I have passed three times through the forest of the Dong Phya Phia, which separates Korat from the ancient Siamese provinces of the south and east. This thick jungle covers a space of thirty miles in breadth,--that is to say, the chain of mountains which separates the basin of the Mekon from that of the Menam. After passing the mountains you reach a sandy and generally arid plain, where nothing is to be seen but resinous trees of stunted growth, bamboos, underwood, and sometimes only grass; but in some places a richer soil permits cultivation, and there fields of rice and bananas have been established. I found in this district both oligist and magnetic iron. In the bed of a torrent I also discovered gold and copper in two different places. This district is rich and abundant in precious minerals, neglected or unknown until now, except by a small tribe of 400 or 500 Kariens, without doubt a remnant of the aborigines, who a short time ago, in order to preserve their independence, retired into almost inaccessible places, thirty or forty miles eastward of the tracts traversed by the caravans. Monkeys, panthers, elephants, and other wild beasts are the only inhabitants of this mountain, which the natives regard as the abode of death on account of its insalubrity. Korat Ongcor Aithe of the Cambodians was formerly the bulwark of Cambodia on the north and west: a solid rampart supported by a large épaulement, the work of Khmer Dôme (the ancient Cambodians), still surrounds the town. It is at present governed by a Siamese mandarin of the first class, a kind of viceroy, but the ancient inhabitants have nearly disappeared, and it contains only about 300 Chinese or their descendants, small resident merchants, 300 other individuals who go about the country trading, and 1500 or 2000 Laotians, Cambodians, and Siamese, who, like wolves or jackals which follow an army or caravan, have come there from all parts of the kingdom, or have remained there after the wars of Laos and Cambodia, in order to lead a life in harmony with their inclinations, attacking travellers and Chinese merchants, in fact a hand of miscreants, with few exceptions destitute of all good qualities. In the environs are two temples, which would do honour to the founders of the Cambodian edifices: one of them is in good preservation, and of this I have made a drawing. The style, architecture, and workmanship are all alike; one would say that the same artists and workmen had drawn the plans and executed them. Again you see those immense blocks, beautifully cut, joined without cement, and covered with carving and bas-reliefs. One of these temples is situated about thirty miles from the town, and is said to have been founded by a Queen; the other, nine miles to the east, is supposed to have been built by the King her husband. Much farther east it is said that there are others containing beautiful sculptures, but I have not been able to visit them, as they are out of my route.