Journal of the Society of Arts : Volume LI, No. 2623 [‎729v] (16/32)

JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS. [February 27, 1903.
The CuaCam at Haiphong is connected
with the Red River by the “Canal des Bam-
bous,” a narrow waterway lying right through
the middle of rice-fields. Communication
with Hanoi is kept up by steamers of some
180 tons burden. Passage through the canal
is very uninteresting, only one elevation, known
as “ Elephant Mountain,” because that is the
animal it least resembles, breaks the monotony
of the plain. Around this hill the steamer
seems to be constantly circling owing to the
windings of the canal. There are a few villages
near the banks and as the steamer passes
bands of naked little boys—regular pirates in
embryo—issue, and solicit alms as they run
along, after the manner of the “ have-a-dive ”
boys at Aden. Six hours passage through the
canal brings the steamer out into the rapid
waters of the Red River, and ten hours later
the boat generally announces its arrival at
Hanoi by running on a sand-bank. The Red
River is of a most treacherous nature as
regards the rapid formation of sand-shoals.
During the rainy season (corresponding to the
Indian monsoons) it is subject to rapid changes,
rising from 16 to 18 feet in as many hours :
so that what one day is a broad tract of dry
sand covered with traffic becomes the next a
wide expanse of clay-coloured water, on which
float hundreds of bamboo houses; for the
Annamese fisherfolk prepare themselves for
such emergencies by constructing their dwel
lings on a raft-like principle, so that they buoy
up as the river rises.
Hanoi lies on the right bank of the Red
River, a fine bridge, completed only last year,
connecting it with the opposite bank. It is
now recognised as the official capital of
Tonkin, although until a year or two ago Hue,
the residence of the Emperor of Annam, bore
that title. History records that Hanoi was
founded in the 8th century by a Chinese
Mandarin. Its original Chinese appellation
(Tungking—“Capital of the East”) is now per
petuated in the name of the country itself.
The European portion of the town of Hanoi
is splendidly laid out. The public buildings
and the Cathedral are very fine, and the lakes
and open spaces about the town admirably
kept. Altogether Hanoi is one of the brightest
and most picturesque cities of the Far East.
At Hanoi we came into closer touch with the
natives of the country, who belong to the
common Indo-Chinese stock. The Annamese,
both morally and physically, are one of the
inferior races. The men are undersized, but
active, good-tempered, and tractable. They |
have not the commercial instinct of their neigh
bours, and, as in Penang and Singapore, all
trade is practically in the hands of Chinese
merchants. The women have rather nice
figures, and they would be considered good-
looking but for their mouths, which are spoilt
by the custom of covering the teeth with a
layer of black lacquer. Their beauty is not
enhanced, either, by the unpleasant habit of
chewing betel. Equality of the sexes, so far
as hard work is concerned, applies in Tonkin.
We noticed many women employed in gangs,
carrying timber for building, &c.
Hanoi is connected by railway with Langson,
on the Kwangsi frontier. This line was a
most costly one to the colony, and although it
is intended to carry it on to Lungohow, and
eventually to Nanning Fu on the West River,
it is highly improbable that it will ever pay its
working expenses. A railway to Vietri is also
under construction, and will be carried on to
Laokay in time. This is the line which is
eventually to enter Yunnan, and I shall refer to
it again in the course of my paper.
The steamer into which we changed at
Hanoi, to continue our way up the Red River,
belongs to the “ Compagnie des Correspond-
ances fluviales,” who enjoy a monopoly of the
river navigation in Tonkin. Our boat was a
stern-wheeler, drawing five feet of water, yet
able to run up as far as Yenbay, only when
the river is in Jlood. We left Hanoi at noon.
During the evening we passed Sontay (scene
of a sanguinary battle between the French
and Chinese in ’ 85 ) on our left, and anchored
soon afterwards for the night at Vietri, a small
military post at the junction of the Clear and
Red Rivers. The Clear River rises near
Kaihua Fu in Yunnan, and has been suggested
as an alternative route for a railway into that
province. It is navigable for small steamers to
Tu Yen-kwang, 40 miles or so up from Vietri.
During the forenoon of the next day we
passed, on our left, the Black River, by far the
most important tributary of the Red River.
Steamers run regularly up to Chobo, but
beyond that navigation is difficult and even
dangerous at all times of the year, the river
being very swift and rocky. Small narrow
boats of half-ton capacity, carry goods during
the dry season up to Laichow, near the Yunnan
frontier; but when the river is in flood com
munication is impossible, and nothing is more
dreary than life in some of the military posts
on the Black River of Tonkin.
Three days out from Hanoi we reached
Yenbay, a growing garrison town on the left