CHAPTERXXX.CHINA TO BRITISH INDIA, VIA CHEUNG MAI.CheungMai is one of the five northern Laos provinces belonging to Siam. This northern Laos country is bounded on the north (lat. 20° 20′ N.) by the Shan states, tributary to Independent Burmah; on the north-east by some independent Shan states lying between Laos and Tonquin; on the east by Anam; on the south by Siam. The western boundary is the river Salween, separating the Laos country from British Burmah and Karenee. The extreme distance from north to south is two hundred and twenty miles; from east to west, about four hundred and twenty miles. The entire population of the five Laos provinces tributary to Siam is estimated at about two millions. These two millions are composed of about ten tribes; all of them, however, excepting the remnants of three or four aboriginal tribes inhabiting the mountains, are branches of a common stock, the Lou. Each of these five Lou provinces is a kingdom, the ruler of which is always a native prince, who can, however, exercise authority only after receiving investiture from the king of Siam.Cheung Mai, reckoning all the territory over which the king of Cheung Mai exercises jurisdiction, is the largest and most populous of the Laos provinces. A recent census of the houses throughout the province of Cheung Mai gave the number of ninety-seven thousand, and the census was not at that time complete; the population of the entire province is not under six hundred thousand.The city of Cheung Mai (written Zimme on English maps) is the capital, and is reached from Bangkok by boat; the distance is approximately five hundred and fifty miles, and the time required to make the journey in native boats, propelled by men, is usually fifty days.The isolation of Cheung Mai, the long, tedious and expensive journey required to reach it, and the unwholesome climate, are considered by some sufficient arguments against retaining it as a mission-station. But there are other considerations worthy of attention, which I wish to present.The population of the city of Cheung Mai is estimated at about twenty-five thousand; the language (with slight and unimportant dialectical differences) is common to all the Laos people; it is the commercial centre of all the Laos provinces to the north and north-east, and also of the Shan provinces to the north. There exists an extensive trade with Bangkok. Stick-lac, hides, horns, ivory, cutch, gum benjamin, are among the principal articles of export; these are exchanged in Bangkok for the products of foreign industry. Trade with Bangkok is necessarily restricted: the cost of transportation is too great to admit of a free expansion, the carrying of one ton of cargo from Bangkok to Cheung Mai costing ordinarily fifty-five dollars. The fluctuation in prices both in Bangkok and Cheung Mai is very considerable; the customary rate of interest is two per cent. a month; the time required for the trader to purchase his cargo in Cheung Mai and go to Bangkok and return and dispose of his merchandise is usually six or seven months. In addition to these unavoidable difficulties, there are other and sometimes greater ones. The fostering care of government is too freely exercised, arbitrary and unjust taxes are levied, and other artificial interferences sufficient, it would seem, to prevent any large investment of capital. It is hoped, however, that a more intelligent policy will prevail. Considerable improvement has been made, many restrictions that formerly existed having been removed, and monopolies are not now so freely granted to favorites. It speaks well for the enterprise and sagacity of the Cheung Mai traders that in spite of all these difficulties they have developed a very considerable exchange market. The present extensive trade is an indication that Cheung Mai is the natural centre of what, when properly developed, will amount to an important commerce. It is not impossible that before many years steamers will run from Bangkok to Cheung Mai. There seems to be no real obstacle in the way of light craft propelled by steam accomplishing the journey in ten or twelve days; the present demand would justify the necessary outlay as a business speculation, and steam navigation would unquestionably develop a much larger trade. Sir Arthur Phayre represents the “Laos traders as industrious, energetic, possessing a marvelous capacity for traveling as petty merchants, and longing for free trade.” My own knowledge, after a residence of several years in Cheung Mai, confirms this official statement.The agricultural richness of the plain is known. The forests of valuable timber clothing the hills and mountains are another source of wealth. A large proportion of the teak-timber shipped from Maulmain comes from the Cheung Mai forests. The mineral resources of this Laos country are varied and extensive; deposits of many of the useful and precious metals are known to exist; iron, copper, zinc, lead, silver, antimony, nickel and gold are found in greater or less abundance. Coal has also been found along the river after heavy rains, and petroleum has also been discovered.The importance of Cheung Mai is not, however, sufficiently indicated by a statement of the productions and population of the province. Its resources can never be fully developed if it is in the future to remain so cut off from the rest of the world as it always has been. The problem of a direct trade-route, connecting China with the British possessions in India, is at the present time attracting much interest. The route across northern Yunnan,viâBhamo, into Burmah has been sufficiently investigated to ascertain that for overland commerce to any considerable amount it is impracticable. It remains to discover the best route possible through the Laos country. To one who is aware of the extent of the trade that exists and has been carried on for many generations between Cheung Mai and Yunnan, and of the ready access to Cheung Mai from Maulmain, the discussion ofthe possibility of discovering a trade-routeconnecting South-western China and British Burmah seems superfluous. The caravan of Yunnan traders coming yearly to Cheung Mai clearly demonstrate the existence ofatrade-route, and this native track is probably available for a much more extensive overland transportation of merchandise than at present exists. The Yunnan caravans bring silk and opium, iron and copper utensils and other articles, which they exchange principally for cotton. This caravan-trade has materially increased within the past few years, though I have been informed that years ago the trade was much more extensive than it is now. The gradual recuperation of Yunnan, consequent upon the restoration of order there, probably explains this recent increase of trade. The fact that a party of ten or twelve men with a caravan of sixty or seventy mules make this journey from Tali in YunnamviâCheung Hoong and Cheung Toong, to Cheung Mai, is a sufficient indication of the safety of the route. A caravan of sixty mules will ordinarily carry merchandise to the value of twelve to fifteen thousand dollars, occasionally a larger amount. Most of the Yunnan traders who come to Cheung Mai come from the neighborhood of Tali.The construction of a railroad from Maulmain,viâCheung Mai, to some point in South-western Yunnan would probably not encounter any physical obstacles more serious than is usually met with in railroad building. After entering the plain or plateau of Cheung Mai the engineering difficulties would be of little consequence until the mountains of Cheung Hoong were reached; and even there the elevation is not very great and there are no deep gorges, such as are met with on the Bhamo and Manwyne route. It is probable there are no insurmountable barriers on this route, and, judging from the accounts of Cheung Mai and Yunnan traders, there are no serious difficulties to be encountered. Until there is a scientific survey any expression of opinion as to the best track is little more than conjecture. From Cheung Mai to Cheung Rai there are two routes. One explored by McLeod and others, although not adversely reported upon, is certainly a difficult route; I traveled over it in 1880 to Cheung San and found the highest point passed over to be thirty-five hundred feet above the Cheung Mai plain, and the ascent is abrupt.The second of the two routes mentioned above has never been described; until 1880 this route had never been traveled by a white man. In January of that year I traveled over it, and found it, as I thought, possessed of advantages over the other road. Proceeding from Cheung Mai in a northerly direction, following the course of the Maping River to a point fifty-five miles north of Cheung Mai, thence in a direction east by north-east, at a distance of twenty miles from the Maping River we entered a large and fertile plain lying to the east and south-east of Cheung Rai, and separated from that province only by a low range of hills; traveling through this plain to the Ma-Kok River, and following the course of that river, the journey to Cheung Rai is a very easy one. This plain, situated to the east and south-east of Cheung Rai, although uninhabited at the time I visited it, was in the beginning of Laos history the most populous of all their provinces; ruins of the ancient city which was the capital show that at one time there must have been considerable wealth in the province. The name of this ancient city and now deserted province is Muang Fäng. A colony from Cheung Mai has recently settled in the province. This plain is distant from the Maping River only about twenty miles, and the highest point of the divide is twenty-six hundred feet above Cheung Mai—ascent very gradual. The plain is six hundred feet higher than Cheung Mai.A railroad from Cheung Mai (supposing connection between Maulmain and Cheung Mai already established), following the route indicated above, would encounter no serious physical difficulties in reaching the present northern boundary of the Siamese Laos territory.The project of a railroad from Maulmain to Cheung Mai is now under serious contemplation, and an exploring party with this end in view is reported as having left Burmah. But the terminus, instead of at Cheung Mai, should be either at Cheung Rai or Cheung San. Such a road would not be a doubtful experiment. The immense resources of this region, the industry and enterprise, the peaceful and law-abiding disposition, of the Laos people, are sufficient to guarantee its success. Any thorough investigation of the subject will show that the natural and most obvious trade-route connecting British Burmah and South-western China is through the Cheung Mai province.The only political difficulties in the way of such a route to the boundaries of Yunnan would be met with in the so-called “Independent Shan States” north of Laos. Upper Burmah claims, and fitfully and viciously exercises, a supremacy over these Shan states, but the general condition of these provinces is one of political anarchy. The Burmese policy is to incite one province to make war upon another, and to foment internal disorder by exactions and tyrannies compared to which the most unjust and arbitrary measures in the government of the Siamese provinces are mild. Geographically, these Shan states belong to Siam, and it is to be hoped that the Siamese authority will be extended over all the territory lying between the Ma-Kawng (or Cambodia) River and the Salween up to the Yunnan border. While no one will pretend to claim anything approaching to perfection in the administration of the Siamese provinces, the protection to life and property in them is simply infinitely better than the lawless condition of the provinces claimed by Upper Burmah. Should the Siamese authority be extended to the north (as the indications of the past few years would seem to promise), so as to include all the so-called Independent Shan states situated between the Cambodia and Salween Rivers, a degree of law and order would prevail, and, protected from the attacks and robberies of each other, these tribes would soon begin to accumulate wealth, for their country is possessed of great resources.“Protection” and “annexation” constitute a serious bugbear to any scheme of railroad building or canal construction in Siam. If the Siamese and Laos could be convinced that there was no design upon their possessions, they would not be averse to the opening up of their country by railroads. It is difficult to believe that the intellectual and political torpor which has so long characterized Siam is to continue. The conflict between the old and the new is inevitable; the numerical majority is, of course, under the influence of ancestral traditions and inherited beliefs, opposed to all change; but the constant contact with Western ideas must modify this spirit of reverence for what is old simply because itisold. Even “far-off Cheung Mai” is, I confidently believe, soon to awaken out of her long sleep, and, no longer dreaming of the past, to advance into the better future.THE END.Footnotes:[1]The ceremonies at the cremation of the body of the late first king lasted from the 12th of March, 1870, till the 21st of the same month. The king of Cheung Mai came from his distant home among the Laos Mountains to be present on the occasion; and the pomp and expense of the ceremony, for which preparations had been more than a year in progress, surpassed anything that had been known in the history of Siam.[2]This was in 1851. Instruction wasfirst given in zenanas in India in 1858[or 1857].[3]Carl Bock.[4]This is Yunnan.
CheungMai is one of the five northern Laos provinces belonging to Siam. This northern Laos country is bounded on the north (lat. 20° 20′ N.) by the Shan states, tributary to Independent Burmah; on the north-east by some independent Shan states lying between Laos and Tonquin; on the east by Anam; on the south by Siam. The western boundary is the river Salween, separating the Laos country from British Burmah and Karenee. The extreme distance from north to south is two hundred and twenty miles; from east to west, about four hundred and twenty miles. The entire population of the five Laos provinces tributary to Siam is estimated at about two millions. These two millions are composed of about ten tribes; all of them, however, excepting the remnants of three or four aboriginal tribes inhabiting the mountains, are branches of a common stock, the Lou. Each of these five Lou provinces is a kingdom, the ruler of which is always a native prince, who can, however, exercise authority only after receiving investiture from the king of Siam.
Cheung Mai, reckoning all the territory over which the king of Cheung Mai exercises jurisdiction, is the largest and most populous of the Laos provinces. A recent census of the houses throughout the province of Cheung Mai gave the number of ninety-seven thousand, and the census was not at that time complete; the population of the entire province is not under six hundred thousand.
The city of Cheung Mai (written Zimme on English maps) is the capital, and is reached from Bangkok by boat; the distance is approximately five hundred and fifty miles, and the time required to make the journey in native boats, propelled by men, is usually fifty days.
The isolation of Cheung Mai, the long, tedious and expensive journey required to reach it, and the unwholesome climate, are considered by some sufficient arguments against retaining it as a mission-station. But there are other considerations worthy of attention, which I wish to present.
The population of the city of Cheung Mai is estimated at about twenty-five thousand; the language (with slight and unimportant dialectical differences) is common to all the Laos people; it is the commercial centre of all the Laos provinces to the north and north-east, and also of the Shan provinces to the north. There exists an extensive trade with Bangkok. Stick-lac, hides, horns, ivory, cutch, gum benjamin, are among the principal articles of export; these are exchanged in Bangkok for the products of foreign industry. Trade with Bangkok is necessarily restricted: the cost of transportation is too great to admit of a free expansion, the carrying of one ton of cargo from Bangkok to Cheung Mai costing ordinarily fifty-five dollars. The fluctuation in prices both in Bangkok and Cheung Mai is very considerable; the customary rate of interest is two per cent. a month; the time required for the trader to purchase his cargo in Cheung Mai and go to Bangkok and return and dispose of his merchandise is usually six or seven months. In addition to these unavoidable difficulties, there are other and sometimes greater ones. The fostering care of government is too freely exercised, arbitrary and unjust taxes are levied, and other artificial interferences sufficient, it would seem, to prevent any large investment of capital. It is hoped, however, that a more intelligent policy will prevail. Considerable improvement has been made, many restrictions that formerly existed having been removed, and monopolies are not now so freely granted to favorites. It speaks well for the enterprise and sagacity of the Cheung Mai traders that in spite of all these difficulties they have developed a very considerable exchange market. The present extensive trade is an indication that Cheung Mai is the natural centre of what, when properly developed, will amount to an important commerce. It is not impossible that before many years steamers will run from Bangkok to Cheung Mai. There seems to be no real obstacle in the way of light craft propelled by steam accomplishing the journey in ten or twelve days; the present demand would justify the necessary outlay as a business speculation, and steam navigation would unquestionably develop a much larger trade. Sir Arthur Phayre represents the “Laos traders as industrious, energetic, possessing a marvelous capacity for traveling as petty merchants, and longing for free trade.” My own knowledge, after a residence of several years in Cheung Mai, confirms this official statement.
The agricultural richness of the plain is known. The forests of valuable timber clothing the hills and mountains are another source of wealth. A large proportion of the teak-timber shipped from Maulmain comes from the Cheung Mai forests. The mineral resources of this Laos country are varied and extensive; deposits of many of the useful and precious metals are known to exist; iron, copper, zinc, lead, silver, antimony, nickel and gold are found in greater or less abundance. Coal has also been found along the river after heavy rains, and petroleum has also been discovered.
The importance of Cheung Mai is not, however, sufficiently indicated by a statement of the productions and population of the province. Its resources can never be fully developed if it is in the future to remain so cut off from the rest of the world as it always has been. The problem of a direct trade-route, connecting China with the British possessions in India, is at the present time attracting much interest. The route across northern Yunnan,viâBhamo, into Burmah has been sufficiently investigated to ascertain that for overland commerce to any considerable amount it is impracticable. It remains to discover the best route possible through the Laos country. To one who is aware of the extent of the trade that exists and has been carried on for many generations between Cheung Mai and Yunnan, and of the ready access to Cheung Mai from Maulmain, the discussion ofthe possibility of discovering a trade-routeconnecting South-western China and British Burmah seems superfluous. The caravan of Yunnan traders coming yearly to Cheung Mai clearly demonstrate the existence ofatrade-route, and this native track is probably available for a much more extensive overland transportation of merchandise than at present exists. The Yunnan caravans bring silk and opium, iron and copper utensils and other articles, which they exchange principally for cotton. This caravan-trade has materially increased within the past few years, though I have been informed that years ago the trade was much more extensive than it is now. The gradual recuperation of Yunnan, consequent upon the restoration of order there, probably explains this recent increase of trade. The fact that a party of ten or twelve men with a caravan of sixty or seventy mules make this journey from Tali in YunnamviâCheung Hoong and Cheung Toong, to Cheung Mai, is a sufficient indication of the safety of the route. A caravan of sixty mules will ordinarily carry merchandise to the value of twelve to fifteen thousand dollars, occasionally a larger amount. Most of the Yunnan traders who come to Cheung Mai come from the neighborhood of Tali.
The construction of a railroad from Maulmain,viâCheung Mai, to some point in South-western Yunnan would probably not encounter any physical obstacles more serious than is usually met with in railroad building. After entering the plain or plateau of Cheung Mai the engineering difficulties would be of little consequence until the mountains of Cheung Hoong were reached; and even there the elevation is not very great and there are no deep gorges, such as are met with on the Bhamo and Manwyne route. It is probable there are no insurmountable barriers on this route, and, judging from the accounts of Cheung Mai and Yunnan traders, there are no serious difficulties to be encountered. Until there is a scientific survey any expression of opinion as to the best track is little more than conjecture. From Cheung Mai to Cheung Rai there are two routes. One explored by McLeod and others, although not adversely reported upon, is certainly a difficult route; I traveled over it in 1880 to Cheung San and found the highest point passed over to be thirty-five hundred feet above the Cheung Mai plain, and the ascent is abrupt.
The second of the two routes mentioned above has never been described; until 1880 this route had never been traveled by a white man. In January of that year I traveled over it, and found it, as I thought, possessed of advantages over the other road. Proceeding from Cheung Mai in a northerly direction, following the course of the Maping River to a point fifty-five miles north of Cheung Mai, thence in a direction east by north-east, at a distance of twenty miles from the Maping River we entered a large and fertile plain lying to the east and south-east of Cheung Rai, and separated from that province only by a low range of hills; traveling through this plain to the Ma-Kok River, and following the course of that river, the journey to Cheung Rai is a very easy one. This plain, situated to the east and south-east of Cheung Rai, although uninhabited at the time I visited it, was in the beginning of Laos history the most populous of all their provinces; ruins of the ancient city which was the capital show that at one time there must have been considerable wealth in the province. The name of this ancient city and now deserted province is Muang Fäng. A colony from Cheung Mai has recently settled in the province. This plain is distant from the Maping River only about twenty miles, and the highest point of the divide is twenty-six hundred feet above Cheung Mai—ascent very gradual. The plain is six hundred feet higher than Cheung Mai.
A railroad from Cheung Mai (supposing connection between Maulmain and Cheung Mai already established), following the route indicated above, would encounter no serious physical difficulties in reaching the present northern boundary of the Siamese Laos territory.
The project of a railroad from Maulmain to Cheung Mai is now under serious contemplation, and an exploring party with this end in view is reported as having left Burmah. But the terminus, instead of at Cheung Mai, should be either at Cheung Rai or Cheung San. Such a road would not be a doubtful experiment. The immense resources of this region, the industry and enterprise, the peaceful and law-abiding disposition, of the Laos people, are sufficient to guarantee its success. Any thorough investigation of the subject will show that the natural and most obvious trade-route connecting British Burmah and South-western China is through the Cheung Mai province.
The only political difficulties in the way of such a route to the boundaries of Yunnan would be met with in the so-called “Independent Shan States” north of Laos. Upper Burmah claims, and fitfully and viciously exercises, a supremacy over these Shan states, but the general condition of these provinces is one of political anarchy. The Burmese policy is to incite one province to make war upon another, and to foment internal disorder by exactions and tyrannies compared to which the most unjust and arbitrary measures in the government of the Siamese provinces are mild. Geographically, these Shan states belong to Siam, and it is to be hoped that the Siamese authority will be extended over all the territory lying between the Ma-Kawng (or Cambodia) River and the Salween up to the Yunnan border. While no one will pretend to claim anything approaching to perfection in the administration of the Siamese provinces, the protection to life and property in them is simply infinitely better than the lawless condition of the provinces claimed by Upper Burmah. Should the Siamese authority be extended to the north (as the indications of the past few years would seem to promise), so as to include all the so-called Independent Shan states situated between the Cambodia and Salween Rivers, a degree of law and order would prevail, and, protected from the attacks and robberies of each other, these tribes would soon begin to accumulate wealth, for their country is possessed of great resources.
“Protection” and “annexation” constitute a serious bugbear to any scheme of railroad building or canal construction in Siam. If the Siamese and Laos could be convinced that there was no design upon their possessions, they would not be averse to the opening up of their country by railroads. It is difficult to believe that the intellectual and political torpor which has so long characterized Siam is to continue. The conflict between the old and the new is inevitable; the numerical majority is, of course, under the influence of ancestral traditions and inherited beliefs, opposed to all change; but the constant contact with Western ideas must modify this spirit of reverence for what is old simply because itisold. Even “far-off Cheung Mai” is, I confidently believe, soon to awaken out of her long sleep, and, no longer dreaming of the past, to advance into the better future.
THE END.
Footnotes:
[1]The ceremonies at the cremation of the body of the late first king lasted from the 12th of March, 1870, till the 21st of the same month. The king of Cheung Mai came from his distant home among the Laos Mountains to be present on the occasion; and the pomp and expense of the ceremony, for which preparations had been more than a year in progress, surpassed anything that had been known in the history of Siam.
[2]This was in 1851. Instruction wasfirst given in zenanas in India in 1858[or 1857].
[3]Carl Bock.
[4]This is Yunnan.