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 costly. Were the engineering difficulties to be overcome, however, it is possible that Turon might become the out- let for the bulk of the trade of the upper valley of the Mekong on the other hand it is equally possible that Bangkok would maintain its old commercial supremacy, in which case the enormous expenditure upon the con- struction of the line would be a sacrifice made in vain. In any case the trade of this region would have to undergo an immense expansion before the proposed rail- way could conceivably become a paying concern. Cu- riously enough, however, fear of injuring Saigon, rather than any sounder reason, is mainly responsible for the opposition offered by Frenchmen to the scheme; this is to be regretted, because the present capital can never hope to claim the bulk of the inland trade. Until French administrators can learn to regard their colonial posses- sions in Indo-China as a whole, and to seek their good as such, without paying too close an attention to purely local interests, the prospects of that empire are none too hopeful.

From Ubon Garnier started on January 10th on a fly- ing visit to Pnom Penh, for the purpose of bringing back the missing mails. He ascended the Se-Mun for three days, passing through open, grassy plains from which the forest had long before been cleared by burning; then, leaving his boats at Sam-Lan, he proceeded overland to Si-Saket, where for the first time for many months he again encountered Kambodians. Having procured four rough carts drawn by trotting-bullocks, he crossed some twenty miles of grass country and entered the forest, which