surrounded with gardens. Here is a telegraph-station with a clock-tower, from which electric wires radiate to every point of the compass, reaching to My-tho in the south, to Bien-hoa in the north, and the intermediate stations westward and on the frontier. Excellent roads have also been constructed leading to these points, which converge towards this station and the governor's residence, so that if any outbreak is reported among the natives, reinforcements can be sent without delay. Happily, eighteen months of peace have rendered these means of intelligence and transport comparatively idle, Still they are maintained in the most efficient state, for the day may come when they will be wanted on an emergency. On this head the Minister of War and Marine reports to the Chambers as follows:-'We must not dissemble the circumstance, that our conquest and our pacification are of too recent date to allow us to consider our domination as definitively accepted by the former possessors of those rich countries. It is, then, essential to keep in CochinChina forces sufficiently large to convince the Annamese who have submitted to the government of Huê of their impotence as respects ourselves.' With this view, the war establishment at Saigon is kept up to the strength of ten thousand men of all arms; eight batteries of artillery; one ship of the line, one frigate, two corvettes, and fourteen gunboats.

Our account of the government establishment at Saigon would be incomplete without a notice of the hospital on shore, which, considering the small population, is unusually large. This institution consists of eight separate buildings, with gardens and walks between, situated on the most salubrious site at the upper part of the settlement, forming quite a picturesque suburb in itself, where the ground is elevated many feet above the river bank. The interior arrangements are unexceptionable; the wards light and airy; the bedsteads of iron, with mosquito curtains; the laundry with linen for a thousand patients; the kitchen and store-rooms equally extensive, and all a model of order and cleanliness. The establishment is under the immediate superintendence of eighteen devoted Sisters of Charity, who act as nurses to the sick and wounded. There are three visiting physicians from the navy, and one resident surgeon with assistant apothecaries. Fever, cholera, and dysentery are the prevailing local diseases; but latterly these have not been so virulent, as the men are properly sheltered from the sun and malaria of that tropical climate. Much has been stated as to the extreme unhealthiness of French Cochin-China, but we are of opinion that it is not more unhealthy than any other region in the plains of the extreme East; and that it will compare favourably with

the

the country around Shanghai, where our troops were decimated by disease during the Taeping campaign. Such is the natural result of the fatigue attending warfare in a tropical or semitropical region.

But what progress has been made in the civil and mercantile quarters of the settlement? An account of these may be summed up in a short paragraph. At the landing-place, where the town is separated from the south suburb, there is a canal, over which a wooden bridge has been built, leading to some streets laid out at right angles, where about fifty wooden shops are erected, all of them in the occupation of Chinese, Manillamen, or Malays, with a few French and Portuguese. These shops are open for the sale of provisions, clothing, and liquors. This quarter has quite a colonial aspect, and resembles a new settlement in Australia or New Zealand. It is very quiet, without any such bustle of native life as seen in the British settlements of Singapore or Hong-Kong. This sparseness of the native population in Saigon distinguishes it from all other foreign settlements in Eastern Asia; and yet the city contained more than 150,000 inhabitants before it was occupied by the French, many of them wealthy and learned. These have all gone, and the natives seen in the streets are of the poorest description. They chiefly come from the country with vegetables, fruit, and game, or fish from the rivers, which they expose for sale in wretched sheds. In this quarter the land has been divided into lots, where it has realised at the rate of five dollars per square yard in choice sites. On these, few houses have been built by Europeans. The largest is a steam flour-mill and bakehouse, belonging to a French firm, who have the contract for supplying the forces with biscuit and flour. Other enterprising foreign traders have imported the usual kinds of merchandise, and speculated in shipping rice, but scarcely any trade exists except in a few luxuries for the officers. It is true that from ten to twenty square-rigged merchantmen may be seen moored along the river banks, but these, as we have already remarked, are laden with supplies for the government directly, or indirectly through the contractors. There is a custom-house and harbour-master's office on the quay, but the officials there have many holidays. A British firm in China does more import and export trade in one month, than all the civil commerce of Saigon amounts to in a year.

In tracing the progress of the invasion and conquest of the country, it may have been supposed that we overlooked that of the religious element, which led ostensibly to the subjugation and possession of Lower Cochin-China by the French. But this we purposely omitted, for at no period has the presence of the missionaries,

missionaries, or the existence of nearly half a million native Christians throughout the Annamese dominions, materially interfered with the progress of warlike events. Admiral Bonard specially calculated on some friendly co-operation from the converts, in supplying his men with provisions, or aiding him with timely information of the movements of his opponents. We have seen, however, that neither of these services was rendered, even at the worst of times. The love of country, and dread of Tu-Duk's proclamations against holding communication with the invaders on pain of torture and death, overcame the devotion of the converts, and, like their pagan countrymen, they abandoned their homes in the seat of war. Doubtless it was from this supposed ingratitude that the rigid and impolitic governor treated the inhabitants so harshly, without discriminating pagan from Christian, that wherever the tricolor flag was seen they fled to Cambodia and the northern provinces. Moreover, Admiral Bonard and his predecessors almost ignored the presence and influence of the missionaries. The advice of these experienced counsellors respecting the movements of the expeditionary force was rejected with scorn, and their kind suggestions as to how the industrious population should be dealt with were treated contemptuously. Hence France has acquired a fertile region in the East, but it is next to a wilderness for want of inhabitants. It is true that some are now stealthily returning to their abandoned farms, chiefly through the influence of the missionaries. But they find that their new masters demand a repurchase of the land, in right of conquest, where for generations their families have dwelt and tilled the soil. This is indeed hard upon the returned fugitives, most of whom have been ruined by the war, and who scarcely have the means of daily sub

sistence.

It is with satisfaction we state that the present governor is a man of more enlarged views on these points, and inclined to carry out a more humane policy than his predecessors. Admiral de la Grandière was, as already mentioned, favourably known among the savans and literati of his country, while yet in a subordinate position, by his contributions to literature relating to Asiatic nations, including that wherein he now presides. His governorship has commenced under peaceful auspices, and he has improved the occasion by the publication of his monthly journal, the 'Courrier de Saigon.' In its articles there is much that is interesting regarding the nature and resources of the colony, and they are of a buoyant tone as to its future success. The government entertains a hope that the treasury will be self-supporting Vol. 116.-No. 232.

during

during the present year, although upwards of one million francs are to be expended on public works, according to the annexed budget for 1864, published in the issue of February last :

"The receipts are estimated at 3,012,000 fr., and the expenses at 3,011,000 fr. The total of direct taxes for 1864 is calculated at 1,300,000 fr., or even at 1,475,000 fr., if a balance from the preceding year is included, and the chapter of indirect taxes at an almost equal sum, or 1,290,000 fr. The domains and certain accessory receipts complete the amount of 3,012,000 fr. The expenditure is divided under six heads:-1. General administration, 96,000 fr. 2. Administration of the native populations, 721,000 fr. 3. Justice, public worship, instruction, post-office, and telegraphs, 727,000 fr. 4. Native troops, 326,000 fr. 5. Public works, 1,070,000 fr. 6. Sundries, 75,000 fr. The Governor had issued an ordinance, dated the 20th of January, 1864, fixing the military contingents to be furnished by the different tribes for the Annamite year Giap-ty, which commences on the 8th of February, 1864. This decision modifies the Annamite system of recruitment in a manner advantageous to the State and to the communes. The number of men to be raised is 2500.'

Notwithstanding this sanguine budget, and the glowing accounts which appear from time to time in the French newspapers, there are residents in the colony, Frenchmen, who consider that the settlement is still weak and troubled in its infancy, and that its future is gloomy. Tu-Duk and his warlike mandarins having successfully crushed the rebellion in Tonquin, are prepared to resume hostilities against their foreign foes on the first fitting occasion. It is alleged also that the ratification of the treaty never received the king's autograph, but that by some piece of Asiatic falsehood and cunning the signature of the chief negotiating plenipotentiary was substituted instead. Be that as it may, this mandarin and his colleagues were afterwards disgraced; and, to escape punishment, they proposed that an embassy should be sent to France and Spain in order to rescind the treaty, and offer an indemnity of forty million dollars if the French would evacuate the country. The futile result of that mission to the courts of Paris and Madrid is a matter of very recent history.

A new Franco-Annamese treaty was signed on the 15th July, 1864, in which clauses of the following purport appear:-The indemnity paid, to be only twenty million dollars, but the French to hold a protectorate over the six provinces they have conquered; and while ostensibly handing them over to native rule, they claim the cession of Saigon and its river approaches. Also the opening of three other ports on the coast of Cochin

China, with a concession of land at each; where French merchants shall be at liberty to travel and trade, and consular agents be allowed to reside at them, as well as at Huê, the capital. These terms have been granted most unwillingly by Tu-Duk; and should his soldiers be allowed to enter the territory so recently the scene of sanguinary conflicts, we may look for fresh complications, and probably a renewal of hostilities.*

One great hindrance to the prosperity of the colony is the jealousy and dissension that exists among the French themselves, chiefly in consequence of the system of naval administration. Of all classes of men who could be appointed to conduct the land operations and financial government of a new settlement like Saigon, navy officers are least qualified. Hence the errors committed by the expeditionary forces at the outset; the subsequent mismanagement of the native population, and the undue preference of naval officers in filling important posts. The military men who have been sent out to co-operate with the navy find that their services are kept entirely in the background, while those of their confrères are prominently put forward for promotion and reward. The missionaries also expected that after the conquest they should receive aid in land, and money to extend their missions and to build churches. It is true that they have a cathedral at Saigon-the finest structure in the place; that they have boys' and girls' schools-the latter under the zealous tuition of the Sisters of Charity-and they have some old mandarin houses granted to them for these purposes. But with the exception of the latter, their churches and mission houses have been erected and maintained almost solely out of their own funds, principally collected from the natives; while their prestige in the country has diminished since the conquest, and their labours have been rendered less successful on account of the immoralities committed by their countrymen. These matters are well known in the colony, but for obvious reasons are not published in the press of the mother country. The censorship alone has prevented the French public from learning many of the facts which we have stated, not flattering to the commanders of the expeditions and their administration of affairs.

Without further comment, we leave it to others to speculate as to the future success of this embryo colony. In this article

* It is not specified in the treaty whether Spain is to profit by its conditions or not. †The European population of French Cochin-China, exclusive of the military and naval element, amounts to 591; being composed of 192 persons in the employment of government, 26 missionaries, 31 Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres, and 342 representing the industrial and commercial population. The number of males is exactly 500, and that of females 91.