A thousand miles on an elephant in the Shan States

by Holt S. Hallett

The difficulties, so well described by Mr Baber, lie in Chinese territory, and it is not reasonable to expect that the Chinese would ever consent to undertake such a costly railway through such a poor and sparsely populated hilly region as is traversed by the Bhamo route.

The only other route from Upper Burmah to Yunnan that has been followed by Europeans is that from Hlinedet (Hlaingdet), a station about 80 miles to the south of Mandalay, viâ Kiang Tung and Kiang Hung, to Ssumao. In 1872 Dr Cushing ascended the Hlinedet pass to Poayhla, 4160 feet above the sea, and proceeded to Moné or Mong Nai, crossing four hill-ranges. From Moné he passed over three ranges of hills, and descended to the Takaw ferry, where he crossed the Salween. Between the Salween and Kiang Tung three or four ranges of hills, as well as four or five spurs, making eight ascents and descents, occur on the route, one of the passes rising to 6400 feet above the level of the sea, and another to 5500 feet. The country between Kiang Tung and Kiang Hung is equally difficult, the route crossing five mountains before reaching the Meh Kong river at Kiang Hung.

The Salween river might be reached from Poayhla by another route, swaying slightly to the north, if it is found possible to carry a railway across the Nattit pass, 4800 feet above sea-level. This pass, however, is so difficult, that it is feared it will prove an insurmountable obstacle. Anyhow, a railway from Hlinedet to the Salween will prove a most expensive undertaking; and the country to the east of the ferry, between it and the Meh Kong, although much easier than on the Bhamo route, is so difficult that it is in the uttermost degree unlikely that it will ever be traversed from west to east by a railway.

Two other routes—the ones that are at present apparently favoured by the Government for the connection of Burmah and China—converge on the Salween at the Kun Lôn ferry. One starts from Mandalay and proceeds eastward through Theebaw and Thoungze to the ferry; and the other, after ascending the Shan plateau by the pass leading from Hlinedet to Poayhla, takes a north-easterly direction to the ferry. Some of the difficulties on the first route are evidenced by the report of the Government surveyors on the portion of the route lying between Mandalay and Thoungze. From this it appears that the cart-road to Maymyo (Pyinulwin), a place 24 miles to the east of Mandalay, has had to be contoured to 44 miles, and ascends in this distance 3300 feet. The descent to Thoungze from Maymyo is given by our surveyors at 1600 feet, and the greater part of the ascent from the plain of the Irawadi is said to be very steep. Thoungze lies on the route to Theinni, and is only 40 miles in an air-line from Mandalay, or about one-fourth of the air-line distance from Mandalay to the Kun Lôn ferry, where the route would cross the Salween. The difficulties of the route, according to people who have traversed it, are said to be still greater beyond Thoungze. The great gash in the country, between 1100 and 1200 feet deep, called the Goteik defile, has to be descended by steps cut in the face of the rock for 800 feet to a natural bridge across the ravine, and, having crossed it, the precipice on the other bank has to be ascended in the same manner. The banks of the ravine are 3600 feet above the level of the sea. Between Thoungze and Theebaw, besides this ravine one descent of 800 feet and another of 1600 feet have to be made, as well as ascents of 1500 feet, 800 feet, and 900 feet. Even on reaching Theebaw you are only half-way to the Salween, and have not crossed the high range which divides the drainage of the Irawadi from that of the Salween.

I have no information as to the level of the country beyond Theebaw, but I find in the accounts of a journey from Theinni to the Kun Lôn ferry, that 20 miles out of the 52 miles is very difficult. Looking at these particulars, it will be seen that the ascent from Mandalay to the summit of the plateau at Maymyo is nearly double as great as the ascent from our frontier to the crest of the pass on the Maulmain-Raheng route, and the descent to Thoungze is nearly equal to that to Raheng. It is therefore evident that the difficulties to be encountered within 40 miles of Mandalay by a railway from Mandalay to the Salween must be considerably greater than those which would be met by the Burmah-SiamChina Railway between our frontier and Raheng, and probably greater than those on the whole of the line from our frontier to Kiang Hung.

The second route starts from Hlinedet, and clambers the steep western flank of the Shan plateau to Poayhla, from which place the Kun Lôn ferry across the Salween can be reached by caravans by various routes, all of which are difficult. The northerly route over the Nattit hill is believed to be impracticable for a railway. Another, proceeding eastwards, crosses four ranges of hills before it reaches Mong Nai. It thence proceeds northwards to the ferry, crossing a very difficult range of hills before reaching the Salween. The portion of this route between Hlinedet and Poayhla, and between Poayhla and Mong Nai, presents serious obstructions to the construction of a railway. To avoid one of the hills between Poayhla and Mong Nai, and to cross the others by easier passes, Mr Scott, the assistant superintendent of the Shan States, proposes that the railway, after leaving Poayhla, shall take a great sweep southwards to Mong Hpai, and from Mong Hpai proceed in a north-easterly direction to Mong Nai. This will involve a railway distance between Rangoon and Mong Nai of about 525 miles, and, according to him, Mong Nai is distant 200 miles from the Kun Lôn ferry across the Salween. The distance from Rangoon to the Kun Lôn ferry would therefore be at least 725 miles, or a greater distance than Maulmain is from the Chinese frontier at Ssumao. The most serious obstacle between Mong Hpai and Mong Nai, according to Mr Scott, is “the deep gash in the hills made by the rapid waters of the Nam Pwon,” and it is not yet known whether that “deep gash” can be avoided. Anyhow, the avoidance of the gash might add considerably to the length of the railway.

I have previously shown how difficult the country east of the Salween, along the Bhamo and Takaw routes, is—one line lying to the north of the Kun Lôn ferry route, and the other south. There is every reason to believe that the difficulties to be encountered on the Kun Lôn ferry route, although perhaps less than on the Bhamo route, will be greater than on the Takaw route.

The Bhamo and Kun Lôn ferry routes, which seemingly are the only ones finding any favour with Government, deal only with the country west of the Salween, are purely local routes, and can never be anything else, as their termini would still be on the western or Burmah side of the enormous physical barriers crossed by the caravan-routes from Upper Burmah to Yunnan. To talk of either Bhamo or the Kun Lôn ferry as on the Chinese frontier for the purposes of trade, is altogether misleading, as both these places are separated from the fertile and populous regions of Southern China by alpine country, over which the Chinese would never consent to carry a railway.

The more the subject is examined, the more evident does it become that the only possible railway connection between Burmah and China must be by the Maulmain route projected by us. It is a case of that or nothing.

The enterprise which we propose is big with promise, not only for the present but for future generations. Our policy, political as well as commercial, should be to develop by every means in our power our intercourse and intercommunication between India and China—between British manufacturers and millions of Chinese, Siamese, and Shan customers. A prudent and yet resolute readiness to undertake reasonable responsibilities, inseparable from the duties of a great commercial nation, should be the key-note of our national policy, and should be the badge of no particular party. It is for the commercial community and working classes to see that such a policy is undertaken and adhered to.