CHANTABOUN AND THE GULF.
Since the date of the missionary journey recorded in the last chapter
Chantaboun has become a place of considerable commercial importance,
being now the second port in the kingdom, noted for its ship-building
and fisheries and carrying on an active export trade from Cambodia and
the south-eastern provinces. The government regards the place as one of
its chief cities, and has fortified the port at great expense. The
prosperity and value of this province have improved since Mouhot's time,
an account of whose visit there will afford an idea of its physical
features and life.
M. Mouhot, it should be explained by way of introduction, was one of the
most competent and gifted explorers of modern times. A Frenchman by
birth, he became allied by his marriage with an Englishwoman to the
family of Mungo Park, the famous African explorer. He was a faithful
student of natural science, devoting himself especially to ornithology
and conchology. While still a young man he travelled extensively in
Russia, and there learned to speak both Russian and Polish. He was a
good draughtsman and a practical photographer of large and varied
experience; but more than all he was possessed of an adventurous and
enthusiastic spirit, which welcomed danger when it came in the pursuit
of scientific data, and which, together with his great bodily strength
and physical constitution, especially fitted him for the life of an
explorer. Mouhot's own creed was Protestant, but he was a man of such
amiability and broad sympathies as to win the cordial affection of both
Protestant and Catholic missionaries in the regions where he travelled.
He was a man of devout and religious heart, and almost the last words of
his journal, written while he was dying in the jungles of Laos, breathe
a spirit of Christian faith and reliance on the love of God. His loss in
the prime of manhood was severely felt by the scientific world as well
as by those who were bound to him by ties of kinship or of personal
acquaintance.
The following are Mouhot's experiences at Chantaboun and among the
islands of the gulf:
"My intention now was to visit Cambodia, but for this my little river
boat was of no use. The only way of going to Chantaboun was by embarking
in one of the small Chinese junks or fishing vessels, which I
accordingly did on the 28th of December, taking with me a new servant,
called Niou, a native of Annam, and who, having been brought up at the
college of the Catholic priests at Bangkok, knew French well enough to
be very useful to me as an interpreter. The boat was inconveniently
small, and we were far from comfortable; for, besides myself and
servant, there were on board two men and two children about thirteen. I
was much pleased with the picturesque aspect of all the little islands
in the gulf; but our voyage was far longer than we expected, three days
being its usual duration, while, owing to a strong head-wind, it
occupied us for eight. We met with an accident which was fatal to one of
our party, and might have been so to all of us. On the night of the 31st
of December our boat was making rapid way under the influence of a
violent wind. I was seated on the little roof of leaves and interlaced
bamboo which formed a sort of protection to me against the rain and cold
night air, bidding adieu to the departing year, and welcoming in the
new; praying that it might be a fortunate one for me, and, above all,
that it might be full of blessings for all those dear to me. The night
was dark; we were about two miles from land, and the mountains loomed
black in the distance. The sea alone was brilliant with that phosphoric
light so familiar to all voyagers on the deep. For a couple of hours we
had been followed by two sharks, who left behind them a luminous and
waving track. All was silent in our boat; nothing was to be heard but
the wind whistling among the rigging and the rushing of the waves: and I
felt at that midnight hour--alone, and far from all I loved--a sadness
which I vainly tried to shake off, and a disquietude which I could not
account for. Suddenly we felt a violent shock, immediately followed by a
second, and then the vessel remained stationary. Every one cried out in
alarm; the sailors rushed forward; in a moment the sail was furled and
torches lighted, but, sad to say, one of our number did not answer to
his name. One of the young boys, who had been asleep on deck, had been
thrown into the sea by the shock. Uselessly we looked for the poor lad,
whose body doubtless became the prey of the sharks. Fortunately for us,
only one side of the boat had touched the rock, and it had then run
aground on the sand; so that after getting it off we were able to anchor
not far from the shore.
"On the 3d January, 1859, after having crossed the little gulf of
Chantaboun, the sea being at the time very rough, we came in sight of
the famous Lion Rock, which stands out like the extremity of a cape at
the entrance of this port. From a distance it resembles a lion couchant,
and it is difficult to believe that Nature unassisted has formed this
singular colossus. The Siamese--a superstitious race--hold this stone in
great veneration, as they do everything that appears to them
extraordinary or marvellous. It is said that the captain of an English
ship, once anchored in the port, seeing the lion, proposed to buy it,
and that, on the governor of the place refusing the offer, he pitilessly
fired all his guns at _the poor animal_. This has been recorded in
Siamese verse, with a touching complaint against the cruelty of the
Western barbarians.
"On the 4th January, at eight o'clock in the morning, we arrived at the
town of Chantaboun, which stands on the bank of the river, six or seven
miles from the mountain range. The Christian Annamites form nearly a
third of the population, the remainder being composed of Chinese
merchants, and some heathen Annamites and Siamese. The Annamites are all
fishers, who originally came from Cochin-China to fish in the northern
part of the Gulf of Siam, and settled at the Chantaboun. Every day,
while the cold weather lasts, and the sea is not too rough, they cast
their nets in the little bays on the coast, or in the sheltered water
among the islands.
"The commerce of this province is inconsiderable, compared with what it
might be from its situation; but the numerous taxes, the grinding
exactions of the chiefs, and the usury of the mandarins, added to the
hateful system of slavery, keep the bulk of the people in a ruinous
state of prostration. However, in spite of a scanty population, they
manage to export to Bangkok a great quantity of pepper, chiefly
cultivated by the Chinese at the foot of the mountains; a little sugar
and coffee of superior quality; mats made of rushes, which meet with a
ready sale in China; tobacco, great quantities of salted and dried fish,
dried leeches, and tortoise-shell. Every Siamese subject, on attaining a
certain height, has to pay to government an impost or annual tribute
equivalent to six ticals (eighteen francs). The Annamites of Chantaboun
pay this in eagle-wood, and the Siamese in gamboge; the Chinese in
gum-lac, every four years, and their tribute amounts to four ticals. At
the close of the rainy season, the Annamite Christians unite in parties
of fifteen or twenty, and set out under the conduct of an experienced
man, who heads the expedition, and indicates to the others the trees
which contain the eagle-wood, for all are not equally skilled in
distinguishing those which produce it. A degree of experience is
requisite for this, which can only be acquired by time, and thus much
useless and painful labor is avoided. Some remain in the mountains,
others visit the large islands of Ko-Xang or Ko-Khut, situated southeast
of Chantaboun. The eagle-wood is hard and speckled, and diffuses a
powerful aromatic odor when burnt. It is used at the incremation of the
bodies of princes and high dignitaries, which are previously kept in the
coffins for a twelvemonth. The Siamese also employ it as a medicine. The
wood of the tree which yields it--the _Aquilara Agallocha_ of
Roxburgh--is white and very soft; and the trunk must be cut down, or
split in two, to find the eagle-wood, which is in the interior. The
Annamites make a kind of secret of the indications by which they fix
upon the right trees, but the few instructions given me put me on the
right track. I had several cut down, and the result of my observations
was, that this substance is formed in the cavities of the trees, and
that as they grow older it increases in quantity. Its presence may be
pretty surely ascertained by the peculiar odor emitted, and the hollow
sound given out on striking the trunk.
"Most of the Chinese merchants are addicted to gambling and to the use
of opium; but the Annamite Christians are better conducted. The nature
of these Annamites is very different from that of the Siamese, who are
an effeminate and indolent race, but liberal and hospitable,
simple-minded, and without pride. The Annamites are short in stature,
and thin, lively, and active; they are choleric and vindictive, and
extremely proud; even among relations there is continual strife and
jealousy. The poor and the wretched meet with no commiseration, but
great respect is accorded to wealth. However, the attachment of the
Christians to their priests and missionaries is very great, and they do
not hesitate to expose themselves to any dangers in their behalf. I must
likewise own that, in all my dealings with the pagan Annamites, whose
reverence for their ancestors induces them to hold fast their idolatry,
I experienced generosity and kindness from them, both at Chantaboun and
in the islands.
"The missionaries at Bangkok having given me a letter of introduction to
their fellow-laborer at Chantaboun, I had the pleasure of making
acquaintance with the worthy man, who received me with great cordiality,
and placed at my disposal a room in his modest habitation. The good
father has resided for more than twenty years at Chantaboun, with the
Annamites whom he has baptized, content and happy amid indigence and
solitude. I found him, on my arrival, at the height of felicity; a new
brick chapel, which had been for some time in course of construction,
and the funds required for which had been saved out of his modest
income, was rapidly progressing, and promised soon to replace the wooden
building in which he then officiated. I passed sixteen days very
agreeably with him, sometimes hunting on Mount Sabab, at other times
making excursions on the rivers and canals. The country greatly
resembles the province of Pakpriau, the plain being, perhaps, still more
desert and uncultivated; but at the foot of the mountains, and in some
of the delightful valleys, pepper is grown in some quantity by the
Chinese.
"I bought for twenty-five ticals a small boat to enable me to visit the
isles of the gulf. The first I landed at was named Konam-sao; it is in
the form of a cone, and nearly two hundred and fifty metres[7] in
height, but only two miles in circumference. Like all the other islands
in this part of the gulf, it is of volcanic origin. The rocks which
surround it make the access difficult; but the effect produced by the
richness and bright green of the vegetation is charming. The dry season,
so agreeable for European travelling, from the freshness of the nights
and mornings, is in Siam a time of stagnation and death for all nature;
the birds fly to the neighborhood of houses, or to the banks of the
rivers, which furnish them with nourishment; rarely does their song come
to enchant the listener; and the fishing-eagle alone utters his hoarse
and piercing cry every time the wind changes. Ants swarm everywhere, and
appear to be, with the mosquitoes and crickets, the only insects that
have escaped destruction.
"Nowhere did I find in these islands the slightest trace of path or
stream; and it was extremely difficult to advance at all through the
masses of wild vines and interwoven branches. I was forced to make my
way, hatchet in hand, and returned at night exhausted with the heat and
fatigue.
"The greater portion of the rocks in the elevated parts of these islands
is elementary and preserves traces of their ancient deposit beneath the
waters. They have, however, undergone considerable volcanic changes, and
contain a number of veins and irregular deposits of the class known as
contact deposits, that are formed near the junction of stratified rocks
with intruded igneous masses.
"On the 26th we set sail for the first of the Ko-Man Islands, for there
are three, situated close together, bearing this name. The largest is
only twelve miles from the coast. Some fishing-eagles, a few black
doves, and a kind of white pigeon were the only winged creatures I saw.
Iguanas are numerous, and when in the evening they come out of their
retreats, they make such a noise in walking heavily over the dead leaves
and branches that one might suppose it caused by animals of a much
larger size.
"Toward evening, the tide having fallen, I allowed my boat to ground on
the mud, which I had remarked during the day to be like a peat-bog
impregnated with volcanic matter; and during the whole night so strong a
sulphurous odor escaped from it that I imagined myself to be over a
submarine volcano.
"On the 28th we passed on to the second island, which is higher and more
picturesque than the other. The rocks which surround it give it a
magnificent effect, especially in a bright sunlight, when the tide is
low. The isles of the Patates owe their name to the numerous wild tubers
found there.
"I passed several days at Cape Liaut, part of the time being occupied in
exploring the many adjacent islands. It is the most exquisite part of
the gulf, and will bear comparison, for its beauty, with the Strait of
Sunda, near the coast of Java. Two years ago, when the king visited
Chantaboun, they built for him on the shore, at the extremity of the
cape, a house and kiosk, and, in memory of that event, they also
erected on the top of the mountain a small tower, from which a very
extensive view may be enjoyed.
"I also made acquaintance with Ko-Kram, the most beautiful and the
largest of all the islands north of the gulf between Bangkok and
Chantaboun. The whole island consists of a wooded mountain-range, easy
of access, and containing much oligist iron. On the morning of the 29th,
at sunrise, the breeze lessened, and when we were about three miles from
the strait which separates the Isle of Arec from that of the 'Cerfs' it
ceased altogether. For the last half hour we were indebted solely to our
oars for the little progress made, being exposed to all the glare of a
burning sun; and the atmosphere was heavy and suffocating. All of a
sudden, to my great astonishment, the water began to be agitated, and
our light boat was tossed about by the waves. I knew not what to think,
and was seriously alarmed, when our pilot called out, 'Look how the sea
boils!' Turning in the direction indicated, I beheld the sea really in a
state of ebullition, and very shortly afterward an immense jet of water
and steam, which lasted for several minutes, was thrown into the air. I
had never before witnessed such a phenomenon, and was now no longer
astonished at the powerful smell of sulphur which had nearly overpowered
me in Ko-Man. It was really a submarine volcano, which burst out, more
than a mile from the place where we had anchored three days before.
"On March 1st we reached Ven-Ven, at Pack-nam-Ven, the name of the
place where the branches of the river unite. This river, whose width at
the mouth is above three miles, is formed by the union of several
streams flowing from the mountains, as well as by an auxiliary of the
Chantaboun River, which, serving as a canal, unites these two places.
Ascending the stream for fourteen or fifteen miles, a large village is
reached, called Bandiana, but Paknam-Ven is only inhabited by five
families of Chinese fishermen.
"Crocodiles are more numerous in the river at Paknam-Ven than in that at
Chantaboun. I continually saw them throw themselves from the banks into
the water; and it has frequently happened that careless fishers, or
persons who have imprudently fallen asleep on the shore, have become
their prey, or have afterward died of the wounds inflicted by them. This
latter has happened twice during my stay here. It is amusing,
however--for one is interested in observing the habits of animals all
over the world--to see the manner in which these creatures catch the
apes, which sometimes take a fancy to play with them. Close to the bank
lies the crocodile, his body in the water, and only his capacious mouth
above the surface, ready to seize anything that may come within reach. A
troop of apes catch sight of him, seem to consult together, approach
little by little, and commence their frolics, by turns actors and
spectators. One of the most active or most impudent jumps from branch to
branch, till within a respectful distance of the crocodile, when,
hanging by one claw, and with the dexterity peculiar to these animals,
he advances and retires, now giving his enemy a blow with his paw, at
another time only pretending to do so. The other apes, enjoying the fun,
evidently wish to take a part in it; but the other branches being too
high, they form a sort of chain by laying hold of each other's paws, and
thus swing backward and forward, while any one of them who comes within
reach of the crocodile torments him to the best of his ability.
Sometimes the terrible jaws suddenly close, but not upon the audacious
ape, who just escapes; then there are cries of exultation from the
tormentors, who gambol about joyfully. Occasionally, however, the claw
is entrapped, and the victim dragged with the rapidity of lightning
beneath the water, when the whole troop disperse, groaning and
shrieking. The misadventure does not, however, prevent their
recommencing the game a few days afterward.
[Illustration]
"On the 4th I returned to Chantaboun from my excursions in the gulf, and
resumed charge of my collections, which, during my absence, I had left
at the custom-house, and which, to my great satisfaction, had been taken
good care of. The tide was low, and we could not go up to the town. The
sea here is steadily receding from the coast, and, if some remedy be not
found, in a few years the river will not be navigable even for boats.
Already the junks have some trouble in reaching Chantaboun even at high
water. The inhabitants were fishing for crabs and mussels on the
sand-banks, close to the custom-house, the _employés_ in which were
occupied in the same pursuit. The chief official, who, probably hoping
for some small present, had come out to meet me, heard me promise a
supply of pins and needles to those who would bring me shells, and
encouraged his men to look for them. In consequence, a large number were
brought me, which, to obtain otherwise, would have cost much time and
trouble.
FOOTNOTES:
[7] A metre is equivalent to 3 feet 3-1/3 inches.