Departing from Xieng Sen, the rapids, or keng as they are called, begin and follow in succession. The Keng Pakantun which had been indicated to me as the largest rapids of the first day, would have been difficult for me to distinguish from the others if a small commemorative monument had not marked them. A son of the king of Vientiane died in this place in combat with the Ho [Haw], and on a large stone, more or less in its original state, studded on the side with similar stones, a standing figure is depicted in a cudely sculpted high relief.
The same evening I arrive in Xieng Kong. On the French bank the village of Ban Huay Sai 6 facing Xieng Kong, is picturesquely perched on a pro From afar one sur an important fortified city positioned on a crest in a bend of the river, and as one gradually approaches one can only make out a few houses, one of which flies a French flag. It is that of the commissioner of the government; the commissariat has now been transferred to Vien Pukha, ten days into the interior. Our flag is also flying above Xieng Kong, on the right bank. Some twelve Kha women, dressed entirely in deep blue and each with a machete or stick in hand, walk in single file, ascending and agilely descending the high bank. I take them for kind draftees.
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