CHINESE HOUSE AT KHOLEN.
Among its peculiarities may be specialized its parks or preserves of crocodiles. A barrier of long and solid piles surrounds a space of about twenty square yards on the river-bank; in the mud and slime thus enclosed, and regularly inundated at high water, sprawl from one hundred to two hundred crocodiles. When the people wish to sacrifice one of these monsters, two of the piles are lifted up; a running knot is flung round the neck of the largest of the herd, which is then hauled outside; its tail is fastened close to its body lengthwise; its feet are cut off, and used to garnish its back; the jaws are tied together with ratan; and these vegetable bonds are so firm that the huge creature is incapable of movement, and can offer no defence. As for the flesh, though rather leathery, it appears to have a certain value, and is not so strongly impregnated with the odour of musk as some writers pretend. On Annamite tables it figures as a favourite dish.
HATIAN-OF-THE-ROSES.
From Saigon Dr. Morice’s next excursion was to Gocong, which lies in the centre of a district famous for its rice-fields. Thence he made his way to Hatian (or Cancao), of which he gives a lively description furnished to him by a French colonist:—
“Hatian-of-the-Roses is a small gem of flowers and verdure; magnificent pagodas, wooded hills, the limestone mass of Bonnet-à-Poil; everything which one finds nowhere else.”
But, says Dr. Morice, he forgot the fever.
There can be no doubt that Hatian is a lovely spot. It is situated on the borders of a lake which opens into the Gulf of Siam; a lake bordered on the west by ranges of green hills, luxuriantly clothed with magnificent trees. To the east extends a vast plain, in the centre of which rises the isolated mass of limestone known as the Bonnet-à-Poil. The fields are enamelled with flowers and studded with flowering bushes; and winding paths lead through a succession of scenes of the most various beauty.
THE PEPPER-PLANT.
The plant chiefly cultivated is the pepper-plant. On a soil raised several feet above the ordinary level are disposed parallel rows of sticks like those which are used in the Kentish hop-gardens, and round each of these coils a vigorous plant. It takes five years for a plant to become productive. Maize is also cultivated, but not to so large an extent.