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Gaskette's map, the elevations hardly deserve that name; for nearly the whole of Cochin China is low ground, almost flat. The Mekhong River is the largest in the peninsula, being 2,800 miles long. It rises in Thibet, and is navigable only in its lower waters. On account of the low level of the country there are many canals, or bayous as you call them in Louisiana, which connect many of the rivers.
The Cambodia, or Mekhong River, flows through it with many bayous or cut-offs. On one of these, which is called the Saigon River, is the city of Saigon, the capital of the French possessions in the East, Lippincott says thirty-five miles, and Chambers sixty miles, from the China Sea; and of course both of them cannot be right, and you are all at liberty to take your choice.
"That is Batac Bay, with a large island in the middle of it," replied Captain Ringgold. "It is one of the mouths of the Mekhong; for there is a Delta here extending about a hundred miles, the Saigon River being the most easterly."
It was not a long voyage from Bangkok to the mouth of the Mekhong River; and the sight of land was not as thrilling an incident as it had often been in the experience of the voyagers, and they were not in condition to appreciate the feelings of Captain Columbus when Watling's Island broke on his vision four hundred years before.
The water was deeper inshore than farther out at sea, where several spots were marked at eight fathoms; and the passengers had a view of the land before they were within a hundred miles of the entrance of Saigon River. "There is a broad opening in the coast, which must be the Cambodia, or Mekhong River," said Morris.
"Mekhong seems to me a new word, though doubtless it was the native name of the great river; but when I went to school we never called it anything but the Cambodia," added Uncle Moses. "It is now called by both names, and both are usually found on the maps and charts," said the commander. A couple of hours later he pointed out the mouth of the great river.
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