August 25, 19 10] 



NATURE 



243 



ON AND OFF DUTY JN ANNAM.' 



'T'HIS is the work of an Englishwoman, wlio 

 •^ accompanied her husband, a doctor in the 

 French Colonial Service, to Nhatrang, on the coast 

 of Annam. On landing in Saigon, the capital of 

 Cochin China, she recounts her impressions of the 

 citv in terms much more favourable than one would 



nd Off Duty 



inroads of destructive insects that had to be dealt 

 with. Her success in utilising the most unpromising 

 material, and creating- a pleasant home are worthy* 

 of all praise. The cost of living in this region, under 

 the eye of a trained economist, compares favourably 

 with that of the West. She found seven shillings a 

 week sufficient allowance for the cook, who had to 

 provide '■ three courses for lunch and the same for 

 dinner." This may induce some of the 

 "hard hit" at home to emigrate to 

 the hospitable shores of .Annam. 



The manners and customs of the 

 -Annamites, which are ably set forth, 

 m;iy stem the tide of settlers flowing- 

 Eastward. _ Be that as it may, the 

 author's pictures of life in this region 

 are. not without attraction. 



The history of .-Innam is passed in 

 review in this interesting work, and 

 the part played by the aborigines, 

 whose country she explored when off 

 duty. Government and religion are 

 also discussed. But in this vast sec- 

 tion of eastern .\sia some weighty 

 problems await solution regarding the 

 different races that people its area, and 

 the religions which they follow. 



Cambodia, the latest acquisition of 

 France, is touched upon with a light 

 hand, and in some respects it is the 

 most iniportant of her Eastern posses- 

 sions. It was at one time an exten- 

 .Vnnau.- sive and powerful kingdom, inhabited 



by a highly civilised race of men, 

 whose stone temples, cities, and palaces remain to 

 bear witness to their skill as builders, and to their 



expect who had visited the place in its early stages of 

 development. It was then a scattered, sickly settle- 

 ment; it is now "the Paris of the East," with its j knowledge of art. In the last and greatest temple 

 wide, well-appointed boulevards and imposing public I reared, Nakhon Wat, one has evidence that this was 

 buildings, the Governor's palace, cathedral, theatre, an early stronghold of Brahmanism, a Far Eastern 

 and hotels, after the best models in Europe. All the outpost of the faith. In its outer galleries, sculptured 

 more praise to the Government for the transforma- in low relief, half life-size, on the stone walls a series 

 tion of this once swampy wilderness 

 into probablv the fairest city in further 

 .\sia. eouipped with all the latest scien- 

 tific appliances in effective operation. 

 Its Pasteur Institute has done' admir- 

 able work in arresting the ravages of 

 plague, cholera, and diseases coiiimon 

 to the tropics. The author and her 

 husband -ivere sent to Nhatrang, where 

 the doctor was appointed assistant to 

 the president of the Pasteur Institute, 

 Dr. Yersin, who was one of Pasteur's 

 first pupils, and justified his being 

 chosen to carry out colonial work by 

 his original discoveries, and his energy 

 successfully displayed in other direc- 

 tions. 



The author's notes on the native 

 dread of the European treatment of 

 disease are piquant, and enlivened bv 

 her keen sense of humour. Their 

 superstitious treatment of the sick is 

 in itself a plague, accountable for 

 greatly increasing the death-rate. Thi-.; 

 lady's efforts in founding a home in 

 this distant colony will fascinate the 

 reader used to all the comforts and amenities of illustrations meant for all time of the chief episodes 

 of the "West. Her servants had to be taught of India's sacred epics, the Ramanayina, and 

 the elenientary^ principles of truth and clean- Mahabharata, in which the design, craftsmanship, and 

 liiiess, and to adopt her point of view regarding drawing are so excellent as to suggest Western influ- 

 honesty, but she had other worries provided by the ence. There is no Brahmanical temple in India so 

 1 "OnOTdOfTDu-yin Annam- By GaVielle M. Vassal. Pp. xi + 283 ' ^^^' ^""^ imposing. Xotices of Cambodia are found 

 (London: William Heinemann, 191C.) Price loj. n<rt. | in the Chinese annals of the Tsin, Sui, and Tang 



NO. 2130, VOL. 84] 



^— The Verandah of the Pasteur Institute. From " O.i and Off Duty in Ar.nam.' 



