Lambeth, but so shallow as to be fordable on
horseback in the dry season.
On this river, and at the distance of one hundred
miles from its mouth, is situated the capital
of Tonquin, the largest city in the empire, most
frequently called Ke-cho, written Cachao by us,
but often, by the natives of the country, named
Bak-than. Chinese traders, who were well acquainted
with both, described it to me as being
at least thrice as large as Hué, and it is probable
that its population does not fall short of
one hundred and fifty thousand. Dampier, in
his time, believed it to contain twenty thousand
houses, which would give a population of at
least two hundred thousand. The only other
considerable place of which I have heard is
Hean, which, in the time of Dampier, was estimated
to contain two thousand houses, and probably,
therefore, not less than twenty thousand
inhabitants.
Of the civil subdivisions of Tonquin, various
accounts have been rendered. Dampier divides
the country into eight provinces ; the Abbé R ichard
into eleven; a manuscript sketch, by M.
Chaigneau, into nine ; and according to a native's
statement furnished to me, they amount to fifteen.
Their names, according to this last, are
as follow :—Ke-cho, Teng-long, Wai-tak, Sang-
sai, King-pak, Sing-kwang, Heng-wha, Ko-peng,
Leong-san, Ching-wha, La-nam First and Lanam
Second, Hai-yong, An-kwong, and Man-ning-
chao. Two of these provinces, lying adjacent to
Cochin China, are under the immediate management
of the Court; and the rest, as already mentioned,
governed by a viceroy, who resides at Cachao.*
On the coast of Cochin China there are many
islands, of which the following is such a sketch as
I have been enabled to collect, beginning from
the Gulf of Siam. The Cochin Chinese race have
spread themselves in this quarter as far north as
the considerable island of Ko-kram, nearly in the
thirteenth degree of latitude, and, in fine weather,
visible from' the roads of Siam: This, and other
islands in its neighbourhood, however, belong to
Siam, down to Ko-kong inclusive. The extensive
chain of islands from this to Pulo Ubi, all
belong to Cochin China, including Pulo Panjang,
and Pulo We, although distant from the coast.
The greater number of them are small, steep, barren,
thickly wooded and uninhabited. Of Pulo
Ubi, and Quadrole, which are among the most
considerable in size, some account has been given
in th e J o u r n a l .
In the China Seas, the only considerable islands
» According to the Nouvelles Lettres Edifiantes, the number
of Provinces is eleven; but the names there given differ almost
entirely from those in the text. There is no doubt hut that
both civil divisions, and their names, are often capriciously
altered.
R 2