Tonquin.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4582, 11 September 1883, Page 2

Tonquin.

Seeing that stirring events are transpiring daily in Tonquin and its neighborhood, the following will prove interesting to our readers :— Fresh light of considerable value has been thrown upon recent events in Tonquin by the publication of certain letters ■:. of the late Commander Eeviere. It now appears that not only were Chinese troops massed on the Tonquin border previous to the Bouree Treaty, but that they were actually in occupation of the whole of the north of Tonquwi!| including the two banks of the Song-ka. thus taking up the same position held by them in 1872, at the time when Dupuis^ passed up the river to Yunnan, which* he was enabled to do by the means of orders issued to the Annamite mandarins by General Tchen, who was then in command of the Chinese troops. The action of the French in taking-Hanoi a second time has been resented in the case of Eeviere in the same way as when Gamier met his death, and it is curious to note how very closely the details of the events have repeated themselves. Both lost their lives in sorties made to drive back the enemy, who were occupying positions dangerously close to the citadel. • The delta of the Song-ka commences ! shortly above Hanoi, and is of an average breadth and depth of some 60 miles, being [ peopled principally by Tonquinese. The j remainder of the country is occupied by hill tribes—known under a variety of names—most of them have not accepted the yoke of Annam. The whole of the delti is hemmed in by hilly country, the bills running down to the north-east close to Bac-nihh, and to within four miles at the back of Haiphong. A range of hills, inhabited byjpeople ea'led Muong, ceases in the deita on the west, touching the river 1 above Son-tay, lining the river from that place to Uanoi, and theace turning nearly due south to within a short distance of Ninh-binh, close to the seaboard. On the northwest the delta is bounded by hills which skirt the Song-chi Canal, the means of communication between the Song-ka andThai-binh rivers.and therefore between ' tbe towns of H«noi and Buc-ninh. How the cordon of gunboats occupying tbe river .below Hanoi cim prevent the Chinese—the so-called "Black Flags " of the French—from crossing the river above Hauoi is incomprehensible, by the light of the information given regarding the character of the country. Indeed, ifc seecas impossible that the French" can. prevent, as yet, the occupation of Bon-tay s and the suburbs of Hanoi. There is reason to believe that these are now in. the hands of the enemy, as they were at the time of G\irnier's death, and on the occasion of the fatal sortie made by i lieviere. ' ,: The low deiti land, according to French authority, is as unhealthy a^ the plains of French Cochin China, while even the hardy Cantonese traders, who do not fear the worst parts of Yunnan and Kwang si, dread the miasma of the hills of Tonquin. Hanoi is situated on the right .or west . bank of Song-ka, at the base of a range of hills, which here tutrijg south* l.T^jtS* -\ north of the town is situated a lake'of brge extent, roughly speaking some two ■'- and three-quarter miles long by two miles ' broad. The lake is bounded by hilly >. ground, en the lower gentle slopes of which the town is built, and is separatedi ■ i'rom the river by a. narrow strip of land),' which ends close to the Fort du Nord, situated next the north east corner of the citadel. The citadel is built due north and south, and the river runs from north-east to south-east, the space between the citadel and river forming a triangle which is occupied by the town. The town extends some two and a half miles along the river bank, and is protected by a hi«h wall joining the south and north forts. A.rampart extends to the south for about a mile, from which point- it is carried in a west-north-east direction for about three miles to the Thu>le village, at which placeitturnsinanorth-eastdirecfcion > andis continued to the borders of the lake and the north-west corner of the fort. Tbe rampart encloses not only the citadel and the town, but several large reservoirs and. areas under rice cultivation, the total area thus enclosed being about three and a half square miles. It was close by this rampart, near the village of Thule, that Gamier met his death. The S6a<» chi Canal, which joins the Thai-binh and Song ka rivers, has its entrance on the eastern bank, about one and a quarter miles above the North- Fort. The citadel of Hanoi was held at the time of Eiviere's death by 500 men, a very small force to hold a fort 3600ft squre against an enomy strong, at.least in numbers. The population of Hanoi some years ago was estimated at 150,003 to 200,000 Tonquinese and 3000 Chines. It is not unreasonable to assume that, on any reverse of the French, the people would join the soldiery. The non publication of the official reports from Hanoi, Namdinh and Haiphong is ominous. The news that Li-Hung Chane has been placed in command of the troops of the three southern provinces—namely, Ewang-tung, Kwangsi, and Yunnantaken together, wifch the view expressed by the Marquis Tseng and Li-Hung- - Chang, makes it important to consider,, how the Chinesd can move their troopi into Tonquin. Assuming that the Chinese'troops will be prevented from crossing: the lonquin Gulf, and that they will nofc ba permitted to make use of the network of creeks in the delta west of Pakkri, only internal communicatioa will ho available to the Chinese. It may be assumed that Nannirier will bo made the. gathering point for the Kwa&gtung and Kwang-si troops, and MetJtsin for those of Yunnan. Nanuing is situated* on the most southern bend of the Si kiaag^ at its junction with h stream, known locally as th« Nam.«ho f whieh stretobe* to '.*■•■-

the exsreme south-west of Kwang-si near the " natural zone." Thcaveraga jouraey by native,boat from Canton to Nanning in dry weather is 25 days, but with lightdiaught steamers, which can traverse the greater part, the length of the journey rhay be reduced to ten days, banning i« five days distant from Pakhoi, the Si kiang being separated from tLe Tonquin Gulf by a range of hills inhabited by mountain , tribes, whose turbulence is .evidenced by the fact that all trading parties have to travel in large.armed bands. ' ;The maitf l'outa from Nanning. vrliich ■'Will ►doubtless be adopted, by the Chinese, will be up theNam-hq, via '• aiping-fu and Long-chaufu in Ewang-si. From Nanning to Lung-chau takes 10 days, and thence, to Hanoi probably four days morr. The »troops concentrated atPe r se —the navigation limit of the Si-kianga—would be moved by Chiunganand the River Claire, :""' and this would take some 10 days. From Mentzu the Yunnan troops can be moved to Manhao in two days, and thenco in four days to Hanoi. It will thns be seen that within a very short time —six days from Yunnan and 10 to 14 days from Ewangsi—Chinese forces can be moved to Hanoi, the capital of tonquin. From Canton, on tbe eastern seaboard, troops can be delivered at Nanninjt within 10 days. From the /bc!s, put forward it seems eridentJy tbst tb'e French troops in Tonquin, even when reinforced as at present proposed, will be totally inadequate to cope with the difficulties of the situation.