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015 - Chapter 8 Part 2 · An Englishman in the French Foreign Legion

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Speaker 1: Chapter eight of A Soldier of the Legion by George Mannington.
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Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter eight,
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Speaker 1: Part two. Our new Brigade, Major Captain Battaia, was a
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Speaker 1: quiet and reserved gentleman, who studied hard at his profession,
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Speaker 1: and was a most capable officer, having already brilliantly distinguished
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Speaker 1: himself in the field for which he had been decorated
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Speaker 1: with the Cross of the Legion of Honor. We had
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Speaker 1: now no intelligence department, and all questions formerly dealt with
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Speaker 1: by this branch, together with those relating to active operations
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Speaker 1: by the troops, were treated by the Headquarters staff at Annois.
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Speaker 1: The governor had not succeeded in doing away with the brigade,
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Speaker 1: but he had taken his revenge by reducing its importance
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Speaker 1: to a minimum, and the role of its chief now
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Speaker 1: consisted almost entirely in looking after the details of administration
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Speaker 1: and discipline of the regiments under his orders, and in
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Speaker 1: conducting the annual inspection of the troops in French Indo China.
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Speaker 1: In January eighteen ninety three we received orders to transfer
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Speaker 1: our offices to Hanoi, and we had rather a lively
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Speaker 1: time of it for several days, packing up the records
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Speaker 1: and stowing them away together with all the portable furniture,
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Speaker 1: into a long string of commissariat mule carts. Our march
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Speaker 1: to Hanoi was not a fatiguing one, for the distance
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Speaker 1: is not great, about twenty miles, and the road is
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Speaker 1: probably the best in Tong Kin. Owing to the numerous
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Speaker 1: carts we were escorting, our progress was not as rapid
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Speaker 1: as it might have been, and it was late in
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Speaker 1: the evening when we reached a point on the left
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Speaker 1: bank of the Red River, just opposite the capitol. The
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Speaker 1: country we had traversed during the day was perfectly flat
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Speaker 1: and covered with paddy fields, and I do not think
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Speaker 1: we saw the smallest patch that was not cultivated. The
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Speaker 1: weather was bitterly cold, the mercury having descended almost to
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Speaker 1: freezing point. The winter of ninety two ninety three was
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Speaker 1: a record one in the colony, and thrice along the
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Speaker 1: route we came upon the bodies of natives who had
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Speaker 1: died from exposure. Our convoy was transported over the stream
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Speaker 1: nearly a mile wide at this point by a steam ferry.
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Speaker 1: The accommodation on this ferry was so restricted that only
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Speaker 1: two carts could be taken at a time, so that
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Speaker 1: it was quite dark when we reached the citadel, situated
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Speaker 1: some distance from the landing stage. Our new offices were
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Speaker 1: inside the fortress, a fine place constructed on the same
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Speaker 1: plan as that of Backnin, the difference between the two
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Speaker 1: being that the superficial area of the first was twice
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Speaker 1: that of the second. These fortifications, first captured by the
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Speaker 1: French in eighteen seventy two, no longer exist, and on
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Speaker 1: the former side of their ramparts and ditches can now
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Speaker 1: be seen of the finest quarters of the European town. Hanoi.
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Speaker 1: The capital of Tonkin was important and imposing when I
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Speaker 1: first saw it in eighteen ninety three, and today, thanks
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Speaker 1: to the enterprise and good taste of its municipal council,
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Speaker 1: it is certainly one of the finest cities in the
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Speaker 1: Far East. Its rapid development and flourishing condition leads one
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Speaker 1: to reflect on what the colony itself might be were
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Speaker 1: its destinies placed like those of the metropolis, in the
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Speaker 1: hands of a representative chamber of colonists elected by their
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Speaker 1: fellow citizens, instead of being entrusted to an army of
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Speaker 1: political functionaries. The city was founded in eight sixty five
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Speaker 1: a d by the emperor Kaupian, and its original name
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Speaker 1: was Dai Latan. A succeeding monarch, Tey soon constructed a
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Speaker 1: palace there in ten twenty eight. Hanoi is admirably situated
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Speaker 1: for commercial purposes, being at the extreme north limit of
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Speaker 1: the Delta Provinces, at a point on the river eighty
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Speaker 1: two miles from Hifong, where communication with lower Tonkin by
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Speaker 1: means of the numerous estuaries and canals is easy and rapid.
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Speaker 1: The same may be said with regard to upper Tonkin
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Speaker 1: and Yunnan, which can be reached by the Song Khoi itself.
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Speaker 1: The Dutch merchants established factories or trading posts there and
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Speaker 1: at Huang Yin Nam Nin and Hi Pong towards the
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Speaker 1: end of the sixteenth century. Hanoi has the form of
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Speaker 1: an Isosceles triangle, the base of which extends along the
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Speaker 1: river bank for about two miles. The inhabitants of the
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Speaker 1: capital owe a good deal to Monsieur de la Nisson,
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Speaker 1: who was the first to suggest the demolition of the
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Speaker 1: immense and useless citadel, which, owing to its situation, retarded
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Speaker 1: the growth of the city northwards. The native quarter of
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Speaker 1: the town is extremely picturesque, and the neat whitewashed houses
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Speaker 1: not too two of which are alike in size or height,
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Speaker 1: with their quaintly curved, red tiled roofs and step like cornices.
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Speaker 1: The numerous pagodas ornamented with dragons, griffins and ginee, produce
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Speaker 1: a vista of pleasant aspect and great interest to the European.
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Speaker 1: There are hundreds of small shops wherein the native squad
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Speaker 1: on a piece of matting, surrounded by their wares. Workmen
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Speaker 1: of ali like craft. Merchants in similar lines of business
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Speaker 1: flock together and live in the same quarter, so that
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Speaker 1: the majority of the streets in the Annamese portion of
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Speaker 1: the town are named after the objects made or for
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Speaker 1: sale there. Thus it is that one sees at the
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Speaker 1: corners of the thoroughfare such indications as bamboo matting street,
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Speaker 1: hat street, fan street, copper street, e cetera, et cetera.
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Speaker 1: The main arteries of this quarter present a crowded appearance,
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Speaker 1: and traffic is continual, but contrary to the usual state
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Speaker 1: of affairs in most Oriental cities, the streets are clean
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Speaker 1: and odorless. A fact which can be attributed to an
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Speaker 1: excellent system of police supervision. The rickshaws is the favorite
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Speaker 1: means of transportation, although an admirable system of electric tramways
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Speaker 1: has now been started. The native inhabitants of the town
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Speaker 1: dress somewhat more carefully than their fellow countrymen in the villages.
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Speaker 1: That is to say, the merchants and shopkeepers do so.
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Speaker 1: They all wear the big hat made of palm leaves,
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Speaker 1: and the wealthier classes embellish its appearance by applying a
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Speaker 1: light brown varnish to its exterior and surmounting its crest
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Speaker 1: with a cap of silver scrollwork and a small spike
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Speaker 1: of the same metal. The Asiatic population of Hanoi is
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Speaker 1: very dense, and in nineteen o two consisted of one
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Speaker 1: hundred thousand anamees and thirty five hundred celestials. According to
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Speaker 1: the returns, there were six thousand, one hundred and ten
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Speaker 1: native OUs in the city, covering a total area of
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Speaker 1: about one hundred and sixty five acres. The French may
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Speaker 1: well be proud of the European quarter of the capital
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Speaker 1: of Tongqin for its fine, well laid out boulevards and streets,
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Speaker 1: handsome public buildings, big shops, comfortable hotels and well appointed
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Speaker 1: cafes would do honor to the prefecture towns of southern France,
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Speaker 1: such as are l Avignon or Montpellier. Though the principal
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Speaker 1: thoroughfares of the town do not present the busy appearance
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Speaker 1: of our eastern commercial centers such as Singapore or Hong Kong,
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Speaker 1: and one does not meet the hurrying throngs that give
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Speaker 1: to these two cities the characteristics of Anglo Saxon activity.
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Speaker 1: Yet the prospect of the Rue Poulbert, the principal street
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Speaker 1: of Hanoi, at the hour of the apartee, is extremely
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Speaker 1: pleasing and reminds one of the Parisian boulevards. In front
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Speaker 1: of the more important cat cafes. The pavement is occupied
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Speaker 1: by the numerous round, marble topped tables, so dear to
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Speaker 1: the boulevardier. After five o'clock every evening, these terraces are
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Speaker 1: crowded with habituees who, while sipping their iceed absinthe vammouth
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Speaker 1: or bitter, sit enjoying the cool breeze, exchanging the tittle
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Speaker 1: tattle of the town, discussing the latest apartmental or social scandal,
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Speaker 1: or watching the passing carriages, smart little victorias or dog
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Speaker 1: carts drawn by diminutive, well groomed ponies, and provided with
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Speaker 1: yellow skinned coachmen and tigers glorious in their neat liveries
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Speaker 1: and top boots. At this hour, the ladies of the colony,
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Speaker 1: whose means permit of this luxury, drive through the town,
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Speaker 1: out to the fine botanical and zoological gardens, and alight
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Speaker 1: at the kiosk to enjoy a stroll in the fresh
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Speaker 1: of the evening, and to listen to the band or
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Speaker 1: partake of a cup of tea or in iced sorbet.
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Speaker 1: The male sex is also on evidence at these gatherings
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Speaker 1: and promenades, consequently, that toilettes are brilliant and of the
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Speaker 1: latest fashion, and with a slight flight of fancy. One
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Speaker 1: might imagine oneself back at the Katskad or the pre
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Speaker 1: Catalan in the Bois de Boullonne in eighteen ninety three,
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Speaker 1: as it is today. The palace of the Governor General,
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Speaker 1: the residence of the Commander in Chief, and the offices
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Speaker 1: of the headquarters staff are situated in a portion of
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Speaker 1: the town known as the Concession, a strip of ground
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Speaker 1: fronting the river about one mile long by seven hundred
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Speaker 1: yards broad. This small territory was conceded to the French
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Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty two by the Emperor of Annam, and,
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Speaker 1: together with a concession at Haifong, which was occupied a
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Speaker 1: few years previously, it may be said to represent the
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Speaker 1: first foothold of France into the public buildings in the
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Speaker 1: concession are well built and are surrounded by fine gardens.
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Speaker 1: The town is provided with a splendid system of surface drainage.
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Speaker 1: It is lighted throughout with electricity, and possesses an adequate
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Speaker 1: water supply, which, however, is the cause of some complaint,
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Speaker 1: owing to the fact that the water is pumped from
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Speaker 1: wells situated in the native quarter of the town and
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Speaker 1: close to the river, from which it is more than
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Speaker 1: probable there exists a considerable infiltration. In the center of
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Speaker 1: the European quarter of Hanoi, there is a lake. The
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Speaker 1: borders of this are covered with trees and shrubs, and
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Speaker 1: laid out with paths framed in verdure, so that the
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Speaker 1: effect of the whole is charming. There are two small
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Speaker 1: islands on the lake, and on each of these is
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Speaker 1: a small pagoda. On the largest island, which can be
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Speaker 1: reached by a fine native bridge about thirty yards long
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Speaker 1: built of ironwood. Is a beautiful, though so small specimen
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Speaker 1: of a native temple known as the Pagoda of the
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Speaker 1: Isle of Jade, and for the last five hundred years
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Speaker 1: it has been the rendezvous for the literate of the capitol.
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Speaker 1: The Zoological and Botanical Garden, to which reference has already
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Speaker 1: been made, is situated in the extreme northwest corner of
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Speaker 1: the city. It is splendidly laid out and covers several
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Speaker 1: acres of ground. It is here that the society of
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Speaker 1: Hanoi comes to drive or promenade of an evening before dinner,
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Speaker 1: and its fine avenues, flower beds, groves and lawns compare
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Speaker 1: favorably with the cinnamon gardens in Colombo or the waterfall
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Speaker 1: at Penang. The roads throughout the town are wide and
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Speaker 1: well built, and in this respect, as in the laying
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Speaker 1: out of the streets and the style of architecture adopted
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Speaker 1: for the governmental buildings or for private residences, the French
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Speaker 1: are by far are superiors. This is due partly to
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Speaker 1: the naturally artistic taste they possess, and also to the
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Speaker 1: wise regulation adopted by the public Works Department in the
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Speaker 1: colony with regard to the construction of new buildings, all
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Speaker 1: plans having to be approved by the department before a
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Speaker 1: permit to commence building is granted. In July eighteen ninety two,
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Speaker 1: when I had arrived at Bognin, it seemed, after my
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Speaker 1: protracted stay in the wild regions of Upper Yente, that
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Speaker 1: at last I had returned to a large town, and
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Speaker 1: the sight of a few score of brick buildings was
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Speaker 1: for the first few days quite a novelty. But when
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Speaker 1: six months later I found myself in the capital of Tonkin,
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Speaker 1: it was like getting back to a big European city,
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Speaker 1: And though we sometimes regretted the charms of our former
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Speaker 1: adventurous existence, both Lipta and myself soon began to find
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Speaker 1: a new pleasure in the renewed acquaintance with the comforts
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Speaker 1: and desas distractions of civilization. We were not as free
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Speaker 1: as we had been at Bochnin, as we were lodged
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Speaker 1: in a room set apart for us in the barracks
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Speaker 1: of the ninth Regiment of infant Rie de Marine, and
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Speaker 1: were for a few days the pet grievance of the
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Speaker 1: non combs of that corps, who put us on fatigue
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Speaker 1: duty and made us take part in the inspections. This, however,
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Speaker 1: was soon stopped by the Chief of Staff, and we
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Speaker 1: were allowed to continue the even tenor of our way.
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Speaker 1: There is always a certain amount of jealousy felt for
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Speaker 1: the scribes of the army, and the French sergeants were
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Speaker 1: probably indignant at the thought that we were drawing as
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Speaker 1: much pay as they were, that we were allowed out
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Speaker 1: every night till ten p m. And also because we
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Speaker 1: took our meals at the canteen in a room specially
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Speaker 1: reserved for us. The latter arrangement was adopted to avoid indiscretions,
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Speaker 1: for a few of us were continually and unavoidably in
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Speaker 1: possession of fact that it was of absolute importance the
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Speaker 1: majority of the troops should not learn. For the next
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Speaker 1: twelve months we continued our somewhat uneventful life as staff
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Speaker 1: secretaries within the ancient precincts of the enemy citadel, the
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Speaker 1: only break in the monotony of our career being my
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Speaker 1: promotion to the grade of corporal, which occurred in November.
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Speaker 1: I had waited a long time for my stripes, and
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Speaker 1: should have had them sooner had I remained with my Corps,
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Speaker 1: but till then there had been no vacancy on the
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Speaker 1: staff or a noncom so I had nothing to complain of.
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Speaker 1: In February, our offices were again moved, this time to
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Speaker 1: the Concession in a building close to the headquarters staff,
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Speaker 1: and we were lodged with the secretaries of that organization.
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Speaker 1: Since I had come to Hanoi, my health had considerably improved,
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Speaker 1: and very soon after my arrival I was no longer
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Speaker 1: troubled with the attacks of malaria, which formerly, at almost
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Speaker 1: regular intervals used to lay me up for a day
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Speaker 1: and sometimes more. The change of air was I suppose
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Speaker 1: chiefly responsible for the amelioration, and the better food and
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Speaker 1: more comfortable quarters probably helped to mend matters. Life in
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Speaker 1: the capital was very agreeable, though during the summer months
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Speaker 1: the heat was terrible. This is due to the fact
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Speaker 1: that because of the low situation of the city, the
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Speaker 1: southwest monsoon is little felt there. The French colonials I
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Speaker 1: happened to come in contact with were extremely kind and hospitable,
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Speaker 1: and during my military career I made several acquaintances which
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Speaker 1: ripened into friendships that never failed me. During the subsequent
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Speaker 1: years passed in the colony. As a civilian, the French settler,
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Speaker 1: be he either planter, merchant, manufacturer or shopkeeper, is one
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Speaker 1: of the hardest workers I have ever seen. He possesses
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Speaker 1: an admirable faith in the rich country he had adopted,
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Speaker 1: and a supreme contempt for his government, which seems to
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Speaker 1: delight in throwing every possible obstacle in the way of
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Speaker 1: private enterprise, and in ever increasing the number of functionaries
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Speaker 1: he has to pay for. In April eighteen ninety four,
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Speaker 1: General Pennault practically reached the age limit of his rank
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Speaker 1: and returned to France, his place being taken by General Coronach.
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Speaker 1: At the time he took over the command, he was
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Speaker 1: the youngest brigadier general in the French army, having thanks
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Speaker 1: to the services he had rendered to the Republic and
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Speaker 1: to his wide knowledge of his profession, attained that rank
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Speaker 1: when most officers in France's forces esteemed themselves happy if
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Speaker 1: they are in command of a regiment. This distinguished soldier
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Speaker 1: was by birth a Basque, the son of a modest
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Speaker 1: cooper who plied his trade in a small and picturesque
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Speaker 1: village situated at the foot of the rugged and majestic Pyrenees.
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Speaker 1: But he was, in demeanor, speech and conduct, one of
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Speaker 1: the truest gentlemen. It has been my lot to encounter,
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Speaker 1: tall and somewhat sparse, fair with blue piercing eyes, a straight,
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Speaker 1: thin nose, a small, white colored mustache, and a very
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Speaker 1: strong chin. When listening, he was reserved, attentive and courteous.
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Speaker 1: When speaking, his voice was wonderfully soft for a military man,
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Speaker 1: and as clear as a belle. On first acquaintance, he
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Speaker 1: appeared to effect a certain aloofness, but this was only apparent,
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Speaker 1: and was due most probably to the erectness of his bearing,
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Speaker 1: and to his habit of speaking but little, and of
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Speaker 1: fixing his eyes on the person who was addressing him,
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Speaker 1: so that unless they were acquainted with this particularity, he
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Speaker 1: would stare them out of countenance. Having gained a hard
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Speaker 1: earned scholarship, the general obtained his grade of sub lieutenant
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Speaker 1: by passing through the military school of Saint Cyr, instead
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Speaker 1: of being obliged, like many of small means, to work
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Speaker 1: his way up from the ranks. The work of pacification
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Speaker 1: went on steadily, but it was destined that I should
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Speaker 1: remain at my post on the brigade and take no
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Speaker 1: active part in the different expeditions sent against the pirates
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Speaker 1: and rebels in eighteen ninety four ninety five. In October
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Speaker 1: eighteen ninety four, I lost my friend Lipte. He died
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Speaker 1: in the military hospital at Hanoi, worn out with fever
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Speaker 1: and debility acquired during our campaigns in Yente. I was
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Speaker 1: by him almost to the end, and he passed away
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Speaker 1: calm and courageous, like the noble, true hearted gentleman he
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Speaker 1: had always proved himself to be. He had been promoted
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Speaker 1: to the rank of sergeant and had been made a
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Speaker 1: Knight of the Dragon of Annam shortly before his death.
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Speaker 1: On the twenty seventh February eighteen ninety five, I was liberated,
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Speaker 1: having completed a period of five years under the French flag.
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Speaker 1: The experience I had gained was invaluable, and I felt
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Speaker 1: no regret for the step I had taken in enlisting. Nevertheless,
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Speaker 1: it was with an emotion akin to delight that I
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Speaker 1: hailed my return to the liberties of civilian life. It should, however,
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Speaker 1: be mentioned, that I experienced a certain regret at severing
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Speaker 1: my connection with the French Army and the Legion. While
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Speaker 1: serving in that corps, I had learned that there were
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Speaker 1: good and brave men outside my own country, and that courage, obedience,
19:39
Speaker 1: self abnegation and national pride are not the monopoly of
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Speaker 1: any one race. By living side by side with them,
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Speaker 1: fighting and oft times suffering in the same cause, I
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Speaker 1: had been taught to like and respect the foreigners. The French, Italian, German,
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Speaker 1: Austrian or any other European soldier is very much much
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Speaker 1: like our own. He has his virtues and his vices,
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Speaker 1: and the stronger his race and national character, the more
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Speaker 1: likely is he to possess a superabundance of the latter.
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Speaker 1: British interests in Siam and Southern China render the development
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Speaker 1: of the French colonies in the Far East a matter
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Speaker 1: of importance to us. The majority of the foreign products
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Speaker 1: imported into Yunnan via the West River Route or through
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Speaker 1: tong Qin or of British origin, Our treaty arrangements with France,
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Speaker 1: and the good feeling at present existing between the two
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Speaker 1: nations should make it no difficult matter for Frenchmen and
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Speaker 1: Englishmen to agree in the settlement of questions arising out
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Speaker 1: of their trade relations with Kwang Sea, Quantung and Yunan.
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Speaker 1: The recent concessions made by Siam to France have increased
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Speaker 1: the responsibilities of the latter, and it remains for France
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Speaker 1: and Great Britain to develop the commercial resources of Siam
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Speaker 1: and South China. By the aid of the railway system,
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Speaker 1: agriculture and manufacturing industries are being fostered in the French
21:09
Speaker 1: colonies of the East, and a great future undoubtedly exists
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Speaker 1: for them. But before real success can be obtained, end
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Speaker 1: of China must be provided with functionaries who are not
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Speaker 1: only able administrators, but who have a knowledge of the
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Speaker 1: language and customs of the country. They must be workers
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Speaker 1: with a single aim for the success of the colonies
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Speaker 1: under their administration, and not merely politicians whose personal ambitions
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Speaker 1: color their perceptions. Then the colonies wherein I spent the
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Speaker 1: years of which I have written will have a future
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Speaker 1: of constantly increasing prosperity before them. End of chapter eight,
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Speaker 1: end of A Soldier of the Legion by George Mannington