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The continuing
struggle against the Haws
Prince Phrachak,
a brother of the King, had with him Phya Derajdecho,
who had been at Woolwich, and was attached to the English
Artillery. He was a scion of the best family in Siam
below royalty. Phya Surisak Munntri carried with him the
traditions of a great Siamese family, associated closely
with the history of Siam for centuries. He was also fortunate
in possissing the close friendship and confidence of the King.
If these expeditions failed in the slightest detail, it was to the
leaders and no one else that blame could be attached.
Prince Phrachak
went to Nawng Kai , and his active lieutenant pushed on to
Tung Chieng Kumm, but he was disappointed to find that the
birds had flown. He, however, burnt the nest, and placed it beyond
all chance of being again used. He was then longing to join his
cousin, Phya Surisak, who he heard was being actively employed
in Hua Punn Tang Ha Tang Hok . Phya Surisak fixed
his head-quarters at M. Sawn, where he remained during the
rainy season, and went through a considerable amount of hardship.
He complained chiefly of running short of quinine; he had with him
a Chino-Siamese, who had taken a degree in America
as doctor of medicine, and although his knowledge of English
was limited, the best of doctors would not have been more acceptable.
Later on the French were again on the move. The place of
Dr. Neiss was taken be M. Pavie. M. Pavie, a man of
about thirty-five years of age, had formerly been in the service
of the Government of Siam, when he constructed the line of
telegraph from Bangkok to Phratambang. He also made
many journeys in the regions between Siam and Cambodia,
and constructed the telegraph line through Annam to Tonquin.
So enthusuastic had he become about planting telegraph poles, that
it is said when asked if he was a rich man what he would do, the
answer was, "Plant telegraph poles all aver the world."
He was now to enter on duties other man planting telegraph poles.
Had the Siamese known the part he was to play, they would
have done a great deal to encourage his desire to "plant telegraph
poles all over the world."
As I was to
go north and join Phya Surisak's column, it was though a
favourable opportunity for me to accompany M. Pavie, and
the courteous French representative, Count de Kergaradec,
arranged that I should do so. I had elected to go by way of Chieng
Mai, to avoid interfering with the transport forwarding requisites
for the army at Luang Phrabang, this route also suited M.
Pavie; but in order not to be involved in any complications
that might arise in the future, I had it completely and thoroughly
explained that my connection with M. Pavie was only in so
far as the steam-launch could go no further, our connections would
be severed. Above Paknam Po the launch towing us stuch on
a sand-bank, my six-chao boat was at the same time lashed close
to the launch, and the tide swinging the launch round, nearly capsized
my boat. I had just time to cut the ropes. I bid adieu to M.
Pavie, for according to previous agreement, I proceeded on my
way and he on his.
M. Pavie
was always courteous; hs did all he could to make the journey pleasant.
I was accompanied by Mr. Collins and M. du Plessis de
Richelieu. My association with M. Pavie could not have
led to any good in any direction, and looking back in the light
of recent events, I am thankful to think that I was not associated
with him.
We hurried
on to Chieng Mai, thence to Chieng Rai, by boat to
Luang Phrabang, and thence to M. Teng, which place
we reached on the 16th of December.
Phya Surisak
had arrived a few days before, and placed the sons of the Chao
Lai, who had been sent down to receive him, in close confinement.
The actions of successful generals or statesmen are never questioned,
but this was a proceeding that must end in failure, and I was astonished
to find a man with a great reputation for prudence, commit what
was nothing short of a blunder. Phya Surisak asked my opinion
of the state of affairs, and I spoke freely. Unfortunately this
offended him, and I became according to him one scarcely knows what---;
certainly not one working in the interests of Siam. He said
he was certain that the Chao of Lai would come to Teng.
I told him he would not do so for three months, and then it would
be to fight him, and I asked to be allowed to remain with him. To
this he objected. I then proposed to go to Lai, but he wondered
what I could find to do there. Had he consented I would have asked
for the realease of the sons of Lai, for matters had come
to a desperate pass, and unless the Chao of Lai could be
appeased, there would be no end of complications, because he was
the man who above all others influenced the whole of these countries,
his influence stretching over the Sipsawng Punna, and by
this action he was being forced into the hands of the French.
My opinion was, and is, that the Chao of Lai, acting in his
capacity as the Governor of provinces under China,
actively opposed the French, and that Phya Surisak
thought it would involve Siam, if it was discovered that
he was acting too closely with Chao Lai. It was a difficulty
of the conditions of government; but without diving too deeply into
the subject, it seemed to me some Siamese official should
have been at Lai, and I still think that while Chao Lai
and his Chinese auxiliaries settled their quarrel with the
French, there was no reason for the right bank of the Nam
Te being mixed up in the dispute, though it may not have been
an easy task to arrange matters.
The Chao
of Lai was originally on the right bank of the Nam Te,
but it was noticed that when the pigs were about to litter they
swam across the river. This was taken as a sign that the Chao
of Lai should follow the hogs, in which he was much encouraged
by the Chinese, and he accordingly did so. Phya Surisak
was infatuated with the idea that the Chao of Lai would
come to Teng on account of his sons, he was also making overtures
to a famous Black Flag leader called Ong Ba, who felt
very much like the fly with the spider, and usually put off his
coming with some excuse. At one time he alleged that he was keeping
his grandmother's birthday; at another, that he was detained by
worshipping the spirit of another grandmother.
My instructions
were to place myself under the orders pf Phya Surisak. My
idea was that I should go to M. Lai and survey along the
boundary of Siam. Phya Surisak desired that I should
go to Sobp Ett and meet a section of his army there, then
follow the boundary of Hua Punn Tang Ha Tang Hok , and eventually
go to Nawng Kai. De Richelieu, who had been taken
ill, left by boat for Luang Phrabang and Nawng Kai,
and Collins accompanied me. I had gone to M. Ya, and
there was laid up. On my way to Teng and at Teng,
I was subject to severe attacks of colic, but at M. Ya the
attack was so prolonged that I was quite exhausted, and fever came
on. Night was made hideous by the howls of men of the village exorcising
the evil spirits from some fever victims of the village. I fell
ill on the 23rd of December , and it was not till the 10th
of January I was able to move off again. I then went on to Luang
Phrabang and thence to Bangkok.
M. Pavie
in due time reached Luang Phrabang and then moved up the
Nam U, but when he got as far as the north of the Nam
Nua he met the Lao in full flight from M. Teng.
They were flying before the Haw brought down by the eldest
son of Chao Lai, who intended to revenge the arrest of his
brothers. M. Pavie returned to Luang Phrabang, which
Phya Surisak had already left, taking with him whatever
means of defence there was; he had already reached Paklai.
The Haw followed and came down the Nam U, passed by
M. Ngawi, which was supposed to be fortified, but which was
perfectly harmless. At M. Ngawi, there is a small hill commanding
a narrow gorge of the Nam U over a mile long. The limestone
cliffs rise perpendicularly from the water, the river is very deep,
and there is no perceptible current, so that when boats enter the
gorge progress is very slow, and if there is anything of a wind
the boats cannot go on, but rather go back, nor can they wait at
the sides. It is not a sort of trap a hostile people would enter,
if there was to be any active resistance from the hill, but the
Haw evidently knew the men they were dealing with, and when
they came to M. Ngawi they ascended the hill and rolled some
splendid mountain howitzers into the river, thinking I suppose they
were as useful at one place as the other. They pushed on to Luang
Phrabang and took up their quarters at Wat Chieng Tawng.
Before their arrival M. Pavie and the Siamese Commissioner
left Luang Phrabang, the Chao Hobahat also left; he,
however, was recalled by the Chief, who was determined to
die in Luang Phrabang. One of the Chief's sons enrolled
some twenty Burmans as a special bodyguard for his father.
What first
made the Haw start on this marauding expedition I was unable
to ascertain. They began murdering at the wat itself, and in a short
time the whole place was in an uproar. The Chao Hobahat was
put to death, and the old Chief was, as we have said elsewwhere,
compelled by his sons and Burman guard to go on board a boat,
where one of his sons was shot before his eyes. Luang Phrabang
was fired and looted, but the historical golden statue of Gautama
Phrabang had been already secured by a wily old Lao who
carried if off and buried it. The old Chief met M. Pavie
lower down the river, and together they went to Paklai, the
Chief going on to Bangkok.
During the
season of 1887 -88, the French made a final effort
to subdue the outlying provinces of Tonquin and invited the
Siamese to co-operate with them. The French attacked
the Black Flags at Lookai and then followed them to
M. Lai. The Siamese army under Phya Surisak
had not yet the way open, followed it up, and settled at M. Teng
and quietly assumed the jurisdiction of the Sipsawng Chu Tai.
M. Pavie, who, with a Siamese escort, had been travelling
over Sipsawng Chu Tai, joined the French troops. On
one occasion he was surrounded by the Haw, and but for the
plucky behaviour of the escort, he would have been murdered.
The seasons
of 1887-88 and 1888-89, were particularly busy ones. French
explorers had accompanied Phya Surisak from Bangkok,
and Mr. Collins, Phra Sarisdi, with four or five young
Siamese of the Survey Department, were also of the
party. Among them was Nai Tat, who was so foully murdered
on the Siamese border by British Shans; he accompanied
Captain Coupet in many of his journeys.
Phya Surisak
moved up to Teng, but there he was met by M. Pavie,
who, backed by six or seven hundred soldiers, threatened to eject
the Siamese by force. It was then that a sort of treaty was
drawn up between M. Pavie and Phya Surisak, by which
the troops of each side agreed to remain as they were , whilst the
administration was to be troops in accupation. The French
seized upwards of two thousand Haw women and children, who
were eventually transported to cultivate Pulo Condor. This
was not at all a bad use to put them to.
In this way
Sipsawng Chu Tai was gained for France, and the Chao
of Lai, the great opponent of Annamese encroachments,
became a fast friend of the French, who now make use of him
in carrying on their intriques for obtaining possession of Sipsawng
Punna. During the working season there was great activity, and
Phya Surisak showed himself to great advantage. The whole
of Hua Punn Tang Ha Tang Hok and Luang Phrabang were
reorganized; and when we consider the number of French troops
constantly coming in contact with the Siamese, and the many
disagreeable episodes that must have arisen, the fact that there
never was any serious collision between the French and Siamese
speaks volumes in praise of the manner in which Phya Surisak
controlled all working under him. What is more, M. Pavie
and the French explorers must themselves testify to the great
and knid assistance they always received from Phya Surisak.
The one thing to be regretted was the distruct of the old Chief
and his party, that underlay the whole current of his policy, and
the crooked turn this policy took in ruthlessly setting aside the
poor old Chief. There is no doubt that the French,
who were close observers of everything, were more than gratified;
for after all human nature is human nature, even in Luang Phrabang.
Other parts of the journey:
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