Directory_and_Chronicle_1850 — Page 607

1950.

Journal of Occurrences.

565

province, but we have no means of ascertaining how many inhabitants are found beyond the Great Wall, or even a base for a guess of the size of the towns in and across the Desert.

That part of the province of Kansub north of the Peh-ling to the Desert, including Ninghia and part of Shensf, with the arable portion of Koko-nor, anciently formed the kingdom of Tangut, one of the most celebrated names in the history of Central Asia. The people emigrat- ed to this region from Tibet, bringing with them the tenets of Bud- hism, and established themselves along the valleys of the Yellow river, and extending their conquests across the Desert, until they presented

■ consolidated government and formidable army to resist the aggres- sions of the nomads and the power of the Chinese. Their kingdom was conquered by Genghis khan, who died very soon after. When the Mongols were expelled, Tangut became gradually incorporated with China, and the very name has gradually died away.

ART. IX. Journal of Occurrences; trade with Camboja and Singa- pore; edict against Christianity by the prefect of Kiáying chau ; honorary portals in Canton; proclamation of the insurgents; Lin Tsehsü sent to Kwángst.

TRADE with Camboja in vessels of European construction is gradually open- ing with Singapore through Chinese merchants residing at the latter port; these send cargoes of piece goods hardware, opium, and sundries to Kampot (the only port in Camboja not lorded over by the Siamese or Cochinchinese), and receive in return rice, gamboge, pepper, dyewoods, and small sundries of pro- visions. The exportation of rice can be developed to any amount, by fostering its growth. Owing to the aggressions of its neighbors, the maritiine limits of independent Camboja have gradually become reduced to this port of Kampót, and a few miles on each side of the river of that name. A person in the employ of the king of the country lately reached Singapore to publish a dictionary of the Cambojan language, or to learn if it could be done'; and also to ascertain if any assistance could be rendered his master to suppress the piracy which bids fair to destroy every vestige of the trade. The present limits of Camboja and the position of its seaport, are thus described :—

"The coast of the Cambojan territory formerly extended from cape Liant, near the head of the gulf of Siam, in lat. 12 30 N. long. 100 50 E. to Cape St. James, on the east coast of the Peninsula, in lat. 10° 20' N. long. 107° 10' E. comprising upwards of 500 miles of coast line, which included the mouth of the great river Mekong, and several important commercial towns, as Saigong, Cancao or Ahtien, about 25 miles to the south of Kainpot, and Chantibon, a city near the frontier of Siam, and now the great naval arsenal of that power, owing to the abundance of teak timber in the vicinity. The encroach- ments of the Siamese on the one hand, and the Cochinchinese on the other, took their course along the coast, where facilities were afforded for the transport of heavy artillery, without the aid of which they would probably never have been able to deprive the Cambojans of any portion of their territory; for in the interior, where heavy guns can only be transported along the rivers, the Cambojans retain their independence, the boundaries being still the same as they were three centuries ago. At present the wes- tern limit of Camboja is the seaward base of the mountain range which extends along the eastern shore of the gulf of Siam, and terminates near Kampot,-in fact_that_town is situated on its uttermost southern extremity. It its probably owing to the circum- stance of this range being still in possession of the Cambojans, and thus affording a se- cure retreat in case of attack from either enemy, that Kampot is the spot at which they