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TOPOGRAPHY. 271
it again acquired the rank of a capital, having been chosen as the residence of the
Mohammedan King Tuwhensia, or Sultan Soliman. On the entry of the Imperialists
in 1873, over half of its 50,000 inhabitants were massacred, and the commander of
the forces was able to send to Yunnan-fu twenty-four large hampers full of human
ears. The suburbs were fired, and the city half ruined. But Tali can scarcely fail
to recover from its disasters. Besides its administrative importance, it enjoys the
advantage oj its fertile plains, mines of salt and the precious metals, marble quarries,
besides which it is the natural entrepot of trade between Bhamo and Ningyuen ;
that is, between Burma and Sechuen. Lying over 6,500 feet above sea-level, near
the tropical zone, it enjoys an excellent climate, without a winter season, although
the mountains rising 10,000 feet above the west side of the lake are snow-clad for
eight or nine months in the year.
The lake, better known by the name of Erh-hai, is 30 miles long according to Gill,
and develops a crescent stretching north and south, with a mean breadth of about
6 miles. In the deeper parts there is over 300 feet of water, but elsewhere it is
much shallower, and in the south studded with a few islands. During the rains its
level is sometimes raised 16 or 18 feet, when the torrent is changed to a copious
stream, which carries its outflow through the Yanghi-kiang to the Mekhong. Like
all its influents, the lake abounds in fish, which the natives take with the aid of
water-fowl trained for the purpose.
Shunning-fu, Ytin-rheic, Semao, and the other places in the Mekhong basin south
of Tali-fu, also suffered from the consequences of the late outbreak. Mcngltoa-hien,
near the source of the Red River, 30 miles south of the lake, was distinguished
beyond all others for its heroic defence, and when further resistance became
impossible, all valuables were hastily collected together
and burnt. Poison was
then distributed amongst the old men, women, and children, the four corners of the
city were fired, and the handful of surviving combatants mostly perished in the
attempt to cut their way through the besieging forces.
Likidinj-fii, in the Upper Kinsha-kiang basin north of Tali-fu, has not yet been
visited by any European traveller ;
but when Gill passed west of it he was told that
it had been ruined by the oppressive rule of the mandarins. Other places in the
same district had been completely destroyed either by the Panthays or the Imperial
foBces. In the portion of Yunnan draining to the Yang-tze only three large towns
remain intact. < >ne of these is the provincial capital, Yiiniitin-fii, situated in a
plain near the northern extremity of the largest lake in North Yunnan. This lake,
known as the " Sea of Tien," from a kingdom of that name formerly comprising
the greater portion of the plateau, lies about 6,500 feet above the sea, and sends its
superfluous waters through the Pulu-shing emissary northwards to the Yang-tze.
The district is productive in cereals, flax, tobacco, and fruits. But the introduction
of the opium industry is said to have ruined that of wax, of which large quantities
were formerly produced. The natives stale that the bees, attracted by the poppy
flower, all perished from its ]>oisonous effects after the second season. Yunnan-fu,
identified by some with Marco Polo's Yaxlti, is the centre of one of the chief mining
regions in the province. It controls the current price of copper for the whole of China,