For the last few days we have feasted; our provisions were beginning to fail, but the fish are now coming up the river, and we take them by hundreds. Certainly they are not much larger than sardines, but in an hour we took six or eight basketfuls, and my two boys have enough to do to cut off their heads and salt them.
All the children of the neighbourhood, most of whom are still kept at the breast, come frequently to bring me insects, in exchange for a button or cigarette, for it is a common thing for them to leave their mother’s breast to smoke. Were they not so dirty, they would be nice-looking; but I am afraid of touching them, lest I should again catch the itch.
LAOTIAN SUPERSTITIONS.
The Laotian is as superstitious as the Cambodian, and perhaps more so than the Siamese. If a person falls ill of a fever, or, indeed, is ever so slightly indisposed, they believe it to be owing to a demon who has entered his body. If any matter in which they are engaged goes wrong, or an accident happens when hunting, fishing, or cutting wood, it is the fault of the demon. In their houses they carefully preserve some object, generally a simple piece of wood, or some parasitic plant, whose form they fancy bears a resemblance to some part of the human body; and this is constituted their household god, and prevents evil spirits from entering, or, at least, causes them speedily to depart.
Every day we go out on our collecting expeditions; but while we are seeking insects or birds, the sound of our voices, or the report of our guns, repeated by the mountain echoes, brings forth the wild beasts from their dens. Yesterday, after a long and fatiguing excursion, during which we had killed some birds and one or two monkeys, we were returning home quite worn out, when we reached a small clearing in the forest, and here I told my two boys[6] to take a little repose at the foot of a tree, while I went to hunt for insects.
ENCOUNTER WITH A TIGER.
Suddenly I heard a sound as of some animal gliding through the thick underwood. I looked round, at the same time loading my gun, and then crept quietly back to the tree where my servants lay asleep, when I perceived a large and beautiful leopard taking his spring to clear the brushwood, and pounce upon one of them as he lay all unconscious. I fired, the shot striking the animal in the right shoulder. He gave a tremendous leap, and rolled over among the bushes, which much embarrassed his movements. However, he was but wounded, and still dangerous, if my second ball did not kill, or at least cripple him. I fired again, and hit him between the shoulders; the ball lodged in the heart, and he fell dead almost instantaneously. The terror of my two poor followers, suddenly awakened by the report of my gun so close to their ears, was only equalled by their pleasure when they saw the creature extended lifeless before them.
Drawn by M. Bocourt from a Sketch by M. Mouhot.
M. MOUHOT AND HIS SERVANTS SURPRISED BY A LEOPARD.