Kamboja produce the greatest numbers, and those
of the best quality. I am told that in that country
the price of a new elephant does not exceed
forty or fifty quans. The white elephant is not,
as in Siam, Pegue, and Ava, an object of veneration.
There were none at Hué or Saigun; nor
could I learn that the forests, from which the principal
supply is derived, produced any of this variety.
The Cochin Chinese use the elephant in
war, but, from the natural timidity of the animal,
probably to little purpose. The horse of Cochin
China is a small, shabby-looking pony, inferior in
size and beauty to the small horses of the Indian
islands. They are used only for riding, and do
not, indeed, appear to be fit either for agricultural
labour, or for the purposes of a cavalry.
The buffalo was the animal which we constantly
observed used for field labour, although it is not
improbable but the ox may be so applied in parts
of the country where the soil is drier and lighter.
We found the buffalo at Saigun to be the same
large and powerful animal as in Siam and in the
Indian islands ; but as we proceeded northward,
and especially about Hué, it was a much inferior
animal, in all respects ; a fact which seems to indicate
that this quadruped exists in perfection
only in countries close to the Equator. The ox
is a small animal, uniformly of a reddish-brown
colour, and destitute of the hump so remarkable
in the cattle of Western India. Neither the flesh
of the buffalo-nor ox is used by the Cochin Chinese.
as food ; and, as I have already noticed, they
hold milk in abhorrence. A small variety of goat
is tolerably frequent ; and we saw, both at Saigun
and Hué, a few shabby and diminutive sheep,
which were kept more for curiosity than use.
The hog is a great favourite with the Cochin
Chinese. In the wild state it is found in all parts
of the country ; and the breed, which is domesticated,
is remarkably handsome and compact.
We observed at Hué that the hogs were universally
stall-fed, and seldom permitted to roam at
large. ’
The poultry of Cochin China, especially that of
Saigun, is the finest I have seen in India, and is
cheap and abundant. Ther common fowl, in the
wild state, is found in the Cochin Chinese forests,
as we had ourselves an opportunity of ascertaining,
and they are reared in considerable abundance;
but, I believe, less on account of their
flesh than to gratify the propensity, which is so
general amongst the Cochin Chinese, for cock-
fighting. Several species of wild duck visit the
country in the cold season, as birds of passage,
when they are to be seen in vast flocks, covering
the rivers, lakes, marshes, and rice-fields. The
common duck is reared in vast quantities, and we
had opportunities of seeing flocks which could
not be less in number than a thousand. We saw
geese only at Saigun, but in considerable num