Morning journal and courier., 1884-03-22

Z -
public market of Saigon, most interesting
| trip. At first I carefully noted down the
names of some of the fruits, but soon, de-
spairing of anything except the finite, gave
that up. There were scores of kinds, and
by that policy of banter which is essentially
Oriental, we could get them for next to MOTH
ing Such pineapples and bansnasl did
not know that the banana could be grown to
| such perfection of beauty and flavor. The
| skin was as soft and beautiful as that of any
peach. Cocoanuts would scarcely pay for
the gathering were it not that tree will
bear three or four crops year. Down at
Penang it is said that some planters are able
to make tree bring in $5 profit year, but
| that is by cu1tivating the best varieties -
| those that are worth five cents or more
| apiece, rather than one cent Of dates, pu-
meIos, figs egg plant lychees, red and gel
| low watermelons, ginger, and other fruits
| and nuts the names of which did not know,
there was seemingly no limit. At one stall
in an exchange-shop connected with the
market we saw money piled at least four
| feet high, six feet long and three feet wide.
Il was copper cash, such as is used wherever
the Chinese have penetrated. Sometimes
steamers come down the Yangtse river laden
with it to the waters edge, the value of each
| coin being only one tenth of a cent.
| From the market proceeded to the
public gardens, which proved to be the most
| satisfactory sight in all Saigon On the way
| we passed by the immense enclosure contain
i ing the barracks for the French garrison
MY experience hitherto had led me to ad-
| mire abundantIg the way in which the Eng
l lioh OH nf heir mi fhaaa
| French barracks are the finest I have yet
| seen. They are handsome three-story struc-
| lures with spacious galleries all around their
| four sides. A substantial iron and granite
| fence surrounds the compound. Even the
soldiers are dressed in white, with the pecu-
| liar ''tropic hats" There seemed to be no
| activity about the premises The public
gardens are a feature of every Oriental city,
and that here ranks second ONLY to that in
Hong Kong, and has geological department
| such as is altogethei wanting In Hong Kong.
The experience at the market was repeated
in the garden Frenzied by the multiplicity
OF varieties of trees and flowers, I shut my
eyes to all but one or two kinds and made no
effort to- hurry myself into premature
grave by acquainting myself with all of
them There was the shoe flower, a bril-
liant red blossom of great beauty, named
because it is successfully used for the pur-
pose of blacking shoes. It seemed difficult
to believe that this radiant flower would
make black stain Then there were Cape
Jessamines so odorous that the ait was heavy
with their fragrance. There was the species
of the rubber plant known as the Ficus Elias
tica. From the boughs of spreading ban
yans depended scores of rustic hanging bas- |
keks. In which orchids and delicate aerial |
crsepers were to be seen. |
In the animal department were tropical |
birds of brilliant plumage, monkeys, alliga- |
tors, storks. cranes, pelieans Wild cats |
nd h1f haon fyIfJ fJrAr
The grounds were laid out artistically, Gov |
sred q good deal of space and were most |
pleasing to the eye.
As to the natives themselves, the Anna
nese, about which so much is being said |
nowadays are not an attractive people, but |
they do not wear pigtails and l can tolerate |
any other vice. They are much like the Chi |
nese in appearance and many of their habits, |
following the same religion and living in /
much the same way. The most striking |
thing about them is their chewing habit.
Instead of chewing tobacco, the men and the
women alike universally chew a quid about
the size of a fiIbert, made up of syri leaf,
betelnut gambrier and chunam. This prep
aration is of deep red color and imparts an
exceedingly nasty appearance to the teeth,
lips and gums The people seem never to
have discovered that this disgusting juice |
does not contribute to their personal appear
ance. Some day the revelation will burst
upon them with stunning OBJECT At least |
hope 30. Judging from the redeemed ground
where Aunamites have been expectorating, |
one would think that this is colony of con
sumptives
Like all the other Orientals, the Annamese
wear their hair long, but keep it bound up in
top-knot. Perhaps I should except the |
Japanese in this sweeping statement for the
revolution in the matter of toilet which the |
last decade has wrought in Japan almost t
places the people there plane with Occi- !
denials in this as we'll as many other re-
spects.
The apparelIing of the people is, in keep
ing with the climate, quite simple The An
namese whom have seen in full dress wore
cloths around their heads after semi tutban
fashion, and USUALLY an elaborate high como.
These cloths were dyed some brilliant hue,
usually blue or red, but l noticed in every
case that one corner was left unstained by the
dyeing liquid, SO as to show to best advan-
tags the original color and the texture of the
fabric The shoes worn are heelless wooden
affairs that turn mp in front and terminate in
a long curved and pointed toe. The people |
are slender, have high chaek bones, honlely |
features and are of coppery color.
OF course there are Kings, Tamils, Madra-
sees, Hindoos, etc ad indnitem; and as in all
Orien' al ports, particularly garrlsoned towns, |
a very great number of Caricasiaus Japan |
having been SO recently opened has the |
smallest proportion of this element, but it Is
obvious that ten or fifteen Years will witness
q tremendous change. This suggests the re-
mark that thers is going to be an awful day
of reckoning sometime with these Europe
ans who have come here into the far East to
degrade rather than elevate the misguided
and benighted na.iVes. Where one humble
missionary is dipping truth into these coun-
tries with his tiny gospel ladle, hundred
soldiers sailors merchants, government am
bassadors and even ohurchmen are pouring
mighty tide of the grossest iniquity into the
same countries. If [ we're decent Oriental
and saw these things, reasoning earth
could convince me that there was anything
desirable in Occidental civilization. The most
scathing charges of moral rottepness con-
tanned in some Of the passages in the Bible
which the reader will recall would be alto
gether Inadequate to apply to these moral
lepers, who go about here arrayed literally |
in purple and fine gold, wearing all the airs
of Responsibility, and clothed with the digni- |
ty of responsible official position. had |
never dreamed that anywhere nominalIy de |
cent society could be SO corrupt. 1 ALMOST |
marvel that these worse than Sodoms and /
Gomorrahs are tolerated ON the face of the |
earth in these latter days. It Is not safe to |
express disapprovai anywhere except around /
missionary hearthstones, for you are sure to
be treading on somebody's corns. clean
man Is a subject of remark. L do not think
have exaggerated things one jot. have
been in large companies where the conversa-
ton furnished test of the individual senti-
isolated instance of decency. Surely fire
never came down from heaven of old upon
more iniquitous cities than these aristocratic
foreign colonies in the far East Even to the
most degenerate heathen,. civilization must
mean nothing more nor less than refined but
unbridled license. OF course the English are
responsible for this in the main, since they
are by all odds the dominating people in
nearly all the eastern colonies; but the other
nationalities have quickly accepted the key
note thus vouchsafed. I can almost fancy
that it will puzzle infinite justice at the last
day to find retribution awful enough to meet
the deserts of these offenders against social
law.
Everything is quiet here at present as re-
CARDS the Franco Chinese situation. There
Is little or no prospect that Saigon will figure
in any disturbance which may occur. AT
present there Ia only one war vessel in the
harbor, and that is the huge guard-ship
anchored IN the river opposite the heart of
the city. or course the people are all in
tsnsel3 interested in the result in the Tonquiu,
and every movement of the troops is quickly
laid before the public in the columns of the
French newspaper here, the Saigon Inde-
pendent.
Au1ono the inHfifu+ians nf kha toxvn ia q | |