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 church to itself in the solitude of a grove, and descended. to the spot where they now reside."

Similarly in van Wusthof's time Kambodians occupied villages in the upper reaches of the Se-Kong, whereas long since the descendants of the once dominant race have retreated to the country lying below the Sombor Falls. Stung Treng itself, an insignificant place of less than 1,000 inhabitants, is peopled by Laotines, though here as elsewhere in Indo-China, what little trade there is remains almost entirely in the hands of the ubiquitous Chinese.

"Sans l'intervention de l'élément chinois," writes Garnier, "ces contrées éloignées mourraient bientôt à toute relation extérieure," and indeed the same may be said. with truth of every portion of Indo-China and Malaya. The Chinaman possesses in a remarkable degree those very qualities of diligence, energy, business capacity, per- severance and thrift which the men of these regions most singularly lack, and any plan which has for its object the placing of the prosperity of the peninsula on a sound economical basis, and the endowing of them with the blessings of material prosperity, must include a scheme for the free immigration of the Chinese, under which they shall be granted full rights of citizenship.

The valley of the Sc-Kong is encompassed by moun- tains, and the country between it and the main range bor- dering Cochin-China is inhabited by wild tribes. For the rest the population is Laotine, and the standard of civili- sation does not compare favourably with that of the Kambodians, all trade, for instance, being still conducted on a system of barter.