COCHINCHINA. 245 
fully subscribe, but cannot by any means assent to the 
former ; being vain enough to hope that the small stock of 
well-authenticated materials, which I am about to lay before 
the publick, will be sufficient to shew that these countries, or 
a portion of them only, held thus so very cheap, are not only 
important within themselves, but highly so to the present 
and future concerns of British India. And for the better 
illustration of the historical sketch, which will be the subject 
of this chapter, it may not be amiss to prefix a concise out- 
line of the geographical situation and divisions of that part 
of the Asiatic continent which is usually known by the name 
of Cochinchina. 
The extensive empire of China terminates, on the south, 
at the twenty-second degree of latitude ; but a tongue of 
land connected with it continues on its western side as far as 
to the ninth parallel of northern latitude. This prolongation 
of thirteen degrees in extent has a ridge of high mountains 
which, running down the middle from north to south, divides 
the Birman empire, on the west, from the kingdoms of Tung- 
quin, Cochinchina, Tsiompa, and Cambodia, on the east. 
These names, thus usually marked on our charts, are, how- 
ever, utterly unknown to the natives, except Tung-quin. 
The other three collectively are called An-nan, and are dis- 
tinguished by three grand divisions. The first, contained be- 
tween the soutliernmost point which forms the extremity of 
the gulph of Siam and which lies in about the ninth degi'ee 
of latitude, as far as to the twelfth degree, is called Don-nai ; 
the second, extending from hence to the fifteenth degree, 
Chang ; and the third, between this and the seventeenth de- 
