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As I was unable to see the hill that Smiles cleared, and
on which he had erected signal and closed a traverse, I was obliged
to clear another hill from which it was visible and which connectedit
with Kinang. There were numerous mushrooms on the path, which
afforded much amusement for the men, who busied themselves in
collecting them. My provisions were running short, and so by
the aid of the ever-ready Yao we struck a path which led to M.
Nga
. My little fox-terrier added to our difficulties by giving
birth to a small family, for the bringing up of which elaborate
arrangements had to be made. Thunder-storms now became frequent.
when we struck the Nam Se, a tributary of the Nam Nga, we fell
in with Kamuk settlements, and the Yao guides returned to the
mountains, as they felt the heat of the low valleys.
On the 12th of April we reached M. Nga, where there are some
rice-fiels, but the people depend chiefly on the mountain-side
cultivation. I paid off the people of M. Sai, and the next day
took a small boat and went down the Nam Nga. At some points on
the river my guide tells me attempts have been made to find salt,
as there were traces of it to be discovered. As the interior
of Indo-China is land-locked, a bed of salt is a great treasure,
and the salt localities are well known.
At Ban Sobp Ya there was a very shady spot, inviting us to
rest, but the head-man of the village was apprehensive concerning
my interference with the spirits, as the village cemetery was
in the bamboo clumps hard by. The custom of the people is to
cast the dead bodies of the poorer portion of the population into
a ravine; they are then, during heavy rains, carried down into
the rivers. At the junction of the Me Ngao with the Me Nga, I
wait for the carriers. The Me Ngao is a larger stream than the
Me Nga, and continues its course in the same direction, nevertheless,
the united streams are called the Me Nga; the names must have
been given on account of the town of M. Nga.
When the carriers come we ascend a hill, Pu Loi; the heat
is intense, the path going through a jungle of high grass, and
as there is not a breath of air, the atmosphere is suffocating.
Pu Loi, cleared of trees, was used as an interpolated point.
I was also able to decide without hesitation the route to be
taken to one of Luang Di Sah's peaks, on which I must take observations
for Parat, and thus unite the work better. The hill I decide
on ascending is Nang Wang, across the Nam Kawng. I sent a letter
to Smiles, who was patiently waiting at B. Latan to go on to Luang
Phrabang
, where we intended to meet.
The different villages with the prefix Lat were market-places
in the good old days. The Nam Kawng here has a broad bed, but
the water flows in a narrow channel, dashing along over enormous
rocks glistening like coal. The coal-like appearance is due to
a deposit which in different parts of the Me Kawng assumes different
hues, at one time black, at another various shades of green, then
red. What the secret of the colouring process is it is difficult
to say, as the rocks are all of the same nature.
I ascended the Nang Wang, and arrived just in time to have
our tents pitched before there was a great downpour of rain.
During the night there was a heavy storm with thunder and lightning.
The rain flowed through my tent like a stream; with difficulty
the tent was kept from being blown over, and the creaking of the
trees was not cheerful, but I was glad to think of a good view
in prospect after all the rain. The next day it was still raining,
and in the night we had another storm, but not like the first,
and I was better prepared for it.
On the 20th of April I had hoped to get a good view, but
the people, who were anxious about their rice-clearings, have
begun firing the old trees cut some months previously; they keep
the fires up by night as well as by day. However, Parat and other
points are connected, and I am only anxious for Nawn Chang and
Ki Nang, which are not absolutely necessary, but would give the
work a more finished appearance. In the afternoon Luang Phrabang,
that is in February, 1887, it wanted no prophet to foretell that
a great trouble was about to befall Luang Phrabang; it was as
evident as that rain will fall, when thick clouds are about with
thunder and lightning; and it was in June of the same year that
the unfortunate people were driven from their homes and the place
was pillaged by the Haw from their homes and the place was pillaged
by the Haw from M. Teng. The old Chief, like an old Roman Senator,
wanted to die in his home rather than abandon Luang Phrabang,
but a few of his remaining sons obatined a Burmese guard from
the Burmans, who had been settled in Luang Phrabang many years,
and they hustled the old man into a small boat. He was fired
on and his son shot dead before his eyes. Below Luang Phrabang
the old man was met by M. Pavie and the Siamese Commissioner.
Whilst watching the settling sun glittering on the spires
of the pagodas and the gilded mouldings of the wats of Luang Phrabang,
with the noble Me Kawng flowing before it, our musings were of
a melancholy kind, for we knew what troubles the people had gone
through. Even during the last month, four or five hundred people
died at Luang Phrabang from some bowel compliant, and in the foregoing
month the place had been burnt, so altogather their cup of bitterness
is pretty full.
The horned enoplotrupis, which the late Mr. Bates was anxious
to secure, both blue and black, is very plentiful on this mountain,
and the men amuse themselves by catching these insects, in the
evenings particularly. This species of beetle was discovered
not very long ago in Burmah by an Italian naturalist, Signor Feaan.
The species being numerous and dung-feeders, I wondered where
they could come from, and I was informed that rhinoceros were
plentiful on the mountain, though I did not come across any traces
of them.
The basket signal is an excellent one, the pole is the trunk
of a tree let into the ground for some ten or twelve feet. It
was great labour replacing it, but it will stand for twenty years.
On the 28th of April I went to Luang Phrabang, and while
waiting for a boat to cross over, had time to take in the altered
0situation since I last saw the town. Near me on the right bank
of the riveris a large wooden building painted in red and blue,
and a bamboo fence inclosing a large area, in which are several
houses. This is the French Vice-Consulate, which was established
after the treaty negotiated with Siam was signed, but not ratified
by the French Chamber. The treaty was meant as a counterpoise
to the English treaty about Chieng Mai, the difference being that
England had thousands of subjects in the one place, while France
had not a soul in the other.
Across the river, where the chiefs, the Siamese Commissioners,
and the bulk of the people live, the whole has a new look. The
pagoda on the hill, Tat Chawm Si, has an old appearance, and while
I am looking at it, the familiar drums and gongs hard by ring
out their harmonies indicating a change of watch. Night and day,
at regular intervals of three hours, the watches have been marked
in this way for ages, and it is well to see one custom at least
that has been clung to in spite of all changes. The small hill
a couple of hundred feet high has not altered much in appearance,
except perhaps that there is more jungle and the old Chinese-looking
Salas are, if anything, going fast to decay.
In the direction of the old Chief's house is a massive brick
building not completed. There are also the usual thatch-roofed
houses, but they look new, as a couple of months ago the whole
place was destroyed by fire. The place looks bare, as before
it was one mass of cocoa-nut and areca palms, which have all been
cut down at the same time. There have been some efforts to make
streets, and immediately opposite is an excellent landing-place,
beyond which a good straight road leads to the Siamese quarter.
On the side of the landing is a post-office, and a sign-board
with large letters in Siamese and English. I am sure Siam Royal
Post Office
in large letters cannot please the French, but as
in Luang Phrabang, so all over Siam, English is used as the supplementary
language, and in official documents many English expressions have
now become recognized words.
The breadth of the river here is 1,770 feet. In a little
while Luang Di Sah came across. I was glad to see the young fellow,
and congratulated him on the excellence of the work he had performed.
The Commissioner, Phya Ritisong, was also kind enough to come
over and welcome me to Luang Phrabang , and I took the opportunity
of heartily thanking him fro the kind assistance he had given
to make the work successful. We went across the Me Kawng, and
I took up my residence in very comfortable quarters, which were
built for a school. The floor was cement, and the sides and roof
were of bamboo, neatly painted white, while the posts were painted
yellow. The paints were obtained in Luang Phrabang, white, yellow,
ochre, cobalt, and mineralreds being plentiful.
Continued
