Читать книгу The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Second - Thomas Wallace Knox - Страница 13

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The boys made a division of labor in looking up information about the country. Frank was to find what he could concerning its natural features and extent, while Fred undertook to learn something about the French occupation, and the reasons that led to it. When they were ready, the essays were read to the Doctor for his approval or rejection; and there was a brief discussion to determine who should be first to read, or rather last, as each preferred not to be the beginner. The Doctor settled the question by deciding that the natural features of the country existed before the French came there, and, therefore, it was the duty of Frank to open the subject.

Thus assured, Frank produced his note-book, and read:

"The countries of Birmah, Siam, and Anam are known to geographers as 'Indo-China,' for the reason that they lie between India and China, and have some of the characteristics of both. The empire of Anam is the one we are now considering, and we will leave the others until we get to them in the course of our travels. It is erroneously called Cochin China, from a province of that name which is included in the empire. The proper divisions of Anam are Cambodia, Tonquin, Tsiampa, and Cochin China, and more than three-fourths of its boundaries are washed by the sea. It is about nine hundred miles long, and its width varies a great deal, owing to the indentations of the coast. Cochin China proper is only some ninety miles long by twenty broad, and it is really the smallest of the provinces. Cambodia is the largest and most populous, and the soil is said to be more productive than that of the other parts of the empire. The number of inhabitants is not known, but it is generally thought to be from twelve to fifteen millions.

NATIVE GENTLEMAN AT SAIGON.

"The people resemble the Malays and Chinese, and are sometimes called the connecting link between the two. They are smaller than the Chinese, but not so dark as the Malays; their dress resembles the Chinese, but they do not shave their heads as the latter do. They are not very ingenious, and have comparatively few manufactures; their chief employments are in agriculture, and they raise a great deal of rice, which is exported to China and other countries. They also export sugar, raw silk, cinnamon, dye-stuff, elephants' hides and bones, together with a good many gums and spices. The dye known as gamboge comes from Cambodia, and the name of the country is said to be derived from this article. On the coast the people engage in fishing, and all through the country the food of the people consists of fish and rice. The natives will eat a great deal when they have the opportunity, but they are able to live on a very small allowance of food when necessity compels them. Buddhism is the prevailing religion, but they are not very earnest in it; they have great respect for the dead, and resemble the Chinese in their veneration for their ancestors.

"The country near the coast is generally flat, but farther inland it becomes mountainous. There are tribes in the interior that are more than half savage in their character; they live mostly on wild fruits, and are widely scattered. Some sleep in the trees, and some build small huts, but they rarely have permanent villages, and never get together in great numbers. Sometimes the Cambodians make war on these hill-tribes, and those that they capture are sold as slaves.

"The principal river is the Mekong, and it is one of the largest streams in South-eastern Asia. It rises in China, and has a general course of about one thousand seven hundred miles to the south, and it falls into the sea by several mouths between the ninth and tenth degrees of north latitude. There are many villages and towns along its banks, and in its lower course the river is navigable for the largest ships."

Frank paused, and said that was all he had been able to obtain about Anam, but he hoped to have more by-and-by. The Doctor pronounced his essay an excellent one, as it gave a good general description of the country, and contained the information that every traveller and reader ought to have.

Now it was Fred's turn to read. He had been uneasily twisting his note-book between his fingers, evidently dreading the ordeal of delivery; but as soon as he was through with the first line, his embarrassment vanished, and his voice was as firm as ever.

"Nearly a hundred years ago," said Fred, "France opened relations with Anam, and arranged to give the latter country certain assistance against its enemies in return for commercial and missionary privileges. It was about the time of the famous French Revolution. Only a small part of the promised assistance was given by France, and she was too busy with affairs at home to demand all that had been agreed upon on the part of Anam. The French missionaries were protected in the exercise of their religious duties, and a small trade was carried on until about the year 1831. The old king died, and a new one went on the throne; he was opposed to the French and Spanish missionaries, and endeavored to drive them out of the country. Many of them were killed, and the native Christians were persecuted, so that Christianity threatened to disappear.

"Things went on in this way for twenty years. In 1851 the French determined to interfere, both for the protection of the missionaries and to demand the concessions that were promised when relations were first opened with Anam. Shortly before they came, an order had been issued that all missionaries should be drowned in the river, and any native who concealed, or in any way assisted a missionary, was to be cut in two. The war was a slow one, and the invaders were several times held back by fortifications that had been built by the French engineers who came here in 1795. The persecutions were partially stopped, and in 1857 the French went away.

"New orders against the missionaries were then issued, and more of them were killed. In August, 1858, there was a combined French and Spanish expedition against Anam, which captured the chief seaport and several important places. The war was kept up till 1862, when there was a treaty of peace. This treaty compelled Anam to pay five million dollars to France as compensation for the war, and to promise that every native should be free to adopt any religion that he liked. The missionaries were not to be disturbed, and the principal cities were to be open

to French merchants to trade in whatever they chose to buy and sell. A French Protectorate was established over the province of Cochin China, and afterwards over other provinces, and—"

VIEW OF THE FRENCH QUARTER OF SAIGON.

"Stop a moment," said the Doctor; "you had better explain what a protectorate is."

Fred was evidently prepared for the question, as he answered promptly,

"A protector is one who defends or shields from injury. In government matters a protector is a person who has the care of a kingdom during the minority or illness of the king; or it may mean a cardinal or other high official who looks after the interests of a religious body. A protectorate is a government by a protector, or it may be the authority assumed by a superior power over a weaker or a dependent one.

"The case of France and Anam is that the treaty provided that the French should take the management of the affairs of the conquered country, and that the governor-general they sent here should be really the highest officer in the land. The Anamese can do nothing in the way of making and enforcing laws without the consent of the French; in fact, they are exactly in the condition of a colony, and the country where we now are is called the French Colony of Eastern Asia."

"Quite right," said the Doctor, when Fred had concluded. "Now we will hear what the French have done in the way of colonization."

"They have followed their old policy of making no interference with the local laws, except with such as had a character of oppression or cruelty. They required the native authorities to swear to be loyal to France, and when they did so they sustained them until there were complaints that they did not manage affairs properly. In such cases they have investigated the complaints, and done what they thought right in the matter, either by removing or sustaining the official. They have lowered the taxes and established regulations regarding civil marriages, and, on the whole, their presence has been a benefit to the people of Anam. In the matter of marriages they have followed the rule that they long ago adopted in Algeria; a native may be married under the native laws if he likes, and can divorce his wife at a moment's notice, and without giving any reason; but if he marries her in a French court, he is under French laws, and must abide by them. A great many of the natives of the better class insist upon having their daughters married in the French courts, as they know they will be better treated than under the old system.

"Several times there have been insurrections against the French, and some of them have cost a great deal of money and fighting. But they have always resulted in victories for the French, and in the addition of new provinces to the territory under their control. At present they have a protectorate over more than half of the peninsula; some of the smaller provinces in the North are nominally independent, while in some portions of the country held by the French the natives do very little more for the foreign government than pay a small tax to it every year.

"The population of the country under the French protectorate is said to be not far from four millions. There is an army of ten or twelve thousand men, of whom nearly if not quite half are natives. The natives are said to make good soldiers, particularly in the artillery. A great part of the garrison duty in the forts on the coast and in the interior is performed by the native troops, and they are said to get along very well with the French. In Cambodia many of the soldiers are from Manilla, as they are considered more warlike, and besides the king says it is cheaper to hire them from other countries than to use his own people. The army of Cambodia is smaller in proportion than that of the other parts of the country, and the French allow the king to do pretty much as he likes."

Fred had reached the end of his chapter, and consequently came to a pause. The Doctor complimented him on his excellent account of the invasion and occupation of Anam, and after a little general talk on the subject, the party broke up.