Drawn by M. Bocourt, from a Photograph.
A NATIVE ACTRESS.
CHAPTER VIII.
Departure from Udong—Train of Elephants—Pinhalu—Kind treatment by the Missionaries—The Great Lake of Cambodia—Touli Sap—The Thiâmes—Speculations as to their Origin—Ancient Kingdom of Tsiampa—Israelite Traditions of the Thiâmes or Tsiampois.
On the 2nd July, having taken our usual morning repast of rice, we were ready to set off, and were only waiting for the waggons and elephants promised me by the king. They were not long in arriving, and we passed through the city amidst an immense crowd of people who had come from all quarters to witness our departure. We were mounted on our elephants, and escorted by several of the royal pages as far as the road to Pinhalú; all the population prostrating themselves as before the king, doubtless because he had paid me such marked attention.
We proceeded, at the rate of about three miles an hour, on a good road, which was in some places raised more than ten feet above the level of the wooded but marshy plain which extends to the great arm of the Mekon.
Now and then we crossed handsome bridges built of stone or wood, which certainly give a more favourable idea of the state of engineering in Cambodia than in Siam; for, even at Bangkok, the streams and canals are spanned by thin, narrow planks, or by trunks of trees thrown across by the inhabitants, and not by the authorities.
About two kilometres from Udong is a sort of rampart formed of earth, in the form of a horseshoe. It environs a portion of the town, and was intended to defend the place in case of an invasion by the Annamites, an event which is yearly looked for at the time of the floods.