212 MAN: PAST AND PRESENT. [CHAP. 



between China and Tonking, and afterwards extended to the 

 whole of Tonking and Cochin-China. Tonking itself, meaning 

 the "Eastern Court 1 ,'' was originally the name only of the city of 

 Ha-noi when it was a royal residence, but was later extended to 

 the whole of the northern kingdom, whose true name is Yiieh-nan. 

 To this corresponded the southern Kwe-Chen-Ching, " Kingdom 

 of Chen-Ching," which was so named in the Qth century from its 

 capital Chen-Ching, and of which our Cochin-China appears to be 

 a corrupt form. 



But, amid all this troublesome political nomenclature, the 

 dominant Annamese nation has faithfully preserved its homo- 

 geneous character, spreading, like the Siamese Shans, steadily 

 southwards, and gradually absorbing the whole of the Champa 

 domain to the southern extremity of the peninsula, as well as a 

 large part of the ancient kingdom of Carnboja about the Mekhong 

 delta. They thus form at present the almost exclusive ethnical 

 element throughout all the lowland and cultivated parts of Ton- 

 king, upper and lower Cochin-China and south Camboja, with a 

 total population in 1898 of about twenty millions. 



The Annamese are described in a semi-official report 2 as 

 characterised by a high broad forehead, high cheek 



Physical and . & 



Mental bones, small crushed nose, rather thick lips, black 



Characters. , . , , , , . , 



hair, scant beard, mean height, coppery complexion, 

 deceitful (rusee) expression, and rude or insolent bearing. The 

 head is round (index 83 to 84) and the features are in general flat 

 and coarse, while to an ungainly exterior corresponds a harsh un- 

 sympathetic temperament. The Abbe Gagelin, who lived years in 

 their midst, frankly declares that they are at once arrogant and 

 dishonest, and dead to all the finer feelings of human nature, 

 so that after years of absence the nearest akin will meet without 

 any outward sign of pleasure or affection. Others go further, and 

 Mr J. G. Scott summed it all up by declaring that "the fewer 

 Annamese there are, the less taint there is on the human race." 

 No doubt Lord Curzon gives a more favourable picture, but this 

 traveller spent only a short time in the country, and even he 



1 Cf. Nan-king, Pe-king, " Southern " and " Northern " Courts (Capitals). 



2 La Gazette Gtographique, March 12, 1885. 



