low ; but every year about the month of July it leaves its channel, floods a part of the country, and rolls along with a very powerful current. Before passing Ha-noi it receives the tribute of two great rivers, known to the natives by
the names of the Black River and the Clear River.The kingdom of Aiiarn, closely shut in between the mountains and the sea, is drained by numerous but unimportant streams. Lower Cochin China, or French Cochin China, is abundantly watered by the numerous mouths and the canals which form the delta of the Me kong or Cambodia. This river takes its rise in the mountains of Thibet, waters the southern provinces of China and the district of Laos tributary to Siam, and crosses through the kingdom of Cambodia, where it divides into three branches. The first, which does not penetrate into Cochin China, turns towards the north-west and loses itself in the Lake of Touli Sap. The second, which takes the name of Hinder River (Hau-giang or Song-sau) flows south-east, enters Cochin China, communicates with the Sea of Siam by the Canal Vinh-te of Ha-tien and by that of Each-gia, and enters the China Sea by two mouths. The third branch, named Front River (Tien-giang or Song-truoc), flows parallel to the preceding, divides at Vinh-long into four arms, and debouches by six mouths. These streams form numerous islands and communicate with each other by means of canals or arroyos. In spite of the length of its course and the great mass of its waters, the Me-koug cannot be utilized as a means of communica tion with Central China, because of the numerous ressauts and rapids which encumber its course. It is besides subject to an annual flood ; the waters begin to rise in May, attain their maximum in October, and decrease until March. From the month of March to the month of May the level is almost constant. Two other streams water the east of Lower Cochin China, the Vaico, divided into two branches, and the Donnai. These rivers .communicate with each other and with the mouths of the Me-kong by numerous arroyos. The Donnai receives the Saigon River ; and it is by this means that the largest vessels reach the town of that name.
The climate of the north of Anam differs much from that of the south. In Tong-king, though it is usual to divide the year into a dry and a wet season, there is properly speaking no dry season. In December and January the thermometer falls to 41 or 43 Fahr. Summer corresponds to the period of the rains from the end of April to the month of August ; and at that time it is excessively hot. Storms are frequent, and the coasts are often visited by typhoons. At the same time Tong-king is a healthy country ; the weather during four months is excellent ; and the French colony of Saigon might find there what has never been discovered in Cochin China proper a suitable site for a sanatorium. The climate of the French colony is unhealthy for Europeans ; they cannot be acclimatized. The mortality of the troops is rather high ; and before their residence was shortened to two years it might be calculated at 9 or 10 per cent, for a three years residence. The chief cause of the maladies which affect Europeans is the character of the soil. On the banks of the rivers, in the salt marshes, and along the shores of the sea, inter mittent fevers of great severity are frequent. In the forest land rages the terrible wood-fever, from which the native himself cannot escape, though be lives unharmed in the midst of the rice swamps. But the great plague of Lower Cochin China is dysentery, a disease which, endemic in all warm countries, proves in Cochin China particularly fatal. It is to it that the greater part of the deaths among Europeans are to be ascribed ; and they often succumb to its effects after their return to their native country. Most of the children born of European parents in Cochin China die a short time after birth. White women are there exposed to many dangers, especially during their delivery ; and there is consequently little hope of forming there a race of Creoles. The native women, on the contrary, are very prolific, and suft er surprisingly little in childbirth. It is also interesting to observe that the Anamites, like the races of the extreme East, recover from wounds of the greatest severity, which would infallibly kill Europeans even in their own country.
The mean temperature of Lower Cochin China is 83 Fahr. The greatest heat in April and May within doors is 97 Fahr. In the mornings of December the temperature falls to 65 Fahr. The year is divided into the dry season, which corresponds to the N.E. monsoon, and the rainy season / which corresponds to the S.W. monsoon. What renders the climate peculiarly injurious and enervating is that, besides the very slight difference between the tempera tures of day and night, the hygrometric readings are always very high. The surface of Cochin China, composed of recent alluvial deposits, is absolutely flat, and in some places is below the level of the sea. The slightness of the slope of this vast plain allows the tide to advance far mland, and the borders of the rivers to be alternately covered with water and exposed to the perpendicular raya of the sun. All the coasts are covered by mangroves (the marsh-tree of the tropics), which with their dull monotonous foliage everywhere betoken the uuhealthiness of the soil.
The finest species of tiger, the royal tiger, is to be met with from the mountains which bound Tong-king on the north as far as the south of Lower Cochin China ; and a short time ago it was still to be found in the wooded hills close to Saigon. The other wild animals are the panther, the rhinoceros, the elephant which the people of Anam have not learned to domesticate the cocoa-nut bear, the stag, the wild boar, the wild ox, and monkeys of various kinds. The domestic animals are goats, horses, buffaloes (with which the Indo-Chinese carry on the difficult and unhealthy cultivation of the rice-fields), and pigs, which are kept in great numbers. There are numerous birds of many species, which at in all tropical regions are remarkable for the beauty of their plumage. Among the rest may be men tioned pea-fowl, pheasants, turtle-doves, the green pgeons of Pulo Condore, paroquets, hornbills, sultana fowls, and various species of wading birds and palmipeds. The rivers abound with life ; and the fish, though of poor quality, form an important part of the food of the people. They are caught, along with frogs and snakes, even in the mud of the rice-fields. The crocodile is frequently met with, and adds another item to the native cuisine. This hot damp country swarms with reptiles, of which some species are very dangerous. Among these are the huge cobra di capello (Najct), many species of adders, and the immense python, which is of much use in destroying during the night all kinds of rats, including the intolerable musk-rat.
The forests furnish several kinds of timber for building. In the plains and valleys are numerous fruit-trees, the banana, the guava, the papaw, the medlar-tree, the orange, the citron, and, most abundant of all, the cabbage- palm and the cocoa-tree, and the cinnamon of which Toiig- king furnishes a superior quality. The people of Anam are essentially agricultural. Besides rice, which is the chief production of the country, the cultivated lauds furnish cotton, mulberry, sugar-cane, maize, betel-nut, and veget ables, especially potatoes, earth-nuts, and pepper. Tea is cultivated also, especially in Tong-king, but the people of Anam do not know how to prepare it.
of Anam appears ill provided with metals. If a mine be
discovered the natives forbid access to it, and still more fre-