re received in the most cordial manner and every facility and
convenience put at our disposal. M. Dupontes was especially helpful.

Some time before our arrival a tunnel on the railroad from Hanoi to Yuen-nan
Fu had caved in and for almost a month trains had not been running. It was
now in operation, however, but all luggage had to be transferred by hand at
the broken tunnel and consequently must not exceed eighty-five pounds in
weight. This meant repacking our entire equipment and three days of hard
work. M. Dupontes arranged to have our 4000 pounds of baggage put in a
special third class carriage with our "boys" in attendance and in this way
saved the expedition a considerable amount of money. He personally went
with us to the station to arrange for our comfort with the _chef de gare_,
telegraphed ahead at every station upon the railroad, and gave us an open
letter to all officials; in fact there was nothing which he left undone.

The railroad is a remarkable engineering achievement for it was constructed
in great haste through a difficult mountainous range. Yuen-nan is an
exceedingly rich province and the French were quick to see the advantages
of drawing its vast trade to their own seaports. The British were already
making surveys to construct a railroad from Bhamo on the headwaters of the
Irawadi River across Yuen-nan to connect with the Yangtze, and the French
were anxious to have their road in operation some time before the rival
line could be completed.

Owing to its hasty construction and the heavy rainfall, or perhaps to both,
the tunnels and bridges frequently cave in or are washed away and the
railroad is chiefly remarkable for the number of days in the year in which
it does not operate; nevertheless the French deserve great credit for their
enterprise in extending their line to Yuen-nan Fu over the mountains where
there is a tunnel or bridge almost every mile of the way. While it was
being built through the fever-stricken jungles of Tonking the coolies died
like flies, and it was necessary to suspend all work during the summer
months.

The scenery along the railroad is marvelous and the traveling is by no
means uncomfortable, but the hotels in which one stops at night are
wretched. One of our friends in Hongkong related an amusing experience
which he had at Lao-kay, the first hotel on the railroad. He asked for a
bath and discovered that a tub of hot water had been prepared. He wished a
cold bath, and see