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PUBLISHED FOR
THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY
BY
JOHN MURRAY, 50, ALBEMARLE STREET, LONDON.
1895.
[Illustration: THE RAPIDS AT THE GATES OF CHIENG KONG, MEKONG RIVER.]
I have put together the following account of a recent journey made forthe Siamese Government to the Mekong valley, chiefly for the reasonthat at the present moment, when the French have "rectified" theirboundaries on the north and east of Siam to the extent of some 85,000square miles, more interest than usual will probably be felt in thecharacter of the country and the people, of whom there are not toomany reliable accounts to be found. At the same time, I feel verystrongly that there are others whose descriptions will be far morevaluable than my own, owing to their longer residence in the country,and the greater extent of their explorations. I refer especially toMessrs. McCarthy, Archer, and Beckett, who have done difficult andextensive work in all parts of Siam and the Laos states; and there iscertainly no European, and probably no Siamese, that knows so much ofthe configuration of the north-east as does Mr. McCarthy, who, carriedon by an apparently deep love of jungle-life, has aroused theadmiration of the Siamese and Laos at Luang Prabang by his hardihoodand energy, and the results of whose work were a constant source ofadmiration to me, as I went on and saw the wildness and difficulty ofthe country.
The object of my journey was primarily the examination, for theSiamese Government, of a supposed very rich deposit of gems (rubiesand sapphires), lately discovered on the left bank of the Mekong,opposite Chieng Kong. My orders were to return by Luang Prabang,Nongkhai, and Khorat, and to visit and report on all mineral depositsof which I could get information, gathering all geological data whichwere possible. The time allowed was six months, and I was not to leavethe general line of march prescribed by more than 60 miles. I needhardly say—and every one who knows what jungle-travelling is willunderstand—that my programme, to be thoroughly carried through overthe large extent of country marked out, might well occupy six yearsinstead of months; and that such a hurried exploration in a countrycovered densely with forest—which, next perhaps to snow, is thegreatest enemy to the science of geology—could not but beunsatisfactory to one's self.
H. Warington Smyth.
Pak = mouth of a river; e.g. Pak Oo, mouth of river Oo.
Nam = river; e.g. Nam Oo, river Oo (a always long, as in