IXDO-CHIXA. 



isecnco of ilia time when the Cham (Twain) natiun was the most 

 j;,.iwi.'j-l'n] in ih»r peiiiiiMihi, their ihmunioiL romprijiin^ the whnle 

 region between the China Sea and Menntu biwin. Originally Cochin- 

 China proper reached very little south of Tonkin, with which it 

 frequently formed ono territory. But according us the Annniuese 

 nice spread southwards they i^ruduully absorbed the whole of the 

 Chain dumain us fur as the extremity uf ilur pen hi *u hi, besides a large 

 purl of the kingdom of Gimhuja about the Mekhong delta. Hence 

 before the arrival of the French, Cochin-China com prised the whole 

 of the coast lands from Tonkin nearly to the feat of the Ihirsai hills 

 in .Smith L-iiiiiboju. 



After the occupation oT the Mckhong delta district (Lower Cochin* 

 China) by the French in 1SB2-67, Cochin-China proper atill comprised 

 three main divisions : Upper, Central, and Southern (Chamj/a) t'ochin- 

 China-, which were and still an 1 divided into nine provinces, which going 

 southwards an? as nnder : — 



1. tfitniiQ-hiuh, separated from Tongkiu bv the above-mentioned Lui- 

 Sri, or "Great Wall. 



2. Qwtarj-Lri, a somewhat inland district. 



3. (J>tvifig~d\it, where is situated the present capital, Urns 

 ■J. tjwtmj'nfiHXj including the fine harbour of Tuning 



5. Quantf-ngai, a rugged hilly district atill partly held by wild tribes, 

 G. Rink-tliah f0M£»M<M) v one of the finest and moat productive pro- 

 vinces in the kingdom. On the coast is the port of Quiuhon t out! of tbr 

 beat on the Annamfse coast 



7. I'J'M-ift H, ;il>n ;i highly-cultivated district yielding large irnantities 

 of rice, Jtugar, maize, and pulse. 



8. Bijui'hoa, moatly a well- wooded upland district. 



u. Utirh-rfiTUtH, tiuge, lowdying > thinly-peopled district, comprising 

 with the foregoing the former territory of Champa. 



Kneh of thew) provinces is flub-divlded inlu two or thrui* phu, and thusa 

 usually into tvmkuyen^ which arc again divided into ;l numlwr t*t tvitg/jar 

 groups of villages and hamlata. 



Loweb or Fkencm Cochin-Ciiina comprises the common Me- 

 khcmg-Dounai deltii, which wu> vr rented by ihe Annume.^- from the 

 ancient kingdom of Cambojn between the yearn 1GB9 — 1750, and 

 which wjf ceded by the Ajinainesc to the French partly in 1862, 

 partly in 1867. Before the cession it was divided into six provinces, 

 which in 1876 were reduced to four administrative circumscriptions, 

 as under : 



1. Saigon in the Hud, with Saigon on the Doumi uyct. capital of the 

 settlement 



'2. tftftlra, whaI ui" S .li LTiiTL, ji.s far as the c-istpni mouth of the Mekhong, 



3. Vinh-htiff, about both moutlis of the Mskhoug. 



4. IftmtK, thence to the Cambojau frontier. 



II 1 



