i8 77.] 
Notices of Boohs. 
263 
The edition before us is abundantly illustrated. There is a 
geological map of Switzerland ; there are a series of small 
charts showing the arrangement of land and water in Central 
Europe during the successive epochs ; there are a number of 
representatives of the fossil vegetable and animal forms described 
in the text; and, lastly, a set of imaginary landscapes, showing 
the characteristic fauna and flora of Switzerland at each period. 
Tonquin. Report by Sir B. Robertson (Her Majesty’s Consul 
at Canton) respecting his Visit to Haiphong and Hanoi, in 
Tonquin. 1876. 
So little information has been made public in recent years 
respecting the almost unknown kingdom of Tonquin, in the 
Indo-Chinese peninsula, which, through the intervention of the 
French, has just been partially opened to foreign intercourse, 
that we venture to think a brief resume of some portions of this 
very interesting Report to the Foreign Office may not be unac- 
ceptable to our readers. 
We must premise that last spring Her Majesty’s Minister at 
Peking directed Sir Brooke Robertson, H.M.’s Consul at Canton, 
an officer of long standing and great experience, to visit Hai- 
phong and Hanoi, the latter the capital of Tonquin, to ascertain 
their commercial capabilities. Haiphong is situated on the 
right bank of the Cua-cam, a branch of the Song-koi, or Red 
River, on which is Hanoi at a distance of 145 miles from the 
sea. Haiphong is connected with Hanoi either by the River 
Cua-cam or by canals : after proceeding some 25 miles by this 
route boats turn into another canal, and after going some 
77 miles enter the main river, the Song-koi, and so on to Hanoi, 
a distance of about 45 miles. At Haiphong there was little to 
be seen and not much to be learned, for what business there is 
is done at the capital, where the native and Chinese merchants 
all reside, and thither Sir B. Robertson proceeded as soon as he 
could make arrangements for the journey in a small steam-launch. 
For some time but little was to be seen of the country, the banks 
of the canal being too high ; but from what could be seen it ap- 
peared to be fertile, and planted with maize and sugar-cane, 
sweet potatoes, and other products of those latitudes. On 
debouching, however, into the Song-koi, a better view was ob- 
tained, and there the bamboo and other trees, with villages and 
fields, made together a scene of much natural beauty, and gave 
evidence of a high state of cultivation. There is a fair amount 
of boat and junk traffic ; from the stake-nets, &c., fish evidently 
abounds ; rafts of ^ood and bamboo were frequently met with ; 
and altogether there was evidence of a contented and well-to-do 
