Travels in the central parts of Indo-China (Siam), Cambodia, and Laos : during the years 1858, 1859, and 1860 . andering round our dwelling and lookinglongingly at the pigs through their fence of planks andbamboos. Again, I hear a rhinoceros breaking down thebamboos which oppose his progress towards the bramblesencircling our garden, on which he intends to banquet. The savage Stiens who inhabit this region have pro-bably the same origin as those who people the mountainsand the table-land which separate the kingdoms of Siamand Cambodia from that of Annam, and which extendalong the great river f
Travels in the central parts of Indo-China (Siam), Cambodia, and Laos : during the years 1858, 1859, and 1860 . andering round our dwelling and lookinglongingly at the pigs through their fence of planks andbamboos. Again, I hear a rhinoceros breaking down thebamboos which oppose his progress towards the bramblesencircling our garden, on which he intends to banquet. The savage Stiens who inhabit this region have pro-bably the same origin as those who people the mountainsand the table-land which separate the kingdoms of Siamand Cambodia from that of Annam, and which extendalong the great river from 11° north lat. and between106° and 108° east long. They form as many separatecommunities as there are villages, and seem to be a racedistinct from all the people who surround them. I ammyself inclined to believe them to be the aborigines ofthe country, and to suppose that they have been drivenback from the sea and the rivers to the districts nowoccupied by them by the successive invasions of the Thi-betans, who have spread themselves over Laos, Siam, and VOL. I. B ? 242 THE SAVAGE STIENS. Chap. Drawn by M. Booourt, from a Sketcti by M. STIEN. Cambodia, and nothing tliat I can discover leads to anyother supposition.* * The drawings of M. Mouhot at first sight recall those of the Poly-nesians of the North, and more especially of the Carolinas, as they aredepicted in the works of Gutke, of Duperoy, and of Dumont dUrville. Chap. X. THE SAVAGE STIENS. 243 These savages are so strongly attached to their forestsand mountains that to quit them seems almost like death,and those who are dragged as slaves to the neighbouringcountries languish under captivity and try every methodof escape, frequently with success. Like other savages,they have appeared formidable to their neighbours^ andthe fear inspired by them has occasioned exaggeratedreports of their wonderful skill in shooting with the bow,as well as of the pestilential climate. However, it is afact that fever
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