The Mission to Siam, and Hué the Capital of Cochin China, in the Years 1821-2

Mr. Crawfurd now took occasion to ask the mandarin when he might expect to have the honour of obtaining an audience of the king. We were but little prepared for the answer to this: that the business of the envoy being entirely of a commercial nature, it altogether precluded the possibility of his being admitted into the presence of the king; and that it was an affair for the cognizance of his ministers. To this Mr. Crawfurd answered, that it was right that commercial affairs should be conducted by the king’s ministers, and that he should be happy to have the honour of conferring with them on this subject, but that commerce was not the sole object either of the letter to the king or of the mission; that he had been sent from a distant country, by a powerful and mighty government, to congratulate the king of Cochin China on his succession to the throne. That this was of itself to be considered as an honourable distinction of the king of Cochin China; and that the obvious and general tendency of the mission was to unite and to cement the bonds of friendship between the two nations. That the determination not to receive the envoy of the Governor General of India, a man of the most exalted rank, the intimate friend of his sovereign, looked up to by all the world, and holding correspondence with the greatest kings of the east, was the more surprising, and indeed altogether unaccountable, for that the late king had received the envoy of the Governor General, and had given him two public audiences. He concluded by requesting, that the Mandarin would represent this matter to his majesty, and obtain from him an early answer. The mandarin answered that he had already communicated with the king upon the subject, and such was his determination. That had the Agent to the Governor General come on any other than commercial affairs, he would have been presented to the court, but that it was altogether contrary to its customs to give audience on such occasions. That had Mr. Crawfurd been the envoy of the king of England, or of any king, he would have been received. That in this case it was as if the governor of Saigon had sent an envoy to the imperial court. It was contrary to usage, contrary to the customs of the country, and could not be done; but for the satisfaction of Mr. Crawfurd the matter should be again represented to the king.

In the interval, tea had been served, and, at this part of the conversation, the table was covered with roast pigs, geese, fowls, and fruit. The subject of the damaged guns was again introduced by M. Chaigneaux.

We were requested to sit down to dinner. The mandarin continued upon his seat, a tranquil spectator of what was going on around him. The meat was served up on China dishes, and the fruit on japanned trays. A few small liqueur glasses, of coarse manufacture, were placed upon the table, together with a bottle of common French claret. The knives were also French, with gilt handles.

After we had partaken of a little fruit, the things were removed, and the chief asked if we had a desire to see the comedy. Mr. Crawfurd said that he should wish first to say a few words on the subject of the late conversation. The Portuguese interpreter was now requested to explain that it must be well known to the mandarin, and to the court at large, as it was also to the two French gentlemen now present, that in the year 1804, the envoy of the Governor General of Bengal, Mr. Roberts, who was sent in a capacity similar to that of Mr. Crawfurd, had been received honourably at court, and had obtained two audiences of the king; that therefore this was a clear and unequivocal proof that it was not contrary to the usage of the court, that he should be received by the king; that the envoys of the Governor General were received with distinction at the courts of the first monarchs of India, and that very lately he had obtained an audience of a neighbouring monarch, that of Siam. He concluded by begging that the matter might be taken into serious consideration.

The Mandarin stoutly asserted and reiterated his assertion that Mr. Roberts had not obtained an audience of the king. He was reminded that documents proving the contrary, written by the express order of the king, were in the possession of the government of Bengal, and that both Messrs. Vannier and Chaigneaux, who were present on that occasion, could now testify to the fact. M. Chaigneaux stoutly denied that he knew any thing of the matter, said that he was sick, and absent. M. Vannier neither could nor did deny the matter, but remained silent. The Mandarin knew that nothing but the truth had been stated; yet he equivocated in the most palpable manner; saying at one time that he had not been admitted; at another, that it was during war, when any one might have been admitted to the king; and that since that time the customs of the court had been altered; and that the magnificence of the court was reserved solely for the greatest occasions. It was here observed that the change which had taken place in court etiquette was not known; and that with respect to the manner in which the mission was to be received, it was for the king to decide whether the audience should be public or private. On this the old gentleman dryly observed, that it was indeed very natural that we should use every expedient to gain an audience of the king, having come so far for that purpose, and plainly insinuated that it was all to no purpose. The coolness of his manner, and the direct inference of the remark, were too much for us, and we could contain our gravity no longer. The Frenchmen seemed equally surprised with the Mandarin at seeing us laugh so heartily. The old gentleman was in fact quite at a loss what to say; and at last dwelt upon the argument that the etiquette of the court had been changed. He promised to return an answer to all matters on the following day.

The players were now introduced. Their performance was so grotesque and ridiculous, unmeaning and tiresome, that it is not worthy of further observation. The music also was abominable. We were soon tired of both, and requested permission to retire. The French gentlemen accompanied us to our boats.

We returned home by a different route from that by which we came, so as to make the circuit of the fortress, but it was now dark, and we could see but little.

Sept. 29th.– No answer came from the Mandarin regarding the subjects agitated yesterday. He sent to say that a boat would be sent to take us to see the place; and in the evening the French gentlemen came to accompany us. Proceeding up the river, we passed along that part of the fortress which the darkness had prevented us from seeing on the preceding evening. This part of the wall has been finished, in the course of the present year, in a very complete manner. The present king, however, is not altogether pleased, as his predecessor was, with the principles of Vauban. He has accordingly built the embrasures on a plan of his own22 invention. The order of them is quite reversed, that is, they are narrow towards the ditch, and wide towards the rampart! This is the case with all the embrasures on this side of the fort, and they would seem to be the only objectionable part of the work. We were now more struck than ever with the great beauty, magnitude, regularity and strength of this extraordinary work, for such it is in every point of view. Nothing can be more neat and regular than all the works, the glacis, the covered way, the ditch, the walls, and the ramparts. Some of the bridges are made of stone and mortar, others of wood, supported on blocks of masonry, and all of them remarkably neat.

When we had passed nearly mid-way along this front, we entered the place by a principal gate, neatly and strongly built in the European style, and with simple and few ornaments. The glacis is covered with short grass, and about 200 yards in breadth. The wet ditch is about thirty feet broad, supported on each side by masonry, and being on a level with the river, it always contains water. The wall cannot, I should think, be less than from twenty to thirty feet high. The French gentlemen told us that the length of each side was 1,187 toises of six feet each, and that the walls would contain 800 pieces of cannon. On entering the gate we turned to the right, and passed along the rampart. As much care has been bestowed on the construction of the interior as of the exterior. The place is laid out in squares or quadrangles, the roads are wide and convenient, and a navigable canal, which leads to the granaries and magazines, passes through the place. The town, if so it may be called, is rather paltry; the greater part of the ground appears to be laid out in ill-cultivated gardens, attached to miserable, but probably only temporary, huts. The bazars have an appearance of poverty, yet the regularity of the streets gives an air of great neatness to the place, and the view both of the country and town, as seen from the rampart, must be considered very fine. After passing for more than a mile along the rampart, we were conducted to the public granaries, consisting of a vast number of well-built, substantial store-houses. The greatest attention has been bestowed upon every thing; and the powder-magazines are erected in the midst of tanks.

We were, however, unfortunate in the day we had chosen. It now commenced to rain with great violence, and the crowd of idle spectators who had inoffensively followed us so far, began to disperse. We next passed on towards the palace and the citadel. I could not help reflecting on the different reception we had experienced at Saigon, and at this place. There the people were anxious to shew us every attention, and their hospitality was unbounded. Here we passed in front of a palace, where there were numerous officers and persons of rank that saw us, yet though we were on foot, without umbrellas, without the means of conveyance, overtaken by the rain and drenched with wet, there was no offer of assistance made from any quarter. It is easy to conceive what appearance we made under these circumstances.

The palace of the king is surrounded on every side by handsome and well-built rows of barracks. These were uncommonly clean and very complete in their structure. The arm-racks, the arms of the men, the platforms on which they sleep; the apartments for officers, were all disposed with the greatest neatness and regularity. The men though not armed, were disposed with regularity in the verandahs; and all of them in uniform. Of some regiments the uniform is blue, with red sleeves; of others, white with red, and so forth. The officers are distinguished by a circular patch of embroidery in front of each shoulder. These barracks would lose little in comparison with the best we have in England.

When we had passed through several suites of these, we were proceeding on towards our boats, being unwilling to continue longer in the wet. The commander of artillery wished, however, to shew us his department, and sent to recal us. His department was indeed well worth seeing. We had not seen one gun on the walls of the fort, but here was a display calculated to surprise us. It were an endless task to enumerate all the different sorts of iron and brass guns, their sizes, and other circumstances connected with them. Four very large buildings, or sheds, were entirely filled with guns mounted and dismounted, of every description. There were also a considerable number of mortars, and an ample supply of shot and shells. A great number of very fine brass guns were pointed out to us that had been cast by the late king, and among them nine of immense size. The officer of artillery observed that the latter were too large to be serviceable in war, but that the king had intended them as a memorial both of himself and of the works executed during his reign. They were mounted upon carriages, finished with as much care as the guns themselves. The gun-carriages in general were uncommonly well finished, and made of a hard and durable wood called Sao, procured chiefly from the province of Dong-nai or Saigon.

The palace of the king is so completely surrounded by the barracks, that except on passing one or two of the gates, we could see nothing whatever of the buildings. The citadel is a small quadrangular building, with strong and lofty walls, close to the palace. It is altogether an edifice not calculated to excite any peculiar interest.

It had now become so dark that we could see nothing more of the buildings, and therefore returned to our boat. What we had seen was well calculated to give us very favourable notions of the capacity of the Cochin Chinese. Every thing was in a style of neatness, magnitude, and perfection, compared to which, similar undertakings by other Asiatics were like the works of children. These wear the semblance of the preparations of a bold, enterprising, and warlike people. Such were the sentiments which a view of these objects was calculated to produce. A more extensive acquaintance with the people tended to qualify them. It was already easy to perceive that the master-mind which had projected and created such great works no longer influenced their continuance. He had set that in motion which his successors, it may be suspected, are scarce equal to carry on or to preserve. Above all, it was easy to perceive that the genius which had directed every thing was French. The late king shewed, doubtless, a great and unprejudiced mind in following their plans. But another Pharaoh has arisen who knows not23 Joseph. The French interest, there seems every reason to believe, declines daily, and with the two Mandarins of that nation, one of whom is about to return to his native country, it will probably cease altogether. The proposals made by the French court since the peace, and their attempts to enter into a more close union, have been kept a profound secret. Whatever may have been their nature, it is clear that they have been rejected by the Cochin Chinese. China, and not France, is the example which the present court follows in every thing. No Frenchmen have been received into its service since the death of the late king; and though we have reason to believe that the councils of the two, now in office, have not been favourable to the interests of the mission, it is alike evident that they were totally incapable of influencing the court in favour of the proposals of their own countrymen. When they saw that we were surprised and disappointed at the determination of the court to refuse an audience to the envoy of the Governor General of India, they insinuated indirectly that there were others who had also been refused; and subsequently told us more plainly that we ought to be the less concerned at this refusal, for that M. Cargariau, Captain of the French frigate Sybil, bearing letters and presents from the French minister of marine, had been refused an audience of the king in 1817. It was to little purpose that we told the Frenchmen that the cases were by no means parallel; like the Mandarin of Strangers they always dwelt as a dernier resort upon the change of court etiquette that had taken place.

With this manifest decline of French interests and councils, it remains to be proved, whether without such influence, the Cochin Chinese are capable of maintaining that spirit which has raised their country to its present rank, and advanced it beyond the condition of its neighbours.

1st Oct.– We went to visit M. Chaigneaux, but not finding him at home, we proceeded towards the principal bazar accompanied by his nephew, an intelligent young man. We had seen but a small part of the bazar, when a petty officer informed Mr. Crawfurd that we must have an order from the Mandarin of Strangers, – on which we turned back. The bazar was well supplied with the more coarse and common articles of Chinese, but afforded very little of domestic, manufacture.

Soon after our return home, the assistant to the Mandarin of Strangers, the same old man that had come to take the letter for the king, came from the former to say that as the English had not yet had any commerce with the country, and could not therefore have gained any advantages, his majesty could not think of accepting the presents; but that if the English should return another year, he would then accept whatever was agreeable to him, paying for the same, in money, or in produce; that with respect to the ceremony of being presented at court, it was necessary to have all the mandarins in their robes, and all the court in their full dresses; that this was a great ceremony, reserved for the envoys of kings; that had Mr. Crawfurd come from the king of England, he would have been presented, but that in the present case it was as if the governor of Saigon sent an envoy to a monarch.

He added further that the tariff should be sent, and that the English should be permitted to trade to all the ports of Cochin China and Tonquin, on paying the established duties. He advised that the ship’s long boat should be sent back without delay, for that the bad season might otherwise prevent her altogether from returning; that we ourselves might proceed either by sea or by land to Turon bay.

This was probably the most favourable, and perhaps the only, opportunity for making a representation on the subject of the presentation. Such representation might, it is possible, though in my opinion not at all likely, have produced some delay or alteration in the commercial concerns, and this was doubtless Mr. Crawfurd’s reason for expressing his satisfaction at the arrangements that had been made. There remained, in fact, nothing to be asked on the subject of commerce; so that they had made no concessions, no sacrifices whatever on that account. They would receive our ships as they did those of the Chinese, the French, the Dutch, the Americans. Where we had no favour to ask, no boon to solicit, we might, it seems to me, have urged what is due to a great government, and has been accorded by other nations of India, with the greater warmth.

Before this man had left us, Messrs. Vannier and Chaigneaux came to visit us. They had been sent by the king to explain what had been said by the assistant to the Mandarin of Strangers. Their communication was to the same effect as that of the other. It was on this occasion that they mentioned that M. Cargariau had not seen the king.

October 3.– After passing the morning with M. Chaigneaux, we visited the principal bazar. It consists of a spacious street about a mile in length, with shops on either side the whole of its length. Many of the shops are mere paltry huts, made of palm-leaves; the rest are more substantial houses, constructed chiefly of wood, and have tiled or thatched roofs. Here, also, the poverty of the shops was particularly striking. A very large proportion contained nothing but shreds of gilt and coloured paper used in religious ceremonies, and at funerals. Chinese porcelain, of a coarse description; fans, lacquered boxes, Chinese fans, silks, and crapes, the two latter in small quantity; medicines without number, coarse clothes made up, large hats made of palm-leaf, and a sort of jacket of the same material; rice, pulse, and fruit; sago, made from the seeds of a species of nymphæa, were the common articles exposed for sale. There were but few, and those very coarse articles of manufactured iron, as nails, hatchets, and chisels, which bore a high price.

The Cochin Chinese carry purses, in which they put their betel and tobacco; these are very neat, and usually thrown over the shoulders of the men; they are made either of plain blue silk, or embroidered in gold, and may be had at all prices, from half a dollar to fifteen. Men of rank have them carried by their servants. In this bazar the shops are held almost entirely by natives of the country. There are scarcely any Chinese amongst them.

CHAPTER X

Physiological Exterior of the Cochin Chinese. – Costume. – Moral Character. – Religion. – Brutalizing Effects of a Despotic Government. – Military Servitude. – Population. – Rains and Inundations. – Costume of the Rainy Season. – Visit to the Tacoon. – Tablets and Boxes ornamented with the Mya Shell. – Letter and Presents for the Governor General. – The Agent declines accepting the Presents for the Governor General. – Regulations respecting Trade. – Extent of Permission retracted. – A Repast. – Rotten Eggs and Chickens in the Shell a Chinese Delicacy, and Token of Royal Favour. – The Mandarin of Han. – Letter to the Governor General refused. – Pitiful Spirit of the Cochin Chinese Government. – Chinese Player. – The King of the Drama Bambooed. – Final Interview with the Mandarin of Strangers. – Return to Turon. – Beautiful Country. – Canal. – Salt-water Lake. – Grand Scenery. – Route. – Botanical Observations. – Palanquins and Bearers. – Granitic Country. – Excellent Roads. – Re-embark.

We had by this time seen a large proportion of the people, and our intercourse with them had brought to light traits of moral character, which, under a less intimate acquaintance, had lain concealed; while at the same time we gained a more intimate knowledge of their physical form. It is extraordinary how little diversity there exists in the latter, in regard either of stature or of features.

In their physical exterior, they present a compound which accords not very correctly with any of the tribes whose peculiarities we have before attempted to describe. In some respects, indeed, the resemblance is sufficiently obvious; yet in others it is much less so, if not rather of an opposite character. It appears to me, however, that a strict analysis of the aggregate in their physical form, will lead to the conclusion that this nation also has sprung from the Tartar race, and that it constitutes a variety of that great and widely-disseminated branch of mankind.

In point of stature, the Cochin Chinese are, perhaps, of all the various tribes that belong to this race, the most diminutive. We remark that they want the transverse breadth of face of the Malays; the cylindrical form of the cranium, as well as the protuberant and expanded coronoid process of the lower jaw of the Siamese, and the oblique eyes of the Chinese. In common with all of these, they have a scanty, grisly, straggling beard; coarse, lank, black hair; small dark eyes; a yellowish complexion; a squat, square form; and stout extremities.

I shall here, however, enter more at large into the description of this variety. It is no very difficult task, at least for an attentive observer, to seize upon those points in the form of the Cochin Chinese, which serve to distinguish them both from the neighbouring and other nations. It is more difficult to convey, in accurate and precise terms, correct notions of these distinctions to others. The subject of the filiation of nations, though one of the deepest interest, is still involved in much obscurity. We see impressed upon the whole of the human race, through every variety, every modification of climate, under every condition of barbarous or of civilized life, one general, one universal form, from which there is, in fact, no deviation. It is true, that there are tribes so different from others in appearance, that we almost conclude that they constitute different species of animal beings. Yet the difference is, perhaps, in all cases, more apparent than real, more imaginative than natural. When we would inquire into the origin, the history, the connexions, of a particular tribe, or the prevalence of a particular form or feature, we are often compelled to confess that we are at a loss to discover characters in all respects satisfactory. The interest of the subject will always claim for it the patient investigation of reflecting men, and will in time, doubtless, remove many of the difficulties in which it is at present involved.

To return to the subject of the Cochin Chinese. In the consideration of their external form, the circumstance which chiefly strikes an European observer is their diminished form. Their squat and broad shape augments the effect of this characteristic, so that they appear more diminutive than they actually are. Of twenty-one persons, taken chiefly from the class of soldiers, the others being citizens, the average height was five feet, two inches, and three-fourths: of eleven of the same persons, the average length of the arm amounted to 12.4 inches: of the fore-arm, 10.15 inches, and the girth of the chest at the broadest part, to two feet, nine inches. It has been remarked, that the Cochin Chinese are of a yellowish colour. It is very rare to find amongst them any that are very black. Many of the females in particular are as fair as the generality of the inhabitants of the south of Europe.