Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-09-15

There has been another battle, accord
ing % cur dispatches this morning, b.
tween the French and the Black Flags
Tire battle lasted eight hours. The place
u the engaz cement was near Red river
between Hanoi and sontag. The
French Do not appear % have
suffered severely. having i@=t Only
two officers and fifty men, while their oi-
ponents Iost 50 men. Unless England oF
III T-nIt-I -tate- j. invited u act the
-.srr q an arbitrator. j looks cry much a.
-f--z- r.z-----l France and China were
--a-i-ssre. Tae -errit0-y aooUt which
-sa -zvo countries are cuarTeling j.
known a. T0neuin " AMMAN. II y part
u cochin. China. the total area d which
j. about 10000 square miles- 81
this. tie French Colony occupies nearly
zzelJ square miles Tne great river
called Tgug-king. VI Red river, near
which the last battle occurred emptles
into the China SEA and Gulf 81 siam. II
has four mouths which communicate
with each other by means d natural and
artificial channels. Through these chan
nels Hanoi, tine capital " IO14uin- =
reached In March l-14- treaty was
entered into 5y France and the Govern
meut VI Hue. bv which Hanoi anu
NinA-Hai. port in the province
VI Hai-Dzuoug. were opened % foreign
commerce. TIE southern part Of tDe
em6ire j. remarkably fertile. II produces
IL variety u tropical fruits and nne crops
Vi rIce. sugar and spices. The noun
taIu- are finely timbered. II l. believed
that T0ug-kinz j. very rich ia gold,
silver and iron. Europeans have not found
the country healthy. and have never sue
ceeded in becoming acclnnated. The
population VI the empire j. placed at b.
10000. but there j. nothing certain about
10. The natives are ugly. both men and
women. They are apparently "a
cross between the Monaghan
and the Malay races. They have fiat
faces. big mouths. thick lips and tawny
c0mplexi0ns. The men have very little
beard and wear their hair long. What
little religion the people have Is
mixture Of Buddhism and CoHiu-
cianism. Among them there are
about 10000 who have been won
~ Christianity 5y the Catholic Missions
The government f. similar 70 that Of Chi
IA. and the social customs resemble
those Of the Chinese. The people are III
offensive ind1lent- and fond 81 amu7e-
ment. The army consists u eight req
ments VI ~ men each. The government
ua. 10 ships. bat has thirty regiments
under the command u an Admiral. assist
cd 5y Vice Admirals and other naval OIL
81. "a. 20
Originally the country was under the do
mini5n Of China but reyOlted and set up
ala empire ~ its own. acknowledging only
sort 0f nominal suzerainty Of
China. The Portuguese were the
drst European c0louists. They
made their appearance iH the empire ID
tle thirteenth century. France got her
hrst f0Jth0ld in the empire in ll'1. when
by treaty proprietary rights in the penin-
sula VI Touraine was obtained. This foot
hold was maintained until lS2o. when
policy hostile 10 foreigners
was iuau -tirated. IN ISIS
Il French missionary was murdered, and
a French squadron seized TOuraine. In
l-5z three provinces were abandoned TO
France. and in ISL three other provinces
were taken possession fOrcibly. In 1874
the treaty, % which attention has al
ready been called, was signed. BY that
treaty the six provinces already
in the possession Of France were formally
coded % her. By that same treaty France
bound herself % maintain protectorate
over Touquin. This can be done only by
OyerthrOwing the suzerainty Of China.
The treaty. China contends Is invalid.
A dependent, says China, cannot
make q treaty which destroys the SUI
prenacy Of the government to which il
owes allegiance. China will not yield
and France will not. Unless there is
peaceable settlement through the media
tion Of a friendly power it is probable that
China will be- forced % yield.