GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATIONS. 



439 



its Mikado or spiritual emperor, and several 

 of its daimios or princes, is endeavoring to ex- 

 pel all foreigners from the empire, and has ren- 

 dered their residence unsafe at most of its open- 

 ed ports, will render geographical or scientific 

 expeditions hazardous for a time. Ambassa- 

 dors from Japan visited Europe in the summer 

 of 1862, and remained for some months ; and 

 another embassy was sent from thence in 

 the summer of 1863, to remonstrate against 

 European settlement and commerce in the em- 

 pire. M. Humbert has published in the "Bibli- 

 otheque Universelle," of Geneva, an important 

 paper on Japan, and the "Annales du Commerce 

 Exterieur," of Paris, contains interesting and 

 very complete information in regard to the 

 commerce of the ports open to foreigners. 

 Robert Fortune, for many years British consul 

 in China, and well known for his efforts to 

 promote the tea culture in British India, pub- 

 lished, in March, 1863, "Yedo and Peking, 

 a narrative of a journey to the capitals of Ja- 

 pan and China," a book of great value. Bar- 

 on Richthofen published, about the close of 

 1862, an elaborate memoir on the geology of 

 the island of Kiu-Siu; and Mr. Alexis Perry 

 communicated to the Royal Society of London 

 a paper on the earthquakes and volcanic phe- 

 nomena of Japan. The maps of the different 

 portions of the empire, prepared by native 

 geographers, are remarkable for their accuracy 

 . and beauty. They greatly surpass the Chinese 

 in their attainments, in every department of 

 physical science. 



Passing southward, we come to Cochin China, 

 hich has been the scene of extensive explora- 

 ions and surveys by the French, who have ob- 

 tained a permanent foothold in the southern 

 portion. The Tableau de la Cochin Chine, 

 by MM. Cortambert and De Rosny, gives a 

 very full account of the geography, history, 

 and language of the country, and is accom- 

 panied by geographical and ethnological maps. 

 Admiral Bonard has given an interesting nar- 

 rative of his expedition up the Me-Kong and 

 the Oudong rivers, and Lake Tele-Sab, as far as 

 the rivers of Angkor, or Nokhor. The admiral 

 regards the canal and the port of Kankao, 

 which is at flie junction of the canal with the 

 Gulf of Siam, and by treaty was to have been 

 a part of the French territory, but was with- 

 held from them by the Annamese, as of little 

 value. The Annamese are restive under the 

 humiliating terms to which they were subject- 

 ed by the treaty of June, 1862, and have more 

 than once put the French garrisons in jeopardy. 

 The French hydrographic engineers have sur- 

 veyed very carefully the entire coast of Cochin 

 China, and established a light-house on Cape 

 St. Jacques. The French Steamship Company, 

 styled the Messageries Imperiales, have estab- 

 lished a steamer service to Saigon, in their 

 route from Singapore to Hong-Kong, making 

 the time from Singapore to Saigon (637 miles) 

 three days, and from Saigon to Hong-Kong 

 (915 miles) five days. The productions of 



, 



Cochin China are valuable, consisting mainly of 

 rice, cotton, spices, indigo, silk, and ship tim- 

 ber. There are few metals, but the adjacent 

 kingdoms of Siam and Burmah abound in gold, 

 silver, iron, copper, etc., and the Malacca, not 

 far distant, yields largely of tin. Ton- King, 

 the kingdom north of Cochin China, has also 

 its gold mines.- A French traveller, M. Mou- 

 hot, who ascended the Me-Kong, in 1861, and 

 passed through the forests of Cambodia and 

 Laos, and explored the ruins of the great tem- 

 ple of Nokhor- Vat and of the city of Nokhor 

 Luoeng, or Angkor, sent a narrative of his 

 discoveries to the London Geographical So- 

 ciety, which was published in the beginning of 

 1863, but the unfortunate traveller had fallen 

 a victim to jungle fever, in November, 1861. 

 The Baron de Richthofen traversed Cambodia, 

 Laos, and Siam, in 1862, and has published 

 papers on his discoveries in Petermann's Mit- 

 theilungen, and the Zeitschrift fur Erdkunde. 

 Mr. Schomburgk, the botanist, has publish- 

 ed an account of the new genera and species 

 he has discovered in Siam; M. Bocourt, a 

 French naturalist, has brought home from the 

 same country a remarkable collection of photo- 

 graphs and objects of natural history. Mr. 

 Edward O'Reilly has traversed the Pung-loung 

 mountains, between Burmah and Siam, in or- 

 der to ascertain the best route between the two 

 countries. The region north of Burmah Prop- 

 er, lying along the tipper Irrawadi, and extend- 

 ing toward Thibet, has been explored by a 

 missionary, Rev. Thomine D'Mazure, who has 

 published an account of his discoveries in the 

 " Journal of the Asiatic Society," at Calcutta. 

 The British Government has united the terri- 

 tories of Pegu, Arracan, and the Tenasserim 

 into a single province, under the name of Brit- 

 ish Burmah. Curlew, or Calagouk Island, off 

 the Tenasserim coast, has been selected by Dr. 

 Duncan Macpherson, inspector-general of hos- 

 pitals at Madras, as the site of a sanitarium, 

 being, in his opinion, the most salubrious locali- 

 ty in the vicinity of Farther India. 



The Andaman Islands, though in the vicinity 

 of countries which have been very carefully 

 explored, have remained hitherto almost whol- 

 ly a terra incognita. An attempt was made, 

 in 1792, to -establish, a penal colony on the 

 North Andaman, but it was unsuccessful on 

 account of the deadly character of the climate, 

 and the hostility of the natives. The crews 

 of vessels which have been shipwrecked on the 

 island, have, in almost every instance, been 

 dragged off into the interior, and it is supposed 

 eaten by the natives, who are believed to be 

 cannibals. The appearance of strangers on their 

 coasts seems to excite the most deadly hatred 

 on the part of the Mincopie, as the natives call 

 themselves, and they do not hesitate to attack 

 them even if outnumbered. The Sepoys who 

 were convicted but not executed, in 1859, were 

 sent to the South Andaman, but so far as is 

 known but one of them escaped death. Dr. 

 Frederick Mouat, who was commissioned to 



