!--,\sTi:i3N iiJ-HKiHAl'llV. 



The united ftttGAin, which now first takes the name of Mcuum, trends 

 from this point Month-eastwards to Puknmn-l'o, nbout lli" N. lat M 

 where its volume |e UMfea than doubled by tho Menam-yai, or " (rival 

 Slenam," which comet aUo from llie north-east, and which in rightly 

 KtgAlded by the native as the true upper course of the Menam. Tim 

 Menaio-yai t or easti rn branch, i* ih-rrilu'd by t'olo/ohuun a* mnrh 

 larger and heller navigable than the Meping, or western brunch ; 

 ami us it* valley lie* also in the same direction as that of the lower 

 Meuom, ii wins io lie in every way entitled to be considered the 

 main In-; id -trouiti of the great .Siamese artery. It rise* in llii almost 



iinkiinWH ivy [«►:■, i-M.-L i nurth and east by the great bend of the 



Mekhong, and after collecting the waters of the Pre\ Nan-kot, and 

 other unexplored alHmnt^ pursues a winding course through a 

 fertile and thickly peopled country to the confluence. Beyond this 

 point the main ttroatu continues iU southerly course, meandering 

 sht^ishly through u up .re ojm-u iv^inn, whj,di gradually Ji^mm-* tin' 

 aspeet of n rich, alluvial, low dying plain, funning nnr of the great 

 rice-growing districts of Further India, But from the l^uik* "i llie 

 river itself little in seen of the cultivated paddy -tie Id-, which are in 

 many place* entirely concealed by a tangled growth of palnm, bam- 

 ton- and other tropical vegetation fringing buth -ides of (he stream. 



As thev approach the Gulf of Siam the united waters of all the 

 Menatnii deveh»|i an h\Wu i«. c ■ ■ > vscm ..f rlmma-ls ami baekwateis. nil 

 subject to widi'-spovnl lhindittg*i during the |n -lioi I Era.] summer risings 

 To these annual hvrodltfww the fertility of the soil is mainly due. Kven 

 as far as the Lao States the water rises "from eight to ten Teet dining the 

 rainy season. aud T as in the Xiiu vidtey, an LDsuEhYicnt rise would be 

 followed hi Siain by a eorrespomllng failure of tho rice crop* 



Towards the Menam delta converge two large Ktreain*, the Me- 

 klong from the north-west, and tho Bang- Pak- Kong from the Korat 

 highlands in the north-east, bolh remdiing the head >■£ 5. 1 j . - gulf ab<»tit 

 SO miles to the ea s t and west of Ikmgkok re'-peetiYcly, nnd both con- 

 juried with ihe Meiiasu by urliJl'ial or natural canals, The alluvial 

 character of this region, which in some, places contain-* ex-tensive, 

 permanent swamps or lagoons, often overgrown with tall grosser and 

 frequented by numerous herds of wild elephant*, in clearly shown 

 by the boring for a well sunk in Bangkok to a depth of 25 feet 

 through marine bed* abounding in sea-shells and crurtacea. Tho 

 son, which evidently at one time penetrated far inland to the foot of 

 the Korat hills, baa been gradually encroached ujKin by the sedi- 

 mentary matter washed down with the numerous streams converging 

 in the Menam delta. As the movement still continues, the time is 



