In February 1897 I thus arrive in Xieng Sen in French territory and one can easily understand my great satisfaction after a Few months passed on foreign soil to find a fellow citizen in the person of a kind naval officer who had been isolated for one year on the upper Mekong and whose presence I was unaware of Since that time moreover nobody has come to visit him or interfere with his work which has as its objective leading the La Grandiere as far as Muong Sing
We passed an entire day together walking and celebrating in the early morning we left with coolies armed with machetes Laotian sabers to clear the road that leads to the great tat From the height of its hillock the old temple overlooks the entire territory of Xieng Sen Few cities have so many ruined structures of the city and sixty-five in the outlying areas Here and there one can see gilded and sculpted remains of buildings and many stacked-up Buddha statues abandoned under the invading vegetation. These are Buddhas With long ears of the Yuon ear. The prettiest ones are so weighted with wealth that it is impossible for collectors to abstain from the themptation.