Reaching M. Phimai in the Khorat district

On the 9th of January we marched from the hill, a high wind from the south was blowing, and the dreaded haze which retards all work began to show itself. There yet remained one peak, Haw Chawi (which Nai Heng had cleared), to ascend in order to complete the work before the regular haze set in. Our route takes us to the deserted site of Chieng Di, on the Nam Sen, a tributary of the Nam Niap or Nia. Chieng Di is supposed to be in the possession of malignant spirits, the souls of the Governor and his followers who are murdered by men from Wieng Chan in the days of its prosperity. Though the place is fertile, even many years ago, when Puann was well-populated, it was difficult to get any man to take up his residence there as Governor.

Marching along the bare slopes of the hill, we pass through Ban Na Wan and ascend the "divide" of the Nam Nia and Nam Ngum, which here is a couple of hundred feet above the Nam Sen; a lesser descent takes one to a magnificent plain destitute of ay trees, Kunng Lat Sen, about four thousand feet above sea-level. Numbers of partridges were flushed by the dogs, but though I could manage very well walking barefooted along the path, it was not good enough to allow of following after the partridges. For three marches we went over beautiful country and across another magnificent, well-watered plain, Kunng Ma Len (horses' playground), which joins the plain above-mentioned. Over this plain at one time the famous Puann ponies roamed in hundreds; now all is still, without a sign of life.

Arrived at Ban Sawt, I met the transport sent by Prince Phrachak, but as the bullocks were slow and expensive I managed to do without most of them. We had now to part with our Luang Phrabang friends. The Kamuks were all in excellent health and quite stout, never having had so much to eat in their lives, and each was carrying with him a littte money to his home.

On the 28th of January we completed the work on Haw Chawi, but the haze had now regularly set in and it was hopeless to expect to see our long rays until rain had fallen. There was nothing to be done but to set about fixing the positions of important places by short rays, until rainfall, when we could proceed with the work.

At the foot of Haw Chawi, on the side of the road to M. Yiw, are a number of large stone jars peculiar to Puann, which puzzle every one; but with regard to these in particular, the mystery seems to have been satisfactorily solved, as it is discovered that they are made of cement. They are neither so large nor so well-finished as other groups. In a hollow there are some large ones, and those that are fractured show large nodules of quartz buried in them, but what is still more important is the number of smooth boulders on the slope of the hill. These are irregular masses, and seem to be the material from which the jars were made.

We dug out the earth beneath one of the jars, a proceeding whcih seems to have been gone through with all of them, and may account for their being in a learning position. We found a jar of every inferior baked clay full of clay and beads of amber; another containedan urn of superior workmanship, ans almost white. It was cracked and showed traces of having been searched before; there was a piece of iron which was possibly used by a former depredator, it looked as though it had been brought from the lamp-stand of the ruined wat near Ban Sawt. The natives call the jars, Lao Chieng, and say they were made by angels for drinking-vessels.

We leave Ban Sawt with eight elephants and twenty men, who carried all the things and instruments. On the crest of a hill and by the side of the path are large blocks of stone hewn into no particular shape. One is about fifteen feet long, two feet deep, two feet broad at one end, and tapering at the other to one foot. There are three or four others not so large. The popular explanation is that they are the bed and pillows of the original inhabitants, who were the Kamuks, when the country was called Muang Ka Patum. I could not find any inscription, but on the "pillow" the faint traces of lines were discernible. We encamp on the side of a beautiful lake, Nawng Tang, at an elevation of four thousand feet ablve sea-level. It is over a mile long and half a mile broad, on the east side is a lime-cliff about a hundred feet high. The lake is never dry, and on the north-west and south the country slopes away. The medlar-trees are in blossom, the cedars and pines are shooting forth new leaves, and the slopes are clothed with fresh green grass, springing up in the ashes of last year's growth. The origin of the lake is said to be this: formerly there was a village where it now stands, and a huntsman of that village shot a white-faced deer. That night there was a great storm and earthquake, and the whole village with its people was swallowed up by the water whch formed the lake. A walk on the banks is most enjoyable; the deep blue sky reflected in tis clear waters, the ducks swimming about, the intense stillness amidst such loveliness, deepened the plesurable sensations which the beauty of the surrounding landscape excited.

The "Temple lands" of India exist here. The east of the lake is under the jurisdiction of Wat Ma No Chieng Kang of Luang Phrabang. There are several palces in Puann belonging to wats in Luang Phrabang and Nawng Kai , called Tai Okat.

If one had the time for it, there would be a tolerable amount of sport in the beautiful country. Partridges are plentiful, as also are pea-fowl, deer, and tigers. We pass over the sites of many battlefields, and at Kunng Koi we remark the traces of an old stockade. The country was well worth fighting for. Presently we emerge on the plain Kunng Ma Len, and encamp at Wat Bang Ang on the Nam Tang, a small stream, but running in a channel cut through the palin, with banks over a hundred feet deep, and about eight hundred yards across. The valley is well suited for rice cultivation.

That the wats and pagodas have been pillaged since I last saw them in April, 1884, I find, by referring to my notes. I wrote: "On ascending the bank of the stream (Nam Tang) we met with more surprises in regard to the beauty of the country. A wast plain called Kunng Ma Len, about six miles broad and ten ;long, and about 3,500 feet above sea-level, stretches before oue vview as flat as a table, It was covered with fine cattle, which in better days fed there in great numbers. We rested under the shade of a pine-tree, and easily distinguished the snake-like course of the pathway as it ascended the gentle slope of a hill.

"On the right rose a particularly beautiful pagoda, whose glittering whiteness was intensified by contrast with the beautiful blue sky. It looked like some fair spirit brooding over the stillness in midst of the loveliness which surrounded it."

The pagoda now lies on its side, having been turned over bodily. We passed over to the great cluster of stone jars, and fixed the position of the highest bare knoll near them, called Tumm Nawng Summ, 3,800 feet abovesea-level. If the jars have anything to do with burial ceremonies, then it was here that the remains of the chiefs were disposed of.

There is a limestone hill about one hundred feet high, which has a small cave. The entrance shows some traces of the rock having been chiselled. In the roof are two openings, the roof having evidently fallen in. The limestone peak is surrounded with low, undulating hills, and but for the chasms near the cave a small reservoir could be formed to catch the rain-water. Round the circumference of a semicircle about six hundred yards in diameter are numbers of jars, but those on the northern bare knoll are gigantic. It is impossible to conceive them as having been lifted to their positions, they must have been made in situ. Again some of the broken jars have nodules of quartz embedded in them.

Some are on their sides, some are broken, nore are erect, all show evidence of the ground beneath having been excavated. We dug under one, and found traces of chacoal, and what appeared to be an anklet of rusty iron. The tallest one has straight sides, and leaving the height on one side 7 feet 6 inches; on the other is 6 feet 4 inches girth, and about the middle 19 feet 5 inches, and one foot thick, is very much tilted over; the broadest girth was 25 feet, the diameter of the mouth being 4 1/2 feet, and it was nearly 6 feet high.

With the jars are some large flat stones. One was 7 feet longest diameter and 6 inches thick, but much thicker towards the centre. Another not so large when over-turned, had three prominences about an inch above the surface, and from two to three inches long.

There is another collection of these jars near another bare slope, Hua Chang, 4,095 feet above sea-level, which overlooks Kunng Lat Sen plain. From Hua Chang another collection of jars is visible in the valley of the Nam Sen .

These three groups, and that near Ban Sawt, form the greatest numbers; others are found in different places, but nothing is known of their origin or use. The secret of the cement is lost. Is it not possible that in the marvellous temples of Ankor Wat, as also all the temples in the Khorat district, the great blocks of stone are made of a cement, the secret of which is the same as that from which the jars were made?

When at M. Pimai in the Khorat district, I visited the temple, and, referring to my note, find the name of the temple is Wat Phra Prang. The outside enclosure is about two hundred yards square, formed of gigantic smooth blocks like that near Khorat. This is, however, on a grander scale in every particular. Besides the circular hole a couple of inches deep, I notice that these have a deep incision in the form of a T at the edge of the block. It is difficult to arrive at a conclusion as to what use the holes and T incisions were put. They may have been used for some lighting apparatus, or they may have been for the catches of the cases, in which, as some think, the blocks were moulded.

The temple proper stands in the centre surrounded by four tall isolated towers, forming the corners of a square as it were. I went into one of these; the floor has been dug up probably in search of treasure. The idols of stone are overturnedand mutilated. The large one is a sitting figure of Brama; the head has been knocked off and the idols overturned. The figure is itself perfectly smooth, but the portion below by which it evidently had to be fixed bears the marks of a chisel, which look as fresh as though they had been made yesterday. The hair of the head is drawn back and tied in a knot. There were other statues, the most remarkable being that of a woman in a kneeling posture.

We next turn our attention to the temple itself, and are brought to a standstill at the door-way. Some of the stones are nine feet high and nearly four feet square. The ornamental figures were carried to the floor, where the little figures are carved very beautifully. The carvings over the doorways are exactly-similar to those found in the ruins of Boruboodur. The whole thing is very gand, but one feels very stupid while gazing at a structure that nobody seems to know anything about.

The Governor afterwards told me that there was a block of stone with the impression of a man's foot and a dog's foot. I had to leave at 3 a.m., but I regret not having gone back, late as it was, to verify such an interesting statement. The Governor is an old warrior, and fought against the rebel Cambodians in 1840.

In the early days of February the weather was very hazy; on the 10th I strolled over the plain which drains into the Nam Ngum, and at one end slopes down to the Nam Sen, a tributary of the Nia. This place was called Nawng Tang , and I thought we were to see just such another beautiful lake as at M. Sui. It turned out to be a wretched duck-pond, and seemed to be due to an excavation caused by the removal of a stiff blue clay much used for pottery. I was, however, consoled with the stroll over the beautiful country. Standing on the bare hill, Hua Chang, which I observed from, on the one side was the vast plain of Kunng Lat Sen, to the east of which is the wooded hill, Dawi Turrng, where the Nam Ko, which traces its sluggish and twisting course over the plain, takes its rise. Here may be seen a wat in ruins, there a deserted village; now a hedge of aloes with the flower-stem towering some twelve to fifteen feet above the prickly leaves; again the yellow-leaf bamboo clump, and occassionally a grass hut built in a secluded spot as though afraid to show itself. In the background are hundreds of acres of rice-fields, which have lain fallow for many yaers. When the country was covered with a busy population, there must have been a difficulty in securing fuel, but with the droves of cattle it is not impossible the deficiency was overcome, as in Bengal, by utilizing the offal.

The short grass that grows luxuriantly was burnt a month or so ago, but the hazy dews and morning fogs have helped to make the country green again. Some way or other one expects to see something else, and it is with a vague feeling of dissatisfaction for which one cannot account to oneself, that one moves over the mouse-leaved pines. Pu Huatt of Ban Ton, a sharp, bare peak, was also made a point of observation, and in this way points were established all over the finest portions of this beautiful country.

On the 16th of February, with fourteen coolies and six men carrying the instruments, I ascended Pu Ke. The haze was still heavy, but I succeeded in connecting the signals that had been erected on two peaks over Chieng Kawng for the purpose of fixing its position. On the 19th of February I marched unto Chieng Kawng, and we took up our quarters at Wat Kabaw , so that we might be as much as possible out of the way of the sub-Commissioner, who has shown every disposition to give annoyance. I make a station on the small hill, and fix the position of Chieng Kawng at its best, within the memory of the oldest inhabitant, was a collection of wooden houses on this hill, Pu Keo. Across the Nam Nia, extending along a spur overlooking the plain, are the remains of extensive earthworks, even now almost perfect. The earthworks were constructed at the time Chao Anu was captured by the Siamese and taken to Bangkok.

Referring to my old notes again, I find the Haw of course plundered and destroyed all the pagodas and wats. The chief pagoda did not escape. From the distance it looks perfect, but on a closer approach incisions are found on three sides almost from the pinnacle to the foundation. It is wonderful that the sprie, which is almost sixty feet high, does not fall in. The Haw are said to have obtained as much as 7,000 rupees weight in gold from this pagoda. Fragments of some of the urns in which the offerings had been contained lay strewn about; they were very elegant.

The Muang Puann people seem to have had a refined taste in everything they did; they were aesthetics, and could not withstand the rule barbarian. It would appear the country was once ravaged by the Burmese under a king whose name was Phra Chao Ratcha, "the rat." and he ruled at Hongsawadi. His authority is asaid to have extended over the whole of Indo-China, including Annam Cambodia and Cochin-China.

Nothing very much is known of the history of Chieng Kawng; they say it was formerly inhabited by powerful races; at any rate, they must have been an industrious race of people. At the present the inhabitants are the ordinary Lao of Luang Phrabang, with precisely the same written and oral language.

The Siamese and Lao are of one race, with a common language and the same cast of countenance. It would be impossible in a mixed crowd to say which are Lao and which Siamese.

Chao Nunn was the Governor of Wieng Chan and related to the Chief of Luang Phrabang, whom he attacked with the permission and probably the help of Bangkok. In the conflict that ensued he was successful, and claimed Puann as part of his province.

A story is told that at the time Chao Chom Pu was Governor of Chieng Kawng, he was taken as a prisoner to Wieng Chan. His captors were about to put him to death by spearing, but the executioners were struck by lightning before they could accomplish thier task. The Governor's life was spared, and he was sent back to Chieng Kawng. Chao Nunn was succeeded inthe government of Wieng Chan by his brother, Chao Anu, and he in his turn rebelled against Bangkok. The story has it that when Chao Anu was Governor of Wieng Chan about A.D I823, His son was called down to Bangkok in charge of the men who were summoned to assist in digging the canal that was the connect Tachin with bangkok. It would appear that the Phrayah in charge of the under taking, after kicking the young man, added a flogging. When he returned home, his father, Chao Anu, rebelled against Bangkok . The army from Bangkok totally destroyed Wieng Chan, while Chao Anu escaped to Annam. The King of Annam advised him to go Chieng Kawng. The Governor of that place acquainted the Bangkok general, who was then at Nawng Kai, with the fact of his presence, and he marched up with an army, seized his person, and sent him to Bangkok. There he was exposed over the river in an iron cage till he died. Some say one of his followers succeeded in conveying to him poison, which he gladly swallowed. At this time Chao Nawi was the Governor of M. Puann. The King of Annam, hearing of the end of Chao Anu, sent up an army and seized Chao Nawi, to be Governor of Chieng Kawng, together with 3,000 men to support his authority. Chao San secretly wrote to the Siamese general at Nawng Kai, Phra-Pi-Ran-O-Trip, to bring up a force and drive out the Annamites. This was done. At midnight the Annamites were attacked, and slaughtened almost to a man. Chao San then went to Bangkok, and Puann was left pretty much to its own devices.

When Te Duc ascended the throne of Annam, he liberated the five sons of Chao Nawi, Chao Po, Chao Top , Chao Po Ma, Chao Ung, and Chao Kumm. When Chao Po returned, Bangkok gave instructions to Luang Phrabang to invest him with the powers of Governor of Puann.

Chao Po was succeeded by his brother, Chao Ung, during whose governorship bands of Haw poured into Puann. He was killed by them, but his death was amply revenged by the Siamese general, Phya Mahamat, at Wieng Chan, and Phya Rat of Tung Chieng Kumm, where they had made their principal stockade. Pha Pinom Sararin, a nephew of Chao Nawi, was appointed by Phrayah Mahamat as temporary Governor, and the Chao Kunnti, the son of the unfortunate Chao Ung, was made Governor.

Around Chieng Kawng there are wide tracts of paddy land. This is rather uncomfortable in some places for the elephants, as the ground is bog, and the poor creatures constantly keep sinking into it, and struggling violently. The Siamese are ready with a means of assistance. In a very short time bamboos are slit and interwoven as a mat. This is stretched over bog and pegged down, and it is wonderful with what ease the ponderous animals pass over the apparently frail bridge. They seem grateful for having been delivered from their dangerous position and their desperate struggles to get out of the treacherous bog.

After having fixed the position of Chieng Kawng by ascending Pu Huatt and Pu Kabaw, hills overlooking it, we move off to other peaks, which have been cleared and selected by Nai Heng, and which overlook M. Ngan.

While we were on Kabaw on the 27th of February rain fell, and immediately the whole scene changed for the better. The haze cleared, and the distant mountains were again visible. Thus there was no time to be lost in resuming the work. We passed on to M. Pang, which, deserted when I last saw it, has now been re-settled, and is certainly more cheerful-looking. From M. Pang we went to the hills overlooking Ngan. The western slopes are covered with virgin forest that stretches away for miles, but the eastern slopes are completely denuded of trees. There are a number of villages established there now, and the whole treeless valley has a very fine appearnace. Traces of extensive fortifications are in every direction visible along the bare spaces of the mountains, among which herds of buffaloes are peacefully browsing.