MY THO – Cochinchina

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MARCEL BERNANOISE¹

I.  Physical Geography

    Chief Town: Mytho [Mỹ Tho] (72 km, from Saigon [Sài Gòn]). The province of Mytho [Mỹ Tho] is situated between 10°03 and 10°35 latitude north, and 103°30 and 104o38 longitude east. It is divided into 6 administrative delegations (Anhoa [An Hoà], Caibe [Cái Bè], Cailay [Cai Lậy], Bentranh [Bến Tranh], Chogao [Chợ Gạo] and the chief town), 15 cantons an 145 villages.

    It is bounded on the north and north-east by the province of Tanan [Tân An]. The northern boundaries are in the plains of Jones, from Sadec [Sa Đéc] to the village of Phumy [Phú Mỹ] (canton of Hungnhon [Hưng Nhơn]). They are curiously dotted with clumps of trees and mounds of ricefields which naturally disappear during the floods. From the village of Phumy [Phú Mỹ] the boundary in the plains of Jones is no longer subject to floods, but slopes downwards in an east-south-easterly direction, and is characterised not only by sloping rice plantations, but by various streams more or less extended. On the east, by the provinces Gocong [Gò Công], Cua Tieu [Cửa Tiểu], Cua Dai [Cửa Đại] and the East Sea. On the south, by the branch of the Mekong [Mê Kông], called the anterior river, which separates Mytho [Mỹ Tho] from the provinces of Bentre [Bến Tre] (branch of the Balai [Ba Lai]), and of Vinhlong [Vĩnh Long]. On the south-west by the village of My An Dong [Mỹ An Đông], which is a boundary of the province of Sadec [Sa Đéc]. On the west, by the province of Sadec [Sa Đéc]. The boundaries on this side are almost entirely in the plains of Jones, excepting the lower part, towards the river. The province of Mytho [Mỹ Tho] has a superficial area of 223.660 hectares.

    At its longest point, from north-east to south-west, it is 115km long, and 39km, at its widest, from north to south. It is situated in the vast delta at the mouth of the Mekong [Mê Kông] river, which includes a large part of Lower Cochin-China. The arm of the river which waters it is called the lower stream, which again divides, in the territory of Mytho [Mỹ Tho], into two chief branches called cua (gate), that is to say: mouth of the river, the one, cua Dai [Cửa Đại] (big mouth), the other cua Balai [Ba Lai] (mouth of the Balai [Ba Lai]). The river is dotted with islands, the largest of which, the island of Phutuc [Phú Túc], extends from the west to the south-east up to the East Sea, where its banks measure nearly 20km. The other islands are variously called eon (sand banks), or culao (island), according to their being of recent or ancient formation. The part of the province of Mytho [Mỹ Tho] situated north of the Mekong [Mê Kông] river has a huge depression formed by the immense basin of the plaines of Jones. This vast marsh, which occupies nearly one-fifth of the territory of Lower Cochin-China, extends to a good third of the province of Mytho [Mỹ Tho]. It includes in the north the cantons of Phongphu [Phong Phú], Phonghoa [Phong Hoá], Loi Thuan [Lợi Thuận], Loitrinh [Lợi Trinh], and Hung Nhon [Hưng NHơn]. The local Annamite name for the plains of Jones is Dong Thap Muoi [Đồng Tháp Mười] (plain of Thap Muoi [Tháp Mười]) from the name of the ancient Cambodian tower in the Sadec territory, in the centre of the plains of Jones. They also call it Dat Bung [Đất Bưng] (word for word: land, swamp). It is presumed to have been the ancient bed of the Mekong [Mê Kông] river. The south and south-west of the province of Mytho [Mỹ Tho], as well as the islands on the Mekong [Mê Kông] river, do not suffer from the floods, but are fertile plains and “giong” [giòng] lands. The soil over the larger part of Mytho [Mỹ Tho] is clayish (argillous). In the north-east and south-east of the province the soil is sandy, called “giong” [giòng] and particularly fertile. The superficial area of Mytho [Mỹ Tho] comprises 223.660 hectares. The distance from the chief town to Bentre [Bến Tre] is 14km from Mytho [Mỹ Tho] to Tanan [Tân An] 25km. Mytho to Gocong [Gò Công] 34km, and Mytho [Mỹ Tho] to Vinhlong [Vĩnh Long] 68km.

    There are three important canals at Mytho [Mỹ Tho]: 1. The oldest, commenced under Minh Mang [Minh Mạng], is the commercial waterway or Dang Giang [Đằng Giang] canal carried on to the great river by the Ba Beo and Caibe [Cái Bè] streams. It links up communications from the dock at Mekong [Mê Kông] with the eastern Vaico, across the plains of Jones; 2. The waterway linking up the chief towns of Mytho [Mỹ Tho] and Tanan [Tân An]. It is 28km long and 80 meters wide, and is constantly used by native boats and barges; 3. The Chogao [Chợ Gạo] canal, or Duperre canal, unites the stream with the Kahon stream and thereby joins up the Mekong [Mê Kông] river with the greater Vaico (traversing Godong [Gò Đông]). This canal was dug in 1877, is 10.500km long and 30 meters wide. It is the most frequented canal, used by the native boats as well as by the “Messageries” steamers. Finally the irrigation canals, cut in the plains of Jones, which will make this plain a valuable asset. Besides these waterways, Mytho [Mỹ Tho] has a metalled road linking it with Saigon [Sài Gòn], passing through the important centres of Tanan [Tân An] and Cho Lon [Chợ Lớn]. Only 16km of the 71km long metalled road from Mytho [Mỹ Tho] to Saigon [Sài Gòn] are in the territory of Mytho [Mỹ Tho]. It starts from the chief railway station at Mytho [Mỹ Tho] and passes by the four secondary stations: at Trungluong [Trung Lương], Luongphu [Lương Phú], Tanhiep [Tân Hiệp] and Tanhuong [Tân Hương]. Mytho [Mỹ Tho] has also 4 colonial routes which connect the neighbouring, provinces, and a network of parish routes, linking up the villages and cantons. The four colonial routes are: 1. Mytho [Mỹ Tho] to Tanan [Tân An]; 2. Mytho [Mỹ Tho] to Gocong [Gò Công]; 3. Mytho [Mỹ Tho] to Bentre [Bến Tre]; 4. Mytho [Mỹ Tho] to Vinhlong [Vĩnh Long].

II. Administrative Geography

    The province of Mytho [Mỹ Tho] is divided into six administrative boroughs: Mytho [Mỹ Tho], Anhoa [An Hoà], Bentranh [Bến Tranh], Caibe [Cái Bè], Cailay [Cai Lậy] and Chogao [Chợ Gạo], 15 cantons and 145 villages. The chief market places of the province are: Mytho [Mỹ Tho] (chief town) village of Dieuhoa, Anhoa [An Hoà], Caibe [Cái Bè], Chogao [Chợ Gạo], Cailay [Cai Lậy], Bochi, Phumy [Phú Mỹ], Tanhiep [Tân Hiệp], Chogiua, Tanthach [Tân Thạch], Rachgam [Rạch Gầm], Badua, Caithia [Cái Thìa], Anhuu [An Hữu], Caungan [Cầu Ngan], Caila.

POPULATION

    156 Europeans, 325.070 Annamites, 11.050 Chinese, 56 Indians.

III. Economical Geography

12 /2019

NOTE:
1: Marcel Georges Bernanoise (1884-1952) – Painter, was born in Valenciennes – the northernmost region of France. Summary of life and career:
+ 1905-1920: Working in Indochina and in charge of mission to the Governor of Indochina;
+ 1910:  Teacher at Far East School of France;
+ 1913: Studying indigenous arts and publishing a number of scholarly articles;
+ 1920: He returned to France and organized art exhibitions in Nancy (1928), Paris (1929) – landscape paintings about Lorraine, Pyrenees, Paris, Midi, Villefranche-sur-mer, Saint-Tropez, Ytalia, as well as some souvenirs from the Far East;
+ 1922:  Publishing books on Decorative Arts in Tonkin, Indochina;
+ 1925: Won a grand prize at the Colonial Exhibition in Marseille, and collaborated with the architect of Pavillon de l’Indochine to create a set of interior items;
+ 1952: Dies at age 68 and leaves a large number of paintings and photographs;
+ 2017: His painting workshop was successfully launched by his descendants.

REFERENCES:
◊ Book “LA COCHINCHINE” – Marcel Bernanoise – Hong Duc [Hồng Đức] Publishers, Hanoi, 2018.
◊  wikipedia.org
◊ Bold and italicized Vietnamese words are enclosed inside quotation marks – set by Ban Tu Thu.

SEE MORE:
◊  CHOLON – La Cochinchine – Part 1
◊  CHOLON – La Cochinchine – Part 2
◊  SAIGON – La Cochinchine
◊  GIA DINH – La Cochinchine
◊  BIEN HOA – La Cochinchine
◊  THU DAU MOT – La Cochinchine
◊  MY THO – La Cochinchine
◊  TAN AN – La Cochinchine
◊  COCHINCHINA