"I should hardly call them pirates," added Louis.

"But Chinese pirates have been known to capture vessels in the China
Sea, off the coast of Tonquin."

"I have heard of such within a few years."

"You can see the citadel, as it is called here, though it would be
simply a fort in most places. There are 1,830 French soldiers here, and
2,800 native troops. Only 3,000 of the population are French. The last
census gave the country a population of 2,034,453," continued Mr.
Froler, consulting a memorandum book he carried in his pocket. "They
are mainly Annamites; but Cambodians, Chinese, savages from the north,
and Malays contribute to make up the number. But I don't mean to lecture
you, as I am told you are addressed on board your ship by some of your
own number."

"But we are an educational institution in part, and we are very glad to
hear you," said the commander. "We are supposed to be greedy for
information about the countries we visit. I suppose we are about as near
Tongking as we shall be, and I am sure my company would like to learn
something more about it. We have a nice place here in the shade of this
tree to hear a short lecture."

"You use the English name for the region, which is all right; and I have
seen it spelled Tonkin, which I think is better yet for your people. The
French name is Tonquin," (and he gave the French pronunciation). "It is
larger than Cochin China; and we apply this name to what you designate
as French Cochin China, for it has an area of 34,740 square miles, and a
population supposed to be about 9,000,000. Its chief town is Hanoi,
consisting of a number of villages, with 150,000 inhabitants; and its
chief seaport is Hai-Phong. There has been war going on against the
people of this country for many years."

"We read something about these operations in American papers, and know
very little about Tonquin, which is the reason I asked for more
knowledge of the region," added the commander.

"The principal productions of Tonquin," Mr. Froler, bowing to the
captain, proceeded, "are rice, silk, sugar, pepper, oil, cotton,
tobacco, and fruits, with copper and iron in small quantities. The
exports are now 13,325,000 francs, which you reduce to dollars by
dividing by five. The imports are nearly 28,000,000 francs, only
one-fourth from France, with but a small portion of the exports to that
country. An expedition was sent out from home, at the instance of Jules
Ferry, to open the way by the Song