INMO-CHJNA. 



85 



approaching when the narrow inl"1 at 1 1m* head of the Gulf of Siam 

 will be entirely tilled irtj and when it will be posaible to pass over- 

 laid h-..ui M<T.:;ii in T--n i-vrirn dir.--. :lv >.-:r-t wards to Shaiilabun in 

 tfoiitli*ivft.»t Siaui, 



As siM'ti frnrn tin- summit «d r hi* isi.lnlml Mount PulJivi Home 50 

 miles north-east of the capital, eastern section «>f Sj.nu, draining 

 toward- tlji- Mekh-iiig bavins, pn vents a ^ rikitii; rutnra-t to the k-vel 

 or slightly undulating plains of the middle md lower Munam valley, 

 The view from Ptttavi, which stands over against l^mlial, the Huered 

 mountain of the Siann- ■ C'ul.lhicis, reveals a vast prospect of rugged 

 highlands Lo the north ami eost T and toward* lln* south-east merging 

 in the Xong and Pursat coast ranges between Sinui and Cumhoja, 

 But although crossed at different point* by MacLeod, Bftrtitn, 

 Motihot, and a few other Eiirnpean explorer?, this upland region 

 between tin: Menam and Mi-khutig rtill loutinucfl in ho one- of the 

 least known tracts in the peninsula. The forest -chid hills are mostly 

 oocapied bj independent wild tribes exposed t.» the constant attacks 

 of the more civilised Lao communities, who organise regular slave* 

 hunting expeditions to aupply the slave- markets of Bangkok and 

 Caiuboja. 



The seaboard, which, including Lower Siam, develops a vast semi- 

 circle of about 1000 milen round the Oulf of Sinai, Ih mostly of a mono- 

 tonous character, dustituti? of nuy deep bays, inh i l8, i>r utlier proTninent 

 features, and broken only by the inmit hx of the M»-nnui, Rhantahun, and 

 a few other atruaius. Atunp; the coast the depth vurira from 40 to CO feet* 

 increasing to over S50 tn the centre nf the gulf, with a current of throe 

 miles aa hour, which nets from south to north during the Houlheru, and 

 in the opposite direction during the northern monsoon. 



Climate.— As in the Malay Peninsula, th-se alternating mon- 

 soons determine the distribution of moisture and the general aspect 

 of the climate, The dry north-easterly trade-wind!*, prevailing from 

 October to Moy t are fullowed for the rest of the year hy the rain- 

 hearing Bantu-western currents, with :i nn-;in annual rainfall of 60 

 to TO inches. Owing to the invigorating character of the northerly 

 breezes, the climate is on the whole fairly healthy, the malaria on 

 tin- tow-lying c<>ast*lands being less virulent than in the Ganges 

 delta and other parU of south-eastern Asia, Although in the lower 

 Mi-tirim valley the mean temperature is over 80° F. T the heat h seldom 

 oppressive except in the spring month a towards the end of the 

 northern and beginning of the MUtbexn monsoun,. 



Products and Natural Resources* — Of forest growths the 

 most valuable are teak 1 eappati, caglewood T ^arcLniuiii yielding the 



