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 tiated. Garnier set doggedly to work to perform this heavy task. A merciless sun beat down upon the toiling white men; the bullocks, intensely offended by the scent of Europeans, gave an infinity of trouble; the heat became unendurable, and presently the little party was racked with thirst. One by one the men gave in, and threw themselves gasping upon the ground, but Garnier wan- dered far and wide over the dry river-courses in search of water, and at last found a deep, tepid pool. The good news was carried to his comrades, and soon they were sufficiently revived to resume their labours. By 10 P. M. the work was at last accomplished; the carts and bullocks, together with all the gear, had been conveyed to the plain below; camp-fires had been lighted and a well-earned rest was enjoyed. It was precisely at this moment that the Governor of Su-Krom arrived with a large res- cue-party. He was mightily astonished to find that the difficult descent had been effected without his aid, and Garnier was careful to treat the matter lightly in order that the chief might be the more impressed by the energy and resource of the French explorers.

After quitting the Ubon plateau, Garnier traversed a waste of sandy plain, and on January 25th reached Kon- kan, where he discovered the dried-up bed of an ancient lake, yet another trace of the seismic convulsions which may, perhaps, have caused the abandonment of the Khmer towns. Near Suren he had already noted the ex- istence of ruins, and now close to Konkan he discovered a magnificent stone bridge standing thirty metres above the level of the stream, three great fragments of which still