RETURN TO BANGKOK.
The only thing left me to do, therefore, was to retrace my steps, and, leaving one of my servants at Korat with my baggage, to return to Bangkok and claim aid from the consul, the ministers, or the king himself; for there is a treaty between the Governments of Siam and France, concluded by M. de Montigny, which obliges the king to afford assistance and protection to the French, and especially to missionaries and naturalists. It was a sad loss of time for me, and might occasion me serious inconvenience; for, if I were delayed, the rainy season might surprise me in the midst of the forests before I could reach a healthier region, and the consequences might be fatal. However, I was forced to submit, and I returned to Bangkok.
It cost me some time and trouble, and I found it needful to make some valuable presents before I succeeded in my object; but at last I obtained more stringent letters to the governors of the provinces of Laos, and left Bangkok once more, after having experienced for a fortnight the kind hospitality of my friend Dr. Campbell, one of the best men I ever met with: his goodness, friendliness, and British frankness, won my heart and my esteem.
Drawn by M. Catenacci, from a Photograph.
BUILDING ERECTED AT THE FUNERAL OF THE QUEEN OF SIAM.
After all this loss of time and great expense I went again to Korat, where I was well received by the governor; and he gave me, in addition to my other letters, one for the mandarins of all provinces under his jurisdiction, commanding them to furnish me with as many oxen and elephants as I might require. The greater part of the inhabitants, with Phrai at their head, came out to meet me, and several gave me presents—sacks of rice, fish, fruits, or tobacco, all in abundance.
Speaking to me of his journey to Korat, Dr. House, the most enterprising of the American missionaries at Bangkok, and the only white man who has penetrated so far for many years, told me that he found everything disappointing. I could have said the same, if, like him, I had started with any illusions; but I had a good idea of the forest, which I had already passed at several points, as at Phrabat, Khao Khoc, and Kenne Khoé, and amidst whose deleterious shades I had already spent one night. Nor did I expect to find towns amidst its thick and almost impenetrable masses of foliage, through which one can distinguish nothing beyond a distance of a few feet.
JOURNEY THROUGH THE FOREST.
I have lately again passed ten successive nights in this forest. During our journey through it, all the Chinese in the caravan, happy to find themselves still among the living, at every halting-place hastened to draw from their baskets an abundance of provisions wherewith to make a comfortable repast: then choosing, for want of an altar, some large tree, they laid out their dishes, lighted their matches, burned a quantity of gilt paper, and, kneeling down, murmured their prayers. Both on entering and leaving the forest they erected a shed of leaves and sticks interwoven, and raised upon four bamboo stakes, intended as a sort of chapel, in which they placed a number of offerings, in order, as they said, to drive away demons and save them from death.