In the Far East / A Narrative of Exploration and Adventure in Cochin-China, Cambodia, Laos, and Siam

by W. H. Davenport Adams

THE GREAT BAZAAR OF CAMBODIA.

From Udong, with waggons and elephants provided by the king, M. Mouhot proceeded towards the Great Lake. The road was in excellent condition, and at some points built up more than ten feet above the level of the low, wooded country which borders on the great arm of the Mekong. The watercourses were spanned by handsome bridges of wood or stone. At Pinhalu, a village on the right bank of the river, is the residence of the French Vicar-Apostolic of the Cambodia and Laos mission. Here our traveller embarked in a small boat for Pemptielan, situated on the Mekong, about forty miles north of Pnom Penh. The branch which he descended was fifteen hundred yards wide, and its banks were inhabited by a tribe called the Thiâmes. Pnom Penh, which Mouhot reached after a perilous voyage, is the great bazaar of Cambodia. It contains a population of about ten thousand, nearly all Chinese; while double that number of Cochin-Chinese and Cambodians live upon the river in their boats. An active trade is carried on here in rice, fish, glass, brass wire, and cotton yarn.

ASCENT OF THE MEKONG.

Just below this busy town M. Mouhot’s boat passed into the main channel of the Mekong—the “Mother of Rivers”—and began to ascend it, steering towards the north. Shoals of porpoises accompanied it, occasionally bounding out of the water with a lively splash; red-billed pelicans watched for their finny prey from the reedy banks; and storks and herons stood in silent meditation.

The current of the Mekong, as we have already stated, flows with great rapidity, and renders navigation slow and laborious. It took M. Mouhot five days to pass the island of Ko-Sutin; and the rate of velocity increasing as he advanced to the northward, he was seldom able to accomplish more than two miles a day. On arriving at the rapids and cataracts he was compelled to abandon his boats and embark, with his followers and stores, in light canoes; and even these it was necessary at times to carry ashore, and convey along the bank on men’s shoulders until a smooth part of the river was gained.

At Pemptielan Mouhot landed, and delivered to its mandarin a letter from the king, ordering him to furnish the traveller with all the appliances requisite for his overland journey. He immediately started him on his way with a suitable number of waggons drawn by oxen, but the soil in the forests was so marshy that they were continually sinking in some deep slough, from which they could be extricated only by the greatest exertions. Thus their progress was limited to sixty miles in five days. At length he reached the village of Brelum, in the centre of a district occupied by the savage Stiêns. Here, in order to study their manners and the physical features of the country, he remained three months, though it is difficult to conceive of a situation less pleasing to or suitable for a man of European culture. The gloomy forests around were infested with elephants, rhinoceroses, tigers, buffaloes, and wild boars. More formidable, because less easily avoided, were the snakes, scorpions, and centipedes which swarmed in every direction, and constantly made their way into the houses. Brelum, however, is the seat of a Roman Catholic mission, and from its head, Father Guilloux, the traveller received a cordial hospitality which alleviated the dreariness of his sojourn.

RESIDENCE AT PEMPTIELAN.

He describes the Stiêns as dwelling in villages, each of which forms a distinct and independent community. They love “the deep shade of the pathless woods,” where they live on the products of their bow and arrows. They work with great skill in iron and ivory; and the women weave and dye a delicate stuff, which they wear in the form of a long loose scarf. In the neighbourhood of their villages, if the country be open, they cultivate various kinds of vegetables and fruit-trees, as well as rice, maize, and tobacco. In the fields thus planted they spend the rainy season, building small huts, raised above the swampy ground on piles—a protection at once from the swollen waters and the leeches, the latter of which are a plague of no inconsiderable proportions.

THE RICE CULTIVATION.

There is a certain peculiarity in their method of cultivating rice. On the beginning of the rains the Stiên selects his piece of ground, and with nimble hatchet clears it of its growth of bamboos, but not attempting to meddle with the large trees. As soon as the canes have dried he sets fire to them, and in this way clears his ground and manures it simultaneously. Then he takes two long bamboos and lays them in a line on the ground; with a dibble in each hand he makes on either side a row of holes about an inch and a half deep, at short distances. Having finished his share of the work the man retires to enjoy his ease, while his wife enters on the scene, and from a basket slung to her waist dips out a handful of rice, a few grains of which she drops into each hole with equal neatness and rapidity. No more is necessary. Nature does the rest. The heavy rains soon wash the soil over the holes; and the heat of the climate soon causes the seed to germinate. Meanwhile the cultivator sits and smokes in his hut, or proves his skill with bow and arrow at the expense of the goats, apes, or wild boars. At the end of October is reaped the harvest. Generally, for some weeks previously much privation and distress are experienced, and the improvident Stiên, who never takes thought of the morrow in the season of plenty, is reduced to feed upon wild roots, maize seeds, young bamboo shoots, and even serpents, bats, and toads. For this sorry fare the Stiên compensates himself as soon as the harvest is gathered. A general feasting commences: one village inviting the inhabitants of another; oxen being freely slaughtered; and eating and drinking prevailing from morn to night, and almost from night to morn, to the sound of tambourine and tomtom.