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 country. He met with tremendous opposition from the bonzes, but in spite of this continued to reside in Laos for five years, and did not leave Vien Chan till Decem- ber, 1647.

The next traveller, with whose journeys in Indo-China we need concern ourselves, is Henri Mouhot, of whom mention has already been made in connection with the Khmer ruins at Angkor. A native of France, brought up in that country, he had resided successively in Russia, in England and at Jersey: by profession a photographer in the days when photography was a new art, he had cultivated his taste for natural history, devoting himself particularly to ornithology and conchology. In 1858 he went out to Siam on a mission which received practical encouragement from the learned societies of England and France, his object being to explore the little known coun- tries of Indo-China and to examine the problems of their ethnology, and their flora and fauna. Making his head- quarters at Bangkok, he first ascended the Menam to Ayuthia, the ancient capital of Saam, and paid a visit to the famous temple of Prabat Moi, which he describes as having about it little that is remarkable. Its chief dis- tinction, however, and the fact which makes it celebrated and holy throughout Indo-China, is the footprint pre- served in its sanctuary which is piously believed by the faithful to be that of Buddha himself.

After visiting Saraburi and ascending the Menam to

Vide supra, pp. 149, 150.