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Staying in
Luang Prabang
Our stay in
Luang Phrabang was not unpleasant. The Commissioner, Phya
Ritisong, a cousin of Phya Surisak, who travelled with
him in all his expeditions, did everything that was possible to
make our recess agreeable. Dr. Massie was very kind, and
though his manner was brusque, he had a kindly disposition. He was
an enthusiastic geologist, and on Pu Sai, near Luang Phrabang,
he found coal, and said besides he was on the traces of a salt-field.
His pockets were always full of fossils of the reptile and fish
period. He also collected a great number of celts, some of them
very beautiful; but he put himself to a great deal of unnecessary
exposure, and in his geological excursions often got soaking wet,
without the slightest precautions being taken to avoid fever. He
scorned all precautions, as for eight years he had travelled over
Indo-China in the same way, and had never known a day's illness.
In such cases, an attack by fever is usually very severe; so it
was with him. The first seizure carried him off: he died down the
Nam Kawng below Lakawn Pa Nom , on his way to Saigon.
At Lakawn Pa Nom he met some Roman Catholic missionaries;
but although his condition even then was such that he resembled
a living corpse, he would not remain with them, as they were anxious
he should, until he was in a fit condition to proceed on his journey.
The market-place
of Luang Phrabang is pretty well crowded with people in the
mornings, and one may take an interesting stroll through the strange
medley of men and women, and listen to them bartering and jabbering
in their different jargon. The rupee is still very much in evidence,
and even the cowries are to be seen, though now the Siamese
small copper coin alt is plentiful. The foreign articles exposed
for sale are for the most part Manchester goods. The Burmese
come from Maulmein, and take back with them chiefly gum benjamin
and raw silk. Raw silk was once plentiful all over Luang Phrabang,
and is in winding the silk from the cocoons, the method adopted
producing very coarse and knotted threads. The following is a list
of some of the prices of produce:
One hap equals
the weight of 2,400 Mexicandollars, or 133 1/3 lbs. avoirdupois.
Gum Benjamin,
first quality, per hap, Rs. 200.
Gum Benjamin,
second ,, ,, Rs. 100.
Silk (Mai
Yawt) first quality Rs. 500.
Silk (Mai
Pon) second quality Rs. 250.
Wax Rs.
100 for 133 1/3 lbs.
Cutch Rs.
10 "
Cardamons
Rs. 20 "
Klet Klin
Rs. 100 "
This last consists
of the scales of the scaly anteater, which are much used by Chinese
and Lao for medicine.
The great difficulty
is transport. The easiest route is by boat to Poklai, the
charge being Rs. 20 for 6,000 lbs. of produce, and thence elephants
and bullocks to Utaradit. This is the expensive part of the
trip. If as much care was taken of the elephants as is taken of
their Indian brothers, and the same pads were used, they
could carry 1,000 to 1,200 lbs.; as it is, 300 lbs. is a heavy load,
and the transport takes from six to eight days. Each elephant costs
Rs. 12 for the trip. At one time the rates were according to weight.
Besides the
above products, ebony in large quantities is found in the forests,
also indigo, and three kinds of cinnamon-Ke Kai, Ke Mu, Ke Nang.
The best quality, Ke Nang, sells for half its weight in silver,
and is much used in medicine. Trade is also carried on in rhinoceros'
horns, which are used for medicine, ivory, and cotton, which was
once plentiful, but is not now cultivated in any great quantity.
It is sold at the rate of ten pawng for a quarter of a tical. At
one time tea was brought down in large quantities from the tea-gardens
of Ipang and Ingu, at the source of the Nam U.
The common quality is very black, but for the use of the Chief
small lots in rectangular blocks of six inches by four, and of a
light colour, are provided. The stamp, in Chinese characters,
signifies that it is prepared for Pekin.
The people
of Luang Phrabang have a decimal system of weight, thus:
10 Fin =
1 Te.
10 Te =
1 Hong.
10 Hong
= 1 Kunn or Pong.
(One Hong
weighs 3 1/3 rupees.)
10 Pong
= 1 Rawi.
10 Rawi
= 1 Punn.
The month of
June in Luang Phrabang is a busy one for fishermen.
Nearly all the boats are employed on fishing, each paying a large
fish for the privilege, at least this is what it was some years
ago. How the revenue was collected, and what amount, I was not able
to ascertain satisfactorily when last at Luang Phrabang.
There are two kinds of large fish, Pla Buk and Pla Lum,
which are principally sought after. The latter, the smaller of the
two, of an average weight of 70 lbs., has teeth and a peculiar long
fin on the back; it has no scales, is of a dark grey colour, and
not very appetizing in appearance. The price is three rupees. It
is plentiful in March, April, May. A Pla Buk that
I helped to take weighed 130 lbs.; it was seven feet long, four
feet two inches round the body; the tail was one foot five inches;
head, one foot nine inches; it had neither scales nor teeth, and
cost ten rupees. The roe of this fish is considered a great delicacy.
It is captured in the sixth, seventh, and eight months, or June,
July, and August, when on its upward journey. This fish
returns in November, but keeps low in the river; a few stray
ones only are captured. It confines itself to the Nam Kawng,
and does not go up the Nam U, which the Pla Lum seems
to prefer.
The net for
catching the fish is from 150 to 200 feet long and six feet wide,
made of cord one-eight of an inch thick. This is thrown out from
a small boat across the river. Two men are usually on the boat.
The floats are calabashes at intervals of eight feet; opposite to
each calabash is a stone which acts as a weight, stretching the
net. In June the water is almost red, and the fish keep near
the surface. They are caught in the meshes, and the more they struggle
the more they are entangled; in the meantime the two men are pulling
in the net as fast as they can, and the rattle of the stones against
the side of the boat, which one hears night and day, indicates a
capture. This method of fishing is not without danger, for men have
been known to be dragged into the river, and caught in the meshes
of the net with the fish.
Those who take
an interest in sea-serpents would like to know that the Lao
have a river-serpent in the Me Nam Kawng. It lives only at
the rapids, and my informant said he had seen it. It is fiftythree
feet long, and twenty inches thick. When a man is drowned it snaps
off the tuft of hair on the head, extracts the teeth and sucks the
blood; by these signs it is known that the man has fallen a victim
to the nuak or river-serpent at Luang Phrabang.
As all over
Indo-China, with the exceptions of the Malays, the
people are for the most part Buddhists, but the Buddhism
is mixed up with a great deal of spirit-worship. Here a curious
custom prevails. The spirit of the leading men is supposed to reside
in another man. Thus the old Chief of Luang Phrabang has
his spirit-man, nor wouldhe ever dream of undertaking anything without
consulting him. This spirit-man is a sharp-witted Lao, and
holds an enviable position. When called to attend to his duties
he prepares for a glorious spree, and begins by asking for home-brewed
whiskey ad lib. and orders the slaughter of a buffalo. When enemies;
then holding a lighted candle they prayed that their bodies may
be run through with heated irons, and that the sky may fall on them
if they did not fulfil their oaths. All this now belongs to past
history.
It is curious
to see how efforts are being made to fix upon the old Chief
the accusation of being the cause of all the misery that has fallen
on Luang Phrabang. It is a case of boon; he was Chief
when the misfortunes happened, and however good he may be, the fact
is sufficient proof: for how can they be accounted for otherwise?
Siamese is the language spoken by the Shans, the so-called
Lao, the population of Sipsawng Chu Tai, Hua Pun Ha Tang
Hok, Chieng Kawng, the whole valley of the Me Nam Kawng,
to about the 13th parallel of latitude, and the valley of
Me Nam Chao Phrayah, together with a great portion of the
Malay Peninsula. The differences of dialect are much slighter
than what is found in the different countries of England.
The written
language of the Lao Pong Dam (called black-bellied because
they are tatooed from the waist to the knee ) has been influenced
by the Burmese, whereas that of the Lao Pong Kao (called
white-bellied because not tatooed) retains pretty much the ancient
form, which is nearly the same as that used at Bangkok. The
difference is now so slight that any intelligent Siamese
can learn to read it without a teacher in a few days.
The black-bellied
Lao are from Chieng Mai, Lampun, Lakawn, Lampang, Nan,
and Phre, at the head of the Me Nam Chao Phrayah and
M. Fang, Chieng Rai, Chieng Senn, and Chieng Kwang,
in the valley of the Nam Kawng. The white-bellied Lao
are the people of Luang Phrabang, as also those of the valley
of the Nam Kawng, south to about the 13th parallel.
The Thai or Sipsawng Chu Thai use entirely different
characters in writing, and the descendants of those who were removed
bodily to Pechaburi have adopted the Siamese characters,
with a few variations, but they retain the same doggerel when learning
the vowels and consonants.
Whence the
name Lao? The people called Lao resent having the
name applied the them, and call themselves Thai. On the old
Chinese maps the south-east of the Empire is marked
Lao Chua. It is curious that most of the Yao that
are now crossing into the valley of the Me Kwang are of the
clan "Lao," and in the old histories the chiefs
have the prefix "Lao."; In the upper reaches of
the Salwin and Me Nam Kawng the Shans call
themselves "Tai Yai," or the great Siamese.
Luang Phrabang,
one of the oldest towns of Indo-China, has very probably
the most interesting history. I was able to gather the following
scraps from the eldest son of the Chief at odd intervals:
The first King
was Kun Borom, who lived at Teng, where a tree grew
that reached to heaven. The King used to amuse himself by
going to heaven and returning to earth. The tree shaded the whole
district of Luang Phrabang. The evil spirits who wished to
keep him on the earth cut down the Laksakuha or Yiwnan.
This second wife had four sons: Chu Song , who founded Pakun
or Annam; Lak Kong, who founded Hongsawadi (Burmah);
Sai Pong, who founded Chiengdao or Aleve (Chieng
Hung): Khun In, the youngest, who founded Si Yota Ya
or Aviw'tia. Thus M. Teng has been the distributing
centre for all the population of Indo-China.
The Kha
Che became the slaves of the Lao by mutual agreement.
It was arranged that those who should make the highest Chaleo
should be the masters. A Chaleo is a small matting of split
bamboo always placed at camps to frighten off spirits and tigers.
The Kha
Che set to work, but their construction was not of any considerable
elevation. The Lao tied theirs to the end of a bamboo, which
when let go shot up to a great height. Thus they became the masters,
and until quite recently the Kha Che, following the old tradition,
supplied the Lao with all that they required. In those days
a rupee purchased more rice than four men could lift.
For nine generations
the chiefs had the title Khun, and for fifteen generations
the title of Tao. The name of the city was now changed to
Lan Sang, the origin of the name, according to Phya Ritisong,
being "the plain among the elephants," as the hills surrounding
are called sangs, or elephants. Then the name was changed to Luang
Phrabang, from the Phrabang, a golden image of Gautama
which was originally in Ceylon, thence taken to Cambodia,
and thence to Luang Phrabang. After that it was removed to
Wieng Chan, which had separated itself from Luang Phrabang
many years previously, destroyed Luang Phrabang and took
the Chief Anulatah and his son captive. They were sent to
Bangkok, where they remained for twelve years. China
demanded their restoration to Luang Phrabang at that time
that the whole of Indo-China was tributary to China,
whilst the outlying provinces of Chieng Mai and Luang
Phrabang paid a triennial tribute of gold and silver flowers
to Bangkok.
Anulatah
lived for twenty years longer, and was succeeded by Mungtah,
who ruled for twelve years. He was followed by Chao Luang Sermm,
and after thirteen years by Chao Luang Chan, who died in
1872 after nineteen years of gevernment, and was succeeded by the
present Chief, Chao Luang Un Kumm.
The tribute
was paid to China once in ten years. It consisted of: 4 elephants,
41 mules, 533 lbs. of nah (metal composed of gold and copper), 25
lbs. of rhinoceros horns, 1,000 lbs. of ivory, 250 pieces of home-spun
cloth, 1 horse, 150 bundles of areca palm nuts, 150 cocoa-nuts,
and 33 bags of the roe of the fish Pla Buk.
During our
stay at Luang Phrabang we had our festive gatherings. The
Queen's birthday brought the Commissioner, Dr. Massie,
M. Cavilliori, and the French Consulate together. On
one of these occassions Dr. Massie, staunch Republican
as he was, said though he never drank the health of a sovereign,
he would gladly make an exception in favour of a monarch who was
deservedly held in high esteem in all parts of the world.
Then followed
the 13th of July, when the French Consulate was profusely
decorated, and three or four days were given up to festive rejoicings
on account of a coronation ceremony in connection with the Chief.
That was followed by the holidays for the King's birthday,
the 20th, 21st, and 22nd of September . On this fete
the Commissioner, a man of great taste, surpassed himself.
The whole of Luang Phrabang was tastefully decorated and
illuminated, and a handsome new wooden building, which was just
completed, was converted into a reception-hall. It was thronged
with people, who crowded in to see a painting of the King,
much to the annoyance of Dr. Massie, who was constantly asking
if it was "a divinity." Nor was he pleased with the few
English words, "Long live the King," in a conspicuous
part of the decorations. Had it been in French it would,
I have no doubt, been right and proper, but it has become a French
fad to resent anything English on the Me Nam Kawng.
We, however,
had to think of continuing our work, as the rainy season ends about
the first week in October. The Commissioner promptly
came to our assistance with transport coolies. We were to pay each
man four ticals a month, and find them in rice, salt, and chilies.
The rice was the difficult part, for store-houses had to be made
at intervals; and as the men eat as much as they carried, which
was twice their usual amount, it took some time to get the rice
together.
Each Siamese
had fourteen carriers for heavy marching order, with a full complement
of supplies. They often did trips with three or four carriers. I
had forty men, and Smiles the same number. Each man carried
an axe for clearing the hill tops. Thus fully equipped we took leave
of our old friends at Luang Phrabang, and started on the
7th of October, the Commissioner and the sons of the
old Chief seeing us off.
Other parts
of the journey:
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