Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-04-07
THE RED RIVER DELTA.
FRENCH OPERATIONS IN THE
TONQUIN COUNTRY.

The Crucial Test of the french 10
CoIonize Their New Possessions -
Blunders, IucOmpetsncy and Weak
ness-The Malarial Condition of China.
Fran the Ne,o York Tribune.
HAI-PHoNG, ToNQUIN, Feb. 10.-The
city which is fairly sure to command the
trade Of the delta Of the Red river, and in
time that of all Tonquin and Yun-Nan, Is
thought to be Hai-Phong. 1t stands on
one Of the many arms through which the
parent stream reaches the sea, - miles
from its mouth: bias an incOnYenlent bar,
which at low water has only 6 feet and at
high water Is feet, and therefore cannot
hope ever to see al It's wharyes great ships
But it is the best port that can be had
under the circumstances. and the French
Government, seconded by spectators, is
obliged to be content with it. Here comes
the foreign merchandise which is TO be
distributed through that part of Tonquiu
which the French already occupy. Here
come the troops and munitions OF war for
tine French army in the field and the
military posts in the interior. Here are
public offices burden9d with their duties,
military headquarters kept busy with
general military work, and a board of
public works which is doing business on
magnificent metropolitan scale. Real
estate has gone from nothing TO a COM
manding figure as rapidly as in Western
towns during the speculative era ia
America, and everything indicates the
expectation OF wonderful prosperity. The
delta is not, as might be supposed, q
iat swamp covered VIII a reedy jungle,
but a large level area. intersected bY
the arms Of tine kCd river, covered with
T &c feds, groves OF bamboo and orchards
OF tile betcl palm, which give it siugu-
larry picturesque appearance; dotted with
villages and DOrdered by ranges of low
serrated hills, which close it round like
framework. On the south bank OF one
of these larger arms. just where it is inter-
sacted by a smaller channel, stand UHi-
Phong. The ground IS low and at spring
tides partially overlooked, a DRAWBACKS
which viii he IN Il measure remCdiei by
raising the general level OF the site. Ini.
process is going on slowly over
considerable area. he streets, which have
been laid out re ularly, are already ut
the proper level. but the intervening
blocks are as yet mere rectangular
lakes Of water, surrounded constantly by
Wretched Anume-e WON n and cir
rak.ng them for the Shiny seaweed. The
mud bank along the water front is being
eNcaNdted by means peculiarly PRINT
tive aud Oriental. Here may be seen any
day from one TO several hundred coolies
standing in line knee-leep in the Ooze,
the one larthest from the bank picking
up m his hands a mass OF stt mud and
clay, banding 10 to the One next him, who
passes it along until il is at last deposited
on solid ground. The work is SUP RIM
tended by a petty French Off ial, assisted
ly two or three hali-EUropedu-
lied Anamesa, through whom ne
nnparCs his orders. The streets that are
finished are solid and handsome, thanks
TO a soil we'll adapted to the purpose.
Ihe residences are sometimes OF the bum
galoW st3 ie, or twC-stOry, with yerandas
like those elsewhere in the foreign -ettie-
ments in the Fest. There are already
enough Of them TO give a European air TO
along the main stream for nearly a mile.
and for a somewhat greater distance
along the smaller branch. the native town,
which contains about 10 0C0 Inhabitants,
living in houses Hmsily constructed OF
bamboo mating, continuing beyond and
finally ending IN some dirty struggling
nuts among groves of palm.
Joaquin is 70 be the crucial test Of the
ability OF the French to c0lOuiza their new
possessions. The trade Of Saloon,
though so handsomely built and 50 we'll
governed by them, is mostly in the hands
of Germans, English and Chinese. There
IS danger that Hai-Ph0ng will follow its
example. There are three classes of
Frenchmen who are invariably on the
crest of the wave of foreign conquest.
These are the barber, the rcstaurateur,
and the cabaret keeper. They are already
In Hai-Ph0ng. The first with his gentle
TOT -n, his toilet articles and his patent
nostrums for the hair; the second with
his pots and pans in bamboo
shed in a grove of bananas;
and the last with his wines, his liquors
and an ineXhaustible supply OF vernOuth
and abSinthe. AS for the carpenters.
cabinet-makers, tailors and shoemakers,
they have not yet put in an appearance.
The somewhat diminished Chinese colony
supplies this want, though imperiectly.
The French merchant and farmer are too
poor to emigrate uuaWed to such dis
tant country as this. Ii the French wish
to have them till the fields of the delta
and the hills Of Tonqain and the jungles
which, cleared and cultiVa ed, VIII lose
much OF their mlasmatie quality, they
viii have to assist them by cheap steam-
ship fares and grants Of land, or even go
further, and, by furnishing the means 10
work the land, help emigrauts to place
themselves on paying basis.
ICnqulu is undoubtedly rich country,
and upon closer observation lam induced
to believe not half so malarial as 10 has
been painted. Most of China is maariai.
1t could hardly be otherwise with the de-
cay and waste of thousands OF years OF
cultivation and thousands of millions Of
lleetng mortality. But the sickness in
the French army Of rouquin and Formosa
IS not entirely due to the eXhalauons OF Il
luNurlaat vegetation and rich and ur-
healthy soil. That responsibility viii
have to toe shared by the French Govern
mcnu which modified the small force
which IT sent TO the East without pro-
| Vidlng the requisite medical attendance
and hospital stores, and failed TO furnish
a supply Of tents or even blankets. Men
at ke-Lung during the northeast
monsoon should be well fed,
well clad and well protected
from the weather. The French soldier
has becnueither; hence fever and rbeuma-
usm and the weekly shipment of disabled
men to Sai-Gon. Iouquin is not alto
getlor land of summer. 1t has cold.
dreuchiug rains and piercing winds, rot
alone from the ocean. but from the high
/ table lands of lHu-Nau aud Ihiuet.
The mitsmatic conditions render abso-
I lule warmth and dryuess imperative. but
81 Ministry Tapped in Partisan luxury is
Stu nttla conscious of this fact that when
am order was given some months ago c.
| the Quurtermaster's Department 40 nome
| for blankets, 10 was coUntcrmanded bee
/ cause iouqum is "a warm country. EN-
cCutiVe idiacv could go uo further. N IFS
"a hitting climax To- campaign man
aged since 10, beginning with the
most deliberate imheciuty. An in-
-peeuou of the shops of the mor-