392 A visit to Xiengma. [No. 4, 
little toe outside. They have another fashion similar to the Guianese, 
namely the ear-lap is bored and a piece of bamboo is inserted, its two 
ends ornamented by a piece of looking-glass ; or in lieu of the bamboo 
merely a scroll of bark is placed in the ear-lap. This fashion belongs 
more particularly to the inhabitants of the eastern province, of which 
Muang Nan is the capital. A number of these people were in XMieng- 
mai on trading speculations, having brought cotton for sale to where 
but little is cultivated. They were staying en the other side of the 
river during their sojourn, and daily passed our place in going to the 
city: they could not fail attracting attention by their darker com- 
plexion and slighter stature than the Laos. Their dress is also very 
different : they have trowsers like the Chinese and a small jacket of 
cotton cloth, that once might have been white but now looks doubtful 
as regards colour. The hair is worr tied up in a knot at the back 
part of the head, hke that of the Lao females, with the diiference that 
they do not keep it in such gocd order. Their legs are pamted like 
those of the Lao Thong-dam, and the head is covered by a plaited hat 
with a most expansive rim, to protect the bronze features of its 
wearer against the effects of the sun. 
The Deputy Viceroy Chao Operat called on us shortly after noon. 
He was a man of an advanced age, dressed meanly without shirt or 
shoes, very different in appearance from any of the officials of a similar 
rank which I had previously met. He came on foot, observing that 
some disease from which he suifered, prevented him from riding on 
horseback. We of course used our ponies to carry us to his residence 
after our interview had ended, and he had proposed that we should 
accompany him there. 
The King’s letter was conveyed in the usual manner te the Deputy 
Viceroy’s residence. The latter was anything but palatial for so high 
a personage: the greatest ornaments in the hall were a large number 
of embroidered pillows—similar to the ene which I had received in 
Bangkok from his superior, the actual Viceroy Chao-kavi Rorot 
Suriwong, who was then there on a visit. 
We had some difficulty to get a person to read the letter written to 
him by the King’s order, which was in ths Siamese language and 
characters: the Lao differs in both points, and I am told that the dif- 
ference is more thar dialectical. The Officer who came with us from 
Raheng, read it ultimately to the prostrate multitude, the Chao Operat 
