AN ORIENTAL LAND OP THE FREE BY KEY. J. K. FREEMftN * NOV 301910 * BV 3255 .L2 F73 1910 copy 1 Freeman, John Haskell, 1865 An oriental land of the frel NOV 30 1910 An Oriental Land of the Free or Life and Mission Work Among the l^l^ on the whole, children are regarded as an asset rather than a liability in the land of the Laos. It is a very strong bond which unites parents and children to each other and to the home. Only under most exceptional circumstances, such as famine, does the father leave his wife and children. " Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home," is certainly the sentiment of the Laos. One feature of the home life must not be forgotten. Near the stairs by which one goes up into the house, stands a jar of water and a cocoanut shell dipper. Bare feet are the rule, but if sandals are worn they are removed, and the feet are washed at the jar before entering the house. When the lusty cry of the new- born child is heard, presently the grandmother or 28 An Oriental Land of the Free some other elderly woman appears and seats her- self beside the water jar with the child cradled be- tween her outstretched bare feet. With the cocoa- nut dipper in her left hand she dashes cold water over the squirming, squealing child, and with her right scrubs it more or less vigorously. Soap is not always used, for soap is a luxury which many cannot afford, so that the missionary has learned that a cake of soap is a most acceptable present. The habit of a daily cold bath thus begun at birth keeps a beautiful, soft glow on the skin of the aver- age Laos man or woman. Whoever among them fails to have his daily bath is uncomfortable. In person and in dress the Laos are a cleanly race. -^ . The fact that daughters bring their husbands to live with and so watch over the declining years of father and mother, makes the advent of a girl in the house peculiarly welcome. More than once a father and mother with several stalwart sons have bewailed to me the fact that no daughters have come to bless their home. In such a case one of the sons usually in- duces his bride to leave her own home and become a daughter to his father and mother, but such an arrangement is contrary to custom (all-powerful among the Laos), difficult for the young woman, and often impracticable, if not impossible. --- While the wife and mother goes to the . , early market to sell her produce and buy TT ^ler supplies, the husband and children get the breakfast and attend to the babies. Social Customs — Woman in the Home 29 Other duties in the home are lighter than in a colder clime. Women, therefore, find time for not a little work out of doors, although the heavier work is always done by the men. The men dig the irrigation ditches, build the dams, plow and harrow the fields. When the land is ready, the wife and children aid in the planting and, later, in the har- vest. The lighter work of the garden near the house falls also to the wife and children, and as the garden is made in the dry season, the task of water- ing and caring for it is not small. As three fourths of the country is too wild and mountainous ever to be cultivated, and the fertile valleys are usually narrow, the forest is within reach of most villages. Roots and herbs, mush- rooms and bamboo shoots found in these forests, frogs and small fish from the streams and ponds, form no small part of the " relish " (" kahp," or " with " is the native word) eaten with rice. Trips to the forest to gather these are a sort of holiday enjoyed and shared in by all the family. _ If husband and wife, with or without the children, make a journey tog-ether, you Tourney .,, r/ .i. t • r •^ will often see the wife carrying some of the products of her garden or loom for sale, or food and other necessities for the journey, the husband striding by her side with little load save his sword and gun. I think this is a reminiscence of a time, not long past, when the men of the party were of necessity free from burdens that they might be on the alert to protect the company from savage beasts 30 An Oriental Land of the Free and more savage men. Along the more frequented roads and in densely populated regions, especially if there is anything really heavy to be carried, the man usually takes his share of the burden. ,^. The women rarely share in the longer Women ^ ,. ... ^ ^. ^ , ^ . , tradmg expeditions that make many of ^ , the men familiar with the roads for hun- dreds of miles in every direction from their homes, but the local trade is almost wholly in their hands. Three fourths of the attendants at the daily markets, both buyers and sellers, are women. Most women add not a little to the family income in this way, or by trade in their own homes. The wife is usually the treasurer of the home, and the husband is expected to place his earnings in her hands. ^ In a word, instead of the seclusion or sub- \ , serviency that is the lot of woman in most TT parts of Asia, the Laos wife, quite as much as her husband, is the head of the house- hold. Neither the husband nor the wife is expected to enter upon any important business alone. They share the work, the responsibility, the rewards of their labor. The whole atmosphere of a Laos home is on a plane distinctly higher than we find in any other non-Christian land, so far as I am aware. In that home woman is the queen.^ CHAPTER III THE YELLOW ROBE AND WHAT IT BROUGHT TO THE LAOS • _, As one goes in the early morning along -^ . the street of any Laos city or village, he egging .^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ yellow-robed figures with shaven heads. Each carries the " beg- ging bowl " and the fan, characteristic possessions of the Buddhist monk. With the fan he covers his face while he receives gifts of steaming rice at each door and mutters the Buddhist formula of bless- ing. The wealthier households also send a child or dependent to the monastery loaded with hot food for " the order." In this way every household con- tributes at least a handful of steaming rice each morning to the support of the monks, and in num- berless other ways the rites and observances of which the " Yellow Robe " is the type, touch the daily life and thought of the Laos people. , -_- About the " wat," which is at once ' monastery, temple and school, centers ^ . the life of the village, of the city, of the whole land. There is the " sala " or rest house where the traveler finds a stopping place; in the "sala," or even in the temple itself, the itinerant trader opens and displays his wares; all the festivals and merrymakings, the social and 31 32 An Oriental Land of the Free political, as well as the religious life of the village, there have their homes. It is fair to study first this center of much that appeals to the deepest feel- ings of the Laos people, and to ask what the Yellow Robe has brought to the Laos. _, p . I have already said that, unlike the - ^, Siamese and Western Shans, the of the - , . . , -. ,- _, 1- Laos people came m contact with Yellow Robe .1 . • .1. no other great race m the course of their migration, and were profoundly aflfected by only one outside influence, that of Buddhism. In Ceylon, Buddhism had retained something of the moral earnestness and missionary spirit that marked its founder. About A. D., 500, a Buddhist revival, begun there, carried the Yellow Robe to Burma and, a little later, to the Laos and Siamese. What did its missionaries bring to this people? ^- - First. They found the Laos without a AT In h f written character. With no little in- genuity and patience they adapted the somewhat meager alphabet of Pali, the language of their sacred books, to express the forty-five con- sonants and forty-four vowels of the Laos tongue, and its eight tones as well. The writer knows of no other alphabet, whether in Europe or in Asia, that is so rich in variety of vocal elements or so competely phonetic as that of the Laos. Yet the task of the Laos child in learning to read is less difficult than that of most European children, far less than that of the English child. The gift of this alphabet, which is popularly believed to have come The Yellow Robe 33 from the Buddha himself, was not the least of the benefits that Buddhism brought to the Laos. Second. Buddhism brought also edu- Buddhism ^^^.^^ ^^^ ^^^ wealth of Indian litera- ^ , ture and civilization within the reach Education ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ P^^ women, there as everywhere, Buddhism does little. About one in three of the boys is educated in the monasteries. When they have learned to read and to repeat cer- tian formulae, they may take the first vows as novices. Even if they remain in the temple until they are twenty-one years of age and take the full monastic vows, they are not bound to celibacy and _ J poverty for life. They may leave the -^ . J order and marry when they choose, and * * most of them do so. If they have be- come novices before they leave the monastery, they are known through life by the title of " Noi " ; if they have become full monks, they earn the higher title of " Nan." All who have not studied in the monasteries are known as " khone dip," " green men," and readily yield precedence and honor to the "Nan" and the "Noi." Bud- dhism has made education honorable among the Laos. The Tri Pitaka, often called the Bud- dhist Bible, and other books modeled -^ ^ upon it or written about it, constituting the rich and varied literature of Pali Buddhism, are to be found in the original, in whole or part, in many Laos monasteries, but few monks 34 An Oriental Land of the Free understand them. They have also been rather freely rendered into Laos. The Buddhist canon is not closed as is the canon of our Scriptures ; on the contrary, new " scriptures " in the vernacular are still being prepared. They are modeled on the old, and draw largely from them, but they often intro- duce material entirely unknown to Buddhism a generation ago. For instance, an American mis- sionary found in a monastery in Chieng Mai, a " thum " (sacred book) into which had been woven the story of the creation, the fall, the flood, much as they are found in Genesis, which had then been recently translated into Laos. The monks - and abbots seem to make little dis- •y , tinction, as to authority, between the Vernacular ,, ' . ^ \, , T .^ ^ old and the new. Both are read Literature . , ^ • a -^ » x ^i either to gain merit, or for the stories they contain, rather than for their moral or doctrinal teaching. A considerable literature modeled thus on Buddhist texts has grown up. Folklore tales, plays, poems, conundrums — some original, some derived from India — are found in these books, and are told and retold among the people. Books of proverbs, such as the " Grand- father Teaches His Grandchildren,'* are deservedly popular, singularly free from anything objection- able, and well worth translation into English. , Although a third of the men can read, ^. , and crowds gather at the monasteries to listen to the reading of the " thums " or sacred books on Buddhist festival The Yellow Robe 35 days, the Laos are not a reading people. They would rather listen to a story-teller than read for themselves. Minstrels gifted with facility in ex- tempore verse are in demand on all festal occasions. To the accompaniment of a rude violin, or of a considerable orchestra, they sing the praises of host and guests, whose applause and largesse they constantly win. This gift of minstrelsy belongs rather to the original character of the Laos, than to anything that has come to them from without, but it has grown and developed with the intel- lectual development of the people. ---- _ Thus the educational influence of "R HHVi' 7 Buddhism upon the Laos has been great and beneficent. But what 'shall we say of Buddhism as a philosophy, a moral and religious system? This question is more difficult to answer. Sakya Muni, the Buddha (or " enlight- ened one"), was first of all a philosopher who sought the cause and cure of evil. His answer to the great problem of the world is found in his sys- tem of asceticism which aims to extinguish both . desire and regret, both joy and sor- . , . . row, and ultimately to lose personal p, .. , existence in Nirvana. It denies the existence of the soul, and teaches nothing of God. Arising out of a protest against the polytheism of India, it was accused of atheism, and this accusation can hardly be denied. Al- though Buddhism does not actually deny the exist- ence of God, or of gods, it ignores them, it does not 36 An Oriental Land of the Free worship them. It is practically atheism. The Buddha was but a man and has ceased to be; so their own books say. The Buddhist is not taught to lift the soul to anything above man himself. „ The idea of birth and death and rebirth, Karma ... , sometimes as an animal, again as man or ^ . . , angel, seems strange to a western mind, but had and has great hold on the thought of India. While transmigration seems ut- terly at variance with his denial of personality and of soul, Sakya Muni accepted it in a modified form, the doctrine of " Karma." Few even of the fol- lowers of the Buddha understand, or pretend to understand, his meaning. The idea commonly cur- rent among them is akin rather to the cruder ideas of transmigration current in India. I shall there- fore not attempt to explain " Karma," but only refer to literature on that subject.^ In some form, * According to Buddhist psychology there is no personal soul, but only a union of qualities which are in a constant state of change. To use an illustration: no single kind of building material constitutes a house, nor all of them merely gathered together. They may form a house, but it is nothing apart from them and when they are taken away there is no house left. In like manner the union of qualities constitutes the individual, but when they are dissolved there is nothing left. The way in which they have interacted during life, however, creates "Karma," merit or desert In accordance with this a new individual is formed after death by a re- grouping of the qualities. This new individual has not the same personality as the old, for there is no such thing as personality; but his condition depends on the Karma or merit of the former individual. — Ed. The Yellow Robe 37 belief in transmigration has firm hold on the minds of the Laos people. ^ . That every good deed has for its object ■R/r i_- to gain merit for the doer, is the firm ^ conviction of every Buddhist. Real al- truism, action prompted by love for one's fellow rather than by ultimate gain to one's self, is not expected outside the family circle, nor is it under- stood. If a man gives alms, he does it to accumu- late merit that shall ultimately outweigh his de- merit, and promote his own happiness hereafter. If he builds a monastery, or makes gifts to the " order," or places a jar of water by the roadside that the weary traveler may drink, he makes merit thereby. To place a son, a grandson or some other lad in the monastery and support him there, to make the customary offerings and meet the other expenses involved in his entrance into the " order," is a common form of " merit-making." P - The gala days of the year are those on ^ which the people of a village unite to ^ " make merit " by offerings at the common sanctuary. These " merit-makings " are the occa- sion of no little rivalry in display and taste, not merely in the number and beauty of the offerings, but in the design and construction of the " sadees," or miniature temples and palaces in which the gifts are carried to the temples. Rivalry and the desire for display, rather than any religious motive, is behind many of the gifts. Yet the aged especially, realizing that their time for " merit-making " is 38 An Oriental Land of the Free limited, and knowing no other way to win favor in the unknown land from which no traveler returns, often make sacrifices that are pathetic. ^ ^ ^ The " Ten Precepts " of Sakya ^ - , Muni have often been compared Commandments . , ^y, ^ r- ^ \ c r T3 J J, with the Ten Commandments or Moses. Like the Ten Command- ments, the " Ten Precepts " are divided into two tables, of which this is the first: Do not take life whether of man or beast. Do not take what is not given. Abstain from unlawful sexual intercourse. Do not lie. Do not drink wine or strong drink. These correspond somewhat closely to the sec- ond half of the decalogue, and are recognized as binding on the laity as well as on the monks. The first half of the decalogue of Moses has to do with our duties to God, and finds no parallel whatever in the " Ten Precepts," the second half of which is as follows : Do not eat at forbidden times. Abstain from dancing, singing, music and stage plays. Use not a high or broad bed. Take not pleasure in garlands, scents or ornaments. Receive not silver or gold. It is evident that these latter precepts apply only to the monks, bidding them carry out the monastic ideas of Sakya Muni. The casual visitor at the " wats " will soon discover that little real effort is made to obey them. The Yellow Robe 39 How is it with the first half of the " Precepts''? While offenses and evasions constantly occur, (ofifenses against the precepts occur in the monas- teries, as well as outside), yet dishonesty, drunken- ness and impurity are certainly less rife among the Laos than in other parts of Asia. The scandals so commonly connected with Buddhist temples in China, Korea and Japan, and so inseparable from Brahman worship in India, are practically unknown in Laos temples. "R riHTi ' ^^^ precept demands especial men- P tion, the first and great command of p , the Buddha, " Do not take life whether of man or beast." The more conscientious monks strain all the water they drink; they go so far as to step aside from the path rather than crush an ant or worm. Even the common people count the fisherman or hunter a constant offender against Buddhist law. The fisherman feels that he evades the law if he allows the fish he has caught to die of itself, as It soon will. The priests themselves constantly eat the flesh of animals some one else has killed. So long as he does not actually take life, the Laos man counts cruelty 'to animals no offense against this law. He may maim or torture them, or look on suffering with seeming utter indifference. A law intended to develop pity has worked rather the other way. He considers it impossible to keep the law, for there, as everywhere, man craves flesh food. However, the fact that Christianity specific- ally sanctions the use of flesh as food, thus re- 40 An Oriental Land of the Free leasing him from bondage to a law he cannot keep, appeals to the common sense of every Laos man as an argument for Christianity. So does also the statement of Scripture that man, unlike the beast, is made in the image of God. _, It is not unfair to say that Buddhism -, . . is not in the deeper sense a religion. Messianic . . ... "^ .. ^ ^- r^u _-. - It gives little or nothing to satisfy the ^ , ,, . real cravino^s of the human heart. Buddhism ^ ,.. , -^ j One thing, however, it does give which ought not to be omitted in any statement of Laos Buddhism: When the older men and women go to the temples on the Buddhist sacred days they are wont to pray that their life may be prolonged until they shall " see the face of him that is to come." They say that the Buddha told his fol- lowers that he, himself, was not a saviour, but that in the future there will come another " enlight- ened one," who shall save all that shall behold his face. I am told that this vivid sense of a messiah that is to come is not found among the Burmese and other Buddhists. Be that as it may, the im- pression made by this hope upon the Laos gives to the messenger of Christ an opportunity much used by our evangelists, to present to them Jesus as the one who fulfills the hope of all nations. _, . The architecture of the Laos may be . _ mainly borrowed from India and _ , Burma, and its art as displayed in the Temples . j • ^ • v 4. i images and pictures in its temples may be somewhat crude, yet the fact remains that Bud- The Yellow Robe 41 dhism brought these arts to the Laos and that the boys in the temple schools learn not merely to read, but to saw lumber, to make brick and mortar, to build with brick as well as wood, to manufacture the umbrellas, the fans and many other articles they constantly use. We have seen reason to at- tribute to earlier causes rather than to Buddhism _, n Kf ^^^ comparatively high moral stand- . , ards of the Laos, and that religion did little to develop the spiritual side of ^ ,. mans nature; but, even so, it still would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of Buddhism in the life of the people. Much that is best in their language and literature, the very characters in which it is written, they owe to Buddhism; much of their knowledge of the arts and of civilization came to them with the Yellow Robe. Buddhism^ found the Laos, as Christianity found our ancestors about the same time, little above the status of the savage ; it has made educa- tion honorable and strengthened and conserved the moral standards it found already among them. When we compare it with the other religions of Asia, even with so-called Christianity as we find it in South America, in Mexico and in the Philippines, we must concede that Buddhism has given much that is good, little that is evil to the Laos. CHAPTER IV DEMON" WORSHIP AND WITCHCRAFT -,, J In the crowded harbor and waterways r> f of Bangkok, the traveler watches with curiosity the Laos boats and boatmen. The craft are ill adapted to deep-water navigation ; the navigators are out of their element on the sea. But see them rather in the roaring rapids of the Me Ping, down which, under their steady hands and eyes the boats dash safely, yet almost at railway speed. In August, 1908, the writer raced down « p. these thirty-two rapids, a distance of at ^ ., ^ least eighty miles, in seven hours. He Rapids , 1/0,0 ,;r.. has snot the bault bte. Mane m an In- dian canoe, and found it hardly more thrilling, and while the passage of the Sault is over in five min- utes, the rapids of the Me Ping continue with brief intervals of more quiet water for a whole day. The beetling clilffs, the swirling waters, the erect, alert boat captain, grasping with firm hand the giant steering oar, giving at just the right moment a few powerful strokes — it is a picture one can never forget. The writer is proud to call some of these boatmen his friends, men of splendid phy- sique, accustomed to meet and overcome danger in many forms. 42 Demon Worship and Witchcraft 43 River ^^^ ^^^ '^^^y ^a^gers that surround Superstitions ^"""^ *^^ ^'"^ ^^^'-^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^Pi^^ of the Me Ping are the abode of spirits that lie in wait for the unwary, make the Laos boatmen, like the deep-sea fishermen of Labrador, exceedingly superstitious. For in- stance: we are started for the long trip of seven hundred miles to Bangkok. We tie up for the night at a village where some of the boatmen live. The next morning breakfast time passes and there are no signs of departure. " What is the trouble, captain?" "Two of the men have gone to have their grandfather tie their wrists," is the answer. Later in the day two hours more are spent at an- other village that another boatman may be similarly protected from the dangers that await us. At the head and again at the foot of the rapids, the boatmen stop to make offerings to the spirits. Spirit '^^^ ^"^^ *^^ boatmen, but the whole Worship ^^^^ ^"^ *^^ whole people, are full to overflowing with customs and practices prompted by belief in unseen powers constantly ready to work them harm. As we travel by land, we often come to rude shrines where travelers offer flowers and food to the unseen powers. At night, as we camp in the forest, some of the men probably make such an offering before they taste their even- ing meal. Before they plant their rice, the villagers unite in offering chickens, or a pig, to the 44 An Oriental Land of the Free spirits of the fields. Some especially curious superstitions gather about the building of the house. No Laos man, not a Christian, would ven- ture to take parts of two houses to build one, nor to use in any way the charred posts or beams of a house that has been injured by fire. Lucky days and hours must be chosen for any important under- taking. When sickness and death come, more sinister forms of the spirit superstition are sure to multiply. The new-born babe is laid across the head of the steps with an adjuration to the demons that, if the babe be the child of the spirits, the spirit will take it now; if not, that it be left forever alone. About the last rites for the dead and the place of burial superstition again gathers. From childhood to old age the fear of evil spirits is ever present, a bondage all feel and would shake off if they could. _ . The Laos people recognize the existence ^, . .^ of benign spirits who have an influence over their destinies. One old lady, whom it was a pleasure to visit, repeated to me a prayer not unlike the " Now I lay me " of our childhood days, with which each evening she committed her- self to the care of these good spirits. But such worship of good spirits is unusual; spirit worship as we usually find it is directed to the evil spirits, and prompted wholly by fear. It is difficult to get at the real thought of the people, for they recognize that such worship is evil and are ashamed of it while they cling to it. Demon Worship and Witchcraft 45 Buddhism, the nominal rehgion of the Buddhism ^^^^^ absolutely forbids any worship a^d Spirit ^^ ^^^ ^^.j ^p.^-^g^ .. y^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ Wors ip spirits great ; he who makes the spirits great, whether by tying the wrist, or wearing charms, or tattooing charms, by feeding the spirits or making offerings to them, that man is outside the religion of Gautama.'* These are quoted as the words of the Buddha himself. Yet all the Laos people worship the spirits, and the Buddhist monks themselves are very often the leaders in this wor- ship. How shall we explain this total disregard of Bud- dha's express command? Why has Buddhism failed to drive out the demon worship that here, as all over Asia, preceded it? First. Because spirit worship has al- na e o ^.^ys entered more deeply into the Supplant it. j.^^ ^^^ ^^^j ^^ ^^^ L^^g p^^pj^ ^^^^ ^* Buddhism. Their sense of the pres- ence and influence of the unseen has only been dulled, never removed, by Buddhist teachings. Though the Laos seek merit by listening to the Buddhist scriptures, and repeating its formulae of devotion; though the men are educated in Bud- dhist monasteries, and the women seek favor by supporting a son or grandson in the priesthood; though the whole social life of the people centers in the Buddhist " wat " or monastery; still spirit worship is to-day, as it ever has been, the real religion of the Laos people. 46 An Oriental Land o£ the Free -T -r. ^ Second. Because, while the Buddha No Power to ^i ^ ^i, .• r -i ^ y saw that the worship of evil spirits was wrong and useless, while he himself may have broken with it wholly, he gave to his followers no refuge or strength that could deliver them from the fear of the unseen. Ask a Laos man why he worships the spirits, and if he answers at all, he will say it is because he dare not omit it. As the spirits said to the sons of Sceva, as recorded in the book of Acts, " Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?" So demon worship in Asia has in effect said to Buddhism, "Who are ye?" Buddhism has in it no power to deliver its fol- lowers from the spirits. It has practically sur- rendered to the demons all they claim. The Bud- dhist monasteries are to-day, at least in many cases, the centers of the demon worship, and the bondage of the people to fear continues to-day as before the " Yellow Robe " came to them. p, . Demon worship in itself is always and J ^-u everywhere a thing to be pitied and de- and the , -^ , ^^ - - , • y. plored. Yet in its relation to the work of the Christian missionary, even demon worship may be a schoolmaster to lead to Christ, for it has served to keep alive in the minds and hearts of the Laos people a sense of the unseen, a realization that man is dependent on spiritual powers outside himself for safety, for help, for his very being. I doubt whether it can be said that the Laos people worship or distinctly recognize a Demon Worship and Witchcraft 47 supreme being. The names of Phya Phom and Phya In (Brahm and Indra of Indian mythology) are often on their lips in folklore tales derived from India, but I do not think either is recognized as supreme, nor are prayers or worship directed to them so far as I am aware. Still, there is every- where prevalent a sense of dependence on unseen spiritual powers, wholly foreign to the self-depend- ence, the atheism, of Buddhism, p, . No stories from the Bible so readily _ ., hold the attention of a Laos audience as those of the creation and of the power of Christ over the demons. A God who created all and has power to deliver from evil spirits, meets the need and longing of their hearts. Many of our Christian people have thus been first drawn to Christ. While they continue to believe that evil spirits are about them on every hand, they believe that Jesus has delivered them from their power, and that in his name they can defy and cast them out. Even of those who have not ac- cepted Christ, multitudes recognize that over those who have accepted him, the demons have no power. p . Kindred with the spirit worship is the , universal belief in witchcraft. An ac- T-» ^ count of the first case that came under Peasant , . , , . .,, , the writer s own observation will show better than any description the power and bearing of this delusion. Nan Teo was a well-to-do Laos farmer in a vil- 48 An Oriental Land of the Free lage twenty miles from the city of Nan. He had a good rice field, buffaloes (used in plowing), sev- eral cattle, and a well-built house. A petty prince or " chow," who lived near him, wanted his field, but Nan Teo refused to sell. Nominally, a " man of the people " has just the same rights before the law as a hereditary prince; practically, a man who opposes a " chow " has little chance of success. We shall see that Nan Teo found this out to his cost. r^. Not long after after Nan Teo's refusal « . . to sell, a man in his village became ^ seriously ill. The spirit doctor was, of course, consulted, and he declared at once that the spirits of some one were making all the trouble. He proceeded to stick pins into the body of the sick man who was already delirious, and to scarify his flesh with a tiger's tooth, so that his delirious cries, commonly believed to be the cries of the spirit that possessed him, might reveal the identity of the witch. The witch doctor soon in- terpreted these incoherent cries as an accusation against Nan Teo's wife and mother. ^, So deep-rooted is the witchcraft The . : . , . , . , ^ . ,. superstition in the minds of the Laos Accusation ^ , ^x ^ ^u w r. people that the victim often ac- quiesces in the penalty inflicted, believing that even unconsciously he is responsible in some way for the illness or death of the patient. In this case Nan Teo's wife and mother indignantly denied the accusation, believing, as they afterwards told me. Demon Worship and Witchcraft 49 that the witch doctor was in the pay of the " chow " who wanted to buy their field. _,- p . In some way, evidence satisfactory ^ to the minds of the superstitious village elders was obtained, and they insisted that the accused were guilty. The whole family was ordered to leave the village. They demurred and delayed, hoping at least to get a fair price for their belongings. An offer made for their cattle was far below what they were worth, and they refused it. That night one of the cattle was ruined by a sword cut. The next day they agreed to sell, and the " chow " promised to pay them about half what their field was worth. As yet, no money had been paid in either case, but the limit of time set for them to leave the village had come. In the night while they were asleep, some one set fire to their house and they escaped with only the clothes on their backs and what they could carry in their hands. p.. , The next night the missionary found f* the whole family of five shivering over ^ . a scanty fire at a " rest house " near his own door, and not far from the city of Nan. They had neither food, nor blankets, nor money. Bit by bit he drew from them their piti- ful story, and with the cooperation of the native Christians relieved their immediate necessities. He gave them a place to stay and work so that they could maintain themselves, and a promise to help them collect the money due them. I left not 50 An Oriental Land of the Free long afterwards, and I do not know whether they succeeded in collecting the price of their field and cattle. I doubt whether they did, unless through the influence of the foreigner. -, . The members of this family were intel- Results ,. , . , . , , hgent and mdustrious, and so far as we could ascertain, had never before had any trouble with their neighbors. Yet in a week's time, by working on the superstitions of the villagers, the ** chow " had deprived them of home and farm and all that they had, and turned them out, house- less and penniless wanderers. Such accusations are less frequent and less effectual now than in the past, but in a dozen years in Laos land I have known personally of many cases. Sometimes the accusations are directed against those who have made themselves obnoxious to the village; some- times, as in the case cited, personal jealousy, covet- ousness or spite seems at work. Sometimes, at least, all parties concerned really believe the ac- cused are possessed by, or in league with, evil spirits. The writer has never seen a case of " spirit pos- session " that seemed to him real ; other intelligent observers recognize the reality of it, at least in some cases. Yet, to argue against spirit posses- sion with a Laos man or woman would be a waste of breath. << « . . The " spirit people," that is those who -, , „ have been driven away from their own People ... , , ^ . r . 1 villages through accusations of witch- Demon Worship and Witchcraft 51 craft, do not readily find a home in other villages, or even in the distant parts of the province. Their reputation is almost sure to go with them or fol- low them. Out in the mountains or forests, away from villages, there are whole villages of these " spirit people," where they have begun life anew, hoping to be free from persecution. As a whole, the people of such a village are apt to be below the average in intelligence and thrift, but discourage- ment and adverse circumstances account for this in part. Not a few of our most active and self- helpful Christian families have come from those who, at some time, were accused of witchcraft. _, Where the missionary or native ^_. . , Christians have been able to show Missionary s ... ^ ^^ 1 ^ . .. kmdness to these accused persons ^ in the time of their distress, they have often shown the deepest gratitude and have readily accepted the invitation to attend Christian services and read Christian books. Gradually the conviction that Christ is more powerful than the demons, that Christians need not and do not fear them, has gained currency among the people, non- Christian as well as Christian. They see, too, that " spirit people " who have become Christians are no longer a danger to their neighbors. It has, therefore, become rather common for a family ac- cused or suspected of witchcraft to invite the elders or leaders of the nearest group of Christians to come and hold service in their house, and to tear down at the same time the charms and spirit 52 An Oriental Land of the Free shrines that are a mark of all non-Christian homes. By this act they declare to all the village that they are Christians. Often, though not always, there is an end of accusation and suspicion. We accept such people as catechumens, but are slow to receive them to full membership in our churches, until a consistent Christian life for at least a year testifies to the reality of the change in allegiance. _- Gradually the power of the witchcraft ^ , , superstition is being- broken. The mani- Outlook r ^ A ( '^ U A ' ' test use made of it by designmg men to promote their ends, as in the case of Nan Teo, has weakened its hold upon the more intelligent of the people. Progress in intelligence and education works against it; the spread of Christianity has weakened its hold on all who recognize Christ's power, whether they personally accept him or not. Yet the belief of most earnest Christian workers in spirit possession among those who have not taken " refuge with Christ," still continues. In these and in other forms, belief in spirits and worship of them continues to be the real religion of the Laos people. CHAPTER V ARTS AND INDUSTRIES _- Silk and cotton fabrics as delicately fine, . silver and gold as intricately wrought, ^ ^ ivory as beautifully carved as the marts of India afford, are not to be found among the Laos. Their lacquer is less beautifully finished, and their pottery is rude, as compared with the products of Japan and China. But the average Laos man lives in a better house and is more cleanly and better clothed and fed, than the average man on the plains of India. He is not only skillful in the use of his own tools, but ready to devise or adopt new tools, new expedients, new methods. TT As in the homes of our grandfathers T , ^ . in pioneer days, many a Laos home Industries ^ / \ -/ r , , ^ produces, not only its own food, but its own clothing. It depends also on the labor of members of the household for building material of every sort, even for most of its tools and utensils. In cities and large villages many foreign goods are sold, but in the more remote villages many a house- hold is clad in the product of its own cotton field and loom, eats little it does not raise or gather in the forest, uses few tools or utensils not made 53 54 An Oriental Land of the Free under its own roof, and thus is dependent upon the outside world for little except salt and the iron from which their tools are forged or cast. .J In less isolated places, division of labor ^... has gone farther. Almost every villager above the average in intelligence has some specialty that occupies his time when field or herd do not require attention. One is skillful in weaving baskets or matting, another makes better hats than his neighbors, a third is a blacksmith, a fourth excels in silver and brass work. This woman is a skillful trader and invests her capital in pepper, salt, or limes, when they are plenty ; in the house opposite the women spend most of their time at their looms; others give time and strength to gardens of peppers, cotton, onions and tobacco. Weaving and the other processes that intervene between cotton boll or silkworm cocoon and the finished garment, have ever been looked on as peculiarly woman's work. Nowhere are to be found cotton goods of firmer texture, or with colors more cunningly blended, than on the looms of a Laos household. Beautiful silks are also woven, especially in Nan province. Though flax is raised, it is used only for cordage, and in making seines and nets. , As I watch the better class of Laos ->. ^ women in their work, I am often re- minded of Solomon's description of a worthy woman in the last chapter of Proverbs: " She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly Arts and Industries 55 with her hands. . . . She layeth her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. . . . She maketh linen garments and selleth them, and de- livereth girdles unto the merchant." " She con- sidereth a field, and buyeth it; with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. . . . She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness." (Part of Prov. 31 : 13-27.) Evidently times and circumstances when these words were written were in some respects not un- like those of the Laos people to-day. -, , . , Not all the credit in textiles, how- Mechanical • J xl- T-U J . ever, is due the women. Ihe cotton gin, the spinning wheels, the reels and the shuttles, as well as the loom itself, are made by the men. It is worthy of note, too, that the looms are more substantial and more con- venient than those in common use in Burma, India and China. The ingenuity displayed in the loom appears also in the plow. We have all seen pic- tures of the plows in common use in some parts of Asia, very rude and inefficient ; the Laos farmer uses a plow with a well-made iron share, well adapted to his needs. Again, since iron is costly and cannot be used freely in house-building, many houses are put together with wooden pins ; perhaps there is not a nail in the whole structure. To make places for these pins a good auger is a necessity, and Laos ingenuity has devised one. With a native hatchet, a large and a small knife, chisels and planes of his own manufacture, a saw and a gimlet, a Laos 56 An Oriental Land of the Free carpenter will turn out cabinetwork that would puzzle an American master carpenter with a full chest of tools. With a bit of bamboo, a rope and a few odd pieces of wood, he will improvise a lathe that does excellent work. The mechanical skill that enables him to make good use of his own tools, makes him equally ready to use better tools when he can get them. Laos artisans to-day are demand- ing the very best wood-working tools, and they are willing to pay for them. But what has most im- pressed me as I have worked with them is their readiness of resource, and mechanical gift that, if it cannot do a thing in an accustomed way, will devise some way to reach the result. _- Almost every Laos man can plan and T, ., ,. build his own house and fashion some, . ^ at least, of the ruder tools he needs on -J, his farm and in his home. Some one in every village can boss the job of sawing any lumber he may need. With a piece of hoop iron, a file, and wood that is at hand, he will make the saw he needs. Better saws can now be had of German make, and many are sold, but much lum- ber is still sawed, and well sawed, with the rudest tools. The frame of a Laos house is like the frame our grandfathers made, a few heavy timbers mortised together instead of many smaller ones. The walls are paneled like a door, and are completed ready to set in place before the " house-raising " begins. Posts, sills, plates and rafters, the entire frame is Arts and Industries 57 carefully fitted together, piece by piece, and care- fully numbered, bamboo for the floors and thatch for the roofs are also ready, and a pig and other sup- plies for the feast as well. The lucky day is deter- mined upon, and all the village is invited to the " raising." Work often begins before it is really light, for it would be ill luck if even a post hole were dug the day before ; material may all be ready, but the actual work of erecting the house must be completed in a day. Many hands make light work of the heaviest tasks, and a small house is often completed before noon. »,, The women of the house and of TT ■!-».. the neisfhborhood have not been House-Raising ... . ^^, . ^, P idle m the meantime. The pig has been killed and great quanti- ties of rice, peppers, bananas and vegetables pro- vided. About eight in the morning, and again in the middle of the day, the merry work ceases, and all gather about the tiny round tables with their steaming loads of rice and curry. At " house-rais- ings," as on other gala occasions, the feast is an indispensable part of the ceremonies, and if the work continues until night, feasting and merry- making, too often quickened by liberal use of the native rice whiskey, may continue till the wee small hours. P - Cigarettes, or tobacco to make them, p, . " meeung," or wild tea leaves and the ^ betel tray, are all passed around after the more substantial part of the feast is over. A 58 An Oriental Land of the Free child, four or five years old, imitates his elders, and is found gravely lighting his cigarette, or busily chewing his " meeung " or betel nut. Betel-chew- ing is not peculiar to Siam, but is a custom com- mon in India, Burma and China, as well. A fresh sera leaf, a dab of lime paste, a bit each of betel nut, of tobacco and of an astringent bush, all wrapped in the sera leaf, form the quid, and every man as he returns to work carries such a quid very evidently in one cheek. Betel-chewing tends to blacken the teeth and stain the lips and tongue a brick red. It also tends to make the gums recede from the teeth till the latter are loose and ready to drop out before old age fairly approaches. Still the " chew " of betel is antiseptic and helps to preserve the teeth even while it blackens them. Disgusting as the habit and the results are to us, more can be said in its favor than appears at first sight. - Houses may be built almost wholly of ^ . bamboo, but such a house lasts at most ^ ^ only a few years, and more often posts and frames are of solid wood. Given a frame of native " mahogany " that will last a lifetime, if the family prospers basket work gives place in the walls to teak or oil-wood panels ; sawed lumber re- places bamboo planks in the floor; and a tile roof takes the place of thatch. The transformation may be gradual, but it is typical of the change that I have watched over the whole land the past fifteen years. Though timber is more expensive and labor Arts and Industries 59 better paid, every year has seen improvement in the character of the houses built. It has been said, with some truth, I think, that if a Burman or a Siamese gets money ahead, it generally goes onto his back or into his belly; but the Laos man's first thought is a better house. _ - The art and architectural skill of the . , . ^ Laos still center where they began, Architecture . . r^ ^^u' . .♦ ^ m the Buddhist monasteries and temples. Only these and city walls have in the past been built of brick. Indeed, I am told that an old superstition forbade the use of brick in other ways. If so, the power of that superstition is gone; public buildings, public stores, even dwelling houses are to-day being built of brick. Yet the temples are still the most imposing and attractive buildings. In the city as well as in the village, sometimes in the midst of a forest or on top of a commanding hill, their many-storied, pagoda-like roofs (see accom- panying picture of a temple in Chieng Mai) attract and hold the eye. This heavy roof does not rest on the brick walls alone, but on beautiful wooden columns, such as appear in the temple interior on the same page. On these columns, as well as on the entrance doorway, or the whole front, a wealth of decoration in carving, lacquer and gold leaf, often most effective, is laid with a lavish hand. The pagodas found within the areas of all import- ant temples are unlike the many-storied pagodas of China. Like many other features of the tem- ples, they mark the dependence of Laos builders on 6o An Oriental Land of the Free Indian models. Some recent temples follow Bur- mese models, but the result is usually less pleasing than the older work. Thousands of dollars are spent each year in gold leaf to cover afresh the ancient pagodas that mark places held peculiarly sacred. The great pagoda in Lampoon, one of the ancient capitals, has been twice completely re- gilded in the ten years of my residence there. The increase in wealth and population that has accompanied peace, has been in no way more dis- tinctly marked than by the increasing number and beauty of the temples. p. Laos city walls are often substantial and ^-_ .. picturesque. Of no avail against modern artillery, they were a real protection against robber raids such as were common scarce forty years ago. Built usually of brick over earth, the presence of laterite blocks in some of them, as at Lampoon, indicates that in part, at least, those walls go back hundreds of years. Stone masonry, now apparently a lost art among the Laos, seems to have been then fairly common. However, stone well adapted to masonry is neither abundant nor easily accessible to the cities. About twenty walled cities still exist in the Laos states of Siam alone. The number of ruined cities is much larger, but this does not so much imply that the population was at times larger than now, as that in those troublous times one city after an- other was taken and destroyed, and if rebuilt, re- built on a new site rather than on the old. In re- Arts and Industries 6i cent years part of these walls, especially the curious " pig's ear " outworks at the city gates, have been pulled down, and the material used in road-making. Still, much that is picturesque remains, though the growth of the cities to-day is mainly outside the walls. rp. One of the most curious and import- j ant industries of the Laos is the manu- T J ^ facture of lacquer ware. From Chiensf Industry ,^ . , . ^ . , ,, ^ Mai this ware is not only sent all over the Laos states, but to Bangkok as well. Anyone who compares the Laos w^are with Japanese or Russian lacquer w^are, will be struck at once with its extreme lightness. If he examines carefully, and finds some nick in the lacquer covering, he may discover the reason; the Laos lacquer is laid over an exceedingly fine and strong basket work of split bamboo. While its finish is less artistic than the Japanese ware, its lightness, its strength, and its graceful form commend it to all. The gum from which the lacquer is prepared is found in the Laos forests, and forms an important article of export. _ Repousse work in silver and gold is OM done with much skill in all Laos cities. Silverware , , ..^^i r .1 . ,1 r •, • but little of this work has found its way to foreign markets. This is because Burmese sil- ver work is similar and equally good, and there is in the Laos states no adequate supply of native silver. However, some exquisite specimens of sil- verware and ivory carving have recently drawn at- tention to it. There is a little brass and no gold in 62 An Oriental Land of the Free the country, save what is imported, and work in these metals is not important. Charcoal, iron and steel of fair quality are made and wrought into knives, plowshares and other utensils and tools, but the supply is inadequate, and there is a con- siderable demand for foreign iron and ironware. No coal has yet been found, and iron is not abun- dant, so the industrial future is not promising. Laos will never be a rich country. p . No notice of Laos industries should ^ fail to mention wood-carving, as no ^^ Laos temple, or Laos house of any pretensions, would be complete with- out it. Even in the humbler homes and humblest utensils, exquisite bits of the wood-carver's art are often found. The gable ends, the ridgepole, lintel and doorposts, the doors themselves, the entire front of the temple sometimes, are adorned with carvings in teak wood, sometimes covered with lacquer and inlaid with mother-of-pearl. It is less perfect than the best Swiss and Tyrolese carving, but one is often reminded of these. Finely carved images of the Buddha in rock crystal are found in some of the older temples, as well as images in bronze, brass and silver, but I do not know that such work is produced to-day. The most common images and ornamental work in the temple are of brick covered with stucco. The best work of this sort to-day is done by men who have learned their trade in Burma. However, the amount of stucco work is everywhere so great that much of it must A Laos Boat Note Polemen and Cabin Arts and Industries 63 be native. Some of it is very effective. Stucco work as well as wood-carving and brass work in the temples are often covered with gold leaf. Princes and wealthy merchants thus display their wealth, and gain, as they think, much merit for themselves. -5 Laos boats are of a peculiar type, and p ., ,. are specially fitted to the water they ^ have to navigate. Of too shallow draft and too small freight capacity for the lower river, they seem odd and out of place in Bangkok. It is when poled or pulled up the swirling waters of the rapids that they may be seen at their best. The building of these boats is one of the main industries at Chieng Mai and river villages near by. A single tree trunk forty or fifty feet long is hollowed out, then gradually spread by steam and pressure to form not only the keel, but two feet of the sides. Above this the sides are formed of planks, lap- streaked on. The deck, the walls and roof of the cabin, the high prow, the enormous steering oar, all have a history and a peculiar adaptation to needs. The stern, shaped like a fish's tail, seems merely ornamental, but may have a use a foreigner does not readily understand. The keel and bottom, all of one piece, is exceedingly heavy, but it makes the boat rigid and specially fits it to be dragged safely over the rocks that fill the narrow channel at the rapids in low water. Already the railway is surveyed to Lakawn, and in ten years from now the Laos boat may be a 64 An Oriental Land of the Free thing of the past, and one of the most picturesque elements in Laos Hfe may disappear forever. As in other parts of Asia, the conventional garb and utilitarian ^ ways of the West are gradually re- Civilization . \ ^1 J. ^. .• 1 , placmg the distmctive dress, uten- sils and conveyances of oriental peoples. Western civilization brings advantages to the East that I do not mean to minimize, but it is robbing it, as it has already robbed the West, of much that is pictur- esque and in the highest sense useful. CHAPTER VI THE LAOS YEAR IN FIELD AND HARVEST ^ — . Rice and teak may seem to have little in , common, but for the Laos man they fit rjy , into one another both in space and time. One furnishes his main food, the other his main source of wealth; one keeps him busy in the wet season, the other in the dry; one occupies the plain, the other the mountain and forest. To these two great industries of rice-growing and lumbering all others are subordinate and secondary. If you would know and appreciate Laos industry and life, you must see it in rice-planting and harvest, in logging camp and river jam. P . - -. The planting and care of the rice crop , among the hills of the north is by no p. means so simple a matter as on level plains near the sea. There the Burmese or Siamese farmer simply waits until the abundant rains flood the whole country, and keep it flooded through the rice season. Not so in the north, where lofty ranges of mountains along the Bur- mese border rob the trade winds of most of the bur- den of rain they bring from the Bay of Bengal before they reach the plains of northern Siam. Along the western side of these mountains from 66 An Oriental Land of the Free Maulmein in Burma, north to Assam, an annual rainfall of one hundred and twenty to two hundred and forty-five inches makes irrigation unnecessary. As one goes south from Maulmein, the mountains are lower and cut off less rain, so that nearly the same conditions prevail in lower Siam. On the other hand, in Chieng Mai the total rainfall does not usually exceed forty inches, and is much less regu- lar. The Laos farmer must therefore depend for his rice crop, not on the irregular rainfalls in the plains, but on the mountain streams. _ . ,. Irrio:ation is a necessity and a problem Irrigation ,. . j.^ .^ \^ti of serious difficulty. When one sees great ditches that bring the water many miles, with aqueducts that carry them at times across not in- considerable valleys and streams, and realizes that all this work has been done without transit or compass, or other surveying instruments ; when one sees the dams and levees that are built to control the floods, and watches the teak logs whirled end over end against these feeble barriers by the swol- len waters, he begins to appreciate the patience and skill of the Laos farmer. At best the ditches must be cleansed of accumulated sediment each season, the aqueducts and dams repaired and strengthened or rebuilt each year, and only constant watchful- ness in flood time can save the levees and dams from destruction, the crops from serious loss. All this work, too, is done by hand; no scrapers or ditchers, or pile-drivers help in the work, which is usually done by the families whose rice plains The Laos Year in Field and Harvest 67 " eat " the water of the ditch in question. Despite their efforts, not unfrequently the teak logs that beat like battering rams against dam and dike in flood time break through the one or the other, and whether the supply of water is thus cut off from the higher levels, or the lower levels inundated thereby, in either case the crop is ruined. The rice farmer's lot is not an easy one. _. ^. , - The whole area fed by a ditch is ter- Rice Field j 1 j- • 1 1 1 -a r raced and diviaea by narrow ridges 01 p. earth that serve as footpaths when the plain is flooded, into sections usually less than a quarter of an acre in size, each of which must be perfectly level. The water is allowed to enter the higher terraces first, then, as a section or terrace is flooded, the water is turned to other and lower ones. When a section has been flooded, so that the hard-baked earth has become soft, plowing begins. The plowshare is not unlike one share of an old-fashioned " double-shovel plow " or a corn cultivator, but when set at the proper angle and skillfully handled it turns the earth, now softened by the overflow, almost as well as our own plows, but does not go as deep. TVi \M f ^^ ^^ ^^^ Philippines and in India, _ rr , the animal that draws the plow is the clumsy-looking water buffalo. His big body and horns and short legs give a false im- pression ; usually slow and sleepy in his movements, his eyes watch everything, and when aroused he is capable of considerable speed and is a fierce antago- 68 An Oriental Land of the Free nist. He is a more real and present danger to the traveler than the tiger that lurks in the forest. Yet dangerous as he is, he is often curiously docile in the hands of the tiny boy or girl who watches him. Enormously heavy and strong, fond of the water and mud in which he delights to wal- low, he is just fitted to pull the plow and harrow in the flooded rice fields. There the buftalo is always used singly. They are yoked in pairs to haul timber and logs. The buffalo is used for about three hours in the early morning, and again in the cool of the evening, but from eight to four — through the heat of the day — he must be allowed to rest and feed. If he cannot find mud in which to wal- low, or a stream in which to lie while he chews his cud, he does not thrive. At night, tethered to- gether in the dooryard, the animals edge up to the smudge that is built to keep off the mosquitoes. p. The water is allowed to stand on the p- . plowed fields until grass and weeds are ^ in a measure killed, then a peculiar har- row, drawn by a buffalo — not unlike an old- fashioned hayrake — drags out the weeds and straw and at the same time mixes the mud and water to a tolerably smooth mass. In the middle of the day, while the buffalo rests and feeds, the farmer is busy completing by hand the work of the harrow, repairing the ridges of earth that confine the water to each section, and controlling the flow of water. Meantime the seed rice has been thickly sown in beds where the children can watch it and keep off The Laos Year in Field and Harvest 69 the crows. I know of no more beautiful sight than the fresh green of these seed beds in which the rice is allowed to grow until it is about a foot high. It is then pulled up, shaken from the earth, and tied in bunches convenient for handling. Plowing and harrowing are now completed, and earth and water over the flooded fields form a creamy paste of mud, in which father and mother Wade while they plant the rice. Holding in the left hand a bunch of the young rice, with the right each deftly seizes two spears of rice and plunges them together into the soft mud at his feet. In poor land the rice must be more closely planted, but about eight inches apart each way would be an average. The movements of an expert rice planter are so swift one can scarce follow them with the eye, yet it is at best slow work. Only an expert can plant a half acre in a day. T5 r Once the rice is planted, if the supply of ^, water keeps up and no flood comes to the , . . , ^ , , . TT drown the rice, the farmer s duties are light till harvest approaches. Once at least — more often if low water allows weeds to grow — the children must go over the fields and pull out the weeds that grow despite the water. If any of the rice dies, fresh shoots must be set. Occa- sionally, if a flood kills all the rice in a limited area, the farmer can get enough young rice to replant the whole, but when planted late the crop is short. Drought, flood, plant disease, caterpillars and crabs, are some of the difliculties with which the 70 An Oriental Land of the Free farmer must contend. In addition, constant watch must be kept against cattle, buffaloes and elephants, lest they eat and tread down the green rice. As har- vest approaches vast flocks of birds gather and take toll, despite scarecrows and clappers and shouting boys. -, . A little before the strain is ripe the Keapmg . , ^, ,1^-1, 1 , water is shut 011 and the nelds are al- ^, , . lowed to dry. Even then the barefoot reapers are often ankle deep in soft mud. Their reaping knives are like short sickles. Each stool of rice is cut separately and allowed to dry for a day before the rice is bound in small bun- dles. In Nan and Pre, the cut grain is stacked around a square of ground that is prepared as a threshing floor, but in Chieng Mai the grain is threshed at once. Rice has no chaff, and, since it has only to be broken from its stem, is easily threshed. In Chieng Mai an enormous shallow basket, ten feet in diameter, is carried from place to place in the field and the bundles of rice are beaten out over the edge. In Nan, heavy boards set at an angle are placed round the threshing floor and over these the rice is threshed out. . TT ^ Since the threshing in Nan waits a p . . month or more on the convenience of the farmer, there is time to make it a festal occasion. Each farmer in turn, or a group of them that have stacked their rice around a single threshing floor, makes a " bee " and invites all the countryside to help thresh his rice. With laughter The Laos Year in Field and Harvest 71 and jest, with feasting, and covert if not open love- making between the lads and lassies, the work goes merrily on. Minstrelsy, song and games of various kinds, have place after darkness falls on the busy scene, although, if it be moonlight, the sound of the threshing may often be heard far into the night. One disadvantage of this plan is the danger from thieves and elephants. Watch must be kept each night beside every threshing floor until the grain is threshed and carried away. The customs at Nan certainly make the threshing a picturesque scene and make the season less hurried, more merry and light-hearted than in Chieng Mai. -^ . When the harvest is on, every man is sure p. ^^ ^ to ask of his employer a week off to " buy rice." He thinks he can buy it much cheaper in the held, and does not count the time he spends going from place to place, haggling over the price; perhaps he finally pays more than he would have had to pay in the first field he visited. As a matter of fact, save among friends, little rice is sold at once, the owner usually holding on in the hope of higher prices, the buyer looking for lower. But what of that? The pleasure of "buying rice" is the share in the joy of harvest; a vacation is worth much to him, as well as to you and to me, even if it brings in no shekels. ^, ^ From tlie beG:inning of the heavy rains The Laos , ^ t 1 .m • xt -jji r „ about July i, until m the middle of January when the last of the harvest is brought in, the time of the vast majority of the 72 An Oriental Land of the Free Laos people is occupied with labor in the fields. The nearly six months that intervene before an- other crop must be planted is a time when farm labor is light, and the thrifty, active man seeks other employment. During these months little rain falls, and as the heat of the year culminates in March and April, it is not a time to grow any- thing, save in spots where abundant water for irri- gation is to be had. Then it is that the thought and footsteps of men turn to the forests, where many thousands of them are employed during the dry season. But ere we follow them hither we will see a little of the work in the fields after harvest. _ Where water for irrigation is abundant, . .r^ TA a second crop of rice may be planted ^ ^ in February and harvested in June. There are also low-lying areas, wholly flooded during the rains, that produce a good crop at this season. The amount of dry-season rice planted increases each year, but over the bulk of the rice plains the water is insufficient to mature a second crop of rice. Even for other crops that require less water and a shorter season, the time available be- fore the blistering heat of March and April dries up everything is very short. Tobacco, onions, gar- lic and some other vegetables are planted in the rice fields. As soon as the rice can be got out o£ the way or even earlier, as soon as the floods are over, the sand bars along every stream are hastily fenced in and prolific gardens of peppers. The Laos Year in Field and Harvest 73 cucumbers, beans, sweet corn, okra, mustard, sweet potatoes and squashes, soon appear. It is not long until the receding waters leave most of these gar- dens high and dry. Shallow wells are dug in the sand, and by dint of many hours of labor each day with bucket and dipper these gardens are brought to maturity. _, p.^ The harvests once over, the morning p ,^ markets are full once more. The very first of the new rice, patiently hulled in the rice pounder, is eagerly sought for. It has a delicate flavor that is lacking after harvest. All through the year the work of " pounding the rice " is a daily task for the women and children in every household. However, the amount of rice sold pounded, that is ready to cook, increases each year. Many families prefer to store their extra rice and pound it before gelling it. Not only do they get a little higher price for it, but they have less weight to carry to market, and the bran fed to the pigs adds .to the family income. Pigs are not usually allowed to run at large, but are fed by hand, not only with this bran but with weeds gathered by the children and cooked with the bran by the grand- mother in a big earthen pot reserved for that pur- pose. The rice pounder is a big wooden mortar sunk in the ground, whose pestle is lifted by a lever with the foot and allowed to drop by its own weight. In the hands of a skilled woman it breaks less of the rice than the rice mills, but it is slow. 74 An Oriental Land of the Free ^ , Having stored the harvested rice ^ -, in the rice house, helped in the Dry-Season . ^. , , . , , ., _ - planting of his garden and paid his taxes, the husband and father is free to accept such remunerative employment as may come to him. The care of the garden and pigs, the watching of the buffaloes and cattle, the market- ing of the surplus rice and the produce of gardens and fruit trees, can safely be left to the oversight of the wife. The dry season is therefore the time of the year when lumber is sawed, new granaries and houses and temples erected, new fields cleared, and new irrigation ditches made. In short, the thousand and one things that await a convenient season are done at that time. -^ , Many of those employed the year round . ^, by timber companies are Kah Mooh, m the -^ , .. 1 Ml r M » . -n t, T Tj, men of a hill tribe, in French Laos who are particularly skilled with the ax and with elephants. They come over, a hundred together, for a few years and then return to their homes on the French side of the border. They are willing to work the entire year, and can be had more cheaply than Laos workers, and they cut most of the timber. But during the dry season a large number of Laos men are also employed to girdle the trees, to clear underbrush, and guard both standing timber and logs against fire, and to make roads for the elephants to drag the logs down the mountains. Many others are employed in cutting timber other than teak, for house posts, for The Laos Year in Field and Harvest 75 lumber and for fuel, and in gathering rattan and various resins and gums used in making dammer, varnishes and lacquer. ^, TA . Ag^ain in the months that intervene be- The Drive ^ ^^ • 1 .. j 1. ^ c J , tween rice-plantmg and harvest, bep- "^ tember and October, especially, when the floods lift the heavy logs, many men are em- ployed to help the elephants in the drive, working the logs off the sand bars and keeping them moving, preventing them, if possible, from gathering in a jam that closes the channel. Despite all care, some teak log will get caught and others gradually pile against it, till hundreds, even thousands of logs are piled in seemingly inextricable confusion clear across the channel. Such a jam of logs has many times endangered the bridge at Chieng Mai, and in the rapids boats sometimes must wait for days till the water goes down sufficiently for the elephants and men to be able to get at the logs, or till a higher rise sweeps all before it and clears the channel. T^, - , I know of no more interestinsf sight Elephants ^, ^ , , r 1 , \ f w ir than to watch a company of elephants at work to break such a jam, and open the channel. A mahout sits on the head of each elephant to direct it, but often the intelligent animals seem themselves to know what to do. The males work with tusk, trunk and head, the females helping with trace chains attached to broad trace bands over their shoulders. One by one the key logs are pulled out, and as the mass of logs begins to move the warning " trumpet " of some watchful 76 An Oriental Land of the Free tusker gives the alarm, and the great beasts rusK for safety to the bank or down stream. Not in- frequently, one of them is injured, or even killed in the work, but still without these giants of the forest it would be difficult to handle the timber of the tropics. There is no snow to make easy the moving of enormous loads, and as yet little machin- ery has been introduced that could replace them. ^, Any book on Siam that gave only a „- , passing reference to these kings of the - ^. animal kingdom would certainly be in- complete, the more so, that the largest elephants in the world are said to be those found in the forests of Siam, especially in the Laos states. Years ago, when the timber business was smaller than now, every Laos family of means had an elephant, perhaps several of them. They were used frequently on journeys as well as to drag timber and bring in the rice from the fields. It was easy then to hire them for a journey across country. The waiter traveled with and on tliem a few times years ago. In those days they were well called the " ships of the forest." To-day the increase in the timber business has so increased the demand and enhanced the price that they are used little in other work. Only here and there can one see the " family elephants," so common not many years ago. A good tusker is now worth a thousand dollars, and only the princes, of those wdio have constant use for them, can afford to own one. Each year the princes who claim ownership in the The Laos Year in Field and Harvest 77 wild elephants in the mountains, organize hunts to bring in those untamed children of the forests and train them for the work they alone can do. In April, 1908, twenty-five of these captives, each escorted by and chained to a tame elephant, were brought together into the city of Chieng Mai. It was a great event, and several princes, each with his retainers, mounted on elephants, went out to meet them, so that a hundred elephants or more appeared in the procession. Probably at least ten of these twenty-five captives died before they could be trained to the work and life of a captive, but the balance would bring five to ten thousand dollars to their captors. This seems cruel, but it is prob- ably unavoidable. Nowadays there is little or no cruelty in the method of capture of the elephants, and great care is taken vv^ith their food and train- ing. . P Broken for the most part while still pi ]- t young, and treated with reasonable kindness, the trained elephants often become very docile and much attached to their keepers, but every now and then harsh treatment or inherent bad blood makes a rogue elephant. The physician in charge of the Chieng Mai Hospital, Dr. J. W. McKean, tells the following incident : " Not long ago my friend. Dr. W. A. Briggs of Chieng Rai (to whom this book owes its best photo- graphs) was in Chieng Mai on mission business. I asked the Chow Raja Wong, the prince who ranks next to the governor, to place some of his elephants 78 An Oriental Land of the Free at our disposal for photographic purposes. To this the prince readily assented. We found the palace yard well filled with elephants. " Two particularly fine ones, the prince's favor- ites, were to be photographed first. To add a flavor of novelty, I suggested that His Excellency ride on the neck of the larger. He consented and proposed that I ride on the other. In a few minutes the prince, re-dressed as a mahout, mounted his tusker, and I mounted the elephant with a howdah. Dr. Briggs made one exposure, the one shown in the picture, and asked us to change position a bit before he pressed the button again. We did so; without warning the prince's beast charged mine from behind and drove him headforemost against an eight-foot solid board fence, which can be seen in the photograph behind the larger elephant. He withdrew for a moment, giving me time to spring to the fence and escape to the ground on the other side; then, thrusting his tusks into the side of my elephant just behind the fore leg, he drove him broadside through that high fence as though it had been made of straw, and pinned him up against a building beyond. Although his servants and friends were white with terror, the prince sat on the neck of that ferocious brute like the prince that he is, till the elephant's own driver, climbing to the top of the fence, sprang to the monster's back, crawled past the prince and seated himself on his head. No sooner did the brute feel his master in command, than he drew back and allowed the poor, The Laos Year in Field and Harvest 79 wounded elephant to arise. The latter, although seriously injured, ultimately recovered. In terror and confusion, the other elephants had stampeded, and there were no more photographs that day. I have not sat on an elephant's neck since." This favorite of the prince has several times tried to kill his mahout, or seriously injure other elephants, but the prince still uses and loves him. CHAPTER VII THE FACE OF THE LAND p . « As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so are they round about all the Laos valleys. As the heart of the Jewish cap- tive longed for his native hills, so the heart of the Laos man or woman out of sight of these moun- tains longs for the verdure-clad slopes. Even upon the foreigner who has been resident there, the charms of " Fair Laos " have laid their spell. When back in his native land, he lifts his eyes, but sees not the encircling hills to which his spirit turns. As in Japan, three fourths of the area never can be cultivated. Were the rainfall as abundant as in Japan, a larger area would be available, but rains are irregular and uncertain. Only the land that is most fertile, and most favorably situated, can profitably be cultivated, practically only that which can be irrigated. p - Though the Laos states as a whole p, . are sparsely populated, some of these fertile areas have a very dense popu- lation. Stand with me on a rice plain near the center of population of the province of Lampoon, just south of the new chapel in Bahn Pan. The rice plain about you is as level as a floor, but in 80 The Face of the Land 8i every direction you can see mountains that sur- round the great Chieng Mai plain rising to a height of four to eight thousand feet. East of you and near at hand, is the village of Muang Chee with four thousand people; to the south lies the village of Sun Ka Noi, only a little smaller; west and north are two other large villages, and within three miles of the point where we stand are a dozen other villages with one to five hundred people each. Al- together, within that radius of three miles, is a farming population of hardly less than twelve thousand people, or nearly five hundred to the square mile. Some of them may work land outside this area, but most of them depend for their sup- port on the area in which they live. Within these limits, the population is as dense as in Bel- gium, only a little lesSvdense than on the plains of China: ,-, T,, ^ . But only five miles away, one The Mountains ^ ,• . . r r T5 ^ enters a district of forest and. Between ^ • t, ^t, ^ i mountain where the traveler pro- ceeds for three days before reaching any consider- able village. There are fertile valleys to be sure, but they are narrow and isolated. Although clad with vegetation, often to their summits, the mount- ains are for the most part too barren or too steep for cultivation. ^r ^ 9 Only in well-watered ravines and Nature's ./ ^, .... ^ ^ , valleys among the mountains does Own Gardens v- , ^t, f -i^ i • r one find that wild luxuriance of vegetation that we are apt to imagine characterizes 82 An Oriental Land of the Free the tropics everywhere. In such spots tree ferns, wild palms and bananas grow luxuriantly, a wealth of smaller ferns lift their graceful fronds from the crevices of the rocks, long palmlike vines of the prickly rattan are festooned from the trees. Above and around them all, more graceful than either, the clumps of bamboo curve upward and outward. One never tires of watching the ever-changing beauty of these. Nature's own gardens, especially if through the swaying foliage he catches glimpses of verdure-clad cliffs and trickling waters. Such spots of beauty may be found near the " Gates of the Mountains," in Lakawn, in the " Valley of the Four Thousand," in Nan, in "Wild Palm Glen," on the slopes of Ogre Mountain, north of Chieng Mai. rp . , The delicate spring flowers that are the p, charm of the American forest are hardly matched in the tropics. The so-called "ground orchids," that abound on the mountains in April, are nearest to them. The real orchids are mainly air plants and bloom in the clefts of tall forest trees. Just at the close of the dry season, whole forests of flowering trees blaze out in gor- geous red and yellow and pink. Many of these, as well as the more modest acacias, tamarinds and " fool beans," belong to the pea family which pre- dominates among the flowers of Siam. Earlier in the season, thickets of certain compositse make great masses of purple, of dull red, and of yellow, beside the path. However, flowers are sought by The Face of the Land 83 the Laos maidens, not for their color, but for their fragrance. The " jewel-tree " furnishes its delicate greenish flowers for their wreaths almost through- out the year. Tuberoses, golden acacias, jasmine and roses, are among the favorites. The young man is more apt to choose flowers of brilliant color, and places over his ear a sprig of " peacock-flower," or a brilliant-hued orchid. _.,_,- These brilliant flowers remind one of the plumage of the chattering little parrots that sometimes appear in almost countless numbers. Other birds of brilliant plumage flash in and out of the forest glades. White and gray cranes, pelicans and sandpipers, abound along the rivers. The myna bird perches gravely on the back of the grazing buffalo, and searches for his food, to the evident relief of the great beast. Doves not unlike our wood pigeon utter a similar note in the forest, and flocks of crows annoy the farmers as they do here. But there is a notable absence of song birds; the woods there are never vocal with their tuneful notes. ~, TT After all, it is not these garden i- ^1. rr. 1 spots of the mountains that dwell of the Teak ^ ^ . ^, -ru 1 a most m the memory. The rocky and somewhat barren heights are the home of the teak, most valuable of the timber trees of Siam, the greatest source of the country's wealth. The con- servation and wise use of these forests has in recent years demanded and received the best thought of the government and its advisers. 84 An Oriental Land of the Free Many other trees vakiabh ber, and more attractive to the eye ^ - _ ^ Many other trees vakiable for tim- Cther Forest -^ Trees than the teak, are also found in these mountains. Much of this timber is so dense and heavy that it will not float even v^hen well seasoned, and it is very diffieuh to handle. The largest and finest of these trees are often left behind when timber is cut, because they cannot handle them. I remember especially, one giant of the forest. Nearly twelve feet in diameter at the base, its shaft towering skyward straight as an arrow, a full hundred feet, its spreading top raised still higher, it was a landmark in every direction. ^ ,, T^. ^ Among the mountains of Nan is a God s First ^ ^ ,, . „ r ,. . ^ , grove of poo-ie trees of little value for timber but of great beauty, that stretches along the crest of a narrow ridge for miles. Their corrugated trunks like fluted columns, and the grateful shade of their tops far, far above one's head, remind one of some Gothic cathedral or of the massive monoliths of a Grecian temple. Other trees love rather the moister soil of the river bottoms. Of these, the cotton tree which furnishes the filling for the mattresses of the country, and the oil tree which supplies a sap not unlike turpentine and a valuable timber, are both common and beautiful. The oil tree especially forms beautiful groves along the main road. Such a grove along the way from Chieng Mai to Lampoon is shown in the accompanying illustration. Notice how the towering height of the trees dwarfs the horse and On the Road from Chieng Mai to Lampoon A grove of oil trees The Face of the Land 85 cart in the middle of the picture. Logs eighty feet in length, eight feet in diameter, and perfectly straight, have been cut in this grove. ^ .A very different tree, but not less The bacred ^^^^^-^f^i^ is seen in all the temple Tree grounds. Under one of these " po " trees, not unlike the banyan tree, Sakya Muni, the founder of Buddhism, sat in meditation for three years ere he entered upon " the noble paths," as the principles of Buddhism are often called. In later years, he often taught under its shade, and ever since his followers have held it sacred. A large one near the writer's home w^as broken down in a storm, and obstructed the road. Its *' sacred " Vv^ood is of no use for building, and no one dared to use it for ordinary fuel. At last the head priest decided it could be used to burn brick for a new temple, and the broken tree was thus at length cleared away. I know of few finer examples of the noble tree than the one pictured in the frontispiece. Probably a congregation of a thousand people could be seated under the shade of its spreading branches. . Of larger game, there is much variety in the forests of Siam. Hundreds of elephants are still found in a wild state, and carefully protected as one of the assets of the princes. The rhinoceros, too, is oc- casionally found. The wild ox, believed to be the progenitor of domestic cattle, is still found in the remote forests of the Laos states, and he is a magnificent beast. Quite as large and much more 86 An Oriental Land of the Free common, is an enormous deer with antlers not un- like those of a stag. The native name for it is " quang." The only other deer we often see is the tiny " barking deer." Bears are fairly common, and leopards often make sad havoc among young cattle, buffaloes and pigs. But it is the Bengal tiger that is most generally and most justly feared. As a rule, he does not attack man, but once he has tasted human flesh he seems satisfied with nothing else. A Tv/r r^ A. On their return from annual meeting A Man-Eat- . ^ , r r-u- a/t • -,. m Lakawn, a company of Chieng JVlai mg Tiger . . . ' / • ^u missionaries camped m a rather lonely spot beside a stream. Nothing disturbed their rest, perhaps because a fire was kept up all night. Only a few nights later, a man was dragged from beside the fire at that very place, and carried off by an enormous tiger. From that time on, for months, that whole district was kept in terror by recurring instances of this tiger's boldness. Not less than twenty persons are said to have been killed, besides many cattle and pigs, by this fero- cious beast. Hunts were organized, and traps set, but he always eluded his pursuers. Whether eventually he was killed, or simply left the district, no one knows, but after a time his appearances ceased. The writer has several times seen a tiger's footprints on his travels, but never has seen or heard the monster himself, although several very large tigers have been shot in the district through which he travels. * Si The Face of the Land 87 Last but not least of the characteristic M n\ ^^^^ animals of "the Land of the ^ Free," we must mention the apes and monkeys whose peculiar, reechoing cries may often be heard among the mountains by day as well as by night. They seldom travel on the ground, but swing from tree top to tree top with a boldness that does not grow less marvelous as you watch it. Very large apes are sometimes kept as pets, and smaller ones, both black and white, are favorites of the children. In southern Siam, the long-tailed monkeys are very common in the jungles. Their grimaces and frolics are a constant amusement as one's boat creeps quietly along the narrow canals. They are also rather common in the north, but I have seldom seen them kept as pets. _, -r-, rr 1 Thc domcstic animals of Siam are The Buffalo , ^, • ^u tt v ^ much the same as m the United States. Horses and cattle, dogs and cats, chickens and Guinea fowl, pigs and goats, ducks, geese and turkeys — all are seen. But the most important of all their domestic animals is one never seen in America, the caribou or water buffalo. Although he is a close relative to the domestic cattle, he re- minds one of a gigantic pig, and often carries a hun- dredweight of earth that has stuck to him from his last mud bath. He is an ungainly beast, usually very slow in his movements, but when roused or angry his speed and his enormous horns make him dangerous. However, the care of this formidable and ugly beast is usually committed to some small 88 An.priental Land of the Free boy or girl, who sits the whole day long on his broad back to keep him out of the unfenced fields of growing rice. The child mounts from behind. Grasping the bufifalo's tail, he steps on the project- ing joint of the hind leg, and with a spring and a scramble is soon seated, with perhaps two or three others, on the monster's broad back. Strange to say, these children are seldom seriously hurt by the buffaloes, and the ungainly creature is curiously amenable to the will of his tiny keeper. The buffalo's main duty is to pull the plow and harrow morning and evening for a couple of months in the year, but the animals are also used to sortie extent at other seasons in hauling logs and firewood. They are never killed for food, but when they die of disease, too often the owner makes good his loss by selling the tainted meat. Many people, though they know the danger, eat it because it is cheaper than slaughtered meat. The photograph has caught extremely well the timid, half-wild expression of these dangerous denizens of Asia, as they are startled from their noonday rest on a sand bar of the Me Yom. CHAPTER VIII TRADE AND TRAVEL , -- , There are three main lines of travel ^ , across the Laos states: overland from _ Yunnan Province, China; overland to Maulmein in Burma ; and up and down the river to Bangkok. Less important caravan routes radiate in every direction, reaching the remotest Laos valleys and their neighbors. Even v^hen roads w^ere beset by robbers, and neither life nor goods was secure, still trade along the main routes was constant. There was more danger by river than by land, so river trade was less then than now. As the country has become more settled, trade has fol- lowed the easier route, and trade by caravan across the mountains to Burma has relatively decreased. _, -J Every year, soon after the heavy rains p are over, " English " walnuts are found in all the markets, sure sign that the " Haw " (or Yunnan Chinese) caravans of pack horses have begun to arrive. Not everyone is aware that China is the original home of these nuts. The Laos are very fond of them and so traders fill all vacant spaces in their packs. Their real loads consist of brass ware, felt blankets and furs, and sometimes opium. Also they usually bring 89 go An Oriental Land of the Free horses and mules for sale. Although in recent years some horses have been bred in Siam, the best horses are still, as in the past, brought from China. ^, ^ , , Most of the " Haw " caravans, after The Road to ^ ,. , , v ^ -^ _. tradmg along from city to city, go on to Burma, and bring back loads of European piece goods, hardware and provisions, bought in Maulmein. Some of these foreign goods they carry back with them to the north, but usually they sell them in the Laos markets, and load up with Laos cotton and tobacco for the long journey back to Tali-Fu. The trip from Tali to Maulmein, via Chieng Mai and return could be made in six months, but trading along the way as the merchants do, probably eight to ten months are consumed in each round trip. Laos traders seldom go to Yun- nan, but toward Burma Laos caravans share the road with the " Haws.'* A considerable number of cattle are driven over for sale, and their price is brought back in foreign goods, carried either by bul- locks or porters, for the Laos as a rule do not use pack mules or pack horses. _ , . . With Ban8:kok, the trading is Trade with ..it.- ^i i j _ , - partly by river, partly overland. ^ Boats of some size can be used on the lower river, but it is difficult and ex- pensive to bring even the Laos boats up the rapids. Much of the coarser goods are therefore unloaded at Muang Teun, the point below the rapids nearest to Chieng Mai, and packed by Trade and Travel 91 bullocks over the mountains. Hundreds of tons of salt are thus carried by bullocks that go back and forth all through the dry season. Salt is sel- dom brought by boat direct to Chieng Mai, partly because a boat loaded with salt is hard to manage in the rapids, and a slight leak soon destroys the salt. Dry fish and some other bulky commodities are brought in the same way. For the trip south- ward, these bullock trains often go empty, as the bulk of freight in that direction is far less. Some- times they carry hides, tobacco or lacquer ware; more often their baskets are filled with " meeung," wild tea leaves from the Laos hills that have been steamed and packed in bamboo joints, much as en- silage is packed in a silo. The Chinese and Siam- ese, as .well as the Laos, chew " meeung " and de- rive from it much the same gentle stimulation as from tea. -5 .. - Very early in the morning, one may hear _ . the musical tinkle of the bells, as the long trains of bullocks patiently plod up hill and down, through forest and stream, twenty days' journey from Muang Teun to Chieng Mai. Before nine A. M. they have finished their day's journey. The packs are lifted from their backs, and the cattle are allowed to feed through the heat of the day. Each bullock knows his own load, and before darkness gathers, finds his way back to his place. As darkness deepens, the camp fires, lighted at the end of each row of baskets to keep off wild beasts, gleam picturesquely against the dark back- 92 An Oriental Land of the Free ground of forest. All is arranged and moved with the regularity of an army encampment. p p Not only on this, but on all routes, _ , ^ these picturesque bullock trains are met. One year when the rice crop in Lakawn was scanty, I met dozens of them, those going east loaded with rice, those bound west hurrying back for a fresh load of the " staff of life.'* Two such trains collided in a narrow defile, and much confusion with endless shouting ensued ere the train could start once more. One bullock, more frisky than his neighbors, was so delighted to get safe out of the confusion, that he jumped to the path on the next ridge and rolled over and over, baskets and all, a hundred feet down till he struck a big tree. This set him free from his baskets and he jumped up none the worse for his adventure. TT r The overland trade from province to m J province varies with the season, the Trade ^ i .1 • . t crops and the circumstances. In a single day I met not less than thirty men, each carrying in baskets from four to ten little pigs. Evidently the crop of. pigs had been short in Lakawn, or unusually abundant in Lampoon, and there was a profit of fifty cents each, enough to pay for the journey. In March, on any road leading out of Pre, there are many men loaded with Pre cotton and Pre tobacco, both of which find a market in all the other provinces, and even up in China. About the same time of year men come considerable dis- tances to purchase brown sugar from the Me Aouw Trade and Travel 93 district of Chieng Mai, or palm sugar from the Me Tah valley. Just before the season for plowing begins, men carrying plowshares go out into the country. They come back loaded with leeks or peppers. Sales are usually for cash, but every trader wants a profit both ways on his journey, so he invests his proceeds in something he can sell in his home dis- trict. Gongs for the temples and bells for cattle, elephants and horses, are brought from Burma, brass ware from China, iron from Muang Long, saltpeter for powder from the caves in Ogre Moun- tain. All. through the season when the roads are good and farm work light, multitudes of men yield to the *' wanderlust " that is a marked feature of Laos life, and seek profit as well as pleasure in a trading expedition. Although maps are practically unknown to the common people, men can talk in- telligently about the roads in every direction from their homes, often for hundreds of miles. Although many thus journey to Burma or China^ few settle there; the longing for his own village, no less strong than a desire to see the world, draws the Laos man back to his native hills. ^ , It remains to speak of the boat Down the . , , , ^u • p. u -R 4. trade up and down the river. ^ The rapids that render the Me Yom wholly unnavi'gable, are a serious obstacle to navigation in all the branches of the Me Nam. This boat traffic is largest on the Me Ping, the 94 An Oriental Land of the Free western branch of the Me Nam on which Chieng Mai is situated, but even there, no boat captain would venture down the river with a full load. Each stage of water, high or low, has its peculiar difficulties and perils, and the heavier the load the more serious these dangers become. Cocoanuts are carried down and marketed in the lower river. Boat loads of hides are often seen, and almost every boat carries " meeung," the steamed wild tea al- ready spoken of, which is used in lieu of small coin to purchase supplies along the river. Lacquer ware, stick-lac and other gums from the forests are also carried down, but heavy commodities are rarely seen in Laos trading boats on the down- river trip. TVi TT P' ^^ ^^^^ return, the boats come ^ . loaded to the gunwales with a wide variety of European goods, with salt fish from the sea and lower river, with Chinese bowls and Japanese matches, with American cot- ton and kerosene oil, with English prints and blankets, with India muslins and German cutlery, with bicycles and sewing machines. Even car- riages and automobiles are sometimes brought. And whence comes the money to pay for these goods? Largely from the rafts of teak logs that fill the lower river, and load hundreds of vessels each year for Europe. Teak is the only wood so far discovered that is absolutely impervious to water. Wash down a teak deck with fresh water or salt, by hand or by the dash of the waves, and Trade and Travel 95 the moment it is drained, it is dry. For decks, no real substitute for teak has been found ; and the in- creasing demand for it for main and promenade decks of ocean liners constantly enhances its price in the world's markets. Her forests are the main wealth of Siam and especially of the Laos states. _ . Foreisrners who have been resi- How Foreigners , , . ^1. t ^ ^ 1 ^ , ° dents in the Laos states always Travel ^ ^. . ,, tt j meet the question, How do you travel?" The answer may vary as much as the tastes and circumstances of the individual. We travel by all the conveyances that have been men- tioned; by boat, by elephant, by horse, in a sedan chair, on foot; our effects are carried by boat, by pack horses, pack mules or bullocks, by elephants, or most frequently of all by men who carry fifty to sixty pounds each in baskets over their shoulders. Travel by boat is well described in Mrs. Curtis' " The Laos of Northern Siam." To-day, by a rail- way journey of two days and an overland trip of eight to twelve days, it is possible to avoid the long up-river journey that usually occupies thirty to fifty days. Still, until the railway is completed to Chieng Mai, all freight and many travelers will con- tinue to take the slower route. Even when the rail- way comes, the wonderful scenery of the rapids and gorge of the Me Ping will still attract the traveler. ri^u oi-' r I shall never for^^et my first journey The Ship of . T ^ u I t^ J.-, T^ J. in Laos on an elephant. It was mv the Forest ^ ^ . V , . ,, , . ' nrst experience with these ships of gG An Oriental Land of the Free the forest." With surprise, I saw them unhesi- tatingly climb rocks and plunge down step river banks that no other beast of burden could even at- tempt. Their care and sure-footedness soon took away any fear of accident. In the comfortable howdah, one may lie down at full length, or sit and read or even write, if he will but accommodate him- self to the slow swing of the elephant's tread. However, after the novelty wears off, most travel- ers prefer to ride a pony, for a good walker will easily keep ahead of a company of elephants. The young bamboo is a favorite food of these great beasts, and it is amusing to see your monster break off a stem some inches in diameter and a dozen feet in length, and contentedly munch it as he marches along, as a child would a stick of candy. In passing through the forests, a supply of the elephant's natural food, bamboo, coarse grass, banana stalk and palm leaves is usually at hand. Their forefeet hobbled together with a chain, they seldom wander far from camp, but if frightened or drawn on in search of food, or by wild elephants in the neighborhood, they may travel long dis- tances in the night, and lead their keepers a weary chase while the traveler waits for their return. If a baby elephant be in the company, he is sure to have much to amuse, sometimes to annoy you. _- -, . - Few horses are raised in Siam, The Pomes of , ^, ^ , ^ . * «. and they seem to degenerate m that hot climate, but a supply of ponies is brought down from China each year. Trade and Travel 97 Varying in size from a Shetland pony to a polo pony, they are seldom over thirteen hands in height, but they are wiry, active little beasts with their full share of deviltry. Year in and year out they are our most common and most reliable means of transport. Even when rains swell the streams, they will patiently swim behind the ferryboat, ready when it reaches land to carry us on to the next river. Some travelers also use pack horses or pack mules to carry their food, bedding and other impedimenta. Occasionally, when there is much freight it is carried at so much a hundred by cattle or elephants, but the ordinary dependence is upon men as carriers. They can always be had on short notice. They can go in many places where the track is impracticable for pack animals, and for the missionary there is the added advan- age that, when a company of carriers continues with him for weeks, he has a peculiar opportunity to influence their hearts and lives for Christ. Many of our Christian men received their first im- pressions of the truth, as they helped carry the " kit " of some missionary on his evangelistic tours. CHAPTER IX GOVERNMENT PAST AND PRESENT AMONG THE LAOS « -n •<. »» Until 1886 when the British were com- pelled by Burmese misrule to take upper Burma, " dacoity," or robbery by bands of cutthroats, was common in Burmese territory. In other words, no small part of the Burmans lived by plundering their more peaceable neighbors. Even earlier than this, the firm hand of British rule had gradually narrowed the limits of these bandits, but only when Mandalay fell was it possible to suppress dacoity entirely. Forty or fifty years ago, seldom a year passed when some company of bandits did not gather among the almost inaccessible moun- tains along the eastern border of Burma, swoop down on some unsuspecting Laos valley, drive oflf the cattle, carry off men and women to a life of slavery, burn the villages, and carry terror to an area far wider than the actual scene of their depre- dations. ^, _ Although the Laos are a peaceable agri- - cultural people, when once aroused in Arms . f f ^ . ^ t they are no mean antagonists. In re- cent years, a Laos constabulary, organized and drilled by foreign officers, has shown itself admir- 98 Government Past and Present 99 able in discipline and in other soldierly qualities, and has done much to render life and property se- cure in the Laos states of Siam. In the past as well, given time to rally and oppose their enemies, the Laos villagers often defeated them and drove them back. A narrow glen — one of the wildest and most beautiful I have ever seen — that leads up to a pass in the mountains west of the city of Nan is known as " Hooie See Pun," the " Ravine of the Four Thousand." The story goes that four thou- sand Burmans, on plunder bent, were met and annihilated in this defile by the men of Nan. _ . - In such raids as these, whole villa8:es Results of • -, . ^- 11 1 ^ . were wiped out, entire valleys depopu- ^ lated, for not only were many killed by the robbers or carried off as slaves, but the survivors fled to the forests and dared not re- turn. There, jungle fever, dysentery and other diseases, due to exposure, carried off children and adults by the score. Often the stock of rice was burned, and, since the cattle were driven off or killed, the survivors could not work their fields. Famine followed in the wake of war. A hundred and forty years ago, a Burmese army plundered and burned the cities of Chieng Mai and Lampoon, and for fifty years after that raid that whole plain, the largest and richest in the Laos states, was al- most depopulated. A later raid, this time by the Siamese, destroyed Chieng Rai, and the old Laos capital, Chieng Saan. Chieng Saan has never been rebuilt, and Chieng Rai is only now recovering. 100 An Oriental Land of the Free p The Laos tribes and princes retaliated ^ ., when they could. A successful raid to the north and west headed by the king of Chieng Mai brought many captives back to help repopulate the Chieng Mai Lampoon plain. Half the people of Lampoon province to-day are de- scendants of these subjects of the King of Burma who were thus brought down from the region of Keng Tung. Kun and Yawng, they are called, but they are Laos all, differing only very slightly in speech, in customs, or in dress, from the other people of the plain. ^, The forced immigrants of whom I have just spoken were not held as slaves, though slavery has always been common through- out Indo-China. The lot of a slave has not usually been a hard one, for he was usually given a home he could call his own and time to cultivate a piece of land. Sometimes, for months together, his lord would not " call " him ; again his time might be wholly occupied in the service of his master. In the latter case, the slave usually received some slight money compensation, or its equivalent in a present. Three kinds of slaves have been rec- ognized by law: hereditary slaves, slaves taken in war and debt slaves. Debt slaves have always been able to redeem themselves, though the pro- cess was made so difficult that few succeeded in doing so until a generation ago. Increasing pros- perity, the influence of foreigners who have often paid redemption money and allowed the debtor to Government Past and Present loi work it out, together with some change in the laws, have steadily improved conditions. A number of years ago, the enlightened King of Siam declared that all children born of slave parents after that date should be free, but this provision has never been fully enforced in the Laos states. The " chow," or native princes, are the principal slave- holders and, naturally, since they are the judges, every obstacle has been placed in the way of emancipation. Still, as Siamese rule has become more direct in the north, slavery is fast disappear- ing. -J . Forty years ago misgovernment at T^ . home made worse the insecurity of life and property due to robber raids. At that time, and to a less extent even ten years ago, it was unwise for a Laos " man of the people " to betray in any way the possession of property. If he built a better house, or a new rice bin, if he acquired more cattle than were necessary to work his bit of rice plain, only a generous bribe to the petty prince, or " chow," on whom he was depend- ent, could save him from ruinous taxation or a forced loan. If his bananas or vegetables were better than those of his neighbors, a minion of the "chow" was almost sure to stop his wife or daughter on the way to market, and relieve her of the best of the contents of her baskets. For pro- duce thus taken, payment was seldom made, and there was no redress. His person was hardly more safe than his property. 102 An Oriental Land of the Free The Laos are often called lazy, un- - justly, I think. No man who is not compelled to do so, works regularly if he does not expect to receive the fruit of his labor. When the conditions I have just described were prevalent, what possible motive was there for industry or thrift? Conditions have changed, but the habits of a lifetime are difficult to change. The older men are still indolent, but a spirit of in- dustry and thrift has grown greatly among the younger men in the past fifteen years. Now well- built frame houses with tile roofs are to be found in almost every village, better vegetables and fruits are in the markets, a better quality of foreign goods is demanded; the whole country is more prosperous. These advances have been brought about largely by the change in governmental con- ditions noted in the next paragraphs. n^i_ A^i J Up to 1828 the Laos princes ruled their The Old ^ 1 A. • ^- .1 -J _. . own people. At various times they paid ^ tribute, or sent presents, to Burma, to Cambodia, to Pegu, to the Kings of Siam; not in- frequently to two or more of them at the same time. One district and its people, now ruled by Great Britain, derives its name, " Sam Tow '* (or " Three Allegiances ") from the fact that it sent tribute more or less regularly to Burma, to China and to Siam. These various claims of their neighbors had never been effectively or continuously enforced. The princes themselves probably looked on the gifts sent merely as a sort of insurance. Had a real Government Past and Present 103 leader arisen, he might have built up a permanent and independent Laos empire, but whether in war or in peace, the Laos have never long been united. At different times, the King of Chieng Saan, of Lampoon, of Sawankaloke, of Bassak or of Wieng Chan, has been recognized as " King of the Laos," but usually for only a short time consecutively. About one hundred years ago, the King of Wieng Chan, a city on the Cambodia River, some three hundred miles northeast of Bangkok, was regarded by the Siamese, justly, perhaps, as the King of all the Laos. He had at times given tribute or pres- ents to the King of Siam. Later he refused it. The result was a war, in 1828, in which the city of Wieng Chan was destroyed and its inhabitants carried off in a body as war captives. The de- scendants of these captives are still held as the slaves of Siam, attached to the royal palace and temples in Pechaburee. (How the edicts of eman- cipation hav^ affected them, I do not know.) _ . . - The Siamese seem to have claimed that ^. the capture of Wieng Chan gave them P - authority over all the Laos. Whether their claim be based on that, or on previous conditions, matters little: the fact is that most of the Laos states have pretty regularly ac- knowledged some measure of subjection to Siam ever since. At first, little more than the right of investiture with golden betel box and other in- signia of authority, and stated visits of ceremony to Bangkok with certain formal presents, was re- 104 An Oriental Land of the Free quired of the princes in the north. Even these shadowy signs of subjection were never regularly- enforced east and north of the Cambodia River, or north of Chieng Saan. Still the King of Siam at times claimed sovereignty all the way to the bor- ders of China. _ . Over the nearer Laos states, Siamese , _ . authority was gradually more effec- the Lmes ^. , •" , . ^p : _ tively enforced. Twenty years ago, the power of life and death had al- ready been taken from the Laos princes, and a Siamese official, known to English residents as the Siamese commissioner, was located at the capital of each province. Nominally merely the adviser of the Laos ruler, these commissioners gradually drew closer the bonds that united the Laos states to the kingdom of Siam. In 1895, when the writer first went to Nan, the authority of the Siamese commissioner in that province was still rather shadowy, though even then orders from Bangkok were rapidly becoming the real power in Chieng Mai and Lakawn. Opposition to Siamese author- ity and methods was the real cause of the so-called " Shan Rebellion " in 1902, but the suppression of that uprising was the occasion for measures that have made Siamese rule effective in every hamlet within the boundaries of the kingdom. TN-rc 1^- Doubtless the Laos people are to-day Difficulties , • i o- - ^, more or less restive under Siamese of the 1 XT 1 .1 • • ^,. rule. However good their intentions, Siamese officials are dealing with a people who look on them as foreigners, and who do Governinent Past and Present 105 not appreciate that many of the acts of these for- eigners are for their own real advantage. For instance, when roads are planned, they are made by men who see only the hardship of enforced un- paid labor, often far from home, and at a season when their own interests suffer by their absence. Moreover, owning to the lack of intelligent admin- istrators, few enough under any government, rules for the direction of these workmen must sometimes be enforced to the letter, if they are to be enforced at all. A rule good in the main often involves un- necessary labor and hardship where an admiin- istrator with discretion as to details could modify it to advantage. Only as we realize the difficulties under which it labors, can we appreciate the real results of Siamese rule. What have some of these results been? _ ^ First. Life and property in the Laos Beneficent ^ ^ .1 j _ , p states are more secure than under Results of .1, 1 r ^u -^ , the rule of the native prmces. Siamese Rule r^ .. . ^. , .^f , rolice regulations are better and better enforced. The Laos constabulary or gendarmerie, trained under Danish officers, is an increasingly efficient body of men. Enforce- m^ent of a uniform law, instead of the different laws of several states, has in itself brought better order. The Siamese law is not in all respects an improve- ment; especially as regards marriage and the family, the old Laos customs were better. We may hope that the recently enacted criminal code, which seeks to adapt to the East the best in the laws of the West, may prove better than either. io6 An Oriental Land of the Free The new courts, too, are far better than the old. Far from perfect, of course, they are good in prin- ciple and fairly well administered. On the whole, then, life and property are more secure than under the old regime. Second. The country is more prosperous. Taxes and exactions, especially enforced labor, may at times bear hard on the people. Public improve- ments may have been pushed faster than was wise, involving serious hardship to many. Pay promised for labor has in some cases not been forthcoming. The fact remains that taxes are more uniform, more certain and more just, than under the rule of the princes. Prosperity and a sense of security are shown in the better houses that are everywhere being built. Better methods of agriculture, better facilities for transport and trade, have come with new roads. Third. Good beginnings have been made in pub- lic education, in the suppression of slavery and gambling, in systems of account and record, in all that constitutes the outward forms of modern civil- ization. The king and his advisers have made mis- takes, but the fact remains that His Majesty the King of Siam is justly spoken of as one of the most progressive and wisest statesmen in Asia ; that the changes quietly introduced and effectively carried out by the Siamese in the north during the last twenty years are a marvel to one who has seen both the old regime and the new. CHAPTER X THE COMING OF THE GOSPEL The Pioneers ^"^ ^''''^ ^°' '^5^' ^"^'^ ^°''''" Americans landed together at the port of Bangkok, Siam, who were destined to con- tinue for more than fifty years in that far-away tropical land associations begun in student days in Princeton. They were Rev. Daniel McGilvary and Rev. Jonathan Wilson, both of whom, after fifty- one years of service in the Land of the White Elephant, are still (1909) actively engaged in the work they love. Ere we trace the later history, let us consider for a moment the conditions of missionary work in Siam when they reached Bang- kok in 1858. T> . . - While the spates of China were Beginnings of ^.„ , j ^ • • re 4. M * W ir closed to missionary eitort, . o. both the Baptist and the Amer- in Siam . , , ^ • • • ^ lean boards sent missionaries to work among the Chinese residents of Bangkok. The Baptists have in a measure continued this work among the Chinese, and have to-day several Chinese and Peguan-speaking churches in and near Bangkok. However, when the doors of China were opened, most of these workers were transferred to that empire. In 1818, Mrs. Ann Hazeltine Judson set herself to acquire the Siamese language and 107 io8 An Oriental Land of the Free translated a catechism and the Gospel of Matthew into that tongue. It was printed at Serampore the following year, but for a long time thereafter Siam was still regarded mainly as a point of approach to China. ,-.. . , The first missionaries to direct Missions to ^^ ' rr ^ • i ^ ^1 C" . ^. their efforts mainly to the Siamese the Siamese _,, . ^ i ^.i, a themselves were sent by the Amer- ican board. D. B. Bradley, M. D., whose long, varied and fruitful labors in Siam entitle him to be considered the father of missions there, reached Bangkok in 1835, and continued in the work until his death in 1873. At that time (1835), the Amer- ican board drew its support and its missionaries from Presbyterian as well as Congregational churches, and later, when the fields of labor were divided, responsibility for the evangelization o'£ Siam and its people was assumed by the Presby- terian Church. Therefore, though several of the earliest and most influential of the early mission- aries were Congregationalists, it is generally rec- ognized that the Laos as well as the Siamese are peculiarly a Presbyterian field. Practically no other church is at work there. , Before Messrs. McGIlvary and Missons and ,,.., • j • o- 1 1 . 1 -p Wilson arrived in Siam, schools ^ had been opened for both boys and girls, and medical work had helped to open the doors. Perhaps the most far-reaching result of the work had been due to the fact that Rev. Jesse Cas- well was invited to act for some years as the tutor The Coming of the Gospel 109 of the prince who afterwards became King of Siam. While neither he nor his son, the present progres- sive ruler of Siam, accepted Christianity, they al- ways showed the utmost friendliness to the mission- aries and their work, and they sought and followed their advice in the effort to bring morals and social conditions in Siam into line with the best standards the West has to offer. The abolition of slavery, vaccination, the institution of public hospitals and schools, and the abolition of public gambling, are some of the changes that are traceable in no small measure to the influence of American missionaries. As a Siamese prince expressed it, " Siam has been opened to the world, not by the guns of western nations, but by the American missionaries." _, c*-^ ^' In 1858, while very few had openly The Situation . j ^1 • . /• r . .u • accepted Christ (m fact, the mis- sionaries who arrived in 1858 wit- nessed the baptism of the first Siamese convert), influences had nevertheless been set at work that have profoundly affected the morals and policies of Siam ever since. The organized work of the mis- sion at that time was still confined to the capital itself, and Mr. McGilvary, in association with Rev. S. G. McFarland, was privileged in 1861 to share in opening at Petchaburee, ninety miles west of Bangkok, the first outside station. He soon came in contact there with the Laos captives who, at the capture of Wieng Chan in 1828, had been brought down as war captives and attached as serfs to the royal palace and temples at Petchaburee. Becom- no An Oriental Land of the Free ing interested in them, his heart went out in the desire to carry the gospel to their brethren in the far-away north country. He asked and obtained permission from the mission and from the Siamese Government to visit the Laos states in 1863. He came back fully determined to follow God's leading into that distant land. Rev. Jonathan Wilson joined him in the request to the mission and to the board at home for permission to begin work in Chieng Mai, then as now, the largest city in the Laos states. The permission was granted. April Opening of I, 1867, found Rev. Daniel McGil- the Laos vary with Mrs. McGilvary and two Mission children in Chieng Mai, and Rev. Jonathan Wilson and Mrs. Wilson joined them a year later. That first year was one of much trial and yet of great opportunity. Until more per- manent quarters could be obtained, the King of Chieng Mai granted them the use of a " sala " or rest house in the market place. There, under the shade of a spreading banyan tree, surrounded by all the confusion of an eastern market place, in a building that afforded little privacy, and imperfect protection from the rays of a tropical sun, the first year was passed. Visitors were constant and seed was sown that brought forth fruit, not in Chieng Mai alone, but in distant provinces as well. The Laos Messrs. Wilson and McGilvary, hav- Language vs '""^ ^'""^^ ^""'^ "'""^ ^^^""^ '"^ ^""^^"^ the Siamese * f^"^^ T'" ^""^'^t'. "^''^ ^^' biamese language. Then, as now. The Coming of the Gospel m the Siamese claimed suzerainty over the Laos, and there was an increasing use of the Siamese lan- guage and desire to learn it among the people. Much of the Bible had already been translated into Siamese, and missionary work was begun through the medium of that language. Indeed, for many years it w^as assumed that the translation of the Scriptures into the Laos language was unnecessary. But as a Christian Laos community grew up, the demand for a Laos Christian literature grew in force and urgency. Not only are the differences in vo- cabulary, word forms and idiom, very considerable, but the written character is wholly different. After some years, Laos type was devised, and the twenty- fifth anniversary of the opening of the mission was marked by the publication of Matthew and a catechism in the Laos character. While the use of Siamese is now rapidly increasing among the Laos people in Siam, those outside the borders of Siam — more than half of all the Laos people — know noth- ing of Siamese. The mission press at Chieng Mai is the only establishment in the world that can now print the Laos character, and the work it does for the government with the sale of our own literature, makes it entirely self-supporting. The day is prob- ably far distant when the Siamese language will replace that of the Laos in our work. TT TXT 1 The first missionaries did not find How Work -.„ . , T, differences of lane^uasre a serious Began . barrier, but quickly found a way to the hearts of the kindly Laos race. Prediction of 112 An Oriental Land of the Free an eclipse helped to break one of the common super- stitions, and led to the conversion of Nan Inta, the first Laos man to receive Christian baptism. Vac- cination, the use of quinine and other simple remedies, and kindness shown to the sick, won the confidence of others. But conversation with the visitors that crowded their homes, as well as with those whom the missionaries visited in their own homes — quiet personal evangelism — was the means most used of God to bring the Laos people to Christ. Bazaar preaching, or any preaching to large crowds, has never been a prominent feature of work among the Laos. School work was soon begun for the children of those who had shown in- terest in the gospel, but then as now, few children from non-Christian homes were enrolled in the schools. A Christian primary school within the reach of every Christian Laos boy or girl has been our aim, and even in our higher schools few " out- siders " are enrolled, and but little effort has been put forth to make our schools a direct evangelizing agency. However, this has been due to the lack of sufficient teaching force, rather than to a distinct policy of the mission. "Dr.McGilvary's ^''L'^T ^^^u ^'' ^'l""^^' Long Tours " McGilvary began the long tours that took him within five or six years into every Laos province where organ- ized work has since been done. Till he was past seventy years of age, his rule was to spend the dry season of each year in a tour to distant provinces, The Coming of the Gospel 113 or outlying districts where the gospel had not yet been heard, or where he could reach some visitor to his home in Chieng Mai who had gone back with some knowledge of the truth. In these journeys he explored a territory larger than Indiana and Ohio combined, that had been up to that time prac- tically unknown to the world. The writer will never forget the return of Dr. McGilvary from the last and perhaps the longest of these long tours. He had seen the vision of French Laos won for Christ as never before, but had been compelled by opposition from the government to relinquish most promising work there for the time, at the very be- ginning of the rains. For more than a month on the return journey he was never long dry by day, often not at night; again and again he swam his horse over the swollen streams, and it is a marvel how the Master preserved the life and health of his aged servant on that long and perilous journey. We hope that soon his own story of those pioneer days and journeys may be in the hands of the church. p . Though trials and hardships had , T^ , from the first been faced both by the and Death . . . jt u ^u missionaries and by the new con- verts, open persecution did not arise until seven converts had been baptized and many others had shown a deep interest in the gospel message. The King of Chieng Mai had favored the coming of the missionaries, and promised to his suzerain, the King of Siam, to protect them; he rather suddenly 114 ^^ Oriental Land of the Free became a bitter opponent of the work. Dr. McGil- vary called upon him to ask the reason of this op- position. The answer was in substance, *' Go on, teaching if you will, I cannot prevent it; but just as soon as any of my people accept your religion, off go their heads." The story of that persecution will appear at length in the memoirs Dr. McGilvary will soon publish. The king did kill two of the seven Christians, and would have killed the rest had they not hidden or fled. They were " all scat- tered abroad except the apostles " (the mission- aries), but, "they that were scattered abroad went about preaching the word," quietly and secretly, indeed, but none the less effectively. The boldness of the martyrs in the face of death and their unfal- tering witness for Christ, had influenced their very executioners. -, 1 . Thousfh the lives of the mission- Proclamation . ^ . , . . - T-, ,. . aries were for a long time m of Religious J J ^u t, lu T .1- ^ ^ ^i_ danger, and though they were Liberty to the ^^ ' ... ^ , ^/; ,. J '' urged to withdraw for the time, they still remained at their post. God's hand was laid on the persecuting king and within a year he was dead. The daughter who suc- ceeded him was more favorable to mission work, and both she and her consort were to the end warmly friendly to the missionaries. Still a crisis came again in 1878, when two Christians whose relatives were still demon-worshipers, wished to marry without the customary offerings to the demons. An appeal was finally made to the King The Coming of the Gospel 115 of Siam. His answer was the " Proclamation of Religious Liberty to the Laos," that has since been to the Laos Christians the charter of their liberties. While there have since been several cases of long imprisonment on false charges and many cases of petty persecutions, and while even to-day the lot of the new Christian is often far from easy, open per- secution has ceased. - , . An early — perhaps the earliest — be- . ^ . liever amons: the Laos, though bap- tne Lords .. t 1 . ^1 xt, tized later than some others, was San Ya We Chai, a resident in Chieng Saan, an old capital of the Laos, one hundred and fifty miles north and east of Chieng Mai. He had been a fre- quent visitor at the "rest house" in the market place in Chieng Mai during the first year of Dr. McGilvary's work. At that time, business had kept him temporarily in that city. By word of mouth, and through the printed Siamese Scriptures which he could read with some difficulty, he had gained some definite knowledge and conviction of the truth as it is in Jesus. On his return to his home in the north, he became the nucleus and leader of a circle of believers in the old capital. A few years later Dr. McGilvary visited him there, and organized into a Christian church the group of believers in Chieng Saan — the first church at a dis- tance from Chieng Mai. Out of that little band have grown the six organized churches within the bounds of Chieng Rai station. Even before a mis- sionary was resident there, the membership had be- ii6 An Oriental Land o£ the Free come three hundred. No other part of the Laos field is showing to-day as rapid and vigorous growth as that district. This is partly due to the fact that it is rapidly filling up by immigration from more crowded districts; for released in a measure from the restraint of custom and kinship, the im- migrant is peculiarly open to new truth. A part of the growth is also due to the fact that, from the first, the spirit of that church has been peculiarly self-helpful. . . In 1871, C. W. Vrooman, M. D., Strengthenmg o . / ' , , , . ' f h Rev. Jonathan Wilson T , o^ ^. and Dr. and Mrs. Peoples Lakawn Station . . , , . opened there the second station of the Laos mission. Though from two to four missionary families have been at work there now for over twenty years, and promising boarding schools both for girls and for boys, as well as most successful medical missionary work, have helped to sow the seed, the work has proved harder and less immediately fruitful than in some other provinces. The poverty of the people, due to repeated crop The Coming of the Gospel 119 failures and famine, has had something to do with this. Still, in proportion to their numbers and means, no church among the Laos surpasses the three hundred Christians in Lakawn church in their gifts to the work of the Lord. The new hospital and new buildings for the schools erected by the generosity of friends, have given added facilities for all departments of the work. Lakawn is the present objective point of the railway to the north, and not improbably will be made the center of gov- ernment for the Laos states when it reaches there. From the standpoint of mission work, as well as business and government, Lakawn is likely to be relatively more important in the future than in the past. Moreover, it is hoped that the reconstruction of an old dam and system of ditches, destroyed many years ago in a great flood, has removed the danger of famine that has hung over the province for a generation. The famine of 1893 affected not Famine and only Lakawn province, but Pre a New Station as well. Considerable sums of money were sent to the mission- aries to be used In the relief of suffering. Kindness thus shown opened the hearts of many in both prov- inces to the gospel message, and additions to the force of the mission that year made it possible to open a new station in Pre. Circumstances have interfered with the steady progress of work, and no missionary has for several years re- sided there, but the mission feels that work there 120 An Oriental Land of the Free must be pressed and expects the coming year to place missionaries once more in that inviting field. ,-- , . -KT As early as 1872, and several times Work in Nan . , ^ "^ ^ ' .^ ^., , _ . in later years, Dr. McGiIvary and his associates visited the city and province of Nan. In area and population it is sec- ond only to Chieng Mai among the Laos states of Siam, possibly not to that. Its rulers have been the noblest of the Laos princes, men of dignity and ability, who retained longer than the other princes a considerable independence of Siamese authority. More conservative than other provinces, it has pre- sented some special difficulties to the messengers of the cross. In 1895 Dr. and Mrs. Peoples, who had shared in opening the work in Lakawn, asked and gained the consent of the mission to open in Nan the fourth station. At present the church in that province reports a membership of one hundred and ninety with five out-stations. The church that supports Mrs. Peoples has recently supplemented the gifts of the native church, and erected there a memorial chapel that worthily represents the gos- pel to all passers by, and is more adequate to their needs than the crowded chapels in most of our stations and out-stations, p, . _ . In December, 1896, the mission ap- and the £1. t»t -r^ . jj . - Denman, M. D., to open the station p. . - in Chieng Rai that it had long planned for. Unlike most new sta- tions, Chieng Rai was not a new field ; it was one where the growth of the work from small begin- The Coming of the Gospel 121 nings had become too large and too important to be managed at long range. As Mr. Phraner once put it, it was as if the pastor of a great and growing church in San Francisco should reside in New York and be able to make to it only brief and oc- casional visits. The growth of the work since the opening of Chieng Rai as a station, has been steady and constant. The immigration from other prov- inces to repeople the districts devastated by war early in the century, has given to the workers there a population exceptionally open to the influences of the gospel. Thus in 1897 the organized work of the mission had measurably covered that part of, Siam known distinctively as the Laos states. However, along the lower course of the Cambodia River is a vast area wholly Laos, but as yet wholly untouched by missionary effort. The same may be said of the Laos population of Muang Tahk or Raheng. Only half the Laos territory of Siam it- self has as yet been touched in any way by our mission work. --- , . In his earlier tours, Dr. Mc- F li T > Gilvary had several times ^ crossed the Mekong or Cam- bodia River, and in 1873 had visited Luang Pra- bang, now the capital of French Laos. In 1893, in company with the Rev. Robert Irvin, he made a long tour to the north following the course of the Cambodia River, well into Chinese territory. In 1897, when Dr. Peoples was his travel companion, most of their time was spent in French territory. A special opening for the gospel was discovered 122 An Oriental Land of the Free among the Kah Mook, the hill tribe from whom the timber companies draw many of their forest workers. These people are not Laos, but most of the men understand the Laos tongue. Both Dr. McGilvary and Dr. Peoples urged upon the mission at its next meeting the call for a new station in French territory, primarily for the Kah Mook who had shown such eagerness to receive the gospel message, but also for the more numerous Laos peo- ple among whom they dwell. Permission to open a station has never been obtained from the French Government, and serious obstacles have been put in the way of any organized work there. But visits by Dr. McGilvary in 1899, Dr. Dodd in 1901, and by Messrs. Campbell and McKay in 1904, have helped to maintain the interest first aroused. This year (1909) the Laos native church voted to make that their own mission field. A hundred communicants, faithful amid many difficulties as well as many inquirers, call for the earnest prayer of the church for this orphan company of believers three hundred miles from any other Christians, whom the selfish policy of the French has forbid- den the missionary to visit. ^,, , . Meantime, the thousfht and effort of Work in ^, . . ' . r ft, . • t, u -5 . . , the mission and of the native church ,p . had been turned in another direction, ^ toward Keng Tung, the center of Laos population in British territory. An exploring tour carried out in 1897 by Messrs. Dodd, Briggs and Irwin, led the mission, in December, 1898, to ask permission of the board to open a station there as The Coming of the Gospel 123 well as in French territory. From that time native evangelists or missionaries, or both, have visited British territory each dry season, and in 1904 or- ganized work was begun in Keng Tung city. The Baptists of Burma looked upon this as in some sense an invasion of their territory. Circumstances have led the board to yield to them, and with- draw the resident missionaries from that city, al- though we still carry on the work in the province by frequent tours from Chieng Rai. _ . . In at least four different tours our p, . ^ missionaries have crossed the Chinese rp . border and found the people friendly, ^ accessible, and willing to listen to the gospel, but no organized or permanent work has ever been undertaken there, nor can it be, until we are ready to open a permanent station. Our mis- sionaries in Keng Tung came constantly in contact with trading caravans, who told them that for a distance as far to the north as Raheng lay to the south (four hundred and fifty miles by road, or three hundred and fifty as the crow flies) the Laos lan- guage and character are still in use in market and monastery alike. Although a vigorous native church of four thousand communicants has been gathered in the district within reach of our mission stations, the great bulk of the Laos people, and of the terri- tory they occupy, is still totally untouched by the gospel. Is the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America planning for anything less than the con- quest of the whole Laos people for Christ? The Aim of CHAPTER XI TOURING AND TEACHING Mention has already been made of . " long tours " to the north and east ^ by Dr. McGilvary and others, that re- vealed how vast is the territory yet to be possessed, how wide open many of the doors. This chapter will speak rather of regular touring work within the limits of each station. I put touring and teach- ing together to emphasize the fact that, save in dis- tricts where no organized work has been done, the work of teaching occupies a larger share of the mis- sionary's time than the direct proclamation of the gospel. In training the rank and file of native Christians to be missionaries to their own relatives and neighbors, he multiplies himself, and places his work on a solid basis. Alissionaries may come and missionaries may go, but the native church remains. With God's help, it must live and grow, till the whole land and all its people have been won for Christ. -, . . As the work amons: the Laos people Begmnmg , ^u j r • /• • - has grown, the duty oi mamtammg ^ ^ c,. . re8:ular Sabbath and evening wor- Out-Station u- • ^i - u j -i ship m their own homes and vil- lages has constantly been laid on the new believers. 124 Touring and Teaching 125 ft h si S "S) > *- o o o o (kZ 5 TO sill •;;3 S "^ c Suw > r •*' T}< 00 »^ C> C O (D JH •" bo fcj3 bo .-; .-; C C K rt Eh H bo bo ,1^ .<1> ;C ,C Oh^Ih^Ph^M^UU 2-^ g (1) M a; O I M o . s- 126 An Oriental Land of the Free People of several adjacent villages often unite in these services. As time passes on, perhaps very soon, their interest and efforts draw in relatives and friends. Leaders and elders are chosen, and the new center becomes a recognized out-station of the mission. Seventy-two such centers of Christian in- fluence were reported by the mission in 1907. _- - -. . , Each missionary, medical as well The Missionary s 1 • 1 • 1 mi T,. , 1 ■, 1^ as clerical, is made responsible Field and Force , - -.^ r .1 , • for oversight of the work in one or more of these out-stations. The district about it is his peculiar field. The Christians in it are his working force. To maintain interest and attend- ance upon the services in distant and widely scat- tered villages, to secure growth in knowledge and grace, and to make of these men and women, weak and ignorant, but with the love of God in their hearts, leaven that shall leaven the whole lump, is the constant problem of the touring mission- ary. While he ever seeks and finds opportunity to pre- sent the gospel to " outsiders," to those who have not yet " entered the religion of Jesus," still the best work of the missionary in districts where the gospel has already found entrance, is done through the native Christians, not independent of them. His heart is often gladdened by an invitation to visit a home where the work and words of some Laos brother or sister have already aroused interest in the gospel message. Touring and Teaching 127 Multitudes of villages, some of them quite near our mission stations, are . yet untouched by the gospel; whole Extension ^jg^^j^^^g^ ^ little more distant, but easily within reach, have still no Christians. Nei- ther these nor the wider field yet untouched, must be forgotten and neglected, but the touring mission- ary or evangelist usually visits first his established out-stations, seeking to " strengthen the stakes," that from them he may " lengthen the cords," to reach and hold the whole land for Christ. Two distinct phases of evangelistic effort are thus indi- cated, the intensive and extensive; one seeks to deepen conviction and increase knowledge in hearts and districts already touched by the gospel; the other reaches out to the regions that are beyond. Of either one it may be said, ''These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." _,- _ . Touring- is done at all seasons of the The Touring ^ , ^ . , . ^, „ ^ year, and touring during the rams or the rice season has its own advan- tages as well as its peculiar difficulties. However, most of the touring work, especially that in which the ladies of the mission share, must be done be- tween January and June. These months between rice harvest and rice-planting are often spoken of as the " touring season." The people are then less busy and more accessible than at other seasons. " Roads," if such we may call them, are then at their best, and neither mud nor floods stand in the 128 An Oriental Land of the Free traveler's way. Language study, literary work and other parts of a missionary's duty that can be post- poned to a convenient season, fill in the months when traveling is difficult or impossible. From January to June almost all the families in the mis- sion spend at least a part of their time in field work. . During the touring season, the . ^^^ 1. evangelists employed by the native in Touch , - It ^1 • • • . , , T^. , 1 church, as well as the missionaries With the Field ^, ' ... rr.,^ themselves, are most active, ine little army of self-supporting vaccinator evangelists referred to in the next chapter are then sent out. Different plans are employed in different stations to keep in touch with these native workers, and make their efforts effective. In Chieng Mai, the number of workers is larger than elsewhere, and more systematic oversight is possible. The vaccin- ators come in for instruction three or four days each month, and the other evangelists, whether employed by the native church or by the mission, usually come to share in the instruction and inspira- tion of these gatherings. As the evangelists and vaccinators represent in their persons nearly every out-station in Chieng Mai and Lampoon provinces, and go out for their work over an even wider area, the missionaries are able through them to come into intimate touch with every part of the field. «. .. ^ ^ At the close of each session, the mis- Starting Out . . „ xi. .' - _f sionaries as well as the native workers go out for another month of hand-to-hand work. Let us follow them into the Touring and Teaching 129 field. In imagination we will join a party on a tour to the north from Chieng Mai. It is a Thursday afternoon. A pack pony, a cook and several carriers, as well as two native evange- lists have gone out earlier in the day, but the mis- sionary is delayed by callers till nearly night. He rides out and overtakes his men twelve miles from the city, not as he expected in a village where there are Christians, but camped in a rest house by the roadside. It is too late for any formal services, and a little rain is falling, but after supper several of the party find opportunity to talk with other trav- elers and villagers, and at evening worship, despite the rain, some others are present. ^ , ,-• , Brisfht and early the next morn- On the March . ^ . 1 . • ^u u mg the cavalcade is on the march. In several villages by the way the missionary pauses at the home of a lonely Christian family, or of an acquaintance who has shown interest in the truth. At noon he tarries two hours in a Christian village, visits some of the homes, and holds a brief service, but he cannot remain longer lest he fail to reach his appointment for the Sabbath, which is still far away. Night finds him camped beside the home of a man who knows Dr. McGilvary, and has heard something of the truth. The use of the stereopticon brings a crowd of villagers to see and hear the story of the life and love of the Saviour of men. Several remain to question further, but are not ready to commit themselves. ]\Iay the seed thus sown be not in vain. 130 An Oriental Land of the Free . ^ . es. .' An early start and a lonsf day's An Out-Station . ^ ,, ^ • journey over the mountains bring the party Saturday evening to the chapel at Muang Pao. This is one of the largest and most vigorous out-stations in Chieng Mai province, but so distant and difficult of access that it cannot be frequently visited. Just now the work there is particularly important, because there has been a large immigration from other more densely popu- lated districts. These immigrants, separated from home ties and surroundings, are peculiarly open to new influences. Three full days there will enable the missionary and evangelists to visit most of the Christian homes. Daily classes for the children, the women and the men, and evening services for all, are held. The Sabbath is especially full, and nearly every Christian household for five miles around is represented in the services. A definite agreement is made to begin school the following week. Word comes later that nearly forty pupils are enrolled. Schools like this draw no money from the board, being supported by tuition and other contributions. A TT J T^ » From Muang Pao, a long day of A Hard Day's , , ^ i ^u f • j ^ '' hard travel up the mountams and ^ then down the beautiful valley of Wild Palms and along a stream that loses itself in a cleft in a rock, on past Ogre Mountain with its caves, from which the country's supply of saltpeter comes, brings the party to Chieng Dao, a distant out-station that has suffered by removals and in- sufficient oversight. Here several days are spent in Laos Maid Touring and Teaching 131 instruction, council and encouragement, going from house to house among a widely scattered flock. Here, as everywhere, the stereopticon and picture roll aid in bringing the people together. Encour- aged and strengthened by this too hurried visit, the people not only gather in unusual numbers for the Sabbath services, but subsequently show greater zeal and perseverance. On the return journey both nights are spent in villages where isolated Christian families are holding out faithfully amid difficult surroundings. .-_,.. In 1906, every missionary family in _ Chieng Rai spent many weeks in tour- on a Tour .^^^ ^^^ ^j^.^^ described their trip as follows : " Early in February, we packed our belongings, closed the house, and spent five very happy weeks among the Christians south and west of the city. As we stopped for dinner at Me Sooie, several men doing business at the court that day called on us and urged us to visit their villages. Two said: ' Do you not remember us? You gave us tracts in a temple in Chieng Rai.' Since then it has been my privilege to receive one of those men to full com- munion. * Baby Elizabeth,' * Baby Bilhorn ' (the organ) and a magic lantern were irresistible at- tractions, and wherever they went we had splendid audiences. The chief prince of Muang Fang invited us to his residence to show the pictures, and the immense house was packed with his friends and retainers. In Wieng Pa Pao, homes closed to us 132 An Oriental Land of the Free last year invited us to hold services v^ith them. It was a glad day for Pa Pao church when these wan- derers returned. At another village we found a good old deacon, whose prayers for the sick and ail- ing ones in the community have had most remark- able answers. Another Christian, with beaming face, invited us to come and examine seven cate- chumens. Poor, spirit-ridden people, chased from village to village, they had fled to the Christians at Wieng Pa Pao and been gladly received and kindly treated. Now they were eager to profess their faith in the Saviour who had delivered them from the power of the demons. We found also two men over sixty years of age (and therefore exempt) who had paid the four tical poll tax rather than take a heathen oath as to their age. Altogether this trip and the year was a most happy one." _ . Those of our missionaries who give . , most time to evangelistic work are _^ ^ out nearly every month in the year. The following from Dr. McKean, of Chieng Mai, tells of some such work: " The missionary has no Sabbath day of rest. No day is a harder strain on his spiritual and physical nature than the Sabbath. Last Sabbath, for in-v stance, the missionaries in Chieng Mai spent the day as follows: Harris went to Me Dawk Deng, twelve miles distant. The rice season is here and the fields are overflowed. It is practically impos- ible to go with a horse at all, nor could he reach the chapel in time if he went Sabbath morning. After Touring and Teaching 133 teaching school on Saturday, he started out on foot. Plowing through mud and water, crossing innumer- able irrigating ditches, one stream up to his neck and no bridge, zigzagging across the fields on the narrow rice ridges, he finally reached his destina- tion, and after a night's rest and a day full of ser- vices and pastoral work of every sort, he returned ready for work at home on Monday morning. " Mr. Collins rode to another church, equally dis- tant, but he had a good road most of the way. I saw him come home in the evening, very tired, but Monday morning, bright and early, he is at work in the press. " Mr. Waite spent the Sabbath at Nawng Fan, a Christian village, six miles distant, where a former head priest, a man influential and widely known, has recently become a Christian. Dr. McGilvary recently made a trip into the country of which he said : * I wish I could photograph for you my last Me Pu Kah trip. The road was the worst I ever traveled. I rode back and forth in one ditch, al- most swimming at times, in despair of finding a place where my horse would climb the bank. Finally after a super-equine effort my horse paused in equilibrium uncertain whether he would gain the bank, or tumble back in the mud. You can imagine my relief when the good horse really did scale the bank.' How is that for a boy of seventy-eight sum- mers? " But last Sabbath Dr. McGilvary spent the day teaching in the temple. Dr. McGilvary has spent 134 An Oriental Land of the Free more time in presenting the gospel to the priests than any other missionary. Many a man, now a Christian, got his first knowledge of the truth from him in a heathen temple." While Dr. McKean is not an ordained minister, and medical work often detains him in the city, he shares most acceptably in the work of preaching the gospel. On the Sabbath in question, he preached in the city church in the morning, and at Ban Den chapel in the afternoon. The evening was given to a magic lantern service in the hospital chapel. P - . The close of the year in Laos churches . , ^ is October 31. In September and TT October, visits must be made to as many of the out-stations as possible, to examine classes of catechumens who have been under instruction during the year. The writer had an unusual number of out-stations under his charge in 1906, and so an unusual amount of paddling through Laos mud fell to his share that fall. A brief sketch of two of those trips must close the chapter. p .... Horses were ready when school closed rp, 5 on Friday afternoon, and with Nan T Mr? Chak, my cook and right-hand man, I rode southward from Lampoon along a fair road for six miles. Then the ponies had to swim two hundred yards in swollen waters, where, in the dry season, one may almost jump across. My faithful " Red Horse " already had a cough, and this trip was the last he was able to carry me. Reach- ing the other side, we again found a fair road most Touring and Teaching 135 of the way to our first stop. Our carriers were already there, and the evening was spent in teaching the people to sing, and in instructing a catechumen class. One of its members, a young mother who had married an " outsider," had stood firm when he threatened to leave her if she did not give up the Christian religion. I felt that her faith had been tested, and was glad to receive her. The next morn- ing horses had to be left behind. A boat ferried us across the " Big River," and with only Chinese trousers, a loose shirt and a hat, the writer was ready for wading. At the largest stream we ex- pected to find a boat, but none was to be seen. The swift current made it hard to cross, but on the other bank at a native house we changed to dry clothing, and were none the worse. A visit to a backslider who was glad to see us but not yet ready to return, and a call at a non-Christian home where medical skill opened the way, occupied the time till we were ready to start. After floundering across four miles of rice plain, we spent Saturday night at the house of a teacher in the Chieng Mai girl's school. Three of her brothers, though attendants at Christian ser- vices, were not members of the church. All seemed impressed and asked to be received as catechumens. It was four miles farther to the chapel, and the Sab- bath was without special incident further than that on the return in the afternoon the missionary man- aged to fall off the bamboo pole that constituted a bridge, into a little stream. The return on Monday morning was by the same route and uneventful. 136 An Oriental Land of the Free On the other trip two weeks horses could not carry us so far. Rain -__ On the other trip two weeks later, the Water overhead was added to water under foot, and made the path so sHppery that first one then the other carrier slipped down, but all was taken good-naturedly and no one was hurt. Six out of ten catechumens passed a creditable examina- tion at that out-station and were gladly received. Arrangements were made to open a school. We returned Monday morning, wet to the skin, but happy in having found real progress where we had hardly expected it. . , The position of woman among the . ^ ,. Laos is so entirely free that there is the Ladies ^ ^, -^ r r , not the same necessity for separate ,-. . work on their behalf as in some fields. Mission T,. . , f .1 • , J JNevertheless, many of the single, and some of the married ladies do some independent touring. Miss Fleeson in Lakawn and Nan spent considerable time in outside touring. In Dr. Camp- bell's absence on long tours, Mrs. Campbell has more than once visited the out-stations alone or with her children, and Mrs. Crooks, in Chieng Rai, has twice visited the Musu, a hill tribe, among whom we have Christians, when Dr. Crooks could not accompany her. Each vacation in the girls* school Miss Gilson makes it a point to visit the homes of her boarding pupils. On one of these tours she conducted a class for men at Muang Pao, sixty-five miles north of Chieng Mai, and brought back with her eight new pupils for the school. Dur- Touring and Teaching 137 ing the touring season, nearly every year one of the ladies of the mission has conducted regular classes for the women in some five different villages each week, thus riding a sort of circuit. Touring in Laos is more difficult for the ladies than for the men, and v^hen ladies and children are of the party, the caval- cade is often a most picturesque one, for all that is needed to eat and wear, as well as tents, camp furni- ture and cooking utensils, must be carried. CHAPTER XII HOSPITALS AND HEALING AND HOW THEY HAVE HELPED . From the very beginning of work ^ ? . ^ among the Laos, medical missions have helped to open the way for the and burgery ^^gp^j^ j^^^ McGilvary, the founder of the mission, and every missionary since, whether nominally a medical missionary or not, has been compelled to do medical work. Three scourges cause more suffering and death in " The Land of the Free " than all others combined — they are ma- laria, smallpox and vesical calculus, or stone. The last is perhaps more common than in any other part of the world, and only the surgeon can bring relief from its terrible pain. Surgery was entirely unknown among the Laos, as in most other parts of Asia, until the coming of the medical missionary. To-day, in the Chieng Mai and Lakawn hospitals, the surgeons in charge of each operate on some forty cases or more each year, in most instances success- fully. The people have learned to trust the skill and loving care of the foreign physician. Had medi- cal missions done nothing else than exemplify the love of Christ in the relief of such suffering, time and means would have been richly rewarded. 138 Hospitals and Healing 139 jjr ■, ' A ^^ ^^^^ early days of his work in o „ Chieno^ Mai, Dr. McGilvary hired Smallpox .11 .. 1 . 1- . men to take the white medicme, the name by which quinine has ever since been known there. Now it is sold in the market stalls of every city and many a village in the Siamese Laos states. Dr. McGilvary also introduced vac- cination among them. If anyone doubts the efficacy of vaccination, let him compare conditions forty years ago and to-day. Then parents expected that every child would have smallpox, and fully one third of them died of the scourge. To-day, throughout the great Chieng Mai- Lampoon plains, one seldom sees a case of small- pox. Why is this? Thirty thousand children have been successfully vaccinated during the past five years in that plain, by men sent out from our hospitals. ^ . Years have been added to the average Tx duration of human life, and untold suf- Doors r . , IT lermg subtracted. Instances need not be multiplied to make it plain that more than any other human agency, medical missions have pre- pared the way for the gospel among the Laos. Every week, every day in the year, in every mission station, the relief of human suffering is quietly ex- emplifying the gospel, disarming prejudice, opening doors, winning a hearing for the message of a Saviour's love. If you would win men to Christ, you must convince them, not only that the Saviour loves them, but that you love them and are ready 140 An Oriental Land of the Free to help them. In doing this, medical missions are a powerful, indirect evangelizing agency. . Medical missions are also most fruit- _ ,. fill as a direct evansrelizins: agency. Evangelism, -r^, 1 -n u .? -f 1 r. ^ Elder Pun, whom the writer left in charge of his work when he came to this country on furlough, was known twenty years ago as " Crazy Pun." Native physicians could do nothing for him, and friends finally took him to the dispensary in Chieng Mai, probably with little farther expecta- tion than that, temporarily at least, they might be relieved of a burden. The missionary physician undertook the case. Gradually Pun's attacks of insanity became less frequent and less violent. He was allowed to return home, coming occasionally to the dispensary for treatment. The result was a complete cure. But while body and mind were being healed, he learned also of the Healer of souls. As he was taught to read with the use of the Bible, his mind and heart gradually opened to the truths. On his return home, in a quiet way he began to teach others and lead them as he had been led. Did he need a man to help him on the farm? Be- fore the rice crop was harvested, he had taught him to read and led him to Christ. If he went on a journey, his heart was so full, he could but tell his fellow-travelers the good news he had learned. " Crazy Pun " had become Elder Pun, one of the wisest and most tactful of our evangelists. It must not be supposed, however, that he was employed at once, or soon, as a paid evangelist. It was because, Helpers, Chiexg Mai Dispensary Hospitals and Healing 141 whether at home or abroad, in season and out of season, he was leading men and women to Christ, that the native church employs him as an evangelist at a wage hardly half of what he could earn in other ways. - All the assistants in the Laos hospi- ,, ,. , tals and dispensaries are Christians. Medical . . ^ . r r ^1 _ A group picture of four of those em- ployed in the Chieng Mai hospital shows the kind of men with whom we work. Ai Lai, on the left, is in charge of the vaccine labora- tory ; Doctor Chanta, a Christian elder who for more than twenty years has given faithful service, and is now Dr. McKean's right-hand man in medi- cine and surgery, stands next; in front of him is Doctor Keo, hospital steward and head nurse, and at the right is Muang Chai, the second assistant, a younger man who is rapidly gaining in knowledge and skill. No better example of a true medical missionary can be found than Doctor Keo, whose story Dr. McKean tells in these words: " Sixteen years ago two men who had come three days' journey, appeared on our veranda. They were forlorn specimens of humanity, brothers, and both very ill. I shall never forget the confident manner with which they placed themselves and their ragged belongings at our door, seeming to say: * Here we are at last. The missionary is our friend, we shall surely find relief.' Both were cured, and surely God sent them to us. One went back to 142 An Oriental Land of the Free his family and lived and died a Christian. The other, whose name is Ai Keo, remained in the hos- pital, became my assistant, and is now my steward and head nurse. His whole life and thought seem given to the service of God. Faithful to every duty, constant, kind and unselfish in his care of the poor sufferers who come to us, I verily believe Ai Keo has done more to comfort and relieve the sufferings of his own people than any Laos man who ever lived.^' Although burdened with other duties, Ai Keo constantly teaches by word of mouth the truth his life exemplifies. For him, more completely than any other Laos man the writer knows, " to live is Christ." A few years ago, Mr. Gillies was touring in the northern part of the province of Lakawn, in a dis- trict no missionary had ever visited before. He began to talk with a man from the village while he was waiting for his carriers. Very naturally, the villager asked his business. When Mr. Gillies told him he had come to tell of the " Jesus religion," the man immediately answered that there was a " Jesus man " in that village. Mr. Gillies soon found him and discovered that, several years before, this man had, for a short time, received treatment in the Lakawn hospital. He was unable to read, but had listened with earnest attention to the gospel in song and story as he heard it there. When the time came for him to leave, the missionary physician had bid- den him remember what he had heard and come again soon. He was far from the city and had never Hospitals and Healing 143 returned, nor had an elder or other Christian ever visited him. But all alone, unable to read, with very little knowledge of the way, he had neverthe- less torn down the spirit shrines and other signs of superstition, and had taught others as he had opportunity, what he had learned. He was known and respected in all the village as " the Jesus man." It was a pleasure to Mr. Gillies to remain some days in that village and deepen the impression this faith- ful disciple had already made, as well as further instruct and baptize the man himself. Many other incidents might be told to illustrate the fact that medical missions, as a direct evangel- izing agency, as well as indirect, are telling power- fully for Christ; but we must hasten on. rpy. q • '^ One of the greatest dangers that con- ^ fronts our work is the liability of those who have already professed themselves Christians to be tempted back into heathenism when disease attacks them. It is a common belief of the Laos people that most diseases are the work of evil spirits, and the native doctor often refuses to prescribe until the customary offering has been made to the spirits. In his lonely village, far from the help of the missionary, the only believer in that village perhaps, what can the poor Christian do when sickness comes, when the life of his wife or child is at stake? What would you do? *T^u rn • 1 When a man so situated says, as I ine iriai . . . . .<: t . • , f F 'th have heard them say, Livmg or dy- ing, I am Christ's," it means more, re- quires a greater strength of faith to keep the resolu- 144 An Oriental Land of the Free tion, than you or I can realize. Unless we can bring some knowledge of foreign medicine within their reach, we can hardly hope to hold true to their con- victions the weaker members of our churches, when such emergency arises. The mission is try- ing to do just that. p, . . In 1905 the dispensary in Chieng Mai _T . sent out one hundred and fifty Chris- Native . . ^ ^, _- . . tian vaccmators. ihese men were Physicians - ■, ^ ■, r ■, 1 "^ required to spend four days each month at the dispensary, where they received care- ful instruction, not merely in the art of vaccination, but in the use of common remedies for common dis- eases, and in the use of their Bibles. The small fee the government allows them to demand makes of them a body of self-supporting evangelists who reach many villages and districts which the foreign missionary has never reached, and their scalpel and little cases of medicine give them access to homes where even they would not be welcome as evangel- ists. cy ic o J.' Some of these men who have Self-Supporting , ^ ^ . T^ ,. ^ ** been sent out year after year. Evangelists ^ , x .t. , not only earn for themselves a fair living, but are becoming quite skillful in the treatment of ordinary diseases. They are becom- ing real medical missionaries to their own people. In His name they heal the sick, in his name they cast out demons, and in his name they preach the gospel of the kingdom. They not only bring the Hospitals and Healing 145 gospel to those who have never heard, but are able to hold true to their course many who are tempted in sickness to offer to the demons the sacrifices they and their fathers have been wont to offer, and so deny Christ. Medical work among the Laos people is not merely an evangelizing agency direct and indirect, but it is God's own means of conserv- ing that which has already been won. -r^ . ^ What equipment has the church in Equipment . . . , , . America provided for carrying on this important work? As one hears of the utterly inadequate buildings and instruments at the com- mand of medical missionaries in some of the mis- sion fields, one feels that the Philadelphia journalist who spent more than a year in visiting the mission fields of the world was in a measure justified, when, in view of such a niggardly policy he exclaimed to the men of the church, " Do the job or chuck it." The Laos mission has received most gener- ous treatment at the hands of the church. It only asks a continuance of the substantial interest shown in the past as new necessities arise. More- over, the confidence and interest of both rulers and people in its medical work is shown in the fact that the whole current expense of all our dispens- aries and hospitals is met by current receipts. Even for the enlargement of our older hospitals, they have come to depend on the generosity of those who have been benefited by their work. 146 An Oriental Land of the Free More physicians and better equipment in the smaller stations are needed. p, . ^ . The means for the original buildings -J. .^ - of Chieng Mai Hospital and Dis- pensary came from America, so- licited by Dr. Marion A. Cheek, who gave fifteen years of faithful service to the work there. In re- cent years the hospital has been much enlarged through gifts from the native, the Chinese and the European merchants resident in Chieng Mai, and by the use of net current receipts. To-day it holds real estate and equipment worth at least twenty-five thousand dollars, and has comfortable accommoda- tions for at least fifty patients, and residences for two physicians. Besides its native, its " princes* " and its foreign wards, its commodious chapel as well as its physicians' residences, it has a vaccine laboratory from which all the stations, and the gov- ernment as well, draw their supplies of vaccine. Its most pressing need to-day is an adequate and mod- ern operating room. No one who has not seen it can realize the extent and importance of the work that is being done there from day to day. If only because the whole mission looks to Chieng Mai as the seat of its projected medical school, it ought not to be obliged to wait for this much needed operating room where a group of students can conveniently see and assist, and where unsanitary conditions shall not endanger the results of the surgeon's skill. The illustration shows only the main build- Hospitals and Healing 147 In Lakawn the Van Santvoort italTnd ^^" Hospital and Dispensary are do- Y^. ing an in-patient work only a little Dispensary smaller than in Chieng Mai. Its wards are of more recent construction and in some ways more convenient than those in Chieng Mai, and it has a better operating room. Its wards are often crowded, but the out-patient work and the sales of medicine are naturally smaller than in the great city and province of Chieng Mai. In recent years, the direct results of its work in men and women won to Christ have been a marked feature of work in Lakawn. We sincerely regret that cir- cumstances make it doubtful whether Dr. Hansen will return to the work he has carried on so effect- ively. -. , A generous gift of ten thousand dol- -j. . . lars as a memorial to a gentleman of Philadelphia has made possible the construction of an adequate hospital on modern lines in Chieng Rai, and the near future will see that important center for medical mission work well equipped, and exerting an influence that will be felt, not on Siamese soil alone, but far across the borders in British, and French Laos, and even up into China itself, for it stands on important caravan routes. A smaller building in Nan, erected mainly by use of the money paid the phy- sician there by the Siamese Government for the care of the soldiers, gendarmes and civil officials stationed in that province, suffices for immediate 148 An Oriental Land of the Free needs. But in Pre there is no hospital, and only a dispensary building. Temporarily Pre has been without a missionary resident. If it is occupied again, and it must be, a hospital of adequate size should be built at once, and the growth of the work will soon demand larger hospital accommodation in Nan and in Lakawn. , „ The King of Siam and his advisers - - have always taken an intelligent ^ ^ interest in the work of the Amer- Government . . . t^ ^ ^1 1 lean missions. But they have re- peatedly shown an especial interest in the medical work. Many years ago, the Siamese Government gave to the missionary physician in Chieng Mai exclusive control of vaccination in the north. They have readily granted the use of land for medical mission purposes, and contributed both by moral influence and financial aid to success. Both the king and his brother, Prince Damrong, Min- ister of the Interior, as well as the crown prince and other high officials have repeatedly spoken in the highest terms of the medical work and treated with marked honor those engaged in it. •I- , - No account of that work would be Work for , , ,. , ,, ^ , , , complete that did not tell of the work that has been planned and with the hearty approval of the government act- ually begun in Chieng Mai for the lepers of Siam. The grant by the Prince of Chieng Mai, confirmed by royal authority, of an island in the river near that city, has made a small beginning possible, but Hospitals and Healing 149 until the means for suitable buildings are in hand, only a small number of these sufferers can be pro- vided for. No picture is likely to give to one who has never seen them an exaggerated idea of the poverty and misery of these poor outcasts. Dr. McKean, who has for many years interested him- self in them, says in part : " From time immemorial, leprosy has been known and feared in the Land of the White Elephant. Wandering about the streets and into the temples, or wearily hobbling through the bazaar in quest of alms, an offense to all beholders, a menace to the public, the leper is always and everywhere an object of profound commiseration. Very early in the disease, owing to stiffening and contraction of the muscles, loss of toes and fingers, and other deformities, the leper is wholly incapaci- tated from earning a living. His only means of subsistence is begging, his food scanty and coarse, his clothing mere rags. In the cold season, it is probable that not one of these sufferers passes a warm or comfortable night. If he does not sleep in the open where night overtakes him, his hut is at best unspeakably poor and mean. Buddhism does nothing for the leper; the government does nothing to relieve his distress. There is no hope for the betterment of his lot save from us who en- joy the blessings of a Christian civilization. Lep- rosy is incurable, but much can be done to amelio- rate the condition of the leper. He is homeless, hungry, all but naked. In an asylum, shelter and 150 An Oriental Land of the Free warmth, food and clothing, will bring comfort to body and mind." Such practical illustration of the spirit of Christ will open the lepers' hearts to the message that brings peace to the soul. This will assuredly pre- vent the spread of the disease. Hundreds of homeless lepers in our immediate vicinity know of our efforts in their behalf, and only await our in- vitation to come. We are even now caring for thirteen lepers in temporary huts of bamboo and thatch, but they and we are dependent upon the gifts of our friends in this favored land. Two thousand dollars will build a brick cottage and give a home to twenty leper men or twenty leper women. Twenty-five dollars will provide the en- tire support of an adult leper for one year. Twenty dollars will support an untainted child for a year. " Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me." CHAPTER XIII SCHOOLS, THE PRESS AND CHRISTIAN LITERATURE In the Laos field, as has already Constituency ^^^^ ^^.^^ ^^^^^^ ^o,k followed of the Schools ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ preceded evangel- istic effort. No considerable number of "out- siders" have ever been enrolled in the schools. Some pupils have always come from non-Christian homes, but latterly, at least, the task of educating the children of Christians has been so large that little time or strength could be given to draw in others. The most notable exception is in the boys' school in Lakawn. There, quite a company of young priests who came to learn arithmetic and English, and held off from the religious exercises of the school, first listened, then began to share in the singing and Scripture reading. In addition, not a few boys and girls from the homes of Siamese and Laos officials have been enrolled as day pupils, rarely as boarders. Our schools give the best edu- cation to be had in the Laos states, and instruc- tion in English and higher branches increasingly attracts intelligent and ambitious pupils. We hope ultimately to draw them to Christ as well as into our schools. 151 152 An Oriental Land of the Free . However, the problems of school _ * - work in the Laos mission are funda- mentally two: To teach every Chris- tian Laos boy and girl to read the Scriptures in his own language, and to educate the future leaders both of the church and of the community. In- telHgent mothers, educated Christian men and officials are needed as well as evangelists and teachers. We need especially Christian phy- sicians. Still, to raise up a native ministry, edu- cated in our schools, is the problem that specially confronts the mission. " Young men for action, old men for council," so dominates the thought of the people, that so far our native ministers and evangelists are mostly men instructed in the Scriptures in adult years, and sent out to teach. As in the days of our Saviour in Judaea, the people would not readily listen to one under thirty years of age who taught publicly. As teachers in the schools, they welcome our educated young men and women, but the problem of a native ministry is as yet unsolved in the Laos field. ^... " A Christian primary school within the _ . reach of every Christian Laos boy or girl," has been the watchword of the mission within recent years. Until ten years ago, little effort was made to establish village schools. The boarding schools in each station did primary work, but as the number of Christians and their desire for education increased, some change was Schools, the Press and Christian Literature 153 necessary. The school accommodation, the time and the means given to primary work, were needed for pupils of higher grade. Little by little, though not yet entirely, the responsibility for this work has been laid on the members and elders of our churches. Self-supporting primary schools, at- tended sometimes by " outsiders," as well as Christians, have been gradually developed. Natur- ally the most conspicuous success has been at- tained where there is a considerable and prosperous native Christian community. Still, there as here, the teacher makes the school, and successful schools have grown up where outward conditions did not seem favorable. On the other hand, out- stations which should maintain a good school often fail to do so. Still, each year sees a gain in the number and efficiency of self-supporting village schools. At its last report, the mission had twenty-two of them with over four hundred pupils. _ - , Under the old regime, there was no lemple and • • <• j ^- ^1 ^ ^ provision for educating the women, Government f^ ^ - 1, ir r ^1, 1, ^ . . but nearly one half of the boys Schools ^ - ■" u . .' 'A spent a longer or shorter time in the Buddhist monasteries or temples, where they were taught to read and write, but learned little else. Since the Siamese Government tightened its hold upon the Laos provinces it has instituted many re- forms and improvements. Conspicuous among them are the government free schools. Naturally these schools are conducted in the 154 An Oriental Land of the Free Siamese language, but inasmuch as a good knowl- edge of Siamese is at present almost a passport to government employ, these schools are well filled, and as a whole do good work. They are still few in number, but a Siamese superintendent of edu- cation for the north is rapidly developing their number and efficiency. , . _ Education in the temples, being for 1 ^- f boys alone and conspicuously inferior __. . to that offered in the mission schools, ,^ , - the more that attendance there is im- possible for a Christian, put no diffi- culty in the way of maintaining Christian village and boarding schools. Not so with the govern- ment free schools. They have developed a de- mand for Siamese that makes it necessary for mis- sion schools, even in the villages, to teach Si- amese. As yet, no mission school has made that lan- guage the sole basis of instruction, as the govern- ernment schools are doing, but it may be necessary in the end. The instruction in government schools is free, and where they are established the main- tenance of mission schools in which tuition is charged is made more difficult. As yet, we can- not teach the Siamese language as well as they, and the loyalty of the Laos people to their own language is tested when we apply to them for sup- port for the Laos schools. Mission schools must maintain their existence by their efficiency. In the boarding schools instruction in English has proved Schools, the Press and Christian Literature 155 a great attraction. There is general demand for it, and some government schools teach it, but very imperfectly. _, _ ^ While these government schools The Future , .. ,. ,, -n ii,- ^ ^1 are less distmctly Buddhist than the temple schools, the influence and instruction, as well as some of the books they use, are not such as we wish for our Christian boys, and the govern- ernment as yet makes little provision for the edu- cation of girls. Christian schools must be main- tained, and their efficiency increased. Even in the Siamese language they must come up to the gov- ernment standard. If they do so, the government may aid Christian schools as they do in India on the basis of inspection and examination. That problems have grown more difficult, must only in- crease our determination to solve them success- fully. We welcome the government free schools and would cooperate with them for the educa- tion of all the people. -^ ,. I have spoken of the e^overnment Boardmg , , . ^ ^. .^^ ... ^ , . ° schools m connection with our village, rather than our higher schools, because the former are more directly in peril. For our boarding schools, the rivalry is wholesome. It makes self-support more difficult, but what good school in America, or elsewhere, is supported by tuition fees? American schools are endowed, and higher schools in Laos, as in other mission lands, must be endowed, or receive a more generous an- nual support from mission funds. Without this, 156 An Oriental Land of the Free they cannot provide the education circumstances demand. . The boarding schools for boys and _ , f s:irls in Chieng- Mai are the oldest Schools J 1 . • .1, • • T4. • 4-t and largest m the mission. It is the purpose of the mission to maintain in them a higher grade than in other station schools. Pupils who have reached a certain grade in other schools, are expected to come to Chieng Mai for higher work. From Lakawn, from Chieng Rai, and from Pre, pupils have already been enrolled. These schools have almost ceased to do primary work, and the grade and quality of work done is being steadily raised. The Christian character of the instruction and influence is shown by the numbers from all the schools that are received each year into our church. True, most of them come from Christian homes, but if the schools do little for " outsiders," they are holding our young people true to Christ, and train- ing them for leadership. p . Some years ago, the Crown Prince of Tj ,, Slam visited Chieng Mai, and was in- P ^. vited to lay the corner stone of William ^ Allen Butler Hall, the new home for the boys* school. His Royal Highness was asked to give the school a new name. This he graciously did, calling it " Prince Royal College." It does not yet do college work, but it must do so if it is to meet the demands of the near future. Every year sees further steps in that direction. It now has two missionary instructors, Messrs. Harris and Schools, the Press and Christian Literature 157 Palmer, and an efficient corps of native teachers trained in its own halls. About one hundred and twenty-five regular pupils are enrolled, and includ- ing a special term of instruction for teachers, its sessions continue ten months in the year. The normal class is held during the vacation of the regular school, and draws in, as it is planned to do, the teachers from village schools, both men and women, and from the boarding schools in other provinces. The training classes for evangelists, ministers and elders, have not yet been as closely associated with the college as they might be, but plans for the future include this. The missionary physicians have taught classes in physiology and hygiene, and several of the graduates of the school are in training in the hospital. As definite medical instruction develops, it is intended to make it a part of the work of the college. While it does not claim to measure up to its name, its plans are broad, and look to the development of a Christian college that shall be to the Christian Laos com- munity and nation all that those words imply. TVi r* 1 » While the girls' school in Chieng ^ , . Mai does not reach as high grade, es- pecially in Siamese and in English, as the college, the grade and quality of work done have steadily improved under the efficient leader- ship of Miss Gilson. Industrial work, especially sewing and weaving, are a prominent feature of the school, and aid in the direction of self-support. Here, too, some pupils are enrolled from other 158 An Oriental Land of the Free stations. The number of boarding pupils is even larger than in the college, although the total of boarding and day pupils is not quite so large. Its last report gave one hundred and fifteen pupils of whom sixty-six were boarders. The burden is far too heavy ever to be well carried by one missionary teacher, and we rejoice at the action of the board that looks to an increase in its faculty. _ , The girls' school in Lakawn is a monu- p. . , ment to the faith and efficiency of Miss « - - Kate N. Fleeson, who opened the school and during most of the time until her death in 1906 continued to conduct it. Lakawn is a smaller city and province than Chieng Mai, so that the means at her command were smaller, but the attendance and the grade of work done in her school placed it fully on a par with the larger school. Its present comfortable building, occu- pied a short time before her death, was erected with materials and funds Miss Fleeson herself solicited, largely in Lakawn itself. - , The boys' school in Lakawn will Lakawn -^ - ^^ .1 Ti/r T> , o t- 1 soon occupy the Kenneth Mac- Boys' School - • Tv/r • 1 i -1 1- kenzie Memorial building, a con- venient and adequate brick structure, which means much for its future. Lack of adequate accommo- dation, and still more of means for current ex- penses, have hampered this important school in the past. " Is it good policy," said Dr. Taylor, its principal, " to pay several thousand dollars to place a missionary on the field and support him until he Schools, the Press and Christian Literature 159 acquires the language, and then refuse two to three hundred dollars a year to enable him to do efficient work in his school? " It is hoped that in the future this lack will be supplied. ^1. -D J ^^ Na^ the Siamese commissioner • f T, r showed his appreciation of the mg bchoois ^^^^ ^^ mission schools by offer- ing to place a missionary in charge of the govern- ment school, pay all expenses and give him entire freedom to teach Christian truth. Difficulties stood in the way of accepting this offer. A boys' school has been established, but buildings and equipment are sorely needed. The schools in Pre and in Chieng Rai have been little more than day schools, and have drawn little from the treasury of the mis- sion, but in Chieng Rai at least there is immediate demand for a school more adequate to the needs of that large and growing Christian community, sec- ond only to Chieng Mai in numbers and import- ance. . - When a large number of evangelists , T^., ,. 1 were res:ularly employed by the and Bibhcal • • -1 \. . mission, it was easy to secure regu- Instruction , ^^ j ^i. u. • • lar attendance on the training classes. In 1895 reduced gifts at home made it absolutely necessary to cease to pay evangelists and the burden was laid upon the native church. Even some of the best instructed and most efficient men had to turn to other employment. Since then, although the number of men sent out by the native church has gradually increased, and some have i6o An Oriental Land of the Free been regularly employed by the mission, training classes with a regular defined course have not been reestablished. No new men have been ordained to the ministry, and as I have already said, the problem of adequate training now presses upon the mission. _ . . Training classes are held each year in p- ^ Chieng Mai and in other stations, and in some of the larger out-stations of the mission. These classes and uniform Bible lessons for the Sunday school have promoted a general knowledge of the Bible and its truths among the people. All realize that instruction in the Bible, both in Sunday school and in training classes, should be more thorough and systematic; but such is the pressure of work upon our small forces that this need has not yet been met. ^- p In the chapter "The Coming of the , , Gospel," it was stated that in the be- -^ , ginning of the work the Siamese Bible and hymn book and other Christian literature were used in schools and in public wor- ship. The two languages are kindred, and the Siamese is the language of the rulers of the land. The Laos is written in a dififerent character, and no type to print it was in existence. Not until 1893 did the arrival of the press and a font of Laos type put a Laos Christian literature within reach. Since that time the work of the press in Chieng Mai has gradually grown. It is not only the only press in the world equipped to print the Laos character. Schools, the Press and Christian Literature i6i but it also does much printing in Siamese, in Eng- lish and occasionally in French. Over three mil- lion pages are printed each year. Rather less than half of this is printed for the Bible Society and the mission, the balance is printed for the government and for other outside parties, and has made the press in recent years a self-supporting part of our v^ork. _- . Matthew, a Catechism, and Laos J . reading books were first printed. An arithmetic, a geography, a Life of Christ, Pilgrim's Progress and a part of the Old Testament history, were reprinted with little change from the Siamese in which they had been originally written. It soon appeared that these Siamo-Laos books did not meet the need. A real Laos literature was called for and is gradually being supplied. One fourth of the Bible has been translated into the Laos language, and each year sees some addition to it. A General His- tory, Bible Stories, a Life of Christ for Schools, Letters of See Mo (written from America by a na- tive Laos man), Chandra Lela, A Story of Indian Life, — these indicate the range of the Christian literature our press is providing. Still, only the beginnings of a vernacular Chris- tian literature have yet been made. A Laos monthly paper, which gives a summary of the world's news, contributed articles of various sorts and comments on the Sunday school lesson, has a considerable circulation. 1 62 An Oriental Land of the Free rry. TT 1 Rev. Jonathan Wilson, D. D., one The Hymnal r ^^ \ r . r\-u • • •^ of the two founders of the mission, has not only shared in Bible translation, but he has given himself especially to the preparation of hymns. He has translated more than five hundred of our best English and American hymns, and com- posed some original hymns in the Laos tongue. The Laos people are very fond of singing. Many a Christian who has only a small part of the Bible, carries his hymnal wherever he goes. Even non- Christian people sometimes join in singing these beautiful hymns, and the gospel is singing its way to the hearts of the Laos people, and will continue to do so when Father Wilson, our sweet singer, has passed away. Such tunes as " Onward, Christian Soldiers," " The Son of God Goes Forth to War," " Luther's Hymn," " Austrian Hymn," and " Aurelia," are constantly and well sung, in our Laos churches. Other text-books for our schools and for our evangelistic classes, and Christian books for gen- eral reading, and still more, the balance of the Bible in their own tongue, are needs that the Laos church and mission recognize, and seek to supply. But such work, if it is to be well done, must be done slowly. As a whole, even our Christian Laos people are not a reading or a book-buying people. The growth of the schools and literature, with their common demands on the press must grow to- gether. The Aim of Mission Work CHAPTER XIV THE NATIVE CHURCH Dr. Lawrence well said that the aim of Christian missions is to establish " a vital native church/* and to " train it from the first in the principles of self-reliance, self-control and self-propagation." No hard and fast rule can be laid down by which we can measure the success of mission work, but the number of members enrolled tells far less than the establishment of a church such as Dr. Lawrence de- scribes. Has the work among the Laos people de- veloped such a church? A brief statement of the work that church is doing, with vignettes of some of its leaders, is the best answer to this ques- tion. -p, I I have said in another place that in G th f ^^^ ^^^ years from 1884 to 1894, the th La s enrollment of the Laos church grew Chu ch ^^°^ ^"^ hundred and fifty-two to eighteen hundred and forty-one, a more than tenfold increase in ten years. In the ten years that followed, although the absolute increase was nearly as large, relatively it was far smaller. Does this mean that effort was less earnest, or less successful than in earlier years? Not necessarily. 163 164 An Oriental Land of the Free The Laos church found itself in 1894 The Situa- with a large number of believers who tion in were little instructed in Christian 1894 truth. Up to that time, the way to employment as evangelists and help- ers, paid by the mission, had been rather easy. Persecution had practically ceased, and some had come into all the churches with a stronger impres- sion of the privileges than of the duties of believ- ers. Providentially, we doubt not, the necessity arose for a retrenchment. Evangelists could no longer be freely employed. Instead, the duty of contributing to the support of work among them, that had hitherto been paid for mainly out of for- eign funds, was laid upon the churches. - - This sudden change of attitude on ^. the part of the mission, however tne Change ^ .^ u I necessary it may have been, was difficult to understand. It took time for the church to adjust itself to the situation. Most of its lead- ers loyally accepted the burden laid on them, and increasingly year by year this initiative in Christian work has been taken by the churches. The mem- bers of the Laos church had never been " rice Chris- tians," yet they had leaned upon the missionaries before 1894, and expected more moral and financial help than the mission has since then been able to give. The action of the mission taken in December, 1895, which definitely discontinued the old system of employing evangelists, was the " stirring up of The Native Church 165 the eagle's nest." It marked the end of the first stage of missionary effort among the Laos people. _, -- An elder who was recently called as r ^1, 3, witness in court says: "The judge - p. and those around him, when I asked to take oath according to the religion of the Christians, asked me why I had entered the religion of the foreigners. I answered that it was not the religion of the foreigners, but the religion of the one true God for all the world." Whatever it may have been before, when the responsibility for native evangelists was laid upon and assumed by the native church, that church could no longer be called the church or the religion of the for- eigner. For a few years accessions to the churches were smaller. Some who had professed them- selves Christians ceased to attend services. Two or three churches were more seriously affected than the rest, and even to-day report a smaller member- ship than in 1894. But these changes were mainly a consolidation, a gathering of strength for a new advance. , After three or four years when pro- gress seemed small and doubtful, ac- cessions to the churches began again to increase, and that increase has gone on steadily for ten years. Proportionally, accessions have never reached the standard of the ingatherings of 1884 to 1893, but in actual numbers received, 1908 surpassed any year that had preceded it, three hun- i66 An Oriental Land of the Free dred and thirty-one having been received on con- fession. The church has grown more in inteUigence than in numbers ; it has developed leaders and self- reliance; it has grown in all that makes the church of God a power on the earth. It has grown in its conception of what it meanc to be a Christian and in the standard of Christian conduct it sets up. The Laos church has to-day an " esprit de corps," and a standing in the community very different from anything it possessed in the days of its most rapid growth. .^ ^ The writer wishes not to be misunder- Irrescnt -_ , stood. The Laos church has not yet at- tained its majority. There is still much that discourages. Were missionaries withdrawn, the native church, which numbers hardly one com- municant in a thousand of the native community, would find it difficult to stand and grow. The people need the moral support and encouragement, the guidance and constant help of the missionary. They need still more such a revival of vital religion, such a heart experience of God and his truth, as has been experienced in Manchuria and in other parts of China and of India. They need, the mission- aries need, the church at home needs, a new bap- tism of the Spirit. - -- While an adequately trained and or- _ dained ministry is lacking in the Laos ^^ field, and services almost everywhere are conducted by the elders, so that the local ex- penses are small, it still is true and important that The Native Church 167 no money from America goes to the support of any Laos church. In most cases, too, the church pays a part of the salary of evangeHsts and shares in the oversight of their work. A larger sum is contrib- uted by the churches for native evangelists than is sent from America. The work of all the dispensar- ies and of the press is self-supporting. Primary schools in nearly every case are on a self-support- ing basis. Chapels and churches are usually built, repaired and maintained by the gifts of the native church. It has already been said that to-day, ^ ' , the primary work of evangelism, Propagation ^^^^^-^^^ ^^d drawing to Christ those who are not yet believers, is done mainly by native Christians. Their work is often clinched and completed by the visit and influence of the mission- ary, but in this, as in many other respects, we re- joice to see that the native Christian increases, while the missionary decreases. p Nothing more vividly illustrates the growing strength of the Laos churches than the Laos conventions. The strongest church in a district, or different churches in turn, invite the members of other churches to be their guests, and a two to five days' programme of addresses, practical discussions and Bible study is arranged. An increasing share each year is taken by our native brethren. In twenty-three out of thirty-two services at Chieng Rai, they were the leaders. Held at a season of the year when little 1 68 An Oriental Land of the Free work is done in the fields, embodying something of the light-hearted good-fellowship that marks na- tive festivals, giving to isolated Christians an op- portunity once in a year to realize the meaning of Christian fellowship, these gatherings have become a regular part of the programme of the year. " The whole meeting," says Dr. Wilson in Lakawn, *' was a time of good things from God that refreshed and gladdened us all." "The gathering in Chieng Rai," says Dr. Crooks, "was well attended and richly blessed of God." A son of the martyrs said in Me A Contrast ^^^^ j^^^^ ^^ ^^^ convention: " These gatherings are great ; why, I can recall the time when I knew every Christian," and he pro- ceeded to count on his fingers. " We met in a small house in Dr. McGilvary's yard, just a hand- ful of us. Those who passed by would peep through the fence and say, ' Witches ! Witches ! ' Now what a change. Christians come to this con- vention from all over the land." _ . Not only are they planning and giving ,,. . and laboring: for the evan8:elization of the Mission J. , . , ^u J u 4. ^u -^ , districts near at hand, but more than once the native church has definitely com- mitted itself to the work beyond the borders of Siam and among a population that is largely aborig- inal, and understands little of the Laos tongue. In addition, companies of Christian women led by Mrs. McKean in Chieng Mai, and more recently in other stations, meet each month to study the mis- The Native Church 169 sion fields of the world. Their contributions are divided between evangelistic work near home and work for the blind in Canton, China. _- _. - Sketches of Kroo Nan Ta, our first The Leaaers . . . ^ j r -r^ t^ native minister, and of Dr. Keo m Chieng Mai Hospital have already been given. I will close 4:he chapter with vignettes of a pastor, a teacher, an evangelist, and a Christian business man, four Christian leaders from as many different provinces. As an example of a pastor, I choose A Pastor — Kham Ai of Chieng Kham. Though Kham Ai never ordained, save as the first elder of the church in Nan, he was sent by that church to begin work in what is now its most important out-station. Whatever that growing group of believers is, it owes under God to this native pastor. A son of Christian parents in Chieng Mai, he had become a h-elper in the dis- pensary in Nan. His knowledge of medicine has been a constant help to him in his work. Nine days distant from Nan over high mountains, at best the missionary can visit him only once a year. His isolation and the dependence of the work on his in- dividual effort is as complete as if he were a mis- sionary in a foreign land, although this distant out- post is counted an integral part of Nan church. A Teacher— ^^ ^^^^' ^ ^^^ ^^ ^ ^°°^ Christian _,,, - family had nearly completed the Elder La • xt, u » u ^ • r-w course in the boys school in Chieng Mai. He went to Chieng Mai soon after that sta- lyo An Oriental Land of the Free tion was opened, being employed in some capacity by one of the missionaries, and he married there. He already had shown himself apt to teach, and when a parochial, self-supporting school was begun in Chieng Mai, in 1898, he was its teacher. He gave excellent satisfaction, and became Sunday school superintendent and elder, as well- as village teacher. That school has grown in numbers and in importance with the growth of the Christian community, and now has four teachers of whom he is the leader. Less highly trained than some other teachers in the mission, he still is, so far as the writer is aware, the senior of them all in continuous, faithful service. Personally, the writer looks to him and men like him, trained in our boarding schools, then employed as teachers, to supply the need of a trained ministry. A F r t ^3.n Pun had been employed at a ^ p good salary as an " assistant " to the English engineer in charge of railway surveys. In 1905 he met with a serious injury which will make him lame for life, and was sent to the mission hospital in Lakawn. He was already an educated and exceptionally intelligent man, as his title Nan shows, and the study of the Scriptures convinced him that only in Christ, not in Buddha, could he find rest and salvation. When he recovered he at once asked to be baptized. Al- though a lucrative government position was offered him, he gladly remained as teacher in the boys* school at less than half the salary, that he might The Native Church 171 study to be an evangelist. His first concern was for his family in Lampoon. So far only one of them has yielded to his persuasions, but with his wife's relatives in Pre, he has been more success- ful. Six homes in their village have torn down the spirit shrines and declared themselves Christians. Still, during term time, Nan Pun is a teacher and student. In the vacations, he is active as an evan- gelist, even if he is lame. He is one of the most promising of all our helpers, and despite his youth, a leader in Lakawn. . p, . . About 1885 a returning missionary T> . Tv/r from Laos brous^ht with him to Busmess Man—. . ^. <• tvt ^i_ • « ^ America the son of Nan Chai, one of the earliest Christians in Chieng Mai, and a man of considerable means. Though See Mo came no farther than San Francisco and remained there only a year, he is the only Laos man who has seen as much as that of the " outside country." His letters descriptive of what he saw in strange lands have been printed by the press, and are much read by his countrymen. He is an elder in Chieng Mai church, a merchant and a timber dealer, perhaps the man of largest means in the native church. He occupies a most comfort- able house, built after the foreign style, though adapted to native use. He is a reader of several American and English periodicals, speaks English perfectly and is an earnest Bible student and su- perintendent of the Sunday school. He was ap- pointed chairman of a commitee of the native pres- 172 An Oriental Land of the Free bytery to foster and support Christian village schools. He is but one of a dozen Christian busi- ness men who might be named, mostly men edu- cated in our schools, busy men but ever ready to give time and thought to the interests of the com- ing kingdom. CHAPTER XV OPPORTUNITIES, OUTLOOK, NEEDS . -. The question is often asked, why have An Open .. j , a ^ ^ the Laos people proved more open to the gospel than others on whom Bud- dhism has laid its hand? The answer seems to be somewhat as follows : First. Scratch the Laos Buddhist, and you find a spirit-worshiper, Spirit worship, not Buddhism, was the original, is the actual, religion of the Laos people. Their sense of spiritual realities makes it easier to present to them a spiritual religion. Second. Another fact closely related to this, is that the Laos are a more religious people than the Siamese or the Burmese. This is probably because the deadening, atheistic tendencies of Buddhism have had less influence upon them. Third. To men and women who, from their earliest recollection, have lived in fear of the demons, the gospel of a loving Saviour who can and will drive out the evil spirit, comes with a mes- sage of deliverance. Once understood, it appeals to them in a way that we in Christian America hardly understand. Fourth. The Messianic hope of Buddhism, scarcely known in Burma, less emphasized among 173 174 An Oriental Land of the Free the Siamese, gives to the gospel a point of approach to the heart of every thoughtful Laos man or v^roman. " He for v^hose coming you long has al- ready come." Fifth. The comparatively high moral standards of the Laos, not derived from Buddhism, but a part of their national inheritance and character, have prepared the w^ay for the coming of the gospel. ^. ^ Had the missionaries gone to Circumstances 'it • o i -r^ rnt. ^ rr tt i j the Laos m 183c;, when Dr. That Have Helped -n ,. . ^ , Bradley began work among the Siamese, they would have found political con- ditions so confused, and life and property so in- secure, that perhaps little could have been accom- plished. British rule in Burma, and more direct enforcement of Siamese authority in the Laos states, have prompted peace, protected the persons of the missionaries, and given time and opportunity to the people to listen to their message. Changing political and social conditions, an awakened interest in education, increasing knowledge of the world, or desire for such knowledge, make the leaders of the people to-day peculiarly open to new influences, religious as well as social. ■R/r ^1, J mi_ ^ The emphasis placed at the first Methods That ^ i- .• a- , TT xj 1 ^ upon evangelistic eitort has never ceased to be a marked feature of mission work among the Laos. Whatever institu- tional or routine work may fall to their share, all missionaries — the women as well as the men — are expected to share in hand-to-hand evangelistic work. Of this work schools have been the result, Opportunities, Outlook, Needs 175 not the precursors. The school has not been needed to open the way into the home, but rather to train the children of homes already open. Medi- cal work is useful in all fields, but more perhaps than in most fields medical work has among the Laos won friendship, removed prejudice and opposi- tion, and exemplified the real meaning of the gospel. That indifference to all spiritual facts f Pi M t and realities which is a marked result to Be Met ^^ Buddhist teaching, is the greatest obstacle mission work must overcome. Neither the Laos nor any other non-Christian people can be said to be hungering for the gospel. Individuals may show themselves prepared for its reception, but only a Christian heart full of love and helpful- ness can overcome indifference and awaken desire for higher things. A second obstacle is the ties of kindred, of friendship and of custom. To convince a Laos man or woman of the truth is easier than to per- suade him to break away from these ties and follow Christ. Of open persecution there is now little; of secret opposition, of the inertia that is slow to break with the past or allow others to do so, there is still much. The warp of Buddhism and the woof of spirit worship are so interwoven in the whole life of the people that it requires much faith and cour- age to break away. Finally, although moral conditions are vastly better than in India or China, even when indiffer- ence is overcome, when despite opposition, decision for Christ has been made, we must still constantly 176 An Oriental Land of the Free remember in dealing with the new convert the pit out of which he was digged. Offenses against the moral law among professed Christians often sadden the missionary. He must often remember the in- junction, " Ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness." ^, First. We are encouraged by the grow- _ . , ing self-dependence of the native church. Its leaders welcome the mis- sionary as counselor, friend and teacher, yet often reverse the situation and really become themselves his advisers and leaders. God grant that this may increasingly be true as the years go on! Second. The number in the Laos land who in- cline to accept the truth, but have not yet broken away from old ties, as well as of earnest inquirers, is increasing. We pray and labor for, and we must expect in the near future, a larger turning to God than we have yet seen. May we be ready in the day of his power! Third. The very fact just stated, and the open door among the native leaders, emphasize the danger lest, if we do not enter with the gospel, these doors may be closed. Commercialism, ab- sorption in material things, the rush of modern life, all are coming in like a flood. Even to-day many of the young men, particularly those who are under the influence of Siamese officials, ar^ less open to the gospel than they were five years ago. Less universally perhaps than in China and Korea, but nevertheless truly, it is a time of crisis in Laos. Opportunities, Outlook, Needs 177 Fourth. It must be kept in mind that promising as conditions are in some parts of the lanid, the great bulk of the area and of the Laos people are still totally untouched by the gospel. French and Chinese Laos are among the great unoccupied fields of the world. Even in Siam itself, half the Laos people are entirely beyond the reach of our organized work, and of those within reach only a small proportion have really heard the gospel. Of the Laos in Siam, only one in one thousand is a member of our church. On the average, each Laos missionary finds an area as large as several counties and a population of two hundred thousand persons accounted his parish, with two hundred scattered, imperfectly instructed believers, most of them very poor in this world's goods, as his work- ing force. I ask once more, in view of the vastness of the field yet to be reached, in view also of the burden of the work upon the mission and of the responsibility for that work that God lays upon the church at home : Is the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America planning for anything less than the conquest of the whole Laos race for Christ? What ought the church, what ought you, to do? ^ - First. Larger income for educational work is counted by the mission its most pressing present need. The grade of our higher schools must be raised, and we should be able to accept all qualified pupils even if they cannot pay much tuition. We must train the leaders. 178 An Oriental Land of the Free Second. The force of missionaries must be so increased that furloughs can be taken without crippling the work. Existing stations must be fairly manned. At present, even when all are on the field, not a single station can be said to be adequately manned. Third. Foreign funds should be available for evangelistic work, so that we can assure our help- ers of regular and continuous employment at wages not too much below the compensation in other employment. We should be able to say to a church: If you will send out one evangelist we will send another to travel and work with him. We expect the native church to do its share, but we must cooperate with and help them. Fourth. We need missionaries and native help- ers to go into the regions that are beyond the limits of our present stations, and organize and man new stations. Expenditures for houses, for dispen- saries and for school buildings are to be provided. Above all, the Laos church needs that, by a fuller knowledge of its needs, the church at home may be able to pray more intelligently for the work in the fair Land of the Free, and more heartily to cooperate with the Christians at work there. If the church at home does its share, with the bless- ing of Him in whose name we all labor, we may surely hope to see the Laos race brought to Christ in our day and generation. That he may live to see this is the hope and prayer of the writer of these lines. QUESTIONS FOR STUDY The following questions have been prepared for the use of those studying this book. In accordance with the An- nouncement facing Chapter I, which all leaders of classes should read with care, questions on Chapters V to IX have been omitted. The purpose of these questions is not merely to review the text, but to promote independent thought and discussion. Review questions, appealing merely to memory, are of value only as preliminary to discussion and can easily be framed by any person of average intelligence. The questions given below demand the exercise of individual judgment as well as knowledge of the text; in a few cases the text will be found of no aid whatever. It is not supposed that the average student will be able to answer all these questions satisfactorily or that all students will agree in their conclusions. It is intended rather that students shall come to the class session with questions un- answered and opinions sometimes in opposition, so that there may be a real basis for discussion. Some of these questions may be specially indicated by the leader for discussion at the following session. In no case will it be advisable to try to cover the entire list. Better concentration on a few well-adapted questions than a hurried review of all. Circumstances will determine the selection for each class. For some the main value of the questions will be to suggest others that are better. In working out the questions the free use of pencil and paper is recommended. Ideas which are the result of reflec- tion should be jotted down, and pertinent passages in the text once more consulted for further light. The mere at- tempt to formulate usually helps to stir up new ideas that 179 i8o An Oriental Land of the Free would not otherwise arise. All this tends to give an appetite for the class session. Questions on Chapter I 1. How would you state the missionary responsibility of the Christian church? 2. How would you determine the missionary responsibility of any single Christian denomination? 3. To what extent is the responsibility of any church de- termined by the average of what other churches do? 4. What can you say as to the responsibility of the Presby- terian Church (North) at home? 5. What can you say as to its responsibility abroad? 6. Name all the points you can that give one field a greater claim than another. 7. How far should the quality of its people affect the claim of any field? 8. How far should the strategic position of a field as a base for future operations affect its claim? 9. How far does exclusive occupation of a field affect its claim on the occupying body? 10. For what missionary work in the world Is the Presby- terian Church exclusively responsible? 11. How do the Laos compare in number, for example, wItK the North American Indians? Questions for Study i8i 12. How do they compare in probable future influence? 13. How does their field compare with that of the North American Indians as a base for future operations? 14. How does it compare in the number of Christian agen- cies engaged? 15. Name the advantages to missionary work of having a single language for a large population, as is true for the Tai race. 16. What are the advantages for the missionary of ap- proaching a new people with a previous knowledge of their language ? 17. How will this widespread knowledge of a language af- fect the work of native evangelists? 18. How long do you think it would take you to become a really effective preacher in a new language? 19. How are the problems of missionary literature compli- cated by having several languages in a single field? 20. Why is a time of transition in any field especially im- portant for missionary work? 21. How many missionaries would we have in the United States if it were manned no better than the Laos field?* 22. How many missionaries would you have in the state in which you reside? 23. Sum up the claim of the Laos field upon the Presby- terian Church. * See Appendix B. i82 An Oriental Land of the Free Questions on Chapter II 1. Why cannot the religions of Asia take any credit for the high position of woman among the Laos? 2. Which is better, the Chinese custom that a wife enter the husband's family, or the Laos custom that the husband enter the wife's? 3. What is the effect upon the wife in the former instance? 4. What is the effect upon the character of the husband in the latter instance? 5. Contrast with this the Christian custom that the young people set up a separate home. 6. What would be the practical effects of the Laos custom of inheritance? 7. Contrast divorce among the Laos with that among the Mohammedans. 8. What are the advantages and disadvantages of such strict observation of custom as obtain among the Laos? Questions on Chapter III 1. What do you consider the strongest point in Buddhism as seen among the Laos? 2. What are its worst features? 3. Why do you think it succeeded in spreading as it has among the Laos? Questions for Study 183 4. Compare the Ten Commandments of Buddha with those of Moses, and state the main differences. 5. Give reasons why you approve or disapprove of the last five Commandments of Buddha. 6. Compare the Ten Commandments of Buddha with the two great Commandments given by Jesus Christ, and state the difference. 7. What do you think would be the practical effect on life of the doctrine of Karma? 8. What would be the practical effect upon life of ignoring the existence of God? 9. What would be the practical effect of the doctrine of merit? ID. What has Christianity to learn from -Buddhism as to methods of approach? 11. What practical advantages has Christianity over Bud- hism in seeking to win the Laos? 12. How much effort do you think it is worth that the Laos should have Christianity instead of Buddhism? Questions on Chapter IV 1. Have you ever known anyone who was superstitious in any way? 2. How do you account for such feelings? 3. Which is the best guard against superstition, Christianity or common sense? 1 84 An Oriental Land of the Free 4. Try to imagine the practical effect upon your own life of a belief in evil spirits. 5. What effect would it have upon your perseverance? 6. What effect would it have upon planning far in advance? 7. How would you show that Buddhism is not good enough for the Laos? 8. What are the practical evils of the belief in witchcraft? 9. What practical advantages has Christianity over spirit worship in seeking to win the Laos? 10. How much effort do you think it is worth that the Laos should have Christianity instead of spirit worship? Questions on Chapter X 1. What responsibility has the Presbyterian Church as- sumed in occupying a field where no other Christian bodies are at work? 2. What do the results of Mr. Caswell's tutorship indicate as to the importance of work for ruling classes? 3. What sort of missionaries are needed for such work? 4. For what various reasons do you think Dr. McGilvary might be called a great missionary? 5. Why is it that new religions are so often persecuted? 6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of persecu- tion to the church? Questions for Study 185 7. What would you infer as to the character of heathen religions from the fact that those away from home are so much easier to win? 8. Give several reasons why growth in a mission field should be more rapid after a couple of decades. 9. What are the relative advantages of missionaries and converted natives as evangelists? 10. Is the mission right in encouraging the Laos Chris- tians to undertake work in French territory so far from home? 11. Formulate the responsibility of the Presbyterian Church for the Laos-speaking people of South China. Questions on Chapter XI 1. Is the main duty of the missionary to preach the gospel? 2. What do you mean by preaching the gospel? 3. In what ways would the work of the evangelistic mis- sionary differ from that of a preacher in America? 4. What are the main arguments for spending time in training natives to do evangelistic work rather than in direct preaching? 5. To what extent do you think these arguments hold good for church work in America? 6. Give the arguments for intensive as opposed to extensive work and vice versa. i86 An Oriental Land of the Free 7. What should be the main aims of a missionary in an occasional visit to a station? 8. Do you think that Christians in America would thrive under such occasional oversight? 9. Who is ultimately to blame that there are not more con- verts in these villages? 10. Which do you think are most in need of pastoral over- sight, Laos Christians or Christians in America? why? 11. Study the table of distances and travel on page 125 and try to discover places in America that are as far removed from each other in point of time as are the Laos stations. 12. If you had to meet in your Christian work the same physical difficulties that the Laos missionaries meet in their touring, would you consider that you had a right to neglect it? 13. What in your opinion are the principal needs of evan- gelistic work among the Laos? 14. Whose business is it to see that these needs are met? Questions on Chapter XII 1. What is the main purpose of medical missions? 2. Would medical missions be justified if there was no op- portunity for direct evangelistic work in connection with them? 3. Are Christian people justified in maintaining hospitals in this country which make no attempt to evangelize their patients ? Questions for Study 187 4. What are the special advantages of medical over other forms of missionary work? 5. What are its disadvantages as compared with other forms ? 6. In what ways can a hospital be most effectively made a direct evangelistic agency? 7. What rules should a missionary follow in the employ- ment of evangelists? 8. What evidence does the chapter present to you that the Laos do become genuine Christians? 9. If isolated Laos Christians relapse under temptation, where would you locate the final responsibility? 10. Do you think it is wise to send out as teachers of Chris- tianity men who know so little as the vaccinators? 11. Why is it important to have well-equipped hospitals among the Laos? 12. How is this equipment to be secured in view of the lack of funds at the disposal of the board? Questions on Chapter XIII 1. Name the purposes of missionary schools in such a field as the Laos in what you consider the order of their impor- tance. 2. Indicate the sort of equipment that would be needed to carry out these purposes. 3. What advantages has educational over other forms of missionary work? 1 88 An Oriental Land of the Free 4. Should we be justified in spending time teaching non- Christians if no conversions resulted? 5. What is the justification of maintaining schools at all when government schools exist? 6. What course of studies should you recommend for the Laos as compared with that of schools in America? 7. State what appear to you to be the principal needs of Laos schools. 8. Why do you think the board sometimes pursues what seems like a poor business policy in equipping schools? 9. What are the special advantages of boarding schools on the mission field? 10. What sort of training do you think a prospective edu- cational missionary should have? 11. Present the relative claim of America and Laos upon a Christian normal school graduate who is free to go. 12. Why is it important to compose and not merely to translate the vernacular literature? 13. How do you think the demand for literature could be stimulated among the Laos? Questions on Chapter XIV 1. If the aim of missions is to found a self-supporting native church, when is the time to begin to teach self-support? 2. Does the experience of 1894 indicate any previous mis- take on the part of the missionaries? Questions for Study 189 3. Because retrenchment proved a blessing does it follow that it would be better to cut down appropriations to all missions? 4. In what ways might retrenchment be a blessing to the work at home? 5. What needs can be provided by the church at home for the native church without fear of pauperizing it? 6. What things should the native church be expected to provide for itself? 7. If the native church cannot pay for these things, should mission funds be used for the purpose, or should it be obliged to go without? 8. What are the advantages and disadvantages of making the demands upon native Christians very light? 9. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having Christianity comparatively popular? 10. What responsibility is laid upon missionaries when Christianity is popular? 11. Should the chief emphasis then be laid upon extensive or intensive work? 12. How do these principles apply to the work of the home church? 13. Should Laos Christian conventions be made as like or as unlike the native festivals as possible? 14. Give several reasons why the Laos seem to you a peo- ple worth helping. I go An Oriental Land of the Free Questions on Chapter XV 1. What circumstances constitute for any field a special claim on the missionary activity of the church? 2. Which of these circumstances are present in the case of the Laos field? 3. Sketch the main points of the gospel message that you think would be most attractive to the average Laos. 4. In what way would you present the gospel in order to overcome indifference? 5. How do you think it would be best to deal with the difficulty of the ties of custom? 6. How would you recommend to deal with the breach of moral discipline in the native church? 7. How will the entrance of commercialism affect the spirit of independence and the old customs? 8. How will it affect morality and indifference towards the gospel? 9. Sum up the reason why the present is a time of special opportunity. ID. What would be the Christian force in your state if it were no better provided than the Laos field? 11. How many states adjoining your own would equal in population the over four million Laos in French and Chinese territory? 12. Is there any other field for which the Presbyterian Church alone Is responsible that is so inadequately cared for? 13. Sum up the appeal which the Laos field makes to the Presbyterian Church. APPENDIX A PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES ai, in Mai and Rai, as in aisle, ao, in Pao and Dao, like ow in cow (Yankee dialect). e in Me, as in men. Chieng, almost like chung. u in Muang, like German ii. Pit-sa-nu-lok, accent on last syllable (loke). Sala, accent on last syllable, sa-lah'. APPENDIX B DISTRIBUTION AND WORK OF THE PRESENT FORCE OF THE LAOS MISSION Note. — In brief compass it is not possible to tell all the work assigned to the various members of the mission. Be- sides, furloughs often make changes necessary, temporarily at least. The effort is to designate the characteristic work of each missionary when on the field. Accordingly, no men- tion is made either of furloughs or of temporary assignments. The figures in parentheses, following the name, show the date of appointment. Chieng Mai Rev. Daniel McGilvary, D. D. (1858), Mrs. McGilvary (i860). Evangelistic work, particularly in the temples, lit- erary work. 19X 192 An Oriental Land of the Free Rev. and Mrs. D. G. Collins (1886). The Press. Charge of three out-stations. James W. McKean, M. D., and Mrs. McKean (1889). In charge of the hospital and dispensary. Bible translation. Laos monthly. Two out-stations. Howard Campbell, D. D., and Mrs. Campbell (1894). ^^ charge of Chieng Mai church. Itineration. Bible transla- tion. Mrs. Campbell has charge of the Phraner Memorial Primary School. Rev. J. H. Freeman (1895), Mrs. Freeman (1892). Care of the churches and of the evangelistic and medical work in the Province of Lampoon. (Their residence is Lampoon city, seventeen miles from Chieng Mai.) Preparation of the Sunday school helps. Women's classes. Rev. William Harris, Jr. (1895), Mrs. Harris (1889). Principal of Prince Royal College. Mission Treasurer. Charge of Me Dawk Deng Church. Miss Edith M. Buck (1903). Teacher and Matron in Girls' School. Miss Mabel Gilson (1904). Principal of Girls' School. Rev. and Mrs. M. B. Palmer (1906). Vice Principal of the College. Charge of three out-stations. Together they train the schools and church in singing. Claude W. Mason, M. D., and Mrs. Mason (1906). Medi- cal work. Two out-stations. Lakawn (65 miles east and south of Chieng Mai)" Rev. Jonathan Wilson, D. D. (1858). Evangelistic work. Hymn translation. Rev. Roderick Gillies (1902) and Mrs. Gillies (1891). Evangelistic touring. Charge of Boys' School. Charles H. Crooks, M. D. and Mrs. Crooks (1904). Charge of Van Santvoort Hospital. Medical itineration. Literary work. Rev. and Mrs. Howells Vincent (1903)- Charge of church. Itineration. Direction of building new Boys' School. Appendix 193 Miss Elizabeth Carothers (1904). Charge of Girl's School. Women's classes. Miss Eula VanVranken (1906). Teacher in Boys' School. Pre (70 miles southeast of Lakawn) Rev. and Mrs. C. R. Callender (1896). Church and evangelistic work. Edwin C. Cort, M. D. Medical work. Language study. Nan (90 miles northeast of Pre, 160 miles due east of Chieng Mai) Rev. S. C. Peoples, M. D., D. D., and Mrs. Peoples (1882). Medical work and touring. Rev. Hugh Taylor, D. D., and Mrs. Taylor (1888). Church and school work. Chieng Rai (125 miles northeast of Chieng Mai) Rev. W. C. Dodd, D. D. (1886) and Mrs. Dodd (1887). Evangelistic touring. Charge of church and work in Keng Tung. Literary work. Rev. W. A. Briggs, M. D. (1890) )and Mrs. Briggs (1892). Medical and evangelistic work. Charge of local church. Rev. and Mrs. Henry White (1902). Evangelistic work. School work. Charge of churches south of the city. Women's classes. Rev. Lyle C. Beebe (1908). Language study. Charge of churches north of the city. Reinforcements, 1909 (Station not yet assigned) Rev. Wm. O. Yates. Language study. Touring. Miss Lucy Starling. Language study. Teaching. 194 An Oriental Land of the Free APPENDIX C STATISTICS OF THE LAOS MISSION Statistics given are in every case the latest available; for the missionary force, 1909; for the native church and work, 1908 except where no data later than 1907 are at hand. Missionary Force Ordained Men 17 Doctors (two ordained) 6 21 Wives 17 Single Ladies 5 22 Total Foreign Missionaries 43 Native Helpers (Incomplete) Ordained Native Ministers 4 Native Evangelists 30 Teachers — Men, 30. Women, 12, Total 42 Bible Women 4 Medical Assistants 20 Press Employees 24 Vaccinators (Four months in year) 125 Native Contributions {Incomplete) For Church Expenses Rs 178.49 For Schools " 210.21 For Missions " 113.09 Total contributions Rs 501.79 Equal $ 167.09 Appendix 195 Church Statistics Organized Churches (none aided) 18 Stations and Out-stations 74 Total Communicants 3,705 Additions on Confession During 1908 331 Sabbath School Pupils 2,923 School Statistics Boarding Schools 5 Day Schools 24 Pupils, about 450 Attendance Training Classes, reported about 135 Total under instruction, about 585 Press Report Pages printed: For Bible Society and Mission 1,403,800 For outside parties 1,314,770 Total 2,718,570 INDEX Alphabet, The Laos, 32 Animals, Wild, 85 Arts and Industries, Chapter V Average Man, The, 53 Bangkok, Trade with, 89 Laos Boats at, 42 Bath, The Daily, 27 Begging Bowl, The, 31 Betel-Chewing, 57 Bird Life, 83 Boatmen, 42 Superstitions of, 43 Boats, 42, 63, 93, 94 Bradley, D. B., M. D., 108 Brick, 60 Briggs, W. A., M. D., 11, yj British Laos, 15, 122 Buddha, The Great Commandment of, 39 Ten Commandments of, 38 Under the Po Tree, 85 Buddhism, Chapter III, 15, 45 And Education, ZZ, ii7 And Spirit Worship, 45 Begging Monks, 31 Coming of, 15, 32 Karma, 36 Messianic Hope of, 40 No Power to Deliver, 46 What Is Buddhism? 35 Buddhist Bible, 33 Buddhist Philosophy, 35 Buddhist Temples, 31, 40, 59 Buffalo, The Water, 67, 87 Building of the House, 56 Bullock Trains, 91 Burma, Trade with, 90 Border War, 98-100 Caravans, Haw, 89 Laos, 90 Carving, Laos, 62 Caswell, Rev. Jesse, 108 Cheek, Marion, M. D., 116, 146 Chieng Dao, 130 Chieng Mai, no, in, 128, 130 Chieng Rai, 99, 115, 120, 131 Chieng Saan, 99, 115 Children, 27, 58, 67, 87 Chinese Laos, 13, 17, 123 Christ and the Demons, 46 Christian Literature, III, i6r Circumstances That Have Helped, 174 Courtship, Laos, 22, Dacoity, 98, 99 Daughters Welcomed, 28 Demons, Chapter IV Difficulties, 175 Divorce Causes, 25 Famine and, 26 Prevalence of, 25 Doctor Keo, 141-143 Education, Buddhism and, ZZ See Schools Elder La, Teacher, 169, 170 Elephants at Work, 75 Of Siam, 76 Rogue, ^^ Ship of the Forest, 95 The Prince's, 78 Wild, 76 197 igS Index Equipment of Hospitals, 145 Exports, 92-94 Face of the Land, Chapter VII Fair Laos, 80 Famine, 119 And Divorce, 26 Feasts, 57, 70, 117, 118 Fleeson, Miss K., 136, 158 Flowers, 82 Forests, Work in, 74 Beauty of, 82 First Temples, 84 Trees of, 83-85 Gardens, Vegetable, 72 Nature's Own, 81 Gospel, Coming of. Chapter Government, Chapter IX Harvest, 69, 70 Harvest Festivals, 70 Hill Tribes, The. 14, 16, 74 Homes, 23, 58, 59 Home Industries, 53 Hospitals and Healing, Chap- ter XII Houses, 23, 56, 58 House-Raising, 57 Imports, 91-93 Indian Gods, 35 Ingenuity, Mechanical, 55 Irrigation, 66, 67 Jams, Log, 75 "Jesus Man," The, 142 Kham Ai, Pastor, 169 Kroo Nan Ta, 117 Lacquer Ware, 61 Lakawn Station, 118, 147 Laos Alphabet, 32 Laos, The, Are They Malay or Mongolian? 22 Are They Lazy? 102 B. A. and M._ A., 33 Captives in Siam, 109 Carving and Sculpture, 62 Characters of, 11 1 Conventions, 117, 118 Debt to Buddhism, 41 Extent of, 16 Homes, 23, 58, 59 Houses, 23, 56, 58 House-Raising, 57 In China, 13 Ingenuity, 55 Literature, 34 Language vs. Siamese, tio Mission, Opening of, no Minstrelsy, 34 Numbers of, 17 Origin of Name, 16 Race Inheritance of, 22 Reasons for Interest in, 18 Silverware, 61 Success of Missions, 19 115, 173 Type for, in Lepers, 148-150 Looms, 54 Malaria and Smallpox, 139 Marriage, 24 Martyrs, 113 McGilvary, Daniel, D. D., 9. 107, 109, no, 112, 113, 115, 121, 122, 139 McKean, J. W., M. D., 9, 77, 141 Medical Work, Chapter XII "Meeung," 57, 9h 94 Me Ping Rapids, 42, 95 Merit-Making, 37 Messianic Hope (See Bud- dhism) Methods That Have Helped, 174 Index 199 Misgovernmient, 98, loi Missions in Siam Beginnings of, 107 And Social Progress, 108 Mission Work, Aim of, 163 Missionary Opportunity of, 51, 173 Monkeys and Apes, 87 Monks, Buddhist Vows of, 33 Begging of, 31 Moral Law, 38, 39 Muang Pao, 130 Nan Pan, Evangelist, 170 Nan Station, 120, 158 Native Church, The, Chapter XIV Convention of, 167 Growth of. Early, 163 Growth of, Since 1894, 165 Leaders of, 169 Needs of, 166 Result of Change in 1894, 164 Self-Propagation in, 167 Self-Support in, 166 Situation in 1894, 164 Needs of Mission, 177, 178 Opportunities, Open Doors, 173 Outlook, 176 Out-stations, 124, 130 Pali, 15 Peoples, S. C, D. D., 118, 119, 120 Persecution, 113 Planting Rice, 68 Plowing, 67 Population, Laos, 17 Dense, 80 Sparse, 81 Ponies, 96 Po Tree, Sacred, 85 Pre Station, 119 Presbyterian Church, Responsibility of, 10, 18, 123 Press, Beginning of, III Work of, 160 Prince and Peasant, 47 Prosperity, Signs of, 58 Pun, Elder, ("Crazy")* 140 Regime, The Old, 102 Religious Liberty, Proclama- tion of, 114 Rice, 65-73 Rice and Teak, 65 Rice Pounders, The, 73 San Ya We Chai, 115 Schools, Chapter XIII At Chieng Mai, 156 At Lakawn, 158 At Nan, 159 Bible Training, 159 Boarding, 155 Constituency of, 151 Future of, 155 Government, 153 Problems of, 152 Village, 152 Tigers, 86 Tobacco, Use of, 57 Touring and Teaching, Chap- ter XI Tours, Long, 112 Touring, Aim of, 124 By Ladies, 136 In the Wet Season, 132 Season, 127 Two Phases of, 127 Trade, Cross Country, 92 Routes, 89 Women and, 30 Trade and Travel, Chapter VIII Transmigration, 36 200 Index Vaccination, 1 12, 128, 139 Vaccinators, 144 Villages, Laos, 54 Vrooman, C W., M. D., 116 Walls, City, 60 Weaving, 54 Western Shans, 15 Wieng Chan, Capture of, 103, 109 Wilson, Jonathan, D. D., 9, 107, no, 118, 162 Witchcraft, Demon Worship and, Chapter III Accusation of, 48 Penalty of, 49 Results of, 49, 50 Woman in the Home, Chap- ter II A Worthy, 54 And Trade, 30 Industry of, 54 On a Journey, 29 Position of, 28 a- 3 n X3 o a n I H u G O > O > r td o »5 o n ^. P& ^ X rt ^ r^- O' 1 r I o so 5' 3 5L o ~ ^ H o H > t3 ^ ■-t n so o 3 B: o. So' (T) o n c ^ D- Date Due w ^^ - ^-> 1 t - 1 1 fF?.5'51 jwir 'ff m^ 1 1 FABtftfr MAR 3 '^l'lp'%7 — BW7867 .F85 An oriental land of the free, or. Life Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 1 1012 00044 8938