The countries which bound Cochin-China to the east are the Chinese provinces of
Quanton and Quangse. To the north, it has the great Chinese province of Yunan, far
more extensive than itself, with the country of the Laos or Shans, and in one small
part Kamboja. East, south, and west it is compassed by the sea, over a coast line,
without reckoning indentations, of about 1100 geographical miles, of which about
120 are on the Gulf of Siam, and the rest on the China Sea.
In the extensive coast line thus mentioned, there have been reckoned no fewer
than 57 ports or harbours, of which at least 10 have been ascertained to he among
the safest and most commodious of eastern Asia. The finest are those of Saigon,
in about latitude 10° 15', and Turon in about 16°.
That portion of the kingdom, more especially called Cochin-China, is a mountainous
country, a range of considerable elevation running through it from north to south.
This throws out many spurs extending to the sea, and between them lie valleys and
plains of greater or less extent, constituting the peopled portion of this part of
the kingdom. To the north of this range lies the plain of Tonquin, and to the south
of it, that of Kamboja.
The kingdom of Cochin-China is well watered, being reckoned to contain no fewer
than 14 rivers of considerable size. Two of these are fine streams, the Mekon or
river of Kamboja, and the Songka, or that of Tonquin. The Mekon, with its
affluents and branches, waters the whole of Kamboja, forming a net-work over a
tract of country little above the level of the sea, and, in a great measure, submerged
in the season of the rains. Of the four branches by which it falls into the sea, the
finest and most navigable is that which has its debouchement west of Cape St. James,
in latitude 10° 25'. This, unusual in Asiatic rivers, is without a bar at its mouth, and
navigable, therefore, for ships of considerable burden for 15 miles above the town of Saigon,
itself about 4S miles from the sea. According to native accounts, it is navigable for
trading boats for 20 days voyage above Saigon, which would make its whole navigable
course about 450 miles. Much of it, however, is beyond the bounds of the kingdom
of Cochin-China. The river of Tonquin is supposed to have a course of about 180
miles, and falls into the sea by two mouths, between latitudes 20° and 21°. The
most northerly of these, which is about a mile broad at its embouchure, was safely
navigated in the seventeenth century by European shipping; but is now described as
being no longer accessible to vessels of burden. With regard to the sources of all
the rivers of the kingdom, or the length of their courses, Europeans are really in
possession of no trustworthy knowledge.
The climate of the kingdom of Cochin-China varies materially, both on account of
latitude and physical geography. The whole country is subject to the north-east
and south-west monsoons; but the low and level countries of Kamboja and Tonquin
have, as in Bengal, the rainy season in the south-western, while Cochin-China proper,
on account of its range of mountains, has it, as in southern India, in the northeastern
monsoon. At the capital city, Hue, the greatest summer heat is about 103°
Fahrenheit, and the lowest winter cold, 57°. Cochin-China, and more especially
Tonquin, are subject to those fearful equinoxial storms called typhoons; but
Kamboja wholly exempt from them, its climate in this, and several other respects,
much resembling that of the Malay Archipelago, north of the equator.
The minerals of the kingdom applied to economical uses are marble, iron, silver,
and gold. The productive mines of the two last are in Tonquin, and are worked by
Chinese, but their locality is unknown to Europeans. Copper, tin, lead and zinc
are asserted to exist, but are probably not worked, for none of these metals are
exported.
The vegetable products of the forests of the kingdom put to use, are two species
of cardamoms, eagle-wood, gamboge and stick-lac, all of which are productions of
Kamboja only. Some good timber is produced in all parts of the kingdom, and
teak is said by the botanist Loureiro to be one of them. The cultivated plants are
those usual in other tropical countries of the same latitudes, rice and maiz being
the staple corns. Cochin-China produces one plant peculiar to itself in these regions,
a true cinnamon, largely exported to China, and held in the market of that country
in greater esteem than that of Ceylon. In the same part of the kingdom and in
Tonquin, the mulberry is cultivated for the production of silk, an article inferior in
quality to the lowest quality of that of China. In the same parts of the kingdom
the tea-plant is reared, but its produce is coarse and tasteless in comparison with the
lowest qualities of that of China, its virtues, such as they are, being obtained, not by
maceration but by boiling.
The larger animals of the forests of the kingdom are the elephant, the rhinoceros,
COCHIN-CHINA 107 COCHIN-CHINA
the hog, a bear, the buffalo, the ox, several species of deer, and the royal tiger and
spotted leopard. The wolf, fox, and jackal do not seem to exist. The domesticated
quadrupeds are the elephant, large and fine ; the buffalo, as large and powerful
as in the Malayan countries, in the southern parts of the kingdom, but smaller in the
more northerly; the ox, a small animal; the goat the same; the hog, a very fine
breed; and the dog, a small animal resembling that [of China. The buffalo is
the chief animal used in agriculture, but neither the flesh of this nor the ox
is used as food, and milk, as such, is considered with abhorrence. The hog,
and as in China, the dog, are the chief source of their animal food, poultry
excepted. In their proper seasons, Cochin-China is visited by numerous flocks of
birds of passage, especially ducks and snipes. I never, indeed, saw the latter so
numerous as in the rice-fields near the capital. The domestic poultry are chiefly
the duck and common fowl, the first inferior to the European, and kept in large
flocks, chiefly on account of the eggs. The last, certainly not the breed called
Cochin-Chinese in this country, is the finest poultry I have ever seen. They are
reared, not for food, but cock-fighting, an amusement to which the Cochin-Chinese
are much addicted. The breed is probably derived directly from the jungle-fowl
of the country, which is abundant, for passing through but a small part of the
country, I had myself an opportunity of seeing flocks, close to the road-side, and even
to the villages.
The seas and rivers of Cochin-China appear to be well stored with fish, and much
of the food of the inhabitants of the coast is derived from this source. In 1822, we
were abundantly supplied at Saigon with the celebrated Indian luxury, the mango-
fish, which had been supposed to be peculiar to the Ganges.
The inhabitants of the kingdom of Cochin-China consist of two nations, the Anam,
or civilised people, which occupies Tonquin and Cochin-China proper, and the Kam-
bojan, the principal inhabitants of Kamboja, with several wild races inhabiting the
mountains known to the civilised inhabitants under the common name of Ke-moi.
The Anam, or dominant people, may be described as men of short stature, as
compared with the Chinese, with well-formed limbs, features of the Chinese form,
and^ a cheerful expression. I t i3 probable that they are, in fact, of the same race with
their neighbours the Kambojans and Siamese, although to strangers their appearance
be disguised by their wearing the ancient costume of China.
Of the population of the kingdom, little better can be offered than a reasonable
conjecture. The latest estimate that I have seen of it is by M. Lefevre, Bishop of
Isauropolis and Yicar-Apostolic of Lower Cochin-China, which is for the year 1847.
This makes it amount to 16,000,000, composed of 13,000,000 of the Annm 0r
dominant people,- and 3,000,000 of Kambojan and other dependent nations. This
which gives 187 inhabitants to the square mile, is most probably a great exaggeration!
Most of the country is mountainous, and inhabited by rude races, always few in
number, and much' that is level, covered with forest, and also consequently thinly
peopled; Tonquin is well known to be the most populous, as it is the largest section
ot the kingdom. If, then, we suppose it to be as densely inhabited as the neighbouring
Chinese province of Quangsi, which has an area of 78,520 square miles, and a
population of 7,313,895, it will contain in round numbers about 6,500,000. If we
compare the population of the less populous sections of Cochin-China proper and
Kamboja with that of another neighbouring Chinese province, that of Yunan, which
has an area of 107,969 square miles, and a population of not more than 5,561,320, we
shall make their inhabitants to amount in round numbers to no more than 1 200 000
so that the entire population of the kingdom would thus be only 7,700,000, or a good
deal less than one-half the computation of M. Lefevre. That this is not under-rating
, ^ e kl.nSdo“ > may be inferred by comparing that of Cochin-China
resemblentbo?amf ' tbat ,.of C?ylon> a country of which the people much
CeXn is W ? mtheir state of sooiety-proper and k ! 1 inhabitants to the square mile, which would givTeh eto PCoopcuhliant-iConh inoaf
therefore mav he i th1atV11>000'000' A W * * millions and a-half,
to be observed b>l me+d a s % e Pr°babls population of the whole kingdom. I t is
that sm“e the.firsfc year of the present century, Cochin-China
devastating rebtll' , , fr°m insurrection, and relieved from the long and
beh^ e th ft mnsfb . a®loted ^immediately before, it is reasonable to
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