This survey of the principal basins of Indo-China will enable the reader to appreciate how largely the agricultural wealth and commercial importance of all these countries depend on its rivers. It is scarcely exaggeration to state that a few inches of water often determine whether the receding flood at the annual inundation will leave a bright, grain-laden plain or a sterile waste of ruined crops. It should also be remembered that while periodical floods are common to all the deltas, each valley has its own period, indicating that the table-lands in which the rivers have their sources are at unequal distances. Moreover, travel throughout the peninsula being so largely aquatic, not only north and south along the main trunks, but across the same valley by means of intersecting canals, tide plays an important part in these waterway trips, and many smaller streams being filled and emptied daily, a careful study of tidal influences will avoid delay, as at times the water, suddenly receding, leaves a boat stranded on the banks of some creek for hours, with no water even for cooking or drinking purposes. V. CLIMATE, PLANTS AND ANIMALS. Far India, as this south-eastern corner of Asia is sometimes called, has a tropical climate. At seasons the heat is intense, but in many portions the warm air is genial and not unhealthy, though Europeans need from time to time a change to a more bracing region. The seasons are two――the wet and the dry: the former embraces our spring and summer months, and ranges from May to October; the latter, the remainder of the year. March and April are the hottest months; November, December and January, the coolest. The winter is mild and summer-like――doors and windows all open and no fire. Houses are built without window-glass, and the shutters are seldom closed except at night or to keep out the sun. Here, too, is the verdure of perpetual summer――lands where the foliage is always green, where roses bloom from the first to the last day of the year, and the orchards are always laden with their luscious store――lands of Italian sunsets, picturesque mountains, loveliest valleys, and long stretches of comparatively still waters, said to resemble the Swiss mountain-lakes, clear as crystal, reflecting the sky and great mountain-shadows, and filled with fish; the grandest caves, the richest mines of precious metals and valuable gems. Rice, the principal article of food among the natives, grows almost spontaneously, and is used on the table at an expense of three cents a pound, while bananas are sold for two cents a dozen and oranges for half a cent each.