not trading they work on embroidery used in ornamentation. Formerly, salt was the market currency, and so seldom was money used that the owners of the articles often did not know the value of them in money, but could readily tell if asked how much salt they would take. The occasion of this was that all their salt came from a great distance and was very precious in Cheung Mai. Within a few years the Siamese government has sent small coin to take the place of salt as a currency. The people were much confused for a while by the change, and circulated them reluctantly. Some were even imprisoned for persisting in taking salt to market to make their purchases.
The principal articles for sale are provisions, fruits, tobacco, betel-nut, fish, mushrooms, wax, cotton, earthenware and flowers. The pork-stalls are kept by men, and there are some Chinese sheds where cotton goods, brass and wooden trays and Burmese lacquer-ware are sold. There are a large number of temples in the city, among others the new Wat Hluang, or royal temple, recently built on the site of a very old one.
Homes and Daily Life.
There are no fine houses or palaces for the most part in Laos, princes and peasants building on much the same general plan; the size and quality of material and workmanship are the
