SETTLED BY LAKON—POPULATION—SMALLPOX—TUTELARY SPIRITS—ANCIENT CITIES—TRADE-ROUTES AND COST OF TRANSPORT—THE CENTRE OF PING STATES—A LAKON PRINCE—VIEWS ABOUT RAILWAY—SMALLPOX RAGING—CALLOUSNESS OF NATIVES—DR CUSHING INFECTED—DESERTED CITIES—FAMOUS FOR POTTERY—GAMBLING CURRENCY—GAMBLING GAMES IN SIAM—FIGHTING CRICKETS, FISH, AND COCKS—COCK-CROWING IN INDO-CHINA—VARIATION IN TIMES OF NEW YEAR—GAMBLING MONOPOLY IN SIAM—PROCLAMATION OF THE KING—GAMBLING CHIEF CAUSE OF SLAVERY—PARENTS SELLING CHILDREN INTO SLAVERY—SLAVERY NOT ABOLISHED—PROCLAMATION ISSUED TO DELUDE FOREIGNERS—POSITION OF PEOPLE DAILY GROWING WORSE—A MONEY-LENDER BUYING INJUSTICE FROM PRINCES AND NOBLES—ENCOURAGING GAMBLING—GAMBLING-HOUSE JAILS—STATE OF SIAMESE GOVERNMENT MONOPOLIES—EFFECT OF CORVÉE LABOUR—BURDENSOME TAXATION—NO JUSTICE—GENERAL DEMORALISATION—SHAN STATES BETTER GOVERNED. On our reaching Penyow, the Chow Phya, who was conducting us, went to the governor to announce our arrival, and we were assigned the court-house for our habitation; but as it was far from waterproof, we put up at a _sala_ near the south wall. It would have been better to have camped near the temple outside the city, for during our stay our water had to be fetched from the well we had passed near the entrance-gate. The water drawn from the only well inside the city was nauseous and undrinkable, and the Meh Ing, which winds round three sides of the town, looked like a foul sewer, black with mud and filth held in solution. The current in the stream was barely perceptible. In the morning we called on the governor, who has the title of Chow Hluang, or Great Prince—a pleasant old gentleman, who received us most courteously, and kept us in conversation for about an hour. He told us his Muang was resettled by Lakon, and is a sub-State of that principality. It contained 4820 houses, 300 of which were in the city. Each house on an average contained eight inhabitants: this average would give the Muang a population of 38,560 souls. Paddy, he said, yielded in his district a hundred-fold on well-irrigated land, and eighty-fold on land subject to drought or inundation. After the chief had recounted the Buddhist legends, previously given, Dr Cushing was so disgusted at seeing him fondling his young son, who was covered with smallpox scabs, that he bade adieu. On passing me, he whispered that there were four cases of smallpox in the family. Dr M‘Gilvary kindly stopped on to the end of the interview, as I wished to learn about the trade-routes and geography of the country. The _Pee_, or tutelary god, of the Muang,[8] is Chow Kam Doeng, the spirit of an ancient Lawa king who formerly ruled in Penyow: his predecessor is said to have been Phya Choo-ang.