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of the Mekong, to the south of the island, he discovered a few vestiges of ancient Khmer buildings. On Septem- ber 6th Khong was left and a start made for Bassak. The river, for the first time since Sombor, was found to flow in a single channel, its width being between 1,400 and 1,800 yards from bank to bank. For the first time, too, high mountains became visible to the north, and at the end of the fifth day the explorers found themselves be- ginning to describe a great curve, formed by the Mekong as it skirts the foot of a high range of hills. On Septem- ber 11th Bassak was reached, the whole of the country traversed from Khong to that place being densely popu- lated.

Bassak is situated on the right bank of the Mekong, which here measures over a mile and a quarter in width; it lies opposite to the big island of Don-Deng, and moun- tains rise up at the rear of the town. A little to the north there is a plain on the right bank, and beyond this a chain of mountains, skirted by the river, runs to the peak called Phu Molong. To the west is a peak called Phu Bassak, and east-northeast are seen the distant volcanic moun- tains, the most southerly of which was subsequently named Mount de Lagrée by Francis Garnier when death had claimed his chief. The expedition had cause for congratulation in the selection of Bassak as its head- quarters, for the climate was found to be delightful; the thermometer registered between 57° and 60° F. in the early mornings of January, the place being, in fact, far cooler than any district of Kambodia, and even than many spots higher up the river.