Identifier: travelsincentral02mouh (find matches)
Title: Travels in the central parts of Indo-China (Siam), Cambodia, and Laos : during the years 1858, 1859, and 1860
Year: 1864 (1860s)
Authors: Mouhot, Henri, 1826-1861 Mouhot, Charles
Subjects: Mouhot, Henri, 1826-1861
Publisher: London : John Murray
Contributing Library: University of Connecticut Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries

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lmost invisible, which assembleabout you in swarms, and whose bites are excessivelypainful, and raise enormous blisters. To these enemies add the leeches, which, after theleast rain, come out of the ground, scent a man twentyfeet off, and hasten to suck his blood with wonderfulavidity. To coat your legs with a layer of lime whentravelling is the only way to prevent them covering yourwhole body. I had left Bangkok on the 12th of April, and onthe 16th of May I reached Leuye, the chief town of adistrict belonging to two provinces, Petchaboune andLome. It is situated in a narrow valley, like all thetowns and villages through which I have passed since Ileft Chaiapume. This is the district of Siam richest in minerals; oneof its mountains contains immense beds of magnetic ironof a remarkably good quality. Others yield antimony,argentiferous copper, and tin. The iron only is worked,and this population, half agriculturists, half artisans,furnish spades and cutlasses to all the surrounding pro-
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k2 Chap. XVII. MINBEALS. 133 vinces, even beyond Korat. Yet tbey have neitherfoundries nor steam-engines, and it is curious to see howlittle it costs an iron-worker to establish himself in ahole about a yard and a half square hollowed out closeto the mountain. They pile up and smelt the mineral with charcoal:the liquified iron deposits itself in the bottom of thecavity, and there hollows out a bed, whence they with-draw it when the operation is completed, and carry ithome. There, in another cavity they make a fire, whicha child keeps alive by means of a couple of bellows,which are simply two trunks of hollow trees buried inthe ground, and upon which play alternately two stopplessurrounded by cotton. These are fixed to a small board,and have long sticks for handles, to which are attachedtwo bamboo hollow canes which conduct the air into thecavity. In several localities I discovered auriferous sand, butonly in small quantity. In some of the villages the inha-bitants employ their leisure

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