Page:Siam and Laos, as seen by our American missionaries (1884).pdf/484

 we may see twenty, forty or one hundred, and they walk single file. The leader has great pre-*eminence in having its face masked with an embroidery of shellwork, while over its head stream the gay feathers of the peacock, and a string of bells (resembling sleigh-bells) is hung around its neck. Many of the others also have bells, and what a merry sound they make as they pass along on the banks above us! This is the only way the Laos utilize the cow, for they abhor milk and butter.

At Rahang we saw elephants in limited numbers, but here we see them in scores. This is literally true in the case of a prince's retinue, when we see from forty to sixty or more in one procession. They are in universal use as beasts of burden.

See those large buffaloes that stand at the edge of the water! They have short and thin hair—in some pinkish in color, in others gray. To cool themselves and to escape the biting insects they walk into the river and lie down, and are so completely submerged that not a spot of them is visible but the nose. Sometimes we see them standing in the water and birds hopping along their backs or perching between the huge horns. The buffalo manifests no annoyance, and the birds have it all their own way. They are old and familiar friends. These buffaloes are used in ploughing, and they also tread out the rice.