"In the lower part the lake narrows steadily until it forms a river, and this river is the Mesap, which I have mentioned to you; consequently you have only to follow the current to come to Panompin. It has only been the capital within the last ten years; until that time the seat of government was at Oodong, and the change was made on account of the supposed unhealthiness of the latter place. The real fact is that Panompin is better situated for commercial and political purposes, as it is at the end of the great lake, and close by the River Mekong. If you could see the two places you would understand it at once.
"You can have little idea of the quantity of fish caught in the lake and river till you see them. Lots of towns and villages are entirely occupied with the fish business, and some of these towns contain as many as four hundred houses, though the most of them are smaller. Some of the fish are eight or ten feet long and three feet thick, and their bodies are so full of oil that one of them is a good prize to his captor. It is very funny to see a native struggling with one of these large fish; and sometimes it requires a hard fight to bring him in. I have seen a man dragged into the water and nearly drowned; and though I enjoyed the performance, I presume it was no fun at all to the man.
[Illustration: PANOMPIN, THE CAPITAL OF CAMBODIA.]
"Panompin consists, for the most part, of bamboo huts, without much pretence of architecture, and the streets are so bad that though the king has several carriages he rarely rides out. The principal street is about three miles in length, and somewhat irregular in its course, as though the instruments of the surveyor who laid it out were not in the best order. There are a few stores and shops of brick, and there are some temples whose spires rise above the buildings that surround them. The palace of the king is the finest edifice in the place; it was designed by a French architect, and the construction was supervised by him, but all the actual work was performed by natives. It is like a fine dwelling-house in the neighborhood of New York or London, and the internal arrangement of the rooms is entirely European in character. The palace has some large halls for receptions, and it has dining-rooms, sleeping-rooms, and all the usual apartments that a dwelling should contain. The king lives there; and, as he rarely goes out, he determined to have a residence as comfortable as could be made. He is very proud of it; and if you should visit him he would consider it a great politeness if you admired it all you possibly could--and a little more.