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dues or annul them altogether, for it placed a power in the Annamite Government to cripple foreign trade with the provinces and confine it to the Songkoi River the borders of Yunnan. Such, the Consul said, was the present position. The Government was most obstructive and throw every difficulty in the way, and nothing but great firmness and saying, "I will have this done," effected anything; that this disposition was exhibited from the moment Hanoi, and the other places captured by Lieutenant Garnier, were surrendered, and, as this was done before the Treaty was signed, the Annamite Government refused to ratify it, and some time elapsed before they would; that when the French soldiers, of which there are 100 at Hanoi, were first quartered there, the Annamite Mandarins wanted them to be confined to the limits of the Consulate, and would have made a prisoner even of himself, but he resisted, and so in like manner objections were made to every request; that it was far from his wish to make a display of force, but if there was not a detachment of marines in the Consulate, it is impossible to say to what lengths the Annamite Mandarins would go, and that probably he would be made a nominal prisoner. He instanced a late case:
a Tonquinese, who had opened a shop for the sale of European goods, hoisted the French flag over his door, and was instantly arrested by the police, thrown into prison, and finally sentenced to be beheaded. All applications for his release made by him (the Consul) were unavailing. He represented that to execute the man for hoisting the French flag was an insult to that nation, but no notice was taken of it, and finding that the prisoner would certainly be decapitated unless he took some strong measures for his release, he went to the Futai's palace with a detachment of the marines and told him he should not leave it without the man, and thereupon he was surrendered. All this, however, was very disagreeable, but it was forced upon him by the authorities. This feeling, however, was confined to the Government and the authorities, for the people were perfectly indifferent and friendly in the extreme. I asked M. de Kergaradec what means he saw of surmounting this, and he replied, nothing but a change of dynasty would be effectual, and to that the Tonquinese were strongly in favour, for they had never been reconciled to the suppression of the Tonquinese dynasty and the annexation of their country by the Annamese, and were prepared to throw off what they considered a yoke at any favourable opportunity and restore the ancient family of the "Ly," of which some members still remained, and that he hoped, on the death of Tudue, the present reigning sovereign, who was prematurely old, a dynastic change would be made. Such was the feeling of the Tonquinese, M. de Kergaradec said, and when the citadel of Hanoi was captured by Lieutenant Garnier, as hereafter mentioned, above 10,000 of them expressed their readiness to join him; and some did, and were afterwards beheaded for it, and others had to fly when the citadel was returned to the Annamite Government. The account he gave me of Lieutenant Garnier's proceedings will be given in detail hereafter.
Such is an outline of the first conversation I had with the French Consul, and subsequent ones were much to the same purport. I gather, therefore, that the presence of the French at Hanoi and in Tonquin generally is viewed with extreme distaste by the Hué (Annamite) Government, who lose no opportunity of giving expression to it. Indeed, M. de Kergaradec said that the position of M. Rheinart, the French Envoy at the Court of Hué, was far from satisfactory, and no means were left untried to render his position as uncomfortable as possible. I think it, therefore, exceedingly probable that the present status quo will not last, and that sooner or later the French will assume, what they have not yet done they say, a protectorate of Tonquin, which means a nominal sovereignty of the country, or even go a step farther, for they are evidently at issue with the Annamite Government, and chafing under what they seem to consider its insulting tone.
Whether the Annamite Government has reason to look upon the French as having forced themselves into Tonquin and enforced a Treaty upon it which places a portion of its fiscal revenue under French control, is a question to be looked at from an unbiased point of view. I saw and heard in that time enough, however, to convince me that whether right or wrong in their first proceedings the French will probably have to go on, and when matters assume that phase, it is useless questioning how they were or are brought about; and viewing it thus it would not, I think, be cause for surprise if they encouraged a restoration which would separate Tonquin from Annam and restore it to the independence it had in 1802 when conquered and annexed by Nguyên Auh, known as Gialong, the King of Annam, and replace one of the ancient dynasty of "Li" upon the Throne with whom better terms could be made. Be that as it may, I heard from good authority before leaving Canton, that Vice-Admiral Krantz, the Governor of Saigon, and who negotiated the Commercial Treaty with Annam, being dissatisfied with its results and with the position of the French in Tonquin, had gone to Paris to consult with the Ministry upon the situation, and at Hanoi I heard he was on his way back. But I also heard that the Tonquin question was not looked upon with favour by the French Government who feared complications arising from this naval conquest, and hesitated to relieve the Admiralty of its responsibility in the matter.
The principal Annamese authorities at Hanoi are, the Tong-duc, or Viceroy, and the Chuan-Phu, or Futai. M. de Kergaradec asked me if I would like to see them, or at least one of them, as the Tong-duc was ill, and I said I would, so my cards were sent. And the Chuan-Phu shortly after called upon me, and I remembered having seen him at Canton when he came to have an interview with the late Viceroy Juilin. He reminded me of it, and mentioned several circumstances, and seemed glad to see me. He brought the Tong-duc's card, with his regrets, that he was too ill to leave his Yamên. Nothing, of course, but a complimentary visit passed, and in the afternoon, accompanied by M. de Kergaradec, Commandant Chapotot, and Captain Castle, with a guard of honour of French marines, I returned his visit in the Citadel. The Annamite Yamêns, or palaces as they call them, are much the same as the Chinese. An Annamite guard of honour lined the courtyard, and the Chuan-Phu came to the door to receive us. After some conversation he expressed a hope I was pleased with my visit, and remarked I had come a long way to see Hanoi; and I replied that having been to Hainan to open it to British trade under the Treaty, I had crossed the Gulf of Tonquin to pay the Representative of the French Government at Hanoi a visit, England and France being on the most friendly terms, and that was my sole object. He then inquired whether there would be much trade at Kiung-chow, and if English vessels would come on from thence to the Tonquin ports? I answered they certainly would do so if the Annamese Government were favourable to foreign trade. He then said he wished to show me his troops and elephants, and we accordingly went to a parade-ground close by of large extent, where there were about 2,000 Annamese soldiers, under arms, and two elephants in front, which, when we were seated, advanced, knelt down nine times, and saluted. The troops then went through sundry manœuvres with great precision. They were well dressed, but badly armed with old flint-lock muskets, spears, and swords. After this took my leave.
We then inspected the Hall of Ceremonies in which the Kings of Annam receive investiture from the Emperor of China. It was here that Lieutenant Garnier had his head-quarters after his capture of the citadel on the 20th of November, and in a plot of ground in the rear he and his four comrades were buried when killed on the 21st December, 1873.
That part of Hanoi where the citadel is built is somewhat higher than the other quarters of the city, the ground rising gently from the banks of the Songkoi to the height of about 180 feet above the level of the sea. A brick wall about 3 feet thick and 12 feet high, comprising twelve bastions connected by curtains, surrounds the citadel which forms a perfect quadrilateral of some 3,600 feet on each side. This wall is supported by a plain which at places rises gradually from the interior of the citadel, whilst at others its inner side falls perpendicularly.
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The height of the plain varies also a great deal, for at some places the besieged can be hidden entirely beyond the upper part of the wall, while in others they are half seen from the outside. Inside the citadel are the houses of the Governor and other high officials.
The citadel is girt at about a distance of 25 feet with a deep ditch, containing water, of an average width of 60 feet. Five gates give access to the citadel, one in the middle of each side, with the exception of the south side, which has two openings cut through the walls near the corner bastions; they may be called the south-eastern and south-western gate. The doorways are about 15 feet wide and are closed in with strong wooden gates. Above every gate stands a tower or guard-house.
In front of each gate is a redan, that is, two walls a little lower than the city ones, the faces meeting at an angle turned towards the country. These redans are also encircled with ditches which run into the moat of the fort, a gate connected by a bridge with the city or the fields adjoining is opened through the right face of each redan. Inside the redans small houses and barracks are inhabited by soldiers, and from the middle of the "gorge" of the redans strong three-arched bridges allow a passage across the moat to reach the gates in the main ramparts. It is the work of French Engineers employed by Gialong, the King of Annam, after his conquest of Tonquin in 1802.
In the interior of the citadel, besides the Government buildings and some
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terre plain
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