Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/124

* COCHIN-CHINA. 96 COCHINEAL. There is a region of granitic highlands in the northeast, rei)resentiug the last spurs of the An- nani chain, and reaching a height of 2300 feet. The Mekong separates into three arms in Cochin- China, and together with many smaller rivers forms a network of waterways. The Province of Saigon is watered by the rivers Saigon. Donnai. and the two Vaicos. The delta-land, almost wholly coered with rice-fields and gardens, is freiiuently inuiidaU-d, and the peninsula of Ca- luau is like a great deserted swamp. Cochin-China lies in the region of the mon- soons. Typhoons frequently work great destruc- tion. The Ilea It li fulness of the climate varies inversely with the frequency of the rains. The severest heat is in the spring of the year. Places near the seacoast are most favorable to Euro- peans. The Uora is like that of Indo-China in general. The gamboge-tree abounds, l)ut palms are few. The vast forests are rich in the finest kinds of timlier. There is game of every sort, from the elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, deer, and wild boar, to the smallest rodents. Among the birds are the peacock, partridge, snipe, wood- cock, and i>heasant. The rivejs contain fish of many specie-^; alligators are numerous. There is little mineral wealth, except phosphate of lime and salt. Jlost of the inhabitants are agricul- turists and fishermen. Aliout one-fifth of the area is cultivated, and the chief product is rice, which amounted in 1900 to 607.800 tons. The cofTee-culture is rapidlv growing. There were 429.228 coffee-plants in 1899. niostly belonging to Europeans. Sugar-cane, mulberry-leaves, pep- ].er, betelnuts, cotton, tobacco, maize, and va- rious valuable grasses, seeds, gums, and drugs are also produced. There are 200.000 water-buf- faloes and 150.000 zebus employed in Labor. There are no native industries worthy of mention, except the manufacture of salt and of coarse silk stuffs. There are few good roads ; but the innvimerable little streams give easy access to all parts of the country, and new canals have been excavated by the French to facilitate commerce. There are 51 miles of railway. Concessions have been granted to build a line from Saigon to Tan-linh. In 1896 th(re were 2276 miles of telegraph. The chief article of commerce is rice. The minor ex- ports consist of fish, cotton, silk, hides, and pepper. The articles imported are textiles, metals and metal implements, and liquors. The imports and exports for 1900 amounted to 121,- 675.000 francs and 107,.35O,O00 francs respec- tively. The principal commercial port of the colony is Saigon (q.v.l, the capital. In 1900 573 vessels cleared here, with 770,422 tons. Trade is almost entirely in the hands of the Chi- nese. There are five 1)anks at Saigon. The local annual budget of 1901 balanced at 4,204,244 piastres. • The colony is represented by a Deputy in the French Parliament. It is divided into four large provinces — Saigon. Mitho, Vinh-long, and Bassac — and twenty districts or inspectorates. The mu- nicipalities of Saigon and Cholon are officially designated as 'provinces. The Lieutenant-Gov- ernor is assisted by a Privy Council, composed of all the heads of departments as official niembers and several unofficial members. Under the Ex- ecutive is a Colonial Council of fifteen members, seven of whom are natives, partly elected by the residents. The smaller councils in the arrondisse- luents are often composed entirely of natives. Municipal councils, part French and part native, rule in Saigon and Cholon. Every chief town has a citadel and garrison, and the collection of revenue and the suppression of robbery are se- cured by military posts in the interior. Besides a varying number of French troops, a force of 2405 native soldiers is maintained. The popula- tion in 1898 was estimated at 2,323,499. of whom 4451 were Europeans, 2,054,851 Annamites, 183,- 659 Cambodians, 05.801 Chinese, and 0374 Mois. The Catliolic po])ulation numbers about 75,000, and the Buddhist 1,700,000. In 1897 there were 376 scliools, with 804 teachers and 18,760 pupils. Cochin-China before the second half of the nine- teenth century constituted a part of China, Cam- bodia, and Annani successively. In 1861 the French took Saigon, and by treaty in the follow- ing year acquired the provinces of Saigon. Bien- hoa, and Mitho. Hostilities continued until 1879. In 1888 the colony became a part of the Governor- Generalship of Indo-China. The name Cochin- China was fornierl,v applied to the whole eastern division of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, including Tongking, Annam proper, and Lower Cochin- China. Consult: Lemire. La Cochinchine fran- caisc (Paris. 1887) ; De Lanessan. L'Indo-chine franeaise (Paris, 1888) : Xorman. Peoples and Politics of the Far Kast (Loudon, 1895) ; Baurac, La Cochitichinc et ses habitants (Saigon, 1896- 99). COCHINEAL, koch'i-nel (from Sp. cochiniUa, cochineal, wood-louse, from Lat. coccineus, scar- let, from coceinn, berry, or from Sp. cochina, sow; so called either from the color, or, if the second derivation be preferred, from the shape). A scale-insect vised as a dyestuff for scarlet and crimson, and in the preparation of carmine and lakes. Cochineal consists of the bodies of the females of a coccid (see Coccid.e) called Coccus cacti, because it feeds upon plants of the cactus fainil.v, particularly on one known in ^lexico as the nopal {Optinfia cochinillifera). nearl.v allied to the prickly pear. (See Cactus.) These in- sects are minute. 70.000. it is said, being required to 'eigh a pound in a dried state — when not adulterated by red lead or other hea'V'y dust. The male is of a deep-red color, and lias white wings. The female, which is wingless, is deep-brown, covered with a white powder; flat beneath, convex above. Branches of nopal covered with insects are cut oft' before the rainv season sets in, and caretull,v sheltered in a covered building. From these supplies the planta- tions are stocked at the close of the wet season, about the middle of October. When warmed by the sun the females soon begin to lav eggs, each female producing more than 1000 young, which soon spread themselves over the plants. The males are very few — not more than 1 to 100 or 200 females — and are of no value as a dye. The first crop of females is picked off about the middle of December, and until May successive generations are gathered from time to time. The females, full of young, lose about two-thirds of their weight in drying. The proc- ess of gathering the insects is extreroelv tedious, a dav's picking amounting only to about two ounces of cochineal. The killing is done in three ways: (1) By placing on a hot iron: (2) by placing in a hot oven: and (3) by dipping in a basket into boiling water, which is considered the best metliod. When killed and dried, they