TUNQUIN, or ToNquiN, or Tt;Nam, the native name of which is Huocanam. The states under the power of the emperor of Tunkin are situated in the Peninsula beyond the Ganges, and extend from 9° to 23° of North Latitude, and from 118° to of Longitude, reckoning From Ferro. They are bounded on the north by China and the Chinese sea, on the south by the Chinese sea, and on the east by Siam. Tunkin, properly so called, extends from the 17th to the 23d degree of latitude. It is separated from China by deserts and by inaccessi ble mountains, the only pass in which is shut up by a wall with a gate, which is guarded on each side. Tunkin is divided into ten provinces, of which the four situated at the extremities bear the name of one of the cardinal points to which they correspond. The capital is called though originally Keeho.
Mountains running from east to west divide Tun kin into two parts, the northern exceeding the southern.
Tunkin possesses more than fifty rivers, which flow into the sea. That which has the largest course is formed by the union of two, one of which has its source in China, and passes Bac-Kinh. It con tains numerous islands, and though there is a bar at its mouth, yet Chinese vessels from 400 to 500 tons, which draw little water, can navigate it to Bac-Kinh. To the south of the embouchure of the Saigong there is a sound capable of holding the largest vessels, but ships can only get out of it by a single wind, and provisions and water cannot be had. In all Tunkin there is not a single harbour where the king's vessels can enter. The islands of Bien-Son and Mee may, however, be useful for building shipping.
The climate of Tunkin is remarkably temperate. Spring takes place in February; summer continues from March to September; autumn takes place in October and November, and December and Janu ary form winter, if any part of the year merits that appellation. The rains begin a little before May, and end in August.
Several years ago a dreadful noise, like that of cannon, was heard, and was followed by an irrup tion of the sea, which advanced more than two leagues into the interior. At the end of twelve or fifteen hours it retired, after having destroyed seve ral villages, and many men and animals. A similar event is said to have taken place fifty years before.
Little is known of the mineralogy of Tunkin. It contains iron and copper veins, Kaolin and Petunze.
Gold is found in small particles in the rivers and in the soil. Saltpetre is also found.
The principal animals of Tunkin are the elephant, the buffalo, the rhinoceros, the tiger, the wild hull, wild dogs who go about in troops of one and two hundred, the wild boar, bears of two kinds, one called the horse bear and the other the sow bear, deer, foxes, antelopes, wild cats, rats of a large and voracious kind, which are eaten by the inhabitants, and several poisonous serpents. The coasts and rivers abound with fish and tortoises. The birds are very numerous, among,which are eagles and vultures.
The principal production of the soil is rice, which forms the food of three-fourths of the inhabitants. In good land there is a return of forty or fifty for one, and a space of 14,000 square feet is said to have yielded a crop of rice, which, including straw, weighed 6, 8, or 10,000 pounds, paid de mart. The Iand never lies fallow, but yields two crops annu ally, one in July and one in November. The one generally remains four months in the ground, but there is a smaller kind which is only a hundred days in it. A leguminous crop is sometimes ob tained between the tWO rice crops. Sometimes only one crop of rice is taken and two leguminous ones, and sometimes the third crop is a sort of black grain called rung.
There is a remarkable odoriferous kind of rice which yields arrack by distillation, and is said to intoxicate those who cat it. Herbs and potatoes are also raised, and several other roots unknown in this country. Plums, pomegranates, figs, lemons, and excellent oranges, are raised, and also some of the Indian fruits. Betel, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, cloves, and tea are also among the produc tions of Tunkin. The tea is said to be equal to that of China, but this opinion is disputed. • The Tunkinese have arrived at considerable per fection in some of the useful arts. The silk and cotton stuffs are of a very superior quality. The finest cotton stuffs are also manufactured, and the cotton is spun only during the night, when the moisture is supposed to increase the fineness of the threads. These stuffs bring a higher price than those of silk. They have considerable knowledge in dyeing, but they have no soap, the place of which is supplied by the bark of some trees. A whole vil lage is sometimes devoted to the same profession.