he river the Chinese transferred
their navy to the Songaree.

From this ancient navy yard the villages stretched in a nearly
continuous line along the southern bank, and were quite frequent on
the northern one. We saw three Manjour women picking berries on the
Russian shore. One carried a baby over her shoulders much after the
manner of the American Indians. These women wore garments of blue
cotton shaped much like the gowns of the Russian peasants. Near them a
boat was moving along the shore, carrying a crew consisting of a man,
a boy, and a dog. The boat, laden with hay, was evidently destined for
'cows and a market.' Near it was another boat rowed by two men,
carrying six women and a quantity of vegetables. Some of the women
were sorting the vegetables, and all watched our boat with interest.
From the laughter as we passed I concluded the remarks on our
appearance were not complimentary.

The scene on this part of the river was picturesque. There were many
boats, from the little canoe or 'dug-out,' propelled by one man, up to
the barge holding several tons of merchandise. The one-man boats were
managed with a double-bladed oar, such as I have already described.
Nearly every boat that carried a mast had a flag or streamer attached
to it, and some had dragons' heads on their bows. Would Lindley
Murray permit me to say that I saw one barge manned by ten women?

[Illustration: FISHING IMPLEMENTS.]

Though subsisting mainly by agriculture and pastoral pursuits, the
Manjours devote considerable time to fishing. One fishing implement
bore a faint resemblance to a hand-cart, as it had an axle with two
small wheels and long handles. A frame over the axle sustained a pole,
to which a net was fastened. The machine could be pushed into the
water and the net lowered to any position suitable for entrapping
fish.

Occasionally I saw a native seated on the top of a tripod about ten
feet high, placed at the edge of the river. Here he fished with pole,
net, or spear, according to circumstances. He always appeared to me as
if left there during a freshet and waiting for the river to rise and
let him off.

At one place two boys were seated cross-legged near the water and
fishing with long poles. They were so intent in looking at us that
they did not observe the swell of the steamer until thoroughly
drenched by it. As they stood dripping on the sand they laughed
good-naturedly at the occurrence, and soon seated themselves again at