3-074-882 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The French in Cochin China: sketches of Hué, 1883. '1. Entrance to the Citadel. 2. View near Hué. 3. Minister's Residence. 4. Street in Hué 5. Annamite Soldiers. The French War in Tonquin. The professed object of the French is to put down the Annamese insurgents and the Chinese "Black Flags"...The French base of operations by sea against Tonquin is the sea-port of Hué...which was bombarded and captured by the French last year, under the pretext of suppressing piracy, but which has been made a stepping-stone to the conquest of Tonquin. It is a fortified town...and forms on the south a barrier quite impassable save by boats, which are exposed to fire from the ramparts...The river and canal...form only the outer defence, as an inner canal...surrounds the fortress...Hué is, therefore, protected on every side...The walls are of brick, and very high...All the gates are solidly built at the foundation, and each is surmounted by a square tower of red brick...The roof, of which the upper part is crowned with a ball of golden masonry with an arrow issuing from it, is covered with red tiles; at the four angles are bell towers, ornamented with a number of small bells, which, when agitated by the wind, give forth a dull and monotonous sound'. From "Illustrated London News", 1883.