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
Dhâp 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 slope 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 £26. 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.]