Journey back to Bangkok

We descend to M. Ngan. The signal on the river is at an elevation of 4,867 feet above mean sea-level; the climate is delightful. We immediately ascend a high peak, Dawi Sam Sum, 8,710 feet above mean sea-level. The climb through the heavy forest is delightful; on every hand there are beatiful ferns and flowers. There are some enormous cedars called Mai Le Le; the girth of one was 17 feet 6 inches, and another 14 feet 6 inches, each 10 feet from the ground. There was a strong cinnamon smell in the forest, but I could not find any of the trees. The partridges were numerous, and I bought three decoys, which I liberated; two of them had been prisoners for years, decoying their fellows, but they appreciated liberty, and were off with lightning speed. The top of the hill is a great granite block, this being on the main watershed.

With men is a man who was my guide in 1884 from M. Pang to M. Ngan. He is a brother-in-law of the Governor of M. Ngat, who with his five sons, the youngest five years old, were murdered in the previous year by Pia Chanta Tep , the Governor of M. Mawk. The wives and daughters were taken to Chao Kunnti at Tatom, and this man redeemed his sister and niece for ninety rupees. The sister has since died, but the niece is living in M. Ngat. As this man knows M. Ngat, I send him with Nai Heng to go to a hill called Pu Sai Lai Leng to clear it and erect signals.

An excellent signal was erected on the granite rock. Smiles fixed it every ingeniuously and so firmly that it stood throughout the season and braved many storms.

After acrossing the Nam Chan and coming among thepines, many trees are girdled. They are afterwards cut in lenghts of about a yard, and rolled into the water to provide firewood. Rounding a spur the whole valley of M. Ngan came in view; it was very beautiful. The bare slopes of the hills in their diffirent shades of green, and the numerous paths at vertical intervals of two feet, were traced out as regularly as contours. I ask the old man with me, who is over sixty, what they are? He answers: "Paths made by buffaloes and bullocks when grazing." I tell the old man it is a beautiful country. He warms to the subject, and says: "Yes, I was born here; my father, grandfather, and all before me, as far as I know, were born here. Those old fortifications that are seen all round are beyond the memory of man, for my grandfather knew nothing about them, but those lines that you can trace along the side of the hill were once cart roads for bringing fuel to Ngan. Those traces of old fields in terraces on the hills were once planted with 'garden' rice. There we made reservoirs by binding the streams, and channels led the water to the fields. Once the country was crowned with a happy and prosperous population; but they are all gone, and the glory of the land is departed."

On March the 18th we said good-bye to beautiful Ngan. The path led over Pu Mieng, which was once covered with gardens of Mieng or tea; here I have no doubt that the Chinese plant would thrive. After crossing the watershed the beautiful country is left behind, and we descend rough country covered with jungle to the valley of the Nam Mo. An elephant-driver met with a bad accident; he was carrying rice to M. Mo, and the elephant feel on a steep path which with the recent rains had been made very slippery. I met the governor of M. Mo, who was on his way to drink the water of allegiance at Chieng Kawng, and urge him to return as soon as possible, as his absence would be awkward. The Nam Mo has on its right bank precipitous lime-stone cliffs. We encamped at the Ban Mung, where there is some excitement about a man-eating tiger, a man having fallen a victim to the brute about ten days ago, being the fourth man he has killed. I hire the men in security, while we barricade our tents. The night is too dark and rainy to do any good by sitting up.

The valley of the Nam Mo is rough and very jungly. M. Ngat is in an excellent position and with a regular Puann-like appearance, but it has been completely deserted since the murder of the Governor and his sons, and the beautiful rice-fields lie idle. The hills surrounding are well-wooded and teem with game. There is a beautiful pheasant called Nok Ang Kawt , which has a call like the yelping of a dog. I here met with the traces of a herd of elephants. We pushed on to the head of the Nam Mo, and ascended Pu Sai Lai Leng, 9,059 feet above mean sea-level. It is a magnificent peak, and was cleared by Nai Heng. There are two varieties of rhododendrons in blossom, they have red and white flowers. There are also a number of orchids; two kinds are pretty, with a white heart and five pink petals, the others are all white.

The haze is dense and our prolonged stay on the mountain is awkward, for our provisions have run short, so that we were entirely out of them. The peak being an important one, as it was then a boundary point between Annam and Siam, and moreover, the point from which the eastern boundary started, it was necessary to finish the work on it as completely as possible. But from day to day we anxiously waited for the impenetrable haze to clear, until on the 22nd of April we were at last able to finish the observations. I sent some men down to Ban Na Ngawi, at the northern base of the hill, to purchase rice, while the rest went back to M. Mo. Some of the Na Ngawi men came up, they are ordinary Lao under the administration of Annam. They showed me how the boundary then ran between Annam and Saim, and the village was under M. Sen, which was once part of Puann, but that M. Pavie some years ago made the present division.

I expected to get a grand view even as far as the sea, but mountains intervened and they seem to extend to the sea-shore. One grand peak, Pu Huatt, 8,175, I think could be seen from the sea-shore, thus only a few more peaks and I might have reached the Gulf of Tonquin. But I had to turn back, and, most fortunately, considering what has since happened, I continued the triangulation to the Me Nam Kawng.

Our journey were now more difficult, the paths were very slippery, and we had daily showers; the leeches swarmed in some places. We passed the main watershed, which was still granite; a strange feature is that not for to the east the line of graniteleaves the main watershed. We passed through M. Mawk, another pretty spot with old fortifications, all but deserted. Going along the Nam Mang was difficult , the river was much swollen, and as the crossings were frequent, it was dangerous for the men carrying loads. Their troubles were however over when we reached Ban Tinun on the 4th May.

As the rains had set in, it was not advisable to have too many men knocking about over the hills, so I sent Smiles down the Me Chan to prepare and measure a base-line across the M Kawng. I ascended Pu Mun and Pu Kap and completed observations there. On this latter peak among the stones of a little brook a strange creature was captured. It was like a lizard,about twelve inches long , with a shield like a tortoise on the back and stomach; the tail which was about four inches long was, as the people said, that of an alligator. The neck was long and the head broad and hard. The creature was unable to draw its head under the shield, but its neck was completely protected. It escaped in the darkness. The men said they had not seen one before.

On the 1st of June, accompanied by Nai Heng, we started for Pu Pang. The first part of the ascent was numerous tracks of elephants and rhinoceros. There are two kinds of the onehorned rhinoceros; they are valued for their horns, the most valuable being distinquised by a protuberance on the under side. Cinnamon is plentiful is this region.

As we ascend our difficulties begin. The rocks are oolite, and in some cases so weather-worn as to assume almost the form of swaying rocks, even potholes are met with. The streams are red with ferric oxide. Presently we find ourselves fairly launced into difficulties. The rocks rise above the surface to perpendicular heights all round, and often are we brought to a standstill while the men are looking for passages through the walls of rock. Our only means of egress is sometimes through dark passages over yawning chasms, or by scaling other rocks with ladders hastily made from twigs and roots, to find when the top is reached we must hastily retace our steps, as progress is impossible, there being nothing but perpendicular walls all round. Add to this the fog which was constantly hanging around, shutting out the view ahead of us, and then daily rain, and it will be understood that our forward progress towards the hill-top was slow. At last we reached Pu Pang, 6,085 feet above sea-level, the souther face of which was a sheer precipice of from three to four thousand feet drop into the valley of the Nam Twai, which is a Colorado in miniature, but the precipitous rocks at its head are in every way as formidable and even more so than those of the canons of the Colorado. Nevertheless there are those who with ropes and ladders, at considerable risk to themselves, scale the rocks for bee-hives which are very plentiful on the rocks.

From Pu Pang there is a magnificent view, and in the valley of the Nam Twai can be seen some old abandoned fields, the site of a Chinese settlement called M. Twai, in the days of Wieng Chan's prosperity. The strain on the men in getting here was very severe; my unfortunate Madras servant, who was suffering from some pulmonary complaint, died, the constant wet proving too much for him. The poor fellow was buried on the hill.

After completing the obeservation on Pu Pang, which has a large cypress as a signal tree, I push on over rocks and through fog to Pu Kata, 6,906 feet above sea-level, but beyond this I cannot go, for between, there are sheer perpendicular precipices. So Pu Lawek must be abandoned as it is too late in the season (15th June). These are difficult peaks to climb at any season, as they are nearly always enveloped in fog, all the winds of heaven beating against their exposed perpendicular sides. The supply of water again would always be a trouble. In the rocky rivines the water may be heard deep down in the recesses, but it is not seen, or can it be approached ; we got our supply from the daily rain.

I left the hill and came down the Nam Nia to the Me Kawng, and there on the 17th of June for the first time I heard of the trouble that was coming on Siam, and that the French had claimed the whole country to the Me Nam Kawng . A good deal of excitement prevailed. I also got orders to return immediately to Bangkok. I set about completing the work, but unfortunately the base- line was awkwardly placed, and when I was on the hills connecting it, I was able to see only one signal on Pu Sing, and that only from one point, Pu Pang.

I made an attempt to measure a base-line, but the water was rising fast and we had to make the whole lengt in some places by swimming, so that no measurement could be made. I finished the observations on Pu Sing; the observations for latitude and azimuth are sufficiently accordant with the values deduced from the triangulation. I had reluctantly to give up the work; my intention was to recess at Nawng Kai, and when the rains ceased continue the work which I meant to carry round Siam, settling once for all the geographical limits of the kingdom, for in spite of officious European busy-bodies it is important to know the limits of a country before undertaking elaborate and necessarily costly surveys.

Some future day I hope the connection will be made from the south by the Me Kawng, when an excellent base can be measured on the line Kuting Pu Ngu.

At Keng Sadawik on the Nam Kawng there was a settlement of Roman Catholics under a priest, a native of Chantabun; he belonged to a mission the head-quarters of which were at Lakawn Panom. He had no authentic news, but believed there was trouble, as numbers of soldiers in boats went down the river. He said there were some who proclaimed that as soon as the French came to the Me Kawng, all the Christians would be murdered. Prince Phrachak, however, who personally went to Lakawn Panom, reasured the missionaries; this was well, as Siam is the only country in the world where Christians have not been persecuted for their religion. We hurriedly went up to Nawng Kai on the 6th of July, where we received the greatest kindness from Prince Phrachak.

To return to Bangkok via Khorat was out of the question, as the whole valley of the Me Nam Kawng was under water, and I could reack Bangkok more readily by Paklai and Utaradit. We therefore went up the river to Paklai. The river being full, the rapids were not distinguishable, and we crept along the banks. At Paklai we met some elephants returning to Utaradit, which we hired for twenty rupees an elephant. In eight easy marches we reached Utaradit, which is a busy place and usually crowdedwith boats. It is near the shrine Phra Ten and a distributing centre for trade routes going to Phre, and Sawantalok (the ancient Sanchawali), and Sokatai. The story of this last place is very interesting, the people relate it as follows: Chao Apai Kamani became a hermit and lived on Kao Luang, west of Sokatai. The granddaughter of Phra Nak, the prince of serpents, came from the ground and changed herself into a beautiful woman, remaining with the hermit-king for a week. When they parted, the King gave her a ring and silk turban as tokens, and arranged that on a certain day he would come with all the women of Sokatai and take her in procession to his capital. When the day arrived he went as he had promised, but there was no beautiful princess, and the King returned in anger to the capital. The timereckoning of serpents and men differed by a day, and the serpent, now a beautiful woman, arrived with her child next day, and not seeing the King with the promised retinue, in her turn grew angry, and saying that although a king he was not to be trusted, she turned herself back into a serpent, and carried the child and the tokens to the cell of the hermit.

There were two huntsmen in the forest who, being overtaken by thirst, determined to seek the abode of the hermit-king, arguing that unless there was water in the vicinity he could not have lived there. They accordingly went thither and were astonished to find the child with the ring and turban. They adopted the child in the year Buddha Sakarat 1240 , about A.D. 697.

When the child was ten years old, there was a ceremony in connection with the child were among the spectators, and the child observed that the top was leaning and would fall in a certain direction, which immediately happened. This circumstance was brought to the knowledge of the King, who ordered the huntsmen and the child to be brought into his presence. When he heard the hunters' story, he recognized the boy as his child, and gave him the name Arun Warachakuman. About this time Phra Chao Kum Pu Chat (angels' cloth) was the King of Kumm Pa Cht (Cambodia), and Sokatai was tributary to him. The prince told his father to renounce his allegiance, as Sokatai was now a powerful country. The King of Cambodia then sent a sacred man, Kom Dam Din, one who could dive through the earth, to seize the young prince. The prince, who was about thirteen years of age, was in the monastery sweeping the grounds, when the Kom, who had dived through the earth, made his appearance inquiring for the young prince. The young prince changed him into a block od stone, the remains of which are still to be seen in Sokotai, and whenever they can the inhabitants clip off pieces as charms against all evils. The prince grew up and married the daughter of Phya Patama Rat , King of Sanchawalai.

The King of Sanchawalai, accompanied by his brother Phra Rita Kuman, then went in a thirty oared boat to the land of the Chinese; their presence there caused an eclipse of the sun. The Emperor of China sent to inquire the cause of the darkness, and Khun Kioamat reported the arrival of two Siamese princes. At was then known that according to prophecy two Siamese princes would put in an appearance to ask in marriage the daughter of the Emperador of China. The Emperor gave his daughter to be the wife of the King of Sawantalok and presented him with half his seal of state, and a thousand men were sent to accompany the princess to her new abode. The men settled in Tao Turin, above M. Kao in the Sawantalok district, where there are fields of kaolin; they manufactured pottery, and so did their descendants after them, until the art was lost after the Burmese incursions. The brother Phra Rita Kuman married Nang Amarika, a daughter of the King of Chieng Mai.

Captain Gerini, of the military college, will some day write an accurate history of the ancient capitals and temples of Siam, which must be very interesting.

We took boat to Pichai and Pitsanalok and reached Bangkok on the 6th of August, 1893. The French had forced the passage of the river, and their gunboats anchored in Bangkok.

When I felt Bangkok in December, 1890, the King was in excellent health. When I returned three years later, he was quite shattered, the intense excitement of the previous month having broken him down. Siam look helplessly to England for support that never came, and England committed a blunder that she will have to wipe out in blood. A clever enemy has fastned on the flank of India, and the not far distant future will make manifest the deplorable blunder of not acting energetically when so little would have averted all the trouble. The so-called "rights," are the rights of a great country living on the traditions of its chivalry, in opposition to a small and practically unknown one.

There are those who say my labours have been useless, but I beleive I am justified in thinking these criticisms arise from ignorance. The work performed by the handful of Siamese who were with me, for the physical endurance displayed, and the excellence of the results obtained, is unequalled by the work of any other department, and this in itself is great praise. It is true a great part of the country over which our recent labours were carried on has been annexed by France; still the work is not lost, it remains as a record of rights. As well may it be said that nothing should be done in Siam because the absorption of the country by France looms in the distance. Unless England awakens to the danger, it will not be long before France will have established herself as another thorn in the side of the Indian Empire; witness the words M. Pavie said when persuading Captain Borrey, of the Inconstant, not to ascend the river to the palace; "A great country like France can, by expending men and money, take a small country like Siam any day. I mean to possess the country without the expenditure of men and money."

The issue rests with England. The heads of the Siamese Government know perfectly well they cannot resist France, and while they may be willing to sacrifice there lives in the defence of thier country's independence, they know full well what the final result will be.