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                               NOTES OF
                 A JOURNEY ON THE UPPER MEKONG, SIAM.


                                  BY
                          H. WARINGTON SMYTH,
        OF THE ROYAL DEPARTMENT OF MINES AND GEOLOGY, BANGKOK.


                     WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.


                             PUBLISHED FOR
                    THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY
                                  BY
              JOHN MURRAY, 50, ALBEMARLE STREET, LONDON.
                                 1895.




[Illustration: THE RAPIDS AT THE GATES OF CHIENG KONG, MEKONG RIVER.]




PREFACE.


I have put together the following account of a recent journey made for
the Siamese Government to the Mekong valley, chiefly for the reason
that at the present moment, when the French have "rectified" their
boundaries on the north and east of Siam to the extent of some 85,000
square miles, more interest than usual will probably be felt in the
character of the country and the people, of whom there are not too
many reliable accounts to be found. At the same time, I feel very
strongly that there are others whose descriptions will be far more
valuable than my own, owing to their longer residence in the country,
and the greater extent of their explorations. I refer especially to
Messrs. McCarthy, Archer, and Beckett, who have done difficult and
extensive work in all parts of Siam and the Laos states; and there is
certainly no European, and probably no Siamese, that knows so much of
the configuration of the north-east as does Mr. McCarthy, who, carried
on by an apparently deep love of jungle-life, has aroused the
admiration of the Siamese and Laos at Luang Prabang by his hardihood
and energy, and the results of whose work were a constant source of
admiration to me, as I went on and saw the wildness and difficulty of
the country.

The object of my journey was primarily the examination, for the
Siamese Government, of a supposed very rich deposit of gems (rubies
and sapphires), lately discovered on the left bank of the Mekong,
opposite Chieng Kong. My orders were to return by Luang Prabang,
Nongkhai, and Khorat, and to visit and report on all mineral deposits
of which I could get information, gathering all geological data which
were possible. The time allowed was six months, and I was not to leave
the general line of march prescribed by more than 60 miles. I need
hardly say--and every one who knows what jungle-travelling is will
understand--that my programme, to be thoroughly carried through over
the large extent of country marked out, might well occupy six years
instead of months; and that such a hurried exploration in a country
covered densely with forest--which, next perhaps to snow, is the
greatest enemy to the science of geology--could not but be
unsatisfactory to one's self.

                                    H. Warington Smyth.




GLOSSARY.

    Pak = mouth of a river; _e.g._ Pak Oo, mouth of river Oo.
    Nam = river; _e.g._ Nam Oo, river Oo (_a_ always long, as in
_barn_).
    Hoay = mountain torrent.
    Keng = rapid; _e.g._ Keng Fapa, Fapa rapid.
    Luang = great or chief; _e.g._ Keng Luang, the great rapid.
    Doi _or_ puh = Siam word Kao = hill.
    Ban _or_ Bang = house or village (used indiscriminately).
    Sala = rest-house.
    Muang = town or township, often district or province.
    Chow Muang = literally, chief of the township = governor.
    Klong = stream or canal.




CONTENTS.

  PART I.
  Bangkok to Muang Nan

  PART II.
  Muang Nan to Muang Chieng Kong

  PART III.
  Muang Chieng Kong to Muang Luang Prabang

  PART IV.
  Luang Prabang (March, 1893)

  PART V.
  Nongkhai to Khorat and Bangkok (April and May, 1893)

  Appendix




MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

  The Rapids at the Gates of Chieng Kong, Mekong River
  The Meinam below Chainat
  Loaded Rice-Boats lying in Bangkok
  Rua Pet
  Rua Nua
  Rua Nua from Fore End
  Boat hollowed out of Trunk ready to be soaked in River
  Boat opened out over Fire, Ribs and Knees in
  Rice-Boats and Floating House, Paknam Pho
  A Rice-Boat, flying light
  Rice-Raft, Nam Oo
  Wat Chinareth (Central Tower from West)
  A Sala in the Nan Forests
  Khorat Plateau. Entrance to Forest Dong Phya Yen
  Gorge Nam Pgoi
  The Paddy-Fields, Hin Valley
  Wat Ben Yeun, M. Sa
  East Gate of Nan
  Laos Bag, of Striped Cloth
  Kao Neo Wicker Baskets
  Axe for hollowing Boats
  Dipper for Water
  A Hill Monastery, M. Le
  View from M. Le, looking north-west across the Nam Nan and Watershed
of Meinam Khong
  Map--Route from Muang Ngob on the Nam Nan to Muang Chieng Kong on
the Mekong River
  A Gem-Digger's Clearing, Chieng Kong
  Camp at the Fa Pa Rapids
  One of our Elephants, with Howdah on
  The Leading Mule
  A Head Man--Stern View
  A Head Man--Side View
  A Haw--Packs dismounted
  Laos Boat
  Illustration of Oar and Steering-Gear
  Double Boat
  Village above Paku, Mekong
  Forty-Five Feet Boat, Nam Oo
  Map--Part of the Mekong
  Khache Hill Clearings; Rapids above Pak Beng, Mekong
  Dhap and Sheath
  Jungle Knives
  Mouth of Nam Suung, above Luang Prabang
  Approach to Luang Prabang from North
  Wat Chieng Tong
  Pa Chom Si, Luang Prabang
  Plan of Luang Prabang and River
  Stone Implements
  Government Offices, Luang Prabang
  Keng Kang, Nam Oo. The Plunge off the Left Bank
  Keng Luang
  Ascending Keng Luang, Nam Oo
  Fishing Stakes and Shelters, Nam Oo
  Rudder
  Boats Fishing
  Last of the Hills above Wieng Chan
  The Ruins of Wat Prakaon, Wieng Chan
  Niche and Statue
  South-West Angle, Wat Susaket, Wieng Chan
  Bell
  Bell-Clapper and Joint
  Bamboo Bell
  Four-Sok Kan (1 Inch to Feet)
  Two-Sok Kan
  Air-Chamber
  Kien
  The North Gate and Nam Nun, Khoraat
  Map--The Central Part of the Kingdom of Siam




NOTES OF A JOURNEY ON THE UPPER MEKONG, SIAM.




PART I.

BANGKOK TO MUANG NAN.


Early in December, 1892, we left Bangkok--myself, three Siamese
assistants, and a sergeant's guard as escort, and coolies. At Muang
Chainat, owing to the rapid fall of the river, I had to send back the
Navy launch, which was drawing 3 feet 6 inches; a month earlier she
might have got nearly up to M.[1] Pechai. At Paknam Pho, where the Nam
Pho and Meiping meet, after a good deal of bargaining I secured a _rua
nua_, or north-land boat, to take me on. Boat-travelling in Siam is
much the same everywhere; and in their boat-life, it may be said, the
Siamese have attained a high degree of civilization. Very often the
boat is the home of the family, and after the rains they moor
alongside the bank and cultivate tobacco, cotton, or melons on the
<DW72> on which the rich loam of the floods has settled down; after the
rice harvest they will set out laden with paddy for Bangkok, returning
later on with salt or other luxuries from the south. The Chinese, who
are the most energetic people in the country, carry on extensive
trading in this way. They use a very large double-ended kind of boat,
known as "rice-boat," which has a long cylindrical roof of closely
plaited work impervious to rain, extending from just before the
helmsman to within 10 feet of the bows, where the two or three oarsmen
toil at the long oars. As in all the Siamese boats, the oar is slung
in a grommet, which is turned round the top of a small pole firmly let
into the gunwale at the lower end. This gives the end of the oar
sufficient height inboard, and the oarsman stands to his work facing
forward, the outer hand on a small handle turned at right angles to
the oar, as in the Chinese sampans one sees in the straits. With a big
heavy boat, the action, with a sharp jerk at the end of the stroke, is
not pretty; but in the small _rua chang_ (or sampan) of the city the
motion is exactly that of the gondolier, and with the swaying motion
of the inside leg, which is often quite free, is extremely pretty. It
must be confessed the grommet principle, which at least keeps the oar
in its place, makes the work much easier than the slippery crutch in
which the gondolier at Venice works his long oar, and which proves a
great source of difficulty to the beginner in the art. This method is
known by the Siamese as "chaw"- (or "chow"-)ing.

[Illustration: THE MEINAM BELOW CHAINAT.]

[Illustration: LOADED RICE-BOATS LYING IN BANGKOK.]

Next in size and usefulness to the "rice-boats" (which are generally
about 40 feet long, 10 feet 4 inches beam, with 6 feet 4 inches
extreme draught when loaded, and carry twenty koyans of rice) comes
the _rua pet_, which is a great favourite with the Siamese. It is
cleaner lined than the rice-boat, the cabin arrangement being the
same; that is, the long roof, the deck at the level of the gunwale
going fore and aft, and the storage-room all below, reached by taking
out the neatly fitting pieces of deck, which are made to fit into the
main cross-beams. The helmsman has a slightly raised attap roof over
his head, and he (or she, for the wife and the children down to six
years old can steer as well as the father) looks out from under this
and over the long low roof in front. The steering is done with a
rudder shipped in the usual way on the stern-post, while in the big
rice-boat it is generally on the quarter (if under sail, on the lee
quarter), kept in position by a rope grommet at the head, and another
lanyard put through an eye bored lower down. In both kinds of craft a
finely peaked calico lugsail is used with a fair wind--the matting, of
which the junks and local coast-luggers make their sails, being never
seen inland. The size of the _rua pet_ is generally 40 feet over all,
8 feet 4 inches beam, and 3 feet 4 inches draught loaded; a new one
will cost 300 to 320 ticals, say L26. Teak is largely used in the
construction, and when finished the whole is covered with a coating of
_chunam_, a mixture of oil from the Mai Yang (a magnificently
proportioned tree common in the forest), with dammar oil, which gives
a beautiful red varnish to the hull.

[Illustration: RUA PET.]

A third distinct type of boat is the _rua nua_ ("nua" meaning north,
and "rua" boat), which seems to be rather a Laos than a Siamese form.
It is hardly accurate to call them distinctively "Laos boats," as is
often done, as the real "Laos boat," used both on the Mekong and in
the Laos states proper on the Meinam, is simply a long dug-out canoe,
60 feet long, with an extreme beam of 4 feet. The _rua nua_ is a much
more highly developed type, and is in construction as elaborate as
those above mentioned. It is generally longer than the _rua pet_. My
boat was 56 feet 10 inches over all, with a beam of 10 feet, and
carried the owner and his crew of four men, with myself and twenty
Siamese. At night a few of us slept on shore, in the Salas or
rest-houses of the monasteries, or on the banks of sand. The stem and
stern posts are made of huge chocks of teak, the bottom flat of three
or four huge planks running the whole length of the boat if possible.
Right aft is a high-roofed and very comfortable house in which the
steersman lives; sitting on his high stool, and looking over the usual
plaited roof along the centre of the boat, he turns his long
steering-oar, which reaches far out astern over the port quarter. The
fore-deck of the boat is outrigged on each side to a considerable
distance, while a gangway runs round the centre roof outside for the
man to pole along. Up the Meiping these boats are generally ornamented
with a long high snout of timber out forward, and a high forked tail
astern.

[Illustration: RUA NUA.]

Of small craft the variety is endless--from the small canoes which
hawk _kanoms_, or cakes of rice, sugar, and coconut, to the small
roughly roofed boats which will just hold the owner and his wife and
child if they balance carefully, or the long snake-like boats which
are favourites with the monks at the monasteries. The people usually
build their own boats, and are very good hands at it; and one may see
them in all states of construction,--hollowed out with laborious
chipping ready for opening out over the fire, or already heated and
opened up, with knees and ribs being put in and pegged with wood (for,
like the Norwegians, they never use nails, and the result is great
durability); or ready with a six-inch "wash-streak" all round, and the
light deck at the gunwale level, which is the feature of the smallest,
if we except the _sampans_ and canoes of the capital.

The fittings of the large species of craft above described are often
elaborate and almost yacht-like. A brass trimming to the gunwale, and
bright red prayer-papers, are generally to be seen on board of John
Chinaman. There will be pretty balustrades round the quarters where
the helmsman is, partly for show, partly to keep the small fry from