THE GEOGRAPHY OF ASIA.*
MR. STANPORD'S Compendium of Geography and Travel is well known, or ought to be well known, to all readers who wish for accurate information about the world they live. in. The three volumes upon Africa, Australasia, and Central and South America are masterpieces in their way, not only for the special value of the maps and illustrations, but for accuracy and breadth of information, for felicity of construction, for clearness and conciseness of style, and for freedom from prejudice. The last-mentioned virtue is, perhaps, one of the rarest, so difficult is it for a writer who feels strongly to avoid colouring his narrative in accordance with personal convictions. And yet it is obvious that in encyclopaedic works of this class, the intrusion of a writer's predilections or antipathies would be wholly out of place. The volume before us deserves similar
praise. Indeed, we are almost disposed to think that in resolving to be impartial, the author and editor have now and then, while suppressing opinions, related facts too briefly. However, the fault, if it be one, is too nearly a virtue to merit blame ; and we have nothing but praise for a book which is not. only interesting to read, but invaluable for reference.
The plan of the work and the vast range it undertakes to cover are described by Sir Richard Temple in the preface. The volume, like its predecessors, was originally based on the well- known work of Von Hellwald, Die Erde mad Are Volker, the whole of which has been translated by Mr. Keane. In the present case, the translation of a book intended for German readers would not suffice, and it was found necessary so. to enlarge the treatment of the whole subject as to produce what deserves to be called. a new work. An Englishman's interest in Asia can scarcely be exaggerated. To say nothing of the supreme importance that in his mind attaches to the Holy Land, Sir Richard Temple reminds us that England pos- sesses two and a half millions of square miles of Asiatic terri-. tory, that "the people under direct administration or political control of England consists of 270 millions of souls, speaking at least twenty languages ;" that not less than 250 ,millions. sterling are invested, either in State loans, or in railways. under State supervision ; that we have a force of about 70,000 Europeans, and 140,000 native troops in Asia ;. and that we possess there 9,000 miles of railway; and 20,000 miles of electric telegraph on land, besides 8,000. miles of submarine cable. But the half is not told,. when figures such as these are tabulated. The deeds of Englishmen in Asia, and especially in India, form some of the brightest pages and perhaps also some of the darkest in the history of the British Empire. It has been a field in which the highest virtues of the race have been exercised, and a field for the display, especially in the early days of the East India. Company's regime, of the arrogance and obstinacy which pre- vent a governing race from sympathising with the feelings and appreciating the qualities of those whom they have subdued.. Since the Mutiny, however, a happier day has dawned for India ; and there is no Eastern land where law is so powerful, justice so impartial, life and property so. secure, and education so widely spread. Western ideas are growing rapidly throughout the peninsula, and if the destruc- tion of the old creeds leads, in the first place, to scepticism, a * Asia, Bihnolagiont Appendix'. By Augustus H. Keane, ht. A.I. Edited by Sir Richard Temple, Bart., 0.0.5.1., Maps and Illustrations. Lonaml: Edward Stanford.
larger knowledge may lead the susceptible Hiudoo and Buddhist to embrace Christianity. At present, the indirect influence of the Christian faith is more evident in India than its life-giving power. Education on an extensive scale is rapidly breaking down prejudice, and the social advancement of the people is extraordinary.
" A far more radical transformation," writes Mr. Keane, "has taken place than might be suspected at a cursory glance. The removal of the central authority from the old inland capitals to the sea-board ; the general disarmament of the people, and the establishment of last- ing peace and security in the remotest corners of the Empire; the suppression of savage rites such as human sacrifices among some wild hill tribes, and of Suttee amongst the Hindus ; the surveys, trigonometrical, topographical, and geological; the enlightened legislation, and the establishment of a system of civil and criminal justice ; the releasing of trade from transit duties and other fetters ; the assessment of the land-tax for long terms of years, and the recog- nition of proprietary right in the land ; the construction of highways, railroads, and telegraphic lines, and the extension of artificial irriga- tion ; the introduction of education on English principles,—are all unmistakable evidences of social progress."
The writer adds, and the fact is full of interest, that though some of the old manufactures are dying out, owing to the intro- duction of machinery, the traditional skill of native craftsmen and the hereditary genius of native artists have not succumbed to Western influences :—" Thus, in Orissa and Southern India, the hand-loom still maintains its place, and the most delicate muslins in the world may still be procured from the Dacca weavers, although at very high prices."
If the future of British India is hopeful, Asia, to which at one time the world owed so much, is said to be sinking into de- crepitude. In Sir Richard Temple's judgment, her three wide- spread creeds—Buddhism, Brahmanism, Muhammedanism- 'deaden the energies of the people :—
" Weighed in the scale of modern civilisation, she is found practi- cally wanting ; viewed in the light of religion, she seems incapable of self-elevation Europe is gradually becoming the mistress of Asia,—is connected with the Asiatic continent by growing interests, and is deriving material advantage from this connection. It is only by means of such a connection that rejuvenescence seems possible for Asiatic races The advantages springing from European influence in Asia may be aptly illustrated by a summary comparison between India and China. Of the two countries, China is not only the larger, but also the finer in respect to the conditions of its soil and climate, as well as the qualities of its people. Yet it has neither a railway, nor an electric telegraph, nor any enlightened system of legislation and education. Its grand canals are ill repaired and imper- fectly managed. Its mineral resources are undeveloped, and its foreign trade is relatively small. Whereas, India is permeated by the railway and the telegraph, has scientifically framed laws, and a liberal system of State education. Its canals are magnificently managed, its coal-mines are worked, and its foreign trade is three- fold that of China, though its population is less than that of China by one-third."
This comparison of India and China is, no doubt, a true one, but when the editor writes of the stagnation of Asia generally, observing that she has no spontaneous energy, he could scarcely have intended to include Japan, a country which within the last twenty years has achieved one of the most striking social revolutions the world has known. No doubt, however, this revolution has its drawbacks, and the future of a country can- not be safely prognosticated from a change due to the imi- tation of Western culture. England and the United States may hold the highest rank among the nations, but it does not follow that a people who servilely copy their institutions will become 'great also. A nation, like an individual, has a life of its own to develop, a growth that cannot be stimulated artificially. The -Japanese have made many blunders in their eager strain after European culture, and the greatest of them is the belief that in- stitutions which accord with the genius of the English people must necessarily suit Japan.
Asia, the largest quarter of the globe, contains, as every one -knows, more than eight hundred millions of inhabitants. The varieties of race and of culture are remarkable, and the physical features of this enormous territory are equally various. There the extreme of heat may be felt, and the intensest cold known in the Old World; there the traveller may be stopped by deserts never yet traversed by foreigner or native, or he may lose him- self amidst the richest luxuriance of tropical forests ; there he may meet with nations that were highly civilised when our forefathers lived the life of savages, and people as debased as -the least human tribes to be found in Central Africa.
What a number of suggestive topics occur in glancing over • the pages of an encyclopaedic volume like this, which touches on innumerable topics without exhausting any ! We open the -chapter on Arabia, and learn that fully one-half of it remains
entirely unexplored ; and that the Bedouin Arabs, instead of being addicted to roaming, are, perhaps, more attached to their homes than any people. We open that on Persia, to read that, with one or two exceptions, there are no roads in the country ; and that the land, so far from being, according to the old geographers, mainly a vast, sandy plain, fringed on the north and west by escarpments, is almost everywhere traversed by lofty ranges. But we learn also that in the plains the shifting sands are gaining the mastery over villages, and even towns, and are now threatening to swallow up Yezd, with its 40,000 inhabitants. In turning to Baluchistan, we are informed that that name, unknown in the country itself, is altogether inappropriate, as the aboriginal and ruling race are not the Baluchis, but the Brahuis ; and of Caucasia we are told that, within the brief period it has formed a part of the Russian Empire, the last spark of independence has been stamped out among the high- land tribes, yet the writer adds that, as the authorities have entirely abstained from interfering with the peculiar religious views of the people, "it is scarcely correct to assert that the Russian rule has mainly resulted in the extinction of national life,"—statements which strike us as slightly contradictory. The Chinese Empire, which is supposed to comprise one-fourth of mankind, contains branches of the Mongol family almost wholly uncivilised ; while others, like the Tibetans, whose land is the centre of the Buddhist world, have a religious system which in its ritualism is closely allied to that of Rome. The simil- arity of the two forms of worship is represented with much interesting detail. The monks live in monasteries, the priests wear the tonsure, they fast and mortify the flesh, observe spiritual retreats, confess the faithful, intercede for them with the saints of heaven, make long pilgrimages to shrines where relics are preserved. Celibacy is common to both hierarchies :— " Communities of men and women devote themselves entirely to a life of contemplation. Church and temple are in the same way fur- nished with high altar, candlesticks, reliquaries, holy-water, fonts, and belfries. The lama, like the priest and bishop, officiates with mitre and crazier, cope and dalmatica, salutes the altar, bends the knee before the relics, intones the service, recites the litanies, utters prayers in a language unknown to the congregation, solicits oferings for the repose of the faithful departed, heads the processions, pro- nounces blessings and exorcisms. Around him the choristers sway the incense-burner, and the devout tell their beads."
The Tibetans are extremely superstitious, and so also are the Mongolians, a race that once made itself "the terror of the world." The modern representative of that brave but cruel people, " potential in moulding mediaeval history," is described as addicted to gluttony, indolence, filthy habits, and other vices. Like a Zulu, he will eat several pounds of meat at a sitting; he is too indolent to walk, even for a short distance, and may be said to live on horseback. The Mongol hates water, never washes his body, and very seldom his face and hands ; he is degraded and powerless, and it would be curious to know how he has thus fallen from what, in comparison, was a high estate.
Some of the most interesting pages of the volume describe the fauna and flora of the different countries. Information on these subjects has been gleaned from all sources. Indeed, it would seem that no research has been spared to make the work as complete as possible. And yet, as we read of vast tracts of country un- explored or but slightly known, of people whose position in the human family is still undetermined, and when, too, we read that the greater part of Asia is as yet untouched geo- graphically by scientific operations on a complete scale, so that the work yet to be achieved is said to be indescribably great, we are reminded that the knowledge of the cradle of our race, although wonderfully increased of late years, is as yet com- paratively slight, when contrasted with our ignorance.
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