INTERNAL  TRADE  303
between  provinces  of  the  size  of  kingdoms,  passing  by  routes
many  hundreds  of  miles  in  length.  At  times  of  falling
dynasties  this  traffic  would  become  insecure  ;  but  as  each
succeeding  dynasty  became  established  in  power  the  ways
were  opened,  and  a  pax  Romana  allowed  the  free  interchange ­
  of  commodities  between  the  different  parts  of  the
empire.  In  the  competition  between  the  coasting  trade  by
sea  and  the  internal  trade,  the  latter  had  many  advantages,
more  than  compensating  for  the  economic  gain  from  water
transport  in  large  bulk.  On  the  internal  route  there  were
no  “  Rhine  Barons  ”  or  others  to  levy  illegal  toll,  while
the  danger  from  bandits  was  more  than  counterbalanced
by  the  risk  of  piracy  on  the  sea  ;  until  less  than  fifty  years
ago  there  was  no  likin  or  other  tax  on  transit  in  general  ;
and,  while  generally  water  transport  could  be  utilised
through  the  whole  or  the  greater  part  of  the  distance  on
most  of  the  routes,  the  cheapness  of  human  labor  minimised
the  cost  of  transport  by  land.  By  sea,  the  clumsy  junks
were  at  the  mercy  of  the  monsoon,  making  good  speed  to
the  north  during  the  summer,  and  to  the  south  in  autumn
and  winter,  but  unable  to  make  commercially  profitable
voyages  against  the  prevailing  winds  ;  while  the  Custom
Houses  were  established  at  the  seaports  alone,  and,  moreover, ­
  taxed  all  movement,  to  home  as  well  as  to  foreign
ports,  and  repeated  the  tax  whenever  goods  came  again
under  their  cognisance,  as  if  all  previous  levy  had  been
made  by  alien,  as  it  was  by  independent  authority.
There  are  no  records  of  this  internal  trade,  and  its
component  parts  can  be  studied  only  by  the  light  of  the
coasting  trade  by  steamer  which  to-day  has  taken  its  place
on  many  routes.  1  he  routes  themselves  are  innumerable,
but  a  selection  will  be  made  for  description  of  a  few  of  the
most  important,  viz  :—
1.  The  West  River  route,  west  from  Canton.
2.  Ihe  Cheling  Pass  route,  north-west  from  Canton.
3.  Ihe  Meiling  Pass  route,  north  from  Canton.
4.  Ihe  Min  River  route,  north-west  from  Foochow