A half century among the Siamese and the Lao : an ... - Khamkoo

154 AMONG THE SIAMESE AND THE LAO
rifle, and had us try it before him. There was also
his son, who not long after was to succeed the father;
but his story we shall come upon some twenty years
later.
At this place we were fortunate in finding an empty
trading-boat going to Liiang Prabang, in which the governor
engaged for us passage on very reasonable terms.
We left Chieng Kawng on May 3d. The trip to Liiang
Prabang occupied five days, and was one of the
memorable events of my life. In some respects the
scenery is not so striking as that of the Me Ping rapids.
The breadth of the river makes the difference. You
miss the narrow gorge with overhanging cliffs and the
sudden bends closing in every outlet. But, on the
other hand, you have an incomparably greater river
and higher mountains. I quote again from Mr. Warrington
Smyth the following description of one portion
of the river scenery
" The high peaks, towering 5,000 feet above the river,
which give it such a sombre appearance, are generally of the
very extensive limestone series. They present tremendous
precipices on some of their sides, and their outlines are
particularly bold. . . . Some miles above Luang Prabang
the large and important tributaries of the Nam IJ and the
Nam Seng enter the Me Kawng. The clear transparent
water of these tributaries forms a strong contrast to the
brown sediment-laden water of the Me Kawng. ... In
some of the rapids with sloping bottoms, the first jump over
the edge is very pleasant; the fun then comes in the short
roaring waves. Everybody on board is fully occupied; the
men at the bow-oar canting her head this way and that,
the helmsman helping from the other end to make her take
its straight, the men at the oars pulling for all they are worth,
and the rest bailing mightily, or shouting to any one who has
time to listen. If the rapid is a bad one, the crews land to
have a meal before tackling it, and stop to chew some betel