DETAILS RESPECTING COCHIN CHINA. 
53 
RIVERS. 
The chief River in Tong King is u Song Ca”, or the Great 
River, on which is situated the ancient capital of Tong King. 
The French and English had formerly an entrepot on it. It re¬ 
ceives, on its course, many large streams:—Song Chay in the 
province of Tuyen Quang, Song Ngue and Song Diem in the pro¬ 
vince of Hung Hoa. Tue Due in the province of Lang Son and 
Thien Due in that of Hai Dong, join the satoe at its mouth. The 
Song Ba, the source of which is in the Mountains of Laos, and 
which falls into the sea close to the Port of Cua Lac, is also a 
large River. The Song Mo in the province of Nye An empties 
itself into the sea by three branches. It is a great and large Ri¬ 
ver. The Sotig Giauh, which divides Tong Cing from Cochin 
China, is half a mile broad about its mouth. The Song Ve in 
Quang ngai; the Song da Lang in Phu yen; the Song Luong in 
Binh Thuan; and the Song Cam rauh, which separates this pro¬ 
vince from Lower Cochin China, are all Great Rivers. But the 
finest and largest of all the River of this country are those of Lower 
Cochin China; being almost all branches of the great River of Laos 
and Cambodia, called Mellon. It has four principal branches up 
which the largest vessels might sail further than the limits of Cochin 
China. They arc in some places more than a mile in breadth. 
MOUNTAINS. 
Cochin China, throughout nearly the whole of its length, is situ¬ 
ated on the declivity of the mountains: inhabited by the barbarians 
called Kemo'i : which separate it from Laos. This chain of moun¬ 
tains stretches from the west of Cochin China, in a north and south 
direction, from 11° to of latitude. By this position the surface 
is agreeably diversified, elevating itself, as if by degrees, in the form 
of an amphitheatre, from the shore of the sea to the summit of these 
mountains. There are numerous lateral branches, v/hich stretch 
down to the sea; between which there are formed many vallies and 
even large plains, of which the soil might be rich and fertile with all 
the variety and beauty of the vegetation of the tropics, if it were not 
almost generally abandoned to its spontaneous productions, and de¬ 
prived of the aid of a skilful culture. The two principal prolongations 
or ramifications of this chain of mountains, are those which se- 
