154 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Pakt I. 



the necessity of residing on the banks of the rivers and lakes, where they are tormented 

 by musquitos. The soil is fertile, and produces abundance of corn, rice, excellent 

 legumes, sugar, indigo, opium, camphor and various medicinal drugs. The most pecu- 

 liar product is the gamboge gum ( Stalagmitis cambogioides), which yields a fine yellow 

 tint. Ivory, also, and silk are very plentiful, and of Httle value. Cattle, particularly of 

 the cow kind, are numerous and cheap. Elephants, lions, tigers, and almost all the 

 animals of the deserts of Africa are found in Cambodia. It has several precious woods, 

 among which are the sandal and eagle wood, and a particular tree, in the juice of wliich 

 they dip their arrows ; and it is said, that though a wound from one of the arrows proves 

 fatal, the juice itself may be drank without danger. The country, though fertile, is very 

 thinly peopled. . ..< 



954. Cochin-China presents an extensive range of coast, but few marks of tillage. 

 Besides rice and other grains, sugar, silk, cotton, tobacco, yams, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, 

 melons, and other culinary vegetables, are cultivated ; and cinnamon, pepper, ginger, 

 cardamom, silk, cotton, sugar, aula wood, Japan wood, Columbo, and other woods and 

 spice plants, abound in the forests and copses. The horses are small but active ; and 

 they have the ox, buffalo, mules, asses, sheep, swine, and goats. Tigers, elephants, and 

 monkeys abound in the forests, and on the shores are found the edible swallows' nests, 

 esteemed a luxury in the East and especially in Cliina. These nests, according to 

 some, are formed of the jPucus lichenoides ; according to others, of the spawn of fish. A 

 good account of them will be found in the Farmer s Magazine (vol. xx.), written by a 

 gentleman who had resided some years on Prince of Wales's Island. Almost every kind 

 of domestic animal, except sheep, appears to be very plentiful. In Cochin-China they 

 have bullocks, goats, swine, buffaloes, elephants, camels, and horses. In the woods are 

 found the wild boar, tiger, rhinoceros, and plenty of deer. They account the flesh of the 

 elephant a great dainty, and their poultry is excellent. They pay little attention to the 

 breeding of bullocks, as the tillage is performed by buffaloes, and bullock's flesh 

 is not esteemed as food. The sea, as well as the land, is a never-failing source of sus- 

 tenance to those who dwell on the coast. Most of the marine worms distinguished by 

 the name of Mollusca, are used as articles of food by the Cochin-Chinese. All the 

 gelatinous substances derived from the sea, whether animal or vegetable, are considered 

 by them the most nutritious of all aliments ; and on this principle various kinds of 

 sea- weeds, particularly the i^uci and A'lgae, are included in their list of edible plants. 

 They likewise collect many of the small succulent, or fleshy, plants, which are 

 usually produced on salt and sandy marshes ; these they either boil in their soups, or eat 

 in a raw state, to give sapidity to their rice, which with them is the grand support of 

 existence. In Cochin-China they are almost certain of two plentiful crops of rice every 

 year, one of which is reaped in April, the other in October. Fruits of various kinds, as 

 oranges, bananas, figs, pine-apples, pomegranates, and others of inferior note, are 

 abundantly produced in all parts of the country. Tliey have very fine yams, and plenty 

 of sweet potatoes. Their small breed of cattle does not appear to furnish them with 

 much milk ; but of this article they make a sparing use, even with regard to their young 

 children. 



955. Tonquin, in regard to surface, may be divided into two portions, the moun- 

 tainous and the plain. The mountains are neither rocky nor precipitous, and are partly 

 covered with forests. The plain is flat like Holland, being intersected by canals and 

 dykes, and varied by lakes and rivers. The chief agricultural product is rice, of which 

 there are two harvests annually in the low country, but in the high lands only one. 

 Wheat and wine are unknown. The mulberry tree is common ; and the sugar cane is 

 indigenous ; but the art of refining the juice is unknown. The live stock are chiefly 

 oxen, buffaloes, and horses ; swine abound, and there are a few goats, but asses and 

 sheep are unknown. Dogs, cats, and rats are eaten. Poultry, ducks, and geese abound, 

 and are found wild in the forests. The eggs of ducks are heated in ovens, and produce 

 young, which swarm on the canals and ponds. The forests contain deer, boars, peacocks, 

 a peculiar kind of partridge, and quails. The tigers are large and destructive ; one of 

 them is said to have entered a town, and to have destroyed eighty-five people. The wild 

 elephants are also very dangerous. Apes are found in these forests, and some of them of 

 large size : these and the parrots are not a little destructive to the rice and fruits. 

 The Tonquin plough consists of three pieces of wood, a pole, a handle, and a third 

 piece, almost at right angles with the last, for opening the ground ; and they are simply 

 fixed with straps of leather : this plough is drawn by oxen or buffaloes. 



956. The agriculture of Japan is superior to that of most Eastern countries. The 

 climate is variable. In summer the heat is violent ; and, if it were not moderated by 

 sea breezes, would be intolerable. The cold in winter is severe. The falls of rain com- 

 mence at midsummer, and to these Japan owes its fertility, and also its high state of 

 population. Thunder is not unfrequent : tempests, hurricanes, and earthquakes are 

 very common. From Thunberg's thermometncal observations it appears that the greatest 



