“ The notables elect the provincial councillors in the proportion, usually, of one to every canton, and their delegates elect the chief of the canton, who voices the wishes of the natives to the government. ”

“ Venomous reptiles are numerous, and the Mekong contains crocodiles.
Agriculture and Industries.—The cultivation of the rice-fields, which cover large extents of the plains of Cochin-China, is by far the chief industry of the colony. Pepper is grown in considerable quantities in the districts of Ha-Tien and Bien-Hoa, and sugar-canes, coffee, cotton, tobacco and jute are also produced. The buffalo, used both for transport and in the rice-fields, and swine, the flesh of which forms an important element in the native diet, are the principal domestic animals. ”

“ Oxen and cows are of secondary importance and the climate is unsuitable for sheep; horses of a small breed are used to some extent. The chief industrial establishments are those for the decortication of rice at Saigon and Cholon; they are in the hands of the Chinese, by whom most of the trade in the colony is conducted. ”