PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2985, 31 May 1911, Page 78

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE FRENCH FLEET.

In this week's cablegrams you will see one headed something like this: "The Mediterranean : The French Navy in Command." There is more in that cable than appears at first sight, and if you want full details get The Navy for April and read the article, commencing on page 81, by Monsieur Charles Bos. The entente cordial© between Britain and France is, to some extent, an offensive and defensive alliance, and it was understood that as one of the results the British naval power in the Mediterranean was to be lessened to increase the naval power in the North Sea, the British naval power being strong enough, there to protect both Great Britain and France; and, on the other hand, French naval power was to be concentrated on Toulon, and to some extent do for England in the Mediterranean wh'jt Britain was doing for France in the North, Sea. This was actually done. Admiral de Lapeyrere, the Minister of Marine in 1909, thought fit, however, in that year, to split The Toulon fleet into two, one remaining at Toulon and the other proceeding to Brest and Toulon. Evidently the British Government thought this a breach of faith, and the British Ambassador at Paris interviewed the French Government on the matter. As a result, an official communication was sent to the British Government that the division was only a temporary one ; but this was to some ex tent discounted by the statement made by the Admiral-Minister in the French Parliament, that an admiral could not effectively commend a fleet as large as the French Toulon fleet ; but, says M. Charles Bos, this contention is wholly unjustified, since British admirals handle fleets far more numerous and powerful, and French admirals have handled the Toulon fleet with considerable ability and success.

Perhaps public opinion, plus British diplomacy, have caused the AdmiralMinister to alter his mind “THE ROOF OF THE WORLD.” In 1906-7 lieutenant Ktherlon, in tho Indian service, thought that he would like to make the journey over the Farmers, through Chinese Turkestan and Mongolia to the Trans-Siberian railway. It had never been attempted before, but with indomitable perseverance and with tho assistance of Chinese, Russian, and British consular and official assistance, he managed to achieve his object, and in less than a year he traversed 4000 miles over some of the coldest and most difficult country in the world. As a result of his travels he has published a profuselyillustrated book, “Across the Roof of the World.” I haven’t read it, but from an extended review I take a note or two. This author says that his main object was game, and that to be successful he had to travel light. He made good, however, owing to the assistance he obtained from tbs sources I have mentioned.

Perhaps you think Central Asia beyond the reach of modern civilisation ; if you do, you are mistaken. The Chinese officials he found to have a full knowledge of reform movements, and to have travelled extensively. But corruption .'s rife. Read what he says:—"But many a long vear will pass before official corruption " ceases to be the general rule. Everyone robs and cheats, and those who are not past masters at the art of bribing stand no chance in the competition for pests." lieutenant Etherton tells a story of an Amban who managed for a dozen years to draw pay, rations, and equipment for 500 troops, while in reality he kept but 42. Being then found out, he was summoned to explain his conduct to the Governor-general, whom he managed so weill to satisfy that he was speedily restored to his poet with all lionours. A FEAST IN Y ARK AND. The following paragraph shows a decree of luxury on would not suspect, and is also an interesting' insight into socal life from a gastronomical point ot view ; The Amban of Yarkand entertained his British visitor at a remarkable banquet. Mtev a preliminary canter over two courses the guests took a couple of hours rest, and then fell to in earnest. It was a trying ordeal," says Lieutenant Etherton " course succeeding course, until 1 lost all count after 25. There were sharks' fins, bamboo shoots and bamboo roots, pigeons' eggs preserved in chalk lotus seeds, stags' tendons liver of all kinds, and a host of weird and strange comestibles, that might well have appalled a stomach of iron. I suffered the whole programme, even to tackling a sea-slug with as many legs as a centipede. And the acme of politeness at a Chinese feast is for the host and others to single out any choice morsels on their own plates and deposit them on the plate of the chief guest." The presence in that remote region of delicacies obtained from the sea is "evidence of a considerable degree of luxury, and even of civilisation. ' BRITISH AND RUSSIANS.

Another extract shows the estimation in which these two nations are held in Central Asia: —"The fame of Britain has penetrated there, too. A Kazak of the Thian Shan region demanded of Lieutenant Etherton, in Persian, whether he was really an Englishman, and, on being assured of the fact, showed unfeigned delight and shook the traveller vigorously by the hand, saying he had heard, in his wanderings in Central Asia, of the might and power of the British, and had always had a strong desire to meet one of them. The Kalmucks, a virile race, who, rather than endure Russian tyranny, emigrated from the banks of the Volga, in the eighteenth century, and settled in Chinese territory, were, perhaps, the most superior people the travellers encountered. One of their many remarkable customs is the way in which they dispose of their dead. The corpse is carried to the outskirts of the camp, and if it is not demolished in the course of a few days by the dogs and vultures, the deceased is held to have lived a wicked life, and his sins _ are punished on the persons of his relations, Avho are severely chastised all round." THE PAMIRS. Though I have given the above selections, from a geographical point of view this is more informative: —The popular view of the Pamirs as a vast tableland is, he says, a mistaken one. " Actually they comprise a series of wide, open valleys, witli gently sloping sides, the average elevation being some 13,000 ft, many of the intervening peaks running up to 20,000 ft and over. They may also be compared to a succession of leads formed by the shale detritus, which has accumulated through the ages, a mighty mass of lofty, high-pitched ridges and gables, narrow valleys, hollows or leads between, desolate and treeless, and with a climate noted for its severity." Chinese Turkestan he found a land of deserts and sand dunes, with practically no rainfall, and all the agriculture carried on by means of irrigation along the banks of the streams. The journey from Leh, in Kashmir, to Yarkand involves a 30 days' march over a road crossing seme of the highest passes in the world. The highly rarefield atmosphere, the overpowering cold, and the enormous glaciers .rendered trade almost ruinously difficult until the Indian Government established supply stations along the route. Lieutenant Etherton has written an interesting and singularly modest account of a remarkable achievement."