Chiang Mai
Chieng Mai, at an elevation
of 1,000 feet above mean sea-level, is a high-walled city, one
mile square, with a moat all round, and five principal gateways.
From the north-east corner, a semi-circular earth-work, with
an irregular outline as high as the city wall, sweeps round to
the south west corner, its greatest distance from the inner wall
being about half a mile. This wall, which has gates corresponding
to the city, was built by the Siamese when, under King
Narai,
they took the city by storm in 1661. Chieng Mai is laid out in
streets, and the temples are numerous and handsome. There is
a daily market, managed almost entirely by women, who do all the
buying and selling, and judging from the different costumes, many
races of people congregate at the markets. There cannot be less
than three thousand people, without a single policeman, nor, so
far as I can see, any necessity of one. How long this will last,
it is difficult to say. So-called civilization is making its
way in Chieng Mai.
Dr. Cheek has spanned the river with a handsome
and substantial teak-wood bridge, and beyond it has built a handsome
teak-wood church with a tower, for the Presbyterian Mission.
His steam saw-mill run by Kamuks is ever busy, which accounts
for the numerous substantial buildings rising up all round. There
is a residence for the English Consul, houses and schools for
the missionaries, and last of all, as a curious indication of
the times, a fine billiard pavilion. The pathways here are excellent.
At a distance of a couple of miles to the west are the ruins
of a small town. To the north is the site of the once famous
Muang Yiwan, on the ruins of which the present city has been founded.
There is also a large swamp not far away, which during the rains
has the appearance of a lake; in the dry weather the soil affords
an excellent material for the making of bricks. The water supply
of the city is good, the water being conveyed in open channels
from Dawi Sutep, distant about eight miles. There are besides
numerous wells, and Dr. Cheek has succeeded in striking a spring
not forty feet below the surface, which supplies very pure water.
Dawi Sutep is a mountain, the highest point of which is 5,500 feet above mean sea-level. There is a pagoda on it, at an elevation of 3,510 feet above sea-level, to which a pilgrimage is made once a year. There is a plentiful supply of water; of late there have been objections raised to
Europeans going there, and the guides were punished for taking
them. The missionaries erected a sanatorium there, which was
destroyed by wild elephants. It was, however, not sufficiently
high, for to avoid the line of malarial influence one must be
above 4,000 feet. The hill affords many excellent sites, and
the oaks invite habitation. On the western slopes of Dawi Sutep
are extensive gardens of tea (Mieng).
The plant here is exactly the
same as the Assam plant, but as the use made of it is not the
same, it is treated differently. There are over the mountains
in different places large quantities of tea growing wild, but
the cultivated plant is grown at regular intervals of about six
feet. No pruning is resorted to, and the plants are allowed,
as the Assam planter says, "to run to seed." The life
of a plant is about twelve years. The soft leaves, some of then
two inches in length, preferable to the young tips, are plucked
four times a year: Mieng Hua Pi about July, Mieng Kang about September,
Mieng Sawi about November, Mieng Moe about January. The leaves
are steamed precisely in the same manner as the glutinous rice
which forms the daily food of the people. The narrow end of a
closely-woven basket, shaped like a truncated cone, is fitted
into the neck of an earthen pot, three-quarters of which is filled
with water. A sieve is fastened into the bottom of the basket
into which the leaves are placed. When well steamed, the leaves,
after they are cooled, are tied into bundles and buried. Salt
is sprinkled over the leaves, and the whole rolled up into a hard
ball about the size of a walnut. This is put into the mouth,
and sucked at all day. The people find it a great stimulant,
and are enabled to go without food for long periods. Large quantities
of Mieng are used among the people, and bullocks and even elephants
are often seen laden with nothing else. It is a great luxury
with the Lao princes, among whom it takes as important a place
as the betel-leaf and areca palm nut.
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