Journey back to Bangkok
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The haze is dense and our prolonged
stay on the mountain is awkward, for our provisions have run short,
so that we were entirely out of them. The peak being an important
one, as it was then a boundary point between Annam and Siam, and
moreover, the point from which the eastern boundary started, it
was necessary to finish the work on it as completely as possible.
But from day to day we anxiously waited for the impenetrable
haze to clear, until on the 22nd of April we were at last able
to finish the observations. I sent some men down to Ban Na Ngawi,
at the northern base of the hill, to purchase rice, while the
rest went back to M. Mo. Some of the Na Ngawi men came up, they
are ordinary Lao under the administration of Annam. They showed
me how the boundary then ran between Annam and Saim, and the village
was under M. Sen, which was once part of Puann, but that M. Pavie
some years ago made the present division.
I expected to get a grand view
even as far as the sea, but mountains intervened and they seem
to extend to the sea-shore. One grand peak, Pu Huatt, 8,175,
I think could be seen from the sea-shore, thus only a few more
peaks and I might have reached the Gulf of Tonquin. But I had
to turn back, and, most fortunately, considering what has since
happened, I continued the triangulation to the Me Nam Kawng.
Our journey were now more difficult,
the paths were very slippery, and we had daily showers; the leeches
swarmed in some places. We passed the main watershed, which
was still granite; a strange feature is that not for to the east
the line of graniteleaves the main watershed. We passed through
M. Mawk, another pretty spot with old fortifications, all but
deserted. Going along the Nam Mang was difficult , the river
was much swollen, and as the crossings were frequent, it was
dangerous for the men carrying loads. Their troubles were however
over when we reached Ban Tinun on the 4th May.
As the rains had set in, it
was not advisable to have too many men knocking about over the
hills, so I sent Smiles down the Me Chan to prepare and measure
a base-line across the M Kawng. I ascended Pu Mun and Pu Kap
and completed observations there. On this latter peak among the
stones of a little brook a strange creature was captured. It
was like a lizard,about twelve inches long , with a shield like
a tortoise on the back and stomach; the tail which was about four
inches long was, as the people said, that of an alligator. The
neck was long and the head broad and hard. The creature was unable
to draw its head under the shield, but its neck was completely
protected. It escaped in the darkness. The men said they had
not seen one before.
On the 1st of June, accompanied
by Nai Heng, we started for Pu Pang. The first part of the ascent
was numerous tracks of elephants and rhinoceros. There are two
kinds of the onehorned rhinoceros; they are valued for their horns,
the most valuable being distinquised by a protuberance on the
under side. Cinnamon is plentiful is this region.
As we ascend our difficulties
begin. The rocks are oolite, and in some cases so weather-worn
as to assume almost the form of swaying rocks, even potholes are
met with. The streams are red with ferric oxide. Presently we
find ourselves fairly launced into difficulties. The rocks rise
above the surface to perpendicular heights all round, and often
are we brought to a standstill while the men are looking for
passages through the walls of rock. Our only means of egress
is sometimes through dark passages over yawning chasms, or by
scaling other rocks with ladders hastily made from twigs and roots,
to find when the top is reached we must hastily retace our steps,
as progress is impossible, there being nothing but perpendicular
walls all round. Add to this the fog which was constantly hanging
around, shutting out the view ahead of us, and then daily rain,
and it will be understood that our forward progress towards the
hill-top was slow. At last we reached Pu Pang, 6,085 feet above
sea-level, the souther face of which was a sheer precipice of
from three to four thousand feet drop into the valley of the Nam
Twai, which is a Colorado in miniature, but the precipitous rocks
at its head are in every way as formidable and even more so than
those of the canons of the Colorado. Nevertheless there are those
who with ropes and ladders, at considerable risk to themselves,
scale the rocks for bee-hives which are very plentiful on the
rocks.
From Pu Pang there is a magnificent
view, and in the valley of the Nam Twai can be seen some old
abandoned fields, the site of a Chinese settlement called M. Twai,
in the days of Wieng Chan's prosperity. The strain on the men
in getting here was very severe; my unfortunate Madras servant,
who was suffering from some pulmonary complaint, died, the constant
wet proving too much for him. The poor fellow was buried on the
hill.
Continued
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