TONQUIN AND SIGHTS IN CHOLON
There was so little sight-seeing to be done in Saigon that the tired
tourists did not hurry themselves in the morning; for breakfast was not
served till nine o'clock, and they went to the tables at their own
pleasure. The Nimrods had risen at an early hour, and had taken a long
walk before any others came from their rooms. They were the first to
take the morning meal, and they had earned an appetite before the
regular hour for it. At half-past ten a number of vehicles had been
gathered by the landlord for the use of his guests.
Mr. Frôler was in attendance as soon as breakfast was _ready_, and the
young _men_ took their meal with him. He seemed to have taken a fancy to
Louis when he learned that the Guardian-Mother was his college, and he
took pains to inform him in regard to the affairs of the city and the
country.
"How did the French happen to settle here in the beginning?" asked Louis
when they were seated at the table.
"England, Holland, Spain, and especially France, began to take an
interest in the countries of the East at a very early date; and France
entered the race for Oriental territory as early as 1787, and agreed to
assist Annam in its troubles. Two years later the French Revolution
broke out in the destruction of the Bastille, on the fourteenth of July,
which is still celebrated. It is our 'Fourth of July,' Mr. Belgrave."
"I was in Paris on that day a few years ago, when I was a smaller boy
than I am now, and I wondered that no fire-crackers were let off,"
replied Louis.
"They are not permitted in Paris. France had her hands full after the
Revolution began, and was unable to keep her agreement in full with
Annam; but missionaries were sent there, and some commercial relations
in a very small way were continued until 1831. Then the king died, and
was succeeded by one who did not believe in the missionaries, French and
Spanish, settled in Annam, as the whole country east of Siam was then
called. The new king wanted to drive away the bearers of the gospel to
the natives, and killed or persecuted them.
"Twenty years later, France found it necessary to interfere, which she
did by sending a small army to subdue the country. The fortifications
which had been built by French engineers held the soldiers back to some
extent. When the persecutions of the Christians were believed to be
ended, the French soldiers returned home. They were again renewed; and
France and Spain sent out a fleet and army, which captured the principal
seaport, and continued the war for about four years, when a treaty of
peace was concluded. Annam was compelled to pay 25,000,000 francs for
the expense of the war, and permit every person to enjoy his own
religious belief. The missionaries were to be protected, commercial
relations were established, and in 1886 a treaty was ratified at Hué, by
which the country was placed under the protection of France, though the
native princes were nominally continued in power. This was the beginning
of the French dominion in this region."
"If it is not one now, it will eventually become a French colony,"
suggested Louis.
"Probably it will, for it is largely so now," replied Mr. Frôler.
Captain Ringgold, who had waited for Mrs. Belgrave, finished breakfast
about the same time; for they had not listened to a historical talk
while they were eating, and they left the room together. At the time
appointed for the ride, all the party were in the parlor, and they were
loaded into the vehicles. They rode through the principal streets, and
to the botanical garden, where all the party walked through the grounds.
Then they rode along the banks of the river.
"Those small vessels look like men-of-war," said Louis, who was seated
in the first carriage, with Mr. Frôler, the commander, and Mrs.
Belgrave.
"They are little gunboats, and the government has about twenty of them,"
replied the Frenchman. "But I think we had better alight here, and take
a general view of the river and the surroundings."
At a given signal the whole party got out of the vehicles.
"But what are those gunboats for, Mr. Frôler?" asked Louis, as the
company were looking at them.
"If there should happen to be a riot, or a disturbance of any kind, up
the river, which the police could not handle, they would be used for
transporting troops; for we have the telegraph here, and could be
notified at once. They are also used to beat off pirates, and to see
that the laws are obeyed."
"Pirates!" exclaimed Louis. "Are there any about _this_ country?"
"They are not such pirates as we read about in olden times," replied Mr.
Frôler with a smile. "But some of these natives may rig up a boat, and
go on a predatory excursion among their neighbors, especially in the
fishing regions on the Great Lake, over two hundred miles up the river.
Their principal plunder is fish, though they take anything they can lay
their hands upon."
"I should hardly call them pirates," added Louis.
"But Chinese pirates have been known to capture vessels in the China
Sea, off the coast of Tonquin."
"I have heard of such within a few years."
"You can see the citadel, as it is called here, though it would be
simply a fort in most places. There are 1,830 French soldiers here, and
2,800 native troops. Only 3,000 of the population are French. The last
census gave the country a population of 2,034,453," continued Mr.
Frôler, consulting a memorandum book he carried in his pocket. "They
are mainly Annamites; but Cambodians, Chinese, savages from the north,
and Malays contribute to make up the number. But I don't mean to lecture
you, as I am told you are addressed on board your ship by some of your
own number."
"But we are an educational institution in part, and we are very glad to
hear you," said the commander. "We are supposed to be greedy for
information about the countries we visit. I suppose we are about as near
Tongking as we shall be, and I am sure my company would like to learn
something more about it. We have a nice place here in the shade of this
tree to hear a short lecture."
"You use the English name for the region, which is all right; and I have
seen it spelled Tonkin, which I think is better yet for your people. The
French name is Tonquin," (and he gave the French pronunciation). "It is
larger than Cochin China; and we apply this name to what you designate
as French Cochin China, for it has an area of 34,740 square miles, and a
population supposed to be about 9,000,000. Its chief town is Hanoï,
consisting of a number of villages, with 150,000 inhabitants; and its
chief seaport is Hai-Phong. There has been war going on against the
people of this country for many years."
"We read something about these operations in American papers, and know
very little about Tonquin, which is the reason I asked for more
knowledge of the region," added the commander.
"The principal productions of Tonquin," Mr. Frôler, bowing to the
captain, proceeded, "are rice, silk, sugar, pepper, oil, cotton,
tobacco, and fruits, with copper and iron in small quantities. The
exports are now 13,325,000 francs, which you reduce to dollars by
dividing by five. The imports are nearly 28,000,000 francs, only
one-fourth from France, with but a small portion of the exports to that
country. An expedition was sent out from home, at the instance of Jules
Ferry, to open the way by the Songkoi River for the trade of Yun-Nan, a
south-western province of China. The experiment was an expensive one,
and the difficulty of navigation in the upper waters of the river made
it a failure. The troops met with a disaster; and the colonial policy of
the statesman here and in Madagascar caused his ruin, and he has since
died. Jules Ferry was nicknamed 'le Tonquinais.' But I have talked too
long."
"Not at all!" protested several of the company; for they had read in the
papers at home something in short paragraphs about the war and other
matters in Tonquin, which they did not understand; and they are likely
to read much more in the future, which they will comprehend better if
they remember the brief account of Mr. Frôler.
The party got into the vehicles again, but stopped soon after at the
market, where they alighted. Natives in boats and on foot were bringing
in fruits and vegetables in great quantities. All the fruits of the
tropics were included, though bananas were the most plentiful. Some
came with clumsy carts, loaded with the produce of the surrounding
country. The vehicles were very trying to the nerves of the ladies and
some of the gentlemen; for they creaked and groaned, and seemed to be
screeching for grease, reminding them of the carts of Lisbon, where some
of the party had had a similar experience.
"The men here wear tunnels on their heads, after the fashion of the king
of Siam," said Morris as they walked through the market, which consisted
mainly of an open square, filled with carts, barrows, and baskets.
"The head-covering of the women is more curious," added Scott. "It is
about two feet across, and they use them as umbrellas, both sexes."
"I see that you have the yellow dog here, Mr. Frôler, as in
Constantinople," said Louis, as the Frenchman came near with the captain
and Mrs. Belgrave.
"They are outcast dogs, like those in Constantinople," replied the
guide. "Nobody owns them, and they have to pick up their living in the
streets. They are no more honest than some of the natives; for some of
them will steal a piece of meat, and then comes a fight with all the
others in the vicinity."
"Where does the meat used here come from?" asked Louis.
"From Cambodia," replied the Frenchman. "But it is about time for your
lunch at the hotel, and I think we had better return. I see that your
steam-launch is at the landing-place; and we might go up to Cholon in
her, and visit the citadel."
The suggestion was adopted; and on his arrival at the hotel, the
commander found a note from the governor, inviting the party to dine
with him that day at seven. It was promptly accepted; and after the
lunch the party embarked in the Blanchita, and sailed up the river to
Cholon, which is the native portion of the city.
"It does not cost much here to build a house," said Mr. Frôler, as the
yacht, under the pilotage of the old Frenchman who had brought the
Guardian-Mother up the river, worked her way through the multitude of
boats that thronged the shore.
But the young men were busy observing the various craft; for they were
of all sorts and kinds, from the simple Chinese sampan to the craft
fifty feet long, provided with a cabin, and parts of her covered with
the leaf awning, something like what they had seen in Borneo.
"Where does this boat come from, Achang?" asked Felix.
The Bornean spoke to a man who seemed to be the captain and a Malay.
"She come from Great Lake," reported Achang. "She bring down dry fish to
sell to the poor people of Cholon."
"How much does it cost to build one of these houses, Mr. Frôler?" asked
Captain Ringgold, after they had looked over some of them.
"About twenty-five francs."
"It ought not to cost more than that, for they are nothing but
shanties," replied the commander. "Some of them are built on floats, as
in Bangkok."
"Let us look into one of them; they will not object. This is a
Chinaman's abode, and he belongs to the better class here," said the
Frenchman as he led the way into the house, followed by the commander,
with Mrs. Belgrave on his arm.
Seated at a table was what a sailor would call a kid, or small tub,
containing a stew of fish and vegetables; and there was a dish for each
individual, which did duty as a plate. There were a man, a woman, and
three children at the table.
"These people belong to the aristocracy," said the Frenchman, as they
retired, and the family were visited by others of the party. "We will
look into another house of a lower grade of people;" and they went into
a hut about six feet square, in which were eight men, women, and
children, huddled together around a tub on the floor containing fish and
rice. The odor was not agreeable, and they hurried away.
"You noticed the two girls there. If you want them, Captain, you can buy
them for thirty dollars apiece of your money."
"I don't want them; and I don't care about staying any longer in this
part of the town," replied the commander.
They walked rather hurriedly to the yacht. On the way they met a
carriage something like a wheelbarrow, with a single large wheel, and a
seat on each side of it, one occupied by a fat Chinaman and the other by
a Malay. It was propelled by a native just like an ordinary wheelbarrow.
"That's a big team," said Scott.
"You will see plenty of them in some of the cities of China."
The Blanchita left Mr. Frôler at the landing-place, and then conveyed
the passengers to the two ships; for the ladies insisted that they must
dress for the dinner at the governor's palace.