
estimated cost, 350,210,482 roubles. The Grand Siberian
Eailway may therefore be thus summarised :
SECTION.
EOUTE.
MILES.
COST.
1
Western Siberian
Cheliabinsk Obi
880
5,120,159
2
Central Siberian
Obi Irkutsk
1,162
7,921,394
3
Baikal Circuit
Irkutsk Mysovsk
193
2,411,980
4
Trans-Baikal
Mysovsk Stretensk
668
5,763,223
f>
Amur
Stretensk Khabarovka
1,325
12,708,738
6
North Usuri
Khabarovka Grafsk
229
2,025,803
7
South Usuri
Grafsk Vladivostok
253
1,909,302
Total... 4,713 37,860,592*
According to the latest news, progress is being made on all
the sections. From Vladivostok to Spasskoye 150 miles of
railway have been open to traffic since last June, and 41 miles
from Grafsk station are ready. The second telegraph line is
ready for a distance of 30 miles, and 36 station-houses and
other buildings have been erected. Between Cheliabinsk and
Omsk 6^ miles of line are ready, and 116 station-houses and
buildings completed. Nearly 9,650 tons of rails have been
supplied, 270,000 sleepers, 587 tons of fastenings, 190 tons
of water-pipes, and two reservoirs. The survey has been
* The discrepancies in the additions are due to the fact that the decimals are
omitted from the separate items. Exchange : 10=92fc roubles.
164 RUSSIA.
completed between Omsk and the Obi for 94 miles, and over
21,000 cubic fathoms of earthworks have been made. On the
Central Section between the Obi and Krassnoyarsk much
forest has been cut down, 25,000 cubic fathoms of earthworks
made, and five stations built. The manufacturers have
supplied 260 tons of iron for the bridge across the Tom,
2,200 tons of rails and 700 tons of fastenings, 200,000 sleepers
have been laid, and 6,000 telegraph poles erected. Thirteen
miles of the line and 25 of the telegraph are ready.* All
this amounts, of course, to but a small fraction of the whole,
but it shows that the work is actively proceeding. The great
trial of strength will not come until the line is finished and
the Eussian government is face to face with the financial
problem of maintaining it and the army of men it will require.
It is likely enough that the Siberian Railway may not be
finished either for the money or by the date calculated upon,
which is 1904. Nothing, however, unless the Russian Empire
should be plunged into war, will prevent its completion early in
the next century. When Moscow and the Pacific are in railway
connection, and to some extent even before that, the effect upon
Russia's domestic and foreign relations must be enormous. The
vast extent of Siberia thus opened up, its agricultural possibili-
ties, its mineral certainties, the great variety of its other natural
products, and the opportunities it will offer to colonisation, will
inaugurate a new epoch in the history of Russia. But the rest
of the world is more concerned with the alteration it will bring
into the relations of Russia with other countries. This will be
startling. The railway will not be built as a commercial, but
as a political enterprise. It will not pay its expenses for a long
time to come, and the through traffic will be insignificant for a
century. Portions of it will soon be paying for themselves, but
as a whole the Siberian Railway is to be regarded as a long step
forward politically. The interesting question therefore is, in
what direction ? The Transcaspian Railway is at Samarcand,
* The Times, October 19, 1894, Vienna correspondence.
THE TEANS-SIBEBlAN BAILWAY. 165
and will soon be at Tashkend and Khokand, approaching the
western frontier of China. The Siberian Railway skirts the
northern and eastern frontiers of China practically from Irkutsk
all the way to Vladivostok. A branch line will at once be built
along the Selenga river, 75 miles, from Verkhne-Udinsk to
Kiakhta, thus securing the whole Eusso-Chinese trade at once.
Before long, therefore, speaking in general terms, the entire
northern half of China will be completely surrounded by Kussian
railways. Given the supineness of China and the energy of
Russia, and it is not difficult to forecast the results. In the
second place, the ability of Russia to convey any number of
European troops to a port on the Pacific, will give her an
enormous advantage over any of her European rivals there.
With a powerful Pacific fleet and a sufficient number of trans-
ports she will be able to descend almost irresistibly upon any
part of the Far East except Japan, which has little to fear
from any invader. Unless England secures a further aud
firmer foothold, at least a thousand miles north of Hongkong,
she will not be in a position to dispute with Russia any step
that the latter may choose to take. China is threatened
territorially, Great Britain is menaced commercially, but
always excepting Japan the Siberian Railway will place the
whole of the Far East almost at the mercy of Russia, unless
England casts off her confidence and indifference.
Finally, there is the question of the Russian port on the Pacific.
Can anybody believe for a moment that Russia will build the
longest railway in the world, stretching five thousand miles
from the furthest edge of her European possessions, and will
spend upwards of forty millions sterling upon it, for it to
end in a harbour that is frozen solid during five months of
the year ? Nothing could be more unlikely. Except for some
European cataclysm which will set back all Russian schemes
for a century, it is certain (except in the case of one possible
eventuality which I describe later) that the terminus of the
Siberian Railway will be in Korea. And in Korea it will be at
166 RUSSIA.
Won-san, or Port Lazareff, as she prefers to call it. This is a
splendid harbour, easily fortifiable, open all the year, surrounded
by a country offering many facilities for development. Such
a port is absolutely essential to Russia, and who shall blamo
her for trying to secure it ? At any rate, as soon as the South
Usuri Section is joined to the rest of the finished Siberian
Railway, Russia's moment will have come. First the piece
of Manchuria which projects like a wedge into her territory
will become hers by one means or another, enabling her greatly
to shorten and straighten the railway, and then she will simply
take such part of Korea as may suit her. If this be only the
district of Won-san, to begin with, the subsequent absorption
of the whole of the Korean peninsula may follow. She
will then be in possession of a good land route, across the
Yalu river, straight to the heart of China at all seasons of the
year, and her position in the Far East will be unassailable.
Whatever else may be thought of the prospects of the Far
East, however, let the fact that Russia intends to go to
Korea be regarded as certain. My own views of the inter-
national question springing out of the Siberian Railway and
this fact, particularly in so far as it concerns the future of
Great Britain, will be found in subsequent chapters upon the
question of Korea and the future of Japan.
SPAIN IN THE FAR EAST.
CHAPTER XI.
MANILA : THE CITY OF CIGARS, HEMP, EARTHQUAKES
AND INTOLERANCE.
FT! HE passage from Hongkong to the two thousand islands
- 1 - which constitute the Philippine group is usually accounted
the worst in the China seas. It is a sort of sailing sideways,
through cross-currents of very deep seas, and into the favourite
hatching-place and haunt of the dreadful typhoon. Moreover,
Manila is not the easiest place in the world to find. Its position
is wrong on the charts, so my skipper assured me, and he would
not find it unless he knew better himself. It is, too, one of the
most earthquaky places in the world. When a British scientific
and surveying expedition came some years ago to the Philippines,
and wished among other things to determine the precise latitude
and longitude once for all, although it waited for a couple of
weeks the islands were never steady enough to afford a satis-
factory base for the instruments. The earthquake season was
on, and they were wobbling about the whole time ! This may
be a "yarn," but it is a fact that the seismographs of the
Observatory are in a state of perpetual motion. For myself,
however, Manila will always be remembered as the place where
for the first time I had my pockets publicly and officially
searched. As soon as we anchored, a guard of soldiers came
on board and assisted the custom-house officials in minutely
examining everything in our baggage. When this was over I
was stopped at the head of the gangway by the lieutenant in
command and courteously informed that before I could land he
169
170 SPAIN.
must be permitted to see what I had in my pockets. When it
came to my pocket-book he turned it over, separating every
piece of paper in it. A bystander informed me that all this was
to prevent the introduction of Mexican dollars, on which there is
a premium, and which are prohibited of a date later than 1877,
and a pamphlet attacking the priests, recently published in
Hongkong. I tried to square accounts with this officer by
hinting that I had copies of the forbidden pamphlet in my
boots, but like the Prig, he only " answered with a silent
smile."
In the most conspicuous spot in Manila stands a statue to
Magellan, who discovered the Philippine Islands in his famous
first circumnavigation of the globe in 1521, and whose lieutenant,
Legaspi, founded the city fifty years later. Then came Manila's
golden days. It was the goal of the galleon imagination-stirring
name that made its romantic voyages from Spain, deep loaded
with treasure; that named the coast California fit godfather
for the golden harvest of '49 before even a foot was set on it ;
whose captain earned forty thousand dollars by his trip, and
pilot twenty thousand ; whose treasure-chests yielded up a total
of a million dollars to Drake alone ; out of whose overflowing
stores one victorious British cruiser sailed into the port of
London with damask sails and silken rigging. The galleons are
gone, the wars of which they were the constant prey are as
forgotten as the men who fought them, and "the most for-
tunately situated city in the world," as La Perouse called it, is
far off in its lonely ocean, days distant from any of the great
routes of commerce, almost unheeded by the world in which it
was once so renowned, unvisited even by the ubiquitous globe-
trotter. Yet there is something in the aspect of Manila sugges-
tive of romance something more picturesque than other places
show. The first thing I saw was a native drifting down the
river fast asleep on a heap of coconuts. Then the streets are
dazzling with their "flowers of fire" large trees ablaze with
scarlet blossoms. The olive-skinned mestizas, half-caste descen-
THE CITY OP MANILA. 171
dants of emigrated Spaniard and native Indian, step daintily
along on bare feet encased in chinelas, embroidered heel-less
slippers, with gay fluttering garments of jusi, a woven mixture
of silk and pine-fibre, their loose jet-black hair reaching some-
times almost to the ground one woman was pointed out to me
whose hair was said to be eighty inches long and their deep
dark eyes passing over you in languid surprise. The native
men are a community which has forgotten to tuck its shirt into
its trousers. Their costume consists of a pair of white trousers
and an elaborately pleated and starched shirt, with the tails left
flying about. Every one is smoking a cheroot, and every other
one has a game-cock under his arm, a constant companion and
chief treasure, and sometimes chief source of income too, until
the deadly spur on the heel of the stronger or pluckier rival
turns all its pride and brilliance into a shapeless heap of blood
and feathers in the dust, while a thousand voices execrate its
memory.
The City of Manila consists of two parts : the Spanish walled
city, called the parish of Infra Muros, and the general settlement
outside. The former is crowded with Spanish houses, the
streets being so narrow that in many of them two carriages can-
not pass each other ; their overhanging upper storeys make a
perpetual twilight; the inhabitants go out but little, and the
whole place leaves upon you an impression of darkness, of
silence, of semi-stagnation. Outside the walls are the wharves,
all the warehouses and business offices, the hotels, many large
residences of the wealthy half-caste population, and as the city
gradually merges in the country, the charming river-side
bungalows of the foreign residents, the Club, the racecourse,
and so on, till you reach the squalid but picturesque outlying
native villages. Inside the city you cannot take a hundred steps
without coming upon striking evidence of the earthquakes.
Here is a church half broken down by the convulsion of such a
year ; there are the grass-grown ruins of the Government Palace
destroyed by another historic outburst ; in the great Cathedral
172 SPAIN.
itself the lofty roof of the transept is split and cracked in an
alarming fashion. On the shore of the bay there is an extensive
and well laid-out boulevard or embankment, called the Luneta,
where all fashionable Manila walks or drives in the evening to
the music of the military band. Behind this are the forts,
moss-covered antiquities of masonry, armed with rusty and
harmless pieces which might have come from the gun-deck of
some old galleon. The military authorities, however, make up
in strictness of regulation what they lack in effectiveness of
armament, for the foreign tennis-club was refused permission to
play upon a piece of land within hypothetical range of these
guns on the ground that it was " within the military zone," and
I myself was told, though with great courtesy, by H. E. the
Captain-General, that he must refuse me permission to take any
photographs in which a part of the fortifications appeared. It
was, of course, only for their ancient picturesqueness that I
wished to photograph them a mop vigorously twirled would be
as effective for defence. In one fort at another place there are
two decent modern guns, nearly surrounded by brittle masonry,
and of these I purchased a large and excellent photograph taken
from inside and showing every detail ! Manila, however, if the
information is of interest to anybody, could be reduced with ease
by a couple of gunboats.
The history of Manila has been well divided * into four epochs :
1. The Chinese period ; 2. The Spanish and Mexican period of
monopoly before the introduction of steam traffic ; 3. The
period of open commerce with British predominance, which
commences simultaneously with the age of steam ; 4. The
period from the opening of the Suez Canal until the pre-
sent time. The Chinese were the original traders with the
Philippine Islands, doing business always from their junks
to the shore. They were persecuted and massacred, but
returned in ever increasing numbers. Legaspi encouraged
them, and their numbers at the beginning of the seventeenth
* By Mr. Consul Stigand, in a very interesting Eeport, F. 0., No. 1391.
THE BOYS' BAND, MANILA.
FRENCH PRISONERS HANOI.
THE CITY OF MANILA. 173
century have been estimated at thirty thousand. When the
British occupied Manila in the course of one of the wars with
Spain, the Chinese revenged themselves by joining the invaders,
in return for which, as soon as our ships had left, a general
massacre of Chinese was ordered and carried out, and so late as
1820, says Mr. Stigaud, another massacre of Chinese and
foreigners took place. At the present day there are one hundred
thousand Chinese in the Archipelago, of whom forty thousand
are settled in Manila, where they occupy the chief shops and
do almost all the artisans' work. The second period was that
of purely Spanish commerce, from 1571 to the beginning of this
century. The Philippines were a dependence of Mexico, com-
munication was forbidden except through Acapulco, from which
port the State galleons, termed Naos de Acapulco, made their
annual voyages, laden with the treasure which has rendered
their name one of the most picturesque words in history. They
were four-deckers, of about 1,500 tons, and strongly armed. In
times of war they were, as everybody knows, the easy and
greatly- sought prey of the enemy's ships. One of them, the
Pilar, captured by Anson, was a prize worth a million and half
dollars. At last foreign enemies pressed them so hard that
after the Philippines had been without a State galleon for six
years, they were discarded, and a commercial company, largely
financed by the King of Spain himself, was formed in 1765,
and to it was conceded the exclusive privilege of trading
between Spain and the Archipelago, except for the direct
traffic between Manila and Acapulco. This monopoly in its
turn came to an end in 1884, and from that time the Philip-
pines have been, according to Spanish ideas, open to com-
merce. The opening of the Suez Canal brought Manila within
thirty-two days' steam of Barcelona, and, as Mr. Stigand avers,
doubled the importance of the commerce of the Philippine
Islands, which now reaches the yearly sum of fifty million
dollars. The two principal banks, and the principal firms
in Manila, are all British, and of the ships that entered and
174 SPAIN.
cleared from the port during 1893, amounting to 240 in all, 139
were British and 53 Spanish. But for the excessive port dues and
the bad harbour accommodation which compels cargoes to be
carried in lighters to ships lying off the Bay, foreign trade with
Manila would undoubtedly be greater than it is. The one
railway in the islands, from Manila to Dagupan, which has just
been completed by the building of a bridge over the Eio Grande
river, has also been constructed chiefly with British capital, on
which it promises ultimately to pay a good return. The fall of
silver has hit it very hard, however, since the Government
subsidy which, at par of exchange, would be 85,000, is only
53,000 at the present rate. Japanese enterprise is likely to
make itself felt before long here as elsewhere, since Mr.
Nakamura, formerly Japanese Consul, is announced to be on
the point of establishing a trading company in Manila, with
a capital of half a million dollars.
Considered as a contemporary community, Manila is an
interesting example of the social product of the Eoman Catholic
Church when unrestrained by any outside influence. Here the
Church has free sway, uninterrupted by alien faith, undeterred
by secular criticism. All is in the hands of the priests. The
great monasteries, with their high barred windows, shelter the
power, the wealth, the knowledge of the community. The
Dominicans, with their Archbishop, the Augustinians, the
Recoletanos, and the Franciscans, divide the people among them,
their influence being in the order I have named them. Wise in
the knowledge of that which they have created, their own wealth
is invested in foreign banks, chiefly in Hongkong, though that of
the Dominicans, richest of all, is entrusted to the Agra Bank.
The people are plunged in superstition, and their principal
professed interest in life (after cock-fighting) is the elaborate
religious procession for which every feast-day offers a pretext.
The two newspapers are parodies of the modern press, ignorant
of news, devoid of opinion save the priests', devoted in equal
parts to homily and twaddle. The port, for its exasperating
THE CITY OF MANILA. 175
restrictions and obstructions, is said by agents and captains to
be the most disagreeable in the world to enter or leave. The
civil authority itself is in many respects subject to the religious :
during the chief religious festivals nobody but the Arch-
bishop is permitted to ride in a carriage. A large part of the
real estate of the city is in the possession of the religious
orders. If you would prosper, it is absolutely indispensable
that you should be on good terms with the priests. Their
suspicion and disfavour mean ruin. The personal liberty of
the common man may almost be said to be in their keeping.
It is hardly necessary to add that the people as a whole are idle
and dissipated, and that most of the trade is in the hands of
the foreign houses. Altogether, Manila, distant as it is from
other communities, with little intercourse to enlighten it, and
few visitors to criticise or report, is a remarkable and instruc-
tive example of the free natural development of " age-reared
priestcraft and its shapes of woe."
Of the six characteristics of Manila tobacco, hemp, earth-
quakes, cock-fighting, priestcraft and orchids the first two are
known to all the world. Manila cigars and Manila hemp are
household words, the yearly product of the former reaching the
colossal total of nearly 140,000,000, besides tobacco, and of the
latter 80,000 tons, of which Great Britain takes considerably
more than half. Orchid-hunters come here year after year,
travel far into the virgin forests of the interior, and emerge
again after months of absence, if fever and the native Tagalos
spare them, with a few baskets full of strange flowers which
they carry home with infinite precaution and sell for a king's
ransom. I was told of one collector who sold a plant for i'500.
Tobacco is of course the staple industry, and a morning spent
in a tobacco factory is extremely interesting. Through the
kindness of Messrs. Smith, Bell & Co., the leading business-
house in Manila, I visited the most important of these, "La
Flor de la Isabella," and followed the tobacco from its arrival
in the bale, through the seasoning-room, to the wetting and
176 SPAIN.
sorting-tubs, on the benches where it is rolled into cigars, past
the selecting-table where its colour and quality are decided by
a lightning expert, through the drying-room, and at last into
the gaily-labelled cedar box. Manila tobacco is considered here
to be superior to any in the world, except the famous " Vuelta
Abajo " of Cuba, and millions of Manila cigars are sold as
Havanas. In fact, the two styles, Manila and Cuban, the
former with the end cut blunt off and parallel sides, are
turned out in almost equal quantities. Five colours are dis-
tinguished for sale, Maduro, Colorado Maduro, Colorado,
Colorado claro, and Claro, although the expert at the selecting-
table divides his heap into thirty different colours. The filling
of a cigar is called tripa, or tripe, the wrapper capa, or overcoat.
London takes assorted colours, while the dark brands are sent
to Spain, the light ones to New York, and the straight cheroots
to India. From this factory a million and a half cigars are
shipped every month to one London firm alone. The figures of
tobacco-making are astounding. At "La Flor de la Isabella,"
and this is only one of a score of factories in Manila, 4,000
people are employed, their hours of labour being eight, from
7 to 12 and from 2 to 5 o'clock. And from the huge " Im-
periales " to the tiny " Coquetas " and the twisted " Culebras,"
4,000,000 in Manila style and 1,500,000 in Cuban style are
made monthly. But cigarette-making caps the climax. The
tobacco leaves are cut into hebra or thread, which we call
"long-cut," and the whole process of making is done by a
single machine. I saw nine of these hard at work, and each
turns out twelve thousand in a day. It is a simple sum :
9 x 12,000 x 80 x 12, say 38,000,000 cigarettes a year from
one factory. And yet
" There is poison, they say, in thy kisses,
pale cigarette ! "
Or, from the other point of view, what an altar for Mr. Lowell's
worship of
THE CITY OF MANILA. 177
"the kind nymph to Bacchus born
By Morpheus' daughter, she that seems
Gifted upon her natal morn
By him with fire, by her with dreams."
The great cockpit of Manila at the " Fiesta del Pueblo " is
one of the most remarkable spectacles in the world. Imagine a
huge circus with an arena raised to the height of the faces of
those standing ; behind them tier upon tier gradually rising ;
above the arena, which is enclosed with fine wire netting, the
red draped box of the farmer the leading Chinaman of
Manila, named Senor Palanca ; and a packed audience of four
thousand people. Squatting on the earthen floor of the ring,
inside the wire netting, are the habitues, half Chinese and half
Mestizos, while the officials walk about the juez de jmticia or
referee, the sentenciador or umpire, the casador, " go-between "
or betting-master, and several others. Then two men enter
the ring, each carrying a bird whose spur is shielded for the
moment in a leather scabbard. One wears his hat he is the
owner of the challenging bird called llamado ; the other,
hatless, is the outsider or dejado, who takes up the challenge.
An official calls out the sum for which the challenger's owner
backs it, and how much is still lacking to make up the sum.
Then comes the most extraordinary scene of all. The moment
the words are out of his mouth, it rains dollars in the ring.
From those inside, from those who are within throwing distance,
apparently from everywhere, dollars pour in, without method,
without ownership, without a bargain, so far as one can judge
amid the deafening clamour. When the sums on the birds are
equal the betting master shouts Casada! " matched," literally
"married," the farmer from his box on high yells Larga !
" loose them," and the fight begins. Sometimes it lasts ten
minutes, sometimes only a second, the first shock leaving one
bird a mangled corpse. No need to describe it every one knows
how a cock fights, and that it is the very gamest and pluckiest
thing that lives. The fight over, the betting-master goes round
13
178 SPAIN.
handing money back recklessly, so it seems, to anybody who
holds out a hand. I asked Senor Palanca how betting could
possibly be carried on like this. He replied that each one asks
for or takes the sum that belongs to him. But if anybody
should put out his hand for another's money ? He gave me to
understand that it was never done, and that if anybody were
detected doing so he would probably have a dozen knives in his
body on the spot. In a short time I had witnessed 105 cock-
fights, and I shall never willingly see another. The entry of
the two brilliant birds ; the final adjustment of the long razor-
edged spurs ; the frantic betting ; the rain of silver ; the irrita-
tion of the birds, held up to pull a few feathers out of each
other in turn; their stealthy approach ; the dead silence; the
sudden double spring and mad beating of wings ; the fall of
one or perhaps both, the gay plumage drenched in blood, and
perhaps a wing half-severed and hanging down ; the mad yells ;
the winning bird carried carefully away, the loser picked up
like carrion and flung away with a curse; the distribution of
money; the instant appearance of another pair the ceaseless
spectacle was an obsession of horror. The authorities make
a large revenue from the cockpit. For this and one other,
Senor Palanca pays 68,600 dollars a year, and there are five
other farmers.
Two other reminiscences may conclude my sketch of Manila.
One is that a hundred people were dying every day of cholera
while I was there, and several times my guide pushed me
hastily back against the wall as we threaded our way along the
narrow streets, and stuffed his camphorated handkerchief in
his mouth, muttering " Colericof" as a couple of men passed
bearing on their shoulders a long object wrapped in a sheet
and slung between two poles the latest case going to the
hospital. One of the Chinese firemen died of cholera on board
the steamer three hours before we sailed. The other reminis-
cence is that the thermometer stood at 105 in the shade, as I
saw, and at 160 in the sun, as I was told.
THE CITY OF MANILA. 179
The Philippine Islands are the only Spanish possession in
the Far East. Indeed, only a part of them can properly be
said to be in Spanish possession at all, as the natives of many
of the islands have never been brought under Spanish rule.
At this moment hostilities are proceeding in the almost un-
known island of Mindanao, with uncertain results as yet.
Although mining has always been a failure, there is undoubt-
edly vast wealth in the tropical forests of the Philippines, but
it will hardly be developed under the present regime. In spite
of her growing fleet of first-class cruisers at home, Spain is
without influence in the Far East outside her own immediate
territories, and she will play little or no part in shaping its
destinies.
PORTUGAL IN THE FAR EAST.
CHAPTER XII.
MACAO:- THE LUSITANIAN THULE.
T\THERE the carcase is, there also will the eagles be gathered
together." China is the great carcase of Asia, and round
her the eagles of Europe and America press and jostle one
another. England is entrenched at Hongkong, and many a fat
slice has she carried away. And now she is stretching out
another claw through Thibet. America has half of Shanghai,
and to and from San Francisco the bird of prey passes regularly
in his flight. France is trying hard to carry off her share of the
carcase through Tongking, and Port Arthur in the north brought
huge sums to a French syndicate. Herr Krupp has secured
Germany's chief plunder, and the Yamen of Li Hung-chang
at Tientsin is a nest of commercial intrigue on behalf of the
Fatherland. And Russia is laying a heavy paw upon China
from the north. All this is natural enough, and so far as
England and America are concerned it is the inevitable flow
of trade in the channels of least resistance. But among the
birds around this Asiatic carcase there is a beetle ; among the
birds of prey there is a parasite. The extreme south-east corner
of China is the scene of the dying struggles of a mongrel
fragment of a once intrepid and famous race a fragment
drawing its meagre sustenance with more difficulty every day.
The hand of Vasco da Gama would have wavered upon the helm
as he rounded the Cape of Good Hope, of all the men in Europe
" the first that ever burst into the silent seas " of the East, if he
could have foreseen to what a wretched pass and laughing-stock
183
184 PORTUGAL.
his countrymen there would come after less than four hundred
years. The daughter of a King of Portugal was at Hongkong a
few years ago. She went, of course, to visit her own people
and stand under her own flag at Macao. But a glimpse was
too much for her, and she left within twelve hours.
Yet Macao (what is the relation of its name, one wonders, to
the Piccadilly game over which Beau Brummel used to preside,
doubtless with much profit to himself, at Watier's ?) is not such
a bad place, at first sight. Its bay is a perfect crescent. Around
this runs a broad boulevard, called the Praya Grande, shadowed
with fine old arching banyan trees. At each horn the Portuguese
flag waves over a little fort. Behind the town, green wooded
hills rise like an amphitheatre, and among the houses a
picturesque old building sticks up here and there the
cathedral, the barracks, the military hospital, the older Fort
Monte. The whitewashed houses with their green blinds and
wide shady porticoes and verandas, from which dark eyes look
idly down upon you as you pass, recall many a little Italian and
Spanish town. A couple of yacht-like Portuguese gunboats lie
at anchor in the river beyond the bay. On Sundays and
Thursdays the band plays in the public gardens, and surely
nowhere in the world do the buglers linger so long over the
reveille and the retreat as they do here every day. To the busy
broker or merchant of Hongkong, who runs over here in the
summer from Saturday to Monday, after a week of hard work
and perspiration, coining dollars in a Turkish bath, Macao is a
tiny haven of rest, where the street is free from the detestable
ceaseless chatter of Chinamen, where the air is fresh and the
hills green, and where a little " flutter " at fan-tan is a miniature
and amusing substitute for the daily struggle with exchanges
and settlements and short sales.
And Macao has its glorious past, too. After they had
rounded the Cape the Portuguese occupied a great part of the
coast of India, sent an Embassy to the Emperor of China, and
occupied Ningpo. There one night 1,200 of them were
THE COLONY OF MACAO. 185
murdered. So they resettled a place called Chinchew, where
the same fate overtook them. Nothing daunted, they came
further south, and after helping the Chinese to destroy hordes
of pirates were permitted to settle in peace on a small peninsula
near the mouth of one of the two river approaches to Canton.
Here Macao was founded in 1557, and up to 1848 the Portuguese
paid a yearly rental of 500 dollars in presents or money. In
1582 when the Crown of Portugal passed to Spain, Macao
followed suit. When it went back again in 1640 in the person
of John IV. of Portugal, Macao again changed its flag and made
" a great donation " to the new king. At this time it was
described as " a melhor e mas prosper o columna que os Portu-
gueyes tem em todo o Oriente " the best and most prosperous
colony that the Portuguese possess in all the East. Then its
population was 19,500. By 1830 it had dwindled to 4,628, of
so mixed a blood that only 90 persons were registered as of pure
Portuguese descent. To-day it holds 63,500 Chinese, 4,476 so-
called Portuguese, and 78 others in all 68,086. What is the
explanation of this sudden enormous multiplication of its
population ? Like Satan, Macao was " by merit raised to
that bad eminence." It won back its ancient prosperity by
offering its houses and its traders as the last refuge in the East
to that hell upon earth, the legalised coolie traffic. When
Hongkong stopped this for ever under the British flag by the
Chinese Passengers Act of 1854, Macao opened eager and
unscrupulous arms to the " labour agents," and for nearly
twenty years, when public opinion became too strong for
even this mongrel and far-away community, the little city
flourished, its inhabitants made fortunes, the Praya Grande
was crowded every evening by a gay and gaudy throng, the
streets were beautified, the cathedral was rebuilt, and the
Portuguese colony became famous throughout the East for
its elaborate religious processions and its eloquent priests.
And during these twenty years uncounted thousands of coolies
were decoyed, entrapped, stolen, and pirated to Macao, kept
186 PORTUGAL.
prisoners in the gloomy " barracoons," whose grated windows
are still everywhere visible, theoretically certified as voluntary
contract labourers by an infamous profit-sharing procurador, and
then shipped to toil, and starve, and rot, and die in mines and
fields and plantations everywhere, literally " from China to
Peru." As a single specimen of the traffic it is commonly
affirmed that of 4,000 coolies sent to the foul guano-pits of
the Chincha Islands, not a single soul returned. Altogether
500,000 Chinese were exported via Macao, before the traffic
was finally extinguished in 1875. There has been lately a
semi-surreptitious attempt to revive the trade. A company
was formed to supply a million Chinese to South America,
and a ship called the Tetartos actually carried 300 " free
labourers " to Brazil in October of last year, concerning
whose destination and fate there is still great uncertainty.
And it has been rumoured that a new and influential coolie
emigration " ring " is being planned, but fortunately public
opinion and Chinese official opposition may be counted upon
to thwart its efforts.
A retribution has fallen upon Macao it seems as though the
curses of the murdered coolies have come back to it. Not a soul
walks the beautiful Praya; the harbour is silting up so fast, from
the detritus brought down by the Pearl and West rivers, between
which Macao is situated, that in a few years there will not be as
many feet of water in it ; even the Chinese are leaving it the
last of rats to quit a sinking ship: its miserable inhabitants,
interbred from Chinese, Portuguese, Malay, Indian, and unknown
human jetsam to such an extent that the few Portuguese troops
here regard the Chinaman as socially superior to the " Mesticos,"
have fallen into utter apathy ; they hardly show themselves out
of doors, they subsist on monies furnished to them by their
pluckier relatives in foreign employ in Hongkong and elsewhere,
and the military band in the public gardens plays to a score of
loafers. There is no manufacture, no social life, and almost no
trade since the smuggling of opium has been stopped by Sir
THE COLONY OF MACAO. 187
Eobert Hart's recent treaty, giving Macao in perpetuity to
the Portuguese on the condition that its Customs should be
virtually controlled by his staff.
Another illegitimate source of income was lost to Macao in
1885. The most intense interest is taken in China an interest
comparable only to that of the great sporting events of the year
with us in the official literary and military examinations in
Peking, and upon the results of these every other man in China
desires to have a wager. A lottery to this end, called the
Wei-sing Lottery, has existed for a long time. The Chinese
Government have made more or less sincere efforts to put it
down ; indeed, in 1874 the Emperor went so far as to cashier
the Governor-General Ying Han for sanctioning its establish-
ment in Canton. The authorities of Macao, of course, saw the
possibilities of an enormous profit herein. They therefore
farmed out tbe lottery to a Chinaman, who smuggled the
tickets from Portuguese into Chinese territory, and who paid
them 353,000 dollars a year for the privilege. Against this the
Chinese were powerless, so in 1885, in self-defence, they con-
sented to the Wei-sing in China, with the result that the sum
the monopolist was able to pay the government of Macao fell
instantly to 36,000 dollars. Trade is going the way of the coolie
traffic, the opium-smuggling and the lottery revenue, but the
peculiar genius of Macao is not yet at an end. According to the
British Vice-Consul, a new source of income has been invented
in what is called "lie" tea, the legitimate tea trade having
almost completely fallen off. Mr. Joly writes : " This term
sufficiently explains its quality, for there is no doubt that the
mixture could only be called tea in its correct acceptation
through a considerable sacrifice of truth. These teas are
manufactured from exhausted tea-leaves, which are dried,
re-fired, and mixed with a certain proportion of genuine tea
and of seeds and dust. Most of this preparation proceeds to
Hamburg, where no ' Adulteration Act ' is in force ; but a
good deal of mystery enshrouds its ultimate fate, for there are
188 PORTUGAL.
various versions as to its disposal, some parties averring that
it is consumed by the lower classes, others that it is sold to
ships, and others that a quantity of it probably leaks into
England as well. From what I can gather, some of this ' lie '
tea is often packed in chests labelled 'best Congou,' and
shipped to India for the lower classes. But tastes differ, just
as the tea sent to France and the Continent generally is a
mere conglomeration of stalks and twigs, and to all appearances
no tea at all." Macao, however, is practically being wiped out
of existence by Hongkong, with its enormously greater capital,
enterprise and freedom of trade. So far from attempting to
meet this competition, the Macanese authorities go blindly
along the old road of commercial restriction, the port dues at
Macao being exactly three times what they are at Hongkong.
In 1854 the Abbe Hue wrote as follows: " Aujourd'hui Macao
n'est guere plus qu'un souvenir ; 1'etablissement anglais de
Hongkong lui a donne le coup mortel ; il ne lui reste de son
antique prosperite que de belles niaisons sans locataires, et dans
quelques annees, peut-etre, les navires europeens, en passant
devant la presqu'ile ou fut cette fiere et riche colonie portugaise,
ne verront plus qu'un rocher nu, desole, tristement battu par
les vagues, et ou le pecheur chinois viendra faire secher ses
noirs filets." Although this prophecy is not yet wholly fulfilled,
each year brings its realisation nearer. One peculiar source of
revenue, however, remains the sale of postage-stamps. When-
ever Macao desires a lift for its treasury it is able to secure it
by abandoning one set of stamps and issuing another, when
philatelists from all over the world eagerly add it to their
inflated collections. Our consul declares that he has " endless
applications from different countries for stamps of this colony."
Portugal doles out to Macao a yearly pittance, and its other
chief source of revenue is the 150,t)00 dollars it draws annually
from its gaming-tables. For, as I have said, whenever one
wickedness was stopped in Macao it was quick to find another,
and to-day it is the only place in the Far East where you can
THE COLONY OF MACAO. 189
play fan-tan under a foreign flag. But its history is almost
closed, the days of its disappearing trade and its decomposing
population are numbered, and unless a Cement Company which
has been started on a small island leased from the bishop, or
the establishment of bonded warehouses, as suggested by the
Chinese Customs, should bring back a semblance of prosperity,
this "gem of the orient earth and open sea" will have dis-
appeared like other places and peoples which were, sinned too
much, and are not.
One classic memory, however, may save Macao from oblivion.
It was here that the exiled Carnoens composed the greater part
of his Lusiads. On one of the hillsides overlooking the bay is an
extensive old shrubbery, where narrow paths twist in and out
among gnarled and ancient trees, and where half-a-dozen
enormous boulders heaped together form a natural archway or
grotto the Gruta de Camoes. Camoens was appointed Provedor
dos defuntos e ausentes Commissary for the Defunct and the
Absent in Macao, and is supposed to have come here every day
to work at his great task. The place, which is now known as
" Camoens' Garden," belongs to a family named Marques, and
by them a remarkably fine bronze bust of the half-blind poet,
inscribed " Luiz de Camoes, Nasceo 1524, Morreo 1580," was
placed in the arch in 1840, upon a pedestal bearing six cantos
of the Lusiads, while tributes to him in half-a-dozen languages
are engraved upon stone tablets placed around. There is
a fine sonnet of Tasso's and various verses in Portuguese and
Spanish, while Sir John Bowring's exaggeration is unfortunately
conspicuous :
" Gem of the orient earth and open sea,
Macao, that in thy lap and on thy breast
Has gathered beauties all the loveliest
On which the sun smiles in his majesty ; "
and so on. One degree worse in style, though a thousand times
truer are some wonderful Latin verses perpetrated by a Mr.
David, who laments
190 PORTUGAL.
" Sed jam vetustas aut manua impia
Prostravit, eheu ! Triste silentium
Eegnare nunc solum videtur
Per scopulos, virides et umbras ! "
Among all, however, the sincerest seems to me to be some
quaint lines in French, said to have been written by the com-
mander of a French man-of-war which visited Macao in 1827,
and ingeniously dedicated as follows :
" Au Grand Luis de Camoens, Portugais d'origine Castillane,
Soldat religieux, voyageur et poete exile',
L'humble Louis de Eienzi, Fran<;ais d'origine Roruaine,
Voyageur religieux, soldat et poete expatrieV'
This poet too was doleful, for apostrophising Camoens he
says :
" Agit6 plus que toi, je fuyai dans les champs,
Et le monde, et mon coeur, 1'envie et les tyrans. "
What the Macanese of to-day think of Camoens may be
judged from the fact that I tried in vain to borrow or buy in
Macao a copy of the Lusiads, to see what are the stanzas
engraved on the pedestal, the chiselling having become illegible.
Camoens himself was shipwrecked off Malacca on his way home
when pardoned, and swam ashore with the manuscript of the
Lusiads, losing everything else. Curiously enough, by the way,
on leaving the grotto and turning into the old half-deserted
cemetery I came across an old-fashioned granite monument,
with this inscription : " Sacred to the Memory of the Eight
Hon. Lord Henry John Spencer Churchill, 4th son of George
5th Duke of Marlborough, Captain of H.B.M.S. Druid, and
Senior Officer in the China Seas. Departed this life in Macao
roads, 2nd June, 1840. This monument is erected by His
Officers and Petty Officers in testimony of their Esteem and
Affection."
Finally, Macao, as I have said, is the Monaco of the East,
THE COLONY OF MACAO. 191
and from its gaming-tables its impecunious government reaps
150,000 dollars a year, the price said to be paid by the syndi-
cate of Chinese proprietors for the monopoly. The game is a
peculiarly Chinese one, well fitted to afford full scope to the
multitude of refinements and hypothetical elaborations with
which the Chinaman, the greatest gambler on earth, loves to
surround his favourite vice. It is played on a mat-covered
table, with a small square of sheet lead and a heap of artificial
gilded " cash." On one side stands the croupier, on the adjoin-
ing side sits the dealer, and between them, a little to the rear, is
the desk and treasury of the cashier. The sides of the leaden
square are called one, two, three, and four. The dealer takes
up from the heap as many " cash " as he can grasp with both
hands and places them apart upon the table. Then the
players, who sit and stand round the other two sides of the
table, make their bets, that is, they place at either side of the
square any sum from 50 cents to 500 dollars, or at either
corner any sum up to 1,500 dollars. When all have done,
the dealer slowly counts the heap out in fours, and the last
remaining four or three or two or one, as the case may be, is
the winning number. Those who have placed their money at
the corresponding side of the square, which is called playing fan,
are paid three to one ; those who have staked at the corner,
covering two numbers or playing tan, are paid even money if
either number wins. From all winnings the bank deducts eight
per cent. Besides the above ways, there are many other of
infinite complication, scored with buttons and cards and ivory
counters, which nobody except a Celestial can possibly under-
stand. But they play with the greatest eagerness, the coolie
who works a week to save his dollar, the shopkeeper who
calmly stakes his watch and chain if he is short of ready money,
and the well-to-do merchant, who watches the game for half an
hour to judge of the chances and then lays down his hundred
dollar bill and walks imperturbably away whatever the result may
be. Of course everybody asks, cannot the dealer after years of
192 PORTUGAL.
practice take up a fixed number of "cash" according to the
sums staked upon the table ? It seems probable, but I have
watched him for a long time and I am convinced that if he could
it would in nearly all cases be impracticable, for many sufficient
reasons. A few years ago it was common enough to see a
thousand dollars on the table for a single deal, when the
Hongkong brokers were rich, and came over on Saturday nights.
Conspicuous in Macao are the following lines by S. de Passes,
chiselled in marble over an arch :
" Nacao que dormes, do sepulchre a borda,
Ergue-te, surge, como outr' ora, ovaute !
Teu genio antigo, teu valor recorda,
E aprende n'elle a caminhar avante ! "
But the appeal comes too late. Portugal had her Eastern
glory, as she had also what Richard Burton called her " mani-
fold villainies." Her share in the politics of the Far East is gone
for ever, and Macao is not even an inspiring monument to its
memory.
CHINA.
14
CHAPTEE XIII.
PEKING AND ITS INHABITANTS.
A S soon as you are safely on Chinese soil at Tientsin you
begin to ask how far it is to Peking and how you can get
there. You are told eighty miles by road, and a hundred and
twenty by river, and that there are three methods of travel open
to you cart, horseback, and boat. I chose the second, hired
a couple of ponies and a mafoo (groom), and thankfully left the
noisy, narrow, and nasty streets of the native city of Tientsin
behind me at seven o'clock one bright Sunday morning. Then
forty miles of jog-trot and canter along a narrow path across a
landscape of dry mud, and a night at a Chinese inn a series of
small cold, bare guest-rooms surrounded by a hollow square of
stalls. To bed at eight, up again at three in order that the cart
which carries the baggage and bedding and food might start
and reach Peking before the gates are closed at five o'clock.
A trip to Peking is good for two moments of interest and
satisfaction two real sensations of traveller's delight. The
first is at first sight of the walls of the great city, after the
second dull ride of forty miles. You enter through a gate of
no proportions or pretensions, you ride for a quarter of an hour
among hovels and pigs, and then suddenly on climbing a bank
a striking sight bursts upon you. A great tower of many storeys
forms the corner of a mighty wall ; from each of its storeys
a score cannon-mouths yawn ; for a mile or more the wall
stretches in a perfectly straight line, pierced with a thousand
embrasures, supported by a hundred buttresses. Then you halt
105
196 CHINA.
your pony and sit and try to realise that another of the desires
of your life is gratified ; that you are at last really and truly
before the walls of the city that was old centuries before the
wolf and the woodpecker found Romulus and Eemus ; in the
wonderland of Marco Polo, father of travellers ; on the eve
of exploring the very capital and heart of the Celestial Empire.
This is the first of your two precious moments. When you ride
on you discover that the cannon-mouths are just black and
white rings painted on boards, and the swindle fortunately you
do not know it then is your whole visit to Peking in a nutshell.
The place is a gigantic disappointment.
Although the temptation is great to write marvels about a
place one has come so far to see to play Polo, so to speak,
on one's own account the truth is that Peking is not worth the
trip. It is worth coming to study, but not to set. The nose
is the only sense appealed to by the capital of China. It is not
half as picturesque a place as Seoul, nor a quarter as interest-
ing as San Francisco. Moreover, you cannot see nearly as
much of it to-day as you could a few years ago. One by one
the show-places have been closed to foreigners, and the Marble
Bridge, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven to mention
only the first that come to mind are now hermetically closed
against the barbarian, and neither rank nor money nor impu-
dence can force an entrance. Even the ascents to the top of
the wall the only place where a foreigner can walk in comfort
and. decency are now barred, and you must find a bribable
sentry. And if by reason of strength or luck you do get into
one of the forbidden spots you are very likely to have a narrow
escape as I had at the Great Llama Temple of never getting
out again.
The history of Peking is to be read in the walls which
surround it in ruin or in preservation, and if you trace them
within and without the city (I did not) they will show you
where lay the "Nanking" of the Khitan Tartars in 986; how
the famous "Golden Horde" of Kin Tartars laid out their
PEKING AND ITS INHABITANTS. 197
capital of Chung-tu in 1151 ; what Genghiz Khan and his
Mongols thought a great city should be in 1215 ; how the
immortal Khublai Khan constructed Khanbalik, "the city of
the Khan," a century later Polo calls it Cambaluc ; and much
more interesting history down to the advent of the present
Manchus in 1644. And it is the walls, in excellent preserva-
tion, that mark the divisions of the Peking of to-day first,
the so-called "Chinese" or Outer City, more properly the
Southern City ; adjoining it the Inner or " Tartar City,"
properly called Northern ; inside this the " Imperial City,"
and inside this again, like the inmost pill-box in a nest, the
"Forbidden City," the actual Imperial residence itself. The
ethnological distinctions of Chinese and Tartar are practically
effaced ; the only distinction for the flying visitor is that the
shops are in the Chinese City, while most of the temples, public
buildings, and "sights," together with all the foreign residences,
are in the Tartar City, and that the wall of the latter is much
the larger and more massive structure. The ground-plan of
Peking is supposed to represent a human body, the palace being
the heart, but it is better described as being laid out on the
chess-board plan of American cities west of Chicago. There
are two great streets which intersect at a central point, and from
all parts of these other streets, lanes and alleys run in straight
lines. Every corner in Peking seems to be a right angle ; there
are no winding thoroughfares. The houses are all very low with
flat roofs, and I did not see a single first-class Chinese dwelling-
house in the whole city. But it is the streets of Peking that
strike the observer first, and fade last from his recollection.
Whether wide or narrow, dark alley or main artery, they are
entirely unpaved the native alluvial soil and the native sewage
form every Pekingese pathway. From this state of things spring
several curious consequences. The roads are so uneven, the
holes in them so numerous and deep, the ridges so high and
steep, that no vehicle with springs can navigate half a mile.
The only conveyance, therefore, is the famous Peking cart, an.
108 CHINA.
enormously strong and heavy square two-wheeled, covered
vehicle, drawn by a rnule, the passenger squatting tailor-fashion
inside and the driver sitting on the shaft. If you go out to
dinner or your wife goes to church, this is practically your
only vehicle, as there are very few chairs in Peking. But to
be rolled about and jolted in one of these is simple torture,
and if you do not hold on closely to the hand-rails inside you
run no little risk of having your brains dashed out. After a
good shower of rain in Peking you cannot set foot out of doors ;
the mud is often three feet deep, and the centre of the street
sometimes a couple of feet higher than the sides. But on the
other hand, if no rain comes there is the dust, and a Pek'ing
dust-storm, once experienced, is a dreadful memory for ever.
After a drought the dust is ankle-deep, every night at sunset it
is watered with the liquid sewage of the city, and so it has come
to be composed of dried pulverised earth and dried pulverised
filth in about equal proportions. And when the storm comes
you are blinded and choked by it ; it penetrates your clothing
to the skin ; windows and doors and curtains and covers do not
stop it for an instant ; people say it even finds its way into
air-tight boxes. So whether the barometer indicates ''rain"
or " fair," you are equally badly off. The Secretary of the
British Legation says in his latest Report : " The foreign com-
munity started a roads' committee with the praiseworthy desire
of cleansing and levelling the foul streets immediately around
the legations and Customs residences. A water-cart was pur-
chased and created no small sensation among the populace on
its first appearance ; but only a torrent of rain suffices to lay
the deep dust of Peking, and the efforts to remove the filth of
the roads have proved inadequate and almost abortive." Few
European travellers, he adds, have visited Peking during the
past three years.
To learn what the Chinaman really thinks about the foreigner,
you must go to Peking : no other city in China will serve so
well. And the discovery will be far from flattering to your
PEKING AND ITS INHABITANTS. 199
national pride. Peking is the only place I have ever visited
where the mere fact of being a foreigner, a stranger in speech,
dress, and manners, did not of itself secure one a certain amount
of consideration, or at any rate make one the object of useful in-
terest. Here the precise opposite is the case. The " foreign devil"
is despised at sight not merely hated, but regarded with sincere
and profound contempt. "If the TsungliYamen were abolished,"
said a Peking diplomat to me, " our lives would not be safe here
for twenty-four hours. The people just refrain from actually
molesting us because they have learned that they will be very
severely punished if they do." At home we cherish the belief
that we are welcome in China, that the Chinese are pleased to
learn of our Western civilisation, that they are gradually and
gladly assimilating our habits and views, and that the wall of
prejudice is slowly breaking down. It would hardly be pos-
sible to be more grossly and painfully mistaken. The people to
a man detest and despise us (I am speaking, of course, of the
real Chinese, not of the anglicised Chinese of Hongkong and
elsewhere, who are but a drop in the ocean of Celestial
humanity) ; and as for the rulers, it will not be far from the
truth to say that the better they know us, the less they like us.
Let us say that you start out in the morning for a prowl in
Peking. What are your relations with the people you meet ?
First of all, of course, they crowd round you whenever you
stop, and in a minute you are the centre of a mass of solid
humanity, which is eating horrible stuff, which is covered with
vermin, which smells worse than words can tell, and which is
quite likely to have small-pox about it. As for taking a photo-
graph in the streets, it is out of the question. The only way I
could manage this was to place my camera on the edge of a
bridge, where they could not get in front of the lens, and then I
was in imminent danger of being^pushed into the canal, as the
bridges have no rail or parapet. The crowd jostles you, feels
your clothes with its dirty hands, pokes its nose in your face,
keeping up all the time (I was generally with a friend who
200 CHINA.
understood Chinese) a string of insulting and obscene remarks,
with accompanying roars of laughter. By and by the novelty
and fun of this wear off, and you get first impatient and then
infuriated. But beware, above all things, of striking or even
laying a finger on one of these dirty wretches. That would be
probably a fatal mistake. They will do nothing but talk and
push ; but if you should hit one of them, you would be more
than likely not to get away alive, or at least without bad injuries.
But suppose that you walk steadily and imperturbably on ?
The pedestrian you meet treats you with much less considera-
tion than one of his own countrymen ; the children run to the
door to cry " Kueidzu ! " "devil!" at you. They have other
indescribable and worse ways of insulting you. When a member
of a foreign legation was riding underneath the wall, a brick was
dropped upon him from the top. It just missed his head and
struck the horse behind the saddle. The Chinese children,
again, have an original way of amusing themselves at the
expense of the foreign devils. A child will provide itself with
a big fire-cracker, and then sit patiently at the door till he sees
you in the distance coming along on your pony. Then he will
run out, drop the cracker in the road, light the slow-match with
a fire-stick, and retire to a safe place to watch events. "With
devilish precocity he generally manages to cause it to explode
just under your pony's nose ; and if you are lucky enough to
keep your seat and pull up a mile or so in the direction you do
not wish to go, he doubtless considers that his experiment has only
been a moderate success. If you should break your neck and
be left there dead in the road, that would confer imperishable
lustre upon his family and neighbourhood. \Yhen this has
happened to you once or twice, you learn to jog about the
Celestial City with s.hort reins and your knees stuck well into
your saddle, ready for developments at any moment. I was
told that Lady Walsham's chair was actually stopped in the
open street and she herself grossly insulted, that a member of
our Consular service was nearly killed outside tbe Llama temple,
PEKING AND ITS INHABITANTS. 201
and that there are few foreigners who have not had some un-
pleasant experience or other. No donht it is sometimes the
foreigner's own fault, but a life-memher of the Aborigines
Protection Society would fail to get on smoothly at all times.
The foreign legations in Peking are in a street near the chief
gate of the Tartar City, known among the foreigners as
" Legation Street." It is half a mile long, either mud or dust,
as level as a chopping sea, with here and there its monotony of
blank walls or dirty native houses broken by a strong gateway
with a couple of stone lions in front. These are the legations ;
and inside the gate you find pleasant gardens and generally
spacious and comfortable foreign houses, sometimes built ad hoc
and sometimes converted to their present use from Chinese
temples. So long as you are the stranger within the gates, you
are extremely well off; but as soon as the porter shuts them
behind you well, the residents in Peking say it is a charming
place, but for my part I can only believe in their veracity at the
expense of their taste. I would rather live in Seven Dials or
Five Points. When your guide says, "This is Legation Street,"
you laugh, it is so dirty, so miserable, with its horrible crowd of
dogs and pigs and filthy children. But when you have lived in
it for a few days you laugh no more : you count the hours till
you can get away.
What, however, about the "sights" of Peking? To
be truthful is to declare frankly that there are almost
none. Much the finest building that I saw indeed, the only
one not in positive dirt and decay is the entrance pavilion
in the grounds of the British Legation, shown in my illus-
tration. That is a massive wooden roof, richly carved and
gorgeously coloured, supported upon many columns corre-
spondingly decorated. One day I was riding with a member
of the Piussian Legation, and he said, " By the way, wouldn't
you like to see the Imperial Chinese War Office ? " " Very
much indeed," I replied enthusiastically, supposing it to be
something splendid. So we turned into a wretched by-street,
202 CHINA.
and steered our ponies round the mud-holes and the heaps of gar-
bage till we reached it a broken-down, weather-stained, rotting
structure, with a waving field of weeds on the. roof, and a guard
lounging at the door one degree more dirty and dilapidated than
the place itself. And all the other offices of State the Board
of Bites, the Board of Punishments, the Astronomical Board,
and the rest are facsimiles of the Board of War. Professor
Douglas says, in the Encyclopedia Britannica, that the halls of
the palace, "for the magnificence of their proportions and bar-
baric splendour, are probably not to be surpassed anywhere."
Whatever may be his authority for this statement I thought no
foreigner had ever had an opportunity of examining them nothing
else in Peking suggests any magnificence and splendour. The
yellow-roofed buildings of the palace are closely walled in, and
no foreign foot passes the threshold of the " Forbidden
City " ; but I have looked at them through my glass from the
top of the highest building in the neighbourhood, and they
appear commonplace enough. And when the Emperor recently
quitted the palace in great pomp, and after him came the
solemn procession of the Becords, an experienced eye-witness
said of the latter, " Like everything Chinese, it was disappoint-
ing, tawdry, and sordid," and added, " It is safe to conjecture
that the Emperor's own retinue, could it be seen, would reveal a
similar state of affairs." The Temple of Heaven, with its semi-
circular marble altar and bright blue dome, as you look down
upon it from the wall, seems to be in good preservation, and a
really impressive and beautiful structure ; but not a single other
place or thing did I see that suggested the " gorgeous East " in
the remotest degree.
Of interesting places, however, there are certainly a few
in Peking. First among these comes the wall itself. It is built
of large bricks, filled in with sand, and is fifty feet high, sixty
feet wide at the base, and forty feet at the top. Peking, seen
from the wall, is a stretch of flat roofs, more than half hidden in
foliage, from which here and there a tower or a pagoda or high-
PEKING AND ITS INHABITANTS. 203
roofed temple projects. Not a trace of the actual dirt and dis-
comfort and squalor is visible ; the air is fresh, the smells are
absent, and the Celestial capital is at its best. A walk of a
mile along the top brings you to the famous Observatory, and
the marvellous bronzes of the Jesuit Father Verbiest, who
made and erected them in 1668. Below the wall, in a shady
garden, are the much older ones which Marco Polo saw, less
accurate astronomically, but even more beautiful for their grace
and delicacy, and linking one's imagination closely with the
romantic past ; for this great globe and sextant and armillary
zodiacal sphere were constructed in 1279 by the astronomer of
Khublai Khan. Either the climate or their own intrinsic excel-
lence has preserved them so well that every line and bit of
tracery is as perfect to our eyes as it was to those of the great
Khan himself.
Then there is the Examination Hall. The Government of
China is a vast system of competitive examination tempered by
bribery, and this Kao Cli'ang is its focus. It is a miniature city,
with one wide artery down the middle, hundreds of parallel
streets running from this on both sides, each street mathematic-
ally subdivided into houses, a big semblance of a palace at one
end of the main street, and little elevated watch-towers here and
there. But the palace is merely the examiners' hall, the streets
are three feet wide, and one side of them is a blank wall, the
towers are for the " proctors " to spy upon cribbing, and the
houses are perfectly plain brick cells measuring 38 inches by 50.
In the enclosure there are no fewer than fourteen thousand of
these. After emerging successfully from a competitive examina-
tion in the capital of his own province, the Chinese aspirant
comes to Peking to compete for the second degree. He is put
into one of these cells, two boards are given him for a seat and
a table, and there he remains day and night for fourteen days.
Every cell is full, an army of cooks and coolies waits upon the
scholars, and any one caught cribbing or communicating with
Ins neighbour is visited with the severest punishment. The
204 CHINA.
condition of the place when all these would-be literati are thus
cooped up for a fortnight, with Chinese ideas of sanitation, may
be imagined, and it is not surprising to learn that many die.
But what joy for the successful ones ! They are received in
procession at the gates of their native town, and everybody
hastens to congratulate their parents upon having given such a
son to the world. By and by there is another examination in
which the already twice successful compete against each other,
thousands again flock to Peking, and the winners are honoured
by the Son of Heaven himself, and their names inscribed for ever
upon marble tablets. Better still, they are provided with Govern-
ment posts, and this is the reward of their efforts. But the
subject-matter of their examination is simply and solely the
letter-perfect knowledge of the works of Confucius, the history
of China, and the art of composition and character-forming as
practised by the great masters of old. In the works of the
masters, argue the Chinese, is all wisdom ; he who knows these
works best is therefore the wisest man; whatever needs doing,
the wisest man can do it best. So the successful literati are sent
all over the country to be magistrates and generals and com-
manders of ships and engineers and everything else haphazard,
without the slightest acquaintance of any kind with their subject,
densely and marvellously ignorant and impenetrably conceited.
An idea of the part this Examination Hall plays in the con-
temporary life of China may be gained from the fact that in
June, 1894, no fewer than 6,89G candidates presented themselves
in Peking, of whom 320 were successful, including the son of a
well-known Formosa millionaire, who was promptly made
Assistant Imperial High Commissioner of Agriculture in
Formosa. The Marquis Tseng was one of the great Chinamen
of the present day who did not enter public life by this triple
portal to invincible incompetence.
The shrine of the Master himself is really an impressive spot.
The great hall and its columns are of bare wood, the floor is of
plain stone, and no adornment mars the supreme solemnity of
THE EXAMINATION CELLS, PEKING.
THE OBSERVATORY ox THE WALL, PEKING.
PEKING AN> ITS INHABITANTS. 205
the place. In the middle, upon a square altar, stands a small
tablet of red lacquer, upon which is written in Chinese and
Manchu, " The tablet of the soul of the most holy ancestral
teacher Confucius." Up the marble terrace to this hall the
Emperor comes to worship twice a year, and the Chinese do
really hold this place in some veneration, for when I offered its
miserable guardian five dollars to let me photograph it, he re-
pulsed the offer with much scorn. Yet five dollars would have
been a small fortune for him.
One experience of Celestial sight-seeing I am not likely to
forget, and should be very unwilling to repeat. Among the
places of interest in Peking the Yung Ho Kung, the Great
Llamaserai or Llama Temple, ranks very high. It is a monas-
tery of Mongol Buddhism or Shamanism, and contains over a
thousand Mongol and Thibetan monks ruled over by a " Living
Buddha." No foreigner, however, had been in it for several
years, as the inmates are a rough and lawless lot, practically
beyond the control of the Chinese authorities, and the last party
that entered it was rudely handled. It is regarded as all the
more sacred, too, because an Emperor was born in one of its
temples before they were given to the Llamas. When I spoke
of going there both my mafoo and " boy " told me that
strangers could no longer get in, the former adding that he had
accompanied different employers there six times without success.
A friend in Peking, however, told me that one of the priests,
called the Pai Llama, whatever that may mean, had come to
him a few weeks before to borrow five dollars, and had said as
an inducement that if he or any of his friends wanted to see the
Llamaserai he would take them over it himself without a fee.
So my friend gave me his big red Chinese card with the Pai
Llama's name on it as an introduction, and a member of the
Legation, who spoke Chinese, was good enough to go with me,
as he was equally anxious to see the place. It is on the out
skirts of Peking, nearly an hour's ride from Legation Street, and
we passed in through two or three gates from the street without
206 CHINA.
any difficulty. Then some boy-neophytes or acolytes we knew
them from their shaven heads ran ahead of us and warned the
priests, who shut the doors. After a quarter of an hour's
colloquy we bribed the doorkeeper to tell the Pai Llama, and
by and by the latter appeared, a small dirty individual, who
succeeded with much difficulty in persuading the others to open
the gates and let us step just inside. Then he immediately
disappeared and we saw him no more. After another half-hour
of bargaining we agreed to pay them a certain moderate sum to
show us the four chief sights of the Temple. The first of these
was the great Buddha, a wooden image 70 feet high, richly
ornamented and clothed, holding an enormous lotus in each
hand, and with the traditional jewel on his breast. In each
section of his huge gold crown sat a small Buddha, as perfect
and as much ornamented as the great one. His toe measured
21 inches. On each side of him hung a huge scroll 75 feet
long, bearing Chinese characters, and a series of galleries,
reached by several flights of stairs, surrounded him. The
expression of his great bronze face was singularly lofty, and I
was seized with a great desire to photograph him. The crowd
of monks was outside the locked door, one only entering with
us, so I hinted to him that if he permitted me to take a photo-
graph a dollar might be forthcoming. The dollar interested
him, but he had no idea what a photograph was. After a while
my companion succeeded in explaining what the Chinese call
the " shadow-picture," and then he would not hear of it, declar-
ing that the whole temple would instantly fall down if such a
thing were attempted. I offered two dollars, three, four, five,
ten, and then, my eagerness increasing with the difficulty,
twenty. At last he said that for twenty dollars he would agree
to smuggle me in next morning to do it, as if any of the other
priests knew, there would be trouble. So we passed on to the
other sights two magnificent bronze lions, and a wonderful
bronze urn ; many temples filled with strange idols, hung with
thousands of silk hangings, and laid with Thibetan carpets ; all
PEKING AND ITS INHABITANTS. 207
sorts of bronze and enamel altar utensils, presented by different
emperors, among them two elephants in cloisonne, said to be
the best specimens of such work in China ; and the great hall,
with its prayer-benches for all the monks, where they worship
every afternoon at five. In a couple of hours we had seen
everything, and came out again into the central courtyard.
Here were already a hundred or more monks waiting for us, all
with their heads shaven like billiard-balls, and on the whole a
set of as thorough-paced blackguards as could be imagined;
filthy, vermin-covered, bloated, scrofulous, and with the marks
of nameless vices stamped clearly on many of their faces. " I
shall be glad when we are out of this," I remarked, and my
companion heartily assented. But easier said than done. They
crowded round us with brutal inquisitiveness, pulled us about,
shouted to us, and laughed grossly as half-rational gorillas
might do. My companion said to them that we were very
much pleased with our visit, and we slowly edged toward the
door. But there seemed to be a sort of tacit conspiracy
to crowd us in any other direction. They did not actually
oppose us, but somehow we could not get there. It was as
though they did not like to let us get away, yet were conscious
that they had no excuse for detaining us. After a quarter
of an hour of this we began to get annoyed. Just then we all
came to a sort of tunnel gate in a wall, leading from one court
to another, my companion and one crowd first, I and another
crowd afterwards, and my " boy " and a third crowd last. As
I was passing, a man whom I took from his dress to be a sort
of doorkeeper sprang out and addressed me volubly. Not
understanding him I took no notice, when he grasped my arm
to detain me. I shook him off and was passing on when
suddenly he seized me by the collar with both hands and flung
me violently back against the wall. At such a moment one
does not reflect upon consequences, and I did what anybody else
would have done. The moment his grasp quitted my collar I
struck him. He recovered himself, and the misunderstanding
208 CHINA.
was about to be prolonged vigorously on both sides when a very
old priest in a fine yellow robe emerged from a doorway and
began to play the peacemaker with many smiles, holding us
each by the hand. A second's reflection showed me the
extreme folly of getting into a quarrel in such a place, so I
responded effusively to the venerable Llama's overtures, and,
calling my " boy," bade him explain that if the priest had
anything to say to us we should be very glad to hear it, but that
if he laid a finger on us he would get into trouble. As we were
two, and they were upwards of two hundred by this time, I have
wondered since that the ludicrous side of this did not strike
them. However, as I followed up the remark with a few small
coins, nobody cared to impugn the logic.
As soon as I overtook my companion I saw from the move-
ment of the crowd that something was wrong, and when I forced
my way into the middle it was evidently a much more serious
affair than mine. A young brute of a monk had approached
him from behind and suddenly and violently kicked him.
In return he had received a good cut across the face from a
riding-whip. The monk was foaming with rage, and rapidly
stripping off all his upper clothing with a most unmistakable
intention. Already he was nearly half-naked, and although
perhaps a trifle fat, still an ugly customer to handle. " He
struck me with his whip ! " he exclaimed, pointing to the mark
on his face, and then followed a string of remarks levelled at us.
" What does he say ? " I asked. " He says we sha'n't get out
alive." Just then a monk shouted something which the others
eagerly echoed, and a dozen of them instantly ran and shut the
great gates of the courtyard.
There was no doubt whatever that we were in a very tight
place. We were in the centre of probably the most dangerous
place in Peking, on the outskirts of the city, a quarter of a mile
from the street, with half a dozen closed gates between us and
it, and completely at the mercy of two hundred savage Mongols
and Thibetans, who had vowed to have our lives. There were a
PEKING AND ITS INHABITANTS. 209
thousand of them within call, they acknowledge no Chinese
authority whatever, the Chinese Government would be ex-
tremely loath to interfere with them for fear of provoking
trouble in Thibet, and if they had just knocked us on the head
and hid our bodies in one of their temple dens, we should very
probably never have been heard of again. Clearly the only thing
to do was to get out of the place at any cost. Then I called my
" boy," who was yelling and struggling to keep possession of my
two cameras, and told him to ask quietly the best-looking of the
monks for how much they would consent to let us go out. All
this took but half a minute to do, and as soon as the crowd
heard the question the pugilistic gentleman was squelched by
common consent. " Fifty dollars " was the conclusion arrived
at after several minutes' discussion. " Tell them we have not so
much money with us, but they can come and get it from my
house to-morrow morning." But they were much too wary to
fall into such a palpable trap. To bring the story to an end,
however, at last my " boy" made a bargain with them, and we
were fleeced of several dollars at each gate that they could
manage to lead us through before we reached the street and
our horses. I got through the gate all right, and my
" boy " was following when several of the monks precipitated
themselves on him and sent him flying head first into
the middle of the street, while the broken camera, tripod,
and bag of double-backs landed each in a separate mud-
hole.
That afternoon as I was mending my camera the "boy"
came in with the tea. "Master?" "Well?" "I no go
Llama Temple any more belong velly bad man ! " And I did
not keep my appointment next morning to photograph the big
Buddha furtively.
Above all other characteristics of Peking one thing stands out
in horrible prominence. Not to mention it would be wilfully to
omit the most striking feature of the place. I mean its filth.
It is the most horribly and indescribably filthy place that can be
15
210 CHINA.
imagined. Indeed imagination must fall far short of the fact.
Some of the daily sights of the pedestrian in Peking could
hardly be more than hinted at by one man to another in the
disinfecting atmosphere of a smoking-room. There is no sewer
or cesspool, public or private, but the street ; the dog, the pig,
and the fowl in a sickening succession are the scavengers ;
every now and then you pass a man who goes along tossing the
most loathsome of the refuse into an open-work basket on his
back ; the smells are simply awful ; the city is one colossal and
uncleansed cloaca. As I have said above, the first of the
two moments of delight vouchsafed to every visitor to the
Celestial capital is at his first sight of it. The second is when
he turns his back, hoping it may be for ever, upon " the
body and soul-stinking town" (the words are Coleridge's) of
Peking.
CHAPTER XIV.
TO THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.
first time I met a camel-train near Peking I reined up
-*- my pony and feasted my eyes upon it. And although I
saw hundreds afterwards, I found them just as amusing as
ever. The two-humped or Bactrian camels of Northern China
are much bigger than those we know at home, and I have seen
few sights so picturesque as a string of them approaching
over these brown plains. A score are fastened together by a
cord attaching the nose of one to the tail of the other ; a bell, a
couple of feet long, is hung round the neck of the last, to warn
the driver in front by its ceasing if the line breaks anywhere ; a
medley of bales and boxes and clothing is slung on their backs ;
ruddy-faced Mongols, dressed in scarlet and yellow, with orna-
ments of gold and silver in profusion, sit up aloft and smile at
you as you pass ; the great shaggy beasts step softly along,
ingeniously out of step, lifting their sponge-like feet and dropping
them again with perfect and unvarying deliberation, the whole
train moving with the silence of a dream, broken only by the
jang -jang of the solitary bell. Their big brown eyes look you
straight in the face, and there is something pathetic and reproach-
ful in their glance. All day long, one street of Peking is filled
with these picturesque processions, gaunt, wretched creatures,
with worn-out coats and covered with coal-dust, carrying sacks
of coal from the Western Hills into Peking; and far finer
and better-kept animals bearing tea away up into the North.
During all my stay in Peking I longed for the moment when I
211
212 CHINA.
too should ride away at dawn toward Mongolia, in the worn
tracks of these strange beasts and their merry masters.
My pony was a little creature not much bigger than a dog,
with a white coat as long and thick as a Polar bear's. The
mafoo had bought him a few days before from a Mongol for
twenty taels, and he had never had a foreign saddle and bridle
on till I mounted him. Therefore the all-day ride was not so
monotonous as usual, and for the first five miles it was even
exciting. We started at daybreak and the sun was well above
us before we got outside the two gates of Peking. Then the
mafoo took the lead. Once in the open country we were on a
great alluvial plain, dotted with mud houses, broken up by
irregular patches of verdure and cultivation, laced in all direc-
tions by dozens of bridle-paths, and ending on our left in the
dim outline of the Western Hills, the summer sanitarium of
Peking. We plunged into the labyrinth of roads, and the mafoo
threaded his way among them without a moment's hesitation.
Afterwards I found that he had been over them forty-six times
before, but for my own part I could see hardly any signs by
which to distinguish one from another. Till eleven o'clock we
trotted steadily on, reaching then a small town called Sha-ho,
where we stopped an hour for rest and tiffin. Here already
foreigners are scarce and I was the centre of much curiosity,
keen and inquisitive, but quite good-natured. Crossing a river
over two very old broad flat bridges of white marble, built
curiously at an obtuse angle to each other, we emerged again
into the plain. This grew more and more uneven as we
advanced, till at last we were riding along a narrow path on the
sloping stony bank of a dry water-course. The stones grew
bigger and more numerous, till they could no longer be safely
negociated, and then my guide struck up to the right, and an
hour's detour across country, with half a mile of such bad going
at the end that I got off and led my pony, brought us at three
o'clock to the fortified city of Nan-k'ou, thirty miles from
Peking, our resting-place for the night.
TO THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA. 213
Nan-k'ou is a very interesting little place. Its wall is in
ruins, but that only makes it the more picturesque. On the
hills right and left of the entrance to the pass which the city
is supposed to guard, are two sprightly little towers ; a dozen
others are just visible dotted about the chain of hills around it.
Its one broad street, paved once with great blocks of stone, now
worn away and upset till a pony can hardly make his way at all
over their slippery rolling surface, is crowded with traffic of men
and beasts, and every fifty yards a wide arched doorway leads
into a spacious inn-yard. This street is part of the great com-
mercial highway between China and all her neighbours of the
North. Through it a constant stream of camels and ponies and
donkeys and even laden coolies passes, bringing Mongol produce
to Peking, and taking brick-tea back from Tientsin to Kiakhta
on the Russian frontier. And through this street this stream
has passed for who knows how many years thousands, at any
rate.
I strolled along it and turned into one of the gateways. But
I had only just time to step aside when a drove of at least a
hundred ponies suddenly stampeded through it and galloped
headlong through the street, whinnying and kicking up their
heels in delight at being free. Just outside the city they drank
greedily at a little stream, and then rolled over and over each
other in the dirt. But such a spectacle of cruelty to animals as
was afforded by the state of their backs I have never seen. Not
one of them was without a large raw wound on each side, and
half of them had horrible, deep, bleeding, festering sores bigger
than two hands. The sight was sickening, and nothing what-
ever was done for them except that afterwards I saw a coolie
beating the insides of the rough pack-saddles with a stick to
keep the blood-soaked places from getting quite hard. Each
pony had carried two bales of tea, as hard as blocks of granite.
I tried the weight of one and found I could just raise it off the
ground. Therefore the ponies were shockingly overloaded.
The camels require so much space for themselves and their
214 CHINA.
burdens that they have special caravanserais. Their saddles,
with the loads deposited on each side, are arranged in regular
rows, like game after a battue, and the animals betake them-
selves to a trough which runs all round the yard, squeezing close
together. The yard of a caravanserai at feeding-time therefore
exhibits a complete circular horizon of camels' tails. When
they have eaten they sink down and very deliberately chew the
cud. It is just as well to keep on good terms with a camel, for
when he is standing up he can swing his hind leg like a pendulum
in an arc of about twenty feet and therefore deliver a kick which
would break in the door of a San Francisco gambling-den ;
while when he is lying down he can always spare a couple of
gallons of cud to spit at an enemy. I saw a Mongol driver to
whom this had happened, and the sight was unpleasant and
instructive. Several hundred camels shared the hospitality of
Nan-k'ou with me that night.
Next morning we embarked upon little white donkeys, the pass
being impracticable for ponies. This road in its glory is said to
have been paved with great smooth granite blocks ; now in the
valley it is a broken mass of rough stones in a river bed, through
which a shallow stream runs ; while during the ascent and at
the height of the pass it is a bad mountain road obstructed by
great masses of rock. A couple of hours' riding and walking
brought us to another walled town called Chu-yung-kuan, famous
for a heavy arched stone gateway, the whole inside of which is
covered with sculptures in low relief and a Buddhist inscription
in six languages Chinese, Thibetan, Mongol, Sanscrit, and two
others that I could not get any one to identify. From the other
side of this gateway the pass of Nan-k'ou is spread out before
you, a brown, barren, rock-strewn, gloomy valley, rising and
narrowing till it disappears in the hills, through which an endless
file of brown camels is slowly passing, filling the air with the
dust of their feet and the clangour of their bells. For an hour or
more we jogged on. Then when the pass had become wearisome
and I was thousands of miles away in thought, my inafoo rode
THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.
A WATCH-TOWER ON THE GREAT WALL
TO THE GEE AT WALL OF CHINA. 215
up beside me and silently pointed to the hill-top on the right. I
strained my eyes, and there, sure enough, the sky-line far away
was broken by the crenellated outline of the Groat Wall itself.
" This," said Marco Polo when he saw it, " is the country of
Gog and Magog."
The Great Wall of China is, after all, only a wall. And it
was built with the same object as every other wall to keep
people from coming where they were not wanted. Mr. Toole's
famous account of it is as historically accurate as any. " The
most important building in China," he is accustomed to say,
" is the Chinese Wall, built to keep the Tartars out. It was
built at such an enormous expense that the Chinese never got
over it. But the Tartars did. And the way they accomplished
this feat was as follows : one went first and t'other went arter."
It differs from other walls in only two respects, its age and its
size. It was built by the great Emperor Chi Hwang-ti, who
came to the throne in B.C. 221, to keep back the Mongolian
hordes, and was called by him the " Bed Fort." The original
wall is 1,400 miles long and stretches from far Kansu to Shan-
hai-kwan on the gulf of Pe-chih-li, the present terminus of
China's solitary railway from Tientsin. This wall, however,
is neither so well built nor so large as that which I am de-
scribing, the latter being a five-hundred mile erection, dating
from several hundred years later. It is, however, an integral
part and the most impressive of the " Great Wall." Besides
its age it enjoys the reputation of being the only work of human
hands on the globe visible from the moon. The Chinese name
for it is Wan-li-ch'ang-ch'eng, " the rampart ten thousand li
long." And the gate on this highway is called Pa-ta-ling and is
about fifty miles north-west of Peking and 2,000 feet above the
sea. Beyond it lies Mongolia.
Half an hour after this first glimpse I stood upon the wall
itself. The gateway is a large double one, with a square tower
upon it, pierced with oblong openings for cannon, of which a
dozen old ones lie in a heap, showing that at one time the road
216 CHINA.
was seriously defended at this point. A rough stairway leads to
the top, which is about twenty feet wide, with a crenellated
parapet on each side, and you can walk along it as far as you
can see, with here and there a scramble where it has fallen in a
little. On the whole it is in excellent repair, having of course
been mended and rebuilt many times. Every half-mile or so is
a little square tower of two storeys. The wall itself varies a
good deal in height according to the nature of the ground,
averaging probably about forty feet. On one side Mongolia, as
you see it, is a vast undulating brown plain ; on the other side
China is a perfect sea of brown hills in all directions, and across
these stretches the Great Wall. On the hill-top, through the
valleys, up and down the sides it twists in an unbroken line,
exactly like a huge earth-worm suddenly turned to stone. For
many miles it is visible in both directions, and when you can no
longer trace its entire length you can still discover it topping
the hills one after another into the remote distance. And as
you reflect that it is built of bricks, in almost inaccessible
places, through uninhabited countries ; that each brick must
have been transported on a man's shoulders enormous distances ;
and that it extends for 2,000 miles, or one-twelfth of the circum-
ference of the globe, you begin to realise that you are looking
upon the most colossal achievement of human hands. The
bricks are so big and heavy that I had to hire a little donkey to
carry off two of them. This is the only piece of vandalism
to which I plead guilty during years of tempting Eastern
travel, but the temptation was irresistible and " they never will
be missed." Nowadays, of course, the wall serves no defensive
purpose whatever, and is not guarded in any way. Not a soul
lives within miles of it at most points, and it is but a landmark
for the Mongols' camel-trains, a stupendous monument to the
past of China, and an evidence of Celestial greatness and
enterprise gone never to return.
After taking a dozen photographs, several of which are
here reproduced, and reflecting how comical now were the
TO THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA. 217
learned arguments produced in England a few years ago to
prove that there was no such thing as a Great Wall of
China, I turned back to Nan-k'ou, reaching there at night-
fall. Next morning before daylight we started for the tombs
of the great Ming dynasty, thirteen miles away, and as
famous in China as the wall itself. These lie in a pleasant
green valley surrounded with an almost complete circle of high
wooded hills an ideal spot for an emperor's grave. There are
thirteen of them, called the Shih-san-ling, disposed in the shape
of a crescent, but the crescent is so extensive that only four or
five of them can be seen at once. I visited the largest, the tomb
of Yung-le, who brought his court hither in 1411. A square of
perhaps two hundred yards across the face is surrounded with a
high wall of plain red brick. The side of the hill forms the
fourth side, and the entrance is through a pair of ordinary wooden
doors. When you enter, the spectacle is not at all striking.
There are a few little pavilions on either side of you, each
covering a carved stone tortoise or an inscribed tablet, and in
front a long low temple-shaped building with an approach of
steps and balustrades in carved white marble. Inside is gloom,
through which you faintly discern the magnificent outlines of
thirty-two enormous wooden columns, each a solid log of hewn
and polished teak twelve feet round and thirty-two feet high.
Where they came from unless it was from Burmah or how
they were conveyed hither, nobody knows, but their grandeur is
indisputable. In the centre, upon a sort of stone table, stands
a plain tablet of red lacquer, a couple of feet high and
a foot wide, bearing the posthumous title of Yung-le, " The
perfect ancestor and literary Emperor." But the ancestor him-
self is not here. Passing out behind the great columns and
again crossing the garden, at the edge of the hillside there is a
solid square tower of brick and granite, supporting a kind of
obelisk. The sarcophagus itself is deep in the hill, and upon
the obelisk a long inscription narrates the deeds and extols the
virtues of the long-departed Ming. On the whole, however,
218 CHINA.
China disappoints you here once more, as everywhere and
always. The situation is finely chosen for the last resting-place
of immortal emperors, but man's handiwork rather weakens
than enhances the effects of nature. There is no suggestion, for
instance, of the solemnity of that cathedral aisle
" Where the warriors in the gloom
Watch o'er Maximilian's tomb ; "
and there is nothing to arrest the hasty footstep lest even " the
hushed tread "-
" Should burst the bands of the dreamless sleep
That holds the mighty dead."
As you ride away you pass through an avenue of stone carvings,
where pairs of knights and courtiers, with camels and elephants
beasts fit to follow their master into the shadow- world
glare at you from each side. They are enormous, being some
fifteen feet high and carved out of a solid block of stone ; and
wonderful, for you cannot imagine how they were transported.
But they are utterly dwarfed by the hills around them, and
soon your only recollection of them is that your pony positively
refused to pass between them and ended by bolting with you.
And I may as well give my little Polar bear of a pony credit for
the way in which he trotted back to Peking so as to get there
before the gates closed, in all forty miles in four hours, with
three-quarters of an hour for rest and food. I have known
costlier horseflesh make poorer progress. And when we got
back again at last to Tientsin my mafoo sold him to the inn-
keeper for twice what he had paid for him.
CHAPTER XV.
CHINESE HORRORS.
understand contemporary China it is absolutely necessary
to undergo, either personally or by proxy, some very un-
pleasant experiences. This must be my excuse for the following
chapter. China is claiming her place among the nations of the
world. The question, What shall that place be? can only be
answered by those who know what China is. I have looked
upon men being cruelly tortured ; I have stood in the shambles
where human beings are slaughtered like pigs ; my boots have
dripped with the blood of my fellow-creatures ; repulsive as all
this is, it is one of the most significant and instructive aspects
of the real China, as opposed to the China of native professions
and foreign imagination, and therefore it must be frankly
described.
It was in Canton, a colossal human ant-hill, an endless
labyrinth of streets a dozen feet wide and a score high, crowded
from daylight to dark with a double stream of men and women,
exactly like the double stream between an ant-hill and a carcase.
All this mass of humanity was presided over for years by H.E.
Chang Chi-tung, now Viceroy of the Hu Kuang provinces, the
most independent and foreigner-hating Viceroy in China, and
therefore it may be imagined what is the temper of the
populace, especially as the Cantonese are the most turbulent
people of the Flowery Kingdom.
During the day the streets of Canton are in semi-obscurity,
as they are closed in at the top by broad strips of cloth and long
219
220 CHINA.
advertising streamers ; but at night they are as black as Tar-
tarus. Public safety and order are supposed to be preserved by
occasional posts of soldiers, with a collection of weapons and
instruments of torture hung up outside to strike terror into the
evilly-disposed. But, as may be imagined, crime of every kind
is rife in Canton, and so bad is the reputation of the place that
very often a servant from another part of China, travelling with
his master, will rather forfeit his situation than accompany him
there. And where the crime is, there is the punishment too.
It by no means follows in China that the person punished is the
criminal, but there is enough legal cruelty in Canton to glut an
Alva. Respect for the presence of an occasional foreigner causes
a good deal of it to be hid, and the spectacle of a man hung up
in a cage to starve to death in public is therefore not seen there
as it is in other parts.
The magistrate sat in his Yamen dispensing justice. He was
a benevolent-looking man of perhaps forty, with an intellectual
forehead and the conventional enormous pair of spectacles. He
glanced up at us as we entered, visibly annoyed at the intrusion
and hardly returning our salutation. But as we were under the
wing of a consul for whom Chinese officialism has no terrors
whatever, a fact of which the Cantonese authorities have had
repeated experience, we made ourselves quite at home. There
was little of the pomp of Western law in the scene before us.
The magistrate's own chair, draped with red cloth covered with
inscriptions in large characters, was almost the only piece of
official apparatus, and behind it were grouped half-a-dozen of
the big red presentation umbrellas of which every Chinese
official is so proud. Before him was a large open space and a
motley crowd, in which the most conspicuous figures were the
filthy ruffians in red hats, known as " Yamen-runners," whose
business is to clear a way before their master in the streets
and do anything else that he wishes, down to the administration
of torture. The magistrate himself sat perfectly silent, writing
busily, while several persons before him gabbled all at the same
CHINESE HORRORS. 221
time. These were presumably the plaintiff, the defendant, and
the policemen. After a while the magistrate interrupted one of
the speakers with a monosyllable spoken in a low tone without
even raising his head, but its effect was magical. The crowd
fell back, and one of the little group in front of the chair
wrung his hands and heaved a theatrical sigh. Before we could
realise what had happened, several pairs of very willing hands
were helping him to let down his trousers, and when this was
accomplished to the satisfaction of everybody he laid himself
face downwards on the floor. Then one of the ''runners"
stepped forward with the bamboo, a strip of this toughest of
plants three feet long, two inches wide, and half an inch thick.
Squatting by the side of the victim and holding the bamboo
perfectly horizontal close to the flesh, he began to rain light
blows on the man's buttocks. At first the performance looked
like a farce, the blows were so light and the receiver of them so
indifferent. But as the shower of taps continued with monoto-
nous persistence I bethought me of the old torture of driving a
man mad by letting a drop of water fall every minute on his
shaved head. After a few more minutes of the dactylic rap-
tap-tap, rap-tap-tap, a deep groan broke from the prisoner's
lips. I walked over to look at him and saw that his flesh was
blue under the flogging. Then it became congested with blood,
and whereas at first he had lain quiet of his own accord, now a
dozen men were holding him tight. The crowd gazed at him
with broad grins on their faces, breaking out from time to time
into a suppressed " Hi-yah," as he writhed in special pain or
cried out in agony. And all this time the ceaseless shower of
blows continued, the man who wielded the bamboo putting not
a particle more or less force into the last stroke than into the
first. At length the magistrate dropped another word and the
torture stopped as suddenly as it had begun, the prisoner was
lifted to his feet and led across the court to lean against the
wall. For obvious reasons he could not be "accommodated
with a chair."
222 CHINA.
The next person to be called up was a policeman. The
magistrate put a question or two to him and listened patiently
for a while to his rambling and effusive replies. Then as before
the fatal monosyllable dropped from his lips. With the greatest
promptitude the policeman prepared himself, assumed the
regulation attitude, and the flagellation began again. But I
noticed that the blows sounded altogether different from before,
much sharper and shriller, like wood falling upon wood, rather
than wood falling upon flesh. So I drew near to examine.
Sure enough, there was a vital difference. The policeman had
attached a small piece of wood to his leg by means of wax, and
on this the blows fell, taking no more effect upon his person
than if they had been delivered on the sole of his boot. The
fraud was perfectly transparent everybody in the room,
including the magistrate himself, must have known what was
happening. Thus another peculiarity of Chinese justice is
evidently that the punishment of an ordinary offender is one
thing, while that of an erring official is quite another. I
learned that the policeman was ordered to be bambooed for
not bringing in a prisoner whom the magistrate had ordered
him to produce. When the sham punishment was over he
jumped briskly to his feet, adjusted his clothing, and resumed
his duties about the court.
WMle we had been watching the process of " eating bamboo,"
far different punishments were going on in another part of the
court-room unnoticed by us. The bamboo is not so very far
removed from still existent civilised deterrent methods, but
what was now before us recalled the most brutal ages. In one
corner a man had been tied hand and foot on a small bench the
length of his back, in such a manner that his body was bent as
far back as it could possibly be stretched in the form of a circle,
his back resting on the flat seat of the bench, and his arms and
legs fastened to the four legs. Then the whole affair, man and
bench, had been tilted forward till it rested upon two feet and
upon the man's two knees, almost falling over almost, but not
CHINESE HORRORS. 223
quite. This, as well as the bambooing and other tortures,
is illustrated in the native drawings here produced. The
position of the miserable wretch was as grotesque as it was
exquisitely painful; his hands and feet were blue, his eyes
protruded, his mouth gasped convulsively like that of a dying
fish, and he had evidently been in that position so long
that he was on the eve of losing consciousness. And he was
apparently forgotten. A few boys stood gazing at him open-
mouthed, but nobody else paid any more attention to him than
if he had been a piece of furniture. This was enough for my
companions, and they left the room. But how is the Western
world to know what the Celestial Empire really is unless people
are willing to see and hear of its innumerable horrors ? The
utterly mistaken notion of China which is so wide-spread at
home is due in great part to this very unwillingness to look
straight in the face what a French writer has so well called the
"rotten East."
In another corner an unfortunate creature was undergoing
the punishment called " kneeling on chains." A thin strong
cord had been fastened to his thumbs and great toes and passed
over a hook in an upright post. Then by pulling it sufficiently
he was of course lifted off the ground, his knees being the
lowest part of his body. Under them a small chain, with
sharp-edged links, had next been coiled in a circle as a natty
sailor coils a rope on the deck. The cord had then been
slackened till the whole weight of the man rested upon his
knees, and his knees rested upon the chain. The process seems
simple, but the result is awful. And this man had been under-
going a prolonged course of torture. Amongst other things,
his ankle-bones had been battered with a piece of wood shaped
like a child's cricket bat. His tortures ended for the moment
while we were looking at him. Two attendants loosened the
cord, and he fell in a heap. They rolled him off the chain
and set him on his feet. The moment they let go he sank
like a half-filled sack. So they stretched him out on the floor
224 CHINA.
and each one of them rubbed one of his knees vigorously for a
couple of minutes. But it was no use, he was utterly incapable
of even standing, and had to be dragged away. As we passed
out, a woman was before the magistrate, giving evidence. Her
testimony, however, was either not true enough or not prompt
enough, in the official's opinion, for he had recourse to the
" truth-compeller." This is a little instrument reserved exclu-
sively for the fair sex, shaped exactly like the thick sole of a
slipper, split at the sole part and fastened at the heel. With
this the witness received a slap across the mouth which rang
out like a pistol-shot. A glance at the frontispiece of this
volume, which is a facsimile of a native drawing professing to
be a perfectly truthful representation of a common method
of torturing women, will show that' this woman ' was more
fortunate than many of her sex in China.
It is only fair to add that the Chinese have a sort of rational
theory of torture, although they are far from adhering to it.
By Chinese law no prisoner can be punished until he has con-
fessed his guilt. Therefore they first prove him guilty and then
torture him until he confesses the accuracy of their verdict.
The more you reflect on this logic the more surprising it
becomes. To assist in its comprehension I procured, by the
aid of the Consul and a few dollars, a complete set of
instruments of torture light bamboo, heavy bamboo, ankle-
smasher, mouth-slapper, thumb-squeezer, and sundry others.
" Mandarins," says Professor Douglas, " whose minds have
grown callous to the sufferings of their fellow-creatures, are
always ready to believe that the instruments of torture at their
disposal are insufficient for their purposes. Unhappily, it is
always easy to inflict pain; and in almost every yamun through-
out the Empire an infinite variety of instruments of torture is
in constant use."
One Chinese punishment, of which I am fortunately able to
give a striking picture, deserves particular attention. This is
ling-chi, or death by the " thousand cuts." It is otherwise
CHINESE HORRORS.
225
known as death by the "slow process" or by the "slicing
process." It is supposed to be reserved for culprits who com-
mit triple murder and for parricides, but the penal code is no
doubt as elastic in this as in other respects. Here is a specimen
announcement of ling-chi, from the official Pekin Gazette :
" Ma Pei-yao, Governor of Kuangsi, reports a triple poisoning case in his pro-
vince. A woman having been beaten by her husband on account of her slovenly
habits, took counsel with an old herb woman, and by her direction picked some
poisonous herb on the mountain, with which she successively poisoned her husband,
father-in-law, and brother-in-law. She has been executed by the slow process.
Rescript : Let the Board of Punishments take note."
The criminal is fastened to a rough cross, and the executioner,
armed with a sharp knife, begins by grasping handfuls from the
fleshy parts of the body, such as the thighs and the breasts, and
slicing them off. After this he removes the joints and the
excrescences of the body one by one the nose and ears, fingers
and toes. Then the limbs are cut off piecemeal at the wrists
and the ankles, the elbows and knees, the shoulders and hips.
Finally, the victim is stabbed to the heart and his head cut off.
Of course, unless the process is very rapidly carried out, the
man is dead before it is completed, but if he has any friends
who are able to bribe the executioner he is either drugged
beforehand with opium, or else the stab to the heart is surrep-
titiously given after the first few strokes. It would be easy to
quote from the Pekin Gazette dozens of instances of the infliction
of this penalty, and these would probably be but a fraction of
the occasions on which it is practised. I believe it has only
been witnessed once by a foreigner, as the Chinese have a
great and not unnatural objection to the presence of foreigners
on such occasions. The photograph here produced is no doubt
the only one ever taken. A few words of explanation concerning
it are therefore desirable. The British captain of a river steamer
plying between Hongkong and Canton strolled one day into
the native city with a small hand-camera which he had just
purchased. Observing a crowd in the street, he made his way
through it and discovered the remains of a man who had been
16
226 CHIKA.
executed by the ling-chL As his camera was a very small one,
he was able to point it at the spectacle and snap the shutter
without attracting attention, as the bystanders would never
have allowed a formal photograph to be taken. On his return
to Hongkong he placed his camera in the hands of an
experienced photographer, who developed the negative and
made from it an enlargement of which this illustration is a
copy. It is thus a unique and absolutely genuine illustration
of contemporary Chinese life. The susceptible reader will
doubtless be grateful to me for having caused the edge of
this picture to be perforated.
It is, however, the last act of the drama of Chinese justice
that is the great revelation. I am inclined to think that nobody
can claim to have an adequate and accurate appreciation of
Chinese character who has not witnessed a Chinese execution.
This is not difficult to do at Canton, or even at Kowloon, on the
other side of Hongkong harbour, for the Canton river swarms
with pirates, and when these gentry are caught they generally
get short shrift. A few bambooings to begin with, then several
months in prison and it is not necessary to explain what a
Chinese prison is with little to eat and a stiff course of torture,
and then one fine morning a " short sharp shock " at the execu-
tion-ground. If the reader cares to accompany me further I
will try to place the scene before him.
The execution is fixed for half-past four, so at four the guide
comes for us at Shameen, the foreign quarter of Canton, and
our chairs carry us rapidly through the noisy alleys of the native
city. Until we get close to the spot there is no sign of anything
unusual. There suddenly we run into a jammed crowd at the
end of a long and particularly narrow street. The chair coolies,
however, plunge straight into it and it gives way before us till
we are brought up by a huge pair of wooden gates guarded by a
little group of soldiers. To hear these men talk you would
suppose that they would die then and there rather than let you
pass, but the production of a couple of ten- cent pieces works a
CHINESE HORRORS. 227
miracle and they open the gates for us, vainly trying to stop the
rush of natives that follows and carries us before it right into
the middle of the open space. It is a bare piece of ground, fifty
yards long by a dozen wide, between two houses, whose blank
walls hem it in on three sides. To-day it is the execution
ground ; yesterday and to-morrow the drying-ground of a potter
who lives there. There is no platform, no roped-off space,
nothing but this bare bit of dirty ground so crowded with
Chinese that we are forced into the middle, not more than four
feet from whatever is to take place. It is useless to try to get
further off here we are and here we must stop.
Suddenly the gates are thrown open again, and welcomed by
a howl of delight from the crowd, a strange and ghastly pro-
cession comes tumbling in. First a few ragamuffin soldiers,
making a fine pretence of clearing the way. Then a file of
coolies carrying the victims in small shallow baskets slung to
bamboo poles. As soon as each pair reaches the middle of the
space they stoop and pitch their living burden out and run off.
The prisoners are chained hand and foot and are perfectly help-
less. The executioner stands by and points out where each load is
to be dumped. He is dressed exactly like any other coolie
present, without any badge of office whatever. The condemned
men have each a long folded piece of paper in a slit bamboo
stuck into his pigtail ; upon this is written his crime and
the warrant of execution. One after another they arrive and
are slung out. Will the procession never end ? how many can
there be ? this is perhaps more than we bargained for. At last
over the heads of the crowd we see the hats of two petty man-
darins, and behind them the gates are shut. The tale of men is
fifteen, and the executioner has arranged them in two rows,
about two yards apart and all facing one way. All except one
seem perfectly callous, and he had probably been drugged with
opium, a last privilege which a prisoner's friends can always
obtain by bribery. They exchange remarks, some of them
evidently chaff, with the spectators, and one man was carried in
228 CHINA.
singing and kept up his strain almost to the last. The execu-
tioners there are now two of them step forward. The
younger tucks up his trousers and sleeves and deliberately
selects a sword from several lying close by, while the other, an
older man, collects the strips of paper into a sheaf and lays them
on one side. Then he places himself behind the front man of
the nearest row and takes him by the shoulders. The younger
man walks forward and stands at the left of the kneeling man.
The fatal moment has come. There is an instant's hush and
every man in the two rows of condemned men behind twists
his head up and cranes his neck to see. I will not attempt to
describe the emotions of such a moment the horror, the awful
repulsion, the wish that you had never come, the sickening fear
that you will be splashed with the blood, and yet the helpless
fascination that keeps your eyes glued to every detail. The knife
is raised. It is a short broad-bladed, two-handed sword, widest
at the point, weighted at the back and evidently as sharp as a
razor.
For a second it is poised in the air, as the executioner takes
aim. Then it falls. There is no great apparent effort. It
simply falls, and moreover seems to fall slowly. But when it
comes to the man's neck it does not stop, it keeps falling. With
ghastly slowness it passes right through the flesh and you are
only recalled from your momentary stupor when the head
springs forward and rolls over and over, while for a fraction of a
second two dazzling jets of scarlet blood burst out and fall in a
graceful curve to the ground. Then the great rush of blood
comes and floods the spot. As soon as the blow has fallen the
second executioner pitches the body forward with a "Hough ! "
It tumbles in a shapeless heap, and from every throat goes up a
loud " Ho ! " expressive of pleasure and approval of the stroke.
But there is no pause, the executioner steps over the corpse to
the front man in the second rank, the knife rises again, it falls,
another head rolls away, another double burst of blood follows,
the headless body is shoved forward, the assistant shouts
CHINKSK JrniriAl. TOKTTKKS. (From !fatnv Drawing*
CHINESE HORRORS. 229
" Hough ! " and the crowd shouts " Ho ! " Two men are dead.
Then the headsman steps back to the second man of the front
row and the operation is repeated.
Two things strike you: the brutal matter-of-factness of the
whole performance, and the extraordinary ease with which a
human head can be chopped off. As a whole it is precisely like
a drove of pigs driven into the shambles and stuck ; and in
detail it is or seems no more difficult than splitting a turnip
with a hoe or lopping off a thistle with a cane. Chop, chop,
chop the heads roll off one after the other in as many seconds.
When the seventh man is reached, either because the knife is
blunted or the executioner misses his blow, the neck is only cut
half through. But still he does not stop. He comes quickly
back, takes another knife, passes on to the next man, and only
comes back to finish the wretched seventh when all the other
heads are lying in bloody pools in front of the shoulders which
carried them a few moments before. And every man has
watched the death of all those in front of him with a horrid
animal-like curiosity, and then bent his own neck to the knife.
The place is ankle-deep in blood, the spectators are yelling with
delight and frenzy, the heads are like bowls on a green, the
horrible headless bodies are lying all about in ghastly grotesque
attitudes, the executioner is scarlet to the knees and his hands
are dripping. Take my word for it that by this time you are
feeling very sick.
Fortunately you are not detained long. The moment the last
head is off, the crowd is gone with a rush, except a score of
urchins who begin skylarking with the bodies and pushing each
other into the blood. The bodies are thrown into a pond and
the heads are plastered up in big earthenware jars and stacked
up with those already round the wall of this potter's field. I
had a few minutes' conversation with the executioner afterwards.
Decapitation, he told me, was not the occupation of his family ;
it was only a perquisite. But the business is not what it was.
Formerly he used to get two dollars a head for all he cut off ;
230 CHINA.
now he only gets fifty cents. It is hardly worth while chopping
men's heads off at that rate. But then it doesn't take very long.
Would I buy his sword ? Certainly. Nine dollars. It hangs
on my wall to-day, a valuable antidote to much that I read about
the advancing civilisation of China.
CHAPTEE XVI.
THE IMPERIAL MARITIME CUSTOMS: SIR ROBERT
HART AND HIS WORK.
"I. G." These letters, meaningless at home, call up
instantly in the mind of every foreigner in China a very
distinct and striking image they are as familiar in the Far
East as "H.R.H." is at home. For the image is that of the
benevolent despot whose outstretched hand unites or severs the
Celestial Kingdom and the outside barbarian world ; through
whose fingers five hundred millions of dollars have run into the
coffers of the Son of Heaven, and never one of them stuck ; to
whom the proudest Chinamen turn for advice in difficulty or
danger when other helpers fail ; who has staved off a war by
writing a telegram ; who has declined with thanks the proffered
dignity of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of
Her Britannic Majesty ; who has ringed China round with an
administrative commercial organisation the whole world cannot
surpass ; who, finally, born to struggle for the poet's bays, has
laboured late and early all his life over dollars and duties, with
a diplomatic nut, which other people have failed to crack, thrown
to him now and then for relaxation. The " I. G." signifies a
person and a post: the former is Sir Robert Hart, Bart.,
G.C.M.G., the latter is Inspector-General of the Imperial
Chinese Maritime Customs. And the transcendence of the
Customs Service in China may possibly be judged from
the story that a Commissioner once took personal affront
and quitted the sacred edifice when a missionary implored
231
232 CHINA.
the Almighty to " deliver this people from their wicked
customs."
After the above, it is hardly necessary to say that Sir Robert
Hart is by far the most interesting and influential foreigner in
China. To begin with, his power is enormous. The Chinese
language, so far as his own field is concerned, is much the
same as English tojrim, and with the Tsungli Yamen he has
the influence which thirty years of close dealing with Chinese
officials gives him, backed by the proud boast that they have
never had reason to regret taking his advice. Then he handles
the service he has created from nothing, to one which employs
over 3,500 people, presides over an annual foreign trade of
44,000,000, collects 3,600,000 a year, clears 30,000,000 tons
of shipping annually, and lights 1,800 miles of coast, exactly
as an engineer handles a machine he has constructed just
as tenderly and just as firmly. And yet very few of the men
whose livelihood and prospects are absolutely and at every
moment in his hands, without the possibility of appeal, would
willingly see anybody else in his place. The mere irresponsi-
bility of the "I. G." would ruin most men. Yet Sir Robert
owes all his success to his free hand. Does he learn of an old
friend or schoolmate fallen upon evil times ? " Send your boy
to me," he telegraphs, and the youngster's future depends then
only upon his own ability and industry. When there was a
particularly bad piece of work to be done by one of his sub-
ordinates in delimiting the new Tongking-Chinese frontier
months of lonely labour, in savagery and solitude, with never
a breath to draw that might not bring fever with it whom did
he send? His brother. Yet his avowal of nepotism is
refreshingly frank. "I have never," he says, "advanced a
worse man over a better, yet if promotion is due to one of two
men of equal deserts, and one of them is of my own flesh and
blood, it would be simply unnatural to pass him over." More
than once already he has brought out the son of some companion
of his boyhood, seen him grow up in the service from student to
THE CHINESE MARITIME CUSTOMS. 233
Commissioner, save his competency and retire, leaving his
benefactor and chief still working the same number of hours
every day at his desk. But he rules with a despotism that a
Tsar might envy. Any subordinate proved to have dis-
credited the service in any way, is instantly dismissed.
His secretary and representative in England, Mr. James
Duncan Campbell, C.M.G., who has already distinguished
himself in diplomacy on behalf of China and his chief at
Paris and Lisbon, is absolutely impersonal in putting all
applicants through their preliminary examination ; but recog-
nising how often even a limited competition of the broad and
practical kind established for the Customs fails to " place " the
man who will really be fittest for the work, it is part of Sir
Eobert's plan to allow Mr. Campbell occasionally to select from
the unplaced competitors an individual who seems to him a
desirable recruit, as promising and possessing qualities that
indicate all-round fitness. So the benevolent despotism works.
Sir Kobert Hart left the Consular Service for the Customs
it was barely in existence then in 1859, and in 1863 he became
Inspector-General. And during the thirty-five years that have
intervened he has been home twice, once for twelve months and
once for six that is, he has had in his whole lifetime less
holiday than one of his subordinates gets every five years. He
has never been to the Western Hills, a few miles away, to which
all the foreigners in Peking retreat in summer, and he has never
even seen the Great Wall, two days' journey distant. But
" next spring," he says, he is certainly going home. " Pooh," say
people in the Customs Service, when you tell them this; "he
has been 'going home in the spring' for the last fifteen years."
As for the services he has rendered to China, to England, and to
the world, the statesmen of Europe know them very well, and it
would take a volume to tell them to others. Besides the creation
of the Customs Service itself, which will be his immortality, to
take the latest example, it was he alone who, concluded the
treaty of 1885 between France and China. All negociations
234 CHINA.
had failed and matters looked very black and threatening.
Then, as usual, the Ministers of the Tsungli Yamen came
to Sir Eobert. He agreed to take up the task on his two
invariable conditions that he should have a free hand, and
that his connection with the affair should be kept a profound
secret till he either succeeded or failed. Then negociations
began by telegraph in cipher between his " den " in Peking
and his representative in Paris, and very awkward ones they
were. Month after month they proceeded, and at last, when
80,000 taels had been spent in telegrams, Mr. Campbell,
who conducted the negociations at the Paris end of the line,
was able to report to his chief that a settlement had been
reached, and that the Protocol was ready for signature. The
"I. G.'s " reply (March 31st) was characteristic: " Signez
sans delai, mais ne signez pas premier Avril " ! The treaty
was signed on April 4th. Then Sir Eobert got into his
cart and went to the Tsungli Yamen. The Ministers were
there and he sat down to a cup of tea with them. By
and by he remarked, with the apparent indifference of the
Oriental diplomat, "It is exactly nine months to-day since
you placed the negociations with France in my hands."
" And the child is born ! " instantly cried one of the
Ministers, seeing the point and delighted at the truly Chinese
way of conveying the information. And the curious part of the
business was that all this time a special French envoy had been
residing at Tientsin, chafing at the slow progress he was making,
and not having the least idea that other negociations had been
on foot until he received word from home that he might return,
as all was arranged. He was so angry that he would not speak
to Sir Eobert. After sending the last telegram settling the
French business, Sir Eobert went to the funeral service of Sir
Harry Parkes, the British Minister, who had just died. As he
entered the chapel of the Legation, Mr. O'Connor, the British
charge d'affaires, handed him the translation of a telegram
which had just arrived. It was a despatch from Lord
THE CHINESE MARITIME CUSTOMS. 285
Granville offering him the post of British Minister to China.
He accepted, after much hesitation, and his appointment
received the Queen's signature on May 3, 1885. At his own
request the matter was kept secret at home while arrange-
ments were making for the succession to his position as head of
the Customs Service. Meanwhile a Conservative Government
succeeded to office in England and telegrams from the Foreign
Office kept asking, "May we not publish the appointment?"
Sir Eobert had seen, however, by this time that the Customs
Service would suffer severely if he left it at that time, and this
was more to him than any other honour in the world. He
therefore telegraphed, " Must I keep it ? " and Lord Salisbury
replying in very complimentary terms that he was free to do
exactly as he thought best, he finally declined the Empress of
China, who was at that time exercising the Imperial function,
as his official reply truly but perhaps inadequately explained,
preferring that he should remain.
I have said that the statesmen of Europe are well aware
of Sir Eobert Hart's services, and the proof of this is that
there are few civilians so decorated as he. In England a
Conservative Government made him a C.M.G., and a Liberal
one added the K.C.M.G., and later the G.C.M.G. and
Baronetcy. Sweden made him a Chevalier of the Order of
Gustavus Vasa; Belgium, a Commander of the Order of Leo-
pold ; France, a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour ; Italy,
a Grand Officer of the Crown of Italy ; Austria sent him the
Grand Cross of the Order of Francis Joseph ; America has
presented him with several medals of Eepublican appreciation ;
Portugal has decorated him with the Military Order of Christ ;
the Emperor of China has conferred upon him the coveted
peacock's feather and the Order of the Double Dragon, and has
ennobled his ancestors ; and his friends at Belfast his native
place will no doubt be much interested to learn that he is, by
direct gift from the Pope nothing less than sub annulo pisca-
toru a Commander of the Papal Order of Pius IX. As for
236 CHINA.
knowledge of China and the Chinese, there is no one living who
can compare with him, and I learned more of the inner working
of Celestial affairs during the fortnight that I had the honour of
being his guest, than a lifetime of simple residence could have
afforded.
The " I. Gr." and Sir Kobert Hart, however, are two very
different people. "I was calling upon Lady Hart one day,"
said a lady to me, " and as I wished to speak with Sir Robert I
was shown into his office. I found the ' I. G.' there. Oh, it
was terrible I covered my face and fled ! " The distinction
is indeed admitted by himself. He is not Jekyll and Hyde,
but he is certainly post and person. The secret by which he
has accomplished so much is an extraordinary devotion to
method most extraordinary of all for an Irishman. This is a
subject on which he is far from averse to giving good advice to
men younger than himself, and on which, too, he establishes an
immediate entente cordiale with his guests. " Your early tea,"
he says, " will be brought to you when you ring your bell-
please ring it once only, holding the button pressed while you
can count three. Then will it be convenient to you to tiffin at
twelve sharp ? Because if not, I will tiffin myself at twelve
sharp and order your tiffin to be served at any hour you like.
I ride from three to five there is always a mount for you if you
wish it. Dinner at half-past seven sharp, and I must ask you
always to excuse me at eleven." The consequence is that every-
thing runs like clockwork in Sir Robert's household, and a guest
is perfectly at home from the start. But the above methodity
is nothing, in comparison. In the dining-room there is a big
wicker chair, always covered with a rug, so that you cannot sit
down in it. In that chair the master of the house has had his
tea every afternoon for thirty years. Upon a shelf stands a large
blue and white cup. Out of that he has drunk his tea for thirty
years. And by employing the odd moments that his " boy "
who is punctuality itself has kept him waiting each day in that
chair for that cup, he has managed during the last year or two
A PRIVATE CART, PEKING.
TIIK Tor OF THE WALL, PEKING.
THE CHINESE MARITIME CUSTOMS. 237
to read the whole of Lucan's Pharsalia ! Of course he has kept
a diary since he could hold a pen. To test his preciseness I
made a point of standing each day behind my door, watch in
hand, till the clock struck twelve or half-past seven. Then I
walked into the central hall from my own side of the house.
Sure enough the door opened opposite me and my host walked
in from the other. It was like watching for a transit of Venus,
or waiting for the apostles to come out of the clock at Strasburg
at noon. And as I find I have not said a word of his outer man
I may conclude these personalities by saying that he is of
medium height and slight build, rather bald, with a kind,
thoughtful, and humorous face, a low voice, a shy and punc-
tilious manner; that he is a most entertaining companion, a
teller of countless good stories, fond of fun and merry company,
devoted to children, a player of the violin and 'cello, and a
host whose care and thoughtfulness for his guests are feminine
in their insight and famous in their execution. Sir Eobert
Hart's remarkable personality has played, and may yet play, so
great a part in the politics of the Far East that I need hardly
apologise for giving these details in illustration of it.
And what, in a word, is this Customs Service? It is first
and foremost the collection of all their Maritime Customs at
the twenty-four trading ports, reaching nearly 22,000,000 taels
last year, their chief source of national income, which the
Chinese have confided to the hands of one foreigner, leaving
him absolutely free in his action and unhampered by any
colleague.
In passing round the coasts of China you frequently see a
smart little cruiser flying the yellow flag, with perhaps a minia-
ture steel turret and a couple of quick-firing guns on board ; or
in a swift launch passing you will notice the Chinese crew and
foreign skipper in dapper uniforms, and a ten-barrelled Norden-
feldt projecting over the bow. These are the Customs fleet,
watching the coast for smugglers, and ready at a moment's
notice to fetch back some outgoing junk that disobeys the
238 CHINA.
waving of the red flag signal to heave- to and be examined. The
duty on opium is so high that smuggling is extremely profitable,
and therefore the Customs officers are proportionally keen in
discovering and preventing it. Along the coast, too, in the
neighbourhood of Hongkong and the Treaty Ports you will see
little stations, consisting of a house or two, a few boats, and a
look-out. These are also the Customs, and all the lighthouses
are in the same hands. Indeed, Sir Eobert Hart has already
established the " Customs Post " between the Treaty Ports, and
he very nearly gave China an Imperial Post Office and an
Imperial silver coinage as well. The relations between Sir
Eobert Hart and the Chinese Government exhibit the most
extraordinary example of confidence in individual integrity that
I have ever heard of. The " I. G." fixes the total cost of the
service, the Tsungli Yamen hands it over to him without a
word, and all money collected is paid directly by the merchants
into the Chinese bank. A little while ago the grant was
1,300,000 taels annually (a " Haikwan " or Customs tael is the
official monetary standard in China, a Mexican dollar and half,
in 1893 about 3s. ll^d.), but an envious Chinaman, whom
I will not name, approached the Ministers at the Yamen with
a secret offer to do it for 500,000 taels less. The Yamen quietly
informed Sir Eobert of the attempt to cut him out. His action
was characteristic. He replied that the annual sum had been
inadequate for some years, and that he, on the other hand,
must ask them to raise it by 400,000 taels, which they accord-
ingly did ! With this 1,700,000 taels a year Sir Eobert does
exactly what he likes, his own remuneration being fixed, paying
to others the salaries he considers just, according to the con-
ditions he has established. The pay of a student when he enters
the service to learn Chinese is 900 taels a year, and this rises to
8,000 taels, more or less, the pay of a full Commissioner. Instead
of a promise of pension, which Sir Eobert felt that he could
not be certain the Chinese would keep when he should be gone,
he pays a bonus of one year's pay for seven years' service to the
CHINESE MAEITIME CUSTOMS. 239
Indoor Staff, for ten years' service to the Outdoor Staff, and
for twelve years' service to the Chinese Staff. But this bonus
may be withheld at his pleasure (he has never yet withheld it),
and it therefore does not form part of a dead man's estate
a thoughtful provision for widows and children. The Indoor
Staff get two years' leave after every seven years' service, and the
Outdoor one year after every ten, both on half-pay. As may be
expected, the personnel of so attractive a service is of a very high
class, comprising all nationalities, and to be "in the Customs"
confers social standing throughout the Far East. He is a
fortunate father, in these days, who can see his son safely
started on so pleasant, so well-paid, so assured a road of
livelihood, though in exile.
The establishment of the Chinese Customs takes us back to
one of the most interesting chapters in the story of the opening
of China. The theoretic basis upon which the collection of
duties had previously stood, left, like so many other Chinese
theories, little to desire, but actual practice corresponded only
remotely with it. The native tariffs were "minute and precise,"
the duties leviable amounting to about 10 per cent, ad valorem,
but the rule was for each district to be assessed, so to speak, at
a certain figure, which it was obliged to remit, anything over
that sum remaining the personal profit of the collecting officer.
This naturally resulted in a "dicker" between the merchant
and the Customs, the latter demanding as much, and the former
paying as little, as possible. In an official memorandum upon
the subject Sir Eobert Hart wrote as follows : " The paltriness
of the amount to be answered for, the absence of the supervision
of superiors, and the generally subordinate nature of the work
to be performed, have all tended to produce such utter laxity
and irregularity that the Tariff rates have become dead letters,
except in that they represent the maximum collectable on any
one article ; the additional exemption from all question as to
extra and unreported collection has encouraged, if not originated,
a species of dishonesty, in which each subordinate lies to his
240 CHINA.
superior, who, again, winks at such knavery, involved, as he is
himself, in turn, in precisely similar transactions."
The introduction of foreign supervision resulted through the
confusion that sprang up when Shanghai was held by the rebels
in 1854, the Government officials expelled and their Yamens
closed, the collection of duties by the Chinese at an end, and
the foreign Consuls in self-defence against future demands
taking duties from merchants in the shape of promissory notes
whose validity was questionable. But as Lord Clarendon wrote
to Lord Elgin, it was "no part of the duty of Her Majesty's
Consular authorities to take greater care of the Chinese revenue
than the Chinese authorities are disposed to take." To bring
the confusion to an end, it was at length agreed that the Chinese
custom-house at Shanghai should be reopened under the proper
authority, and that it should be placed under the supervision of
foreigners to be nominated by the Consuls of the three Treaty
Powers England, France, and the United States. This, of
course, was a purely foreign measure, and it met with opposition
alike from the Chinese, who found their illegitimate profits
threatened, and from the European merchants, who were more
strictly treated and unable any longer to drive bargains for
the clearing of their cargoes. Nevertheless, said Sir Robert
Hart, it tended, " with unpremeditated gravitation," to become
Chinese, and no serious objection was made from any quarter
when the proposal was made to extend it to the whole
foreign trade of China. Accordingly, by Art. 46, and Eule
X. of the rules appended to the tariff, of Lord Elgin's
Treaty of Tientsin, 1858, it was agreed that "one uniform
system shall be enforced at every port." This was the
birth of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs. For a
time, like its immediate predecessor, it met with opposition from
both natives and foreigners, since both suffered in pocket from
its honesty and exactitude. But first of all, it secured for the
Chinese Government funds " from a hitherto unappreciated
source, and that, too, to an extent never dreamt of before." In
THE CHINESE MARITIME CUSTOMS. 241
fact, one may say without exaggeration that it has been the
backbone of all Chinese finance ever since. To-day, when
China hints that she desires a loan, and is prepared to offer part
of the Customs revenue as a guarantee, the agents of all the
great banks and financial houses of Europe tumble over one
another in their anxiety to be first in the field with their oifers.
Yet they would look askance indeed at a loan based solely upon
native administration. The service has been extended to each
fresh port of China ; its numbers and responsibilities have con-
tinually increased; and all sorts of duties, outside its original
charter, have been laid upon the willing shoulders of its staff.
To-day, as I have said, a position in the Customs gives a
high social standing of its own. The Customs publications
are among the most elaborate volumes of public information
and statistics issued in the world, its huge volume of "Decennial
Eeports " just circulated being possibly the most instructive
single work ever printed about China. Finally, to the Customs
Service and the labours of Sir Eobert Hart, the world owes the
lighting and buoying of the whole coast of China. In 1863
there were only two small lights in the Canton district and a
lightship at Shanghai, whereas now there are 108 lighthouses,
4 lightships, 89 buoys, and 07 beacons, employing a staff of 66
foreigners and 186 natives, all under the control of the Inspector-
General of Customs, and paid for out of the tonnage dues.
Although the Customs Service was established under the
Treaty of Tientsin between Great Britain and China, all
nations have shared equally in its advantages, and they are
equitably represented upon its staff. Britishers (it would be
inaccurate to say " Englishmen," where many are Scotch and
Irish), Americans, Germans, French, Swedes, Danes, and now
Portuguese, form the personnel, subjects of every nation having
a treaty with China being equally eligible under the most
favoured nation clause. There are doubtless more subjects
of Great Britain than of any other Power, but not nearly so
many as there would be if appointments were bestowed in
17
242 CHINA.
proportion to the share of each country's trade with China.
The staff is at present as follows :
FOBEIGNEBS. CHINESE.
Revenue Department 682 3,185
Marine 81 388
Educational , 6 1
769 3,574 TOTAL 4,343.
The value of the Foreign Trade of China, controlled by the
Customs, for 1893 was 267,995,130 taels 44,665,855 *; the
duties collected amounted to 21,989,300 taels 3,664,883 ; the
number of ships entered and cleared was 37,902, and their
aggregate tonnage 29,318,811. The direct trade of Great
Britain with China amounted to 39,823,987 taels 6,637,361,
but the total trade with the British Empire, namely, Hong-
kong, Singapore and the Straits Settlements, India, Australasia,
South Africa, and Canada, reached the enormous figure of
195,710,240 taels 32,618,373, or over 73 per cent of the
entire Foreign Trade of China.
The Chinese Customs Service forms, in short, an imperium in
imperio without parallel, so far as I know, in history, and it
should be a matter of great pride to us that it is built upon the
genius, the devotion, and the integrity of an Englishman.
The one dark spot on the horizon of this great organisation is
the question of Sir Eobert Hart's successor. It is practically
certain to be an Englishman at least, the appointment of a
man of any other nationality, however qualified in other
respects, would be as unwelcome to the service as it would
be impolitic and unfair. It has been suggested, however,
that the Chinese Ministers might be tempted, when Sir Eobert
resigns, to replace him by a Chinaman, in the belief that the
* The tael is nominally an ounce of silver, but its value varies in China in
different parts according to the quality of the metal. All the official calculations as
above are in Haiku-an or Customs taels. The average exchange value of this for
1893 was 3s. lljd., but at present its average exchange value has fallen to 3s. 4d.,
at which rate I have calculated it. It must be borne in mind, of course, that the
purchasing power of silver in China has not fallen with European exchange.
THE CHINESE MARITIME CUSTOMS. 243
service would run of itself, and that they might therefore just
as well follow the usual custom of selling the post to the highest
bidder. Such an event would be a calamity for the commerce
of the world, and therefore the Treaty Powers would never
permit it. For whatever may be thought of the statement at
home, not a single voice will be raised in the East to contradict
me, when I say that among her 350,000,000 people China has
not one official who could be trusted to handle so much money
without regarding it first of all as a means of personal
enrichment. In 1864 Sir Robert wrote to the Secretary of
State at home that the Inspectorate " will have finished its
work when it shall have produced a native administration, as
honest and as efficient, to replace it." Does the experience
of thirty-five years lead him to cherish this hope of ultimate
Chinese honesty and efficiency ? I cannot say, of course, but I
should be extremely surprised to learn it.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE GRAND SECBETABY LI.
fTlHE Emperor of China has hitherto been practically invisible
** to any barbarian eye, and if he were not, he probably
knows less about his country than the least of his officials. The
real Emperor is the Empress his aunt, and her proud and
determined personality is known to the outside world chiefly
through Li Hung-chang. Between the Empress and the Great
Viceroy there has always been a close political partnership and
an offensive and defensive alliance. Therefore the presence of
the Viceroy, till his recent fall from power, at any rate, has been
the nearest possible approach for a foreigner to the throne
of China. Viceroy of the province of Chihli, hence ex qfficio
guardian of the gate of China, Senior of the four Grand Secre-
taries of State, formerly Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent,
President of the Board of War, Superintendent of the North
Sea Trade, Count Shinu-ki of the first rank, special plenipoten-
tiary times without number ; practical owner of an army and a
fleet ; immensely wealthy, preternaturally astute, utterly unscru-
pulous, having been able to laugh calmly at the dreaded
Censors themselves, Li Hung-chang may be fairly looked upon
as the ruler for many years of these 350,000,000 of shaven
heads and plaited tails, at least so far as the outside world is
concerned. If I had a chief object in my travels in the Far
East, it was to have an interview with Li Hung-chang. And
I talked with him at last for two hours.
Li Hung-chang was born in Anhui in 1825, and is a Metro-
244
THE GEAND SECRETAEY LI. 245
politan Graduate of the year 1847. In the following year we
come across the first mention of him in public affairs. He was
Financial Commissioner at Soochow, and there issued a pro-
clamation of a highly dictatorial character against coiners and
" smashers." He fought against the Taipings for the first time
in 1853, when they were defying the Imperialists in the province
of Chihli, and he was one of the principal Imperialist leaders
when the Wangs again took up their arms in the valley of the
Yangtze in 1858. In 1859 he was made Futai, or Governor, of
Fuhkien, and in 1862 Governor of Kiangsu. This was the
moment when Ward, the founder of the " Ever-Victorious
Army," who had carried on the war against the Taipings with
a handful of queer foreigners and a few thousand native troops
whom he had been allowed to enlist and train, had been killed
in retaking Tseki, and when his lieutenant, the traitor Burgevine,
was trying to succeed him in the command. Li refused to
recognise Burgevine's rights, and in spite of the fact that the
latter won several battles, succeeded in getting him dismissed
by the Emperor, and thus clearing the way for the military
reputation of himself and his lieutenant, General Ching. In
February, 1863, the British Government consented to the com-
mand of the " Ever- Victorious Army," which up to that time
had experienced at least its fair share of defeats, being given to
Captain Charles Gordon, RE. Li showed signs at first of being as
jealous of him as of his predecessors and the force he commanded ;
but he probably soon discovered that so long as Gordon was
allowed to win the battles he did not care a straw who took the
credit, and their relations were amicable until Li committed his
great act of treachery. When it became evident to the Taiping
leaders that Soochow must fall, and with it their rebellion come
to an end, they decided to surrender to the Imperialists. Mow
Wang alone was for fighting to the bitter end, and he was
accordingly murdered by his fellow Wangs. Chung Wang, the
great Taiping general, and eight others surrendered. General
Ching had sworn brotherhood with Lar Wang, and Li had pro-
246 CHINA.
mised Gordon that the lives of them all should be spared. Gordon
himself had quarrelled with Li because the pay of his men had
not been paid, and had withdrawn the " Ever- Victorious Army"
to its headquarters at Quinsan. The first thing Li did as soon as
he was left in undisturbed possession of the place was to invite Lar
Wang and eight other Wangs to a banquet on board his own
boat, and shortly afterwards their nine headless bodies were
found on the shore. Gordon's anger was so great that he is
said to have returned and sought Li for a whole day, revolver
in hand, to shoot him, but the astute Futai was not to be found.
Gordon, however, retired in disgust, refused to have anything
more to do with Li and his cause, and indignantly refused the
decoration and the large sum of money that the Emperor sent
him. He came to realise, however, that he would be doing great
harm by allowing the war to drift on, instead of bringing it to a
speedy close, as he felt able to do ; so he returned to his com-
mand. Years afterwards he appears to have forgiven Li, and
at any rate the incident did not destroy his opinion of Li's
character as a whole, for I have seen a letter from him in which
he says, " Li, in spite of his cutting the Wangs' heads off, is
a man worthy the sacrifice of a life I have ceased to value."
Nevertheless, Gordon's estimate of Li's character may be judged
from his view of the future relations of China and Russia, which
was that Russia would advance, driving the Chinese forces
gradually back upon Peking, and that Li, while pretending, in
response to reiterated and imploring appeals from the Emperor
and Empress, to be making his best efforts, would do absolutely
nothing; that then, when the Russians had taken Peking, Li
would open negociations with them, grant them any terms they
desired in return for their support of him ; that they would
retire and that Li would pose successfully as the saviour of
China, and possess himself of the throne. This opinion of
Gordon's was once published in Shanghai, and Li was so angry
that he succeeded in bringing enough pressure to bear to get
the paper suppressed. "It is impossible," says the chief
THE GRAND SECRETARY LI. 247
historian of China, with regard to the murder of the Wangs,
" to apportion the blame for this treacherous act between Li
Hung-chang and General Ching. The latter was morally the
more guilty, but it seems as if Li Hung-chang were the real
instigator of the crime." ' : The facts that the fatal banquet took
place on Li's boat, that Ching was directly subordinate to Li
and would hardly have dared to take so irrevocable a step on his
own authority, and that Gordon himself was sure who was
the perpetrator of the crime, leave little doubt on the subject. All
that can be urged in Li's defence is that to break one's promise
and murder one's enemies in cold blood is no serious infraction
of Chinese military ethics. The Wangs were fortunate that
they were not tortured as well as murdered.
In 1867 Li took the field against the Shantung rebels, and in
the same year he was made Governor-General of Hu Kwang. In
1870 he was elevated to his present post of Viceroy of Chihli,
the most important viceroyalty in China, since that Province lies
between the capital and the outside world, and this post he has
held ever since, except for a period when he went into mourning.
In 1876 he took the leading part in coping with the great famine,
and in 1884 lie was made Grand Secretary of State.
For many years the Yamen of Li Hung-chang at Tientsin has
been the centre of Chinese foreign affairs indeed the question
has been raised whether it would not be better for the foreign
Ministers to reside there, instead of ruining their tempers and
wasting their time by fruitless visits and endless discussions at
the Tsungli Yamen, the theoretical Board of Foreign Affairs at
Peking. Whenever China has had to deal diplomatically with
foreign nations, Li has been her mouthpiece. Thus at Chefoo,
where Sir Thomas Wade very rightly compelled Li to meet him,
he signed the Chefoo Convention (never ratified) in 1876 ; at
Tientsin, the Li-Fournier Convention of 1884, in connection
with which charges of falsification of the document were made
* D. C. Boulger, " A History of China," iii. p. 616, from which work I have
also taken the allusion to the first mention of Li in public life.
248 CHINA.
by each signatory against the other, leading to Captain
Fournier's subsequent duel in Paris ; the Treaty with M.
Patenotre, representing France, at Tientsin in June 1885 ; and
the Li-Ito Convention of Tientsin regarding Korea, in 1885.
His career, however, has by no means been an uninterrupted
success. Many times he has been reprimanded from the throne
for faults small and great, and his enemies have unceasingly
plotted against him. His great influence has never been
sufficient to procure the restoration to office of that very able
literate but unscrupulous man, Chang Pei-lun, who was dis-
graced and banished to the Eussian frontier for having deserted
his post as governor of Foochow Arsenal, and to whom Li
married his daughter in spite of her weeks of weeping and
desperate opposition, according to gossip in 1889. Much of
his power or rather, much of the failure of his enemies must
be attributed to the army with which he has surrounded him-
self. This has been supposed to number fifteen thousand men,
but all Chinese figures on such matters are pure guess-work.
These have undoubtedly been the best-armed and best-drilled
troops in China, and from them have been drawn the contingents
for the defence of the Taku Forts at the mouth of the Peiho
River, and the fortress of Port Arthur. One of the most
astonishing features of the Japanese war is the fact that this
army has given no account of itself; indeed, it is not certain
that it has not been kept in the neighbourhood of Tientsin all
the time, in view of eventualities in which its master might have
dire personal need of its services. I made many attempts while
I was staying at Tientsin to see some of these much-praised
battalions and their camps, but although I had the formal
permission of Li himself to do so, every opportunity that I
suggested was found to be quite impossible, and I never caught
sight of them, except the few that were occasionally to be seen
in the streets. With regard to the great Viceroy himself, how-
ever, I was more favoured.
It will easily be believed that he is not the most accessible
THE GRAND SECRETARY LI. 249
of men, and after waiting a week at Tientsin for an answer to
my request for an interview, my methods of influence being all
exhausted for the moment, I had temporarily relinquished the
project and ordered my ponies to be ready to start for Peking
the next morning. It happened to be the Eace Day at Tientsin
and business was suspended, the banks closed and everybody
gone to the course. At half-past two, as I had my foot in the
stirrup to go too, a European-looking note was put into my
hand. It was beautifully written, and read : " Dear Mr. Nor-
man, I have the pleasure to inform you that His Excellency the
Viceroy Li will be pleased to receive you this afternoon at 4.30.
I hope therefore to find you in the waiting-room of His Excel-
lency's Yamen at the hour appointed. Yours sincerely, Lo Feng
Luh." There was no time to be lost, as the Viceroy's residence
is two or three miles from the hotel, and it was necessary to pro-
cure a chair, with bearers in official red hats, and a man to carry
one's card, for I was informed that it would not be dignified to
pay such a visit of ceremony on horseback or in a jinriksha. A
friendly Chinese merchant soon procured these for me, and the
four bearers carried me off in the closed chair, like a cat in a
basket, at the rate of five miles an hour, while the card-man
trotted alongside and objurgated anybody who got in the way.
Mr. Lo Feng Luh, I should add, is the English Secretary to the
Viceroy, and an official holding several important appointments.
The Yamen (literally " official gate") of a Chinese official is
his combined private and official residence, though in general
use the word " Yamen " is equivalent to " office " or " bureau."
It consists always of a number of buildings surrounded by a
strong wall, with a wide gateway and painted doors. In the
centre are the official's private living-rooms and the apartments
of his wife, and of his concubines if he has any ; then come his
secretaries' offices, his waiting-rooms and his large official court
or reception room. Around the yard into which you enter are
the buildings where his servants and " runners " live, the latter
being the harpy-like dependents, who shout when his dis-
250 CHINA.
tinguished visitors enter, form his train when he goes out, do
all his dirty work, " squeeze " his petitioners and sell his
secrets a set of ruffians of the worst type. If he is a magis-
trate his Yamen contains also a prison, and his " runners "
stand by to deal with culprits condemned to "eat bamboo."
An official Yamen is also a house of refuge for anybody fleeing
from popular vengeance. Half an hour's shaking through the
narrow streets of the native streets of the city of Tientsin
brought me to a bridge over the river, across which two dense
crowds were passing both ways coolies, beggars, mandarins in
chairs, on ponies and on donkeys, and all kinds of common
citizens. By the time we had jostled half-way across, the
famous Yamen was in full view a mass of roofs enclosed in
a high wall of grey brick, with a big gateway projecting at one
side, over which a score flags and banners were waving, while in
front a crowd of petitioners and beggars raised a ceaseless
hubbub. My bearers broke into a trot as soon as they came in
sight of the gate, and entering it swung rapidly round a blank wall
built directly in front of it, and deposited me in the courtyard
behind. This wall is set up in every Yamen with the geoman-
tic object of stopping evil influences, which can only proceed in
a straight line. Two enormous and gaudy figures of officials or
emperors or deities I do not know which were pasted to the
doors, and opposite these, BO placed as to catch the eye of the
Viceroy every time he goes forth, is a similar flaming monster,
the V an or beast Avarice a warning against the besetting sin
of Chinese officialdom. While I was noticing these, and the
runners loitering about were commenting in chorus upon my
personal appearance in a manner evidently very entertaining to
themselves, my card-man had rushed forward and two petty
officials came to conduct me to the waiting-room.
This was the first surprise. The great man's anteroom
resembled the out-patients' waiting-room in a charity hospital
at home a bare, dirty, whitewashed room, no bigger than an
ordinary parlour, with a seat like that of a third-class railway
THE GRAND SECRETARY LI. 251
carriage running round it, broken at intervals of a couple of feet
by small tables placed upon it. Mr. Lo Feng Luh, by contrast
more resplendent in his official winter dress of silk and satin
and sable and ermine, wearing of course a red-roofed hat
crowned by a big button, was already there, and tea was served
to us at once. Before we had time to touch it, however, the
Viceroy's chamberlain came to say that the Chung Tang awaited
us. I should explain that to say " Li Hung-chang," as we do,
is to Chinese ears both ignorant and rude ; he should be spoken
of as "Li Chung Tang," i.e., "Grand Secretary Li," or more
simply, when in his own province, "the Chung Tang." The
foreign community at Tientsin, at least all of them who are
familiar with Chinese etiquette, invariably employ the last
expression.
We followed the chamberlain, or whatever he was, for a
couple of minutes, across a yard, through several doorways,
around the veranda of an open court, and turned abruptly into
a room and round a large screen. " The Viceroy," said Mr. Lo,
with perfect European manners, as he stepped back and left me
face to face with a tall and strongly-built Chinaman who put out
his hand and smiled pleasantly and grunted a solitary syllable.
" The Viceroy says he is very glad to see you," explained Mr.
Lo, very much as a proud mother elaborately interprets the
inarticulate cackle of her first-born. The great man acknow-
ledged my bow in the Chinese manner by bowing with his
clasped hands at the height of his chin, and motioned us to be
seated, myself opposite him, Mr. Lo on a foreign circular lounge
between us.
Li Chung Tang is a pure Chinaman, not Manchu like the
dynasty he serves. He is very tall for a Chinese, five feet
eleven, I should guess, and must have been a powerful man in
his youth. His face is the most strongly moulded I saw in
China not flat, as they usually are, but with all the features
distinctly marked and the lines broad and deep, a face that
would hold its own in comparison with any foreign face. A thin
252 CHINA.
grey moustache and " chin-beard " did not conceal his mouth
and chin at all, but what the general expression of his face may
be I have no idea, as he wore an enormous pair of round
tortoise-shell goggles. This may be his custom, as it certainly
gives him a great advantage in diplomatic conversation, or it
may have been by a temporary order of the doctor, as he was
just recovering from a rather alarming attack of facial paralysis
which rendered him unable to speak for several days, and of
which I could see traces in the twitching and drawn lines of one
side of his face. But at any rate he looked me straight in the
eye during nearly the whole of our interview, while I have so
slight a notion of what he really looks like, that if I were not
familiar with his photograph I doubt if I should recognise him
in the street without his glasses.
The Viceroy was dressed simply, not to say shabbily, in the
ordinary Chinese stiff round hat, a thickly-padded upper
garment of some kind of yellow silk and an undergarment of
grey silk. His hands were tucked into his wide sleeves and only
came out twice during our conversation, once when he wished to
blow his nose, which he did in the familiar but indescribable
manner of the tramp in the street, and once when he was
startled by a little piece of news. Yet he smoked a pipe five
feet long. An attendant stood with pipe, smoking materials
and fire, at the back of the reception-room, and every five
minutes he walked solemnly forward, filled the pipe, blew the
fire-stick into a flame, the Viceroy opened one corner of his
mouth, the attendant inserted the stem and applied the light to
the bowl, the great man absorbed the smoke and opened his
mouth again, when the pipe-bearer withdrew as he had come.
This occurred a score times at least, and never a muscle did the
Viceroy move, except just to open the corner of his mouth wide
enough to admit the pipe-stem. The reception-room is a small
parlour, well-furnished with modern European furniture, except
on one side where an alcove, hung with scarlet silk, contains a
cushion and table adopted for sitting and writing in the Chinese
THE GRAND SECRETARY LI. 253
fashion. The Chung Tang probably sits in this elevated post
on state occasions ; on the present he reclined very comfortably
upon a sofa. Three or four attendants did nothing and did it well,
simply listening to the conversation, while I saw in the back-
ground that another had opened a window an inch and was
listening from outside. These attendants are always present at
official interviews, extraordinary as such a habit may seem to us,
and the natural result is that most of the foreign representatives
have one at each Yamen in their pay, and that there are few
secrets which money will not buy. After I left the Chung Tang
I met a facetious acquaintance who inquired where I had been.
" Talking with the Viceroy," I replied. " Oh," he said, " I'll
get all you said to him for a couple of dollars to-morrow."
Naturally I offered it to him then and there at half-price.
There are two interesting pictures in this reception-room. One
represents the fable of the monkey, the cat and the chestnuts,
and I believe the Viceroy pointed to this on a recent occasion
when he was approached on behalf of British interests in Thibet.
The other puzzled me a good deal. It hung immediately over
the Viceroy's own seat and was a very large full-length portrait
in oil, representing a tall man with a long grey beard, in a frock
coat, and covered with decorations. Later I learned that it was
a portrait of Herr Krupp, presented by himself. Its position
suggests the reflection an undoubtedly true one that the
Chinese have always loved that foreigner best who has best
helped them to keep all foreigners away.
As soon as we were seated, an attendant brought tea and
champagne and placed them on a little table beside each of us,
and the interview began, Mr. Lo translating so perfectly and so
promptly that it was as though we were both speaking the same
language. My own idea, of course, was that I was about to
interview the Viceroy. Nothing was further from his intention,
which was clearly to interview me. Question after question fell
from his lips for a whole hour, and as Mr. Lo apparently did
not translate the feeble attempts I made from time to time to
254 CHINA.
stein the interrogatory torrent, I was as helpless as a man in a
dentist's chair. I think the best thing I can do is to repeat the
first part of the conversation verbatim, not that the subject-
matter is of the slightest importance, but because it throws a
flood of light on the working of the Viceroy's mind, and exhibits
a curious mixture of childishness, astuteness and Chinese
manners. After nearly an hour of it I began to feel that I must
be with Alice in Wonderland. Here it is, then, as nearly word
for word as I can recall it.
" The Viceroy hopes you are in good health and that you have
had a pleasant journey." Reply taken for granted. " Where
have you been?" and "Where are you going?" Easily
answered. " How old are you ? " This, I afterward learned,
is an inquiry essential to politeness in China I ought to have
returned the compliment. " What is your yearly income from
writing for newspapers ? " I remembered that sophists hold it
to be not always imperative to speak the exact truth under
pressure, and I replied accordingly, with the natural result
that the next remark was, "His Excellency says you must
be a very skilful writer to earn so much money." I could not
observe whether he also winked under his goggles. " You
have made a long journey have you no companion ? " " None
whatever." "Are you not afraid of being stabbed?" "In
dangerous countries not, of course, in China I carry means of
defending myself." " The Viceroy says you must have been in
very great danger." "Not to my knowledge." "The world is
full of wicked people." " His Excellency is evidently well
acquainted with it." "Are you going to Thibet?" I took
this inquiry for a joke, as nobody knows better than the Chung
Tang that it is almost as easy to go to the moon, so I replied in
the same spirit, " Yes, and I have specially to beg from His
Excellency the favour of a safe-conduct and letter of recom-
mendation to the Grand Llama himself." But it was no joke at
all. " Impossible ! " exclaimed the Viceroy, sitting bolt upright
so suddenly that the pipe- bearer narrowly escaped prodding him
THE GRAND SECRETARY LI. 255
in the eye with the mouth-piece. " Impossible ! Certainly not!
I cannot do anything of the kind. It would be most unwise of
him to think of going." I did not dare to admit that I had
ventured to joke with the great man, so I said, " Then if it is
impossible for me to go, perhaps His Excellency will tell me
what is the truth about the recent troubles." " The people of
Thibet are very foolish," was the reply, " but I have sent a
Commissioner to them, who is at this moment conferring with
the English, and there will be no more fighting." I tried to
look like a person who believes what he is told. As a matter of
fact, Li Hung-chang has as much power over the Thibetans as the
Sultan has over the Mahdi, but Thibet is a very sensitive spot
with the Chinese authorities, and they would probably do any-
thing, even to declaring war, to keep it out of the hands of the
barbarians.
Then followed an hour during which the Viceroy questioned
and cross-questioned me upon everything I had seen in the Far
East, and my opinions upon every conceivable question at issue
between the Powers. At last my patience gave vay. I had
seen Li Hung-chang, I had talked with him, I had examined his
surroundings, and if he was not going to tell me anything, it
was not worth while for me to sit there any longer. So to the
twentieth inquiry about possible Kussian action in Korea, I
replied, " My opinions upon such a matter can have no value
whatever for His Excellency, whereas if he would favour me with
an authoritative statement concerning the relations of China,
Korea and Eussia, it would have the greatest possible value for
the rest of the world." And I emphasized the request by taking
up my hat and drinking the glass of wine ; for I had been
instructed previously that when either host or guest in China
wishes to give the signal for departure, he empties his cup or
glass. When Mr. Lo had translated my remark there was a
moment's silence. Then, speaking very deliberately, the Viceroy
said, " The relations referred to in your question are as follows :
there is a distinct understanding between China and Kussia that
256 CHINA.
any action by the latter in Korea will be regarded by the former
as a casus belli." In reply to a second question the Viceroy
added, " At present the relations between China and Russia are
simple. Upon the long Russian-Chinese frontier China is
strong, Russia is weak. Vladivostok is very far from real
Russia. It is alone. Russia and China had better be good
friends." " But when the trans-Siberian railway is finished,
Excellency ? " " Yes, then the relations of China and
Russia will be revised. As regards Korea, it is a country unable
to stand by itself, any talk of its ' independence ' is waste of
words, the relation of China to it is the same as it has always
been, and you may be prepared shortly to see events which will
make this relation quite clear to all the world."
I knew enough of China at the time not to attach much
importance to all this; but recent events have shown how
peculiarly fatuous it was. Did the Viceroy know, when he said
these things to me and similar ones to many other persons, that
China was rotten through and through, and as incapable of
either attack or defence as she was of internal reform ? I think
he did. When our conversation was over, he took his glass at
last and we all drank, Mr. Lo translating, " His Excellency
wishes you a pleasant journey, and says you will please give a
good account of your interview with him." Then the Viceroy
was so kind as to accompany me across his private courtyard
and Mr. Lo politely saw me into my chair.
He would be a presumptuous critic who should attempt an
analysis of so complex and subtle a character as that of the
Grand Secretary Li. Something, however, must be said, if
only in correction of a popular misapprehension. It is com-
monly supposed that Li's intimate acquaintance with foreigners
and his long experience of their diplomatic and commercial
methods have led him to conceive a certain sympathy with them
and a certain desire to see foreign influence stronger in China.
This is far from the fact. The more Li has seen of foreigners
the less he has liked them. We must not be wholly surprised
THE GRAND SECRETARY LI. 257
at this, since in some respects foreigners have shown him an
unattractive side of their character. His Yamen has been the
focus of every commercial intrigue undertaken on behalf of
Western nations, and most European commerce with official
China has been conducted by means of intrigue. So far as
merchants are concerned, British and German and French and
American have occupied virtually the same position, though I
like to think that our own countrymen have not descended to
the methods of some of their competitors. But the difference
between British and other civilised commercial dealings with
the Viceroy has been this, that whereas other nations have
been supported through thick and thin by their Ministers,
our diplomatic agents have left our merchants to fight their
battles alone. This policy has sometimes been carried to the
point of indifference, and China merchants have some very
well-founded grievances against at least one British Minister
for his supineness, but on the whole the attitude of our
representatives has been one of dignity. As regards France
and Germany, every diplomatic concession Li has desired has
had to be bought by a corresponding commercial concession on
his part. Hence many a fat contract lost to British trade.
And on countless occasions when a commercial offer has been
refused by the Chinese on its merits, an irate Minister has
hastened off to the Viceroy's Yamen and by means of very
direct hints, if not by thinly-veiled threats, has secured a
favourable consideration for it. Moreover, the great European
firms have been well aware of the part that bribery plays in
Chinese affairs. Whether Li has taken bribes or not, I do not
know, though dozens of amusing stories on the subject are in
circulation in Tientsin ; but it is safe to say that if he has
not, he occupies a solitary position of honour among Chinese
officials. These are the circumstances, therefore, under which
Li has not always seen the best side of European civilisation.
Apart from individual acts, however, he is like all his countrymen
in thoroughly disliking us and all the principles of our ways.
18
258 CHINA.
Between the European and the Chinaman there is this quite
instinctive, as well as quite reasoned, aversion. He has sought
to avail himself of our abilities, especially where these might
enable him to hold us and all other foreigners at arm's length
in the future, but to him the millennium would be the final
disappearance of every "foreign devil" from China. Upon
this point there can be no doubt whatever, however much it
may suit the policy of China from time to time to let the
contrary be assumed. A recent British Minister to China said
to me himself that he believed the vast majority of Chinamen
of all classes would willingly mortgage the whole revenue of
China for the next thirty years, to see the back of the last
foreigner, and to have the certainty that he would never return ;
and that Li Hung-chang would be the leader in this step.
There can be no better example of Li's employment of Western
relations to suit the purposes of China than a remarkable letter
he wrote in 1881 to a Korean official : " Of late years Japan has
adopted Western customs. . . . Her national liabilities having
largely increased, she is casting her eyes about in search of
some convenient acquisition which may recoup her. . . . The
fate of Loochoo is at once a warning and a regret to both China
and Korea. . . . Her aggressive designs upon Korea will be
best frustrated by the latter's alliance with Western nations." *
While this was his advice, however, the Viceroy has endeavoured
in every possible way, through his nominee and creature, Yuen,
the Chinese Eesident in Seoul, to thwart foreign influence upon
Korea.
In a previous chapter I have spoken of Li Hung-chang's
commercial enterprise, the China Merchants' Steam Navigation
Company and the cotton-mills at Shanghai. These are other
examples of his attempts to beat foreigners at their own game.
He has also established a medical college at Tientsin, where
twenty youths are trained for the medical staff of the army and
* Quoted in " The Life of Sir Harry Parkes," by F. V. Dickins and S. Lane-
Poole, ii. p. 205.
THE GRAND SECRETARY LI. 259
navy. In view of his treatment of several young Chinese
graduates in medicine, however, whom in public he compli-
mented, and in private refused to employ, one hesitates to
accord him the credit which should belong to this innovation.
The news now is that Li Huug-chang has been degraded,
and that his unique position is gone for ever. We should not
be too ready to believe this. It may be, of course, that his
enemies have thrown him at last, but the Emperor and
Empress-Dowager will hardly realise how dependent upon
him they have been, until the barrier of his unique personality
and experience has been removed from between themselves
and the barbarian world. The decree depriving him of his
Yellow Jacket and peacock's feathers must not be taken au
grand serieux. " Degradation " of this character is merely
a Chinese method of incentive. In fact, the decree itself
virtually promises restitution, and as I have not seen a trans-
lation in the English Press it is worth reproducing in full :
The Wo-jen having broken faith with Korea and forcibly occupied that country,
the Throne sympathised with its tributary kingdom in her distress and so raised
an army to attack the common enemy. Upon Li Hung-chang, Imperial High
Commissioner of_the Pei-yang, having chief control of the forces there, rested the
entire onus of being prepared for emergencies. But, instead, he has been unable to
act with speed and promptness in his military preparations, so that much time has
elapsed without any important results. He has indeed failed in the trust reposed
in him by us. We therefore command that his decoration of the three-eyed
peacock feather be plucked off from (his hat), and that he be stripped of his Yellow
Eidiug Jacket as a slight punishment. It is necessary then, that the said Imperial
High Commissioner exert himself to the utmost and decide upon what should be
done ; that he direct and hasten the various armies from the various provinces to
the front, in order that all may put forth their best strength to chase and root out
the enemy. In this way Li Hung-chang may hope to redeem his former errors.
This is instructive not only for the light it throws upon such
Chinese " degradation," but also as a contemporary example of
the paternalism of the Imperial sway. It might be a great
mistake, however, to conclude from this that the aged Viceroy
has at length reached that third day on which there
" comes a frost, a killing frost ;
And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
His greatness is a-ripeuing nips his root,
And then he falls."
CHAPTER XVIII.
CHINA AMONG THE GEE AT POWEES.
TN the original plan of this volume, the chapter with the
above title was intended to be one of the longest and most
argumentative. At that time, though it was less than a year
ago, China was regarded by almost all foreign writers as one
of the Great Powers. Her enormous resources in population,
and her excellent credit thanks to Sir Eobert Hart's work,
which made every financial house in Europe eager to lend her
money were regarded with the greatest respect by military
writers. It was understood that she had taken to heart the
lesson of her defeat by France, and was labouring earnestly to
guard against similar misfortunes in the future. It was known
that she had purchased enormous quantities of military and
naval equipment in Europe, that she had built arsenals, docks,
and forts up and down the country, and that a considerable
number of the most capable and energetic foreign military and
naval experts had been engaged for years in arranging her
armaments and drilling her men. She had gained one or two
distinct successes in diplomacy against European Powers, and
Li Hung-chang had frequently declared that he would regard
certain actions as a casus belli; her naval base and dockyard
at Port Arthur had been built for her at enormous expense by a
French syndicate ; Gordon's advice to fortify Wei-hai-wei had
been followed ; the powerful Taku forts at the mouth of the
Peiho commanding the approach to Tientsin, and the Bogue
260
CHINA AMONG THE GREAT POWERS. 261
forts on the Canton River bad frowned impressively upon every
foreign visitor ; while the famous Northern Squadron of German-
built ironclads bad visited the ports of the Far East and
exchanged elaborate salutes. From all this, foreign writers
came to the conclusion that China had shaken off her Oriental
lethargy, bad drawn boldly upon her vast reserve of strength,
had armed herself strongly according to modern scientific
fashions, and had therefore at last taken her place among the
great military and naval Powers of the world. To such an
extent was this believed, that probably a majority of publicists
came to look upon China as the great bulwark in Asia against
the Russian advance, and suggestions of an Anglo-Chinese
alliance were the commonplaces of diplomatic conversation.
Such was the opinion a few months ago regarding China, and
it was against this view that the present chapter was to be
directed. I bad come to the conclusion, and had frequently
expressed it in print, that so far from China being a Great
Power, her land forces would not stop any foreign army for a
week, and that her navy would be the prey of the first foreign
fleet that attacked it ; that so far from an Anglo-Chinese
alliance being a reasonable ideal, in the first place China
would not make an alliance with any foreign country, second,
if she made one she would not adhere to it, and third, if she
made it and adhered to it, it would not be worth having.
The unlooked-for outbreak of war between Japan and China,
and its inevitable results, have rendered unnecessary any
further exposure of the hollowness of Chinese claims. The
sword of the Japanese has proved mightier in demonstration
than the pen of any critic could have hoped to be. Against the
French soldiers in Tongking, as brave as possible, but mere
handfuls in number, exhausted by the climate, badly led, and
feebly supported from home the Chinese troops won a good
many victories and were several times within a hair's breadth of
winning greater ones ; but against the regiments of Japan,
fighting in a climate which was their own, admirably officered,
262 CHINA.
perfectly armed, and enthusiastically supported, the Chinese
braves have fallen back like sheep. And since in the first
naval battle the European strengthening of the fleet was killed
off, the Northern Squadron has done nothing but lie under the
guns of the forts, or search those parts of the sea where it was
certain that no Japanese ships would be found. A-san, Phyong-
yang, the Yalu Eiver, Kinchow, and Port Arthur, have given us
at last that most difficult thing to secure the truth about China.
It would be waste of time, therefore, to dwell upon matters now
so familiar to the whole world, or to argue in support of truths
so irresistibly taught by events. It may still be interesting,
however, to describe briefly some of the ways in which China
prepared herself for the defeat which has now overtaken her,
especially since these are hardly less amusing than instructive.
Five years ago the Englishman who knows more of that
inscrutable entity, the Chinese mind, than any man living, told
me that of all her " vassals," there were only two for which
China would fight Thibet and Korea. Personally, I do not
believe that anything which could happen, short of an advance
upon Peking itself, would cause China to declare war against
any European Power. The role of sleeping leviathan suited her
perfectly, but she has well known that the first step she might
take would destroy the illusion upon which her security has
been based. What she has liked is to remain perfectly
quiescent, while the world trembled to think what she might do
if aroused to lie still in her Confucian savagery, while such
utterances as that mass of rubbish called " China : the Sleep
and the Awakening," which the Marquis Tseng signed (but did
not write) in the Asiatic Quarterly for January, 1887, have
represented her as advancing with a cautious but irresistible
march. The strangest thing is that the civilised world has
been deceived by these tactics, and even such keen analysts of
national characteristics as the late Mr. Charles Pearson have
painted a future in which China, having prepared herself by
long training, should put forth her gigantic strength and over-
CHINA AMONG THE GREAT POWERS. 263
run the world. This ethnical fable of " Jack and the Bean-
stalk " has been amusing enough to anybody who really knows
the first facts about China, but it is safe to conjecture that
nobody has been moved by it to such hearty laughter as the
Viceroy of Chihli himself. Japan has had no illusions about
China, and she was quite ready to prick the bubble. But the
Beanstalk is hard to cut down. At the beginning of the war a
news agency solemnly announced that each province of China
was called upon to furnish 20,000 men ; nineteen multiplied by
20,000 is 380,000, and the astounded reader was invited to
believe that this enormous force was gathering and marching
to Peking like Lars Porsena's men to Rome. The newspaper
reader might perhaps not be expected to know that the Emperor
of China could as easily raise 20,000 men in Mars as in some
of his provinces ; that it would not be difficult to enlist a con-
siderable force in one part of China to attack another part ;
that absolutely no organisation exists in China for the handling
of such masses ; that the men would find themselves without
uniforms, without arms., without food, without the most rudi-
mentary knowledge of war, without leaders of any description
whatever ; or that a huge army of the kind in the neighbour-
hood of the capital would be almost certain to seize the
opportunity to upset the present alien Government. But it is
hardly making too high a demand upon any reader that he
should have glanced at the map of China, made a rough
multiplication of the degrees of longitude he saw before him,
and asked himself how 20,000 men were to march a thousand
miles through a country which is always on the verge of famine.
However, when one of our leading statesmen was of opinion
that China must inevitably win in the end, " because of her
enormous armed strength," other people might be excused for
going astray. One expression of opinion, however, puzzled me
extremely. Captain Lang, E.N., to whose great administrative
skill and absolute devotion to her interests China owes most
of whatever naval strength she has acquired and whom, it
264 CHINA.
may be added, she characteristically rewarded by dismissing
him with insult has been reported as saying to an
interviewer, among many other rather startling tributes to
Chinese naval prowess, that " with an officer like Admiral Ting,
whom I would not hesitate to follow anywhere, the Chinese
navy would prove a splendid force." But this worthy
" Admiral " has had no education whatever as a seaman, owing
his appointment to the ordinary routine of competitive examina-
tion in the Chinese classics, and being merely the nominal equal
of Admiral as he then was Lang, to " save the face " of the
Chinese. In fact, he was previously a cavalry General, a
branch of the service in which he would be equally unpreju-
diced by any information. Moreover, Admiral Ting Ju-ch'ang
was the hero of the famous story of the Chinese Admiral who
was found one day playing pitch and toss, or what corre-
sponds to it in China, with the sentry at his door, both of
them seated on the floor of the Admiral's cabin. I had an
opportunity once of talking with a foreign instructor on board
a certain Chinese ironclad. In reply to my inquiry when the
ship would sail, he said, " The only way we really know when
we are to sail is by the Admiral coming aboard. He leaves the
ship as soon as we come into port, and we never see him again
until we sail. He knows nothing at all about naval matters
he is just the mandarin put on board by Li. Why, when some-
body comes aboard to visit him, he'll perhaps call a sampan and
see him off over the port side ! Then I have seen him gambling
here on the quarter-deck with a common seaman, and when he
has won all his money he'll tell the paymaster to advance the
seaman some more, so that he can go on playing. Yes, sir,
that is a literal fact. The only men on board that could really
do anything are these young fellows, the captain and lieutenants,
and they have no power at all. They fought against the French
and got nothing at all for it just a few dollars, and were told
to take themselves off. The rings on the big Ivrupps are begin-
ning to open out already, and if there is the least dirt or sand
CHINA AMONG THE GREAT POWERS. 265
you can't shut them." " Then I suppose," I said, " that no
European squadron need be afraid of the Pei-yang Squadron
yet ? " "No fear, sir, it is only a question who will get them
as prizes," was the reply.
" The truth is, that if the Japanese do not sweep the Chinese
from the sea, then study, skill, devotion, and experience go for
nothing, and there is no need for us to train our naval officers
at all. One thing only could save the Chinese on the sea the
enlistment by large promises of money of European naval
officers, in whose hands complete and unfettered control should
be placed. The Chinese seamen are not wanting in courage, but
naturally enough they have no confidence whatever in their
leaders, and they would probably fight well enough to give their
undoubtedly fine ships a chance if they were well commanded." *
The actual condition of the Chinese army and navy, while so
much was believed of it abroad, cannot be understood from any
descriptions in general terms. Let me therefore give a few
scattered facts which came to my knowledge. I was once being
shown by a Chinese naval officer over one of their two biggest
ironclads, which was on a cruise at the time, and therefore
presumably in first-rate condition. I noticed a gun carefully
protected in a canvas cover. As we passed it, I asked casually
what it was. The officer explained with pride that it was a new
quick-firing gun, and called a quartermaster to remove the
covering. The order was obeyed with evident reluctance, and
when the gun was at length exposed it proved to be used by one
of the watches as a receptacle for their " chow," and was filled
with chop-sticks and littered with rice and pickles. Of course I
promptly looked the other way, but it required no knowledge of
Chinese to interpret the remarks of the officer to the quarter-
master. No doubt the whole watch went through the process of
* To avoid the appearance of prophesying after the event I may be permitted to
say that I wrote these words on August 18, 1894, and that they appeared in the
Contemporary Review for September, The battle of the Yalu was fought on
September 17.
266 CHINA.
"eating bamboo" the moment I was off the ship; but the
Chinese are incorrigible. It would be discouraging to a
European engineer who should be appointed to a Chinese ship
to find that if there were any subordinate boiler small enough
for the purpose, it had been used for stewing dog. There is
nothing inherently improbable in the story repeated by the corre-
spondent of the Pall Mall Gazette that a Chinese warship went
to the Yalu without one of its guns, the commander having
pawned it and not been able to redeem it in time.
Another example of Chinese administration which came to
my knowledge may be interesting at this moment. Some years
ago the Chinese Government ordered a magnificent set of
Hotchkiss cartridge-making machinery. In due time this
arrived, but two mandarins claimed it for their respective
districts, and, failing to agree, each seized such portions of the
machinery as he could secure and carried them off to his own
place. When I was there, half the machinery was in one
arsenal and half in another several hundred miles away.
Unfortunately, Europeans are not always above taking advan-
tage of Chinese supineness. A cargo of cocoa powder was
ordered from well-known manufacturers and landed at Port
Arthur for use in the big guns there. By-and-by it was tried
and found not to ignite, and finally the whole of it was thrown
into the sea. But both Europeans and Chinese had pocketed a
good " squeeze " out of the transaction. The superintendent of
one of the largest arsenals in China receives an allowance to buy
steel : he buys iron, and pockets the difference. It is, therefore,
fair to presume that the rifle barrels he is turning out are made
of iron. With my own eyes I saw at an important arsenal the
machinery for making rifle barrels standing idle, while hundreds
of men in the same workshop were making them by hand.
Here is another story which I know to be true. An American
agent showed a Chinese Viceroy the performance of a Hotchkiss
gun. The Viceroy promised an order, but said he should like
first to show it to some of his officers, to find out if they could
CHINA AMONG THE GREAT POWERS. 26?
use it. So the gun was lent. The Chinese took it to pieces,
worked day and night in making full-sized working drawings,
put it together again, and sent it back, and the Viceroy wrote
to say that he had decided not to purchase it. Again in all
these instances I have names and places and dates in my note-
books, but for obvious reasons I omit them a Chinese Viceroy
ordered estimates for a complete set of rifle-making machinery
from the United States. The total cost was (say) 500,000 dols.
The Viceroy, supposing it was like a Chinese estimate, drew
that sum from the Treasury, cut the estimate down to 400,000,
and gave the money and the estimate to an official with orders
to procure the machinery. He, in his turn, " squeezed " it a
little more, and then made the estimate agree with the money
that remained by striking his pencil through several important
items. The machinery in due course arrived as ordered, and of
course could not be set up.
I had a very interesting conversation with a foreigner acting
as torpedo-instructor in the Chinese navy. He told me that
Chinese officers receive pay for a certain number of men, and
that they are in the habit of making up the total by putting all
their relations and servants in uniform on inspection days, and
drawing their pay all the rest of the time. When an admiral is
appointed to a ship, he makes his brother-in-law the boatswain,
and his cousin the cook. I asked this torpedo-instructor whether
his pupils really acquired any comprehension of the art of
torpedo warfare. He assured me that a considerable pro-
portion of them really did. I asked him whether they would
actually fight. He hesitated, and I added : " Would they not
probably discharge all their torpedoes at once and then run
V
away?" "I think they would," he answered. A propos of
" squeezing," he told me that all his pupils had to give money,
not being able to afford it, to the Viceroy before they could get
the rewards that had been promised them by him when he
inspected them. My informant himself, when be went to the
Yamen to get his decoration, was stopped with a demand for
268 CHINA.
sixty taels by the Viceroy's head "boy," and finally beat him
down to forty dollars, without which it would have been impos-
sible for him to get an audience. This system, he added, extends
through everything. All the " boys " at the Yamen actually
buy their posts, and only keep them by a regular subsidy to the
Viceroy himself. A Chinese official who " squeezes " up to 20
per cent, is regarded as honest ; more than that the Chinese
consider grasping.
As an example of Chinese naval procedure, I may repeat a
story told me by the agent of one of the great European naval
contractors. The Chinese sent an Armstrong cruiser to carry
troops along the coast of Formosa, a very costly and complicated
vessel, instead of chartering a common merchant steamer. Her
captain ran her promptly upon a rock and stove in her lower
bottom ; then he steamed down to Hongkong and had her
examined, the double bottom being full of water. To escape the
consequences of their mishap, the admiral and commander
determined to pay for the repairs themselves ; so they told the
dock company that if the vessel could be put right for 15,000
dols. she might go into dock. But the company replied that so
far as they could judge from their divers' reports, the cost would
be at least 40,000 dols. So the vessel steamed away to Tientsin
just as she was, and was docked at Port Arthur. " But the
dock," continued my informant, " was so built that when the
water was let in, the pumping-house was submerged, and they
could not get the water out again, so there the ship lay and
rusted for I don't know how long."
While the French fleet was off Tamsui, the 27-centimetre
Krupp guns in one of the shore batteries had been trained upon
the Gallissonniere at 1,000 yards range for several days. At the
first French shot all the Chinese artillerymen fled, except one,
who succeeded in discharging three guns before a shot struck
him and blew his head off. One of the shells he fired pierced
the ship, and remained imbedded in the wood-work, failing to
explode. The vessel went to Hongkong, where with infinite
CHINA AMONG THE GREAT POWERS. 269
precautions the shell was removed and opened. It had been
manufactured at the Foochow Arsenal, and contained char-
coal ! The maker had, of course, been paid for gunpowder and
had pocketed the difference.
The Japanese were blamed in many quarters for threaten-
ing to withdraw their promise to treat Shanghai as a neutral
port, if the Kiangnan Arsenal did not cease its operations. The
Chinese replied that the arsenal was only a very small affair,
and its output unimportant. This is not the case. It consists
of an engine department, capable of turning out marine engines
up to 3,000 h.p. ; an iron ship and boiler yard, containing a slip
upon which has been built an iron cruiser of 2,000 tons, with
a speed of 14 knots ; a small-arms factory, manufacturing
Kemington rifles, the production of which is given by the
Chinese at 200 per week, though under efficient superintendence
this figure could be raised to 1,000 ; an iron and brass foundry,
which has turned out castings up to 30 tons each ; a projectile
department, under a superintendent from Elswick, with capa-
bilities of 5 tons a day, ranging from the 6-pounder shell for
field guns up to the 800-pound shell for the Krupps; an ordnance
department, capable of turning out guns up to 40 tons, with
boring and turning lathes by a dozen different European makers;
a steam hammer which strikes a blow of 135 foot-tons ; and a
furnace which will admit work 100 feet long. When I visited
this arsenal there was an 8-inch gun of 12 tons and 35
calibres, mounted on a hydro-pneumatic disappearing carriage,
which had been entirely constructed at Kiangnan, and eight
similar ones were in course of manufacture. The superin-
tendent of this department, an Englishman of great skill and
administrative talent Mr. N. E. Cornish, from Elswick had
turned out in two years twenty-two 8-inch guns, eight 6-inch guns,
and one 9-inch gun. Not far away are powder-works and cart-
ridge factories, under native superintendence, with capacities
respectively of one ton and 10,000 cartridges per day ; but the
quality of the output had fallen off so seriously since the foreign
270 CHI&A.
employees had been dismissed, that grave doubts were expressed
as to whether it would be of any use at all. I give these details
not only as an example of the falsehoods that the Chinese put
forward and which find acceptance among foreigners, but also as
a striking proof of the fact that the ability to produce all the
implements of warfare has not prevented the Chinese from
experiencing a humiliating defeat, on the first occasion that they
havei been seriously attacked during the last twenty-five years.
Unless the character of the Chinese Government can be vitally
changed, all the guns and ships in the world will not save them.
The Canton Eiver can now be blocked against the most power-
ful fleet at a few hours' notice, and the story of how this came
to be done is a curious one. The British Consul went one day
to a former Viceroy of the province to protest against the partial
barrier which then existed, as a great obstacle to trade. " More-
over," he said, " it is not of the least real use to keep out an
enemy, as a foreign fleet could destroy it without the least diffi-
culty." The Viceroy listened with interest, promised to give the
matter his best consideration, and the moment the Consul had
left his Yamen he issued instructions to his foreign naval
instructor to replace the old barrier by one which could not be
destroyed. Accordingly a number of huge iron piles were
driven in, and these when filled with stones in war-time would
constitute an impenetrable obstacle. The river, too, is very
strongly defended by forts of the latest pattern, heavily armed.
As a matter of fact, however, all these precautions are useless,
because no enemy would think of attempting to force the
entrance to the river in face of them. A strong force would be
landed, would advance overland, occupy Canton, re-establish
peace there, collect the duties of the richest city in China, and
with this revenue to pay all military and naval expenses, war
with China could be carried on for ever at a profit.
To Captain Lang, E.N., as I have said, is due almost all that
there is of good in the Chinese navy of to-day, and if the
Japanese war had taken place immediately after his retirement,
CHINA AMONG THE GREAT POWERS. 27 i
the Chinese ships would undoubtedly have given a much better
account of themselves. The universal testimony of people in
China is that since Captain Lang left, the Chinese fleet has
gone to the dogs as fast as possible. He was, as every con-
scientious British officer under the same circumstances would
have been, too much of a dctailliste for the Chinese. He pro-
bably made a mistake in accepting an executive position no
foreign officer should do that with the Chinese. He should have
been merely adviser, with more or less power to get his advice
insisted upon. " Captain Lang," said a Chinese commander,
" is quite right to tell me about my ships and my guns, but he
need not come and look at my water-closets." An arrangement
under which an experienced officer of the British navy, and Ting
Ju-ch'ang, who, on passing a Chinese literary examination, was
made a cavalry officer and thence promoted to command the
Northern Squadron, were placed nominally upon an equal foot-
ing as "Admirals," was destined to break down sooner or later.
The strain which finally destroyed it came when the fleet was in
harbour somewhere in Northern China. Admiral Ting went
away as usual, whereupon the senior Chinese commodore hoisted
his flag. Captain Lang immediately sent him orders to haul it
down. He refused to do so, and Captain Lang thereupon tele-
graphed to the Viceroy, who replied ambiguously through the
commodore. Captain Lang then went ashore with all his
belongings, and sent in his resignation, which was instantly
accepted. It is understood that the Admiralty refused permis-
sion for any British officer to replace him. Indeed they could
not do otherwise ; and the fate of Captain Lang should make it
clear that no foreigner who is not prepared to pocket the
indignities along with the salary should accept a post in the
Chinese navy.
It may be supposed that the utter collapse of the Chinese
navy in the war with Japan came as a surprise to the Chinese,
and particularly to the Chinaman who has had the chief influence
in creating it. On the contrary, I have had in my hand a
272 CHINA.
detailed and most crushing indictment of the Chinese navy,
written less than five years ago, which was handed personally
to Li Hucg-chang by one of his highest foreign advisers. In
order to strike his imagination, this was drawn up in the form of
an imaginary account of what had happened to the Chinese in
a naval war a species of Chinese "Battle of Dorking," in fact.
The Chinese ships, it said, were entirely unprovided with stores,
such as oil and patent packing, and these could not be obtained
nearer than Shanghai. When a merchant ship arrives bringing
them, it has to go to Port Arthur, at that time the only defended
Chinese port where any of the Pei-yang Squadron, except gun-
boats, could go. But Port Arthur is not large enough to accom-
modate the whole squadron, so that while the cruisers are taking
on board coal and stores, the ironclads must remain outside.
Then the enemy blockades Niuchwang and Taku, because there
are no torpedo boats there. The Chinese officers are so nervous
under fire, from having had no torpedo practice at night, that
they fire torpedoes at eight hundred yards. But the squadron
has no reserve of either good men, coal, stores, or provisions,
and on the outbreak of war it is too late to procure them. The
Chinese engineers are afraid of using forced draught, and when
they try to do so the boiler-tubes leak. The Cliao Yang is
rammed, because her turning circle is so great and her manoeu-
vring power so small. (This prophecy was strikingly fulfilled,
as the Chao Yang ran on shore while manoauvring in the battle
of the Yalu.) The enemy land a large force to the eastward of
Talien-wan Bay, entrench themselves strongly, and cut off all
supplies from Port Arthur, which ought to be provisioned for a
year but is not, and starve it out in two months. Finally, said
this report, an enemy with a smaller or even an equal naval
force, would thrash China, and take Port Arthur and keep it.
This report was written primarily to procure for the navy the
money to buy stores and supplies. It had, however, no appreci-
able effect, and a disastrous war has been needed to demonstrate
how well-founded were the criticisms it embodied.
CHINA AMONG THE GREAT POWERS. 273
The war has confirmed more than the severest critic has ever
said of the personnel of the Chinese army. An eye-witness has
described how the "picked troops" embarked at Tientsin on
board the Kowshing were dressed in blouses, wore " thigh-pads,"
carried old rifles, and were provided with an executioner to each
regiment ! The discipline of these troops was such that they
promptly mutinied as soon as they thought themselves in
danger, and the first time they used their rifles was upon their
own comrades who were saving themselves by swimming. Of
desertions and consequent beheadings we have already heard
more than enough. Both before and after being defeated, the
Chinese troops outraged and plundered the peasantry of the
districts to which they were despatched, until the Japanese were
welcomed as deliverers in Manchuria, while in China the refugees
asked the nearest way to a foreign settlement, knowing that there
alone would they be safe. The Eev. John Boss, a well-known
missionary and author, has stated that on the way to Mukden
" every part traversed by the Chinese army has been stripped
of its vegetation, and resembles fields over which locusts have
passed, so complete is its devastation." When the last mail
arrived from the Far East the first batches of Chinese prisoners
were reaching Japan. The Kobe Herald says of four hundred
of them : " If these are samples of the Chinese regular troops
we must admit that they are a poor, miserable crowd, being
without exception as ragged, dirty, and puny a collection of
human beings as it has ever been our lot to inspect." And the
Tokyo correspondent of the Times writes of seven hundred that
arrived there: " It would be difficult to conceive a dirtier, less
formidable-looking lot of men. They appear to have been
collected from the highways and byways without any regard to
age some are in their teens, others in their fifties or any
thought of physical capacity." The Chinese have taken very few
prisoners, but those they have treated according to their usual
habit. At the beginning of the war I warned foreign corres-
pondents that they must on no account be taken alive by the
19
274 CHINA.
Chinese, and Marshal Yamagata afterwards gave the same advice
to his troops. After impressing upon them that only those
Chinese who bore arms were the enemies of Japan, and that
mercy to the conquered and kindness to prisoners must be abso-
lutely shown under all circumstances, he proceeds : " The
Chinese have, from ancient times, ever been endowed with the
cruellest and most merciless dispositions ; therefore, if during a
battle a warrior by any chance falls into their hands, he is sure
to suffer the most pitiless treatment by them, to which death is
far more preferable ; in the end even he will be put to death
with savage ferocity. It follows that in whatsoever circum-
stances a soldier should avoid being taken alive, and should
rather in such a case die gallantly, manifesting by such a death
the warrior spirit of Japan and perfecting the fame of our
heroic ancestry." His warning has been justified by events.
The first thing that the Japanese found inside Port Arthur was
a number of headless and mutilated bodies of their comrades,
and the correspondent of the Times whom I have already
quoted, writes : " The Chinese take no prisoners. From dead,
wounded, and vanquished alike they shear off the heads,
mutilate them in various ways, and string them together by
a rope passed through the mouth and gullet. The Japanese
troops have seen these ghastly remnants of their comrades. A
barrel full of them was found after the fight at Ping-Yang, and
among the horrible trophies was the head of a young officer
who had fallen wounded in a fort evacuated by General
Oshima's men."
Having been thoroughly beaten, the Chinese have decided to
"reform" the organisation of their army, and how have they
set about it ? At the head of the organisation of reform they
have placed Chang Chih-tung, the notorious foreigner-hater, the
instigator of the murders of missionaries, the Viceroy who was
recently disgraced for defying Imperial orders from Peking.
Better than this, however, they have associated with Captain
von Hanneken, who is to be the chief foreign adviser, with the
CHINA AMONG THE GREAT POWERS. 275
rank of General, a certain Hanlin scholar named Hu Ching-kuei.
That is, a man who represents above all things the old Chinese
literary culture an official of the Hanlin Yuan, or " Imperial
Academy," which is the most conservative institution in China,
and attaches more importance to the propriety of an ideograph
than to all the Western knowledge in the world. The farce of
Chinese " reform " could not be better illustrated.
To conclude, the truth is that like almost everything else in
China, her offensive and defensive power is a sham. The off-
spring of corruption and bombast is inefficiency. The Viceroy
Li said to me that along the thousands of miles of the frontier
between China and Eussia, the former was strong and the
latter was weak. Yet a considerable proportion of the troops in
Northern China is armed with flint-locks, gingals, and bows and
arrows, and skill with the bow is still considered a most
desirable military art. Gordon, with his habitual frankness,
told Li that for China to think of fighting Russia was "sheer
madness." And even Captain Lang, in the interview from
which I have already quoted, declared that " when under arms,
one-half of the Chinese army is made up of savages." A force
made up half of coolies, torn from their homes, afraid of their
weapons, clamouring for their pay, driven forward by the lash,
punished by the headsman's knife ; and half of uncontrollable
savages, defiers of their own officers, insulters of foreigners,
plunderers of peasantry, torturers of prisoners, murderers of
missionaries, outragers of women, rnutilators of the dead,
is not the kind of army with which Englishmen should desire
to stand shoulder to shoulder, and the sooner we learn to look
for our Eastern alliance elsewhere than in China, the better.
CHAPTER XIX.
CONCERNING THE PEOPLE OF CHINA.
FTIHE more one learns about China, the less confident become
-* one's opinions about it. The first result of experience and
study of this extraordinary people and this vast land is to teach
that any sweeping generalisation is almost necessarily untrue.
Every individual Chinaman is a mass of contradictions ; the
gulf between the theory of Chinese government and its practical
administration is not to be bridged ; the geographical differ-
ences of the country are greater even than those of the United
States ; the variations of race are almost equal to those of
India ; to the Chinaman of the south the Chinaman of the north
is a foreigner, a person speaking a different language, and usually
an enemy ; to the Chinaman of the far west the central authority
of the east is an alien and an incomprehensible dominion ; at
any moment an army could be raised in one part of China to
operate against another part ; public feeling or community of
sentiment is unknown. In fact, there is no such thing as
"China."
The wisest remark ever made by a foreigner setting out to
write about things Chinese, was, in my opinion, that which
Mr, George Wingrove Cooke, the special correspondent of the
Times with Lord Elgin's mission, prefixed to the reprint of
his letters. He said :
I have, in these letters, introduced no elaborate essay upon Chinese character.
It is a great omission. . . . The truth is, that I have written several very fine
characters for the, whole Chinese race, but having the misfortune to have the
276
THE PEOPLE OF CHINA. 277
people under my eye at the same time with my essay, they were always saying some-
thing or doing something which rubbed so rudely against my hypothesis, that in the
interest of truth I burnt several successive letters. I may add that I have often
talked over this matter with the most eminent and candid sinologues, and have
always found them ready to agree with me as to the impossibility of a Western
mind forming a conception of Chinese character as a whole. These difficulties,
however, occur only to those who know the Chinese practically : a smart writer,
entirely ignorant of his subject, might readily strike off a brilliant and antithetical
analysis, which should leave nothing to be desired but Truth.*
This book is old, long out of print, and forgotten, but between
the soiled and antique covers of my copy I find more common
sense about China, and more appreciation of what should be the
attitude of Europeans towards it, than in almost all the works
with the exception of Professor Douglas's volume just published
that have been written since. And if I may say so without
being misunderstood, I would add that to learn what China is
not, and what should not be our relations with it, one has but
to look at contemporary European opinion, and to examine the
actions of the British Foreign Office for the last ten years. In
writing of the people of China I shall certainly not attempt the
foolish task of including them all within the limits of any
definition, or laying down any rule about Chinese character
without exceptions. But there are so many mistakes prevalent
concerning China, and so many errors in dealing with her have
been made, that it is both easy and imperative for any one who
has seen under the least corner of the veil which conceals her,
to point out some of these as vigorously as he may.
By way of breaking ground for what is to follow, I may pause
for a moment to give an illustration or two of the difference
between Chinese and Western views upon a single point, and the
consequent extreme difficulty in the way of our comprehension
of this people. Take, for instance, the subject of human life.
A foreign resident of Peking who speaks Chinese well was riding
along one day and came to an excited crowd. Drawing near, he
discovered a circle of people quietly watching a man desperately
* George Wingrove Cooke, " China : being The Times Special Correspondence
from China in the years 1857-58," London, 1858, p. vii.
278 CHINA.
attempting to commit suicide by dashing bis head against a
wall. He dismounted, restrained the man, harangued the
bystanders, and learned that this was a coolie who claimed that
his payment for a certain porter's job was short by ten cash-
less than a penny and as the employer refused to pay more he
was proceeding to take revenge by killing himself on the spot,
knowing that by so doing he would get the other into consider-
able trouble. On another occasion a man threw himself into the
canal, but was dragged out. So he simply sat down on the edge
and starved himself to death, to be revenged against somebody
who had cheated him. Again, one day a man was found
murdered on a bridge near the British Legation. The law
of China prescribes that a murdered body must not be removed
till the murderer is caught. Therefore it was covered with a
mat and left. Days passed and a month and still the rotting
body lay there, till at last the Minister, who had to pass it every
day, vigorously protested, and it was taken off the bridge and
placed a little further away. And a Chinese newspaper is
responsible for this story, which indeed has nothing whatever
incredible about it. One day a sow belonging to a Mrs. Feng
happening to knock down and slightly injure the front door of a
Mrs. Wang, the latter at once proceeded to claim damages, which
were refused. Whereupon a fierce altercation ensued, which
terminated in Mrs. Wang's threatening to take her own life.
Mrs. Feng, upon hearing of this direful threat, resolved at once
to take time by the forelock, and steal a march upon her enemy
by taking her own life, and thus turn the tables upon her.
She accordingly threw herself into the canal.
This merely by way of illustration. First of all, as I said of
the Grand Secretary Li, most foreigners are wofully wrong in
regard to the feelings of all Chinese towards peoples of other
nations. So far from the Chinese growing more sympathetic
in consequence of greater commercial intimacy, they are
undoubtedly growing more hostile. " The ruling and influential
classes still only tolerate our presence in the country; and I
THE PEOPLE OF CHINA. 279
firmly believe they would hail the day when they could see
(were such a thing possible) the last foreign factory razed to
the ground and the last ship dismissed the coast, in spite of
the loss to the national revenue and the ruin of the districts
dependent on our trade that would certainly ensue." * This
was written twelve years ago, but it is absolutely true to-day.
I have said that the sights of Peking are not nearly so accessible
to foreigners to-day as they were a few years ago. And it is the
testimony of most of the foreign residents that their treatment
by the Chinese grows worse each year, and that they are less
safe in the streets. The closing of the top of the wall to pedes-
trians is the last act of petty unpleasantness. There was no
reason whatever for this except to deprive the foreigners of their
only decent walk. Another example is that the Marchioness
Tseng, when first she returned from Europe, used to have an
afternoon " at home " once a week, like European ladies. This
gave, however, such deep offence in all Chinese quarters that
she was compelled to cease. A Chinese lady, again, who had
been in Europe, called upon two European ladies who were
visiting Peking. Next day, desiring to be polite, they returned
her call. Immediately afterwards they received a message from
her begging them never to come to her house again. So, too, if
you begin to study Chinese with a teacher in Peking and you
happen to meet him in the street, do not expect the least sign
of recognition. He will cut you dead, and then come next
morning to apologise and explain that it would be very un-
pleasant for his family if he were seen bowing to a foreigner.
He will teach you and take your dollars : he will not greet you.
And the Abbe Favier, the finest specimen of a priest I have ever
met, a beau sabreur of the church, who wears Chinese dress and
his hair in a queue, who speaks Chinese perfectly, who has even
been decorated with a sapphire button by the Emperor, told me
that he had just received the most remarkable honour and
recognition of his whole life in China. He met the Governor
* Medhurst, "The Foreigner in Far Cathay," 1872, p. 177.
280 CHINA.
of the city in his official chair, and the great man positively
bowed to him, to the stupefaction of the lookers-on. "II
m' a salue, Monsieur comme q& I " And while I was in Peking,
H.E.H. Prince Henry of Bourbon (Comte de Bardi) desired very
much to see the Temple of Heaven, which had been closed to
foreigners for several years. Accordingly the German Minister
(he was travelling, of course, with an Austrian passport) applied
to theTsungliYamen for special permission for his distinguished
guest. After some delay it was granted, as some say only after
the Marquis Tseng had carried the request to the Empress
herself, and an appointment was made. The Prince and his
party, accompanied by the Secretary of the German Legation,
rode out to the gates of the Temple and only succeeded in
passing the outer one after long discussion and altercation.
The next gate was still more difficult, and after an hour's parley
the keepers agreed to let the men of the party in, if the Princess
would go back into the street and wait for them. This was too
much, and the whole party naturally left in indignation. The
German Minister sent a formal and vigorous complaint to the
Tsungli Yamen, and after a while he received a sort of apology
and expression of regret at the misunderstanding. But the
exclusion was undoubtedly deliberate and according to orders
received. The Ministers could not well meet the request with
a flat refusal, but they took care that the permission should
have no value.
" As for any moral influence that foreigners may exercise by
their presence in the country, it may be regarded as simply
nil." I believe this to be absolutely true. The reader may
naturally be inclined to reply that in the face of many years
of devoted missionary work and the large sums of money that
are yearly subscribed in England to support this, such a state-
ment is incredible. My answer is, that from the missionaries
themselves come some of the strongest testimonies in support
of the assertion of declining foreign influence. I once asked a
Roman Catholic priest whom I met in China, and of whose
THE PEOPLE OP CHINA. 281
knowledge and character I formed the highest opinion, if he
believed that the result of missionary enterprise would result,
even in the fulness of time, in anything that could be remotely
described as the Christianising of China. " Jamais ! " he
replied, emphatically. " Then," said I, " why are you here ? "
" I am here," he replied, " simply in obedience to the command
to preach the Gospel to all peoples. Like the soldiers in the
ranks I obey the orders of my commander, without understand-
ing in the least what good is to come of them." Yet no
missionary who has been in China for centuries has achieved
such extraordinary victories or has a position of so much power
as this man. To pass from Roman Catholic to Protestant
testimony, in September, 1888, the Rev. A. Williamson, D.D.,
read a paper at Chefoo on " Missionary Organisation in China."
He said : " The startling, though it is not the most serious,
aspect of the question is that not only is heathenism extending,
but immorality is increasing in all directions. . . . Those of us who
have lived long in China see the evil spreading before our eyes,
especially in and around our great emporiums, with an ever-
widening area every year. The Chinese are learning evil faster
than they are learning good. They are adding foreign vices to
their own, aping foreign free-living and habits, often in the
most powerful manner ; and the fact is, that in and around our
centres of commerce they are less honest, less moral, and less
susceptible to the preaching of Divine Truth than formerly by a
long way." And again: "Further, we are not rising in the
respect or esteem of the Chinese as we expected. A few years
ago there was a general sense of satisfaction among us at the
attitude shown towards us by many, both officials, wealthy
civilians, and literary men. Now a change is perceptible in all
directions. They respect us less than they used to do, receive
our visits less readily. We find it more difficult to rent or buy
houses, and so on." Another Protestant missionary the Rev.
William Ashrnore, D.D., of the American Baptist Mission in
an article in the New York Examiner, wrote as follows: "Already
282 CHINA.
the revulsion from the old, kindly feeling towards America has
begun. Now they are learning to hate us. It is passing from
mouth to mouth, from village to village, from province to
province, from ruler to ruler, from prince to prince, from
beggar to beggar, until we can contemplate the possibility of
an epidemic of ill-will extending over a fourth part of the whole
human race." After these witnesses I shall hardly be accused
of prejudice in making the same assertions. I will add, how-
ever, one weighty piece of official testimony recently given on
this characteristic of contemporary China. In his review of
the volume of Customs Keports for last year the British
Minister to China forwards, and therefore approves, a report
written by one of his subordinates which concludes with these
striking words : "I hardly venture to make any comments of my
own upon the pages which I have reviewed ; but in one word I
consider that the conclusion of the whole matter inevitably is
that the trade conducted by foreigners in China has made but
little progress during the ten years 1882-91 ; that it does not
promise any immediate or considerable advance ; and that
foreign interests and influence therein have decreased and
deteriorated to an appreciable extent." *
The character of Chinese officialdom is probably more familiar
to European readers than the diverse characteristics of the
Chinese people, and therefore less need be said about it.
Every Chinese official, with the possible exception of one in
a thousand, is a liar, a thief, and a tyrant. This may be
doubted in Europe, but it is recognised as an almost inevitable
fact by every Chinaman, and volumes could easily be filled
with examples of it. It is well known, for instance, that the
larger part of the sums subscribed in England on one occasion
for the relief of the famine districts in China found its way into
* Mr. Beauclerk's report upon the volume of "Decennial Keports," 1832-91,
published by the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs, forwarded to the Foreign
Office by Mr. O'Conor, H.B.M. Minister to China. F. 0., 1894, Misc. Series,
No. 330, p. 38.
THE PEOPLE OF CHINA. 283
the pockets of the army of Chinese officials. I learned of one
instance of this which would be vastly amusing if it were
concerned with a less painful subject. Some time ago the
turbulent Chinese of Canton attacked the foreign settlement
of Shameen and plundered and destroyed the houses of the
resident foreigners. For this the Chinese Government was, of
course, compelled to pay an indemnity. At the time, however,
the London Mansion House Famine Belief Fund had oppor-
tunely been collected and forwarded to China, and this sum
was in large part devoted to paying the Shameen indemnity !
One of my illustrations, by-the-way, shows instructively the
conditions upon which foreigners reside in safety in certain
parts of China. Shameen is separated by a species of moat
from the native city of Canton, and access to it can only be had
across a bridge which is barred by iron gates and held by a
posse of Chinese soldiers. My two friends who were good
enough to stand before my camera on this bridge, with the
Chinese soldiers by their side and the Cantonese mob held back,
like wild beasts, behind the bars, furnish a typical example of
the relations of Chinese and foreigners at the present day. But
to return to the subject of Chinese officialdom. One relief fund
was so carefully safeguarded by Europeans that the officials
were thwarted in their efforts to obtain it, and the Administrator
(Mr. Bruce) wrote : " In a country where corruption and bribery
are indispensable in all business where in the case of dis-
tributing charity it is a large proportion for one-third of the
original contributions to reach those for whom they are designed
the practically complete absence of ' squeezing ' in this relief,
would seem to the natives to be a marvel." By order of the
Emperor certain districts stricken by famine were to be
exempted from taxation, and proclamations announcing this
were to be posted up. An Imperial decree, however, published
some time afterwards, declares the Emperor's abhorrence of
what he had learned of the way his orders had been carried out,
since " the lists of the districts for which exemption from the
284 CHINA.
tax is claimed are too often falsified, and what is worse, the
officials take care not to post the Imperial proclamation until
they have collected the tax in full. The revenue is lost to the
state and goes into the pockets of the hangers-on about the
yamens." To the common people, adds the Hongkong Dalli/
Press, from which I take the above, " lekin stations are
' squeeze stations ' pure and simple, and yamens are places to
be avoided by every possible means. That the mandarins
should practise extortion is looked upon as quite a natural
circumstance, quite as natural, in fact, as that the people
should evade payment of legal dues when opportunity offers.
On both sides common honesty is held in more or less con-
tempt, and a man who does not take advantage of his oppor-
tunities is regarded as a fool." As a matter of fact, in spite
of the Emperor's pious indignation, it was a common occurrence
for the tax-gatherer to follow the distributor of relief and seize
upon the money as soon as it had been given. The subscriptions
to relieve the starving Chinese were, unfortunately, but another
example of mistaken foreign benevolence. From three of the
distressed provinces grain was actually being exported while
foreign relief was being given, and the foreigners' money merely
caused the return of thousands of natives to a district wholly
incapable of supporting them. The Kev. Mr. Candlin wrote that
there was room for the refugees in other districts, where they
could always get food and generally work, while they were
worse than useless when they returned and hung about the
famine region, subsisting on the missionaries' doles. Mr.
Consul Allen, in a report written a few years ago, gave some
striking instances of the failure of promising Chinese com-
mercial undertakings, simply because of their connection with
officials. Eeferring to the China Merchants' Steam Navigation
Company, he says: "This is a powerful organisation enough,
with a large fleet of river and sea-going steamers, and it might
be supposed that the China Merchants' Company was a most
flourishing concern. No doubt it is, but its connection with
THE PEOPLE OF CHINA. 285
the Government is felt by the trading class to be an effectual
bar to its ever becoming the lucrative association that an un-
hampered and free trading company could be, and its scrip
shows this." A Chinese company was started to develop the
mines of Yunnan, and the prospectus declared that the enter-
prise promised fabulous riches. An official of high rank was
to be placed in charge of the operations, and shareholders were
promised a minimum dividend of 6 per cent., with various
bonuses. But, says Mr. Allen, " the shares in the company
are not eagerly taken up. The Chinese distrust all official
connection with mercantile enterprise) alleging that all the
profits earned go into the pockets of the mandarins, while the
man who has no claims to official rank is left out in the cold.
Europeans, of course, will not touch such a speculation. The
risk is altogether too great."
The Hupao, a vernacular Chinese newspaper in which there
is often much frank information about China, mingled with
superstition and ignorance, reproduced once a proclamation
from the Provincial Treasurer of Kwangtung, in which he said
that the priest in charge of the Temple at Canton pays as much
as from 7,000 taels to 10,000 taels for the post, recouping him-
self afterwards for his original outlay by all manner of extortions
from the worshippers. Thus they are not allowed to bring in
their incense-sticks or candles, but must buy these from the
priest inside at ten times their value. They must also pay an
exorbitant hire for space on the mats on which they perform their
prostrations ; and women are persuaded by the priest that a
night's sleep on the mats in the temple, for which they pay a
heavy hotel bill to the priest, will ensure them male progeny.
An amusing light is thrown upon Chinese ideas by a story told
me of Sir Harry Parkes. He once arrested several mandarins,
and kept them for a fortnight. All their friends were allowed
access to them, but they were not permitted to leave the house.
After a few days he sent to inquire how they were getting on.
" We cannot sleep at night," they said, " for the dreadful heavy
286 CHINA.
tread of the sentry round the Yamen. Our own watchmen come
and clap, and then they go to sleep ; and we have waited night
after night for yours to do the same, that we might get away.
But he never stops ! " So the sentry was told to stand still. A
foreign mining engineer in charge of important Chinese mines,
told me that he had eighty soldiers under him armed at first
with percussion-cap guns, and afterwards with sniders. On one
occasion he placed an armed sentry by the boiler to prevent
the miners drying dynamite upon it, which they were constantly
trying to do. The sentry went to sleep on the boiler ; a boy
brought a box of dynamite and placed it there ; it exploded and
blew up the whole place, including the sentry. Occasionally his
soldiers were all allowed to drill, when the officers sat in their
quarters half a mile away, with their red flags in front of them,
and looked on. This expert foreigner he was not an English-
man added : " If you could take away from the English
artisan his present character, and substitute for it the Chinese
character, in six months English industries would be at a stand-
still, and in ten years the accumulated wealth of England would
have disappeared." A correspondent of the Times recently told
a capital and thoroughly characteristic story of Chinese official-
dom, to the effect that about ten years ago some of our politicals
had a meeting on the Sikkim frontier with some of the officials
from Thibet. In the course of conversation some reference was
made to our last war with China, ending in the occupation of
Peking and the destruction of the Summer Palace. " Yes," said
the Thibetan officials, laughing, " we know you said you went
there, and we read with much amusement your gazettes giving
your account of it all. They were very cleverly written, and we
daresay deceived your own subjects into a belief that you actually
went to Peking. We often do the same thing."
The most illuminating of my examples, however, of the natural
mind of the official Chinaman came from my own personal
experience. When in Peking I visited the Tungwen College, an
institution where Chinese students are instructed in foreign
THE PEOPLE OF CHINA. 287
languages, literature, and science, by foreign masters, a small
monthly allowance being given them by the Chinese Government
for regular attendance. I was shown a class of young Chinese
engaged in writing essays in French upon the subject of " Pro-
tection and Free Trade." As a specimen of their work, the
composition of one named Tok-kun was taken from his desk and
handed to me. It was wholly an original production, and I venture
to think that the following passage, which I copied exactly, throws a
vivid light upon the point of view of the would-be Chinese official
after a number of years of foreign teaching : "Ce qu'il y a de
mauvais et de terrible a 1'Etranger, c'est que le peuple forme des
partis qui se melent de politique, je suis enchante de 1'ignorance
des affaires d'Etat des Chinois, qui, s'ils s'y entendaient seraient
certainement libre echangistes, car nous achetons beaucoup plus
que nous ne vendons. Notre Gouvernement, profitant de cette
ignorance du peuple, peut augmenter les droits de douane a sa
fantaisie, cela ne fait aucun tort aux commei^ants, mais beau-
coup aux acheteurs, qui ne comprennent pourquoi. Les mar-
chandises venant de 1'Etranger, augmentent de prix tous les
jours, et ne cherchent pas du tout a comprendre pourquoi. Us
paient sans se plaindre du Gouvernement, c'est heureux pour la
Chine."
Dirt, falsehood, corruption, and cruelty are some of the least
objectionable of Chinese vices. Of the last-named I have drawn
a moderate picture in a previous chapter, but the following
description of what the Abbe Hue saw when travelling once in
the Interior may be added : " Le chariot avan$a, et nous vinies,
en frissonnant d'horreur, une cinquantaine de cages, grossiere-
ment fabriquees avec des barreaux de bambou et renfermant des
tetes humaines. Presque toutes etaient en putrefaction et
faisaient des grimaces affreuses. Plusieurs cages s'etant dis-
loquees et disjointes, quelques tetes pendaient accrochees aux
barreaux par la barbe ou les cheveux, d'autres etaient tombees a
terre, et on les voyait encore au pied des arbres. Nos yeux ne
purent soutenir longtemps ce hideux et degoutant spectacle."
288 CHINA.
The Taotai of Ningpo recently issued a proclamation to agri-
culturists which contained the following admirable sentiments :
" Frogs are produced in the middle of your fields ; although they
are little things they are little human beings in form. They
cherish a life-long attachment to their native soil, and at night
they melodiously sing in concert with clear voices. Moreover
they protect your crops by eating locusts, thus deserving the
gratitude of the people. Why go after dark with lanterns,
scheming to capture the harmless and useful things ? Although
they may be nice flavouring for your rice, it is heartless to flay
them. Henceforward it is forbidden to buy or sell them, and
those who do so will be severely punished." The cruelty of the
Chinese to animals is indescribably great ; hence the necessity
for the inculcation of such sentiments. A friend with whom I
rode a good deal in Peking told me that one day, hearing screams
of laughter from his stable, he went to investigate. There he
discovered that his groom and " boy " had caught a big rat,
nailed its front paws to a board, soaked it in kerosine, set fire to
it, and were enjoying the spectacle. But this is not so bad as
one of the tricks of the professional kidnapper, who will catch a
child in the street, carry it off to another town, blind it, and then
sell it for a professional beggar. Their cruelty, moreover, is
by no means confined to foreigners and dumb animals : they are
cruel under almost all circumstances. A steam launch, built at
Hongkong, blew up on her trial trip, and amongst others the
wife of the editor of a Hongkong paper was thrown into the
water. Some Chinese in a sampan paddled up, and positively
refused to take her on board until she had promised them
fifty dollars. Another member of the same party had to pro-
mise five hundred dollars before a boatman would undertake to
convey several of the survivors to Hongkong. An eye-witness
related to me how a junk upset off Macao, and the seven men of
its crew were all drowned, though there were a dozen Chinese
boats round them. While I was in Hongkong a Chinaman
was terribly injured in an accident at Kowloon. His fellow-
A CHINESE LADY'S |FooT.
THE PROTECTION OF FOREIGNERS, CANTON.
THE PEOPLE OF CHINA.
workmen simply laid him in the gutter, and afterwards even
refused to carry him to a steam launch sent to take him to the
hospital. At one of the " dragon races " in the Canton Eiver,
150 men were upset out of two of the long canoes, amidst a
thousand other people afloat, and every one of them was
drowned. One of the latest papers from China tells how a boat,
paddled by two men, carrying rice from Shanghai to Pootung,
capsized in the midst of a number of fishing-boats. The fisher-
men immediately seized upon the rice and property belonging
to the capsized boat, but took not the slightest notice of the
drowning men, whose bodies bad so far not been found.
Foot-binding, which is practised in most of the provinces of
China, and of which one of my illustrations sho-vs the results, is
a sufficient example of widespread cruelty ; but the practice of
infanticide is infinitely worse. Attempts have been made to
deny the existence of this practice to any large extent, but proofs
could be adduced by the thousand. One of the most thoughtful and
instructive newspapers ever issued in China was the Chinese Times
of Tientsin, conducted by Mr. Alexander Michie, who possessed
a remarkable knowledge of Chinese life and a profound acquaint-
ance with the Chinese mind. This paper, unfortunately, came
to an end for want of foreign support a few years ago. In its
columns I found the following account of infanticide in the
province of Shansi. One man, who had been in the employ of a
foreigner for two years and had received good wages, put his
little girl to death because, as he said, he could not afford to feed
her. A woman, without solicitation, told one of the foreign
ladies that she had killed five children in order to go out as a
nurse, and that her husband compelled her to do it. " Yes, it
was a great sin," she said, " but I could not help it." A man,
who passes for a gentleman, volunteered the information that
he had allowed two of his girls to die for want of care. " Only
a small matter. We just wrapped them up in bed-clothes and
very soon they were gone. I am a poor man ; girls are a great
expense and earn no money, and as we already had two we con-
20
290 CHINA.
eluded we could not keep any more." The testimony of a
Chinese teacher is as follows : " Infanticide is very common
among the poor, and even people in pretty easy circumstances.
There is hardly a family where at least one child has not been
destroyed, and in some families four or five are disposed of.
Nothing can be done. As soon as the little ones are born they
are laid aside and left to perish. Girls are more often destroyed,
but boys also are very often killed. The officials know it, but say
it is something they cannot control." Another man, who
is now a member of the Christian Church, says that in his
village there is hardly a family that has not destroyed two or
three children. And once more, " a woman said that ' it was
very common for poor people to go into rich families as wet-
nurses because they received good wages, and in fact they often
destroyed their babies that they might do so.' Such a state of
things is terrible in the extreme, and the worst feature about it
is that there seems to be no public or individual conscience
against it : even well-informed and otherwise respectable people
look upon it as a matter of course." A lady contributor to the
North China Daily Neivs furnished the following statistics : " I
find that 160 Chinese women, all over fifty years of age, had
borne 631 sons, and 538 daughters. Of the sons, 366, or nearly
60 per cent., had lived more than ten years ; while of the
daughters only 205, or 38 per cent., had lived ten years. The
160 women, according to their own statements, had destroyed
158 of their daughters ; but none had ever destroyed a boy. As
only four women had reared more than three girls, the proba-
bility is that the number of infanticides confessed to is con-
siderably below the truth. I have occasionally been told by a
woman that she had forgotten just how many girls she had had,
more than she wanted. The greatest number of infanticides
owned to by any one woman is eleven." Wife-selling and
child-selling are also common, and during the last famine a
party of beggars were actually observed in the streets of Tientsin
with baskets, loudly crying, Mai nil " Girls for sale ! " in one
THE PEOPLE OF CHINA. 291
of the baskets being four baby girls with pinched faces and
wizened limbs.
The subject of Chinese medicine reflects the Chinese mind in
a very instructive manner, but it is too large to be dealt with
here. I will only say that when Sir Robert Hart recently
instructed the Customs officials to prepare lists of the substances
used in Chinese medicine, amongst the 1,575 entries appeared
dried toads, toadspittle cake, dried snakes, liquid manure pre-
served for years, and various other preparations of human excre-
ment, the genitals of different animals, deer foatus, the human
placenta, centipedes, and the dung of different animals. Dr.
Mackay of Tamsui, in Formosa, recently prepared a catalogue
of Chinese prescriptions which had come under his notice, and
he points out that the most repulsive and disgusting " medi-
cines " are given to the unfortunate children. Among the
remedies prescribed for diseases of children are the following :
For cough, bat's dung name given in drug-shop, " night clear
thread." For worms and yellowish face, grubs from filth
washed and dried name in drug-shop " grain sprouts." Also
rabbit's dung, called "the worm-killer." For thrush, cock-
roach's dung name in drug-shop "worm pearls." For bad
stomach, earth-worms swallowed alive after being rolled in
honey. Fever, dog's dung-prepared the dog being first fed
on rice. Eruptions, boil on upper lip, fowl's dung. If a child
is frightened from any cause, prepared centipedes are given. Dr.
Mackay adds that "for different diseases there are a number
of worthless and filthy preparations, some of them scarcely
mentionable." Some of the medicines prescribed for adults are
not much better. Thus a man suffering from enlarged spleen
would be ordered to take "grass of deer's stomach dried and
cut in slices, skins of silkworms, lining of hen's gizzard, salted
scorpions " ; while another seized with colic might be asked to
swallow a preparation made from horse-manure or, as an alter-
native, sow's excrement. I once procured from a Chinese drug-
shop a typical prescription, consisting of about thirty different
292 CHINA.
drugs mixed together to be taken as a dose, and the Protector
of Chinese in Hongkong asked a Chinese physician, who had
been educated in Europe, to translate it for me. He returned it,
however, with most of the ingredients marked, " Substance
unknown."
The greatest obstacle of all to any improvement of the
masses of China is their profoundly ingrained superstition ; this
is common alike to officials and people, to the educated and the
ignorant. The Viceroy of Nankin, Liu Kun-yi, recently declared
that he had suddenly recovered his health in consequence of a
vow to pay for ten days' theatricals to be performed on a stage
before the shrine of Prince Siang-ting, a deified prince of the
seventh century. When the Viceroy Chang's new iron-works
were opened at Wuchang, the Chief Commissioner went through
a ceremony of sacrificial worship before the various workshops,
to ward off any evil influences. There is a wind- and water-
compelling dragon known as Ta Wang, and he has a temple
behind the Viceroy's yamen at Tientsin called the Ta Wang-
miao. When a boat conveying a prefect and his family was
nearly overwhelmed by a sudden storm, it was evident that the
boatman with his long pole had inadvertently disturbed Ta Wang.
On search being made a small snake was discovered near the
railway bridge, and prostrations and apologies were at once
made before it, and it was conveyed with great solemnity to the
temple aforesaid. This occurred on August 11, 1890. It might
be thought that intimacy with foreigners would destroy such
beliefs ; this, however, is far from being the case. The
Chinaman born and bred in Hongkong or Singapore is every
bit as superstitious as the Chinaman of the mainland. As an
example of this I may tell the following story. One of the
oldest inhabitants and most intelligent Chinamen in Hongkong
had set his heart upon having two houses in a certain terrace to
live in. At last his chance came and he bought them. Then
he went to his lawyer and exclaimed in delight : " I would have
given three times the sum for them ! " " But why, there are
THE PEOPLE OF CHINA.
plenty of better houses?" "Don't you know that house
has the best feng-shui of all Hongkong ! " Feng-shui means
literally " wind and water," and refers to the geomantic
or occult topographical influences. Even birth and half a
lifetime under the British flag is not enough to eradicate the
gross beliefs of the Chinaman. For instance, when an extensive
reclamation of land at Singapore was begun by the Government,
a colonial official had occasion one night to send his head-
servant a British subject and an old resident in the colony
on an errand into the town. He refused point-blank, and when
asked his reason explained that no Chinaman would go down
town at night for the next three nights because, as the Govern-
ment were beginning their reclamation, they wanted a hundred
Chinese heads to put at the bottom, and were on the look-out to
catch Chinamen down-town and take their heads. During the
recent plague at Hongkong placards were posted all over the
city of Canton warning the people not to go to Hongkong, since
their wives and children would run the risk of being chopped up
by foreign doctors to make medicine out of their bones and
eyes. This plague has had the effect of exhibiting the views of
the Chinese mind with regard to foreigners and their ways
perhaps more clearly than has ever occurred before. Mr.
Sydney B. J. Skertchly, late of H. M. Geological Survey, has
borne very remarkable testimony to this, and his words deserve
the widest circulation and the closest attention. He says :
" The sad fact has to be faced that some 200,000 Chinese are living voluntarily
among us for the sake of the facilities the colony offers, and that they hate us,
despise us, and fear us at the same time. Fifty years of British rule has taught
them that we protect their lives and property better than their own countrymen,
that wages and profits are better among us than in China proper, that we do not
squeeze them, that our officials are not corrupt. In fine, that Hongkong is a
temporary paradise where they are allowed to live as they like, to follow all their
own customs, and where dollars are almost as easily earned as cash at home. They
know, too, that we' will educate them gratis, so that they can earn the high wages
of the European clerk, and above all that when the loved dollar is netted no hungry
mandarin will clamour for his share.
"In spite of all this they hate us and fear us. They acknowledge our skill as
mechanics, they see our medical men and women daily minister to their wants
294 CHINA.
unselfishly ; but they dread the doctor more than the plague. They are firmly
convinced that we destroy pregnant women, and cut out children's eyes to make our
medicines, and they are taught this by their so-called educated classes. The
Chinese mind is steeped in the most soul-destroying superstition. The dread ff-nti
shiti, the spirits of their ancestors, the myriads of demons that throng the air, are
to them active principles, and as virulent as they are active. They know every
European can cast spells over them, can, with an outward show of benefit, destroy
their health, and they are sure we have deliberately caused this plague, for they see
it passes the European by and slays the Chinaman. No African savage is more
ground down by fetish than is the Chinaman by his superstitions. The way we
designed this plague is to the Chinaman proof of our diabolic powers; we made a
tramway up to the Peak ! This interfered with ihefeng shui by stopping the flow
of benign influences from the south and causing the evil influences to stagnate in
the island. Is not this proof positive ? Were not the Chinese warned of the coming
evil ? Was not the sun eclipsed ? Did not the bamboo flower this year ? Is it not
an established fact that all Englishmen can see the hidden treasures in the earth ?
Not one in a thousand has any doubts on these subjects. . . . Then we woke up
and cleared out the filth, disclosing scenes of horror that no pen can describe. We
pulled down the partitions in the rooms, we removed the people from the stricken
haunts, we started hospitals, we nursed the sick, we buried the dead.
"And how did the Chinamen take it all? The answer is visible as I write, in the
gunboat anchored off the China town, for they threatened to fire the city. They
posted placards ascribing untellable atrocities to the doctors ; they hid their sick
from us ; they refused to go to our hospitals, they threatened to poison the water
supply. The viceroy of the province allowed Canton to be placarded with atrocious
libels and threats against the European settlement, and he has stated to the
governor of Hongkong that he will not guarantee the safety of the foreigners living
in the country, though they have a right, under treaty, to be there. They nearly
killed a lady doctor last week, who was attending to a sick coolie." *
Finally, the most important because the most fundamental
fact to remember about the Chinese mind, is that theory and
practice bear no relation whatever to each other. Chinese
literature inculcates all the virtues : Chinese life exhibits all the
vices. Chinese professions and this is the point where foreign
diplomatists have so often gone astray are everything that is
desirable : Chinese practices are everything that is most con-
venient. "The life and state papers of a Chinese statesman,"
wrote Mr. George Wingrove Cooke, "like the Confessions of
Kousseau, abound in the finest sentiments and the foulest deeds.
He cuts off ten thousand heads, and cites a passage from Mencius
about the sanctity of human life. He pockets the money given
him to repair an embankment, and thus inundates a province ;
* The Times. Letter to the Editor. August 26, 1894.
THE PEOPLE OF CHINA. 295
and he deplores the land lost to the cultivator of the soil. He
makes a treaty which he secretly declares to be only a deception
for the moment, and he exclaims against the crime of perjury."
One of the chief living authorities upon China has just declared
the same truth, in these words: " There is no country in the
world where practice and profession are more widely separated
than in China. The empire is pre-eminently one of make-
believe. From the emperor to the meanest of his subjects
a system of high-sounding pretension to lofty principles of
morality holds sway ; while the life of the nation is in direct
contradiction to these assumptions. No imperial edict is com-
plete, and no official proclamation finds currency, without pro-
testations in favour of all the virtues. And yet few courts are
more devoid of truth and uprightness, and no magistracy is
more corrupt, than those of the celestial empire." * This con-
trast was never more picturesquely shown than when the
Emperor of China made his periodical procession with the
sacred records. Here were documents of so sacred a character
that hundreds of miles of roads were repaired for their passage ;
carried in shrines of Imperial yellow silk; escorted by high
officials ; preceded by the music of the Imperial band ; and
despatched on their journey by the Emperor in person and yet
the coolies who carried them actually jerked open the hangings
of the shrines and threw in their indescribably filthy and
vermin-haunted overcoats to be borne in state side by side with
the boxes containing the precious records. t
My object in this chapter has been a simple one. I have at-
tempted no complete analysis of any aspect of the Chinese
character. Upon the virtues of the Chinese I have not even
touched. But by describing a few of their views and vices I
* Professor Eobert K. Douglas, " Society in China," London, 1894, p. iii.
Professor Douglas's book tells the truth about China in so indisputable and enter-
taining a manner, and he speaks with so much authority, that there is very little
left for any one else, especially a much more superficial inquirer like myself, to say.
I have omitted from this volume much of my material about China and my experi-
ences there, simply because Professor Douglas's work appeared a few months ago
and has covered the ground finally. f Chinese Times, October 27, 1888.
296 CHIKA.
have sought, first, to show how little likelihood there is of the
reform of China coming, as Gordon believed it would ultimately
come, from the inside ; and second, to make it clear that what-
ever change comes upon China from the outside, in consequence
of recent events and the relations of foreign nations to one
another, cannot be otherwise than a blessing to the Chinese
people themselves.
GHAPTEE XX.
THE FUTURE OF CHINA.
rjlHEKE is one building in Peking which every foreign visitor
should be careful to see, not because it is in any sense a
" sight," but because when its history and significance are under-
stood it affords a great object-lesson on the relations of Chinese
and foreigners. It is also necessarily the focus of any discussion
of the future of China. This is the Tsungli Yamen, the " Board
of Foreign Affairs " for the Chinese Empire. My illustration
shows its external appearance, and thereby hangs an instructive
little tale. I desired permission to visit it and photograph it,
and the Marquis Tseng courteously endeavoured to procure this
for me. This distinguished official, however, who was regarded
by all Europe as one of the chief influences in modern China,
who had negociated with half the Governments of Europe, who
had set the world agog by a magazine article, and whose return
to China was confidently expected to inaugurate a new era of
sympathy with foreigners, was so destitute of authority in the
capital of his own country and lay under so profound a suspicion
of being permeated with the views of the " foreign devils," that
he was actually unable to procure this small favour for me, and
admitted the fact to me with his apologies. A friend thereupon
applied on my behalf directly to Prince Ching, the Emperor's
uncle and President of the Tsungli Yamen, who instantly granted
the permission and ordered several of the secretaries to make an
appointment with me there. The buildings of the Tsungli
Yamen are not of a very imposing character, but they are supe-
'297
298
CHINA.
rior to most Chinese public buildings in this respect, that they
are in good repair. They consist of an external hall and a series
of reception-rooms, leading finally to a small and trim Chinese
garden. What they lack in appearance, however, is more than
made up by the magnificence of the moral sentiments placarded
upon them. The room in which I was received, and which
serves, I was informed, as a reception-room for the Ministers of
the foreign Powers, was a comparatively small one, containing
a round table with a polished top, and a number of heavy black
Chinese chairs. On one side of it were hung three scrolls, con-
taining each a number of Chinese ideographs. The first of
these reads, " When the tea is half [made] the fragrance
arises." This I do not profess to interpret. Perhaps it is
intended as an encouragement to persevere in the tortuous
and interminable paths of Chinese diplomacy. The second
declares, " To study is indeed excellent." The third, appearing
where it does, can only be regarded in a humorous light. The
most treacherous, untrustworthy, and unscrupulous set of
diplomatists of modern times, of whom the united Ministers of
foreign countries accredited to China have solemnly declared
that no faith can be placed upon their assurances, meet their
European colleagues beneath an inscription which reads, Wei
slian tsui tth " To do good is the highest pleasure ! " In the
large reception-room is the inscription, " May Heaven and Earth
enjoy great peace " ; while the inscription over the principal
doorway, which is shown in my photograph and reproduced on
the cover of this volume, is formed of the characters, Chung
wai ti fu literally " Centre, outside, peace, happiness " China
being the centre and the rest of the world the outside. The
inscription thus means, " May China and foreign countries alike
enjoy peace and happiness," an admirable sentiment, and one
which the Tsungli Yarnen has persistently done its best to
falsify.
The future of China depends upon the relations of China and
foreign countries that is all that can be said of it with certainty.
THE FUTURE OF CHINA. 299
A discussion of its future therefore amounts to a discussion of
the history and prospects of its foreign relations. The Tsungli
Yamen, as I have said, is at the focus of these. It was founded
by a remarkable man, Prince Kung, in 1861, after the war with
China had come to a close and the Treaty of Tientsin was signed
at the Board of Rites on October 25th, 1860, by Lord Elgin. By
this treaty, foreign representatives were received at Peking,
large indemnities were paid, the Roman Catholics were com-
pensated for the destruction of their buildings, Chinese emigra-
tion was sanctioned, and Kowloon was added to Hongkong. A
new era in the relations of the "centre" and the "outside"
was thus inaugurated, and some new point of contact became
essential. To meet this demand Prince Kuug founded the
Tsungli Yamen, and remained at its head until 1884, when,
after rendering very great services to China, and showing him-
self to be a man of great sense and power, he was suddenly
disgraced for the second time, and deprived of all his offices.
He was succeeded by Prince Ching, who died during the present
year, when to the surprise of every one, Prince Kung, after ten
years of degradation and inactivity, was again appointed by the
same decree President of the Tsungli Yamen, President of the
Admiralty, and co-director with Li Hung-chang of the operations
of war. The Tsungli Yamen consists of the President, eight
Ministers, six Chief Secretaries, two Assistant Secretaries, and
thirty clerks of Department apportioned as follows : English
Department six, French Department seven, Russian Department
six, United States Department seven, Maritime Defence Depart-
ment four ; and six superintendents of current business and the
Manchu Registry Department. To " Their Excellencies His
Imperial Highness the Prince of Kung and the Ministers of the
Tsungli Yamen" are addressed all communications from the
foreign Ministers at the Court of China, and from it all Chinese
representatives abroad receive their appointments and instruc-
tions. Theoretically the arrangement is an admirable one ;
practically, it has been an almost uninterrupted failure. If the
800 CHINA.
Chinese Ministers desired to promote foreign relations, the
organisation of the Tsungli Yamen would be perfectly suited to
their wish ; as a matter of fact, they desire to obstruct foreign
relations and have moulded their institution accordingly. In the
first place, the Tsungli Yamen, while theoretically possessing
supreme political authority, has not possessed it practically.
The Emperor, and still more the Empress, have demanded a
considerable share of personal influence upon current politics,
and Li Hung-chang has always been the avowed rival of the
Tsungli Yamen, and with him most foreign arrangements have
been ultimately concluded. In the second place, the Tsungli
Yamen has never insisted upon its own authority for the defence
of foreign rights. Margary was treacherously murdered while
travelling with a special safe-conduct issued by this Board, and
beyond the money indemnity to his relatives, no punishment
was ever dealt out to his murderers. Missionaries have been
murdered on many occasions, in spite of the assurance of the
Tsungli Yamen that the strictest orders for their protection had
been issued. Chow Han, the well-known author of the vile
anti- foreign placards, is still unpunished. Eights assigned by
treaty have been deliberately suffocated under years of diplomatic
correspondence. In fact, so obstructive have the Ministers of
the Tsungli Yamen become of late that the foreign representa-
tives regard it as a mere waste of time to enter upon the
discussion of any point with regard to which they are not pre-
pared to insist upon an immediate settlement, by force of arms
if need be. Any Minister or Secretary of Legation who goes to
the Yamen is deliberately wearied out by needless talking,
ceaselessly recurring trivialities, an incredible fertility of puerile
argument one of the reasons solemnly given for delaying the
treaty right of navigation of the Upper Yangtze was that the
monkeys on the banks were so mischievous that they would
throw stones on the deck of the steamers, and thus kill the
foreigners ; and finally, by grudging promises made only to be
broken. Sir Harry Parkes declared that to get any definite
THE FUTURE OF CHINA. 301
answer from the Tsungli Yamen was " like trying to draw water
from a well, with a bottomless bucket." "Whatever the Tsungli
Yamen may have been created to do, it has served only to head
off foreigners and postpone the satisfaction of their legitimate
demands. It is to-day the great stronghold of Chinese pro-
crastination.
Little or nothing, then, has been accomplished by this in-
stitution towards bringing China and Europe nearer together.
In further support of this opinion, which will no doubt meet with
much criticism, I will only refer back to the opinion of the
present British Minister to China, as quoted in the preceding
chapter, to the effect that foreign influence is not so great to-day
as it was a few years ago. To see how small it is, take the
recent example of the unprovoked murder of the two Swedish
missionaries, Messrs. Wikholm and Johansson, at Sung-pu.
In response to much pressure the Chinese promised to punish
not only the murderers, but the officials and the Viceroy himself,
all of whom were clearly among the instigators of the crime.
The Swedish Consul foolishly accepted a small money indemnity,
against which all his colleagues protested, and appealed to the
Ministers of the Powers to make a united demand upon the
Imperial Government for the execution of its promise. The
Viceroy in question was Chang Chih-tung, whose offences against
foreigners are legion. So far from being punished or disgraced
in accordance with the undertaking given, Chang Chih-tung has
received a series of distinguished honours, culminating with his
appointment to the head of the scheme of Army reform. Except
under direct pressure, or in an extremity of fear, the Chinese
Government has never done anything to punish outrages upon
foreigners. The Eev. Mr. Wylie was brutally murdered at
Niuchwang by Chinese soldiers at the outbreak of the present
war, and as the Chinese authorities naturally feared that any
procrastination at that moment might bring the British as well
as the Japanese down upon them, they promptly beheaded half-
a-dozen privates and disgraced their officers. The same fear of
302 CHINA.
immediate foreign interference has just caused them to issue the
following edict in Peking :
China is under obligation to exercise extra precaution for the protection of
(Christian) churches, missionaries, and other foreigners in the capital. We, as in
duty bound, give stringent orders to soldiers and people that they must, as hereto-
fore, behave amicably (towards foreigners). Let every one attend to his own
business and thus he will not wantonly listen to evil rumours or join in circulating
them. Should any dare to disobey orders let them instantly be seized and sent in
chains to this Yamen, where they will be severely punished, no leniency being
shown them. The American Missionary Headland and his wife were insulted and
reviled by local roughs outside the Chi-Hua Gate. We have already severely repri-
manded the local officials, and the ruffian offender, Wang Yao-erh, has been taken,
and, as is right, will be severely punished by this Yamen. We further issue this
proclamation in the hope that there may be everlasting mutual amity (between
natives and foreigners). The local officials and police must honestly search out
offenders.
If our officials had properly insisted, this would have been done,
of course, years ago. So, too, the latest rumour is that the
Chinese Government is prepared to make foreign nations the
concession of opening two more ports to trade. They offer
two, of course, under the fear that twenty may be otherwise
demanded.
Now whose fault is this ? The answer is easy. It is entirely
due to the supine attitude of foreign Governments with regard
to China, which, again, has sprung, so far as this country is
concerned, chiefly from the fantastic belief that China might be
a valuable ally in Asia and therefore must not be offended. The
one representative we have had in Peking who really understood
the Chinese and had his way with them, was Sir Harry Parkes.
Sir John Walsham introduced for the first time the manners of
the great world to the Court of China. With much personal
charm and dignity he conducted his diplomatic relations with
the Tsungli Yamen as he would have conducted them with the
Foreign Offices of Paris, Berlin, or Eome. The result was total
failure, unmitigated by the faintest redeeming success.
The history of the famous so-called " audience question "
points the same moral. The first Ambassadors to China were
required to perform the Kotoiv knocking their heads nine times
THE FUTURE OF CHINA. 803
against the ground in the Imperial presence. Lord Macartney,
in 1793, refused to do this, and had an audience of the Emperor
Kienlung, at which he merely bent the knee. Lord Amhurst
refused to do it in 1816 to the Emperor Kia King, and had no
audience. In 1873 the corps of Foreign Ministers refused either
to perform the Kotow or to go down on one knee as Lord
Macartney had done, and the Chinese Ministers accordingly
arranged an interview at a place set apart for the reception of
the Ambassadors of " tribute nations " like Korea. The foreign
Ministers to their disgrace be it said fell into this trap and
thus lowered the prestige of all Europeans for a generation. In
1891 "all the nations " were again received in the same place.
In 1893 the British Minister was received with the same empty
form, but in an Imperial temple ; and during the present war
he is said to have been received by the Emperor in person, within
the enclosure of the Palace itself. It has thus taken a century
and the dire extremity of a foreign war to enable a repre-
sentative of Great Britain to be received by the Emperor of
China as he would be received by any European Sovereign. As
Professor Douglas says, " we have humbly implored, to use the
Emperor's own words, to be admitted into the Imperial presence,
and we have reaped our reward." Chinese representatives of all
sorts have been accredited to the Court of St. James. They
have often been men of no personal standing in their own
country, but thought good enough to be foisted upon the outer
barbarians. We have received them with the most elaborate
honours, have accorded them the most formal and distinguished
reception, and have even permitted them access, as a matter of
right, into the personal presence of the Sovereign. All this
time our own representatives have been snubbed, insulted, and
deliberately humiliated in China, and have only been admitted
into the Emperor's presence by an act of supreme condescension,
accorded to them as an opportunity of laying the homage of the
barbarians at the feet of the Son of Heaven. It is high time this
ignoble farce came to an end.
804 CHINA.
In any consideration of the relation of Chinese and foreigners,
the much-vexed Missionary Question cannot be passed over. I
hold very strong opinions about this, but I will express them
as briefly and as moderately as I can. I believe it to be strictly
within the limits of truth to say that foreign missionary effort
in China has been productive of far more harm than good.
Instead of serving as a link between Chinese and foreigners,
the missionaries have formed a growing obstacle. As travellers
in the East well know, Oriental peoples are especially sus-
ceptible upon two points, of which their religion is the chief. We
have forced the inculcation of an alien and a detested creed
upon the Chinese, literally at the point of the bayonet. That
Very competent observer, Mr. Alexander Michie, whom I have
previously quoted, sums up the results of missionary enterprise
as having produced for the Chinese Government perpetual
foreign coercion ; for the Chinese nation, an incessant ferment
of angry passions and a continuous education in ferocity against
Christianity ; for the foreign missionaries, pillage and massacre
at intervals, followed by pecuniary indemnification an indefinite
struggle with the hatred of a whole nation, compensated by a
certain number of genuine converts to their faith.* Of the
truth of this, so far as concerns the attitude of the natives
toward the missionary, a member of the China Inland Mission
has just given striking evidence :
The Chi-nan-fu fop, dressed in silks and satins, flipping his sleeves in the face of
a respectable foreign visitor met in the street ; the middle-aged scholar, dressed as
a gentleman, not thinking it beneath him to hiss out " foreign devil " or simply
" devil "; young and old spitting on the ground in bitterness close to the visitor's
feet, laughing right in his face, or on passing, turning sharply round and making a
most hateful noise at his ear these are some of the petty annoyances that the
literati and gentry practise ; underlings easily carry on the treatment to something
more spiteful and serious than this.f
A careful distinction must be made, however, between Eoman
Catholic and Protestant missionaries. The former enjoy, on
* "Missionaries in China," by Alexander Michie, 1891, p. 71.
f China's Millions, September, 1894.
TBE FUTURE OF CHINA. 805
the whole, far more consideration from the natives, as well as
from foreigners, and the result of their work is beyond question
much greater. The Eoman Catholic missionary goes to China
once for all ; he adopts native dress, lives on native food,
inhabits a native house, supports himself upon the most meagre
allowance from home, and is an example of the characteristics
which are as essential to the eastern idea of priesthood as to
the western poverty, chastity, and obedience. To borrow the
words of Sir W. Hunter, he has " cut himself off from the world
by a solemn act." More than that, he meets native super-
stitions half-way by amalgamating the worship of ancestors,
which is a vital part of every Chinaman's belief, to the
worship of the Saints ; and by teaching his native converts a
prayer for the Emperor of China, which concludes with the
petition, "de Le conserver jusqu'a une heureuse vieillesse,
en prolongeant la prosperite de Son Empire, afin que nous
puissions plutard jouir avec Lid de la paix eternelle." He is
also subject to one authority, and preaches and practises one
doctrine. The two chief grounds of reproach against him are
first, that in China as elsewhere he is nearly always a political
agent ; and second, that many a dangerous suspicion has been
aroused by his habit of paying small sums for dying children,
for the purpose of baptising them in articulo mortis.
To any one who has read my chapter on Manila, I need not
explain that I am not prejudiced in favour of the Eoman
Catholic propaganda ; yet I should not be honest if I did not add
that for the personal character and the work of many a Eoman
Catholic missionary whom I have met in China, I have con-
ceived a profound respect. The Protestant missionary, on the
other hand, in a majority of cases, looks upon his work as a
career like another ; he proposes to devote a certain amount
of his life to it, and then to return home with the halo of the
Christian pioneer ; he has, in most cases, his comfortable house,
his wife, his children, his servants and his foreign food, and it is
even stated that his stipend increases with each addition to his
21
806 CHINA.
family. For bis doctrine he is virtually responsible to nobody but
himself. Whatever his own views upon the mysteries of Christi-
anity happen to be, those he impresses upon his native hearers as
the one and only truth. He is jealous of his Protestant rivals,
between whom and himself there is a perpetual warfare of pious
intrigue to secure converts. So far as education goes, both men
and women among Protestant missionaries are often quite un-
fitted even to teach at home, where there would be little danger
of serious misunderstanding ; in their present sphere of work
they are often not too hardly described by the phrase which has
been applied to them " ignorant declaimers in bad Chinese."
" The Protestant missionaries who enjoy the respect of their
compatriots," says one writer, <: are the exception, not
the rule, and owe their reputation more to sinological ac-
complishments than to ecclesiastical prestige."* Protestant
missionary tracts are distributed bearing coarse illustrations
of such Biblical incidents as the swallowing of Jonah by
the whale, and the killing of Sisera by Jael. Moreover, up
to the present, the Protestant missionaries have circulated the
whole Bible in Chinese. They have recently seen their error,
and are now considering the advisability of following in the
steps of the more circumspect Roman Catholics, and withholding
certain parts obviously unfit for Oriental comprehension. Their
failure to do this hitherto has resulted in parodies of the most
vital doctrines of orthodox Protestantism being spread all over
China, of a brutality so revolting and ferocious as to be beyond
all possibility of mention. Again, they reproduce in China all
the petty sectarian divisions of their own country. I quote
a list of these from a missionary address. There are three
branches of the Episcopal Church, nine sects of Presbyterians,
six sects of Methodists, two sects of Congregationalists, two sect's
of Baptists, besides several minor bodies. In Shanghai alone
there are seven missions the London Mission, American
Presbyterian, the American Episcopal, the American Episcopal
* Balfour, " Waifs and Strays from the Far East," p. 113.
THE FUTURE OF CHINA. 307
Methodists, the Church Missionary Society, the American
Baptists, and the Seventh-Day Baptists. " Here, then," says
the Kev. Dr. Williamson, " we have seven sets of foreign
missionaries working seven different churches ; seven sermons
every Sunday, seven sets of prayer meetings, seven sets of com-
muning services, seven sets of schools, two training agencies,
seven sets of buildings, seven sets of expenses, four or five
versions of the Bible, and seven different hymn-books at least."
In the face of these facts, one is surely justified in saying
that we have not yet reached a point of Christian unity which
affords us any moral justification for thrusting our theological
views by force of arms upon heathen nations.
I am well aware, of course, that to some missionaries the
world is deeply indebted for its knowledge of the Chinese
language and literature ; and that among the Protestant
missionaries of the present day there are some men of the
highest character and devotion, upon whose careers no criticism
can be passed. These, however, are a small minority. The
Chinese themselves bracket missionaries and opium together
as the twin curses of the country, and although it is true that
among Christian converts have been men who have shown under
persecution all the characteristics of the early Christian martyrs,
it is equally true that the ordinary foreigner carefully avoids
the employment of the native Christian in any subordinate
capacity, having found by experience that in many cases he has
only lost his native virtues to acquire foreign vices in their
place. Conversion to Christianity is looked upon by many
natives merely as a means of an easier livelihood. A friend
of mine asked a Chinese servant whom he had previously
known, what he was engaged in doing. He replied : " My
have got that Jesus pidgin." He was no more intentionally
irreverent in saying this than I am in quoting it ; he merely
meant that the profession of Christianity, with its comfortable
concomitants, was his new occupation. Mr. Michie declares
that were the alliance of the Christian nations with the military
308 CHINA.
Powers of the West to be brought to an end, a chief root of
bitterness would be extracted from the Chinese mind. For my
own part, I am convinced that if the subscribers to Chinese
missions could only see for themselves the minute results
of good and the considerable results of harm that their money
produces, they would find in the vast opportunities for refor-
matory work at home a more attractive field for their charity.
At any rate, in considering the future of China the missionary
influence cannot be counted upon for any good.
The prospects of future reform in China may be estimated
from the fate of her railway schemes. In 1876 the first railway
iu China was laid by a foreign firm from Shanghai to Wusung,
where the notorious bar on the Shanghai River interrupts the
traflic. It was well patronised, paid a dividend at once, and
after running sixteen months was purchased by the Chinese
authorities, who no sooner came into possession of it than they
tore it up and shipped the materials over to Formosa. Under
its energetic Governor, Liu Ming-chuan, now Commander-in-
chief of the Chinese army, a railway was built in Formosa, and
prospered for a time under foreign management ; but the
foreigners have almost all been dismissed from 1886 to 1889
there were no fewer than six consulting " chief engineers " in
succession in the Governor's service and the working of the
railway is now a farce. Six or seven years ago an Imperial
edict was issued, declaring that " to make a country powerful,
railways are essential," but the reactionaries at Court succeeded
the progressives in their influence upon the Emperor, and a
subsequent edict declared that " they must only be built with
Chinese money." That is, they must be postponed indefinitely,
for the Imperial Government in China is always poverty-
stricken, and the wealthy Chinese would not dream of putting
their money into a Chinese official scheme. But at this time
foreigners were so confident that the era of railway construction
in China had at last dawned, and that the consequent opening
up of the vast Celestial Empire was about to begin in earnest,
THE FUTURE OF CHINA. 309
that long descriptions of the route of the first " Great Western
Eailway of China " were published ; the Emperor called for
reports from the leading provincial Viceroys ; and the talk was of
nothing but railways. The Imperial family, and Liu Ming-chuan,
and a few others were strongly in favour of the introduction
of railways, and against this powerful combination the conserva-
tive officials could not prevail directly. So they cunningly adopted
the round-about method of declaring that not only must the
railways be built with Chinese money, but that the ore must be
mined and smelted, and the rails made, in China, since other-
wise foreigners would acquire an influence so great as to be
dangerous to the stability of the Throne, and would profit by
enormous sums which ought to be spent in China. The result
was that nothing whatever was done, and the subject has not
been heard of for five years. The original proposals were to
build one line from Liu-ko-chiao, near Peking, to either Hankow,
the great port on the Yangtze, in Hupeh, or to Chinkiang, near
the junction of the Grand Canal and the Yangtze, in Kiangsu-
Another short line was to connect Tungchow, the village at
which one leaves the Peiho Eiver for Peking, with Tientsin, and
thereby place the capital in communication with the coast ; while
a third, which would certainly prove an extremely prosperous
undertaking and which British capitalists have long been eager
to build, would connect Canton with British Kowloon, and thus
bring the commercial metropolis of China into close relations
with the great port of Hongkong. An American mining expert
who had charge for a time of the largest silver mines in China,
gave me this interesting explanation of the failure of the Chinese
to take any steps with regard to railways. They desire, he said,
to do the biggest thing at once. They reason thus : Great
Britain, with 38,000,000 population, has 20,000 miles of rail-
way; therefore China, with 350,000,000, ought to have x
miles. Tbey will not buy rails abroad : they insist upon making
tbem ; and they will not make iron rails, which. they could
easily do, and which would serve just as well for their light
310 CHINA.
traffic. They must have steel ones. But steel rails cannot be
made cheaply except on a very large scale, say the smelting of
250 tons of ore a day, and without long experience ; and with
the Chinese habits such an output is utterly impossible, no
matter what the mines may be. They have already discovered
excellent iron mines, but as the phosphorus limit is exceeded,
steel cannot be made there, and they will not make iron. More-
over, they sent two Englishmen and tw r o Germans to seek
for steel-making iron and coal throughout the provinces of
Southern China. This, again, was wrong English and German
methods of work are entirely different, and the task should have
been assigned exclusively to one or the other.
One railway only have the Chinese or, rather, has Li Hung-
chang pushed towards completion. It was first laid from
Tientsin to the coal mines at Kaiping 80 miles. It is now
completed as far as Shan-hai-kwan, where the Great Wall
reaches the coast, a total distance of 180 miles, which a fast
train is supposed to cover in eight hours. It was next to be
extended to the Taling Kiver, an addition of 128 miles and
40 miles of earthworks at one end and 38 at the other have
been practically completed whence one branch would run
south through Kinchow to Port Arthur, and another north to
Mukden and ultimately to the very important strategic city of
Kirin. The war has, of course, put a complete stop to this for
the present, but before the war broke out the birthday of the
Empress-Dowager came in sight, and the railway subsidy of
2,000,000 taels was promptly diverted to swell the funds for
celebrating the occasion. Foreigners have pointed out to the
Chinese authorities again and again, that without this railway
they could hold neither Port Arthur nor the sacred and rich
province of Manchuria, but no attention was paid to the
warnings, and now the inevitable result has come. Except as
the result of foreign pressure, China is as little likely to build
railways except possibly for purely strategic and defensive
purpos3s as she is to introduce any other feature of reform or
progress.
THE FUTURE OF CHINA. 311
Finally, the time has come when the interests of British trade
must be more closely regarded. We have done up to the present
three-quarters of the foreign trade of China, hut the returns show
a distinct falling off, and with the establishment of manufactures
in China, and above all, in the face of Japanese competition, this
will certainly tend to become more marked every year. In spite of
the admirable Chinese Customs service foreign trade is hampered
in many ways, and successful efforts are made to keep it from
extending into the interior. The likin, or inland tax, stations
are merely opportunities for " squeezing " on the part of the
mandarins, in spite of some recent reforms in this direction, and
the vast interior of China is almost as closed to us to-day as it
was before the first treaty port was opened. China may not
prove the bonanza to foreign manufacturers that is sometimes
supposed. The population presses so hard on the means of
subsistence, and there are so many parts always on the verge of
famine, that the purchasing power of the inhabitants may fall
short of all expectations based only upon their numbers. But at
any rate the time has now come for us to insist upon a radical
reform of the government, and a consequent lifting from the
shoulders of the people the load of corruption and extortion they
bear. One of the first effects, too, of greater foreign influ-
ence would be the revival of the tea and silk trades, which would
mean at once enormously increased exports, and ability to
purchase foreign imports. This, again, would furnish a natural
and most welcome palliation, even though only a temporary one,
of the silver question, because of the demand for silver that
would arise among the 350,000,000 inhabitants of the Chinese
Empire. As an example of the silver-absorbing power of China,
it is only necessary to consider the statistics given by the British
Consul at Canton, according to which from May, 1890, to
December, 1891, no fewer than 23,000,000 silver coins were
made at the Canton mint, and put into circulation, their value
ranging from a dollar to five cents.
There is one factor in Chinese life which prevents the outlook
312 CHINA.
from being utterly hopeless, and curiously enough this factor
is one of the most ancient of original Chinese institutions. I
mean the system of competitive examination for office. If this
system could be detached from its Confucian ineptitudes, and
filled with a living content of western knowledge, the future of
China might be vitally changed. It is important, therefore, to
understand what this system is. Chinese historians declare
that the Emperor Shun examined his officials competitively in
the year 2200 B.C., and that the Emperor Chow, in 1115 B.C.,
instituted examinations into the " six arts " of music, archery,
horsemanship, writing, arithmetic, and social rites. This is
no doubt mythical, but to-day the entire Chinese Empire is
covered with a network of machinery for examining ambitious
men in the " six arts," and the " five studies," and conferring
the " three degrees." The latter are, first, hsui-tsai, or
<' Budding Genius" a sort of B.A. ; second, chil-ji-n, or "Pro-
moted Scholar " or M.A.; third, tsiin-sz, or " Eeady for Office "
which may be compared with LL.D. The first of these exami-
nations is held every year in each provincial district, of which
there ma) 7 be sixty or seventy in a province. The subject of
examination consists of an essay and poem upon assigned
topics, and the examination lasts a night and a day. Out of
about 2,000, twenty " budding geniuses " are selected ; they
wear a gilt button ; they are no longer liable to corporal punish-
ment ; and they become marked men of the literary class.
The second examination takes place triennially at every pro-
vincial capital. On the last occasion "Wuchang had 15,000
competitors and Nankin 18,000. Of these, less than 1 per
cent, can be successful. The examiners in this case come from
Peking ; the examination is divided into three sessions of three
days each ; and again the subjects consist almost solely of com-
mentaries upon some passage of ancient literature. The
examination is conducted with extraordinary ceremony and the
utmost stringency. The Examination Hall is like that which I
have described in Peking ; everybody examiners, magistrates,
THE FUTURE OF CHINA. 313
police, competitors, doctors, cooks, tailors, and executioner, for
any offence within the sacred enclosure is punished by death is
shut up irrevocably during the nine days that the examination
lasts. The strain is, of course, intense, and competitors fre-
quently die from the close confinement and extremely insanitary
surroundings. As a specimen of the subjects of examinations,
the following passage from the Analects of Confucius was one of
the themes in the last competition at Nankin : " Confucius
said, ' How majestic was the manner in which Shun and Yu
held possession of the empire, as if it were nothing to them.'
Confucius said, ' Great indeed was Yaou as a sovereign ! How
majestic was he ! It is only Heaven that is grand and only
Yaou corresponded to it ! How vast was his virtue ! The
people could find no name for it ! "' The competitors, that is,
were simply invited to write an essay in the most extravagant
style of eulogy upon the wisdom of the sage as exhibited in this
passage. Three weeks after the examination, the names of the
hundred successful are published, and the happy ones are more
than repaid for what has often been a lifetime of study, by the
honours that await them. No actual reward of any kind is
conferred upon the " Promoted Scholar," but his position has
been compared with that of a victor in the Olympian Games,
and his fortunate family shares in his fame. He mounts a
larger gilt button upon his hat, places a tablet over his door,
erects a couple of flagstaffs before his house, and plunges into
study again for the third and final examination of the following
spring. " Though ordinarily not very devout, he now shows
himself peculiarly solicitous to secure the favour of the gods.
He burns incense and gives alms. If he sees a fish floundering
on the hooks, he pays its price and restores it to its native
element. He picks struggling ants out of the rivulet made by a
recent shower, distributes moral tracts, or better still, rescues
chance bits of printed paper from being trodden in the mire of
the streets." The final struggle takes place in Peking, and is,
of course, more difficult and even stricter than the preceding,
314 CHINA.
for success in it means public office the offices being dis-
tributed among the successful by lot. Beyond this triumph,
however, there is still a possible pinnacle of literary glory,
namely, to be selected by the Emperor himself as the best of all
the successful competitors in Peking, and to receive the title of
Chang -yuan say, "Poet Laureate" the finest flower of the
literary culture of the Celestial Empire. To have produced
such a man is the highest honour to which any province can
aspire ; the town of his birth is immortalised, and his happy
parents are regarded as the greatest benefactors of the
State.
As at present organised, this system of competitive examina-
tion has its excellent side. The Rev. Dr. Martin, who has
written a luminous analysis of the system,* gives three great
merits. First, the system serves the State as a safety-valve,
providing a career for ambitious spirits who might otherwise
foment disturbances. Second, it operates as a counterpoise to
the power of an absolute monarch, since without it the great
offices would be filled by hereditary nobles, and the minor ones
by Imperial favourites. Every schoolboy is taught to repeat a
line which declares that " the General and the Prime Minister
are not born in office." It constitutes, in fact, the democratic
element in the Chinese Constitution. Third, it gives the
Government a hold on the educated gentry, and binds these to
the support of existing institutions. " In districts where the
people have distinguished themselves by zeal in the Imperial
cause, the only recompense they crave is a slight addition to the
numbers on the competitive prize list." On the other hand, the
evils of the system are sufficiently obvious. Its sole effect, so
far as education and the government of China are concerned, is
to limit knowledge to the moral and intellectual level of the far
past. As an example of the pitilessly mechanical character of
the Chinese culture which this system promotes, the following
* " HauUn Papers," by W. A. P. Martin, D.D., LL.D., Peking, 1880, p. 51.
THE FUTURE OF CHINA. 315
sketch of the rise and fall of a Chinese literate is illuminat-
ing:
" The provincial records have not been revised for many years, and thus are not
available to determine what success Kwangsi has had in the examinations at
Peking ; but there are those who say that not for a century had a Kwangsi man
taken first, second, third, or fourth place until 1889. In that year Chang Chien-
hsiin secured the highest honours. He was born in 1856 of a very poor family, of
Hunan origin, living in Lirirkuei-hsien, Kuei-lin-fu. He became a hsiti-tsai at the
age of 15, a chii-jen at 23, and chuany-ytian 10 years later. The story goes
that in all the examinations before taking the chii-jen degree he was easily first,
and his talents attracted the attention of Yang Chung-ya, appointed Governor of
Kwangsi in 187G, who promised him his grand-daughter in marriage. We may
suppose that from that time his poverty was not allowed to interfere with the
prosecution of his studies. After Mr. Chang's success at Peking, he became,
as is usual, a compiler in the Hanlin College. Unfortunately, the career which
opened so well has received a sudden check. The report reached Kwangsi this
summer that the chuang-yiian of 1889, in the course of tests upon the result of
which depended appointment to the provincial literary offices, wrote another
character of the same sound in the place of one he intended, as if, for example
(the illustration is intended for readers unfamiliar with China), in writing of the
position of the subject in the State, he had spoken of his rites and duties. The
reader acquainted with Chinese feeling will understand how much worse than any
moral delinquency was this error."*
The competitive system is the door beyond which lies the way
to the civilisation of China. Upon that door is written the word
Confucius ; and unless this is erased and the word Truth sub-
stituted, China must remain the victim of more enlightened
races, even until she be finally dismembered and disappear. If,
however, any pressure could be found strong enough to provide
for modern teaching in her provincial centres, and for the
westernisation of her topics of competitive examination, with
offices as rewards for those who distinguish themselves in the
different branches of modern science, China might emerge from
her slough of Confucian ignorance, prejudice, cruelty, and cor-
ruption. As Dr. Martin says, " If the examiners were scientific
men, and if scientific subjects were made sufficiently prominent
in these higher examinations, millions of aspiring students
would soon become as earnest in the pursuit of modern science
* Chinese Imp. Maritime Customs, Decennial Reports, 1882-1891, Mr. C. C.
Clarke's Report on Lungchow, p. 656.
316 CHINA.
as they now are in the study of their ancient classics." Nothing
could have so great an effect in moulding the future of China
as the modernisation of her hest-preserved and most ancient
institution.
War has once more given us our opportunity. Japan has
pricked the bubble of the " awakening " of China, and has
exhibited the Chinese Government as the imposture it really is.
Without in the least exercising our power to dictate to Japan the
terms she may make so far as regards herself which we have
not the faintest right to do we must not fail to control the results
of the peace so far as other nations are concerned. First of all,
we must insist upon the opening of treaty ports wherever these
may be required for foreign trade. It would, perhaps, be in-
advisable to insist upon the opening of the whole of China at
present, until the people of the remoter districts have had time
to learn that we are only peaceful traders, and not barbarians,
though if this should be possible, no scruples regarding extra-
territoriality should be allowed to stand in the way for a moment.
Second, we must insist upon foreign representatives being
received by the Emperor himself at regular intervals, and under
such circumstances as to make it clear that the honours of the
audiences are divided ; and the Ministers of the State must
realise once for all that diplomacy and procrastination are not
synonymous terms. Third, for the protection of our future
interests in the Far East, we must secure by purchase, exchange,
or otherwise, a naval base a thousand miles north of Hongkong.
This is an absolute necessity, and there will not again be such
an opportunity for acquiring it. Chusan at once suggests
itself, if we do not want the responsibility of taking Formosa,
which has no harbour. Chusan has been occupied by us before ;
it has an excellent harbour, which can be easily fortified and
made impregnable ; and it is at the mouth of the great trade
route of China. But this is a point that our naval authorities
must decide. Fourth, the literal fulfilment of our previous
convention with China regarding Indian trade with Thibet must
THE FUTURE OF CHINA.
now be demanded. The Chinese will say that they cannot
guarantee that the Thibetans will not oppose us by force. This
is quite true it is wholly out of the power of the Emperor of
China to give any such guarantee. Our answer must be that in
that case we will look after ourselves. The present moment is
the turning-point in our relations with China, and it must not
be allowed to pass. China, we must never forget, yields only to
pressure. She has never been opened except by war, and will
never admit reform except at the point of the bayonet or at the
sight of the ironclad.
It may be said that I am calmly assigning the predominant
role in the present situation to Great Britain, to the exclusion of
other Powers. To this I unhesitatingly reply that the pre-
dominant role belongs to us, and that it is not our policy to
exclude anybody, for, unlike other nations, whatever we get is
thrown open to the whole world. Beside the commercial
interests of England in China, those of all other nations are
almost insignificant. This is an assertion which can be proved
in a moment. Take the question of foreigners in China first.
On December 31, 1891, a census was taken in all the treaty
ports of China, including the two Customs stations of Lappa and
Kowloon, by the Chinese Customs service. These were the
results :
British. American. French. German. Portuguese. Spanish. Italian.
Residents ... 3,746 1,209 681 G67 659 316 133
Finns ... 345 27 24 82 7 5 4
That is, in the Treaty Ports alone, there were 3,746 Britishers
and 345 British firms, against 3,811 subjects and 161 firms of
all the other European Powers and the United States put
together. But to this must be added the British population and
firms in Hongkong and Singapore trading with China, by far
our most important representatives in the Far East. When this
addition is made, it is clearly not too much to say that the
interests of other nations are insignificant in comparison.
818 CHINA.
Second, take the question of trade. The figures furnish the
following astonishing results : ;
FOREIGN TEADE OF CHINA WITH EACH COUNTEY, 1893.
Haikwan Taels.
Continent of Europe, except Eussia 21,070,988
United States 17,169,213
Eussia 10,267,743 48,507,944
Great Britain and British Possessions ... -.,. 195,710,240
That is taking the Haikwan tael roughly at four shillings (it
averaged 3s. ll^d. in 1893) the total trade of Great Britain and
British possessions for 1893 amounted to 39,000,000, against
9,700,000 for the whole continent of Europe (except Turkey)
and the United States. These are the figures given by the
Customs, but a considerable reduction must be made from
British trade in view of the fact that a good deal of the trade
passing through Hongkong and Singapore is not British. It is
impossible to calculate how much this is, but to show the over-
whelming superiority of British trade, let us suppose that Hong-
kong and Singapore, our greatest trading centres with China,
were wiped off the map, with all their trade. Even in that case
British trade would still stand at 62,288 ; 436taels, or 12,400,000
against 9,700,000 for all our civilised competitors put together !
If under these circumstances we do not recognise that we are
the predominant Power in all foreign relations with China,
and act accordingly, then we are indeed unworthy of the heritage
of good fortune that sturdier Englishmen have made and be-
queathed to us.
In all the foregoing I have written upon the supposition that
at the conclusion of the present war we may still have a united
China to deal with. This, however, may well not be the case.
The Abbe Hue, Cooke, and Gordon, all thought that the Chinese
Empire would possibly one day collapse, and indeed the ties
which hold it together are much weaker than is realised by most
people. The victory of the Japanese, if carried beyond a certain
THE FtJTttRE OF CHINA. 319
point, would quite surely bring about the downfall of the present
dynasty, seated as it is upon an insecure throne. If China,
however, is torn asunder or falls to pieces, then a much vaster
problem will face us. For in that case we shall find ourselves
face to face with the momentous suggestion of Asia for the
Asiatics. Upon this I shall have something to say in a later
chapter.
KOREA.
22
CHAPTEE XXL
ON HOESEBACK ACE OSS KOREA.
T TOOK an unusual way to reach the capital of the Hermit
-*- Kingdom. The ordinary route is to go by steamer from
Nagasaki or Chefoo to Chemulpo, and then walk or be carried
in a chair twenty-six miles to Seoul. The steamer which
took me from Nagasaki to Vladivostok touched at Won-san
on her way north, so I made arrangements, by the kind
help of the Commissioner of Customs, for ponies and men
to be ready for me on my return, to make the journey
across the peninsula to Seoul, instead of going round by
the beaten track. There is a road from the coast to the
capital, and a number of Japanese and an occasional Con-
sular officer had travelled it ; but at the time of my journey
very few other Europeans had crossed the country. The road
is of interest at this moment because it was for a long way the
route of the third column of the Japanese army to the battle
of Phyong-yang, and Won-san itself was worth seeing for
the sake of its possible future. The Korean authorities dis-
courage travellers, and the Korean Minister at Tokyo per-
sistently declined to give me a passport or to apply to Seoul
for one for me, although pressed by the British charge to do so.
And the condition of the country may be judged from the fact
that four months before my journey marines were landed from
the American, Kussian, and Japanese men-of-war at Chemulpo,
and marched all night up to the capital to protect the foreigners
there; while H.M.S. Leander got up steani in a hurry and left
323
824
KOREA .
Yokohama at a few hours' notice for the same purpose. Some
Chinese, it was stated, had entrapped Korean children and sent
them to Tientsin for immoral purposes, and the Koreans pro-
fessed to believe that the missionaries had stolen them to use
their eyes for medicine and for taking photographs. Hence
murders of Koreans and a threatened attack upon foreigners.
The town and harbour of Won-san which is known as Gensan
to the Japanese, and Yuensan to the Chinese are of great
THE SETTLEMENTS AND HAKBOUK OF WON-SAN.
interest because of the part they are likely to play in the future
of the Far East. Broughton Bay, named after Captain William
Robert Broughton, the companion of Vancouver, who dis-
covered it in 1797, afterwards losing his ship, the Prori-
dence, near Formosa, is situated in the middle of the east
coast of Korea. The northern arm has been named Port
Lazareff by the Eussians, whose ships come regularly for
manoeuvres. It was here that their cruiser, the Vitiaz, ran on
ON HORSEBACK ACROSS KOREA. 325
a rock in broad daylight and calm weather, on May 10, 1893,
and became a total wreck. This bay is the only useful harbour
on the whole six hundred miles of coast ; but to make up for
the deficiency, it is one of the finest harbours in the world. Its
area is not far short of forty square miles ; it is perfectly
sheltered ; it is open all the year round ; there is excellent
anchorage in from six to twelve fathoms ; and several streams
empty into it, from which excellent water may be obtained.
The provinces of which it is the sea outlet are the most moun-
tainous in Korea, and they undoubtedly contain the two most
precious of minerals gold and coal. The former, to the value
of half a million dollars annually, has been passed through
the Custom House, and probably an equal amount has been
smuggled; while deep seams of coal have been observed in several
places, and anthracite from the district is burned by foreigners
at Won-san. For game of all kinds the surrounding provinces
are a sportsman's paradise. Tigers and sables abound, and
wild-fowl of all sorts exist in myriads. And the sea, says the
Commissioner of Customs, " literally teems with legions of
fish," which the Koreans are too lazy to catch. " The whales,
black-fish, sharks, and seals, which abound on the coast, are left
to fatten on the multitudes of salmon, cod, tai, haddock, whiting,
ribbon-fish, herrings, sardines, and innumerable other tribes
that crowd the waters at various seasons." With all these
natural advantages, Won-san, in the hands of energetic and
intelligent people, would soon become a place of great com-
mercial prosperity and strategic importance.
The port of Wou-san was thrown open to the Japanese in
June, 1880, and to the trade of all nations in November, 1883.
The settlements there, as shown in the accompanying sketch-
map, are the native town, dirty, crowded together, and traversed
by filthy alleys in the place of streets ; the Japanese settlement,
neat and clean and prosperous ; and the Chinese quarter, some-
thing between the t\vo. The total population is about 15,000.
Steam communication is kept up with Vladivostok and Naga-
326 KOREA.
saki by the excellent Japanese line, the Nippon Yusen Kaisha ; a
Kussian steamer, which calls at regular intervals ; and one
small but very profitable coasting steamer flying the Korean
flag. The total tonnage of the port for 1893 was 69,835 ; the
total import and export trade, 1,481,260 dollars; the export of
gold, 632,960 dollars, besides 140,000 dollars' worth remitted as
taxes on Government account to Seoul ; and the net total col-
lection of revenue, 53,089 dollars, say 6,500. A telegraph-line
now connects Won-san with the capital. I give all these
details because of my belief, the reasons for which will be
found in other chapters, that Won-san or, at any rate,
some point in Broughton Bay will ultimately be the Pacific
terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway.
As soon as the Takachiho reached Won-san, I said good-bye to
my very pleasant quarters, and went on shore, where through
the glass I could see the ponies already waiting. A Korean
pony is a small, shaggy, scraggy creature ; but you never like
him less than when you first set eyes on him ; and before I had
gone far with these I learned that many virtues were concealed
in their little brown bodies. Four ponies and six men were at
the landing, the latter being three grooms, two soldiers, and an
interpreter. One pony was for me to ride ; upon the second
were strapped my bag, canvas hold-all, containing rug and
sleeping arrangement, camera, and gun ; the third was burdened
with two boxes of provisions, for it is necessary to carry with you
almost everything you need to eat; while the fourth pony. had all
he could do to transport the money for current expenses about
twenty Mexican dollars, 2 10s. The only Korean currency
consists of miserably-made copper, iron, and bronze coins,
called " cash " in English, and sapek or sek in Korean, about
the size and weight of an English penny, with a square hole in
the middle by which they are strung on plaited straw in lots of
five hundred, subdivided by knots into hundreds. Hence the
expression "a string of cash." The pony carried about fifteen
thousand of them.
ON HOKSEBACK ACROSS KOREA. 327
The personnel of my little caravan was decidedly curious, but
not very impressive. The grooms, called mapou, were good-
natured, grinning creatures, low down in the social scale, dressed
in extremely dirty white cotton robes and trousers, with straw
sandals, and battered old bamboo hats, or none. The soldiers,
called kisiou, were tall, well-built fellows, distinguished from
civilians by a broad-brimmed hat of heavy black felt, with a
pcarlet tuft trailing behind, and a coat of rough blue cotton,
shaped exactly like the exaggerated dress-coat, reaching to the
heels, that one fees in a burlesque on the Gaiety stage. They
carried no weapons but a long staff, and they appeared amused
when I asked where, since they were soldiers, were their guns ?
My interpreter was a tall, really handsome man, with a striking
resemblance to the Speaker of the House of Commons, dressed
in spotless white, topped by a monumental black pot-hat made
of woven horsehair, and with nothing undignified about him but
his name, which was I Cha Sam. It was impossible to get a
Korean who knew any English, even a little " pidgin," so I had
to be content with one who spoke Japanese. From his preter-
natural silence and solemnity I soon discovered that his know-
ledge of Japanese was on a par with my own. The bill of
expenses furnished me by Mr. Creagh was as follows :
4 Horses, at 5,000 ca?h 20,000
1 Interpreter (falsely so-called) 4,000
2 Soldiers, at 100 cash a day, 11 days there and back . . . . 2,200
3 " Kumshaws " (tips) to soldiers and interpreter, at ^1 . . 2,000
Total, 28, 200 cash, say forty-three Mexican dollars, plus travelling
expenses and food. The price of the horses included grooms.
The cash, by the way miserable, battered, verdigris-covered
coins, apparently compounded of an alloy of tin and dirt have
actually been debased by the Korean Government for illicit
profit, while they bear on them such gracious inscriptions as
" Used for Public Benefit," and " Enrich the People."
The journey overland from the east coast to the capital
generally occupies five days, at the rate of something over thirty
328 KOREA.
miles a day. Thirty-five miles from Won-san, however, north
of the overland road, is the great Korean monastery of An-byon,
which I was assured was the only interesting place in all Korea.
So I determined to lose a day and visit this. I said good-bye
to Mr. Creagh about midday, and pushed on fast through the
filthy lanes and among the squalling pigs of the native town
of Won-san.
The red shades of evening appeared while we were still jogging
along at our best speed. When it was quite dark we reached a
little Korean inn, where the grooms had already aroused every-
body. Out of a house of apparently two rooms, twenty white-
robed travellers turned out and squatted in a row, like tired
ghosts, to stare at us. The men were all for stopping the road
ahead was very steep, the woods through which it passed were
infested with tigers, the ponies were tired, the monastery would
be closed for the night, &c., &c. But I looked at those two
rooms and those twenty travellers, and hardened my heart.
Then the soldiers, seeing that I was determined, rose to the
occasion. One of them shouted to the innkeeper to turn out
and bring torches to light us, and his manner, I remarked with
interest, was peremptory. The innkeeper demurred in a high
tone of voice, when, without another word, this excellent kisiou
took one step toward him, and whack ! with a tremendous slap
in the face sent him staggering across the road. The sudden-
ness of the blow took me aback, but nobody seemed in the
least surprised or annoyed, and the innkeeper appeared a
minute later with a blazing pine-knot and led the way. We
left the road at right angles, and fifty yards from the inn we
plunged into the woods and began a steep ascent along a narrow
stone path. Then a curious thing happened. As soon as our
last pony was out of sight, a simultaneous and blood-curdling
howl arose from the twenty travellers behind us, and was pro-
longed with a series of yah '. yah .' yah .' till the hills echoed
again, and when it ceased our six men similarly exploded,
each one putting his back into the yell, till it rivalled the notes
ON HORSEBACK ACROSS KOREA. 829
of a Chicago mocking-bird. The travellers howled again, and
our men answered, and so on till we could no longer hear the
former. " What on earth is the matter ? " I asked I Cha Sam.
" T3 keep the tigers away ! " he replied. I strapped my revolver
outside my thick riding- coat, but if the noise was half as dis-
agreeable to a prowling tiger as it was to me, no wonder he
avoided our company, for anything so ingeniously ear-splitting
as the sounds our men kept up at intervals of three or four
minutes for an hour and a half I never heard.
Meanwhile the road ascended rapidly and the stony path grew
narrower, till at last we were climbing a mountain-side. At one
moment we were in thick woods, at another a precipice of con-
siderable depth yawned a yard or two to our left, then we were
struggling up a stone- heap on to a plateau where half a dozen
miserable houses formed a village. No European horse could
have made a hundred yards of the road, yet the ponies stepped
doggedly over everything, rarely stumbling, and catching them-
selves again instantly if they fell. I soon learned that the less
attempt I made to guide them the safer it was. Before leaving
Won-san Mr. Creagh had said, " If you don't need the soldiers as
an escort, you'll find them very useful in other respects." And
I soon learned how. The theory of Korean government is that
the people exist for the officials. And as I had this escort I was
travelling as an official, and therefore entitled to demand any
services from the people to speed me on my way. The night
was pitch dark, and without torches we could not have gone a
yard. Therefore the soldiers levied lights from the people. As
soon as they spied a hovel ahead they shouted a couple of words,
the man carrying the torch helping lustily. I found later the
words were simply Poul k'ira (" Bring out fire ! "), and no matter
how late the hour, how bad the weather, how far to the next
house no matter even though the sole inhabitant was an old
woman or a child, the torch of pine-wood or dried millet-stalks
bound together must be produced instantly, the guide must hold
it flaming in his hand when we reach his door, and woe betide
330 KOREA.
the unlucky being that keeps Korean officialdo 11 waiting, if it he
only for half a minute. Sometimes the stage to the next house
was two or three miles, sometimes it was only a couple of hundred
yards, but there were no exemptions to this fire-conscription. The
general effect as I saw it from the rear was extremely picturesque
and striking the line of ponies with their sideways-swaying
loads, the ghostly-white figures of the men on foot, the cries to
each other and the animals, the recurring shout for fire, the
yell to keep off the tigers, the dense wood, the precipice, the
flaming and flashing torch waved ahead or beaten on the
ground, dividing everything into blood-red lights and jet-black
shadows, and finally the thought that it really was just possible
the gleaming eyes of one of the great striped cats might be
choosing their victim a few feet away.
Our goal announced itself long beforehand by gate after gate,
and the instinctive feeling that we had got to the top, whatever
it was. Then the edge of the ravine became paved with stone
slabs, and a hundred yards along it brought us to a pair of
great wooden doors. They were opened after a little parley,
and we found ourselves in a small courtyard, and surrounded
by a score of young priests, apparently delighted to see us.
The rugs were hastily unpacked, and a brazier was brought. I
boiled the kettle, plucked and cooked one of the birds I had
shot, and then, while the monks sat round in a laughing,
chattering circle, I supped magnificently off broiled duck, hard-
tack, and marmalade, washed down by many basins of tea.
(Nobody but a traveller knows the real value of tea.) At
midnight I was shown to a clean, paper-windowed room about
six feet square, and turned in on the floor. And when the
morning came it showed how strange and romantic a place I
had reached one of the most striking and picturesque of the
unknown corners of the world.
The great monastery in the mountains is one of those chosen
and built by a militant Korean sect to serve, according to need,
either as a retreat for the spirit or a refuge for the body. The,
ON HORSEBACK ACROSS KOREA. 331
monks themselves do not look very warlike, but the situation of
the monastery is an almost impregnable one. It can be reached
by only one road, a long steep stony path, in which " a thousand
might well be stopped by three " ; behind it on two sides are
mountains of rock, and on the fourth it is secluded by a very
deep and precipitous ravine through which dashes a noisy
torrent. The central buildings, on the edge of the ravine, shown
in my photograph, are the sacred apartments of the king,
entered by only one attendant, and they are kept in perfect
preservation and hourly readiness for his coming. When I
woke in the morning I found myself in the midst of great
heavy-eaved temples through the open doors of which could
be seen the solemn faces of squatting gilded gods, while al-
ready half a dozen priests were bending before the altars with
incense and drum.
All the buildings of An-byon are in the style to which the
traveller so soon gets used in the East rectangular wooden
structures with high-peaked roofs and richly-carved curving
eaves, generally with three doors at one side and the chief idol
facing the largest central entrance. Before him are sets of
altar utensils and little brass tallow lamps, and joss-sticks which
the pious visitor purchases for a few cash and lights at his
prayers. The walls are covered with silk and brocade, mostly
very old and time-stained ; the ceiling is marvellously carved
and gilded, perhaps a huge dragon appearing at one end and
worming himself in and out of the masses of ornament to the
other ; and innumerable gongs and drums invite the hand of
the too willing pilgrim. The interior of these temples is tawdry,
but the massiveness of the wooden architecture, its bright
colours, its picturesquely contrived vistas of gate and gable and
column and pavilion, taken together with the wonderful natural
situation of the place, form an impressive and romantic spectacle.
The most curious sight in the monastery, however, is four huge
idols of brilliantly painted wood, carved with a good deal of
appreciation of the heroic human face and form, which stare at
832 KOREA.
one another across a narrow passage from behind the bars of
two great cages, a pair of war-gods being on one side, and a
king and queen (the latter playing a colossal mandolin) on the
other. My Japanese vocabulary unfortunately did not permit
me to make through my interpreter any inquiries as to their
abstract theologic significance. The headgear of the monks
beggars description, and I held my sides again and again as a
new specimen emerged from the dormitories. Hats of paper, of
wood, of bamboo, of horsehair, and of wire ; hats round, square,
triangular, cylindrical, conical, and spherical ; hats like a
clothes-basket,, like a sieve, like a pumpkin, like a flying
crow, like a paper boat, like three three-cornered gridirons
fastened together at the edges; half of them affording not
the slightest pretence of protection against cold or rain or sun,
but being either symbols of sacerdotal rank, or else simply the
offspring of a disordered creative imagination. Every priest,
too, carried or wore a rosary of red wooden beads, polished like
crystal by ceaseless fingering. I told my interpreter to ask one
of them by and by privately whether a string of these could be
purchased as a souvenir. He, however, blurted out the question
to the chief Abbot in the presence of fifty priests, and the
hospitable old gentleman instantly took off his own rosary-
bracelet of specially big beads and handed it to me, saying,
"They cannot be purchased, this is a present." Naturally
before leaving I wished to make him some present in return,
but ransacking my bag produced nothing whatever suitable. My
revolver or knife I could not spare, the old gentleman had
already refused to taste whisky, and there appeared to be literally
nothing to give him. I recollected, however, that I had had
some new silk pocket-handkerchiefs made and embroidered in
Japan, and one of these presented with many airs and the
explanation from the interpreter that the monogram on the
corner was " good joss," satisfied him completely. For our
entertainment I left a few dollars in the treasury, the amount,
attested by my autograph, being solemnly and elaborately
ON HORSEBACK ACROSS KOREA. 383
entered in the great ledger of the monastery, and when at noon
I mounted my pony, a hundred of the white-robed, much-hatted
priests, led by the venerable Abbot himself, came a little way
down the hill to give me good-bye.
It would be absurd to deny that I experienced a new sensa-
tion a " traveller's thrill " at this moment. I had never at
this time been out of reach of white men before, and now I was
at the beginning of a week's ride across a country which a very
few years ago was an utterly unknown and " hermit " land,
alone with six men of whom I knew nothing whatever, and with
whom I could have communication only through a very difficult
language which my " interpreter " knew little better than I did,
and with not a white face between me and the Yellow Sea. The
new sensation comes, I fancy, from the first consciousness of
the fact that all the protective and co-operative machinery of
civilisation has temporarily disappeared that whatever happens
one has nothing to count upon but one's own health, one's own
wits, and if the worst comes, upon one's own hand. My reflec-
tions of this kind, however, were soon interrupted for a con-
sultation. There were two roads, I Cha Sam came up to say,
the longer and better one to the left, the much shorter but
mountainous one to the right. Which would I take ? At this
moment my chief desire was to get the trip over as soon as
possible, so I promptly chose the latter, and an hour later we
were in the first pass.
For three hours we climbed steadily up the narrow pass,
and then through it. The road was merely a bridle-path or
the dry bed of a mountain stream strewn with stones of all
sizes. But the ponies never slipped or even hesitated, and our
little train wound along in single file without a moment's rest
till dusk. The mapous sang and jodelled, hundreds of magpies
flew chattering about us all the time, big mangy old crows
hopped alongside, and the rare passers either stopped and
stared till I was out of sight, or else looked on the other side
and passed pretending not to have seen me. From eleven
334 KOREA.
o'clock till half-past three it was blazing hot, and my helmet
with its two inches of solid pith was none too thick. Then it
began rapidly to grow chilly, and long before dusk I had a frieze
riding-coat buttoned up to my chin. How these Korean mapons
and kisious grooms and soldiers manage to escape pleurisy
and consumption I cannot imagine. Positively their only
garments are a short loose jacket without any fastening down
the front, and a short loose pair of trousers, both of thin white
cotton cloth. As the man walked at my pony's head in the
evening he shivered till I could hear his teeth chatter, yet less
than two hours before he was wet through with perspiration. By
six o'clock we had descended somewhat to an extensive plateau,
and in the distance we could hear the dogs of a village. As
we entered it they ranged themselves in a snapping, yelping band
at our heels, and from every low doorway an inhabitant crawled
out to look at us. Any one who likes to be conspicuous should
go to Korea, for the look of overwhelming, speechless surprise
that passed over each face as I came in sight was wonderfully
flattering. As a rule, however, the face withdrew immediately,
and the door was hastily and silently closed I suppose lest my
official attendants should demand the hospitality which every
Korean householder is bound to give.
In the middle of the village the twenty or thirty miserable
thatched dwellings hardly deserve the name we came to a halt,
and I Cha Sam approached. "What is it?" I asked him, and
he replied with a single Japanese word, " We will sleep." I
looked at the house before us and my heart sank. True, I
knew that Korea did not boast a Palace Hotel, but this was
rather too much. A big, tumble-down, badly-thatched hovel
surrounding a yard ; all round this, stalls for ponies and
bullocks ; in the middle a huge cesspool surmounted by a
dunghill, in which horrible black sows were rooting ; opposite
to the entrance the two rooms in which the dozen members
of the family lived and had their domestic being, and a large
guest-chamber on one side for my men, and on the other,
ON HORSEBACK ACEOSS KOREA. 335
exactly fronting the most fragrant corner of the dunghill, a
smaller one for myself. I Cha Sam flung open the door
about two feet by three and bowed me in. The floor was
of hammered earth ; the walls were mud, covered in spots with
very dirty paper ; the material of the ceiling was concealed by
the dirt and smoke of generations, and tapestried with spiders'
webs. At first, of course, I was highly indignant with Sam
for bringing me to such a hole, but from the look of
genuine surprise on his handsome placid countenance I soon
gathered that this was the regular Korean hotel, and that I
had nothing else to expect. Therefore I accepted the in-
evitable with what joy I could, and with difficulty crowded
myself, my bag, rug, and provision-box into the room.
My Korean trip taught me at least two things. First, that
our supposed instinctive dislike to being personally dirty is
merely a matter of local convention. At home I am as un-
happy as another if I cannot get my tub at a moment's notice
morning or evening, yet after twenty-four hours of Korea
I regarded washing, except just a swish of face and hands, as
an artificial virtue, and when I found that there was no clean
place anywhere on which to lay my coat if I took it off, I just
kept it on. In fact I kept it on for five days. And whether
it was the new sensation or the old Adam, I do not know,
but by and by I grew rather proud of being distinctly and
indisputably dirty. The dunghill, of course, did not come
to recommend itself to me as a bedroom balcony, but that,
unhappily, was only a speck compared with later experiences
which I will not describe. The second thing is that repugnance
to certain animals is a foolish weakness which sensible people
should immediately abandon. When I left Won-san I loathed
cockroaches. To-day I care no more for a cockroach than for
a rabbit. Every room I occupied in Korea was full of them
literally full, hundreds and thousands and tens of thousands.
The first night was horrible ^yith them, and sleep was theoretical
only ; but after that I used to pick them out of my hair and
336 KOREA.
beard, or flick them off my coat like flies. They came to my
candle till the floor shone all over from their pretty polished
backs, and if I put a sheet of paper on the ground twenty of
them would start surveying it before I could begin to sharpen
a pencil. My third night in Korea was the only other one
wasted. My quarters were even worse, and besides the cock-
roaches there was an army of rats. They ran over my feet
the moment my candle was out, they ran over my body, they
crunched at my sugar, they scampered over my bag, till at last
I gave in, lighted the candle again, and read all night. As my
only book was The Newcomes it was a night well spent. Every
Korean choumak or inn was as I have described, sometimes a
little better, once or twice very much worse. In this respect
I should probably have fared better if I had chosen the longer
and more travelled road.
The people of the country varied very much. Two villages out
of three were very friendly, highly inquisitive, and easily moved
to laughter. The third was generally sullen, and its inhabitants
would not come near me, would not reply to the greeting of the
country " Oual keuiounni eutesio ? " (" How is your health to-
day ? ") and would not even return a friendly nod. More than
half the time I walked, and my chief amusement was to get a
mile or two ahead of my caravan and enter a village by myself,
walk into the middle of it, and seat myself calmly on somebody's
doorstep as if I were perfectly at home. The stupefaction of the
natives was delicious. Probably they had never seen a white
man before, for very few had ever crossed Korea, and these
generally by the longer and better route. First they would
stare from a long distance, then they would drive off the dogs,
then some patriarch would approach cautiously and hazard a
question. I would reply with a few lines from "Hamlet" or
" Paradise Lost," whereupon they would all laugh. Then one
would remove his long pipe from his mouth and offer it to me,
and though the courtesy was neither accepted nor returned, it
sufficed to break the ice. Invariably they would begin by feeling
ON HOBSEBAOK ACROSS KOREA. 337
my clothes, and the different textures of these filled them
knowing nothing but the calico which is their sole wear with
infinite amazement. Especially the corduroy of my riding-
breeches pleased them, and they would send to the other end
of the village for an old man to come and feel it. Then if
they were amiable I would give them a little entertainment,
consisting of opening my watch-case by blowing on it, turning
out my pockets for their inspection, doing a few tricks with
coins, making cat's cradles with string, striking matches, and
other such infantile performances, firing my revolver as a grand
finale. Childish and ignorant in the extreme they were, knowing
less of the outside world than a Digger Indian. Poor, too,
beyond telling. I believe that ten dollars would have bought
everything (except the crops) that I saw exposed for sale in
hundreds of shops from the time I left Won-san till I struck
Seoul. The men were well-built, as a rule, and fairly well-
featured ; but I did not see a single woman or girl during my
trip who could have been called even moderately good-looking.
The daily labour in the fields or at the millet-mill is too hard for
that, and the women are even more beasts of burden than the
men. One or two men I saw most horribly diseased with some
kind of scabby elephantiasis, and one of these bothered me not
a little by coming and poking his head over my shoulder while
I was taking photographs. Only twice was there the least sign
of hostility. Once in the middle of the night some sneak-thieves
came to my room, but I happened to be lying awake smoking in
the dark, and heard them coming. So when with great stealth
they had got the door half-open, I struck a match, when they
shut it with a bang and scuttled like rats. On the other
occasion I started out to investigate a big village in the dark,
and finally got surrounded by a rather unpleasant and unfriendly
crowd, who were gradually edging me along the street in the
direction I did not want to go. But luckily I Cha Sam had
discovered my absence and set out to look for me, and his
commanding tongue soon put matters straight. During the
23
838 KOREA.
first two days I was greatly annoyed by my mapous, whom I
could not get along at all. At the midday halt they would lie
about for a couple of hours, and in the morning it was two or
three hours after I was up before I could get them to start.
On the third morning I lost my temper, and going into their
room I kicked them one after the other into the yard. This was
evidently what they expected, for they set to work immediate!} 7 .
Unless they were kicked they could not believe the hurry was
real. Afterwards, by a similar procedure, I started whenever I
wished. At first, in the evenings I tried to learn something by
inviting the innkeeper and an old inhabitant or two, with the
interpreter, into my room, and regaling them with weak whisky
and water and dry biscuits. But they expressed their apprecia-
tion in the native manner by such horrible eructations, and
would " spit refreshingly around," as Pendennis says, to such
an extent that I was compelled to decline to receive callers. My
official kisious were of little use, and as lazy as lobsters. My
camera was injured by being jolted on pony-back, so I told one
of these that I would give him a dollar a fortnight's wages if
he would bring it safe to Seoul for me. He jumped at the offer,
carried it for about a mile, then stopped at a house and shouted
the magic words " Cha'm chim neira ! " (" Carry a parcel a
stage ! "). The householder hastened to obey, for, as I have
explained, any official (as I was because of my escort) has a
right to demand any such service of the people. This process
was repeated every few miles, and so my camera was borne by
hand across the Hermit Kingdom from sea to sea, with the tall
soldier convoying it in the rear.
As regards the country itself it was far more fertile in
appearance, and also much more cultivated, than I had been
led to expect. After leaving the monastery we climbed till
evening, then slept in a flat valley, then climbed again through
a succession of narrow, rocky, and difficult passes till we reached
an extensive plateau or table-land, 2,500 feet above the sea,
stretching between two fine mountain-ranges, and perl aps forty
A KOREAN* HOTEL.
MEN AND WOMEN OF KOREA.
ON HORSEBACK ACROSS KOREA. 339
miles in length. The mountains were splendid in their autumn
tints, the air was superb, the weather perfect, and I had not
a lonely moment. In fact, I seldom passed pleasanter days
than four of those spent riding or walking in utter solitude in
Central Korea. The nights were all bad, and at that time I
used to wonder what real travellers think about during the
lonely hour between dinner and sleep, when instead of being a
hundred miles from a white face they are a thousand, when
instead of a day or two dividing them from civilisation they
must be alone for months and years, and when the revolver
under their hand day and night is there from necessity and not
from nerves. I am inclined to think we do not quite appreciate
them as we ought. For my own part, I used to reflect how good
it would be to sit again in the midst of the old faces in the club,
or to drop into a stall at the Lyceum, or to listen once more
to " Qu'allez vous faire si loin de nous? " But I wander. To
hark back, therefore, the chief crops grown in the interior of
Korea are rice, millet, beans, and red peppers, the second of
these much predominating and furnishing the staple food for
the people. So far as appearances tell anything to an inexpert
eye, Korea ought to be rich in minerals, and there is certainly
plenty of land which would give fair if not great returns for
cultivating. The village industries were few and far between
a little spinning and a little primitive weaving of cotton cloth. The
country is miserably poor at present, for nobody cultivates much
more than will support him, as the only outlet for the surplus,
and that an unavoidable one, is into the pocket of the nearest
official.
My last day's journey of sixteen hours brought me to the
great gate of Seoul at eight o'clock. This was my first glimpse
of the East of my imagination the rocky ascent, the towering
battlemented walls, the huge black gates inexorably closed.
Neither persuasion nor money could open them, as the keys of
the colossal padlocks were with the King's guard at the palace.
So rather than return five miles to a choumak, I rolled myself
340 KOREA.
up under my rug, and slept there on a big stone all night ; and
when morning broke, and the countrymen coming to market
lifted the corner of the rug and saw what was underneath, they
were not a little astonished. Then at daylight we rode into the
city, and Mr. Colin Ford, Her Majesty's most hospitable Consul,
met me at his gate in gorgeous pyjamas, and extended the bath
and the breakfast and the welcome of civilisation to a particu-
larly dirty traveller.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE CITY OF SEOUL AND ITS INHABITANTS.
TT is the City of Ichabod. A few years ago a few, that is, in
the life of a city Korea was educating the Japanese people
in the arts : Satsuma ware was born in Seoul. To-day there
is not a piece of porcelain to be bought in the city worth
carrying away. A few years ago it took an army of 130,000
men under the greatest general Japan has ever had, to con-
quer the country. Yesterday the advent of thirty American
marines threw 250,000 Koreans into a panic. To-day two
alien nations are fighting for Korea on her own soil, and she
is unable to lift a finger to help or oppose either of them. I
visited one of the old palaces. Pushing the door open to
enter, I almost pushed it off its hinges ; the spacious entrance-
terrace is a mulberry orchard ; grass grows in the stables ; the
throne on which the King sat to receive his ministers is black
with mildew ; the splendid carvings are rotting from the lofty
roofs ; not a soul sets foot in these deserted halls. Oddest of
all, as I stood in silence by the great pillars of the throne-room,
a dove cooed from her nest in one of the carven capitals. It
was the vision of Omar Khayyam :
" The palace that to heaven its columns threw,
And kings the forehead on its threshold drew,
I saw the solitary ring-dove there,
And ' Coo, coo, coo,' she cried, and ' Coo, coo, coo.' "
The word Seoul (pronounced variously Sool, Soicl, and Say-ool,
and erroneously marked on many maps as Kinkitau, the name
341
342 KOREA.
of the province) merely means " Capital," the proper name of
the city being Han-yang, "the fortress on the Han." It is
a city of about 250,000 people. It is surrounded by a more
or less dilapidated wall, pierced by several imposing gateways,
all of which are closed at sunset at the sound of a great
bell, and the keys placed for the night in charge of the King's
guard at the palace. On one side of the city a second wall
encloses the palace and the royal domain, and from the farthest
point of this a stony mountain rises abruptly and symmetri-
cally to a sharp peak. The city is surrounded by mountains,
and lies like the palm of one's hand when the fingers are turned
upwards ; but this one, Nam-san, is the highest, and every night
about eight o'clock a beacon blazes for a few minutes from its
summit. On some hill-top of the west coast, if order reigns,
a signal-fire is lighted after sunset every day. Another hill- top
further north repeats it if all is quiet there too, and so from
mountain to mountain the bonfires travel round the Hermit
Land along the shore of the Yellow Sea, across the frontier
of Manchuria, by Russian Tartary, down the Sea of Japan,
coasting the Korean Strait, up the Yellow Sea again, and
inland to the capital, till at last the sudden blaze upon Nam-san,
almost in the royal gardens, tells his anxious Majesty that one
more day throughout his kingdom has passed in peace. The
telegraph, however, is fast putting an end to this picturesque
custom.
Seoul is twenty- six miles by road from the port of Chemulpo,
but fifty-five by the winding river Han. The latter could
undoubtedly be rendered serviceable for regular water-traffic
to and from the capital, which it approaches within about
three miles, at a place called Mapu, but at present it is
navigated only by native junks, to whose owners time is of
no importance, and an occasional steam-launch which is often
aground during half the time of its trips. Chemulpo known
to the Japanese as Jinsan, and to us officially as Jenchuan is a
flourishing place, with a good many excellent modern buildings
SEOUL AND ITS INHABITANTS. 343
and an energetic commercial population, among whom the
Japanese are pre-eminent both in numbers and in enterprise.
In 1882, when the port was opened to foreign trade, Chemulpo
was a handful of mud huts. Now its four settlements foreign,
Chinese, Japanese, and Korean are well built, well lighted, and
have good roads. And they are so crowded that land is rising to a
high price. Its population, formerly a few fishermen, has risen
to about 7,000, of whom Europeans and Americans number
about 30, Japanese 2,500, Chinese 670, and Koreans 4,000.
The general foreign settlement is under the control of a
Municipal Council, composed of the Consuls, a Korean official,
and three representatives of the landholders. The outer har-
bour affords abundant and safe anchorage, but the inner
harbour is small and silting up, and as the tides rise and fall
about thirty feet there is a vast mud flat afc low water. Chemulpo
is connected with the capital by telegraph, and there is a daily
courier service, under the control of the Customs Service. The
latter is a branch of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs,
and is conducted in an ideal manner. In 1893 a Chinese
" Mutual Transport Company " was formed, for the improve-
ment and communication with the capital and the development
of trade on the Han. The trade of Chemulpo for 1893 was not
up to the average, owing to droughts and political disturbances,
but its figures, considering what Chemulpo was fourteen years
ago, are a striking proof of the possibilities of Korea with
energetic merchants and honest administration. The exports
are gold, rice, beans, and hides. The first-named was exported
to the amount of 201,846 dollars. The total exports reached
866,495 dollars, as against an average of nearly a million and
a half for the three preceding years ; and the total imports
2,421,133 dollars. The balance against Korea is supposed to be
made up by the export of smuggled gold. The shipping entered
and cleared at the port during 1893 was 490,981 tons, of which
159,626 tons was Japanese, 50,434 Korean, and 28,809 Chinese.
The British flag did not put in an appearance, but it is estimated
844 KOREA.
by the Customs that 54 per cent, of the foreign import trade is
British in origin, 24 per cent. Japanese, 13 per cent. Chinese,
and 9 per cent. German, American, French, and Eussian put
together. As I have said, the development of Chemulpo is an
interesting and important index to the potential development of
Korea generally under a reformed administration.
Seoul has two wide streets, and two only. For a quarter of a
mile in front of the palace and then at a right angle for a mile
or so, there is a fine well-kept road fifty yards wide, while
everywhere else in the city the average width is probably about
twelve feet. Almost all are traversed by an unsavoury gutter,
sometimes down the middle, sometimes at the sides, while
every now and then you cross a kind of canal-sewer, a lingering
shallow stream of water, refuse, and filth. Needless to add,
therefore, that the atmosphere of Seoul is very offensive to the
nostrils. The houses are built of wood and paper, and all
thatched, for it is forbidden for anybody except an official to
cover himself with a tiled roof. The shops are segregated in
streets according to their wares. Thus, the grain-market is in
the wide street, and for half a mile this is covered with broad
shallow baskets full of rice, millet, beans, and many other seeds,
among which the merchants and their customers walk and talk.
The cabinet-makers occupy a whole street, the secondhand
dealers another, the dealers in piece-goods have a row of ware-
houses, the gold- and silver- smiths live along the canal, and so
on. But there is nothing whatever for a stranger to buy. I
went to a score of cabinet-makers' shops to purchase one of the
curious little cabinets, but the most expensive one I could find
cost only two dollars, and that was not worth carrying home.
Nothing of gold or silver is made except to order ; the embroidery
is shoddy ; the paintings are ghastly ; the carving is beneath
contempt. The glory has departed.
A street full of Koreans suggests the orthodox notion of the
resurrection. Everybody is in white robes, and even though a
man has only one suit in the world, it is clean. When he goes
SEOUL AND ITS INHABITANTS. 345
home at night, if he belongs to this poor class, he retires to bed
and his wife washes and pommels his clothes. I say "pom-
mels," for ironing is an unknown art in Korea. After being
washed the calico is stretched on a wooden block, and then with
a flat block of wood in each hand the woman pounds it for
hours. After sunset all Seoul rings with the dactylic tap-tap-
tap, tap-tap-tap of these domestic voices of the night, as with
the incessant cry of a million strident insects. The dress of the
women is extraordinary, and certainly, to adapt Dr. Johnson,
they must have been at infinite pains to invent it, for by nature
no one could be such a fool. The upper garment consists of
sleeves and an apology for the body of a jacket about six inches
deep and reaching therefore about three inches below the arm-
pits. The skirt is a great baggy petticoat attached to a broad
waistband which begins about six inches below where the
jacket ends. Between the two there is nothing nothing, that
is to say, except six inches of dirty brown skin, just those parts
of the body being exposed which all other women in the world
prefer to conceal. The effect is disgusting. Moreover, as if to
emphasise this ludicrous exhibition, these very women are most
particular to hide their faces from any man. The theory is
that a male Korean always looks the other way, but the moment
a foreigner comes in sight they hastily draw over their faces
the folds of the light cloak worn hanging from the head. It is
a pity they have not fairy godmothers to supply them all with
invisible caps. Seoul would be the more attractive. The
Korean men, on the other hand, are fine fellows, tall, well-built,
graceful, dignified, generally possessing regular features. They
all have, too, a well-fed look, although the standard of physical
living is about as low as is possible. Poverty reigns in Seoul
extreme, universal, and hopeless. And the explanation is to be
found in one elegant word nyangpan, of whom more hereafter.
The nyangpan is the official, from the Prime Minister to the
lowest hanger-on of the palace. All Korean society consists of
two classes, those who are nyangpans and those who are not.
346 KOREA.
All work is done by the latter, and the problem of the former
is how to get most of the product of it with least trouble. By
taxes, by enforced bribes, threats, by "squeezes," in short by every
known or discoverable form of extortion, the nyangpan makes
the other support him. Consequently the other takes good care
not to earn a cash more than will keep the life in his own body
and enable him just to hold the nyangpan at arm's length.
Hence, by an obvious chain of causation, the utter rottenness
and inertness and stagnation of Korean society. Any proposed
change for the better has against it the whole nyangpan tribe,
that is, everybody in Korea above the hewers of wood and
drawers of water. And the people themselves have fallen below
the stage at which they could initiate the sole step that would
save them " swift revolution, changing depth with height." Is
there, then, any hope for Korea ? Only from outside that is,
under present circumstances, from Japan.
In considering the present and the prospects of Korea, one is
confronted with the striking discrepancy between the excellent
possibilities of the people themselves, and the almost un-
imaginable sloth and degradation in which they are content to
exist. All observers lay emphasis upon the natural capacities
of the inhabitants. " The Koreans are undoubtedly a fine race.
The men are stalwart and straight, proud and independent ;
they possess intelligent and expressive faces, small feet and
hands, and are even-tempered, except when excited by drink
not an uncommon condition." * Yet under the native regime
their character is as degenerate as that of a Bushman. They
are totally devoid of ambition or even the elements of personal
or commercial success. " The average Korean takes life as
easily as he possibly can. Does he till the soil, a mere tick-
ling of the surface at seed-time, an occasional weeding at
remote intervals, and a happy-go-lucky mode of garnering,
constitute all the assistance he feels called upon to render a
bountiful nature ; he lets an ample water supply run to waste,
* Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs, Mr. Hunt's Report for Fusan, 1891.
SEOUL AND ITS INHABITANTS. 347
regardless of periodical droughts ; and he recks but little of
ditching or drainage, but allows the heavy summer rains to
gather foot-high on the standing crops. Is he a trader, he
places his business in the hands of a professional middleman,
who, in turn, passes it on to his satellites ; days, or weeks,
perhaps, are wasted, with sublime unconcern, in bickering for
a trumpery object or a trivial advantage, while his profits
are absorbed in the social entertainment he receives and in
exorbitant brokerage. Is he a fisherman, he is generally
heedless of the magnificent hauls that could be made by
venturing upon the sea, and remains content with such fish
as will run into crudely and easily constructed traps set out
along the shore, which only require attention for an hour or
so each day. Does he labour for daily wage, and extra pay
is given in busy times, a sense of burdensome wealth will
speedily overcome him, and make him decline remunerative
work, except at his own fanciful terms, until the ' bonanza '
of extra earnings is exhausted and the pinch of necessity drives
him ; then, however, it must be admitted, he falls to again
cheerfully enough." *
In further elucidation of this point I may add an explanation
of the foregoing from the same dispassionate source, which will
carry more weight than could attach to my own much briefer
and more restricted observation of the same facts. " The
buildings and walls of the different cities in the province present
a poverty-stricken aspect, and the Yamens in all the towns are
in a state of extreme dilapidation. The poverty does not reach
the stage of actual distress, but has rather the appearance of
a curtailment or suppression of every want beyond the bare
necessity of keeping body and soul together. The rapacity and
cruelty of the officials are not conducive to the accumulation of
wealth. All stimulus or inducement to increase his possessions
and give himself comforts is denied the middle-class Korean ; for
he is not allowed to enjoy the results of his labour and industry,
* Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs, Mr. Oiesen's Keport for Yuensan, 1891.
348 KOREA.
never feeling sure that the little property he may have (or even
his life) is safe from official despotism, and consequently the
people have become dispirited and indifferent. Safety and
security are found in obscurity only." * Hence the saying,
"Given a good meal and a hot floor, and a Korean holds
Paradise cheap." This is Korea after centuries of vassalage
to China. As for the cruelty and barbarism with which the
law or the absence of it is enforced, the vassal has even
surpassed the sovereign. Secret official assassination is the
accepted way of settling a political difficulty or removing a
troublesome Minister. When the body of the murdered Kim-
Ok-ky/un (whose story will be found in the following chapter)
was brought back to Seoul, this was the treatment meted out
to it : " The corpse was laid flat on the ground face down-
wards, the head and the four limbs being supported on blocks
of wood to facilitate the process of cutting them off. The head
was first severed from the trunk by the tedious process of saw-
ing. The right hand was then cut off at the wrist, while the
left arm was severed midway between the wrist and the elbow.
The feet were chopped off at the ankles. Last of all, the back
of the trunk was hacked at regular intervals with three lateral
cuts, seven inches long and one inch deep. The head was
suspended from a tripod made of old bamboo sticks tied
together with rough straw ropes, and the hands and feet,
joined in a bundle, were hung by the side of the head, the
trunk with the three lateral cuts being left on the ground just
as it had been placed for mutilation. The process was carried
out in a barley-field by the riverside at Yokkaichi. Originally
it was understood that the mutilated corpse would be exposed
for a space of about a fortnight, but the disgusting business
came to an end sooner. The trunk was then thrown into
the river, while the head was salted and sent to Chiku-san in
Keiki-do, to be subsequently exposed throughout the length and
breadth of the peninsula, and finally brought back to Chiku-sau
* Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs, Mr. Hunt's Eeport for Fusan, 1891.
SEOUL AND ITS INHABITANTS. 349
and there cast away to become the prey of vultures. As to the
hands and feet, it is stated that one hand and foot of either side
were salted and sent to Kankyo and Keisho-do." Kim's widow
and daughter, who had been living in poverty as washerwomen,
were brought to Seoul at the same time, and with his father,
an old blind man, were beheaded. The following royal decree
placarded on the walls of Seoul also throws light on the
condition of the country and the character of the throne :
" Considering that the choice of candidates for the harem of
the Korean Prince Eoyal will take place on 19th inst., the
Government interdicts throughout the kingdom up to that date
marriages between Koreans."
As a further concrete illustration of the social condition of
Korea, take an event which occurred a week before my visit.
There is a guild or secret society of the colporteurs of Korea,
having wealthy merchants in the capital for its apex, and the
army of itinerant peddlers traversing the country in all
directions for its base. It was discovered or suspected at the
palace that a conspiracy threatening the throne was hatching
among the members of this guild. Therefore one afternoon six
of the most prominent members, rich merchants, were seized,
thrown into prison the barracks either contain or constitute
the prison and the same evening, when the general in com-
mand found leisure or energy to attend to the matter, the
unlucky six were quietly strangled. There is "no infernal
nonsense " about trial or conviction or sentence in the " Land
of the Morning Calm." So much for law. Politics is on the
same level. I had three letters of introduction to Korean states-
men. One was dead, the second was in banishment at Hong-
kong, the third sent me his card with a polite message that
he had just been appointed Prime Minister, and therefore could
no longer talk about politics ! And another little illuminating
fact is that when a Korean statesman is banished or executed
for political trespasses, his wife and daughters and all his
womankind are taken and attached as a sort of permanent
350 KOREA.
staff of prostitutes to one of the departments of State for the
use of the Minister and his assistants.
The country has been believed by every traveller to possess
great mineral resources, besides its undoubted gold-mines,
but every attempt to develop these has come to utter failure,
through native corruption and indifference. Mint, post-office,
match-factory, sericulture, mining all of these have been
introduced with a flourish of trumpets, to collapse miserably
within a short time. If it had not been for the Japanese,
Korea would still be the Hermit Kingdom, without a trace of
trade or the possibility of improvement. One thing only has
saved it from being annexed by anybody who chose the fact
that it stands at the focus of the geography of the Far Eastern
question, too important to Great Britain, Kussia, Japan, and
China for one of these to encroach upon it without arousing
the opposition of the other three. Most Korean affairs
are conducted with a pomposity and a grandiloquence only
equalled by their insignificance. Since the country was opened
to foreign intercourse, for example, a Foreign Office, among
other administrative institutions, has been created. It consists
of a President, two Vice-Presidents, a Councillor, and twenty-
two clerks. For futility it can only be compared with the
scenes and personages of a Gilbert and Sullivan opera, yet
it enforces respect by the appalling name of T'ong-ni-kio-syep-
fong-sang-sa-mu-a-mun. The Korean navy consists of half a
dozen "Admirals," who know no more about a ship than a
Hindu knows about skates indeed, how should they, since
there is no Korean ship for them to know ? And the Korean
army is almost equally non-existent. There are a few thousand
soldiers, under the professed supervision of two American
instructors, called respectively Vice- President and Councillor
of the Board of War, but no account need be taken of them.
Two regiments were drilled for my inspection, and a very
amusing sight it was a sort of cross between Swedish gym-
nastics and the soldiers of Drury Lane pantomime. An eye*
THE OLD PALACE AND NAM-SAN, SEOUL.
THE CONSUL GOING TO AN AUDIENCE, SEOUL.
SEOUL AND ITS INHABITANTS. 351
witness has just written that a number of newly-raised " naval
soldiers " were armed with muskets without locks ! As has
been seen, Korea has played no part whatever in the struggle
that is being waged on her own soil, with her own future for
the stake. Lower than this no people could sink.
Before I left Seoul I had the honour of an audience with his
Majesty the King, the British Consul-General presenting me.
We were received at the palace at three o'clock by half a dozen
Vice-presidents of the Foreign Office, in a small detached wooden
building where we sat for a quarter of an hour drinking cham-
pagne over a green baize table, seated on ordinary foreign chairs,
and with gimcrack brass electric-light fittings over our heads.
Then an officer came for us, and in solemn single file we pro-
ceeded through the grounds and yards to the central open
pavilion where alone the King holds audience, first the official
court interpreter, Mr. Kim, a Korean nobleman, as no one of
lower rank is admitted to the presence of the sovereign, then
the Consul, then myself, and more officials in broad-winged hats
and gorgeous purple robes bringing up the rear. As soon as we
came in sight of the King an official left his Majesty's sifle and
instructed us in a loud voice in the method of our approach
left turn, ten steps, right turn, ten steps, bow, up two steps,
bow, up two more steps, right turn, five steps, and bow all of
which brought us face to face with the King across a small
square table. Mr. Kim assumed a crouching position from the
first moment, like a sportsman stalking a covey from behind a
hedge, and never quitted it till we were out of the royal sight
again. The first thing that caught my eye was a three-and-
sixpenny English hearthrug of glaring red and green, which
formed the cover of his Majesty's reception table. The second
thing was that our noble interpreter was so overcome by finding
himself in the presence that his English took wings and he
could scarcely articulate. The King is a little man, dressed in
handsome dark red silk, richly embroidered with gold, and wear-
ing a pot-hat of similar material. His hands he kept hidden in his
852 KOREA.
voluminous sleeves. His face is pale but very pleasing, brim-
ming over with good nature, and each of his questions he
chattered out with a rippling nervous laugh like a girl's. And
every time he laughed we could see a large yellow bead of some-
thing he was chewing. On each side of him stood a big solemn-
faced minister suggesting from time to time a word or a proper
inquiry. Poor Mr. Kim, however, was a broken reed. The
King asked something with a merry laugh. After a short pause
a faint and shuddering gurgle emerged from beneath Mr. Kim's
low bent head. " What does he say ? " asked the Consul of me
(I was standing between them) behind his hand. " I give it up,"
I returned. " I thank his Majesty," said the Consul, taking the
bull by the horns, " for the honour of this audience." The King
laughed again, as if it were an excellent joke, and asked some-
thing else. This time I nudged Mr. Kim and listened intently.
Slowly in an awe-stricken tone the words came, " His Majesty
hopes your King is quite well." The Consul looked at me
beseechingly, and I whispered, "Hopes your King's quite well,"
trying to keep a straight face. " I thank his Majesty," replied
the Consul boldly, thinking he was now on safe ground, and not
having caught my words : " I am quite well." This time when
his Majesty laughed, we both laughed with him. And so on,
over the usual routine questions for a quarter of an hour, when
the King graciously expressed his good wishes for my journey
and we retired, carrying away the impression of a capital little
fellow, rather in awe of his own big ministers. Afterwards, with
similar formalities, I was presented to the Crown Prince, a
flabby-faced youth of about nineteen, bloated with dissipation,
turning helplessly to two horrible eunuchs who stood beside
him for what he should say to us, bobbing up and down in his
pitiable physical nervousness altogether a dreadful spectacle,
suggestive of the society of Gomorrah.
The foreign community at Seoul consists of about a score
people, excluding Japanese, of whom there is a long street of
merchants and artisans. A good many missionaries still stay
SEOUL AND ITS INHABITANTS. 353
in Seoul, although, I helieve, they are still forbidden to preach ;
and one only, an excellent doctor, is permitted to practise, in
charge of a free hospital and any number of daily out-patients.
The little community manages with difficulty to amuse itself,
and from time to time a threatened attack forms a welcome
break in the monotony of its life. For example, a few weeks
before my visit, there was a passing scare. All the Chinese
servants left, simply saying that the foreigners were to be killed,
and they dare not stay ; arms were brought out and cleaned and
loaded ; the Kussian Legation was prepared for a siege, and
everybody was ready to rendezvous there at a signal of three
rifle-shots, and a rocket, if at night. Thirty American marines,
however, marched up one night ; a number of Eussians followed,
and although upwards of twenty Koreans were butchered in the
streets by their compatriots, no foreigner was disturbed. But
the beacon did not blaze from Nam-san that night.
It would be easy to fill pages with descriptions of the queer
scenes and circumstances of Korean life. 1 will mention only a
few, as specimens. A remarkable figure frequently met in the
street is the mourner. He is dressed in rough material almost
sackcloth ; on his head is a hat of colossal dimensions perhaps
four feet in diameter, within which his head almost disappears ;
what is left of his face is hidden by a fan made of a piece of
sacking stretched between two sticks, over the top of which he
peeps to find his way. Another interesting fact is that the ox-
slaughterer is the lowest man in the social scale an obvious
relic of Buddhism while next above him come the pork-
butcher and the prostitute." Korea, which is modelled in most
respects upon China, has a theoretical system of competitive
examination for office. In fact, however, the system is as
corrupt as everything else Korean. A picturesque and curious
ceremony is this. A successful candidate is introduced by his
friends to one of the examiners, who, amid much laughter,
buffets him about, tears his clothes, breaks his hat, daubs his
* Boss.
24
854 KOREA.
face with ink, and sprinkles powdered white soap over his
moist countenance. He is then led away home, washed and
dressed in holiday attire, and receives congratulations for the
rest of the day.
As I happen to be much interested in the art of dancing I
took occasion to see and photograph the votaries of Terpsichore
in every country of the Far East. And for charm of sentiment
I must give the palm to Korea, over China, Siam, Malaya, and
even over Japan. The danseuses of the last-named country are,
of course, far more attractive objects, but I was unable, perhaps
from ignorance of the entire significance of the elaborate Japanese
dances, to discover in the rhythmic movements of the geisha or
the elaborate evolutions of the No-dance, a simplicity of senti-
ment and a suggestion of romance the latter the rarest thing
in the Far East equal to tbose of the Korean dancing-girl. I
engaged a troop of them to dance one afternoon in the grounds
of the British Consulate, which the Consul was good enough to
lend me for the occasion. They arrived in chairs, with a band,
and the considerable retinue which invariably appears in a
mysterious manner at every eastern function. Each dancer
produced her pipe and tobacco-pouch, and the performance was
preceded by a long and animated conversation. Then mats
were spread upon the grass, the band sat down in a long row,
and under the trees, amidst the quaint many-eaved architecture,
to a discordant and yet curiously effective accompaniment, was
displayed before us the Korean version of the universal poem of
"Love's Young Dream." One of the danseuses assumed the
toga ririlis and the pot-hat, the other remaining the embodiment
of womankind. The former was of course the suitor, the
pursuer, the love-beseecher ; the latter was the besought, the
elusive, the hesitating, the Ewigiveibliche. A more prosaic
metaphor would be that of the candle and the moth. To a
hand-thundering of the drums the lover advanced, displaying
himself like a purple pigeon in the sun. The drums faded to a
mournful piping of the flutes, and the loved one retreated in
SEOUL AND ITS INHABITANTS. 355
shyness and refusal. With a less confident quick-step the
former advanced and renewed his persuasive suit. The latter
repelled him, but less cruelly. The music grew tenderer and
more insinuating, and the hopeful one returned to his charming.
The shyness grew less, the warmth grew greater, the lento
changed to adagio, and the adagio to presto, the confidence of
the one increased with the increasing hesitancy of the other,
the pursuer revolved in a large but decreasing circle, the pursued
fluttered in her little round, the space diminished, the thrill
became more intense, the doomed pair were within a few feet of
each other, till on a sudden space was annihilated for them and
time at an end, and to a final triumphant outburst of wood and
brass they were merged in each other's arms in an ecstasy of
passion, and the spectators relieved their pent-up feelings in an
explosive sigh. The victor was vanquished at the moment of
his conquest ; the captured triumphant in the moment of her
defeat an exquisite personification of the sex which
" draws
Men upward as a moon of spring,
High wheeling, vast and bosom-full,
Half clad in clouds and white as wool,
Draws all the strong seas following."
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE QUESTION OF KOREA.
Chino-Japanese war is the last link in a perfectly
-*- straight chain of circumstance?. Korea remained sealed
against foreigners of all nations until 1876. In 1866 an Ameri-
can trading schooner called the General Sherman had been
destroyed by the Koreans, and her crew and passengers
murdered. A man-of-war, the Wachusett, was sent to obtain
satisfaction, but failed to do so. In 1870 a small American
expedition again appeared, and while negociations were in pro-
gress the Koreans fired upon a surveying party. Thereupon the
American commander landed his troops upon the island of Kiang
Hwa, destroyed five Korean forts, routed the army, killing three
hundred men, and then retired, with the result that Korea was
more firmly closed against foreigners than ever. The young King
came of age in 1873, and succeeded his cruel and conservative
father. In 1875 some sailors from a Japanese man-of-war were
fired upon while drawing water at Kiang Hwa. The Japanese
captain also destroyed a fort and killed a number of Koreans,
but his Government followed up the incident by sending a fleet
under General Kuroda to demand satisfaction, and offer the
Koreans the alternative of a treaty of commerce or a war. The
former was chosen, China, on being appealed to by the Koreans,
refusing as she has done on several similar occasions to have
anything to do with the action of her nominal vassal. A treaty
was therefore signed on February 26, 1876, between Korea and
356
THE QUESTION OF KOREA. 357
Japau, and from this moment dates the opening of Korea to
foreign intercourse. On this occasion, too, the suzerainty of
China was formally set aside, without any protests on her part
indeed, with her express recognition, since she refused to
interfere. Article I. of this treaty reads as follows : " Chosen
being an independent State enjoys the same Sovereign rights as
Japan." Chemulpo, Fusau, and Won-san were opened by this
treaty to Japanese trade.
The King himself was in favour of extending the same privi-
leges to other nations at their request, but the conservative
party prevented him. In 1882 fresh overtures were made by
foreign nations, and the reactionaries took alarm. Lad by a
" scholar " named Pe Lo-kuan, an insurrection broke out in
Seoul, directed chiefly against the Japanese, as the promoters of
foreign intercourse. Several members of the Japanese Legation
were murdered in the streets, the Legation itself was attacked,
and Consul Hauabusa and his staff were at last compelled to
cut their way through the mob and make for the palace, where
they hoped to find refuge. Here, however, the gates were shut
against them, so they fought their way out of the city with the
greatest pluck, and walked all night to Chemulpo, where, to
escape violence, they put to sea in a native boat. Fortunately the
British surveying vessel, the Flying Fisli, saw them, and conveyed
them to Nagasaki. This happened in July, 1882. Of course the
Japanese Government took instant action, but with great mode-
ration began by merely sending Mr. Hanabusa back to Seoul
with a strong escort to demand reparation. This was abjectly
offered, and a Chinese force which arrived with unusual prompti-
tude suppressed the rebellion, executed a number of the leaders,
and caused their mangled bodies to be publicly exposed. A sum of
500,000 dols. was accepted by the Japanese as indemnity, but was
subsequently forgiven to Korea in consequence of her inability
to pay it. Next year, other nations once more following in the
steps of Japan, treaties with Korea were concluded by the
Uuited States, France, England, and Germany.
358 KOREA.
In 1885 the whole incident was repeated, with this difference,
that the instigators of the outbreak were a few students who had
imbibed progressive notions in Japan, and who imagined that if
they began by vigorous assassination foreign nations would
support them. During a dinner-party to celebrate the opening
of the new post-office, an attempt was made to murder Ming
Yong-ik, an influential nobleman, who, though he had visited the
United States, was most bitterly opposed to the party of progress,
and was known to have expostulated with the King for having
conferred office on the students who had been educated in Japan.
The revolutionary leaders proceeded to the palace, secured the
person and to some extent the sympathy of the King, and in his
name, and no doubt with his assent, despatched messengers, and
finally an autograph letter from himself, to Mr. Takezoye, the
Japanese Minister, begging him to come instantly and safe-
guard the royal person. Mr. Takezoye, accompanied by the
Legation guard of 130 Japanese soldiers, complied, and guarded
the palace for two days. In the meantime, the revolutionists
executed five of the conservative Ministers. By this time the
Chinese troops in Seoul had decided to assert themselves : two
thousand proceeded to the palace, and without allowing any
opportunity for negociation or explanation, fired upon the
Japanese guard. Although outnumbered by almost ten to
one, the latter had no difficulty in holding their own, but at
length the King decided, to prevent further bloodshed, to place
himself in the hands of the Chinese, and therefore he proceeded
alone, with the consent of Mr. Takezoye, to the Chinese com-
mander. Having no further reason for remaining, the Japanese
left the palace, fought their way to the Legation, but finding it
surrounded by an armed mob of Chinese and Koreans, and
without any provisions for a siege, they quitted it again, and it
was immediately burned behind them. Then for the second time
the Japanese representative and a small band of his countrymen
fought their way through the streets of Seoul, and walked
twenty-six miles to Chemulpo, where tbey chartered a steamer
THE QUESTION OF KOREA. 359
and returned to Japan. Again the Japanese Government de-
manded satisfaction, but this time from. China, on account of
the action of the Chinese soldiers. The negociations between
Count Ito and Li Hung-chang, at Tientsin, in 1885, followed,
and after long delays, and finally a distinct hint from the former
that if a result satisfactory to Japan was not arrived at, war would
be declared, the Convention of Tientsin was concluded at the
eleventh hour. China agreed to withdraw her troops from
Korea, to punish her officers who had commanded the troops in
Seoul on the occasion of the attack upon the Japanese there on
December 6th of the preceding year, and to investigate the out-
rages committed by her troops on the following day. The
clauses of the Convention, which has unfortunately never been
published officially, were two. The first declared that the King
of Korea should be invited to form a force sufficient to preserve
order in future, to be trained by officers of some nation other
than China or Japan, and that certain internal reforms should
be instituted by him ; and the second, that either China or
Japan should have the right to dispatch troops to Korea, if
necessary to preserve order and protect their nationals, on giving
notice each to the other, and that when order was restored both
forces should be withdrawn simultaneously. Thus China at last
formally recognised the equality of Japan with herself so far as
Korea was concerned. This Convention shows one other im-
portant thing that Japan put forward only the most moderate
claims, that she sought no advantages for herself in Korea, but
accepted in full satisfaction of her demands conditions which
merely guaranteed the future peace and prosperity of Korea.
These facts should have been borne in mind when charges of
intemperance were made against Japan for declaring war.
For the third time history has sought to repeat itself. Another
rebellion broke out, which the King of Korea was wholly unable
to suppress. This time Japan did not wait for the burning of
her Legation and the expulsion of her representative by the
forces of Korean reaction. But let it be remembered that while
360 KOREA.
landing troops in perfect accordance with her treaty rights, she
again contented herself with proposing to China the joint occu-
pation of the country until reforms should have heen definitely
carried out to render future disturbances impossible. Not one
sign has she ever given of the slightest intention to secure
territorial advantages for herself in Korea. On the contrary
she has taken every occasion to declare specifically that she was
determined upon the independence of Korea. Upon China must
rest the responsibility of refusing these terms. Her attitude
toward Korea has been marked by all her characteristic unscru-
pulousness. When her suzerainty over Korea has brought
prestige, she has asserted it ; when it has involved responsi-
bility, she has repudiated it. She has at last fallen between the
two stools. So far as my knowledge of the situation goes, I
am unable to see how Japan could have acted with greater
moderation, or could have been satisfied to propose any other
conditions.
In the anti- Japanese feeling prevalent in England at the
outbreak of the war, Japan was currently charged with having
deliberately provoked hostilities for the gratification of her own
ends. This charge is baseless in the form in which it was
commonly made. It is true enough that Japan had long con-
templated the possibility and even probability of war with
China about Korea, and she had made the most careful prepa-
rations for this. But to fear and foresee a series of events is
quite different from provoking them. Otherwise half the nations
of Europe might be charged with provoking the hostility of
their neighbours at this moment. Japan, understanding China
so incomparably better than any European nation understands
that strange country, knew well enough that Korean troubles
would occur and recur until drastic measures were taken for
their permanent suppression, and that China would always
oppose these measures, even by force if diplomacy and pro-
crastination should fail. At last the old trouble came, in a
ising of (he Toyaku-to, as it is called in Japanese, or the
THE QUESTION OF KOREA. 361
Tonghak rebellion the two characters of this name signifying
"Eastern Learning." This was nothing more than one of the
periodical revolts against official exactions, but it grew rather
faster than usual, and the rotten Korean government was
beaten in several engagements. China thereupon despatched
a considerable force to crush the Tonghaks, and in the despatch
announcing the fact to Japan she employed an expression
which deliberately set the Li-Ito Convention at defiance. Japan
had already been intensely irritated by an incident which had
just occurred, and this significant neglect of a diplomatic re-
quirement added fresh fuel to the flames of her anger.
Japanese public opinion at the time cannot be understood
without a knowledge of this incident. I will therefore narrate
it in the fewest possible words. The leader of the Korean
revolutionists who had attacked Ming Yong-ik, that arch-
conservative and denouncer of the young Koreans who bad been
educated in Japan, was a certain Kim Ok-kyun. When the
revolt was crushed and the hopes of the young Korean Japano-
philes at an end, Kim Ok-kyun naturally sought refuge in
Japan. There he lived in security and obscurity for some
time, but the Korean Government had neither forgotten nor
forgiven him. Two or three Koreans were accordingly de-
spatched secretly to Japan to assassinate him in itself a
sufficient outrage to Japanese soil. They nearly succeeded,
but Kim's suspicions being aroused at the' last moment he
failed to keep the appointment at which lie was to have been
killed. 13y and by, however, one of the conspirators succeeded
in luring him to Sbanghai upon some pretext or other, and
he was shot to death in a native hotel there on the very night
of his arrival. So far from arresting the murderer, the Chinese
autborities sent him in all comfort, with the corpse of his
victim, upon a Chinese gunboat to Korea, where he was
received with rejoicings, loaded with honours and given official
rank, while the body of Kim was publicly hacked in pieces,
his head salted and promenaded through the principal cities,
362 KOREA.
and his relatives murdered. Thus the man who had raised
the standard of revolt in Korea for Japanese ideas, and who
had been received by Japan as an exile to be protected (just
as we have received revolutionary exiles in England), was
decoyed away to Chinese soil, murdered there with the almost
certain connivance of China, his murderer treated with every
consideration, and a Chinese Government vessel employed to
take both assassin and victim to the honour and the degradation
which respectively awaited them in Korea. This was enough
to have provoked an outburst of popular anger in a much
more sedate country than Japan, and it was while the
Japanese were thus deeply indignant at this combination of
Korean treachery and Chinese insult that Chinese troops were
sent to Korea, and the irritating despatch sent, as I have
described. The Japanese instantly despatched a still larger
force, and the diplomatic negociations began.
It will be remembered that China raised no protest when
Korea described herself as an independent State, and concluded
foreign treaties upon that basis, and that she had further
admitted Japan to equal rights with herself for the preservation
of order in Korea. Yet the despatch announcing to Japan
the departure of Chinese troops to Korea was couched in these
words :
" The application upon examination is found to be urgent both in words and in
fact, and that it is in harmony with our constant practice to protect our tributary
states by sending our troops to assist them. These circumstances were accordingly
submitted to His Imperial Majesty, and in obedience to his will, General Yeh,
Commander of troops in Chihli has been ordered to proceed at once to Zenra and
Chinsei in Korea with selected troops, and to speedily suppress the disturbance in
such manner as he may deem most convenient in order to restore the peace of our
tributary state and to dispel the anxiety of the subjects of every nation residing in
Korea for commercial purposes, and at the same time the General is commanded to
return with the troops as soon as the desired object is attained."
By thus asserting at the outset the fact that China regarded
Korea as a tributary State, the Chinese Government deliberately
repudiated the past and challenged Japan to make good the
THE QUESTION OP KOREA. 863
position which she had always maintained, and which had been
formally recognised nine years before. A less conciliatory
despatch especially considering that Japan was smarting under
the murder of Kim Ok-kyun could not have been penned.
The reply of the Japanese Government could easily have been
foreseen. It was (June 7), " In reply, I beg to declare that,
although the words ' tributary State ' appear in your Note, the
Imperial government has never recognised Korea as a tributary
State of China." At the same time the Japanese Minister in
Peking informed the Tsungli Yamen that, " owing to the exist-
ence of a disturbance of a grave nature in Korea necessitating
the presence of Japanese troops there, it is the intention of the
Imperial government to send a body of Japanese troops to that
country." Two days later (June 9) the Tsungli Yamen, with
extraordinary promptitude, replied as follows, and the despatch
is worth giving at length, as it is so deliciously characteristic
of Chinese diplomatic methods :
"The sole object of your country in sending troops is evidently to protect the
Legation, Consulates, and commercial people in Korea, and, consequently, it may
not be necessary on the part of your country to despatch a great number of troops,
and, besides, as no application therefore has been made by Korea, it is requested
that no troops shall proceed to the interior of Korea so that they may not cause
alarm to her people. And, moreover, since it is feared that in the event the soldiers
of the two nations should meet on the way, cases of unexpected accident might
occur, owing to the difference of language and military etiquette, we beg to request
in addition that you will be good enough to telegraph the purport of this com-
munication to the Government of Japan."
In the despatch China totally and calmly ignored the fact that
by treaty Japan had identically the same rights as China to
send troops to Korea ! Of course the Japanese reply (June 12)
pointed this out :
" The Imperial Japanese Government has never recognised Korea as a tributary
state of China. Japan despatched her troops in virtue of the Chemulpo Convention,
and in so doing she has followed the procedure laid down in the Treaty of Tientsin.
As to the number of troops, the Japanese Government is compelled to exercise its own
judgment. Although no restriction is placed upon the movement of the Japanese
troops, in Korea, they will not be sent where their presence is not deemed necessary.
364 KOREA.
The Japanese troops are under strict discipline, and the Japanese Government is
confident that they will not precipitate a collision with the Chinese forces. It is
hoped that China has adopted similar precautions."
This unanswerable despatch brought down the curtain upon
the first act. Both Chinese and Japanese troops were in Korea,
precisely as the Li-Ito Convention of 1885 had agreed that
under such circumstances they should be. The Chinese Ministers
had vainly endeavoured to wriggle out of their previous
promises, and being unable to do so, this aspect of the matter
disappeared.
The next step came from Japan, and took the form of the
following proposals for the future administration of Korea
(June 17) :
" As to the present events, Japan and China to unite their efforts for the speedy
suppression of the disturbance of her insurgent people. After the suppression of
the disturbance, Japan and China, with a view to the improvement of the internal
administration of Korea, to respectively send a number of Commissioners charged
with the duty of investigating measures of improvement, in the first place on the
following general points : (a) Examination of the financial administration. (I)
Selection of the Central and Local Officials, (c) Establishment of an army necessary
for national defence in order to preserve the peace of the land."
To this the Chinese Minister in Tokyo replied that the
disturbance was already put down, and that reforms must be
left to Korea herself. This suggestion was amusing enough,
but the argument by which it was supported was farcical.
H. E. Wang wrote: "Even China herself would not interfere
with the internal administration of Korea, and Japan having
from the very first recognised the independence of Korea,
cannot have the right to interfere with the same." This is
Chinese diplomacy at its happiest : first, Korea is not in-
dependent, but dependent upon China, and therefore Japan
has no right to interfere ; second, Korea is independent, even
of China, and therefore again Japan has no right to interfere !
Is it to be wondered at that Japan should brush aside diplomacy
conducted with such puerile craft ? The point to be borne in
mind, however, is that Japan requested China to unite with her
THE QUESTION OF KOREA. 365
in joint action for the reform and strengthening of an in-
dependent Korea, and that China refused to do so. The
parallel of Great Britain, France and Egypt will occur to every
reader. Japan had determined that this should he the last
wrangle over Korea, and pursuing the parallel, she informed
China in the following admirable despatch (June 22), that she
should undertake the task single-handed if China persisted in
her refusal :
" The Imperial Government, much to its regret, finds it impossible to share the
hopeful views entertained by your Excellency's Government regarding the actual
situation in Korea at the present time. Sad experience teaches us that the
Peninsular Kingdom is the theatre of political intrigues and civil revolts and dis-
turbances of such frequent recurrence as to justify the conclusion that the Govern-
ment of that country is lacking in some of the elements which are essential to
responsible independence. The interests of Japan in Korea, arising from pro-
pinquity as well as commerce, are too important and far-reaching to allow her to
view with indifference the deplorable condition of affairs in that kingdom. In the
estimation of the Imperial Government the withdrawal of forces should be con-
sequent upon the establishment of some understanding that will serve to guarantee
the future peace, order, and good government of the country. That course of
action is, moreover, it seems to his Imperial Majesty's Government, not only in
perfect harmony with the spirit of the Tientsin Convention, but it accords with the
dictates of reasonable precaution. Should the Government of China continue to
hold views antagonistic to those which I have frankly and in good faith presented
to your Excellency, it cannot be expected that the Imperial Government will, under
the circumstances, feel at liberty to sanction the present retirement of their troops
from Korea."
This was followed by a formal declaration to the Tsungli
Yamen that "in this juncture the Imperial Japanese Govern-
ment find themselves relieved of all responsibility for any
eventuality that may, in future, arise out of the situation."
China still did not realise the danger that lay before her, and
tried one more piece of bluff by demanding that the withdrawal
of the Japanese troops should precede any negociations. The
Japanese, not being fools, dismissed that suggestion for what
it was worth, and took an early occasion to inform China that
any further despatch of troops to Korea would be regarded by
Japan as a hostile act. Both countries had up to that point
availed themselves of their rights under the Tientsin Convention,
366 KOREA.
and it could not be pretended that the Chinese and Japanese
forces together were not abundantly capable of keeping order in
Korea. For Japan to have allowed China to send reinforce-
ments at this moment would have been an act of suicide.
She knew Chinese methods far too well to permit anything of
the kind. China's reply was to send the Kowshing, full of
troops, relying upon the British flag to protect them on the sea.
The Chen Yuen met the Naniwa at sea, fired upon her and
steamed away (there seems no reason to doubt the statements
to this effect), and shortly afterwards the Naniwa met the
Kowshing, and on the latter failing to surrender, sunk her. I
express no opinion upon the technical point of international
law involved, though to a non-expert it seems clear enough,
but it is probable that if the Japanese had committed an outrage
upon the British flag on this occasion, they would have been
brought to book for it before the lapse of five months. It
is therefore fair to presume that they were within their rights.
The Japanese declaration of war came on August 3, and that
of China, affording a painful comparison by its tone and
language, followed immediately. Subsequent events are too
well known to need recapitulation ; they may be summarised
for the present in the four names, Asan, Phyong-yang, Yalu, and
Port Arthur.
In Korea itself, in the meantime, little has happened. The
anti-Japanese party has of course been thrust out of office, and
replaced by politicians having presumably Japanese sympathies.
The Government has vacillated, so far as was possible to it
under the circumstances, between China and Japan, promising
and intriguing first for one party and then for another. Naturally
the official class has made every effort in its power to save its
historic right to plunder the people. The Japanese have con-
cluded a treaty with the King, to last till the conclusion of the
war, by which his independence is guaranteed. This has, of
course, no significance as indicating the sympathy of the King,
as he had no choice but to accept it ; but it is of importance as
THE QUESTION OP KOREA. 367
putting the Japanese attitude formally on record. A number
of reforms of a sweeping character have been imposed upon the
government, and the only criticism that can be passed upon
them is that they exhibit perhaps an undue confidence in the
possible political development of the Korean character. As
Japan, however, will be charged with carrying them out, she
may well be left with the responsibility of having proposed
them. As for the intrigues, the shilly-shallying, the professions
of grateful friendship followed by hostile treachery, and these
again succeeded by promises of faithfulness and pitiful revolts,
they are but the natural consequences of stirring up an admini-
stration which has been well called a cesspool of corruption.
The main fact is that Korea has come under the influence of
Japan, and that under its influence she will remain.
Japan has one indisputable claim to her new sphere of
interest : she has won it by the sword. That is the kind of
right which the world most easily recognises. Moreover, she
may put in an additional moral claim on the ground that her
control will confer vast benefits upon the unfortunate Korean
people. But beside these she has other very cogent justifica-
tions for her action. In the first place, it was she who opened
Korea to foreign intercourse. And second, the greater part of
Korea's modern trade has been created by Japan, and is in the
hands of her merchants. Except with China and Japan, Korea
has little trade worth mentioning, and the interest of the latter
is exactly twice that of the former. The net value of Korean
direct foreign trade for 1892 and 1893 together was 4,240,498
dollars with China, and 8,306,571 dollars with Japan. In tonnage
of shipping the proportion was vastly greater in favour of Japan.
Her tonnage in 1893 was over twenty times that of China, and
the number of vessels entered and cleared was over twenty-five
times. The exact figures are : tonnage China, 14,376 ; Japan,
304,224 : number of vessels China, 37 ; Japan, 956. In fact,
the tonnage of Japan's shipping trade with Korea last year was
more than seven times that of all other nations put together,
868 KOEEA.
including China. Many a western war has been fought to
preserve a smaller actual and prospective commercial pre-
ponderance.
As regards the future, unless a great change has recently come
over the diplomacy of Japan, it is Eussia that she fears. The
status of all the other European Powers in the Far East is ap-
proximately fixed. Spain and Portugal count for nothing. Japan
could wipe out either of them. France will hardly claim to
extend north and east of Tongking. Germany is making great
progress with her trade, but she has no opportunity to seek terri-
torial advantages. Great Britain has reached her limit, with
the exception of the Malay Peninsula, which will certainly be hers
sooner or later ; of a naval base north of Hongkong ; and of Siam,
in which developments are possible ; and Japan is not interested
in two of these directions. But for Russia the Far East lies in
the direct line of immediate expansion. The late Tsar made
the path of international politics an easy and a pleasant one to
tread, and his successor may be counted upon to preserve a
similar attitude. But Japan has learned that nations have to
reckon with the inevitable Drang of other nation?, and that they
cannot count for security upon the good-will of any individual.
Japan has suffered once in a little transaction with Russia, when
she exchanged Saghalin for the Kurile Islands. She has seen
illegitimate European-directed sealing expeditions which sailed
secretly from her shores fired upon murderously by armed parties
in Russian waters, and no redress or even information has been
obtainable. She has watched the Russian fleet come for its
mancEuvres year after year to the Korean bay in which lies Port
Lazareff : only the other day a Russian cruiser, the Vitiaz, was
lost there. She knows that the Russian Minister at Seoul has
tried as one of his own colleagues expressed it to me to jouer
un grand role dans un petit trou. She has applied to the Russian
Minister and the Chinese Resident there the proverb that " two
foxes cannot live in the same pack." She remembers when a
Russian man-of-war I think it was the Vladimir Monomach
THE QUESTION OF KOREA. 369
beat to quarters in Yokohama harbour and trained its guns upon
an approaching British ship, and when she telegraphed down
the coast for a little gunboat of her own which carried a 35-ton
gun, and anchored it alongside the Russian, before sending on
board to exact an apology for the breach of neutrality. The
time for Russian action in the Far East may not be ripe yet,
for it will be some time before the Trans-Siberian railway will
be of any service. But sooner or later Russia will need a winter
harbour in the Far East, and Japan knows that in Russian plans
Port Lazareff has long been fixed upon as one of the two
possible places. This would be a serious matter for Japan,
and in her present state of mind I feel sure she would rather
fight than yield it. Yet for my own part, as I have already
said, I am convinced that the Russian terminus of the Trans-
Siberian Railway will be (unless much bigger events take place)
in Korean waters. The discussion of this eventuality, however,
is connected with the momentous suggestion to which I have
already alluded and which is treated in a later chapter, namely,
that of Asia for the Asiatics. Of this, Europe is destined some
day to hear not a little. But in connection with the immediate
future of Korea it is of more interest to see exactly what is the
present attitude of Russia as defined in the one international
document upon the subject which has been published. Port
Hamilton, it will be remembered, was occupied by British
vessels under Vice-Admiral Sir W. Dowell in April, 1885, under
instructions from Mr. Gladstone's Government. The naval
authorities reported that it was worse than useless ; protests
were received from China, Japan, and Korea, and it was under-
stood that if the occupation were persisted in, both Russia and
Japan would seek some similar territorial strategic advantage.
Lord Iddesleigh (a change of Ministries having meanwhile
occurred) therefore confidentially advised the British Minister in
Peking that the British Government would be prepared to
evacuate Port Hamilton " if any suitable arrangement could
be made which would ensure that neither it nor Port Lazareff
25
370 KOREA.
shall pass into hostile [that is, Russian] hands." An assurance
to this effect was obtained by China from Russia, and com-
municated in the following terms, which now become once more
of great importance :
" Humours have recently been disseminated from Corea that Russia was inter-
fering with China's feudatory. The Chinese Government accordingly demanded
an explanation from Eussia as to the existence or otherwise of this fact, and in due
course the Russian Foreign Office gave the Chinese Minister Liu the most frank
assurances that the Russian Government had absolutely no such intentions. M.
Ladygensky, tbe Russian Charg6 d'Affaires at Peking, further went to Tient-sin at
the orders of the Russian Foreign Office, and had several personal conversations
with the Grand Secretary Li, Minister Superintendent of Northern Trade, to whom
he repeated and enlarged upon the answer earlier given to the Minister Liu. He
also stated that the Russian Government gave a sincere promise that if the British
would evacuate Port Hamilton, the Russian Government would not occupy Corean
territory tinder any circumstances whatsoever.
" The Grand Secretary Li, Minister Superintendent of Northern Trade, then told
M. Ladygensky that what was feared was that after the British vessels of war had
retired from these islands they would be again taken possession by some other
Power. Russia, therefore, must guarantee that she would not hereafter seize these
islands, and on the faith of this guarantee China could officially address the British
Government, and urge their speedy evacuation.
" In the course of time M . Ladygensky, in obedience to instructions from the
Russian Government, gave a most explicit guarantee, distinctly declaring that in
the future Russia would not take Corean territory.
" The Chinese Government is therefore naturally in a position, on the faith of
the guarantee of the Russian Government, to give a guarantee to the British
Government." *
Port Hamilton was accordingly evacuated on February 27,
1887.
It will be observed that the Russian assurance came wholly
through the Tsungli Yamen. We the public, at least have
no other source of information concerning this assurance. We
do not know what conditions may have been attached to it, or
what was the exact form taken by M. Ladygensky 's " explicit
guarantee." At the time this was given, China's pledge was
sufficient, because it was then believed that China would have
been a valuable ally in case war had resulted from the breaking of
the promise. But China is now known to be virtually worthless
* The Tsungli Yamen to Sir J. Walsham, Peking, October 31, 1880. China,
No. 1 (1887), p. 38.
THE QUESTION Of KOREA. 371
as a fighting force, yet we have only her word that Russia pro-
mised, years before the Trans-Siberian Railway was sanctioned,
that she " would not occupy Korean territory under any circum-
stances whatsoever." And the word of China, on such a matter at
such a moment, is not worth to-day the paper on which it was
written. Such, then, is the position of Russia in this question ;
China has been brushed aside; Korea will doubtless be left
independent under a more or less defined Japanese protection ;
and Japan is left face to face with a problematical future.
JAPAN,
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE JAPAN OF TO-DAY.
TAPAN has at length come into her inheritance. Kossuth is
^ reported to have said that the two most wonderful men in
the world were Prince Bismarck and the Emperor of Japan.
From one of these the wonder has somewhat abated of late, but
the country of the other has finally imposed itself upon the some-
what unwilling recognition of the West. The "child of the world's
old age " has proved to be its most remarkable offspring. Until
to-day, however, the world has not taken Japan quite seriously,
in spite of the thousands of travellers who have visited her and
the hundreds of volumes that have been written about her.
But now that she has been seen sword in hand, sweeping
the Chinese hordes out of Korea and Manchuria, driving the
Chinese ships off the sea, and capturing their principal fortress
in the course of a morning, and at the same time concluding
a treaty with Great Britain on equal terms, Japan stands no
longer in need of the encomiums and the prophecies of her
friends. Her leap from feudalism to modernity is without
parallel, but everybody appreciates it now. In a quarter of
a century she has sprung from an Oriental despotism, hating
foreigners above all else, and differing only from other Oriental
despotisms by the fact that the ruling influence among her
people was one of the strictest, loftiest, and most punctilious
codes of honour that man has ever devised, to a nation whose
army and navy may meet those of contemporary Europe on
equal terms ; whose laws will bear comparison with any in
375
876 JAPAN.
existence ; whose manufactures are driving western producers
from the field ; whose art-work has created a new standard of
taste abroad ; whose education has produced a band of experts
second to none it was a Japanese physician who first dis-
covered the bacillus of the bubonic plague in Hongkong ; whose
colonising strength suggests more than one alteration of the
map of Asia ; whose official statistics, for truthfulness and
elaboration, leave those of many western countries far behind
her last Budget covers 1,438 printed pages ; whose people are
simply thirsting for fresh fields to conquer, and scorn the mere
idea of failure. All this, however, has become a commonplace
of information, and so far as I am concerned, I have written
about it in so much detail elsewhere,* that here I propose
only to touch upon two or three aspects of Japanese life which
characterise her more intimately to-day than ever before.
The first aspect under which the world must now regard
Japan with respectful interest is that of a first-class Power.
Four years ago I wrote that the Japanese army was virtually a
European force, and that it might be counted upon to make a
desperate fight against any enemy in the world. To-day there
is no longer any need to dwell upon the armed strength of Japan,
since war the supreme test of paper and parade-ground dis-
positions has tried it. The Japanese army and navy have proved
themselves more than equal to the physical estimate that their
admirers had formed of them. As rapidly as Germany when
Von Moltke telegraphed " Krieg niobil," the army was ready.
Force after force was despatched with a secrecy, a simplicity,
a celerity and a completeness that few European nations
could equal ; the reserves came to the colours with a
mechanical precision ; and this time literally not a gaiter-
button, in Marshal Lebosuf's famous phrase, was lacking
from their equipment. Every European expert has been enthu-
siastic in his praise of the perfection of Japanese methods, the
* In my book entitled " The Heal Japan : Studies in Japanese Manners, Morals,
Administration and Politics," London : T. Fisher Unwin, fourth edition, 1894.
THE JAPAN OF TO-DAY. 877
discipline of Japanese men, and the scientific tactics of Japanese
officers ; while the succession of brilliant victories tells its own
tale of the primal virtue of courage. Of this the vernacular
papers have been full of stories, one of which I will quote as
typical of the Japanese people. At the battle of Song-hwan a
bugler named Genjiro stood beside Captain Matsuzaki, when a
bullet struck him in the chest. Though knowing he was
seriously wounded, he continued to-blow until breath failed him
and he fell dead where he had stood. The so-called " Christian
Patriotic Eelief Corps" of his native village of Funaomura
collected a few presents to send to his family who were people
in the humblest circumstances with a letter of consolation ;
the headman collected the people of the village, the gifts were
presented by the local member of Parliament, and in reply
Genjiro's father spoke as follows : " It is the lot of all men to
die. My son had to die some time. Instead of falling asleep
in a corner of this miserable hovel, unmourned save by a few
relatives, he has fallen on the field of honour and received the
praise of a multitude of his superiors. Hence his mother and
I cannot look upon this as a mournful occasion. We rejoice
that our son has been loyal to Japan, even to the point of
shedding his blood in defence of her honour."
The Japanese army consists to-day of the Imperial Guard, and
six Divisions with headquarters in the principal districts of the
country. These average about 10,000 men each, and to each is
allotted a First and Second Reserve. According to the latest
statistics, the total strength is as follows :
With the First Second
Colours. Reserve. Reserve.
Imperial Guard (5,530 8,610 5,507
First Division (Tokyo) 10,068 15,549 19,870
Second Division (Sendai) 8,892 16,428 20,002
Third Division (Nagoya) 9,011 13,912 15,897
Fourth Division (Osaka) 9,157 14,876 15,595
Fifth Division (Hiroshima) . . 8,882 13,462 17,077
Sixth Division (Kumamoto) . . 9,885 14,870 16,039
Total 62,425 97,707 109,987270,119
378 JAPAN.
The actual fighting force of Japan, therefore, without taking
into account the large numbers of less-trained levies she could
raise in dire extremity, amounts to at least 250,000 men. It is
sufficient to add that a force of this strength, armed, drilled,
equipped, and led as the Japanese army is, renders Japan the
leading Power of Asia so far as operations on land are concerned.
Japan might well have raised and perfected this force without
having developed the moral qualities which are as essential as
mere strength to the proper conception of a Great Power.
That she realises the imperative need of these apart from
the tributes that have been paid to her troops for their
admirable behaviour, and the consideration with which they
have treated the people among whom they have been quartered,
a single example may suffice to show. Soon after the de-
claration of war the following proclamation was made to the
Japanese army by Count Oyama, the Minister for War, who
subsequently took command of the Second Army, and so success-
fully attacked Port Arthur :
Belligerent operations being properly confined to the military and naval forces
actually engaged, and there being no reason whatever for enmity between indi-
viduals because their countries are at war, the common principles of humanity
dictate that succour and rescue should be extended even to those of the enemy's
forces who are disabled either by wounds or disease. In obedience to these
principles, civilised nations in time of peace enter into conventions to mutually
assist disabled persons in time of war without distinction of friend or foe. This
humane union is called the Geneva Convention, or more commonly the Eed Cross
Association. Japan became a party to it in June, 1886, and her soldiers have
already been instructed that they are bound to treat with kindness and helpfulness
such of their enemies as may be disabled by wounds or disease. China not having
joined any such Convention, it is possible that her soldiers, ignorant of these
enlightened principles, may subject diseased or wounded Japanese to merciless
treatment. Against such contingencies the Japanese troops must be on their
guard. But at the same time they must never forget that however cruel and
vindictive the foe may show himself, he must nevertheless be treated in accordance
with the acknowledged rules of civilisation ; his disabled must be succoured and
his captured kindly and considerately protected.
It is not alone to those disabled by wounds or sickness that merciful and gentle
treatment should be extended. Similar treatment is also due to those who offer
no resistance to our arms. Even the body of a dead enemy should be treated with
respect. We cannot too much admire the course pursued by a certain Western
country which in handing over an enemy's general complied with all the rites and
THE JAPAN OF TO-DAY. 379
ceremonies suitable to the rank of the captive. Japanese soldiers should always
bear in mind the gracious benevolence of their august Sovereign and should not be
more anxious to display courage than charity. They have now an opportunity to
afford practical proof of the value they attach to these principles.
(Signed) OYAMA IWAO, Count,
Minister of State for War.
September 22nd, 27th year of Meiji.
It is perhaps not too much to say that in the history of warfare
no army has ever been sent to the front with a more admirable
exhortation. For the sake of contrast, it may be recalled that
at this time Chinese Viceroys were offering and paying rewards
for the heads and hands of Japanese soldiers, and that Chinese
officers, as an eyewitness has testified, were claiming and
receiving them. It was rumoured that one of the conditions of
peace to be insisted upon by Japan was that the Chinese
officials who had been guilty of this barbarity should be handed
over to them for execution. The rumour was denied, but, for
my own part, I am sorry it was not true, since one lesson
of this kind would have taught China more civilisation than she
has learned during the last thousand years.
The Japanese people have exhibited the greatest patriotism
and enthusiasm for this war, and if their own newspapers may
be trusted, chiefly because its result was to be the carrying of
Japanese enlightenment into the darkest country of Asia. An
enormous sum was subscribed in a few weeks and voluntarily
presented to the Government. When a loan of 50,000,000 dols.
was asked for, 77,000,000 were promptly offered. Not for one
moment has the slightest doubt of the result of the war been
felt. Certain foreigners, says the Japan Mail, were expressing
surprise at the quiet manner in which the announcement of the
victory of the Yalu was received in Tokyo. " The reply was
eminently characteristic of the Japanese. ' But this is only
what we knew would happen ; it was a matter of course ; why
should there be any unusual display or demonstration if the
victory of our arms was positively assured from the outset ? '
Yet the one point upon which the Japanese might well have felt
880 JAPAN.
considerable anxiety was the question of their equality with the
Chinese at sea, especially as the great fight, when it came, was
bound to be to a large extent one of cruisers against ironclads.
One other point only calls for comment in this connection.
European writers, knowing in most cases little of the extreme
strictness of Japanese military organisation, have frequently
said that both the Japanese and Chinese accounts of what had
happened must be received with equal scepticism until supported
by independent testimony. The correspondents at Shanghai
who have been responsible for an almost unbroken succession of
misstatements concerning the war have constantly made this
assertion. It is so baseless as to be ridiculous. Not in one
single instance has the official report by the responsible Japa-
nese commander been shown to deviate by a hair's breadth
from the exact truth so far as he could possibly know it.
All Japanese statistics, as I have said, are compiled with
more than German detail and scrupulousness ; every Japanese
soldier wears a metal disc slung round his neck for purposes
of identification ; and the most precise detail of every action
either has been published or will be when the history of the war
comes to be written. A friend at the centre of affairs in Japan
wrote to me upon this point as follows : " It has always to be
remembered, in judging between Chinese and Japaneee accounts,
that the former emanate from private and irresponsible sources,
the latter from official ones. The salient features of every fight
are reported by the Japanese Admiral or General in command,
and the report is published by the Government. Any wilful
perversions of facts would involve a court-martial for the officer,
and would bring the political house about the Government's ears."
The second aspect under which the progress of Japan is of
great interest to western nations, is that of a rival in manu-
factures. This is a far more serious question, especially to
Great Britain, than is yet generally understood. The truth is
that our manufacturers are actually being driven out of man}-
markets of the East by the Japanese, and that the most com-
THE JAPAN OF TO-DAY. 381
petent observers prophesy the rapid development of this process.
The circumstances under which the war almost produced a
commercial crisis in Japan, bear striking testimony to the
growth of Japanese manufacturing interests. In 1893, there
were about a quarter of a million cotton spindles in Japan ; this
year there are over half a million. On July 6th, the Osaka
branch of the Bank of Japan had 6,000,000 dols. advanced for
the purchase of raw cotton ; when the war came, however, the
banks withdrew a good deal of their credit, and the cotton-
spinning companies found themselves threatened with ruin at a
moment when their trade afforded the most legitimate justifica-
tion for extension. Under these circumstances a panic was only
averted by the promise of the Government to give assistance.
In 1875, there was no cotton-spinning in Japau, as in that year
the first European machines, of small capacity, were introduced.
The following table, compiled by a Japanese economist, shows
the rate of progress since then, with the inevitable corresponding
decline of imports from Great Britain and India :
National Production Foreign Imports
in Japanese Ibs. in English Ibs.
1888 956,804 ... 47,439,639
1889 20,952,687 ... 42,810,912
1890 32,217,456 ... 31,908,302
1891 45,306,444 ... 17,337,600
1892 ... 64,046,925 ... 24,308,491
And new companies are being formed in Japan even at this
moment, with a total capital of over 2,500,000 dols.
The skill and intelligence of the Japanese at all handicrafts is
a matter of common knowledge ; and considering at the same
time the low rate of its remuneration, Japanese labour is beyond
all comparison the cheapest in the world. In Miiki wages
averaged last year, according to the British Consul's report,
17'37 sen (about 5d.) a day per man, and 7'85 sen per woman;
at Kurume, 15'05 sen per man, and 9'95 sen per woman ; at
Kagoshima 15*35 sen per man, and 5'57 sen per woman. At
the last-mentioned place the day averaged 10^- hours, while at
382 JAPAN.
Miiki and Kurume the spindles were working 23 hours and 24
hours a day throughout the year, excepting holidays. At
Osaka, the chief Japanese manufacturing centre, men earned
from 6d. to 2s. 4d. a day, and women from l^d. to 5d. ; girls,
eight or nine years old, worked 12 hours a day for 3d. Many of
the mills run for 24 hours a day, in two shifts of 12 hours each,
with a total allowance of forty minutes for meals. Moreover,
the Diet is about to press the Government to remove or greatly
modify the import and export duties upon cotton, which will
probably be done, and the manufacture thus receive a very
stimulating bonus. It is not only in cotton, however, that the
Japanese are competing favourably with western nations. A
" Japan Watch Company," of Yokohama, is about to commence
the manufacture of watches on a large scale ; it has procured
the finest watch-making machinery from America, and has
erected engines of one hundred horse power to run it. This is
an enterprise for which Japanese labour is peculiarly adapted,
and with the inexhaustible market of the East to supply, the
promoters are probably not too sanguine in anticipating a great
success. In match-making, again, the Japanese manufacturers
have driven all competitors out of the East. " There is no
doubt," says Mr. J. H. Gubbins, Secretary of the British
Legation in Tokyo, " that so far as the Eastern- market is con-
cerned, no country can any longer compete with Japan in this
particular industry." Five million gross went last year to
Hongkong alone. Already Japan is manufacturing the rolling-
stock for the Korean railway to be built. In every Consular
and Customs Report the same story of Japanese competition is
told. Japanese cotton goods have got as far as the Straits, and
her clocks have already beaten even the countrymen of Sam
Slick in that market. Fifteen hundred dozen undershirts came
to Singapore in one recent consignment. From Macao Mr.
Brennan writes : " The articles from Japan at present con-
sist of curios, cotton cloths, blankets, flannels, hosiery, soaps,
lamps, tea-kettles, matches, hats, umbrellas, Gladstone bage,
THE JAPAN OF TO-DAY. 383
silks, and such like. To give an idea of the cheapness, I may
say that umbrellas of European pattern cost 30 cents to 1 dol.
(lid. to 2s. 2d.), and cotton crapes 1 dol. to 1 dol. 20 cents a
piece of 20 yards, that is 2s. 2d. to 2s. 7d. These are of fine
texture and nice appearance, so that they are much appreciated
by Chinese and Europeans, and worn as dresses and shirts.
Indeed, the competition of Japanese goods is sure to become
keener in course of time." At Tamsui, Japanese towelling
has taken the place of former importations, and the import of
Japanese cottons in 1893 was 20 per cent, greater than in 1892.
The export of matting from Japan in 1893 was double that of
1892. At Niuchuang, Japanese flannel, blankets, brass buttons,
lamps, umbrellas, pictures and mirrors, are becoming important
items. At Ningpo, hundreds of hand-gins of Japanese make
have been imported. The following report concerning the
Korean market is worth quoting at length :
" It may not be out of place to remark here that while the bulk of the Piece
Goods and Metals sold in Fusan are of European origin, principally British, the
fact should not be overlooked that Japan, by carefully studying arising needs, and
supplying articles suitable to the tastes and means of Koreans and her Fusan
colonists, is able to compete, more successfully each year, with almost all the goods
of European manufacture. In no place, perhaps, is this rapidly growing competi-
tion more patent than in Fusan, where can be seen in the shops of the Settlement
imitations of nearly all the Western goods and wares named in our Keturns, from
Piece Goods downwards. Besides these, there are Foreign-style suits, underclothing
and hose, felt and straw hats, household furniture and culinary utensils, carpets,
glassware, chinaware, lamps and fittings, soaps, scents, tinned provisions (fish,
meat, and vegetables), wines and beer, farming implements, &c., mostly made in
Osaka and selling at prices very much cheaper tban those of Western manufacture.
Whether Europe's persistent adherence to the gold standard is solely responsible or
not for this state of affairs is a question well worthy of consideration ; but certainly
the rate of exchange seems to have a great deal to do with it. Another question
presents itself : Is it not highly probable that, at no distant date, Japan with better
machinery, added to the advantages she already possesses in cheap labour, and the
(to her) favourable exchange now ruling will run European manufactures entirely
off the Eastern markets ? " *
Finally, I may take from the last report of Mr. Troup, the
British Consul at Yokohama, the striking statement that, " to
say the least, the trade in imports seems likely to suffer great
* Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs. Mr. Hunt's Report for Fusan, 1893.
884 JAPAN.
restrictions, and, in the case of articles which come into competi-
tion with home Japanese manufactures, probable extinction."
Between 1873 and 1892, the imports of Japan only rose from
26,000,000 dols. to 74,000,000 dols., while her exports increased
from 20,000,000 dols. to 91,000,000 dols. In view of all these
facts, and the improbability of any legislation in the direction of
bi-metallism coming to the rescue of the British manufacturer, we
cannot find much comfort in the fact that the percentage of the
total foreign trade of Japan for 1892 was 35 per cent, for the
British Empire, against 27 per cent, for the United States, 14
per cent, for France, 12 per cent, for China, and 4 per cent, for
Germany. It is only too clear that in the future Japan is certain
to be as keen a competitor in the peaceful arts of commerce as
she might possibly be a dangerous enemy in the "trampled
lanes of war."
The greatest ambition of Japan has been realised. She has
always wanted to whip China, but far more, of late years, has
she desired to be recognised by European Powers as on a level
with themselves. Till this happened, she has felt that all she
did was admired as one admires the precocity of a child ; that
her achievements were regarded as clever imitations ; that the
praise lavished upon her was a species of charity. And she was
quite right. It had never occurred to the statesmen of Europe
that Japan possessed, behind all her cleverness and her genius,
a spirit of true originality, a creative power, in the great things
of life politics, administration, morals, science, and art ; nor
that the failure on their part to see this was the great thorn in
the side of Japan. It must be borne in mind, in order to esti-
mate this feeling, that while on the one hand Japan had an army
which was not much inferior to any army in the world of its
size, a navy small but first-rate in quality, a growing system of
manufactures which threatened the predominance of western
competitors, a development of scientific knowledge that was the
surprise of all who understood it, and a political system of which
the least that could be said was that it was based on the best
THE JAPAN OF TO-DAY. 385
models, she was at the same time unable to exercise the least
jurisdiction over the criminal foreigner in her midst, that her
Customs system was dictated to her by foreign treaties, and
that before she could make any change in these treaties she
must procure the consent, not only of the really great Powers,
but also of Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Denmark,
Holland, Sweden, Hawaii, and Peru. Many of Japan's friends
quorum pars minima fai had urged her to "denounce" the
treaties to give formal notice that after a certain date she would
no longer recognise their validity. This would have been strictly
within her rights, for the American diplomatist who had dictated
the words of the first modern treaty of a foreign Power with
Japan had expressed his regret that words he had inserted as
giving to Japan the concession of revising her own treaties, had
been distorted by other Powers into the claim of a right on their
part to interfere in this. And it would have been well within her
ability, too, for it was known that several of the great Treaty
Powers would not have dreamed of fighting for their treaties,
and that in their absence the others would not have found it con-
venient to do so. But Japan adhered to the slower though less
risky processes of negociation. The result was that the condi-
tions of 1866 remained those of 1894. The Japan of feudalism
was to Europe the Japan of modern times. Some two thousand
five hundred strangers dwelt within her borders, and in order
that the personal and commercial privileges of these might be
safeguarded, Japan had no power over her own tariff and was
compelled to tax her agricultural class excessively to provide a
revenue; she had no jurisdiction over a single foreigner ; she was
unable to tax the foreigners who prospered by her trade ; and
while she had spent five million dollars in lighting and buoying
her coasts she could not make foreign ships pay either light, ton-
nage, or harbour dues. Yet by treaty she was entitled to shake
off these trammels. Is it surprising that when the Japanese
people gradually awoke to a realisation of this fact, and the
further one that foreigners were deliberately delaying any reform
26
386 JAPAN.
in her interests, an anti-foreign spirit grew up and manifested
itself in offensive ways ?
In 1882 Count Inouye proposed that Japan should be opened
to foreign trade, in return for the abolition of Consular jurisdic-
tion, and that foreign judges should sit in a majority with
Japanese judges when foreigners were tried by her new codes.
This was rejected by the Powers, Great Britain leading the oppo-
sition. In 1884 it was proposed to Japan that she should have
a limited jurisdiction over foreigners in return for the opening of
a few more " accessible ports " to trade. Her reply was of course
that she desired to have complete jurisdiction and was prepared
to open her whole country. In 1886 a Conference of the sixteen
Treaty Powers was held with Japan, and after a year's discussion,
it was solemnly proposed to Japan that she should set up an array
of highly-paid foreign judges, with a staff of foreign interpreters
to render the evidence and their judgments from balf a dozen
foreign languages into Japanese and back, and that for fifteen
years to come every change, of every Japanese code should be
"communicated" to every one of the sixteen Powers to Bel-
gium, to Denmark, to Portugal, to Hawaii, to Peru ! for its
approval. So anxious was Count Inouye to get the great ques-
tion settled that he even accepted these terms, but the moment
they were understood in Japan a storm of public indignation
sprang up and drove him from office. He was succeeded by
Count Okuma, who approached the sixteen Powers separately
and proposed that the revised Codes should be promulgated in
English for two years before the abolition of Consular jurisdic-
tion, and that foreign judges should sit in a majority in all cases
affecting foreigners. In return he would throw open Japan to
foreign residence and trade. To these proposals the United
States, Germany, Eussia and France agreed. Great Britain,
unfortunately, still hung back. Again Japanese public opinion
manifested the greatest hostility, and the natural demand was
made that the question should be left for the decision of the
Diet, which was just about to assemble for the first time. The
THE JAPAN OF TO-DAY. 387
Cabinet resigned in a body, and a fanatic lay in wait for Count
Okuma at the gate of the Foreign Office, threw a dynamite bomb
at him, shattering one of his legs, and then and there cut his
own throat and fell dead. It has been told me by a foreigner
who was engaged at the Foreign Office on that day that public
opinion was so charged with anger that everybody was expecting
something dreadful to happen, and when the explosion was
heard all present knew in a moment what it must be. Viscount
Aoki succeeded Count Okuma as Minister for Foreign Affairs,
and made new tentatives towards settling the Treaty Eevision
Question, but in vain. An anti-foreign feeling had now taken
deep root, and the watch ward of all parties was, " A treaty on
terms of absolute equality." And that is what has taken place.
Viscount Aoki has been more fortunate as Ambassador than as
Foreign Minister, and he has concluded with Great Britain a
treaty which gives to Japan everything that she desires.
Treaties with the United States, Germany, France, and Eussia
will of course follow immediately. Japan acquires her com-
plete judicial autonomy after a period of at least five years,
when the treaty takes effect, and it remains in force for a period
of twelve years. A revised tariff would go into operation a
month after the exchange of ratifications, except for the " most
favoured nation" clause in the Japanese treaties with other
Powers ; she will not, therefore, be able to avail herself of this
until she has concluded similar treaties with them.
On the expiration of the treaty that is to say, seventeen
years from the present time Japan comes into possession of
her complete tariff autonomy also. During the next five years
Japan agrees to issue passports, available for twelve months, to
all accredited British subjects ; and by the treaty the whole of
Japan is thrown open to British trade, travel, and residence,
and British subjects are placed in every respect on a par with
Japanese, with certain exceptions. On the one hand, they are
exempted from compulsory military service, and from any
pecuniary burden in connection with it ; and on the other,
888 JAPAN.
they are not allowed to own land or to engage in the coast-
ing trade, except between certain specified ports. Every-
thing except land they may own in the interior, but that
they can only acquire by lease, and according to the Japanese
laws and customs these leases will probably be for thirty and
fifty years. The prohibition of land-owning by foreigners
will be seen when looked at from the point of view of the
Japanese to be a reasonable measure of self-protection. If
wealthy foreigners were allowed to acquire by purchase vast
tracts of land in Japan it is easy to see how serious political
and other difficulties might arise. Japanese capitalists could
not enter into competition with the capitalists of Europe.
By this treaty for the first time Japanese subjects are
accorded in Great Britain the same rights and privileges as
British subjects; this has hitherto been a matter of courtesy, and
not of right. The Japanese Codes, as is well known, have been
drawn up by European experts and are equal, theoretically, to
any criminal and civil codes in the world ; and during the five
years which must elapse before foreigners come under their
operation the Japanese judges will have a further considerable
experience in the administration of them. Considering, more-
over, that it is the very legitimate ambition of the Japanese so
to act in all public matters as to be above the criticism of
western nations, there is no reason to fear that any miscarriage
of justice towards foreigners will ensue. Should the arrange-
ment, however, prove unsatisfactory in any way, it must be
remembered that the British Government were repeatedly
offered by Japan terms of treaty revision which included
foreign judges upon the Japanese Bench when the interests of
foreigners were concerned, and that having refused these terms
they have now accepted the present much less advantageous
ones. So far as Great Britain is concerned it is the story of the
Sibylline books : we have paid more in the end for less than we
were offered at the beginning. But there can be no doubt what-
ever of the absolute justice of this treaty, and it should be a
THE JAPAN OF TO-DAY. 389
matter of pride to us, no less than of satisfaction at the ex-
pediency of the act, that we have been the first nation to recog-
nise the just claims of Japan to be regarded as a civilised
country. Our hesitation to do so for many years produced
much hard feeling against us, but this is now replaced by a
feeling of grateful appreciation that we have at last led the way
where other nations must inevitably follow. Thus Japan enters
first of all eastern countries into the charmed circle of the
civilised Powers, and the dearest wish of her heart is at length
gratified.
The Japan of to-morrow has nothing to fear except from
herself. There are certain signs of threatening dangers, how-
ever, which students of her history and critics of her institutions
cannot overlook. The first of these springs from her very success
in rivalling western nations in their manufacturing industries.
While we have succeeded, after many struggles, in mitigating
the horrors of the old factory system, and are still occupied in
devising fresh safeguards for the future, Japan is complacently
allowing identical evils to grow up in her midst. It is time
for her to realise that even though her army and navy
become the most powerful in the world, the title of "civilised"
cannot properly apply to her so long as young children work
twelve hours a day in her factories. The character of her
people, to which is due in the last analysis every success that
she has achieved, has sprung from the free development of
individual character, and it is seriously threatened by the rapid
growth of great manufacturing industries, which tend, when
unrestricted, to reduce the individual man to a mere cog in the
mechanism, and which eat up the lives of women and children.
Upon this point I may be permitted to repeat what I have said
before. When Japan rings with the rattle of machinery ; when
the railway has become a feature of her scenery; when the boiler-
chimney has defaced her choicest spots as the paper-makers have
already obliterated the delights of Oji ; when the traditions of
yashiki and sliizoku alike are all finally engulfed in the barrack-
890 JAPAN.
room ; when her art reckons its output by the thousand dozen ;
when the power in the land is shared between the professional
politician and the plutocrat ; when the peasant has been exchanged
for the "factory hand," the kimono for the slop-suit, the tea-house
for the music-hall, the geisha for the lion comique, and the daimio
for the beer-peer Japan will have good cause to doubt whether
she Las made a wise bargain. Her greatest triumph will come,
if ever, when she has shown that while adapting and even
improving the western methods of influence and power, she
is ablo to guard herself from falling into the slough of social
and economical difficulties in which European and American
societies are wallowing, and from which one may almost doubt
whether they will succeed in emerging without leaving civilisa-
tion behind them for good.
The second danger lying ahead of Japan may spring from her
own excessive zeal. She has been so marvellously successful
that she may be apt to believe she cannot fail. " Let him
that thinketh he standeth beware lest he fall." If the Japanese
politician becomes enamoured of Utopias and panaceas ; if he
believes that, in the future as in the past, his own country can
do in a decade what it has taken other nations a century to
accomplish ; if he does not realise that the difficulties ahead are
infinitely greater and more trying than those which have been
overcome, he may plunge Japan into a bottomless pit of
troubles. There are still in modern Japan all the elements
for civil explosion, and serious economic and political difficulties
would undoubtedly bring these into action.
Excess of zeal has already brought about a virtual deadlock in
the most vital institution of modern Japan its Parliamentary
system. This has hardly been in existence four years, yet
during that time it has developed more than one sharp conflict
between the Emperor and the deputies ; the Diet has been
several times prorogued and twice dissolved ; it has expelled its
President ; it is split up into innumerable and almost incom-
prehensible factious ; it has been the scene of many unseemly
THE JAPAN OP TO-DAY. 391
demonstrations ; and it has formally declared itself in direct
conflict with the provisions of the Constitution of 1889. A
majority of the Diet is bent upon securing the system of party
Cabinets, which rise and fall in accordance with party votes.
This the Constitution expressly avoids. The Japanese Cabinet
is the Government of the Emperor ; nominally he is its head,
but actually he is only its figure-head ; a majority, therefore,
in appealing to him over the heads of the Cabinet, is striking a
blow at the heart of the Constitution. The situation is a very
difficult and even dangerous one, for representative government
almost necessarily involves government by party, yet in the
present fluid state of Japanese political thought, under a party
system there would be no guarantee whatever of stability or
continuity. Nor does Japan as yet seem to have produced any
great party-leaders. Moreover, her politics shows an unfortunate
tendency to violence. There is a class of unemployed rowdies,
called soshi, descendants by practice of the old ronins and corre-
sponding roughly to the " heelers " of Tammany, who hire
themselves out regularly, especially at election times, to the
highest bidder, for any disreputable purposes, from breaking
up meetings to bludgeoning candidates, or even assassinating
political opponents. When to all this is added the further fact
that the great clan jealousies of ante-Restoration times are still
smouldering, and that Satsuma and Choshiu live in harmony
chiefly because they divide political power between them, it will
be seen that in her new-found politics, too, Japan may find
many a danger to her national welfare. For myself I believe
that \vhen these dangers loom a little nearer and in their true
proportions, the Japanese people will have wisdom and sobriety
enough to avoid them, but no foreign friend of Japan should
fail to sound a note of grave alarm.
Of all excessive zeal, however, the most dangerous will
be excess of military zeal. There has always been a war
party in Japan, and it has looked for years with eager-
ness to a struggle with China. This has now taken place,
392 JAPAN.
and its results are not likely to be pacific ; on the con-
trary, the party of a so-called " strong foreign policy " will
be justified in the eyes of all men. And as there is no
longer any eastern Power to fight, the "strong" party of the
future can only turn its eyes towards some nation of the West.
Lest it be thought that I am exaggerating Japanese confidence
and ambition, I will quote the following extraordinary passage
from a recent speech of no less distinguished a person than
Count Okuma himself, ex-Minister for Foreign Affairs :
" The European Powers are already showing symptoms of decay, and the next
century will see their constitutions shattered and their empires in ruins. Even if
this should not quite happen, their resources will have become exhausted in unsuc-
cessful attempts at colonisation. Therefore who is fit to be their proper successors
if not ourselves? What nation except Germany, France, Eussia, Austria, and Italy
can put 200,000 men into the field inside of a month ? As to their finance, there
is no country where the disposal of surplus revenue gives rise to go much political
discussion. As to intellectual power, the Japanese mind is in every way equal to
the European mind. More than this, have not the Japanese opened a way to the
perfection of a discovery in which foreigners have not succeeded even after years of
labour? Our people astonish even the French, who are the most skilful among
artisans, by the cleverness of their work. It is true the Japanese are tmall of
stature, but the superiority of the body depends more on its constitution than on
its size. If treaty revision were completed, and Japan completely victorious over
China, we should become one of the chief Powers of the world, and no Power could
engage in any movement without first consulting us. Japan could then enter into
competition with Europe as the representative of the Oriental races."
One of the best friends Japan has ever had, the man who
knows her better than any other foreigner, has recently written
that Japan stands in great need of a peace party at this moment.
"Experience has taught us to dread one thing in Japan above
all others fashion. ... It may seem premature to speak of
this, but in truth we dread lest war become the fashion in
Japan, so that success, instead of bringing contentment, may
merely fire ambition. A peace party is wanted ; that is to say,
a party prepared to hold the nation back when the time for
halting shall have fairly arrived." * Captain Brinkley further
points out that the spectacle of the present war is not offered
* The Japnn Weekly Mail, August 25, 1894.
THE JAPAN OF TO-DAY. 398
gratis to western Powers, but that each pays for witnessing it
the price of interrupted or crippled trade, and that they " will not
sit idle if they see Japan fighting merely for lust of fighting or
of conquest." Japan, if she is wise, will find in solving the great
problems of peace, chief among which will be the education
of the masses of her people up to the standard of profession and
practice reached by her ruling and educated classes, a sufficient
occupation for all her genius.
CHAPTER XXV.
ASIA FOR THE ASIATICS?
TTTHEN peace is concluded between Japan and China, the
' ' difficulties of the war to speak in paradox will begin.
Up to the present time it has been plain sailing for everybody
concerned in the struggle, directly and indirectly, except China,
and her humiliation is a matter which no one except a partisan
of savagery can regret for a moment. The time is rapidly
approaching, however, when Japan must show her hand, and
then she will find herself face to face, across the carcase of her
defeated foe, with all the combined rivalry and mutual jealousies
of the European Powers. That moment will be a momentous
one for all parties, especially for Japan and for ourselves. It is,
of course, a risky matter to prophesy concerning the next six
months, since it is an open secret that no Foreign Office in
Europe has any accurate knowledge of the conditions Japan
will demand. Moreover, there are some aspects of the situation
which cannot yet be even discreetly discussed. But so far as
may be possible, the situation is one which Englishmen, of all
people, should consider carefully beforehand, for upon its develop-
ment hang very great issues for themselves.
There exists in Japan, in the minds of the intelligent among
her citizens no less than among her publicists, her soldiers, and
her diplomatists, a sentiment which is seldom mentioned there,
and which, so far as I know, has hardly been hinted at in
Europe. That sentiment is summed up in four words : Asia for
the Asiatics. Herein, I am convinced, lie the germs of the most
394
ASIA FOR THE ASIATICS? 395
momentous events in the relationships of nations since Napoleon
Bonaparte was exiled to St. Helena. To appreciate this, let us
first glance at the situation as a reasonable forecast pictures it.
It is assumed that Japan crushes China and is requested to
table the terms on which she will make peace. These may be,
first, the complete autonomy of Korea under Japanese protec-
tion, and with a Japanese force stationed at Wiju ; second, an
indemnity of 50,000,000; third, the occupation of Port
Arthur as a strategical guarantee, and possibly the control of
the Chinese Customs Office at Shanghai as a pecuniary guaran-
tee, until the above sum is paid ; fourth, the formal recognition
of Japanese rights over the Liuchiu Islands, and the cession of
Formosa. These would constitute a splendid set of conditions
for the victor, and all things considered, they could hardly be
described as extravagant, since with regard to Formosa, the
most contentious point, China informed Japan in 1873 that she
could not be responsible for an attack upon Japanese subjects by
the Forniosan people. But would even these conditions wholly
satisfy the people of Japan ? I do not hesitate to say they
would not.
Japan has already fixed her eyes upon the future, and what she
sees there alarms her, as well it may. Japan is a little country,
with 40,000,000 of people. China is a huge country, with
350,000,000. China could easily bring 500,000 men of splendid
physique to the colours ; she could engage European or American
officers and teachers to bring them gradually under military
discipline and instruction; well paid and fairly treated the soldiers
would be as good a mass of Kanoncnfutter as need be ; she could
arm them with repeating rifles and quick-firing field-pieces ;
she could buy herself a new fleet and place it under the absolute
control of foreign officers. It is inconceivable that even China,
if she ever escapes from the consequences of this war, should not
have learned her lesson at last. Then in ten or fifteen years'
time she would be a really great Power. During this period
Japan would have been compelled to increase her army and her
396 JAPAN.
navy, and to support a constantly growing burden of military
expenditure ; and at its close the whole struggle would be to
wage over again under conditions infinitely less favourable to
herself. The leading vernacular journals have already declared
frankly that this must not be permitted at any cost. Taking
once more the Japanese point of view, it cannot be asserted that
this is unreasonable. The question then recurs, what does Japan
want ?
This brings us back to the aforesaid undercurrent of national
sentiment in Japan which would express itself, if it spoke at all,
in the declaration, " Asia for the Asiatics." In other words,
I am able to say from positive knowledge that the Government
of Japan has conceived a parallel to the Monroe Doctrine for
the Far East, with herself at its centre. The words of Presi-
dent Monroe, in his famous Message of 1823, in which this
doctrine was first promulgated, express exactly, with the change
of the one word I have italicised, the views of the chief Japanese
statesmen of to-day : " With the existing colonies or depen-
dencies of any European power we have not interfered, and shall
not interfere; but with the governments which have declared
their independence and maintained it, and whose independence
we have, on great consideration and just principles, acknow-
ledged, we could not view an interposition for oppressing them,
or controlling in any other manner their destiny by any
European power, in any other light than as a manifestation of
an unfriendly disposition toward Japan." After all, Japan
says and the assertion is true Asia is Asia, and between the
Asiatic and the European, however keen may be the commercial
instincts of the latter, or however progressive the temperament
of the former, there is an everlasting gulf. We have found out
or we shall do so in India, that in Mr. Kipling's words,
" East is East, and West is West." We may like Japan and
admire her and trade with her and for my part I do not think
it possible to know Japan without both liking and admiring her
greatly ; and Japan may like us and appropriate our knowledge,
897
and trade with us. But Englishman, American, Frenchman, or
German is one kind of human being, and Japanese is another.
Between them stands, and will stand for ever, the sacred and
ineradicable distinction of race. China has, of course, been dimly
inspired by this knowledge when she has denounced Japan as a
traitor to Asia, and the Chinese community in Hongkong betrays
the same feeling when it speaks of the " treachery " of the most
enlightened Chinaman there because he possesses a double
European education in law and medicine, wears European
clothes, and married a European wife. But the retort of Japan
is that the real traitor is China, because she has been content to
remain the victim of the Occident instead of rousing herself to push
back its advancing waves, if an opportunity should offer. And
Japan is prepared to bring China back to Asiatic allegiance. It
is not yet understood that if Japan's first object during the war
has been to vanquish China, her second has been to avoid any step
which might upset the Chinese dynasty. Had she wished to do
this, nothing could have been easier. She could with almost
a certainty of success have left Port Arthur and Wei-hai-wei
to stew in their own juice, and have marched an expedition
straight to Peking. But putting this supposition aside in defer-
ence to the views of some military experts, she could have
despatched emissaries to China and her soshi class would have
provided numbers of them to distribute throughout the
more disaffected provinces placards calling upon the Chinese
people to rise against their alien rulers, and assuring them
that the war was only against the throne and not against
the country ; then, by providing with money and arms tbe
rebels she would thus have created, she could, almost with-
out striking a blow, have brought down the political organisa-
tion of China like a house of cards. In that event, however,
China would have been a mere inert mass of members,
without a head. Japan has no doubt whatever of her ability
to re-organise China. The Hochi Shimbun, one of the leading
Tokyo journals, recently said : " The Chinese are the worst
898 JAPAN.
governed people in the world, and consequently the easiest
to bring under a foreign yoke. Beside, , they have no strong
national pride, like that entertained by the French, the German,
the English, or the Japanese. Talleyrand's saying that
' Italy is a mere geographical name ' may be applied to
China with much greater force. The Chinese, under the mild
and civilised rule of Japan, would soon learn that they fare
better thus than under their old masters. That would assuredly
be the case in respect of material prosperity, and an improve-
ment in such an important matter would in itself satisfy them."
And in a later issue the same journal, which is not in the
habit of treating serious matters thoughtlessly, has carried this
consideration to the point of advocating it as a measure of
practical politics. It declares that China is doomed to destruc-
tion, if not by Japan, then by Europe. It is, therefore, a ques-
tion demanding deep thought whether Japan should not take
possession of the big empire in the sequel of the present war.
Should China fall a prey to one or more European countries,
Japan's position would be greatly endangered. The Hochi
Sliwibun therefore entertains little doubt that it lies in the path
of Japan's mission, as the peace-maintainer of the Orient, to
bring China under the flag of the Rising Sun at the earliest
possible opportunity. And the same confidence on behalf of
Japan has been strikingly expressed in England :
"Consider what a Japan-governed China would be. Think what the Chinese
are ; think of their powers of silent endurance under suffering and cruelty ; think
of their frugality ; think of their patient perseverance, their slow, dogged persis-
tence, their recklessness of life. Fancy this people ruled by a nation of born
organisers, who, half-allied to them, would understand their temperament and their
habits. The Oriental, with his power of retaining health under conditions under
which no European could live, with his savage daring when roused, with his inborn
cunning, lacks only the superior knowledge of civilisation to be the equal of the
European in warfare as well as in industry. In England we do not realise that in a
Japanese dynasty such a civilisation would exist : we have not yet learned to look
upon the Mikado as a civilised monarch, as we look upon the Czar. Yet such he is
undoubtedly. And under him the dreams of the supremacy of the Yellow Kace in
Europe, Asia, and even Africa, to which Dr. Pearson and others have given expres-
sion, would be no longer mere nightmares. Instead of speculating as to whether
ASIA FOR THE ASIATICS? 899
England or Germany or Russia is to be the next world's ruler, we might have to
learn that Japan was on its way to that position." *
Upon this Japanese ambition, however, there can be but one
comment : Great Britain and Kussia would never permit it. Yet
if the Chinese Humpty-Dumpty fell from his wall nobody but
Japan could put him together again ; no western nation could
attempt the task, even if her rivals would allow her to try. If
the Emperor Kwang-hsii were hurled from his throne either from
within or from without, foreign intervention would take place
on the instant, and that is what Japan desires to avoid above all
things. Hence her unwillingness to strike at Peking, hence
British anxiety, hence the well-meant attempt at mediation, and
hence, too, the powerful British fleet at the present moment in
Chinese waters.
Japanese statesmen are keenly alive to the foregoing con-
siderations. What is the alternative in their eyes ? Obviously
and certainly an alliance with a European Power. But with
whom ? Japan has already chosen in her own mind. She fears
Russia ; she distrusts France ; Germany is not powerful enough
at sea to count in this connection, even if her interests were
large enough to justify a strong policy in the Far East. The
ideal in foreign politics of the most enlightened Japanese is
an alliance with Great Britain. In fact, without exaggera-
tion and without the slightest discourtesy to Japan it may be
said that her alliance with us is on offer. The commercial interests
of the two countries are identical ; we both desire the widest
markets for our manufactures ; cordial friendship reigns between
us because we have shown our trust in Japan by making a
treaty with her upon equal terms. And what Japan needs in
an alliance is power at sea. Upon land in Asia no Asiatic nation
can dream of opposing her ; nor for the matter of that could
any European nation fight her at the present time. But at
sea she is weak, and upon the command of the sea, as we are
* The St. James's Gazette, Oct. 6, 1894.
400 JAPAN.
slowly learning, national safety depends. Great Britain and
Japan allied in the Far East would be irresistible. The one
would command the sea, the other would dominate the land :
the British Fleet would keep communications open, and nothing
could resist the troops of the Emperor. With such a union the
Korean Channel would become a second Dardanelles, and the
Sea of Japan would become the Eussian Black Sea of the East.
In return for our alliance Japan would willingly see Great
Britain occupy either Wei-hai-wei or Chusan as her northern
naval base, and Canton as her opportunity of commercial
expansion ; Japan taking Formosa and holding Port Arthur.
As an ally Japan would be faithful, brave, and powerful ; and
the Anglo-Japanese alliance would impose peace and offer
freedom of trade. It would not, like France, devise every
pitiful fiscal expedient to exclude all manufactures except its
own protected ones, nor handicap sick and suffering foreigners
by a differential hospital tariff.
What are the alternatives to this union of interests ?
They are two. First, Japan will ally herself with France ;
or if not with France then with Russia, France regard-
ing the operation with a friendly eye. A Franco-Japanese
alliance would doubtless be received in France with accla-
mation, for it would be aimed directly at Great Britain,
and France would get as her share of the bargain the
occupation of the Chinese province of Yunnan, and thus the
dream of Gamier of opening the markets of Southern China
through Tongking would at length be realised. Against France
and Japan combined we should be helpless in the Far East,
except at the cost of a great war upon which no British states-
man would embark. And it would not be long before a Franco-
Japanese-Chinese Zollverein would close the markets of China
to our goods. That would be an end of our influence and our
trade in a part of the world where, given a modicum of wisdom
and courage, it is our destiny to play a predominant part in the
future.
ASIA FOR THE ASIATICS ? 401
In the second place, if the alliance were between Japan and
Russia, France would get almost as much for her share, while
the advantages to Russia would be colossal. As I have
explained in another chapter, it is Russia that Japan has feared
in the past ; indeed, I may go further and at the risk of being
charged with indiscretion add that the plans of Japan for hos-
tilities with Russia are as complete as they were for her
occupation of Korea. For years it has been in the mind of
certain Japanese statesmen to propose to China at the fitting
opportunity an alliance whose ultimate object should be to
drive Russia back from the Far East. The Japanese Staff have
in their possession the most detailed plans for the taking of
Vladivostok and the cutting off of the wedge of Russian territory
which intervenes between Manchuria and the sea. This done,
the Japanese would propose to China that Kirin-ula should be
made into a great fortress, at the termination of a line of rail-
way, as a base from which to hold Russia for ever in check.
This, however, would be a pis alter of Japanese politics, and
would be dictated alike by anger at England and by fear for the
future. Russia has long desired to absorb Manchuria, with its
vast potential riches, and to establish herself at Port Arthur.
This is well known to those whose business it is to know such
things, and it explains the willingness of Russia to promise to
take no step in Korea. This is what Russia would gain by an
alliance with Japan ; France would get something to "keep her
sweet," as Orientals say ; crippled China would be a mere corpus
for Japanese trade ; Wei-hai-wei, the native city of Shanghai,
and Formosa would be Japanese ; and with Port Arthur
Russian, and Yunnan French, where would England be?
These are not dreams. If they seem so, it is because there
has been no rearrangement of the map of Europe on a large
scale for so long that we have lost the habit of considering such
eventualities, The collapse of China, however, lays the Far
East as open to the gambits of international rivalry as a chess-
27
402 JAPAN.
board when the four files face one another for the game. If
they are dreams to-day, any one of them so far as Japan is
concerned may be a reality to-morrow ; and since I regard the
situation as one of the utmost gravity for Great Britain, I may
perhaps venture to take one step more, and present as a basis
for the consideration of those who are better informed or upon
whose shoulders the responsibility will rest, my own view of
what the action of England should be.
The Anglo-Eussiau entente, by which Lord Eosebery has
achieved an undoubted triumph of diplomacy (supposing it to
last), is somewhat of a disappointment to Japan, but it leaves the
way open for a solution of the Far Eastern question in her inte-
rests no less than in those of Eussia and ourselves. In all the
country north of the southern frontier of China there are virtually
only three great interests : those of Great Britain, Eussia, and
Japan. The object, therefore, of any arrangement should be
the combination of these three. In this there should be no
serious difficulty, since, in the first place, the interests of the
three are fortunately not conflicting ; and, second, since the
ends aimed at are to the injury of no other party, a moral
justification is not lacking, and therefore there need be no
hesitation in defying opposition. Let us consider first the
case of Japan. By the terms of an Anglo-Eussian-Japanese
understanding she would receive in the first place the virtual
suzerainty of Korea ; second, whatever reasonable indemnity
she chooses to impose upon China ; third, the cession of
Formosa ; fourth, the Chinese navy, which she may capture.
Fifth, there need be no hesitation in allowing her to collect
the Customs at the port of Shanghai until the indemnity is paid.
And finally, she would have the inestimable advantage of being
free from fear of China in the future. Next consider the case
of Russia. Her share would be the triangle of territory around
which her Siberian Eailway is at present planned to run ; this
would then proceed in a straight line from Verkhne Udinsk
or Kiakhta to its terminus on the coast, across a district
ASIA FOB THE ASIATICS ? 408
probably more capable of development and possessing greater
natural wealth than any other part of the Far East. Second,
she would of course have to be provided with a winter port
at the terminus of her railway, and to this it would be
necessary for Japan to consent. No great concession, however,
would be here involved, since, as I have said elsewhere, it
is utterly out of the question to suppose that when her
railway is finished Russia will stop short at a port frozen for
five months in the year, whatever may be the cost of pro-
curing a better. Third, Russia would be freed for ever from the
fear of China along the three thousand miles of her weak and
hardly defensible frontier. Finally, what would be the position
of Great Britain under this arrangement ? First, she would
secure her indispensable northern naval base at Chusau,
Wei-hai-wei, or elsewhere. Second, the vast markets of the
whole of China would be thrown open to the whole world, and
she would have her customary predominance in them. Third,
she would be allowed to construct a railway from British
Kowloon to Hongkong, and the development of the province of
Kwangtung and the city of Canton would be placed under her
charge. Fourth, the Government of India would be given a
free hand in Thibet. Fifth, all anxieties and they are many
and heavy with regard to her future in the Far East would be
happily removed. To an arrangement of this kind the powerful
sympathy of the United States would hardly be wanting.
This is a moment for courageous and far-seeing statesman-
ship, a moment to admit frankly the existence of our bitter
enemies, and a moment, therefore, to seek for ourselves inte-
rested friends. France in the Far East will always be our
opponent. Whatever we propose at the present time this is
neither a supposition nor a secret Germany will oppose. It
is therefore the imperative duty of our statesmen to seek an
alliance elsewhere on fair terms. Moreover, this is our last
opportunity in that part of the world. If not we, then with
absolute certainty it will be others and our enemies who will
404 JAPAN.
profit. Once more, at the risk of wearying the reader, let me
beg him not to forget that we already have the right which
comeB to us from possessing beyond all comparison the pre-
dominance of trade and foreign population in the Far East,
and that whatever territory comes under our influence we throw
open freely to all the world. The ball of a great opportunity
is at our feet. Aegre offertur, facile amittitur. I am well aware
that at the present moment the ideal of our Foreign Office in
the Far East as elsewhere is the old-fashioned one that has
olten served us so well before the maintenance of the status
quo. But a status quo maintained by England and Russia,
with a victorious and foiled Japan outside it, presents to my
mind the aspect of a slumbering volcano.
SIAM.
CHAPTER XXVI.
BANGKOK AND ITS PEOPLE.
TT7HEN the present Tsar of Russia visited Siam in 1891, he
was met outside the bar of the Bangkok Eiver by a large
European-built Siamese man-of-war with heavy guns, and was
conveyed to the Royal Palace in a Siamese State Barge of
Oriental magnificence, a hundred feet long, with eighty gilded
paddles and gorgeous decorations. His amazement, for he
had expected to find a land of jungle and peasant, fitly re-
presents not only the ignorance 'of the world about Siam and
her resources, but also the ease with which the realities of her
condition have always been concealed by the speciousness of
her outward display.
The ordinary traveller will also obtain at the very mouth of
the river his first insight (as he will imagine it to be) into the
reality of Siamese progress from her ancient characteristics of
a tropical jungle and a down-trodden people. For whether you
approach from Singapore or from Hongkong, your first vision
of this land of the paradoxical and the bizarre is a wide river-
mouth edged apparently with endless swamp and fringed with
miles of waving and impenetrable attap palms, sending forth
swarms of vigorous mosquitoes to repel the intrusive foreigner.
But at the true entrance of the river you discover two large
forts, containing the latest developments of harbour defence
big guns, disappearing carriages, and masked batteries. And
this strange contrast, this shock of false relationships, this
mingling of west and east the one real, interesting, and
407
408 SIAM.
living, the other sham, pretentious, and dead constantly faces
you in Siam.
The bar of the Bangkok River is an exceedingly difficult
obstacle ; the channel itself is so constantly shifting, the
workings of the tide in this narrowing end of the great funnel
of the Gulf of Siam are so perplexingly intricate, and the effects
of the variations of wind upon the tides are so great, that a
very intimate and constant familiarity with the river will alone
enable any vessel to enter. The sagacious Foreign Minister of
the Siamese Government, Prince Devawongse Yaroprakar, once
replied to an Englishman who asked why the removal of the bar
was never included among his projects of reform, " Perhaps for
the same reason that you do not welcome the proposal for a
Channel Tunnel." The French gunboats, when forcing their
entrance to the Menarn in July, 1893, were fully alive to
this difficulty, and though the Siamese Government had cut off
the supply of pilots from foreign men-of-war by proclamation,
they cleverly secured the services of the best of the Bangkok
pilots by making their entrance close upon the heels of a vessel
trading under the French flag. Even at high tide, it is only
possible for ships drawing twelve or thirteen feet to get over the
bar ; the cargoes of the large trading vessels being brought
outside to them in sailing lighters and Chinese junks.
As you pass into the actual river, there gradually comes into
view one of the most striking pictures of this eastern wonder-
land a little island lying midway in the broad expanse of
stream, bearing upon its scanty head a pinnacle of glistening
white, a lofty Buddhist pagoda with attendant cloisters, shrines,
and chapels, with roofs of many-tinted tiles. It is an idyllic
picture, a fitting adytum to the shrine of truest Buddhism
Siam, the land of monasteries, the loyal guardian of the Faith
at its purest, the scene of its return to the more rationalistic,
and, in fact, originally simple elements. On your right, upon
the low-lying eastern bank appears the village of Paknam, " the
mouth of the waters," whose portly governor, Phya Samudh,
BANGKOK AND ITS PEOPLE. 409
was certainly one of the most remarkable of my many eastern
acquaintances ; the holder of one of the highest ranks of
Siamese nobility and officialdom ; a man of mixed but chiefly
Chinese origin; at the age of ten boot-black to a British
mariner ; at fifty, confidant, factotum, and counsellor to the
Koyal Prince-Ministers of Siam ; owner of four wealthy rice-
mills ; the official cicerone and entertainer of most foreign
visitors to Siam ; speaking with equal ease and native force,
English, Siamese, Malay, and various dialects of Chinese.
A single railway runs now from Paknam to the capital,
sixteen miles by land. This line saves some three hours of
time, as against the tortuous windings of the Menam, and
affords a striking panorama of the wide plantations, the rich
gardens, the muddy paddy-fields, and the humble peasant-life
which make up the real Siam that the hasty traveller so seldom
sees behind the shifting scenes of politics and progress in the
capital. But the water-way is the true highway in this land
of canals ; and as the ship breasts the current of the river in
the early morning, you may look upon the awakening of Siamese
daily life in all its primitive simplicity. The yellow-robed priest,
just risen from his early orisons, passes in his slight canoe from
door to door upon the riverside, to gather the daily offerings of
rice and food in the iron alms-bowl of the Buddhist mendicant.
The chattering women, with their large wicker sun-hats, standing
to their oars in gondola fashion, with stalwart strokes urge along
their laden boats of fruit and betel to the floating markets. The
ubiquitous Chinaman paddles his tiny dug-out, filled with much-
loved greasy pork. The children play in the water, or swim reck-
lessly in the wash of the big " fire-boat." The father munches
his early rice and fish on the floor of one of the quaint floating
houses, with pointed roofs of thatch, built upon shaky rafts of
bamboo, that line the banks of the river in endless rows, and
form perhaps the most distinctly characteristic feature of this
novel scene. And the heavy junk-rigged lighters sail down,
with their gesticulating Celestial crews, carrying the cargoes
410 SUM.
of rice or teak to the traders in the Eoads at Ko-si-chang, the
island anchorage and health resort some sixty miles away.
On dropping anchor in mid-stream at this strange town of
Bangkok, one realises at once that it is to trade, and trade
alone, that Siam has owed, and must ever owe, her chance of
figuring among the people of the East. To the silent palm-
groves and virgin jungles of 1850, have succeeded to-day the
forest of masts, the towering chimneys, and the humming
" godowns " of the pressing British trader. Bice-mills and
saw-mills, docks and ship-yards, stores and banks, houses and
schools, alike display the energy of the Anglo-Saxon, hand in
hand with the industry of the Mongol, forcing new life into
native indolence.
On arriving at the Merchants' Wharf or the Hotel Quay, or
when looking up one's acquaintances in the busy town, one's
first question is, Where is Siam ? where are the Siamese ?
Everywhere are Chinamen, or Malays, or Indians. Do the
Siamese have no part in all this scene of activity and com-
merce ? A very small share. In one's wanderings one sees
at first but little of Siam and the Siamese. Indeed the " down-
town " farang the Siamese word for every foreigner though
full of rumours, gossip, stories, and his own ideas about the
Siamese and their ways, the Palace and its intrigues, the princes
and their policy, knows practically nothing about the real Siam,
almost completely shut off, as he is, from observation of its
primary elements, and misled as to the intricacies of its internal
condition and prospects. That this is indeed the case is never
for a moment lost sight of by the wily Siamese themselves ;
and it is with many a smile that they watch the futile efforts
of the foreign element to follow the workings of the native mind.
But they receive blandly the advice and suggestions of foreign
Consuls, as the latter endeavour to apprehend the apparent
directions of eastern methods in general and of Siamese plans
in particular, from the impossible standpoint of western criti-
cism and European aims. And when it is remembered that the
BANGKOK AND ITS PEOPLE. 411
Foreign Legations, the Ministers and Consuls of foreign nations,
are all situated in the midst of this^atmosphere'of ignorance
and misconception, commonly called " down town," and that
with the exception of the French Consular officials (who use
special means for getting information from behind the scenes)
they see nothing whatever of the inside life of Siam, nor ever
gain the confidence of her Princes, it will be easily understood
how difficult it has been for the Foreign^Offices of Europe to be
alive to the realities of the situation from time to time, or to
foresee and to forestall the sudden developments, whether of
diplomacy or mere intrigue, that work such effective changes
under an Oriental government
In the solar system of Siam, the Palace is the sun. " Up
town," when the Palace awakes, everything awakes; when the
Palace sleeps, everything sleeps officialdom,^ politics, work,
duties, pleasures. Whereas, whatever happens in the Palace,
whatever intrigues take place, whether French threatenings
are being resisted in the Cabinet, British Consuls hoodwinked
in the Foreign Office, or German Concessionaries browbeaten
in the bureau ; though cruelties are being perpetrated in the
gaols, or exactions plotted in the Ministries ; though unspeak-
able blunders are committed in the Departments, and the whole
administrative machine seems going to pieces, " down town "
life and its commerce go on the same. The foreign element
is, in fact, completely outside the real life of Siam, and this
although it is solely due to foreign pressure that Siam has
become what she is, and that the Palace has any policy to
devise or resources to expropriate. To the Palace, therefore,
one must speedily find Bone's way, to see things as they are, or
in any sense to know Siam. I shifted my quarters to the city
proper within twenty-four hours of my arrival, and for nearly
three months I lived in the very centre of it, within a stone's
throw of the Palace wall. To the opportunity of doing this I
owe whatever intimate knowledge of Siam I possess.
As you drive through the one main street to the city wall you
412 SI AM.
see many of the worst aspects of Siamese town life the pawn-
shops and brothels, the spirit-dens and gambling-houses, the
reeking alleys and the heaps of refuse, the leprous beggars and
the lounging peons. The old wall of a hundred years ago
still surrounds the older city. You pass through it half-
way between the foreign quarter and the Palace. Its lofty
gateways, however, are never shut or guarded, and indeed
the gates are almost too rusty to be closed. The Siamese
have little reverence for the antique, and invariably prefer
convenience to sentiment ; so openings are freely cut, battle-
ments removed, and towers destroyed, whether for admitting
a road into some prince's property or for erecting electric
installations for the Palace. As soon as you have passed the
gateway and entered the city proper, you begin to realise the
effective presence of the Siamese Government and to feel the
pervading influence of royalty. The broad and well-kept road,
the rows of new-built houses and rapidly-spreading shops, with
the stuccoed walls of palaces and prisons, of barracks and
offices, display the Hausmann-like changes that King Chulalong-
korn I. has effected in the outward appearance of his capital,
during the twenty-five years that have elapsed since first he
wore the crown as a lad of fifteen.
Most of the princes, the two dozen brothers and half-brothers
of the King, who practically control all the executive and ad-
ministrative departments of State, inhabit large houses, built
for them, usually at the King's expense, in foreign style. But
the Koyal Palace itself has been cleverly contrived by an English
architect in collaboration with Siamese artificers to combine
Oriental picturesqueness and pinnacles with European comfort
and solidity. The lofty and graceful pointed spires of the
Grand Halls of Audience are conspicuous from a long way off ;
and the gleaming tiles of the golden Pagoda and the many
coloured roofs of the Royal Temple within the Palace walls give
a richer effect than anything to be found east of Calcutta.
The arrangement of the Palace and its buildings is an em-
THE HALLS OF AUDIENCE, BANGKOK.
BANGKOK AND ITS PEOPLE. 418
bodiment in brick of the policy of King Chulalongkorn's reign
which has been to draw the power, and consequently the wealth,
from the hands of the once great nobles and old family digni-
taries, and to concentrate it in himself alone ; to delegate it to
members of his own intimate family circle, and to them only,
and this not permanently but provisionally, at his own sovereign
will and changing pleasure. By this means he has attained the
very quintessence of centralisation, and realised in the com-
pletest sense a State in which the King is de facto as well as de
jure the sole source and repository of power.
Eound the Palace buildings proper, enclosed by lofty walls
and solid gateways guarded by day and closed at night, are
grouped almost all the offices of the various Government
departments. And right in the heart and centre of this
charmed circle of officialdom is the Koyal Grand Palace, of
which the audience halls and State apartments form the outer
and only visible portion. The inner portion of the Palace the
real dwelling-place of his Majesty is entirely concealed behind
these. It is invisible from any point on the north, south and east,
and entirely shielded on the river side by cleverly arranged walls
and courts which effect their purpose without suggesting their
object. The King is the only man within this seething city of
humanity ; alone if ever a man were alone amidst a crowded
population of none but women and children ; a complete female
town with its houses, markets, streets, prisons, and courts.
This city of women is known among the Siamese as Kang Nai,
" The Inside," and etiquette even forbids any allusion to it.
Here the King lives his life, and has deliberately elected (for it is
by no means a necessary custom) to spend the greater part
of his time ; his excursions " outside " amidst life and male
humanity, once frequent and enjoyed, have gradually decreased,
till in the last five years he has seldom exceeded an hour of
formal audience daily, and during the past twelve months he
has not averaged an hour in a fortnight. This seclusion of the
King, even in its milder form of five or six years ago, must
414
always be borne in mind as helping to explain many of the
strange inconsistencies of Siamese policy, both foreign and
domestic, especially when it is taken in conjunction with the
influence which naturally faHs into the hands of the women by
whom his Majesty is perpetually surrounded. But that, in the
now classic phrase, is another story, upon which it is best not
to dwell, though there are volumes to be written about it.
To find picturesque Bangkok, one must look elsewhere than
in the Palace, for there one sees merely the effect of money
spent in the tasteless purchase of European extravagances, so
that the result, though somewhat grand in general effect, only
serves to heighten the squalor and disorder that prevail in every
corner. On ordinary days, when the King is not expected to come
out, and no foreign representatives are to have audience, the
sentries of the Palace Guard usually sit about on rickety chairs
at the grand gateways ; the officials of the Household lie about in
all descriptions of undress in the stone courtyards ; and gigantic
chandeliers of countless German-made duplex lamps burn all
day until they go out from want of oil, in the lack of any regular
hands to perform the simplest household routine that word so
entirely hateful to the average Siamese.
Every visit that I paid to the Royal Siamese Ministry of
Foreign Affairs was an Oriental object-lesson. A lazy sentry
lolling on an old oil-tin at the outer gate would insolently ask
my errand, and lazily give a reluctant guttural assent to rny
doubting ingress. Another sentry, if my visit was late
as it generally was, for the Foreign Minister usually began
his work at eleven o'clock at night lying asleep within the
entry, would sulkily respond to my shouts of inquiry with a
hardly intelligible reply in colloquial Siamese that the Prince
was in or was out, yu or mai yu as might suit his own particular
humour, without any needless reference to the truth of the
matter. As I thus necessarily carried on my own hesitating
researches unheralded into the inner regions, my ears were met
with the snores of attendants lying about the passages, or the
BANGKOK AND ITS PEOPLE. 41 5
yawns of sleepy clerks kept there the whole night in idleness ;
till at length one might come suddenly upon the Eoyal Prince
Minister himself, at supper with some favoured gossip, or intent
upon a vigorous and exciting game of chess, an occupation at
which he is facile princeps, as in most of the other games of
skill that his Eoyal Highness affects, and on which he spends a
very considerable portion of his " office hours." In the mean-
time suitors might wail, and Consuls rave at the needless delays,
the perpetual procrastinations, which often continued from
week to week and even from month to month ; and usually
wearied out, as they were intended to do, the unfortunate
foreigners. Go where one would, and when one would, in this
strange medley of departments, bureaus, and government offices,
every passage and every room was all unswept and littered with
the daily mess, the cast-off cigarettes, the decaying betel-nut,
and all the indescribable debris of the countless hangers-on and
ragged retainers who attend the footsteps of every official. In
not a single office but that of Prince Damrong a brilliant
exception to the general slovenliness of Siamese ministers in this,
as in many respects did I observe the slightest desire for neat-
ness and order, or even an idea of common cleanliness. One
naturally expects great things, for instance, of the far-famed
White Elephants that live at the gates of the royal palace, to
whom fable and a credulous European public have attributed an
absurd sanctity. But they are in reality in a plight that would
shame the bear-cage of a wandering circus ; tended by slouching
ruffians who lie about in rags and tatters, eking out a scanty
livelihood by weaving baskets, and begging a copper from every
visitor in return for throwing a bunch of seedy grass or rotting
bananas to the swaying beasts which raise their trunks in
anticipation of the much-needed addition to their scanty diet.
Such is the Palace of the wealthy and progressive King of Siarn.
When one thinks of the swarms of women and children that
spend their whole lives "inside," and the innumerable officials
and hangers-on that throng the " outside " of this wondrous
416 SIAM.
palace, when one realises that it boasts of no drains except a
simple trench that was dug for surplus rain floods, but which
has unfortunately been made to slope the wrong way and so
collects the flood-water into three-feet pools at the very gateway
itself, while every domestic or sanitary arrangement is con-
spicuous by its entire absence, and is supplied, as one's senses
inform one, by nature's means alone, one begins to wonder
indeed at the prolonged exemption from epidemics that seems
to have favoured the happy-go-lucky Siamese. But on gala
days, and above all when any farang visitor is to be dazzled,
they set to work strenuously, and soon with hasty brooms,
scurrying officials, weary prisoners, half-paid coolies, and many
lashes, a general effect is produced, striking in its mass of
colour, effective in its architectural pose, and brilliant in its
Oriental profusion of "humanity in procession."
Back from the busy parts of the city, Bangkok is intersected
by pleasant bye-paths and the winding canals all overhung
with tropical verdure ; so much so that the whole city, when
surveyed from the height of the "Great Golden Mountain"
an artificial brick pagoda some two hundred feet high
appears, as my photograph shows, to be one mass of trees
dotted with occasional protruding spires. To turn off into
the first side-path and enter the compound of some petty
official, is to penetrate at a step into the patriarchal state.
Around you stand the wooden houses, erect on piles to raise
them above the mud, or even water, which is always present
during the rainy season; reached by simple ladders, sufficient for
man but impossible for beast. The women are pounding in the
mortars with heavy wooden hammers beneath the floors of the
houses, or winnowing the brown-skinned paddy in great wicker
pans, in the middle of the courtyard. Pariah dogs are prowling
round, snarling and howling over the refuse of many weeks of
primitive Siamese housekeeping. In the centre dwelling sits the
master, full in the open doorway, and whether he is making his
toilet, or eating his dinner, or performing his duties, he is
BANGKOK AND ITS PEOPLE. 41?
always surrounded with servants and visitors, wives and
mothers, in unconcerned proximity ; for Siam is a land where
privacy is unknown and a desire for it unfelt. In the adjoining
dwellings, upon the same platforms, are the households of his
various sons and their wives, or more often of his daughters
and their husbands ; for in Siam a young man goes to live
in his mother-in-law's compound without any misgiving.
But it is in the "Wats" the temples, or monasteries, as
they should rather be called that we discover the really finer
parts of Bangkok. These buildings occupy the best sites, and
afford the most beautiful views of the town. Built for the most
part in the days when roads and carriages were unknown, they
nestle among the trees upon the banks of the innumerable
canals. Amidst shady cloisters, frescoed in brilliant colours
with the fabled incidents of Brahmin polytheism, and glaring
with the hell-pictures of later Buddhist mythology, stands the
Temple itself, lofty, cool, and dim, with threefold or fourfold
roofs and soaring rafters and marble floors, where dreamy
monks recite in impressive sing-song the lengthy formulae of
their world-old faith, while placid Buddhas tower above them
in endless calm, or stretch their length in huge figures of sixty
or seventy feet of gilded brickwork, through the gloomy
columns.
Around and outside these more sacred precincts stand rows on
rows of little dwellings for the priests, where day by day they
practise their orisons or instruct their pupils, or pursue their
meditations. But it is on festival days, and on the weekly
Sacred Day, the seventh and fifteenth of each moon, that these
Wats become the scene of activity and resound with the
hum of many voices. In Siam, as elsewhere, the active
ministrations of religion seem chiefly sought by the softer sex,
perhaps with more reason than in Europe, since here the men
will work off each his own necessary portion of religion in the
few weeks or months, or occasionally years, that almost every
Siamese man spends in the monastic order, at some period of
28
418 SIAM.
his life. Thus on "Wan Pra " may be seen a crowd of women
with laughing children coming in all simplicity, like mediaeval
Christians to the weekly Mass, to gain their humble share of
hard-won "merit" by devotion, and if possible to escape the
eternal handicap which Buddhism lays upon their sex.
The only official call that a Siamese makes upon the rites
of the church is at his cremation, the greatest event in his
career. It is a genuinely impressive experience to see the
humble ceremonies of a peasant cremation, to hear the yellow-
robed priests intoning with Gregorian sonorousness the office of
the dead over the leaping flames, and to watch them as they
repeat the orisons from hour to hour throughout the night over
the smouldering ashes, with weird cadence, in the strange
rolling accents of the old Pali, till at dawn they make their
mournful search upon the pyre for the charred remnants of frail
humanity.
The cremation of the rich and great is a different affair
altogether. At the death of a noble, and still more of some
member of the Eoyal Family, a cremation, which is then held
some months afterwards, becomes a public holiday, a brilliant
gala week with dances and shows and theatres and every form
of national amusement and delight ; and so adds one more to
the wonderful list of high-days and holidays which the ease-
loving Siamese contrives to fit into his year. Festivals are
indeed the chief business of Siamese life. I was a spectator
of one specially gorgeous festival in the king's summer palace
up the river at Bang-pa-in. It was a right royal pageant in
honour of the yearly fete of Loi Katong, a sort of Feast of
Lanterns, when every stream and waterway sparkled with the
little lamps and tapers set afloat by the simple worshipper, to
"make merit," in happy ignorance that he thus perpetuated the
primeval invocation of his Aryan forefathers to the bounty of
the waters which alone can give the rich harvest. In tiny
cockle-shells and stately barges, in fragile emblems and in
towering monsters, 'the glinting line of lights was borne along,
BANGKOK AND ITS PEOPLE. 419
amidst the blare of trumpets and the shouts of the throng, till
it disappeared into the darkness, and left the light-hearted
Siamese to count up the days to the next of those recurring
holidays.
It is only during the vast preparations for some Palace
function a gorgeous cremation, the brilliant ceremony of the
"top-knot cutting" when the Crown Prince comes of age, or
the annual visits to the Wats that one first perceives that
the indolent Siamese can work, and work with a will, too, to
build up towering erections of bamboo and thatch and tinsel
and gaudy colouring of waving festoons, with an activity and
ingenuity that pass one's comprehension, till one happens upon
the explanation. It is that the great officials and even the
royal princes are themselves directing and urging on with voice
and hand the work of raising these ephemeral shows, which
appeal at once to their keenest sense of pleasure and their
fondest hopes for royal favour. It has been well said that the
Siamese habit is to work at play, and to play at work ; I shall
have something to say upon the latter head later on, but the
subject of cremations offers one of the finest examples of the
former. There is a fine square of open and level greensward just
in front of the Grand Palace, covering some four or five acres.
On the death of any child or near relative of the reigning or
previous monarch, this ground is covered with an immense
erection of buildings, which occupy often five or six months
and tens of thousands of hands in building, and are on view
during perhaps five or six days of the ceremony, and in actual
use only during the five or six hours of the burning. They are
then entirely demolished within a few days, and the whole
process is begun over again with entirely new material at the
next royal death. The expense involved each time is almost
incredible. If we include the accompanying lavish distribution
of presents, both of Siamese money and of goods ordered
from Europe by hundreds of cases, it sometimes amounts
to as much as fifteen thousand catties say, 75,000. And
420 SIAM.
this in a country where the peasant is taxed nearly fifty
per cent, on every article of necessity ; where official salaries
are generally in arrear ; while defence, education, public works,
and other reforms, are always starved on the plea of lack of
revenue.
But to see a Koyal Siamese Ceremony at its best, one must
witness the pageants connected with the varied innumerable
sacrosanct events in the life of the Heir Apparent himself, or
indeed of any other of the full Celestial princes Chow Fah, as
they are called i.e., those sons of the King whose mothers are
of royal blood. There is first the giving of presents to the
royal parents at his birth a list of the money value of each,
with the donor's name, being carefully registered as a guide for
future royal favours. Then there is the top-knot cutting at the
age of twelve, followed by his entrance into the noviciate of the
Buddhist monastic order at thirteen, and into the full priesthood
at twenty-one; besides the minor fetes at marriages or the
bestowals of higher ranks and titles ; and above all, the final
festival of his cremation. Every one of these events is the
occasion for immense processions and gorgeous pageants, entailing
a complete cessation of all Government business for a week or
ten days at least, and its confusion and delay for a much longer
period before and after. To crown all, there is the expense
involved in the dresses, the lavish largesses, and the almsgiving,
besides the heavy penalty of the forced and unpaid labour of
most of the unfortunate workmen employed. So that each one
of the little "sons of heaven" whose number is now rising
seven, as the present King began his family rather early in life
(at thirteen he was the father of two children) has been
estimated to cost his faithful and long-suffering country from
ninety to a hundred thousand pounds in festivals alone. Nobles
and princes, by the way, pay nothing towards taxes. I should
add that any lack of the necessary total sum is made up
through "loyal contributions," consisting of "voluntary"
abatements of the monthly salaries of the officials, since it is
BANGKOK AND ITS PEOPLE. 421
an absolute necessity that the full requirements be forthcoming
for these royal and national amusements.
In a people so averse to work of any kind, one would expect
to find but few popular amusements, and those not of the
nature of violent exercise. And this is the case. There are
practically but two forms of amusement throughout the whole
of Siam gambling and the theatre. The former is the great
national passion ; every large town has its nightly lottery of
incredible proportions. The possession of the Bangkok Lottery
license brings a great fortune in about five years, and the
Government draws one of its largest revenues from this source.
Gambling-houses, and their natural concomitants and next-door
neighbours the pawn-shops, are as numerous in Bangkok as
public-houses in London, and fifty times as pernicious in their
effect on the people ; and this deadly national trait can but
increase so long as a native government prefers to use it as a
source of profit rather than to check it as a national curse.
Of theatres and theatre-going a volume might be written. To
an ordinary Siamese it is the height of happiness to sit jammed
in a dense crowd on the floor, from seven p.m. to two a.m.,
watching the same play or rather portion of a play, for it is a
matter of several such nights in succession before the drama is
completed. The plays are usually adaptations from old Hindu
mythology ; the plot and every incident of it are familiar to all
in the audience the more so, the better. The attraction con-
sists in the manner of its presentment, the long-drawn tension
of the " love " episodes, the realism of the denouments, the
gorgeousness of the dresses, and the minute skill of the nume-
rous dances. The actors, with the exception of a few clowns,
are all young girls. They are subjected to stringent training
from the age of four years, and in their prime at seventeen and
eighteen years of age are a possession of immense money value
to their " owners," in spite of the much-vaunted but unenforced
slavery reforms of the present reign. The dances are entirely
posture-dances, great pleasure being taken in the abnormal
422 SIAM.
bending-back of elbows, wrists, ankles, and finger -joints, which
is carried to an extent that would be impossible to even a
" double-jointed " European. The dances are accompanied by
loud music from the orchestra, assisted sometimes by the hard
voices of a chorus of some twenty old women, and heightened in
the impassioned moments by the voices of the danseuses them-
selves. I was permitted to take the accompanying photograph
of two of the leading prime donne of Bangkok, in a company
belonging to a most distinguished nobleman, a personal friend
of the King, whose theatrical performances are always the
most popular feature of all the great national and other
holidays, the spectators numbering many hundreds at a time.
There is nothing to pay at a Siamese theatre, for the owner is
recouped by special donations from wealthy patrons, propor-
tionate to the popularity and success of the performances, while
the "company," like most other native employees in this
strange land, alike in palace and cottage, are not wage-earners
but house-chattels, that is, domestic slaves.
The fascinating subject of Siamese ceremonies, which, as I
have said, comprise three-fourths of the whole interest of life
to a Bangkok Siamese, has led me away from my description of
Bangkok itself. Its plan as a town, however, is so simple that
a few words will suffice. It is situated at about twelve miles
distance from the sea in a direct line, sixteen by rail, and some
thirty by water, and lies right on the banks of the really fine
river which has called it into being, to wit, the Menam Chow
Phya. Menam, "the mother of waters," is the generic name
for all rivers, and " Chow Phya " is the highest title of nobility,
the Lord Duke, as it were. The city itself possesses a lengthy
official name, couched as are all Siamese titles in the ancient
Pali language of the Buddhist Scriptures, the first portion of it
meaning "the City of the Great White Angels." Grandiloquent
titles, by the way, are a strong point in Siam both for places
and for officials, an arrangement which one might almost
regard as a striking instance of compensation, since the
BANGKOK AND ITS PEOPLE. 423
importance of the places is usually particularly small, and the
duties of the nobles are chiefly conspicuous by their absence. I
make this explanation in passing, because otherwise the
seventeen-syllabled name of the Palace cook, and the even
longer one of the King's barber, might possibly mislead an
innocent foreigner into ascribing a wholly fictitious excellence to
the cuisine of the one or the dexterity of the other.
The city is practically confined to the left bank of the river;
the portion on the right bank -which fifty years ago was the
centre of power and activity as the abode of the great Eegent
and his immense and once influential family, has now fallen
into complete decay, and is purposely left in neglect, as it might
otherwise recall a strong regime that is gone, and suggest some
unwelcome and uneasy memories of things that the present
reigning House may well wish buried in the past.
There is one main road some five or six miles long in excellent
condition in its upper portion (that is, where it may have to
face the criticism of Majesty itself), which runs parallel with
the river and leads from " down town " right up to and through
the city proper. The streets of Bangkok will agreeably astonish
the visitor from Canton or Peking by their width, their condition,
and comparative cleanliness ; while the excellent state of the
many cross-roads also in the city, such at least as are near the
Palace, speak well for the efforts made by the Government
during the past ten years in this direction. These owe their
existence to the energy of the various European employees of
the Siamese Public Works Department. There is, of course, the
typical Eastern conglomeration of filth and humanity in hovels
and alleys and fetid bazaars ; but to see it one must deliberately
seek it and leave the ordinary roads of traffic, for it is practically
confined to the one long gruesome stretch of Chinese bazaars
and native dens of various sorts, of evil odours and still worse
repute, known as Sampeng. But even this plague-centre has
now been cut into and ventilated by several wide transverse
roads, in consequence of the fortunate recurrence recently of
424 8IAM.
some fires which destroyed hundreds of the close-packed
shanties.
Along the whole length of the main road runs a well-kept
electric tramway, invariably filled to overflowing with chattering
passengers of every description, and paying to its lucky share-
holders the respectable dividend of thirty-four per cent, per
annum. It was started some five years ago, and was in a sense
the precursor of a great wave of native speculation. The fortu-
nate Concessionary was a Dane named M. de Richelieu, who
has been for many years in the more or less confidential service
of the King of Siarn. The tramway was so great a success
pecuniarily that it served as an admirable object-lesson in
the elementary principles of the investment of money to this
simple people, who had previously hoarded their moneys in bags,
or invested it in nothing better than slaves for the household or
buffaloes for the farm. This gave the first start to an eagerness
amongst all the natives to put their money to reproductive uses,
which fact explains, amongst other things, the uprising of the
rows upon rows of fairly good and neat-looking brick houses
that line the main roads of Bangkok, almost from end to end.
The Legations and all the principal residences of Bangkok
have their landings on the river front, while the more fortunate
ones possess in addition a good entrance on the main road.
This is also true of the Grand Palace, of which the Royal
Landing is one of the most conspicuous and peculiar features
on the river, fronted as it is with meagre battlements and
mangy guard-houses and enormous refuse-heaps, but backed by
the beautiful spires and glittering pinnacles I have already de-
scribed. Directly opposite the Palace landing, on the west side
of the river, is the Naval Arsenal, the one decently-kept and
good-looking government department of Siarn the outcome
also of the efforts of the Danish Commodore de Richelieu. Here
are the headquarters of a large department of marines, which
may be said to monopolise all that can be credited to the account
of discipline and order in the government departments of Siam,
BANGKOK AND ITS PEOPLE.
426
As an arsenal, its equipment can hardly be called excessive; to
us it might even seem a trifle inadequate, since its chief " pro-
perties " (no other word is so suitable) are a few turning-lathes,
a blacksmith's shop, some Chinese boiler-makers and fitters,
some native carpenters, with a few half-paid coolies and ragged
prisoners in chains. I must not omit to mention the cartridge-
making machinery without materials, the gun-fittings without
guns, and the cannons without projectiles. The arsenal does
indeed possess one large European-built dry-dock, made two or
three years ago, which, after remaining for years unfinished, so
long as it had been required only for ordinary government pur-
poses, was at last completed hurriedly so soon as it became
"necessary" (in the Palace sense) for the special purpose of
accommodating the King's own new yacht. This latter is a vessel
of two thousand five hundred tons, with velvet couches, cushioned
anterooms, and innumerable ladies' bedrooms, combined with
a steel deck, a ram, and an armament of quick-firing guns. The
latter might have produced some telling effects upon the French
gunboats last year if only there had been one single Siamese
engineer who knew how to work the engines to bring the vessel
into action, or a single gunner who understood how to fire her
guns when she got there. These, however, were details which
had unfortunately been overlooked when the Siamese Govern-
ment with farcical dignity sent their curt intimation to the French
Legation that "all necessary instructions" "have been given
to our naval and military authorities " to prevent the French
entrance.
I must make it clear, however, that Bangkok is not Siam.
To see Bangkok superficially in tourist fashion without ever
penetrating beneath the thin veneer of recently-acquired western
tricks and manners is, of course, misleading to an indescribable
degree, while even a close and intimate acquaintance with
Bangkok and its life and people, will give but a deceptive and
inaccurate conception of what Siam really is, either actually or
potentially.
426 si AM.
Bangkok is a town with about the population of Newcastle,
and the size of Oxford, but Siam is a country with the popula-
tion of Switzerland and the size of Great Britain and Ireland,
Holland, Belgium, and Italy, all rolled into one. Neither a
traveller nor a politician can hope to take the measure of a
country like this by observing, however carefully, a hybrid
development that has arisen in one small corner of it under the
special circumstances of European contact and proximity to the
sea ; more especially when it is remembered that the distant
portions of the kingdom are very slightly under the control of
the central Government, so far as direct action is concerned, in
spite of the recent strenuous efforts towards centralisation.
The solution of the most pressing problems of Siam's future
is, of course, means of communication. So long as this one
and only remedy is untouched by any efforts except the present
perfunctory and fictitious designs of the Royal Railway Depart-
ment, so long the vast possibilities of Siamese development must
remain unrealised. Take about half an hour's walk from the
Grand Palace in Bangkok in any direction you please, and you
find you can go no further. Not, however, because the roads
are atrocious, as in Korea, or impassable, as in China. They
simply do not exist there are none, Even the great waterway,
the one hope and stay of the struggling timber-dealers and
despairing rice-traders, is allowed to remain in a more or
less unnavigable condition for half of every year. The trade
of Siam, the development of Siam, the resources of Siam, have
become what they are in the teeth of almost insuperable ob-
stacles. In this complete absence of roads, one can of course
only get out of Bangkok and see anything of the country by
boat-travelling either on the canals or tbe main river; and
afterwards start from certain recognised centres, on ponies
or more often on foot, with bullocks or coolies for baggage,
along the rough trails and jungle paths, created simply by the
persistent tramping of feet, without artificial construction of
any sort, which still do duty for " Internal Communications."
BANGKOK AND ITS PEOPLE. 427
The chief places that repay a journey towards the west are
Khanburi and Ratburi, which have both been important districts
in the past, and with better communications would again become
centres for cattle-breeding, sugar cultivation, paddy-growing,
and tin-making. To reach them one must take a long journey
by a once magnificent canal which now runs dry at low tide, to
the Tachin Eiver, and through another to the Meklong River,
both of these rivers running parallel with the Menam into the
Gulf of Siam.
The great town in the north is Chiengmai (Zimme), where
there is a large population of British subjects, mostly Burmans,
and consequently a British Consul, whose time is well occupied
with the intricate cases that constantly arise out of the confusion
of Siamese forest regulations. To reach Chiengmai means a
tedious journey in native boats of some sixteen to fifty days,
according to the season of the year, part of it over dangerous
rapids, where one may often spend a day in making fifty yards.
To the east is the important trade centre and once royal city
of Khorat, the objective of the one hundred and sixty miles of
railway which is still supposed to be in active process of construc-
tion by the Royal Department of Siamese State Railways. The
present method of getting there is by the " Great Trail," a worn
track, trampled into huge ridges by the feet of pack-bullocks,
through virgin jungle and the fever-haunted forest of the " Lord
of Fire " Phya fai and over a steep pass like the sides of a
ruined pyramid, some three thousand feet above sea level. The
journey involves toiling on foot through waist-deep seas of mud
and over various unbridged streams, except during about three
months in the height of the dry season, when travelling becomes
still more difficult through lack of water. Yet Khorat is the
centre of a vast plain of magnificent soil, reaching right away to
the Mekong, and capable, if properly developed, of nearly doubling
the present revenues of Siam.
Chantabun, the place that is doubtless now best known to
fame, is a long distance to the south-east, and is approached by
428 SIAM.
a journey of about twelve hours across the corner of the Gulf of
Siam to the entrance of the Chantabun Eiver (at present under
French occupation and guarded by French guns), where the
native boats will take you in about six hours up to the town
itself. Here is the great emporium for the gem mines of the
rich provinces of the Hinterland, as also of the pepper and coffee
which count amongst the finest productions of Siam, though still
undeveloped. Chantabun is the outlet also of the three rich
provinces, between the Menam and the Great Cambodian Lake,
on which France has long been casting covetous eyes, and over
which her influence is daily increasing.
Every one who has been in Singapore or Hongkong, has seen
or heard of the quaint bullet-shaped ticals that once formed the
silver currency of Siam. These coins were originally about two
shillings in value, but they are now sharing the fate of the rupee
and the dollar. They are round lumps of silver hammered into
a flattened and irregular shape, cleft with a deep groove on one
side, and stamped with a tiny " chop " to show the reign or
period of issue. As it is impossible to " ring " these coins, and
most difficult to distinguish good from bad, a flat coinage of the
same value has been issued, with milled edge and royal
medallion and heraldic device. The tical is divided into four
salungs, and each salung into two f Hangs, flat silver coins being
issued for each of these values. The copper coinage, of which
a large issue was made in Birmingham some years ago, is also
a very presentable currency. A lot (about a farthing) is half an
att ; two atts make one pal, the equivalent of a penny ; and
eight atts go to ihefiiang, the smallest silver coin.
As the tical is the largest coin in circulation, the interchange
of money is of course a very cumbrous operation. The unfor-
tunate European employee who goes to draw his monthly
salary is compelled to take a coolie with him, or if his salary
be several months in arrear, he will require several coolies and
an immense stock of patience, to count and " shroff" and carry
away the heavy bags of depreciated silver. Large sums are
BANGKOK AND ITS PEOPLE. 429
measured in "catties," the "catty" being eighty ticals, a
weight not represented by any current coin. During the last five
years, however, all business matters have been immensely
facilitated by the permission granted to the local branch of the
Hongkong and Shanghai Bank to issue bank-notes for sums
varying from five to a thousand ticals. These notes are printed
in English, Siamese, and Chinese ; and though it took some time
for the suspicious Siamese to reverse his whole experience and
to be persuaded that a " promise to pay " was worth anything
at all, yet now the circulation of notes is rapidly increasing.
The presence of the bank has had a very beneficial influence,
too, in numerous other ways, as a convincing object-lesson of
business principles and commercial integrity to a people and a
government whose keenest delight is to shirk payments, who
are absolutely destitute of shame in money matters, and whose
promises are literally made to be broken.
It was indeed a fortunate day for business men and for the
whole people of Siam when it was finally decided to put away
on the shelf, unused and unissued, the hundreds of thousands
of new legal tender " Treasury Notes of the Koyal Siamese
Treasury," which an ambitious Finance Minister had commis-
sioned a German firm to print for him, under the familiar
temptation of thus creating out of nothing an unlimited supply
of ready money. The dismay that had spread amongst the
officials, both native and European, throughout the country at
the idea of being paid in Siamese paper promises, was an
eloquent proof of the character of the national good faith.
It is a common saying in Siam that you cannot throw a stone
in the street without hitting a prince or a nobleman; and the
supply certainly seems prodigious and inexhaustible. The
ordinary European conception of the real value of these ranks
is very mistaken, chiefly owing to the preposterous English
equivalents that have been invented (by an Englishman, I fear)
for the native titles. It is at once apparent that in a poly-
gamous country the family of each king must become almost
430 SIAM.
innumerable in two generations ; and while the blundering
farang will give to each and all the same title of " Prince " and
" Highness," native custom has worked out a sensible arrange-
ment which misleads nobody, and marks off with the nicest
gradations the actual percentage of purple blood. The king's
sons are called Pro, Chow Luk Yah Toh. If their mother be
royal or specially favoured, Chow Fah " Celestial Prince " is
added. The sons of the first of these are called Mom Chow, and
of the second, Pra Ong Chow. The sons of a Mom Chow
have the title Mom Rqja-wong, and the sons of these, that is
the fourth generation from the king, only Mom Luang; while the
fifth generation have no title at all, and are simply plain Nai, or
" Mr.," like everybody else. An absurdly misleading idea is
therefore given when European Secretaries of Legation impose
the title of " Prince " or " Royal Highness " upon every one
of these four generations. The Siamese themselves have the
sense to attach little importance or dignity to any tible below
Mom Chow the grandson of a king.
European recognition of Siamese birth-titles should properly
follow a very simple rule. All the Siamese who are entitled, by
European law and custom, to be known as " Pioyal Highness,"
may be recognised by the distinctively royal prefix of Somdetch,
the use of which is as inflexibly restricted by the Siamese them-
selves as the corresponding one among European nations. I
believe the Siamese who are styled Somdetch now number less
than twelve.
The above are all birth-titles. In addition to these, princes
of the first rank sometimes receive special titles of honour from
the King, either by favour or in recognition of services. They
are Krom Mun, the lowest, Krom Kun, Krom Luang, and Krom
Pra, the highest, and originally represented the headships of
various departments of State.
The same mistakes in European nomenclature are even
more glaring in the case of the so-called nobles. There is
absolutely no hereditary nobility in Siam, and to speak of
A TYPICAL SIAMESE WOMAN.
BANGKOK AN ITS PEOPLE. 431
Marquises, Counts, and Barons is a hideous absurdity, which
causes the liveliest ridicule in Siam itself, and makes foreign
snobbery a by-word amongst the people. Not a single family
title of nobility, in the English sense, exists in Siam. Every
post in government pay has a particular name or title, from
the clerk on his stool in the cash department of the spirit
licenses, or the half-naked inspector who sleepily watches the
road-sweepers in the streets, to the Director-General of Public
Works, or the Minister of Finance and the Treasury. Who-
ever holds a post is known by its appellation ; when a man
is transferred to another post, he changes his appellation
(or name, as the European mistakenly calls it). But these
so-called titles transmit nothing to the next generation ; it
is an unbroken rule that titles do not descend from father
to son. The son of the highest Pliya in the land whether
the latter be a general of the army with a seat in the Cabinet,
or a Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James
remains a plain Nai, like his father's retainers, until he obtains
his first post in the Government service, when he takes the
title Khun eo-and-so, by which the previous holder of the post
had been known till then. When by successive promotions
he reaches a particular grade in the service, his "title "will
change to Pra so-and-so, according to the special nature of his
duties. His next step, after long waiting, is that of Phya,
which is sometimes for special services, or as a particular mark
of royal favour, elevated to Chow Phya. Beyond this he cannot
go, except that he may be entered on the limited list of specially-
exalted Phyas, who are allowed a gold spittoon, a gold teapot, a
gold betel-box, and other insignia, presented to them by the
King, and returnable on their decease.
The mistaken ideas that have arisen in European minds out
of the above simple and practical arrangement are probably due
to the fact that all these " titles," or rather " names of offices,"
are not expressed in the ordinary Siamese language, which
would have dispelled the illusion by showing the intrinsic
482 SIAM.
meaning of the names, but are invariably in Pali, the sacred
or classical language of the Buddhist Scriptures, in which all
official names and royal attributes are expressed. This custom
gives occasion for many curious and interesting observations,
for one has to learn a complete vocabulary of Pali nomenclature
in order to speak about royalties at all : the very eyelashes and
toe-nails of a prince or king, as well as his coat or his boots,
his dinner or his bath-room, having wholly different names
from those of ordinary mortals. Not that these terms are used
by royalties of themselves, but by every one speaking to them
or of them. A volume would not suffice, I am assured, to
explain the wondrous intricacies of varying pronouns and in-
volved circumlocutions that are minutely attached to every dis-
tinct relation of rank and dignity between two speakers. For
example, there are at least seven different ways in which to say
"I," or " me," and four or five for "you" and "thou," each
and all of which may occur in turn in a single conversation, if
one is talking to or concerning several persons of different ranks.
With so carefully graduated and minutely understood a
system of official ceremonial, it is at once apparent how colossal
a blunder is made by speaking of Siamese visitors to our
shores as "Marquis" this, "Count" that, or "Baron" the
other. The height of this farce, however, is only seen when one
recognises in a crouching figure, trembling on all-fours upon the
floor of a Siamese office, a half-naked Luang, who had blossomed
under snobbery in London into " The Baron " ; or perceives
under the battered police helmet of a seedy Phya the features
of a man to whom one has been gravely introduced in Europe
as "His Excellency the Marquis."
The scheme of transmutation under which Siamese rank
masquerades in English, is that Phya represents " Marquis,"
Pra "Count," andLawy "Baron." One cannot possibly discuss
this seriously ; indeed, among the Siamese themselves, their
English rank affords a subject of ceaseless chaff and jest. The
Siamese Legation in Paris could tell a very good story to the
BANGKOK AND ITS PEOPLE. 433
effect that they once received a telegram advising them of
the arrival of the " Marquis de . . . ." * The united Siamese
staff, failing to recognise the particular member of their own
aristocracy thus announced, came to the conclusion that it
must be a French nobleman in charge of a Siamese Com-
mission, and applied to the French Foreign Office for detailed
information. The officials there informed them that no such
title existed in France, and suggested that it must be
a Siamese nobleman whose visit to Paris had already been
announced. To the infinite confusion of the Siamese Legation,
this hint enabled them to recognise the native face under the
foreign mask. In all the above I have spoken only of one sex.
With regard to the rank of Siamese ladies, it must suffice to say
that " Princess " and " Countess " in Kensington, have often
been their husbands' house-servants, raised to the responsi-
bility of concubines, in Bangkok.
It is therefore nothing short of offensive to see British
officials and personages of rank making themselves ludicrous in
Siamese eyes by taking all these farcical titles seriously. Our
Foreign Office and military authorities might at least find
out who an Oriental visitor really is, before appointing aides- de-
camp, ordering reviews and guards of honour, and commanding
the hospitality of Governors and Viceroys. One wonders how
soon all this unreality and humbug concerning a fictitious
"progress " will give way to an accurate understanding of the
real condition of Siam, and thus clear the way for the true de-
velopments of which, as a country, she is undoubtedly capable.
* I omit the name because the bearer of it, who is well known to me, is a
charming and enlightened man, hating the folly of which he is the victim.
29
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE PRINCIPLES AND PERSONALITIES OF SIAMESE
GOVERNMENT.
TT is difficult to convey to foreign readers any adequate notion
-*- of the degree in which the King of Siam is the head of the
State. "L'etat, c'est moi," is absolutely and literally true in
his case. His personal will is at once the measure of the
possible and the inevitable. When he has said Dai ("Be it
so!"), finality is reached. To every Siamese the King is not
alone the ruler of the land, but the actual possessor of it of
its soil, of its people, of its revenues. When the foreign
missionary desires to convey to the Siamese mind the idea of
God, he is compelled to employ the words Pro, Chow, which
are already used for '"king." Omniscience, omnipotence, and
absolute Tightness are the inherent attributes of the King.
To illustrate this, here is a perfectly true story. A Siamese
prince received from London a packet of Christmas cards,
one of which bore the text, "Glory to God in the Highest !"
Without in the least understanding the meaning and sacredness
of these words to Christian ears, and without the remotest
intention of irreverence, he erased the word " God," and
substituted the word " King," and sent it to the Palace.
He had simply been struck with the peculiar appositeness
of the expression, and the card gave the liveliest satisfaction
in royal circles. No distinction, again, exists in the Siamese
language between the personal possessions of the King and what
434
SIAMESE PRINCIPLES AND PERSONALITIES. 435
we should consider the property of the State. His Majesty's
walking-stick and the policeman's baton are alike Kong Luang
" royal property." Where money is concerned, the peculiar
convenience of this absence of distinction will be sufficiently
obvious. It is only within a very short time that an attempt
has been made to ear-mark any of the public revenues for
national purposes. I dwell upon this point because it is
necessary to understand the spirit which thus underlies the
whole of Siamese administration in order to realise the
precarious tenure and fictitious nature of the newly-adver-
tised machinery of reform.
Personally, Prabat Somdetch Pra Paramindr Maha Chulalong-
korn Patindr Tepa Maha Mongkut Pra Chula Chom Klao Chow
Yu Hua is a monarch for whom, up to a short time ago, it was
possible to entertain a considerable measure of respect. To
begin with, he is the best-looking man I saw in Siam. He bears
himself with genuine kingly dignity, and combines with great
charm of manner the peculiarly royal gift of calling forth the
personal devotion of every man, Siamese or foreign, whom he
chooses to admit to his intimacy. He remembers who everybody
is, what their interests at the moment may happen to be, and
the right phrase of personal inquiry rises instinctively to his lips.
Two or three days after I had had the honour of being received
by him he noticed me among a crowd of officials, and mentioning
by name the house and street where I was living, asked if I was
finding the surroundings agreeable. More than all this, however,
the King is a student, not only of the affairs of his own country,
but also of the politics and literature of Great Britain, and to a
smaller extent, of Europe as well. He reads English with ease,
and spoke it at least as well as the Tsarevich during all their
conversations, which were carried on in that language. Most
visitors take away a false idea upon this point, as it is not
etiquette for him to speak anything but Siamese, except as a
special mark of intimacy. All the more prominent of the princes
also speak and write English with a fair amount of fluency.
436 SIAM.
During tho acuter stages, for example, of the recent trouble,
when it was desired to keep the discussions in the Cabinet secret
from some of its members, the conversation was carried on in
English by the others without any difficulty. To Dr. Gowan,
his late body-physician and peculiarly intimate friend, the King
owes much of his English education and insight into the foreign
point of view. He has read and can show his appreciation of
the chief works of the English novelists, and every day for a
long time he used to translate a piece of the " Arabian Nights "
to his children, before the latter were able to read it for them-
selves. Unfortunately, to be quite frank, his Majesty unites with
the Stuart charm the Stuart moral weakness, and he has more
than once sacrificed, or permitted to be sacrificed, to the wearying
intrigues of his immediate household and relatives, those to
whose personal devotion he well knew himself to be under the
deepest obligations. The first sign of this, which has never been
forgotten in Siam, was given when he consented to the beheadal
of Pra Pichah, his closest friend and most loyal supporter,
under pressure from the Eegent, on a charge which was well
known to have been invented only for the purpose of gratifying
personal animosity. Dr. Gowan's dismissal was due to like
causes, and has been attended by disastrous results. A third
victim was Prince Narah, to whose efforts are due the few re-
strictions now put upon the different Ministers in their disposal
of the public funds, but who succumbed to their united defence
of the old profitable system of misappropriation. The latest
example of this trait was afforded when the King tamely assented
to the dismissal of Mr. Morant, the governor of the Crown Prince
and tutor to the royal children, who had lived for years in a
position of greater confidence and responsibility with the royal
family than any foreigner has ever done.
The King's interest in foreign matters was first aroused, and
his eyes first opened, by his visit to Lord Mayo in India in
1872. From the Viceroy he learned a lesson in the principles
of enlightened government which he has never forgotten, and
01
SIAMESE PRINCIPLES AND PERSONALITIES. 437
the assassination of Lord Mayo, whilst the King was still in
India, left an indelible impression upon him. Subsequently on
several occasions he has visited the Straits Settlements, the
protected Malay States, and the semi-independent States
which became humbly Siamese for the duration of his stay
studying the differences between Siamese and British administra-
tion and making open comparisons, greatly to the disadvantage
of the former. Unfortunately, however, as I shall have to
explain later, the King is no longer what he was.
The office known among foreigners as " Second King " a title
in no way suggested by the real Siamese title of Wang Nar
was abolished on the death of the last holder, Prince George
Washington, the palace was turned into barracks and the
position of the family obliterated. Consequently, the second
person in rank in the country above the Queen herself is
the Crown Prince, Somdetch Pra Borom Orosa Tiraj Chow
Fah Maha Vajirunhis, whose position and title were created
by a special royal proclamation in January, 1887, when the boy
was already nine years old. He is not the first-born son of the
King, for there are four older sons and several older daughters
by concubines. Two of the latter were born to the King before
he had reached the age of fifteen, the mother of the first being his
ex-nurse. The Crown Prince holds his position as the eldest
son of the First Queen. Both this lady and her sister, the
Second Queen, are the half-sisters of his Majesty. It is only
fair to the Siamese to say that this arrangement is not a royal or
immemorial custom, and it by no means finds favour in their eyes.
Up to the age of thirteen he is now sixteen the Crown Prince
lived the usual spoilt life of an Oriental child in the women's
quarters of the Palace. After spending the customary period
of a few months in the Buddhist noviciate, and becoming, in
Siamese parlance, of "adult age," he was compelled to live
"outside." Here he would certainly have fallen a prey to the
usual emasculating influences of an eastern court, which it was
at once the interest and the design of his numerous uncles to place
438 SIAM.
in his way, but fortunately his royal father determined to save
the boy from a repetition of the baneful experiences of his own
early youth, and therefore acceded to the earnest pleading of
his tutor, Mr. Morant, in favour of a strict and independent
intellectual and moral education. Having once agreed to this
course, the King was wise enough to see that it could only be
carried out by giving absolute authority to Mr. Morant, and this
he did at a special public audience. Placing in Mr. Moraut's
hands a small gold salver as a pledge of his confidence and
support, he charged him to " control my son's actions, influence
his character, and mould his will ; guard and guide him and act
towards him at all times as towards your own son ; " while to the
Crown Prince he added that he thus publicly, in the presence of
his family and his Ministers, entrusted him to Mr. Moraut's care.
An arrangement like this will no longer sound strange when it
is remembered that, owing to the King's life as described in the
preceding chapter, father and son lived entirely separate lives
and often did not see each other for weeks together. The regular
student life which followed, safeguarded from deleterious influ-
ences that surrounded it like malaria, had lasted less than a year
and a half when it was suddenly broken off by the series of events
which was and is to work so much harm in other ways to Siam.
lu 1892, the King's health, which had for years required careful
watching, became rapidty worse when the restraining hand of
a confidential European physician was removed. Twenty-five
years of harem life, combined with the excessive indulgence in
drugs to which all Orientals are prone, had sown the seeds of
physical and mental decay. His lassitude led him to absent
himself from affairs for a long period, and to plunge into the
pursuit of pleasure in the luxurious sea-side Palace which he
built for himself at enormous expense. Thus the recently-formed
" Cabinet " was left to administer the affairs of the country, with-
out either the presence or the control of their natural head.
Suddenly, like the explosion of a mine, came the crisis with
France and the terrified presentiment that the ancient prophecy
SIAMESE PRINCIPLES AND PERSONALITIES. 439
was about to be fulfilled, which declared that "the kingdom of
Siam will be lost when the King goes to live at the sea." He
returned from his palace of indolence at Koh-si-chang literally
at a moment's notice, determined to retrieve his position and
the future of his country. But it was too late. His vigour was
lost, his opportunity was gone. The French net was around
him, the French gunboats came up the Menam, the ultimatum
was presented, and after hopeless procrastination accepted. This
shattering of his ambitions and in his Jubilee year, too
reduced him to a state of mental helplessness, and he retired
" inside " to his apartments, almost literally to his bed. For
weeks together he never left his room, and the fact that he was
still alive was not certainly known except to the five or six ladies
who alone saw his face. In the collapse which thus ensued, the
education of the Crown Prince was among the first things to fall,
and his English guardian, left a helpless victim to the relentless
and now dominant jealousies of court circles, was promptly dis-
missed.
The young prince, thus in a moment deprived of all control,
has for the past year been allowed to fall back into a life of
lethargy and self-indulgence. But for this, the country had good
reason to hope well of its future ruler. He is an exceptionally
clever boy, and had made astonishing progress in his English
education. He spent his whole time reading English books.
His favourite lesson was a study of the weekly edition of
the Times, and it is not too much to say that his acquaint-
ance with the figures and broad outlines of European politics
is far greater than that of any boy of his age in this country.
An Oriental at sixteen, however, is virtually of the same age
as a European at six-and-twenty, so that this is not so sur-
prising as it sounds. India was a pet subject with him, as it
has been with his father, and no conversation was too long for
him if it dealt with the development of the Independent States
or the springs of Indian nationalities. While lacking the special
charm of his father's manner, Prince Maha Vajirunhis luckily
440 SIAM.
possesses a character of singular determination, and this is the
one thing that will enable him to withstand the intrigues of his
twenty-four uncles and innumerable brothers, in the unlikely
event of another monarch being required for an independent
Siam. The moral weakness of the father, however, takes the
form of physical lethargy in the son. This was yielding to Mr.
Morant's energetic treatment in the shape of drilling, riding and
driving; but since " breed is stronger than pasture," his present
surroundings, if continued, will soon destroy any further hope
in this direction.
While absolute power in Siam is thus vested in the King,
faintly reflected again in the Crown Prince, the administrative
and executive functions are delegated to the various brothers
and half-brothers of the King, and other officials. Until quite
recently, each department or section of government was in the
hands of some one prince or noble, who was individually
responsible to his Majesty alone for his actions and the state of
his department. He obtained what money he could from the
King from year to year, and did what he chose with it, except
for the King's occasional criticisms and rebukes, without the
embarrassing details of anything in the nature of accounts.
But in 1891 a great reorganisation took place, and a general
combination and centralisation, both of responsibility and con-
trol, was attempted. A Cabinet was formed, consisting of twelve
portfolios, of which the holders are nominated by the King and
removable at his pleasure. Each Minister has to submit his
estimate for the coming year to the united Cabinet, who cut it
about as they please by a majority vote, subject only to his
Majesty's final approval. And each must further furnish to the
Treasury month by month an account of all actual expenditure
in minutest detail, before he receives the funds to meet it. This
sounds absurd, but it is the Siamese system. The money must
be spent before it is paid over, and thus every department is
always a month in arrear in theory, and a good deal more in
practice. A dozen match-boxes, for example, will figure on
THE FIRST QUEEN, SIAM.
SIAMESE PRINCIPLES AND PERSONALITIES. 441
the War Office accounts at so much per box, and if this detail
should be omitted the whole account would be sent back by the
Treasury to be amended, with the result not altogether un-
desired of delaying a settlement for a week. The evil conBists
obviously in the fact that in Siam the Treasury is at the same
time the Exchequer and Audit Department.
The twelve portfolios which constitute the Cabinet, and the
present holders o them, are as follow :
I. Minister of Foreign Affairs. Krorn Luang Devawongse
Varoprakar.
II. Minister of Finance. Chow Fah Krom Kun Naris.
Under this are also included the Customs and the
"farms" the imposts on spirits, gambling, birds'
nests, &c.
III. Minister of War. Somdetch Chow Fah Krom Pra
Bhanupandhwongse Varadej, the King's younger
full-brother, who controls both Army and Navy.
IV. Minister of Justice. Pra Ong Chow Svasti Sobhon.
V. Minister of the North. Krom Mun Damrong Eajanu-
parb. Under this are all the provincial administra-
tions north of Bangkok, except a few which still
remain under the old regime.
VI. Minister of the South and West (Kralahome). Phya
Montri Suriawongse. Under this office is the rest
of the Interior and the military and civil coiree.
VII. Minister of the Eoyal Household. Krom Mun
Prachaks.
VIII. Minister of Public Works. Krom Mun Sanprasidt.
Under this are the railways, the Post and Telegraph
Departments, and all public buildings.
IX. Minister of Local Government. Krom Mun Nares
Varariddhi. Under this are the control of prisons,
police, and police-courts in Bangkok, and some of
the duties of a Home Secretary.
X. Minister of Agriculture. Phya Surisak. Under this
442 SIAM.
are land revenues, mining and other concessions,
forests, and surveys.
XL Minister of Public Instruction. Phya Bhaskarawongse.
Under this are educational institutions, hospitals, and
ecclesiastical affairs.
XII. Privy Seal. Krom Mun Bidhyalabh.
The deliberations of this Cabinet are supposed to be secret.
Their control, in combination, over the affairs of the country is
stringent and complete, excepting always for the unrestricted
will of the King.
Until the recent collapse they met usually at eight o'clock in
the evening, for all-night sittings, his Majesty often attending,
and occasionally the Crown Prince. Each member of the
Cabinet is absolute in authority over all the officials of his
department, and as' these are usually chosen from his own
personal retainers who have grown up with him from his boy-
hood, and also from the members of his own and his wife's
families, a change of the head of a department generally
involves the change of nearly all the staff, irrespective of the
fitness of the new-comers and based only on their personal
adherence. The incredible folly of this system may be realised
when I say that the draughtsman in the Public Works Depart-
ment may thus be suddenly called upon to dispense medicine at
a hospital, the clerk in the Treasury to act as adjutant to a
cavalry regiment, or the tide-waiter in the Customs to become
a departmental inspector of schools. To this inherent absurdity
must also be added a functional one. Since the Cabinet
Ministers, when they were fulfilling their normal duties, sat up
all night for five nights a week, of course they slept all day, and
strolled into their offices any time about sunset. The effect of
this upon the ordinary work of the government may be imagined
when it is added that without the Minister's special and personal
sanction on each occasion nothing whatever can be done, not
even a highway be repaired to make it passable, an urgent
question answered, or an att of money spent.
SIAMESE PEINCIPLES AND PEBSONALITIES. 448
Besides this central authority, there are also a number of
Eoyal Commissioners for the Provinces, a new creation,
nominated by the King for a certain period, with absolute
powers. Their salary was supposed to be fixed at a sufficiently
high figure to place them beyond the temptation of obtaining
money by the usual methods of Oriental officials. They were
appointed to draw the reins of the central government tighter
over some of the larger provinces and the many semi-
independent peoples that nominally recognise Siamese
suzerainty. There is one at Chiengmai, whose jurisdiction
extends over all the northern part of Stam, even the so-
called "King of Chiengmai" and the other great hereditary
princes of the Laos provinces being forcibly subordinated to
him. There were others at Luang Prabang and Nong Kai,
administering enormous districts which included the territory
recently annexed by France. Others are at Khorat, and Oobon ;
the jurisdiction of the latter being likely to clash with that
of the French along the new river frontier and especially on
the islands in the river which were the scenes of the first
hostilities. The next important Commissioner is over the
Pachin province, a particularly able man ; and through its
proximity to the great Patriew river, his district is one of the
wealthiest rice and cattle-producing centres in Siam. More-
over, in the ancient fort which, by the way, Pra Pichah
built, and where he was beheaded he is forming the nucleus
of the only disciplined and promising force that Siam has any
prospect of possessing.
One of the results of the King's tour round the Malay
Peninsula was his endeavour to strengthen his hold over the
northern States there, which were very meagrely represented by
their contributions to the royal treasury, in spite of their
great potential wealth. Over these, therefore, the King
appointed a Royal Commissioner with plenary powers, to the
infinite disgust and thinly-veiled opposition of the native
Sultans. All these Royal Commissioners are supposed to over-
444 SIAM.
ride the local governors and other provincial officials. One of
the special reasons for their creation was the better financial
control of the more distant provinces of the kingdom, and to this
end, while they possess powers to appropriate certain portions
of local taxes for local requirements, they are responsible for
forwarding all the rest of the provincial exactions to Bangkok.
An important feature of the new arrangement is that the
Eoyal Commissioners exercise a military control in the provinces.
There had previously been no military power whatever in the
hands of the local authorities, any requirements of this kind
being met by temporary expeditions sent up from time to time
from Bangkok, as circumstances demanded. As things are now,
a Commissioner has at his command on the spot a considerable
armed force, which he is always liable to employ on his own
initiative. This fact explains how it was in the power of fire-
eating Commissioners to enter upon hostilities with the French
on the frontier, and on the other hand, how the central authorities
in Bangkok could so plausibly disown any such act when it
suited their purpose to do so. This scheme of centralisation is
much the most important I might almost say the only effective
political development of modern Siam. So far as I know, it
has not been described before, and its importance and signifi-
cance are not yet appreciated in Siam ; indeed, the new functions
underlying the old title of Kar Luang are much more keenly
felt than clearly understood.
These Eoyal Commissioners are almost invariably half-brothers
of the King. This leads me to speak of the personalities of
Siamese politics, first, in the case of those who are responsible
for the present state of things, and second, of those from whom
may be hoped, under improved conditions, any good work in the
future. First of all, and chief in the former category, comes
Prince Devawongse Varoprakar, Minister of Foreign Affairs,
without doubt the cleverest and most far-sighted man in Siam.
For many years he possessed unrivalled influence and power,
alike through the King's confidence, his own brains, and the fact
THE CKOWN PRINCE OF SIAM AND SOME CF HIS BROTHERS.
A ROYAL COIKT-YARI>, BANGKOK.
SIAMESE PRINCIPLES AND PERSONALITIES. 445
of his being full-brother to both the First and Second Queens.
The Krom Luang, as his Siamese title runs, is a short man with
a bright round face, of scrupulously polite manners, who con-
ceals a mass of information and a very sharp mind under an
exterior of simple good-humour and apparent frankness. His
friends and enemies concur in describing him as an extremely
clever man. He speaks and writes English with ease, although
he has only spent six months in Europe, of which three weeks
were passed in London. I do not think he is troubled with more
faith than other diplomatists in people's motives, and ab hoste
doceri is his motto in treating with the representatives of_Europe.
In his office he sits surrounded with a rampart of books on inter-
national law and modern diplomatic history, and the grafting of
European punctilio and traditional precision upon Oriental flair
and patience, make a combination difficult to beat. The Siamese
Minister for Foreign Affairs has had a difficult part to play, but
until recently the Krom Luang may easily claim to have held
his own, single-handed, against many more powerful and more
experienced comers. For some twenty years he enjoyed the
perfect confidence and intimacy of " the King, my master," as he
expressed it, but his position has now lost its former brilliancy.
Through certain domestic events which have remained more or
less a mystery to the outside world, Prince Devawongse ex-
perienced a fall. In Siam the loss of royal favour and the with-
drawal of royal confidence is like leprosy : the victim is shunned,
his power vanishes, and his former friends combine to keep him
at a distance. Since there is nobody to take his place there is
literally nobody, except perhaps Prince Damrong, who could
attempt to conduct a Foreign Office correspondence Prince
Devawongse still formally directs the affairs of his department,
and preserves the necessary outward appearances in intercourse
with the foreign representatives. But to initiate a policy, to
direct a negociation, or restrain his brother Ministers, Prince
Devawongse no longer has the power. The very serious evil
of the situation is that any foreign representative who may
446 BIAM.
desire to make a communication, present a demand, or suggest
a policy to the Siamese Government, is still officially com-
pelled to go to Prince Devawongse, though the latter is now
entirely destitute of the power to carry anything into effect.
Under these circumstances and this is a point upon which I wish
to lay great emphasis a clear understanding between Siam and
any foreign government is impossible. Few men who have had
personal relations with Prince Devawongse, and whose affairs
have been at the mercy of his good faith, will pity him in his
fall. The British Foreign Office, at any rate, which has had one
direct example and countless indirect examples of his diplomatic
methods, will shed no tears over the grave of his reputation.
The next most potent personality in Siamese politics is Prince
Svasti Sobhon, brother of Prince Devawongse, nominally
Minister of Justice, but at this moment Plenipotentiary in
Europe to negociate with Great Britain and France. He spent
some years with a tutor in Oxford, and was for a short time a
member of Balliol College, where he was one of the many pets
of the late Master, and he will be remembered by Oxford
society of about nine years ago, as a very pleasant and intelli-
gent young Siamese, professing advanced Eadical and democratic
notions. These he carried to such an extent as to deprecate
any employment of his title, preferring to be styled plain " Mr."
He gained several distinctions in lawn-tennis competitions, but
his studies were not carried far enough to afford any standard
of comparison. English, however, he acquired fluently. In
due course he returned to Siam, and vital changes were expected
to follow from his reforming influence. But the sweets of power
and the enervating atmosphere of Siamese officialdom soon
eradicated any high aims he might once have possessed. A
Siamese in Europe and a Siamese in Siam are two different
personalities, and an unpleasant incident which occurred soon
after Prince Svasti's return, showed the change of his feeling
towards Europeans. He has now become one of the most bitter
opponents of European influence in Siam. After an unsuccessful
SIAMESE PRINCIPLES AND PERSONALITIES. 447
tenure of several posts on the Local Government Board, be retired
for some time, as required by custom, into the priesthood. On
emerging from this he was placed at the head of the new
Department of Justice, of which I shall have something to say
in the next chapter. As the troubles with France along the
eastern frontier gradually developed, Prince Svasti was one of
the strongest advocates of resistance, and it is probably true
that he was more responsible than any other Siamese for the
policy which found expression in the ridiculous and unjustifiable
attack upon the French gunboats, and the consequent presenta-
tion of the French ultimatum. His recent conduct of affairs,
however, while he has been in Europe as special Envoy, has
been marked by much more discretion and seriousness.
It is a pleasure to turn to the personality of Prince Damrong.
One of the first surprises of my original visit to Siam was in
finding a prince who had then never been outside his own
country, and who yet spoke English with ease and accuracy, was
a regular reader of the English newspapers, conversant with
European politics and literature, and anxious to enter instantly
into a discussion with me upon the details of the complicated
situation in home politics at that time. At the age of twenty-one
he was a mere subaltern in the King's bodyguard. The Educa-
tion Department, which he afterwards founded, grew out of the
King's approval of a small class he had formed for the instruc-
tion of his own men. He is one of the very few Siamese who
have any sense of either punctuality or neatness. When Minister
of Public Instruction he made a daily inspection in person of
all the hospitals under him, visited one of his schools every after-
noon, and was always to be found in his office from eleven to
four. I can hardly attempt to explain how remarkable this is
in Siam. I first learned to respect Prince Damrong from a
trifling personal incident. In Siam every request of an accredited
foreigner is instantly granted in words. The promise bears no
relation whatever to the performance, but nothing is ever frankly
refused. When I was exploring the ruins of Ayuthia, the
448 SIAM.
ancient capital of Siam, which was destroyed by the victorious
Burmese in 1767, I discovered the broken-off and battered head
of a Buddha lying buried among the almost impassable growth
of tropical weeds. It had been there for half a century, and
would, of course, remain untouched for ever. I marked the
place, and inquired on my return under whose control this
would be. On learning that Prince Damrong had charge of all
matters of this kind, I asked his permission to send back for the
head and take it away with me. He replied that he would con-
sider the matter, and afterwards wrote me a very courteous
letter, saying that although the head was broken and neglected,
and nobody would ever pay any attention to it, nevertheless it
was the head of Buddha, and therefore he did not think it would
be decorous for a foreigner to take it away as a curiosity. The
more I learned about Siam, the more I liked Prince Damrong
for this refusal. His insight into the needs of his country is
shown by his latest scheme for internal reform, namely, the
proposal to bring under one responsible head in Bangkok the
many clashing provincial authorities. That this is being bitterly
opposed by all his rival Ministers is perhaps the best proof of
its desirability ; and though the King's weakness prevents him
from settling this crucial question by saying " Dai," or " Mai
dai," sooner or later its adoption must come.
Two conspicuous and yet curiously ineffective figures in
Siamese affairs are the only two own brothers of the King,
known respectively to foreigners as "the Ony Yai" and " the
Ong Noi." By the ancient custom of Siam the elder of these
would be the next King, as exemplified in the previous reign.
The elevation of the Crown Prince to the position of heir
apparent having naturally attached much suspicion to the
alternative heir, the Ong Yai has chosen the wiser part of with-
drawing himself entirely from affairs. There are two absurd
rumours in connection with this prince : first, that he is mentally
affected, and second, that he is cherishing hopes of securing the
succession to the throne. A few minutes of his pleasant and
SIAMESE PRINCIPLES AND PERSONALITIES. 449
intelligent conversation is sufficient to dispose of the first, and
the second is based upon a complete misunderstanding of the
present trend of Siamese affairs. The younger brother, Prince
Bhanurangse, Commander-in-Chief and Minister of War, "the
Ong Noi," or " Young Prince," called " the Krom Pra " by
Siamese, possesses the personal charm of his brother the King,
with much greater gaiety of manner. He is a past master in
the art of organising pageants and processions, a gift greatly
appreciated by the pleasure-loving Siamese. Of his geniality
and hospitality I can speak from personal experience. His
palace is a fine building, as an Italian architect was given carte
blanche in its construction, and when it is necessary to entertain
any foreign visitor of high rank, " the Ong Noi " always gladly
undertakes the task. His influence upon Siamese politics,
however, has not been great, though his sympathies have
consistently been on the side of the best foreign influences.
Another personality of the same type is Prince Naris, the
present Minister of Finance. He is a musician, a poet, and an
artist, and by his work in each of these fields he has recalled the
time when Siam possessed a genuine art-inspiration of her
own, before this became hopelessly unfashionable in the face
of discordant European trumpets and gaudy chromo-litho-
graphs. There are two other men specially worthy of men-
tion in the small group from whom intelligent and patriotic
efforts might be expected in a reinvigorated Siam. The one
is Prince Nares, for some years Minister in London, and
now practically governor of Bangkok. Any one who has
had an opportunity of seeing the prisons as they were and
as they are, will need no other assurance of Prince Nares'
qualities. In his instincts and point of view he resembles the
type of mind of the English gentleman more closely than does
any other Siamese. He is one of the few princes who really
understand and sympathise with the common people. Although
he has had more than the usual opportunities of enriching him-
self he remains a poor man. Except the King he was the first
30
450 SIAM.
Siamese to secure a European tutor for his sons, one of whom
is about to take his degree at Trinity College, Cambridge, while
another is high up at Harrow. The second is Prince Bichidt,
the eldest of the King's half-brothers. After acquiring a unique
knowledge of law, both Siamese and European, and a large
experience in the higher courts of Bangkok, he was in Siamese
fashion deliberately shut out from the Ministry of Justice, a
post for which he was ideally fitted, and made Royal Com-
missioner of one of the far Eastern provinces. He took advantage
of his exile to add a working knowledge of French to his know-
ledge of English, and created the first decent provincial organisa-
tion that had ever been seen in Siam. His special talents made
him the only possible man to occupy the very difficult post of
Presiding Judge at the recent State Trial of Pra Yot. Through-
out the prolonged proceedings his conduct was such as to win
him the highest praise from all the Europeans who were present.
Like most Siamese, Prince Bichidt has a hobby, in his case
medicine, his knowledge of this being remarkable, even judged
by European standards.*
I have dwelt on these personal matters at such length because
I have wished to show that while there are some of the Siamese
princes and these, as a rule, the most conspicuous from
whom no disinterested or stimulating efforts can ever be
expected, there are still a number of others, several of whom I
have not had space to mention, who under foreign stimulus and
direction could be relied upon to take their places and do their
duty in that reformed and prosperous Siam which I, for one, so
earnestly desire to see, and whose " integrity and independence "
Great Britain, in the words of Lord Eosebery,t is "resolved to
respect and maintain."
* It is said that at last, after having been kept nine months in Bangkok doing
nothing, Prince Bichidt has been appointed Minister of Justice ; probably to avoid
sending him back to Oobon, where he might have refused to lend himself to Prince
Devanwongse's present tortuous policy on French frontier questions.
t "Correspondence respecting the Affairs of Siam," No. 1, 1894, p. 151.
CHAPTER XXVIIL
FICTIONS AND FACTS OF SIAMESE AFFAIRS.
T HAVE shown what, in theory, is the government of the
-*- Kingdom of Siam. It remains to winnow the fact from
the fiction. In the first place, to put it bluntly, the Cabinet
itself now exists only on paper. For over twelve months, I
believe, it has not once met, and has ceased to be a factor
of government. How this has come about I will now try to
explain. When the King was suddenly roused from his dream
of ease in March, 1893, as already described, by the imminence
of a national crisis, and returned to Bangkok to take up the
reins, he found the Cabinet had made such good use of its novel
freedom from control that he was unable, in his enfeebled state,
to re-establish his personal supremacy. From 1892 to 1893 the
Cabinet had held a nine months' carnival of intrigues and
jealousies, followed by a three months' nightmare of cabals and
recriminations. Thus when the country most needed a cool
firm hand at the helm, it was at the mercy of a group of hot-
headed and ignorant young despots, characterised alternately
by bravado and terror, by resolution and vacillation. That the
settlement of the Convention with France, such as it is, was
ever reached at all, is due to the fact that the matter was at
last taken out of the hands of the Cabinet and left for Prince
Devawongse to conclude alone, thanks to the departure from
Siam of Prince Svasti, who had been the chief obstructionist
throughout. From that date, August 20, 1893, until November,
451
452
1894, there has not been, I believe, a single meeting of the
Cabinet for governmental and administrative purposes. The
entire machinery of government has come to a standstill.
The estimates for 1894 have not been made up, much less
sanctioned ; no budget decided upon, no funds decreed. Only
the most urgent expenses are being met somehow or other,
casually, and by borrowed money.
This complete breakdown of government by Cabinet is due
to the fact that the Cabinet was composed of an arbitrary
selection of the King's half-brothers, together with a few
nobles of no influence and importance. This band of
brothers reflected perfectly the virulent jealousies of the
various mothers that bore them : " to hate like a brother,"
is a Siamese saying. The meetings of the Cabinet furnished
an ideal field for the exercise of these jealousies ; a suc-
cession of changing personal combinations for the purpose
of smashing each fresh influence as it threatened to pre-
ponderate, forms the history of their deliberations. The co-
operation of all for the common good is unknown, and indeed
inconceivable to any one who understands the temperament of
this polygamous brotherhood. When the French gunboats were
actually in the river, a bombardment threatening, and Siam
tottering to her fall, the meetings of the Cabinet were like the
wrangles in a pot-house, so much so that the more dignified
members on several occasions declined to be a party to any
further discussion. As was well known in Bangkok, not a little
of this was the direct result of Prince Svasti's overbearing
insistence upon strong measures against the French ; his great
influence, so deplorable in the interests of peace, being traceable
to the fact that both the First and Second Queens are his own
sisters. It is almost impossible to hope that the King's strong
hand can ever be laid upon the Cabinet again, and now that
twelvemonths of universal apathy have matured last year's seeds
of suspicion and intrigue, the power of the Cabinet as a com-
.bined body with initiative and a policy is non-existent, and its
FICTIONS AND FACTS OF SIAMESE AFFAIRS. 453
resuscitation is in the highest degree unlikely. Certainly nothing
could accomplish this except either the King's complete recovery
of health and prestige, or the emergence of some strong will
from the general chaos. And as the only strong will in this
jarring family is that of Prince Svasti himself, the remedy
might not be much better than the disease.
It may be interesting, however, to glance for a moment at the
results accomplished by the Cabinet before its breakdown. Take
the administration of justice, for example. At the grand cente-
nary of the founding of Bangkok in 1882, the foundation-stone
was laid with great eclat of the New Eoyal Courts of Justice,
which were announced as the inauguration of a new era of
justice and judicial reform for Siam. When the buildings were
finished, a grand opening ceremony to inaugurate this reform was
announced to take place in 1886, but it never came to pass, and
the buildings, erected at an enormous cost, with lofty towers and
vast halls, were allowed to decay and moulder in emptiness for
nearly six years, till the tower actually fell to pieces and had
to be taken down, and the roof became so rotten that it had
to be replaced with thatch, as it actually now appears, within a
stone's throw of the Eoyal Palace gates. At last, in 1892,. the
various straggling courts of Bangkok the Slave-cases Court in
one corner of the city, the Land Court in another, the Criminal
Courts in another, and the Appeal Court inside the Palace,
were collected into this one building and placed under the
newly created Minister of Justice, who was to control the
whole staff of judges, eradicate corruption, work off the
thousands of pending cases, and codify the whole of the laws
of Siam ! As I have said, Prince Svasti was the first Minister.
His strength of character soon led to various floggings of venal
judges, and to a general uneasiness in all the courts ; but so far
as improvements in procedure or organisation of laws were con-
cerned, it was merely King Stork instead of King Log. New
stamp duties and fee exactions were imposed, proving lucrative
for the department, but not a blessing to suitors; and the
454 8IAM.
administration of justice remains as complete a farce as it was
when I wrote some time ago that "justice is not an unknown
quantity in Siam : it does not exist. You might as well look for
saccharin in salt or for silver in a pewter pot."
The so-called International Court, which is also under this
Ministry, deserves a special mention. It was founded to deal
with cases brought by foreigners against Siamese. Cases brought
by Siamese against foreigners are heard, of course, in the
Foreign Consular Courts " down town," where the native has
every facility for getting justice. But when a foreigner has
any claim against a Siamese, he first wastes several weeks in
efforts to get his Consul to settle it through the Siamese
Foreign Office; this in the case of the British Consul has
nearly always been futile of late, owing to the extraordinary
subservience of British officials to Siamese desires. But the
real farce begins when the case at last comes before the
International Court, which is the tool and servant of the same
Foreign Minister who has just rejected the suit of the Consul.
Here every possible device for procrastinating the trial, burking
the evidence, suborning witnesses, and generally "besting" the
farang, is resorted to with complete success, till after weeks of
fruitless effort the case simply dies a natural death, and the
European gives it up as a bad job. This condition of things
has become, after years of license, such a great scandal that
strenuous efforts are at last being made by the foreign com-
munity to improve matters, but the precedent of easy-going
acquiescence so long followed at the British Legation has made
it a hard task to get the evil remedied. The French officials, on
the other hand, have long since refused to have cases submitted
to the International Court at all, and wisely insist on the decision
of disputed matters at the Foreign Office only. A volume might
be written on the manners and customs of this International
Court without giving any adequate idea of its unspeakable rotten-
ness and shameless parody of justice in foreign cases. So much
for fiction and fact in one branch of government.
IN THE PALACE TEMPLE, BANGKOK.
FICTIONS AND FACTS OF SIAMESE AFFAIRS. 455
I pass now to the Department of Public Works. This, though
nominally active throughout Siam, is in reality except for
the Eailway and Postal Departments confined to the city of
Bangkok, and is there occupied almost solely with matters con-
ducing to the royal convenience or profit. It received instructions,
for instance, to erect a palace for the Crown Prince within a
period of nine months. This was three years ago. The founda-
tions were dug, and they are now full of water, while the
marbles, iron-work, and glass-work, ordered at great expense
from Italy, lie in inextricable confusion at the wharves some
miles away. Another of its undertakings was to build a new
wharf for the Customs. To effect this, a dam had to be built
during the season of low water in the river. The work was
done so badly, that when three-quarters finished it was found
to be useless and had to be recommenced. The rainy season,
however, came on before it could be completed, and therefore
the Customs, which previously had a bad wharf, now has none
at all. Again, one of the principal roads of Bangkok is inter-
rupted by the great canal to the north. Seventeen years ago
an iron bridge for this was ordered from England, and duly
delivered. It still lies in sections near where it should have
been thrown across, and in the absence of bridge or ferry the
remaining three miles of the road are useless. In the mean-
time the staff of the department is occupied in building rows
of houses in which members of the royal family, chiefly the
ladies, are investing their private economies, and in putting
into splendid order the smaller canals in the city itself, upon
which the royal eye is likely to fall, while the great main canals
outside, the true arteries of Siamese trade, monuments to the
energy of former rulers and officials, have been allowed to silt
up until they are only navigable for a few hours a day at high
tide.
The most conspicuous Siamese enterprise of recent times is,
of course, the scheme of railway extension. At first the professed
intention was to connect Bangkok with Chiengmai, and a con-
456 SIAM.
cession to make the necessary surveys was granted to Sir Andrew
Clarke, and ultimately carried out, though not without many
disputes. The line itself was never seriously contemplated, and
the concession for the surveys was probably only given to avoid
refusing the request of a man who had once rendered great
services to Siam. At any rate, nothing whatever, except the
useless expenditure of a huge sum of money by Siam, ever
came of the scheme. The railway, sixteen miles long, between
Bangkok and Paknam, the Pmeus of Siam, was built under a
concession granted to Commodore de Richelieu, and is paying
its way. This result was due solely to European enterprise and
eagerness to make money ; by the Siamese Piailway Department
the line was met with hindrances from the very first. The
only Government railway scheme which had any prospect of
being successfully carried out was the line, 160 miles long, to
Khorat, whence two theoretical branches were to tap the eastern
part of the kingdom at Bassac and the northern at Nong
Kai. The idea was an excellent one, though it is certain that
the traffic under Siamese direction would not have paid for a
very long time, and that the upkeep of the line would have
proved a task too tiresome for any Oriental and too costly for
any private purse. There was no difficulty about raising the
money, since by Royal Decree the interest on the capital was
guaranteed and therefore the wealthier members of the royal
family hastened to invest their money. It was commenced under
the directions of the Royal Siamese State Railways Department,
at the head of which was Herr Bethge, a German, formerly the
agent of Herr Krupp in China, who engaged a very large staff
naturally composed for the most part of Germans, at high
salaries. The contract was secured by an English firm which has
done much good w r ork in the Malay Peninsula and Ceylon, Messrs.
Murray Campbell and Co., who were understood to be financed
by Messrs. Jardine, Matheson and Co. In the granting of this
contract there was a great deal of unpleasantness, into which it
is not necessary to enter here, as the story can be found recorded
FICTIONS AND FACTS OF SIAMESE AFFAIRS. 457
in the columns of the English newspaper published in Bangkok.
Up to the present only a few kilometres of the line have been laid,
and of these a great part is merely for the purpose of transporting
material, and will not form part of the permanent way, while
the heavy portion of the work in the hill sections is practically
untouched. The contractors have brought actions against the
Siamese Government for departmental obstruction and delays,
which have been decided in their favour by arbitration in
London, and they have received large sums in compensation.
There does not appear to be the slightest probability of this line
ever being completed under the present regime, except perhaps
as far as the King's palace at Bang-pa-in.
Under the Public Works Department are also the Postal and
Telegraph services. The former has been under the care of
Germans, who have had a free hand and have therefore estab-
lished an excellent organisation, with ramifications all over Siam.
The Telegraphs, from which all European employees have been
gradually eliminated, are a byword for their inefficiency. For
seven years the cable destined to connect the capital with Koh-
si-chang, where all ships wait for their cargoes and whence they
should be signalled, has lain on its reel in shallow water at Koh-
si-chang. And as for the land-lines, the British Consul-general
in his Report for 1892 says : " The telegraph lines have not been
maintained in an efficient state during the year, and much in-
convenience and loss has been caused by frequent interruptions
of the international lines via Saigon and Tavoy. The line to
Chiengmai, too, has been subject to so many interruptions that
it would be almost better to have no line at all. ... It may be
said in favour of the telegraph department that Siam is a
peculiarly difficult country in which to keep telegraph com-
munication open. . . . These difficulties have, however, always
remained the same, whereas the efficiency of the line has been
constantly deteriorating, and this deterioration has been espe-
cially rapid of late."
I jnust say a word about the Customs, as it is a peculiarly
458 SIAM.
gross case of Siamese maladministration, and an excellent
example of the defiance of treaty engagements with foreign
Powers. It is, too, a serious matter in its effect upon foreign
trade, particularly that of Great Britain, which is eighty-seven
per cent, of the whole. Under the late Minister of Finance, a
British Inland Kevenue official of great experience and ability,
Mr. David Williams, was lent by the British Government to
place the Customs service of Siarn on a proper basis. As a
result of the free hand which was at first granted to him
astonishing results were achieved, both in the presentation of
the accounts and in the increase of revenue obtained. One
would have thought that the latter fact would have been
sufficient to assure Mr. Williams any powers that he desired.
But under a new Minister jealousy of the farang has been too
strong; by means of successive vexatious interferences, the
gradual curtailment of his powers, and the intrusion of in-
capable native subordinates, he has been reduced to the
position of an adviser whose advice is not taken ; the service
is worse than it ever was ; the revenue has fallen ; the accounts
produced are untrustworthy; and difficulties with the various
Consuls arising out of defiance of treaty rights are of constant
occurrence.*
* Some readers unfamiliar with the East may wonder how it comes about that
capable Europeans do not achieve better results in spite of native opposition and
lethargy. I cannot give a better answer than in the words of Mr. G. H. Grindrodt
whose experiences in Siam are mentioned later in the present chapter. I published
Mr. Grindrod's letter in an article in the Contemporai-y Review for November, 1893
describing it as from a writer " personally unknown to me but whose name and
position command respect." The Siamese seldom speak the truth themselves,
and therefore they seldom credit others with doing so, and the letter in question
was by them universally attributed to a friend of mine whose relations with the
King at the time would have made it improper for him to write it. I am glad to
have an opportunity of saying this. Mr. Grindrod wrote :
" Not unnaturally, you will ask why the superior servants of such indifferent
masters do not compel results by sheer force of character and ability. I confess
myself completely unable to answer this question to the satisfaction of those who
know the East only from books, nor can I picture to myself any illustration from
western politics, which would adequately parallel the conditions here. Some
vague conceptions of the truth may perhaps be gained from such facts as these:
'Nearly every department of the Government service is under the immediate
FICTIONS AND FACTS OF SIAMESE AFFAIRS. 459
But it is the Education Department that has probably been
most talked about and has brought most credit to Siam, owing
to Prince Damrong's recent visit to England and his tour
through Europe and India. I have already spoken in the pre-
ceding chapter about this enterprising and comparatively able
prince. It was under his auspices that the Education Depart-
ment achieved perhaps the only real and effective reforms in the
country. Assisted by the advice, and still more by the energetic
personal efforts of Mr. Morant, a scheme of national education
was planned out, its foundations were well laid, and its various
parts were developed in their proper order. The scheme was
based on a system of vernacular education, for which the
control of a native head, whose education is inferior to that of a child in the lower
standards of your elementary schools, and whose experience is that of a semi-
barbarian bewildered by a superficial acquaintance with the delicate political and
social machinery of advanced western civilisation. This curious ' Cabinet
Minister ' is almost inaccessible to his official subordinates, native or foreign, for he
ignores all correspondence, and comes to his office generally at midnight that
being the time when his Majesty the King prefers to be awake.
" Towards the European members of his department the native head entertains
a curious combination of feelings : jealousy of the alien, envy of the latter's
superior will and ability, suspicious dread of appearing inferior in any respect, and
an ever-present consciousness that the ' farang ' is a dependent. Since the initia-
tion and development of all schemes, as well as the money and men for them, are
absolutely subject to the veto of the Minister, it requires a very extraordinary com-
bination of cunning and audacity to elude all these obstacles to the permanence and
progress of work nominally entrusted to the European."
This point is a very important one, and Mr. Alfred Milner's admirable work on
" England in Egypt " repeatedly emphasises an identical difficulty in that country.
He writes : " The Government of Ismail was not wanting in European experts,
whether in finance or in other branches of administration, at the very time when
it came so hopelessly to grief. But its wisest and most capable employes were
without influence. Their counsels were disregarded and their capacity rendered
useless. It is not enough to have well-qualified Europeans in the Egyptian service
in order to keep things straight. It is necessary that there should be some power
behind them to give effectiveness to their advice." And again : " European skill is
useless without European authority. Wherever you turn, that cardinal fact stares
you in the face " (" England in Egypt," new edition, pp. 224, 286).
The Siamese Government is at the present moment arranging for more European
advisers for the army, the navy, and the Department of Education. Under these
circumstances it cannot be too strongly stated that any European going out under
the present Siamese regime is absolutely foredoomed to disappointment and failure.
During the last ten years nearly a score have left Siam in disgust, and not one has
ever succeeded in Ms aims.
460 SIAM.
Minister himself compiled a complete series of new school-books
on rational lines to replace the hitherto universal rote-system
which is the bane of most Oriental schools. Schools were
opened under the Department, a schedule or code was drawn up
to show the standards to be aimed at, and to serve for grading
and comparing the various schools. Government examinations
and certificates were arranged, which were gradually to include
in their scope the irregular monastery schools the only means
of education for the common people ; the intention being to
raise the standard of teaching all over the country by a system
similar to that recently introduced into Burmah. Upon this
vernacular foundation, which was limited to the three R's (and
even of these, reading and writing were practically new in
Siamese education), was built up a sound knowledge of English.
For this purpose Mr. Morant wrote a series of school-books in
Siamese, for the acquisition of English through the medium of
the native language books which undoubtedly laid the founda-
tion of any future development of Siamese education. The
characteristic feature of the scheme is the maintenance of the
native language as the vehicle of instruction, thus avoiding the
evils resulting when the students are trained in England and
reach their own country unable to turn their newly-acquired
knowledge to any practical account.
So conspicuously successful was this scheme that his Majesty
placed the education of all his numerous sons entirely in Mr.
Morant's hands, giving him permission to found a special school
for the royal princes within the Grand Palace, to be called the
Rajakumara College, which it was hoped would in time develop
along the lines of Lord Mayo's admirable college of the same
name at Ajmere, and by educating the young princes in their
own country remove the many dangers which attend their
prolonged stay in Europe. It was in furtherance of all these
schemes that Prince Damrong came to Europe in 1891 to study
methods of national education, and that Mr. Morant engaged
and took out to Siam a large staff of teachers, both women
THE GREAT BRONZE BUDDHA, AYUTHIA.
DICTIONS AND FACTS OF SIAMESE AFFAIRS. 461
and men, to assist in the further development of their united
plans.
Unfortunately, as explained before, when any individual
shows signs of conspicuously good work or rising influence in
Siam, his brother Ministers feel it necessary to crush him.
Thus, immediately on Prince Damrong's return to Siam in
1892, at the most critical moment for grafting the new branches
upon the now growing tree of his educational schemes, all its
roots were ruthlessly torn up. The prince was transferred to
the Ministry of the North, and his work given over to his worst
enemy, an old and lethargic nobleman named Phya Bhaskara-
wongse, whose conspicuous incompetence, to use no harsher
word, had necessitated his removal from the directorship of the
Customs. He speedily reduced the whole scheme to chaos by
closing most of the schools and by ousting the men trained
under Prince Damrong and Mr. Morant in favour of his own
retainers and job-mongers, ignorant of the very meaning of the
word education. Thus Mr. G. H. Grindrod, the Head of the
Training College for Teachers, an Oxford man and trained
pedagogist, now one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools,
was in the position of having his teaching criticised and
corrected by departmental " inspectors " whose preliminary
training had probably been confined to inspecting spirit-jars
and the like on the Custom House wharf.
I turn to the United Services. The Siamese Army List as
it figures in the Official Directory must make the Minister of
War feel proud indeed at the excellence of all his arrangements
and the completeness of his organisation. Not a title is
wanting, not a rank left out, not a branch of equipment missing
on paper. To describe what actually exists, however, would
be useless, since no one in Europe would believe the plain
simple truth. Three batches of Australian horses have been
landed during ten years, for the Cavalry, averaging some
hundreds each time, of which about fifty altogether have
managed to survive the neglect and filth in which they are kept,
462 SIAM.
and still drag on a mangy existence in large and lofty but utterly
neglected stables, whence they issue on state occasions in ragged
files, with unkempt riders in tattered uniforms clinging nervously
to reins and pommels. The Artillery is no better, with its
recently-imported field guns, of which the brass sights were
stolen and pawned within a fortnight of their arrival and
have never been recovered ; while the powder is in one place
and the shells in another, and nobody knows where or how to
bring them together. As for the Infantry, they come to drill
when it suits them, desert by dozens weekly, and carry com-
plaints and start agitations against any officer who attempts
discipline. Many of them have never fired the rifles they carry ;
in fact the spirit of soldiery is as totally lacking in them as
in a street mob. The officers but here words fail. Imagine
a Cadets' School, of imposing proportions and appointments,
with four or five hampered European instructors, where young
Siam is comfortably housed and fed and paid some thirty
shillings a month to wear a uniform and play at studies which
are never carried out ; where the very simplest control and
training are resented ; and where military tactics from English
text-books, fortifications on the black-board, and military
engineering in the field, figure on the curriculum of youths who
can read their own language but poorly, cannot spell c-a-t
in English, and only know enough arithmetic to check a good
money bargain over a ring or a necktie in a Chinese pawnshop.
To such a pass has come a nation who once fought and conquered
the Burmese, wiped out the Peguans, repulsed the Annamites,
subjugated the Malays, and developed Siam from a small hill-
tribe to the possessors of the greater part of the peninsula of
Indo-China ! These ancient qualities, it is only fair to say, still
show themselves in the common people when they are sent
soldiering, in their own fashion, in the jungle or on the frontier.
The explanation is that Siam has aped the farang method
without the farang spirit. There is actually no word for
" discipline " in the Siamese language.
FICTIONS AND FACTS OF SIAMESE AFFAIRS. 463
Of the few youths who have had some sort of military training
in Europe not one has been allowed even to enter the service in
Siam on his return, much less to have any authority to put
things straight; while the indefatigable Dane, Major Schau,
who has vainly given them his best endeavours for over ten
years, has had each regiment taken from him in turn so soon as
he has begun to bring it in the least degree into shape. Yet a
more easily-led race than the Siamese has never existed ; under
European management and full control, with regular pay and
steady discipline, self-respect would soon be developed, and
troops might be turned out at least as serviceable as those of
Burmah.
As for the other branch of his Siamese Majesty's service, the
Navy, while the pretensions are less, the realities in some respects
are better. The Danish officer M. de Eichelieu, of whom I have
already spoken, has given many years of labour to this, and in
alliance with him, Pra Ong Chora, unique among Siamese officials
for energy and integrity, has created a large body of marines who
possess at any rate the elements of discipline, however much
they may lack technical efficiency. They are supposed to man
the forts, supply the fighting crews for the gunboats, and act as
an armed force on land whenever one is required, though their
whole training for these duties consists of a little elementary
drill and the bare knowledge of how to discharge a rifle. The
discipline which does characterise them, and which yet dis-
tinguishes them brilliantly from other Siamese organisations,
is directed to wholly different ends. They are neither more nor
less than the body-servants of the royal household another
striking instance of the subordination of national interests to
royal luxury. Underpaid, harshly treated, and ground by the
corvee, they wear the uniform of sailors and perform the duties
of coolies. When the King goes to Koh-si-chang or Bang-pa-in,
the whole navy turns out to effect his household removal, to
carry the pots and pans of the Palace retinue of innumerable
ladies and women-servants (packing is an unknown art in Siam),
464 BIAM.
to build their " palaces " and shanties, to water their gardens,
to erect and superintend their sanitary conveniences, to drag
their jinrikishas, to carry their sedans, to dress up in their pro-
cessions, and even to catch flies by bucketfuls to facilitate the
royal repose.
According to the books of reference the Siamese navy consists
of two screw corvettes of one thousand tons and eight guns each,
several gunboats, and several sea-going steam yachts ; a small
cruiser, Makut Rajakumar ; and the cruiser-yacht Maha Chakri,
a " ram-ship " of 2,400 tons, 298 feet long, having a speed of
15 knots, and armed with four 4.7-in. Armstrongs and eight
6-pounder quick-firers.
I fear I shall find it difficult to make anybody believe what
this paper fiction amounts to in fact. A bigger sham than the
Siamese navy has never existed in the history of mankind. A
number of vessels of greatly varying sizes are moored in the
river opposite the Palace. Of these the larger ones are for the
most part hulks, upon which the " marines " live ; in some
cases even the engines and propellers have been removed. The
smaller ones serve as royal despatch-boats for river work, carry-
ing the servants and supplies between the Palace and the two
summer resorts. One or two are kept in decent condition for
passenger work, but they possess no means of offence or defence.
The King's old yacht, the Oobon, has succeeded in taking him
round the Malay Peninsula, but if it has any guns on board they
are of an obsolete and useless character. The Makut Rajakumar
was built in Hongkong for the Governor of the Philippine Islands,
but as he was unable to pay for it, it was sold to the Siamese in
1891. Upon this were put a number of muzzle-loading guns of the
most ancient type, which had been lying about in the compound
of the arsenal in Bangkok for many years. The Makut Rajaku-
mar, however, won immortal fame in the battle of Paknam by
sinking the small French trading-vessel the J. B. Say. The
story of this battle has never been told, and as it is both enter-
taining and instructive I may linger over it for a moment.
FICTIONS AND FACTS OF SIAMESE AFFAIRS. 465
First, with regard to the famous forts. The principal one had,
I think, six 6-inch guns on disappearing carriages. Only two
men in Siam had even elementary notions of the working of
these weapons Commodore de Richelieu, and Major Von Hoick,
another Danish officer. The former was in command of the fort
of which I have spoken. When the critical moment came he ran
as quickly as possible from gun to gun and fired them one after
the other. Needless to say nothing was hit. He then crossed
the river in a launch and returned to Bangkok by special train.
When one of these guns had been fired before the King a few
days previous, out of six detonators five failed to ignite. This
incident, however, had not shaken the confidence of the Siamese
in the efficacy of their defences. The only technically-trained
foreigner in Siamese employ at the time was a Danish naval
officer, Captain Christmas. He had been placed in charge of
the Coronation, the worst of the Siamese vessels, if one were
worse than the others, and his share in the engagement was
therefore necessarily small, consisting chiefly in escaping the
ram of the Inconstant. The gunners of the Makut Rajakumar,
into whose heads Captain Guldberg, of the Danish merchant
service, had succeeded in hammering some knowledge of how to
load and fire the guns above mentioned, had been taken off a
short time before and placed in the royal yacht. The Makut
was therefore chiefly manned by seamen of the coolie class.
They had been specially charged not to ram the powder hard
into the touch-holes of the ancient weapons, but to pour it in
loosely. At the first onset they unanimously took refuge below.
Leaving the wheel for a moment, Captain Guldberg chased them
on deck again. When he desired to fire he discovered of course
that the powder in the touch-holes was rammed as hard as a
stone. He had to pick it out with his open knife from one gun
after another, which he then fired in turn with his own hand.
As he was not only his own gunnery lieutenant but navigation
officer as well, he was then compelled to return to the bridge.
After a trick at the wheel he again descended to the deck and
31
466 SIAM.
discharged his pieces once more. It reflects the greatest credit
upon him that he was able to hit the J. B. Say under these
circumstances. Her captain who afterwards explained that
he had " comme artillerie que mon fusil de chasse avec des
cartouches a plomb No. 10 " and crew were formally arrested
next day, blindfolded, and conveyed to the arsenal under guard.
Amongst other incidents there, on asking for water they were
given filth in a basin to drink. On the arrival of Commodore
de Richelieu a few hours later they were informed that they
might go anywhere they liked. One other Siamese vessel of
war took part in this fearsome struggle. This was what was
called the floating battery, a species of steam-barge upon which
a single heavy gun had been mounted. Owing to the lack of
tackle, I believe, this could only be loaded when the barge was
alongside the arsenal wharf. At the first fear of hostilities,
therefore, this alarming weapon was gingerly charged and the
" battery " proceeded down the river and came to a standstill
in a promising situation. In due course it got rid of its pro-
jectile. It is only fair to add that Captain Christmas, of the
Coronation, Captain Guldberg, of the Makut Rajakumar, and
Captain Schmiegelow, of the " floating battery," each claimed
the honour of having sunk the only non-combatant present on
the occasion.
It will naturally be asked, what was happening all this time
to the one really serviceable vessel of war the Siamese possessed
to the Maha Chakri, the new Armstrong cruiser-yacht, with
its 2,400 tons, its speed of 15 knots, its 4.7 guns, its two fighting
masts and its ram ? The answer is painfully simple, and is
but one more example of the fact that in Siana, king comes a
long way before country. The Maha Chakri was lying moored
in front of the Palace, under strict orders not to move except it
might be necessary to convey the King up-river. When there
was actually a wild intention to collect all available vessels and
descend upon the little French gunboats in the middle of the
night as they lay at anchor before the French Legation, the
FICTIONS AND FACTS OF SIAMESE AFFAIRS. 467
Malia Chakri was not to be included in the attack, although her
tonnage exceeded that of all three French boats together by
600 tons. But even had there been any intention of using
her, it could hardly have been carried out. Not once, I believe,
since her arrival in Siam had her guns been fired, and nobody
in the kingdom, except two or possibly three of the Danish
officers, had any idea of the process. Her ammunition was put
on board for the first time a few hours before the affair of
Paknam. Moreover, her engines, which were large and com-
plicated, could not have been worked without the English
engineers, no Siamese having the remotest notion of their
management, and these men as British subjects could of course
take no part in the hostilities.
Such was the force against which the French gunboats had to
contend. To complete the farce, it only remains to add that
M. Pavie, the French Minister-Resident, accompanied by M.
Hardouin, Consul-General, and Commander Bory of the In-
constant, proceeded to the Foreign Office next morning, and
Prince Devawongse, Minister of Foreign Affairs, " congratulated
Commander Bory upon his skill and daring in forcing the
entrance." The same day, it being July 14th, all the Siamese
vessels in the river were dressed with flags, the tricolour at the
peak, in honour of the French national fete.
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE TRUE STOEY OF FRANCE AND SI AM.
/~\N September 1, 1858, the French fleet entered Tourane Bay,
^ to bring pressure upon the King of Annam on behalf of the
French missionaries, and captured the town. On February 17,
1859, Saigon, the principal city of Cochin-China, was captured
by a combined French and Spanish force, and the province in
which it was situated was annexed two years later, the delay
being caused by the Anglo-French war with China. This process
occupied, including delays, less than three years.
On June 5, 1862, France made a treaty with the King of
Annam, by which were ceded to her the provinces of Mytho,
Bien-hoa, Saigon, and the island of Poulo Condor. In June,
1867, the rest of Cochin-China, namely, the provinces of Vinh-
long, Chan-doc, and Hatien, was annexed by France. The
Viceroy, Phan-than-Giang, poisoned himself, "noble victime
d'une politique cauteleuse qu'il avait inutilement conibattue " !
This process occupied five years.
So much for Cochin-China. Meanwhile, on the plea of
dynastic troubles in Cambodia, a treaty was made on August 11,
1863, inaugurating a form of French protection over the
ancient kingdom of the Kmers. On January 15, 1877, very
extensive additions were made to French privileges and rights
of interference, and as the "difficulties" in the way of good
government seemed insuperable, a proclamation was made on
June 18, 1884, in the name of the French Eepublic, and signed
468
TRUE STORY OF FRANCE AND SIAM. 469
by the French Governor-General, declaring a new constitution,
the abolition of Crown property, and the commencement of a
French administration throughout the whole kingdom of Cam-
bodia, keeping up only the form of the native government.
This process was completed in eleven years.
To pass to Tongking. In October, 1873, French ships under
Gamier first entered the Eed River to obtain the opening of its
channel to French trade. Soon "difficulties" arose, and on
November 20, 1873, the citadel of Hanoi was captured, heavy
indemnities were paid by Annam, and France placed the pro-
vince under a partial protectorate. This was extended over the
whole of Tongking in 1883. This had taken ten years to effect.
Finally Annam itself, once the central suzerain over all the
above-named vanquished countries, was finally reduced to sub-
mission by the bombardment of Hue, and brought under a
complete protectorate by the same treaty of August 25, 1883.
In face of such a record of rapid extension developing itself
through various stages of political protection, and culminating
in wholesale annexations, France's neighbours in Indo-China
may well have felt uneasy at any fresh manifestations of her
interest in these regions. And any one who knew the boundaries
of Siam as existing in 1870, may imagine with what misgivings
the Siamese Government must have read the following state-
ments in M. Lanessan's book " L'Expansion Coloniale de la
France," published in 1886 :
" On the south-east of Laokay the frontiers between Yunnan and the States
tributary to Burmah and Siam are very vague ; we have every interest in leaving
them in this shape, in order to be able to push them back some day to the Mekong.
. . . On the west, from the frontier of Yunnan to the mouth of the Se-Moun, the
Mekong ought to be the frontier of our Empire. . . . From the Se-Moun our
Empire should cross the Mekong, include the secondary basin of the Se-Moun,
join the northern end of the Great Lake, and include the provinces of Battambong
and Angkor, which has always formed part of the kingdom of Cambodia (pp.
500-501). . . . The basin of the Se-Moun, which belongs to the basin of the Mekong,
is separated from the basin of the Menam, which represents Siam properly so-
called, by a mountainous and desert region, which constitutes a natural and
scientific frontier between the basin of the Mekong and that of the Menam. . . .
That mountainous frontier ought to be considered by France as the natural limit of
470 SIAM.
her Indo-Chinese Empire on the side of Siam. Having retaken the Great Lake
provinces, which formerly were dependent on Cambodia, and the basins of the
Mekong and the Se-Moun, we ought to adhere to the policy of respecting, and, if
necessary, protecting the independence of Siam (p. 470)."
Great indeed was the Siamese dismay on hearing in May,
1891, that the writer of these words was being sent out by
France as Governor-General of Indo-China with a large credit
for purposes of colonial development, and that in his hands
would lie the choice of the particular methods to be adopted by
France for this "respecting, and, if necessary, protecting the
independence of Siam."
These misgivings were soon to be confirmed. In November,
1891, M. Kibot began the process, by declaring in the Chamber
of Deputies that " all the countries lying eastward of the Mekong,
from the point where it leaves China, must be considered as
belonging to France." At the same time historical researches
were published in France, showing that Annam had in past
times been in possession of all the country on the east of the
Mekong, and even of large portions of territory on the west
bank. We hear next of authoritative announcements that
though Siam might have gained ascendancy over these districts
from time to time in the past, and might indeed be in active
occupation of them at the present time, yet Annam's territorial
rights could not thus be allowed to lapse, and that the time was
now come to insist upon them.
It must be noted that both M. Gamier, the great French
explorer, and other authorities fully admitted, and all the French
maps clearly showed, that Siam had undoubtedly been in posses-
sion of these territories as far back as 1866 at least, probably
even 1836, but this was not held by France to give a valid title
to any territories that had once been under Annamite rule.
Some French claims" in this direction had already made
* There were questions of boundary in dispute at this same period between
England and Siam regarding the Mekong States, but only in its northern portions,
above Latitude 20. As I shall deal with these questions in the next chapter, I
shall now eliminate them as far as possible during our consideration of the purely
Franco-Siamese questions.
THE TRUE STORY OF FRANCE AND SIAM. 471
themselves heard in 1880, as shown by the following letter from
Lord Salisbury to the Earl of Lytton, on April 3, 1889 :
The French Ambassador called upon me to-day, by appointment, to make a
proposal for the neutralisation of Siam. He stated that the French Government
had a twofold object in view. They wished to establish a strong independent
Kingdom of Siam, with well-defined frontiers on both sides ; and they desired
to come to an arrangement by which a permanent barrier might be established
between the possessions of Great Britain and France in the Indo-Chinese Peninsula.
Such an arrangement would be advantageous to both countries and would prevent
the complications which otherwise might arise between them.
It would be necessary in the first instance, that the frontier between Cochin-
China and Siam should be fixed, and Her Majesty's Government would no doubt
desire a settlement of the boundaries of Buraiah.
As regarded the frontier of Cochin-China, the French Government did not wish
to extend it to Luang Prabang, but they would propose to draw a line from a point
nearly due east of that place southwards to the Mekong, and below that point to make
the river the dividing line between the two countries until it entered the territory of
Cambodia. They considered that, both on the French and English side, the
boundaries of Siam should be defined up to the Chinese frontier.*
The last few lines give a clear statement of the French terri-
torial claims as they then stood. After various negociations
between France and Siam, it was at last proposed that a joint
Commission should be appointed to decide upon the frontier
between the two countries, and that in the meantime each side
should observe the status quo. The precise conditions of this
interim arrangement are given in Captain Jones's despatch from
Bangkok to Lord Salisbury, on January 6, 1890 :
As the existing situation of the contested districts will be maintained until modi-
fied by the decisions of the Joint Commission, Siam will continue to hold the Basin
of the Mekong from (about) the 13th to the 22nd parallel of north latitude, with
the exception of three small districts on this side of the Khao-Luang range, settled
by the Annamites, where the routes from the east debouch from the mountains into
the plains. These are :
Ai-Lao-Dign, in latitude 17 north.
Kia-Heup, ,, 17^.
Kam-Muan (about) 18J.
Beyond these to the north, the Siamese hold the districts called Pan-Ha-Thang-
Hok (" the nation of five or six Chiefs "), and the French will continue to occupy
Sipsong-Chu-Thai (" the twelve small Siamese States "), from which they have
succeeded in driving the Chin Haws and other marauders.
* Siam, No. 1 (1894), No. 3. All the diplomatic correspondence which follows
in smaller type is taken from the same much- edited Blue Book, and may be found
under the dates quoted.
472
The terms of this arrangement are of considerable importance ;
for the subsequent hostilities arose out of allegations brought by
France against Siam (as also by Siam against France), that the
conditions of this status quo had been violated. The actual
truth on either side was exceedingly hard to prove, as the
country in dispute had been but poorly surveyed, and reliable
maps were almost unobtainable.* It was definitely advanced,
however, by France that Siam had pushed her posts forward so
far eastward as to be within forty miles of Hue.
Meantime, from 1889-1893, the French Colonial authorities
had been sending expeditions throughout the whole of the
Mekong valley, and France soon reiterated her accusations of
Siamese encroachment and made definite claims to all territory
east of the left bank of the Mekong. The points at issue are
clearly given in a despatch from the Marquis of Dufferin to
Lord Eosebery on February 7, 1893 :
In my despatch of the 25th ultimo I forwarded to your Lordship a report of
the discussion upon the Foreign Office Estimates with regard to the alleged encroach-
ments of the Siamese on districts stated to be under the protection of France on the
left bank of the Mekong. The charges brought against the Siamese Government
are summed up in a speech of M. Francois Deloncle, contained in the full report of
the debate. M. Deloncle asserted that the Siamese persistently ignore the rights
of the kingdoms of Annam and Cambodia over the whole of Laos and the terri-
tories situated on the two banks of the Mekong, . . . that the Government were
still of the opinion expressed by their predecessors two years ago, to the effect
that the left bank of the Mekong was the western limit of the sphere of French
influence, and that this opinion was based on the incontestable rights of Annam
which had been exercised for several centuries. He added that these rights were
too important to be abandoned, and too well established for the Siamese to persist
in contesting them in the presence of the determination of France to put a stop to
their violation.
These statements show a distinct advance in the French
Colonial Policy, from the attitude of maintaining the status quo
till a Commission could settle the question, into that of ignoring
* M. Pavie's magnificent map was not published till 1893. The Siamese
Government Survey Map published under Mr. Macarthy's auspices cannot pretend
to accuracy of boundaries, is largely made up of guesswork, and is useless for
political purposes.
TEtJE STORY OF FRANCE AND SIAM. 473
all discussion and peremptorily insisting on the immediate
recognition of French claims.
These public announcements were the signal for the commence-
ment of still further active developments in French policy ; and
that this was clearly realised by the British Government is
shown by the following letter from Lord Kosebery to Lord
Dufferin, on March 8, 1893 :
M. Waddington spoke to me to-day on the subject of the Mekong Eiver and the
boundaries of Siam. I pointed out to His Excellency that there seemed to be one
initial difficulty. It was that the Mekong appeared to run through Siam, and that
we could hardly say that one part of Siam was under British influence and another
part under French. M. Waddington rejoined that his Government did not admit
that any part of Siani lay on the left bank of the Mekong, but regarded the country
lying on that side as belonging to Annam. I could not conceal my surprise at this
communication.
"When we remember the numerous explicit announcements of
the French intentions and claims to the left bank which I have
already quoted, we must regard this surprise as being diplomatic
in character. Plans soon developed into action, as evidenced by
the following telegram from Captain Jones, V.C., the British
Minister in Bangkok to the Earl of Eosebery, under date of
March 10, 1893 :
Charge of invading Annam has been brought against Siamese Government.
They protest, and are prepared to refer matter to arbitration, but French Govern-
ment seem to be unwilling to accept this.
How did the Siamese meet this new development ? The next
telegram from Captain Jones (March 15th) clearly shows:
Instructions have been received by the French Minister to put forward a claim
bringing the boundary of Annam up to the eastern bank of the River Mekong. The
Siamese Government protests against this pretension on the part of Annam, which
implies an increase of territory. They insist that any delimitation must be based
upon actual possession, and that snch a basis can only be modified by any rights
which can be justified by the French. Siam is milling to refer any doubtful points
to arbitration.
In thus speaking of "insistence" it is plain that Siam was
determined to put her foot down, and refuse passive acquies-
474 SIAM.
cence. She is willing to submit to arbitration as a possible
solution ; but in any case she definitely refuses the French
demands as at present made, and prefers to face the worst. I
may remark that this was probably the decision of the Cabinet,
the King being away in Koh-si-chang at the time.
A very plain intimation followed from France that resistance
would be met by insistence, and that Siam must take the con-
sequences. The situation at this moment is clearly given in the
following abstract of a telegram, dated April 12th, sent by the
Siamese Minister for Foreign Affairs to his Legation in London,
and by it communicated to Lord Eosebery.
The modus vivendi proposed by Siam has been refused by France, who insists
upon the withdrawal of the Siamese military and official posts east of the Mekong.
In their place Annamite posts will be set up, and the French claims will be pushed
forward as far as possible.
The Siamese Government are unable to grant the terms asked, but will be ready
to submit the matter to international arbitration.
The French gunboat now at Bangkok evidently intends to remain there, and
another gun-boat now on the way is expected to arrive on the 8th instant.
Although friendly intentions towards Siam are professed, there is every appear-
ance of forcing unacceptable terms upon the Siamese Government by menaces.
Negociations between the two parties are still pending, but the Siamese Government
are determined to resist to the utmost.
It was in fact necessary for Siam to choose definitely which
of two policies she would adopt, namely, either to submit to the
French claims under protest, as being too weak to hope for a
successful resistance, adding perhaps an appeal for a subsequent
reference of the whole matter to arbitration ; or to make up her
mind once for all to resist at all costs. The above telegram
clearly shows her to have determined upon the latter policy.
This being so, it was manifestly her first duty to take every
possible means to carry it through successfully. How far this
was done I shall presently show.
France having thus definitely stated her determination,
naturally proceeded on her way, and those who were carefully
watching events in Bangkok felt no surprise when news came of
two important events. On April 3rd M. Delcasse received the
following telegram from M. de Lanessan at Saigon :
THE TRUE STORY OF FRANCE AND 8IAM. 4*75
In accordance with your instructions and in consequence of the measures I have
taken, Stung-Treng was occupied on Saturday by our troops without striking a
blow. The Siamese Commissioner and soldiers retired at the summons of the
French Resident, who was conducting the operation.
And the next step was taken on April 8th :
Our troops have occupied the island of Khone on the 4th April without firing a
shot. The Siamese Commissioner and soldiers retired at the request of the French
Besident. We have already taken up our positions at Stung-Treng and Khone.
Both these places were strategically of the first importance.
A traveller who was recently there says that Stung-Treng is a
town as large as Bassac, and that it completely commands the
route from Annam, and offers an excellent base of operations
for the French, should they desire to despatch an expedition
westwards, while the island of Khone is one of the largest on
the Mekong Kiver, practically commanding the approach to the
rapids, and could be held by a handful of men against the most
determined assaults.
One of the first steps that the Siamese ought to have taken,
if they had been in earnest in their professed determination to
"resist to the utmost," was the reinforcement of their small
military stations, and the inauguration of a careful plan of
defence, at both of these points. But the whole campaign seems
to have been conducted, like everything else in Siam, with a
great deal of talk and vapouring about the excellence of their
intentions, and their firm determination to act up to their
position as an independent nation, while the solid work was
hopelessly neglected, and the only steps taken were complete
shams. The very fact that the garrisons in these places retired
on each occasion seems to the European critic an unintelligible
outcome of the loud pronouncements of "resistance to the
utmost."
What in the meantime was England doing ? It is now pretty
well known that up till the last moment (even up to July 14th)
Siam had counted upon the effective intervention of Great
Britain, and had fondly imagined that the whole affair would
476
prove to be French bluster, which would be baffled by English
firmness ; but to her great disgust she found that so long as the
questions in dispute were confined to the " lower Mekong," the
British Foreign Office confined itself to giving advice. Siam
had not realised that England could hardly afford to go to war
with one of the leading Powers of Europe to help Siam out of
the results of her own folly. To all entreaties for assistance
answers were returned that the quarrel was clearly one between
Siam and France, in which England could have no locus standi.
Lord Rosebery practically said, "As you say you are weak and
helpless, we counsel you to avoid by all means any policy which
may provoke France to strong measures," and it is difficult to
see, remembering the composition of the British Cabinet, what
other reply he could have made. England's attitude was
very pointedly announced to the Siamese Government both in
Bangkok and in London, as the following telegram from Lord
"Rosebery to Captain Jones (April 24th) clearly shows :
Mr. Verney, the English Secretary of the Siamese Legation in London, called
to-day at the Foreign Office, and spoke with Sir Philip Currie in regard to the
present state of the political relations between France and Siam. He was told
that instructions had been sent to you by telegraph to recommend the Siamese
Government that they should take no action which would precipitate a rupture
with France, and that they should exercise great caution. Mr. Verney inquired
whether, in Sir P. Currie's opinion, it would be wise of the Siamese to endeavour
to obtain the mediation of European Powers. Sir P. Currie replied that he
thought they had much better endeavour to get the best terms they could from
the French Government. Mr. Verney said that the French have not yet laid claim
to Luang Prabang.
The Siamese, however, preferred to go their own gait, and a
Bangkok newspaper of April llth remarked :
" Since the arrival of the Lutin the Siamese appear to have been pretty busy
with war-like preparations. We learn that the Paknam forts are being strongly
manned, and that a large force has been moved down to Paknam in readiness for
eventualities."
Again, on the 14th :
" The Siamese authorities are well posted on passing events in the Mekong
region, and are hurrying arms and ammunition via Pachim, and along the
THE TRUE STORY OF FRANCE AND SIAM. 477
Bang-pa-kong river to their forces in the Mekong valley. A Siamese steamer
has left Pachira with a large supply of guns and ammunition for the Siamese
posts along the river Mekong."
Again, on the 18th :
" The construction of a new fort has been ordered at Paknam with all the
despatch possible. The contract has been given to a Chinaman, who is hurrying
down materials. Notice has been given to the Governors and population along the
east coast from Chantabun southwards to supply no warships with provisions, or
in any way assist in victualling them. The Siamese Foreign Minister is said to
treat the present crisis very lightly. He counts on Siam being able to place from
9,000 to 12,000 men in tbe field, and asserts that the Siam of to-day is not the Siam
of twenty years ago. The naval department is counted upon to supply 2,000 able-
bodied seamen and marines. Phya Surisak might reasonably raise 8,000 or 10,000
men. With this number the Foreign Minister thinks that Siam would make so
serious a fight that France would hesitate before beginning hostilities."
Again, on the 28th :
" The Siamese are impressing every available man for service, and the fields are
said to be entirely denuded of male workers. Guns and ammunition are being
eagerly bought up, aud the raw levies pushed on towards the eastern frontier.
The King is said * to have voted 10,000 catties (about 50,000) from his private
purse to be devoted to the buying of war material. Chains and other obstacles
are being hurried down to the mouth of the river with the intention of blocking
the entrance. Every available pound of gunpowder in the Singapore market has
been bought up for Siam."
The vernacular newspaper (Dhammasaht Vinichai) put it still
more frankly in a long inflammatory article, which ended, " We
will form our ranks and give our blood for our country, our King,
our religion, our race."
Meanwhile, apparently blind to the hopelessly defective state
of her forces, Siam actually undertook hostilities up-country.
When the King's half-brother, the Eoyal Commissioner at
Bassac, heard that the small force at Stung-Treng had retired
(as before stated) before the French force on April 1st, he at
once sent 800 men to drive the French out. These men, while
reconnoitring on the river, surprised a party of coolies under a
* This is a fact, and the money was handed over to the Naval Department, but it
is impossible to say how it was all expended.
478 SIAM.
French officer, Captain Thoreux, conveying stores to the garrison
at Khone, at once attacked them, and owing to superior numbers
easily overpowered them. The coolies abandoned their loads,
which fell into the hands of the Siamese, together with the
person of the officer, who was made prisoner and kept in custody
at Bassac.
I will here note one of the most conspicuous of the many
inaccurate versions of their actions which were made from time
to time by the Siamese and their representatives with a view to
mislead the British Government and conceal the real trend of
Siamese policy when its effects seemed unfortunate. Seeing that
Bassac is in telegraphic communication with Bangkok, and that
the Cabinet had been daily sending orders to that district, and
had just despatched additional troops to carry them out, it is
quite impossible that the Siamese Government were honest in
instructing their Secretary, Mr. Verney, to say to Lord Eosebery
that " the Siamese Government were not the instigators of this
attack, but that there were in the Mekong district a number of
half-savage tribes who were ready to take any opportunity to
create disturbance." And Mr. Verney could not possibly have
made this statement of his own knowledge.
This trick of altering facts was constantly played, and in the
total ignorance of Siamese matters which then prevailed at the
British Legation in Bangkok it often gained the point at which
it was aimed, viz., the rousing of British sympathy for Siam
and antipathy toward France. Thus the Siamese policy was
that of facing-both-ways ; they were defiant in Bangkok, and
pacific in Europe. On May 13th Lord Bosebery is assured by
the Siamese Government that " the Siamese Government were
not the instigators of the attack ; " and again on June 4th, that
"the encounter was in opposition to their wishes." While, on
the other hand, M. Pavie is informed by Prince Devawongse in
Bangkok on May 20th. that "The Siamese Government consider
that the capture of the French officer referred to was justified
by the circumstances. He committed an act of war, being in
THE TRUE STOEY OF FRANCE AND SIAM. 479
command of a hostile and aggressive expedition upon Siamese
territory. They are willing to set him at liberty as an act of
courtesy towards the French Government, with whom they do
not wish to quarrel, but it is not true that they have ever
expressed regret at his being taken prisoner. The alleged
regrets and apologies on the part of the Siamese Government
appear to be inventions made for the purposes of the newspapers
in Paris." And this is repeated still more strongly in Prince
Devawongse's note verbcde of June 2nd : " The Siamese Govern-
ment cannot admit, even indirectly, that in capturing Captain
Thoreux when in command of an aggressive and hostile expedi-
tion they acted wrongly."
Another glaring example of this same misrepresentation is
the statement made by Mr. Verney, of course under instructions,
to Lord Eosebery, " that no demands whatever were addressed
to the Siamese Government by France before the French troops
seized the territory on the east of the Mekong, . . . that no
information as to the intentions of the French Government had
reached the Government of Siam except that obtained from the
newspapers." Whereas, for months previous the French Legation
had been urging their claims at the Siamese Foreign Office, and
the French Consul had had frequent interviews at the Siamese
Treasury about the amount of the pecuniary claims in the
flagrant case of M. Baroton ; and a fortnight earlier Prince
Devawongse had actually received a clear statement of all
demands from M. Pavie, as given in Captain Jones's telegram
to Lord Kosebery on April 13th. It was this constant prevari-
cation and short-sighted deception, so invariably characteristic
of Siamese politics, that finally roused the French Government
to desperate measures, and discounted all Siamese protesta-
tions at a later date, when perhaps they had a really good case
to argue.
The open jubilation in Bangkok when the news was spread of
the triumphant capture of a live farang officer sufficiently showed
that the Siamese were still in their fool's paradise, and the
480 SIAM.
general determination to resistance was greatly strengthened.
The King made personal visits to the Paknam forts, and troops
were massed in Bangkok itself. Under these circumstances, it
should not have been matter for surprise to the authorities in
London it certainly was not so to any one in Bangkok to hear
the news contained in the following telegram from the British
Commander-in-Chief, China, to the Admiralty :
Shanghai, May 26, 1893.
" French Admiral in Triomphante, Hongkong, Inconstant, Coniete, Lion, sailed
from Hongkong to the southward, probably for Bangkok."
Before long, news arrived in Bangkok and London that the
French had been steadily carrying out the same forward policy
in the northern regions also, and had compelled the Siamese to
evacuate the chief posts near the Annamite mountain range,
commencing at Kammuon on May 26th. This, however, was at
once replied to by the Siamese in the same manner as at Stung-
Treng. A strong attack was planned and ordered by another
half-brother of the King, who was the Eoyal Siamese Com-
missioner at Nong Kai. He sent a body of troops with strict
orders to expel the French from the whole of the territory to
the east of the Mekong in the Kammuon district, and to " com-
pel their retirement, by fighting, if necessary, to the utmost of their
strength" * In consequence of this, on June 13th, a French
sergeant and some seventeen Annamite soldiers were killed and
all their property destroyed, this being the incident which after-
wards gave rise to the State trial of Pra Yot, the Commissioner
of the Kammuon district.
Will it be believed that in this matter also the Siamese
Government repeated their former manoeuvre of throwing the
entire blame on the local authorities, so soon as they were
threatened with the consequences of their actions ? So far,
indeed, was this repudiation carried that it was not until ten
* The original written text of these orders was produced by the officer of the
Expedition in open court at Bangkok in February, 1894, and every one was struck
by the unmistakable directness of their tone as given in the vernacular.
THE TRUE STORY OF FRANCE AND SIAM. 481
months afterwards that the Cabinet at length definitely acknow-
ledged their responsibility for the action, in an official statement
made with Prince Devawongse's sanction in open Court on March
12, 1894 ; and then only because it had by that time come to be
represented in a more favourable light by the European lawyers
engaged to defend Pra Yot, as being a distinguished example
of military courage.* And even after this, when the French
Mixed Court re-tried the case in 1894, and condemned to
twenty years' penal servitude the man put forward by the
Siamese Government as the author of the so-called attentat,
Prince Devawongse kept a discreet silence concerning the
Cabinet's responsibility, and allowed the sentence to be carried
into effect. Yet it was manifest to every one that if the King
placed any value on the loyal obedience of his servants or on his
own reputation for consistency and straight dealing, his only
right course was to reassert the Cabinet's initiative in the
action, and inform the French Government that the responsi-
bility and consequently the penalty for the whole affair lay
entirely with his Government. But the King's moral cowardice
permitted the penalty for the Cabinet's folly to be visited upon
the innocent scapegoat who had merely carried out the orders
he had received (when to have done otherwise would by Siamese
law have cost him his head). This man now languishes in
chains in a Siamese prison for having loyally obeyed his officer's
orders, and the French Consul makes periodical visits to the
gaol to see that the sentence of penal servitude is fully carried
out!
Throughout May and June the general war- spirit in Bangkok
increased, literally from hour to hour ; and offensive and defen-
* The French official account of this incident was (Blue Book, No. 78) that Pra
Yot " himself with a shot from a revolver assassinated the Inspector [Grosgurin] in
his bed, to which he was confined by his illness." This was derived from the evi-
dence of the one witness, Bun Chan, who afterwards disproved it at the State trial
under cross-examination. The actual facts were that Grosgurin was firing from
the window of his house, and was struck by a chance shot from outside, fired in
the melee, Pra Yot himself not having a gun. All this was proved at the trial.
82
482 SIAM.
sive operations were continuously carried on. His Majesty went
to Paknam on May 10th, and spent a long time there inspecting
the forts commanding the bar of the river, and himself fired one
of the guns. The more honest of those in the Royal retinue
could clearly see that the forts were incomplete and the ammuni-
tion of little use, while the utter want of training of the officers
and men was ludicrously conspicuous. But the mere roar of
the great gun and the sight of the projectiles as they dropped
into the sea far away seemed sufficient to assure His Majesty
and his suite of flatterers of the certainty of victory, and many
childish expressions of glee and anticipated triumph were
uttered.
On May 20th, 400 Siamese troops left for Bassac, and all
manner of talk was indulged in at the Cabinet about collecting
three divisions of thirty thousand men each and simply sweep-
ing the French into the sea. The fact that these men (even if
it had been possible to collect them) would of course have been
taken straight from the paddy-fields without knowing a rifle from
a right-about-face seemed of no consequence. Moreover, there
was not in all Siam a single officer * either properly trained
himself or capable of drilling these raw levies ; still less one
with any knowledge of conducting military operations.
Another of the signs of the Siamese war-fever perhaps the
greatest of great Siamese shams was the foundation at this
date of a Bed Cross Society amongst the ladies of the Palace
for the treatment of such soldiers as might be wounded in the
battles so confidently expected. After much collecting of money
and farcical ceremonials, and the sending of hogsheads of Epsom
Salts and thousands of smelling bottles and blankets and dozens
of cases of surgical instruments of which nobody knew the use,
to lie neglected in the jungle, t this strange parody of a noble
* Except the Dane, Major Schau, who was nominally head of the school for
Non -Commissioned Officers, and he was kept almost without work until the French
had actually arrived off Bangkok.
| These are facts.
THE TRUE STORY OF FRANCE AND SIAM. 483
effort ultimately showed itself in its true colours, after the
famous " battle " of Paknam. So incredible is the tale if told
by a traveller that I had better quote the words of a Bangkok
newspaper at the time, the truth of which has been fully
confirmed to me by eye-witnesses :
" We referred some weeks back to that much-boomed society known as the Bed
Cross Society and suggested that the people were being a little humbugged on the
matter. We were not wrong. The battle took place on Thursday evening, and the
wounded only found their way to the hospital at dawn on Friday " and this, I may
add, through the kind exertions of a European who himself took them uninvited
to the European hospital, the Eed Cross one being shut. The Society did not put
in an appearance at the hospital until Sunday, and even then were of no use.* " On
Friday and Saturday, when the wounded men needed the greatest attention, the
Society was simply not to be found, and a few European ladies very kindly came
forward as nurses. . . . The patriotic Siamese Eed Cross Society did not even take
the trouble to inquire where the wounded men were. . . . No orders appear to have
been issued from the Siamese Medical Department, which seems to have been
perfectly paralysed. Europeans fought the forts, gunboats, and mines, and Euro-
peans nursed, cured, carved, and attended the Siamese wounded. We beg the
Siamese to remember this when next they dream of dispensing with the services of
Europeans."
As the war-fever still continued, 200 men were sent to
Battambong, for further hostilities on the Mekong ; and when
the King's brother, the Commissioner at Bassac, telegraphed to
Bangkok for reinforcements, Prince Prachak, the Commissioner
at Nong Kai, was at once ordered to send on what men he could
spare. In vain did England endeavour to bring a pacificatory
tone into Siamese counsels. On June 5th Lord Eosebery tele-
graphed to Captain Jones, " You should use your influence to
restrain the Siamese Government from taking any measures
likely to bring the dispute with France to a crisis. We are
doing what is in our power here to urge upon them the necessity
of moderation." But " it is ill work advising a fool," and Lord
Eosebery must have smiled grimly on receiving the next day
Captain Jones's telegram I have before quoted, beginning as
* As a matter of fact when the two Siamese ladies did come, they merely criti-
cised the treatment adopted by the Surgeon of H.M.S. Swift, who had very kindly
given his assistance, and spoke in a very high-handed manner of the insolence of
the farangs in having thus interfered with the prerogatives of the Siamese Red
Cross Society ; but they left without doing anything whatever themselves.
484 SIAM.
follows : " Your Lordship's telegram of yesterday. Siamese
Government consider that the capture of the French officer
referred to was justified by the circumstances. He committed
an act of war, being in command of a hostile and aggressive
expedition upon Siamese territory."
At the end of June the King went down in his new yacht to
stay for several days at Paknam, so that he could make constant
inspections of the work at the forts, and hasten it by his
presence. It is true that the work was merely the piling up of
earth and bricks, and the inspection both of His Majesty and of
the Cabinet was of course entirely without technical knowledge
or value. But so feverish was the activity that the whole supply
of bricks in Siam was exhausted. On June 19th, His Majesty
gave a banquet at Paknam to the principal Princes and officials,
and several " patriotic " speeches were made. His Majesty's
words were particularly strong, and he ended by saying, " I now
desire to inform you all that if anything happens I shall not
have the least fear, nor will I tamely submit to circumstances.
1 ask you one and all to be confident and to feel assured that
we shall support each other and defend our country to the utmost
of our power and ability." And Commodore de Richelieu and
several Princes made speeches in the same tone. No wonder
that the more sensible of the Bangkok newspapers published
the following comment next day :
" It is manifest tbat the King of Siam labours under the conviction that every-
thing is in readiness ; that his troops and defences are in excellent order and
condition ; and that the men in command are thoroughly capable and competent.
. . . How far this is an empty dream we all know well. . . . But the King of Siam
is surrounded by a charmed circle of his own creation. . . . We can and do expect
every single European in Siamese employ, civil or so-called military, when asked
for advice to point out to the Siamese most emphatically and unequivocally the
madness of this resistance."
Meanwhile the Siamese Minister of Public Works sent a
special written order to every pilot forbidding them " to pilot
any French man-of-war over the bar into the river," without
special orders from Bangkok. When this fact was accidentally
THE TRUE STORY OF FRANCE AND 8IA1VI. 485
published, the usual policy of duplicity brought forth an imme-
diate denial of it in the Siamese Government organ, the Bangkok
Times. But the immediate publication of the original docu-
ment in the other Bangkok newspaper, the Siam Free Press,
showed the falsity of the Government position in attempting to
gloss over their unwise and in the light of the Treaties
illegal act. At the same time hurried steps were taken for
effectually closing the river mouth. Piles and stakes were
driven in, near the bar, to narrow the passage. But they were
so badly placed that they waved about with the wind and tide,
and would hardly have delayed a fishing boat. Two large
steamers were sunk so as almost to close the main channel, but
so badly ballasted and unskilfully moored, that they soon
swung with the tide and lay in the wrong direction. A third
hulk was prepared for sinking in the one remaining channel,
and lay close by (but without any ballast ready for her) in
nominal readiness for completely closing up the entrance at the
last moment.
These new steps were taken in response to the receipt of a
warning from the French Government on June 23rd, to the
effect that " the French fleet had been ordered to proceed to
Saigon, and, should the situation demand, it would be sent to
Bangkok." This grave announcement should have made even
the maddest adviser pause to consider the probable results of
Siamese infatuation. Whatever the facts or the rights of the
case might be, France was determined to have her way ; she
had taken her stand on a few main issues, and would brook no
abatement. This is clearly stated in Mr. Phipp's despatch to
Lord Eosebery of June 30th :
M. Develle this evening . . . said that he could give me a solemn assurance
that the French Government had no idea of interfering with the integrity of the
Siamese Empire. But France had three grievances which must be redressed.
About six months ago the property, valued at about 80,000 francs, of a French
merchant had been seized and sold. A French factory had also been destroyed,
and finally Captain Thoreux had been captured by the Siamese, and had not been
given up, in spite of repeated promises made during the last five weeks. There was
486
SIAM.
also the murder of M. Grosgurin, committed by a Siamese Mandarin, for which his
Government must be held responsible. Only a few days ago His Excellency had
told the Siamese Eepresentative that if the fresh promises were broken and these
grievances were not redressed, the French Minister would be withdrawn from
Bangkok, when Prince Vadhana would receive his passports. ... If Captain
Thoreux were not given up, and any further attempts made to temporise, France
would have to get redress by arms"
What could Siam be thinking about, one may well ask, and
what were her European advisers about, to let her adopt such a
suicidal attitude and prate of resistance without either possess-
ing or taking measures to acquire the decent beginnings of an
armed force ? This is an interesting point which has been but
little understood in England, and deserves, I think, a few words
of explanation.
There were at this time only three Europeans who possessed
in any sense the confidence of the Cabinet or of the King.
These were, first, an Englishman, Mr. Morant, who, taking the
common-sense view about counting the cost, naturally advised
coming to terms ; but he was helpless to stem the torrent of
anti-French feeling ; his pacificatory advice was too unpalatable
to be followed, since it clashed with the ingrained national con-
ceit. Second, a Dane, Commodore de Eichelieu, whose whole
interest and excitement naturally lay in the chance of the
prestige to be obtained by bringing his naval "properties" on
the stage and possibly effecting a great coup. Third, a Belgian,
M. Holm Jacquemyns, whose advice and attitude on Siamese
policy were, in my opinion, so unfortunate from beginning to
end, that it will be worth while to stay a moment to describe
his position in the Siamese service, as it had a material effect
on the situation both then and afterwards. M. Jacquemyns has
a distinguished European reputation for his knowledge of
international law. When Prince Damrong during his tour in
Egypt met this gentleman and sent word to Bangkok that he
was open to an appointment, the possession of a man of such
European repute struck the Siamese as a possible basis for a
magnificent advertisement. To be able to speak of him as
1HE TRUE STORY OF FRANCE AND SIAM. _ 487
their "Legal Adviser" would be a means of dazzling the
European governments and throwing dust in the eyes of too
closely critical farang observers. He was therefore engaged at
a very high salary, and with a great amount of palaver installed
in a villa some four miles away from the Palace, where he
would be sufficiently conspicuous as a figure-head, but so far
from Court circles that he could not become too pressing with
his bodily presence or advice. For about eight months he went
through the usual experience of every European employed in
Siamese service; his advice, frequently proffered and at first
blandly received, was soon deftly avoided, and never at any time
followed, while he was treated with every consideration and
courtesy, and his natural but futile eagerness for some work
to do was kept soothed by an occasional decoration. At last by
special decree he was given the wonderful " style " of " General
Adviser and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Government of His
Supreme Majesty the King of Siam," a title which he always
inscribed on his cards, and of which a special Eoyal proclama-
tion was made in the newspapers. After throwing him this
gigantic sop, no further scruples were felt about ignoring his
advice and keeping him on the shelf, and so little considera-
tion was shown him that he could not even obtain a clerk, a
secretary, or a proper office. From his appointment to the
present time he has known scarcely two words of the language
and seen nothing of the real life of the King, the Princes, the
Ministers, or the officials ; and has been kept as ignorant of the
real state of the Siamese army and navy as of her finances and
judiciary. But to every man comes his chance, and though
Siam's International Court which M. Jacquemyns might have
put straight (if he had only been given the opportunity) is as
rotten as ever, and her financial system which he might have
improved (if he had been consulted about it) is as corrupt
as ever in her foreign politics he has undoubtedly had a
striking influence.
To the national feeling so strongly aroused amongst the
488 BIAM.
Siamese by the advance of the French upon territory then
under Siamese occupation, M. Jacquemyns' welcome theories of
" National Eights " expressed in high-sounding phrases and
supported by volumes published in all the languages of Europe
were received with avidity ; Siam was charmed to hear her
own employee speak so bravely of her inherent rights as an
independent nation to the continuance of her integrity and the
full exercise of autonomy. M. Jacquenryns as a theorist was
not concerned with mere practical details of undisciplined
armies and sham navies. If international law declared the
rights of a people to their own territory, it was clear to him
that Siam must remember and insist upon these rights ; and
Siam heard him with delight, and responded with eagerness.
In his defence it is but fair to repeat that he had undoubtedly
been kept in perfect ignorance of the real state of the Siamese
forces and other means of defence ; so that the subsequent
results of his advice came as an immense surprise to him, as
was comically visible on July 14th, when he found that the
two small French wooden gunboats had easily come up to
Bangkok, in spite of the Siamese men-of-war which he had
been assured would certainly blow them to atoms.
In this way foreign theories supported native conceit, Belgian
advice jumped with Siamese inclinations, and Danish promptings
appealed to Eoyal ambition. With ridiculous defences, useless
weapons, and incompetent leaders, Siam rushed to her ruin.
The next stage in this tragi-comedy was the announcement
made by M. Pavie to Prince Devawongse on July 10th that the
French cruiser Inconstant and the gunboat Comete were about to
arrive; and that, in accordance with the Treaty, Admiral Hurnann
had ordered them to cross the bar on the evening of Thurs-
day the 13th, for which purpose he requested the usual service
of pilots. To this definite announcement Prince Devawongse,
under M. Jacquemyns' advice, gave the following two-fold reply,
which was the prime cause of all the subsequent disasters : (1)
That the reasons advanced by France for sending these boats
THE TRUE STORY OF FRANCE AND 8IAM. 489
were neither valid, nor founded on facts ; (2) that the Siamese
Government objected " to an interpretation of the Treaty which
would give to any Power an absolute right to send into the terri-
torial waters of Siam, and to the Capital of the kingdom, as many
war-vessels as they should like. The spirit of the Treaty cannot
be that Siam should be deprived of the natural right of any
nation to protect itself, and the French Government will easily
understand that, under present circumstances, we cannot,
without abdicating our right to exist as an independent State,
adopt such interpretation." To this M. Pa vie replied next day,
" I have not failed to inform my Government and the Admiral of
the objections made by the Government of His Majesty to their
entry into the river. ... I have equally made known that I
have insisted with your Highness that the Inconstant whilst
waiting a reply, anchors at Paknam conformably to the Treaty."
Prince Devawongse in turn replied, " To avoid any misunder-
standing ... I feel obliged to state without any delay . . .
that my objections against the Inconstant passing the bar are of
a general nature, and apply to its anchoring at Paknam as well
as its going up to Bangkok. . . . Indeed the reasonable inter-
pretation which, I think, ought to be given to the Treaty, as not
depriving Siam of the essential right of any State to watch over
its own safety and independence, is applicable to any part of our
territorial waters."
The point here at issue is a vital one in any consideration
of the Franco- Siamese difficulty. It illustrates perfectly the
sophisms with which Siam on this as on other occasions sought
to evade her treaty obligations ; and it shows how inevitable
and indeed justifiable were the steps to which France resorted
to maintain her bare Treaty rights ; and how easily she gained
additional excuses for insisting on her later and more question-
able territorial claims. Article XV. of the Treaty of 1856
between France and Siam reads as follows : " French vessels of
war can enter the river and anchor at Paknam ; but they must
inform the Siamese authorities before proceeding to Bangkok,
490 SIAM.
and come to an understanding with them as to the anchorage."
It thus seems almost incredible that Prince Devawongse
with M. Jacquemyns' advice should have ventured to reply to a
naval power like France in the words I have above quoted, to
maintain the same position again in a long interview, and to
repeat it once more in the following uncompromising terms on
July 12th : " Notwithstanding your insistence, in our interview
of to-day, on having the Inconstant and the Comete admitted to
anchor at Paknam, it is my duty to maintain my peremptory
objections, which I made in my preceding letter, against their
entering the waters of the Menam, and to declare that, under
present circumstances, the Government of His Majesty is unable
to consent to the presence in this river of more than one war-
vessel of any State. All necessary instructions to that effect
have been given to our naval and military authorities."
This was no hasty and unconsidered decision reached in a
moment of excitement ; nor was it merely due to some " mis-
understanding," as the Siamese Government tried to make out
in the Koyal Proclamation of July 15th. Still less was it true
that " the cause of the encounter at Paknam might have been
the difficulties of communication with the (Siamese) officers," as
was speciously suggested to Lord Eosebery, after the event, by
the Siamese Legation in London. It was the deliberate decision
of the Siamese Cabinet to disregard their plain obligations under
the treaty, on discovering that it did not quite suit their con-
venience to fulfil them. But what had caused this particular
inconvenience ? Their own folly in having built their forts out-
side Paknam to command only the approach to the bar, while
they had omitted any means of attacking ships lying at anchor
inside the bar at Paknam, to which spot foreign vessels were
free to come under the terms of the treaty. The ancient fort at
this spot had been allowed to fall into ruins and is filled with
jungle growth. Thus if the Siamese Government kept their
Treaty promises, the French gunboats would be able to come
unhurt inside the river and lie at Paknam out of reach of the
TRUE STOR OF FRANCE AND SIAM. 491
only big guns that Siam possessed. What then could be more
simple than to say that in making those promises in 1856, they
had never really intended to sanction the entrance of foreign
gunboats ? If a promise becomes inconvenient, explain it
away ; if this be impossible, then break it. So, when these
unaccommodating Frenchmen declined to have their treaty
rights explained away in this convenient fashion, Siam with a
light heart decided to "insist." It is confidently believed now
that the French ships only intended to make a demonstration
by lying at anchor at Paknam, thirty miles away from the
capital, as they were entitled by treaty to do, and their
subsequent advance up to Bangkok was occasioned by the
deliberate attack made upon them by the Siamese forts, while
they were still within the limits assigned to them by the existing
treaty.
It is true that the French Government in Paris consented at
the last moment to waive their rights to anchor gunboats inside
the bar at Paknam ; and M. Develle informed Mr. Phipps on the
afternoon of July 13th (Blue Book, No. 139), that " it had been
decided that such French ships as would be sent would remain
outside the bar . . . although . . . the 15th Article of the
Franco- Siamese Treaty of 1856 was explicit and allowed French
ships to penetrate into the river as far as Paknam, and after
previous warning to the Siamese Government to proceed to
Bangkok." * But these new orders had only been sent to the
French Admiral at Saigon on July llth, from whence they had
to be transmitted to the ships which were then in the Gulf of
Siam ; and this could not have been done by 5 p.m. on July
13th. The note which M. Pavie sent out to the Commander of
the Inconstant at 4.45 p.m. (just before the entrance of the gun-
boats) no doubt informed him of the Siamese objections to his
* As a matter of fact, owing to the difference in longitude, the French ships
had actually crossed the bar, engaged the forts, and entered the river, before M.
Develle made this statement to Mr. Phipps ; and by 5.30 on the same afternoon
the news of this could well have reached Paris.
492 61AM.
passage and of their determination to resist it, and possibly also
of the statement made to him (M. Pavie) by Prince Devawongse
that the Siamese Minister in Paris had been assured by M.
Develle that the gunboats would not enter. Be that as it
may, however, and though the action of the French officers, as
Lord Eosebery said, appeared to be " uncontrollable and irre-
sponsible," the fact that definite orders had been given in
writing by the King, on the 13th, that his forts should fire
upon the French gunboats directly they showed definite
signs of attempting to cross the bar, proves that the King
did not really expect that the French would waive their treaty
rights, and also that Siam was absolutely determined in any
case to use force to prevent an entrance.
Thus, on the evening of July 13th, towards dusk, occurred the
battle of Paknam, which I have already described. Directly the
French ships reached a certain point on the bar, Commodore de
Eichelieu fired a shot across their bows from his fort to warn
them, and on their continued advance he opened fire with all
his guns as fast as he could, and the Siamese boats inside the
river joined in the attack. The French boats were not materially
damaged, but several French soldiers were killed and wounded.
Under these circumstances the French Commander, ignorant of
how many more forts or attacks might be in readiness for him at
Paknam, naturally did not stop there after his entrance, but
went straight up to the French Legation, situated on the river
about three miles below the Palace, while the Siamese ships
followed some distance after him as best they could.*
So skilfully, however, had the Siamese previously contrived
* The obvious comment upon the discrepancy between the assurances of the
French Government and the action of the French gunboats cannot be more
suggestively made than in Lord Eosebery 's words to Lord Dufferin on Sept.
5th : " However ill-advised and useless the resistance of the Siamese may have
been, the responsibility for what followed rests primarily with the French officers,
who so acted in flagrant opposition to the engagement made by the Representa-
tive of their Government, and ivlio, I observe, have been publicly noted for pro-
motion in recognition of their conduct." This promotion is now an accomplished
fact.
THE TRUE STORY OF FRANCE AND 8IA3I. 493
to represent the justice of their case, as regards the men-of-war
not entering Paknam, that the sound of firing on the evening of
the 13th, followed by the apparition of two French gunboats
lying unhurt before the Legation, came as an immense shock of
surprise to many Bangkok residents. At last the direful news
reached the Court (Captain Jones himself, the British Minister,
strange to say, going to the Palace about 9 p.m. to confirm
it), and instantly the Palace was seething with excitement and
crowded with anxious officials, frightened servants, and hurry-
ing troops. In a moment the King and Cabinet had been
brought to a fearful realisation of the results which their
foolhardy policy might now bring upon them. From 8 p.m.
onwards there were few in the Palace who hoped to escape alive
that night ; every one expected an immediate bombardment by
the French Commander, who was enraged, it was said, at having
been fired upon in the peaceful exercise of his treaty rights.
For several hours the greatest alarm prevailed at the possibility
of an immediate landing of French troops, or the looting and
destruction of the Palace. Troops hurriedly massed together all
unprepared, cavalry hurried out of their stables mingling with
them in a dense crowd round the Palace walls, ancient field-
pieces, each with its supply of old cannon-balls, jammed
together along the Palace road, excited attendants in the
Palace, frantically endeavouring to load rifles which they had
never seen before all offered a strange spectacle of helpless
confusion, and a striking contrast to the recent boasts that
Siam would easily sweep the " French brigands " into the sea.
All this for two small wooden gunboats and some 220 men.
At first the Cabinet were fascinated by a plucky but wild idea
(suggested by the Danish officers) of sending every available boat
and gun and marine down the river in the dark, pell-mell, to
smash up the three little gunboats as they lay off the French
Legation ; but either fear or common sense prevailed. After
five hours of fearful tension, the excitement and alarm in the
Palace was at last dispelled by the arrival of a letter from M.
494 SIAM.
Pavie to Prince Devawongse, which said that no attack on the
town or the Palace had ever been contemplated or was even
now intended ; and that the French Minister would visit the
Siamese Foreign Office the next morning to discuss the events
of that night an unspeakable relief for the moment, but an
unpleasant experience to look forward to. The next morning,
however, after various quaint remarks had been made by
Prince Devawongse and M. Jacquemyns to the French com-
mander, congratulating him on his gallant entrance, M. Pavie
merely stated that instructions from Paris must be awaited.
These instructions arrived on July 20th, and are quoted by
Captain Jones as follows :
The following ultimatnm, which has to be accepted in forty-eight hours, has
been presented by the French to the Siamese Government :
1. Recognition of the rights of Cambodia and Annam to left bank of River
Mekong and the islands.
2. The Siamese shall evacuate, within one month's time, any posts which are
there held by them.
3. Satisfaction for the various acts of aggression against French ships and
sailors in the River Menam and against French subjects in Siam.
4. Pecuniary indemnities to the families of the victims and punishment of the
culprits.
5. For various damages inflicted on French subjects indemnities of 2,000,000 fr.
6. As a guarantee for the claims under clauses 4 and 5 the sum of 3,000,000 fr.
in dollars shall be at once deposited, or, in default, the farming of the taxes of
Siemrap and Battambong shall be assigned to the French.
In the event of the non-acceptance of these terms the French Minister will leave
Bangkok and the blockade of the coast will at once take place.
Thus Siam's penalty for her few days of madness was prompt
and pitiless. Great was the excitement during the two days
of grace. It is difficult to understand that Siam had not
even then learnt the lesson of submission ; indeed the British
Minister went about the town on the final day definitely
stating that everything was satisfactorily settled, that no
further penalties would be exacted, and no blockade need be
feared. But he little knew the Siamese character ; the
national conceit had not even yet fully realised the helpless-
ness of the situation. " On the Saturday afternoon, it became
THE TRUE STORY OF FRANCE AND SIAM. 495
evident that a hitch had occurred somewhere, and that
matters were taking an unfavourable turn. The Naval
Department had ordered every vessel capable of bearing a
gun to be under steam, and the troops were ready for any
sudden emergency." * And just before the time of grace
expired, an answer was sent by Prince Devawongse to M.
Pavie of which the following is an abstract :
1. The King of Siam declares that no explicit definition has as yet ever been
made to the Siamese Government as to what constitutes the rights of Cambodia
and Annam on the Mekong. But as His Majesty is anxious at once to secure peace
and security for his people he agrees to cede to France the country lying to the
south of the 18th parallel of latitude and to the east of the Mekong.
2. The withdrawal of all Siamese posts within the above mentioned territory to
take place forthwith.
3. The loss of life which has occurred in the recent actions between the French
and the Siamese forces is regretted by the King, and the satisfaction required by
France will be given in accordance with ordinary justice and the independence of
Siam which the French Government affect to respect.
4. Those found guilty of illegal aggression will receive condign punishment, and
the sufferers will receive due reparation.
5. The King agrees to pay the indemnity demanded on account of the claims
advanced by French subjects, although the justice of many of them has been
denied by the Siamese. His Majesty, however, suggests that a Joint Commission
should first investigate these claims.
6. The sum of 3,000,000 fr. required as guarantee will be deposited concurrently
with the exchange of notes between the Eepresentatives of France and Siam.
After the equitable adjustment of all reasonable claims, the King trusts that
French justice will restore to Siarn any sum which may remain over.
This compliance with the demands of France will, the King trusts, be looked
upon as a proof of his sincere desire to live with the French Eepublic on terms of
friendship.
But this "compliance" produced next day the following
reply from M. Pavie to Prince Devawongse :
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of the reply your Excellency, on
behalf of the Government of His Majesty the King of Siam, has made to the
communication which I left with you on behalf of the Government of the French
Eepublic. I have taken act of this reply, and without entering upon a discussion
of any of the points I note that it involves a refusal of a considerable portion of
the left bank of the Mekong. ... I have the honour to inform your Highness
that, in conformity with the instructions of my Government, I am transferring the
protection of French nationals and protected persons to the Netherlands Consul-
General, and I embark on the Inconstant, leaving 26th July.
Siam Free Press.
496 SIAM.
To this startling announcement Prince Devawongse sent
next day a formal reply to express his regret and surprise at
this unexpected decision, and to say that no alteration in his
previous note could yet be made, as he must first " insist for
a definition of the nature and extent of what you call the
rights of Annam and Cambodia on the left bank of the
Mekong." Siam thus still continued to " insist," with three
French gunboats in the river, several more outside the bar,
her forces ludicrously defeated, and not the slightest hope of
foreign aid !
On Monday the 24th the French Minister did not hoist his
flag at the Legation, and in the afternoon of the 25th (the
tide did not serve before) he left Bangkok, with all the
French warships, and settled at the island of Koh-si-chang,
pending further instructions from France. The penalties of
Siamese folly were soon to be enforced. On the 28th, notice
was given by Admiral Humann, who had just arrived from
Saigon, that a strict blockade would commence on July 29th,
and now British merchants began to realise that it was they
who were to suffer for Siamese folly. Yet still war counsels
prevailed. At one moment it was actually decided to com-
pletely close the passage of the river by permanently blocking
up the channel with hulks ; and every possible preparation
for war was debated.
Fortunately Prince Devawongse was at last persuaded by
the plain revelation of some startling facts about the con-
ditions of the forts and the ships, to realise the hopelessness
of further resistance; and he determined to surrender uncon-
ditionally before worse things should happen. He contrived
to evade any discussion of his decision in the quarrelling
Cabinet, to escape any more theories of " natural rights,"
and to frighten the King into submission. His decision was
no doubt vastly assisted by the final crushing of all hopes
of British interference and aid, as conveyed to him by Captain
Jones in Lord Eosebery's words :
THE TRUE STORY OF FRANCE AND SIAM. 497
" The nature of the advice which I have given to the Siamese Government has
been constant and consistent in the sense that they should come to terms with the
French quickly. It is impossible for Her Majesty's Government now to change this
view, or indeed to intervene with advice at this juncture.
" The result of the inquiries that I have been able to make at Paris shows that the
tendency of the demands of the French is to increase, and rapidly so, if the Siamese
continue to resist the conditions laid down in their ultimatum.
" I am unable to see, under these circumstances, what Siatn can hope to gain from
maintaining her refusal to accept these conditions, nor what better course remains
for her than to accept the French terms at once and unconditionally.
" The engagements entered into by the Siamese Government with Her Majesty's
Government in regard to Kyang Chiaug need not deter the Siamese Government
from this course. The question as to the future status of that province must be
discussed directly between Her Majesty's Government and that of France."
The pregnant sentence in the closing paragraph showed
them that the last card they had tried to play, in endeavour-
ing to entangle England in the quarrel and so enforce British
interference, had completely failed. A note was therefore sent
to M. Pavie at Koh-si-chang by Prince Devawongse on the
29th of July, to say that, "His Majesty the King of Siam,
being actuated by the most friendly feeling towards France,
accepts the demands of the Government of the Eepublic
unconditionally." But the French had now learned wisdom,
and discovered the value of Siamese promises to keep any
conditions or to fulfil the terms of a treaty; and they there-
fore very naturally required guarantees, viz. :
1. The occupation by French troops of the river and fort of Chantaboon pending
the evacuation by Siam of the left bank of Mekong.
2. No Siamese troops to be permitted within twenty-five kilometres of the Mekong
River.
3. No Siamese armed vessels to be stationed on Toulesap Lake.
4. The right to establish Consulates at Nan and Korat reserved by France.
The occupation of Chantabun by French troops was a bitter
pill ; for it would be a patent and enduring proof that the King
of Siam was no longer absolute in his own kingdom, but lay at
the mercy of France. However there was no help for it. Eng-
land still declined to help. Lord Kosebery telegraphed again
to Captain Jones on July 31st, " In order that the French
33
49$ BlAM.
should have no further opportunity for action or territorial
requisition, it is obvious that the Siamese should not hesitate to
yield." And so the ultimatum with all its additions \vas finally
accepted. On August 3rd, the blockade was raised, and on
August 7th, the French Minister returned to Bangkok and again
raised his flag, to the salutes of the Siamese Navy.
It only remained to arrange the details of future relationship,
and this task was entrusted to a special Minister Plenipotentiary,
sent from France for the purpose, M. Le Myre de Vilers, who was
formerly Governor of Cochin-China and is now dictating French
terms in Madagascar. He arrived in Bangkok on August 16th,
and soon showed that he possessed considerable firmness, and a
clear knowledge of the situation.
The King had retired to his Summer Palace some sixty miles up
the river, in a state of mental collapse, almost directly after the
final surrender had been made and the acute crisis had passed.
But M. de Vilers knew that the native mind would try hard to
gloss over the dictatory position of the French Envoy and repre-
sent it as an Embassy for petitioning the King. He therefore
refused to have audience at the summer residence, and insisted
that, as the Envoy of France, he must be received with full
honours in the Eoyal Palace at Bangkok. This meant that the
King must come down to the capital for the purpose another
bitter pill for the monarch of an independent kingdom. The
Siamese saw that they must assent ; but, cunning to the last,
they cleverly contrived to cover the humiliation by contriving
that there should be a Court function in Bangkok requiring the
King's presence on the morning of August 20th. The King was
obliged to come down for this function, and was thus also at the
same time " pleased to be able to grant M. de Vilers an audience
in the Grand Palace at Bangkok in the afternoon of August
20th."
The second point in which M. de Vilers showed his keen
knowledge of the situation was in refusing to recognise M.
Jacquemyns officially, or to allow him to be present at the
THE TRUE STORY OF FRANCE AND SIAM. 499
negociations. This action was somewhat objected to at the time
by the British Government as apparently an infringement of
Siamese independence. But it was probably the only way in
which any finality could be hoped for from the Conferences.
One definite stage of progress was soon reached the easiest so
far as Siain was concerned, since it involved merely a pecuniary
loss, which the immense stores of money lying idle in the Palace
enabled her to meet without any difficulty. On August 22nd,
two and a half million francs (in silver dollars) were handed to
the French Legation in Bangkok, and another half million were
paid by cheque on Saigon.
But still the difficulties and procrastinations in the negoci-
ations were extraordinary. M. Develle had informed Lord
Eosebery on September 14th, that the " negociations ought not
to take more than a week or at most a fortnight," whereas the
Siamese contrived to prolong them for six weeks. After a
few visits had been exchanged, which had only resulted in use-
less discussions on the draft Treaty, Prince Devawongse went up
to see the King at the summer residence during the first week
in September, and finding the state of things there to be hope-
less, he retired to his own house immediately on his return to
Bangkok for nearly three weeks on the plea of dysentery ; and
things were once more at a deadlock. The whole Court was up
at Bang-pa-in, engaged in processions, pageants, illuminations,
and theatres, in honour of a new white elephant, and of the
King's fortieth birthday. Some seven thousand persons were
packed into the Palace grounds, the King taking close interest
in the long processions, paper lanterns, and gaudy shows, while
the Envoy of France was waiting to settle the fate of the country.
M. de Vilers was thus left with nothing to do, and ominous
rumours of increased French demands soon raised a general
scare for Siam's independence. Prince Devawongse did not
resume negociations till September 26th, and even then the most
preposterous arguments were advanced, and the situation was
rapidly becoming desperate again. At length M. de Vilers
500 SIAM.
naturally lost patience, and the French Government in Paris
began to grow peremptory. When he next went to the Siamese
Foreign Office on September 27th, he listened quietly to a long
rigmarole of objections, arguments and prevarications, and then
simply placed in Prince Devawongse's hands a Convention,
drawn up by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Paris, embodying
"a final statement of all the alterations and conditions that
France was prepared to accord," observing, "I leave Siam
within four days, whether these conditions be accepted or not ;
and I shall come here again on Sunday, October 1st, to hear
your decision. The Treaty can afford to wait, but there must be
no delay as regards the Convention." Thus for the third time a
crisis was imminent ; the Siamese still declined to give way, and
things looked as if the last great disaster must come. The gun-
boat Aspic had her steam up early on Sunday morning, and a
pilot on board, ready to leave at a moment's notice. However,
at the last moment, the terms were agreed to unconditionally,
and the Siamese Foreign Minister and the French Minister
Plenipotentiary, on October 3rd, duly signed the Treaty and Con-
vention, a proces verbal being added to explain matters of doubt.
The terms agreed upon, it should be added, contain several
points which taken in connection with the ultimatum, the
occupation of Chantabun, and the various possibilities that lie
in the next Treaty still to be drawn up between France and
Siam suggest many serious considerations regarding the
future of Siam and the crucial question of English interests and
trade generally in Indo-China.
I have now given the true story of French action in Siam
in 1893. What is the net result ? In five months France has
obtained from Siam three million francs. She has deprived
Siam for ever of the means of defending her eastern frontier, of
resisting any further encroachments there, and of keeping in
order those parts of her territory which border on French
possessions. She has obtained specific commercial and other
THE TRUE STORY OF FRANCE AND SIAM. 501
advantages for French subjects in Siam. She has annexed
some fifty thousand square miles of territory which had been
recognised as Siamese, and occupied by Siamese posts, during
the past eighty years at least. And finally, she still retains a
military occupation of Chantabun, the second great port of
Siam, commanding the Gulf of Siam and also the entrance to
the three richest provinces, the time-limit of this occupation
being worded in the vaguest possible terms. What the future
will bring it is impossible to say, but I fear it must be
regarded as certain that the question of Siam will again be the
subject of grave discussion between the Governments of Great
Britain and France. It is for this reason alone that I have
felt compelled to give so long and unsparing an account of
last year's events. In all European quarters the actions and
position of the Siamese in the matter have hitherto been
misunderstood and misrepresented, and I am convinced that
nothing but an accurate insight into the realities of the past
can supply the means of preventing vastly greater and more
far-reaching evils in the future.
CHAPTER XXX.
ENGLAND AND THE FUTURE OF SIAM.
TN the previous chapter I confined myself to a simple and
-*- impartial narrative of the events which took place during
the Franco- Siamese difficulty between March and October, 1893.
Out of these events have grown several grave questions, three
of which are matters of special importance to England. These
are (1) the frontier defence of our Indian Empire on its
eastern boundary over some 300 miles; (2) the commercial
interests of England in Indo-China ; and (3) the probable
extinction of Siamese independence.
In order to understand the more pressing questions of frontier
delimitation and territorial acquisition in Indo-China, and espe-
cially on the Upper Mekong, some of the geographical features
of the country must be clearly grasped. The Eiver Mekong, or
Lan Tsung Kiang as the Chinese call it, rises in the mountains
of Thibet, and in its earlier course flows due south, parallel with
the Salween on the west and the Yangtze on the east. On
entering the province of Yunnan, the Yangtze goes off to the
eastwards through some of the richest provinces of China ; while
the Salween and the Mekong pursue parallel courses, at a com-
paratively small distance apart, for some hundreds of miles
towards the south. The Salween ultimately flows out through
Burmah into the Indian Ocean, while the Mekong does not enter
Burmah proper, but passes through the Shan States, and on
reaching latitude 20, takes a sharp bend to the east for some
120 miles, and after again turning due south at Luang Prabang
502
ENGLAND AND THE FUTURE OF SIAM. 503
for about 160 miles, makes precisely a similar turn to the east
at latitude 18. After keeping this easterly course for some 150
miles, it resumes its southerly course, and skirting the whole
length of Siam, finds its way into the China Sea through the
French protected kingdom of Cambodia.
It must always be remembered that the chief factor in the
commercial politics of the Far East is the trade of China. To
tap the markets and develop the resources of the interior of that
great country has long been the keenest ambition alike of Eng-
land and France. Yunnan, Szechuan, and Kweichau, the great
provinces of south-western China, are the special objects in view
at present. The political rivalries of England and France in
Indo-China during the last two decades may practically be
summed up in one phrase as a race for Yunnan. When France
seized Tongking she hoped to win her way to this great poten-
tial wealth by means of the Eed Eiver, which it was hoped would
bring Yunnan into direct communication with the newly-created
French Colonial Empire ; and the founding of her colony at
Saigon was no doubt also intended to achieve the same end,
by obtaining possession of the mouths of the great Mekong
Eiver. England on her part had by the annexation of Upper
Burmah made herself actually conterminous with these provinces
of China ; she had gained control over the whole of the Salween
Eiver, and over a certain portion of the Mekong Eiver also, and
she held the numerous passes adjacent to these great waterways,
both of which actually penetrate into Yunnan itself.
This in 1892 was the position of the two rival competitors in
the race for Yunnan. A few further geographical details are
necessary to explain the origin of those acute difficulties between
England and France in 1893, which so nearly led to a complete
rupture. The annexation of Upper Burmah had given to Eng-
land definite territorial rights over certain Shan States lying
between Siam and China, and astride of the Mekong. With
a view of contriving a scientific frontier on the north-east
boundary of her Indian Empire, and of avoiding any possibility
504 SIAM.
of being " limitrophe " with France, the British Government
had contemplated the cession of these rights to either China
or Siam. The northernmost of .these particular Shan States
that is, the one next to China is commonly called Chieng
Hung (Kyaing Hung Che-li in Chinese) ; that on the south
next to Siam being known as Chieng Kheng (Kyaing Chaing).
The question at issue in 1893 was no new one. The Anglo-
Siamese Boundary Commission had been working for some
years past to fix the frontier between Burmah and Siam, and
by 1893 it had completed the delimitation practically as far as
the Mekong, as will be seen on reference to my map. The State
of Chieng Kheng was then handed over to Siam by England,
with the express stipulation that English rights to it, as regards
both sides of the Mekong, would revive, should Siam at any time
abandon it.* Chieng Hung, on the other hand, which is just
north of Chieng Kheng, has now been ceded by England to
China, in connection with the Anglo-Chinese Boundary Com-
mission which has also been working for some time past, I with
the same stipulation of England's reversionary rights. Under
these circumstances it was but natural that England should
begin to feel some anxiety last year when it became apparent
that the French advance towards Siam westwards from Tong-
king and Annam was not to be limited to the region of the
Lower Mekong where it did not touch our possessions or
interests in any way but was directed equally to the upper
reaches of the river, and was in fact, however much this might
be concealed by diplomacy, primarily directed at the possession
of the whole of this great waterway from Saigon to Yunnan.
By July, 1893, the matter admitted of no further doubt, and
demanded immediate attention. The French ultimatum to
Siam (the history of which is given in the preceding chapter)
was peremptory, and demanded the surrender of territory nearly
* Siam, No. 1 (1894), No. 30.
f The French Government are believed to have raised objections to this arrange-
ment ; and the questions involved are likely to be very difficult of solution, for
reasons which I shall presently endeavour to explain.
ENGLAND AND THE FUTUKE OF 8IAM. 505
100,000 square miles in extent. It was impossible to mistake
the trend of events, for M. Develle openly showed his indigna-
tion at Siam's refusal to recognise any French rights above
latitude 18 on the left bank of the Mekong. At the same time
the French Chamber began to speak confidently of French rights
on the Mekong as extending continuously up to 23. At this
point England saw it was time to enter her protest, unless
the case were to be allowed to go entirely by default. Indeed,
even China awoke from her lethargy, and suggested to the
French Government that some mistake must have been made,
since Chinese territorial rights existed on the east bank of the
Mekong for a considerable distance south of 23. England in
her turn sent a plain reminder of the actual extent of British
rights in the same regions, and a warning that she could not
permit any infringement thereof. Lord Eosebery explained
to Lord Dufferin the views of the British Government as
follows :
" We cannot doubt that the term ' left bank ' is far too comprehensive in its
scope. It cannot of course apply to any districts east of the Mekong Eiver which
the Siamese Government have no power to cede, whether from rights of sovereignty,
suzerainty, or reversion possessed by other Powers. And secondly, we are confident
that the expression ' left bank of the Mekong ' is used subject to the assurances
repeatedly given by the French Government that they would respect the indepen-
dence and integrity of the Kingdom of Siam. It is clear that any provinces which
indisputably form part of that Monarchy could not properly be made the subject
of any such demands by the French Government. "
On July 23rd, Lord Dufferin put the matter quite tersely and
clearly to M. Develle. He supposed that "in using the term
' the left bank of the Mekong ' his Excellency could not have
intended to claim for France the immense tracts of Siamese
territory extending not to the east and abutting upon Annam,
but to the northwards of the Upper Mekong, and conterminous
with China, not to mention the districts lying beyond, which
had been incorporated with Her Majesty's Empire of India after
the conquest of Burmah." But M. Develle in his reply would
not definitely state what the limits of the French claim were,
and Lord Dufferin was therefore compelled to press his unwel-
506 SIAM.
come inquiries a little further, and ask whether " the extensive
territories (near the two elbows of the Mekong at 18 and 20
respectively) between the Mekong and the actual French boun-
dary depicted upon the existing French maps, comprising the
principality of Luang Prabang and other districts, were also
claimed by France?" This compelled M. Develle to declare
himself, and the truth about French aims was at last partially
disclosed by the astonishing statement that " France claimed
a right to Luang Prabang and the adjacent countries as being
ancient and historic dependencies of Annam ; and that further-
more she had always insisted that her territorial sovereignty
extended all along the left bank of the Mekong."
The French Government thus admitted at last that its claims
about historic suzerainty and the like had undergone a remark-
able extension during four years. In 1889 she disavowed any
claim to Luang Prabang : in 1893 she " had always insisted on
it " ! This is proved by Lord Salisbury's despatch of April 3,
1889, where he quotes M. Waddington as having made the
following statement :
" The French Government did not wish to extend the frontier of Cochin China to
Luang Prabang, but they would propose to draw a line from a point nearly due east
of that place southwards to the Mekong, and below that point to make the river the
dividing line between the two countries until it entered the territory of Cambodia."
And, to anticipate for a moment, Lord Eosebery met M.
Develle's new claim for France by the following conclusive
argument addressed to Lord Dufferin on Sept. 2, 1893 :
" It was at least certain that the State of Luang Prabang had for a period of over
seventy years acknowledged Siamese suzerainty, and that it had for some years
been practically under the control of a Siamese Commissioner. The French
Government had, moreover, themselves acknowledged the sovereignty of Siam at
Luang Prabang by the signature of the Convention of the 7th of May, 1886, which
provides for the appointment of a French Vice-Consul there, and by the request
which they subsequently addressed to the Siamese Government to grant an
exequatur to the officer so appointed. It is further an undoubted fact that the
country to the west of the Nam U up to latitude 22 has for some time been in
Siamese possession, that the Siamese military posts extend along the course of that
river up to that latitude, and that the Siamese Province of Maung Nan reaches some
ENGLAND AND THE FUTURE OF SI AM. 507
60 miles to the north of the Mekong, where that river runs westerly from the town
of Luang Prabang.
" There was therefore to the east of the British possessions, where they approach
or touch the Upper Mekong, a broad tract of territory generally admitted by French
as well as by other explorers and travellers to belong to Siam. Moreover, on the
French official map of Indo-China, published by the Ministry of War in 1886, there is
a distinct frontier line drawn considerably to the east of the Nam U, and described
as ' the frontier of Annam according to the Annamite maps ' ; while the country to
the west of this line is stated to belong to States under the suzerainty of Burmah
and Siam."
France, however, had taken up her position, and was deter-
mined not to be stopped by either argument or interference
from England. Finding, therefore, that M. Develle still insisted
on his policy, Lord Dufferin proceeded in his turn to
" insist on the incompatibility of this confiscation by France of so considerable a
proportion of the Kingdom of Siam with M. Develle's and the French Government's
previous assurances that they had no intention to allow their disputes with Siam on
the Lower Mekong to entail any measures which would jeopardise her integrity or
her independence. How could these professions, I asked, which I knew had been
made in perfect sincerity, be reconciled with this slicing off of what amounted to
nearly a third of the kingdom ? "
M. Develle, however, refused to budge. In vain Lord Dufferin
pointed out that this step " would bring France into direct con-
tiguity with Burmah, . . . and that the approach of a great
military Power like France to a frontier at present lying naked
to attack could not be regarded by us with indifference."
Moreover, he impressed upon M. Develle " the extreme gravity
which the situation might assume were the French demands to
be pressed upon Siam beyond what was just and reasonable, and
in conformity with the legitimate interests of other Powers."
And that " such a transformation of the French pretensions was
undoubtedly calculated to excite alarm in England, and the most
serious apprehensions in the mind of Her Majesty's Govern-
ment."
M. Develle's only reply was that "the terms of the first
Article of his ultimatum having been published to the world, and
all France being acquainted with them, he could not now alter
them, especially under manifest pressure from us " ! But he
508 SIAM.
seems to have realised that a less uncompromising attitude
would perhaps be advisable, so he consented to consider whether
any arrangements could be made for " leaving a ' buffer ' between
the Asiatic possessions of France and England, and thus leave
the door open for future negociations." With this very small
concession the Foreign Office was content. Thus the crisis
passed, and the hatchet was buried for a time. A striking light,
however, is thrown upon the real nature of the relative positions
of France and England on this question, by a remark made by
M. Develle during this same conversation, that the injury which
the French action was inflicting upon some 2^ millions sterling
of English trade, was " merely an accident of the situation,"
and therefore could not be allowed to influence the solution of
the question at all.
The British Foreign Office seems, however, to have taken heart
of grace again after a few days of uncomfortable thought, and to
have realised at last the importance of all that England was
surrendering so tamely to France ; for Lord Dufferin returned
to the charge on July 26th, by these remarks to M. Develle :
" It was true that within the last twelve months a mysterious revolution had
occurred in the minds of French geographical authorities, but an honest man must
be as convinced as I was that the district in question was, and had been for nearly a
century, boiui fide Siamese territory, and that it could not be confiscated by France
without a flagrant infringement of the formal assurances he had given us not to
impair the integrity of Siam. As for the pretension advanced by France ab antiquo
to the left bank of the Mekong, such a supposition was not only contradicted by M.
Waddington's express declarations on the subject, but by the further fact, that
under the Franco-Siamese Convention of 1886 the French had claimed the right of
sending a Vice-Consul to Luang Prabang, which in itself was an absolute proof
that the locality belonged to Siam."
But it was a bark without any intention of a bite. And M.
Develle clearly saw this, and promptly "put up the shutters on
this compartment " as Lord Dufferin himself phrases it by
curtly stating that it was impossible "in the excited state of
public opinion " to withdraw or modify the terms of the ulti-
matum. Plainly, then, England must quietly acquiesce ; if she
would not bite she must not bark ; and the matter was again
allowed to pass,
ENGLAND AND THE FUTURE OF S!AM. 509
Nothing was now left but to try and save that portion of the
territory which more directly affected the policy and threatened
the interests of India, since, as Lord Dufferin said, " it was
quite out of the question that we should accept an arrangement
which made France conterminous with our Indian Empire."
So we find Lord Dufferin expressing to M. Develle the hope that
France would consent to the formation of some buffer territory
which would prevent the actual contact of England and France
on the Indian frontier. Even to this, however, M. Develle's
" cordial " assent was only given on condition that the boundary
proposed by Lord Dufferin for this buffer State should be
drawn much further westwards in fact, on the watershed of
the Nam U instead of the river itself so as to leave much more
territory to France; and that at the same time England should
give up some of the territory on the Mekong which she had long
been occupying, in return for this "sacrifice" by France of those
new territories on the Mekong which she was just then annex-
ing. This very one-sided bargain was finally embodied in a
Protocol signed on July 31st by Lord Dufferin and M. Develle,
arranging for the formation of a buffer State which should
separate our respective frontiers; its boundaries were to be
settled later, after a Survey Commission had provided the
necessary geographical data. Still the discussion dragged on
until December, when it was pointed out to the French Govern-
ment that unless the Joint Commission started immediately it
could not do so until December, 1894. All possible haste was
promised, but the latter date proved after all to be that on
which the Commissioners started for the remote scene of their
labours.
The principle of a buffer State having been thus conceded,
there still remained the exceedingly difficult question of fixing
its limits, and determining what territory should be ceded
respectively by France and England so as to give it the mini-
mum width of 50 miles. The following rough diagram may
serve to fix in the reader's mind the relative positions of
510
81 AM.
the different countries to be separated by this buffer State or
neutral zone :
BUEMAH
CHINA
SIAM
TONGKING
A reference to the accompanying map will show that our
surrender of Chieng Hung to China necessitates that the
northern frontier of the buffer State should be the boundary
between Chieng Hung and Chieng Kheng. Its eastern frontier
may cause greater difficulty. England has already, on Lord
Dufferin's confession, "voluntarily retired nearly 300 miles further
west than she need have done, with a view of avoiding umbrage
to France by too close an approach to her Indo-Chinese posses-
sions." So that it seems hardly credible that we shall again
consent to surrender our rights and retire still further west-
wards. Presumably, therefore, the eastern boundary of the
buffer State will not be further westwards than the eastern
frontier of Chieng Kheng, that is to say, the watershed of the
Nam U. The western boundary also presents many difficult
points for discussion. If the British Government gravely recog-
nise the so-called French " sacrifice " of territorial rights west-
wards of the Nam U,* no doubt England will be expected to
make " sacrifices " in return, and perhaps even to surrender her
actual rights of occupation over territory to the west of the
Mekong. It is to be hoped, however, that a solution more
favourable to British interests may yet be obtained, as suggested
in Lord Dufferin's letter of July 31st, which proposed that Eng-
* That these rights were quite fictitious has been already made clear from M.
Waddington's statement, which I have quoted above.
ENGLAND AND THE FUTUKE OF SIAM. 511
land's " sacrifices " should be limited to the trans-Mekong (i.e.,
eastern) portion of Chieng Kheng only ; in which case the
Mekong itself would be the western frontier of the buffer State.
Its southern frontier would then be some line to be agreed upon
by England and France which should delimit the territory of
Siam ; probably the already existing southern frontier of the
Chieng Kheng State would answer the purpose.
In some such fashion as this, then, England and France are
to avoid becoming actually " limitrophe " on the Indian frontier.
What solid grounds exist for the realisation of this hope, or for
the expectation of any permanence in such an arrangement, it is
hard to see. Already the experts on this question both Eng-
lish and French speak of this whole buffer State affair with a
smile. The proposed arrangement is in fact an entirely artificial
and unnatural one, and I do not myself believe for a moment
that anything will come of it. The crucial question of the
government of the neutral zone has never been solved. No one
has decided what available authority will be sufficient to prevent
it from becoming a place of refuge for all the dacoits, escaped
criminals, and insurrectionary elements, alike of China, of
Burmah, and of Indo-China. A similar No Man's Land between
China and Korea was thus populated, until Li Hung-chang
annexed it. It has been gravely suggested that the government
of the proposed zone should be handed over to China. One
would certainly imagine that France's experience of China as a
neighbour in Tongking would lead her to object very decidedly
to such an arrangement, as being the most direct means of
creating anarchy and disturbance. Moreover, the disorder in the
Chinese Empire caused by the present war will assuredly lessen,
if that were possible, the already slight hold which the central
authorities in Peking with difficulty maintain over these distant
Shan tribes ; and the existence of a State in a condition of
anarchy just between the frontiers of England and France would
defeat the precise ends which a buffer State is supposed to
subserve.
512
Even apart from these considerations, it is plain that the
English and French Governments are by no means agreed as
yet regarding the extent of their respective rights on the Mekong ;
and when the question comes up for actual settlement, after the
Boundary Commissioners have produced the requisite geo-
graphical data, it is difficult to see what compromise can be
arranged without very considerable concessions, and these made
all on one side. The whole question, in fact, is only in its
earliest stage; and other difficulties in Indo-China will un-
doubtedly again become acute before it approaches settlement.
The points at issue will be directly between England and France ;
and as they will finally decide the handicaps in the international
race for Yunnan, the question will be one of the gravest impor-
tance to our commercial and political interests.
To prove that I have not exaggerated the possibility of these
difficulties, it is only necessary to read in the Blue Book the
discussions that have already taken place between the English
and French Governments on the subject. On October 25th, M.
Develle had already begun to " despond about the buffer State
negociations." He very cleverly complained that " by retaining
the cis-Mekong part of Kyaing Chaing and assigning the other
part to the buffer State we should be remaining on the Mekong
ourselves while keeping France away." To this Lord Kosebery
very pointedly replied that " as Kyaing Chaing was a State
under our suzerainty, we were, in giving up the trans-Mekong
part, making a considerable concession, and in retaining the cis-
Mekong portion, only retaining what we already possessed."
Indeed, matters had almost reached a deadlock so long ago as
October 27, 1898, when it became necessary for Lord Kosebery
to say very plainly that " should these negociations unfortunately
fail, and should the French Government be unable to accept the
above proposal (which is offered in the most conciliatory spirit),
the British Government would have to take such measures as
they might consider necessary for their own protection. These
it is not necessary more particularly to define. . . . They
ENGLAND AND THE FUTURE OF SIAM. 513
would also take into immediate consideration the measures
necessary to preserve an independent State between the main
body of the British dominions and those of France." This
determined attitude, however, failed to settle the matter, and it
again became necessary to use the same veiled threats, since on
November 21st we find Lord Dufferin definitely stating that if
the negociations could not be put through on the lines sug-
gested, " we should be compelled to assert our domination over
Kyaing Chaing and on both sides of the Mekong in a more active
and effective manner than had hitherto been found necessary,
for our position in India was such that anything approaching to
disputed jurisdiction along our frontier could not be tolerated."
In spite, however, of this peremptory tone, JVI. Develle replied
with equal curtness that " the integrity of Luang Prabang was
as valid and reasonable a cause of solicitude to France as the
integrity of Kyaing Ton was to us : nor would the French
Chamber nor French public opinion tolerate its disintegration."
The acrimonious discussion was only terminated by a mutual
decision to leave for a future date the crucial points of territorial
concession on either side that is, to throw the entire arrange-
ment into the melting-pot. In fact, the whole discussion and
the length of time before the buffer State Commissioners could
get to work clearly shows that the question will raise innumer-
able difficulties when the time comes for its final settlement.
There is, moreover, another and a totally distinct frontier
question in connection with France and Siam which is likely to
develop considerable proportions in the future, and may possibly
lead to a radical redistribution of the whole territory of Indo-
China I mean the designs which the French are well known to
cherish upon the rich provinces near the great Lake of Cambodia,
generally known as Battambong, Angkor, and Siemrap. M. de
Lanessan, in his book that I have already quoted, stated these
ambitions very distinctly : " From the Se-Moun our empire
should cross the Mekong . . . and include the provinces of
Battambong and Angkor (pp. 500, 501). . . . Having retaken
514 SIAM,
the Great Lake Provinces, which formerly were dependent on
Cambodia, and the basins of the Mekong and the Se-Moun,
we ought to make a point of respecting [!] and, if necessary,
protecting, the independence of Siam (p. 470)." It is true that
on July 23, 1893, M. Develle gave to Lord Dufferin a definite
" assurance that there was no truth in the report that his
Government had any intention of taking possession of the
Siamese Provinces of Battambong and Angkor." But on
April 3, 1889, M. Waddington had said exactly the same thing
to Lord Salisbury with regard to Luang Prabang, and this had
not prevented M. Develle, in July, 1893, from claiming Luang
Prabang, and even declaring that France had always insisted on
this right ! In fact, so valueless was M. Waddington's under-
taking in the eyes of the present French Government that they
went so far as to annex Luang Prabang outright, and it is now
French territory ; and this, too, in the teeth of Lord Dufferin's
remonstrances that this proceeding was " incompatible with the
previous assurances of the French Foreign Office," and in spite
of Lord Eosebery's insistence upon "the limits imposed by
previous declarations of the French Government." It is only
reasonable to suppose, therefore, since what has been done once
may be done again, that the rich Lake Provinces of south-eastern
Siam will go the way of Luang Prabang, if France can only
again contrive to outwit the British Foreign Office in time, by
once more producing an "excited state of public opinion" to
support her. Confirmation of this gloomy view is found in the
Blue Book (No. 211), where Lord Dufferin speaks of his
suspicions that " M. Develle seemed anxious to found a right to
a free hand in Battambong and Angkor ; " these suspicions
having been very naturally aroused in his Lordship's mind by
a sinister suggestion contained in the ultimatum of July 20th,
that France should farm the revenues of Battambong and
Angkor in place of receiving the 3,000,000 frs. of indemnity
So strong were Lord Dufferin's suspicions that he endeavoured
to obtain an assurance from M. Develle that the annexation
ENGLAND AND THE FUTURE OF SIAM. 515
of these provinces was not intended. His endeavour was a
conspicuous failure, for the French Foreign Minister quietly
ignored his own statement of July 23rd on this point (above
quoted), and maintained that recent Siamese actions had been
sufficient to " fully justify France in now taking whatever mili-
tary or other measures she might deem expedient." However,
when Siam finally accepted the ultimatum without reserve, the
French colonial party lost their hopes of an immediate pretext
for further annexation. But they were too keen to give up their
aims lightly ; and on July 29th M. Develle had a special inter-
view with Lord Dufferin in order to suggest " some arrangement
by which these provinces might be handed over to France in
exchange for a portion of the Siamese territory in the north,
recently surrendered under the terms of the ultimatum " ! This
time, however, Lord Dufferin was peremptory, and though M.
Develle " deprecated what he evidently considered an unduly
harsh remonstrance," said plainly that he " must decline to
continue any discussion in the direction indicated, as any
transaction of the kind would not only be a serious invasion of
Siam, but would equally destroy her independence in view of
the proximity of those provinces to Bangkok," and that " the
absolute refusal which he then expressed to listen to any such
ideas as those which M. Develle had mooted, represented the
views of the British Government." Thus England for once had
her way and these provinces were saved, for a time at all events,
from French annexation. The question, however, came up yet
again a few months later, when it became clear that M. le Myre
de Vilers' negociations in Bangkok were aimed at acquiring some
special control over these same provinces, so that Lord Eosebery
was again obliged to remark very decidedly, on September 7th,
that Siam's "rights to the provinces which remain to the west
of the Mekong are indisputable, and could not be infringed
without serious, perhaps fatal, injury to her integrity and inde-
pendence ; " and he even characterised M. le Myre de Vilers'
proposal as " a grave blow at that integrity and independence
516 BlAM.
of the Siamese Kingdom which the French Government have so
often and so specifically promised to respect," the maintenance
of which is a " British interest of high importance," as had been
" publicly announced in Parliament."
These peremptory objections of the British Government to
further French encroachments on Siarn (it seems a pity that
Lord Kosebery had not possessed the necessary information to
take the same highly desirable attitude four months previously,
and so saved many thousands of square miles to Siam) greatly
disgusted M. Develle, who "showed a strong desire to postpone
entering upon the discussion of the buffer State." But, on
September 9th, Lord Dufferin remorselessly reiterated his
statement that " Clause No. 5 of the ultimatum seemed to
have the appearance of incorporating the provinces of Battam-
bong and Angkor with Cambodia in a kind of Zollverein, which
would be an arrangement quite incompatible with the main-
tenance of the independence and integrity of Siam, in respect
to which his Excellency had given Her Majesty's Government
so many assurances," and on the same day Lord Eosebery
made his final pronouncement that " the treatment of the two
provinces of Battambong and Angkor as separate and distinct
from the other portions of the Siamese Kingdom, seems to us
inadmissible." It was not, however, until a week afterwards
that M. Develle at last consented to withdraw the obnoxious
phrase "reserved zones." But he does not seem to have
promised any permanent restriction upon the extent of
French control there; and so far as the Blue Book informs
us, the matter has been left undecided ; while, by the treaty
of October 3, 1893, Siam is forbidden to exercise any
military control whatever over these provinces, and new and
special commercial provisions are to be made throughout them.
The condition of things there can thus hardly be considered
one of particularly stable equilibrium, since the slightest
disturbance might at any moment give the French colonial
authorities the coveted chance of stepping in to control these
ENGLAND AND THE FUTURE OF 81 AM. 517
provinces a control from which, one may safely prophesy,
they would never again emerge.
It must further be remembered that the nearest seaport of
these rich provinces is Chantabun, and that France demanded,
obtained, and still holds, the military occupation of this port,
"pending the complete fulfilment by Siam of her new treaty
obligations." It is true that M. Develle has said that this is
merely a temporary measure " with no arriere-pensee " ; while
M. de Vilers stated in Bangkok, on October 2nd, that "the
French Government had no intention of retaining possession of
that place ; that it was their interest to hasten the evacuation
on account of the heavy expenditure which it involves." And
M. Develle, on October 3rd, was " good enough" to assure Lord
Dufferin that "the French Government earnestly desired to with-
draw their troops from that place ; " that " they desired no
better than to evacuate the place ; " and that " ivithin a month
Chantaboon would be evacuated." The fact remains, however,
that at the present moment nearly fifteen months later !
Chantabun is still in full military occupation by the French,
who have recently landed more troops and heavy guns there,
and are keeping hundreds of coolies at work raising the
ramparts ; and this though it is admitted that the Siamese ful-
filled the conditions of the Convention more than a year ago.*
I have thus shown, by a bare narrative of indisputable facts,
what has happened with regard to Luang Prabang, what is
still happening at Chantabun, and what is approaching day by
day within the coveted Lake Provinces. Three more plain
facts may perhaps serve to confirm the impression regarding
the growing nature of French designs on Siam which the fore-
going narrative should not fail to produce. (1) It is not only
the irresponsible hot-heads of the French colonial party who
* It was M. Develle himbelf who stated to Lord Dufferin, on October 3rd, that
the only preliminary necessary for this evacuation was that the Siamese troops
should be removed twenty-five kilometres west of the Mekong. There is no question
as to the complete fulfilment of this clause long ago.
518 SIAM.
frankly demand the annexation or " protection " of the whole
of Siam, but also many of the most serious and learned French
writers on colonial policy. Among the latter M. Leroy-Beaulieu
is pre-eminent. This is what he says in his latest volume :
" Our action ought to embrace the Laos country, and even the
whole of the Kingdom of Siam." "We ought to extend our
protectorate over the Laos country, and over Siam, and become
frankly the allies of China." * (2) The French Legation in
Bangkok is registering day by day as French subjects crowds
of Siamese inhabitants Laos, Cambodian, and pure Siamese
in fact, all who can be induced to apply, and each of these
native French subjects will serve as a peg on which to hang
pretexts of French interference as occasion may serve, all
along the Mekong valley and the Lake Provinces, under
Article VII. of the new treaty. (3) A new Convention has just
been extracted from the Siamese, appointing French Commis-
sioners (nominally with Siamese colleagues) to investigate and
settle on the spot all disputes arising throughout the territories
adjacent to the new frontier ; thus creating a veritable imperium
in imperio of French officials throughout these coveted districts,
and affording every possible opportunity for further action.
To complete the materials for forming an adequate opinion of
our rights and duties with regard to Siam, in comparison with
those of France, the following few but very striking statistics are
necessary. The total shipping entered and cleared at the port
of Bangkok during 1892 was 410,890 tons. Of this, the British
flag covered no less than 356,909 tons, or 87 per cent. How
much was French ? Bather less than Dutch, or 4,925 tons a
trifle over *01 per cent. ! As regards the value of the cargoes
carried, the British share of imports was 93 per cent, and of
exports 85 per cent. Against this, again, the value of French
cargoes was *03 per cent. ! It is not surprising, with these
figures in view, that France entered with a light heart upon a
blockade of the Siamese coast. And the actual amount of
* " De la Colonisation chez les Peuples Modernes," pp. 563, 566.
ENGLAND AND THE FUTURE OF SIAM. 519
purely British commerce with Siam is far from inconsiderable.
In 1892, the last normal year, the trade of the Straits Settlements
alone with Siam amounted to ^2,465, 822. Territorially, French
interests in Siam are no greater than our own, her frontier
forming the eastern boundary of the country, and ours the
western, while her commercial interests are but a minute
fraction of ours. Therefore, whatever rights France has for
interference in Siam, British rights are vastly greater. This
is or should be the key to the whole situation.
The French have twice before tried to found an empire over-
sea to rival that of Great Britain once in India, and once in
Canada. Indo-China represents their third attempt. My pre-
ceding chapters have been written to small effect if they have
not made it clear that there is practically no ground whatever to
hope that an independent and prosperous Siam will continue to
exist under the present regime. And if not, then Siam will
come under either British or French protection, and the only
question is, which shall it be ? A short time ago Siam made
overtures in the direction of inquiring whether Great Britain
would accept her allegiance. The reply was a prompt and
blunt negative. It is "only fair to add a belief, however, that the
Foreign Office has at last grasped the situation and taken a
definite resolution with regard to its future policy.
MALAYA.
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE POLITICAL POSITION OF THE NATIVE STATES.
/CONTINENTAL Malaya is divided, like Gaul of old, into
>^ three parts : the Straits Settlements, the Protected Malay
States, and the semi-independent Malay States further north.
With the first two of these I have already dealt at length in
preceding chapters. I come now, as the final division of this
book, to the remains of Malayan nationality in Asia the States
of Kelantan, Tringanu, Eaman, Patani, and less important ones,
all of which lie to the north of the British Protected States and
to the south of the Siamese Malay States which occupy the
northern portion of the Peninsula. So comparatively unknown
is this part of the world that I am unaware of the existence of
any map in a European language which shows the division into
States of the whole of the Malay Peninsula. In fact, if the
student desires to find out the boundaries of the different
Siamese States, and their correct names, he will have the
greatest difficulty in doing so. The accompanying map, there-
fore, which I have prepared from many sources, including my
own journeys and the official Siamese map drawn to illustrate
the King's travels, should be found of service, though as regards
the north I cannot claim undoubted accuracy for it. The Malay
States have comparatively little interest for the student of Far
Eastern politics, as their future is a matter of certainty, and
their present condition, so far as administration is concerned,
might be described within the limits of a paragraph. I shall there-
fore confine myself almost entirely to an account of my own
623
524 MALAYA.
principal journey through the Peninsula, for this part of Malaya
makes up in general interest what it lacks in political uncer-
tainty, and few districts of the world's surface offer at the same
time so picturesque and so novel a field to the explorer. It is a
paradise alike to the sportsman, the naturalist, the collector of
weapons and silver, the student of men and manners, and the
mere seeker after adventure. Of all my travels and experiences
in the Far East my journey across the Malay Peninsula was
much the most entertaining. In fact, so far as mere surround-
ings make happiness, I have never enjoyed so many moments
which, like Faust, I would have prolonged indefinitely, as during
those months of lonely and far-off wandering in the heart of the
unknown tropics.
Before inviting the reader, however, to accompany me into
the land of coconut and kris, I must devote a brief chapter
to the political position of the native States. This is a matter
seldom or never mentioned outside official correspondence, and
there but rarely and not always accurately. Yet before long a
clear understanding of its main issues will be essential to all
Englishmen who study Imperial policy. First, let me stop for
a moment to summarise the scanty information that is available
about the Siamese States in the extreme north, the unfamiliar
names of which are, on the west coast Renong, Takuapa, Takua-
tung, Puket (or Junk Ceylon, a corruption of the Malay name of
Ujong Salang), Palian, Satul, and Perlis; on the east coast
Patavi, Chumpaun, Chaiya, the island of Samui, Nakonsita-
maraj, Patalung, Sengora, Ghana, Tepa, Nongchik, Tani, Jaring,
Jala, Sai, and Eanga; with Raman, Patani, and Lege. Con-
cerning most of these, as little is known by Europeans as of the
remotest parts of Central Africa or Patagonia ; and I am
unfortunately not able to throw any original light upon them.
They represent the long-past conquests of the more militant
Siamese of old over the Malay Peninsula. Their population
consists of Siamese and of Siamese-speaking Chinamen and
Malays. The last named may be described as the backwoodsmen,
THE POSITION OF THE NATIVE STATES.
525
since their share of the common work consists of hunting and
fishing, and supplying the products of the jungle. The Chinese,
as elsewhere in the Peninsula, are the traders, the miners, and
the wealthier portion of the community. The head of each
State is appointed from Bangkok, and is often a Chinaman.
From Penang, with which port all the commerce with the out-
side world is conducted, a sort of loose connection is kept up
between the British authority and the States of the west coast,
the Resident Councillor making a yearly visit in a government
steamboat for the purpose of exchanging courtesies with the
headmen and registering such British subjects as may present
themselves. Mr. A. M. Skinner, in his last Eeport, dated April
30, 1894, is able to give for the first time figures of the aggregate
trade between Penang and a number of Siamese and Malay
States.* His table, which is therefore of much interest, is as
follows :
Kedah
Perlis
Setul
Trang
Tongkah
Ghirbi
Pungah
Takuatong
Kopah
Eenong
Totals
Tin.
Live Stock.
Total.
4,050
89,298
326,075
,
4,096
4,411
33,308
33,320
51,905
81,419
133,362
1,674,303
27,208
. 1,701,798
,
54,128
54,141
27,319 .
..
27,334
417,507 .
419,082
375,119
375,159
2,550,203 dols. 289,457 head. 3,074,682 dols.
The export is thus almost entirely tin, against which the
chief import is opium, both exclusively with Penang. A con-
siderable revenue flows into the Siamese Eoyal Treasury from
these States, but it is obtained only by extorting everything
* I do not attempt to explain the discrepancies between Mr. Skinner's list and
his spelling, and my own. My list is taken from the official Siamese map, and my
spelling is a reproduction of the Siamese pronunciation. Not enough information
exists for either accuracy or consistency.
526 MALAYA.
possible from the people, and leaving virtually nothing for the
development of the province itself. The Siamese expression for
provincial authority is significant enough : they call it kin
muong, literally, " to eat a province." The inhabitants of most
of these States, therefore, are in a state of extreme poverty, and
they are the helpless victims of misrule. The few of them that
are fairly prosperous in spite of Siamese exactions, owe their
good fortune to their tin-mines, some of which are beyond
all comparison the richest in the world. Concerning the ad-
ministration of these countries, Mr. Skinner says : " Every-
thing that we are accustomed to see done by the State
in Perak is here rigidly left alone road-making, sluices,
prospecting, mining, and waterway administration." For
instance, the road across the Isthmus of Era to Chumpaun,
which was begun for the King to cross the Peninsula, remains
half-finished, as His Majesty changed his mind or was pre-
vented by the trouble with France, and it will therefore in a
short time revert to jungle. Mr. Skinner says that he obtained
reliable figures at the Government offices in Puket, showing
that some 480,000 dols. out of 560,000 received as revenue in
1893, was remitted to Bangkok ; only about 50,000 being
expended on the place itself, and not more than 10,000 or
12,000 apart from the cost of the Sikh Police and the revenue-
cutter. It is an enormous revenue, he truly adds, to raise in a
small island with not more than about 10,000 inhabitants, and if
it were all spent on the place itself would soon make it like one
of the Protected States. An administrative experiment which,
Mr. Skinner says, was looked upon as a measure of reform, has
recently been made in all the Siamese States, according to
which 10 per cent, only of the revenue is to be taken by the
Chief, one-third of the remainder being spent for the benefit of
the State itself and two-thirds remitted to Bangkok. But
the provincial third cannot be expended without orders from
Bangkok, and now remains, and has for many months
remained, locked up in the State chest. The purely Malay
THE POSITION otf THE NATIVE STATES. 527
States among those I have described as Siamese, are Kedah,
Satul, and Perlis, and the river of each of the two latter is
silting up, and the places themselves declining. The export
of live stock will also show a large decrease when the next
figures are made up, since Kedah has recently lost three-
quarters of its cattle and buffaloes by rinderpest.
A curious bit of political history is contained in the story of
how Kedah came under Siamese control. The story was first
told by Mr. John Anderson, Secretary and Malay Translator to
the Government of Penang, in 1824. No sooner, however, was
his paper issued than it was recalled and suppressed, and the
suppression was so stringent that he was compelled to give his
word of honour that he had not retained a single copy. The
book, therefore, is now of very great rarity. I had the good
fortune to come suddenly upon a copy of it in a London second-
hand bookseller's, and to procure it for a few shillings.* One
copy escaped and was printed in the Singapore Chronicle in
1835 ; by 1854, however, this had become as rare as the
original volume, and the paper was therefore reprinted in Vol.
viii. of the Journal of the Eastern Archipelago, and this, in its
turn, is now believed to be so rare that only three or four com-
plete copies could be found. In 1882 it was reprinted, with
additions and commentary, by the Straits Government as a
confidential document. The reason for the suppression is not
far to seek, for Mr. Anderson proved beyond doubt that the
East India Company had grossly broken faith with the Kaja of
Kedah, and he made a strong plea for the protection not only of
Kedah but of other States threatened or seized by the Siamese.
Moreover, he denounced Siamese action in unmeasured terms,
and at that time, as at the present day, the British authorities
had for some wholly incomprehensible reason had the greatest
objection to hurting Siamese feelings. More than one wrong to
* " Political and Commercial Considerations Relative to The Malayan Peninsula,
and the British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca. By John Anderson, Of the
Honourable East India Company's Civil Service, Pinang. Prince of Wales Island,
Printed under the Authority of Government, By William Cox, 1824."
528 MALAYA.
a British subject has gone unrighted in Bangkok simply because
the mot d'ordre of the India Office has been not to offend Siam.
Mr. Anderson begins by telling how a Siamese fleet of boats
appeared in the Kedah Eiver on November 12, 1821, and how, in
spite of the gallant defence of a handful of unprepared Malays,
their leaders were killed and the people butchered. " The mode
of execution," he says, " was horrible in the extreme ; the men
being tied up for the most trifling offence, and frequently upon
mere suspicion, their arms extended with bamboos ; when the
executioner, with a ponderous instrument, split them right down
from the crown of the head, and their mangled carcases were
thrown into the river for the Alligators to devour." The
Siamese afterwards attacked Perak and Selangor in the same
way, but were beaten off by natives aided by the Company's
forces. Kedah, however, was left to its fate. Yet when, in
1785, the Honourable Company had desired the island of
Penang, they had concluded with the Eaja a treaty in which the
following passages occur :
"Whereas Captain Light, Dewa Bajah, came here and informed me that the
Eajah of Bengal ordered him to request Pulo Pinang from me, to make an English
Settlement, where the Agents of the Company might reside, for the purpose of
trading and building Ships of War, to protect the Island and to cruize at Sea, so
that if any enemies of ours from the East or the West should come to attack us,
the Company would regard them as enemies also and fight them, and all the
expences of such Wars shall be borne by the Company. . . . Should any one in
this Country become my enemy, even my own Children, all such shall be con-
sidered as enemies also of the Company; the Company shall not alter their
engagements of alliance, so long as the heavenly bodies continue to perform their
revolutions ; and when any enemies attack us from the interior, they also shall be
considered as enemies of the Company."
And in the following year the Home Government again
approved of Captain Light's promise, and replied that they
"were resolved to accept the King of Quedah's offer." In 1791,
however, a treaty was concluded without mention of any offensive
and defensive alliance ; though there can be no doubt whatever
that the Eaja of Kedah considered that as the Government
were in the enjoyment of their share of the original bargain,
he was also in the enjoyment of his. The occurrences of 1821
THE POSITION OF THE NATIVE STATES. 529
undeceived him. The Honourable East India Company failed to
keep its promise, and Kedah passed under the dominion of Siam.
I spent a very few pleasant days in Kedah, as the guest of
the present Sultan; but there is little to say of the country
of our former ally. The town of Alostar is a fairly flourishing
and well-kept place, patrolled by the Sultan's force of Sikh
police under an English officer. The Sultan's private launch
came down the river to meet us, his carriage, with two big
Australian horses, was at the wharf, and our quarters were
charming. His officials were courteous in showing us the
sights of the neighbourhood, including the famous limestone
caves, and some snipe-shooting which probably could not be
equalled in the world. Several times in the course of one
morning I had to stand still until the barrels of my gun became
cool enough to hold, as a single step would have put up more
birds. As we were coming home down the river I shot a
crocodile and an iguana. From Kedah a road runs across
the peninsula to Sengora, and a concession for a railway has
been granted to an Englishman, but up to the present time
I believe the necessary capital has not been raised. If the
heavy hand of Siam were raised from its administration, Kedah
could undoubtedly be made one of the most nourishing States
in the Peninsula. Kedah and this district figure thus quaintly
in Burton's translation of Camoens :
"Behold Tavai City, whence begin
Siam dominion, Reign and vast extent;
Tenasserim, Queda of towns the Queen
That bear the burden of the hot piment."
Siamese influence in Kedah was thus established by force of
arms and in consequence of the failure of the British to keep
their engagements. From Perak, as I have said, they were
quickly driven back. Over the States of Eaman and Patani
they also exercise influence, through the Chowkun of Sengora, a
Siamese official. The name Patani, by the way, is frequently
used for a very large tract of country in the centre of the Penin-
35
530 MALAYA.
sula ; as a matter of fact, Patani proper is one of the smallest
and least important of the States, and a good deal of confusion
arises from this misuse of the name. With regard to Kelantan
and Tringanu, however, the two principal States north of Pahang
on the east coast, the case is different. The Siamese are en-
deavouring to exercise here an authority to which they have no
right whatever, and it is high time the British Government
presented them with an ultimatum on this subject. The position
of Tringanu and Kelantan is fixed by two Articles of the Treaty
of Bangkok, made in 1826. These are as follows :
Article X. The English and Siamese mutually agree, that there shall be an
unrestricted trade between them in the English countries of Prince of Wales'
Island, Malacca and Singapore, and the Siamese countries of Ligor, Medilong,
Singora, Patani, Junk-Ceylon, Quedah and other Siamese provinces.
Article XII. Siam shall not go and obstruct or interrupt commerce in the
States of Tringano and Calantan. English merchants and subjects shall have
trade and intercourse in future with the same facility and freedom as they have
heretofore had, and the English shall not go and molest, attack, or disturb those
States upon any pretence whatever.
Thus Tringanu and Kelantan are specially omitted from the list
of Siamese States, and further, Siam binds herself not to "go
and obstruct or interrupt commerce " in them. By the treaty
of 1856 these Articles were confirmed. It is therefore clear that
Siam has no treaty rights which Great Britain need recognise
over these States, They have, however, been in the habit of
presenting to Siam every three years the bung a mas, or " Gold
Flower " a small tree made of gold-leaf and worth from two to
three thousand dollars. It has been the habit of eastern States
from time immemorial to present offerings of this kind as a
token of friendship with more powerful States, without thereby
abdicating their independence in the slightest degree. The
Sultans of Tringanu and Kelantan both assured me, as they
have often officially assured Governors of the Straits Settle-
ments, that the bunga mas was not in any way to be interpreted
as an admission of suzerainty, and that their States are abso-
lutely independent of Siam.
This position has been recognised and insisted upon for many
THE POSITION OF THE NATIVE STATES. 531
years by the British authorities, one example of which may
suffice. Sir Orfeur Cavenagh, Governor of the Straits Settle-
ments, sent an ultimatum to the Sultan of Tringanu in 1862,
ordering him to send back to Bangkok the ex-Sultan of Lingga,
whose presence was destructive of peace in the Peninsula. As
this ultimatum was neglected and the Court of Bangkok exhibited
great duplicity, Tringanu was bombarded in 1863. In a letter
to the British Consul at Bangkok, dated Singapore, October 8th,
1862, Governor Cavenagh points out that Tringanu is "a Malay
State in the Peninsula forming no integral portion of the
Siamese dominions." And in another letter, dated December
4th, he writes as follows : " The States of Trengganu and
Kelantan form no part of the territories of the Kingdom of
Siam ; all correspondence between the British Government and
their Eulers has invariably been conducted direct through the
Governor of the Straits Settlements." Shortly after this, an
unfortunate and inexplicable blunder on the part of the British
Foreign Minister and the subsequent Governor of the Straits
Settlements threw this question into temporary confusion, to
the great advantage of the Siamese. In 1869 the Sultan of
Tringanu despatched an Envoy to England with letters and
presents to the Queen and to the Prince of Wales. In due
course Lord Granville sent to the Governor, Sir Harry Ord, the
answers for transmission to the Sultan. To this communication
Sir Harry Ord wrote a long reply, in which the following
astounding passage occurs : " With regard to the position of
the Sultan of Trengganu, I have never heard it questioned but
that he was, like the Eaja of Kedah and other rulers of Provinces
on the Malayan Peninsula, a tributary of the King of Siam, and
that, as such, it was not competent for him to enter into any
direct negotiation with a foreign Government." What Sir
Harry Ord had " never heard questioned " was, as I have
shown, the direct contradiction of the Articles of two treaties
and the formally-expressed opinion of his immediate prede-
cessor ! He forwarded the replies to Siam, and it is needless to
532 MALAYA.
add that they never reached Tringanu, which thus regarded
itself as cast off by the British Government. This ignorant and
insensate action on the part of Sir Harry Ord exercised the very
worst influence in the Peninsula. It is constantly referred to in
conversation among the natives, and the Prime Minister of
Kedah quoted it to me as an example of the hopelessness of
any attempt to deal with England. It passes comprehension
that there was at the Foreign Office nobody with elementary
knowledge of the treaties with Siam and the official corre-
spondence between Singapore and Bangkok, to save Lord
Granville from this one of his many diplomatic mistakes.
As I have explained in a previous chapter about Siam, the
King has recently attempted to strengthen his hold over
Kelantan and Tringanu by appointing Commissioners for that
part of the Peninsula. This is bitterly resented by both
Sultans, and in Tringanu has been successfully resisted. The
Sultan of Kelantan has been less fortunate, and whenever the
King of Siam was expected he hoisted a Siamese flag, about a
foot square. But he persists to this day in declaring his inde-
pendence, a position to which he is entitled by treaty, and in
which he has had the support of at least one recent Governor of
Singapore.
I have shaken up these dry bones of history because it is
certain, in view of the rapidity with which events are moving
in Indo-China, and of the imminent collapse of Siam, that
the question of the future of the entire Peninsula will soon
come up for settlement. There cannot be, of course, the least
uncertainty about the result. No European Power but our-
selves has the slightest interest there of any kind whatever.
On a recent occasion when the project of digging a canal
through the Isthmus of Kra was mentioned by the French to
the King of Siam, the British Government promptly declared
that such an enterprise was within its sphere of influence, and
must not be considered without its consent. The rule of Siam
over the inhabitants consists of extortion and nothing else,
THE POSITION OP THE NATIVE STATES. 533
and native rule is of a cruel and destructive character. On
the other hand, the Peninsula is capable of enormous mineral
and agricultural development ; and the marvellous progress of
the British Protected States, as I have shown in my chapter
upon them, furnishes a conclusive proof of what can be accom-
plished under civilised authority. When the question comes
up for decision and we may hope in the interests of the
Malays themselves that this moment will not be long deferred
the entire Peninsula will inevitably become British. Our
dominion on land will then extend in an unbroken line from
Singapore to Bombay.
CHAPTEE XXXII.
A JUNGLE JOUBNEY IN UNKNOWN MALAYA.
TN order to learn Malay, which is a very easy language, and
-*- to gain experience of the natives, I made a number of short
journeys, chiefly for sport, from Singapore as headquarters.
Then, when I was fairly independent of an interpreter and had
gathered some knowledge of jungle law and lore, armed with
letters of introduction in amber silk envelopes, addressed to
two Malay Sultans, and a Siamese tliongkra, or official authority,
I left the hospitable little town of Taiping, the capital of Perak,
one day in March, for Kuala Kangsar, the old capital. My plans
were attractively vague, but my determination was definite. It
was to reach the sea on the other side of the Peninsula through
Eaman and the forbidden State of Kelantan. Only one white
man had or has accomplished this, Mr. Bozzolo, of whom
more shortly, and nobody had ever reached the headwaters of
the Kelantan Eiver through the country I proposed to cross.
Nor has any one yet repeated my journey.
Kelantan is by no means an easy country to penetrate. Many
travellers from Singapore have vainly attempted to enter it from
the sea and the east coast, and only last summer two Europeans
were killed while trying to get in from a neighbouring State, while
a well-known mining engineer, Mr. H. M. Becher, lost his life a
short time ago while trying to explore some of the unknown parts
of the neighbouring State. The Eaja of Kelantan was a blood-
thirsty and rapacious man, determined at any cost to keep the
orang puteli out of his dominions, and as will be seen hereafter,
534
A JUNGLE JOURNEY. 535
the means he adopted were as savage as they were simple. My
own plan was to have recourse to that most efficacious of
stimulants, the burning of one's boats. I proposed to travel
on elephants until I reached any navigable tributary of the
Kelantan Eiver in the district I had determined to visit, and
then to send all my elephants back. After this, to go forward
would be a necessity, and in order to descend to the sea I took
with me during the whole journey across country a dozen boat-
men, whose duties would only begin when we reached a river,
as I well knew that no boats or boatmen or any other help
would be procurable on the borders of the forbidden State.
But the traveller is like the child in this respect, that no place
woos him so irresistibly as that which he may not enter.
At Kuala Kangsar my elephant-boxes had been made, my
stores, weapons and photographic outfit collected, and my
native companions were ready. The best of these was my old
servant Walab, a "Bombay boy," who had already accompanied
me through many of my Far Eastern experiences. Until I
brought him to England he was a servant without faults.
Strikingly handsome, with an equable temper that nothing
could upset, and a sense of humour that anything tickled,
honest beyond suspicion, and clever with his hands as a
monkey, he was indeed a man-of- all- work. He was a perfect
valet, sewed and washed like a Scotswoman, cleaned my guns,
loaded my cartridges, skinned my specimens, kept my cameras
in order, and broke the heart of every woman of his own rank
white, black, or brown that he met. His devotion to me on
this journey when provisions ran short and dangers threatened
was unshaken. Unfortunately, I did him the disservice of
bringing him to England, where his stay was short and un-
fortunate. Among the men engaged specially for this Malay
journey were Taik Choon, my Chinese interpreter, a dyspeptic
and hypochondriacal but very intelligent young Chinaman whom
I had found at Penang ; a Malay writer named, of course,
Mahmat, who possessed enough of the characteristics of most
536
MALAYA.
English-speaking natives to make me wish afterwards a thou-
sand times that I had left him behind ; and two privates of the
Perak Sikhs, most kindly lent me by Colonel Walker, their
Commandant (I of course finding their pay and clothes, as they
did not wear uniform whilst with me), a pair of strapping
Pathans named Buta and Menir Khan, both of whom had
"passed in Malay." Their names will recur in this narrative,
and I may anticipate its close by saying here that two more
intelligent, brave and faithful companions no man ever had for
a rough journey. Their presence was due to two considera-
tions : first, it was necessary for me to have among my party,
which reached nearly fifty natives before it finally got into the
jungle, at least two who could be absolutely depended upon to
stand by me in case of a mutiny or a fight, since otherwise I
should have run the risk of being left to my own resources, if
the journey became too laborious or armed opposition were
offered. Second, my two boxes of dollars were the special
charge of Buta and Menir Khan, one of whom was always to
keep them in sight. These were not ordinary "Mexicans," but
the once famous Maria Theresa dollar, with the two pillars on
the reverse. This, for some unexplained reason, is the only
civilised coin that the Malays of the interior will accept, and
I had to pay a premium of 9 per cent, for them at Penang. It
is not generally known that when we engaged in the Abyssinian
War the British Government found itself in similar straits for its
money, and finally purchased from the Austrian Government a
set of dies for these coins, and struck its own supply.
At Kuala Kangsar the Perak Eiver is a broad and placid
stream, and at noon, on March llth, our boatmen pushed off
with their punt-poles and settled down to their long oars. The
moment when he really gets afloat, either on sea or river, is
always most welcome to the traveller. After the anxiety of
preparation, the endless chatter which accompanies the hiring
of his men, the lies, the excuses, the things broken or missing,
the tongue-wagging of the ubiquitous prophets of evil, the
PEKAN, THE CAPITAL OF PAHANG.
T3S&&M^'-^- v
^^If^i^^i^
^S^^zi^^^ '' "
A BELLE OF THE JUNGLE.
A JUNGLE JOUBNEY. 537
reiterations that never can the stores one has collected be
stowed on board, the scramble of the last moment, and the final
multitudinous yell of farewell the sudden change to the peaceful
motion of the boat, the pleasant contemplation of everything
neatly disposed and the necessaries at hand, the silence broken
only by the bubbling at the bow and the dripping from the oar-
blade, and above all, the first Lorelei-notes of the unknown and
the far-off, luring irresistibly onwards all this brings comfort
and sedate reflection. I considered myself lucky in having for-
gotten nothing but a spare mosquito-curtain and the zinc buckets,
and waited next day while a man went back for them.
As we poled and paddled up the river the cultivation on the
banks grew rarer, and the jungle began to come down till it
reached the snake-like roots of the mangroves at the water's
edge. At night we made fast to the bank, the "boy" cooked
a meal, the mosquito-curtain was hung up under the curved
roof of the boat, and sleep came quickly at the thought that
we were still in British-protected territory, and as safe as if
we were moored on the Thames. I spent the second night at
Chiga Galla, the third at Kota Tampan, and on the fourth
day I Reached Tumulung, where two or three of my elephants
were waiting for me, and exchanged the river for the road,
as I was anxious to get on to Merah, the last outpost of
British authority in the Peninsula. So, leaving the boats to
pursue their toilsome way against the current and through the
rapids to Janning, I packed myself upon an elephant and
struck across the jungle path to Kenering, a village at the
junction of the Perak Eiver and the Sungei Kenering.*
There I slung a hammock in a bamboo house that had been
prepared for me, and starting again early next morning, two
more elephants having kept an appointment with me there, I
found a striking figure waiting for me in the path at midday.
* To understand proper names in Malay geography the following meanings of
words should be borne in mind : Sungei, river ; Kuala, the mouth of a river ;
Ulu, the headwaters of a river ; Buhit, hill ; Gunony, mountain ; Kampony,
village ; Pulau, island ; Jeram, rapids.
588 MALAYA.
Mr. C. F. Bozzolo is a unique character. He was born in
Italy, and began his adult life as an engineer on one of M. de
Lesseps's dredgers at the digging of the Suez Canal. Then he
came to the Far East as an engineer, and I believe it was he
who, when instructed to report to an official whether a certain
steam-launch would burn wood, replied : " Sir, I have the
honour to report that this steam-launch is no more fitted to
burn wood than a field-mouse is to wear a paper collar." Sir
Hugh Low, discerning his great practical talents, placed him in
charge of a government plantation in Perak, where he tried
many truly extraordinary agricultural experiments. After he
had made many journeys in the interior and acquired a mass
of valuable information for the Perak Government, he was pro-
moted to the post of Collector and Magistrate on the boundary
of Perak and Eaman, where he still exercises a beneficent and
powerful sway over the natives. My photograph shows the
admirable house he has built for himself there, to which he
led me with no little pride, and where I was his guest for
several days until the remainder of the elephants I had engaged
arrived, and the boats reached Janning, the nearest navigable
point on the Perak Eiver. Mr. Bozzolo accompanied me 'during
the first half of my journey, and I was under great obligations
to him for his invaluable help. A man, too, who thinks in
Italian, writes in an English of his own invention, speaks
chiefly in Malay, can transact business in Siamese, and swears
in a language with which one is fortunately unfamiliar ; who
knows every move on the native board, who can cook monkey
and peacock to perfection and even produce a tasty ragout of
rat ; and whose favourite costume is a rosary and a bath-towel,
is no dull companion. The character of his administration
may be judged from an anecdote or two out of the hundreds
that might be told of him. He is a famous collector of Malay
weapons, and on one occasion had become possessed of a
valuable old kris blade which lacked its ivory handle. Bozzolo
discovered a native who could carve him a perkaka or king-
A JUNGLE JOTJRNEt. 539
fisher-head handle, but unfortunately he had no ivory. While
reflecting on this misfortune he espied a Perak Government
elephant he has charge of them all passing through his
Compound on its way south. It had a pair of splendid tusks.
Instantly, Bozzolo ordered the elephant to be brought back to
him. " Is not this a very dangerous elephant ? " he inquired
of the driver. "No, Titan," replied the driver, "very kind."
"What!" exclaimed Bozzolo, "do you mean to tell me that
you have never known this elephant to be jehat ? " " Yes,"
admitted the man, " sometimes, of course, like all elephants,
he is banyak jehat very wicked." " I knew it," said Bozzolo ;
" I cannot permit such a powerful jehat elephant to go about
with long tusks like this. Bring him down to the river." The
elephant was brought to a sandy bank, made to lie down in
shallow water, and in a short time, with the aid of a waxed
thread and handfuls of sand, his dangerous tusks were cut
off, and Bozzolo's kris was not long without a handle. One
day this energetic officer was standing by his own front gate
when two of the natives of his jurisdiction came up, looked
at him, and passed without any salutation. Bozzolo called
them back ; then he sent for one of his police. " These are
not men," he explained to him, " they are dogs ; men have
always the politeness to recognise me when they pass. Take
them to the police station and make them each take out a
dog-license." This was carried out to the letter, and there
was no more discourtesy in the neighbourhood of Merah.
After three or four days spent with Bozzolo at Merah, we
started for the interior on March 22nd. My little expedition
had by this time increased to nearly fifty men and twelve
elephants, and a very useful member had been added in the
person of a Malay named Ali, who had much experience of
such journeys. Every elephant had his own driver and often
two, the hire of the men being included in that of the beast ;
there were over a dozen boatmen, with no duties for the
present ; a score of camp-men, to build the camp at night
540 MALAYA.
and generally act as the interpreters to us of the strange
human, animal, and plant life about us; Walab, Taik Choon,
Mahmat, Ali, a Chinese cook who fell ill a few days out
and had to be escorted back Bozzolo's Malay Krani or
clerk, and the two Perak Sikhs. As the paths through the
jungle, when they exist at all, are barely the width of an
elephant's body, and we therefore always proceeded in single
file, it will be understood that we made a fairly imposing
appearance on our leisurely arrival at any place. Moreover,
rumour, which flourishes exceedingly in the interior, repre-
senting as it does the newspaper, post-office and telegraph,
magnified our strength in the most flattering manner. The
first Malay Raja we met asked me, " Where are your soldiers ? "
" Here they are," I replied, pointing to Buta and Menir
Khan. " Oh no," he retorted ; " my men told me that they
had counted three hundred ! "
The building of our camp each night was a very interest-
ing performance. Elephant - travelling is a slow process,
fifteen miles a day being good marching, and therefore when
the track was passable on foot I was generally ahead of the
party in the afternoon. About four o'clock I began to look
out for a good camping-ground, in an open space and as
far from the actual jungle as possible, that a current of air
might drive away the malaria ; with water in the neighbour-
hood, by the banks of a stream for choice ; with bamboo-
clumps and attap palms at hand, to supply the material of
our camp shelters ; and not far from a sufficiently thick growth
of plants to provide the elephants with fodder during the
night. Having found a suitable place I stopped, and as soon
as the head of the expedition came in sight the elephants
were urged into their best shuffle, the boxes were quickly lifted
from their backs and piled in a hollow square, the bags of
rice of which there were a great number, as often none was
to be had for many days were placed upon them ; the weapons,
ammunition, money and the box of dynamite arranged care-
A JUNGLE JOURNEY. 541
fully in the centre, and waterproof sheets stretched over all.
Then Taik Choon presided over the distribution of the day's
rations of rice, dried fish and tobacco ; the two Sikhs set up
our tent, Walab arranged the beds in its interior, and the
Chinese cook set to work. This done, I used to take my gun
and stroll off to see if anything fresh could be added to the
larder, and all the camp-men disappeared in the jungle. I
should add, for the benefit of future travellers in Malaya, that
the tent was only used two or three times. It was a huge
unwieldy thing, often wet through and therefore a heavy and
tiresome addition to an elephant's load, and it was neither so
good a protection from animals or malaria, nor so warm and dry,
as the little places our men built for us. After about half an
hour they returned from different directions, bearing each a
huge armful of green-stuff or bamboo poles of various sizes
which each man had cut down with his parang. They met
almost to a minute, and then as if by magic a charming little
house sprang up from the ground. First they stuck four poles
in the earth and upon these laid a flooring of bamboo about
three feet from the ground. Over these appeared a perfectly
thatched roof of the long leaves of the attap palm, watertight
in anything but a tropical deluge, and soon four similar walls
completed the structure. Often in mere exuberance of
architectural ambition, these Aladdins of the jungle would
build a capital four-legged table into the middle of the floor.
My own sleeping-place being thus provided in a sufficiently
luxurious fashion, they would erect a similar but less pre-
tentious place for the cook and servants, and another for the
elephant-drivers and themselves. It will hardly be believed
that this whole process was completed in an hour and a half.
The little thatched houses, of which some idea may be obtained
from my illustrations, though these mostly show only the rough
shelters built for the natives, were beautifully built, the bamboos
lashed together in a way the smartest sailor would be puzzled
to equal, and the attap thatching woven in a regular and
542 MALAYA.
artistic fashion. The structures are mere " fit-ups," in
theatrical language, used for one night only, and then left
standing for the next native comer, by whom they are doubtless
much appreciated; but anybody following the same road a
couple of years afterwards would find them practically as
good as new. The only tool used by a Malay for such work
is the parang, a curved blade like a sickle, set in a straight
handle of hard black wood, ornamented, if the possessor is
a man of means, with one or more bands of silver. The blade
is home-made, of soft iron, with a very sharp thin edge. This
naturally is soon blunted, but a bit of sandstone and a bowl
of water suffices to put a razor edge on it again in a few
minutes. The parang is never out of the hand of a Malay,
and every traveller soon finds out its uses and makes it his
inseparable companion. For many months my own, given
me by a Sultan, and decorated with bands and ornaments
of virgin gold and hafted in carved ivory, was always in my
belt to lop off branches in front of my elephant, to clear a
space from undergrowth, to split and pare a coconut, to
sharpen a pencil, to cut up tobacco, to open a tin of meat,
to divide the carcase of a goat or a deer, and if necessary to
serve as a weapon of offence or defence. It has now come to
the " base use " of a wall-decoration. In camp, when the
elephants had been turned loose, the meal cooked and eaten,
the entries made in the diary, the rice-pots filled and emptied,
the needful precautions taken for the night, a plaintive song or
two droned out by the Malays, the mosquito-curtain most
important duty for a white man in these latitudes hung and
scrupulously searched, a last tour of inspection made, and a
flickering thought flung towards home and those that might
possibly be remembering me there, I turned in, and it was
not often later than eight o'clock when I wound up my watches,
and boiled the thermometer if the camp was at an altitude.
Without elephants these Malayan jungles would be virtually
impassable. The great beasts are a mixture of strength and
MY KITCHEN IN THE JUNGLE.
A GROUP IN CAMP.
A JUNGLE JOURNEY. 543
weakness, of craft and simplicity. Their strength must be
seen to be believed. The paths through the jungle from village
to village are for the most part merely tracks from which the
overhanging and interlacing foliage has been cut and thrust
aside, and the virgin soil trodden into a black mud. After a
rain this mud is feet deep, and no living creature except an
elephant, a buffalo or a rhinoceros could labour through it.
For a whole day I have sat on my elephant while he made his
way along by lifting one foot at a time, inserting it deep into
the slough in front, withdrawing another with a sound like the
popping of a huge champagne-cork, all the time his belly being
sunk in the mud. To this must be added the obstacles in the
shape of great tree-trunks lying across the path. These he
would negociate by rolling over them on his belly, to the
imminent danger of dislodging the howdah and its occupant
on his back. The worst enemies of the enormous pachyderm
are the horse-fly and the mosquito. These insects insert their
proboscis through the ducts in the elephant's skin and raise
irritating sores. His chief terrors are the smell of wild
elephants and fire. One of my narrowest escapes was when
I was run away with in consequence of trying to force my
mount round a jungle fire, in order not to be hemmed in by
it. Nothing but a ride on an earthquake could be compared
to the sensation of being run away with by an elephant.
Nothing stops his wild rush, and he does not swerve for an
obstacle but goes straight at it. A few shakes fling off every-
thing on his back, and the rider has but a second or two in which
to make up his mind which overhanging branch he will cling to,
or if he will risk throwing himself off. A broken neck would
be the certain consequence of remaining. As for stopping him,
somebody has well said that you might as well try to stop a
runaway locomotive by pulling with your walking-stick on the
funnel, as seek to check an elephant at such a moment with the
goad. The sounds an elephant makes are ludicrously dispro-
portionate to its size. By stroking an elephant's lip in a
544 MALAYA.
certain manner you can make it purr like a huge grimalkin,
till the earth shakes beneath your feet. When it is afraid or
angry it squeaks like an unoiled hinge. But when it suddenly
jumps aside like a flea, you imagine for a moment that the
ultimate terrestrial cataclysm has gone off. The Malays never
wholly trust their elephants, and were nervous at my fami-
liarities with mine, a sweet-tempered old female on whom I rode
hundreds of miles. During the midday halt I used to call her
up and she would come and stand with one foot on each side of
my chest as I lay on my back and fed her with bananas. I was
never angry with her but once when she tried to kill the cook.
On one occasion a little elephant of our party, running behind
its mother, teased her beyond endurance, and she turned and
gave him a shove which landed him feet uppermost at the
bottom of a deep brook. For two hours he screamed like a
steam whistle while we were all engaged in getting him out.
Malay elephants have a language of their own which their
drivers talk to them, and which is very easy to pick up. For
instance, Hee means "Quick;" Haw, "Stop;" Moo, "Go to
the right ; " Klung, " t Go to the left ; " TeJioh, " Go backwards; "
Terhum, " Kneel down ; " Peha, " Don't rub against the tree ; "
Peha moo, " Don't rub against the tree on your right ; " Peha
klung, " Don't rub against the tree on your left;" and so on.
An elephant obeys this language just as a human being would
do. Every night when we reached camp and the loads were
taken off, each driver would hobble his beast by tying its front
legs together with rattan, so that it could only hop with both
together. Then a huge wooden bell was hung round its neck
and it was turned loose to wander in the jungle. All night long
the faint (Long, dong of these bells made a mournful noise round
the camp. At daybreak each driver tracked his elephant by
the sound, often going many miles for him. The elephant is in
some respects a stupid beast, and many of the tales of its sagacity
are apocryphal, yet it sometimes does very strangely intelligent
things. Once a tiny elephant got jammed in between the
A JUNGLE JOURNEY. 545
portions of a heavy tree-trunk which had been cut in two to
leave a passage on the road. Its screams brought back its
mother from ahead. She inspected it carefully for a moment,
then walked a dozen steps backwards and lowering her head
charged straight at it, shooting it out as if it had been fired
from a gun. Now, she must have seen that although the little
one could not move either way, there was really room for it to
get through. If there had not been, her charge would have
squashed it as flat as a pancake. The elephant's amusement
is to filch a bunch of succulent stuff from a garden as he
passes, mud is his cosmetic, the rapid is his footbath, and
little he recks of the attraction of gravitation. I parted from
mine almost in tears.
It is commonly said in the East that the Malays are a wilful
and treacherous race, with whom one is never quite safe, and
whose devotion and loyalty can never be wholly relied upon.
At the door of a restaurant in Singapore stands or squats all
that remains of a man who has been horribly mutilated, bear-
ing on his breast a label which says, " The Victim of Malay
Piracy," and the feelings he invokes in the passer are those
which prompt the usual verdict upon the Malay race. On the
principle of speaking well of the bridge which has borne you,
my own report must be different. The Malay, when unspoiled
by intercourse with foreigners or his own countrymen who
have lived at a foreign settlement, is one of nature's gentle-
men. He is a hunter, a fisherman, a backwoodsman, by choice.
Prolonged, monotonous hard work is so repugnant to him that
he would rather starve than undergo it. No inducement, for
instance, will make a miner of him. Hence in such matters
he is easily pushed to the wall by the ready and unscrupulous
Chinaman. Sometimes this pride or laziness is very irritating.
You want to get something done, and you find a Malay who
could do it reclining at ease beneath his coconut-palm, with
his wife or wives seated respectfully behind him. You say to
him, "Will you do so-and-so for me?" He replies, "No,
36
ilALAYA.
Tuan, it is too hot." You say, " But I will give you five
dollars." "It is much," he says, "but I am tired, and it is
pleasant in the cool shade, and it would be very difficult to do
what you wish." And no argument moves him, though the
money you promise would be a small fortune. Offer him the
loan of a rifle, however, to go and shoot something for you,
and he will gladly do it for nothing. And once secure his
friendship, and treat him as a friend, and, so far as my experi-
ence enables me to judge, he will stand by you to the death.
The secret is that he comes of a very proud race, which has
not lost its pride though circumstances have reduced it to a low
rank among peoples. Respect his pride, and he is your friend ;
offend it, and he is your enemy. My man Ali and the Peng-
hulu Bujoh of whom more hereafter were as plucky and
faithful when the pinch came as men could be. All good be
with them ! except for their loyalty my bones would probably
be shining at night in some Kelantan jungle, and my fate a
myth among my fellow-countrymen. The Malays, like all
eastern races, are extremely particular about the treatment
of their women by strangers. I gave stringent orders that
interference with the women of the places through which we
passed would be severely punished by me. When it occurred,
I fell upon the offender with the utmost severity. On one
occasion I publicly thrashed an elephant -driver with the handle
of his own goad to an extent that threw a gloom over my party
for several days. This sort of thing was mightily resented by
the victim at the time, but public opinion turned afterwards in
my favour, and to this attitude I attribute much of my freedom
from opposition and enmity. In this matter every white traveller
lies under a heavy responsibility toward those who may follow
him. In a native village I was once met by a number of hostile
inhabitants who barred the way and would not even allow me to
buy provisions there. I learned afterwards that this was owing
to the misconduct of a white man who had visited the place
before. If he were to show himself there again he would be
krissed at sight.
A JUNGLE JOURNEY. 547
The jungle is a world of itself. Twenty feet back from the
track and
" Lo ! the half -finished world ! Yon footfall retreating,
It might be the Maker disturbed at His task."
No human foot has ever pressed it : no interference of man has
modified the conditions of primal life. All the strange green
things that the rich warm earth produces and the tropical
sun and rain nurse into exuberance are engaged in a despe-
rate struggle for existence. So tight are they gripped together
that it would take you an hour, parang in hand, to hew your
way through them for a few yards. As Stevenson's last poem
says
" I saw the wood for what it was
The lost and the victorious cause ;
The deadly battle pitched in line,
Saw silent weapons cross and shine ;
Silent defeat, silent assault
A battle and a burial vault."
Above all towers and waves the bamboo most graceful thing
that grows ; the unbreakable rattan, often hundreds of yards
long, knots all the rest tight in its coils ; and every now and
then you are dazzled by a blaze of marvellous orchids, smother-
ing some doomed tree a fortune, if only you could take them
home. There is little animal life in the jungle except an
occasional snake and infinite myriads of insects. One morning
as I rose from my bed a boa-constrictor rose with me and
crawled away, no doubt well satisfied with his night's lodging.
His skin, fifteen feet long, came home with me. Words fail
me, not being an entomologist, to describe the insects. Con-
ceive the most extraordinary shape you can, imagine it glaring
with all the primary colours, and posing like the contortionist
of a circus, and you would not have to go far in the jungle to
see it realised in petto. Upon a pool in the path will be a
thousand butterflies, blue and yellow and scarlet and purple
and orange every colour in nature's wanton palette. And
548 MALAYA.
the moment you show a light at night, in comes the mantis,
that creature whose hands are apparently clasped in prayer,
but whose heart is filled with bloodthirstiness. This is the
insect that St. Francis Xavier, misled by its devout attitude,
requested to sing the praises of God, " which it immediately
did in a very beautiful canticle." In all countries its raised
thorax and extended raptorial legs have given it an undeserved
reputation for sanctity, and hence people even in Southern
Europe believe that its motions foretell coming events. The
Malay has many quaint and Kabelaisian games with it, and
believes, half in earnest, that by questioning it and then
giving it a shake, he can learn whether his absent wife is
faithful to him. Such are some of the aspects and inhabitants
of the jungle. But the chief impression left on the mind of
any one who penetrates it must be that of its marvellous near-
ness to the days of creation.
" It is man in his garden, scarce awakened as yet
From the sleep that fell on him when woman was made.
The new-finished garden is plastic and wet
From the hand that has fashioned its unpeopled shade."
It is unnecessary in this place, and would be wearisome to the
reader, to narrate in detail my journey across the Peninsula. I
will only describe a few of the incidents which distinguished one
day from another, and sketch my route in outline.* The rest
would be more appropriately told in a technical journal. The
second night out from Merah, we camped at Ayer Naksa, at a
small clearing deep in the jungle. An hour after leaving this
* My exact route which, though it is roughly indicated upon the map in this
volume, cannot be traced in detail upon any map except that which I prepared as
I advanced was as follows : Taiping, Kuala Kangsar, Chiga Galla, Kotah Tampan,
Tumulung, Kuala Kinering, Janning (Merah), Kampong Laving, Bukit Naksa,
Kampong Grik, Kampong Kronei, Bunga Rendaug, Merchaug, Jarom, Ayer Bah,
Den Propoh, Batu Kapor, Kampong Joh, Goakapor, Tana Puteh, Kala, Beluka,
Laloh, Blentang, Tanjong Mas, Kampoug Bukit, Kampong Flung, Kampong Segah,
Kampong Chumei, Batu Mernang, Kuala Leh, Temoh, Pacho, and Kampong Stah,
where I built my rafts for the river journey, as described in the next chapter.
Each of the above places was where I camped, and I remained at some of them, of
course, for several days.
A JUNGLE JOUKNEY. 549
place next morning, we crossed the boundary into what Is known
as the " disputed territory." This is marked by a line cut
through the jungle, and the trees blazed on the side of the water-
shed. Historically and geographically, a considerable stretch
of territory north of this belongs to Perak, but the Siamese
claim it as part of the State of Raman. It was the subject of
prolonged negociations between the British and Siamese
Governments a few years ago, and the dispute was at last
finally settled, and Prince Devawongse, who had come to
England for the purpose, went to the Foreign Office to sign
the Convention. At the very last moment, when the documents
were spread upon the table and the pen dipped in the ink, he
refused to sign, and the settlement fell through. This is the
incident to which I have alluded in my previous account of the
Siamese Foreign Minister. The matter is one of considerable
importance, since some of the most valuable mineral territory
in the Peninsula is situated just beyond the present improper
boundary, and nothing would be simpler than for the Straits
Government to settle the question by a determined attitude at
the present time. At Kampong Grik, a curious little nocturnal
adventure befel me. I had gone to bed in my tent, but was
lying awake smoking, when I heard faint footsteps outside, and
through the canvas, within a couple of feet of my head, came
the purring and snuffling of a prowling tiger. I could distinctly
hear his breathing and the scratch of his claws as he felt the
strange obstacle in front of him. A loaded rifle lay by my side,
and directly in front of my feet was the small half-open tent
door. I raised the rifle and kept it pointed at the opening, and
a few moments later the dark mass of his body closed it. I
determined not to fire unless he should try to come in, as the
chance of my killing him was slight and the chance of his kill-
ing me was excellent. So I lay motionless, in a state of mind
which may be colloquially described as funk, until to my
immense relief he took himself off. At Kronei came the first
example of the effect of native rule. A miserable and dirty old
550 MALAYA.
woman came to the camp to exchange a sarong the woven silk
garment which Malays of both sexes wear as a sort of petticoat
for food. I found that she was no less a personage than a
sister of the Eaja of Eaman, and had formerly been wealthy
from the taxes upon agriculture and tin-mining in the district
over which she presided. Now, however, nearly all her people
had migrated into Perak and the whole place was virtually
abandoned ; yet the tin-mines at Klian Intan are probably
among the richest in the Peninsula. The next night was spent
in the thick of the jungle, and on the following morning we
crossed the watershed at Eaman, at a spot where there are the
remains of an old Perak fort. This is the boundary between
Perak and Eaman, as properly claimed by the Perak Govern-
ment. Before reaching Merchang, I chanced upon a strange thing
for the East, namely, a real game-preserve a large stretch of
forest, surrounded by a rough boundary, kept up by the Eajah
of Eaman for his own sport, severe penalties being visited upon
any Malay who hunts in it. For the greater part of a morning
I walked by a charming winding path through this, and on all
sides there was evidence of the possibilities of excellent shooting.
A few hours beyond Merchang is a place called Bitung, one of
the seats of the Eaja and a once prosperous village, now also
deserted, all its inhabitants having moved over to Kedah to
escape his exactions. At Jarom we camped inside a stockaded
village, and I remember well shooting three wild peacock there.
The wild bird is far more gorgeous than the tame one familiar
to us, and when one of these, flying overhead, is stopped by a
charge of heavy shot, and comes tumbling down with the sun
shining on his outstretched wings and tail, it seems for a
moment as though one had accidentally blown the end off a
rainbow. The breast of a peacock, carefully cooked, is very good
eating, but the Malays will not touch it, as, for peculiar reasons,
they consider it an unclean bird. At Den Propoh, one of the
oldest settlements, after which is named a pass we crossed at
an altitude of 1,200 feet, there is an interesting tradition to the
A JUNGLE JOURNEY. 551
effect that the place is haunted by the spirit of Toh Propoh, a
former emigrant chief, supposed to have sprung from Gunong
Angors, an extinct volcano. The Raja of Raman has a fine house
here, in one of the rooms of which I was amused to see an old-
fashioned foreign bedstead. Just before reaching Kampong Joh,
we came to a village so recently deserted that the pigeons belong-
ing to the inhabitants were still flying about it. I walked through
all the empty houses to satisfy myself that nobody was left, and
then I shot enough of the pigeons to provide us with a welcome
meal all round. At Goakapor the headman gave us a very
friendly welcome, and presented me with a fine young bull from
his herd of buffaloes on the condition that I shot it with my
elephant-rifle, which had aroused his keen curiosity. The herd
was driven up, the bull picked out, and just before putting the
rifle to my shoulder I looked round for the raja, as he called
himself. His courage had failed at the last moment and he had
fled. As soon as the bull fell, Buta ran up and slit its throat in
Mohammedan fashion ; and the feast which followed necessitated
a halt of a couple of days, since almost every native member
of the expedition was ill from over-eating, and the amount of
pills and salts I had to disburse made a severe drain upon the
medicine-chest.
The most welcome occasions to my men were when I promised
to " shoot fish." Many of the rivers we passed were full of fish,
and of course there is nobody to catch them. Rod and line, or
nets, would be far too slow, and it was for this purpose that I
had brought with me a box of dynamite. A likely spot having
been chosen, I would take a couple of cakes of the explosive,
imbed a detonator in them, attach a piece of fuse, and tie them
to a heavy stone. Then, keeping all the natives at a distance, I
would light the fuse and toss the stone into the deepest part of
the river. Half a minute later there was a dull reverberation,
the water heaved, and a cloud of smoke escaped. The men,
stripped almost to the skin, would run up and stand in a row
on the bank. In a short time a fish would be seen, belly
552 MALAYA.
upwards, followed immediately by a score or a couple of hundred
if the shot were a lucky one. With a shout of delight everybody
would plunge in, and for five minutes there would be a scene of
wild excitement and delight. The rice-pots would be full that
night, and every man would have enough dried fish to last him
for a day or two. In the native States it is of course forbidden
to kill fish in this wholesale manner, but there was no harm in
doing so in a district where the fish would otherwise have gone
uncaught ; and indeed without this expedient I should often
have been at a loss to feed the expedition. As it was. provisions
once or twice ran unpleasantly short. I was surprised, by the
way, to find that in these far-inland rivers there were still
crocodiles. The natives denied the fact, and would plunge in
and wade about without the slightest fear; but I had on one
occasion striking proof of the existence of the reptiles. One day
we had crossed no fewer than nine rivers, sometimes wading up
to our arm-pits, and in several cases the current was so swift
that ropes had to be attached to the elephants for the men to
cling to while crossing. Toward nightfall we came to a river
too deep to ford, and a detour of several miles was necessary to
reach a good camping-ground just on the other side. I called
up a native of the locality and asked him, '' Adah boya disini ? "
" Tidali ! " was his instant reply, so I plunged in and swam
across. Just as I was scrambling up the bank, I heard a shout
from the men watching me, and a large crocodile came sliding
down and splashed into the water within a few feet of me.. After
that I gave up swimming Malay rivers.
When we reached a place called Tana Puteh literally,
" White Earth " Bozzolo and I left the camp for a couple of
days, and on our swiftest elephant made a tour of a delightful
agricultural district in that neighbourhood lying round a village
called Kampong Topaya. Nowhere in the East have I seen a
more attractive district for growing paddy. Crossing a mountain
range coming back, we lost our way, and finding a well-kept
path leading upwards, we followed it to the top of a high hill
My CAMP AT KUALA LEH.
THE LAST BRITISH OUTPOST, PERAK.
A JUNGLE JOURNEY. 553
called Bukit Jerei. This turned out to be a thrilling spot. At
its summit we found ourselves on the edge of a sheer precipice,
five or six hundred feet helow which we could see the tops of the
trees of a thick jungle. This place, we learned, is literally the
Hill of Death. From the place where we were standing, con-
demned criminals and lunatics are hurled off into the forest below.
The day before our visit, one unfortunate idiot who had become
a nuisance in one of the Raja's villages, had been led up and
thrown over. The hill has been used for this purpose from time
immemorial, and one's imagination falters at the thought of the
spectacle that would be presented below. For a few minutes we
conceived the idea of exploring that ghastly jungle, where no
Malay would dream of setting foot ; but time was short, and we
came to the conclusion that it would be rather too horrible. At
Beluka a native vendetta had been raging, and a man came to
me in camp to have his arm dressed. He had been shot at
close quarters in a night attack ten days before, and a rough
spherical bullet had passed clean through his right fore-arm,
shattering the bone and leaving a dreadful hole which had
already begun to mortify. The natives believe, of course, that
a white man's medicine will cure anything ; but this was beyond
my surgery. He was a plucky patient, and I removed all the
gangrened flesh and filled the hole with a plug of lint soaked in
the strongest carbolic oil he could bear. But I fear that such
rough treatment did not save him.
Tanjong Mas is the capital of the State of Lege. It is on the
River Benara, up which boats of several tons burden come with
difficulty from the coast, which is not far away. The surround-
ing district is a beautiful meadow country, fit for any cultivation.
In front of the Sultan's residence, which is defended by a great
fence of four-inch planks, set endwise in the ground, is a large
racecourse. The Malays of this State have a bad character,
but we were hospitably received and assigned quarters in the
house of one of the officials. In the shops I bought some
beautiful sarongs, and the best kris I saw in the Peninsula, with
554 MALAYA.
a handle made of suassa, an alloy of gold and some other metal.
The Sultan himself we could not see, as he was very ill, it was
believed from the effects of poison, and great excitement was
prevailing concerning his successor. Two candidates had
already started for Sengora, with elephants loaded with dollars
and presents to propitiate the Siamese Chowkun there. Soon
after we left Tanjong Mas, a tropical rainstorm burst upon us,
and all day long we journeyed under a terrific downpour. I
was the first to reach a miserable village called Kampong Bukit,
and took the nearest accommodation offered to me one room in
a crowded Malay house as it was far too wet and dark to think
of putting up a tent or building the customary shelter. For two
hours I sat and shivered, until at nine o'clock the rest of the
elephants began to arrive. The whole expedition was in a state
of complete demoralisation, so, stripping to the skin and wrap-
ping a towel round my waist, I went out into the pitch darkness,
and under the hot deluge tried to bring some kind of order into
the camp. At midnight, completely worn out, I returned to the
room and flung myself down on the floor. At daybreak I woke,
and saw in a moment the mistake I had made. It would have
been better for me had I spent the whole night wandering in the
jungle, for through the cracks in the bamboo floor I perceived
below me a mass of horrible and reeking filth, in which several
buffaloes were wallowing, and which was clearly the cloaca
maxima of the whole family of men and beasts. I took as much
quinine as I dared, but the consequences soon developed them-
selves. Next day I began to feel ill, and had recourse to
chlorodyne. The day afterwards I was suffering from an
unmistakable attack of dysentery. Now, in the Far East people
commonly die of dysentery, even in hospitals and with skilful
medical attendance. In my case, hundreds of miles from such
assistance, and with nothing but a bottle of ipecacuanha the
most difficult drug in the world to administer persistently to
one's self and with no shelter but a palm-leaf hut in a steaming
jungle, I could hardly expect to fare better. After a quarter of
A JUNGLE JOUKNEY. 555
an hour's mental revolt, I frankly resigned myself to the worst,
and prepared to spend what I regarded as my last day or two
in living over again in memory the happiest days, and com-
muning with the dearest friends, of the past.
" Oh ! little did my mother think,
The day she cradled me,
The lands that I should travel in,
The death that I should dee."
My camp-men surpassed themselves in building me a little
house in an open space a mile or two further on, by the side
of a pleasant stream ; and for several days I flickered between
life and death, while Buta and Menir Khan and Ali scoured the
country for milk, each carrying an empty bottle into which he
milked indiscriminately every goat, buffalo, or other female
animal he could find. At last, however, I seemed to be turning
the corner, and then a strange thing happened. One morning,
word was brought to me that a species of medicine-man, half-
Siamese, half- Malay, wished to know if he might see me. I
thought his visit would at any rate be entertaining, and ordered
him to be brought. He explained to me speaking a Malay of
which I could not understand half that he was able to cure
such sickness without medicine, by means of his own. I con-
sented to an attempt, and after various kinds of incantation he
proceeded to rub my back with a curious stone he carried,
and with a ring on which was chiselled the figure of a snake.
My recovery he naturally attributed to his own powers, we
became good friends, and many strange things he told me.
When I was leaving, I pressed upon him a few presents, and
as I was sitting on my elephant he put up his hand to bid me
farewell, and when I stretched mine down towards him he
slipped upon my finger his serpent ring. I may be charged
with superstition, but I still set great store by that ring.
For days after this I travelled propped up on my elephant,
passing the time with a book of chess problems and a little
travelling chess-board. I cannot too strongly recommend this
556 MALAYA.
method to other travellers on monotonous journeys, for often
the simplest problem will render one oblivious to the ennui of
a whole day. For some time at this point, my diary contains
nothing but the word, " sick." Three days later we reached
Kuala Leh, just beyond which rise the " gold-hills of Temoh,"
the centre of the chief gold-mines of the native States. Here
the land part of my journey virtually ended.
The district of Temoh belongs to none of the States which it
adjoins, but is a small tract of independent territory held direct
from the King of Siam. Its headman is a half-bred Chinaman,
who pays a small yearly tribute for the authority which he
exercises in a despotic manner over the little mining community.
This numbers about three hundred Chinese and a hundred Malay
inhabitants. The district is a triangular-shaped valley, about
five miles long and four miles at its widest end. The hills which
shut it in rise to a height of 3,000 feet, Temoh village, half-way
along the triangle, being about 680 feet above the sea. It
has been worked for its gold for certainly half-a-century, and
many Chinamen have made their small fortunes there and re-
turned to China. The gold-mining consisted at first of alluvial
washing in the crudest manner, and this gradually led the miners
further up the valley until they came to the reefs. There are
still a number of huge pits where washing goes on, and the
spoil-heaps left probably cover hundreds of acres. At the time
of my visit there were no fewer than twenty-eight shafts driven
upon the various reefs. Most of these I entered, and in several
although I have not the qualifications to offer any technical
opinion upon their value with my own hands I removed pieces
of quartz showing visible gold. A Malay told me one day that
at the bottom of the little river, which was about five feet deep,
the soil was auriferous, and to prove it he took one of my cooking-
pans, waded into the middle of the river, drew a deep breath,
plunged below the surface, and reappeared with the pan full of
earth. Sure enough, when this was washed, four or five grains
of bright gold remained at the bottom of the pan. The Chinese
A JUNGLE JOUBNEY. 557
miners work in societies, or kongsis, which divide the proceeds
amongst their members, down to the mere coolies, each man
taking a share proportioned to the amount of his expenditure in
the venture. All of them pay a heavy tax to the Chinese head-
man, who thus recoups himself for the bribe he no doubt paid to
Siamese officials for his appointment. As the Chinese miners
have hardly any iron tools, no explosives and no modern
machinery of any kind, their treatment of the quartz is
naturally very primitive and extravagant. They break it up
originally by driving in wooden wedges and wetting them ; the
boulders are then carried in baskets on men's backs to the mills
to be crushed, and the product undergoes a rough process of
washing in troughs. These mills, of which my illustration shows
the principal one, are constructed exactly on the lines of the
ordinary Chinese rice- mill, the stamps being a series of trip-
hammers, operated by an overshot water-wheel. A large amount
of gold must have been taken from Temoh, and a good deal was
offered me for sale, both in the shape of dust and nuggets ; while
the strange jewellery made by one family in Temoh village, and
stained a deep red by being boiled in saffron and some alkali, is
unique in its curious semi-savage beauty. I may add that a
concession for part of this district was granted by the King of
Siam a few years ago, and an attempt made by a London
syndicate to work it, but unsuccessfully.
CHAPTEE XXXIII.
ON A BAFT THROUGH A FORBIDDEN STATE.
"T71ROM Kuala Leh to a considerable distance down the
* Kelantan Eiver I was in the unknown country. Mr.
Bozzolo is the only European who has been in this district
before, and he proceeded by a different route and entered the
Kelantan Eiver at a higher point than I intended to strike,
leaving all this intermediate country unvisited. It is very easy
to tell when you are the first white man in any place. From
all round, beginning with daybreak and ending with nightfall,
a steady stream of natives, men, women, and children, poured
by. Most of them brought at first small presents a dish of
rice, a couple of fowls, a bit of metal- work, a bunch of bananas,
which they offered me very humbly, with many protestations
of friendship. These accepted, they would solemnly sit for
hours, intently watching everything we did, and only uttering
from time to time ejaculations of surprise as each new foreign
marvel caught their eye. By and by they discovered that
I was civilised enough to recognise the Malay custom which
dictates that a present from an inferior to a superior must be
met with a present of greater value, and then their " gifts "
came pouring in with embarrassing lavishness. When I had
returned a dollar a dozen times for a small supply of provisions I
did not need, and smaller sums for smaller presents, the process
naturally began to pall, and to their great disappointment I
declined to receive further tokens of their good-will. To the
children, however, I continued to distribute the tiny silver coins
558
oti A RAFT THROUGH KELANTAN. 559
I had brought for the purpose, with the result that my appear-
ance must have been that of a Pied Piper of Hamelin, for
whenever I took a dozen steps in any direction I was followed
by a horde of nearly naked little people, their natural fears
of the orang puteh struggling with their excitement and their
hopes. I was anxious to keep on conspicuously good terms
with the people hereabout, for the effect it would produce upon
my own men, whose courage had been ebbing visibly ever
since we had at last turned our faces finally in the direction
of the dreaded Kelantan. The nearer this came, and the more
clear it was that I was actually going on, the less energetic they
were, and the greater their tendency to find a lion in the
simplest path. Their desertion at this moment would have
put a stop to my progress and compelled me to return ignomi-
niously by the route I had already taken. Therefore I resorted
to every possible expedient to keep up their spirits and promote
harmonious relations with the inhabitants.
Before leaving Kuala Leh there were elaborate good-byes to
be said, and many wishes for another meeting, which seemed
to be sincere on the part of my new-made acquaintances. With
old Captain Labet, the headman of the Chinese there, these
were of a cordial and almost affecting character. I gave
him the remaining dynamite and stock of detonators, a
pistol, a number of small European objects, and in return
he presented me with his most precious possession. This was
a long sword, with a scabbard of bright red wood, a silver-
mounted hilt, and a very thin blade, so sharp that it was
difficult to feel the edge of it without cutting oneself. Its
sharpness was not mere " edge " like a razor, but thinness of
metal, with the same kind of edge as the blade of hard grass
which cuts you almost without your knowledge. This sword was
of such value in his eyes because it was betua fortunate, of
good omen the most valuable attribute that a weapon can
possess in the eyes of a Malay. The blade of this antique
object is so thin that a vigorous thrust would inevitably snap
560 MALAYA.
it off short. The workmanship of it is a complete puzzle to me.
It is in some respects too well made to be of native workman-
ship, yet it does not look like a foreign weapon. Probably
it is originally a combination of the two, a Malay workman
having employed parts of a foreign weapon of some sort in manu-
facturing it. Whatever the real worth of its occult properties
may be, it is certain that Captain Labet placed the most
implicit confidence in them. Many a time he left my camp at
night to walk alone for a mile or more through the jungle
without even a light, simply drawing his sword and grasping
it firmly in his old and half-palsied hand. Yet the jungle w r as
full of dangers, both man and animal. On one occasion a tiger
was positively known to be prowling about in the immediate
neighbourhood, and it had actually killed a deer only the morn-
ing before within half a mile. Yet when I strongly urged upon
the old man to take a lantern and allow me to send two or
three men with him as an escort home, he laughed at the
notion, and drawing his betua blade tapped it affectionately,
assuring me with the utmost seriousness that anybody armed
with that was much more than a match for any tiger. And
when he gave it to me I did my best to avoid robbing him
of an object to which he attached so much value, and which
had been in his family for more generations than he could
remember he conceived and explained that he was render-
ing me a very real service by thus enabling me to protect
myself against many dangers. I trust that my pistol will serve
him at least as well in case of need. The Chinese miners
appeared at their doors or the mouths of their adits as I passed
and presented me with bottles of samshu, the Chinese rice-
wine, which grows very heady with keeping, and the poorer
settlers passed water-melons up to me on the elephant. All
day long we plodded toward the stream where I expected to
find my boatmen and the results of their week's work. There
were no gradients, but the ground was so soft that for choice
we forsook the path and marched in the bed of the little river.
ON A RAFT THROUGH KELANTAN. 561
After thereby losing our way, and having to cut a new road
through the jungle, we came at length to Kampong Stah, a
village on the Sungei Tado, just below its junction with the
Blimbing and the Sakaw. Here the boatmen had constructed
a capital camp ; they were on the best of terms with the people,
who were eagerly expecting us, as they had never seen white
man before ; and what was of far more interest, two splendid
house-rafts and one flat raft were moored in the stream.- These
were masterpieces of bamboo wood-craft. Four or five layers of
large bamboo, cut off above a joint at each end, so as to be water-
tight, formed the raft part, and upon these was built a capital
little house, closed at the back and sides except for little
windows covered with a curtain of attap-thatch, and with a pent-
roof. Forward and aft were short uprights as rowlocks for the
long paddles, and these again were all ready, made of course
of the inevitable bamboo. Punt-poles had also been provided,
and so thoughtful were the builders that they had actually
added little fastenings on each wall in which my guns and rifle
could be placed. The " contractors," however, had played their
part less creditably. I had no sooner arrived than I was
asked for money to pay for all that had been done and spent.
I had advanced seven dollars to an individual called the
Penghulu Puteh, or " white magistrate," to pay these men. I
asked where he was, and was told in his house miles away.
I sent telling him to come at once. He returned an answer
that he was ill and could not. Not one cent had he ever
given, and as I did not choose to waste a day in doing justice
to him, he was able to keep the results of his swindling.
It was a busy day at Kampong Stah. All the followers
had to be paid off, the elephant-hire paid, and the beasts
sent back. The stores had to be reduced to the capacity of the
rafts, and a careful selection made among the geological speci-
mens. Most difficult of all, however, men had to be found if
possible to accompany me down the river to the coast. This
task proved insuperable. One man only could I hire, but he
37
562 M.vr,AYA.
was a good one. His name was the Penghulu Bujoh ; he was
a person of some official position and authority ; his fame was
great as a hunter ; and his happy face and frank cheery
manner at once impressed me in his favour. But in spite of
his assistance, and lavish promises of both pay and protection,
not another man could be persuaded. At last Ali took me aside
and explained the cause of this unwillingness. Quite recently,
it appeared, the Sultan of Kelantan, whose mere name sent
a shudder through the natives even here in another State, had
sent word that if any man gave help of any kind whatever to
a white man to assist him to enter Kelantan, he, the Sultan,
would cut off the offender's hands and feet, confiscate his
property, and make slaves of the male members of his family
and concubines of the female ones. This threat had the
desired effect. So I fell back upon the arrangement I had
previously planned as a pis aller, and took with me seven of the
boatmen I had brought with me, first making them a solemn
and public promise that if I lived I would see them safely out
of the dominions of the Sultan of Kelantan before I parted
from them. Thus at last everything was arranged, and when
I had taken leave of Bozzolo we were ready to start. The
men were collected, and the order given to push off. Seeing
what lay before me, the moment would probably have given rise
to some sentimental reflections if an incident had not occurred
to turn everybody's thoughts into another channel. The Tado
is a small but fairly swift stream at this point, and just below
Kampong Stah are some difficult rapids. We had been afloat
two minutes when, owing to some delay in the punters getting to
work, my raft began to turn across stream. A warning cry
from behind called sharp attention to the danger. Every man
sprang to the oars and poles, but the raft had been caught
by the current. In another minute we should have been drifting
down the rapids, stern first, and the least that could have
happened was the destruction of the raft and the loss of every-
thing on board. Ali and the Penghulu were the first to grasp
ON A RAFT THROUGH KELANTAN. 563
the situation, and both sprang into the river and tried to hold
the raft. " Overboard ! " I shouted to the Sikhs, and they
instantly obeyed. A moment later I followed them, and Walab
followed me. It was only up to my armpits in depth, so
nothing followed beyond the wetting, though Walab, whose
courage was greater than his strength, was nearly drowned.
All this time Bozzolo had watched the scene from his elephant
on the top of a neighbouring hillock, and he waved his hat
sympathetically. That was the last I saw of him.
By the time we had successfully negociated the first rapids a
change had come over the scene. Babel had given place to a
dead silence, the village and every sign of human life had
disappeared, the stream had broadened out and was as quiet as
an autumn pool, magnificent trees overhung the river and came
down to meet their shadows in the water, the men were stand-
ing idly by their dripping poles, wondering at the impressive
spectacle, and not a sound broke the stillness. From a com-
plete green arch behind, the second raft emerged in silence. So
began my trip through Kelantan. It was one of the rare times
of the poetry and perfect pleasure of travel. But to enjoy
such moments one must be alone. The voice of even a friend
would have jarred like the breaking of glass. A day like this
is worth a year of life at home. But interruptions soon came.
First a touch on the shoulder from the Penghulu showed me a
fine peacock pluming himself on the bank about a hundred and
fifty yards ahead, and I managed to bag him with a rook-rifle
when we had drifted a little nearer. Then an exciting chase
after a wounded iguana occupied us for some time. Every now
and then the rowers would lay down their oars by a common
impulse, and when I looked inquiringly at them \\ould remark
with a smile, " Makan pinang, Tuan," literally, " Eat betel, Sir."
The little pot of chnnam, or lime, would be produced, a sir eh leaf
selected and coated with it, a bit of betel-nut chipped off and
rolled in the leaf, and the package chewed with every sign
of gratification and refreshment. The pinang is to the Malay
564 MALAYA.
what the cigarette and the brandy-and-soda are to the English-
man at home. The gift of a little of my own tobacco to roll
into a cigarette, since the tobacco with which I supplied them
as part of their rations did not lend itself kindly to cigarette-
making, would put fresh vigour into their efforts. About four
o'clock on the first day we espied a nice stretch of sandy bank
and stopped there. Then the rice-pots were brought out, the
evening meal prepared, a few stories told, to which I was usually
a listener, and the arrangement made whereby Buta, Menir
Khan, Ali, the Penghulu and I divided up the night into sentry-
watches. On this night, just as the pots were boiling, the river
suddenly and inexplicably began to rise, and extinguished all our
fires.
Except for the adventures it might bring and the new light it
threw upon this unknown country and its inhabitants, one day
was exactly like another. Each ended as I have just described.
It began by my waking under the mosquito-curtain, warm and
snug, " safe from the bites of noxious insects, free from the
infection of malarious diseases," as the " Hints to Travellers "
impressively says. There are no sounds of movement in camp.
I ought to get up an early start is everything. I look out. A
thick white mist is over all, and the mosquito-curtain is soaked.
I remember all my acquaintances who have been struck down with
fever from Malay travelling. " Early rising is fatal in malarious
localities," says the " Hints " again. I open my watch ; it is five
o'clock. There is nothing for it, however, so I plunge out and
into the river, and my shout sets everybody stirring. In a
minute or two a couple of fires are blazing ; the pots and the
kettle are boiled, the men and Walab jump on board with them,
and we are off by half-past five.
The principal events of the first day or two were the
rapids, of which there were many, and bad ones. There is
suddenly a roaring ahead, and big black rocks are dis-
covered, with a narrow opening between them, diagonally
athwart the stream, through which the water is pouring like a
ON A BAFT THROUGH KELANTAN. 565
mill-race. Everybody pulls and pushes, and lifts and poles ;
often the boatmen are in the water up to their necks. Slowly
the raft scrapes to the opening, then " feels a thrill of life along
its keel," or would if it had one ; the waders leap on board ; the
oarsmen struggle and shout. For a minute or two it is touch-
and-go whether or not the raft spins and is wrecked. Below
the rapid there is always a stretch of quiet water, and the
moment we are in it comes the inevitable remark, " Makan.
pinang, Tuan." During the first day there was not a single
kampong, but by the afternoon of the second we reached the
clearing of a Chinaman who collects Customs for the Eaja of
Lege upon everything that comes up the river. He was a
very friendly person, and was glad to sell me fowls, ducks, and
coconuts ; though the fowls were so wild and athletic from the
amount of exercise they have to take to pick up a living, that
after we bought a dozen my men had to organise a regular hunt
before they could catch them. This man told me that with a
quick canoe he gets from his house to Kota Bharu, the residence
of the Sultan of Kelantan, in three days, so that with my rafts I
might hope to make the journey in five. I hired an additional
boatman here for part of the journey. Next day we came to
a place where the river banks were all broken down by the
trampling of a herd of wild elephants; and while we were
looking at this we suddenly heard a tremendous outcry behind
us, and the Chinese Towkay of the day before, and his termagant
of a Chinese-Malay wife, came shooting down in a long, narrow
dug-out. The woman had a huge old navy revolver, eighteen
inches long, slung in a holster round her neck, and was evidently
thirsting for somebody's blood. It appeared that their long-boat
was stolen during the night, and she wished to take back the
man I had hired, that he might join in the pursuit. It took
her ten minutes of excited talking at the top of her voice to
convey this fact to me. I said, " All right. I advanced this
man two dollars ; give me them back, and he can go with you."
She subsided as suddenly as if she were shot with her own
566 MALAYA.
pistol. As All said, " At first she was as big as this " stretch-
ing out both his arms " then when Tuan said ' two dollars/
she was as big as this" showing the nail of his little finger;
" if Tuan had said ' four dollars,' we should not have been able
to see her at all ! " At nine o'clock on this day, we went
through the last rapid, Jeram Penara, which forms the
boundary between the States of Lege and Kelantan. Here
then, at last, we were in the forbidden State.
While the boats were being piloted through the rapid we got
some cooking done, and I went off with my gun as usual, a ball
in one barrel and shot in the other, to see if I could pick up
anything. After about a quarter of an hour's walking, I heard
a rustling in some thick growth in front of me. I proceeded
very cautiously, thinking it was some small animal, and at last
I located it in a particular bush. Then I gently pushed aside
the branches with the barrels of my gun, and looked through.
At the same moment the branches were parted from the opposite
side, and a wild face, only half-human, looked straight into my
own at the distance of a few feet. We were both taken aback ;
but the native recovered himself first, and with a sharp cry of
terror disappeared in the jungle. It was no doubt one of the
Sakeis, or semi- wild men, who are to be found in several parts
of the Malay Peninsula. They are in a very low state of civili-
sation, stand greatly in fear of the Malays, and live entirely on
the roots they dig up with a split bamboo, and the small birds
and animals they can shoot with a small bow and arrow or a
blow-pipe. They are very expert with the latter, and are said
to employ powerful poison for their darts and arrows. So I
thought myself fortunate not to have one of these in me
unawares ; but I felt rather elated that my approach had been
so silent that this consummate woodsman had not discovered
me before I discovered him. I might tell a score of other
sporting anecdotes connected with this particular trip, but, as I
have said before, this book is not the place for them. Soon
after this the river, which is here called the Pergau, increased
SHOPS IN A MALAY TOWN.
A MALAY DRAMA UEKOKE THE SULTAN.
ON A RAFT THROUGH KELANTAN. 567
in width till it was eighty yards wide, and apparently ran
straight to the foot of the highest hill I had yet seen, called
Bukit Pagah. On each side of the river was a village the one
on the right called Kampong Eeka Bharu, or " New Echo," and
on the left Kampong Eeka Tua, or " Old Echo." In Lege the
villages had seemed fairly prosperous, but these were the first
specimens of what I afterwards found so often in Kelantan :
places where at one time there had evidently been a small and
nourishing community, of which the number of coconut trees
furnished a good index, but now virtually deserted, the houses
empty and falling to pieces, the cultivated land lapsing into
jungle again, and the inhabitants dead of smallpox, murdered,
or fled. Next day we reached Kuala Pergau, where this river
runs into the Kelantan Eiver, and as we approached the junction
we found a broad navigable stream flowing into it obliquely and
following the same course. The Kelantan Eiver, according to
the native view, does not begin till its junction with the Pergau,
but this is contrary to proper geographical definition, as from
its source in the hills of the district known as Ulu Kelantan
but never yet visited by any white man to its mouth on the
east coast, the Kelantan Eiver is one and the same, and the
Pergau is only one of its many affluents. Mr. Bozzolo states that
the name of the Kelantan Eiver above the Pergau is " Sungei
Engere," but this is inaccurate, as no such name is known to
the natives, who, without exception, call it Sungei Negiri. The
Kelantan Eiver at this point is from a hundred to a hundred
and fifty yards wide, and probably six feet deep at its shallowest
part, with fine ranges of wooded hills visible in the distance.
Looking back, there was as beautiful a river view as I have
ever seen, recalling the woods of Cliefden on the Thames.
The speed of the current in many places may be judged from
the fact that though I saw a number of wild pigeons, splendid
kingfishers, and hornbills in the trees, the river was too swift
for us to attempt to beach the rafts. When this country is at
length explored by a naturalist, it will be famous for its king-
568
fishers, which are among the most beautiful birds I have ever
seen. The Malays call them perkaka, a word made up of the
prefix per and an imitation of the Aristophanic sound kak-kak-
kak that the kingfisher makes when alarmed. Other beautiful
birds that I saw here, and afterwards succeeded in shooting, were
the burong tiong, a large black red-billed bird with golden ear-
flaps and scarlet feet, and the burong beruka, a large pale-green
and yellow pigeon. An amusing incident occurred when I went
shooting one morning with the Penghulu Bujoh. I had shot
several of these in rapid succession, and he ran to pick them up
while I went in another direction. When he rejoined me I found
that he had carefully cut the throat of each bird, nearly severing
its head from its body and of course completely destroying the
plumage. He had never imagined that they could be wanted
except for food, and therefore like a good Mahommedan he had
performed the semblek upon them ! There was an old man
living here, at a place called Kampong Dusun Eenda (the village
of the Low Orchard), who had formerly acted as a guide to
Government surveying-parties in Selangor, but was now making
his living at a gold-mine he alone knew of, near Kuala Jinam.
He went to this every morning, spent the day washing for gold,
and returned at night with his little stock. I bought from him
some extremely good gold, so rough as to be almost nuggets.
There are also gold-mines at Kuala Tosi in this neighbourhood.
Further down the river, at Kuala Tuko, I heard that there were
gold-diggings which had been successfully worked by a party of
Chinamen, who, however, had deserted them three months
before because of the impossibility of procuring rice or any
supplies, and because the Raja had forbidden the opening of
new mines. At Kampong Lalat, still further down, I came
upon one of the few places in Kelantan where anything of the
least value is produced. Here was an earthenware industry,
where pots and vessels of singularly graceful shape were made.
For a small sum I bought a basketful of these, and succeeded in
bringing several of them uninjured to London, although they
ON A RAFT THROUGH KELANTAN. 569
are extremely brittle. At Kampong Lalat, too, I saw a big
boat being built to go to the Galas gold-mines in Ulu Kelantan,
a fact which throws light both on the value of these famous
mines and on the navigability of the Kelantan Kiver. It was
36 feet long, 4 feet 7 inches beam, and would carry 400 gantangs
of rice say, according to the gantang used at Teinoh, 3,400 lb.;
at any rate, not far from a ton and a half. The men who were
building it said that its price when finished would be ten dollars
certainly the cheapest craft I ever heard of. Below this place
the river passes a big outcrop of rocks called Batu Makbang,
and then widens almost into a lake, with an exquisite view in
both directions. Here I passed a large boat going up to Temoh
with Chinese things to sell, and a crew of four Chinamen on
board.
After leaving Batu Makbang, we stopped at five o'clock on an
extensive sandbank, as my men had promised to start again at
the rising of the moon, and here occurred the most ticklish
incident of my river journey. When the Chinese boat passed us
during the afternoon, I had noticed that one of the men on my
last raft was acquainted with a Chinaman on board, and that
they had rapidly exchanged a dozen sentences, though I was too
far ahead to catch anything that was said. It now appeared
that my extra raft-man was in the service of the Chinaman who
owned the boat, and the latter had shouted to him that the
Sultan of Kelantan was very angry with me, that he had sworn
no white man should pass out of the river to sea, and that he
was sending a boat filled with armed men to stop me and turn
my expedition out of the country. This boat, the Chinaman
had added, was just behind him, and as the raft had drifted out
of earshot his last shouted words had been, " Take care of your-
self, because the Kaja is very angry with you." The raft-man
had told Mahmat, he had told Taik Choon, and the latter told
me. So I called up Ali and the Penghulu Bujoh and consulted
with them. The situation was certainly unpleasant. Ali and
the Penghulu regarded the matter in a very serious light. I
570 MALAYA.
explained to them that I was not in the least afraid of the Raja
or his armed men, because, in the first place, I felt sure he
would not have given them orders to attack us, and, second,
even if they did show fight, I was confident that we were
numerous enough and well-armed enough, if only we stood by
one another, to defeat not only one but many boat-loads of men.
They advised me to call all my people together and explain the
matter to them. So they were all collected, and sat in a semi-
circle on the sand. Then I made Mahmat read the letter I had
written to the Raja telling him that I was a peaceful traveller
crossing his country with a royal passport from Siam, and that
I personally stood security for my people. I showed them the
thongkra with the big seal, the Malay letters in their yellow silk
envelopes ; and then I addressed them as follows : " The Raja
does not know that I am travelling here by the permission of
greater men than himself, or he would not be angry. But I do
not believe this Chinaman's tale. It is only a Chinese lie.
There is no boat coming to stop me, and if there were, what of
it ? The Raja dare not harm a white man. Remember Perak.
The Tuan Besar was killed. What is Perak now ? Remember
Pahang. Only a Chinaman, but a British subject, was killed
by the Raja. What is Pahang now ? The Raja of Kelantan
will not dare to touch one hair of my moustache. I have come
here to go to Kota Bharu and Singapore, and I am going to
Kota Bharu and Singapore. I have promised to take care of
you all and to see you safe out of this wicked country, and I will
do so. If a boat comes, or many boats, no matter. If they
are good, I am good : if they are jeliat, I amjehat also." Then
I told them to go and cook their rice and think the matter over,
and return and tell me their decision. This said, I went and
sat down at a distance and smoked a cheroot.
In spite of this brave speech, however, I had one very real
fear, and that was lest my people should run awa.y. This would
leave me absolutely stranded, and was quite likely to happen in
consequence of the Sultan's threats. There was nothing to
ON A RAFT THROUGH KELANTAN. 57 1
prevent them deserting me, and the very name of Kelantan was
almost enough to strike terror into them. In ten minutes they
would have disappeared into the jungle. Then in the morning
they would have only to cut down a score bamboos with their
parangs, make a raft, cut a pole or two, and go straight back up-
stream and make their way home across country. I, on the
other hand, should be left perfectly helpless in the middle of the
most dangerous State in the Malay Peninsula, totally unable to
go either backwards or forwards, as I could not navigate a raft
by myself and no native would either help me or supply me with
food. Everything I possessed and had collected would be stolen
and destroyed, and probably not for many years to come, if ever,
would even the place or the circumstances of my death become
known, since my men would of course deny all knowledge of me,
to cover their own desertion, and the Raja of Kelantan would
deny it equally from fear of reprisals by other white men.
Curiously enough, I learned later, on my return to Singapore,
that the Governor of the Straits Settlements and the Resident
of Perak were exchanging telegrams at this time concerning the
desirability of sending out a search-party to look for me, as my
journey had already lasted much longer than I had originally
expected.
In the meantime, the men sat in circles round their respective
rice-pots, discussing the situation in low tones. I had a good
deal of sympathy with them, for it must be remembered that
for a Raja to fine them, or make slaves of them, or kill them,
depends upon nothing whatever except his wish to do so, and
they are as helpless in his hands as a chip in a surf. It was by
this time quite dark, and AH came across to me and whispered
that two big boats, each filled with men, had just slipped down
the river under the shadow of the trees opposite. One of the
Sikhs also told me that he had seen them probably fifty men
in each boat. This looked rather like a gathering of the clans,
and disposed me to put faith in the Chinaman's story.
When the men had eaten their rice, I called to AH to tell them
572 MALAYA.
to come back. They assembled again, and he, speaking for them
all, replied that they were willing to go on ; and speaking for
himself, he declared that he would stick to me, Eaja or no Eaja.
The Penghulu Bujoh rose, untied about twenty knots in his
handkerchief, produced from the last one a new percussion-cap,
placed it solemnly upon the nipple of his huge old muzzle-
loader, and then stated that he too was my friend, and that if
any of the Eaja's men wished to fight, he was now ready for
them. So we started, in the dark, down the river, and I was
amused to notice that whereas before the alarm the rafts had
been scattered and the last one usually a mile behind the first,
now they could have been covered, like a pack of hounds, with a
table-cloth.
Two hours later a terrific tropical storm suddenly broke upon
us, with deafening thunder and blinding lightning. The river
here was at least three hundred yards wide, and the wind raised
such waves that only with the greatest difficulty could we prevent
our rafts from being swamped before we could get them safely
under shelter. I took several of the men, among whom I had
previously distributed the arms, under the roof of my own raft,
and the rest made a shelter out of a tarpaulin ; and all night
long we sat there in the do\vnpour, each man nursing his gun
and devoured by ferocious mosquitoes. When day at length
dawned we presented a pitiful spectacle.
By noon of the fifth day we reached Tana Merah literally,
" Eed Earth " one of the most important villages in Kelantan.
For the first time we saw signs of life and commerce, many
trading boats being tied up at the foot of a high bank. With Ali
and Taik Choon I scrambled up, and found at the top a dozen
stalls offering cotton sarongs, matches, cakes, blackang a favourite
Malay condiment made of rotten prawns and the hundred odds
and ends of a Chinese shop. As we were walking through this
primitive bazaar a tall Malay, the conspicuous kris in his belt
politely covered by a cloth the sign of friendly intentions
suddenly barred our way, and, in a voice trembling with excite-
ON A RAFT THROUGH KELANTAN. 573
ment, said, " Tabulikmasoh, Tuan " "You cannot enter, Sir."
I asked why, and he said that the Chinese Towkay had sent out
to forbid us. So I turned back, and conspicuously asked one
of the Malays standing by, what was the Towkay's name ? He
answered, Liu Wat. So I told Taik Choon to go and tell
him that I should inform the Sultan I had been refused entrance
to the bazaar. As I expected, Taik Choon soon returned, saying
the Towkay explained that he did not know who I was, and
therefore had forbidden my entrance ; now that he knew, he
would be glad to see us, but he could not come out to meet us,
as he was sick and unable to walk. We went up into his big
court-yard, where many kajangs, a sort of roof-mat, were drying,
into a Chinese reception hall, where the same tall Malay who
had previously stopped me, now politely invited us to enter.
The Towkay was sitting on his bed, suffering from a kind of
paralysis in the right leg. Stools were brought, and I had a
long conversation with him. First of all, of course, he wanted
medicine for his leg. I inquired into the symptoms and found
I could do nothing, so I urged him strongly to go to Singapore
to be treated. He was born here, but had once before been to
Singapore, and said that he should take my advice. On leaving,
I told him I was glad he had invited me into his house, as I
should not now have to report his refusal, and I hoped that in
future he would see that the orang puteh was politely received
by his people. He was a merchant and planter, growing pepper
and gambier, and dealing in cottons. There are about a
hundred people in the place, and only one white man had been
there before. After many " good words " at parting, he said
we could now buy anything we liked. I went back to one shop,
and was looking at some silk sarongs, when Taik Choon asked
me privately to tell him which I wanted, and to go away. I
did so, and he brought them, telling me that two truculent-
looking Malays who were seated by the Towkay were penghulus
sent by the Eaja to forbid the people to allow us to land, or sell
us anything, under heavy penalties. Therefore the Chinese
574 MALAYA.
traders had asked Talk Choon to let them sell to him and not
to us. The Towkay also sent a message to me, requesting that
if I were asked whether I had bought anything in Tana Merah
I should say no. It must not be forgotten that this is, with
one single exception Mr. Bozzolo's previous rapid journey
down the river a country absolutely unvisited by the white
man. From Temoh to Kuala Pergau no white man at all had
ever been ; and even between Tana Merah and the capital,
whenever we approached any land, the children shrieked and
the adults ran away. When we camped that night, Ali came to
me and said, " Are the Tuan's guns all ready ? " " Why ? "
"Adah orang-orang jehat banyak disini" "There are many
bad men about here." And as Ali had no kris, he borrowed
my hunting-knife. It was very cold and damp that night, and
doing sentry-go was dreary work. My Malays coughed all night
long, and I could hear them shivering. Their only clothing
was a couple of thin cotton cloths, and yet several of them had
big gold buttons knotted on their handkerchiefs, and could
perfectly well afford a blanket or cloak. Buta took pity on one
of them, and lent him his thick woollen military cape. We
stopped later at Kampong Panah, exactly opposite the big hill of
the same name, and a score of Chinamen came down to see us
Ho-kiens, engaged in raising peas. There were eighty of them
living there, and about a hundred Malays. They were born at
Panah, and had never seen a white man before ; so I said I
should charge them ten cents each for looking at me, and they
thought it a capital joke.
Next morning the river had become broad and still, with long
stretches between low-wooded banks, fringed almost all the way
on the left bank with coconut and areca-nut palms. The
kampongs now began to look fairly prosperous, enclosed in neat
solid fences, with prettily-built jambans of mat-work on the
beach. Taik Choon told me here that he had learned the Sultan
had sent strict orders to prevent us going ashore anywhere, and
that the storekeepers at Tana Merah were to be fined ten dollars
ON A BAFT THROUGH KELANTAN. 575
for selling things to us. At Kampong Paser Mas we found a big
village, fronting on the river for several hundred yards. Many
boats were anchored or sailing about, and the women and men
were dressed in the brightest colours, barbarously combined but
occasionally hitting off a fine effect. I heard of a remarkable
mine of galena some distance ahead, at a place called Fenei ; so
I despatched Ali on foot to get information about it, and meet
us lower down. Two hours later he hailed us from the shore,
waded out, and swam to the raft, holding his clothes above his
head. His report was simply, " Sudah pergi Pahang." All the
miners had fled into Pahang ten months ago. By midday
the river had widened to a quarter of a mile, and as a fresh
breeze was blowing, numbers of sailing-boats were coming up.
Ahead, on a high bank, we could see a big town of many
houses, stretching out of sight ; on the left a long sandspit came
into view, and through my glass I discovered opposite to it a
shore crowded with houses and boats, many of them sea-going
craft. It was Kota Bharu, the capital of Kelantan, at last.
On our right as we drifted down was a row of palisades, half a
mile long. Good-looking houses nestled each in its little clump
of fruit-trees, with coconut palms waving overhead. Crowds
of people were walking up and down a kind of natural boule-
vard Hadjis with their white headgear ; gaily-dressed women ;
men, each with at least two krises stuck in his waist -cloth; and
scores of naked urchins skylarking in the water. Long wooden
ladders gave access from the bank to the river. The peaked
roof of a mosque, or Chinese temple, stood up among the trees,
and the buzz of a big town soon became audible. As I was
uncertain what reception we should meet with, and as the
surroundings of a native community are always of the most
insanitary character, I beached the rafts and set up my tent on
the clean sandspit, exactly opposite the main street.
By way of opening communications with the Sultan I imme-
diately despatched Taik Choon, in his best clothes, to the head-
man of the Chinese to learn if he would undertake to deliver a
576 MALAYA.
letter. Soon after my boat had gone, a canoe came swiftly
across the river and stopped alongside, two men paddling it, and
a third, evidently a person of consequence, his kris covered
with a gay silk sarong, seated in the middle. " Tabi, Tuan," said
he, and we exchanged a few commonplace greetings. Then he
inquired casually, " Where have you come from?" "From
Lege." "How long has it taken you?" "Seven days."
" How long do you intend to stay ?" "I don't know. A few
days." " Where will you go next ? " " To Tringanu." " And
then?" But it was my turn now. " Sudah-lah enough of
this. Now, who sent you here?" "Nobody." "What do
you want ? " "Nothing at all." " Are you one of the Sultan's
men?" "No." " Or one of the Ministers ?" "No. Tabi,
Tuan." " Tabi." And he paddled away, of course to go
straight back to the Sultan with his information. Such is a
fair specimen of a Malay conversation. At dusk Taik Choon
returned, saying the Kapitan China was rather afraid of the
Sultan, who was very angry, and that he dare not deliver my
letter. So I sent him back to give it to the Nisso a Minister
I had heard of. He returned very late, saying that the Minister
had promised to give the letter to the Sultan early in the
morning.
Next day I rose early, dressed myself in my one civilised
suit, and went across to the town. On lauding, I discovered the
Sultan examining a huge shed-like erection which was being
built to receive the King of Siam, who was expected on a visit ;
so I promptly turned in another direction, as I did not wish to
meet the Sultan except by appointment. Kota Bharu is very
much like other Malay towns except for its big mosque. The
main street runs at right angles to the river, the upper side of it
being the Malay town and the lower side the Chinese town. A
long jetty and covered promenade was being put up for the King's
landing, and a very small Siamese flag was fluttering at the
river end of it. The Nisso was not at home, so with Taik
Choon I went on to a Chinese shop and asked to see some of the
ON A RAFT THROUGH KELANTAN. 577
famous Kelantan silks. The shopkeeper produced a few, and
while I was looking at them a woman turned up with two or
three more, then a boy with others, till at last the shop and
street were crowded with people wishing to sell. After spending
all my available dollars in buying the really beautiful sarongs
and kain lepas that are only to be procured here, I went back
to the Minister's and found him at home. Mats were politely
offered us to sit upon, and after a few minutes he came in,
nervously chewing betel a big heavy man with a cruel shaven
face and cropped hair, wearing a sarong and striped jacket of
black and red silk, and fingering the black-handled gold-
decorated kris in his belt. He shook hands affably, and
after the usual conversation, in the course of which I learned
that his name was Sri Paduka Wan Yusuf, he said that the
Sultan would receive me at two o'clock. When we were half-
way back to the raft, however, I learned by accident that the
Sultan proposed to receive me in the unfinished shed, where he
was going again to inspect the decorations. This, of course,
would have been the most undignified reception possible, and
would have lowered the prestige of any Europeans who might
come after me. I therefore decided to take a high line and
refuse the invitation. So I sent Taik Choon back to Wan Yusuf
with a message, carefully worded, saying that I was accustomed
to be received with courtesy and in a friendly manner by the
rulers of all the countries I travelled through, and that the
Sultan must either grant me a formal audience or I should go
away without seeing him at all. Then I went back to the raft.
When Taik Choon returned, I found that he had so much
improved upon my message as to say that I had important
business with the Sultan, and that I insisted upon seeing him
alone immediately. This was, of course, utterly out of the
question : I might as well have asked for one of his ears. I
rated Taik Choon soundly and sent him back again to put
matters right. An hour afterwards he returned in a great
hurry, white to the lips, and gasped out the news that the
38
578 MALAYA.
Sultan had sent to seize one of the men I had brought from
Perak, had had the man dragged before him by three of his
armed followers, had questioned him closely about where he
came from, whether I had much batu mas literally, gold-stone
with me, whether I had much money, &c., to all of which the
man had replied that he did not know. He declared that he
had come from Klang, but the Sultan said he knew he came
from Perak, and that if he told lies he would put him in prison
and keep him there. The man was still, Taik Choon said,
detained in the street just behind the big shed. Of course there
was no time to lose, so taking the two Sikhs with me, and with-
out visible arms, though we each had a revolver strapped where
it could not be seen, I rowed straight across to the town. I
found the man in a state of dreadful fright, as he had expected
every minute to be krissed or have his hands cut off, in the
middle of a band of the Sultan's men. The three of us
walked through the group without a word ; I took the Perak
man by the arm, saying, " There is a mistake ; this man is
mine," and marched him straight back to the river, the crowd
falling apart and nobody offering any resistance. This incident,
however, frightened the men so much that they begged me not
to send them across the river again, as they feared the Sultan
would carry them off.
My prompt action in this case, and my refusal to accept the
invitation the Sultan had sent me, produced a good effect, and
later in the day Wan Yusuf sent a message to say that the
Sultan would receive me the next day in a hall, also built to
receive the King of Siam, but finished and decorated, and
therefore a suitable place. Before I saw him, however, one
of my strangest Eastern experiences happened. During that
night I received two visitors who made to me the most remark-
able proposal it has ever been my lot to receive.
Just before dusk, Ali brought me word that two messengers
from the town wished to speak to me, but they would not come
to my tent, and asked me to go down to them just where the
ON A RAFT THROUGH KELANTAN. 579
sandspit ended and the trees began. I naturally suspected
some plot, but Ali said he was sure there were only two of them,
so I went with him. One I immediately recognised as a man I
had seen in the Sultan's retinue the same morning. They
asked me to speak with them alone for a minute, and I walked
twenty steps or so away with them. Then they told me,
with every appearance of alarm and secrecy, that the four
younger brothers of the Sultan wished to know if I would
receive them in the middle of the night, as they had some
important news to tell me. I asked, of course, why they did
not come across openly in daylight. The messengers explained
that they were afraid of their brother the Sultan, who kept
them shut up in the house, and never allowed them to go out
without being watched, and that if he caught them visiting me
he would be furious, and the consequences unpleasant for
everybody concerned. I still had my suspicions about this
proposal, and asked them a number of questions, but finally
came to the conclusion that the affair was as they said, and
therefore, as it seemed to promise an adventure out of the
common, I said I would be alone in my tent waiting for them at
midnight. Accordingly, after all my men had turned in, I put
out my light and sat inside the tent door, waiting. By and by
I saw two figures in the darkness, some distance away, making
signs to me. To go to them alone under such circumstances
seemed rather like tempting Providence, so I quietly called
Buta, who was on duty at the raft, and together we walked over
to where I had seen the figures. These proved to be the two
men who had brought the message to me. "Where are the
princes ? " I asked. " They say they are sorry, but they cannot
come." "Why not?" " Orang-orang jaga" "Men are on
the watch." The Sultan was keeping so close a guard over his
brothers that they were unable to slip away ; so the appointment
was renewed for the following night. I adopted the same pre-
cautions, and at one o'clock they came : four young princes,
with the same two men. The latter stayed outside with one of
580 MALAYA.
the Sikhs whom I posted at a distance with orders to allow no
person whatever to come near the tent. Then for four hours
I listened to a strange tale. As the persons chiefly concerned
in it are still living, and Kota Bharu is not far enough from
Singapore to preclude the transmission of news, I must neces-
sarily suppress many of the details. The point of the interview
was, that they considered their brother the Sultan had usurped
the royal authority, and had used the money of all his brothers
to bribe Siamese recognition of his position. He was, they told
me, very cruel to everybody, themselves included ; he was
determined not to allow white men to enter the State, and had
given savage orders to exclude them ; he was greatly hated even
by most of his own people ; and they had determined to attempt
a revolution. The stories they told me about their brother won
my sympathy, and the one of themselves whom they proposed
to set upon the throne impressed me as a young man of great
intelligence and kindliness of character. They assured me that
at a signal from them, three out of every four Malays in the
district would revolt. What they lacked was, first, arms, and
second, money ; the Sultan having plenty of both. They asked
me if I thought the Tuan Yang Terutama Gebenor at Singapore
would sympathise with their cause and help them. I smiled
as I thought of the reception I should have from Sir Cecil
Smith if I made myself their messenger, and I told them that
though it was practically certain, in my opinion, that the
Governor would take no steps to replace their brother in
authority if they once succeeded in overthrowing him, I was
far more certain that no British official help would under any
circumstances be given them in the process. Then they pressed
their plan home. Would I undertake to secure for them a
certain sum in dollars, and to bring it, with arms and ammuni-
tion, to a point on the coast where trusted followers of their
own would meet me ? If I would do this, they promised, first,
that no unnecessary cruelty should be perpetrated ; second, that
the State of Kelantan should be thrown open to white men,
ON A EAFT THROUGH KELANTAN. 581
and concessions for mining and planting be given upon reason-
able terms ; third, that they would confer upon me certain
privileges, upon which I need not dwell. I will not deny that
for the moment the proposition distinctly tempted me.
The result, if successful, would have been in every way an ad-
vantage to the miserable people of Kelantan and to my own
countrymen. Moreover, it would only be anticipating by a few
years an inevitable political development. The character of the
Sultan and his rule were such that nobody need feel a moment's
scruple in trying to overthrow him. In the Far East I knew a
dozen men who would have provided a share of the necessary
funds. The fight itself would have been neither long nor
severe ; the results in my own case would have been very satis-
factory ; and no great relish for adventure was needed to render
the enterprise tempting from that point of view. I told them
I would consider their proposal, and just before dawn they left
me, stole along the bank to where their canoe was hidden a
mile above, and slipped back across the river. Daylight, how-
ever, and sober reflection painted the scheme in its true colours,
and the power of the conventionality from which not even a
lonely traveller can escape, asserted itself. So when they
returned the next night, I told them that such an affair was
not to be thought of. They charged me, however, to remember,
after I had left, many things which they impressed upon me,
and departed with the expression of a hope that I might some
day return to Kelantan more disposed to aid in rescuing her
from her sad fate. I believe the Sultan has since died or been
made away with, and that one of my midnight visitors has
succeeded him ; so now, at any rate, there would be but three
plotters against authority. The would-be Sultan gave me a
little gold-mounted badik, or stabbing knife, for a parting gift,
and when I look at it I cannot help comparing myself,
longo intervallo, with a famous European conspirator of modern
times, who was presented with a jewelled dagger for his great
deed, but who sold the hilt and did not use the blade.
582 MALAYA.
My interview with the notorious Sultan was " more for the
honour of the thing," than for any practical result. He was
a man on this side of middle age, rather pale, furtive-looking,
and with deep marks of cruelty and dissipation on his face.
When I was led into the reception hall he was already seated
upon a deer-skin on a raised platform, surrounded by his
Ministers and a dozen heavily-armed men. Behind him stood
officials bearing his golden kris and other insignia of royalty.
The floor of the hall was nearly filled with seated Malays, all
dressed in brightly-coloured sarong and baju, every man armed
to the teeth. A less prepossessing set of people I have seldom
seen, and I must confess that I felt a certain thrill as I looked
round at their obviously angry faces and reflected that a single
word of irritation from the potentate of evil reputation before
me would bring this and all other journeys to an abrupt end
for me. He had intended that I should take a seat upon the
bare floor in front of him, by which arrangement my head
would have been just at the height of his feet, to say nothing
of the awkward figure inevitably cut by a man in European
clothes squatting upon the floor. I had foreseen this situation,
however, and provided against it, and when he motioned me to
sit down, I made a sign to Walab, who stepped forward, looking
very fine in his white tunic, scarlet turban and gold sash, and
unfolded for me a small stool, upon which I proceeded to make
myself at home. This took the Sultan by surprise, and he had
a second's hesitation while he evidently reflected whether this
presumption should not be resented. Our conversation was at
first of the customary formal character. Then I asked him if
it were true that he had sent orders up the river to turn me
back, to forbid me to land, and to prevent me buying anything
from the people. He said that he had not done so, but that
the people were foolish and did not like white men, and that if
I would tell him what I wished to buy he would see that it was
supplied to me. He added that one white man who had visited
Kota Bharu before had behaved very badly indeed, and had
6U A BAFT THROUGH KELANTAN. 683
even carried off the wife of one of his own men. I replied
that if this fact had been properly reported to the Governor at
Singapore, who, as I knew, looked upon the Sultan of Kelantan
as a friend, he would have taken steps to punish the abductor.
I may say here that I afterwards learned from a native that
after the white man in question, whose name I will not mention,
had left Kota Bharu and had got safe off with the woman, the
Sultan made inquiries into his conduct and seized seven other
women who had been too friendly with him, caused their heads
to be shaved, and nailed them all by the ear to trees, in which
position they remained for several days. The sandbank, too,
where I was camped, was the place on which he used to cut off
men's hands, plunge the bleeding stumps into hot oil or lime,
and leave them to get away as best they could when they
recovered. On one occasion he had both the hands and feet
of a man thus chopped off. When our conversation was ended,
I asked the Sultan to give orders that a boat should be hired to
me to take me to Tringanu, and another to convey my men
north into Lege. He made various excuses on this latter point,
saying that the men would be quite safe with him, but when I
insisted he finally promised and issued orders there and then to
Wan Yusuf. I thought that my difficulties were thus at an
end, but I had yet to learn that this ruffianly Eaja was at that
very moment planning one more little surprise for me.
The story of my Malay travel may now soon be brought to a
close, although I find I have not had space to tell the half of
it. The boat promised me by the Sultan of Kelantan sailed
over to my camp a few days later, and before we embarked I
packed upon another the men whom I had promised to see out
of the country, and started them down the river in advance.
My own vessel was an unwieldy sort of lugger, of the kind
called tongkang by the Chinese, and her crew consisted of a
nakhoda, or skipper, two men and a boy. With a fair wind we
swept down to the Kuala, I had the satisfaction of seeing the
other boat turn her bows north towards the coast of Lege, and
584 MALAYA.
I thought my adventures were all over for the time. Suddenly,
however, as I was writing up my diary, I saw from the corner of
my eye the nakhoda put the long tiller hard over to port. I did
not look up, as I presumed we were just turning down the coast.
A few seconds later we ran straight upon a sandbank, bows on.
We were going so fast that we struck with a jerk which sent
everybody sprawling along the deck. I sprang to my feet and
looked around. We were on a bank in the very middle of the
river, a mile above its mouth. It was out of the question that
the nakhoda had not known of such an obstacle to navigation,
and I had not a moment's doubt that he had run us aground
purposely. If so, the conclusion was obvious. We could not
get away till high tide next day, and therefore the situation had
to be faced. I thought it better not to put him on his guard by
letting him see that I had understood his plan, so I merely
remarked that it was unlucky, and took the first opportunity
of telling Buta and Menir Khan that we should probably be
attacked during the night and that therefore I would share the
watch with them. I took the first, while they slept, and turned
in at ten o'clock. I had been asleep about a couple of hours
and was sleeping very soundly when I became dimly aware of
voices talking near the boat. I awoke but slowly, as I had been
very tired, but when I heard the grinding of another boat
against our own I was up in a minute and peeping through the
bamboo lattice that covered the sides of the place where I was
lying a sort of deck-house, sunk a few feet below the level
of the deck. What I saw was sufficient to dispel the last trace
of sleep. A long canoe lay alongside, and just behind it another
was floating in the semi-darkness. Both were crowded with
Malays. Now, no respectable Malay is ever out at night, especi-
ally in such a locality as this. At dark they fasten themselves
securely in their own houses, to be safe from marauders of all
kinds. It is always a safe presumption, therefore, that any
Malay found abroad at night is a bad character. The men in
these boats could not possibly be other than dangerous visitors
OU A BAFT THROUGH KELANTAN. 585
of some kind. I saw at a glance that one man was standing
at the prow of the first canoe, talking earnestly to Buta, whose
watch it was, and who was answering him rapidly in excited
tones, holding his rifle at the " ready." And even while I
looked, I saw a man near the stern pick up a spear from the
bottom of the canoe and pass it forward under the hand of the
one who was standing up. In an instant I was struggling out
of my rug, dragging my revolver from its holster, and yelling
to Buta, " Shoot ! Shoot ! " He failed to do so, and as I
reached the deck the first Malay was just clambering up the
side, while the man behind him was swinging back his arm to
hurl a spear. It was a question of seconds, but I was too near
to the front man to fire. It may sound strange, but one has a
great repugnance to firing a heavy revolver into a man's face
when the muzzle will be touching him, even at such a moment
of peril as I was then in. So I dashed my revolver sideways
into his face, and I can still hear and feel the smash as it
struck him. It was a very heavy weapon, made specially for
me in America to take rifle cartridges, and the blow knocked
the man head over heels into the water. At the same moment
the Malay behind flung his spear. It passed by my head and
sank deep into the deck-house. But our elevated position gave
us such an advantage that the danger was virtually over, for
the other men in the canoes were helpless as they sat covered
by my revolver and Buta's rifle. A moment later Menir Khan
had joined us, and he, of a more excitable temperament than
his comrade, was for shooting the men as they crouched before
us. But I shouted to them that if they did not leave instantly
we should fire, the wounded man was dragged in, groaning
nastily, and the canoes disappeared into the darkness. I have
always felt certain that to Sri Paduka Wan Yusuf and his
master I owed this unexpected visit, and I was lucky that it
proved nothing worse than what the Far West knows as a
"close call." Travel makes the fatalist, however, and the few
seconds that saved me take on in memory an occult significance.
586 MALAtA.
After this the voyage was uneventful except for a tropical
storm which broke on us next morning and nearly sent us to
the bottom. The boat turned out to be rotten, the sails ripped
like paper, the ropes parted half-a-dozen times, and the nakhoda
proved a mere landlubber. Buta had to stand by the jib-sheet,
Menir Khan by the main-sheet, and I took the tiller for twelve
consecutive hours, momentarily expecting to be pooped. On
the third day we reached Tringanu, where I found the Sultan
a pleasant and enlightened young man, and ten days later a
little steamer landed us safe and sound at Singapore, three
months and eleven days after I had left it for the opposite
coast of the Peninsula.
CONCLUSION.
CONCLUSION.
AN EASTERN HOROSCOPE.
T HAVE done with the Far East as it is. It would be a dull
imagination, however, that could regard the present without
attempting to pierce the future. No Englishman, surely, can
learn what his nation has accomplished there, without wondering
what it is destined yet to do. My last thought at each place that
I visited was, what will this be ten, twenty, a hundred years hence ?
The Far East, as I have tried to show, constitutes one distinct
division of the globe Europe, Asia, Africa, America, Australia,
and the Far East, would be a fair partition of geographical
interests. The sleepy Colossus of China forms one side of it ;
on the other, in extreme contrast, stands the passionate nation
of Japan, half-intoxicated with the consciousness of its own
power ; the north is closed by the extremity of the vast Empire
of Kussia, mute and tranquil yet awhile because it has no nerve
of connection with the throbbing West ; at the south-west corner
the energies of France are for the third time pushing her to
sterile colonisation ; beyond France, the Kingdom of Siam, its
corruption and futility at length exposed, lies prone on the anvil
of conflicting interests; beyond this, again, the remains of the
mysterious Malay race dwindle on in jungles and shrinking
villages ; Portugal, the discoverer and once queen of the whole,
now reigns over but the minutest and the most abject part ;
Spain possesses a fertile archipelago, only a small portion of
which she has been able to conquer, and of that she has made
but an object-lesson of intolerance ; while the share of Germany
589
590 CONCLUSION.
lies in the fact that, under the flags of other nations, her subjects
work for starvation wages, and her manufacturers supply any
object at any price. Finally, England is seated upon the edge
of China, upon the point of a peninsula, and upon a rocky little
island, while her ships plough every sea in an unending pro-
cession, her merchants do nine-tenths of the trade, her consuls
hold the sway of kings, and her word is the primary condition
of every change. An upheaval is now transmuting the con-
ditions that have hitherto controlled the Far East. What is to
come of it ?
The answer is easy in part. Macao will disappear : it is
worthless to Portugal, and no other country would take it as
a gift. It will be absorbed by what remains of China, just
as land once cultivated and then abandoned lapses back to the
swarming jungle. I do not think that the Philippine Islands
will remain Spanish. The present fever of colonisation among
nations that cannot colonise will die away with the spread of-
democracy in Europe, and Manila will slip from the feeble grasp
of a people for whom the march of time has proved exhausting.
Only the excuse of a quarrel is needed to make Japan the heir.
Spain, the land of armada and galleon, once the champion of
Christendom and the synonym of courage, would be powerless
to resist the onslaught of these Vikings of Asia. The Malays
are destined to a British dominion. The future of Korea,
for so long a kingdom pauvre, perdu, et impuissant, presents
few more problems.
The influence of Eussia in the Far East is about to begin.
At this moment Eussia and England are prepared to lay down
conditions which China and Japan must obey, and which other
countries would not lightly disregard. This is a new role for
Eussia, but when the Trans-Siberian Eailway is completed, she
will play it often. Vladivostok is one of the most powerfully-
defended sea-ports in the world, and I regard it as certain
beyond all question that Eussia will have a winter port in the
Far East by the time her railway connection with it is ready.
AN EASTERN HOROSCOPE. 591
More than this, however, if the Anglo-Russian entente proves
a durable arrangement, I have given my reasons already for
thinking that Eussia may well be a party to a division of
interests which would bring her as her own share a much
greater extent of territory and influence than she might other-
wise venture to expect. Ten millions of people in Manchuria
may be added to her empire, and one of the richest parts of the
Far East may be opened to her for development. One thing
may be taken for granted with regard to Kussia that she will
not stand alone here, and consequently that if we ourselves are
not in friendly alliance with her, we shall sooner or later have
to face her as a member of a combination hostile to our
interests. Whatever may be the relations and the possibilities
of England and Russia in Europe, I can see no reason why
they should not pursue a common aim in the Far East. Now
that the long-prevalent superstition that China might serve
us as a bulwark against a Russian advance has at length been
exploded, our statesmen will no doubt be more prepared for this
alternative of friendship.
The position and prospects of France cannot be contem-
plated without much sympathy. This nation "immortal
and indomitable France" -is apparently entering upon a
period of disturbance in Europe which will necessarily be
reflected upon all her colonial enterprises. And anxiety in
Paris means two things in Indo-China : first, a loosening of
control over the local authorities, with the inevitable result
that the more daring and unscrupulous of these get their way,
and raise troublesome questions with their neighbours; and
second, that there will be less ability and willingness at home
to meet these troubles when they come. It is not yet generally
recognised that France has never been less able to colonise with
success than to-day. Not only has her population begun to
decrease, after a long period of stagnation, but her finances,
for so long the wonder and envy of the world, have now taken
the same turn. When any anxiety is expressed upon this latter
592 CONCLUSION.
point the reply is always to point to the marvellous resilience of
France in 1871 the ease with which she paid ^200,000,000
sterling to Germany. But the state of her revenues which per-
mitted this exists no longer. Although the payment upon her
public debt has been largely decreased in many directions by
operations of conversion, her total expenditure has risen since
1888 by the enormous sum of two hundred millions of francs
a year. Upon this point M. Leroy-Beaulieu has recently
expressed himself as follows : " This situation is most grave,
because it removes all immediate prospect of an amelioration
of the public finances. We must not lose sight of the fact that
France, unlike England, Germany, Eussia, and even many
other States, has now only a stationary, if not a decreasing
population ; that her wealth, on the other hand, and the total
of her private revenues, increase much more slowly than in the
past. The elasticity of private revenues, as well as of public
ones, is sensibly less to-day than it was fifteen years ago, or
twenty-five years, or forty years, or fifty years. . . . The political
and administrative bodies of France are hugging themselves in
a fatal illusion, namely, that private revenues in France continue
to have the same elasticity, the same ascending force, as during
the decade which followed the war of 1870-71, and during the
eighteen years of economical transformation and renovation
under the Second Empire. There is nothing of the kind (II
rfen est rien)." *
The enthusiasm of colonisation is to-day at its height in
France. Apart from the fact that much of this is unquestion-
ably due to jealousy of England, we may remember that such
a fever has had its rise and its fall before, and believe that,
for the above grave reasons, the present one will fade also. It is
not so long since the Chamber was within a very few votes
of formally abandoning Tongking. A serious complication in
Europe, the triumph of a Socialist party, or a financial crisis
which is only too probable would renew this desire to shake
* Journal des Debats, November 3, 1894.
AN EASTEKN HOKOSCOPEo 59B
off a burden which brings no corresponding advantage to the
French people,. Sooner or later the French masses will
remember mutatis mutandis the inquiry which Victor Hugo
expressed in these cutting words :
Et battez-vous pour des Altesses
Qui se feront des politesses
Pendant que vous, vous pourrirez ?
For "Altesses" read "deputes," and for "politesses" read
"insultes," and you have the question the French people will
ask themselves when they discover that for them colonies mean
nothing whatever but taxes. To this result my chapter on
"The Cost of a French Colony" may perhaps contribute its
mite. The sudden recall of M. de Lanessan, too, whether or not
it be in connection with the railway concessions of which I have
spoken, is likely to shake public confidence in colonial adminis-
tration. The bearing of all this upon the horoscope of the Far
East is obvious. It is difficult to believe that the French
Empire of Indo- China is a permanent one, because it has
behind it an unstable national policy, a decreasing population,
and a shrinking revenue, while it lacks wholly the primal
justification of commercial success.
What is to be the future of China ? Here the chief factor of
the problem the character of the Chinese people is so obscure
that nobody who knows China at all will venture on a confident
forecast. China will not over-run the world. China will not
raise herself to the rank of a compact, homogeneous, powerful
nation, observant of the laws which govern civilised intercourse.
Japan will desire to reorganise China, and will not be permitted.
These things are sure enough. But they bring us no nearer
to a conclusion. My own view which I present with due
diffidence is that the fate of China I use the name for
convenience, although, as I have said before, there is really no
such thing as " China " at all this country of rag-tag and pig-tail,
will be partition among other nations. China has hitherto
39
594 CONCLUSION.
" salted all the seas that run into her," and obstruction, " the
only force in China upon which it is safe to rely," has served
her well. But she has never had to face a prospect like that
which lies before her to-day. I think she will ultimately go to
pieces under the pressure of the conflicting interests that focus
upon her. As Wingrove Cooke well said, " the whole present
system of China is a hollow thing, with a hard brittle
surface : we try in vain to scratch it ; but some day a happy
blow will shiver it. It will all go together. A Chinaman has
no idea of surrendering a part to save the rest. The only
question with him is, how long can it be resisted ? how long
can it be evaded ? " The West has now come too close for any
nation of the East to remain much longer
Aloof from our mutations and unrest,
Alien to our achievements and desires.
And Japan ? " With the first wind has come the blossoming
of the chrysanthemum," as the hokku-writer said. One thing
only may prove a pitfall for this wonderful nation her own
ambition. If she makes such demands or adopts such an
attitude as will bring her into acute conflict with the European
Powers, her foreign affairs will be marked by bitter disappoint-
ments, and these will bring dissensions and possibly disasters
into her domestic politics. No nation, least of all England,
wishes to hinder the gratification of every legitimate Japanese
ambition, but signs are unfortunately not wanting to show that
her victories and achievements, both in peace and war, may
turn her head and lure her into aspirations that can never be
realised. The speech of Count Okunia, which I have quoted
elsewhere, is of itself enough to give rise to these fears. Already
in imagination the Japanese Press sees several provinces of
northern China annexed, and even the Emperor of Japan seated
upon the Dragon Throne. In sober earnest a Provisional
Government for China is already prepared in Japan, and many
of its officials have left for the front. " The Land of the Rising
AN EASTERN HOROSCOPE. 595
Sun," says the Yomiuri Shimbun, " should not be content with
anything short of the glory and grandeur of that symbol itself" !
But if Japan avoids this pitfall, her future may be bright indeed.
Victorious over her great enemy, rich with the spoils of peace,
free from external anxieties, her population eager and able to
found colonies, her revenue increasing, and her commerce
rapidly developing, the first Asiatic nation in the world, and
the predominant Power of the Far East, there is no reason why
she should not retain all the admiration, the respect and the
affection she has won.
Since my chapters on Japan passed out of the printers'
hands however, her friends have learned with grief, on
evidence which it is impossible to disregard, that the capture
of Port Arthur was stained by the wholesale slaughter of
unarmed Chinese, So far as is at present known there were
several European eye-witnesses of the facts. Old men and
boys were cut down ; non-combatants were killed inside houses ;
prisoners tied together in bands were butchered and muti-
lated ; boat-loads of fugitives were shot down or torpedoed.
It may well be that further news will reduce these charges
somewhat, but there seems no ground for hope that the
charges may be altogether disproved. Worst of all, these
atrocities are said to have been committed for several days in
succession, by the troops under Count Oyama, whose proclama-
tion commanding mercy and consideration for prisoners and
non-combatants I have already reproduced. It is most earnestly
to be hoped that a stringent inquiry into this matter will be set
on foot at the earliest moment, in order to show the world that such
barbarities are as repulsive to the best sentiments of Japan as
to our own. At the same time a word of protest must be uttered
against the tendency to condemn the entire Japanese people for
the acts of some of their soldiers. To begin with, the soldiers
are drawn from the class which has had least opportunity of
imbibing the spirit of civilisation of which the Japanese Govern-
ment has given so many striking examples. Moreover, the
596 CONCLUSION.
horrors inflicted by the Chinese in Port Arthur upon their
Japanese prisoners might be held to excuse a fury of revenge, if
this had not been permitted to last. And such wholesale killing
is no new thing in Eastern warfare. There were scenes in the
suppression of the Indian mutiny for which the British people
would be sorry to be held responsible. Skobeleff slaughtered
thousands of Turkomans at Geok Tepe on January 24, 1881.*
The " incident " of Penjdeh was not much better. And after the
fall of Son-tay in the French war in Tongking there was a night
of equal horror. t Moreover, the same journal which has been
foremost in exposing the atrocities of Port Arthur once had
occasion to denounce the French in similar terms for the shoot-
ing of defenceless Chinese after the naval massacre of Foochow.
And to say nothing of the awful times of the Commune, it is
commonly believed that the Franco-German war produced
scenes that both armies would gladly forget. Therefore, how-
ever bad the story of the fall of Port Arthur may prove to be,
let us not pass a verdict of guilty upon the whole Japanese
nation. The extraordinary fury of the Japanese armed coolies
and soldiers was due in great part to the indiscretion of an
officer. It was known that three Japanese spies caught in
Chin-Chow had first been subjected to the torture of bone-
* " At 4 in the afternoon Skobeleff led his cavalry through the breach, and
ordered both horse and foot to pursue the retreating enemy and to give no quarter.
This command was obeyed by both with savage precision till darkness fell by the
infantry (six companies) for a distance of seven miles, by the cavalry (a division of
dragoons and four sotnias of Cossacks) for eleven miles, supported by a battery of
horse artillery with long range guns. Eight thousand persons of both sexes and all
ages were mercilessly cut down and slain. ' On the morning after the battle they
lay in rows like freshly-mown hay, as they had been swept down by the mitrail-
leuses and cannon.'" The Hon. George N. Curzon, "Russia in Central Asia,"
p. 82.
t " That was a terrible night in Son-tay. The Turcos had entered, with com-
paratively little opposition, by the eastern gate, and they admittedly killed men,
women, and children every living thing they came across. The French troops
were not so bad, but the butchery of Chinamen and crop-headed Annamese (the
Prince's men) was sickening." J. G. Scott (Special Correspondent in Tongking at
the time, and recently British 3Iinister in Bangkok), " France and Tongking,"
p. 85. See also C. B. Norman, " Tonkin, or France in the Far East," p. 245.
AN EASTERN HOROSCOPE. 597
crushing and then burned alive. Shortly afterwards three
Japanese soldiers were either captured or killed during the
march on Port Arthur, and the advance guard found their
bodies. They were decapitated, their hands cut off, their
bodies ripped open and their livers torn out. Instead of burying
the bodies, the officer in command caused them to be laid out
upon a platform by the roadside, and the whole army thus saw
them as it marched past. The consequent blood-thirst became
so uncontrollable that the Japanese officers could only protect
the people after the fall of Port Arthur by posting notices upon
houses containing fugitives, saying, "The people of this resi-
dence must not be killed," and even finally by pinning labels upon
the breasts of Chinese, bearing the saving words, " This person
must not be killed." For my own part, the news is beyond
comprehension. That Count Oyama and his officers should
have allowed days to be spent in butchering prisoners and
captives as is asserted is almost unimaginable. Until this
news came, every correspondent with the Japanese forces had
paid a high tribute to their discipline and humanity, while
the Japanese Red Cross Society was positively held up as
an example to our own. And in the latest papers from Japan
I find this item among the notes from the front : " Some
Japanese coolies who murdered a Chinese in the Liau-tung
Peninsula were summarily executed by order of General
Oyama."
The kingdom of Siam is another uncertain factor in the
future of the Far East. I have given many reasons for believing
that there is no hope whatever of the duration of an independent
monarchy there. Sooner or later some stronger hand will have
to take the helm. The ambition of France has decided that the
hand shall be hers. England, on the contrary, is definitely
pledged to the maintenance of Siamese autonomy and integrity.
Thus the ground is prepared for grave events. Every day that
passes, however, and many incidents that have occurred even
since my chapters on Siam were written, deepen my conviction,
598 CONCLUSION.
that our responsible statesmen have not realised either the diffi-
culties or the dangers of the situation, and that they are still
cherishing hopes of Siamese action which are inevitably destined
to a rude disappointment. The sad death of the Crown Prince,
too, has intensified every element of uncertainty. His life and
future formed the one remaining object of the King's devotion :
now that he is dead the enfeebled monarch will withdraw him-
self more than ever from the task of attempting to direct and
control the crooked aims and forcible-feeble characters that are
contending around him. The appointment of the new Crown
Prince represents the triumph of the Second Queen, a lady of
far greater ambition and determination than her senior rival,
and a life-long devotee of intrigue. Her eldest son was born
on New Year's Day, 1880, and his name and title are Somdetch
Chow Fah Maha Vachiravudh. The name " Thoon Kramom
Tho," which has been telegraphed from Bangkok by corre-
spondents obviously unfamiliar with the Siamese Court, is
merely a familiar abbreviation of a birth-title, and not the
Prince's name at all. Prince Maha Vachiravudh has been study-
ing in England for several years in the home of a private
family of much educational distinction, and he is described by
those who know him best as a youth of much amiability and
intelligence, though the circumstances of his life and the com-
parative obscurity to which he has been purposely relegated
have not been such as to develop in him any marked strength
of character. He is, of course, like his late brother, the nephew
of Prince Devawongse and Prince Svasti. The chief danger that
awaits him is the deterioration which must almost inevitably
follow upon his abrupt withdrawal from the excellent influences
which have surrounded him in England, and his exposure, at
an age when these cannot have produced a permanent effect, to
the ruinous and debilitating life of the Royal Palace of Bangkok.
As for the "great reform" just announced, "a Legislative Council
consisting of the Ministers and at least twelve nobles, who are
to hold deliberations and pass new laws, with the Royal sanction,
AN EASTERN HOROSCOPE. 599
or, in the event of the Sovereign's illness, or absence from any
other cause, by a two-thirds majority without such sanction," I
fear it can only be regarded as fresh dust thrown in the eyes of
Europe. As I have explained, there are no such persons as
"nobles" in Siam, and the Legislative Council will to all
intents be the same band of royal half-brothers who form the
Cabinet, grouped under another name. The news is more
important as showing the King's public admission of his own
physical exhaustion, and his determination to relinquish even
the pretence of holding the reins of government. He was not
strong enough to announce his successor with his own lips.
There remains only the last house of the horoscope of the Far
East. England what is to be her future there ? The aim of
this book has been to show that we have the right and the
opportunity, and therefore the duty, greatly to extend our
influence and our trade in a word, our Empire in this great
division of the globe. The figures of our predominant interest,
which I have given in every case where they could be obtained,
speak for themselves. No other Power can present statistics
which even approach them. And the future, if we grasp it now,
will utterly dwarf the past. The rest of the world is parcelled
out like an allotment-ground. In the Far East alone an un-
worked mine awaits us. A distinguished French traveller has
well described the consideration which should weigh with the
statesmen of the hour. " It is in Asia once more that will be
decided the destinies of the world. In Asia will be founded and
will increase great empires, and whoever succeeds in making his
voice heeded in the Far East will be able also to speak in
dominating accents to Europe. . . . Be Asiatic, tJiere lies the
future ! " *
I am profoundly convinced that this is true. The years that
I have given to the Far East have taught it as their supreme
lesson, and the highest ambition of my life would be gratified
* Prince Henri d'Orleans, " Around Tonkin," 1894, p. 426.
600 CONCLUSION.
if I could believe at the close that I bad helped to teach it to my
countrymen.
It is no cant to say that the British public is a mass of people
with a conscience. It is capable of supporting a Government
that should resign an advantage we might secure from a rival
by force of arms, for no other reason than that to seize it would
be an act of injustice. And its enthusiasm cannot be secured for
any new Imperial movement unless, besides the expediency, the
right can be shown and the benefits to be conferred upon the
nations we bring under an extended dominion. Therefore any
appeal to the British public, in whose hands for good or evil the
destinies of the Empire now rest, must address itself in no small
part to their conscience. Herein lies the strongest hope of
British extension in the Far East. As Mr. H. H. Johnston has
recently said, " the British Empire is not merely the heritage of
thirty-eight millions of pink-and-white Englishmen, but it is a
league of peace and commerce in which black and yellow men
are concerned." And the extension of our authority over these
alien races is for them an unmitigated blessing. A sharp-eyed
foreign critic who has lately returned from a journey round the
Empire has declared this in impressive words. "All these new
countries, which are so many outlets for the commerce of the
world, are not monopolised by the English for their own use only.
People from other nations may go there and settle, without having
any formality to go through or any foreign taxes to pay. They may
go on speaking their own language, practising their own religion,
and may enjoy every right of citizenship. And if they are not
too stubborn or too old to learn, they may lay to heart many good
lessons in those nurseries of liberty. If I have not succeeded in
proving that in spite of their hundred and one foibles the Anglo-
Saxons are the only people on this earth who enjoy perfect
liberty, I have lost my time." * When a native race comes
under British control it receives immediately a birth-gift
Freedom, " heaven-sent, red-tape-bound, straight from Downing
* Max O'Eell, " John Bqll and Co.," p. 318.
AN EASTEBN HOROSCOPE. 601
Street." It has been rny fortune to see at close quarters almost
all the civilised nations of the world, and most of the great
colonies, and the result is that I believe in Englishmen above
all other men, and in British rule above all other rule. There-
fore the British Empire is to me the most important impersonal
consideration on earth, and the transmission to our heirs of the
legacy of our fathers the greatest responsibility.
There are many joyful signs that a new era has dawned. No
leading statesman would venture to say to-day what Cobden said
in 1836: "The colonies, the army, the navy . . . are only appen-
dages of our aristocratical government. John Bull has for the
next fifty years the task set him of cleansing his house from this
stuff." The recognition of the British Drang which no man either
created or can hinder, the imperative need of new markets,
the sight of the marvellous progress of native races under our
flag, the just alarm at the advance of our rivals, the awakening
at last to an appreciation of the fact that powerful and jealous
nations are plotting for our inheritance these are bringing
about a change, before it is too late, in the minds of the in-
habitants of Great Britain. But the best sign of all, and there-
fore the most hopeful portent in the heavens of this Far Eastern
horoscope, is that a Liberal Prime Minister has declared to all
the world that the "party of a small England, of a shrunk
England, of a degraded England, of a neutral England, of a
submissive England, has died."
THE END.
INDEX.
ALLEN, Consul, on Chinese officials,
284
Alostar, Kedah, 529
American Settlement in Shanghai, 7
Amherst, Lord, at Court of China,
303
An-byon Monastery, 330
Anderson, John, and Kedah, 527
Angkor, France and, 513
Ashmore, Kev. Dr., and Chinese mis-
sions, 281
Asia, The civilisation of, 25
Atrocities at Port Arthur, 595
Audience question, Court of China,
302
BALFOUE, F. H., quoted on China, 306
Bangkok, 407, 422 (see also Siam)
Bangkok society, 416
Battambong, France and, 513
Bhaskarawongse, Phya, and Siam, 461
Bichidt, Prince, of Siam, 450
Book-piracy in Hongkong, 29
Boulger, D. C., quoted on China, 246
Bourbon, Prince Henry of, at Peking,
280
Bowring, Sir John, and Macao, 189
Bozzolo, C. F., 534, 538, 558, 563,
567
Brennan, Mr. , and Japanese competi-
tion, 382
Bribery and corruption in China,
266-7-8, 282-4-5, 295
Brinkley, Captain, quoted on Japan,
392
Britain, see Great Britain
British middleman and Chinese mer-
chant, 25
British predominance in China, 317,
318
British rule, Chinese and the, 26, 27,
41,42
British trade: with China, 242, 282,
311, 317, 318; with Shanghai, 15;
with Siam, 518
Bruce, Mr., on Chinese bribery, 283
CAMOENS : on Kedah, 529 ; on Macao,
189, 190
| Campbell, J. D., C.M.G., and China,
233
Candlin, Eev. Mr., and China, 284
Canton, Justice at, 219
Canton Eiver, Blocking the, 270
| Cape St. James, Life at, 79
Cavenagh, Sir Orfeur, and Siam, 531
Chantabun, 427
Chemulpo, population, trade, &c., 342
Chiengmai, 427
China : among the Great Powers, 260;
and Europe, 301 ; foreign influence
in, 282, 301, 311 ; foreign trade of,
242, 282, 317, 318 ; future of, 298,
593 ; government, the, 203 ; pub-
licity of official interviews in, 253 ;
rehabilitation of, possibilities of,
395 ; reorganisation of, by Japan,
384, 593
China's trade, The race for, 503
Chinese : adaptability, 119 ; admiral's
lack of dignity, 264 ; army, condi-
tion of, 265, 275 ; army, lack of
discipline, 273 ; army, " reform,"
274 ; barbarity, 213, 219, 226, 287-
8-9 ; capital in foreign companies,
15 ; cruelty to prisoners in war, 273 ;
disposition under offence, 277 ; filth,
209, 291 ; Foreign Office, 300 ; hos-
tility to foreigners, 25, 198, 258, 278,
283, 293 ; Imperial Maritime Cus-
toms, 231, 237, 239, 242; incon-
sistency, 294 ; in the Straits, 41,
42; justice dispensed, 220 ; love for
British nationality, 41, 42 ; manu-
factures, 14 ; naval procedure, ex-
ample of, 268 ; navy, 265, 271, 275 ;
official view, teaching the, 286 ;
officialdom corrupt, 266-7-8, 282-
4-5, 295 : overtaxed in Indo-China,
119 ; people, 276 ; predominance in
603
604
INDEX.
Hongkong, 26; predominance in
Shanghai, 12 ; secret societies in
Singapore, 39 ; silk trade, 10, 11,
311 ; tea trade, 10, 311 ; under
British rule, 26, 27 ; usefulness in
Vladivostok, 147
Chino-French Frontier, On the, 95
Chino-French relations at Monkay,
101
Chino-French War, Memories of, 84
Clarke, C. C., quted on China, 315
Clemenceau, M., and French colonisa-
tion, 112, 128
Clifford, Hugh, on Pahang, 60
Cochin-China : 77 ; Customs duties,
120 ; " fonctionnaires," 115
Cockfighting in Manila, 177
Confucian teaching in China, 313
Confucius, Shrine of, 204
Contemporary Review quoted on the
War, 265
Cooke, Geo. W., quoted on China, 276,
294
Cornish, N. E., at Kiangnan, 269
Courbet, Admiral, and Franco -Chinese
War, 86
Cremation in Siam, 418
Customs service of China, 231-7-9,
242
DAMRONG, Prince, of Siam, 415, 447 ;
and education schemes, 459, 460,
461
David, Mr., and Macao, 189
Devawongse, Prince, of Siam, 444,
451 ; and the French question, 478,
488-9, 490-4-5-6-7 ; and the Perak
disputed territory, 549
Develle, M. : and the Franco-English-
Siamese question, 505-6-7-8-9, 512-
3-4-5-6-7; and the Franco-Siamese
question, 491
Douglas, Professor E. K., quoted on
China, 224, 295
Dufferin, Lord : and the Franco-Eng-
lish-Siamese question, 505-7-8-9,
513-5-6 ; and the Franco-Siamese
negociations, 472
Dugenne, Colonel, and Tongking, 98
EAST India Company and Kedah, 528
England, see Great Britain
England's charity to China misap-
plied, 282, 284
Ermolaiew, Bear-Admiral, 145
Etienne, M., and French colonisation,
111-2-5-6
Examination for office in China, 203,
312
j FAMINE in China, Where England's
subscription went, 282, 284
j Favier, Abbe, and China, 279
i Ferry, Jules, and Tongking, 128
Foreign Legion, The French, 98
Foville, M. de, and French statistics,
125
France and colonisation to-day, 592
France and Great Britain in Siam,
503, 597 (see Great Britain)
France and Siam, True story of, 468 :
various French annexations in Indo-
China, 468; M. Lanessan's proposal
for new limit on Siamese side, 469 ;
French explanation to Britain, 471 ;
Joint Commission and interim ar-
rangement, 471 ; France definitely
claims Mekong left bank to be its
western boundary, 472 ; M. Wad-
dington's statement, 473 ; Siam
desires arbitration, 473 ; French
military movements, 474 ; Britain's
position and advice to Siam, 475-6 ;
Siam prepares her defences, 476 ;
Captain Thoreux captured, and
Siamese disclaimer, 477-8 ; Siamese
misrepresentation to Britain, 478 ;
engagement involving the case of
Pra Yot, 480; closing the river
against the French, 484 ; France's
grievances, 485 ; Siamese Court ad-
visers, 486 ; French rights in Siamese
waters, 488 ; Battle of Paknam, 492 ;
the French ultimatum, 494; eventual
surrender of Siam, 497 ; future rela-
tions finally settled, 500 ; the net
result, 500
France's future in the Far East, 591
Franco-Chinese : Frontier, On the, 95 ;
relations at Monkay, 101 ; War,
Memories of, 84
French : Colonial administration, 103,
112 ; colony, the cost of a, 124 ;
revenue decreasing, 591 ; Settlement
in Shanghai, 6, 7 ; statistical com-
plexities, 124 ; view of colonisation,
114
French Indo-China : 71 ; Chinese
overtaxed in, 119 ; misgoverned,
122 ; restrictions on foreigners in,
121 ; society in, 103
GAMBLING in Macao, 191
Gambling in Siam, 421
Garnier, Francis, and Tongking, 127
Gold Flower, 530
Gordon, General : and Li Hung-chang,
245-6 ; and Bussia v. China, 275 ;
and Shanghai, 6
INDEX.
605
Gowan, Dr., and the King of Siam,
436
Granville, Lord, and Siamese do-
minions, 532
Great Britain, Alliance between Japan
and, 399
Great Britain and France in Siam :
the race for China's trade, 503 ;
England's reversionary rights over
Shan States, 503; alarm at the
French advance, 504 ; Luang Pra-
bang and adjacent countries claimed
by France, 506 ; inconsistency of
the French position, 506 ; English
remonstrance and French obduracy,
507 ; French agree to consider a
buffer, 508; a one-sided bargain,
509 ; boundaries of the buffer State,
510 ; an artificial arrangement, 511 ;
the question only opening, 512 ;
another frontier question : French
designs on the Lake Provinces, 513 ;
England repels proposal of territorial
exchange, 515 ; British Government
and Siam's independence, 515 ;
French occupation of Chantabun,
517 ; Siamese natives registered as
French subjects, 518; French Com-
missioners as an influence, 518 ;
French commerce a minute fraction
of British, 518 ; British or French
protection for Siam? 519, 597
Great Britain and Russia in the Far
East, 590
Great Britain and the Franco-Siamese
negociations : the proposal for barrier
between British and French posses-
sions, 471 ; re French claim of
asserted Annamese territory, 472-3 ;
Siam counting on British interven-
tion, 475 ; Britain's attitude and
advice to Siam, 476, 483, 496-7;
Siamese misrepresentation to
Britain, 478 ; re France's griev-
ances, 485 ; re French officers'
action at Paknam, 492
Great Britain and the future of Malaya,
532, 590
Great Britain and the future of Siam,
502, 518, 519, 597
Great Britain and the Siamese-Perak
disputed territory, 549
Great Britain and the Siamese intru-
sion in Kelantan and Tringanu,
530
Great Britain's chance to open China,
316
Great Britain's future in the Far East,
598
Great Wall of China, 215
Grindrod, G. H., and service in Siam,
458, 461
Gubbins, J. H., and Japanese competi-
tion, 382
HAIPHONG, 71 ; port charges, 119
Hanoi, 74
Hart, Sir Robert, and his work,
231-8-9, 240
Heathenism in China, 281
Herbinger, Colonel, and French coloni-
sation, 128
Hongay coal, 110
Hongkong: 16; a great outpost, 35 ; an
Arcadia for criminals, 27 ; behind
civilisation, 29 ; British petition to
Parliament, 31 ; Chinese predomi-
nance in, 26 ; danger from Chinese,
25 ; docks and defences, 24, 25 ;
frequency of " acting " officers,
34; history, 22; laws, 29; legis-
lative system defective, 30; Peak,
the, 19 ; piracy, 26 ; plague, 25, 34 ;
population, 28 ; Praya Reclamation
scheme, 18 ; progress, 23 ; Retrench-
ment Commission, 35 ; revenue and
expenditure, 28 ; snipping, 29 ;
terrorism in, 27
Hue, Abbe, and Macao, 188
Hunt, Mr., on Japanese competition,
383 ; on Korean society, 346-7
INDIA and Thibet, 316
Infanticide in China, 289
JACQUEMYNS, M. Rolin, and Siam, 486,
494, 498
Japan : and the future of Korea, 368;
and the future of Manila, 590 ; and
the re-organisation of China, 384,
593 ; as a commercial rival, 15,
380 ; as a first-class Power, 376 ; as
the equal of European Powers, 384 ;
future of, 594 ; in the Korean
market, 383 ; present political
dangers, 389 ; and Russia, 368,
401
Japanese : army statistics, 377 ;
p itriotism for the war, 379 ; pre-
ponderance in Korea, 367
Japan's ally, Question of, 399 ; Great
Britain the choice, 399 ; Alterna-
tives France, 400, Russia, 401 ;
Interests concerned Japanese, 402,
Russian, 402, British, 403
Jelebu, 58
Johnston, Mr. H.H., quoted on British
Empire, 599
Johor, 63
606
INDEX.
Johor, Sultan of, 63
Joly, Mr., on Macao " tea," 187
Jones, Captain, V.C., and the Franco-
Siamese negociations, 471, 473,
494
Jungle journey in Malaya, 534 ; a
game preserve, 550 ; animal life,
547 ; camp-building, 540 ; elephants
indispensable, 542 ; Hill of Death,
553 ; in the disputed territory, 549 ;
" shooting " fish, 551
Justice in China, 219
KEDAH : and the Siamese control,
Story of, 527 ; fettered by Siam,
529
Kelantan : a contemplated revolution,
578 ; an industrial village, 568 ; and
the intrusion of Siam, 530; danger
from the Eaja, 569 ; deserted j
villages, 567 ; gold-mines, 568 ;
Kota Bharu, 575 ; penetrating the
State, 534 ; Eaja, the, and white
men, 534, 562, 582 ; Eaja, the,
interview with, 582 ; rapids, the,
562, 564 ; run aground and attacked, j
584 ; Sakeis, the, 566 ; Tana
Merah, 572
Khanburi, 427
Khorat, 427
Kiangnan arsenal, 269
Kim, Mr., in Korean Court, 351
Korea : 323 ; absorption of, by Eussia,
166 ; China and a dependent, 362 ;
events in, during the war, 366 ;
events leading to the war, 356 ;
fertility of, 325, 338 ; foreign com-
munity, 352 ; future of, 368, 590 ;
Japan and China re, 356; Japan the
principal seller to, 383 ; Japanese
preponderance in, 367 ; King, the,
351 ; official assassination in, 348 ;
omnipotence of the official, 329, 345 ;
uncivilised under China, 347 (see
also Seoul)
Korean : army, navy, and Foreign
Office, 350; hatred of Eussians,
147 ; people, 336, 344, 353 ; uncon-
cern, 346 (see also Seoul)
Kowloon : 22 ; Customs authorities
and, 23
Kung, Prince, of China, 299
LABET, Captain, of Kuala Leh, 559,
560
Lanessan, M. de : and French coloni-
sation, 111 ; and French empire in
Siam, 469, 474, 513 ; recall of, 593
Lang, Captain, E.N., and the Chinese
forces, 263, 270, 275
Leroy-Beaulieu, M. : and France in
Siam, 518 ; and French colonisa-
tion, 120, 126, 136; on French
finances, 592
Li Hung-chang : and General Gordon,
245, 246 ; and medical schools, 258 ;
and Western relations, 258 ; as capi-
talist, 14, 15 ; career, 244 ; dis-
regard for foreigners, 256 ; his
army and the war, 248 ; interview
with, 253; on China, Korea, and
Eussia, 255 ; personally, 251 ; re-
ported degradation of, 259
Llama Temple, 205
Low, Sir Hugh, and Perak, 56
MACAO : a mongrel community, 183 ;
coolie traffic, 185 ; future of, 590 ;
history, 184; "lie" tea, 187
Macartney, Lord, at Court of China,
303
Malacca, 44
Malay character, the, 545
Malay Native States : 593 ; future of,
532, 590 ; native rule, effect of,
525, 549 ; revenue and its disposal,
526
Malay Protected States : 52 ; fertility
of, 67; future of, 67; history, 54;
population, trade, finance, 56 ; pros-
perity insecure, * 66 ; residential
system, 64
Malaya, Britain and the future of,
532, 590
Manchuria, Eussia and the future of,
591
Manila: 169; a Eoman Catholic pro-
duct, 174 ; future of, 590 ; history,
172 ; tobacco-making, 175
Martin, Eev. Dr., on China, 314, 315
Matchmaking in Japan, 382
Maxwell, W. E., and Selangor, 57
Mayo, Lord, and the King of Siam,
436
Mayrena in French Indo-China, 90
Meclhurst, quoted on China, 278
Medicine in China, 291
Michie, Mr. Alex, quoted on China,
289, 304, 307
Milner, Mr. Alfred, quoted on English-
men in foreign service, 459
Ming tombs, 217
Missionary question in China, 280, 304
Monkay : 98 ; French and Chinese
relations at, 101
Morant, Mr. E. L. : and education in
Siam, 459, 460; at the Court of
Siam, 436, 438, 486
NAMOA, piracy of the British ship, 26
INDEX.
607
Narah, Prince, of Siam, 436
Nares, Prince, of Siam, 449
Naris, Prince, of Siam, 449
Negri Sembilan, 58
Negrier, Colonel, and French coloni-
sation, 128
OIESEN, Mr., on Korean character,
346
Ord, Sir Harry, and Tringanu, 531
O'Eell, Max, on English liberty, 600
Orleans, Prince Henry d' : on Asia,
599 ; on Tongking, 117
PAGODA Anchorage engagement, 86
Pahang, 58 ; the " sick man," 60
Paknam, Battle of, 464, 492
Parkes, Sir Harry, and China, 285,
302
Patani, 530
Pavie, M., and the Siamese negocia-
tions, 488, 489, 491-4-5
Pearson, Charles, and China, 262
Peking : 195 ; history, 196 ; filth, 209
Penang : discontent and finance, 44 ;
trade with Malay States, 525, 526
Perak : progress, 56 ; Sultan of, 61 ;
the disputed territory, 549
Philippine Islands, 178, 590
Phipp, Mr., and the Franco-Siamese
negociations, 485
Piracy : at Hongkong, 26 ; at Tong-
king, 106
Port Arthur and Eussia, 401 ; Japan-
ese atrocities at, 595
Porteu, M., and French colonisation,
135
Portugal's decadence in the Far East,
192, 590
Prostitute class in the Far East, 43
Protection in Tongking, result of, 135
Protestant missions in China, 305
RAILWAYS in Tongking, 107
Railway schemes: in China, 308; in
Siam, 455
Ratburi, 427
Residential system in Malay States, 64
Ribot, M., and the Siamese question,
470
Richaud, M., and French colonisation,
104, 120
Richelieu, M. de, and Siam, 424, 456,
463, 486
Riviere, Commandant : and Tongking,
127 ; death of, 88
Rodger, Mr., and Pahang, 58
Roman Catholic : missions in China,
305 ; sway in Manila, 174
Ross, Rev. John, on Chinese havoc, 273
Rosebery, Lord : and Siam's indepen-
dence, 450 ; and the Anglo-Russian
entente, 402 ; and the Franco-
English-Siamese question, 505, 506,
512-5-6; and the Franco-Siamese
negociations, 473, 476, 492-6-7 ; on
a " small " England, 601
Russia : and Britain in the Far East,
590 ; and the future of Korea, 166,
369 ; and the future of Manchuria,
591 ; on the Pacific, 151, 165 ; and
Japan, 368, 401 ; Anglo-Russian-
Japanese understanding, 402, 591
SAIGON, 77 ; customs duties at, 120
St James, Cape, Life at, 79
St. James's Gazette on Japan and
China, 398
Salisbury, Lord : and the Franco-
English-Siamese question, 506; and
the Franco- Siamese negociations,
471
Samudh, Phya, of Paknam, 408
Schau, Major, and the Siamese army,
463
Secret societies in Singapore, 39
Selangor, 57
Seoul: 341, 344 ; foreign community,
the, 352 (see also Korea)
Shameen indemnity, source of the,
283
Shanghai : 3 ; American Settlement,
7 ; Chinese manufactures, 14 ;
Chinese predominance, 12 ; French
Settlement, 6, 7 ; history, 5 ; Japan
and the neutrality of the port, 269 ;
land regulations, 12 ; municipal
government, 7 ; outpost of British
trade, 15 ; population, 8 ; Republic
Army, 9 ; rise of the commission
agent, 13 ; social life, 9 ; trade, 10
Siam : and France, the true story of,
468 (see France) ; and the control
of Kedah, story of, 527 ; and the
Perak disputed territory, 549 ; Crown
Prince, the late, 437 ; Crown Prince,
the present, 597 ; foreigners kept
distant, 410 ; future . of, 597 ; Great
Britain and the future of, 502, 518,
519 ; King's brothers, the, 448 ;
King's character and power, the,
434 ; King's collapse, the, 432, 452,
598 ; lavishness of royal ceremonies,
419 ; means of communication neg-
lected, 426, 455 ; Palace, 412 ; Pro-
vincial Commissioners, 443
Siamese : amusements, 421 ; army,
461 ; cabinet and administration,
440, 451 ; customs service, 457 ;
Education Department, 459 ; Foreign
608
INDEX.
Office, 414 ; government breakdown,
452 ; intrusion in Kelautan and
Tringanu, 530 ; justice, 454 ; mis-
representation to Britain, 478 ;
money, 428 ; navy, 463 ; Postal
and Telegraph, 457 ; Public Works
Department, 455 ; Bed Cross Society,
482 ; titles, 429 (see also Bangkok)
Siemrap, France and, 513
Sikhs as policemen, 21
Silver : and China, 311 ; depreciation
of, 28 note, 46, 48, 49, 132 note, 242
note
Singapore : 37 ; secret societies in,
39 ; trade and finances, 46 ; varied
inhabitants of city, 39 (see also
Straits Settlements)
Skertchly, S. B. J., quoted on China,
293
Skinner, Mr. A. M., on the Malay
Native States, 525-6-7
Smith, Sir Cecil, and the Straits
finances, 47, 51
Spain's influence and future in the
Far East, 179, 590
Stigand, Consul, on Manila, 172, 173
Straits Settlements : 37, 44 ; and
military contribution, 46; Chinese
in the, 41, 42 ; financial position,
48 ; trade with Siam, 519 (see also
Singapore)
Sungei Ujong, 58
Superstition among Chinese, 292
Svasti, Prince of Siam, 446, 451-2-3
Swedish missionaries murdered, 301
Swettenham, Mr. F. A., and Perak,
56
TEMOH and its gold-mines, 556
Theatres in Siam, 421
Thibet : and England, 316, 403 ; Li
Hung-chang and, 254
Times correspondents quoted, 164,
273-4-6, 286, 293
Ting, Admiral, 264
Tobacco-making in Manila, 175
Tongking : change of Governors-
general, 118; coal, 110; cost of,
127; future of, 122, 593; history,
127 ; people, 6 ; piracy, 106 ; rail-
way jobbery, 107 ; result of protec-
tion, 135
! Trans - Siberian railway : and its
results, 159, 256 ; terminus in
Korea, 165, 369
j Tremlett, Consul, on Tongking, 106,
112
Tringanu : and the intrusion of Siam,
530 ; Sultan, the, 586
Troup, Mr., on Japanese competition,
383
i Tsng, Marquis, 297
! Tsungli Yamen, 297, 300
j
| VILEBS, M. le Myre de : and Tong-
king, 116, 120; and Siam, 498, 515,
517
i Vladivostok : 141 ; a military town,
146, 148 ; ice at the port, 158 ;
impressions of the forces, 156 ;
life at, 147 ; restrictions on foreign
vessels, 155 ; value in case of war,
151, 590
WADDIXGTON, M., and the French
claim in Siam, 506
Wallace, A. Kussel, quoted on Malaya,
52
Walsham, Sir John, at Court of China,
302
War, Chino-Japanese, the : effect on
China's status, 261 ; events leading
up to, 356 ; Japan justified, 367 ;
Japanese atrocities at Port Arthur,
595 ; Japan's conditions of peace,
395 ; Japan's moderation, 360 ;
Li's army, 248 ; murder of Kim
Ok-kyun, 361 ; untrue accounts,
380
Watchmaking in Japan, 382
Wellesley, Province, 44
Whitehead, Hon. T. H., and Hong-
kong, 30, 31
Williams, Mr. David, and Siamese
Customs, 458
Williamson, Kev. Dr., on missions,
281, 307
Wonsan, town and port, 324
YAMAGATA, Marshal, on Chinese
cruelty, 274
Yunnan, the race for, 503
tNWIN BBOTHEHS, THE GEESHAil PRESS, CHILWORTH AND LONDON.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
TME REAJL J APAN z
STUDIES OF CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE MANNERS, MORALS,
ADMINISTRATION AND POLITICS.
Fourth and Cheaper Edition, Illustrated, Crown Svo, cloth, 3s. 6d.
The Times. " Mr. Norman ... is painstaking, candid, keen in observation,
vivid in presentment, facile in reflection. In a word, his essays present a picture
of Japan as exhibited in the camera of what Matthew Arnold called ' the New
Journalism.' The impression is instantaneous, and the portraiture, subject to its
inherent limitations, is lifelike and full of actuality. It is not perhaps possible to
interview a nation, but, if it were, Mr. Norman is evidently the man to undertake
the task."
The Daily Telegraph. " This is a book which everybody should read, not only
because it is superlatively amusing from beginning to end, but because it teems
with authentic information, by the light of which many prevalent and popular
errors in respect to the significance and import of certain Japanese customs may be
corrected."
The Pall Mall Gazette. " Mr. Norman's book is the only work of its kind which
is quite up to date, and which treats of some of the momentous changes which
have recently taken place in a laud where the old is continually giving place to the
new. . . . The book throughout is exceedingly informing, and presents, within
reasonable dimensions, a more life-like picture of the country and people than any
similar work we know."
The Speaker. " A graphic and substantial account of the state of the country at
the present time. . . . Mr. Norman may fairly claim that he has told us many
things upon which his predecessors have been either silent or misinformed."
The National Observer. "Few will hesitate to acknowledge that his ['An
Unwritten Chapter of Japanese Life '] is a contribution towards the solution of a
great and grave question for which, after many days, the philanthropist and the
legislator may be duly grateful. . . . On many other points of great interest in this
excellent book we can touch but lightly. . . . Mr. Norman courts the severest
criticism by adopting a most ambitious title. We can pay him no higher com-
pliment than to say that he conies nearer to giving us a real insight into contempo-
rary 'Japanese manners, morals (immorals), administration and politics,' than any
other prowler with camera and pen has done."
The New York Tribune. " The author of this book had unusual opportunities
for acquiring information concerning the actual acts of that very modern progres-
sive or at least evolutionary movement, which has made Japan the source and
centre of so much interest. He has used these opportunities wisely and well, and
has given his readers what no other work on Japan affords, namely, a series of
clearly drawn pictures of the country and people as they appear to-day, and as they
are affected by the changes which have been occurring with bewildering rapidity of
late years."
The North China Daily News. " A traveller who wants to know what the real
Japan is will be thoroughly equipped if he takes with him this book, Chamberlain's
Tliini/s Japanese, and Satow's Guide.'"
The Japan Daily Mail. " Mr. Henry Norman differed in two essential respects
from the crowd of bookmakers wbo have found in Japan material to fill their
pages .- he possessed the practised capacities of a trained writer who knows exactly
how to collect and digest information, and he was so thoroughly in earnest that his
whole time and energies during his stay in this country were devoted to getting as
far as possible below the surface of everything he i-awand heard. We are not sur-
prised, therefore, to find that his book, ' The Real Japan,' occupies a unique place.
Within the limits which he sets himself, he stands at the head of all previous
writers in respect of accuracy and fulness of information. Nobody had previously
told us what he tells about Japanese Journalism, about Japanese Justice, about
Japanese Education, about Japanese Arts and Crafts, about Japanese Women, and
about the Japanese Yoshiwara. He has established his right to the ambitious title
chosen for his work. . . . To him belongs the great credit of having taught many
an unlearned lesson to the oldest resident among us, and of having taught it in
words so well chosen and picturesque that they impart a charm to the driest subject.'
LONDON: T. FISHEE UNWIN, PATBBNOSTEB SQUARE, E.C.
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