CELESTIAL CONDITION OF AFFAIRS IN COCHIN-CHINA.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1869, 5 October 1874, Page 3

CELESTIAL CONDITION OF AFFAIRS IN COCHIN-CHINA.

The Chinese maintain''they are'the! only'civilised ; nation: of the earth;MtiweVare not bound to believe them. Judging from the extraordinary -revelation' m3e p. in the.following story taken from a Hongl liong paper, we should conclude that how--'-'-ever.advanced they may be they can'yet " do with a little' more advancing in the ;q humane arts"The Viceroy's"Heet Has 1 ' J1 been sent to a vessel, down to the Gulf of Tonquin, to assist in thecapture a'nd'extermination of as many as possible of a very large band of buccaneers who established" •themselves some.years ago at a place in » • • the Gulf, known as as Foo-tai-moon. The J chiefvis iknown as Lan KoongrshihgJ:'ahdV£ his two lieutenants (ab.le: enough .scoundrels doubtless) are Shirig Shang-yee;' Some' ten years', ago these'villains had their head-quarters [oil. the West Coast, where 'their doings'were • extensive in-the extreme". -Rapine and murder-accompanied their steps wherever directed, and 1 villages became depopulated as if by magic; the villagers being either"" murdered or - allowed to -join ; ther pirate band. The'excesses of the" scoundrels attained' such 'a , ' , pitch'' at-'last i: tHat l the Viceroy's .gunboats were despatched to the scene of their depredations, with such good effects;: that 4hey abindoQed^the-V villages; they had peopled with itheir J owa %■ nefarious gang,- and departed ; foi' the 'fiulf o|f Tonquirywherethey established' selves totKe'niiihb'erofsome fiveth&usiiiid^' ia number that included.;their families.''' The place 'they selected was, aa' i'liare said, Foo-tai-moon, t a stronghold; they proceeded'truly'to make so'by fortifying it, as well 1 as sohie adjacent islands . were favourably Bituated td aaaist in the defence-of-tke-place; —Theyof'coarsere-"" tained their,, craft, and soon became, the .terror of-the 4 place, swooping doWn'upbh ..trading junks>with the rapacity.pf'a hawk,'. f an 3 shedding blood as if it were water*•The force that is l gone is/iii a ; sense, large, and.itis to. bo hoped anientire extermi&a* 1 tioii. of -the;tscouadrels may,-,take (p1ace.,,,.; About,,three ..weeks, ago [the .gunbpat,,,,.. '' Chun-hoi' broughtin.sixty rascals whom ,r' ■she had managed .to capture.'.fhey'sre''„ .now awaiting sentence", but as'i^ik',we)F known .that' they have'been giviiig info#* 1 ' .matioh 'to the" authorities—and' 1 Wiere'," m t,r .fact, when seized, on their way to make'-'' 1 •further i: revelations isii'supposed-''by :Some thati they,will escape They ■ aver ,that.;they f wei:.e compelled;, to.. become, .plates, .being;, flnly alio, to a ,f* ■choose, or .Jjuccaneering j;. ■ 'and under these circumstances, the story ,is a plausible, one, ifbeing .to their band .by. tliis" means—it is not 'surprising" th^yshduld ,; Have' J electe i d ) do'Kecbme freebooters.;, 'There is Jion'e/thing worthy of , notice,, which i9,j the Viceroy,.with a fine sense, of expediency, has a' fascihating knack'of fca^ih'g f off the heads of spies* r of thia degcnpfcibh; as-well as of those,who.clingiMthe.absurd idea that there should-be 'honour amongstthieves,' and it is quite possible that sixty, distorted faces -maybe .seen', in : a%y oi- i ■ two, ornamenting, that shambles yclept i; theMa-t'aii.J.',