And you, my dear father, be not too anxious as to my fate, but preserve that tranquillity, hope, and love of God, which alone can make men strong and great: with this help and support, our reunion will not be long delayed. Courage then, and hope! our perseverance and efforts will be recompensed. And thou, invisible link, which, in spite of distance, unites hearts, bear to all those dear to me a thousand embraces, and fill them with all those thoughts which at all times give me strength, and supply joy and consolation in my saddest and most dreary hours. To all, then, a happy new year! and may I bring back safe and sound my poor young followers, who have been such faithful and devoted companions; and who, although already rather weakened by fever and incipient dysentery, are still full of gaiety and energy, and as much attached to me as ever. NATURE OF THE COUNTRY. Five or six leagues north of Khao-Khoc is Mount Sake, and two miles farther all habitations cease, and there is complete solitude as far as Boatioume. The banks become more and more picturesque; here are calcareous rocks, covered in places with a ferruginous crust, and whence flow streams endowed with petrifying properties, while hills, rising abruptly to a great height, contain grottoes ornamented by stalactites; there, are beds of sand, islands on which sport in the sun a crowd of iguanas; everywhere, a rich vegetation, mingled with tufts of bamboo, in which fight and squabble the chimpanzees, on whom Phrai exercises his skill, and which afford him a delicious repast. We embarked in a very light pirogue, and, during the first day, passed the boats from Petchaboune, which had left Khao-Khoc the night before; for the current is still rapid, even though the water is so low that in many places you have to drag the boat over the sand, and poles have to be used instead of oars. TIGERS NEAR BOATIOUME. Tigers, which are rare at Khao-Khoc, are more common in the environs of Boatioume, where they destroy many of the cattle. [Illustration: Drawn by M. Catenacci, from a Photograph. CEMETERY AT BANGKOK.] CHAPTER XVII. TOWN OF CHAIAPUME--JOURNEY TO THE TOWN OF KORAT--THE PROVINCE OF KORAT--TEMPLE OF PENOM-WAT--RETURN TO CHAIAPUME--POUKIÉAU--MONANG-MOUNE-WA--NAM-KANE--LOUANG PRABANG, CAPITAL OF WEST LAOS.