Four Young Explorers Part 27

"I don't care for that," he added; and both spoke French. "I liked what I heard very much, and I should wish to hear some more of it."

Mrs. Belgrave was called, and the request repeated to her in English by the magnate. And so it happened that the rest of the evening was pa.s.sed in singing gospel hymns. At a late hour the company separated.

CHAPTER XXIV

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 appet.i.te 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. Froler 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 a.s.sist 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 princ.i.p.al 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 Hue, 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. Froler.

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 princ.i.p.al 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. Froler, 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. Froler?" 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.

Froler 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 princ.i.p.al 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.

Froler, 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 inst.i.tution 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 p.r.o.nunciation). "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 Hano, 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 princ.i.p.al productions of Tonquin," Mr. Froler, bowing to the captain, proceeded, "are rice, silk, sugar, pepper, oil, cotton, tobacco, and fruits, with copper and iron in small quant.i.ties. 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. Froler.

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 quant.i.ties. 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 s.e.xes."

"I see that you have the yellow dog here, Mr. Froler, 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. "n.o.body 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. Froler, as the yacht, under the pilotage of the old Frenchman who had brought the Guardian-Mother up the river, worked her way through the mult.i.tude of boats that thronged the sh.o.r.e.

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. Froler?" asked Captain Ringgold, after they had looked over some of them.