It was necessary to look out for a dwelling, and I applied to the Chinese, hoping to find a house rather larger than the one where Phrai had settled himself with my luggage, and I had not much difficulty in doing so.
At the end of the Chinese quarter, which is the bazaar, commences the town properly so called, which is enclosed by a wall of ferruginous stone and sandstone, brought from the distant mountain—a work which I at once recognised as that of the Khmerdôm. Within is the residence of the governor and those of the other authorities, several pagodas, a caravanserai, and a number of other houses. A stream of water, eight metres wide, crosses the town and is bordered by little plantations of betel and cocoa-nut trees.
The real town of Korat does not contain more than five or six thousand inhabitants, including six hundred Chinese. The Siamese I found impertinent and disagreeable, the Chinese friendly and kind. It was the contrast between civilization and barbarism—between the mass of vices engendered by idleness, and the good qualities cultivated by habits of industry. Unfortunately, however, the money acquired by these indefatigable merchants furnishes the means of gratifying their baneful propensities, gambling and opium-smoking.
Stretched on a carpet in some shed they lie, thin and emaciated-looking, playing at cards, or else, plunged in a kind of lethargy, they surrender themselves to the influence of the seductive drug in their dark and filthy hovels, lighted only by a single lamp. Yet, in spite of their gambling, most of them grow rich, though they generally begin poor, and with goods lent to them by some countryman from his shop, and a few voyages frequently suffice to make their fortunes.
The merchants who bring silk, which, though of inferior quality, is an important article of commerce, come from Laos, Oubone, Bassac, and Jasoutone.
CONDITION OF THE PROVINCE.
The entire province of Korat comprises a number of villages, and more than eleven towns, some containing as many as fifty or sixty thousand inhabitants. This little state is simply tributary, but on condition of furnishing the first and most considerable levy of men in case of war.
The tribute consists of gold or silver, and in several districts, amongst others those of Chaiapume and Poukiéan, amounts to eight ticals a head. Some pay in silk, which is weighed by the mandarins, who, as with the cardamom at Pursat, and the langoutis at Battambong, buy a further quantity on their own account, and at their own price.
Elephants are numerous, and a great many are brought from the north of Laos as far as Muang-Lang. I should think there must be more than a thousand of these animals in each province. Oxen and buffaloes were formerly exceedingly cheap, but the distemper, which has for some years committed great ravages among the herds, has doubled or tripled the price. They are brought southward from the extreme north of East Laos, and even from the frontiers of Tonquin.
PENOM-WAT.