All the vessels lying in the river were dressed out with flags; while every floating house had an altar erected, on which various objects were placed, and aromatic woods burned with pleasant odours. In the court barges the various dignitaries, mostly men of “good round paunch,” lay indolently upon triangular embroidered cushions spread on a kind of dais. They were surrounded by officials, women, and children, either kneeling or lying flat, and holding the golden urns which are used for spittoons, or the golden tea-pots and betel-boxes. Each boat carried from eighty to a hundred rowers, wearing a large white scarf round the loins, and a red langouti, but leaving the head and greater part of the body bare. They lifted their paddles simultaneously, and struck the water in excellent concert; while at the prow stood a slave with an oar to prevent collisions, and another at the stern employed an oar for steering purposes. At intervals the rowers raised “a wild, exulting cry of ‘Ouah! ouah!’” while the voice of the steersman, in a louder and more sustained note, rose above the rest. * * * * * ~MOUHOT’S JOURNEY TO KHAO-KHOC.~ From this holiday city, however, M. Mouhot tore himself away, and entered on his lonely and hazardous journey. He soon reached the pure breezy air and picturesque scenery of the mountains of Nophaburi and Phrabat, and ascended the Menam to Saohaïe, the starting-point for all caravans going to Korat. He thence continued his voyage to Khao-Khoc, which has been fortified by the king of Siam as an asylum in case of a European invasion of the south. Here he resided for some months, on the borders of a vast unexplored forest, studying the manners and customs of the Laotians. In February 1861 he arrived at Chaiapune. It was not until he had encountered and conquered obstacles that would have broken the heart of any man less enthusiastic or less courageous that he succeeded in making his way to Korat. As he describes it as “a nest of robbers and assassins, the resort of all the scum of the Laotian and Siamese races,” the rendezvous of “bandits and vagrants escaped from slavery or from prison,” he would hardly have found it a pleasant resting-place; and as soon as he could obtain a supply of elephants for himself and his followers, he resumed his journey, striking, across the country to Poukieau. ~“ACROSS COUNTRY.”~ Here he ascended gradually a range of mountains abounding in resinous trees and frequented by deer, tigers, elephants, and rhinoceros. This chain extends directly north, continually increasing in height and breadth, and throwing off numerous spurs towards the east, where the deep shadowy valleys collect their waters, and pour them into the Mekong. ~THE ELEPHANT “AT HOME.”~