Wuatever be the future of Tongking, and there is no reason to doubt that the energy of the French colonists will make it a success in spite of the scanty support or actual opposition that they meet with from the mother-country, it is certain that it is an immensely rich country. Not only are its agricultural possibilities almost unlimited, but it is a great contrast to the British colony on the other side of the China sea in being very rich in minerals. Mr, W. B, Pryer tells the Foreign Office in his report on the territories of the British North Borneo Company for 1888 that "the hope of minerals being found in workable quantities in the country has for some years past been very slight, and it has long been apparent. that for its future success British North Borneo must in the first place, look to its agricultural resources." Even this was an experiment in North Borneo; but.in Tongking the agricultural wealth was never in question, and the amoral wealthisnow being proved. When Mr. Bavier-Chauffour placed his coal concessions in the Bay of Halong on the Hongkong market in the shape of the Societe Francaise de Charbonnages clu Tonkin, his promises were, naturally, of the most flattering character; but what is unusual about it is, that they appear to be more than confirmed by facts and the shareholders in his company appear to have, in their concessions at hongay, Haton and Campha, what are literally mines of wealth. 'The concession to the company requires that its social seat' shall be on French soil, and that it shall be a French Company, and the first general meeting of shareholders had accordingly to be held at Hongay, but a large proportion of the shares are hedin Hongkong, and toenable the Hongkong shareholders to attend the meeting—and without them it is evident there would have been no meeting—Mr, Chater chartered the Carisbrooke, and took the party down as his guests; and full accounts of the trip, to which we have already briefly alluded, and which was evidently a gigantic picnic, appear in our southern contemporaries, The first call was made at Haiphong, where the visitors were struck with the great improvements that have been already made in this rising town, which with patience and not too much control from home promises to become one of the great entrepots in the Far East. It is unfortunately not a deep-water port like
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.