Leaving Chieng Mai and passing-by
hilltribe villages
Oct. 5.-The 1st of October has come and gone, but no transport,
and brilliant weather is being lost, Chieng Dao stands out clearly
defined. Not to lose such excellent weather, I start traversing
routes to M. Hawt, and return by the paths along the left bank.
One cannot help being impressed by the elaborate system of
irrigation adopted by the Lao. The tributaries of the Me Ping
as far as the Me Chan cannot be said to reach the river, as their
waters are dispersed through numerous channels watering the gardens
and fields. The Me Chan, the largest tributary of the Me Ping,
near its source flows through large forests of the long-leaved
pine, and then drains some excellent teak-forests, but owing to
the contraction of the river as it rushes through some gorges,
it is not easy to get the teak out, the force of water being such
as to break up the logs into match-wood. Some attewmpts have
been made to blast away the obstruction, but without much success.
Near the mouth of the river are the excellent light water-wheels,
about twenty feet in diameter, a peculiar feature of the Me Ping
near Chieng Mai, but these wheels convey the water for household
purposes only; for irrigation they are not much account, as the
quantity of water is small and can scarcely supply the needs even
of a single field, owing to the rapid evaporation.
Another feature worthy of notice was the excellent attempt
at road-making made by the Governor of Lampun, who has had earth
piled up along the whole length of the roads. The roads of the
country are as they were ages ago. The first pioneers usually
struck the best line of communication from one town to another.
Armed with their knives the leaders cut through the thick undergrowth.
They were followed by others, and the constant going to and fro
permanently established the path, which like a long snake winds
its way through the forest. The making of a road merely consists
of cutting the jungle, and the expression used is cutting the
road, a process which has to be repeated from time in order to
keep the dense jungle from overgrowing the track,
The Me Ping is the boundary of the provinces of Lampun and
Chieng Mai, but when the boundary leaves the river on the north-west,
the divisions of fields become the boundary, and this leads to
endless disputes. a still greater cause of trouble is the curious
arrangement by which isolated tracts are under separate jurisdictions.
The telegraph-line, after being interrupted for four months,
is at last restored, and I am informed that the Survey Staff is
increased by the addition of two more Europeans, Messrs. Smiles
and Angier, who have already had two or three years' experience
of Siam on the railway surveys; I also hear that another party,
under Luang De Sah, is proceeding by way of Nan to meet me at
Chieng Kawng. Messrs. Smiles and Angier having already started,
I followed up the next day, the 29th of November, making a slight
diversion from the usual well-beaten track, as I wanted to define
accurately some of the routes. On the 11th of December I reached
Chieng Senn, nothing worthy of notice having occured except that
the Chinese caravans, on their way to Maulmein by Chieng Mai,
were larger than usual, and the number of ponies from Chieng Tung
and M. Sing following the same route were rather more than on
ordinary occasions. At this time of the year, the Mussurs came
doown from the surrounding hills bringing chiefly cotton and wax,
which they barter for areca palm nuts and betel wine.
Arrived at Chieng Kawng, I met Luang Di Sah (now Phra Sarisdi),
who had come by Nan, and as usual had done excellent work. On
a previous visit to Cheing Kawng I calculated the discharge of
the river. It is not a favourable place for a section. The banks
are over two thousand feet apart, and the lowest level of the
water more than fifty feet below the bank. The discharge was
taken in March when the water is at its lowest, but it amounted
to upwards of forty-two thousand cubic feet a second. We immediately
set about ascending a conspicuous hill to the west. Near the
top were some Meo villages, and it was somewhat amusing to see
some of the Meo come up and in a "jolly-good-fellow"
manner shake hands with the Chao, this method of situation not
being customary with either the Meo or the Lao.
The graveyard of the village was well kept. The tombs were
built of loose stones and mud. It was the only clean place in
the vicinity, the surroundings of the Meo houses being far from
clean on account of the numerous poultry and pigs usually to be
met with. The outside of the houses may not be inviting, but
the interiors are comparatively speaking, kept in a state of cleanliness.
Eight years ago the Meo were not to be found on the right bank
of the Nam Kawng, but in the interval they have been swarming
down. Mussurs and Yao have been doing the same in every direction,
indicating a curious movement of the population. The Meo with
the Yao and Mussurs may be taken as hill tribes. They have a
prejudice to remaining on level ground, even at tolerable elevations,
and never on any account settle lower than three thousand feet
above sea-level. The Lao say of them with reference to this,
that they cannot live where the sound of the frog is heard. There
are from ten to twelve different tribes of Meo, but I could not
get the same number from any two different men. They seem a hardly
people and impress one favourably. They are a beardless race
and resemble the Chinese; there is something about their general
appearance reminding one of the Afghan. With his loose trousers,
a loose, long coat, and a neatly-folded truban, the Meo stands
forth not an uninteresting individual. The Meo wear a circlet
of silver with a small oblong pendant attached, on one side is
a Chinese device and on the other Chinese characters; they have
no written characters of their own, but the men wear it as a charm
against the evil influence of spirits. The head-men wear a Chinese
pig-tail, the others shave the tops of their heads and allow the
hair to hang loosely over their shoulders. When satisfied that
they have exhausted the soil of its riches, a survey of the surrounding
country is taken from some eminence, and if a limestone locality
is observed, some of the community are sent forward to explore
and report.
Continued
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