The next stage was Siu-tcheou-fou, a lively and busy town, where several Roman Catholic missionaries are stationed. Thence, in a couple of junks, the travellers descended the Blue River to Tchong-kin-fou, the great commercial centre of the province of Se-chuen. Resting here a while, they then continued their voyage to Han-keou, entering a region which has been carefully explored and described by officers of the British navy. The river all along its course presents an animated scene,--the junks ascending the stream being towed by boatmen on the banks, who time their steps to a rude and noisy song. M. Garnier arrived at Han-keou on the 4th of June, and once more entered upon the enjoyment of the comfort and security of civilized life, after a long, difficult, and perilous expedition, in which he had added largely to our knowledge of a region of vast commercial resources. On the 10th he embarked on board a steamer for Shanghai,--arriving there on the 12th. After a week’s stay he set out for Saigon; where he presented himself on the 29th, and was received with the honours due to his courage, his patience, and his perseverance. He has shown that the Mekong must hereafter become an important highway of commerce, and one of the great channels of communication with Yunnan and Tibet. CHAPTER IV. DR. MORICE AND THE MEKONG. We owe some additional information respecting the great river of Cambodia to Dr. Morice, who travelled in Cochin-China in 1872. [Illustration: ANNAMITE LADY AND HER SERVANT.] Of the Annamites, the inhabitants of Cochin-China, he says at the outset, that his first feeling with respect to them was one of disgust. Those faces more or less flattened, and often devoid of all intelligence or animation; those livid eyes; and, especially, that broad nose, and those thick upturned lips, reddened and discoloured by the constant use of betel-nut, do not answer to the European ideal of beauty. But after a long acquaintance with them, he, as is the case with other Western visitors, began to discern a glimpse of meaning in most countenances, and even to make distinctions between the ugly ones. He met with some eyes which were not oblique, some noses which had an almost Caucasian character, and his repugnance gradually disappeared. Still, from the most favourable point of view, they are a race of low stature and unprepossessing appearance; feeble, deficient in stamina, and never likely to make a noise in the world. Their French rulers grow into giants when compared with these dwarfs; and their muscular energy is far inferior to that of Europeans, whether owing to natural causes or to want of hygienic knowledge. As for their complexion, while some are deeply tinted, others are quite wan and pale. In two respects only can the Annamites be said to surpass their masters: in their ability to row ten hours consecutively, and in the impunity with which they can encounter the burning rays of a tropical sun. ~CHARACTER OF THE ANNAMITES.~