Admiral Courbet is either a very prudent man, too prudent
or the kind of work he has to do, or the French difficulties in onquin are of the most serious kind. According to the latest ormation, the Admiral has decided to make no attack either n Hung Hoa or Bacninh, but has returned to Hanoi, and in- nds to wait for reinforcements, which cannot reach him until he middle of February. The rivers will be dry then, and his gunboats consequently of very little assistance. The capture of Sontay has not had the effect of quieting the delta ; on the contrary, the Black Flags watch all posts, and the French only own the ground they actually occupy. No decision. has as yet been announced from Pekin, but it is stated that the Governor- General of Yunnan has been made Commander-in-Chief in Tonquin, which would indicate an intention of treating the affair as a local war, and' not as an Imperial campaign. The Governor-General of Yunnan has a turbulent west country to keep in order, and has therefore some experienced militia under m, but he can have but a small regular force. The truth is, owever, that no European knows the precise policy upon which ekin has determined, and that we must all wait until facts or he Chinese Foreign Office reveal the secret.
