Our road now leads through rice-fields, which reach to the foot of the mountain. We meet people coming home from their work in the fields. Some of them have poles across their shoulders, to which are attached bundles of sticks for fuel or perhaps sheaves of rice which they have gathered. Some stop to speak to us or to look at us, and we give them a tract or one of the Gospels; but we must not tarry, for when the sun is gone in these tropical countries it is soon dark. The brick building a little to the right as we return is the Presbyterian church of Petchaburee. [Illustration: VIEW OF THE MOUNTAINS OF PETCHABUREE.] The next morning we take an early start for the Royal Cave. It is too far to walk, so we ride over the road which we took before to the foot of the mountain, then off to the right, a mile, to another mountain. We leave the conveyance and climb the mountain-side to a gate, which we enter, and find steps which lead down into the cave. The nooks and corners are filled with idols and figures representing the miseries of the lost, and the bottom of the cave is paved with tiles and surrounded on all sides with rows of idols, large and small. The cave itself is grand, with its columns of stalactites and stalagmites. From one of the former water drops so fast that a plaster basin has been made to receive it. This water is very cool and pleasant to drink. An opening at the top of the cave admits the sunshine and brightens the whole scene. Here are two large rooms, the second unpaved, but having rows of idols, and being lighted from the top like the first. Passing through this room, we come into a narrow way as dark as possible, leading into a very small space lighted from above, where we find a very long ladder. Up, up, we go, and again we find ourselves on the mountain-side. We are glad to return home, for the heat has grown very oppressive while we have been in the cave. At about three o’clock we will take a walk to the city to see the market, and as we stroll along the bank of the river we pass the three brick houses belonging to the ex-regent of Siam. These are thickly shaded by large trees, and the green lawn is bounded by a hedge. Here we enter a street of the city, and soon come to a massive bridge, and, turning to the left, cross the river and find ourselves upon the main street of the city. It seems strange to call it a city, and yet its population is estimated at twenty thousand. The streets are very narrow and have no sidewalks. Some of the houses are brick and some bamboo. The stores have an open room next the street, with a little porch where the salesman or saleswoman sits. The people who have brought articles to market for sale have arranged their wares on either side the street, and now we are surrounded by fish, pork, vegetables and fruits in such abundance that it is difficult to make one’s way among them.