During the two days I have been here I have lodged in the boat of a Chinese who was at first afraid to receive me; and I may consider myself fortunate in meeting with any resting-place. Yesterday I paid a visit to the governor, who resides in an old hut, repulsively dirty, about two miles from the spot where I landed. Although this is the most important place in Saraburi, this wretched dwelling, and a few scattered huts belonging to agriculturists, are all the houses I have seen; there is no bazaar, and no floating shops. From time to time petty merchants come to sell or exchange salt and other articles of absolute necessity; or a few Chinese with small stocks of _langoutis_, arrack, cloth, Siamese dresses, and bowls, which they barter for skins, horns, or rice. These dealers sometimes go as far as Boatioume. The current was so strong, that in a quarter of an hour we reached the residence of the mandarin whose acquaintance I had made on my former journey, and who, in return for a present I had given him, had promised me, in the event of my going to Korat, to furnish me with even a hundred attendants, if I needed as many. I announced to him my intention of visiting Khao-Khoc, fixed upon two years ago by the King of Siam as a desirable place for a fortress to which he might retire, in case the too active Europeans should seize upon his capital--which, let me whisper, would be very easy to do, and would only require a handful of our brave Zouaves accustomed to an African sun. I was all the better received by the mandarin, that I asked for nothing; for I had already engaged a boat, the owner of which wished to return to Khao-Khoc in two days. I had projected a trip to Patawi, but at this season the roads are impassable, so that I was forced to abandon the idea. A great number of the inhabitants of this province are natives of Laos, and are principally captives brought from Vien Chang after the insurrection there. The provinces of Boatioume and Petchaboune are peopled by Siamese, for Laos proper only commences at M’Lôm. Boatioume, Petchaboune, Sôm, and some other provinces in the north and east, are governed by Siamese mandarins of rank more or less elevated; that is to say, several of them have the power of life and death, and are then considered as viceroys. The most distant provinces belong to the empire of Siam, and form a part of it.