'On this our first interview with the natives of the country, we were much surprised to find their manners so different from what we had been led to expect from the accounts we had had of them, and could only reconcile the discordance by a supposition that the inhabitants of the coast, being remote from the example of the more polished residents of the cities, must of course be less civilized; but as we became more acquainted, and their characters were proportionably developed, we were convinced that the Cochin Chinese were in many respects but little removed from a state of deplorable barbarism.'

Mr White left Vungtau on the 13th of July, and after sailing along the coast, anchored on the 18th in Turon Bay. Here they were visited by three mandarins. One of these 'signed for pen and ink, which being produced, and some paper handed him, he wrote in Latin, Quid Interrogas?* Calling up the remains of our acquirements in that language while schoolboys, we contrived to hold an intelligible conversation with them.' They stated, that the king was then absent from Hué, and that it would be absolutely impossible to procure a good cargo in the northern provinces.

Disappointed in this second attempt, Mr White determined to sail to Manilla for the purpose of finding some person acquainted with the language of Cochin China, and of gaining such general information, as might lead him to the ultimate accomplishment of his design. In both these respects, his wishes were almost totally disappointed, as the inhabitants of Manilla were singularly ignorant of every thing relating to Cochin China. He then determined to renounce his purpose altogether. He was diverted from this conclusion, by the arrival of the Marmion, of Boston, commanded by Captain Oliver Blanchard, who shortly after the departure of Mr White from Vungtau, had arrived at that place, and had also made an unsuccessful attempt to penetrate to Saigon. The commanders of these two vessels concluded upon sailing up the Donnai river in company, and after a short stay at Manilla, the Marmion and Franklin returned to Vungtau.†

*This language, as we are afterwards informed by our author, had been taught these mandarins by some French Missionaries.

In consequence of the loss of Captain Blanchard, who was taken sick and died in the Donnai river, the command of his vessel had devolved on Mr Brown.

Here they were boarded by a mandarin, who prohibited their farther progress, with an evident view of repeating the same course of exactions, which had been formerly practised. His demands were strenuously resisted by the commanders of both vessels, who proceeded a short distance up the river to the village of Canjeo, where, after many threatening altercations with the authorities of that place, they were permitted to send one of their officers in a boat to Saigon. This person, Mr Putnam of the Marmion, succeeded in his enterprise, and soon returned with a pass, in company with an old Portuguese, called Joachim, who had resided several months in the country, and was thoroughly acquainted with the language. Another linguist was procured, a Cochin Chinese christian, named Marianno, who also acted as pilot, and the two vessels proceeded on their voyage up the Donnai. This stream varies in breadth from a mile to two furlongs, but its shores are so bold, that vessels can sail in the narrowest parts without inconvenience. Its banks, for the most part, are covered with a thick forest, and the prospect which they afford, though necessarily limited, is represented as very beautiful. The river is seldom less than eight fathoms in depth.

The progress of our voyagers was very slow, as the ebb tide often ran against them, at the rate of five or six miles an hour, and it was not till about a week after they began to ascend the river, that they came in sight of Saigon. The length of the Donnai from its mouth to this city, is about sixty miles.

'At two o'clock on the morning of the seventh of October, we were again pursuing our course to the object of our destination, which was now not far distant, and the dawn soon arriving disclosed scattered cottages, patches of cultivated grounds, groves of cocoa and areka nut trees, herds of buffaloes, fishing boats, and a distant forest of masts, indicating our near approach to the city, below which at the distance of one mile, we dropped anchor at half past five. The appearance of several boats of light and airy construction, each in many cases managed by a single woman in picturesque costume, was novel and pleasing, while great numbers of the native vessels of different sizes, plying in various directions upon the stream, gave a busy and lively interest to the scene.'

The treatment of the fair sex in Cochin China is directly the reverse of that, to which they are subjected in many oriental countries. Instead of an utter seclusion from public view, they constitute the most active portion of the community. Besides cultivating the earth, navigating the river craft, and performing manual labor, they conduct all the commercial operations of the kingdom, and are in fact the merchants and brokers of Cochin China. Of their skill in this capacity, Mr White soon received ample proofs. Immediately on his arrival, he was visited by a bevy of them, who, after asking and receiving a glass of brandy each, began to open their business.' Every article, which he proposed to purchase, had risen from eighty to a hundred per cent, since his arrival, and on the following days the price was increased by an advance of fifty per cent more. Mr White afterwards endeavored to procure a cargo, through the medium of a Cochin Chinese christian, named Domingo, but this encroachment on the rights of women was promptly resented. An appeal was made to the government of the city, and Domingo was ordered to permit the female merchants to transact their concerns in their own way. In short, after a stay of four months at Saigon, only an incomplete cargo could be procured, at a price much beyond its fair value. Constant vigilance was necessary to secure the property on board the two vessels from theft and robbery, and the lives of the captains, during their residence on shore, were more than once endangered by the cowardly attacks of the natives, who lay in ambush, and assaulted them with showers of large stones, and other dangerous missiles.

The behavior of the government of Cochin China towards our countrymen was marked by the same characteristics, which distinguished that of the populace. On arriving at Saigon, the two vessels were measured in due form, by persons appointed for that purpose. This ceremony was attended with no little inconvenience, as it was performed by a host of officers of various ranks, who, after concluding their business, indulged themselves in a drunken debauch on board the vessels. Yet the measuring fees for the brig Franklin alone amounted to nearly three thousand dollars. The duty exacted on her departure was of equal amount. A general spirit of extortion seemed to pervade, with very little exception, all

orders of the government, and every part of their conduct indicated an aversion to all commercial transactions with foreign nations, far exceeding that for which the Chinese are so remarkable.

To our merchants, especially, we recommend Mr White's comprehensive summary of his various difficulties and exertions.

'It would be tedious to the reader, and painful to myself, to recapitulate the constant villany and turpitude, which we experienced from these people, during our residence in the country. Their total want of faith, constant eagerness to deceive and overreach us, and their pertinacity in trying to gain, by shuffling and manoeuvring, what might have been better and easier gained by openness and fair dealing; the tedious forms and ceremonies in transacting all kinds of business, carried into the most trifling transactions; the uncertainty of the eventual ratification of any bargain, (the least hope of wearing the patience of the purchaser out, and inducing him to offer a little more, being sufficient to annul any verbal stipulation,) and there being no appeal, unless there is a written contract, which is never made till every art has been used, and every engine of extortion put in motion and exhausted to gain more; all these vexations, combined with the rapacious, faithless, despotic and anti-commercial character of the government, will, as long as these causes exist, render Cochin China the least desirable country for mercantile adventurers. These causes have made the Japanese relinquish the trade; they have driven the Portuguese of Macao from the country, and turned their commerce into other channels; and are yearly and rapidly lessening their intercourse with China and Siam. The philanthropist, the man of enterprise, and the civilized world generally, can see in the present miserable state of this naturally fine country, no other than a source of deep regret and commiseration.'

The natives of Cochin China seem, in short, to be a degenerate race of the true Chinese, resembling them in little except the worst parts of their character. This inferiority is very justly ascribed by our author to their government, which is a military despotism, administered with little regard either to justice or policy. Their monarchs are generally engaged in attempting to extend their territory, by encroachments on their neighbors, and their subjects are trained up to the use of arms, and in utter ignorance of all the arts of peace. These are carried on, as we have before observed,

by the women, assisted however in a great degree by the Chinese, who are scattered in abundance throughout the kingdom.

These industrious and enterprising people are the mechanics, confectioners, &c. of Cochin China, filling the same place in that country, which is occupied by many of our active New England adventurers in some of the southern cities of the United States. They are also bankers and money changers, and much of the circulating medium of the country passes through their hands. There can be little doubt, that the happiness of the Cochin Chinese might be materially increased, in a very short time, by a change of policy in their rulers. It is needless to say, that they could never merit by any exertions the high praise, which has been so gratuitously bestowed upon them by French writers, but it is not less incontestable, that they might be rendered quite equal in all respects to the Chinese.

Much was effected by the influence of the celebrated Bishop Adran, who was, in 1802, the oracle and guide of the reigning monarch.

'And during a short peace, previous to the final termination of the war, he established a manufactory of salt petre, opened roads, cut canals, held out rewards for the propagation of the silk worm, caused large tracts of land to be cleared for the cultivation of the sugar cane, established manufactories for the preparation of pitch, tar, rosin, &c. opened mines of iron, constructed smelting furnaces, and founderies for cannon. Adran translated into the Onam language a system of European military tactics, for the use of the army. Naval arsenals were established, and a large navy, principally consisting of gun boats, galleys, &c. was built and equipped. Under his direction a reformation was effected in the system of jurisprudence; he abolished several species of punishments, that were disproportionate to the crimes to which they were annexed; he established public schools, and compelled parents to send their children to them at the age of four years; he drew up commercial regulations, built bridges, caused buoys and sea marks to be laid down in all the dangerous parts of the coast, and surveys to be made of the principal bays and harbors. The officers of the navy were instructed in naval tactics by Frenchmen; his army was divided into regular regiments; military schools were established, and the officers taught the science of gunnery. Unfortunately for the country, the death of Adran occurred shortly after this; and New Series, No. 17.

20