You will read in the following pages of a people about whom little is known and less published—a people possessing many qualities of remarkable attractiveness, and yet having not a few strange and semi-barbarous customs and beliefs; a people who seem in some respects to be peculiarly open to the influence of Christian teaching, and upon whose soil the Christian Church is rooted and growing; a people among whom the Lord assuredly has “chosen ones” who are hearing his voice one by one and answering to his call.
You will read of their land, their homes, their temples, their worship, their lives and occupations. And of all these you will be told by those who have lived among them, who have learned to know—yes, and to love them, seeing the precious souls within as the sculptor sees the beautiful statue within the rough block of marble.
Character and Government.
Some few points are especially to be noticed as general characteristics of the Laos. They are a kind, affectionate people, caring much for their family-life and morally superior to the races around them. By some they are supposed to be the original stock from which came the present Siamese race, but they have mingled their blood with so many tribes, and their country is divided into so many small kingdoms or provinces, that it is difficult to find any marked traces of a distinct nationality among them.
CORONATION OF A LAOS KING.
There are six Laos states directly tributary to Siam—viz. Lakon, Lampoon, Cheung Mai, Muang Nan, Hluang Prabang and Muang Prai. All are independent of each other, but there are smaller provinces tributary to these larger states, yet the rulers even of the minor provinces are autocratic in rule within their own territories. Each of the six larger states has a first and second chief, the offices being filled by appointment of the king of Siam, to whom there is a right of appeal on the part of the people, who send notice to Bangkok on the decease of a chief, with a private intimation of their views as to a successor. Tribute is paid triennially to Siam in the form of gold and silver boxes, vases and jeweled necklaces, together with curious gold and silver trees valued at from 15l. to 135l. each.
The rulers of these provinces are called khiao, and they are invested with their office by the use of a gold dish, betel-box, spittoon and teapot, all of which are sent from Bangkok for the occasion, and returned thither when they die or are deposed from the throne.
The picture on the opposite page represents the coronation of the khiao of one of the most important of the Laos provinces in the East. The ceremony is thus described: