Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume VIII, No. 5 [‎15v] (33/154)

436
JOURNEY ROUND SIAM.
for the other. The spirited little ponies appear to enjoy the fun with as
ranch zest as the men themselves, and one animal, whose rider was
sent flying headlong into the grass, enthusiastically galloped riderless
in to the death. The hunt lasted from nine in the morning till three
in the afternoon, and in that time we caught four deer, and seven or
eight escaped, either by superior speed or due to the fact that the-
ponies did not get the sight of them in time.
Battamhong and Siamrap are provinces of the ancient kingdom of
Cambodia, which, after centuries of struggle with Siam, varied with
internal dissension, finally came under the suzerainty of the latter
power towards the end of the seventeenth century. In 1867 France
assumed a protectorate over the lower half of this tributary kingdom,
and the possession of the remaining portion, Battamhong and Siamrap,
was by a Franco-Siamese treaty assured to Siam. The current speech
of the country is Cambodian-- a language which differs radically from
Siamese—but Siamese is the official language, and all the officials, who-
are, one might say, both the aristocracy and the plutocracy of these
Asiatic countries, speak both languages with equal facility. The
present descendants of the once powerful Kmer race have, in their
customs, religion, and general characteristics, much in common with
the Siamese; but they are inferior to them both in physique, intellect,
and morals. They are, indeed, notorious both for mendacity and petty
pilfering.
From Battambong I descended the river Sangkai, crossed the Talesap
Lake in three and a half hours, and proceeded to Siamrap, which lies-
about 10 miles from the shore. This great sea of fresh water, which
measures nearly 100 miles in length and 20 at its greatest breadth,
rises no less than 21 feet during the rainy season, and floods all the
adjoining country for miles. In the dry season it is not more than 4 or
5 feet deep, and it is at this time, during the months of March, April,
and May, that the surrounding population flock to its shores to catch
the numerous fish.
Siamrap is itself a stagnant little place of about two thousand in
habitants ; but the pretty rivulet here of pure sparkling water, with its
old-fashioned water-wheels and its banks shaded by the wavy palm and
cocoanut tree, forms a refreshing scene after passing through the low
and swampy country that fringes the Talesap Lake.
I only stayed a day and a half in Siamrap, as my time was exceed
ingly limited, and as the only case I had to investigate was a trifling
one of bullock theft, which I settled with the governor in about three
minutes. The celebrated ruins of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom lie
about 4 miles from the village, but I do not intend to launch out into
any disquisition on a subject which is now well worn. I might remark,
however, that though I am not an enthusiast by any means about ruins,
and particularly ruins of Indo-Chinese temples, of which we get rather