Sugar Stick – Bird or Mouse? – Governor General Doumer – Endangered Species – Liquor and Opium – I Always Carry a khene in My Luggage – Good Enough to Eat – Muang Sing – Soul-Piercing Desolation – Le Comptoir Laotien

Raquez’s trip into the remote interior of Laos is explicated using his book Laotian Pages supplemented by period sources. Notice of his work in France includes appraisals in critical journals as well as notice in urban idiomatic writing stemming from the café-cabaret culture of Montmartre; critical contextualization of concepts of Zomia; hardship of earlier French explorations of Laos contrast to Raquez’s rather luxurious mode of exploration; history of Laos during this period: new French colony, buffer state with Siam; endangered species: the dying out of diversity since Raquez’s visit; nature and narcotics: the French image of pastoral and libidinous Laos and Raquez’s own impressions considered in light of the amount of opium and absinthe he was ingesting; Raquez’s attempts at establishing a business in Laos end in failure, illustrating the difficulties of the French colonial effort in Indochina beyond urban centres.