FAUNA AND FLOBA, RATBUBI, FFTCHABURL 139 



at a surveyor's camp situated in a deep gorge at the head of tlie Hue 

 Maa Pradohn. The surveyor had a live larder containing peacock- 

 pheasants and hill partridges. He had also the skin of a ver^- rare cat, 

 Frionodon maculostis (the Burmese Linsang), which had been trapped 

 after several raids on the penned birds. The skin was subsequently 

 lost in the floods. The following night I slept at a Trig, station above 

 the camp, elevation 1150 metres. Heavy rain fell that night, and the 

 following morning the view was exquisite — the whole valle}^ of the 

 Bang Kloi being a sea of white cloud with the higher ridges and peaks 

 showing up as dark green islands. To the East the Gulf of Siam was 

 just visible. Descending Westwards from here was very bad goino-, 

 and a couple of days were spi^nt in searching the numerous ravines for 

 anything like a human track leading up to the " House at the Heart of 

 the World" [Ban Chai Faan Din). We arrived there on the 24th 

 April, very curious to see this solitary Karang hoasehold and eager to 

 buy rice, of which the Trig, partj' had reported there was a large sup- 

 ply. Tlie husband was away, and neither the wife nor a dirty youth 

 (alleged to be an ' an^el ' with a knowledge of all languages) could 

 speak Siamese. The place certain!}' surprised me, being situated on a 

 slight spur jutting out from a small flit-topped range of some 800 

 metres elevation. On a cleared space was a " bawt " or temple, and 

 near it a small "wihan," together with a couple of buildings not usuallv 

 found in Buddhist places of woi'ship, viz :— to the North of the "bawt" 

 a small rectangular building for the male " chao" or spirit and to the 

 South, one for the female — the latter being some 8 feet square and 

 perched on the top of a 6 feet pole, access being had by a laddei-. 

 Around these buildings the ground was perfectly cleared of weeds, and 

 flowering trees and shrubs had been planted and clipped for ornament. 

 From this point a splendid view of the mountain ranges to the East 

 was obtained. The following day the owner, Pnlloogaw, returned, a 

 tall Karang with a heavy moustaclie. He could speak a little Siamese, 

 and sold me a quantity ot rice aiul chickens — the ojily Karang in the 

 whole of JVtchaburi who had rice for sale. On my asking him how he 

 had found this spot for his abode, Palloogaw rejiliefl that the "chao"' 

 had told him of the spot in a dream ; but I afterwai'ds found out that 

 he himself was reared at Lum Sai on the Quaa Noi River, and had lived 

 here with his wife for the past 22 years, her parents having migi-ated 

 from Tennasserim, the boundary being only two miles distant. The 



