Mekong River

“ The scenery of this river is very fine, as all the way from Muang Ngoi, to which we went, it winds through abrupt limestone peaks and ranges, covered with dense forest, and often overhanging the deep quiet river below. But the rapids scattered along its course are furious, and, owing to the shallow water and innumerable sunken rocks, are very dangerous, while quite a high sea runs in them. They differ from most of the big Mekong rapids in that they are caused by rough sloping bottoms of rock ridges, over which the water tears its way. ”

“ The vast Mekong River can provide food and water and power on a scale to dwarf even our own TVA.
The wonders of modern medicine can be spread through villages where thousands die every year from lack of care. ”

“ Though many plans have been suggested, it seems unlikely that means of utilizing the Salween for steamer traffic will be devised. It is, however, of great value as a timber floating stream, bringing to the depot at Kado above Moulmein teak from the forests of the Shan States, Karenni, Siam, Thatôn and Amherst. The beauty of its scenery has often been celebrated.
Mèkong. Although the Burmese kingdom extended across the Mèkong, all territory to the east of that river has long been abandoned. The Mèkong now forms part of the boundary of the Shan States dividing Kēngtūng from French Indo-China. ”

“ As day dawns the rays climb down the heights above you into the mists, which forthwith whirl and melt; and then, as you rise above it all, there lies below on all sides a billowy sea of wild forest, high on jagged ridges in the sunlight, or darkened in shadows far down in the deep torrent valleys; in the blue distance eastward the Nam Pat range lies dim, and north and west the eye loses itself among endless cloud-capped ranges.
The sala at Muang Faek is on the west side of the river, and consists of a number of separate bamboo shelters ”

“ That part of the Mekong which stood athwart my course must be considered, as M. Vivien St Martin points out, "not as a trade route, but as a barrier to commerce, since each crossing of the river necessitates a descent and an ascent of from 3300 feet to 4400 feet each." Having negotiated the descent and the ascent, I sought shelter and repose at the village of Shui Chai, built on the edge of a small cultivated basin high up on the range west of the river. ”

“ Wonderful as these temples and palaces are, the circumstance that, perhaps, after all gives the highest idea of the civilization of these ancient Cambodians is the perfection of their roads and bridges. One great trunk road seems to have stretched for 300 miles across the country from Korat, in a south-easterly direction, to the Mekong river. It was a raised causeway, paved throughout like a Roman road, and every stream that it crossed was spanned by a bridge, many of which remain perfect to the present day. Dr. Bastian describes two of these: one, 400 ft. in length, and 50 ft. ”

“ In June the waters of the Mekong, swollen by the rains and the melting of the Tibetan snows, rise to a height of 40 to 45 ft. and flow through the Bras du Lac towards the lake, which then covers an area of 770 sq. m., and like the river inundates the marshes and forests on its borders. During the dry season the current reverses and the depression empties so that the lake shrinks to an area of 100 sq. m., and its depth falls from 45-48 ft. to a maximum of 5 ft. Tonlé-Sap probably represents the chief wealth of Cambodia. It supports a fishing population of over 30,000, most of whom are Annamese ”

“ After some stay, we set out with fresh boats and crews, and were five days passing the wild rapids between here and Wieng Chan. The river finds its way among low hills in a narrow, deep channel between clay-slate rocks alternating with sandstones and conglomerates with a general easterly dip. The rapids are of the whirlpool and eddy character, and extend for miles on end; the water is in places confined to a width of 150 feet, and the rushes, boilings, spinnings, and general deafening pandemonium which results is astounding; not one place is like another, nor one whirlpool like the next. ”

“ The houses extend all along the river-side for a mile and a half, mostly well shaded by areca and coconut palms. Here once more, on the great plain lying to the south, we saw the tall, gaunt sugar palms standing against the sky, and again saw the kiens, or ox-carts, with their long, black hoods, wending their slow way in single file, the groaning, grunting, and shrieking, which accompanies their every movement and jerk, coming slowly down the wind. ”

“ There are Siamese, Chinese, Anamese, and Manilla men among the inhabitants, as well as the native Cambodians, and there are no long streets of fine buildings, such as you would expect a capital to contain. It is situated on the banks of the Mesap, a small river of Cambodia that empties into the Mekong: the greater part of Panompin is on the right bank of the stream, but there is a small portion of it on the opposite shore, and another on an island near the junction of the Mesap with the Mekong. ”

“ The current of the Mekong, as we have already stated, flows with great rapidity, and renders navigation slow and laborious. It took M. Mouhot five days to pass the island of Ko-Sutin; and the rate of velocity increasing as he advanced to the northward, he was seldom able to accomplish more than two miles a day. On arriving at the rapids and cataracts he was compelled to abandon his boats and embark, with his followers and stores, in light canoes; and even these it was necessary at times to carry ashore, and convey along the bank on men’s shoulders until a smooth part of the river was gained. ”

“ We had met a good deal of teak being rafted down the lower part of the river. The small rafts come through the innumerable klongs and creeks from all directions, and then below Pichit and Paknam Pho the big rafts are made up, and go off downwards with their crew of men, the cock crowing merrily on the roof of the little bamboo shelter which is their "deck-house." Passing sandbanks and shallows is often a very difficult operation. Some three or four men go overboard astern with long 8-feet stakes, to which the end of a long hawser is fast. ”

“ Burma 235 km, Cambodia 541 km, China 423 km, Thailand 1,754 km, Vietnam 2,130 km Coastline: 0 km (landlocked) Maritime claims: none (landlocked) Climate: tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November) ; dry season (December to April) Terrain: mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus Elevation extremes: lowest point: Mekong River 70 m
highest point: Phou Bia 2,817 m Natural resources: timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones Land use: arable land: 3.8%
permanent crops: 0.35%
other: 95.85% (2001) Irrigated land: 1,640 sq km
note: rainy season irrigation - 2,169 sq km ”

“ These walks are attached to the wats in all the plains of the country, and when the traveller strikes one, he knows a wat, with its welcome sala or resthouse, is near.
The trail follows the Khorat river to nearly its source in the limestones of the "Dong Phya Yen" forest; it then strikes across the forest, descending the spurs of the plateau to the elbow made by the Nam Sak, which turns away at Keng Koi in a west-south-westerly direction to the Meinam. ”

“ From Pnom-Penh, the capital of Cambodia, to Saigon, the capital of Cochin-China, is in the neighborhood of two hundred miles and two routes are open to the traveler. The most comfortable and considerably the cheapest is by the bi-weekly steamer down the Mekong. The alternative route, which is far more interesting, consists in descending the river to Banam, a village some twenty miles below Pnom-Penh, on the opposite bank of the Mekong, where, if a car has been arranged for, it is possible to motor across the fertile plains of Cochin-China to Saigon in a single day. ”

“ On the W. the river Salween and its tributary the Thoung Yin form the frontier between the Siam and Burma for some distance, draining a part of northern Siam, while in the far north-east, for a few miles below Chieng Sen, the Mekong does the same. The districts watered by the lower reaches of the four rivers are fertile and are inhabited by a considerable population of Siamese. Farther north the country is peopled by Laos, scattered in villages along all the river banks, and by numerous communities of Shan, Karen, Kamoo and other tribes living in the uplands and on the hilltops. ”

“ But in the Nam Oo the shallowness of the water is the danger, and there is often, as in Keng Luang two days up, a fall straight over a dioritic ledge of 3 feet. This class of rock it is which forms the rapids, and when the limestone hills retire from the river edge, and low-lying, round-topped hills less densely jungled, come in, one may look out for a rapid and change of formation. ”

“ Over a broad, zigzagging, roughly-paved road, said to have no less than ninety-eight curves from bottom to top, we ascend for thirty li, and then descend for the remainder of the journey through a narrow defile along the northern bank of the river, the opposite side being a vertical sheet of rock rising to at least a thousand feet sheer up, very similar to the gorges of the Mekong at the western end of the province, which I crossed in due course. ”

“ Wherever we go sick people are brought, and the chief ailments among the Laos were fever, affections of the eyes, and dysentery. The latter is generally taken in hand too late, and ends fatally.
The first day from Chieng Kong we brought up on the south bank, at the mouth of the Nam Ngau I have already mentioned; and I was two nights away with only two or three men visiting some gold washings in the bed of the river. The percentage is extremely small, and is the same in character though not so rich as in the Mekong sands. The usual small fee of two rupees a year is paid by each man. ”

“ Many boats are lost here, and just below lay the battered remains of a fine craft of 65 feet, smashed from stem to stern. The Laos show considerable sense in always taking breakfast before they try one of these rapids, however early in the morning.
South of Keng Luang the river bed is narrow, and flows very fast among slate rocks, dipping very steeply (50°, 60°, and upwards) , west for many miles, limestone hills lying back some way from the river. These long reaches are very wild, with no sign of man. ”

“ The mountains attain heights of 16,000 ft. The climate is generally healthy and equable; on the plateau the summer heat seldom exceeds 86°, and in winter there is little snow. The principal rivers are the Yangtsze-kiang (locally known as the Kinsha-kiang = Golden Sand river) , which enters Yun-nan at its N.W. corner, flows first S.E. and then N.E., forming for a considerable distance the N. boundary of the province; the Mekong, which traverses the province from N. to S. on its way to the sea through Annam ”

“ Here our traveller embarked in a small boat for Pemptielan, situated on the Mekong, about forty miles north of Pnom Penh. The branch which he descended was fifteen hundred yards wide, and its banks were inhabited by a tribe called the Thiâmes. Pnom Penh, which Mouhot reached after a perilous voyage, is the great bazaar of Cambodia. It contains a population of about ten thousand, nearly all Chinese; while double that number of Cochin-Chinese and Cambodians live upon the river in their boats. An active trade is carried on here in rice, fish, glass, brass wire, and cotton yarn. ”

“ TAPPING THE BORASSUS PALM.
A RUINED CITY.
But we must no longer tarry at Lakon. We must once more launch the boats of our adventurous voyagers, and continue our exploration of the great river. It waters a populous country, and large towns are of frequent occurrence on its banks. We pass Hoûten, with its pagodas, its mountains, and green woods; Saniabury, with its rude pottery-manufacture; verdurous islands and shining sand [59] [61] banks; and the mouths of the many streams which help to swell the abundant volume of the Mekong. ”

“ The broadening out of the river here, the absence of rapids, and the retirement to the eastward of the hill range, which forms a sort of amphitheatre around the little plain, seems to have attracted settlers from an early time. ”

“ The river flows eastward and falls into the Mekong at 15° 20′ N. and 105° 40′ E. A good way farther north two small rivers, the Nam Kum and the Nam Song Kram, also tributaries of the Mekong, drain a small part of eastern Siam. Nearly two million people, mixed Siamese, Lao and Cambodian, probably among the poorest peasantry in the world, support existence in this inhospitable region.
Central Siam, estimated at 50,000 sq. m. in area, is the heart of the kingdom, the home of the greater part of its population, and the source of nine-tenths of its wealth. ”

“ To the south Saigon is the most important town; it is situated in the Mekong delta, which is increasing in size every year by the addition of the vast quantities of silt carried down by the great river. The country abounds in wild animals, elephants, tigers, rhinoceroses, alligators, poisonous snakes, monkeys, parrots, and peacocks. In area the French possessions are about half as large again as France itself, and the population is about 20 millions. ”

“ The river region comprises the upper courses of the Brahmaputra (Yaru Tsangpo) , the Salween (? Gyama nyul chu) , the Yangtsze (Dre chu) , the Mekong (Nya-lung chu) , and the Yellow River (Ma chu) . Amidst the mountains there are many narrow valleys, partially cultivated from an altitude of 12,000 ft. downwards, with here and there fine forests covering the mountain sides. Villages of high stone built houses are to be found wherever the valley bottoms open out enough to afford a little space for agriculture. ”