bean that grows between the rows of stalks in the intervening furrows.

With the change of country comes too a change of scene. To the north-west appear low ranges of hills, and in the far distance the mountains of Jehol, refreshing alike to the eye and heart of the dweller in the great Chihli plain. It is in this neighbourhood, a few miles short of Shanhaikwan, that the foreigner has found out for himself a delightful Arcadia, whither he may betake his jaded spirits in the summer heat. At Peitaiho the line runs within five or six miles of the most charming spot on the Chihli coast, and there the Tientsiner has his country seat; thither, wearied by the pursuit of the unstable tael, he repairs and cultivates the simple life, seeking the while to attune his soul to nature.

But to return to the railway, and in particular to the Lan Ho. In normal times this river is a shallow sandy valley running up from the Gulf of Chihli, amongst the hills and mountains and through a country almost unsurpassed for its beauty of scenery, to its source on the great Mongolian plateau. In the midst of the valley runs a stream by no means considerable, though sufficient to meet the demands of the transport of the neighbourhood. But in the rainy season the whole extent of the sandy valley is submerged. The insignificant stream becomes a torrent of tremendous velocity, with its waters charged with the limbs of trees and débris of every imaginable description, threatening the existence of any obstruction it may find in its path.

In these characteristics the Lan Ho is by no means exceptional. Such is the nature of the generality of Chinese rivers, and such the conditions with which the bridge builder has to cope.

The bridge over the Lan Ho, the construction of which was supervised by Mr. A. G. Cox, has certainly satisfied all requirements, and is the most notable piece of engineering to be found throughout the length of railway, representing the first attempt on a large scale to bridge a Chinese river. It is built on piers of solid masonry, part of the foundations being carried down 70 feet to bed rock by the pneumatic process, which was then employed for the first time in the East. Its length is 2200 feet from face to face, and with the exception of the recently completed bridge over the Yellow River it is the longest bridge in China proper.

Concurrently with the construction of the Shanhaikwan section the Viceroy was taking steps to realise a railway project he had

formed, with possibly an ulterior strategic design, for the development of Manchuria. In 1890, having temporarily abandoned his Peking-Tungchow scheme, he sent for Mr. Kinder and informed him that he had in view the construction of a line traversing the southern provinces of Manchuria from west to east. The route he proposed was from Shanhaikwan through Chinchow to Hsinminting,1 thence across the Liao River to Mukden, and continuing in a north-easterly direction through Ninguta to Hunchun on the Tumen River, in the neighbourhood of the Russo-Chinese boundary on the east. From Mukden a branch line southwards to Newchwang, the principal port of Manchuria, was contemplated. The instructions to the Engineer-in-chief were to go over the ground and ascertain the nature of the country and the best route to be followed.

But that we may be in a position to attach the proper significance to Li Hung Chang's policy it is desirable before proceeding further to examine briefly the conditions prevailing at that time in Manchuria, or more generally in the north-east of Asia, and to make some endeavour to appreciate the relative positions of the Chinese and the Russians in that region. To do this effectively we must briefly outline the history of the conflict between the two peoples during the past two hundred and fifty years.

Until nearly the end of the sixteenth century the Russian Empire was entirely European. Fifty years later a great expansion across the northern plains of Asia had taken place, commencing with the founding of Tobolsk a few hundred miles east of the Urals in 1587, and ending in 1638 with Okhotsk on the shores of the Pacific. Yakutsk on the River Lena, the startingpoint of many a descent into the more fertile provinces of Manchuria that lay toward the south, was founded in 1632.

The inhabitants of the most northern part of Manchuria at that time were of Tungusian stock, and with them the Russians first came into conflict in 1643. In that year an expedition, under one Poyarkof, started from Yakutsk, and, ascending the Aldan River, succeeded in reaching the Dzeya, which flows into the Amur near Blagovestchensk. A few days later he reached the Amur, which he followed to its mouth, discovering the Sungari flowing into it from the south. Discoveries in other directions

1 This place is better known as Hsinmintun, but Hsinminting is the railway spelling, and it is therefore retained. It has recently been raised to the dignity of a "fu" city.

were also made, the expedition ultimately returning to Yakutsk in 1646.

This expedition was the precursor of others, until the notice of the Chinese was attracted to these incursions. The present Manchu dynasty was then in occupation of the throne of China, and military forces were from time to time dispatched against the Muscovite invaders. Eventually, after some years of intermittent warfare, plenipotentiaries were appointed on both sides, with the result that the Treaty of Nerchinsk was concluded on the 27th of August 1689. By it Russia gave up much of the ground she had gained during the preceding forty years. The boundaries between the two Empires were defined as being " formed by the river Kerbechi, near the Shorna, which enters the Amur, and the long chain of mountains extending from its sources to the Eastern Ocean. The rivers and streams which flow from the southern slope of these mountains, as well as all territories to the south of them, belong to China; the territories and rivers to the north remain with the Empire of Muscovy." Similarly, farther west the Argun forms the dividing line. It was further provided that Russia should retire from her fortress at Albazin, which was within the area recognised as Chinese territory.

For a century and a half the terms of the Treaty were fairly observed. In 1847, however, Count Muravieff was appointed Governor of Eastern Siberia, and it soon became evident that he had determined on a policy very different to that of his predecessors. From the day he assumed office expeditions of exploration and settlement were continuously dispatched southward, in spite of Chinese protests, until 1854, when he boldly seized the Amur. The intention ultimately to take this step had been obvious for some time, but the immediate justification for the course was the fact that, owing to the blockade of the Black Sea during the Crimean War, it was essential to control the Amur in order to get supplies from the interior down to the coast settlements on the sea of Okhotsk and the Straits of Tartary, which in ordinary times were supplied directly by sea from Europe. When ships of the allied fleets appeared off the Siberian coast on the look out for prizes of war, the absolute necessity of Muravieff's action, at any rate from the Russian point of view, seems clearly established. It may not have been a proceeding which would receive the sanction of the Law of Nations, but, as the case was

tersely put by a Russian writer, "supplies were urgently required on the Lower Amur, and necessity knows no law."

The Chinese protested strongly against the Russian move, and attempts were made in Peking by emissaries from the Tsar to negotiate a Treaty legalising Muravieff's action. They went even further, and offered to quell the Taiping rebellion then threatening the dynasty in return for the cession of the whole of Manchuria. The Chinese, however, refused the bargain, and nothing was left for Count Muravieff Amursky, as he had now become, but to ignore the Chinese and proceed to strengthen the Russian position on the river from which he had taken his new title.

While things were in this state China became involved in war with Great Britain and France, with the result that when in 1858 the Governor returned from a visit to Russia he found the Chinese tractable and willing to embody his demands in a treaty which was signed at Aigun. In the following year, however, when Sir Frederick Bruce, on his way to Peking in pursuance of the Treaty of 1858 with Great Britain, was repulsed at Taku, the Chinese, encouraged by their temporary success, repudiated the arrangement that had been come to with Russia. In consequence of this, General Ignatieff was dispatched to Peking to make representations to the Emperor. Arriving in 1860, when Lord Elgin and the allies were again at the gates of Peking, he experienced no difficulty in negotiating the Treaty of Tientsin, which settled the boundaries of Manchuria as they stand to-day, taking the Amur and the Ussuri Rivers as the principal boundaries of Chinese territory on the north and on the east, and giving Russia the harbour of Vladivostock, "Lord of the East," the long-desired port on the Pacific.

It was soon realised, however, that Vladivostock was icebound for several months in each year, and that Russia's ambition was only partially achieved. The following years were therefore spent in strengthening her position so as to be prepared for eventualities. The military posts along the Amur and the garrison towns on the great Siberian caravan route were largely increased, and full advantage taken of the right of the Russian subject to trade and settle in Manchuria and China. Careful surveys were made by Russian experts, and the possibilities of the country studied at the instance of the Russian Government, who were only just

beginning to realise something of the immense possibilities of China. Thus in 1890 the hand of Russia had long been laid on Manchuria, and she was only waiting for the psychological moment to arrive when she might take those regions for her own.

Mr. Kinder's survey started in May 1890. It was desired to keep the expedition and its object secret, but the Russian intelligence had contrived to discover what was on foot before the party started, and it may be supposed the Chinese move was scarcely welcome. It certainly had the effect of forcing Russia's hand to the extent of compelling her to hasten the execution of her plans.

The party went to Yingkow by steamer, and thence by cart to Kirin and Ninguta, a rough survey being made. The country, particularly beyond Kirin, was found to be very wild, and owing to the prevalence of brigandage a large escort of soldiers was necessary to the safety of the party. Hunchun was reached towards the end of July. On crossing the frontier, and during the journey across the Maritime Amur territory to Vladivostock, by way of which the party returned home, every civility was shown by the Russians. It was, however, clear that they regarded the projected railway with strong disfavour, and would exert themselves to the utmost to prevent its construction.

In St. Petersburg the new development aroused the serious attention of the Imperialist party, and steps were immediately taken to meet it. The construction of the Siberian Railway, which, first mooted in 1875, had been under discussion for several years, but up to that time had never really passed out of the region of rather vague contemplation, was decreed by Imperial Rescript early in 1891, and later in the same year the present Tsar, then the Tsarewitch, accompanied by Prince Uktomsky-perhaps the most insistent of Russian Empire builders-made a tour in the Far East. In October 1891 Vladivostock was visited, and the new railway which was to run north to Khabarovka at the junction of the Ussuri and the Amur, and on which construction had already commenced, was formally inaugurated.

At the same time surveys for the line across Siberia were being made, and in the summer of 1892 a start was made with the construction of the western section. Meanwhile the Russians were working steadily at Peking, obstructing Li Hung Chang's scheme in order to gain time in which to mature their own. The position,