54 
DETAILS RESPECTING COCHIN CHINA. 
paralc the province of Qunng-nam, in which is found the harbour 
of Touron, from that of Thua-thien, where the capital is situated, 
and which is called Aivan; and those which divide the province 
of Thu yen, and Nia trang, and which is named Deo Ca. There 
is also a secondary chain of mountains which separates Tongking 
from China, The greater part of these mountains are only in¬ 
habited by some barbarians; the Cochin Chinese; and much more 
the Europeans, cannotlivc on them, on account of the insalubrity of 
the air which wc breathe there. I once took refuge upon the side 
of one of these mountains, in order to find an asylum against per¬ 
secution ; but I had reason to repent of it. I was attacked by a 
very serious illness, whilst two eleves, whom I had with me, there 
lost their lives. These mountains offer a very varied spectacle to the 
view; here are frightful precipices,—there arid rocks,—elsewhere 
verdure, streams, water-falls and trees; there are lofty peaks which 
project themselves above the clouds,—and, in other places, a level 
surface, commonly covered with extensive forests . 
MINERALS. 
"We do not find on the mountains of Cochin China a single 
volcano, either active or extinct: but in many places mines of 
gold and silver occur which the natives do not know how to 
work. The Government itself employs means for working the 
mines which only discourage the workmen. Much gold, however, 
is collected from the sand of the mountains. This sand is thrown 
into the neighbouring river, and the current disengages the parti¬ 
cles of gold, which are collected, but with much pain and fatigue. 
It is in this manner that 'they seek the gold in one of the mountains 
which are situated opposite to the harbour of Touron. But the 
principal mines of gold and silver are at Tongking. Mines of iron, 
copper, lead, tin, and of zinc are also found in abundance. 
CLIMATE. 
The latitude of this country sufficiently indicates the high tem¬ 
perature of the climate. We may conceive that it must offer a 
sensible difference in a length of fourteen degrees. There is never 
any ice, snow or frost, nor even hail; but the cold cannot fail to 
be sharp in winter from the 23rd to the 15th degree, when the 
wind blows strongly from the north : from the 15° to the 1G 3 win- 
