CHAPTER III.

RETURN TO SAIGON.

The French expedition, finding further progress impossible, resolved at length on retracing its steps to Saigon, and accordingly set out in that direction on the 15th of March. On the 3rd of April it arrived at Tong-chuen, where Lieutenant Garnier heard of the death of his chief, M. de Lagrée. Four days later, the gallant little band, several of its members suffering from fever, resumed its march. On the 9th, M. Garnier crossed the deep swift waters of the Ngieoo-nan in a ferry-boat, which runs on a cable moored from bank to bank. On the 11th he reached Tchao-tong.

~AT TCHAO-TONG.~

Here he and his comrades met with a kindly welcome, and were lodged in the house of a native priest, who had charge of the few Christian inhabitants of the town. The crowd, as usual, displayed an extraordinary amount of curiosity and importunity. The _tche-hien_, or administrator of the Tchao-tong district, paid them a visit immediately on their arrival, and invited them to dine with him on the following evening. The repast included fourteen courses at the least, to say nothing of the cucumber-seed, the mandarinas, and the li-tchi, served up as preliminaries. There was nothing, however, peculiarly worthy of the attention of gourmands, except a dainty dish of pigeons’ eggs, and a particular kind of fish, caught in a neighbouring pond, the flesh of which had a peculiar flavour. During the repast, the ladies of the household closely scrutinized the features of the strangers through a lattice, laughing heartily at their awkwardness in using the Chinese utensils.

Tchao-tong, like all Chinese towns of importance, is surrounded by a bastioned wall, of rectangular plan, measuring about a mile and a half each way. Considerable suburbs prolong to the north, east, and west the streets which abut on the gates of the town. The latter has never been captured by the Mohammedans, and its inhabitants cherish a fierce hatred against the rebels of Taly.

The plain of Tchao-tong seems to be the most extensive in Yunnan, and is carefully cultivated--a large portion of its area being appropriated to the growth of poppies for the manufacture of opium. Its inhabitants complain of want of water; and, in fact, their only sources of supply are some tiny rills, almost dry in the hot season. There are extensive deposits of anthracite and peat. A small pond, abounding in fish, lies to the south-west.

~ARTICLES OF COMMERCE.~

Tchao-tong is one of the most important commercial _entrepôts_ between China and Yunnan. Enormous convoys of raw cotton, of English or native cotton stuffs, and of salt from Se-chuen, are here exchanged for the metals--tin and zinc more particularly--furnished by the environs of Tong-chuen, the medicinal substances which come from the west of Yunnan and the north of Tibet, and the nests of the _coccus sinensis_, which yield the pe-la wax. This insect breeds on a species of privet which grows in the mountainous parts of Yunnan and Se-chuen, and is thence transported to other trees favourable for the production of wax, which flourish in the warmer lowlands. Necessarily, these nests must be conveyed from point to point with great rapidity, lest the newly-hatched insects should die before arriving at their new abode; they are stored away in large baskets, divided into numerous compartments, and their bearers frequently accomplish thirty or forty leagues at double quick marching step.

* * * * *

~THE JOURNEY CONTINUED.~

Resuming their journey, M. Garnier and his companions traversed a country of great beauty, studded with villages, and broken up into romantic highlands and wooded valleys, watered by copious rivers. On the 20th of April they reached Lao-oua-tan, a busy town on the Huang-kiang, at the point where the navigation of the river begins. Here they embarked on board a large boat with a capacity of thirty to forty tons, and began the descent of the river, admiring the skill with which the Chinese carried them through the successive rapids. In a couple of hours they arrived at Pou-eul-tou, a small port on the left bank, where Garnier and his companions landed, while their baggage and a part of the escort continued the journey by water. Garnier pressed forward through a truly Arcadian valley to Long-ki, the residence of the Vicar-Apostolic of Yunnan, Monseigneur Ponsot. It is needless to say that he was received with the warmest hospitality.

~THE BLUE RIVER.~

The next stage was Siu-tcheou-fou, a lively and busy town, where several Roman Catholic missionaries are stationed. Thence, in a couple of junks, the travellers descended the Blue River to Tchong-kin-fou, the great commercial centre of the province of Se-chuen. Resting here a while, they then continued their voyage to Han-keou, entering a region which has been carefully explored and described by officers of the British navy. The river all along its course presents an animated scene,--the junks ascending the stream being towed by boatmen on the banks, who time their steps to a rude and noisy song. M. Garnier arrived at Han-keou on the 4th of June, and once more entered upon the enjoyment of the comfort and security of civilized life, after a long, difficult, and perilous expedition, in which he had added largely to our knowledge of a region of vast commercial resources. On the 10th he embarked on board a steamer for Shanghai,--arriving there on the 12th. After a week’s stay he set out for Saigon; where he presented himself on the 29th, and was received with the honours due to his courage, his patience, and his perseverance. He has shown that the Mekong must hereafter become an important highway of commerce, and one of the great channels of communication with Yunnan and Tibet.