ILLUSTRATIONS

There was a young lady of Laos Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

Cholon architecture is neither exactly French nor Chinese 18

A funeral procession in Cholon, Chinese suburb of Saïgon 18

A decreasing form of conveyance in Cochinchina 19

Unlike China proper, great sections of Indo-China are covered with magnificent virgin jungle-forests 19

One may still crawl about Angkor by elephant, though Fords are much more à la mode 82

Buddhist priests took their saffron-clad ease in the shade along the great moat of Angkor-Vat, beyond the tourist bungalows in the background 82

A rural Cambodian family at home 83

Motor-buses link together the railways of Indo-China, crossing broad sandy river-banks on strips of woven bamboo splints 98

In Annam prisoners working in the streets wear a light remnant of the old neck-torturing Chinese canque 98

In the “Marble Mountains” are many grottoes, some of them elaborately fitted up as temples 99

An Annamese summoning a ferry from across one of the many rivers which still offer no bridges to automobiles 99

An Annamese girl, chaperoned by her small brother, sells her wares in the market-place of Hué 114

xiiWhen it rains in Annam, as it does on every provocation, a simple straw raincoat covers either sex among the masses 114

Like the southern Chinese the Annamese are expert boatmen because they learn their calling long before they reach the dignity of clothing 115

Swinging in the village squares is a favorite diversion of the Annamese populace during the lunar New Year’s season 115

Overlooking, from his flagpole, the palaces of the emperor of Annam 130

China itself cannot outdo the old bronze urns before the main palace of the Annamese emperor 130

The throne-room of the emperor of Annam, on the afternoon before the New Year’s ceremony 131

The waterfront of Hué, capital of Annam, offers a contrast between its native craft and the French bridge 146

Once a visitor surreptitiously snapped this glimpse of the mandarins of Annam kowtowing before their emperor on New Year’s Day 146

The scores of homes of mandarins within the “citadel” of Hué were all richly decorated for the lunar New Year 147

Inside the “citadel” and near the sumptuous palaces of the emperor of Annam are the perhaps more comfortable homes of his humble subjects 147

An Annamese mandarin all dressed up for his New Year’s honors to his emperor; his servant behind 162

Servants of the mandarins carry home after the ceremony the ancient Ming accoutrements of their masters 162

Emperor Khai-dinh of Annam on his French-supported throne 163

Some of the most effective of Annamese tombs are covered with pictures and designs made of broken porcelain dishes set in cement 163

With each new year the Annamese clear of vegetation the graves of their ancestors, back to remote generations 194

xiiiI asked a living caretaker to fill the place of one of these of stone which guard the entrance to a royal tomb of Annam 194

In the heart of Hanoï, northern capital of French Indo-China, stands a delightfully picturesque lake of goodly dimensions 195

Annamese girls hold Sunday morning flower-market at this corner of the city-girdled lake of Hanoï 195

The ladies of Annam lose any claim they have to beauty when they open their mouths on black-enameled teeth 210

Thi-ba, who did her best as guardian of our children, was equally set against bobbed hair and skirts 210

For days one may steam in and out among the fantastic rock islands of the Bay of Along 211

Tropical vegetation sometimes commandeers sustenance on the rock peaks 211

The women of Tonkin combine hat, sunshade, and umbrella in one unwieldy contraption 258

The Muong women wear little above the waist, except the loads they carry 258

The guard turned out to greet my companion, the résident of Vinh, at the first village on the way to Laos 259

The Muong chief of our noonday village came in state, bringing eggs and native fire-water 259

The chief sport of the mountain-dwelling Miao of Laos is the making of assorted neck-rings of silver dollars that might better be spent for shirting 274

The Miao woman of Laos take no back seat for their men 275

A Kha woman of the semi-wild tribe that is said to be the aboriginal race of mountainous Laos 275

Wind-sieved rice is the principal food of the rural inhabitants of Luang Prabang 306

xivWith a silk scarf worn loosely over a shoulder the women of Luang Prabang capital are more coquettish than their waistless sisters of the country districts 306

The palace of the king of Luang Prabang sits placidly on the bank of the upper Mekong 307

The king turned out his chief dancing-girls and masked male entertainers for my approval 307

Knighted in the Kingdom of the Divine Buddha 322

Two royal elephants saw me off from the palace, the youngster showing a desire to make me depart on the run 323

A Miao woman on her travels carries bed and food 323

A Kha home in the mountains of Luang Prabang 338

Grandfather and grandmother of the primitive Khas tend the children while the intermediate generation seeks the family livelihood in the hills 338

Wherever his habitat, the water-buffalo is happiest when immersed to the nostrils in a mud-hole 339

One group of the many Laosian carriers who bore my few belongings across Luang Prabang 339

This ancient monument in Vientiane, French capital of Laos, is the most curious remnant of its regal days 354

A door of a ruined palace or temple of Vientiane 354

Within the ruined temple the Buddhas sit, in the infinitely patient attitude of the East, crumbling away under the rains and disappearing beneath the encroaching jungle 355

Though the French have brought automobiles to Vientiane, this ancient form of conveyance still predominates 355

EAST OF SIAM

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