KUNGL. SV. VET. AKADEMIENS HANDLINGAR. BAND 56. N:0 2. 9 
On the 18th of August everything was ready and I left Chieng Hai for Chieng Mai 
with a caravan of 48 carries. This journey turned out to be one of the most difficult I 
ever met with in Siam. Heavy rains were falling every day and the »roads» were most 
miserable. After two days march we crossed a fairly high mountain chain covered with 
damp evergreen jungles and mixed pine- and oak-forests. Then we had to cross the Meh 
Soué, which sometimes may be rather difficult. I had, however, good luck and the river 
was not too deep, nor the current too strong. Another two days march saw me in Vieng 
Pa Pao, a small town situated on a large fertile plain which is surrounded on all sides by 
mountains. At Vieng Pa Pao I had to change carriers which is always a nuisance in a 
country where »time is not money». As soon as I had got the new men I at once started 
again and a few miles south of Vieng Pa Pao we had to cross the Meh Lao. The river 
was fairly deep, and it was impossible to cross at the usual place. We therefore had to 
make a circuit, but at least we came to a place where a fallen tree made a tolerable bridge. 
The roads were quite miserable, and we generally had to walk in mud half up the knees. 
The further we went the more mountainous the country became, and the path on which 
we marched followed the courses of several creeks which we often had to cross. In two 
days march we thus crossed two creeks 76 times. Sometimes the current was so swift 
that we hardly could walk and I had to let my men form a chain, and pass the burdens 
from man to man. 
Late in the evening on the 26th of August I arrived at last to Chieng Mai after a 
long and tiring days march. At Chieng Mai I rested for some days, but on the 2nd of 
September I again left for Koon Tan where I wanted to spend another month this time 
of the year. 
I then once more returned to Chieng Mai where I previously had made arrangements 
to get a Laos boat for the intended journey down the Meh Ping river to Paknam Po. 
On the 2nd of October the boat was loaded and I made everything ready 
for a start. 
This same night we stopped at a fishing village called Nan Dou. This days journey 
had taken us through a very uninteresting country. The banks of the river were mostly 
covered with bamboos or high elephant grass and inside there either swamps or paddy- 
fields. Animal life was very scarce and nothing of special interest was met with. 
When I woke up the next morning I met with the unpleasant news that the boat 
was leaking and the luggage room half filled with water. This was very disagreable in- 
deed, and I had to unload the whole boat. Everything was wet, clothes, natural history 
specimens, provisions a. s. 0. and we had to stop the whole day at Nan Dou to dry every- 
thing. Fortunately enough nothing was spoiled and early the next morning we continued 
our journey with another boat. After still three days we at last were approaching the 
mountains, and the scenery grew more and more beautiful and interesting. The vege- 
tation chiefly consisted of mixed forests, but here and there evergreen jungles occured. 
The river is winding through the mountains which often showed perpendicular preci- 
pices of great dimensions. The bare rock was often visible and appeared in curious 
shapes. Caves were rather common but no real big ones were passed along this part of 
the river. 
K. Sv. Vet. Akad. Handl. Band 56. N:o 2. 2 
