BY THE REV, J. E. TENISON- WOODS. 637 



being struck with the facts that this cathedral represents. The 

 stately pile dedicated to St. Francis Xavier, the patron of 

 missions^ stands on a spot where a few years ago the brave 

 missionary had to hide amongst a few fishermen's huts, and 

 baptized his converts at the imminent peril of his life and theirs. 

 There have not been wanting in Saigon many illustrious apostles, 

 who laid down their lives in testimony of the truths they 

 preached. And now the seed has produced its fruit, and the 

 religion of the martyrs is the dominant one at Saigon. Un- 

 happily there has been a conquest by the French flag as well as 

 by the cross. The case may have been one where the force of 

 circumstances produces events which no one could control ; still 

 all friends of the true interests of Christianity must wish that the 

 territorial conquest and the work of the missionary had been 

 kept entirely apart. 



With cholera and small-pox all around, and the city full of 

 sick patients invalided from the seat of war, and with the war 

 itself going on, not without disaster to the French arms, it may 

 be guessed that Saigon was not the most agreeable sojourn for a 

 tourist. 



There are a number of little villages in the plains outside 

 Saigon. The native houses are much in the Malay style, with 

 the usual shelter of tropical fruit trees and a formidable hedge of 

 bristling cactus. During the dry season there are some pretty 

 promenades amongst the Anamite villages. A much-frequented 

 excursion is to the tomb of the Bishop d'Adran. Besides this 

 the principal journeys for tourists are to the town of Cliolen, 

 " Les Jardins des Mares," the stand, the rifle butts, &c. 



Two roads lead to the tomb of the Bishop d'Adi-an : that of 

 the third bridge is the most picturesque, passing before the 

 government offices, the native camp, and the place where for- 

 merly the literary examinations used to be held. It was there 

 that, on the 5th of April, 1862, the treaty of iieace between 

 France, Spain, and Anam was signed. At present it is a barrack 

 for the marines. Leaving to the right the rich village of Go-vap, 

 one meets a succession of farms for the cultivation of tobacco. 



