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FLORA AND FAUNA. 119
Niuchwang, said to have formerly stood at the mouth of the river, now lies many
miles inland. From century to century the ports have been shifted according as
the river advanced seawards, and the navigation of the gulf is now endangered by
banks and shallows, which, however, may be partly due to a slow upheaval of the
land. The Liao-he valley was at all times an important historic highway. This
route led the Manchus down to the Yellow Sea when they advanced to the conquest
of China, and it was also followed by the Chinese military expeditions to the
Sungari
basin and the Korean frontier. Hence the care with which the Liao-he
valley has always been guarded by the Imperial Government, as shown by the
remains of extensive ramparts and fortifications in the neighbourhood of Mukden.
At present the same region has acquired an exceptional political importance, as
affording to Manchuria its only outlet seawards. By a strange lack of foresight, or
perhaps because at the time too weak to resist Russian pressure, the Chinese
Government has deprived itself of all its seaports north of Korea. Hence all the
foreign trade of the Sungari basin has to be carried on either through the Lower
Liao-he valley or across Russian territory. The Russian naval station, founded to
cripple China on its north-eastern flank, stands on the Gulf of Peter the Great ;
that is, at the very spot where North Manchuria formerly enjoyed most direct
access to the Japanese waters.
The surface of Manchuria is extremely varied, with its sandy wastes, its grassy
steppes, rich arable lands, and dense forest tracts. The region, some 40,000 square
miles in extent, stretching east of the Great Khingan from the Shara-muren to the
foot of the Dause-alin range, now depends on Mongolia, and is often called the
Eastern Gobi. Here the monsoons from the Pacific are arrested by the lofty Shan-
alin highlands, which receive most of their moisture. Under the influence of
these atmospheric currents, thus deprived of their humidity and mingling with the
still drier north-west winds, the Eastern Gobi necessarily remains an arid region.
But proceeding thence eastwards to the lands affected by the cloud-bearing sea
breezes, every transition may be observed in soil and climate. Along the Sungari
valley stretch vast prairies like those of the Amur, where the tall grasses, 8 to 10
feet high, are interlaced with the foliage of the bushy shrubs, and where the only
tracks are those formed by wild beasts. Most of the North Manchurian mountains
are green to their summits, while in the intervening valleys the solar rays are
arrested by the impenetrable foliage of the oak, elm, and willow forests. From the
lofty peaks the eye sweeps over a sea of verdure stretching from hill to hill, from
valley to valley, beyond the horizon. The vegetation in certain parts
of the
Sungari basin rivals in exuberance that of the Eastern Archipelago
South Manchuria, where nearly all the arable lands have been reclaimed, the forest
itself. In
vegetation is less dense, and most of the headlands on the Gulfs of Liaotung and
Korea are bare or treeless.
FLORA AND FAUNA.
In its flora and fauna Chinese like Russian Manchuria forms a connecting link
between East Siberia and China proper. Certain species of trees and shrubs give