"But we want to know something about it before we go there," said the young lady. "We had to ask no end of questions about Siam because the lecture was postponed for the absentees."
"After lunch to-day a short talk will be given in relation to Saigon," replied Louis, as the bell rang for that meal.
When the company gathered in Conference Hall, Louis was introduced as the speaker for the occasion, and promptly presented himself before his audience.
"I have very little to say, Mr. Commander, for General Noury has covered the whole subject under the head of Cochin China," he began. "What is more particularly known as French Cochin China contains 23,000 square miles, and a population of 1,800,000. The part in the north is called French Indo-China. The country is precisely that described so carefully by the general, and I need not repeat it. The Cambodia, or Mekhong River, flows through it with many bayous or cut-offs. On one of these, which is called the Saigon River, is the city of Saigon, the capital of the French possessions in the East, Lippincott says thirty-five miles, and Chambers sixty miles, from the China Sea; and of course both of them cannot be right, and you are all at liberty to take your choice. The town has grown up within the last thirty-two years; and, after the style of French cities, it is handsomely laid out, with fine streets, squares and boulevards. It contains numerous canals, with stone or brick quays; and perhaps it will remind you of Paris along the Seine. It is said to be one of the handsomest cities of the East. It has a navy-yard and citadel, and is the most important port between Hong-Kong and Singapore. The people are French, Annamese, and Chinese. It has a large trade, and contains two colleges, an orphan asylum, a splendid botanical garden, to say nothing of convents and other institutions. The population is put by one at ninety thousand, and by another at about half that number. I have nothing more to say."
Louis retired, and the next day the ship arrived at Saigon.
CHAPTER XXII
IN THE DOMINIONS OF THE FRENCH
It was not a long voyage from Bangkok to the mouth of the Mekhong River; and the sight of land was not as thrilling an incident as it had often been in the experience of the voyagers, and they were not in condition to appreciate the feelings of Captain Columbus when Watling's Island broke on his vision four hundred years before. It had been smooth sailing all the way; the Gulf of Siam had been as gentle and affectionate as a maiden among the flowers, and the China Sea was scarcely more ruffled.
Mr. Gaskette had finished up his new map of Cochin China, so that it was as creditable to his skill and taste as his former efforts had been; and it was displayed on the frame in Conference Hall, which was the usual sitting apartment of the company, though some of them did a great deal of walking on the promenade deck. The water was deeper inshore than farther out at sea, where several spots were marked at eight fathoms; and the passengers had a view of the land before they were within a hundred miles of the entrance of Saigon River.