DEPARTURE FROM UDONG--TRAIN OF ELEPHANTS--PINHALU--KIND TREATMENT
BY THE MISSIONARIES--THE GREAT LAKE OF CAMBODIA--TOULI SAP--THE
THIÂMES--SPECULATIONS AS TO THEIR ORIGIN--ANCIENT KINGDOM OF
TSIAMPA--ISRAELITE TRADITIONS OF THE THIÂMES OR TSIAMPOIS.
On the 2nd July, having taken our usual morning repast of rice, we
were ready to set off, and were only waiting for the waggons and
elephants promised me by the king. They were not long in arriving, and
we passed through the city amidst an immense crowd of people who had
come from all quarters to witness our departure. We were mounted on our
elephants, and escorted by several of the royal pages as far as the
road to Pinhalú; all the population prostrating themselves as before
the king, doubtless because he had paid me such marked attention.
We proceeded, at the rate of about three miles an hour, on a good road,
which was in some places raised more than ten feet above the level of
the wooded but marshy plain which extends to the great arm of the Mekon.
Now and then we crossed handsome bridges built of stone or wood, which
certainly give a more favourable idea of the state of engineering in
Cambodia than in Siam; for, even at Bangkok, the streams and canals
are spanned by thin, narrow planks, or by trunks of trees thrown
across by the inhabitants, and not by the authorities.
About two kilometres from Udong is a sort of rampart formed of earth,
in the form of a horseshoe. It environs a portion of the town, and was
intended to defend the place in case of an invasion by the Annamites,
an event which is yearly looked for at the time of the floods.
We met many pedestrians laden, probably, with provisions for the
market. The road is bordered with miserable bamboo huts, like
poultry-houses, raised on piles, which serve for dwellings for the
unlucky Thiâmes, who were transported here by the king, a twelvemonth
since, from the plains to the east of the Mekon, as a punishment for an
attempted revolt which they were accused of.
PINHALU.
We arrived early the same day at Pinhalú, a village of some size,
situated on the right bank of the stream, many of the inhabitants of
which are the descendants of Portuguese and Annamite refugees. It is
the residence of a French bishop, Monsignor Miche, Vicar-apostolic of
the mission to Cambodia and Laos. He was absent, but I found three
good and benevolent missionaries, who begged me to wait for his
return, and received me in that cordial and affectionate manner which
is so pleasant to meet with in a strange land, and especially from
fellow-countrymen. M. Fontaine, the eldest of the three, though still
in the prime of life, had been a missionary for nearly twenty years. He
was formerly attached to the mission at Cochin China, and I had seen
him on my visit to Bangkok, where he remained some time before going
to Cambodia. He was then feeble and suffering, but I was glad now to
find him stronger and full of animation. I felt a true respect for this
worthy man; may there be many labourers in the same vocation resembling
him!
[Illustration:
Drawn by M. Bocourt, from a Photograph.
SIAMESE OF THE LOWER CLASS.]
FRENCH MISSIONARIES.
The second priest, M. Arnoux, was not only a fellow-countryman, but
our birthplaces were only distant from each other a few leagues. He
was born in the department of Russey, and I in that of Montbéliard
(Doubs), so that I had two reasons for being drawn towards him. He
belongs to the Cochin China mission, and had come from among the savage
Stiêns to renew his stock of provisions; but, having been attacked by
dysentery, owing to the fatigue of the journey, he had been unable
to return. These two valiant soldiers of the Church, with good and
pure hearts, iron wills, and the energy and courage of heroes, or,
rather, of martyrs, had formerly lived together, at a distant station,
among the savage Benous, and had suffered there terribly from fevers,
dysentery, scurvy, and other diseases. Among the fifty Annamites who
were with them in that refuge of Christianity, there frequently was
not a single one able to cook their rice, all being in the hospital.
On hearing these brave and worthy sons of our dear country describe
their past and present misery, I was sometimes as much amused as
affected, with so much liveliness was the narration given; but it is
the characteristic of our dauntless nation that her sons suffer and die
gaily, and with smiles on their lips.
Four days flew by rapidly in the society of these friends, by whom
I was detained till the return of their bishop, whose acquaintance
I much desired to make. I knew that I should find in him a man of
very superior character; but I did not expect to find in this eminent
missionary a simplicity and humility equal to his talents and strength
of mind. Monsignor Miche is short and slight; but under his frail
exterior exist extraordinary energy and endurance. The annals of the
Cochin China mission, as well as of that to Cambodia, must contain
many a page filled with the noble actions of this distinguished
pioneer of Christianity, and with the persecution and captivity he
has suffered. When a simple missionary, he and one of his companions
were imprisoned and beaten with rods--a fearful punishment, which, at
each blow, cut open the flesh and made the blood flow. They were then
conducted to their cells, in order that the torture might be repeated
on the following day, when their wounds were beginning to heal, for the
Annamites are skilled in the refinements of cruelty.
“The suffering is dreadful,” said his companion to M. Miche; “I do not
believe I can bear it a second time.”
“Be easy,” he replied; “I will ask to receive your blows for you.” He
did request this, and actually did receive them.
Here the missionary is everything to the poor Christians, physician
to the body as well as the soul; and every day he passes hours in
listening to their disputes, and acting as peacemaker.
The rule here is, that if a man cannot pay a debt, he and his family
become the slaves of the creditor. “You are my slave,” said a person to
a young girl whom he met.
“How so? I do not know you.”
“Your father owed me money, and never paid me.”
“I never knew my father; he died before I was born.”
“Will you go to law?”
“Yes.”
The man then consulted some mandarin, gave him a present, promised him
others, won his cause, and the unfortunate girl, having no means to
do the same, became a slave. It is the story of Appius and Virginia
reproduced in the East. Corruption and barbarity are general in
Cambodia.
HOME OF THE STIENS.
I now determined to visit the savage tribes living to the east of
the great river, 104° east long. from Paris, and of whom I had heard
M. Arnoux speak; he had promised me a welcome from M. Guilloux, the
missionary there. I sent Niou back to Udong to ask the king for the
letter he had promised. He soon returned with it in due form, and on
the 22nd July I quitted Pinhalú in a small boat with two rowers, which
I hired as far as Pemptiélan, situated on the Mekon river, about forty
miles to the north of Pénom-Peuh.
Ever since I had been in Cambodia my servants had been in a state of
alarm, and it reached its height when I informed them that we were
about to set out on an expedition to the savage tribes. Cambodia is
much dreaded by the Siamese: and the mountains, and, still more, the
forests, inhabited by the Stiêns, have a reputation for unhealthiness,
among both Cambodians and Annamites, equal to that which, in France,
is enjoyed by Cayenne, whither condemned political offenders and
malefactors from the galleys are sent to die. I doubt very much if I
could have met with any other men who would have remained with me.
On descending the great arm of the Mekon, which is here 1200 metres
wide, I was astonished at seeing the current running from south to
north instead of following the course of the river into which it falls.
The banks of this river are peopled by the same race of Thiâmes whom I
saw on my route from Udong to Pinhalú.
[Illustration:
Drawn by M. Thérond, from a Photograph.
CHINESE MONUMENT AT BANGKOK.]
LAKE OF CAMBODIA.
During more than five months of the year, the great lake of Cambodia,
Touli-Sap, covers an immense space of ground: after that period there
is a diminution in depth owing to the great evaporation, but its width
remains nearly unaltered. Although its waters increase in volume
during the rainy season, these are not swelled by the streams from the
mountains on its western boundary, but by the strength of the current
from the Mekon which pours into it its overflow.
THE THIAMES.
As for the Malays, or Thiâmes, as the Cambodians call them, I made
endeavours to investigate their origin, and also the traces which I
supposed to exist in Cambodia of Israelite migrations. Monsignor Miche
told me that he had never met with any Jews in the country, but that he
had found, in one of the sacred books of the Cambodians, the judgment
of Solomon exactly recorded, and attributed to one of their kings
who had become a god, after having been, according to their ideas of
metempsychosis, an ape, an elephant, &c.
The Thiâmes are the same as the ancient Tsiampois; but these Tsiampois,
whence came they? What is the origin of this strange people, whom the
conquests of the Annamites drove back, doubtless from the south of
Cochin China to Cambodia, but who form alliances with neither of the
races whose country they share, and who preserve their own language,
manners, and religion? On looking over the Life of the Abbé Gagelin,
one of the martyrs in Cochin China, written with talent and eloquence
by the learned Abbé Jacquenet, I found what I had long been in search
of, and I extract the following passage:--
“In the midst of Cochin China properly so called, between the seas
which surround it on all sides except on the west, where it touches
Cambodia, is the ancient kingdom of Tsiampa. The inhabitants are a
singular race; they never ally themselves with the Cochin Chinese,
their character, religion, and language raising insuperable barriers
between them. On submitting to the yoke of the conqueror, the sovereign
simply changed his title from king to mandarin, but the constitution
and ancient laws remained in full vigour in his states, and he
continued to exercise absolute authority over his subjects.[16] It is
difficult for strangers to observe the domestic life of these people;
but it is said that they practise circumcision, observe the Sabbath,
abstain from the flesh of pork, and offer the sacrifice of the red
calf.[17] It is even said that they possess the Pentateuch, but this I
dare not affirm. Strangely, however, all these observances, imitated no
one knows whence, are only vain ceremonies to these men, enigmas to
which they have lost the clue. They have not even retained a distinct
idea of the true God; and their worship, although mixed up with some
of the rites of the Mosaic law, is a real idolatry. One wonders
whence come this people. Are they an ancient colony of Ishmaelites or
Idumeans? Are they an offshoot of Judaism thrown on to these shores?
These questions are worthy of consideration. However it may be, their
care to preserve their traditions pure from all alloy, and their
obstinate persistence in error, render them worthy of a Jewish origin.
The Jews, in the days of their prosperity, did not guard their faith
more religiously than do these people theirs in their new Palestine;
and, in order to avoid intercourse with strangers, and escape the
proselyting efforts of the missionaries, they have relinquished to the
Cochin Chinese all the advantages of the seashore, and retired to the
mountains and the interior of the country.
[16] This appears very doubtful, even to the missionaries in Cochin
China.
[17] M. Mouhot probably here refers to Numb. xix. 2.--_Tr._
“On the eve of the Assumption I bent my steps towards the interior,
to visit the Tsiampois, and find out whether they would still reject
the good news of salvation. After a few days’ walking I arrived, I
dare not say at one of their towns, but at one of their principal
dwelling-places. These singular people have retained none of the power
ascribed to them by ancient tradition, according to which they have
held sway over Cambodia, Cochin China, Tong King, and even Pegu, as far
as the province of Canton. Their governor has to pay a small tribute,
but remains as much ruler over his own people as before the conquest.
“I was anxious to find out the truth about their religion, but could
only obtain scraps of tradition which a Christian could manage to
put into form. One of these traditions teaches that the founder of
their religion was a great man, a famous warrior, who worked marvels
with a rod which is carefully preserved among them. I had the signal
honour of being allowed to see it: it is about ten feet long, and
is covered with a kind of red stuff, studded with yellow stars,
having at one end an iron blade about an inch in length. With this
rod in his hand, the founder of their faith controlled the elements,
divided the waters, and calmed tempests; and it is pretended that
this instrument still preserves its virtue of working miracles. They
have, they say, a precious volume left them by this great chief. Their
religious practices consist in the scrupulous observance of a seventh
day of rest, in abstaining from certain food, especially pork, which
they hold in abhorrence, and in the rite of circumcision which the
male children undergo at the age of fifteen. When the girls arrive
at the same age, the hair over the forehead is cut. They preserve a
remembrance of certain days on which it was not lawful to work, nor
even to leave their houses before sunset. Their prayers end with the
word ‘Amin,’ much the same as the Amen of the Hebrews. They seem to
have lost the idea of a Creator of heaven and earth, but worship the
sky and the stars; there are, however, no idols in their temples. The
priests who officiate there light candles on a table, burn incense,
and, at certain times of the year, as in April and May, pass a month
without going out of doors. Clear away from this account,” says the
Abbé Jacquenet, “the mists of ages, and it is easy to recognise the
traces of an Israelitish origin. Comparing this with other missionary
accounts, and the traces of these people found elsewhere, who will
doubt that the torch of truth, which shone formerly between the great
sea and Jordan, also shed its light over the extreme East? Whether,
to explain these facts, we consider the commercial relations of the
Jews with these countries, particularly when, in the height of their
power, the combined fleets of Solomon and Hiram went to seek the
treasures of Ophir (a generic name used perhaps to designate the two
Indies), or whether we come lower down, to the dispersion of the Ten
Tribes, who, instead of returning from captivity, set out from the
banks of the Euphrates and reached the shores of the ocean--whatever
ground of explanation we resolve upon, the shining of the light of
revelation in the far East is not the less incontestable. Join to
this light, those traditional truths carried with them as a sacred
heritage by the families who were dispersed at Babel; and say what
becomes of the extravagant praises lavished on Eastern wisdom by the
sect of philosophers? Passion and presumptuous ignorance joining hands
tried to oppose wisdom from on high, and have left behind only a faint
reflection of it.”