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 the rebels. Garnier therefore sent his interpreter, Alexis, down river with letters for the French authorities, and himself returned up-stream on November 12th, reaching Bassak on November 23d, after spending much time in the detailed exploration and survey of the Mekong and its banks.

Meanwhile de Lagrée had led an expedition up the Se- Dom, hauling his boats up the rapids already discovered by Garnier, and ascending the river until the village of Smia, on the right bank, was reached. From this point his party trudged up the left bank of the Se-Dom to the falls of Keng Noi, and then struck across open grassy plains, broken by occasional rice-fields and patches of forest, to Saravan, where the Se-Dom was once more met with. From this village they continued the ascent of the stream, walking up its banks and crossing and recrossing it at frequent intervals, for four days, when they finally quitted it and struck across the dividing ridges in the di- rection of the head waters of the Se-Kong.

The Se-Kong, when first encountered, was already more than 100 yards in width, but the travellers had to tramp down its banks for two days before the first in- habited villages were met with. At Ban Kumkang boats were obtained, and in these the foot-weary men were car- ried to Attopeu, the village which is the chief trade-centre of the valley and is situated in the heart of a district in- habited thickly by wild tribes. Ethnologically these tribes- men are distinct from the Laotines, their noses being straight and fine, their foreheads more developed. These tribesmen are known in Laos by the generic name of Khas, are