LIBRARY
UMIVEH ITY OF
CALIrOKNIA
SAN DIEGO
ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY OF TRAVEL
SIAM
THE LAND OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT
AS IT WAS AND IS
COMPILED AND ARRANGED BY
GEORGE B. BACON
REVISED BY
FREDERICK WELLS WILLIAMS
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1892
COPYRIGHT, 1881, 1892, BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
TROW DIRECTORY
PRINTING AND BOOKBINDINQ COMPANY
NEW YORK
REVISER'S NOTE
THE present editor's aim in revising this little vol-
ume has been to leave untouched, so far as possible,
Mr. Bacon's compilation, omitting only such portions
as were inaccurate or obsolete, and adding rather
sparingly from the narratives of a few recent travel-
lers. The authoritative history and description of
Siam has yet to be written, and until this work ap-
pears the accounts of Pallegoix, of Bowring, and of
Mouliot convey as satisfactory and accurate impres-
sions of the country as those of later writers. Though
the wonderful ruins at Angkor are now technically
within the confines of Siam, their consideration still
belongs to a treatise on Cambodia, and this as a sepa-
rate country could not fairly be joined to Siam in
carrying out the plan of the series. In other re-
spects, without attempting to be exhaustive, the re-
viser's endeavor has been to neglect no important
part or feature of the kingdom.
The regeneration effected in Siam during the past
half century presents a suggestive contrast to that
ebullition of new life which has within an even briefer
period transformed despotic Japan into a free and
ambitious state. Here, as there, the stranger is im-
pressed with those outward symbols of nineteenth-
century life, the agencies of steam, gas, and electric-
2075589
iv REVISER'S NOTE
ity that appear in many busy centres in whimsical
incongruity to their Oriental setting ; but these are
the'adjnncts rather than the essentials of that West-
ern civilization which both countries are striving to
imitate. In Siam, it must be confessed, there is no
such evidence of popular awakening as now directs
the world's attention to the Mikado's empire. The
languor and content of life in the tropics disposes the
people to seek new ideals and accept new institutions
less eagerly than under Northern skies. Siam's policy
of gradual progress toward a condition of higher en-
lightenment is in admirable accordance with her
needs, and promises to achieve its purpose with no
such risks of reaction or shipwreck as beset the course
of more ambitious states in the East.
F. W. W.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
EARLY INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM RELATIONS WITH
OTHER COUNTRIES, 1
CHAPTER II.
GEOGRAPHY OF SIAM:, 10
CHAPTER III.
OLD SIAM ITS HISTORY, . . . . . .17
CHAPTER IV.
THE STORIES OF Two ADVENTURERS, .... 36
CHAPTER V.
MODERN SIAM, 65
CHAPTER VI.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS, 73
CHAPTER VII.
A ROYAL GENTLEMAN, 86
CHAPTER VIII.
PlIUABAT SOilDETCH PHRA PARAMENDR MAHA MONG-
KUT, 104
CHAPTER IX.
AYUTHIA, 121
Vl CONTENTS
CHAPTER X.
PHRABAT AND PATAWI, 130
CHAPTER XI.
FROM BANGKOK TO CHANTABOUN A MISSIONAKY JOUR-
NEY IN 1835, 146
CHAPTER XII.
CHANTABOUN AND THE GULP, 170
CHAPTER XIII.
MOUHOT IN THE HlLL-COUNTRY OP CHANTABOUN, . . 183
CHAPTER XIV.
PECHABURI OR P'RIFP'REE, 200
CHAPTER XV.
THE TRIBES OF NORTHERN Si AM, 216
CHAPTER XVI.
SIAMESE LIFE AND CUSTOMS, 234
CHAPTER XVII.
NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF SIAM, 258
CHAPTER XVIII.
CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN SIAM THE OUTLOOK FOR THE
FUTURE, 270
CHAPTER XIX.
BANGKOK AND THE NEW SIAM, 277
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
GREAT PAGODA WAT CHANG, .... Frontispiece
PACIKO
PAGE
INUNDATION OP THE MEINAM, 11
PAGODA AT AYUTHIA, 21
VIEW TAKEN FROM THE CANAL AT AYUTHIA, ... 31
RUINS OF A PAGODA AT AYUTHIA, 38
GENERAL VIEW OF BANGKOK, 76
THE LATE FIRST KING AND QUEEN, . . . .105
ONE OF THE SONS OF THE LATE FIRST KING, . . 109
A FEW OF THE CHILDREN OF THE LATE FIRST KING, . 120
REMOVAL OF THE TUFT OF A YOUNG SIAMESE, . . 122
ELEPHANTS IN AN ENCLOSURE OR PARK AT AYUTHIA, . 127
PAKNAM ON THE MEINAM, 129
PAGODA AT MOUNT PHRABAT, 130
MOUNTAINS OF KORAT FROM PATAWI, .... 141
PORT OF CHANTABOUN, 149
MONKEYS PLAYING WITH A CROCODILE, .... 180
SIAMESE ACTORS, 194
MOUNTAINS OF PECHABURI, 200
SIAMESE WOMEN, 234
viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING
PAGE
SIAMESE ROPE-DANCER 237
SIAMESE LADIES AT DINNER, 242
BUILDING ERECTED AT FUNERAL OP SIAMESE OF HIGH
BANK, ...... 251
HALL OF AUDIENCE, PALACE OF BANGKOK, . . . 277
PORTICO OF THE AUDIENCE HALL AT BANGKOK, . . 280
THE PALACE OF THE KING OF SIAM, BANGKOK, . . 292
SIAM
CHAPTER I.
EARLY INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM RELATIONS WITH
OTHER COUNTRIES
THE acquaintance of the Christian world with the
kingdom and people of Siam dates from the
beginning of the sixteenth century, and is due to the
adventurous and enterprising spirit of the Portu-
guese. It is difficult for us, in these days when Por-
tugal occupies a position so inconsiderable, and plaj's
a part so insignificant, among the peoples of the
earth, to realize what great achievements were
wrought in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by
the peaceful victories of the early navigators and
discoverers from that country, or by the military
conquests which not seldom followed in the track of
their explorations. It was while Alphonso d' Albu-
querque was occupied with a military expedition in
Malacca, that he seized the occasion to open diplo-
matic intercourse with Siam. A lieutenant under
his command, who was fitted for the service by an
experience of captivity during which he had ac-
quired the Malay language, was selected for the mis-
sion, lie was well received by the king, and came
2 SIAM
back to his general, bringing royal presents and pro-
posals to assist in the siege of Malacca. So cordial a
response to the overtures of the Portuguese led to the
more formal establishment of diplomatic and com-
mercial intercourse. And before the middle of the
sixteenth century a considerable number of Portu-
guese had settled, some of them in the neighborhood
of the capital (Ayuthia), and some of them in the
provinces of the peninsula of Malacca, at that time
belonging to the kingdom of Siam. One or two ad-
venturers, such as De Seixas and De Mello, rose to
positions of great power and dignity under the Sia-
mese king. And for almost a century the Portu-
guese maintained, if not an exclusive, certainly a
pre-eminent, right to the commercial and diplomatic
intercourse which they had inaugurated.
As in other parts of the East Indies, however, the
Dutch presently began to dispute the supremacy of
their rivals, and, partly by the injudicious and pre-
sumptuous arrogance of the Portuguese themselves,
succeeded in supplanting them. The cool and mer-
cenary cunning of the greedy Hollanders was more
than a match for the proud temper of the hot-blood-
ed Dons. And as, in the case of Japan, the story
of Simabara lives in history to witness what shame-
less and unscrupulous wickedness commercial rivalry
could lead to ; so in Siam there is for fifty years a
story of intrigue and greed, over-reaching itself first
on one side, and then on the other. First, the Por-
tuguese were crowded out of their exclusive privil-
eges. And then in turn the Dutch were obliged to
surrender theirs. To-day there are still visible in the
EARLY INTERCOURSE WITH SLAM 3
jnngle, near 'the mouth of the Meinam River, the
ruins of the Amsterdam which grew up between the
years 1672 and 1725, under the enterprise of the
Dutch East India Company, protected and fostered
by the Siamese Government. And to-day, also, the
descendants of the Portuguese, easy to be recognized,
notwithstanding the mixture of blood for many gener-
ations, hold insignificant or menial offices about the
capital and court.
As a result of Portuguese intercourse with Siam,
there came the introduction of the Christian religion
by Jesuit missionaries, who, as in China and Japan,
were quick to follow in the steps of the first explor-
ers. No hindrance was put in the way of the unmo-
lested exercise of religious rites by the foreign set-
tlers. Two churches were built ; and the ecclesiastics
in charge of the church at Ayuthia had begun to ac-
quire some of that political influence which is so irre-
sistible a temptation to the Roman Catholic mission-
ary, and so dangerous a possession when he has onco
acquired it. It is probable enough (although the
evidence does not distinctly appear) that this ten-
dency of religious zeal toward political intrigue in-
flamed the animosity of the Dutch traders, and af-
forded them a convenient occasion for undermining
the supremacy of their rivals. However this may
be, the Christian religion did not make any great
headway among the Siamese people. And while
they conceded to the foreigners religions liberty, they
showed no eagerness to receive from them the gift of
a new religion.
In the year 1604 the Siamese king sent an ambas-
4: 8IAM
sador to the Dutch colony at Bantam, in the island
of Java. And in 1608 the same ambassador extend-
ed his journey to Holland, expressing " much sur-
prise at finding that the Dutch actually possessed a
country of their own, and were not a nation of pirates,
as the Portuguese had always insinuated." The his-
tory of this period of the intercourse between Siam
and the European nations, abundantly proves that
shrewdness, enterprise, and diplomatic skill were not
on one side only.
Between Siam and France there was no consider-
able intercourse until the reign of Louis XIV., when
an embassy of a curiously characteristic sort was sent
out by the French monarch. The embassy was osten-
tatiously splendid, and made great profession of a
religious purpose no less important than the conver-
sion of the Siamese king to Christianity. The origin
of the mission was strangely interesting, and the
record of it, even after the lapse of nearly two hun-
dred years, is so lively and instructive that it de-
serves to be reproduced, in part, in another chapter
of this volume. The enterprise was a failure. The
king refused to be converted, and was able to give
some dignified and substantial reasons for distrusting
the religious interest which his " esteemed friend,
the kino- of France," had taken " in an affair which
o '
seems to belong to God, and which the Divine Being
appears to have left entirely to our discretion." Com-
mercially and diplomatically, also, as well as religi-
ously, the embassy was a failure. The Siamese
prime minister (a Greek by birth, a Roman Catholic
by religion), at whose instigation the French king
EARLY INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM 5
had acted, soon after was deposed from his office, and
came to his death by violence. The Jesuit priests
were put under restraint and detained as hostages,
and the military force which accompanied the mis-
sion met with an inglorious fate. A scheme which
seemed at first to promise the establishment of a
great dominion tributary to the throne of France,
perished in its very conception.
The Government of Spain had early relations with
Siatn, through the Spanish colony in the Philippine
Islands ; and on one or more occasions there was an
interchange of courtesies and good offices between
Manilla and Ayuthia. But the Spanish never had a
foothold in the kingdom, and the occasional and un-
important intercourse referred to ceased almost wholly
until, during the last fifty years, and even the last
twenty, a new era of commercial activity has brought
the nations of Europe and America into close and fa-
miliar relations with the Land of the White Ele-
phant.
The relations of the kingdom of Siam with its im-
mediate neighbors have been full of the vicissitudes
of peace and war. There still remains some trace of
a remote period of partial vassalage to the Chinese
Empire, in the custom of sending gifts which were
originally understood, by the recipients at least, if not
by the givers, to be tribute to Peking. With Bur-
mah and Pegu on the one side, and with Cambodia
and Cochin China on the other, there has existed from
time immemorial a state of jealous hostility. The
boundaries of Siam, eastward and westward, have
fluctuated with the successes or defeats of the Siam-
6 SIAM
ese arms. Southward the deep gulf shuts off the
country from any neighbors, whether good or bad,
and for more than three centuries this has been the
highway of a commerce of unequal importance, some-
times very active and remunerative, but never wholly
interrupted even in the period of the most complete
reactionary seclusion of the kingdom.
The new era in Siam may be properly dated from
the year 1854, when the existing treaties between Siam
on the one part, and Great Britain and the United
States on the other part, were successfully negotiated.
But before this time, various influences had been
quietly at work to produce a change of such singular
interest and importance. The change is indeed a
part of that great movement by which the whole
Oriental world has been re-discovered in our day ; by
which China has been started on a new course of de-
velopment and progress ; by which Japan and Corea
have been made to lay aside their policy of hostile
seclusion. It is hard to fix the precise date of a
movement which is the result of tendencies so vari-
ous and so numerous, and which is evidently, as yet,
only at the beginning of its history. But the treaty
negotiated by Sir John Bowring, as the ambassador
of Great Britain, and that negotiated by the Honor-
able Townsend Harris, as the ambassador of the
United States, served to call public attention in those
two countries to a land which was previously almost
unheard of except by geographical students. There
was no popular narrative of travel and exploration.
Indeed, there had been no travel and exploration
much beyond the walls of Bangkok or the ruins of
EARLY INTERCOURSE WITH 81 AM 7
Ayuthia. The German, Mandelslohe, is the earliest
traveller who has left a record of what he saw and
heard. His visit to Ayuthia, to which he gave the
name which subsequent travellers have agreed in be-
stowing on Bangkok, the present capital " The Yen-
ice of the East " was made in 1537. The Portu-
guese, Mendez Pinto, whose visit was made in the
course of the same century, has also left a record of
his travels, which is evidently faithful and trust-
worthy. We have also the records of various embas-
sies, and the narratives of missionaries (both the Ro-
man Catholic and, during the present century, the
American Protestant missionaries), who have found
time, amid their arduous and discouraging labors, to
furnish to the Christian world much valuable infor-
mation concerning the people among whom they have
chosen to dwell.
"Of these missionary records, by far the most
complete and the most valuable is the work of
Bishop Pallegoix (published in French in the year
1854), entitled " Description du Royaume Thai on
Siam." The long residence of the excellent Bishop
in the country of which he wrote, and in which, not
many years afterward (in 1862) he died, sincerely
lamented and honored, fitted him to speak with in-
telligent authority ; and his book was of especial
value at the time when it was published, because the
Western Powers were engaged that very year in the
successful attempt to renew and to enlarge their
treaties with Siam. To Bishop Pallegoix the Eng-
lish envoy, Sir John Bowring, is largely indebted,
as he does not fail to confess, for a knowledge of the
8 SIAM
history, manners, and customs of the realm, which
helped to make the work of his embassy more easy,
and also for much of the material which gives the
work of Bowring himself (" The Kingdom and Peo-
ple of Siam," London, 1857) its value.
Since Sir John Bowring's time the interior of
Siam has been largely explored, and especially by
one adventurous traveller, Henry Mouhot, who lost
his life in the jungles of Laos while engaged in his
work of exploration. With him begins our real
knowledge of the interior of Siam, and its partly de-
pendent neighbors Laos and Cambodia. The scien-
tific results of his travel are unfortunately not pre-
sented in such orderly completeness as would have
been given to them had Mouhot lived to arrange and
to supplement the details of his fragmentary and out-
lined journal. But notwithstanding these necessary
defects, Mouhot's book deserves a high place, as giv-
ing the most adventurous exploration of a country
which appears more interesting the more and better
it is known. The great ruins of Angkor (or Angeor)
Wat, for example, near the boundary which separates
Siam from Cambodia, were by him for the first time
examined, measured, and reported with some ap-
proach to scientific exactness.
Among more recent and easily accessible works on
the country, from some of which we have borrowed,
may be mentioned, F. Vincent's, " Land of the White
Elephant," 1874, A. Grehan's, " Koyaume de Siam,"
fourth edition, Paris, 1878, " Siam and Laos, as seen
by our American Missionaries," Philadelphia, 1 884-,
Carl Bock's " Temples and Elephants," London, 1884,
EARLY INTERCOURSE WITH 81 AM 9
A. K. Colquhoun's, " Among the Shans," 1885, L.
de Game's, " Travels in Indo-Chiua, etc.," 1872, Miss
M. L. Cort's, " Siam, or the Heart of Farther India,"
1886, and John Anderson's, " English Intercourse
with Siam," 1890. The most authoritative map of
Siam is that published in the " Proceedings of the
Royal Geographical Society," London, 1888, by Mr.
J. McCarthy, Superintendent of Surveys in Siam.
CHAPTER II.
GEOGRAPHY OF SIAM
THE following description of the country is quoted
with some emendations from Mr. Carl Bock's
" Temples and Elephants."
The European name for this land has been derived
from the Malay word Sayam (or sajani), meaning
"brown," but this is a conjecture. The natives call
themselves Thai, i.e., " free," and their country
Muang Thai, " the kingdom of the free."
Including its dependencies, the Lao states in the
north, and the Malay states in the south, Siam ex-
tends from latitude 20 20' K to exactly 4 S., while,
with its Cambodian provinces, its extreme breadth is
from longitude 97 E. to about 108 E. The north-
ern frontier of the Lao dependencies has not been
defined, but it may be said, roughly, to lie north of
the twentieth parallel, beyond the great bend of the
Mekong River, the high range to the east of which
separates Siam from Annam. To the south lie Cam-
bodia and the Gulf of Siam, stretching a long arm
down into the Malay Peninsula. On the west it
abuts on Upper and Lower Burma, both now British
possessions.
Through Siam and Lao run two great mountain
chains, both radiating from Yunnan through the
L i f;iH w j ' '
fife. 1 1' "
.
N
GEOGRAPHY OF SIAM 11
Shan states. The eastern chain stretches in a S.S.E.
direction from Kiang Tsen right down to Cambodia,
while the western chain extends in a southerly direc-
tion through the Malay Peninsula. Their height
rises sometimes to 9,000 feet, but it does not often
seem to exceed 5,000 ; limestone, gneiss, and granite
appear to form the main composition of the rocks.
Between these two mountain-chains, with their
ramifications, lies the great alluvial plain of the
Meinam, a magnificent river, of which the Portuguese
poet Camoens sings (Lusiad X. cxxv.) :
" The Menam now behold, whose waters take
Their sources in the great Chiamai lake,"
in which statement, however, the bard was misin-
formed, the source being a mountain stream on the
border of the Shan states, but within Lao territory,
and not, as is generally marked on charts, in Yunnan.
Near Kahang the main stream is joined by the Mei
Wang, flowing S.W. from Lakon, the larger river
being called above this junction the Mei Ping. The
other great tributary, the Pak-nam-po, also called
the Meinam Yome, joins it in latitude 15 45', after
flowing also in a S.W. direction.
To the annual inundation of the Meinam and its
tributaries the fertility of the soil is due. Even as
far up as in the Lao states the water rises from eight
to ten feet during the rainy season. A failure of
these inundations would be fatal to the rice crop, so
that Siam is almost as much as Egypt a single river
valley, upon whose alluvial deposits the welfare of
millions depends. In this broad valley are to be
12 SI A M
found the forty-one political divisions which make np
Siam proper.
The second great river of importance is the Bang-
Pa Kong, which has its source in a barrier range of
irregular mountains, separating the elevated plateau
of Korat from the alluvial plains extending to the
head of the Gulf of Siam. The river meanders
through the extensive paddy-lands and richly culti-
vated districts of the northeast provinces, and falls
into the sea twenty miles east of the Meinam. An-
other considerable river is the Meldong, which falls
into the sea about the same distance to the west of
Bangkok ; at its mouth is a large and thriving vil-
lage of the same name. This is the great rice dis-
trict, and from Meldong all np the river to Kanburi
a large number of the population are Chinese. In
this valley are salt-pits, on which the whole kingdom
depends for its supply. The Meldong is connected
with the Meinam by means of a canal, which affords
a short cut to Bangkok, avoiding the sea-passage.
A third river system, that of the Mekong, much
the largest of all the rivers in Indo-China, drains the
extreme north and east of Siam. This huge stream,
which is also mentioned in Camoens' Lusiad, takes
its rise near the sources of the Yangtse Kiang in
Eastern Thibet, and belongs in nearly half its course
to China. It was partly explored by M. Mouhot,
and later (in 1868) by Lagree's expedition, who found
it, in spite of the great body of water, impracticable
for navigation. M. de Carne", one of the exploration
party, thus sums up the results of the search for a new
trade route into Southern China : " The difficulties
OROGRAPHY OF SIAM 13
the river offers begin at first, starting from the Cam-
bodian frontier, and they are very serious, if not in-
surmountable. If it were attempted to use steam on
this part of the Mekong the return would be most
dangerous. At Khong an absolutely impassable bar-
rier, as things are, stands in the way. Between
Khong and Bassac the waters are unbroken and deep,
but the channel is again obstructed a short distance
from the latter. From the mouth of the river
Ubone the Mekong is nothing more than an impetu-
ous torrent, whose waters rush along a channel more
than a hundred yards deep by hardly sixty across.
Steamers can never plough the Mekong as they do
the Amazon or the Mississippi, and Saigon can never
be united to the western provinces of China by this
immense water-way, whose waters make it mighty
indeed, but which seems after all to be a work unfin-
ished."
Of the tributary states, the Laos, who occupy the
Mekong valley and spread themselves among the
wilds between Tongking, China, and Siam, are prob-
ably the least known. In physique and speech they
are akin to the Siamese, and are regarded by some
writers as being the primitive stock of that race.
They have some claims as a people of historical im-
portance, constituting an ancient and powerful king-
dom whose capital Vein-shan, was destroyed by
Siam in 1828. Since then they have remained sub-
ject to Siam, being governed partly by native heredi-
tary princes, duly invested with gold dish, betel-box,
spittoon, and teapot sent from Bangkok, and partly
by officers appointed by the Siamese government.
14 SIAM
Their besetting sin is slave-hunting, which was until
recently pursued with the acquiescence of the Siam
authorities, to the terror of the hill-tribes within their
reach and to their own demoralization. Apart from
the passions associated with this infamous trade the
Laos are for the most part an inoffensive, unwarlike
race, fond of music, and living chiefly on a diet of
rice, vegetables, fruits, fish, and poultry. Pure and
mixed, they number altogether perhaps some one
million five hundred thousand.
The most important of the Malay states is Q tied ha,
in Siamese Muang Sai. Its population of half a
million Malays is increased by some twenty thou-
sand Chinese and perhaps five thousand of other
races. The country is leve land covered with fine for-
ests, where elephants, tigers, and rhinoceroses abound.
A high range of mountains separates Quedha from
the provinces of Patani (noted for its production of
rice and tin) and Songkhla. These again are divided
from the province of Kalantan by the Banara River,
and from Tringanu by the Batut River. In Ligor
province, called in Siamese Lakhon, three-fourths of
the population are Siamese. The gold and silver-
smiths of Ligor have a considerable reputation for
their vessels of the precious metals inlaid with a
black enamel.
As to the Cambodian provinces under Siamese
rule the following particulars are extracted from a
paper by M. Victor Berthier :
The most important provinces are those lying to
the west, Battambang and Korat. The former of
these is situated on the west of the Grand Lake (Tonle
GEOGRAPHY OF SIAM 15
Sap), and supports a population of about seventy
thousand, producing salt, fish, rice, wax, and carda-
moms, besides animals found in the forests. Two
days' march from Battambang is the village of Ang-
kor Borey (the royal town), the great centre of the
beeswax industry, of which 24,000 pounds are sent
yearly to Siam. Thirty miles from this place is
situated the auriferous country of Tu'k Clio, where
two Chinese companies have bought the monopoly of
the mines. The metal is obtained by washing the
sand extracted from wells about twenty feet deep,
at which depth auriferous quartz is usually met, but
working as they do the miners have no means of
getting ore from the hard stone.
Korat is the largest province and is peopled almost
entirely by Cambodians. Besides its chief town of
the same name it contains a great number of villages
with more than eleven district centres, and contains
a population estimated at fifty thousand or sixty
thousand. Angkor, the most noted of the Cambo-
dian provinces, is now of little importance, being
thinly populated and chiefly renowned for the splen-
dor of its ancient capital, whose remarkable ruins are
the silent witnesses of a glorious past. The present
capital is Siern Rap, a few miles south of which is
the hill called Phnom Krom (Inferior Mount), which
becomes an island during the annual inundation.
The other Cambodian provinces now ruled by Siam
are almost totally unknown by Europeans.
The population of Siam has never been officially
counted, but is approximately estimated by Europeans
at from six to twelve millions. According to Mr.
16 SI AM
Archibald Colqnhoun, however, this is based upon an
entirely erroneous calculation. " Prince Prisdang as-
sured me," he says,* " that Sir John Bowring had
made a great mistake in taking the list of those who
were liable to be called out for military service as the
gross population of the kingdom ; and that if that list
were multiplied by five, it would give a nearer ap-
proximation to the population. M. Mouhot says that
a few years before 1862 the native registers showed
for the male sex (those who were inscribed), 2,000,000
Siamese, 1,000,000 Laotians (or Shans), 1,000,000
Malays, 1,500,000 Chinese, 350,000 Cambodians,
50,000 Peguans, and a like number composed of vari-
ous tribes inhabiting the mountain-ranges. Taking
these statistics and multiplying them by five, which
Bishop Pallegoix allows is a fair way of computing
from them, we should have a population of 29,950,-
000. To this would have to be added the Chinese and
Peguans who had not been born in the country, and
were therefore not among the inscribed ; also the hill
tribes that were merely tributary and therefore merely
paid by the village, as well as about one-seventh of
the above total for the ruling classes, their families and
slaves. This total would give at least 35,000,000 in-
habitants for Siam Proper, to which would have to be
added about 3,000,000 for its dependencies, Zimme
(Cheung Mai), Luang Prabang, and Kiang Tsen, a
gross population, therefore, of about 38,000,000 for
the year 1860." On the other hand, Mr. McCarthy,
a competent judge, considers the government estimate
of ten million too high.
* Amongst the Shans. London, 1885.
CHAPTER III.
OLD SIAM ITS HISTORY
THE date at which any coherent and trustworthy
history of Siain must commence is the found-
ing of the sacred city of Ayuthia (the former capi-
tal of the kingdom), in the year 1350 of the Christian
era. Tradition, more or less obscure and fabulous,
does indeed reach back into the remote past so far as
the fifth century, B.C. According to the carefully
arranged chronology of Bishop Pallegoix, gathered
from the Siamese annals, which annals, however, are
declared by His Majesty the late King to be " all full
of fable, and are not in satisfaction for believe," the
origin of the nation can be traced back, if not into
indefinite space of time, at least into the vague and
uncertain " woods," and ran on this wise :
" There were two Brahminical recluses dwelling in
the woods, named Satxanalai and Sitthimongkon,
coeval with Plua Khodom (the Buddha), and one
hundred and fifty years of age, who having called
their numerous posterity together, counselled them
to build a city having seven walls, and then departed
to the woods to pass their lives as hermits.
" But their posterity, under the leadership of
Bathamarat, erected the city Savanthe valok, or
18 SI AM
Sangkhalok, about the year 300 of the era of Phra
Khodom (B.C. about 243).
" Bathamarat founded three other cities, over
which he placed his three sons. The first he ap-
pointed ruler in the city of Haripunxai, the second
in Kamphoxa nakhon, the third in Phetxabun.
These four sovereignties enjoyed, for five hundred
years or more, the uttermost peace and harmony
under the rule of the monarchs of this dynasty."
The places named in this chronicle are all in the
valley of the upper Meinam, in the " north country,"
and the fact of most historical value which the
chronicle indicates is that the Siamese came from
the north and from the west, bringing with them the
government and the religion which they still possess.
The most conspicuous personage in these ancient
annals is one Phra Huang, "whose advent and
glorious reign had been announced by a communica-
tion from Gaudama himself, and who possessed, in
consequence of his merits, a white elephant with
black tusks ; " he introduced the Thai alphabet,
ordained a new era which is still in vogue, married
the daughter of the emperor of China, and consoli-
dated the petty princedoms of the north country into
one sovereignty. His birth was fabulous and his
departure from the world mysterious. He is the
mythic author of the Siamese History. Born of a
queen of the Nakhae (a fabulous race dwelling under
the earth), who came in the way of his father, the
King of Haripunxai, one day when the king had
"retired to a mountain for the purpose of medita-
tion, he was discovered accidentally by a huntsman,
OLD SIAMITS HISTORY 19
and was recognized by the royal ring which his
father had given to the lady from the underworld.
When he had grown up he entered the court of his
father, and the palace trembled. He was acknowl-
edged as the heir, and his great career proceeded
with uninterrupted glory. At last he went one day
to the river and disappeared." It was thought he
had rejoined his mother, the Queen of the Nakhae,
and would pass the remainder of his life in the
realms beneath. The date of Phra Huang's reign is
given as the middle of the fifth century of the
Christian era.
After him there came successive dynasties of
kings, ending with Phaja Uthong, who reigned seven
years in Northern Cambodia, but being driven from
his kingdom by a severe pestilence, or having volun-
tarily abandoned it (as another account asserts), in
consequence of explorations which had discovered
" the southern country," and found it extremely fer-
tile and abundant in fish, he emigrated with his peo-
ple and arrived at a certain island in the Meinam,
where he " founded a new city, Ivrfing theph maha
nakhon Siajuthaja a great town impregnable against
angeis : Siamese era 711, A.D. 1349."
Here, at last, we touch firm historic ground, al-
though there is still in the annals a sufficient admixt-
ure of what the late king happily designates as
"fable." The foundations of Ayuthia, the new
city, were laid with extraordinary care. The sooth-
sayers were consulted, and decided that " in the 712th
year of the Siamese era, on the sixth day of the wan-
ing moon, the fifth month, at ten minutes before
20 SIAM
four o'clock, the foundation should be laid. Three
palaces were erected in honor of the king ; and vast
countries, among which were Malacca, Tennasserim,
Java, and many others whose position cannot now
be defined, were claimed as tributary states." King
Uthong assumed the title Phra-Rama-thi-bodi, and
after a reign of about twenty years in his new capi-
tal handed down to his son and to a long line of suc-
cessors, a large, opulent, and consolidated realm.
The word Phra, which appears in his title and in
that of almost all his successors to the present day,
is said by Sir John Bowring to be " probably either
derived from or of common origin with the Pharaoh
of antiquity." But the resemblance between the
words is simply accidental, and the connection which
he seeks to establish is not for a moment to be ad-
mitted.
His Majesty the late King of Siam, a man of re-
markable character and history, was probably, while
he lived, the best-informed authority on all matters
relating to the history of his kingdom. Fortunately,
being a man of scholarly habits and literary tastes,
he has left on record a concise and readable histori-
cal sketch, from which we cannot do better than to
make large quotations, supplementing it when neces-
sary with details gathered from other sources. The
narrative begins with the foundation of the royal
city, Ayuthia, of which an account has already been
given on a previous page. The method of writing
the proper names is that adopted by the king him-
self, who was exact, even to a pedantic extent, in re-
gard to such matters. The king's English, however,
'Hffl
P**T
m
OLD SI AM ITS HISTORY 21
which was often droll and sometimes unintelligible,
has in this instance been corrected by the mission-
ary under whose auspices the sketch was first pub-
lished.*
" Ayuthia when founded was gradually improved
and became more and more populous by natural in-
crease, and the settlement there of families of Laos,
Kambujans, Peguans, people from Yunnan in China,
who had been brought there as captives, and by Chi-
nese and Mussulmans from India, who came for the
purposes of trade. Here reigned fifteen kings of one
dynasty, successors of and belonging to the family of
U-T'ong Rarna-thi-bodi, who, after his death, was
honorably designated as Phra Chetha Bida i.e.,
* Royal Elder Brother Father.' This line was inter-
rupted by one interloping usurper between the thir-
teenth and fourteenth. The last king was Mahintrd-
thi-rat. During: his reisrn the renowned king of
o o o
Pegu, named Chamna-dischop, gathered an immense
army, consisting of Peguans, Birmese, and inhabi-
tants of northern Siam, and made an attack upon
Ayuthia. The ruler of nothern Siam was Maha-
thamma raja related to the fourteenth king as son-
in-law, and to the last as brother-in-law.
" After a siege of three months the Peguans took
Ayuthia, but did not destroy it or its inhabitants,
the Peguan monarch contenting himself with captur-
ing the king and royal family, to take with him as
* No attempt at uniformity in this respect has been made by
the editor of this volume ; but, in passages quoted from different
authors, the proper names are written and accented according to
the various methods of those authors.
22 SIAM
trophies to Pegu, and delivered the country over to
be governed by Maha-tharnma raja, as a dependency.
The king of Pegu also took back with him the oldest
son of Maha-thamma raja as a hostage ; his name
was Phra Naret. This conquest of Ayuthia by the
king of Pegu took place A. D. 1556.
" This state of dependence and tribute continued
but a few years. The king of Pegu died, and in the
confusion incident to the elevation of his son as suc-
cessor Prince .Naret escaped with his family, and,
attended by many Peguans of influence, commenced
his return to his native land. The new king on
hearing of his escape despatched an army to seize
and bring him back. They followed him till he had
crossed the Si-thong (Birman Sit-thaung) Biver,
where he turned against the Peguan army, shot the
commander, who fell from his elephant dead, and
then proceeded in safety to Ayuthia.
" War with Pegu followed, and Siam again be-
came independent. On the demise of Maha-thamma
raja, Prince Naret succeeded to the throne, and be-
came one of the mightiest and most renowned rulers
Siam ever had. In his wars with Pegu, he was ac-
companied by his younger brother, Eka-tassa-rot,
who succeeded Naret on the throne, but on account
of mental derangement was soon removed, and Phra-
Siri Sin Ni-montham was called by the nobles from
the priesthood to the throne."
With the accession of this last-mentioned sovereign
begins a new dynasty. But before reproducing the
chronicles of it we may add a few words concerning
that which preceded.
OLD SIAMITS HISTORY 23
This dynasty had lasted from the founding of Ay-
uthia, A.D. 1350, until A.D. 1602, a period of two
hundred years. Its record shows, on the whole, a
remarkable regularity of succession, with perhaps no
more intrigues, illegitimacies, murders, and assassina-
tions than are to be found in the records of Christian
dynasties. Temples and palaces were built, and
among other works a gold image of Buddha is said
to have been cast (in the city of Pichai, in the year
A.D. 1380), " which weighed fifty-three thousand
catties, or one hundred and forty - one thousand
pounds, which would represent the almost incredible
value (at seventy shillings per ounce) of nearly six
millions sterling. The gold for the garments weighed
two hundred and eighty-six catties." Another great
image of Buddha, in a sitting posture, was cast from
gold, silver, and copper, the height of which was
fifty cubits.
One curious tradition is on record, the date of
which is at the beginning of the fifteenth century.
On the death of King Intharaxa, the sixth of the dy-
nasty, his two eldest sons, who were rulers of smaller
provinces, hastened, each one from his home, to seize
their father's vacant throne. Mounted on elephants
they hastened to Ayuthia, and by strange chance ar-
rived at the same moment at a bridge, crossing in
opposite directions. The princes were at no loss to
understand the motive each of his brother's journey.
A contest ensued upon the bridge a contest so furi-
ous and desperate that both fell, killed by each
other's hands. One result of this tragedy was to
make easy the way of the youngest and surviving
24 SIAM
brother, who, coming by an undisputed title to the
throne, reigned long and prosperously.
During some of the wars between Pegu and Siam,
the hostile kings availed themselves of the services
of Portuguese, who had begun, by the middle of the
sixteenth century, to settle in considerable numbers
in both kingdoms. And there are still extant the
narratives of several historians, who describe with
characteristic pomposity and extravagance, the mag-
nificence of the military operations in which they
bore a part. One of these wars seems to have orig-
inated in the jealousy of the king of Pegu, who had
learned, to his great disgust, that his neighbor of
Siam was the fortunate possessor of no less than
seven white elephants, and was prospering mightily
in consequence. Accordingly he sent an embassy
of five hundred persons to request that two of the
seven sacred beasts might be transferred as a mark
of honor to himself. After some diplomacy the
Siamese king declined not that he loved his neigh-
bor of Pegu less, but that he loved the elephants
more, and that the Peguans were (as they had them-
selves acknowledged) uninstructed in the manage-
ment of white elephants, and had on a former occa-
sion almost been the death of two of the animals of
which they had been the owners, and had been
obliged to send them to Siam to save their lives.
The king of Pegu, however, was so far from regard-
ing this excuse as satisfactory that he waged furious
and victorious war, and carried off not two but four
of the white elephants which had been the casus
It seems to have been in a campaign about
OLD SI AM ITS HISTORY 25
this time that, when the king of Siam was disabled
by the ignominious flight of the war elephant on
which he was mounted, his queen, " clad in the royal
robes, with manly spirit fights in her husband's
stead, until she expires on her elephant from the
loss of an arm."
It is related of the illustrious Plira Karet, of
whom the royal author, in the passage quoted on a
previous page, speaks with so mnch admiration, that
being greatly offended by the perfidious conduct of
his neighbor, the king of Cambodia, he bound him-
self by an oath to wash his feet in the blood of that
monarch. " So, immediately on finding himself
freed from other enemies, he assailed Cambodia, and
besieged the royal city of Lavik, having captured
which, he ordered the king to be slain, and his blood
having been collected in a golden ewer he washed his
feet therein, in the presence of his courtiers, amid
the clang of trumpets."
The founder of the second dynasty is famous in
Siamese history as the king in whose reign was dis-
covered and consecrated the celebrated footstep of
Buddha, Plira Bat, at the base of a famous mountain
to the eastward of Ayuthia. Concerning him the
late king, in his historical sketch, remarks :
" He had been very popular as a learned and re-
ligious teacher, and commanded the respect of all the
public counsellors ; but he was not of the royal fam-
ily. His coronation took place A.D. 1602. There
had preceded him a race of nineteen kings, excepting
one usurper. The new king submitted all authority
in government to a descendant of the former line of
26 SIAM
kings, and to him also he intrusted his sons for ed-
ucation, reposing confidence in him as capable of
maintaining the royal authority over all the tributary
provinces. This officer thus became possessed of the
highest dignity and power. His master had been
raised to the throne at an advanced age. During
the twenty-six years he was on the throne he had
three sons, born under the royal canopy i.e., the
great white umbrella, one of the insignia of roy-
alty.
" After the demise of the king, at an extreme old
age, the personage whom he had appointed as regent,
in full council of the nobles, raised his eldest son,
then sixteen years old, to the throne. A short time
after, the regent caused the second son to be slain,
under the pretext of a rebellion against his elder
brother. Those who were envious of the regent ex-
cited the king to revenge his brother's death as
causeless, and plan the regent's assassination ; but
he, being seasonably apprised of it, called a council of
the nobles and dethroned him after one year's reign,
and then raised his youngest brother, the third son,
to the throne.
" He was only eleven years old. His extreme
youth and fondness for play, rather than politics or
government, soon created discontent. Men of office
saw that it was exposing their country to contempt,
and sought for some one who might fill the place
with dignity. The regent was long accustomed to
all the duties of the government, and had enjoyed
the confidence of their late venerable king ; so, with
one voice, the child was dethroned and the regent
OLD 81 AM ITS HISTORY 27
exalted under the title of Phra Chan Pra Sath-thong.
This event occurred A.D. 1630," and forms the com-
mencement of the third dynasty.
" The king was said to have "been connected with
the former dynasty, both paternally and maternally ;
but the connection must have been quite remote and
obscure. Under the reign of the priest-king he bore
the title Raja Suriwong, as indicating a remote con-
nection with the royal family. From him descended
a line of ten kings, who reigned at Ayuthia and
Lopha-buri Louvo of French writers. This line
was once interrupted by an usurper between the
fourth and fifth reigns. This usurper was the fos-
ter-father of an unacknowledged though real son of
the fourth king, Chau Narai. During his reign
many European merchants established themselves
and their trade in the country, among whom was
Constantine Phaulkon (Faulkon). He became a
great favorite through his skill in business, his sug-
gestions and superintendence of public works after
European models, and by his presents of many arti-
cles regarded by the people of those days as great
curiosities, such as telescopes, etc.
" King JSTarai, the most distinguished of all Siam-
ese rulers, before or since, being highly pleased with
the services of Constantine, conferred on him the
title of Chau Phya Wicha-yentra-the-bodi, under
which title there devolved on him the management
of the government in all the northern provinces of
the country. He suggested to the king the plan of
erecting a fort on European principles as a protection
to the capital. This was so acceptable a proposal,
28 SIAM
that at the king's direction he was authorized to
select the location and construct the fort.
" He selected a territory which was then employed
as garden-ground, but is now the territory of Bang-
kok. On the west bank, near the mouth of a canal,
now called Bang-luang, he constructed a fort, which
bears the name of Wichayeiw Fort to this day. It
is close to the residence of his Royal Highness Chau-
fa-noi Kromma Khun Isaret rangsan. This fort and
circumjacent territory \vas called Thana-buri. A wall
was erected, enclosing a space of about one hundred
yards square. Another fort was built on the east
side of the river, where the walled city of Bangkok
now stands. The ancient name Bangkok was in use
when the whole region was a garden.* The above-
mentioned fort was erected about the year A.D. 1675.
"This extraordinary European also induced his
grateful sovereign King jS^arai to repair the old city
of Lopha-buri (Louvo), and construct there an ex-
tensive royal palace on the principles of European
architecture. On the north of this palace Constan-
tino erected an extensive and beautiful collection of
buildings for his own residence. Here also he built
a Romish church. The ruins of these edifices and
their walls are still to be seen, and are said to be
a great curiosity. It is moreover stated that he
planned the construction of canals, with reservoirs at
intervals for bringing water from the mountains on
the northeast to the city Lopha-buri, and conveying
* Such names abound now, as Bang-cha, Bang-phra, Bang-pla-
soi, etc. ; Bang signifying a small stream or canal, such as is seen
in gardens.
OLD SIAMITS HISTORY 29
it through earthen and copper pipes and siphons, so
as to supply the city in the dry season on the same
principle as that adopted in Europe. He commenced
also a canal, with embankments, to the holy place
called Phra-Bat, about twenty-five miles southwest
from the city. He made an artificial pond on the
summit of Phra-Bat Mountain, and thence, by means
of copper tubes and stop-cocks, conveyed abundance
of water to the kitchen and bath-rooms of the
royal residence at the foot of the mountain. His
works were not completed when misfortune overtook
him.
" After the demise of Ndrai, his unacknowledged
son, born of a princess of Yunnan or Chiang-Mai, and
intrusted for training to the care of Phya Petcha
raja, slew Narai's son and heir, and constituted his
foster-father king, himself acting as prime-minister
till the death of his foster-father, fifteen years after ;
he then assumed the royal state himself. He is or-
dinarily spoken of as Nai Dua. Two of his sons and
two of his grandsons subsequently reigned at Ayu-
thia. The youngest of these grandsons reigned only
a short time, and then surrendered the royal author-
ity to his brother and entered the priesthood. "While
this brother reigned, in the year 1759, the Birman
king, Meng-luang Alaung Barah-gyi, came with an
immense army, marching in three divisions on as
many distinct routes, and combined at last in the
siege of Ayuthia.
"The Siamese king, Chaufa Ekadwat Anurak
Moutri, made no resolute effort of resistance. His
great officers disagreed in their measures. The in-
80 SIAM
habitants of all the smaller towns were indeed called
behind the walls of the city, and ordered to defend
it to their utmost ability ; but jealousy and dissen-
sion rendered all their bravery useless. Sallies and
skirmishes were frequent, in which the Birmese were
generally the victorious party. The siege was con-
tinued for two years. The Birmese commander-in-
chief, Maha ISoratha, died, but his principal officers
elected another in his place. At the end of the two
years the Birmese, favored by the dry season, when
the waters were shallow, crossed in safety, battered
the walls, broke down the gates, and entered with-
out resistance. The provisions of the Siamese were
exhausted, confusion reigned, and the Birmese fired
the city and public buildings. The king, badly
wounded, escaped with his flying subjects, but soon
died alone of his wounds and his sorrows. He was
subsequently discovered and buried.
" His brother, who was in the priesthood, and now
the most important personage in the country, was
captured by the Birrnans, to be conveyed in triumph
to Birmah. They perceived that the country was too
remote from their own to be governed by them ; they
therefore freely plundered the inhabitants, beating,
wounding, and even killing many families, to induce
them to disclose treasures which they supposed were
hidden by them. By these measures the Birmese
officers enriched themselves with most of the wealth
of the country. After two or three months spent in
plunder they appointed a person of Mon or Peguan
origin as ruler over Siam, and withdrew with numer-
ous captives, leaving this Peguan officer to gather
OLD 81 AM ITS HISTORY 31
fugitives and property to convey to Birmah at some
subsequent opportunity. This officer was named
Phra jSTai Kong, and made his headquarters about
three miles north of the city, at a place called Pho
Sam-ton, i.e., 'the three Sacred Fig-trees.' One ac-
count relates that the last king mentioned above,
when he fled from the city, wounded, was appre-
hended by a party of travellers and brought into the
presence of Phya Kai Kong in a state of great ex-
haustion and illness ; that he was kindly received and
respectfully treated, as though he was still the sov-
ereign, and that Phya Nai Kong promised to con-
firm him again as a ruler of Siam, but his strength
failed and he died a few days after his apprehen-
sion.
" The conquest by Birmah, the destruction of Ayu-
thia, and appointment of Phya Nai Kong took place
in March, A.D. 1767. This date is unquestionable.
The period between the foundation of Ayuthia and
its overthrow by the Birmans embraces four hundred
and seventeen years, during which there were thirty-
three kings of three distinct dynasties, of which the
first dynasty had nineteen kings with one usurper ;
the second had three kings, and the third had nine
kings and one usurper.
" When Ayuthia was conquered by the Birmese,
in March, 1767, there remained in the country many
bands of robbers associated under brave men as their
leaders. These parties had continued their depreda-
tions since the first appearance of the Birrnan army,
and during about two years had lived by plundering
the quiet inhabitants, having no government to fear.
32 SIAM
On the return of the Birman troops to their own
country, these parties of robbers had various skir-
mishes with each other during the year 1767.
" The first king established at Bangkok was an ex-
traordinary man, of Chinese origin, named Pin Tat.
He was called by the Chinese, Tia Sin Tat, or Tuat.
He was born at a village called Bantak, in Northern
Siam, in latitude 16 N. The date of his birth was
in March, 1734. At the capture of Ayuthia he was
thirty-three years old. Previous to that time he had
obtained the office of second governor of his own
township, Tak, and he next obtained the office of
governor of his own town, under the dignified title
of Phya Tak, which name he bears to the present
day. During the reign of the last king of Ayuthia,
he was promoted to the office and dignity of govern-
or of the city Kam-Cheng-philet, which from times
of antiquity was called the capital of the western
province of Northern Siam. He obtained this office
by bribing the high minister of the king, Chaufa
Ekadwat Anurak Moutri ; and being a brave war-
rior lie was called to Ayuthia on the arrival of the
Birman troops as a member of the council. But
when sent to resist the Birman troops, who were har-
assing the eastern side of the city, perceiving that
the Ayuthian government was unable to resist the
enemy, he, with his followers, fled to Chantaburi
(Chantaboun), a town on the eastern shore of the Gulf
of Siam, in latitude 12 K and longitude 102 10'
E. There he united with many brave men, who were
robbers and pirates, and subsisted by robbing the
villages and merchant-vessels. In this way he be-
OLD SI AM ITS HISTORY 33
came the great military leader of the district and
had a force of more than ten thousand men. He
soon formed a treaty of peace with the headman of
Bangplasoi, a district on the north, and with Kam-
buja and Annarn (or Cochin China) on the south-
east."
With the fall of Ayuthia and the disasters inflict-
ed by the Bnrman army ended the third dynasty in
the year 1767. So complete was the victory of the
Burmese, and so utter the overthrow of the kingdom
of Siam, that it was only after some years of disor-
der and partial lawlessness that the realm became re-
organized under strong centralized authority. The
great military leader, to whom the royal chronicle
from which we have been quoting refers, seems to
have been pre-eminently the man for the hour. By
his patient sagacity, joined with bravery and qualities
of leadership which are not often found in the annals
of Oriental warfare, he succeeded in expelling the
Burmese from the capital, and in reconquering the
provinces which, during the period of anarchy con-
sequent on the Burmese invasion, had asserted sepa-
rate sovereignty and independence. The war which
about this time broke out between Burmah and
China made this task of throwing off the foreign
yoke more easy. And his own good sense and ju-
dicious admixture of mildness with severity concili-
ated and settled the disturbed and disorganized prov-
inces. ^Notably was this the case in the province of
Ligor, on the peninsula, where an alliance with the
beautiful daughter of the captive king, and presently
the birth of a son from the princess, made it easy to
34 SIAM
attach the government of that province (and inci-
dentally of the adjoining provinces), by ties of the
strongest allegiance to the new dynasty.
Joined with Phya Tak, in his adventures and suc-
cesses as his confidential friend and helper, was a
man of noble birth and vigorous character, who was,
indeed, scarcely the inferior of the great general in
ability. This man, closely associated with Phya Tak,
became at last his successor. For, at the close of his
career, and after his great work of reconstructing the
kingdom was fully accomplished, Phya Tak became
insane. The bonzes (or priests of Buddha), notwith-
standing all that he had done to enrich the temples
of the new capital (especially in bringing from Laos
" the emerald Buddha which is the pride and glory
of Bangkok at the present day "), turned against him,
declaring that he aspired to the divine honor of
Buddha himself. His exactions of money from his
rich subjects and his deeds of cruelty and arbitrary
power toward all classes became so intolerable, that
a revolt took place in the city, and the king fled for
safety to a neighboring pagoda and declared him-
self a member of the priesthood. For a while his
refuge in the monastery availed to save his life.
But presently his favorite general, either in response
to an invitation from the nobles or else prompted by
his own ambition, assumed the sovereignty and put
his friend and predecessor to a violent death. The
accession of the new king (who seems to have shared
the dignity and responsibility of government with
his brother), was the commencement of the present
dynasty, to the history of which a new chapter may
OLD 81 AM ITS HISTORY 35
properly be devoted. But before proceeding with
the history we interrupt the narrative to give
sketches of two European adventurers whose exploits
in Siam are among the most romantic and suggestive
in her annals.
CHAPTER IY.
THE STOEIES OP TWO ADVENTURERS
THE sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, that gold-
en age of discovery and adventure, did not fail
to find in the Indo-Chinese peninsula brilliant op-
portunities for the exercise of those qualities which
made their times so remarkable in the history of the
world. Marco Polo, the greatest of Asiatic travel-
lers, dismisses Siam in a few words as a " country
called Locac ; a country good and rich, with a king of
its own. The people are idolaters and have a pecul-
iar language, and pay tribute to nobody, for their coun-
try is so situated that no one can enter it to do them
ill. Indeed, if it were possible to get at it the Great
Kaan [of China] would soon bring them under sub-
jection to him. In this country the brazil which we
make use of grows in great plenty ; and they also
have gold in incredible quantity. They have ele-
phants likewise, and much game. In this kingdom
too are gathered all the porcelain shells which are used
for small change in all those regions, as I have told
you before. There is nothing else to mention except
that this is a very wild region, visited by few people ;
nor does the king desire that any strangers should
frequent the country and so find out about his treas-
ures and other resources."
THE STORIES OF TWO ADVENTURERS 37
The Venetian's account, though probably obtained
from his Chinese sailors, is essentially correct, and ap-
plies without much doubt to the region now known
as Siam. Sir Henry Yule derives LOCCLG either from
the Chinese name Lo-hoh, pronounced Lo-Jcok by
Polo's Fokien mariners, or from Lawek, which the
late King of Siam tells us was an ancient Cambodian
city occupying the site of Ayuthia, " whose inhabi-
tants then possessed Southern Siam or Western Cam-
bodia."
Nearly three centuries after Polo, when the far
East had become a common hunting-ground for Euro-
pean adventurers, Siam was visited by one of the most
extraordinary men of this type who ever told his thrill-
ing tales. The famous Portuguese, Mendez Pinto,
passed twenty-one years in various parts of Asia (1537-
1558), as merchant, pirate, soldier, sailor, and slave,
during which period he was sold sixteen times and
shipwrecked five, but happily lived to end his life
peacefully in Portugal, where his published " Pere-
grinacao " earned the fate of Marco Polo's book, and
its author was stamped as a liar of the first magni-
tude. Though mistaken in many of its inferences and
details Pinto's account bears surprisingly well the ex-
amination of modern -critical scholars. When we con-
sider the character of the man and the fact that he
must have composed his memoirs entirely from recol-
lection, the wonder really is that he should have erred
so little. The value of his story lies in the fact that
we get from it, as Professor Vambery suggests, " a
picture, however incomplete and defective, of the
power and authority of Asia, then still unbroken. In
38 SIAM
this picture, so full of instructive details, we perceive
more than one thing fully worthy of the attention of
the latter-day reader. Above all we see the fact that
the traveller from the west, although obliged to en-
dure unspeakable hardships, privation, pain, and dan-
ger, at least had not to suffer on account of his nation-
ality and religion, as has been the case in recent times
since the all-puissance of Europe has thrown its threat-
ejiing shadow on the interior of Asia, and the appear-
ance of the European is considered the foreboding of
material decay and national downfall. How utterly
different it was to travel in mediaeval Asia from what
it is at present is clearly seen from the fact that in
those days missionaries, merchants, and political
agents from Europe could, even in time of war, tra-
verse any distances in Asiatic lands without molesta-
tion in their personal liberty or property, just as any
Asiatic traveller of Moslem or Buddhist persuasion."
Pinto seems to have gone to Siam hoping there to
repair his fortunes, which had suffered shipwreck for
the fourth time and left him in extreme destitution.
Soon after he joined in Odiaa (Ayuthia) the Portu-
guese colony, which he found to be one hundred and
thirty strong, he was induced with his countrymen to
serve among the King's body-guards on an expedition
made against the rebellious Shan states in the north.
The campaign progressed favorably and ended in the
subjection of the " King of Chiammay " and his
allies, but a scheming queen, desirous of putting her
paramour on the throne, poisoned the conqueror
upon his return to Odiaa in 1545. " But whereas
heaven never leaves wicked actions unpunished, the
feU-0
H
year after, 1546, and on January 15th, they were
both slain by Oyaa Passilico and the King of Cam-
~baya at a certain banquet which these princes made
in a temple." The usurpers were thus promptly de-
spatched, but the consequences of their infamy were
fateful to Siam, as Pinto informs us at some length.
" The Empire of Slam remaining without a law-
full successor, those two great lords of the Kingdom,
namely, Oyaa Passilico, and the King of Cambaya,
together with four or five men of the trustiest that
were left, and which had been confederated with them,
thought fit to chnse for King a certain religious man
named Pretiem, in regard he was the naturall brother
of the deceased prince, husband to that wicked queen
of whom I have spoken ; whereupon this religious
man, who was a Talagrepo of a Pagode, called
Quiay Mitran, from whence he had not budged for
the space of thirty years, was the day after drawn
forth of it by Oyaa Passilico, who brought him on
January 17th, into the city of Odiaa, where on the
19th he was crowned King with a new kind of cere-
o
mony, and a world of magnificence, which (to avoid
prolixity) I will not make mention of here, having
formerly treated of such like things. Withall pass-
ing by all that further arrived in the Kingdon of
Siam, I will content myself with reporting such things
as I imagine will be most agreeable to the curious. It
happened then that the King of Bramaa (Burmah),
who at that time reigned tyrannically in Pegu, being
advertised of the deplorable estate whereunto the
Empire of Sornau (Siam) was reduced, and of the
death of the greatest lords of the country, as also that
40 SIAM
the new king of this monarchy was ar religions man,
who had no knowledge either of arms or war, and,
withall of a cowardly disposition, a tyrant, and ill be-
loved of his subjects, he fell to consult thereupon
with his lords in the town of Anapleu, where at that
time he kept his court."
The decision in favor of seizing this favorable
opportunity for acquiring his neighbor's territory was
practically unanimous, and the tyrant of Pegu ac-
cordingly assembled an army of 800,000 men, 100,000
of whom were "strangers," i.e., mercenary troops,
and among these we find 1,000 Portuguese, com-
manded by one Diego Suarez d'Albergaria, nick-
named Galego. So the Portuguese, as we shall see,
played important parts on both sides of the great
war that followed. After capturing the frontier
defences, the Burmans marched across the country
through the forests " that were cut down by three-
score thousand pioneers, whom the King had sent
before to plane the passages and wayes," and sat
down before the devoted capital. " During the first
five days that the King of Bramaa had been before
the city of Odiaa, he had bestowed labour and pains
enough, as well in making of trenches and pallisadoes,
as in the providing all things necessary for the siege ;
in all which time the besieged never offered to stir,
whereof Diego Suarez, the marshall of the camp,
resolved to execute the design for which he came ; to
which effect, of the most part of the men which he
had under his command, he made two separated
squadrons, in each of which there were six battal-
ions of six thousand a piece. After this manner he
THE STORIES OF TWO ADVENTURERS 41
marched in battell array, at the sound of many in-
struments, towards the two poynts which the city
made on the south side, because the entrance there
seemed more facile to him than any other where. So
upon the 19th day of June, in the year 1548, an
hour before day, all these men of war, having set up
above a thousand ladders against the walls, en-
deavoured to mount up on them ; but the besieged
opposed them so valiently, that in less than half an
hour there remained dead on the place above ten
thousand on either part. In the mean time the King,
who incouraged his souldiers, seeing the ill success of
this fight, commanded these to retreat, and then
made the wall to be assaulted afresh, making use for
that effect of five thousand elephants of war which he
had brought thither and divided into twenty troops of
two hundred and fifty apiece, upon whom there were
twenty thousand Moens and C/ialeus, choice men and
that had double pay. The wall was then assaulted by
these forces with so terrible an impetuosity as I want
words to express it. For whereas all the elephants
carried wooden castles on their backs, from whence
they shot with muskets, brass eulverins, and a great
number of harquebuses a crock, each of them ten or
twelve spans long, these guns made such an havock
of the besieged that in less than a quarter of an hour
the most of them were beaten down ; the elephants
withall setting their trunks to the target fences, which
served as battlements, and wherewith they within de-
fended themselves, tore them down in such sort as
not one of them remained entire ; so that by this
means the wall was abandoned of all defence, no man
4
42 SIAM
daring to shew himself above. In this sort was the
entry into the city very easy to the assailants, who
being invited by so good success to make their profit
of so favourable an occasion, set up their ladders again
which they had quitted, and mounting up by them to
the top of the wall with a world of cries and acclama-
tions, they planted thereon in sign of victory a num-
ber of banners and ensigns. Kow because the Turks
(Arabs ?) desired to have therein a better share then
the rest, they besought the King to do them so much
favour as to give them the vantguard, which the King
easily granted them, and that by the counsell of Diego
Snares, who desired nothing more than to see their
number lessened, always gave them the most danger-
ous imployments. They in the mean time extra-
ordinarily contented, whither more rash or more in-
fortunate than the rest, sliding down by a pane of
the wall, descended through a bulwark into a place
which was below, with an intent to open a gate and
give an entrance unto the King, to the end that they
might rightly boast that they all alone had delivered
to him the capital city of Siam / for he had before
promised to give unto whomsoever should deliver up
the city unto him, a thousand bisses of gold, which in
value are five hundred thousand ducates of our money.
These Turks being gotten down, as I have said,
laboured to break open a gate with two rams which
they had brought with them for that purpose ; but as
they were occupied about it they saw themselves
suddenly charged by three thousand Jaos, all resolute
souldiers, who fell upon them with such fury, as in
little more than a quarter of an hour there was not
THE STORIES OF TWO ADVENTURERS 43
so much as one Turk left alive in the place, where-
with not contented, they mounted up immediately to
the top of the wall, and so flesht as they were and
covered over with the blood of the Turks, they set
upon the Uramad's men which they found there, so
valiently that most of them were slain and the rest
tumbled down over the wall.
"The King of Bramaa redoubling his courage
would not for all that give over this assault, so as
imagining that those elephants alone would be able
to give him an entry into the city, he caused them
once again to approach unto the wall. At the noise
hereof Oyaa Passilico, captain general of the city,
ran in all haste to this part of the wall, and caused
the gate to be opened through which the Bramaa,
pretended to enter, and then sent him word that
whereas he was given to understand how his High-
ness had promised to give a thousand bisses of gold,
he had now performed it so that he might enter if he
would make good his word and send him the gold,
which he stayed there to receive. The King of Bra-
maa having received this jear, would not vouchsafe
to give an answer, but instantly commanded the city
to be assaulted. The fight began so terrible as it was
a dreadfull thing to behold, the rather for that the
violence of it lasted above three whole hours, during
the which time the gate was twice forced open, and
twice the assailants got an entrance into the city,
which the King of Slam no sooner perceived, and
that all was in danger to be lost, but he ran speedily
to oppose them with his followers, the best souldiers
that were in all the city : whereupon the conflict grew
44: SIAM
much hotter than before, and continued half an hour
and better, during the which I do riot know what
passed, nor can say any other thing save that we saw
streams of bloud running every where and the air all
of a light fire ; there was also on either part such a
tumult and noise, as one would have said the earth
had been' tottering ; for it was a most dreadful thing
to hear the discord and jarring of those barbarous in-
struments, as bells, drums, and trumpets, intermingled
with the noise of the great ordnance and smaller shot,
and the dreadful yelling of six thousand elephants,
whence ensued so great a terrour that it took from
them that heard it both courage and strength. Die-
go Suarez then, seeing their forces quite repulsed out
of the city, the most part of the elephants hurt, and
the rest so scared with the noise of the great ordnance,
as it was impossible to make them return unto the
wall, counselled the King to sound a retreat, where-
unto the King yielded, though much against his will,
because he observed that both he and the most part
of the Portugals were wounded."
The king's wound took seventeen days to heal, a
breathing space which we can imagine both sides ac-
cepted with satisfaction. Nothing daunted by the
failure of his first onset, he attacked the city again
and again during the four months of the siege, em-
ploying against it the machines and devices of a
Greek engineer in his service, and achieving prodigies
of valor. At length, upon the suggestion of his
Portuguese captain, he began " with bavins and green
turf to erect a kind of platform higher than the
walls, and thereon mounted good store of great ord-
THE STORIES OF TWO ADVENTURERS 45
nance, wherewith the principal fortifications of the
city should be battered.'' Considering the exhausted
state of the defenders it is likely that this elaborate
effort would have succeeded, but before the critical
moment arrived word came from home that the
" Xemindoo being risen up in Pegu had cut fifteen
thousand Bramaas there in pieces, and had withal
seized on the principal places of the country. At
these news the King was so troubled, that without
further delay he raised the siege and imbarqued him-
self on a river called Pc<carau, where he stayed but
that night and the day following, which he imployed
in retiring his great ordnance and ammunition. Then
Laving set fire on all the pallisadoes and lodgings of
the camp, he parted away on Tuesday the 15th of
October, 1548, for to go to the town of Martabano."
So was Ayuthia honorably saved, but Pinto, we fear,
followed with his countryman Diego in the Bramaa's
train, for he has much to say henceforth of the civil
disturbance in Burma and the Xemindoo's final sup-
pression, but of Siam, excepting a brief description of
the country, he tells us nothing more.
About a century after Pinto's stay in Siam an-
other adventurer found his way thither while seek-
ing his fortune in the golden Orient and encoun-
tered there such vicissitudes of experience as to rival
in picturesqueness and wonder the tales of the Ara-
bian Nights. This was the Greek sailor, Constantino
Phaulcon, whose story, even when stripped of the
extravagant embellishments with which the devout
priest, his biographer, has adorned it, is marvellous
enough to deserve a place in the annals of travel and
46 SIAM
adventure. His strange life has been woven into a
romance, "Phanlcon the Adventurer," by William
Dalton, but the following sketch of his career, con-
densed from Sir John Bowring's translation of Pere
d'Orleans' " Histoire de M. Constance," printed in
Tours in 1690, is a better authority for our pur-
pose.
Constantino Phaulcon, or Falcon, born in Cepha-
lonia, was the son of a Venetian nobleman and a
Greek lady of rank. Owing to his parents' poverty,
however, he left home when a mere boy to shift for
himself, and presently drifted into the employ of the
English East India Company. After several years
passed in this service he accumulated mone} T enough
to buy a ship and embark in speculations of his own,
-but three shipwrecks following in rapid succession
brought him at length into a desperate plight of pov-
erty and debt. Being cast in his third misadventure
upon the Malabar coast, he there found a fellow
sufferer, the sole survivor of a like catastrophe, who
proved to be the Siamese ambassador to Persia re-
turning from his mission. Phaulcon was able with
the little money saved in his belt to assist the ambas-
sador to Ayuthia, where that officer in gratitude
recommended him to the Baraclan (prime-minister)
and the king, both of whom were delighted with his
ability and determined to make use of him. He was
first taken into favor, it is said, from the address
with which he supplanted the Moors in the employ-
ment, which seemed to have been made over to
them, of preparing the splendid entertainments and
pageants that were the king's chief pride. Reforms
THE STORIES OF TWO ADVENTURERS 47
introduced into tins office resulted in the production
of much more effective spectacles at a smaller ex-
pense to the treasury, for the Moors had indulged in
some knavish practices, and when their dishonesty
was discovered by the Greek his high place in the
sovereign's estimation was fully assured.
At this time his prosperity was interrupted by a
severe illness that well-nigh proved fatal to the new
favorite, but was turned to good account by Father
Antoine Thomas, a Flemish Jesuit, who was passing
through Siam on his way to join the Portuguese
missions in China and Japan. Thoroughly alive to
the importance of securing so powerful a man to the
Roman Church, the good father adroitly converted
the invalid, and at last had the satisfaction of receiv-
ing from Phaulcon abjuration of his errors and here-
sies and numbering him among the faithful. By
the priest's advice, also, " he married, a few days
afterward, a young Japanese lady of good family,
distinguished not only by rank, but also by the blood
of the martyrs from whom she was descended and
whose virtues she imitates." It is an interesting epi-
sode in the history of Siam that for about a genera-
tion near the beginning of the seventeenth century
there existed, besides the free intercourse with West-
ern nations, an active exchange of commodities be-
tween tins part of Cochin China and Japan, many
of whose merchants found good employments un-
der Phra Narain, the Siamese king. They proved
themselves, however, to be such profound schemers
as finally to earn the hatred of the natives, who
drove them out in 1632. Soon after this date
48 SIAM
Japan adopted a policy of complete exclusion and
we hear no more of her subjects in any foreign
country.
" If, as a man of talent," continues Pere d'Orleans,
" Phaulcon knew how to avail himself of the royal
favor to establish his own fortune, he used it no less
faithfully for the glory of his master and the good of
the state ; still more, as a true Christian, for the ad-
vancement of religion. Up to this time he had aimed
chiefly to increase commerce, which occupies the at-
tention of Oriental sovereigns far more than politics,
and had succeeded so well that the king of Siam was
now one of the richest monarchs in Asia ; but he
considered that, having enriched, he should now en-
deavor to render his Sovereign illustrious by making
known to foreign nations the noble qualities which
distinguished him ; and his chief aim being the es-
tablishment of Christianity in Siam, he resolved to
engage his master to form treaties of friendship with
those European monarchs who were most capable of
advancing this object."
We must be cautious, however, in accepting all his
motives from his Jesuit biographer, who doubtless
does him too much honor. According to the Dutch
historian Kampfer, Phaulcon had the fate of all his
kind ever before his eyes, and the better to secure him-
self in his exalted position, " he thought it necessary
to secure it by some foreign power, of which he
judged the French nation to be the most proper for
seconding his designs, which appeared even to aim at
the royal dignity. In order to do this he made his
sovereign believe that by the assistance of the said
THE STORIES OF TWO ADVENTURERS 49
nation lie might polish his subjects and put his do-
minion into a flourishing condition."
Whatever his intentions, it is certain that Phaulcon
carried his point, and an embassy was sent to the
court of Louis XIV. In return the Chevalier de
Chaumont, accompanied by a considerable retinue,
and bearing royal gifts and letters, was despatched to
Siam, where he arrived in September, 1685, and was
splendidly received. Phaulcon was, of course, fore-
most among the dignitaries ; the shipwrecked adven-
turer, who had risen from the position of common
sailor to the post of premier in a rich and thriving
realm, found himself receiving on terms of equality
and in a style of magnificence that, even to European
eyes, seemed admirable, the ambassador of the most
illustrious king in Europe. Whether his loyalty to
the sovereign whom he was bound to serve was always
quite above the suspicion of intrigue with the French
is more than doubtful. He greatly desired on his
own behalf to effect the conversion of the king to
Catholicism, and did what he could to support the
arguments of the French envoy to this end. But
the king, who was a shrewd man, refused to abandon
the religion of his ancestors for that of these design-
ing foreigners.
" Phaulcon had long thought," says the Pere d'Or-
leans, "of bringing to Siam Jesuits who, like those
in China, might introduce the Gospel at court through
the mathematical sciences, especially astronomy. Six
Jesuits having profited by so good an occasion as that
of the embassy of the Chevalier de Chaumont to stop
in Siam on their way to China, M. Constance upon
50 SIAM
seeing them begged that some might be sent to him
from France ; and for this especial object Father
Tacliard, one of the six, was requested to return to
Europe." This was really the first step in Phaulcon's
ruin ; for, aware that his master could not in this
way encourage the Christians without incurring the
hatred of both the Buddhists and Mohammedans in
the kingdom, lie conceived the plan of begging Louis
for some French troops ostensibly to accompany and
support the missionaries, but practically to sustain his
influence by force, and in the event of defeat to hand
the country over to France. Three officers returned
with M. de Chaumont and effected a treaty whereby
Louis promised to send some troops to the Siamese
king, " not only to instruct his own in our discipline,
but also to be at his disposal according as he should
need them for the security of his person, or for that
of his kingdom. In the mean time the king of Siam
would appoint the French soldiers to guard two
places where they would be commanded by their
own officers under the authority of this monarch."
The troops and a dozen missionaries set out under
Father Tachard's charge in 1686.
But ere they arrived trouble was brewing in Siam.
" The Mohammedans," says the historian, "had long
flattered themselves with the hope of inducing the
king and people of Siam to accept the Koran ; but
when they saw the monarch thus closely allying him-
self with Christians, their fears were greatty excited ;
and the great difference which had been made be-
tween the French and Persian ambassadors, in the
honors shown them in their audiences with his
THE STORIES OF TWO ADVENTURERS 51
majesty, had so much increased the apprehensions of
the infidels that they resolved to avert the appre-
hended misfortune by attempting the life of the
king. The authors of this evil design were two
princes of Champa and a prince of Macassar, all of
them refugees in Siatn, where the king had offered
them an asylum against some powerful enemies of
their own countries. A Malay captain encouraged
them by prophecies which he circulated among the
zealots of his own sect, of whom he shortly assembled
a sufficient number to carry out the conspiracy, had
it not been discovered ; which, however, it was" and
promptly suppressed by the minister, to his great credit
and honor at court. Phaulcon then was at the pin-
nacle of his power when the Frenchmen landed, an
audience was granted and ratifications exchanged.
" M. Constance had already so high an esteem for
our great king [Louis], and the king of Siam, his
master, had entered so entirely into his sentiments,
that this sovereign, thinking the French troops were
not sufficiently near his person, determined to ask
from the king, in addition to the troops already
landed, a company of two hundred body-guards. As
there was much to arrange between the two monarchs
for the establishment of religion, not only in Siam,
but in many other places where M. Constance hoped
to spread it, they resolved that Father Tachard should
return to France, accompanied by three mandarins, to
present to his majesty the letter from their king;
and that he should thence proceed to Rome, to solicit
from the Pope assistance in preserving tranquillity
and spreading Christianity in the Indies.
52 8IAM
" Father Tachard, having received from the king
and his minister the necessary orders, left his com-
panions under the direction of M. Constance, and
quitted Siam, accompanied by the envoys-extraor-
dinary of the king, at the beginning of the year 1686.
He reached Brest in the month of July in the same
year.
" Never was negotiation more successful. Occu-
pied as was the king in waging war with the greater
part of Europe, leagued against him by the Protes-
tant party, he made no delay in equipping vessels to
convey to the king of Siam the guards which he had
requested."
It is certainly not surprising that some of the
Siamese noblemen should have looked with suspicion
on the extraordinary measures which Phaulcon h;id
inaugurated. With a French military force in pos-
session of some of the most important points in the
kingdom, and with the Roman Catholic religion se-
curing for itself something like a dominant establish-
ment, it is no wonder that conspiracies against the
authors of the new movement should be repeated
and ultimately successful. The king had no male
heir ; and it seemed to a nobleman named Pitraxa
that the succession might as well come to him as to
the foreigner who had already risen to such a dan-
gerous authority This time the conspiracy was
more audaciously and triumphantly carried out. The
king, who was beginning to grow old and infirm, was
taken sick, and during his illness Pitraxa got pos-
session of the royal seals, and by means of them se-
cured supplies of arms and powder for the further-
THE STORIES OF TWO ADVENTURERS 53
ance of his designs. The crisis rapidly approached.
Phaulcon determined to arrest the chief conspirator,
but was for once outwitted. The French forces which
lie summoned to his assistance were intercepted and
turned back by a false report. Pitraxa made him-
self master of the palace, of the person of the king,
and of all the royal family. It was evident to Phaul-
con that the end had come. His resolution was
taken accordingly.
" Having with him a few Frenchmen, two Portu-
guese, and sixteen English soldiers, he called these
together, and, with his confessor, entered his chapel
that he might prepare for the death which appeared
to await him ; whence passing into his wife's cham-
ber, he bade her farewell, saying that the king was a
prisoner, and that he would die at his feet. He then
went out to go direct to the palace, flattering him-
self that with the small number of Europeans who
followed him, he should be able to make his way
through the Indians, who endeavored to arrest him,
so as to reach the king. He would have succeeded
had his followers been as determined as himself ; but
on entering the first court of the palace, he was sud-
denly surrounded by a troop of Siamese soldiers.
He was putting himself into a defensive attitude
when he perceived that he was abandoned by all his
suite except the French, so that the contest was too
unequal to be long maintained. He was obliged
to yield to the force of numbers, and he and the
Frenchmen with him were made prisoners and
loaded with irons."
It remained for the usurper to rid himself of the
54: 8IAM
French soldiers, wno were still in possession of the
two most considerable places in the country. Under
a false pretext he won over to himself, temporarily,
the commander of the French forces. " Upon this,
six French officers who were at court, finding their
safety endangered, resolved to leave and retire to
Bangkok. They armed themselves, mounted on
horseback, and under pretence of a ride, easily es-
caped from the guard Pitraxa had appointed to ac-
company them. It is true that, for the one they had
got rid of, they found between Louvo and the river
troops at different intervals, which, however, they
easily passed. On reaching the river they discov-
ered a boat filled with talapoins, which they seized,
driving away its occupants. As, however, they did
not take the precaution of tying down the rowers,
they had the vexation of having them escape under
cover of the night, each swimming away from his
own side of the boat. Compelled to row it them-
selves, they soon became so weary that they deter-
mined to land, and continue their journey on foot.
This was not without its difficulties, as the people,
warned by the talapoins whose boat had been seized,
and by the fugitive rowers, assembled in troops upon
the river-side, uttering loud cries. ^Notwithstanding
this, they leaped out, and gained the plains of Ayu-
thia, where, most unfortunately, they lost their way.
The populace still followed them, and though not
venturing to approach very near, never lost sight of
them and continued to annoy them as much as pos-
sible. They might, after all, have escaped, had not
hunger compelled them to enter into a parley for a
THE STORIES OF TWO ADVENTURERS 55
supply of provisions. In answer, they were told that
they would not be listened to until they had laid down
their arms. Then these cowardly wretches, instead
of furnishing them with provisions, threw themselves
upon them, stripped them, and carried them bound
to Ayuthia, whence they were sent back to Lbuvo
most unworthily treated. A troop of three hundred
Mohammedans, which Pitraxa on learning their flight
r o O
sent in pursuit of them, and which met them on their
return, treated them so brutally that one named Brecy
died from the blows they inflicted. The rest were
committed to prison on their arrival at Louvo.
" From this persecution of the French fugitives,
the infidels insensibly passed to persecuting all the
Christians in Siam, as soon as they learned that M.
Desfarges was on the road to join Pitraxa ; for from
that time the tyrant, giving way to the suspicions in-
fused by crime and ambition, no longer preserved an
appearance of moderation toward those he hated.
His detestation of the Christians had been for some
time kept within bounds by the esteem he still felt
for the French ; but he had no sooner heard of the
deference shown by their general to the orders lie had
sent him, than, beginning to fear nothing, he spared
none.
" As the prison of M. Constance was in the in-
terior of the palace, no one knows the details of his
sufferings. Some say, that to make him confess the
crimes of which he was accused, they burned the
soles of his feet ; others that an iron hoop was bound
round his temples. It is certain that he was kept in
a prison made of stakes, loaded with three heavy
56 BIAM
chains, and wanting even the necessaries of life, till
Madame Constance, having discovered the place of
his imprisonment, obtained permission to furnish
him with them.
" She could not long continue to do so, being soon
herself in want. The usurper had at first appeared
to respect her virtue, and had shown her some degree
of favor ; he had restored her son, who had been
taken from her by the soldiers, and exculpated him-
self from the robbery. But these courtesies were
soon discontinued. The virtues of Madame Con-
stance had for a time softened the ferocity of the ty-
rant ; but the report of her wealth, which he sup-
posed to be enormous, excited his cupidity, which
could not in any way be appeased.
"On May 30th, the official seals of her husband
were demanded from her ; the next day his arms,
his papers, and his clothes were carried off ; another
day boxes were sealed, and the keys taken away ; a
guard was placed before her dwelling, and a sentinel
at the door of her room to keep her in sight. Hith-
erto nothing had shaken her equanimity ; but this
last insult so confounded her, that she could not help
complaining. ' What,' exclaimed she, weeping,
' what have I done to be treated like a criminal ? '
This, however, was the only complaint drawn by ad-
versity from this noble Christian lady during the
whole course of her trials. Even this emotion of
weakness, so pardonable in a woman of two-and-
twenty who had hitherto known nothing of misfort-
une, was quickly repaired ; for two Jesuits who
happened to be with her on this occasion, having
THE STORIES OF TWO ADVENTURERS 57
mildly represented to her that Christians who have
their treasure in heaven, and who regard it as their
country, should not afflict themselves like pagans for
the loss of wealth and freedom ' It is true,' said she,
recovering her tranquillity : ' I was wrong, my Fathers.
God gave all ; He takes all away : may His holy name
be praised ! I pray only for my husband's deliverance.'
" Scarcely two days had elapsed after the placing
of the seals when a mandarin, followed by a hun-
dred men, came to break them by order of his new
master, and carried off all the money, furniture and
jewels he found in the apartments of this splendid
palace. Madame Constance had the firmness herself
to conduct him, and to put into his hands all that he
wished to take ; after which, looking at the Fathers,
who still continued with her, ' Now,' said she, calmly,
1 God alone remains to us ; but none can separate ns
from Him.'
" The mandarin having retired with his booty, it
was supposed she was rid of him, and that nothing
more could be demanded from those who had been
plundered of all their possessions. The two Jesuits
had left to return to their own dwelling, imagining
there could be nothing to fear for one who had been
stripped of her property, and who, having committed
no crime, seemed shielded from every other risk. In
the evening it appeared that they were mistaken ;
for, about six o'clock, the same mandarin, accom-
panied by his satellites, came to demand her hidden
treasures. ' I have nothing hidden,' she answered :
' if you doubt my word, you can look ; you are the
master here, and everything is open.' So temperate
5
58 SIAM
a reply appeared to irritate the ruffian. ' I will not
seek,' said he, * but, without stirring from the spot, I
will compel you to bring me what I ask, or have you
scourged to death.' So saying, the wretch gave the
signal to the executioners, who came forward with
cords to bind, and thick rattans to scourge her.
These preparations at first bewildered the poor wom-
an, thus abandoned to the fury of a ferocious brute.
She uttered a loud cry, and throwing herself at his
feet said, with a look that might have touched the
hardest heart, ' Have pity on me ! ' But this bar-
barian answered with his accustomed fierceness, that
he would have no mercy on her, ordering her to be
taken and tied to the door of her room, and having
her arms, hands and fingers cruelly beaten. At this
sad spectacle, her grandmother, her relatives, her
servants, and her son uttered cries which would have
moved any one but this hardened wretch. The
whole of the unhappy family cast themselves at his
feet, and touching the ground with their foreheads,
implored mercy, but in vain. He continued to tor-
ture her from seven to nine o'clock ; and not having
been able to gain anything, he carried her off, with all
her family, except the grandmother, whose great age
and severe illness made it impossible to remove her.
" For some time no one knew what had become of
Madame Constance, but at last her position was dis-
covered. A Jesuit father was one day passing by
the stables of her palace, when the lady's aunt, who
shared her captivity, begged permission of the guards
to address the holy man, and ask him for money,
promising that they should share it. In this manner
THE STORIES OF TWO ADVENTURERS 59
was made known the humiliating condition of this
unhappy and illustrious lady, shut up in a stable,
where, half dead from the sufferings she had en-
dured, she lay stretched upon a piece of matting, her
son at her side. The father daily sent her provis-
ions, which were the only means of subsistence for
herself and family, to whom she distributed food
with so small a regard for her own wants, that a
little rice and dried fish were all that she took for
her own share, she having made a vow to abstain
from meat for the rest of her life.
" Up to this time, the grand mandarin had not
ventured to put an end to the existence of M. Con-
stance, whom the French general had sent to de-
mand, as being under the protection of the king, his
master; but now, judging that there was nothing
more to fear either from him or from his friends, he
resolved to get rid of him. It was on the 5th of
June, Whitsun-eve, that he ordered his execution by
the Phaja Sojatan, his son, after having, without any
form of trial, caused to be read in the palace the sen-
tence of death given by himself against this minister,
whom he accused of having leagued with his enemies.
This sentence pronounced, the accused was mounted
on an elephant, and taken, well guarded, into the
forest of Thale-Phutson, as if the tyrant had chosen
the horrors of solitude to bury in oblivion an unjust
and cruel deed.
" Those who conducted him remarked that during
the whole way he appeared perfectly calm, praying
earnestly, and often repeating aloud the names of
Jesus and of Mary.
60
" When they reached the place of execution, he
was ordered to dismount, and told that he must pre-
pare to die. The approach of death did not alarm
him ; he saw it near as lie had seen it at a distance,
and with the same intrepidity. He asked of the Soja-
tan only a few moments to finish his prayer, which he
did kneeling, with so touching an air, that these heath-
ens were moved by it. His petitions concluded, he
lifted his hands toward heaven, and protesting his in-
nocence, declared that he died willingly, having the
testimony of his conscience that, as a minister, he
had acted solely for the glory of the true God, the
service of the King, and the welfare of the state ;
that he forgave his enemies, as he hoped himself to
be forgiven by God. ' For the rest, my lord,' said
he, turning to the Sojatan, 'were I as guilty as my
enemies declare me, my wife and my son are in-
nocent : I commend them to your protection, ask-
ing for them neither wealth nor position, but only
life and liberty.' Having uttered these few words,
lie meekly raised his eyes to heaven, showing by
his silence that he was ready to receive the fatal
blow.
" An executioner advanced, and cut him in two
with a back stroke of his sabre, which brought him
to the ground, heaving one last, long sigh.
" Thus died, at the age of forty -one, in the very
prime of life, this distinguished man, whose sublime
genius, political skill, great energy and penetration,
warm zeal for religion, and strong attachment to the
King, his master, rendered him worthy of a longer
life and of a happier destiny.
THE STORIES OF TWO ADVENTURERS 61
" Who can describe the grief of Madame Constance
at the melancholy news of her husband's death ?
" This illustrious descendant of Japanese martyrs
was subjected to incredible persecutions, which she
endured to the end with heroic constancy and won-
derful resignation."
From this edifying narrative, grandiloquent and
devout by turns, and written from the Jesuit point
of view, it is sufficiently surprising to turn to Ka'mp-
fer's brief and prosaic account of the same events.
According to him the intrigue and treachery was
wholly ou the side of Phaulcon, who had planned to
place on the throne the king's son-in-law, Monpi-
Tatso, a dependent and tool of his own, as soon as the
sick king, whose increasing dropsy threatened him
with sudden dissolution, should be dead ; Pitraxa and
his sons, the king's two brothers, as presumptive
heirs to the crown, and whoever else was like to op-
pose the conspirator's designs, were to be despatched
out of the way. " Pursuant to this scheme, JVIoupi's
father and relations had already raised one thousand
four hundred men, who lay dispersed through the
country ; and the better to facilitate the execution of
this design, Phaulcon persuaded the sick king, hav-
ing found means to introduce himself into his apart-
ment in private, that it would be very much for the
security of his person, during the ill state of his
health, to send for the French general and part of his
garrison up to Louvo, where the king then was, being
a city fifteen leagues north of Ayuthia, and the usual
place of the king's residence, where he used to spend
the greater part of his time. General des Farges be-
62 SIAM
ing on his way thither, the conspiracy was discovered
by Pitraxa's own son, who happening to be with two
of the king's concubines in an apartment adjoining
that where the conspirators were, had the curiosity
to listen at the door, and having heard the bloody
resolution that had been taken, immediately repaired
to his father to inform him of it. Pitraxa without
loss of time acquainted the king with this conspiracy,
and then sent for Moupi, Phaulcon, and the man-
darins of their party, as also for the captain of the
guards, to court, and caused the criminals forthwith
to be put in irons, notwithstanding the king ex-
pressed the greatest displeasure at his so doing.
Phaulcon had for some time absented himself from
court, but now being summoned, he could no longer
excuse himself, though dreading some ill event : it is
said he took leave of his family in a very melancholy
manner. Soon after, his silver chair, wherein he
was usually carried, came back empty a bad omen
to his friends and domestics, who could not but pre-
pare themselves to partake in their master's misfort-
une. This happened May 19th, in the year 1689.
Two days after, Pitraxa ordered, against the king's
will, Moupi's head to be struck off, throwing it at
Phaulcon's feet, then loaded with irons, with this
reproach: 'See, there is your king!' The unfort-
unate sick king, heartily sorry for the death of his
dearest Moupi, earnestly desired that the deceased's
body might not be exposed to any further shame,
but decently buried, which was accordingly complied
with. Moupi's father was seized by stratagem upon
his estate between Ayuthia and Louvo, and ail their
THE STORIES OF TWO ADVENTURERS 63
adherents were dispersed. Phaulcon, after having
been tortured and starved for fourteen days, and
thereby reduced almost to a skeleton, had at last his
irons taken off, and was carried away after sunset in
an ordinary chair, unknowing what would be his fate.
He was first carried to his house, which he found
rifled : his wife lay a prisoner in the stable, who, far
from taking leave of him, spit in his face, and would
not so much as suffer him to kiss his only remaining
son of four years of age, another son being lately dead
and still unburied. From thence he was carried out
of town to the place of execution, where, notwith-
standing all hig reluctancy, he had his head cut off.
His body was divided into two parts, and covered
with a little earth, which the dogs scratched away in
the night-time, and devoured the corpse to the bones.
Before he died he took his seal, two silver crosses, a
relic set in gold which he wore on his breast, being a
present from the Pope, as also the order of St. Mi-
chael which was sent him by the King of France, and
delivered them to a mandarin who stood by, desiring
him to give them to his little son presents, indeed,
that could be of no great use to the poor child, who
to this day, with his mother, goes begging from door
to door, nobody daring to intercede for them." *
It seems to be growing every year more difficult to
form positive opinions concerning the various char-
acters with whom history makes us acquainted, and
we have here a sufficiently wide choice between two
opposite estimates of poor Phaulcon. But whichever
* History of Japan, vol. i., pp. 19-21. London, 1728; quoted
in Bowriug.
64 SIAM
estimate we adopt, it remains abundantly evident
that his career is one of the most romantic and extra-
ordinary in the world. Venetian by descent, Greek
by birth, English by avocation, Siamese by choice
and fortune ; at first almost a beggar, a shipwrecked
adventurer against whom fate seemed hopelessly ad-
verse, he became the chief actor in a scheme of do-
minion which might have given to France a realm
rivalling in wealth and grandeur the British posses-
sions in India.
Some traces of the public works of which Phaul-
con was the founder still remain to show the nature
of the internal improvements which he inaugurated.
His scheme of foreign alliance was a failure, but that
he did much to develop the resources of the king-
dom there would seem to be no doubt. " At Lop-
haburi," says Sir John Bowring, " a city founded
about A.D. 600, the palace of Phaulcon still exists ;
and there are the remains of a Christian church
founded by him, in which, some of the traditions say.
he was put to death. I brought with me from Bang-
kok, the capital, one of the columns of the church,
richly carved and gilded, as a relic of the first*
Christain temple erected in Siam, and as associated
with the history of that singular, long-successful and
finally sacrificed adventurer. The words Jesus Ilom-
inum Salvator are still inscribed over the canopy of
the altar, upon which the image of Buddha now sits
to be worshipped."
* Sir John Bowring was mistaken. It seems to be well enough
established that one or two Christian churches were built by the
Portuguese, a century before the date of Phaulcon' s career.
CHAPTEE V.
MODERN SIAM
THE present king of Siam is the fourth in succes-
sion from that distinguished general who was
at first the friend and companion, and at last some-
thing like the murderer of the renowned Phya Tak,
the founder of the new capital, and indeed of the new
kingdom of Siam. For, with the fall of Ayuthia and
the removal of the seat of government to Bangkok,
the country entered on a new era of prosperity and
progress. Bangkok is not far from sixty miles nearer
to the mouth of the river than Ayuthia, arid the geo-
graphical change was significant of an advance to-
ward the other nations of the world and of more in-
timate relations of commerce and friendship with
them. The founder of this dynasty reigned prosper-
ously for twenty-seven years, and under his sway the
country enjoyed the repose and peace which after a
period of prolonged and devastating war it so greatly
needed. After him his son continued the pacific ad-
ministration of the government for fourteen years,
until 1824. At the death of this king (the second of
the new dynasty), who left as heirs to the throne two
sons of the same mother, the succession was usurped
by an illegitimate son, who contrived by cunning
management and by a readiness to avail himself of
66 SIAM
force, if it was needed, to possess himself of the
sovereignty, and to be confirmed in it by the nobles
and council of state. The two legitimate sons of the
dead king, the oldest of whom had been expressly
named to succeed his father, were placed by this usur-
pation in a position of extreme peril ; and the elder of
the two retired at once into a Buddhist monastery as
a talapoin, where he was safe from molestation and
could wait his time to claim his birthright. The
younger son, as having less to fear, took public office
under the usurper and acquainted himself with the
cares and responsibilities of government.
After a reign of twenty-seven years, closing in the
year 1851, the usurper died. His reign was marked
by some events of extraordinary interest. His royal
palace was destroyed by fire, but afterward rebuilt
upon a larger scale and in a better style. And vaii-
ous military expeditions against adjoining countries
were undertaken with results of more or less impor-
tance. The most interesting of these expeditions was
that against the Laos country, a brief account of which
by an intelligent and able writer is quoted in Bowring's
book. As a picture of the style of warfare and the
barbarous cruelties of a successful campaign, it is strik-
ing and instructive. It is as follows:
"The expedition against Laos was successful. As
usual in Siamese warfare, they laid waste the country,
plundered the inhabitants, brought them to Bangkok,
sold them and gave them away as slaves. The prince
Vun Chow and family made their escape into Cochin
China ; but instead of meeting with a friendly recep-
tion they were seized by the king of that country and
MODERN SIAM 67
delivered as prisoners to the Siamese. The king (of
Laos) arrived in Bangkok about the latter end of 1828,
and underwent there the greatest cruelties barbarians
could invent. He was confined in a large iron cage,
exposed to a burning sun, and obliged to proclaim to
every one that the king of Siam was great and merci-
ful, that he himself had committed a great error, and
deserved his present punishment. In this cage were
placed with the prisoner a large mortar to pound him
in, a large boiler to boil him in, a hook to hang him
by and a sword to decapitate him ; also a sharp
pointed spike for him to sit on. His children were
sometimes put in along with him. He was a mild, re-
spectable-looking, old, gray-headed man, and did not
live long to gratify his tormentors, death having put an
end to his sufferings. His body was taken and hung
in chains on the bank of the river, about two or three
miles below Bangkok. The conditions on which the
Cochin Chinese gave up Chow Vun Chow were, that
the king of Siam would appoint a new prince to gov-
ern the Laos country, who should be approved of by
the Cochin Chinese, and that the court of Siam should
deliver up the persons belonging to the Siamese army
who attacked and killed some Cochin Chinese during
the Laos war."
It is safe to say that the kingdom has by this time
made such progress in civilization that a picture of
barbarism and cruelty like that which is given in the
above narrative could not possibly be repeated in
Siam to-day.
The reign of this king was noteworthy for the
treaty of commerce between Great Britain and Siam,
68 SIAM
negotiated by Captain Burney, as also for other ne-
gotiations tending to similar and larger intercourse
with other countries, especially with the United
States. But the concessions granted were ungener-
ous, and a spirit of jealousy and dislike continued to
govern the conduct of Siam toward other nations.
Notwithstanding the slow growth of that enlight-
ened confidence which is the only sure guaranty of
commercial prosperity, Siam was brought into con-
nection with the outside world through the labors of
the missionaries, both Roman Catholic and Protes-
tant, who, during the reign of this king, established
themselves in the country. Some more detailed
reference to the labors and successes of the mission-
aries will be made in a subsequent chapter. It is by
means of these self-sacrificing and devoted men that
the great advances which Siam has made have been
chiefly brought about. The silent influence which
they were exerting during this period, from 1824 to
1851, was really the great fact of the reign of the
king Phra Chao Pravat Thong. Once or twice the
king became suspicions of them, and attempted to
hinder or to put an end to their labors. In 1848 he
went so far as to issue an edict against the Roman
Catholic missionaries, commanding the destruction of
all their places of worship ; but the edict was only
partially carried into execution. The change which
has taken place in the attitude of the government in
regard to religious liberty, and the sentiments of the
present king in regard to it, are best expressed by a
royal proclamation issued during the year 1870, a
quotation from which is given in the Bangkok Calen-
MODERN SIAM 69
dar for the next year ensuing, introduced by a brief
note from the editor, the Rev. D. B. Bradley.
" The following translation is an extract from the
o
Royal Siamese Calendar for the current year. It is
issued by the authority of his majesty, the supreme
king, and is to me quite interesting in many respects,
but especially in the freedom it accords to all Siamese
subjects in the great concerns of their religion. Hav-
ing near the close of the pamphlet given good moral
lessons, the paper concludes with the following noble
sentiments, and very remarkable for a heathen king
to promulgate :
" In regard to the concern of seeking and holding
a religion that shall be a refuge to yourself in this
life, it is a good concern and exceedingly appropriate
and suitable that you all every individual of you
should investigate and judge for himself according to
his own wisdom. And when you see any religion
whatever, or any company of religionists whatever,
likely to be of advantage to yourself, a refuge in ac-
cord with your own wisdom, hold to that religion
with all your heart. Hold it not with a shallow
mind, with mere guess-work, or because of its general
popularity, or from mere traditional saying that it is
the custom held from time immemorial ; and do not
hold a religion that you have not good evidence is
true, and then frighten men's fears, and flatter their
hopes by it. Do not be frightened and astonished at
diverse events (fictitious wonders) and hold to and
follow them. When you shall have obtained a ref-
uge, a religious faith that is beautiful and good and
suitable, hold to it with great joy, and follow its
70 SIAM
teachings, and it will be a cause of prosperity to each
one of yon.''
The contrast between the state of things repre-
sented by this document and that exemplified by the
story of the treatment of the captive king of Laos is
sufficiently striking. The man who tortured the
king of Laos was the uncle of the young man who is
now on the throne. But between the two cover-
ing the period from the year 1851 to the year 1868
was a king whose character and history entitle*
him to be ranked among the most extraordinary and
admirable rulers of modern times. To this man and
his younger brother, who reigned conjointly as first
and second kings, is due the honor of giving to their
realm an honorable place among the nations of the
world and putting it in the van of progress among
the kingdoms of the far East.
It seemed at first a misfortune that these two broth-
ers should have been so long kept out of their
rightful dignities by their comparatively coarse and
cruel half-brother, who usurped the throne. But it
proved in the end, both for them and for the world,
a great advantage. The usurper, when he seized the
throne, promised to hold it for a few years only and
to restore it to its rightful heirs as soon as their
growth in years and in experience should fit them to
govern. So far was he, however, from making good
his words that he had made all his arrangements to
put his own son in his place. Having held the
sovereignty for twenty-seven years the desire to per-
petuate it in his own line was natural. And as he
had about seven hundred wives there was no lack of
MODERN SIAM 71
children from among whom he might choose his heir.
In 1851 lie was taken sick, and it was evident that
his end was at hand. At this crisis, says Sir John
Bowring :
" The energy of the Praklang (the present Kala-
hom) saved the nation from the miseries of disputed
succession. The Praklang's eldest son, Phya Sisuri-
wong, held the fortresses of Paknam, and, with the
aid of his powerful family, placed Chan Fa Tai upon
the throne, and was made Kalahom, being at once
advanced ten steps and to the position the most in-
fluential in the kingdom, that of prime-minister.
On March 18, 1851, the Praklang proposed to the
council of nobles the nomination of Chau Fa Tai ;
lie held bold language, carried his point, and the next
day communicated the proceedings to the elected
sovereign in his wat (or temple), everybody, even
rival candidates, having given in their adhesion.
By general consent, Chau Fa Noi was raised to the
rank of wangna, or second king, having, it is said,
one third of the revenues with a separate palace and
establishment."
It is difficult to determine how the custom of two
kings reigning at once could have originated, and
how far back in the history of Siam it is to be traced.
It is possible that it originated with the present
dynasty, for the founder of this dynasty had a
brother with whom he was closely intimate, who
shared his fortunes when they were generals together
under Phya Tak, and who might naturally enough
have become his colleague when he ascended the
throne. Under the reign of the uncle of the present
72 SIAM
king the office of the second king was abolished. It
was restored again at the next succession, but was
finally abolished upon the death of King George in
1885.
CHAPTER VI.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
THE entrance into the kingdom of Siam by the
great river, which divides the country east and
west, brings the traveller at once into all the richness
and variety of tropical nature, and is well suited to
produce an impression of the singular beauty and
the vast resources of the " Land of the White Ele-
phant." For this is the name which may prop-
erly be given to the kingdom since the flag of the
country has been established. A very curious flag it
makes the white elephant on a red field and very
oddly it must look if ever it is necessary to hoist it
upside down as a signal of distress ; a signal elo-
quent indeed, for anything more helpless and distress-
ing than this clumpsy quadruped in that position can
hardly be imagined.
The editor of this volume, who visited Siam in one
of the vessels of the United States East India Squad-
ron in 1857, and who was present at the exchange of
ratifications of the treaty made in the previous year,
has elsewhere described * the impressions which were
made upon him at his first entrance into the country
of the Meinam, and reproduces his own narrative,
* Hours at Home, vol. iv., pp. 464, 531 ; vol. v., p. 66.
6
74 SIAM
substantially unaltered, in this and the two following
chapters.
There is enough to see in Siam, if only it could be
described. But nothing is harder than to convey in
words the indescribable charm of tropical life and
scenery ; and it was in this, in great measure, that
the enjoyment of my month in Bangkok consisted.
Always behind the events which occupied us day by
day, and behind the men and things with which we
had to do, was the pervading charm of tropical na-
ture of soft warm sky, with floating fleecy clouds
and infinite depths of blue beyond them ; of golden
sunlight flooding everything by day ; and when the
day dies its sudden death, of mellow moonlight, as if
from a perennial harvest moon ; and of stars, that do
not glitter with a hard and pointed radiance, as here,
but melt through the mild air with glory in which
there is never any thought of " twinkling." Always
there was the teeming life of land and sea, of jungle
and of river; and the varying influence of fruitful
nature, captivating every sense with sweet allure-
ment. Read Mr. Tennyson's " Lotos Eaters " if you
want to know what the tropics are.
It was drawing toward the middle of a splendid
night in May, when I found myself among the " palms
and temples " of this singular city. It had been a tire-
some journey from the mouth of the river, rowing
more than a score of miles against the rapid current ;
and, if there could be monotony in the wonderful va-
riety and richness of tropical nature, it might have
been a monotonous journey. But the wealth of foli-
age, rising sometimes in the feathery plumes of the
FIRST IMPRESSIONS 75
tall areca palm of all palms the stateliest or droop-
ing sometimes in heavier and larger masses, crowd-
ing to the water's edge in dense, impenetrable jungle,
or checked here and there by the toil of cultivation,
or cleared for dwellings was a constant wonder and
delight. Now and then we passed a bamboo house,
raised high on poles above the ground, and looking
like some monstrous bird's nest in the trees ; but they
were featherless bipeds who peered out from the
branches at the passing boats ; and not bird's notes
but children's voices, that clamored in w r onder or
were silenced in awe at the white-faced strangers.
Sometimes the white walls and shining ropfs of tem-
ples gleamed through the dark verdure, suggesting
the architectural magnificence and beauty which the
statelier temples of the city would exhibit. Bald-
headed priests, in orange-colored scarfs, came out to
watch us. Superb white pelicans stood pensive by the
riverside, or snatched at fish, or sailed on snowy
wings with quiet majesty across the stream. Or may
be some inquiring monkey, gray-whiskered, leading
two or three of tenderer years, as if he were their
tutor, on a naturalist's expedition through the jungle,
stops to look at us with peculiar curiosity, as at some
singular and unexpected specimen, but stands ready
to dodge behind the roots of mangrove trees in case
of danger.
It will be fortunate for the traveller if, while he
is rowing up the river, night shall overtake him ; for,
beside the splendor of the tropic stars above him, there
will be rival splendors all about him. The night came
down on me with startlino; suddenness for " there is
76 SIAM
no twilight within the courts of the sun " just as I
was waiting at the mouth of a cross-cut canal, by
which, when the tide should rise a little, I might avoid
a long bend in the river. By the time the tide had
risen the night had fallen thick and dark, and the
dense shade of the jungle, through which the canal led
us, made it yet thicker and more dark. Great fern
leaves, ten or fifteen feet in height, grew dense on
either side, and fanlike, almost met over our heads.
Above them stretched the forest trees. Among them
rose the noise of night-birds, lizards, trumpeter-bee-
tles, and creatures countless and various, making a
hoarse din, which, if it was not musical, at least was
lively. But the jungle, with its darkness and its din,
had such a beauty as I never have seen equalled, when
its myriad fire-flies sparkled thick on every side. 1
had seen fire-flies before, and had heard of them, but
I had never seen or heard, nor have I since then ever
seen or heard, of anything like these. The peculiar-
ity of them was not that they were so many, though
they were innumerable not that they were so large,
though they were very large but that they clustered,
as by a preconcerted plan, on certain kinds of trees,
avoiding carefully all other kinds, and then, as if by
signal from some director of the spectacle, they all
sent forth their light at once, at simultaneous and ex-
act intervals, so that the whole tree seemed to flash
and palpitate with living light. Imagine it. At one
instant was blackness of darkness and the croaking
jungle. Then suddenly on every side flashed out these
fiery trees, the form of each, from topmost twig to
outmost bough, set thick with flaming jewels. It was
FIRST IMPRESSIONS 77
easy to imagine at the top of each some big white-
waistcoated fire-fly, with the baton of director, order-
ing the movements of the rest.
This peculiarity of the Siamese fire-flies, or, as our
popular term graphically describes them, the tropical
" lightning-bngs " was noticed as long ago as the time
of old Kampfer, who speaks concerning them as
follows :
" The glow-worms settle on some trees like a fiery
cloud, with this surprising circumstance, that a whole
swarm of these insects, having taken possession of
one tree and spread themselves over its branches,
sometimes hide their light all at once, and a moment
after make it appear again, with the utmost regular-
ity and exactness, as if they were in perpetual systole
and diastole." The lapse of centuries has wrought no
change in the rhythmic regularity of this surprising ex-
hibition. Out upon the river once again ; the houses
on the shore began to be more numerous, and present-
ly began to crowd together in continuous succession ;
and from some of them the sound of merry laughter
and of pleasant music issuing proved that not all the
citizens of Bangkok were asleep. The soft light of
the cocoanut-oil lamps supplied the place of the illu-
mination of the fire-flies. Boats, large and small, were
passing swiftly up and down the stream ; now and
then the tall masts of some merchant ships loomed
indistinctly large through the darkness. I could
dimly see high towers of temples and broad roofs of
palaces ; and I stepped on shore, at last, on the
" Dark shore, just seen that it was rich,"
78 SIAM
with a half-bewildered feeling that I was passing
through some pleasant dream of the Arabian Kights,
from which I should presently awake.
Even when the flooding sunlight of the tropical
morning poured in through the windows, it was dif-
ficult for me to realize that I was not in some unreal
land. There was a sweet, low sound of music filling
the air with its clear, liquid tones. And, joining
with the music, was the pleasant ringing of a multi-
tude of little bells, ringing I knew not where. It
seemed as if the air was full of them. Close by, on
one side, was the palace of a prince, and somewhere
in his house or in his courtyard there were people
playing upon instruments of music, made of smoothed
and hollowed bamboo. But no human hands were
busy with the bells. Within a stone's throw of my
window rose the shining tower of the most splendid
temple in Bangkok. From its broad octagonal base
to the tip of its splendid spire it must measure, I
should think, a good deal more than two hundred
feet, and every inch of its irregular surface glitters
with ornament. Curiously wrought into it are forms
of men and birds, and grotesque beasts that seem,
with outstretched hands or claws, to hold it up.
T\vo thirds of the way from the base, stand, I re-
member, four white elephants, wrought in shining
porcelain, facing one each way toward four points of
the compass. From the rounded summit rises, like
a needle, a sharp spire. This was the temple tower,
and all over the magnificent pile, from the tip of the
highest needle to the base, from every prominent
angle and projection, there were hanging sweet-toned
FIRST IMPRESSIONS 79
bells, with little gilded fans attached to their tongues ;
so swinging that they were vocal in the slightest
breeze. Here was where the music came from.
Even as I stood and looked I caught the breezes at
it. Coining from the unseen distance, rippling the
smooth surface of the swift river, where busy oars
and carved or gilded prows of many boats were
flashing in the sun, sweeping with pleasant whispers
through the varied richness of the tropical foliage,
stealing the perfume of its blossoms and the odor of
its fruits, they caught the shining bells of this great
tower, and tossed the music out of them. Was I
awake I wondered, or was it some dream of Oriental
beauty that would presently vanish ?
Something like this ^Eolian tower there must be
in the adjacent kingdom of Birmah, where the
graceful pen of Mrs. Judson has put the scene in
verse :
" On the pagoda spire
The bells are swinging,
Their little golden circlets in a flutter
With tales the wooing winds have dared to utter ;
Till all are ringing,
As if a choir
Of golden-nested birds in heaven were singing ;
And with a lulling sound
The music floats around
And drops like balm into the drowsy ear."
The verse breathes the spirit, and gives almost the
very sound, of the bewitching tropical scene on
which I looked, and out of which " the music of the
bells" was blown to me on my first morning in Bang-
kok.
80 SIAM
No doubt my first impressions (which I have given
with some detail, and with all the directness of "that
right line I") were fortunate. But three or four
weeks of Bangkok could not wear them off or coun-
teract them. It is the Venice of the East. Its high-
way is the river, and canals are its by-ways. There
are streets, as in Venice, used by pedestrians ; but
the travel and the carriage is, for the most part, done
by boats. Only, in place of the verdureless margin
of the watery streets, which gives to Venice, with
all its beauty, a half-dreary aspect, there is green-
est foliage shadowing the water, and mingling with
the dwellings, and palaces, and temples on the shore;
and instead of the funeral gondolas of monotonous
color, with solitary gondoliers, are boats of every size
and variety, paddled sometimes by one, sometimes by
a score of oarsmen. Some of the bamboo dwellings
of the humbler classes are built, literally, on the
river, floating on rafts, a block of them together, or
raised on poles above the surface of the water. The
shops expose their goods upon the river side, and
wait for custom from the thronging boats. The
temples and the palaces must stand, of course, on
solid ground, but the river is the great Broadway,
and houses crowd upon the channel of the boats, and
boats bump the houses. It is a picturesque and busy
scene on which you look as you pass on amid the
throng. Royal boats, with carved and gilded prows,
with shouting oarsmen, rush by you, hurrying with
the rapid current ; or the little skiff of some small
pedler, with his assortment of various " notions,"
paddling and peddling by turns, is dexterously urged
FIRST IMPRESSIONS 81
along its way. Amid all this motion and traffic is
that charm of silence which makes Venice so dream-
like. No rumble of wheels nor clatter of hoofs dis-
turbs you. Only the sound of voices, softened as it
comes along the smooth water, or the music of a
palace, or the tinkling of the bells of a pagoda, break
the stillness. It is a beautiful Broadway, without
the Broadway roar and din.
Of course there is not, in this tropical Venice,
anything to equal the incomparable architectural
beauty of the Adriatic city. And yet it seemed to
me that the architecture of Siam was in very perfect
accord with all its natural surroundings. In all parts
of the city you may find the " wats " or temples.
When we started on our first day's sight-seeing, and
told the old Portuguese half-breed, who acted as our
interpreter, to take us to a " wat," he asked, with a
pun of embarrassment, " What wat ? " Of course we
must begin with the pagoda of innumerable bells,
but where to stop we knew not. Temple after
temple waited to be seen. Through long, dim corri-
dors, crowded with rows of solemn idols carved and
gilded ; through spacious open courts paved with
large slabs of marble, and filled with graceful spires
or shafts or columns ; along white walls with gilded
eaves and cornices ; beneath arches lined with gold,
to sacred doors of ebony, or pearly gates of iridescent
beauty ; amid grotesque stone statues, or queer paint-
ings of the Buddhist inferno (strangely similar to
the mediaeval Christian representations of the same
subject), you may wander till you are tired. You
may happen to come upon the bonzes at their devo-
82 SIAM
tions, or you may have the silent temples to yourself.
In one of them you will find that clumsy, colossal
image, too big to stand, and built recumbent, there-
fore a great mass of heavy masonry, covered thick
with gilding, and measuring a hundred and fifty feet
in length. If you could stand him up, his foot would
cover eighteen feet an elephantine monster. But
the roofs, of glazed tiles, with a centre of dark green
and with a golden margin, are the greatest charm of
the temples. Climb some pagoda and look down
upon the city, and, on every side, among the
" breadths of tropic shade and palms in cluster," you
will see the white walls roofed with shining green
and gold, and surmounted by their gilded towers and
spires. Like the temples are the palaces, but less
splendid. I3ut everywhere, whether in temples or
palaces, you will find, not rude, barbaric tawdriness
of style, but elegance and skill of which the Western
nations might be proud. Good taste, and a quick
sense of beauty, and the ability to express them in
their handiwork, all these are constantly indicated in
the architecture of this people. And they make the
city one of almost unrivalled picturesqueness to the
traveller, who glides from river to canal and from
canal to river, under the shadow of the temple
towers, and among the shining walls of stately pal-
aces.
"Where so much wealth is lavished on the public
buildings there must be great resources to draw
from ; and, indeed, the mineral wealth of the coun-
try appears at almost every turn. Precious stones
and the precious metals seem as frequent as the fire-
FIRST IMPRESSIONS 83
flies in the jungle. Sometimes, as in the silver cur-
rency, there is an absence of all workmanship ; the
coinage being little lumps of silver, rudely rolled to-
gether in a mass and stamped. But sometimes, as
in the teapots, betel-nut boxes, cigar-holders, with
which the noblemen are provided when they go
abroad, yon will see workmanship of no mean skill.
Often these vessels are elegantly wrought. Some-
times they are studded with jewels, sometimes they
are beautifully enamelled in divers colors. Once I
called upon a noble, who brought out a large assort-
ment of uncut stones some of them of great value
and passed them to me as one would a snuff-box, not
content till I had helped myself. More than once I
have seen children of the nobles with no covering at
all, except the strings of jewelled gold that hung, in
barbarous opulence, upon their necks and shoulders ;
but there was wealth enough in these to fit the little
fellows with a very large assortment of most fashion-
able and Christian apparel, even at the ruinous rate
of tailors' prices at the present day. To go about
among these urchins, and among the houses of the
nobles and the king's palaces, gives one the half-be-
wildered and half-covetous feeling that it gives to be
conducted by polite but scrutinizing attendants
through a mint. Surely we had come at last to
" Where the gorgeous East, with richest hand,
Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold."
Of course, of all this wealth the king's share was
the lion's share.
Then, as for vegetable wealth, I do not know that
84: SIAM
there is anywhere a richer valley in the world than
the valley of the Meinam. All the productions of
the teeming tropics may grow luxuriantly here.
There was rice enough in Siam the year before my
visit to feed the native population and to supply the
failure of the rice crop in Southern China, prevent-
ing thus the havoc of a famine in that crowded em-
o
pire, and making fortunes for the merchants who
were prompt enough to carry it from Bangkok to
Canton. Cotton grows freely beneath that burning
sky. Sugar, pepper, and all spices may be had with
easy cultivation. There is gutta-percha in the for-
ests. There are dye-stuffs and medicines in the jun-
gles. The painter gets his gamboge, as its name
implies, from Cambodia, which is tributary to their
majesties of Bangkok. As for the fruits, I cannot
number them nor describe them. The mangostene,
most delicate and most rare of them all, grows only
in Siam, and in the lands adjacent to the Straits of
Sunda and Malacca. Some things we may have
which Siam cannot have, but the mangostene is her
peculiar glory, and she will not lend it. Beautiful to
sight, smell, and taste, it hangs among its glossy
leaves, the prince of fruits. Cut through the shaded
green and purple of the rind, and lift the upper half
as if it were the cover of a dish, and the pulp of half
transparent, creamy whiteness stands in segments
like an orange, but rimmed with darkest crimson
where the rind was cut. It looks too beautiful to eat ;
but how the rarest, sweetest essence of the tropics
seems to dwell in it as it melts to your delighted
taste !
FIRST IMPRESSIONS 85
This is the Land of the White Elephant, so singu-
lar, so rich, so beautiful ; but we need also to tell what
manner of men the people are who live beneath the
standard of the elephant, or what kings and nobles
govern them.
CHAPTER VII.
A ROYAL GENTLEMAN
SOON after arriving in Bangkok, in 1857, on the
occasion referred to in the last chapter, the
present editor was invited to an interview with the sec-
ond king. The account of that interview was writ-
ten while it was still a matter of recent memory ;
and it seems better to reproduce the story, for the
sake of the freshness with which the incidents de-
scribed in it were recorded, rather than to attempt
the rewriting of it. It is a characteristic picture of
an extraordinary man, and of the manners and cus-
toms which still prevail for the most part (with some
important exceptions) at the court of Siam. This
king was the grandson of the founder of the present
dynasty, and was the junior of the two princes who,
by the usurpation of their half-brother, were, for
twenty-seven years, kept out of their birthright.
Even so long ago as 1837, an intelligent traveller
who visited Siam said concerning him : " No man in
the kingdom is so qualified to govern well. His nat-
urally fine mind is enlarged and improved by inter-
course with foreigners, by the perusal of English
works, by studying Euclid and Newton, by freeing
himself from a bigoted attachment to Buddhism, by
candidly recognizing our superiority and a readiness
A ROYAL GENTLEMAN 87
to adopt our arts. He understands the use of the sex-
tant and chronometer, and was anxious for the latest
Nautical Almanac, which I promised to send him. His
little daughters, accustomed to the sis-ht of foreigners,
O ' O O '
so far from showing any signs of fear, always came to
sit upon my lap, though the yellow cosmetic on their
limbs was sure to be transferred in part to my dress.
One of them took pride in repeating to me a few
words of English, and the other took care to display
her power of projecting the elbow forward," an ac-
complishment upon which the ladies of Siam still
pride themselves, and in which they are extraordi-
narily expert.
This was in 1837. How greatly the character of
the second king had developed since that time will
appear from the editor's description, which refers, as
has been said, to the year 1857.
One king at a time is commonly thought to be as
much as any kingdom has need of. Indeed, there
seems to be a growing tendency among the nations
of the earth to think that even one is one too many,
and the popular prejudice is setting very strongly in
favor of none at all. Nevertheless, there are in
Siam (or rather, until very recently, there were) two
kings reigning together, each with the full rank and
title of king, and with no rivalry between them. It
is probable that, originally, a monarchy was the
normal condition of the government, and that the
duarchy is of comparatively modern origin. But it
is certain that when I was in the Land of the White
Elephant there was a kind of Siamese-twin arrange-
88 SIAM
ment in the kingdom. The two kings were brothers,
and though, as has been said, their rank and title
were equal, the real power and work of government
rested on the shoulders of the elder of the two, the
other keeping discreetly and contentedly in the back-
ground. Both were men of noteworthy ability, and
deserve to be known and honored for their personal
attainments in civilization, and for what they have
done to lift their kingdom out of degradation and
barbarism, and to welcome and promote intercourse
between it and the Western nations. When we re-
member the obstinacy of Oriental prejudice against
innovation, and the persistency with which the peo-
ple wrap themselves in their conceit as in a garment,
we shall the better appreciate the state of things at
the court of the White Elephant, which I am about
to describe.
The second king was a man of social disposition,
and fond of the company of strangers. It was,
doubtless, owing to this fact that when he heard
that there was an American man-of-war at the mouth
of the river, and that an officer had been sent up to
Bangkok to report her arrival, he sent a messenger
and a boat with the request that I would come and
see him. It did not take long for the score of oars-
men, with the short, quick motion of their paddles,
and the grunting energy with which they plied them,
to bring the boat up to the palace gates. For, of
course, the palace has a water-front, and one may
pass at one step from among the thronging boats of
the river into the quiet seclusion of the king's in-
closure. Passing through a lofty gateway at the
A ROYAL GENTLEMAN 89
water's edge, we came to a large and stately temple,
about which were priests in orange-colored drapery
trying to screen their shining skulls from the fierce
heat of the morning sun by means of fans. I used
to feel sorry for the priests. Ecclesiastical law and
usage compel them to shave every sign of hair from
their heads. Not even a "tail is left to them, but
they are as bald as beetles. And when (as in Siam)
the sun's rays beat with almost perpendicular direct-
ness, it is no trifling thing to be deprived of even the
natural protection with which the skull is provided.
"Whatever can be done with fans toward shielding
themselves they do ; and, also, they can, by the
same means, shut off their eyes from beholding van-
ity, so that a fan is a most important part of the
sacerdotal outfit. Leaving the priests to group them-
selves in idle picturesqueness near the royal temple,
we pass on by storehouses and treasuries and stables
of the royal elephants, between sentries standing
guard with European arms and in a semi-European
uniform, to the armory, where I was to wait until the
king was ready.
The messenger who had hitherto conducted me
was known among the foreign residents of Bangkok
as "Captain Dick" a talkative person, with a
shrewd eye to his own advancement. He spoke
good English, and a good deal of it, and suggested, I
remember, certain ways in which it would be possi-
ble for me to further his interests with the king. He
had been at sea, and had perhaps commanded one of
the king's sea-going vessels his "captaincy " being
rather maritime than military. He was quite dis-
90 SIAM
posed to join the embassy, which was at that time
getting ready to be sent to Great Britain. He men-
tioned, incidentally, that a few of the naval buttons
on my uniform would be a highly acceptable gift for
me to offer him. The confidence and self-assnrance
with which he had borne himself, however, began
perceptibly to wilt as we drew a little nearer to the
august presence of royalty. And, at the armory, he
made me over, in quite an humble manner, to the
king's oldest son, who was to take me to his father.
As I shook hands with the tall, manly, handsome
youth who was waiting for me, I thought him wor-
thy of his princely station. Kings' sons are not al-
ways the heirs of kingly beauty or of kingly virtues ;
but here was one who had, at least, the physical en-
dowments which should fit him for the dignity to
which he was born. He was almost the only man I
saw in Siam whose teeth were not blackened nor his
mouth distorted by the chewing of the betel-nut.
For the betel-nut is in Siam what the tobacco-cud is
in America, only it is not, I believe, quite so injuri-
ous to the chewer as the tobacco ; while, on the other
hand, its use is a little more universal. As between
the two, for general offensiveness, I do not know that
there is anything to choose.
The second king, seeking a significant name for his
son, chose one which had been borne, not by an
Asiatic, not by an European, but by the greatest of
Americans George Washington. "What's in a
name ? " It may provoke a smile at first, that such
a use should be made of the name of Washington, as
if it were the whim of an ignorant and half-savage
A ROYAL GENTLEMAN 91
king. But when it shall appear, as I shall make it
appear before I have finished, that the Siamese king
understood and appreciated the character of the great
man after whom he wished his son to be called, I
think that no American will be content with laugh-
o
ing at him. I own that it moved me with something
more than merely patriotic pride to hear the name of
Washington honored in the remotest corner of the old
world. It seemed to me significant of great progress
already achieved toward Christian civilization, and
prophetic of yet greater things to come.
But as the Prince George "Washington walked on
with me, and I revolved these great things in my
mind, another turn was given to my thoughts. For
when we had gone through a pleasant, shady court,
and had come to the top of a flight of marble steps
which took us to the door of the king's house (a
plain and pleasant edifice of mason-work, like the
residence of some private gentleman of wealth in our
own country), I suddenly missed the young man from
my side, and turned to look for him. What change
had come over him ! The man had been transformed
into a reptile. The tall and graceful youth, princely
in look and bearing, was down on all his marrow-
bones, bending his head until it almost touched the
pavement of the portico, and, crawling slowly toward
the door, conducted me with reverent signs and
whispers toward the king, his father, whom I saw
coining to meet us.
This was the other side of the picture. And I
draw out the incident in detail because it is character-
istic of the strange conflict between the old barbarism
92 SIAM
and the new enlightenment which meets one at every
turn in the Land of the "White Elephant. There
are two tides one is going out, the ebb-tide of ig-
norance, of darkness, of despotic power ; and one is
coming in the flood-tide of knowledge and liberty
and all Christian grace. And, as in the whirl of
waters where two currents meet, one never knows
which way his boat may head, so sometimes the drift
of things is backward toward the Orient, and some-
times forward, westward, as the " star of empire "
moves. Each rank has, or until quite recently had,
some who crawl like crocodiles beneath it, and is in
its turn compelled to crawl before the higher. Nor
are the members of a nobleman's family exempt. I
was introduced once to one of the wives of a fat,
good-natured prince (a half-brother of the two kings),
who was crawling around, with her head downward,
on the floor. I offered my hand as politely as was
possible, and she shuffled up to shake it, and then
shuffled off again into a corner. It was very queer
more so than when I shake hands with Trip, the
spaniel, for then we both of us understand that it is
a joke but here it was a solemn and ceremonious
act of politeness, and had to be performed with a
straight face. The good lady has her revenge, how-
ever, and must enjoy it, when she sees her fat hus-
band, clumsy, and almost as heavy as an elephant,
get down on his hands and knees, as he has to, in the
presence of his majesty the king. I have been told
that, when the Siamese embassy to Great Britain
was presented to the queen, before anybody knew
what they were about, the ambassadors were down on
A ROYAL GENTLEMAN 93
all fours, at the entrance of the audience chamber,
and insisted on crawling like mud-turtles into her
majesty's presence. For, consistently enough, the
court of Siani requires of foreigners only what eti-
quette requires in the presence of the king or pres-
ident of their own country but when its represent-
atives are sent to foreign courts they carry their own
usage with them. I felt a pardonable pride, and a
little kindling of the " Civis-Romanus-sum" spirit,
and an appreciable stiffening of the spinal column as
I walked straight forward, while Prince George
Washington crawled beside me. Blessed was the
man who walked uprightly.
Hal leek, the sprightliest poet of his native State,
in verse which will be always dear to all who love
that good old commonwealth, has told us how a true
son of Connecticut
" Would shake hands with a king upon his throne
And think it kindness to his majesty."
Of course, then, as the king came toward the portico
and met us at the door, that was the thing to do,
being also the etiquette at the court of James Bu-
chanan, who then reigned at Washington. But not
even that venerable functionary, whose manners I
have been given to understand were one of his strong
points, could have welcomed a guest with more gen-
tlemanly politeness than that with which this king
of a barbarous people welcomed me. He spoke good
English, and spoke it fluently, and knew how, with
gentlemanly tact, to put his visitor straightway at
his ease. It was hard to believe that I was in a re-
94 8IAM
mote and almost unknown corner of the old world,
and not in the new. The conversation was such as
might take place between two gentlemen in a New
York parlor. On every side were evidences of an
intelligent and cultivated taste. The room in which
we sat was decorated with engravings, maps, busts,
statuettes. The book-cases were filled with well-
selected volumes, handsomely bound. There were,
I remember, various encyclopaedias and scientific
works. There was the Abbottsford edition of the
"VVaverly novels, and a bust of the great Sir Walter
overhead. There were some religious works, the
gift, probably, of the American missionaries. And,
as if his majesty had seen the advertisements in the
newspapers which implore a discriminating public to
" get the best," there were two copies of Webster's
quarto dictionary, unabridged. Moreover, the king
called my particular attention to these two volumes,
and, as if to settle the war of the dictionaries by an
authoritative opinion, said : " I like it very much ; I
think it the best dictionary, better than any English."
Accordingly the publishers are hereby authorized to
insert the recommendation of the second king of
Siam, with the complimentary notices of other dis-
tinguished critics, in their published advertisements.
On the table lay a recent copy of the London Illus-
trated News, to which the king is a regular sub-
scriber, and of which he is an interested reader.
There was in it, I remember, a description, with dia-
grams, of some new invention of fire-arms, concern-
ing which he wished my opinion, but he knew much
more about it than I did. Some reference was made
A ROYAL GENTLEMAN 95
to my native city, and I rose to show on the map,
which hung before me, where it was situated, but I
found that he knew it very well, and especially that
" they made plenty of guns there." For guns and
military affairs he had a great liking, and indeed for
all sorts of science. He was expert in the use of
quadrant and sextant, and could take a lunar obser-
vation and work it out with accuracy. He had his
army, distinct from the first king's soldiers, disci-
plined and drilled according to European tactics.
Their orders were given in English and were obeyed
with great alacrity. He had a band of Siamese
musicians who performed on European instruments,
though I am bound to say that their performance
was characterized by force rather than by harmony.
He made them play " Yankee Doodle," and " Hail
Columbia," but if I enjoyed it, it was rather with a
patriotic than with a musical enthusiasm. "When
they played their own rude music it was vastly bet-
ter. But the imperfections of the band were of very
small importance compared with the good will which
had prompted the king to make them learn the
American national airs. That good will expressed
itself in various ways. His majesty, who wrote an
elegant autograph, kept up a correspondence with
the captain of our ship for a long time after our
visit. And when the captain, a few years later, had
risen to the rank of Admiral, and had made the
name of Foote illustrious in his country's annals, the
king wrote to him, expressing his deep interest in
the progress of our conflict with rebellion, and his
sincere desire for the success of our national cause.
96 SIAM
When kings and peoples, bound to ns by the ties of
language and kindred and religion, misunderstood us,
and gave words of sneering censure, or else no words
at all, as we were fighting with the dragon, this king
of an Asiatic people, of different speech, of different
race, of different religion, found words of intelligent
and appreciative cheer for us. He had observed the
course of our history, the growth of our nation, the
principles of our government. And though we knew
very little about him and his people, he was thor-
oughly informed concerning us. So that, as I talked
with him, and saw the refinement and good taste
which displayed itself in his manners and in his
dwelling, and the minute knowledge of affairs which
his conversation showed, I began to wonder on what
subjects I should find him ignorant. Once or twice I
involuntarily expressed my amazement, and provoked
a good-natured laugh from the king, who seemed
quite to understand it.
And yet this gentlemanly and well-informed man
was black. And lie wore no trousers the mention
of which fact reminds me that I have not told what
he did wear. First of all, he wore very little hair on
his head, conforming in this respect to the universal
fashion among his countrymen, and shaving all but a
narrow ridge of hair between the crown and the fore-
head ; and this is cut off at the height of an inch, so
that it stands straight up, looking for all the world
like a stiff blacking-brush, only it can never be
needed for such a purpose, because no Siamese wears
shoes. I think the first king, when we called upon
him, had on a pair of slippers, but the second king,
A ROYAL GENTLEMAN 97
if I remember, was barefooted certainly lie was
barelegged. Wound about his waist and hanging to
his knees was a scarf of rich, heavy silk, which one
garment is the entire costume of ordinary life in
Siam. The common people, of course, must have it
of cheap cotton, but the nobles wear silk of beautiful
quality and pattern, and when this is wound around
the waist so that the folds hang to the knees, and the
ends are thrown over the shoulders, they are dressed.
On state occasions something is added to this cos-
tume, and on all occasions there will be likely to be a
wonderful display of jewels and of gold. So now,
the light would flash once in a while from the superb
diamond finger-rings which the king whom I am de-
er ibing wore. He wore above his scarf a loose sack
of dark-blue cloth, fastened with a few gold buttons,
with a single band of gold-lace on the sleeves, and an
inch or two of gold-lace on the collar. Half Euro-
pean, half Oriental in his dress, he had combined the
two styles with more of good taste than one could
have expected. It was characteristic of that transi-
tion from barbarism to civilization upon which his
kingdom is just entering.
The same process of transition and the same con-
trast between the two points of the transition was
expressed in other ways. If it be true, for example,
that cookery is a good index of civilization, there
came in presently most civilized cakes and tea and
coffee, as nicely made as if, by some mysterious
dumb-waiter they had come down fresh from the
restaurants of Paris. The king made the tea and
coffee with his own hand, and with the conventional
98 SIAM
inquiry, " Cream and sugar ? " and the refreshments
were served in handsome dishes of solid silver. Be-
sides, I might have smoked a pipe, quite wonderful
by reason of the richness of its ornament, or drunk
his majesty's health in choice wines of his own impor-
tation. The refreshment which was furnished was
elegant and ample, and, if taken as an index of civili-
zation, indicated that the court of the White Ele-
phant need not be ashamed, even by the side of some
that made much higher claims. But, on the other
hand, while the lunch was going on, Prince George
Washington and a great tawny dog who answered to
the name of " Watch," lay prostrate with obsequious
reverence on the floor, receiving with great respect
and gratitude any word that the king might deign to
fling to them. One or two noblemen were also pres-
ent in the same attitude. Presently there came into
the room one of the king's little children, a beautiful
boy of three or four years old, who dropped on his
knees and lifted his joined hands in reverence toward
his father. It was quite the attitude that one sees in
some of the pictures of " little Samuel," as if the
king were more than man. After the child whose
sole costume consisted of a string or two of gold
beads, jewelled, and perhaps a pair of bracelets
crawled his mother, who joined the group of pros-
trate subjects. The little boy, by reason of his ten-
der age, was allowed more liberty than the others,
and moved about almost as unembarrassed as the big
dog "Watch;" but when he grows older he will
humble himself like the others. To see men and
women degraded literally to a level with the beasts
A ROYAL GENTLEMAN 99
that perish was all the more strange and sad by con-
trast with the civilization which was shown in the
conversation and manners of the king, and in all the
furniture of his palace. I half expected to see the
portrait of the real George "Washington on the wall
blush with shame and indignation as it looked down
on the reptile attitude of his namesake ; and I felt a
sensation of relief when, at last, it became time for
me to leave, and the young prince, crawling after me
until we reached the steps, was once more on his
legs.
But it seemed to me then, and a subsequent inter-
view with the king confirmed the feeling, that I had
been in one of the most remarkable palaces, and with
one of the most remarkable men, in the world.
Twice afterward I saw him ; once when our captain
and a detachment of the officers of the ship waited
upon him by his invitation, and spent a most agree-
able evening, socially, enlivened with music by the
band, and broadsword and musket exercise by a
squad of troops, and refreshed by a handsome supper
in the dining-room of the palace, on the walls of
which hung engravings of all the American Presi-
dents from Washington down to Jackson. I do not
know who enjoyed the evening most ; the king, to
whom the companionship of educated foreigners was
a luxury which he could not always command, or we,
to whom the strange spectacle which I have been
trying to describe was one at which the more we
gazed the more " the wonder grew." Indeed, we felt
so pleasantly at home that when we said good-by,
and left the pleasant, comfortable, home-like rooms
100 SI AM
in which we had been sitting, the piano and the mu-
sical boxes, the cheery hospitality of our good-natured
host, and dropped down the river to the narrow
quarters of our ship, it was with something of the
sadness which attends the parting from one's native
land, when the loved faces on the shore grow dim
and disappear, and the swelling canvas overhead fills
and stiffens with the seaward wind.
We had an opportunity of repaying something of
the king's politeness, for, in response to an invitation
of the captain, he did what no king had ever done
before came down the river and spent an hour or
two on board our ship (the U. S. sloop-of-war Ports-
mouth, Captain A. H. Foote commanding), and was
received with royal honors, even to the manning of
the yards. We made him heartily welcome, and the
captain gave the handsomest dinner which the skill
of Johnson, his experienced steward, could prepare
that venerable colored person recognizing the impor-
tance of the occasion, and aware that he might never
again be called upon to get a dinner for a king. The
captain did not fail to ask a blessing as they drew
about the table, taking pains to explain to his guest
the sacred significance of that Christian act for it
was at such a time as this, especially, that the good
admiral was wont to show the colors of the " King
Eternal " whom he served. The royal party carefully
inspected the whole ship, with shrewd and intelligent
curiosity, and before they left we hoisted the white
elephant at the fore, and our big guns roared forth
the king's salute. Nor was one visit enough, but the
next day he came again, retiring for the night to the
A ROYAL GENTLEMAN 101
little steamer on which he had made the journey
down the river from Bangkok. It was a little fussy
thing, just big enough to hold its machinery and to
carry its paddle-wheels, but was dignified with the
imposing name of " Royal Seat or Siamese Steam
Force." It was made in the United States, and pat
together by one of the American missionaries in
Bangkok. It was then the only steamer in the
Siamese waters, but it proved to be the pioneer of
many others that have made the Meinam River lively
with the stir of an increasing commerce.
At the death of the second king, in 1866, his elder
brother issued a royal document containing a bio-
graphical sketch and an estimate of his character.
It is written in the peculiar style, pedantic and con-
ceited, by which the first king's literary efforts are
distinguished, but an extract from it deserves on all
accounts to be quoted. These two brothers, both of
extraordinary talents, and, on the whole, of illustrious
character and history, lived for the most part on
terms of fraternal attachment and kindness, although
some natural jealousy would seem to have grown up
during the last few years of their lives, leading to the
temporary retirement of the second king to a country-
seat near Chieng Mai, in the hill-country of the
Upper Meinam. Here he spent much of his time
during his last years, and here he added to his harem
a new wife, to whom he was tenderly attached. He
returned to Bangkok to die, and was sincerely
honored and lamented, not only by his own people,
to whom he had been a wise and faithful friend and
ruler, but also by many of other lands, to whom the
102 SIAM
fame of his high character had become known. His
brother's "general order" announcing his decease,
contains the following paragraph :
" He made everything new and beautiful and of
curious appearance, and of a good style of architecture
and much stronger than they had formerly been con-
structed by his three predecessors, the second kings of
the last three reigns, for the space of time that he
was second king. He had introduced and collected
many and many things, being articles of great curios-
ity, and things useful for various purposes of military
arts and affairs, from Europe and America, China
and other states, and planted them in various de-
partments and rooms or buildings suitable for these
articles, and placed officers for maintaining and
preserving the various things neatly and carefully.
He lias constructed several buildings in European
fashion and Chinese fashion, and ornamented them
with various useful ornaments for his pleasure, and
has constructed two steamers in manner of men-of-
war, and two steam-yachts and several rowing state-
boats in Siamese and Cochin-China fashion, for his
pleasure at sea and rivers of Siam ; and caused sev-
eral articles of gold and silver, being vessels and va-
rious wares and weapons, to be made up by the Siam-
ese and Malayan goldsmiths, for employ and dress
for himself and his family, by his direction and skilful
contrivance and ability. He became celebrated and
spread out more and more to various regions of the
Siamese kingdom, adjacent states around, and far
famed to foreign countries even at far distance, as he
became acquainted with many and many foreigners,
A EOTAL GENTLEMAN 103
who came from various quarters of the world where
his name became known to most as a very clever and
bravest prince of Siam."
Much more of this royal document is quoted in
Mrs. Leonowens' "English Governess at the Court of
Siam."
CHAPTER VIII.
PHRABAT SOMDETCH PHRA PARAMENDR MAHA MONG-
KUT
IN" some respects the most conspicuous name in the
history of the civilization of Siam will always be
that of the king under whose enlightened and liberal
administration of government the kingdom was thrown
open to foreign intercourse, and the commerce, the
science, and even the religion of the western world ac-
cepted if not invited. His son, the present first king,
is following in the steps of his father, and has already
introduced some noteworthy leforms and changes, the
importance of which is very great. But the way w T as
opened for these changes by the wise and bold policy
of the late king, whose death, in 1868, closed a career
of usefulness which entitles him to a high place among
the benefactors of his age.
A description of this king and of his court is fur-
nished from the same editorial narrative from which
the last two chapters have been chiefly quoted. It
will be remembered that the period to which the nar-
rative refers is the year 1857, the time of the visit of
the Portsmouth, with the ratification of the American
treaty.
His majesty, the first king of Siam, kindly gives us
our choice of titles by which, and of languages in
THE LATE FIRST KING AND QUEEN.
PHRABAT SOMDETCH 105
wliicli, lie may be designated. To his own people he
appears in an array of syllables sufficiently astonish-
ing to our eyes and ears, as Phrabat Somdetch Phra
Paramendr Haha Mongkut Phra Chan Klau Chan Yu
Ilud ; but to outsiders he announces himself as sim-
ply the first king of Siam and its dependencies ; or, in
treaties and other official documents, as " Rex Major,"
or " Supremus Rex Siamensium." The Latin is his,
not mine. And I am bound to acknowledge that the
absolute supremacy which the " supremus " indicates
is qualified by his recognition of the "blessing of
highest and greatest superagency of the universe," by
which blessing his own sovereignty exists. He has
been quick to learn the maxim which monarchs are
not ever slow to learn nor slow to use, that " Kings
reign by the grace of God." And it is, to say the
least, a safe conjecture that the maxim has as much
power over his conscience as it has had over the con-
sciences of some kings much more civilized and ortho-
dox than he.
This polyglot variety of titles indicates a varied,
though somewhat superficial, learning. Before he
came to the throne the king had lived for several
years in the seclusion of a Buddhist monastery. Pro-
motion from the priesthood to the throne is an event
so unusual in any country except Siam, that it might
seem full of risk. But in this instance it worked well.
During the years of his monastic life he grew to be a
thoughtful, studious man, and he brought with him
to his kingly office a wide familiarity with literature
which marked him as a scholar who knew the world
through books rather than through men. His manner
106 SIAM
of speaking English was less easy and accurate than
his brother's ; but, on the other hand, the " pomp and
circumstance" of his court was statelier and stranger,
and is worthy of a better description. The second
king received us with such gentlemanly urbanity and
freedom that it was hard to realize the fact that we
were in the presence of royalty. But our reception
by the first king was arranged on what the news-
papers would call " a scale of Oriental magnificence,"
and it lingers in memory like some dreamy recollec-
tion of the splendors of the Arabian Nights.
One of the most singular illustrations of the nps
and downs of nations and of races which history af-
fords, is to be seen in the position of the Portuguese
in Siam. They came there centuries ago as a supe-
rior race, in all the dignity and pride of discoverers,
and with all the romantic daring of adventurous ex-
ploration. Now there is only a worn-out remnant of
them left, degraded almost to the level of the Asiat-
ics, to whom they brought the name and knowledge
of the Western world. They have mixed with the
Siamese, till, at the first, it is difficult to distinguish
them as having European blood and lineage. But
when we asked who the grotesque old creatures
might be who came to us on messages from the king,
or guided us when we went to see the wonders of the
city, or superintended the cooking of our meals, or per-
formed various menial services about our dwelling,
we found that they were half-breed descendants of
the Portuguese who once flourished here. When we
landed at the month of the river on our way to Bang-
kok for an audience with the king, one of the first
PHRABAT SOMDETGH 107
persons whom we encountered was one of these de-
moralized Europeans. He made a ridiculous asser-
tion of his lineage in the style of his costume. Dis-
daining the Siamese fashions, he had made for
himself or had inherited a swallow-tailed coat of sky-
blue silk, and pantaloons of purple silk, in which he
seemed to feel himself the equal of any of us. Had
any doubt as to his ancestry lingered in our minds,
it must have been removed by a most ancient and
honorable stove-pipe hat, which had evidently been
handed down from father to son, through the gener-
ations, as a rusty relic of grander days. This old
gentleman was in charge of a bountiful supply of
provisions which the king had sent for us. It was
hard not to moralize over the old man as the repre-
sentative of a nation which had all the time been
going backward since it led the van of discovery in
the Indies centuries ago ; while the people whom his
ancestors found heathenish and benighted are start-
ing on a career of improvement and elevation of
which no man can prophesy the rate or the result.
The old Portuguese referred to would seem to be
the same whom Sir John Bowring mentions in the
following passage, and who has been so long a faith-
ful servant of the government of Siam that his great
age and long-continued services entitle him to a word
of honorable mention, notwithstanding the droll ap-
pearance which he presented in his remarkable cos-
tume. Sir John Bowring, writing in 1856, says :
" Among the descendants of the ancient Portu-
guese settlers in Siam there was one who especially
excited our attention. lie was the master of the
108 SI AM
ceremonies at our arrival in Paknam, and from his
supposed traditional or hereditary acquaintance with
the usages of European courts, we found him invested
with great authority on all state occasions. He wore
a European court dress, which he told me had been
given him by Sir James Brooke, and which, like a
rusty, old cocked hat, was somewhat the worse for
wear. But I was not displeased to recognize in him
a gentleman whom Mr. Crawford (the British am-
bassador in 1822) thus describes :
"'July 10 (1822). I had in the course of this
forenoon a visit from a person of singular modesty
and intelligence. Pascal Ribeiro de Alvergarias, the
descendant of a Portuguese Christian of Kamboja.
This gentleman holds a high Siamese title, and a
post of considerable importance. Considering his
means and situation, his acquirements were remark-
able, for he not only spoke and wrote the Siamese,
Kambojan, and Portuguese languages with facility,
but also spoke and wrote Latin with considerable
propriety. We found, indeed, a smattering of Latin
very frequent among the Portuguese interpreters at
Bangkok, but Senor Ribeiro was the only individual
who made any pretence to speak it with accuracy.
He informed us that he was the descendant of a
person of the same name, who settled at Kamboja
in the year 1685. His lady's genealogy, however,
interested us more than his own. She was the lin-
eal descendant of an Englishman, of the name of
Charles Lister, a merchant, who settled in Kamboja
in the year 1701, and who had acquired some repu-
tation at the court by making pretence to a knowl-
ONE OF THE SONS OF THE LATE FIRST KING.
PHRABAT SOMDETCH 109
edge in medicine. Charles Lister had come imme-
diately from Madras, and brought with him his sister.
This lady espoused a Portuguese of Kamboja, by
whom she had a son, who took her own name. Her
grandson, of this name also, in the revolution of the
kingdom of Kamboja, found his way to Siarn ; and
here, like his great-uncle, practising the healing art,
rose to the station of Maha-pet, or first physician to
the king. The son of this individual, Cajitanus Lis-
ter, is at present the physician, and at the same time
the minister and confidential adviser of the present
King of Kamboja. His sister is the wife of the sub-
ject of this short notice. Sefior Ribeiro favored us
with the most authentic and satisfactory account
which we had yet obtained of the late revolution and
present state of Kamboja.'"
It is not safe always to judge by the appearance.
This grotesque old personage, whom the narrative
describes, represented a story of strange and roman-
tic interest, extending through two centuries of won-
derful vicissitude, and involving the blending of
widely separated nationalities. But to resume the
narrative :
When at last, after our stay in Bangkok was al-
most at an end, we were invited by " supremus rex "
to spend the evening at his palace, we found our
friend of the beaver hat and sky-blue coat and purple
breeches in charge of a squad of attendants in one of
the outer buildings of the court, where we were to
beguile the time with more refreshments until his
majesty should be ready for us. Everything about
us was on a larger scale than at the second king's
110 8IAM
the grounds more spacious, and the various structures
with which they were filled, the temples, armories,
and storehouses, of more ambitious size and style,
but not so neat and orderly. A crowd of admiring
spectators clustered about the windows of the room
in which we were waiting, watching with breathless
interest to see the strangers eat: so that as we sat in
all the glory of cocked hats and epaulets, we had the
double satisfaction of giving and receiving entertain-
ment.
But presently there came a messenger to sa} T that
the king was ready for us. And so we walked on
between the sentries, who saluted us with military
exactness, between the stately halls that ran on either
hand, until a large, closed gateway barred our way.
Swinging open as we stood before them, the gates
closed silently behind us, and we found ourselves in
the august presence of " Rex Supremos Siamensium."
It might almost have been " the good Haronn Al-
raschid " and " the great pavilion of the caliphat in
inmost Bagdad," that we had come to, it was so impos-
ing a scene, and so characteristically Oriental. What
I had read of in the " Arabian ^sights," and hardly
thought was possible except in such romantic stories,
seemed to be realized. Here was a king worth see-
ing, a real king, with a real crown on, and with real
pomp of royalty about him. I think that every
American who goes abroad has a more or less dis-
tinct sense of being defrauded of his just rights
when, in Paris or Berlin, for example, he goes out
to see the king or emperor, and is shown a plainly-
dressed man driving quietly and almost undistin-
PIIRABAT SOMDETGH 111
gnislied among the throng of carriages. "We feel
that this is not at all what we came for, nor what we
had been led to expect when,' as schoolboys, we read
about imperial magnificence and regal splendor, and
the opulence of the " crowned heads." The crowned
head might have passed before our very eyes, and
we would not have known it if we had not been told.
Not so in Bangkok. This was " a goodly king " in-
deed. And all the circumstances of time and place
seemed to be so managed as to intensify the singular
charm and beauty of the scene.
We stood in a large court, paved with broad,
smooth slabs of marble, and open to the sky, which
was beginning to be rosy with the sunset. All about
us were magnificent palace buildings, with shining
white walls, and with roofs of gleaming green and
gold. Broad avenues, with the same marble pave-
ment, led in various directions to the temples and
the audience halls. Here and there the dazzling
whiteness of the buildings and the pavement was re-
lieved by a little dark tropical foliage ; and, as th
sunset grew more ruddy every instant,
" A sudden splendor from behind
Flushed all the leaves with rich gold green,"
and tinged the whole bright court with just the
necessary warmth of color. There was the most per-
fect stillness, broken only by the sound of our foot-
steps on the marble, and, except ourselves, not a
creature was moving. Here and there, singly or in
groups, about the spacious court, prostrate, with faces
on the stone, in motionless arid obsequious reverence,
112 SI AM
as if they were in the presence of a god and not of a
man, grovelled the subjects of the mighty sovereign
into whose presence we were approaching. It was
hard for the stoutest democrat to resist a momentary
feeling of sympathy with such universal awe ; and to
remember that, after all, as Hamlet says, a "king is
a thing ... of nothing." So contagious is the
obsequiousness of a royal court and so admirably ef-
fective was the arrangement of the whole scene.
The group toward which we were advancing was a
good way in front of the gateway by which we had
entered. There was a crouching sword-bearer, hold-
ing upright a long sword in a heavily embossed
golden scabbard. There were other attendants, hold-
ing jewel-cases or elegant betel-nut boxes all pros-
trate. There were others still ready to crawl off in.
obedience to orders, on whatever errands might be
necessary. There were three or four very beautiful
little children, the king's sons, kneeling behind their
father, and shining with the chains of jewelled gold
which hung about their naked bodies. More in
front there crouched a servant holding high a splen-
did golden canopy, beneath which stood the king.
He wore a grass-cloth jacket, loosely buttoned with
diamonds, and a rich silken scarf, which, wound about
the waist, hung gracefully to his knees. Below this
was an unadorned exposure of bare shins, and his
feet were loosely slippered. But on his head he
wore a cap or crown that fairly blazed with brilliant
gems, some of them of great size and value. There
was not wanting in his manner a good deal of natural
dignity ; although it was constrained and embar-
PHRABAT SOMDETCH 113
rassed. It was in marked contrast with the cheer-
ful and unceremonious freedom of the second king.
He seemed burdened with the care of government
and saddened with anxiety, and as if he knew his
share of the uneasiness of " the head that wears a
crown."
He stood in conversation with us for a few mo-
ments, and then led the way to a little portico in the
Chinese style of architecture, where we sat through
an hour of talk, and drink, and jewelry, mixed in
pretty equal proportions. For there were some de-
tails of business in connection with the treaty that
required to be talked over. And there were senti-
ments of international amity to be proposed and
drunk after the Occidental fashion. And there were
the magnificent royal diamonds and other gems to
be produced for our admiring inspection great em-
eralds of a more vivid green than the dark tropical
foliage, and rubies and all various treasures which
the Indian mines afford, till the place shone before
our eyes, thicker
" With jewels than the sward with drops of dew,
When all night long a cloud clings to the hill,
And with the dawn ascending lets the day
Strike where it clung ; so thickly shone the gems."
All the while the nobles were squatting or lying
on the floor, and the children were playing in a sub-
dued and -quiet way at the king's feet. Somehow
the beauty of these little Siamese children seemed to
me very remarkable. As they grow older, they grow
114: SI AM
lean, and wrinkled, and ugly. But while they are
children they are pretty " as a picture " as some
of those pictures, for example, in the Italian galleries.
Going quite innocent of clothing, they are very
straight and plump in figure, and unhindered in their
grace of motion. And they used to bear themselves
with a simple and modest dignity that was very win-
ning. They have the soft and lustrous eyes, the
shining teeth (as yet unstained by betel-nut), the
pleasant voices, which are the birthright of the chil-
dren of the tropics. In default of clothes, they are
stained all over with some pigment, which makes
their skin a lively yellow, and furnishes a shade of
contrast for the deeper color of the gold which hangs
around their necks and arms. I used to compare
them, to their great advantage, with the Chinese
children.
There is not in Siam, at least there is not in the
same degree, that obstinate conceit behind "which,
as behind a barrier, the Chinese hav.e stood for cen-
turies, resisting stubbornly the entrance of all light
and civilization from without. I do not know what
possible power could extort from a Chinese official
the acknowledgment which this king freely made,
that his people were "half civilized and half bar-
barous, being very ignorant of civilized and enlight-
ened customs and usages." Such an admission from
a Chinaman would be like the demolition of their
great northern wall. It is true of nations as it is of
individuals, that pride is the most stubborn obstacle
in the way of all real progress. And national hu-
mility is the earnest of national exaltation. There-
PHRABAT SOMDETCH 115
fore it is that the condition of things at the Siamese
court seems to me so full of promise.
By and by the king withdrew, and intimated that
he would presently meet us again at an entertain-
ment in another part of the palace. His disap-
pearance was the signal for the resurrection of the
prostrate noblemen, who started up all around us in
an unexpected way, like toads after a rain. Moving
toward the new apartment where our " entertain-
ment " was prepared, we saw the spacious court to
new advantage. For the night had come while we
had waited, and the mellow light from the tropic
stars and burning constellations flowed down upon
us through the fragrant night air. Mingling with
this white starlight was the ruddy glow that came
through palace windows from lamps fed by fragrant
oil of cocoa-nut, and from the moving torches of our
attendants. And as we walked through the broad
avenues, dimly visible in this mixed light, some
gilded window arch or overhanging roof with gold-
green tiles, or the varied costume of the moving
group of which we formed a part, would stand out
from the shadowy darkness with a sudden and most
picturesque distinctness. So we came at last to the
apartment where the king had promised to rejoin us.
Here the apparition of our old sky-blue friend,
the beaver-hatted Portuguese, suggested that a din-
der was impending, and, if we might judge by his
uncommon nervousness of manner, it must be a din-
ner of unprecedented style. And certainly there
was a feast, sufficiently sumptuous and very elegant-
ly served, awaiting our arrival. At one side of the
116 SIAM
room, on a raised platform, was a separate table for
the king, and beside it, awaiting Ins arrival, was his
throne,
' ' From which
Down dropped in many a floating fold,
Engarlanded and diapered
With inwrought flowers, a cloth of gold."
In the bright light of many lamps the room was
strangely beautiful. On one side, doors opened into
a stately temple, out of which presently the king
came forth. And as, when he had disappeared, the
nobles seemed to come out from the ground like
toads, so now, like toads, they squatted, and the sov-
ereign of the squatters took his seat above them.
Presently there was music. A band of native
musicians stationed at the foot of the king's throne
commenced a lively performance on their instru-
ments. It was strange, wild music, with a plaintive
sweetness, that was very enchanting. The tones
were liquid as the gurgling of a mountain brook,
and rose and fell in the same irregular measure.
And when to the first band of instruments there
was added another in a different part of the room,
the air became tremulous with sweet vibrations, and
the wild strains lingered softly about the gilded
eaves and cornices and floated upward toward the
open sky.
It seemed that the fascination of the scene would
be complete if there were added the poetry of motion.
And so, in came the dancers, a dozen young girls,
pretty and modest, and dressed in robes of which I
cannot describe the profuse and costly ornamentation.
PIIRABAT SOMDETCH 117
The gold and jewels fairly crusted them, and, as the
dancers moved, the light flashed from the countless
gems at every motion. As each one entered the
apartment she approached the king, and, reverent-
ly kneeling, slowly lifted her joined hands as if
in adoration. All the movements were gracefully
timed to the sweet barharic music, and were slow
and languid, and as quiet as the movements in a
dream. We sat and watched them dreamily, half
bewildered by the splendor which our eyes beheld,
and the sweetness which our ears heard, till the night
was well advanced and it w r as time to go. It was a
sudden shock to all our Oriental reveries, when, as
we rose to leave, his majesty requested that we would
give him three cheers. It was the least we could do
in return for his royal hospitality, and accordingly
the captain led off in the demonstration, while the
rest of us joined in with all the heartiness of voice
that we could summon. But it broke the charm.
Those occidental cheers, that hoarse Anglo-Saxon
roar, had no proper place among these soft and sen-
suous splendors, which had held us captive all the
evening, till we had well-nigh forgotten the every-
day world of work and duty to which we belonged.
It is when we remember the enervating influence
of the drowsy tropics upon character, that we learn
fitly to honor the men and women by whom the in-
auguration of this new era in Siamese history has
been brought about. To live for a little while among
these sensuous influences without any very serious in-
tellectual work to do, or any very grave moral re-
sponsibility to bear, is one thing ; but to spend a life
118 SI AM
among them, with such a constant strain upon the
mind and heart as the laying of Christian founda-
tions among a heathen people must always necessi-
tate, is quite another thing. This is what the mis-
sionaries in Siam have to do. Their battle is not
with the prejudices of heathenism only, nor with the
vices and ignorance of bad men only. It is a bat-
tle with nature itself. To the passing traveller, half
intoxicated with the beauty of the country and the
rich splendor of that oriental world, it may seem a
charming thing to live there, and no uninviting lot to
be a missionary in such pleasant places. But the very
attractiveness of the field to one who sees it as a vis-
itor, and who is dazzled by its splendors as he looks
upon it out of kings' palaces, is what makes it all the
harder for one who goes with hard, self-sacrificing
work to do. The fierce sun wilts the vigor of his
mind and scorches up the fresh enthusiasm of his
heart.
"Droops the heavy-blossomed flower, hangs the heavy-
fruited tree."
And all the beautiful earth, and all the drowsy air,
and all the soft blue sky invite to sloth and ease and
luxury.
Therefore I give the greater honor to the earnest
men and to the patient women who are laboring and
praying for the coming of the Christian day to this
benighted people.
His majesty, Phrabat Somdetch Phra Paramendr
Maha Mongknt closed his remarkable career on Oc-
tober 1, 1868, under circumstances of peculiar inter-
PUR AS AT SOXDETCI1 119
est. Amid all the cares and anxieties of government
he had never ceased to occupy himself with matters
of literary and scientific importance. Questions of
scholarship in any one of the languages of which he
was more or less master were always able to divert
and engage his attention. And the approach of the
great solar eclipse in August, 1868, was an event the
coming of which he had himself determined by his
own reckoning, and for which he waited with an im-
patience half philosophic and half childish. A spe-
cial observatory was built for the occasion, and an ex-
pedition of extraordinary magnitude and on a scale
of great expenditure and pomp was equipped by the
king's command to accompany him to the post of ob-
servation. A great retinue both of natives and of
foreigners, including a French scientific commission,
attended his majesty, and were entertained at royal
expense. And the eclipse was satisfactorily witnessed
to the great delight of the king, whose scientific en-
thusiasm found abundant expression when his calcu-
lation was proved accurate.
It was, however, almost his last expedition of any
kind. Even before setting out there had been evi-
dent signs that his health was breaking. And up-
on his return it was soon apparent that excitement
and fatigue and the malaria of the jungle had
wrought upon him with fatal results. He died
calmly, preserving to the end that philosophic com-
posure to which his training in the Buddhist priest-
hood had accustomed him. His private life in his
own palace and among his wives and children has
been pictured in an entertaining way by Mrs. Leon-
120 SIAM
owens, the English lady whose services he employed
as governess to his young children. He had appar-
ently his free share of the faults and vices to which
his savage nature and his position as an Oriental
despot, with almost unlimited wealth and power,
gave easy opportunity. It is therefore all the more
remarkable that he should have exhibited such sa^ac-
O
ity and firmness in his government, and such schol-
arly enthusiasm in his devotion to literature and
science. Pedantic he seems to us often, and with
more or less arrogant conceit of his own ability and
acquirements. It is easy to laugh at the queer Eng-
lish which he wrote with such reckless fluency and
spoke with such confident volubility. But it is im-
possible to deny that his reign was, for the kingdom
which he governed, the beginning of a new era, and
that whatever advance in civilization the country is
now making, or shall make, will be largely due to the
courage and wisdom and willingness to learn which
he enforced by precept and example. He died in
some sense a martyr to science, while at the same
time he adhered, to the last, tenaciously, and it would
seem from some imaginary obligation of honor, to the
religious philosophy in which he had been trained,
and of which he was one of the most eminent defend-
ers. His character and his history are full of the
strangest contrasts between the heathenish barbarism
in which he was born and the Christian civilization
toward which, more or less consciously, he was bring-
ing the people whom he governed. It is in part the
power of such contrasts which gives to his reign such
extraordinary and picturesque interest.
CHAPTER IX.
AYUTHIA
THE former capital of Siam, which in its day
was a city of great magnificence and fame, has
been for many years supplanted by Bangkok ; and
probably a sight of the latter city as it now is gives
to the traveller the best impression of what the former
used to be. So completely does the interest of the
kingdom centre at Bangkok that few travellers go
beyond the limits of the walls of that city except in
ascending or descending the river which leads to it
from the sea. For a description of Ayuthia in its
glory we are obliged to turn back to the old German
traveller who visited Siam during the first half of the
seventeenth century. Sir John Bowring has con-
nected this ancient narrative with that of a recent ob-
server who has visited the ruins of the once famous
city. We quote from Bowring's narrative :
u The ancient city of Ayuthia, whose pagodas and
palaces were the object of so much laudation from
ancient travellers, and which was called the Oriental
Venice, from the abundance of its canals and the
beauty of its public buildings, is now almost wholly
in ruins, its towers and temples whelmed in the dust
and covered with rank vegetation. The native name
of Ayuthia was Sijan Thijan, meaning ' Terrestrial
9
122 SI AM
Paradise.' The Siamese are in the habit of giving
very ostentatious names to their cities, which, as La
Loubere says : ' do signify great things.' Pallegoix
speaks of the ambitious titles given to Siamese towns,
among which he mentions ' the City of Angels,'
* the City of Archangels,' and the ' Celestial Spec-
tacle.'
" The general outlines of the. old city so closely
resemble those of Bangkok, that the map of the one
might easily be mistaken for the representation of
the other.
"It may not be out of place here to introduce the
description of Aynthia from the pen of Mandelsloe
- one of those painstaking travellers whose contri-
butions to geographical science have been collected
in the ponderous folios of Dr. Harris (vol. i.,p. 781)."
Mandelsloe reports that :
" The city of Judda is built upon an island in the
river Meinam. It is the ordinary residence of the
king of Siain, having several very fair streets, with
spacious channels regularly cut. The suburbs are on
both sides of the river, which, as well as the city it-
self, are adorned with many temples and palaces ; of
the first of which there are above three hundred
within the city, distinguished by their gilt steeples,
or rather pyramids, and afford a glorious prospect at
a distance. The houses are, as all over the Indies,
but indifferently built and covered with tiles. The
royal palace is equal to a large city. Ferdinando
Mendez Pinto makes the number of inhabitants of
this city amount, improbably, to four hundred thou-
sand families. It is looked upon as impregnable, by
ATUTHIA 123
reason of the overflowing of the river at six months'
end. The king of Siain, who takes amongst his
other titles that of Paecan Salsu, i.e. Sacred Mem-
ber of God lias this to boast of, that, next to the
Mogul, he can deduce his descent from more kings
than any other in the Indies. He is absolute, his
privy councillors, called mandarins, being chosen and
deposed barely at his pleasure. When he appears in
public it is done with so much pomp and magnifi-
cence as is scarce to be imagined, which draws such a
veneration to his person from the common people,
that, even in the streets as he passes by, they give
him godlike titles and worship. He marries no more
than one wife at a time, but has an infinite number
of concubines. He feeds very high ; but his drink
is water only, the use of strong liquors being severely
prohibited by their ecclesiastical law, to persons of
quality in Siam. As the thirds of all the estates of
the kingdom fall to his exchequer, so his riches must
be very great ; but what makes them almost immense
is, that he is the chief merchant in the kingdom,
having his factors in all places of trade, to sell jice,
copper, lead, saltpetre, etc., to foreigners. Mendez
Pinto makes his yearly revenue rise to twelve millions
of ducats, the greatest part of which, being laid up in
his treasury, must needs swell to an infinity in pro-
cess of time." Sir John Bowring adds :
" I have received the following account of the pres-
ent condition of Ayuthia, the old capital of Siam,
from a gentleman who visited it in December,
1855 :
" ' Ayuthia is at this time the second city of the
124 SI A M
kingdom. Situated, as the greater part is, on a creek
or canal, connecting the main river with a large
branch which serves as the high road to Pakpriau,
Korat, and southern Laos, travellers are apt entirely
to overlook it when visiting the ruins of the various
wats or temples on the island where stood the ancient
city.
" ' The present number of inhabitants cannot be
less than between twenty and thirty thousand, among
which are a large number of Chinese, a few Birmese,
and some natives of Laos. They are principally em-
ployed in shopkeeping, agriculture, or fishing, for
there are no manufactories of importance. Floating
houses are most commonly employed as dwellings,
the reason for which is that the Siamese very justly
consider them more healthy than houses on land.
" ' The soil is wonderfully fertile. The principal
product is rice, which, although of excellent quality,
is not so well adapted for the market as that grown
nearer the sea, on account of its being much lighter
and smaller. A large quantity of oil, also an astrin-
gent liquor called toddy, and sugar, is manufactured
from the palm (Elaeis), extensive groves of which are
to be found in the vicinity of the city. I was shown
some European turnips which had sprung up and
attained a very large size. Indigenous fruits and
vegetables also flourish in great plenty. The charac-
ter of the vegetation is, however, different from that
around Bangkok. The cocoa and areca palms be-
come rare, and give place to the bamboo.
" ' The only visible remains of the old city are a
large number of wats, in different stages of decay.
AYUTHIA 125
They extend over an area of several miles of country,
and lie hidden in the trees and jungle which have
sprung up around them. As the beauty of a Siam-
ese temple consists not in its architecture, but in the
quantity of arabesque work with which the brick and
stucco walls are covered, it soon yields to the power
of time and weather, and becomes, if neglected, an
unsightly heap of bricks and wood-work, overgrown
with parasitical plants. It is thus at Ayuthia. A
vast pile of bricks and earth, with here and there
a spire still rearing itself to the skies, marks the spot
where once stood a shrine before which thousands
were wont to prostrate themselves in superstitious
adoration. There stand also the formerly revered
images of Gaudama, once resplendent with gold and
jewels, but now broken, mutilated, and without a
shadow of their previous splendor. There is one
sacred spire of immense height and size which is
still kept in some kind of repair, and which is some-
times visited by the king. It is situated about four
miles from the town, in the centre of a plain of
paddy-fields. Boats and elephants are the only
means of reaching it, as there is no road whatever,
except such as the creeks and swampy paddy-fields
afford. It bears much celebrity among the Siamese,
on account of its height, but can boast of nothing
attractive to foreigners but the fine view which is
obtained from the summit. This spire, like all
others, is but a succession of steps from the bottom
to the top ; a few ill-made images affording the only
relief from the monotony of the brickwork. It bears,
too, none of those ornaments, constructed of broken
126 SIAM
crockery, with which the spires and temples of Bang-
kok are so plentifully bedecked.
" ' This is all that repays the traveller for his visit,
a poor remuneration though, were it the curiosity
of an antiquarian that led him to the place, for the
ruins have not yet attained a sufficient age to com-
pensate for their uninteresting appearance.
" ' As we were furnished with a letter from the
Phya Kalahoin to the governor, instructing him to
furnish us with everything requisite for our con-
venience, we waited on that official, but were unfort-
unate enough to find that he had gone to Bangkok.
The letter was thus rendered useless, for no one
dared open it in his absence. Happily, however, we
were referred to a nobleman who had been sent from
Bangkok to superintend the catching of elephants,
and he, without demur, gave us every assistance in
his power.
" ' After visiting the ruins, therefore, we inspected
the kraal or stockade, in which the elephants are
captured. This was a large quadrangular piece of
ground, enclosed by a wall about six feet in thick-
ness, having an entrance on one side, through which
the elephants are made to enter the enclosure. In-
side the wall is a fence of strong teak stakes driven
into the ground a few inches apart. In the centre is
a small house erected on poles and strongly sur-
rounded with stakes, wherein some men are stationed
for the purpose of securing the animals. These
abound in the neighborhood of the city, but cannot
exactly be called wild, as the majority of them have,
at some time or other, been subjected to servitude.
ATUTHIA 127
They are all the property of the king, and it is crim-
inal to hurt or kill one of them. Once a year, a
large number is collected together in the enclosure,
and as many as are wanted of those possessing the
points which the Siamese consider beautiful are
captured. The fine points in an elephant are : a
color approaching to white or red, black nails on the
toes (the common color of these nails is black and
white), and intact tails (for, owing to their pugna-
cious disposition, it is rarely that an elephant is caught
which has not had its tail bitten off). On this oc-
casion the king and a large concourse of nobles
assemble together to witness the proceedings ; they
occupy a large platform on one side of the enclosure.
The wild elephants are then driven in by the aid of
tame males of a very large size and great strength,
and the selection takes place. If an animal which is
wanted escapes from the kraal, chase is immediately
made after it by a tame elephant, the driver of which
throws a lasso to catch the feet of the fugitive.
Having effected this, the animal on which he rides
leans itself with all its power the opposite way, and
thus brings the other violently to the ground. It is
then strongly bound, and conducted to the stables.
" ' ^Naturally enough, accidents are of common oc-
currence, men being frequently killed by the in-
furiated animals, which a're sometimes confined two
or three days in the enclosure without food.
" ' When elephants are to be sent to Bangkok a
floating house has to be constructed for the purpose.
" ' As elephants were placed at our disposal we en-
joyed the opportunity of judging of their capabilities
128 SIAM
in a long ride through places inaccessible to a lesser
quadruped. Their step is slow and cautious, and the
rider is subjected to a measured roll from side to side,
which at first is somewhat disagreeable. In travers-
ing marshes and soft ground they feel their way with
their trunks. They are excessively timid ; horses are
a great terror to them, and, unless they are well
trained, the report of a fowling-piece scares them
terribly.'
" Above Ayuthia the navigation of the Meinam is
often interrupted by sand-banks, but the borders are
still occupied by numerous and populous villages ;
their number diminishes until the marks of human
presence gradually disappear the river is crowded
with crocodiles, the trees are filled with monkeys, and
the noise of the elephants is heard in the impervious
woods. After many days' passage up the river, one of
the oldest capitals of Siam, built fifteen hundred years
ago, is approached. Its present name is Phit Salok,
and it contains about five thousand inhabitants, whose
principal occupation is cutting teak-wood, to be floated
down the stream to Bangkok.
" The account which Bishop Pallegoix gives of the
interior of the country above Ayuthia is not very flat-
tering. He visited it in the rainy season, and says it
appeared little better than a desert a few huts by the
side of the stream neither towns, nor soldiers, nor
custom-houses. Rice was found cheap and abundant,
everything else wanting. Some of the Bishop's adven-
tures are characteristic. In one place, where he heard
pleasant music, he found a mandarin surrounded by
his dozen wives, who were playing a family concert.
A7UTHIA 129
The mandarin took the opportunity to seek informa-
tion about Christianity, and listened patiently and
pleased enough, until the missionary told him one
wife must satisfy him if he embraced the Catholic
faith, which closed the controversy, as the Siamese
said that was an impossible condition. In some
places the many-colored pagodas towered above the
trees, and they generally possessed a gilded Buddha
twenty feet in height. The Bishop observes that the
influence of the Buddhist priests is everywhere para-
mount among the Siamese, but that they have little
hold upon the Chinese, Malays, or Laos people. In one
of the villages they offered a wife to one of the mis-
sionaries, but finding the present unacceptable, they
replaced the lady by two youths, who continued in his
service, and he speaks well of their fidelity."
CHAPTER X.
O!NTS of the most famous of the holy places of
Siam, and one which it is now comparatively
easy to visit, is the shrine of " the footstep of Bud-
dha." This footstep was discovered early in the
seventeenth century by the king who is called the
founder of the second dynasty. As he had been, be-
fore his accession to the throne, a member of the
priesthood, and " very popular as a learned and re-
ligious teacher," it is easy to see what aptitude he
had for such a discovery. It is a favorite resort for
pilgrims.
" Bishop Pallegoix," says Bowring, " speaks of a
large assemblage of gaily-ornamented barges, filled
with multitudes of people in holiday dresses, whom,
he met above Ayuthia, going on a pilgrimage to the
' foot of Buddha.' The women and girls wore scarfs
of silk, and bracelets of gold and silver, and filled
the air with their songs, to which troops of priests
and young men responded in noisy music. The
place of debarkation is Tha Rua, which is on the
road to Phrabat, where the footprint of the god is
found. More than five hundred barges were there,
all illuminated : a drama was performed on the
PHRABAT AND PATAWI 131
shore ; there was a great display of vocal and instru-
mental music, tea-drinking, playing at cards and
dice, and the merry festivities lasted through the
whole night.
" Early the following day the cortege departed by
the river. It consisted of princes, nobles, rich men,
ladies, girls, priests, all handsomely clad. They
landed, and many proceeded on foot, while the more
distinguished mounted on elephants to move toward
the sacred mountain. In such localities the spirit of
fanaticism is usually intemperate and persecuting ;
and the bishop says the governor received him an-
grily, and accused him of 'intending to debauch his
people by making them Christians.' But he was
softened by presents and explanations, and ultimate-
ly gave the bishop a passport, recommending him to
' all the authorities and chiefs of villages under his
command, as a Christian priest (farang), and as his
friend, and ordering that he should be kindly treated,
protected, and furnished with all the provisions he
might require.'
" Of his visit to the sacred mountain, so much the
resort of Buddhist pilgrims, Pallegoix gives this ac-
count :
" ' I engaged a guide, mounted an elephant, and
took the route of Phrabat, followed by my people.
I was surprised to find a wide and excellent road,
paved with bricks, and opened in a straight line
across the forests. On both sides of the road, at a
league's distance, were halls or stations, with wells
dug for the use of the pilgrims. Soon the road be-
came crooked, and we stopped to bathe in a large
132 SI AM
pond. At four o'clock we readied the magnificent
monastery of Phrabat, built on the declivity, but
nearly at the foot of a tall mountain, formed by
fantastic rocks of a bluish color. The monastery
has several walls surrounding it ; and having entered
the second enclosure we found the abbe-prince, seat-
ed on a raised floor, and directing the labors of a
body of workmen. His attendants called on us to
prostrate ourselves, but we did not obey them. " Si-
lence ! " he said ; " you know riot that the fa-
rang honor their grandees by standing erect." I ap-
proached, and presented him with a bottle of salvo-
latile, which he smelt with delight. I requested he
would appoint some one to conduct us to see the
vestige of Buddha ; and he called his principal as-
sistant (the balaf)) and directed him to accompany
us. The ~balat took us round a great court sur-
rounded witli handsome edifices ; showed us two
large temples ; and we reached a broad marble stair-
case with balustrades of gilded copper, and made the
round of the terrace which is the base of the monu-
ment. All the exterior of this splendid edifice is
gilt ; its pavement is square, but it takes the form of
a dome, and is terminated in a pyramid a hundred
and twenty feet high. The gates and windows,
which are double, are exquisitely wrought. The
outer gates are inlaid with handsome devices in
mother-of-pearl, and the inner gates are adorned
with gilt pictures representing the events in the his-
tory of Buddha.
" ' The interior is yet more brilliant ; the pavement
is covered with silver mats. At the end, on a throne
PH RABAT AND PATAWI 133
ornamented with precious stones, is a statue of Buddha
in massive silver, of the height of a man ; in the
middle is a silver grating, which surrounds the vestige,
whose length is about eighteen inches. It is not dis-
tinctly visible, being covered with rings, ear orna-
ments, bracelets, and gold necklaces, the offerings of
devotees when they come to worship. The history
of the relic is this : In the year 1602, notice was
sent to the king, at Ayuthia, that a discovery had
been made at the foot of a mountain, of what ap-
peared to be a footmark of Buddha. The king sent
his learned men, and the most intelligent priests, to
report if the lineaments of the imprint resembled the
description of the foot of Buddha, as given in the
sacred Pali writings. The examination having taken
place, and the report being in the affirmative, the
king caused the monastery of Phrabat to be built,
which has been enlarged and enriched by his suc-
cessors.
" 'After visiting the monument the balat escorted
us to a deep well, cut out of the solid stone; the
water is good, and sufficient to provide for crowds
of pilgrims. The abbe-prince is the sovereign lord of
the mountain and its environs within a circuit of
eight leagues ; he has from four to five thousand men
under his orders, to be employed as he directs in the
service of the monastery. On the day of my visit
a magnificent palanquin, such as is used by great
princes, was brought to him as a present from the
king. He had the civility to entertain us as well as
he could. I remarked that the kitchen was under the
care of a score of young girls, and they gave the name
134 SI AM
of pages to the youths who attended us. In no other
monastery is this usage to be found.
" ' His highness caused us to be lodged in a hand-
some wooden house, and gave me two guards of
honor to serve and watch over me, forbidding my go-
ing out at night on account of tigers. The following
morning I took leave of the good abbe-prince,
mounted my elephant, and taking another road, we
skirted the foot of the mountain till we reached a
spring of spouting waters. We found there a curious
plant, whose leaves were altogether like the shape
and the colors of butterflies. We took a simple
breakfast in the first house we met with ; and at
four o'clock in the afternoon we reached our boat?
and after a comfortable night's rest we left Tha-Hua
to return to our church at Ayuthia.' '
M. Monhot thus describes his journey from Ayu-
thia, made in the winter of 1858 :
" At seven o'clock in the morning my host was
waiting for me at the door, with elephants mount-
ed by their drivers, and other attendants necessary
for our expedition. At the same hour in the evening
we reached our destination, and before many minutes
had elapsed all the inhabitants were informed of our
arrival ; priests and mountaineers were all full of
curiosity to look at the stranger. Among the prin-
cipal people of the place I distributed some little
presents, with which they were delighted ; but my
fire-arms and other weapons w r ere especially the sub-
jects of admiration. I paid a visit to the prince of
the mountain, who was detained at home by illness.
He ordered breakfast for me; and, expressing his
PHRABAT AND PATAWI 135
regret at not being able to accompany me, sent four
men to serve as guides and assistants. As a return
for his kindness and urbanity, I presented him with
a small pistol, which he received with extreme grati-
fication.
" We proceeded afterward to the western side of
the mountain, where is the famous temple contain-
ing the footprint of Samona-Kodom, the Buddha of
Indo-China. I was filled with astonishment and ad-
miration on arriving at this point, and feel utterly
incapable of describing the spectacle which met my
view. What convulsion of Nature, what force could
have upheaved those immense rocks, piled one upon
another in such fantastic forms ? Beholding such a
chaos, I could well understand how the imagination
of this simple people, who are ignorant of the true
God, should have here discovered signs of the mar-
vellous and traces of their false divinities. It was
as if a second and recent deluge had just abated ;
this sight alone was enough to recompense me for all
my fatigues.
" On the mountain summit, in the crevices of the
rocks, in the valleys, in the caverns, all around, could
be seen the footprints of animals, those of elephants
and tigers being most strongly marked ; but I am
convinced that many of them were formed by ante-
diluvian and unknown animals. All these creatures,
according to the Siamese, formed the cortege of
Buddha in his passage over the mountain.
" As for the temple itself, there is nothing remark-
able about it ; it is like most of the pagodas in Siam
on the one hand unfinished and on the other in a
136 SIAM
state of dilapidation ; and it is built of brick, although
both stone and marble abound at Phrabat. The ap-
proach to it is by a flight of large steps, and the walls
are covered with little pieces of colored glass, form-
ing arabesques in great variety, which glitter in the
sun with striking effect. The panels and cornices
are gilt ; but what chiefly attracts attention by the
exquisite workmanship are the massive ebony doors,
inlaid with mother- of -pearl of different colors, and
arranged in beautiful designs. The interior of the
temple does not correspond with the outside; the
floor is covered with silver matting, and the walls
bear traces of gilding, but they are blackened by
time and smoke. A catafalque rises in the centre,
surrounded with strips of gilded serge, and there is
to be seen the famous footprint of Buddha. To this
sacred spot the pilgrims bring their offerings, cut
paper, cups, dolls, and an immense number of toys,
many of them being wrought in gold and silver.
" After staying a week on the mountain, and add-
ing many pretty and interesting objects to my col-
lection, our party returned to Arajik, the prince of
Phrabat insisting on sending another guide with me,
although my friend, the mandarin, with his attend-
ants and elephants, had kindly remained to escort
me back to his village. There I again partook of
his hospitality, and, taking leave of him the day fol-
lowing, I resumed my voyage up the river. Before
night I arrived at Saraburi, the chief town of the
province of Pakpriau and the residence of the gover-
nor.
" Saraburi is a place of some extent, the population
PHRABAT AND PATAWI 137
consisting chiefly of Siamese, Chinese, and Laotian
agriculturists ; and consists, like all towns and villages
in Siam, of houses constructed of bamboo. They peep
out, half hidden, among the foliage along the banks of
the river ; beyond are rice plantations, and, further in
the background, extensive forests, inhabited solely by
wild animals.
" On the morning of the 26th we passed Pakprian,
near which the cataracts begin. The waters were still
high, and we had much trouble to fight against the
current. A little to the north of this town I met with
a poor family of Laotian Christians, of whom the good
Father Larmandy had spoken to me. We moored our
boat near their house, hoping that it would remain in
safety while I explored the mountains in the neigh-
borhood and visited Patawi, which is the resort of
the Laotian pilgrims, as Phrabat is of the Siamese.
" All the country from the banks of the river to
the hills, a distance of about eight or nine miles, and
the whole surface of this mountain-range, is covered
with brown iron-ore and aerolites; where they occur
in the greatest abundance vegetation is scanty and
consists principally of bamboo, but it is rich and
varied in those places where the detritus has formed
a thicker surface of soil. The dense forests furnish
gum and oil, which would be valuable for commerce
if the indolent natives could be prevailed on to collect
them. They are, however, infested with leopards,
tigers, and tiger-cats. Two dogs and a pig were car-
ried off from the immediate vicinity of the hut of the
Christian guardians of our boat during our stay at
Pakprian ; but the following day I had the pleasure
10
138 8IAM
of making the offending leopard pay for the robbery
with his life, and his skin served me for a mat.
" Where the soil is damp and sandy I found nu-
merous traces of these animals, but those of the royal
tiger are more uncommon. During the night the in-
habitants dare not venture out of doors ; but in the
day-time the creatures, satisfied with the fruits of their
predatory rambles, skulk into their dens in the re-
cesses of the woods. One day I went to explore the
eastern part of the chain of Pakpriau, and, becoming
excited in the chase of a wild boar, we soon lost our-
selves in the forest. The animal made his way through
the brushwood much more easily than we could, en-
cumbered as we were with guns, hatchets, and boxes,
and we ere long missed the scent. By the terrified
cries of the monkeys we knew we could not be far
from some tiger or leopard, doubtless, like ourselves,
in search of prey ; and as night was drawing in, it
became necessary to retrace our steps homeward for
fear of some disagreeable adventure. With all our
efforts, however, we could not find the path. We were
far from the border of the forest, and were forced to
take up our abode in a tree, among the branches of
which we made a sort of hammock. On the following
day we regained the river.
" I endeavored fruitlessly to obtain oxen or ele-
phants to carry our baggage with a view of exploring
the country, but all beasts of burden were in use for
the rice-harvest. I therefore left my boat and its
contents in charge of the Laotian family, and we set
off, like pilgrims, on foot for Patawi, on a fine morn-
ing with a somewhat cloudy sky, which recalled to
PHRABAT AND PATAWI 139
me the pleasant autumn days of my own country.
My only companions were Kiie and my young Lao-
tian guide. We followed for three hours, through
forests infested with wild beasts, the road to Korat,
and at last reached Patawi. As at Phrabat, there is
a bell, both at the foot of the mount and at the en-
trance of a long and wide avenue leading to the pa-
goda, which the pilgrims ring on arriving, to inform
the good genii of their presence and bespeak a favor-
able hearing of their prayers. The mount is iso-
lated, and about four hundred and fifty feet in
height ; its formation is similar to that of Phrabat,
but although its appearance is equally grand it pre-
sents distinct points of variation. Here are not to be
seen those masses of rock, piled one upon another, as
if hurled by the giants in a combat like that fabled
of old. Patawi seems to be composed of one enor-
mous rock, which rises almost perpendicularly like a
wall, excepting the centre portion, which toward the
south hangs over like a roof, projecting eighteen or
twenty feet. At the first glance might be recognized
the action of water upon a soil originally clay.
" There are many footprints similar to those of
Phrabat, and in several places are to be seen entire
trunks of trees in a state of petrifaction lying close to
growing individuals of the same species. They have
all the appearance of having been just felled, and it
is only on testing their hardness with a hammer that
one feels sure of not being mistaken. An ascent of
several large stone steps leads, on the left hand, to
the pagoda, and on the right to the residence of the
talapoins, or priests, who are three in number, a su-
UO SIAM
*
perior and two assistants, appointed to watch and
pay reverence to the precious ' rays ' of Somanako-
doin. Were the authors who have written about
Buddhism ignorant of the signification of the word
1 ray ' employed by the Buddhists ? Now, in the
Siamese language the same word which means ' ray '
signifies also shadow, and it is through respect for
their deity that the first meaning is applied.
" The priests were much surprised to see a ' farang'
(foreigner) in their pagoda, but some trifling gifts
soon established me in their good graces. The supe-
rior was particularly charmed with a magnet which
I gave him, and amused himself with it for a long
time, uttering cries of delighted admiration as he saw
it attract and pick up all the little pieces of metal
which he placed near it.
" I went to the extreme north of the mount, where
some generous being has kindly had constructed, for
the shelter of travellers, a hall, such as is found in
many places near pagodas. The view there is inde-
scribably splendid, and I cannot pretend to do justice
either with pen or pencil to the grand scenes which
here and elsewhere were displayed before my eyes.
I can but seize the general effect and some of the de-
tails; all I can promise to do is to introduce nothing
which I have not seen. Hitherto all the views I had
seen in Siam had been limited in extent, but here
the beauty of the country is exhibited in all its splen-
dor. Beneath my feet was a rich and velvety carpet
of brilliant and varied colors; an immense tract of
forest, amid which the fields of rice and the un-
wooded spots appeared like little streaks of green ;
a
M
0- -9
->< ~
PHRABAT AND PATAWI 141
beyond, the ground, rising gradually, swells into hills
of different elevations ; farther still to the north and
east, in the form of a semicircle, is the mountain-
chain of Phrabat and that of the kingdom of Muang-
Lom ; and in the extreme distance those of Korat,
fully sixty miles distant. All these join one another,
and are, in fact, but a single range. But how describe
the varieties of form among all these peaks ! In one
place they seem to melt into the vapory rose-tints of
the horizon, while near at hand the peculiar structure
and color of the rocks bring out more strongly the
richness of the vegetation ; there, again, are deep
shadows vying with the deep blue of the heaven
above; everywhere those brilliant sunny lights, those
delicate hues, those warm tones, which make the tout
ensemble perfectly enchanting. The spectacle is one
which the eye of a painter can seize and revel in, but
which his brush, however skilful, can transfer most
imperfectly to his canvas.
"At the sight of this unexpected panorama a cry
of admiration burst simultaneously from all mouths.
Even rny poor companions, generally insensible to the
beauties of nature, experienced a moment of ecstasy
at the sublimity of the scene. ' Oh ! di, dl ! ' (beauti-
ful) cried my young Laotian guide ; and when I asked
Kiie what he thought of it, ' Oh ! master,' he replied,
in his mixed jargon of Latin, English, and Siamese,
' the Siamese see Buddha on a stone, and do not see
God in these grand things. 1 am pleased to have
been to Patawi.'
" On the opposite side, viz., the south, the picture
is different. Here is a vast plain, which extends
142 SIAM
from the base of Patawi and the other mountains
beyond Ayuthia, whose high towers are visible in
the distance, 120 miles off. At the first glance one
distinguishes what was formerly the bed of the sea,
this great plain having taken the place of an ancient
gulf : proof of which is afforded by numerous marine
shells, many of which I collected in a perfect state of
preservation, while the rocks, with their footprints
and fossil shells, are indicative of some great change
at a still earlier period.
" Every evening some of the good Laotian moun-
taineers came to see the ' farang.' These Laotians dif-
fer slightly from the Siamese : they are more slender,
have the cheek-bones more prominent, and have also
darker complexions. They wear their hair long,
while the Siamese shave half of the head, leaving the
hair to grow only on the top. They deserve praise
for their intrepidity as hunters, if they have not that
of warriors. Armed with a cutlass or bow, with
which latter weapon they adroitly launch, to a dis-
tance of one hundred feet, balls of clay hardened in
the sun, they wander about their vast forests, undis-
mayed by the jaguars and tigers infesting them.
The chase is their principal amusement, and, when
they can procure a gun and a little Chinese powder,
they track the wild boar, or, lying in wait for the
tiger or the deer, perch themselves on a tree or in a
little hut raised on bamboo stakes.
" Their poverty borders on misery, but it mainly
results from excessive indolence, for they will culti-
vate just sufficient rice for their support ; this done,
they pass the rest of their time in sleep, lounging
PHRABAT AND PATAWI 143
about the woods, or making excursions from one vil-
lage to another, paying visits to their friends on the
way.
" At Patawi I heard much of Korat, which is the
capital of the province of the same name, situated
iive days' journey northeast of Pakpriau that is
about one hundred and twenty miles and I deter-
mined, if possible, to visit it by and by. It appears
to be a rich country, producing especially silk of
gt>od quality. Caoutchouc-trees abound, but are neg-
lected by the inhabitants, who are probably ignorant
of their value. I brought back a magnificent specimen
of the gum, which was much admired by the English
merchants at Bangkok. Living, according to report,
is fabulously cheap : six fowls may be purchased for
ifttang (37 centimes), 100 eggs for the same sum,
and all other things in proportion. But to get there
one has to cross the famous forest of 'the King of
the Fire,' which is visible from the top of Patawi,
and it is only in the dry season that it is safe to at-
tempt this ; during the rains both the water and the
atmosphere are fatally pestilential. The superstitious
Siamese do not dare to use fire-arms there, from fear
of attracting evil spirits who would kill them.
" During all the time I spent on the top of the
mountain the chief priest was unremitting in his at-
tentions to me. He had my luggage carried into his
own room, gave me up his mats to add to mine, and
in other ways practised self-denial to make me as
comfortable as was in his power. The priests com-
plain much of the cold in the rainy season, and of the
torrents which then rush from the summit of the
144 SIAM
mountain ; they are also greatly disturbed by the
tigers, which, driven from the plains by the inunda-
tions, take refuge on the high ground, and cany
away their dogs and fowls out of the very houses.
But their visits are not confined to that period of the
year. About ten o'clock on the second night of my
stay the dogs suddenly began to utter plaintive
howls. ' A tiger ! a tiger ! ' cried my Laotian, who
was lying near me. I started up, seized my gun, and
half opened the door; but the profound darkness
made it impossible to see anything, or to go out
without uselessly exposing myself. I therefore con-
tented myself with firing off my gun to frighten the
creature. The next morning we found one of our
dogs gone.
" We scoured the neighborhood for about a week,
and then set off once more by water for Bangkok, as
I wished to put my collections in order and send
them off.
" The places which two months previously had been
deep in water were now dry, and everywhere around
their dwellings the people were digging their gardens
and beginning to plant vegetables. The horrible mos-
quitoes had reappeared in greater swarms than ever,
and I pitied my poor servants, who, after rowing all
day, could obtain no rest at night.
" During the day, especially in the neighborhood
of Pakpriau, the heat was intense, the thermometer
being ordinarily at 90 Fahrenheit (28 Reaumur) in
the shade, and 140 Fahrenheit (49 Reaumur) in the
sun. Luckily, we had no longer to contend with the
current, and our boat, though heavily laden, proceeded
PHRABAT AND PATAWI 145
rapidly. We were about three hours' sail from Bang-
kok, when I perceived a couple of European boats, and
in a room built for travellers near a pagoda I recog-
nized three English captains of my acquaintance, one
of whom had brought me to Singapore. They were,
with their wives, enjoying a picnic, and, on seeing me,
insisted on my joining them and partaking of the
repast.
" I reached Bangkok the same day, and was still un-
certain as to a lodging, when M. Wilson, the courte-
ous Danish consul, came to me, and kindly offered
the hospitality of his magnificent house.
" I consider the part of the country which I had
just passed through extremely healthy, except, per-
haps, during the rains. It appears that in this season
the water, flowing down from the mountains and pass-
ing over a quantity of poisonous detritus, becomes im-
pregnated with mineral substances, gives out pestilen-
tial miasmata, and causes the terrible jungle-fever,
which, if it does not at once carry off the victim,
leaves behind it years of suffering. My journey, as
lias been seen, took place at the end of the rainy sea-
son and when the floods were subsiding; some dele-
terious exhalations, doubtless, still escaped, and I saw
several natives attacked with intermittent fever, but
I had not had an hour's illness. Ought I to attribute
this immunity to the regimen I observed, and which
had been strongly recommended to me abstinence,
all but total, from wine and spirits, and drinking only
tea, never cold water? I think so ; and I believe by
such a course one is in no great danger."
CHAPTER XL
FROM BANGKOK TO CHANTABOUN A MISSIONARY
JOURNEY IN 1835
FOR many years the region on the eastern shore
of the gnlf has been more or less familiar to
the foreign residents in Bangkok. So long ago as
1835 the Protestant missionaries explored and
mapped out, with a good degree of accuracy, the
coast line from the month of the Meinam to the
month of the Chantabonn River. Extracts from the
journal of Dr. Bradley, a pioneer among American
missionaries in Siam, give an interesting sketch of
the country as it was, as well as of the modes of
travel many years ago, and the beginnings of the
civilization in which, since that time, Siam has made
such extraordinary progress.
Dr. Bradley, accompanied by another missionary
and wife, made his journey in the first vessel ever
built in Siam on a European model. A young no-
bleman, who has since then become very distin-
guished by reason of his interest in scientific pur-
suits of every kind, and his attainments in various
branches of knowledge, liad built at Chantabonn a
brig which he had named the Ariel, and was
about returning from Bangkok to that port. "With
the liberality and kindness by which his conduct
FROM BANGKOK TO CHANTABOUN 147
toward the missionaries has always been charac-
terized, he invited Dr. Bradley and his colleague to
be his guests on the return voyage. Dr. Bradley
thus speaks of the Ariel.
" "Went aboard of the brig Ariel to have a look at
the first square-rigged vessel ever made in Siam,
and brought np a few days since from Chantabonn
to present to the king. Considering that this is the
first essay made in this country to imitate European
ship-building, that the- young nobleman had but
poor models, if any, to guide him, and that all his
knowledge of ship-building has been gathered by
here and there an observation of foreign vessels in
port, this brig certainly reflects very great credit on
his creative genius. Not only this, but other facts
also indicate that the young nobleman is endowed
with an uncommonly capacious mind for a Siamese.
It appears that he is building at Chantabonn several
vessels of from 300 to 400 tons burthen. His wife
has just left our house, having spent the evening
with Mrs. B. She possesses man} 7 interesting quali-
ties, and, like her husband, is fond of the society of
Europeans and Americans. Her attendants were
three or four females who paddled the sampan in
which she came, and carried her betel-box and other
accompaniments. They remained at the door in a
crouching posture, while their mistress visited Mrs.
B. Her dress consisted of a phanung of ordinary
cloth, a Birmese jacket of crimson crape, a scarlet
sash of the same material, and a leaden-colored
shawl of the richest damask silk."
All preparations being made for the excursion, and
148 SIAM
an abundant supply of Christian tracts laid in for dis-
tribution among the natives as opportunity might
offer, Dr. Bradley's narrative continues, under date of
November 12, 1835 :
" One of the most delightful mornings I have seen
since I left my dear native land. "While the brig Ariel
floated down with the tide, I called upon my brethren
in company with my wife, when I took leave of her
for the first time since we were married. The brig
had made more progress than we were aware, which
subjected us to the inconvenience of overtaking her in
an open boat under a burning sun. She was under full
press of sail before we reached her, but with much ex-
ertion on our part to inspire our paddlers to lay out
more strength, by crying out in Chinese tongue qai
qui, and in the Siamese rcow reow, and by a full-
souled response on their part, we reached the brig at
12 A.M. We were somewhat disappointed in finding
the cabin exclusively occupied by the mother and sis-
ters of Luang E"ai Sit, who being high in rank as fe-
males, must of course have the best accommodations
on board. The mother is allied to the royal family,
and consequently ranks higher than her husband, the
p'rak'lang, though he is one of the first in point
of office, being commander-in-chief of the Siamese
forces, and prime-minister of foreign affairs. But
Luang Nai Sit did all he could to make us comfort-
able on deck, spreading a double awning over us, one
of thin canvas, and the other of attap leaves. Our
pride was somewhat uncomfortably tried by finding
ourselves dependent upon K'oon Klin, the wife of
Luang Nai Sit. for the common comforts of shipboard.
FROM BANGKOK TO CHANTABOUN 149
But it is due to her and her husband to say that they
were both very polite, and evidently regretted that
they could not then make us perfectly comfortable.
They anxiously encouraged us with the promise that
after a little time they would have matters in a better
state, saying that their mother and sisters would leave
the brig at Paknam, and give us the occupancy of the
cabin.
"The more I dwell upon it the more I am inter-
ested in the Providence that has brought us on board
this vessel. But it may be asked, What is there pe-
culiarly interesting in it ? Why, here is a new Siam-
ese brig, recently presented to the king of Siam, as
the first specimen of a successful imitation of Euro-
pean ship-building, on her first voyage, volunteered
by one of the first men in the kingdom to bear a com-
pany of missionaries to a province of Siam, carrying
the everlasting gospel to a people who have never
heard it, and who, to use the expression of the noble-
man who has volunteered to take us thither, ' have no
God, no religion, and greatly need the labors of mis-
sionaries among them.'
"On awaking the next morning, I find that we are
lying at anchor opposite Paknam, where the mother
and sisters of our noble friend are to disembark. It
is truly affecting to witness the kind attentions of
Luang Kai Sit, and to observe how ready he is to
anticipate our wants, and prepare to meet them.
Last evening, while we were singing, a company of na-
tive singers removed their seats at the forecastle, and
sitting down near to us, began to bawl out in the na-
tive style. Luang Nai Sit soon came to us and re-
150 SIAM
quested that we should go to the upper deck, and take
seats which he had prepared for us, saying, ' There is
too much confusion for you to stay here; go up
yonder, and bless God undisturbed.'
"These native singers, I am informed, are now
practising with a view to sing to the white elephant
at Chantaboun. They sang many times a day, of
which I have become heartily sick.
" We weighed anchor very early in the morning of
the 14th, and sailed with the tide in our favor for the
bar. We were interested in witnessing the outgush-
ings of maternal and filial affection of the noble rel-
atives just before we sailed from Paknam. Luang
Nai Sit exhibited much of it on parting with his
mother, and she was tenderly moved on taking leave
of her son and grandchildren. [One of the latter
was a little boy, who afterward became prime min-
ister and minister of war.] We noticed that their
tears were allowed to flow only in the cabin, out of
sight of their slaves. On deck, and when in the act
of parting, they were solemn and perfectly composed.
A little after sunrise we came in sight of the moun-
tains of Keo, which to me was a peculiarly gratifying
sight. I had for months sighed after something of
the kind to interrupt the dead monotony of Bangkok.
There, do what you ma}' by the means of telescopes
and towers, you will discover nothing but one un-
broken plain."
We condense Dr. Bradlcy's journal from this point,
omitting unnecessary details of the voyage:
" Arose at four in the morning of the loth, and
found that we were at anchor a little south of the Keo
FROM BANGKOK TO CUANTABOUN 151
Mountains, having Koh Chang or See Chang on the
west, eight miles distant, and the coast of See Mali a
Hacha on the east, five miles distant. I know not
when I have been so delighted with natural scenery
as at this time. Kot a cloud was seen in the heavens.
The moon walked in brightness amid myriads of
twinkling suns and shining worlds. A balmy and
gentle breeze just ruffled the bosom of the deep. The
wonted confusion of the deck was perfectly hushed.
Lofty mountains and a rugged and romantic coast
darkened the eastern horizon. At five o'clock Luang
Kai Sit invited us to go ashore with him. We readily
accepted the invitation and accompanied our friend to
the village of See Maha Racha, attended by his body-
guard, armed with guns, swords, and lances. The
scenery, as the dawn brightened, was most exhilarat-
ing. The mountains, hills, and plains were covered
with vegetation in the liveliest green, with here and
there a cultivated spot. As we approached the settle-
ment from the west, at our right was a rock-bound
coast. Just in the background of this, and parallel
with it, was an admirably undulated ridge, which
seemed to be composed of hill rolled close upon hill.
At our left were islands of lofty white-capped rocks.
Further removed, at the east, were mountains tower,
ing behind mountains. Before us was an extensive
plain bounded with mountains far in the distance.
We reached the village a little after sunrise, which
we found to contain three hundred or four hundred
souls, chiefly Siamese. It was a matter of not a little
regret that we had no tracts to give them. The people
seemed to live in somewhat of a tidy manner, not
152 SIAM
very unlike a poor villager in our own country. Still
their houses were bnilt of bamboo, and elevated, ac-
cording to the Siamese custom, as on stilts. "We
called at several houses, and found the females en-
gaged in eating their rice. We attempted to pene-
trate the jungle behind the settlement, but did not go
far, as there seemed to be but little prospect that we
should descry other settlements.
" Having spent a part of an hour in surveying the
village, we followed our honorable guide along the
beach, among immense ferruginous and quartz rocks
having apparently been undermined by the restless
ocean, and these were interlaid with small seashells
of great variety. On the one hand we had the music
of the roaring tide, on the other an admirable jungle,
overhanging the beach from the east, and thus pro-
tecting us from the blaze of the rising sun, while the
air was perfumed with many a flower. Several boat-
loads of Luang Xai Sit's retinue soon came off the
brig to the shore, which composed a company of
fifty or more. At length a boat came loaded with pro-
visions for a picnic breakfast, all cooked and duly ar-
ranged on salvers. The whole company (ourselves
excepted) sat down on the beach in three classes, and
there partook of the repast with a keen relish. Luang
Kai Sit and his brothers ate by themselves ; the wom-
en, consisting of K'oon Klin, or wife of the chief,
and her children and other high blood attendants, ate
by themselves. After these had finished their break-
fast, the multitude of dependents messed together.
Meanwhile the natives of the village and vicinity
flocked in, loaded with plantains, red peppers, ceri-
FROM BANGKOK TO CIIANTABOUN 153
leaves, cocoannts, jack-fruit, etc., and presented them
as tokens of respect to the son of their lord, the
p'rak'lang, and to him they bowed and worshipped on
their hands and knees. At 10 A.M. we returned to the
brig in an uncovered boat, in company with K'oon
Klin and her train. Luang Nai Sit could not, of
course, return in the same boat with the women, as it
would be a violation of Siamese custom. He came
in another boat behind us. The sun was very power-
ful, and that, together with the crowd and confusion
of the company in the absence of their chief, quite
overcame me in my feebleness of health.
" At 11 A.M. our anchor was again weighed, and
we sailed very pleasantly before a gentle breeze, be-
ing continually in full sight of the main-land at our
left, and the islands of Koh Kram, Sewalan, and a
number of others on our right. The former is noted
for the quantities of turtles which are caught on its
coasts, the latter is a cluster of verdant spots, prob-
ably uninhabited by man. Much of the mainland
which we have as yet passed is mountainous, diversi-
fied with extensive plains, and covered with lofty
timber. With the aid of the brig's telescope we de-
scried several villages on the shore."
After beating about for a night and a day in a good
deal of uncertainty and some peril (for the Siamese
officers and crew were unskilful navigators), " we were
not a little disappointed on the morning of the 18th
in supposing that we were entering the mouth of Chan-
taboun River, which proved to be but a passage be-
tween the island of Semet and the main coast. It
seems that we have been beating for this passage be-
ll
154 SI AM
tvveen thirty and forty hours, and but a few miles
from it all the time. The scenery about this place is
quite charming, combining much of the romantic with
the beautiful. Have sailed twenty or thirty miles this
afternoon in full sight of the coast, passing many small
islands, which have given us a very pleasing variety.
Much of the coast is level near the sea, with towering
mountains, several miles distant. One island which we
passed near by is worthy of some notice. It is quite
small, composed of rocks, which rise sixty or eighty
feet above the water, and crowned with pleasant shrub-
bery. It has a wing extending out fifty feet or more,
which is about thirty feet high, and through this there
is a natural tunnel, having much the appearance of an
artificial arch of stone, and apparently large enough to
allow a common-sized boat to pass. Hence the islet is
called Koh Loo.
" On the morning of the 19th, the curtains of a
tempestuous night having been removed, very much
to our joy we found that we were in sight of our de-
sired haven, and we enjoyed much interesting scenery
while tossing about during the day. There are many
bold islands in this vicinity, with rocky bases, and
crowned with luxuriant vegetation. Koh Ch'ang lies
fifteen or twenty miles south of us. It is a large isl-
and, with lofty peaks, and it is said to be famous for
elephants and that there are several thousand souls
upon it. Frit Prote are three small islands, interest-
ing only as affording pleasant objects to the eye of
the naturalist. Koh ]STom Low is a very curious pin-
nacle near the entrance into the mouth of Chantabouu
River. "With a small base, it rises out of the sea prob-
FROM BANGKOK TO CHANTABOUN 155
ably four hundred feet. The mouth of the river is ad-
mirably guarded by an arm of a mountain ridge,
which extends out into the sea and embraces the har-
bor, which is also artificially protected by two bat-
teries. The coast extends east by southeast. That part
of it east of the river, in the immediate vicinity of the
sea, is level, low, and covered with a thick jungle.
The main body of the trees appear low, having inter-
spersed among them many tall trees, with here and
there small hills, handsomely attired. Parallel with
this coast, and apparently ten miles from the sea, the
mountain Sal Bap towers into the clouds, and stretches
a long way to the north and to the south. The coast
west of the river is rugged and mountainous. In the
apparent direction of the river there are several sub-
lime peaks. As far as the eye can command, vegeta-
tion appears luxuriant, but is quite different from that
of Bangkok. The cocoanut palm, which is the queen
of all the jungles in that vicinity, is not to be seen
here. The appearance of the water about the mouth
of this river is perfectly clear, while that of the Mei-
nam is extremely turbid."
At this point the missionaries' Siamese friend left
them and proceeded in advance to Chantaboun. On
the day following, November 21st, " he sent back a
small junk for us, which we gladly accepted, and
took passage in her, starting in the morning, and ex-
pected of course that we should arrive at our desti-
nation early in the evening. But almost every rod of
our way seemed beset with extraordinary obstacles.
In the first place, we had a strong contrary wind to
contend with, which obliged us to beat till late in the
156 81 AM
afternoon with bnt little success. In the early even-
ing the breeze became gentle, when, with great en-
treaty on our part, our boatmen were induced to take
to their oars. Presently we found a strong current
against us, and within the next half hour our boat
touched the bottom of the channel and became im-
movable in the mud. ]STow it seemed certain that
instead of reaching our destination early in the even-
ing, as we had hoped, we should be under the ne-
cessity of staying aboard of our craft all night, ex-
posed to the inclemency of the night air, and with
but a scanty supply of food. It was well that we had
taken a late breakfast, for a cup of tea with sea
bread and cheese had to suffice both for our dinner
and supper. With these we satisfied the cravings of
hunger, being, I trust, thankful to God that we were
so well fed. Having taken our frugal supper we
sought for places to lodge ourselves for the night.
As for a cabin, of course there was none in such a
junk. There were holds, but they were filled with
luggage. My fellow-travellers preferred to seek
their rest on the open deck in a half-reclining post-
ure, wrapped up in their cloaks. I found a place in
the ' hinder part of the ship ' just large enough to lie
down in, where I spread my mattress and tried to
sleep. About midnight the tide rose and bore our
junk away from the mud. But it was only a little
time when it was announced by a singular scraping
on our boat's bottom, and by a tremendous scolding
of a party of Chinamen whom we had met, that we
had found another obstacle. It was soon revealed
that we had got entangled in a fish-net belonging to
FROM BANGKOK TO CHANTABOUN 157
the Chinamen. Here we were detained an hour or
more in efforts to disengage onr boat from the ropes
of the fish-net. After this was done I know not
what other impediments we met with, for I fell into
a sleep.
" At 4 A.M. it was announced that we had arrived
at onr destination. We shook off our slumbers and
looked out, and behold our junk was anchored in
front of a house with open doors, literally, and win-
dows without shutters, while a piercing, chilling
wind was whistling through it. It proved to be, not
in Chantaboun, but several miles below it at a Siam-
ese dockyard. As all our boatmen had gone ashore,
and we were left without a guide, we determined to
' stick to the ship ' till full day, and accordingly lay
down and took another nap. When we arose early
in the morning we were surprised to learn that
Luang Nai Sit and his retinue had lodged in that
bleak house the night before, and had gone up the
river to Chantaboun, and that this was the place he
designed to have us occupy while we sojourned in
this part of Siam. This house assigned to us here is
situated over the water, exposed to the strong north
winds that blow from the opposite side of the river.
It is built of bamboo slats and small poles, so as to
operate as a kind of sieve for the bleak winds. The
most of the floor is also of bamboo slats, and admits
strong currents of air through them, while the waves
are both heard and seen dashing beneath them. The
roof is made of attap leaves, which rattle like hail
in the wind. The best rooms in the house, two in
number, are enclosed with bamboo slats and lined
158 8IAM
with cajung. These were politely assigned to us by
our kind friend, who is ever ready to deny himself to
oblige us. This would be a delightfully cool place in
the spring and summer months, but at this season of
the year it is unpleasantly chilly.
" This place has no importance, only what is con-
nected with the ship-building carried on here.
There are now on the stocks not less than fifty ves-
sels, consisting of two ships of three hundred or four
hundred tons burden, thirty or forty war-boats or
junks, and a number of smaller craft."
On the following day the missionaries made an
excursion up the river as high as, the p'rak'lang's es-
tablishment, where " we left our boat and proceeded
by land two or three miles to Bang Ka Chah. The
river up to the place where we left it is exceedingly
serpentine, the banks being low and overflowed by
the tides, and covered with an impenetrable jungle
of low timber.
" As we drew near the p'rak'lang's there appeared
pleasant fields of paddy, and at a distance a beauti-
ful acclivity partially cleared, around which govern-
ment is building extensive fortifications. The works
are rapidly advancing. The circumference of the
enclosure when finished will not vary much from two
miles. The embankment is forty feet above the
surface of the ground, and the depth of the ditch on
the outside will increase it six feet. The earth is of
a remarkably red color, and gives the embankment
the appearance of solid brick. This is to be sur-
rounded by a breastwork six feet high, with port-
holes, and made of brick literally dug out of the
FROM BANGKOK TO CHANTABOUN 159
earth, winch, a few feet from the surface, possesses
the consistence of brick that had been a little dried
in the snn. Blocks eighteen inches in length, nine
in breadth, and six in thickness, are cut out by
Chinamen and Malays, which, with a little smooth-
ing, are prepared for laying into the wall.
" We were objects of great curiosity to the natives.
Our passport was only to tell them that we came
from Bangkok in Koon Sit's brig, and this was per-
fectly satisfactory. With the idea that Bang Ka
Chah was but a little way onward, we continued to
walk, being very much exhilarated by the sight of
palmy plains, palmy hills and extensive rice planta-
tions. The country appeared to have a first-rate soil,
and to be very extensively cultivated. The paddy
fields were heavy laden and well filled. It was har-
vest time. In one direction you might see reapers ;
in another gatherers of the sheaves ; in another
threshers ; one with his buffaloes treading out the
grain, another with his bin and rack, against which
he was beating the sheaves. The lots were divided
by foot-paths merely, consisting of a little ridge
thrown up by the farmers.
" In Bang Ka Chah we found a settlement of four
thousand or more Chinese. Our guide conducted us
to a comfortable house, where, much to my comfort,
we were offered a place to lie down, and presented
with tea and fruit. We had not been in the place
ten minutes before we had attracted around us hun-
dreds of men, women, and children, who were as
eager to examine us Americans as the latter once
were to examine the Siamese twins. The inhabitants
160 SI AM
appeared remarkably healthy. I could not discover
a sickly countenance among them. There were
many very aged people. Children were particularly
abundant and interesting. How inviting a harvest,
thought I, is here for the future missionary. The
houses are mostly built of brick after the common
style of Chinese architecture. The streets are crook-
ed, narrow, and filthy. At 4 o'clock, P.M., we returned
to the house of Luang Nai Sit, who lives near his
father, the p'rak'lang, where we were refreshed with a
good dinner, after which we took to our boats and
arrived at our lodgings at seven o'clock in the evening.
" We have made an excursion to the town of
Chantaboun. It is about nine miles from the
place where we stay, being on the main branch of
the river, while Bang Ka Oh ah is on a smaller one.
After we passed the p'rak'lang's, there was much to
be seen that was in no small degree interesting. The
river was from sixty to eighty yards wide, appar-
ently deep and exceedingly serpentine. The banks
were generally cleared of wild timber, gently ele-
vated, uniformly smooth, and cultivated. As we
approached Chantaboun, the margin of the river was
most charmingly graced with chimps of the bamboo,
and several fields were bounded with the same tree.
We passed not far from the foot of the lofty moun-
tain Sah Bap, from which point we could also see
several other mountains. The top of one was lost in
the clouds. Xear Chantaboun the river is quite
lined on one side with Siamese war-junks on the
stocks. The reigning passion of the government at
present is to make preparations in this section of
FROM BANGKOK TO CUANTABOUN 1G1
their country for defence against the Cochin-Chinese,
and for aggressions against the same if need be.
"We reached Chantaboun at 2 P.M. The na-
tives discovering us as we drew near their place,
congregated by scores on the banks of the river to
look at us. They were exceedingly excited, the
children particularly, and scarcely knew how to con-
tain themselves. Some ran \vith all their might to
proclaim in the most animated manner to the inhabi-
tants ahead that we were coining. Others jumped
up and down, laughing and hallooing most merrily.
We preferred to pass up the river to the extreme
end of the town before we landed, that in coming
down by land we might form some estimate of the
amount of the inhabitants. The town is situated on
both sides of the stream, which is probably eighty
yards wide. As we passed along we observed one
of the most pleasant situations occupied by a Roman
Catholic chapel. Its appearance, together with some
peculiarities in the inhabitants, led us to think that
the Catholics had got a strong foothold here. We
saw only four Siamese priests and no temples. The
houses on the river were built principally of bamboo
and attap. They were small, elevated five or six feet
above the ground, and wore the aspect of old age.
The ground on which the town is situated rises gently
from the river and is a dry and sandy loam. There
were a number of middling-sized junks lying in the
river, which proves that the stream is sufficiently
deep to admit of the passage of such craft.
"Having reached the farthest extremity of the
place, we landed and walked down the principal
1G2 SI AM
street. We were thronged with wondering multi-
tudes, who were Cochin, Tachti, and Hokien-Chinese,
with only here and there a Siamese. The inhabitants
looked healthy, and were more perfectly dressed than
we usually observe in heathen villages in this climate.
The day being far spent we could not prolong our stay
more than one hour. When we got into our boat to
return the people literally surrounded us, although it
was in the water. Some stood in the river waist-deep
to get a look at the lady of the party, and petitioned
that she should rise from her seat, that thej 7 might see
how tall she was. As we pushed out into the river the
multitudes shouted most heartily. There cannot be
less than eight thousand or ten thousand souls in
Chantaboun, and probably thousands in the immedi-
ate vicinity.
" On our return we stopped at Luang ISTai Sit's, and
spent an hour or more. In looking about the prem-
ises we heedlessly entered a large bamboo house,
where to our surprise we saw a monster of an ele-
phant, and his excellency, the p'rak'lang, who beck-
oned to us to enter and directed us to seats. We
learned that this elephant was denominated white,
and seemed to be an object of great religious venera-
tion. He was as far from being white as black.
There appeared to be a little white powder sprinkled
upon his back. He was fastened to a post, and a man
was feeding him with paddy-grass.
" All the days that we have been in this place have
been very uncomfortably cold. We have not only
wanted winter clothes, but have found ourselves most
comfortable when wrapped up in our cloaks till the
FROM BANGKOK TO CIIANTABOUN 1G3
middle and sometimes till after the middle of the day.
The natives shiver like the aspen leaf, and they act
much as an American in the coldest winter day. The
northeast monsoon sweeps over the mountains, and I
think produces a current downward from that high
and cool region of air, which retains nearly its tem-
perature till after it has passed this place.
" It seems that there are a great number of set-
tlements, within the circumference of a few miles, as
large as Bang Ka Chah ; that the country is admi-
rably watered by three rivers ; and that the soil is rich
and peculiarly adapted to the growth of pepper, of
which large quantities are raised. There is a small
mountain near by, where it is said diamonds are pro-
cured. At Bang Ka Chah there is a remarkable
cave in a mountain. The country intervening be-
tween Bang Ka Chah and Thamai is under a high
o o
state of cultivation, being almost exclusively occu-
pied by Chinamen, who cultivate rice, tobacco, pep-
per, etc. The face of the country is pleasantly un-
dulated. Thamai contains four hundred or five hun-
dred souls, chiefly Chinese. Nung Boah lies east
from this place about four miles by the course of the
river. It is not a condensed settlement, but an ag-
ricultural and horticultural district, with thirty or
forty dwellings, perhaps, on every square mile. It
is situated on a large plain, a little distance from the
foot of the mount Sah Bap. Not more than a quar-
ter of the land is cultivated, while the remainder is
covered with small and scrubby jungle wood. Multi-
tudes of charming flowers lined both sides of the
paths as we walked from one farm to another ; and
1C4 SIAM
many a bird was seen of beautiful plumage and some
of pleasant note. The graceful tops of cocoanut
trees we found a never-failing sign of a human dwell-
ing, and sometimes of a cluster of them. The land
is almost wholly occupied by Tachu-Chinese ; a few
of them have Siamese wives, the remainder are sin-
gle men. They cultivate but small portions of land,
which they bring under a high state of improvement.
They raise chiefly sugar-cane, pepper, and tobacco.
The soil, being a rich loam, is well adapted to the
culture of these articles, as well as of a great variety
of horticultural plants.
" We have continued our surveys to the south-
east of this place, and visited Plieoo, a settlement
south of Nung Boah. We left our boat at Barn-
Chowkow, which is a settlement of Siamese, consist-
ing of about sixty families living in a very rural,
and, for a Siamese, a very comfortable style, in the
midst of groves of cocoanuts, interspersed with many
a venerable jungle-tree. On either side of a gentle
elevation on which their houses are scattered along a
line of half a mile, are rice-fields far surpassing in
excellence any I had before seen. The grain was
nearly all out, and a large proportion of it gathered.
They need no barns, and therefore have none. At
this season of the year they have no rains to trouble
them. The rice is threshed by buffaloes. All the
preparation that is necessary for this is to smooth
and harden a circle of ground 30 feet in diameter,
and set a post in its centre. Siamese carts have
wheels not less than twenty-five feet in circumfer-
ence, set four or five feet apart, with a small rack in
FROM BANGKOK TO CHANTABOUN 165
which the sheaves are placed. These are drawn by
a yoke of buffaloes. The person who loads the cart
guides the team by means of ropes, which are fast-
ened to the septum of their nostrils by hooks.
" At Plieoo we first went into a blacksmith's shop,
where four Chinamen were employed. The master
was very polite and did all he could think of to make
us comfortable. He prepared his couch for us to rest
upon, got us a cup of tea, etc. "We gave him one of
the histories of Christ, for which lie was abundantly
thankful. We next went to the market, where we
disposed of a few books. Entering into the house of
a Chinaman, we were surprised to find three Siamese
priests. The master of the house had prepared a
very neat dinner for one of his clerical guests, and
was just in the act of sitting down on the floor to eat,
as we entered. There was a frown on his brow as he
saw us approach. Although he could read, he utterly
refused to receive a tract. Being much in want of
some refreshment, I proposed that he should let me
have a dish of rice. He refused. I still pleaded for
a little, but he was determined that I should not be
fed from the same table with his priest. After a
little time we returned to our good friend the black-
smith, and merely suggested to him our want of
food. The aged, hospitable man seemed very happy
that he could have an opportunity to render us such
kindness and hastened to prepare us a dinner. He
went himself to market and purchased a variety of
articles for our comfort. The table was soon well
supplied with rice, eggs, greens, and various nameless
Chinese nick-nacks.
166 , SI A M
"In the village of Plieoo there are only a few hun-
dred souls, who are mostly Tachu-Chinese, and can-
not read. Their wives are Siamese. We conclude,
from what we were able to learn, that the vicinity is
densely populated."
The voyage back to Bangkok was comfortably
made in a small junk furnished by Luang Nai Sit,
and in company with his brother-in-law, an agreeable
and intelligent Siamese. Dr. Bradley continues:
" We have in tow an elegant boat, designed prob-
ably for some one of the nobles at Bangkok. It was
manufactured at Semetgaan. The Siamese possess
superior skill in making these boats. They have the
very best materials the world can afford for such pur-
poses. The boats consist generally of but one piece.
" A large tree is taken and scooped out in the form
of a trough. By some process, I know not what, the
sides are then sprung outward, which draws the ex-
tremities into a beautiful curve upward. After this
is done the boat is admirably wrought and trimmed.
The one we have in tow is about sixty feet in length
and five in breadth. Compared with many it is quite
small. I have seen not a few that were nearly a
hundred feet long and from six to eight feet wide,
made in the way I have above described.
" [Not long after the above was written, the writer
learned that these boats are swelled out in their mid-
ships by means of fire, and that the curves of their
bows and sterns are increased by means of pieces of
the same kind of timber so neatly fitted and firmly
joined as to appear on a distant examination to be a
continuation of the body of the boat.]
FROM BANGKOK TO CUANTABOUN 167
" On the morning of December 16th we were pass-
ing between Koh Samet and Sern Yah. After we
passed this our course lay west-northwest to another
cape called Sah Wa Larn. The wind was favorable
but light, and we were becalmed in the heat of the
day four hours or more. The heat was excessively
oppressive. No shade on deck and my cabin a small
place, not large enough to admit of my standing up-
right. Our vessel has been rowed much of the af-
ternoon for the want of wind. Cast anchor just at
evening a little east of Sah Wa Larn, having made
less than twenty miles during the day. The coast
about Lem Sing is very picturesque. West of this,
till you come to Sah Wa Larn, it is uniformly level.
The land appears to be entirely uncultivated. The
forests are composed of large timber, their tops pre-
senting a very uniform surface. I have much cause
for gratitude to God that I find in my companion,
Soot Chin Dah, a very attentive friend. He is de-
sirous to render me all the assistance he can in ac-
quiring the Siamese language, in which I hope I am
making some proficiency by engaging with him in
conversation.
" The scene between Koh Arat and Koh Yai, in
the midst of which we were at anchor the next morn-
ing, is most charming. The distance from one to
the other is about one rnile. Arat is a small island
rising very abruptly many hundred feet above the
sea. At the top is a rock of a conical form, which
seems on the point of rolling down with a tremen-
dous crash into the sea. Koh Yai is a much larger
island, and hence its name. A little before us was
168 SIAM
the cape Samaasarn, shielded against the sea by im-
mense white rocks. Just as the sun was rising Soot
Chin Dah invited me to accompany him to Koh Yai
for a morning exercise. Our fine boat was maimed
with nineteen men, and we went off in princely
style. We coasted some distance and then landed ;
whence we walked a long way, first on a sandy
beach and then among rocks composed of marine
shells interlaid with coral and shells of infinite va-
riety. The land was all one unbroken jungle.
Much of the small timber was of a thorny kind,
which seemed to bid defiance to human invasion.
Our men were chiefly engaged in picking up shells
suitable for gambling purposes. On our return we
touched at Arat, where I amused myself a little time
in climbing around craggy and stupendous rocks.
After two hours we returned to our junk well pre-
pared for breakfast. The hired cook, which Luang
Nai Sit had the goodness to provide for me, had my
food all ready, consisting of a broiled chicken, salt
and fresh eggs, and rice with tea. Soot Chin Dah
eats by himself, sometimes in one place and some-
times in another. His food is very neatly served for
him in a circular wooden tray. It is prepared by a
Portuguese cook, and served by his inferior brother.
When he is done eating, his brother, serang, assist-
ant serang, and cook eat of the remainder, sitting
on the deck. They use neither knife, fork, nor
spoon, their fingers serving the purposes of these in-
struments. The helmsman and his mate, who are
masters of the junk, and country-born Portuguese,
eat by themselves in the style of the Siamese. The
169
crew clan together in eating according to tlieir name-
less distinctions. Their main dependence is rice and
fish. The former they eat out of the bark of a plan-
tain tree rolled np at the sides and one end in the
shape of a scoop shovel, or out of a most filthy-look-
ing basket or cocoanut shell. There are three fe-
males on board who eat in the hold, where they re-
main almost constantly from morning to night. In
the evening they come out to enjoy the fresh air,
and have a most voluble chat with the men.
" About noon we anchored close to the shore of
Sern Poo Chow, which is an abrupt and lofty promon-
tory. Here three wild hogs made their appearance.
Having looked upon us a few minutes they disap-
peared. It seemed wonderful that they could inhabit
such a bluff, for a misstep would plunge them into
the abyss below.
"On the evening of the 19th our captain ordered
the anchor to be dropped, as we were on the bar at
the mouth of the Meinam River, eight or ten miles
from Paknam. We have had a good view of every
mile of the coast along which we have passed to-day,
and I may with but little qualification say the same
of all the coast between this and Chantaboun. The
coast north of Bangplasoi is low, without so much as
a rock or hill to break the evenness of the jungle.
We saw distinctly the entrance of Bangpakong River,
its mouth appearing as large as that of the Meinam.
I have spent much of this day in finishing charts of
Chantaboun and the coast from thence to Paknam."
12
CHAPTER XII.
CHANTABOUN AND THE GULP.
SINCE the date of the missionary journey recorded
in the last chapter Chantaboun has become a
place of considerable commercial importance, being
now the second port in the kingdom, noted for its
ship-building and fisheries and carrying on an active
export trade from Cambodia and the south-eastern
provinces. The government regards the place as one
of its chief cities, and has fortified the port at great
expense. The prosperity and value of this province
have improved since Mouhot's time, an account of
whose visit there will afford an idea of its physical
features and life.
M. Mouhot, it should be explained by way of in-
troduction, was one of the most competent and gifted
explorers of modern times. A Frenchman by birth,
he became allied by his marriage with an English-
woman to the family of Mungo Park, the famous
African explorer. He was a faithful student of nat-
ural science, devoting himself especially to ornithol-
ogy and conchology. While still a young man he
travelled extensively in Russia, and there learned to
speak both Russian and Polish. He was a good
draughtsman and a practical photographer of large
and varied experience ; but more than all he was pos-
CHANTABOUN AND THE GULF 171
sessed of an adventurous and enthusiastic spirit,
which welcomed danger when it came in the pursuit
of scientific data, and which, together with his great
bodily strength and physical constitution, especially
fitted him for the life of an explorer. Mouhot's own
creed was Protestant, but he was a man of such
amiability and broad sympathies as to win the cordial
affection of both Protestant and Catholic missionaries
in the regions where he travelled, lie was a man of
o
devout and religious heart, and almost the last words
of his journal, written while he was dying in the
jungles of Laos, breathe a spirit of Christian faith
and reliance on the love of God. His loss in the
prime of manhood was severely felt by the scientific
world as well as by those who were bound to him by
ties of kinship or of personal acquaintance.
The following are Mouhot's experiences at Chanta-
boun and among the islands of the gulf :
"My intention now was to visit Cambodia, but for
this rny little river boat was of no use. The only way
of going to Chantaboun was by embarking in one of
the small Chinese junks or fishing vessels, which I ac-
cordingly did on the 28th of December, taking with
me a new servant, called J^siou, a native of Annam,
and who, having been brought up at the college of
the Catholic priests at Bangkok, knew French well
enough to be very useful to me as an interpreter. The
boat was inconveniently small, and we were far from
comfortable ; for, besides myself and servant, there
were on board two men and two children about thir-
teen. I was much pleased with the picturesque aspect
of all the little islands in the gulf ; but our voyage
172 SIAM
was far longer than we expected, three days being its
usual duration, while, owing to a strong head-wind, it
occupied us for eight. We met with an accident which
was fatal to one of our party, and might have been
so to all of us. On the night of the 31st of December
our boat was making rapid way under the influence of
a violent wind. I was seated on the little roof of leaves
and interlaced bamboo which formed a sort of pro-
tection to me against the rain and cold night air, bid-
ding adieu to the departing year, and welcoming in
the new ; praying that it might be a fortunate one
for me, and, above all, that it might be full of bless-
ings for all those dear to me. The night was dark ;
we were about two miles from land, and the moun-
tains loomed black in the distance. The sea alone was
brilliant with that phosphoric light so familiar to all
voyagers on the deep. For a couple of hours we had
been followed by two sharks, who left behind them a
luminous and waving track. All was silent in our boat ;
nothing was to be heard but the wind whistling among
the rigging and the rushing of the waves : and I felt
at that midnight hour alone, and far from all I loved
a sadness which I vainly tried to shake off, and a
disquietude which I could not account for. Suddenly
we felt a violent shock, immediately followed by a
second, and then the vessel remained stationary.
Every one cried out in alarm ; the sailors rushed for-
ward ; in a moment the sail was furled and torches
lighted, but, sad to say, one of our number did not an-
swer to his name. One of the young boys, who had
been asleep on deck, had been thrown into the sea by
the shock. Uselessly we looked for the poor lad.
CHANTABOUN AND THE GULF 173
whose body doubtless became the prey of the sharks.
Fortunately for us, only one side of the boat had
touched the rock, and it had then run aground on the
sand ; so that after getting it off we were able to an-
chor not far from the shore.
"On the 3d January, 1859, after having crossed
the little gulf of Chantaboun, the sea being at the
time very rough, we came in sight of the famous
Lion Roek, which stands out like the extremity of a
cape at the entrance of this port. From a distance it
resembles a lion couchant, and it is difficult to believe
that Nature unassisted has formed this singular colos-
sus. The Siamese a superstitious race hold this
stone in great veneration, as they do everything that
appears to them extraordinary or marvellous. It is
said that the captain of an English ship, once an-
chored in the port, seeing the lion, proposed to buy
it, and that, on the governor of the place refusing the
offer, he pitilessly fired all his guns at the poor ani-
mal. This has been recorded in Siamese verse, with
a touching complaint against the cruelty of the West-
ern barbarians.
" On the 4th January, at eight o'clock in the
morning, we arrived at the town of Chantaboun,
which stands on the bank of the river, six or seven
miles from the mountain range. The Christian An-
namites form nearly a third of the population, the
remainder being composed of Chinese merchants,
and some heathen Annamites and Siamese. The
Annamites are all fishers, who originally came from
Cochin-China to fish in the northern part of the
Gulf of Siam, and settled at the Chantabouu. Every
174 SI AM
day, while the cold weather lasts, and the sea is not
too rough, they cast their nets in the little bays on
the coast, or in the sheltered water among the isl-
ands.
" The commerce of this province is inconsiderable,
compared with what it might be from its situation ;
but the numerous taxes, the grinding exactions of
the chiefs, and the usury of the mandarins, added
to the hateful system of slavery, keep the bulk of
the people in a ruinous state of prostration. How-
ever, in spite of a scanty population, they manage
to export to Bangkok a great quantity of pepper,
chiefly cultivated by the Chinese at the foot of the
mountains ; a little sugar and coffee of superior
quality ; mats made of rushes, which meet with a
ready sale in China ; tobacco, great quantities of
salted and dried fish, dried leeches, and tortoise-
shell. Every Siamese subject, on attaining a cer-
tain height, has to pay to government an impost or
annual tribute equivalent to six ticals- (eighteen
francs). The Annamites of Chantaboun pay this in
eagle-wood, and the Siamese in gamboge ; the Chi-
nese in gum-lac, every four years, and their tribute
amounts to four ticals. At the close of the rainy
season, the Annamite Christians unite in parties of
fifteen or twenty, and set out under the conduct of
an experienced man, who heads the expedition, and
indicates to the others the trees which contain the
eagle-wood, for all are not equally skilled in dis-
tinguishing those which produce it. A degree of ex-
perience is requisite for this, which can only be ac-
quired by time, and thus much useless and painful
CHANTABOUN AND THE GULF 175
labor is avoided. Some remain in the mountains,
others visit the large islands of Ko-Xang or Ko-lvhut,
situated southeast of Chantaboun. The eagle-wood
is hard and speckled, and diffuses a powerful aro-
matic odor when burnt. It is used at the increma-
tion of the bodies of princes and high dignitaries,
which are previously kept in the coffins for a twelve-
month. The Siamese also employ it as a medicine.
The wood of the tree which yields it the Aquilara
Agallocha of Roxburgh is white and very soft ;
arid the trunk must be cut down, or split in two, to
find the eagle-wood, which is in the interior. The
Annamites make a kind of secret of the indications
by which they fix upon the right trees, but the few
instructions given me put me on the right track. I
had several cut down, and the result of my observa-
tions was, that this substance is formed in the cavi-
ties of the trees, and that as they grow older it in-
creases in quantity. Its presence may be pretty
surely ascertained by the peculiar odor emitted, and
the hollow sound given out on striking the trunk.
" Most of the Chinese merchants are addicted to
gambling and to the use of opium ; but the An-
namite Christians are better conducted. The nat-
ure of these Annamites is very different from that
of the Siamese, who are an effeminate and indolent
race, but liberal and hospitable, simple-minded, and
without pride. The Annamites are short in stature,
and thin, lively, and active ; they are choleric and
vindictive, and extremely proud ; even among re-
lations there is continual strife and jealousy. The
poor and the wretched meet with no commiseration,
176 SI AM
but great respect is accorded to wealth. However,
the attachment of the Christians to their priests
and missionaries is very great, and they do not hesi-
tate to expose themselves to any dangers in their
behalf. I must likewise own that, in all my dealings
with the pagan Annamites, whose reverence for their
ancestors induces them to hold fast their idolatry, I
experienced generosity and kindness from them, both
at Chantaboun and in the islands.
"The missionaries at Bangkok having given me
a letter of introduction to their fellow-laborer at
Chantaboun, I had the pleasure of making acquaint-
ance with the w r orthy man, who received me with
great cordiality, and placed at my disposal a room
in his modest habitation. The good father has re-
sided for more than twenty years at Chantaboun,
with the Annamites whom he has baptized, content
and happy amid indigence and solitude. I found
him, on my arrival, at the height of felicity ; a new
brick chapel, which had been for some time in course
of construction, and the funds required for which had
been saved out of his modest income, was rapidly
progressing, and promised soon to replace the wooden
building in which he then officiated. I passed six-
teen days very agreeably with him, sometimes hunt-
ing on Mount Sabab, at other times making excur-
sions on the rivers and canals. The country greatly
resembles the province of Pakpriau, the plain being,
perhaps, still more desert and uncultivated ; but at
the foot of the mountains, and in some of the delight-
ful valleys, pepper is grown in some quantity by the
Chinese.
CHANTABOUN AND THE GULF 177
" I bought for twenty-five ticals a small boat to
enable me to visit the isles of the gulf. The first I
landed at was named Konam-sao ; it is in the form
of a cone, and nearly two hundred and fifty metres*
in height, but only two miles in circumference. Like
all the other islands in this part of the gulf, it is of
volcanic origin. The rocks which surround it make
the access difficult ; but the effect produced by the rich-
ness and bright green of the vegetation is charming.
The dry season, so agreeable for European travelling,
from the freshness of the nights and mornings, is in.
Siam a time of stagnation and death for all nature ;
the birds fly to the neighborhood of houses, or to the
banks of the rivers, which furnish them with nourish-
ment ; rarely does their song come to enchant the
listener ; and the fishing-eagle alone utters his hoarse
and piercing cry every time the wind changes. Ants
swarm everywhere, and appear to be, with the mos-
quitoes and crickets, the only insects that have es-
caped destruction.
" Nowhere did I find in these islands the slightest
trace of path or stream ; and it was extremely difficult
to advance at all through the masses of wild vines
and interwoven branches. I was forced to make my
way, hatchet in hand, and returned at night exhausted
with the heat and fatigue.
" The greater portion of the rocks in the elevated
parts of these islands is elementary and preserves
traces of their ancient deposit beneath the waters.
They have, however, undergone considerable volcanic
changes, and contain a number of veins and irregular
* A metre is equivalent to 3 feet 3J inches.
178 SI AM
deposits of the class known as contact deposits, that
are formed near the junction of stratified rocks with
intruded igneous masses.
" On the 26th we set sail for the first of the Ko-
Man Islands, for there are three, situated close to-
gether, bearing this name. The largest is only twelve
miles from the coast. Some fishing-eagles, a few
black doves, and a kind of white pigeon were the
only winged creatures I saw. Iguanas are numerous,
and when in the evening they come out of their re-
treats, they make such a noise in walking heavily
over the dead leaves and branches that one might
suppose it caused by animals of a much larger size.
" Toward evening, the tide having fallen, I allowed
my boat to ground on the mud, which 1 had remarked
during the day to be like a peat-bog impregnated
with volcanic matter; and during the whole night so
strong a sulphurous odor escaped from it that I im-
agined myself to be over a submarine volcano.
"On the 28th we passed on to the second island,
which is higher and more picturesque than the other.
The rocks which surround it give it a magnificent
effect, especially in a bright sunlight, when the tide
is low. The isles of the Patates owe their name to
the numerous wild tubers found there.
" I passed several days at Cape Liaut, part of the
time being occupied in exploring the many adjacent
islands. It is the most exquisite part of the gulf,
and will bear comparison, for its beauty, with the
Strait of Sunda, near the coast of Java. Two years
ago, when the king visited Chantaboun, they built
for him on the shore, at the extremity of the cape, a
OHANTABOUN AND THE GULF 179
house and kiosk, and, in memory of that event, they
also erected on the top of the mountain a small
tower, from which a very extensive view may be
enjoyed.
" I also made acquaintance with Ko-Kram, the
most beautiful and the largest of all the islands north
of the gulf between Bangkok and Chantaboun. The
whole island consists of a wooded mountain-range,
easy of access, and containing much oligist iron. On
the morning of the 29th, at sunrise, the breeze lessen-
ed, and when we were about three miles from the
strait which separates the Isle of Arec from that of
the ' Cerfs ' it ceased altogether. For the last half
hour we were indebted solely to our oars for the little
progress made, being exposed to all the glare of a
burning sun ; and the atmosphere was heavy and suf-
focating. All of a sudden, to my great astonishment,
the water began to be agitated, and our light boat
was tossed about by the waves. I knew not what to
think, and was seriously alarmed, when our pilot
called out, ' Look how the sea boils ! ' Turning in
the direction indicated, I beheld the sea really in a
state of ebullition, and very shortly afterward an im-
mense jet of water and steam, which lasted for several
minutes, was thrown into the air. I had never before
witnessed such a phenomenon, and was now no longer
astonished at the powerful smell of sulphur which
had nearly overpowered me in Ivo-Man. It was
really a submarine volcano, which burst out, more
than a mile from the place where we had anchored
three days before.
" On March 1st we reached Yen-Yen, at Pack-
180 SI AM
nam-Ven, the name of the place where the brandies
of the river unite. This river, whose width at the
mouth is above three miles, is formed by the union
of several streams flowing from the mountains, as
well as by an auxiliary of the Chantaboun River,
which, serving as a canal, unites these two places.
Ascending the stream for fourteen or fifteen miles,
a large village is reached, called Bandiana, but Pak-
nam-Yen is only inhabited by five families of Chinese
fishermen.
" Crocodiles are more numerous in the river at
Paknam-Yen than in that at Chantaboun. I contin-
ually saw them throw themselves from the banks into
the water; and it has frequently happened that care-
less fishers, or persons who have imprudently fallen
asleep on the shore, have become their prey, or have
afterward died of the wounds inflicted by them.
This latter has happened twice during my stay here.
It is amusing, however for one is interested in ob-
serving the habits of animals all over the world to
see the manner in which these creatures catch the
apes, which sometimes take a fancy to play with
them. Close to the bank lies the crocodile, his body
in the water, and only his capacious mouth above the
surface, ready to seize anything that may come with-
in reach. A troop of apes catch sight of him, seem
to consult together, approach little by little, and com-
mence their frolics, by turns actors and spectators.
One of the most active or most impudent jumps from
branch to branch, till within a respectful distance of
the crocodile, when, hanging by one claw, and with
the dexterity peculiar to these animal?, he advances
MONKEYS PLAYING WITH A CROCODILE.
CHANTABOUN AND THE GULF 181
and retires, now giving his enemy a blow with his
paw, at another time only pretending to do so. The
other apes, enjoying the fun, evidently wish to take
a part in it ; but the other branches being too high,
they form a sort of chain by laying hold of each
other's paws, and thus swing backward and forward,
while any one of them who comes within reach of
the crocodile torments him to the best of his ability.
Sometimes the terrible jaws suddenly close, but not
upon the audacious ape, who just escapes ; then there
are cries of exultation from the tormentors, who
gambol about joyfully. Occasionally, however, the
claw is entrapped, and the victim dragged with the ra-
pidity of lightning beneath the water, when the whole
troop disperse, groaning and shrieking. The misad-
venture does not, however, prevent their recommenc-
ing the game a few days afterward.
" On the 4th I returned to Chantaboun from my
excursions in the gulf, and resumed charge of my col-
lections, which, during my absence, I had left at the
custom-house, and which, to my great satisfaction,
had been taken good care of. The tide was low, and
we could not go up to the town. The sea here is
steadily receding from the coast, and, if some rem-
edy be not found, in a few years the river will not
be navigable even for boats. Already the junks have
some trouble in reaching Chantaboun even at high
water. The inhabitants were fisliing for crabs and
mussels on the sand-banks, close to the custom-house,
the employes in which were occupied in the same
pursuit. The chief official, who, probably hoping
for some small present, had come out to meet me,
182 81 AM
heard me promise a supply of pins and needles to
those who would bring me shells, and encouraged his
men to look for them. In consequence, a large num-
ber were brought me, which, to obtain otherwise,
would have cost much time and trouble.
CHAPTER XIII.
MOUHOT IN THE HILL COUNTRY OF CHANTABOUN.
" T T ERE I am," continues Monhot, in his narrative,
1 1 " once more installed in the house of a good
old Chinese, a pepper-planter, whose hospitality I en-
joyed on my first visit to the place, two months ago.
His name is Ihie-llow, but in Siamese lie is called
Apait, which means uncle. He is a widower, with
two sons, the eldest eighteen, a good young man,
lively, hard-working, brave, and persevering. lie is
already much attached to me, and is desirous of ac-
companying me to Cambodia. Born amid the moun-
tains, and naturally intelligent, there are none of the
quadrupeds and few of the feathered tribes found in
the district with whose habits he is not familiar. He
fears neither tiger nor elephant. All this, added to
his amiable disposition, made Phrai (that is his name)
a real treasure to me.
" Apait has also two brothers who have become
Catholics, and have settled atChantaboun in order to
be near a Christian place of worship. He himself
lias never had any desire to change his religion, be-
cause he says if he did he must forget his deceased
parents, for whom he frequently offers sacrifices.
He is badly off, having incurred a debt of fifty ticals,
184: SIAM
for which he has to pay ten as yearly interest, the
rate in Siam being always twenty or thirty per cent.
Besides this he has various taxes to pay twelve
ticals for his two sons, four for his house, one for his
furnace, one for his pig. The tax on the pepper-field
is eight ticals, one on his areca-trees, one on the betel
cultivated by him, and two sellungs for a cocoa-tree ;
altogether thirty-nine ticals. His land brines him
o i/ o
in forty after all expenses are paid ; what can he do
with the one remaining tical ? The unlucky agricult-
urists of this kind, and they are many, live on vege-
tables, and on the rice which they obtain from the
Siamese in exchange for areca.
o
" On my return from the islands, I had been de-
tained nearly ten days at Chantaboun, unable to
walk ; I had cut my heel in climbing the rocks on
the shore at Ko-Man, and, as I was constantly bare-
footed in the salt water, the wound soon closed.
But afterward I began to suffer from it ; my foot
swelled, and I was obliged to reopen the wound to
extract a piece of shell which had remained in it.
As soon as I could leave Chantaboun I hired a car-
riage and two buffaloes to take me to the moun-
tain. I experienced much gratification in finding
myself again among these quiet scenes, at once so
lovely and so full of grandeur. Here are valleys in-
tersected by streams of pure and limpid water ;
there, small plains, over which are scattered the
modest dwellings of the laborious Chinese : M 7 hile a
o f
little in the distance rises the mountain, with its
imposing rocks, its grand trees, its torrents, and
waterfalls.
MOUHOT'S TRAVELS 185
" We have already had some storms, for the rainy
season is approaching, vegetation is fresh, and nat-
ure animated ; the song of birds and the hum of
insects are heard all around. Apait has resigned to
me his bed, if that can be so styled, which consists
merely of a few laths of areca placed upon four
stakes. 1 have extended rny mat upon this frame-
work, and should enjoy uninterrupted sleep all night
were it not for the swarms of ants which frequently
disturb me by passing over my body, getting under
my clothes and into my beard, and, I almost fancy,
would end by dragging me out if I did not from
time to time shake them off. Occasionally great
spiders and other disgusting creatures, crawling
about under the roof, would startle me by dropping
suddenly on my face.
" The heat now is quite endurable, the thermom-
eter generally marking 80 Fahr. in the morning and
90 in the middle of the day. The water of the
streams is so cool and refreshing that a good morn-
ing and evening ablution makes me comfortable for
several hours, as well as contributing to keep me in
health.
" Last evening Phrai, having gone along with my
man Fiou to Chantabouri to buy provisions, brought
back to his father some Chinese bonbons, for which
he had paid half a fuang. The poor old man was
delighted with them, and this morning at daybreak
he dressed himself in his best clothes, on which I
asked him what w*as going to happen. He imme-
diately began to clean a plank which was fitted into
the wall to serve as a sort of table or altar. Above
13
186 81 A M
this was a drawing of a man dancing and putting
out his tongue, with claws on his feet and hands, and
with the tail of an ape, intended to represent his
father. He then filled three small cups with tea,
put the bonbons in a fourth, and placed the whole
upon the simple altar ; finally, lighting two pieces
of odoriferous wood, he began his devotions. It was
a sacrifice to the manes of his parents, performed
with the hope that their souls would come and taste
the good things set before them.
" At the entrance of Apait's garden, in front of his
house, I had made a kind of shed with stakes and
branches of trees, covered with a roof of leaves,
where I dried and prepared my large specimens, such
as the long-armed apes, kids, and hornbills, as also
my collections of insects. All this has attracted a
crowd of inquisitive Siamese and Chinamen, who came
to see the " farang " and admire his curiosities. We
have just passed the Chinese Xew Year's-day, and,
as there has been a fete for three days, all those living
at any distance have profited by the opportunity to
visit us. At times Apait's house and garden have
been crowded with people in their holiday dresses,
many of whom, seeing my instruments, my natu-
ralist's case, and different preparations, took me for
a great doctor, and begged for medicines.
" Alas ! my pretensions are not so high ; however,
I treat them on the 'Raspail' system; and a little
box of pomade or phial of sedative water will perhaps
be represented in some European museum by an in-
sect or shell brought to me by these worthy people in
return for the good I would gladly do them.
MOUHOT'S TRAVELS 187
" It is very agreeable, after a fatiguing day's chase
over hills and amongst dense forests, through which
one must cut one's way, axe in hand, to repose in the
evening on the good Chinaman's bench in front of his
house, shaded by banana, cocoanut, and other trees.
For the last four days a violent north wind, fresh in
spite of the season, has been blowing without inter-
mission, breaking asunder and tearing up by the roots
some of the trees on the higher grounds. This is its
farewell visit, for the southeast wind will now blow
for many months.
" This evening everything appeared to me more
beautiful and agreeable than usual ; the stars shone
brightly in the sky, the moon was clear. Sitting by
Apait while his son played to me some Chinese airs
on the bamboo flute, I thought to what a height of
prosperity this province, even now one of the most
interesting and flourishing in the country, might at-
tain, were it wisely arid intelligently governed, or if
European colonists were to settle and develop its re-
sources. Proximity to the sea, facility of communi-
cation, a rich soil, a healthy and propitious climate ;
nothing is wanted to ensure success to an industrious
and enterprising agriculturist.
" The worthy old Apait has at last consented to al-
low his son to enter my service, providing I pay him
thirty ticals, half a year's wages, in advance. This
will enable him, if he can sell his house and pepper-
field, to clear off his debt and retire to another part
of the mountain. Phrai is delighted to attend me,
and to run about the woods all day, and I am not less
pleased with our bargain, for his knowledge of the
188 81 AM
country, his activity, his intelligence, and attachment
to me, are invaluable.
" The heat becomes greater and greater, the ther-
mometer having risen to 102 Fahr. in the shade :
thus hunting is now a painful, and sometimes im-
possible, exertion, anywhere except in the woods.
A few days ago I took advantage of a short spell of
cloudy and consequently cooler weather to visit a
waterfall I had heard of in the almost desert district
of Prion, twelve miles from Kombau. After reach-
ing the last-named place our course lay for about
an hour and a half along a charming valley, nearly
as smooth as a lawn and as ornamental as a park.
By and by, entering a forest, we kept by the banks
of a stream, which, shut in between two mountains,
and studded with blocks of granite, increases in size
as you approach its source. Before long we arrived
at the fall, which must be a fine spectacle in the
rainy season. It then pours down from immense
perpendicular rocks, forming, as it were, a circular
peaked wall, nearlj 7 thirty metres in diameter and
twenty metres in height. The force of the torrent
having been broken by the rocky bed into which it
descends, there is another fall of ten feet ; and lower
down, after a third fall of fifteen feet, it passes into
an ample basin, which, like a mirror, reflects the
trees and cliffs around. Even during the dry season,
the spring, then running from beneath enormous
blocks of granite, flows in such abundance as to feed
several streams.
" I was astonished to see my two servants, heated
by their long walk, bathe in the cold water, and on
MOUHOT'S TRAVELS 189
my advising them to wait for a little, they replied
that the natives were always accustomed to bathe
when hot.
" We all turned stone-cutters, that is to say, we
set to work to detach the impression of an unknown
animal from the surface of an immense mass of
granite rising up out of one of the mountain tor-
rents. A Chinese had in January demanded so ex-
orbitant a sum for this that I had abandoned the
idea, intending to content myself with an impression
in wax, but Phrai proposed to me to undertake the
work, and by our joint labor it was soon accom-
plished. The Siamese do not much like my med-
dling with their rocks, and their superstition is also
somewhat startled when I happen to kill a white
ape, although when the animal is dead and skinned
they are glad to obtain a cutlet or steak from it, for
they attribute to the flesh of this creature great me-
dicinal virtues.
" The rainy season is drawing near ; storms be-
come more and more frequent, and the growling of
the thunder is frightful. Insects are in greater
numbers, and the ants, which are now looking out
for a shelter, invade the dwellings, and are a per-
fect pest to my collections, not to speak of myself
and my clothes. Several of my books and maps
have been almost devoured in one night. Fortu-
nately there are no mosquitoes, but to make up for
this there is a small species of leech, which, when it
rains, quits the streams and infests the woods, ren-
dering an excursion there, if not impracticable, at all
events very disagreeable. You have constantly to be
190 SIAM
pulling them off you by dozens, but, as some always
escape observation, you are sure to return home
covered with blood ; often my white trousers are
dyed as red as those of a French soldier.
" The animals have now become scarcer, which in
different ways is a great disappointment to all, for
Phrai and Isiou feasted sumptuously on the flesh of
the apes, and made a profit by selling their gall to the
Chinese doctors in Chantaboun. Hornbills have also
turned wild, so we can find nothing to replenish our
larder but an occasional kid. Large stags feed on the
mountain, but one requires to watch all night to get
within range of them. There are not many birds
to be seen, neither quail, partridges, nor pheasants ;
and the few wild fowl which occasionally make their
appearance are so difficult to shoot that it is waste
both of time and ammunition to make the attempt.
" In this part of the country the Siamese declare
they cannot cultivate bananas on account of the ele-
phants, which at certain times come down from the
mountains and devour the leaves, of which they are
very fond. The royal and other tigers abound here ;
every night they prowl about in the vicinity of the
houses, and in the mornings we can see the print of
their large claws in the sand and in the clay near
streams. By day they retire to the mountain, where
they lurk in close and inaccessible thickets. Kow and
then you may get near enough to one to have a shot
at him, but generally, unless suffering from hunger,
they fly at the approach of man. A few days ago I
saw a young Chinese who had nineteen wounds on his
body, made by one of these animals. He was looking
MOUHOT'S TRAVELS 191
out from a tree about nine feet high when the cries of
a young kid tied to another tree at a short distance, at-
tracted a large tiger. The young man fired at it, but,
though mortally wounded, the creature, collecting all
his strength for a final spring, leaped on his enemy,
seized him and pulled him down, tearing his flesh
frightfully with teeth and claws as they rolled on the
ground. Luckily for the unfortunate Chinese, it was
a dying effort, and in a few moments more the tiger
relaxed its hold and breathed its last.
" In the mountains of Chantaboun, and not far
from my present abode, precious stones of fine water
occur. There is even at the east of the town an emi-
nence, which they call ' the mountain of precious
stones ; ' and it would appear from the account of
Mgr. Pallegoix that at one time they were abundant
in that locality, since in about half an hour he picked
up a handful, which is as much as now can be found
in a twelvemonth, nor can they be purchased at any
price.
" It seems that I have seriously offended the poor
Thai* of Kombau by carryiiig away the footprints. I
have met several natives who tell me they have bro-
ken arms, that they can no longer work, and will al-
ways henceforth be in poverty ; and I find that I am
considered to be answerable for this because I irri-
tated the genius of the mountain. Henceforth they
will have a good excuse for idleness.
" The Chinese have equally amused me. They
imagine that some treasure ought to be found be-
neath the footprints, and that the block which I have
* The Siamese call themselves Thai.
192 81 AM
carried away must possess great medicinal virtues ;
so Apait and his friends have been rubbing the under
part of the stone every morning against another piece
of granite, and, collecting carefully the dust that fell
from it, have mixed it with water and drunk it fast-
ing, fully persuaded that it is a remedy against all
ills. Here they say that it is faith which cures ; and
it is certain that pills are often enough administered
in the civilized West which have no more virtue than
the granite powder swallowed by old Apait.
"His uncle Thie-ou has disposed of his property
for him for sixty ticals, so that, after paying off his
debts, he will have left, including the sum I gave him
for his son's services, forty ticals. Here that is enough
to make a man think himself rich to the end of his
days ; he can at times regale the souls of his parents
with tea and bonbons, and live himself like a true
country mandarin. Before leaving Kombau the old
man secured me another lodging, for which I had to
pay two ticals (six francs) a month, and I lost noth-
ing in point of comfort by the change. For ' fur-
nished apartments ' I think the charge not unreason-
able. The list of furniture is as follows : in the
dining-room nothing, in the bedroom an old mat on
a camp-bed. However, this house is cleaner and
larger than the other, and better protected from the
weather ; in the first the water came in in all direc-
tions. Then the camp-bed, which is a large one, af-
fords a pleasant lounge after my hunting expeditions.
Besides which advantages my new landlord furnishes
me with bananas and vegetables, for which I pay in
game when the chase has been successful.
MOUHOT'S TRAVELS 193
" The fruit here is exquisite, particularly the man-
go, the mangosteen, the pineapple, so fragrant and
melting in the mouth, and, what is superior to any-
thing I ever imagined or tasted, the famous ' dnrian '
or ' dourion,' which justly merits the title of king of
fruits. But to enjoy it thoroughly one must have
time to overcome the disgust at first inspired by its
smell, which is so strong that I could not stay in the
same place with it. On first tasting it I thought it
like the flesh of some animal in a state of putrefac-
tion, but after four or five trials I found the aroma
exquisite. The durian is about two-thirds the size
of a jacca, and like it is encased in a thick and prickly
rind, which protects it from the teeth of squirrels and
other nibblers ; on opening it there are to be found
ten cells, each containing a kernel larger than a date,
and surrounded by a sort of white, or sometimes yel-
lowish, cream, which is most delicious. By an odd
freak of nature, not only is there the first repugnance
to it to overcome, but if you eat it often, though with
ever so great moderation, you find yourself next day
covered with blotches, as if attacked with measles, so
heating is its nature. A durian picked is never good,
for when fully ripe it falls off itself ; when cut open
it must be eaten at once, as it quickly spoils, but
otherwise it will keep for three days. At Bangkok
one of them costs one sellung / at Chantaboun nine
may be obtained for the same sum.
" I had come to the conclusion that there was
little danger in traversing the woods here, and in our
search for butterflies and other insects, we often took
no other arms than a hatchet and hunting-knife,
194 SI AM
while Xiou had become so confident as to go by night
with Phrai to lie in wait for stags. Our sense of se-
curity was, however, rudely shaken when one evening
a panther rushed upon one of the dogs close to iuy
door. The poor animal uttered a heart-rending cry,
which brought us all out, as well as our neighbors,
each torch in hand. Finding themselves face to face
with a panther, they in their turn raised their voices
in loud screams ; but it was too late for me to get my
gun, for in a moment the beast was out of reach.
" In a few weeks I must say farewell to these
beautiful mountains, never, in all probability, to see
them again, and I think of this with regret ; I have
been so happy here, and have so much enjoyed my
hunting and my solitary walks in this comparatively
temperate climate, after my sufferings from the heat
and mosquitoes in my journey northward.
" Thanks to my nearness to the sea on the one side,
and to the mountain region on the other, the period
of the greatest heat passed away without my perceiv-
ing it ; and I was much surprised at receiving a few
days ago a letter from Bangkok which stated that it
had been hotter weather there than had been known
for more than thirty years. Many of the European
residents had been ill ; yet I do not think the climate
of Bangkok more unhealthy than that of other towns
of eastern Asia within the tropics. But no doubt the
want of exercise, which is there almost impossible,
induces illness in many cases.
"A few days ago I made up my mind to penetrate
into a grotto on Mount Sabab, half-way between
Chautaboun and Ivumbau, so deep, I am told, that it
MOUHOT'S TRAVELS 195
extends to the top of the mountain. I set out, ac-
companied by Phrai and Niou, furnished with all
that was necessary for our excursion. On reaching
the grotto we lighted our torches, and, after seal-
O O 99
ing a number of blocks of granite, began our march.
Thousands of bats, roused by the lights, commenced
flying round and round us, flapping our faces with
their wings, and extinguishing our torches every min-
ute. Phrai walked first, trying the ground with a
lance which he held ; but we had scarcely proceeded
a hundred paces when he threw himself back upon me
with every mark of terror, crying out, ' A serpent !
go back ! ' As he spoke I perceived an enormous boa
about fifteen feet off, with erect head and open
mouth, ready to dart upon him My guji being
loaded, one barrel with two bullets, the other with
shot, I took aim and fired off both at once. We were
immediately enveloped in a thick cloud of smoke, and
could see nothing, but prudently beat an instant re-
treat. We waited anxiously for some time at the
entrance of the grotto, prepared to do battle with our
enemy should he present himself ; but he did not
appear. My guide now boldly lighted a torch, and,
furnished with my gun reloaded and a long rope,
went in again alone. We held one end of the rope,
that at the least signal we might fly to his assistance.
For some minutes, which appeared terribly long, our
anxiety was extreme, but equally great was our relief
and gratification when we saw him approach, draw-
ing after him the rope, to which was attached an
immense boa. The head of the reptile had been
shattered by my fire, and his death had been instan-
196 8IAM
taneous, but we sought to penetrate no farther into
the grotto.
" I had been told that the Siamese were about to
celebrate a grand fete at a pagoda about three miles
off, in honor of a superior priest who died last year,
and whose remains were now to be burned according
to the custom of the country. I went to see this sin-
gular ceremony, hoping to gain some information re-
specting the amusements of this people, and arrived
at the place about eight in the morning, the time for
breakfast, or ' kinkao ' (rice-eating). ^Nearly two
thousand Siamese of both sexes from Chantaboim
and the surrounding villages, some in carriages and
some on foot, were scattered over the ground in the
neighborhood of the pagoda. All wore new sashes
and dresses of brilliant colors, and the effect of the
various motley groups was most striking.
"Under a vast roof of planks supported by col-
umns, forming a kind of shed, bordered by pieces of
stuff covered with grotesque paintings representing
men and animals in the most extraordinary attitudes,
was constructed an imitation rock of colored paste-
board, on which was placed a catafalque lavishly
decorated with gilding and carved work, and contain-
ing an urn in which were the precious remains of the
priest. Here and there were arranged pieces of
paper and stuff in the form of flags. Outside the
building was prepared the funeral pile, and at some dis-
tance off a platform was erected for the accommodation
of a band of musicians, who played upon different in-
struments of the country. Farther away some wom-
en had established a market for the sale of fruit,
MOUHOT'S TRAVELS 197
bonbons, and arrack, while in another quarter some
Chinamen and Siamese were performing, in a little
theatre run up for the occasion, scenes something in
the style of those exhibited by our strolling actors at
fairs. This fete, which lasted for three days, had
nothing at all in it of a funereal character. I had
C3
gone there hoping to witness something new and re-
markable, for these peculiar rites are only celebrated
in honor of sovereigns, nobles, and other persons of
high standing ; but I had omitted to take into con-
sideration the likelihood of my being myself an ob-
ject of curiosity to the crowd. Scarcely, however,
had I appeared in the pagoda, followed by Phrai and
Niou, when on all sides I heard the exclamation,
* Farang ! come and see the farang ! ' and imme-
diately both Siamese and Chinamen left their bowls
of rice and pressed about me. I hoped that, once
their curiosity was gratified, they would leave me in
peace, but instead of that the crowd grew thicker
and thicker, and followed me wherever I went, so
that at last it became almost unbearable, and all the
more so as most of them were already drunk, either
with opium or arrack, many indeed, with both. I
quitted the pagoda and was glad to get into the fresh
air again, but the respite was of short duration.
Passing the entrance of a large hut temporarily built
of planks, I saw some chiefs of provinces sitting at
breakfast. The senior of the party advanced straight
toward me, shook me by the hand, and begged me in
a cordial and polite manner to enter ; and I was glad
to avail myself of his kind offer, and take refuge
from the troublesome people. My hosts overwhelmed
198 SIAM
me with attentions, and forced upon me pastry, fruit,
and bonbons ; but the crowd who had followed me
forced their way into the building and hemmed us
in on all sides ; even the roof was covered with
gazers. All of a sudden we heard the walls crack,
and the whole of the back of the hut, yielding under
the pressure, fell in, and people, priests, and chiefs
tumbling one upon another, the scene of confusion
was irresistibly comic. I profited by the opportunity
to escape, swearing though rather late in the day
that they should not catch me again.
" I know not to what it is to be attributed, unless
it be the pure air of the mountains and a more active
life, but the mountaineers of Chantaboun appeared a
much finer race than the Siamese of the plain, more
robust, and of a darker complexion. Their features,
also, are more regular, and I should imagine that
they sprang rather from the Arian than from the
Mongolian race. They remind me of the Siamese
ami Laotians whom I met with in the mountains of
Pakpriati.
" Will the present movement of the nations of
Europe toward the East result in good by introduc-
ing into these lands the blessings of our civilization ?
or shall we, as blind instruments of boundless ambi-
tion, come hither as a scourge to add to their present
miseries? Here are millions of unhappy creatures
in great poverty in the midst of the richest and most
fertile region imaginable, bowing shamefully under
a servile yoke, made viler by despotism and the most
barbarous customs, living and dying in utter igno-
rance of the only true God !
MOUHOT'S TRAVELS 199
" I quitted with regret these beautiful mountains,
where I had passed so many happy hours with the
poor but hospitable inhabitants. On the evening
before and the morning of my departure, all the
people of the neighborhood, Chinese and Siamese,
came to say adieu, and offer me presents of fruits,
dried fish, fowls, tobacco, and rice cooked in various
ways with brown sugar, all in greater quantities than
I could possibly carry away. The farewells of these
good mountaineers were touching; they kissed my
hands and feet, and I confess that my eyes were not
dry. They accompanied me to a great distance,
begging me not to forget them, and to pay them an-
other visit."
CHAPTER XIY.
PECHABURI OR P'RIPP'REE
ON the opposite side of the gulf from Chanta-
boun, and much nearer to the mouth of the
Meinam, within a few hours' sail of Paknam, is the
town of Pechaburi, which is now famous as the seat
of a summer palace built by the late king, and as a
place of increasing resort for foreigners resident in
Siam.
The proper orthography of the name of this town
was a matter which gave the late king a great deal
of solicitude and distress. Priding himself upon his
scholarship almost as much as on his sovereignty,
his pedantic soul was vexed by the method in which
some of the writers for the press had given the
name. Accordingly, in a long article published in
the Bangkok Calendar, he relieved his mind by a
protest which is so characteristic, and in its way so
amusing, that it will bear to be quoted by way of
introduction to the present chapter. He has just
finished a long disquisition, philological, historical
and antiquarian, concerning the name of the city of
Bangkok, and he continues as follows:
" But as the city P'etch'ara-booree the masses of
the people in all parts call it P'ripp'ree or P'et-p'ree.
The name P'etch'ara-booree is Sanskrit, a royal name
PECHABURI OR P'RIPP'HEE 201
given to the place the same as T'on-booree, Non-boo-
ree, Nak'awn K'u'n k'an, Samoota-pra-kan, and Ch'a-
chong-sow. Now, if Maha nak'awn be called Bang-
kok, and the other names respectively called Talat-
k'vvan, Paklat, Paknam, and Paatrew, it is proper that
P'etch'ara-booree should follow suit, and be called by
her vulgar name P'rip-p'ree, or P'et-p'ree.
" Now that the company of teachers and printers
should coin a name purporting to be after the royal
style and yet do not take the true Sanskrit, seems not
at all proper. In trying to Romanize the name
P'etch'ara-booree, they place the mark over the a thus
P'etcha-booree, making foreigners read it P'etcha-
booree, following the utterances of old dunces in the
temples, who boast that they know Balam Bali, and
not satisfied with that, they even call the place City
P'et, setting forth both the Bali and the meaning of
the word ; and thus boasting greatly of their knowl-
edge and of being a standard of orthography for the
name of that city.
"Now, what is the necessity of coining another
name like this ? There is no occasion for it. When
the name is thus incorrectly printed, persons truly ac-
quainted with Sanskrit and Bali (for such there are
many other places) will say that those who write or
print the name in the way, must be pupils of ignorant
teachers blind teachers not following the real San-
skrit in full, taking only the utterances of woodsmen,
and holding them forth [as the correct way]. In fol-
lowing such sounds they cannot be in accord with the
Sanskrit, and they conclude that the name is Siamese.
Whereas, in truth, it is not Siamese. The true Siam-
14
202 SIAM
ese name is P'rip-p'ree or P'et-p'ree. It matters not
what letters are used to express it follow your own
mind ; but let the sound come out clear and accurate
either P'rip-p'ree or P'et-p'ree, and it will be true
Siamese. But the mode of writing and printing the
name P'etcha-booree with the letter a and mark over
it and other marks in two places, resists the eye and
the mouth greatly. Whatever be done in this matter
let there be uniformity. If it be determined to fol-
low the vulgar mode of calling the name, let that be
followed out fully and accurately ; but if the royal
mode be preferred let the king be sought unto for the
proper way of writing it, which shall be in full accord-
ance with the Sanskrit. And should this happen not
to be like the utterance of the people in the temples,
the difference cannot be great. And persons unac-
quainted with Sanskrit will be constrained to acknowl-
edge that you do really know Sanskrit ; and compar-
ing the corrected with the improper mode of Roman-
izing, will praise you for the improvement which you
have made. Such persons there are a few, not igno-
rant and blind leaders and dunces like the inmates of
the temples and of the jungles and forests, but learned
in the Sanskrit and residents in Siam."
It is to be feared, however, that his majesty's pro-
test came too late, and that, like many another blun-
der, the name Pechaburi has obtained such currency
that it cannot be superseded.
Sir John Bowring "received from a gentleman
now resident in Siam the notes of an excursion to
this city in July, 1855.
" * We left Bangkok about three in the afternoon,
PECHABURI OR P'RIPP'REE 203
and although we had the tide in our favor, we only
accomplished five miles during the first three hours.
Our way lay through a creek ; and so great was the
number of boats that it strongly reminded me of
Chcapside during the busiest part of the day. Al-
though 1 had been in Bangkok four months, I had
not the least conception that there was such a popu-
lation spread along the creeks. More than four
miles from the river, there appeared to be little or
no diminution in the number of the inhabitants, and
the traffic was as great as at the mouth of the creek.
" ' Having at last got past the crowd of boats, we
advanced rapidly for two hours more, when we
stopped at a wut, in order to give the men a rest.
This wat, as its name " Laos " implies, was built by
the inhabitants of the Laos country, and is remark-
able (if we can trust to tradition) as being the limit
of the Birmese invasion. Here, the Siamese say, a
body of Birmans were defeated by the villagers, who
had taken refuge in the wat : and they point out two
large holes in the wall as the places where cannon-
balls struck. After leaving this, we proceeded
rapidly until about 12 P.M., when we reached the
other branch of the Meinarn (Meinam mahachen), and
there we halted for the night.
" ' Our journey the next day was most delightful ;
most of it lay through narrow creeks, their banks
covered with atap and bamboo, whilst behind this
screen were plantations of chilis, beans, peas, etc.
Alligators and otters abounded in the creeks ; and
we shot several, and one of a peculiar breed of mon-
key also we killed. The Siamese name of it is chang,
204 SIAM
and it is accounted a great delicacy : they also eat
with avidity the otter. We crossed during the day
the Tha-chin, a river as broad as the Meinam at
Bangkok. Toward evening we entered the Mei-
Klong, which we descended till we reached the sea-
coast. Here we waited till the breeze should suffi-
ciently abate to enable us to cross the bay.
" ' 11 th. We started about 4 A.M., and reached
the opposite side in about three hours. The bay is
remarkably picturesque, and is so shallow that, al-
though we crossed fully four miles from the head of
the bay, we never had more than six feet of water,
and generally much less. Arrived at the other side
we ascended the river on which Pechaburi is built.
At the mouth of the river myriads of monkeys were
to be seen. A very amusing incident occurred here.
Mr. Hunter, wishing to get a juvenile specimen, fired
at the mother, but, unfortunately, only wounded her,
and she had strength enough to carry the young one
into the jungle. Five men immediately followed
her; but ere they had been out of sight five minutes
we saw them hurrying toward us shouting, "Ling,
ling, ling, ling .' " (ling, monkey). As I could see
nothing, I asked Mr. Hunter if they were after the
monkey. " Oh, no," he replied ; " the monkeys are
after them ! " And so they were thousands upon
thousands of them, coming down in a most unpleas-
ant manner ; and, as the tide was out, there was a
great quantity of soft mud to cross before they could
reach the boat, and here the monkeys gained very
rapidly upon the men, and when at length the boat
was reached, their savage pursuers were not twenty
PECHABURI OR P'RIPP'REE 205
yards behind. The whole scene was ludicrous in the
extreme, and I really think if my life had depended
upon it that I could not have fired a shot. To see
the men making the most strenuous exertions to get
through the deep mud, breathless with their run and
fright combined, and the army of little wretches
drawn up in line within twenty yards of us, scream-
ing, and making use of the most diabolical language,
if we could only have understood them ! Besides,
there was a feeling that they had the right side of
the question. One of the refugees, however, did not
appear to take my view of the case. Smarting under
the disgrace, and the bamboos against which he ran
in his retreat, he seized my gun, and fired both bar-
rels on the exulting foe ; they immediately retired in
great disorder, leaving four dead upon the field.
Many were the quarrels that arose from this affair
among the men.
" * The approach to Pechaburi is very pleasant, the
river is absolutely arched over by tamarind trees,
while the most admirable cultivation prevails all
along its course.
" ' The first object which attracts the attention is
the magnificent pagoda, within which is a reclining
figure of Buddha, one hundred and forty-five feet in
length. Above the pagoda, the priests have, with
great perseverance, terraced the face of the rock to a
considerable height. About half-way up the moun-
tain, there is an extensive cave, generally known
amongst foreigners as the " Cave of Idols ; " it cer-
tainly deserves its name, if we are to judge from the
number of figures of Buddha which it contains.
206 SIAM
11 ' The talapoiris assert that it is natural. It may
be so in part, but there are portions of it in which
the hand of man is visible. It is very small, not more
than thirty yards in length, and about seven feet
high ; but anything like a cavern is so uncommon in
this country, that this one is worth notice. We now
proceeded to climb the mountain. It is very steep,
but of no great height probably not more than five
hundred feet. It is covered with huge blocks of a
stone resembling granite ; these are exceedingly
slippery, and the ascent is thus rendered rather la-
borious. But when we reached the top we were well
repaid. The country for miles in each direction lay
at our feet one vast plain, unbroken by any elevation.
It appeared like an immense garden, so carefully was
it cultivated ; the young rice and sugar-cane, of the
most beautiful green, relieved by the darker shade of
the cocoanut trees, which are used as boundaries to
the fields those fields traversed by suitable foot-
paths. Then toward the sea the view was more
varied : rice and sugar-cane held undisputed sway for
a short distance from the town ; then cocoanuts be-
came more frequent, until the rice finally disappeared ;
then the bamboos gradually invaded the cocoanut
trees ; then the atap palm, with its magnificent
leaf ; and lastly came that great invader of Siam,
the mangrove. Beyond were the mountains on
the Malay Peninsula, stretching away in the dis-
tance.
" ' With great reluctance did we descend from the
little pagoda, which is built upon the very summit ;
but evening was corning on, and we had observed in
PECUABURI OR P'RIPP'REE 207
ascending some very suspicious-looking footprints
mightily resembling those of a tiger.
" ' Pechaburi is a thriving town, containing about
twenty thousand inhabitants. The houses are, for
the most part, neatly built, and no floating houses are
visible. Rice and sugar are two-thirds dearer at
Bangkok than they are here, and the rice is of a
particularly fine description. We called upon the
governor daring the evening. Next morning we
started for home, and arrived without any acci-
dent.'"
It was not until the completion of his prolonged
tour of exploration through Cambodia, and his visit
to the savage tribes on the frontier of Cochin-China,
that Mouhot found time for his excursion to Pecha-
buri from Bangkok.
" I returned to the capital," he says, " after fifteen
months' absence. During the greater part of this
time I had never known the comfort of sleeping in a
bed ; and throughout my wanderings my only food
had been rice or dried fish, and I had not once tasted
good water. I was astonished at having preserved
my health so well, particularly in the forests, where
often wet to the skin, and without a change of clothes,
I have had to pass whole nights by a fire, at the foot
of a tree. Yet I have not had a single attack of fever,
and been always happy and in good spirits, especially
when lucky enough to light upon some novelty. A
new shell or insect filled me with a joy which ardent
naturalists alone can understand ; but they know well
how little fatigues and privations of all kinds are cared
for when set against the delight experienced in mak-
208 SIAM
ing one discovery after another, and in feeling that
one is of some slight assistance to the votaries of
science. It pleases me to think that my investiga-
tions into the archaeology, entomology, and conchol-
ogy of these lands may be of use to certain members
of the great and generous English nation, who kindly
encouraged the poor naturalist ; while France, his own
country, remained deaf to his voice.
" It was another great pleasure to me, after these
fifteen months of travelling, during which very few
letters from home had reached me, to find, on arriv-
ing at Bangkok, an enormous packet, telling me all
the news of my distant family and country. It is
indeed happiness, after so long a period of solitude,
to read the lines traced by the beloved hands of an
aged father, of a wife, of a brother. These joys are
to be reckoned among the sweetest and purest of life.
""We stopped in the centre of the town, at the en-
trance of a canal, whence there is a view over the
busiest part of the Meinarn. It was almost night,
and silence reigned around us ; but when at day-
break I rose and saw the ships lying at anchor in the
middle of the stream, while the roofs of the palaces
and pagodas reflected the first' rays of the sun, I
thought that Bangkok had never looked so beauti-
ful. However, life here would never suit me, and
the mode of locomotion is wearisome after an active
existence among the woods and in the chase.
" The river is constantly covered with thousands
of boats of different sizes and forms, and the port of
Bangkok is certainly one of the finest in the world,
without excepting even the justly-renowned harbor
PECHABURI OR P'RIPP'REE 209
of New York. Thousands of vessels can find safe
anchorage here.
"The town of Bangkok increases in population
and extent every day, and there is no doubt but that
it will become a very important capital. If France
succeeds in taking possession of Annam, the com-
merce between the two countries will increase. It
is scarcely a century old, and yet contains nearly half
a million of inhabitants, among whom are many
Christians. The flag of France floating in Cochin-
China would improve the position of the missions in
all the surrounding countries ; and I have reason to
hope that Christianity will increase more rapidly
than it has hitherto done.
" I had intended to visit the northeast of the
country of Laos, crossing Dong Phya Phai (the forest
of the King of Fire), and going on to Hieng Naie, on
the frontiers of Cochin-China ; thence to the con-
fines of Tonquin. I had planned to return afterward
by the Mekong to Cambodia, and then to pass
through Cochin-China, should the arms of France
have been victorious there. However, the rainy sea-
son having commenced the whole country was in-
undated, and the forests impassable ; so it was nec-
essary to wait four months before I could put my
project in execution. I therefore packed up and
sent off all my collections, and after remaining a few
weeks in Bangkok I departed for Pechaburi, situated
about 13 north latitude, and to the north of the
Malayan peninsula.
" On May 8th, at five o'clock in the evening, I
sailed from Bangkok in a magnificent vessel, orna-
210 81 AM
merited with rich gilding and carved work, belong-
ing to Klirom Luang, one of the king's brothers,
who had kindlyleut it to a valued friend of mine.
There is no reason for concealing the name of this
gentleman, who has proved himself a real friend in
the truest meaning of the word ; but I rather em-
brace the opportunity of testifying my affection and
gratitude to M. Malherbes, who is a French mer-
chant settled at Bangkok. He insisted on accom-
panying me for some distance, and the few days he
passed with me were most agreeable ones.
" The current was favorable, and, with our fifteen
rowers, we proceeded rapidly down the stream. Our
boat, adorned with all sorts of flags, red streamers,
and peacocks' tails, attracted the attention of all the
European residents, whose houses are built along
the banks of the stream, and who, from their veran-
das, saluted us by cheering and waving their hands.
Three days after leaving Bangkok we arrived at
Pechaburi.
" The king was expected there the same day, to
visit a palace which he has had built on the summit
of a hill near the town. Khrom Luang, Kalahom
(prime-minister), and a large number of mandarins
had already assembled. Seeing us arrive, the prince
called to us from his pretty little house ; and as
soon as we had put on more suitable dresses we
waited on him, and he entered into conversation with
us till breakfast-time. He is an excellent man, and,
of all the dignitaries of the country, the one who
manifests least reserve and hauteur toward Euro-
peans. In education both this prince and the king
PECHABURI OR P'RIPP'REE 211
are much advanced, considering the state of the
country, but in their manners they have little more
refinement than the people generally.
" Our first walk was to the hill on which the pal-
ace stands. Seen from a little distance, this build-
ing, of European construction, presents a very strik-
ing appearance ; and the winding path which leads
up to it has been admirably contrived amid the vol-
canic rocks, basalt, and scoria which cover the sur-
face of this ancient crater.
"About twenty-five miles off, stretches from north
to south a chain of mountains called Deng, and in-
habited by the independent tribes of the primitive
Kariens. Beyond these rise a number of still higher
peaks. On the low ground are forests, palm-trees,
and rice-fields, the whole rich and varied in color.
Lastly, to the south and east, and beyond another
plain, lies the gulf, on whose waters, fading away into
the horizon, a few scattered sails are j ust distinguish-
able.
" It was one of those sights not to be soon forgot-
ten, and the king has evinced his taste in the selec-
tion of such a spot for his palace. Ko beings can be
less poetical or imaginative than the Indo-Chinese ;
their hearts never appear to expand to the genial
rays of the sun ; yet they must have some apprecia-
tion of this beautiful scenery, as they always fix upon
the finest sites for their pagodas and palaces.
" Quitting this hill, we proceeded to another, like
it an extinct volcano or upheaved crater. Here are
four or five grottoes, two of which are of surprising
extent and extremely picturesque. A painting which
212 SI A M
represented them faithfully would be supposed the
offspring of a fertile imagination ; no one would be-
lieve it to be natural. The rocks, long in a state of
fusion, have taken, in cooling, those singular forms
peculiar to scoria and basalt. Then, after the sea
had retreated for all these rocks have risen from
the bottom of the water owing to the moisture con-
tinually dripping through the damp soil, they have
taken the richest and most harmonious colors. These
grottoes, moreover, are adorned by such splendid
stalactites, which, like columns, seem to sustain the
walls and roofs, that one might fancy one's self pres-
ent at one of the beautiful fairy scenes represented at
Christmas in the London theatres.
" If the taste of the architect of the king's palace
has failed in the design of its interior, here, at least,
lie has made the best of all the advantages offered to
him by nature. A hammer touching the walls would
have disfigured them ; he had only to level the
ground, and to make staircases to aid the descent in-
to the grottoes, and enable the visitors to see them in
all their beauty.
" The largest and most picturesque of the caverns
has been made into a temple. All along the sides
are rows of idols, one of superior size, representing
Buddha asleep, being gilt.
"We came down from the mountain just at the
moment of the king's arrival. Although his stay was
not intended to exceed two days he was preceded by
a hundred slaves, carrying an immense number of
coffers, boxes, baskets, etc. A disorderly troop of
soldiers marched both in front and behind, dressed in
PECHABURI OR P'RIPP'REE 213
the most singular and ridiculous costumes imaginable.
The emperor Soulouque himself would have laughed,
for certainly his old guard must have made a bet-
ter appearance than that of his East Indian brother.
Nothing could give a better idea of this set of tatter-
demalions than the dressed-up monkeys which dance
upon the organs of the little Savoyards. Their ap-
parel was of coarse red cloth upper garments, which
left a part of the body exposed, in every case either
too large or too small, too long or too short, with
white shakos, and pantaloons of various colors ; as
for shoes, they were a luxury enjoyed by few.
" A few chiefs, whose appearance was quite in
keeping with that of their men, were on horseback
leading this band of warriors, while the king, at-
tended by slaves, slowly advanced in a little open car-
riage drawn by a pony.
" I visited several hills detached from the great
chain Khao Deng, which is only a few miles oif.
During my stay here it has rained continually, and I
have had to wage war with savage foes, from whom
I never before suffered so much. Nothing avails
against them; they let themselves be massacred with
a courage worthy of nobler beings. I speak of mos-
quitoes. Thousands of these cruel insects suck our
blood night and day. My body, face, and hands are
covered with wounds and blisters. I would rather
have to deal with the wild beasts of the forest. At
times I howl with pain and exasperation. No one
can imagine the frightful plague of these little
demons, to whom Dante has omitted to assign a
place in his infernal regions. I scarcely dare to
214 SI AM
bathe, for my body is covered before I can get into
the water. The natural philosopher who held up
these little animals as examples of parental love was
certainly not tormented as I have been.
" About ten miles from Pechaburi I found several
villages inhabited by Laotians, who have been settled
there for two or three generations. Their costumes
consist of a long shirt and black pantaloons, like those
of the Cochin-Chinese, and they have the Siamese tuft
of hair. The women wear the same head-dress as the
Cambodians. Their songs, and their way of drink-
ing through bamboo pipes, from large jars, a fer-
mented liquor made from rice and herbs, recalled to
my mind what I had seen among the savage Stiens.
I also found among them the same baskets and in-
struments used by those tribes.
" The young girls are fair compared to the Siamese,
and their features are pretty ; but they soon grow
coarse and lose all their charms. Isolated in their
villages, these Laotians have preserved their lan-
guage and customs, and they never mingle with the
Siamese."
To any one who has had experience of the Siamese
mosquitoes, it is delightful to fiud such thorough ap-
preciation of them as Mouhot exhibits. In number
and in ferocity they are unsurpassed. A prolonged
and varied observation of the habits of this insect, in
New Jersey and elsewhere, enables this editor to say
that the mosquitoes of Siam are easily chief among
their kind. The memory of one night at Paknam is
still vivid and dreadful. So multitudinous, so irresisti-
ble, so intolerable were the swarms of these sangui-
PECIIABURI OR P'RIPP'REE 215
nary enemies that not only comfort, but health and
even life itself seemed jeopardized, as the irritation
was fast bringing on a state of fever. There seemed
no way but to flee. Orders were given to get np steam
in the little steamer which had brought us from Bang-
kok, and we made all possible haste out of reach of
the shore and anchored miles distant in the safe
waters of the gulf till morning.
Mouhot remained for four months among the
mountains of Pechaburi, " known by the names of
Makaon Khao, Panam Knot, Khao Tarnoune, and
Khao Samroun, the last two of which are 1,700 and
1,900 feet above the level of the sea." He needed
the repose after the fatigue of his long journey, and
by way of preparation for his new and arduous ex-
plorations of the Laos country, from which, as the re-
sult proved, he was never to come back. He returned
to Bangkok, and after a brief season of preparation
and farewell, he started for the interior.
CHAPTER XV.
THE TRIBES OF NORTHERN SIAM
UNTIL recent years little has been known or said
of the inhabitants who occupy the remoter
districts of Siam. Owing to its debilitating climate
and the many dangers of travel in jungle and wilder-
ness, explorers have thus far made but meagre con-
tributions to our knowledge of the shy and savage
tribes in the north and west. In spite of our igno-
rance, however, it is admitted that these various
races found in the Indo-Chinese peninsula present
problems of great ethnological interest, the solution of
which will some day explain the origins of many
language and race puzzles now quite insoluble. To
most foreigners, Siam is the city of Bangkok and its
neighborhood ; yet, to obtain a fair conception of the
kingdom, as one of the foremost states of Asia, we
must understand the variety and extent of the coun-
try, a few glimpses of which we may have through
the reports of those who have penetrated its wilds.
For the most part, we are told by Mr. McCarthy,
whose six years' experience in superintending the
government survey, entitles him to respect as an
authority, "the people settle on the banks of the
rivers and are employed chiefly in cultivating rice.
There are but few villages distant from the large
THE TRIBES OF NORTHERN SIAM 217
rivers, and in the mountainous parts of the kingdom
the towns and villages are built in open flat valleys,
picturesquely surrounded by the mountains, which are
clothed with forests from top to bottom, the under-
growth being so heavy that one seldom or never sees
any sport which would change the monotony of daily
trudging through mountains, where one's view is con-
fined to within ten yards around. There is one pecu-
liar feature in this population of different nationali-
ties, and that is that they do not amalgamate with
one another ; thus it comes about that near Bangkok
itself villages of Burmans aud Annamites are found
living in separate communities, preserving their own
language and customs."
The region to the west of the Meinam is mostly
mountainous and a perfect wilderness of jungle, the
country being sparsely inhabited. A short distance
from the broad valley the high range appears which
forms the water-shed between the Gulf of Siam and
the Bay of Bengal. The portion of this range which
lies above the Malay peninsula appears to be drained
on its eastern slope, not by the " Mother of "Waters"
itself, but by its neighbor, the Mei-Ivlong, running
almost parallel with it from the heights of the Karen
country to the Gulf. " This river to Kanburi," says
Dr. Collins, an American missionary who was the
first to cross the wild district between Bangkok and
Maulmein, " is an exceedingly winding, broad, clear,
shallow stream, with a slow current and well-defined
banks, on which are a few villages and many separated
habitations. The best land seemed to be in the hands
of Chinese, who cultivate tobacco, sugar-cane, cotton,
15
218 81 AM
and rice. Many of the Chinese located on the banks
of this river, as in other parts of Siarn, have married
native women and form the best element of the popu-
lation. Quite a number are Roman Catholics, while
all are sober, industrious, orderly, and prosperous."
After leaving his river-boat at Kanburi, the mis-
sionary pursued his journey across country by ele-
phant through the regions occupied by the Karens, a
simple and hardy race of mountaineers, who worship
the forest spirits. This folk occupy in small num-
bers the border-land between Siam and Lower Bur-
in ah. " We saw," continues Dr. Collins, " very few
signs of animal life in the forests ; generally a pro-
found silence reigned, broken only by the wild songs
of the Karens, or the cracking of bamboos in the
pathway of the elephants. It is true, in the early
mornings we would see along the river banks whole
families of monkeys basking in the warm sunshine,
and talking over the plans of the day, but as we
passed along they would retire into the depths of the
forest. These forests could not be infested with
tigers and other dangerous animals, as we frequently
passed Karen families on foot, journeying from one
village to another. The Karens have settlements all
through the jungle. Their small villages consist of a
few rude bamboo huts, and around them are culti-
vated their upland rice and cotton, while the moun-
tain streams furnish them fish in abundance. Some-
times they raise fowls, and cultivate sweet potatoes,
the red pepper, and flowers. They seldom remain
over two or three seasons in the valleys, but move
away to fresh land. Our forest paths led through
THE TRIBES OF NORTHERN SIAM 219
many abandoned Karen villages and plantations,
where now rank weeds and young bamboos supplant
the fields of rice and cotton. The Karens with whom
we came in contact were mountain heathen Karens.
They seemed to possess no wealth, cultivating only
sufficient land to clothe and feed themselves. The
women were fairer than the Siamese or Birmese ;
and it was a pleasant sight to see them always cheer-
ful and industrious pounding paddy, weaving their
garments, or otherwise occupied in their simple
household duties, and lightening their toil by singing
plaintive nature songs." Owing to a tradition that
they would one day receive a religion from the West,
these people are said to be peculiarly amenable to
the influence and instruction of Christian mission-
aries.
Of the Lao or Shan tribes owning allegiance to the
King of Siam, we have spoken very briefly in the
second chapter of this volume. They probably rep-
resent the mixed and deteriorated remnant of the
aborigines who were originally driven from Central
China to occupy, under the national name of Tai, the
forests and coasts of Indo-China. Such accounts as
we possess of these peoples are fragmentary, and
often strangely contradictory, their tribal names and
divisions being applied by different travellers to a
great variety of localities. In general, although the
names are often used interchangeably, the word Lao
seems to be given to that part of the great Shan (or
Tai) race who live in the north and east of Siam,
some of their tribes coming down as far south as
O
the Cambodian frontier. Mr. Carl Bock, in his notes
220 SIAM
taken on the spot, explains that " there are six Lao
states directly tributary to Siam, all entirely inde-
pendent of each other, but with several minor states
dependent upon these larger ones. The rulers in all
these states, even the smaller ones, are autocratic in
their authority. Their chiefs hold office for life, but
their places are not hereditary, being filled nominally
by the King of Siam, but really on the election and
recommendation of the people, who send notice to
Bangkok on the decease of a chief, with a private in-
timation of their views as to a successor. Tribute is
paid triennially, and takes the form of gold and silver
betel-boxes, vases, and necklaces, each enriched with
four rubies of the size of a lotus-seed, and a hundred
of the size of a grain of Indian corn. Besides these
are curious representations of trees in gold and silver,
about eight feet high, each with four branches, from
which again depend four twigs, with a single leaf at
the end of each. The gold trees are valued at 1,080
ticals (135) each, and the silver ones at 120 ticals
(15) each.
" Of all Laosians, those living in the extreme north
are the most backward, and from what has been said
it will be gathered that the instincts of the people
generally are not of a very high order. They are
mean to a degree ; liberality and generosity are words
they do not understand ; they are devoid of ordinary
human sympathy, being eaten up by an absorbing
desire to keep themselves each man for himself
out of the clutches of the spirits. Their highest
earthly ambition is to hoard up money, vessels and
ornaments of gold and silver, and anything else of
THE TRIBES OF NORTHERN SIAM 221
value ; as to the means adopted for obtaining which
they are not over-scrupulous. They are extremely
untruthful and wonderfully apt at making excuses,
and think no more of being discovered in a lie than
of being seen smoking. I give them credit, however,
of being, generally speaking, moral in their domestic
relations.
" If a man's face is an index to his feelings, then
the Laosians must be bereft of all capacity to appre-
ciate any variety of mental emotions. It is the rarest
phenomenon to see any change in their countenance
or deportment, except there is always one exception
to every rule when they are aroused to anger.
This statement is more particularly true of the men,
but even the women demonstrative as the sex usu-
ally are are seldom moved to either laughter or
tears. Whatever news a Laosian may receive,
whether of disaster or of joy, he hears it with a phil-
osophic indifference depicted on his calm, stoical
countenance that a European diplomatist would give
a fortune to be able to imitate. But when any sud-
den feeling of anger or any latent resentment is
aroused, then the passion begins to display itself, if
not in any great change of facial expression, at any
rate in general demeanor and in quick, restless move-
ments of impatience and irritation."
A rather more favorable estimate of Laosian char-
acter is made by the missionaries who live among
them, and presumably know them better. " Consid-
ering their disadvantages," says Miss McGilvary,
" the Laos are a remarkably refined race, as is shown
by many of their customs. Should a person be tell-
222 SIAM
ing another of the stream which he had crossed, and
wished to say it was ankle-deep, as he would feel a
delicacy in referring to his person, his expression
would be, ' I beg your pardon, but the water was an-
kle-deep.' If one wished to reach anything above
another's head, he would beg the latter's pardon be-
fore raising his hand. A great and passionate love
for flowers and music also indicates a delicacy of feel-
ing. Although before missionaries went there the
women did not know how to read, they were always
trained to be useful in their homes, and a Laos girl
who does not know how to weave her own dress is
considered as ignorant as a girl in this country who
does not know how to read.
" The holiday which most interests the missionaries'
children is the Kew Year, when all, and especially
the young, give themselves up to a peculiar form of
merry-making, consisting in giving everyone a shower.
Armed with buckets of water and bamboo reeds, by
which they can squirt the water some distance, these
people place themselves at the doors and gates and
on the streets, ready to give any passer-by a drench-
ing, marking out as special victims those who are
foolish enough to wear good clothes on such a da} 7 .
It is most amusing to watch them, after exhausting
their supply of water, hasten to the river or well and
run back, fearing the loss of one opportunity. Some-
times several torrents are directed on one individual ;
then, after the drenching, shouts of laughter fill the
air. On this day the king and his court, with a long
retinue of slaves, go to the river. Some of the at-
tendants carry silver or brass basins filled with water
THE TRIBES OF NORTHERN 81 AM 223
perfumed with some scented shrub or flower. "When
the king reaches the river's brink he goes a few steps
into the water, where he takes his stand, while the
princes and nobles surround him. The perfumed
water is poured on the king's head, afterward on the
heads of the nobles, and they plunge into the river
with noisy splashings and laughter. The custom is
also observed in families. A basin of water is poured
on the head of the father, mother, and grandparents,
by the eldest son or by some respected member of the
family. The ceremony lias some religious signifi-
cance, being symbolical of blessings and felicity ; a
formula of prayer accompanies the ceremony in each
case."
Like remote and uncivilized tribes the world over,
the Laos are extremely and fanatically superstitious.
Their fears of the supernatural are far more influen-
tial in directing their daily lives than their respect
for the doctrines and practices of Buddhism, which
is their accepted religion. An interesting account of
one of their ruling delusions is quoted from Mr.
Holt Hallett's article on Zimme (Cheung Mai) in
Blackwood ' Magazine for September. 1889. " The
method practised when consulting the beneficent
spirits who like mortals are fond of retaliating when
provoked is as follows : When the physician's
skill has been found incapable of mastering a disease,
a spirit-medium a woman who claims to be in com-
munion with the spirits is called in. After array-
ing herself fantastically, the medium sits on a mat
that has been spread for her in the front veranda,
and is attended to with respect, and plied with ar-
224 8IAM
rack by the people of the house, and generally accom-
panied in her performance by a band of village musi-
cians with modulated music. Between her tipplings
she chants an improvised doggerel, which includes
frequent incantations, till at length, in the excitement
of her potations, and worked on by her song, her
body begins to sway about and she becomes frantic
and seemingly inspired. The spirits are then be-
lieved to have taken possession of her body, and all
her utterances from that time are regarded as those
of the spirits.
"On showing signs of being willing- to answer
questions, the relations or friends of the sick person
beseech the spirits to tell them what medicines and
food should be given to the invalid to restore him or
her to health ; what they have been offended at ; and
how their just wrath may be appeased. Her knowl-
edge of the family affairs and misdemeanors generally
enables her to give shrewd and brief answers to the
latter questions. She states that the Pee in this
case the ancestral, or, perhaps, village spirits are
offended by such an action or actions, and that to
propitiate them such and such offerings should be
made. In case the spirits have not been offended,
her answers are merely a prescription, after which, if
only a neighbor, she is dismissed with a fee of two or
three rupees and, being more or less intoxicated, is
helped home. In case the spirit medium's prescrip-
tion proves ineffective, and the person gets worse,
witchcraft is sometimes suspected and an exorcist is
called in. The charge of witchcraft means ruin to
o
the person accused, and to his or her family. It
THE TRIBES OF NORTHERN SIAM 225
arises as follows : The ghost or spirit of witchcraft
is called Pee-Kah. No one professes to have seen
it, but it is said to have the form of a horse, from the
sound of its passage through the forest resembling
the clatter of a horse's hoofs when at full gallop.
These spirits are said to be reinforced by the deaths
of very poor people, whose spirits were so disgusted
with those who refused them food or shelter, that
they determined to return and place themselves at
the disposal of their descendants, to haunt their stingy
and hard-hearted neighbors. Should anyone rave
in delirium, a Pee-Kah is supposed to have passed
by. Every class of spirits even the ancestral, and
those that guard the streets and villages are afraid
of the Pee-Kah. At its approach the household
spirits take instant flight, nor will they return until it
lias worked its will and retired, or been exorcised.
Yet the Pee-Kah is, as I have shown, itself an ances-
tral spirit, and follows as their shadow the son and
daughter aa it followed their parents through their
lives. It is not ubiquitous, but at one time may at-
tend the parent, and at another the child, when both
are living. Its food is the entrails of its living vic-
tim, and its feast continues until its appetite is satis-
fied, or the feast is cut short by the incantations of
the spirit-doctor or exorcist. Very often the result is
the death of its victim. When the witch-finder is
called in he puts on a knowing look, and after a cur-
sory examination of the person, generally declares
that the patient is suffering from a Pee-Kah. His
task is then to find out whose Pee-Kah is devouring
the invalid.
226 SI AM
" After calling the officer of the village and a few
headmen as witnesses, he commences questioning the
invalid. He first asks ' Whose spirit has bewitched
you ? ' The person may be in a stupor, half uncon-
scious, half delirious from the severity of the disease,
and therefore does not reply. A pinch or a stroke of
a cane may restore consciousness. If so, the question
is repeated ; if not, another pinch or stroke is admin-
istered. A cry of pain may be the result. That is
one step toward the disclosure ; for it is a curious fact
that, after the case has been pronounced one of witch-
craft, each reply to the question, pinch, or stroke is
considered as being uttered by the Fee-Kali through
the mouth of the bewitched person. A person pinched
or caned into consciousness cannot long endure the
torture, especially if reduced by a long illness. Those
who have not the wish or the heart to injure anyone,
often refuse to name the wizard or witch until they
have been unmercifully beaten. Or the sick person
naming an individual as the owner of the spirit, other
questions are asked, such as, ' How many buffaloes
has he ? ' ' How many pigs ? ' ' How many chickens ? '
' How much money ? ' etc. The answers to the ques-
tions are taken down by a scribe. A time is then ap-
pointed to meet at the house of the accused, and the
same questions as to his possessions are put to him.
If his answers agree with those of the sick person, he
is condemned and held responsible for the acts of his
ghost
" The case is then laid before the judge of the court,
the verdict is confirmed, and a sentence of banishment
is passed on the person and his or her family. The
TUB TRIBES OF NORTHERN SI AM 227
condemned person is barely given time to sell or re-
move his property. His house is wrecked or burnt,
and the trees in the garden cut down, unless it hap-
pens to be sufficiently valuable for a purchaser to
employ an exorcist, who for a small fee will render
the house safe for the buyer ; but it never fetches
half its cost, and must be removed from the haunted
ground. If the condemned person lingers beyond
the time that has been granted to him, his house is
set on fire, and, if he still delays, he is whipped out
of the place with a cane. If he still refuses to go, or
returns, he is put to death.
" Some years ago a case came to the knowledge of
the missionaries, where two Karens were brought to
the city by some of their neighbors, charged with
causing the death of a young man by witchcraft.
The case was a clear one against the accused. The
young man had been possessed of a musical instru-
ment, and had refused to sell it to the accused, who
wished to purchase it. Shortly afterward he became
ill and died in fourteen days. At his cremation, a
portion of his body would not burn, and was of a
shape similar to the musical instrument. It was clear
that the wizards had put the form of the coveted instru-
ment into his body to kill him. The Karens were be-
headed, notwithstanding that they protested their in-
nocence, and threatened that their spirits should return
and wreak vengeance for their unjust punishment. In
Mr. Wilson's opinion, the charge of witchcraft often
arises from envy or from spite, and sickness for the
purpose of revenge is sometimes simulated. A neigh-
bor wants a house or garden, and the owner either re-
228 8IAM
quires more than he wishes to pay or refuses to sell.
Covetousness consumes his heart, and the witch-ghost
is brought into action. Then the covetous person, or
his child, or a neighbor falls ill, or feigns illness ; the
ailment baffles the skill of the physician, and the
witch-finder is called in. Then all is smooth sailing,
and little is left to chance."
The following paragraphs from the same article
give an agreeable picture of Cheung Mai, or Zimme,
the chief town of this region, and the headquarters
of an important branch of the American Presbyter-
ian Mission.
" The city of Zimme, which lies 430 yards to the
west of the river, is divided into two parts, the one
embracing the other like the letter L on the south
and east sides. The inner city faces the cardinal
points, and is walled and moated all round. The
walls are of brick, 22 feet high, and crenelated at the
top, where they are 3 feet broad. The moat sur-
rounding the walls is 30 feet wide and 7 feet deep.
The outer city is more than half a mile broad, and
is partly walled and partly palisaded on its exterior
sides. Both cities are entered by gates leading in
and out of a fortified courtyard. The inner city con-
tains the palace of the head king, the residences of
many of the nobility and wealthy men, and numer-
ous religious buildings. In the outer city, which is
peopled chiefly by the descendants of captives, the
houses are packed closer together than in the inner
one, the gardens are smaller, the religious buildings
fewer, and the population more dense. The floors
of the houses are all raised six or eight feet from the
THE TRIBES OF NORTHERN SIAM 229
ground, and the whole place has an air of trim neat-
ness about it. Dr. Cheek estimates the population
of the area covered by the city and its suburbs at
about one hundred thousand souls. . . .
" It is a pretty sight in the early morning to watch
the women and girls from neighboring villages
streaming over the bridge on their way to the mar-
ket, passing along in single file, with their baskets
dangling from each end of a shoulder-bamboo, or
accurately poised on their heads. The younger
women move like youthful Dianas, with a quick,
firm, and elastic tread, and in symmetry of form re-
semble the ideal models of Grecian art. The ordi-
nary costume of these graceful maidens consists of
flowers in their hair, which shines like a raven's
wing and is combed back and arranged in a neat and
beautiful knot ; a petticoat or skirt, frequently em-
broidered near the bottom with silk, worsted, cotton,
or gold and silver thread ; and at times a pretty silk
or gauze scarf cast carelessly over their bosom and
one shoulder. Of late years, moreover, the mis-
sionaries have persuaded their female converts and
the girls in their schools to wear a neat white jacket,
and the custom is gradually spreading through the
city and into the neighboring villages. The elder
women wear a dark-blue cotton scarf which is some-
times replaced by a white cotton spencer, similar to
that worn by married ladies in Burmah, and have an
extra width added to the top of their skirt which
can be raised and tucked in at the level of the arm-
pit. On gala occasions it is the fashion to twine
gold chains round the knot of their hair, and like-
230 SIAM
wise adorn it with a handsome gold pin. The
Shans are famous for their gold and silver chased
work ; and beautifully designed gold and silver or-
naments, bracelets, necklaces, and jewel-headed cyl-
inders in their ear-laps are occasionally worn by the
wealthier classes."
Xotices of the wilder tribes who inhabit the north-
east of Siam are extremely inadequate, the region
being practically unvisited by Europeans, and almost
unknown to its titular sovereign, the king. The
French expedition under Lagree passed through the
lower edge of the country on their toilsome journey
up the Mekong in 1867, and M. de Carne furnishes
us with some particulars of the natives in and about
the chief centre, Luang Phrabang. " One must go,"
he says, "to the market to judge the variety of cos-
tumes and types. At a glance at this mixed popula-
tion the least skilful of anthropologists would see
beforehand the inextricable confusion of races and
languages which he will meet at a short distance
from Luang-Praban. lumbers of savages who have
submitted to the king come every morning to the
town to sell or buy. They live in the mountains.
Their dress is extremely simple ; so much so that it
could hardly be lessened. . . . The Laotians,
who are very proud of their half-civilization, look on
these savages as much inferior to themselves, and in-
o *
deed as almost contemptible. Every group of three
miserable huts of theirs has a name of its own,
known in the neighborhood; but the most important
village of the people, who may be regarded as the
original owners of the country, is called by the com-
THE TfilHES OF NORTHERN SIAM 231
mon and scornful name of Ban-Kas [or Bang Kha,]
a kraal of savages. The stranger refuses to accept
tliis estimate formed by perverted pride. The sav-
ai>es are hard workers, and the finest fields of rice
o *
and noblest herds of cattle I have seen have been in
their parts of the country. They are all shy at first,
but they are easily brought to be familiar. How
often have I in my walks had to ask these children
of the woods for shelter from the sun, or water to
quench my thirst, or a mat on which to forget my
fatigue ! They did not understand my words, but
divined with the quick instinct of hospitality the
wants which brought me among them, and hastened
to satisfy them. I have enjoyed positive feasts in
these huts, where the bamboo, worked in a hundred
ways, spread all the luxury before me it could dis-
play ; and I cannot recall without gratitude the recol-
lection of a collation made up of sticky rice, smoked
iguana legs, and pepper, which a savage, some sixty
years of age, whom I met in the forest, to whom my
long beard caused astonishment rather than fear,
offered me one day."
This was during the Mohammedan rebellion in
southern China, when the natives south of the em-
pire enjoyed a comparative degree of peace and pros-
perity. Since the conclusion of this and the Taiping
insurrection, and the sharp conflict of the French in
Annam, great numbers of Chinese, many of them the
dregs of their country, have flocked to this wild re-
gion, and under their different "flags" or bands
have for many years past inflicted untold misery in
the gradual extermination of these harmless natives.
232 SIAM
The devastators of this beautiful region are known
generally as Haws. Our latest and most exact infor-
mation about them comes from Mr. McCarthy, who
was sent with a party by King Chulalonkorn to in-
vestigate the raids perpetrated in the kingdom by
these wandering robbers. " The term Haw," he in-
forms us, " is the Lao word for Chinamen, but it is
now being applied to those worthies who employ
their time in plundering. It is supposed that they
were originally remnants of the old Taiping rebel-
lion, who settled in Tonquin and lent themselves as
soldiers to the then Annamite governors. In time
they became too powerful for the governors and
either exacted a large annual payment in silver or
became governors themselves. They ranged them-
selves under different standards, the principal colors
of which were black, red, yellow and striped (red,
white and blue). The name of the chief of the stand-
ard was written in Chinese characters on the prin-
cipal one. The bands were composed of Chinese
from Yunnan, Kwangsi, and Kwangtung [the three
southern provinces of China]. They ravaged the
countries near them, extending their operations
yearly, the governors of which used to employ an-
other band to revenge their wrongs ; and in this way
the different flags were constantly fighting one against
another until the French war in Tonquin, when they
became united for the single purpose of fighting the
French.
" It was the Haws of the striped banner who over-
ran Chiang Kwang or Muang Pnen about the year
1873, and extended their ravages as far as Kongkai
THE TRIBES OF NORTHERN SIAM 233
[on the bend of the Mekong in about latitude 18] ;
here, however, they were destroyed by the Siamese.
They came back, and the same Siamese general,
Phraya Rat, who defeated them before, was sent
against them again. He was wounded, however,
shortly after making his attack upon their position,
and the Haws eventually escaped. The honor of de-
stroying the place fell to Phra Amarawasie, the son
of the prime -minister, who has done credit to the
training he received at the Royal Academy of Wool-
wich. On the northeast of Luang Phrabang, Phraya
Suri Sak, a general in whom the king has always
placed implicit trust, has been operating against Black
Flags and Yellow Flags. These Black Flags are excel-
lently armed with Remingtons, Martini-Henries, Sni-
ders, and repeating rifles, and their ammunition is of
the best, being all solid brass cartridges from Kynoch
of Birmingham. I understand that an arrangement
has been entered into by which the Haws are to be
suppressed by the combined action of the French and
Siamese. Let us hope that these beautiful countries
will soon be restored to prosperit}', and the inhabi-
tants left free to lead the peaceful lives they so much
desire." *
* Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society for March, 1888.
16
CHAPTER XYI.
SIAMESE LIFE AND CUSTOMS
'TVEIE impression which most travellers in Siam
1 have received in regard to the moral character-
istics of the people has been generally favorable, and
is on the whole confirmed by the judgment of
foreigners who have been longer resident among
them. They have, of course, the defects and vices
which are to be expected in a half savage people,
governed through many generations by the capricious
tyranny of an Oriental despotism. And the climate
and natural conditions of the country are not suited
to develop in them the hardier and nobler virtues.
Industry and self-sacrifice can hardly be looked for
as characteristics of people to whom nature is so
bountiful as to require of them no exertion to provide
either food or raiment. And, on the other hand,
with the sloth and inactivity to which nature invites,
the animal passions, by indulgence, often become
fierce and overmastering. But it seems to be agreed
that if the Siamese lack the industry and economy of
their neighbors, the Chinese, they have not the pas-
sionate and sometimes treacherous character of the
Malays. To the traveller they seem inoffensive, al-
most to timidity, and with a more than ordinary
share of "natural affection." One of the Roman
SIAMESE WOMEN.
SIAMESE LIFE AND CUSTOMS 235
Catholic missionaries, quoted in Bowring, says, " Par-
ents know how to make themselves extremely be-
loved and respected, and Siamese children have great
docility and sweetness. Parents answer to princes
for the conduct of their -children ; they share in their
chastisements, and deliver them up when they have
offended. If the son takes flight, he never fails to
surrender himself when the prince apprehends his
father or his mother, or his other collateral relations
older than himself, to whom he owes respect." Bow-
ring himself testifies that " of the affection of par-
ents for children and the deference paid by the
young to the old, we saw abundant evidence in all
classes of society. Fathers were constantly observed
canning about their offspring in their arms, and
mothers engaged in adorning them. The king was
never seen in public by us without some of his
younger children near him ; and we had no inter-
course with the nobles where numbers of little ones
were not on the carpets, grouped around their elders,
and frequently receiving attention from them."
The large sums frequently expended in the decora-
tion of the little children with anklets and bracelets
and necklaces and chains of gold (often hundreds of
dollars in value and constituting their sole costume),
are another proof of the same parental fondness.
The great beauty of the children has attracted the
notice of almost all travellers, and they seem as ami-
able as they are beautiful. Their skins are colored
with a fine powder, of a deep, golden color, and an
aromatic smell. " In the morning, Siamese mothers
may be seen industriously engaged in yellowing their
236 SIAM
offspring from head to heel. So universal is the
custom, that in caressing the children of the king or
nobles, you may be certain to carry away yellow
stains upon your dress. A small quantity mingled
with, quick-lime makes a paste of a bright pink color,
of which the consumption is so large for spreading
on the betel-leaves which are used to wrap around the
areca-nut, that I have seen whole boat-loads moving
about for sale amidst the floating bazaars on the
Heinam. This curcuma or Indian saffron is known
to be the coloring matter in the curries, mulligatawn-
ies and chutnees of India " and is thus seen to be
available for the inside as well as the outside of
men.
The relations between the sexes seem to be char-
acterized by propriety and decorum ; and though
polygamy is permitted and practised by the higher
classes, and divorce is easy and somewhat frequent,
yet, " on the whole," says Bowring, " the condition
of woman is better in Siamese than in most Oriental
countries. The education of Siam women is little ad-
vanced. Many of them are good musicians, but their
principal business is to attend to domestic affairs.
They are as frequently seen as men in charge of boats
on the Meinam. They generally distribute alms to
the bonzes, and attend the temples, bringing their of-
ferings of flowers and fruit. In the country they are
busied with agricultural pursuits. They have seldom
the art of plying the needle, as the Siamese garments
almost invariably consist of a single piece of cloth."
Of the acuteness and wit of a people, the best
evidence is to be found in their familiar proverbs,
SIAMESE ROPE-DANCER.
SIAMESE LIFE AND CUSTOMS 237
and the following may be cited (from JBowring) in
illustration of their shrewd sense and Chinese apti-
tude for seizing nature's hints.
" When you go into a wood, do not forget your
wood-knife.
" An elephant though he has four legs may slip ;
and a doctor is not always right.
" Go up by land, you meet a tiger ; go down by
water, you meet a crocodile.
" If a dog bite you, do not bite him again."
Between the luxury and splendor of the king's
court and the poverty of the common people there
is of course the greatest and most painful contrast.
The palaces of the king are filled with whatever the
wealth and power of their owner can procure. The
hovels of the common peasants are bare and comfort-
less, the furniture consisting only of a few coarse
vessels of earthenware or wicker-work, and a mat or
two spread upon the floor. In houses of a slightly
better class will be found carpenter's tools, a movable
oven, various cooking utensils, both in copper and
clay, spoons of mother-of-pearl, plates and dishes in
metal and earthenware, and a large porcelain jar, and
another of copper for fresh water. There is also a
tea-set, and all the appliances for betel chewing and
tobacco smoking, some stock of provisions and con-
diments for food.
Probably the most reliable witnesses to the true
character of the Siamese are those Protestant mis-
sionaries whose lives are passed in intimate associa-
tion with the people and devoted to doing them good.
From a recent book written by one of these, Miss M.
238 SIAM
L. Cort,* we shall obtain a fair idea of life in Sian.
and of certain customs dear to the common people.
" Women enjoy greater liberty than in almost any
other Oriental land. You meet them everywhere ;
and in the bazaars and markets nearly all the buying
and selling is done by them. As servants and slaves,
too, they are seen performing all sorts of labor in the
open streets. Still, they are downtrodden and con-
sidered infinitely inferior to men. It is a significant
fact that although boys have been educated for past
centuries in the Buddhist monasteries, there are not
and have never been, so far as I can learn, any native
schools for girls. Quite a number, however, learn to
read in their own families, but such knowledge is
looked upon as a superfluous accomplishment, and
they are not encouraged in it, neither is any one
ashamed to acknowledge her ignorance of books.
" The Siamese are a pleasant, good-natured people,
but lazy and indolent to the utmost degree, and vain,
shallow, and self- conceited. Their greatest vices are
lying, gambling, immorality, and intemperance, al-
though the latter is strictly forbidden by one of the
commandments in their Buddhist decalogue."
The Siamese are deplorably susceptible to the evil
effects of alcohol and opium. Physically they are a
small and rather weakly race, and the effect of strong
drink upon them is shown in the rapid deterioration
of their bodily health ; while their temperament, which
is by nature light, timid, and gay, becomes morose
and sullen under the same influence. The terrible
inroads which were at one time made on the health
* Siam : or, The Heart of Farther India. New York, 1886.
SIAMESE LIFE AND CUSTOMS 239
and well-being of the people from the too-abundant
use of arrack, a native spirit distilled from rice,
brought these truths vividly before the minds of the
authorities, and led to the adoption of stringent
regulations affecting the sale of that spirit, to the
loss and much to the regret of the Chinese dealers
who had acquired a monopoly of the trade. A still
more determined crusade was undertaken against
opium-smoking, which was even held to be a black-
er and more pernicious habit than swilling arrack.
Strict laws prohibiting the practice were passed and
enforced ; and any ill-starred Siamese now found
pipe in hand has the choice given him of either de-
nationalizing himself by adopting the Chinese pig-
tail, and paying an annual tax as an alien, or of suffer-
ing death. In this traffic also the purveyors are
Chinese, who, while protesting, perhaps too much,
against the importation of the drug into their own
country, show no compunction whatever in distribut-
ing it broadcast among the people of other nations.
Returning to Miss Cort's account : " The dress of
d> /
the Siamese," she writes," is very simple and comfort-
able, consisting of a waist-cloth, jacket, and scarf, and
sometimes a hat and sandals. If all would at all
times wear the native dress there would be no oc-
casion for fault-finding. But as a nation they do not
know what shame is, and as the climate is mild and
pleasant, and the majority of the people poor and
careless, their usual dress consists of a simple waist-
cloth, adjusted in a very loose and slovenly manner ;
while many children until they are ten or twelve years
old wear no clothing whatever. When foreigners first
240 SIAM
arrive in Siam they are shocked almost beyond endur-
ance at the nudity of the people ; and although they
constantly preach a gospel of dress, their influence in
this respect seems less apparent than in almost any
other. Isot until Siam is clothed need she expect a
place among respectable, civilized nations.
" The old-fashioned shave, which left a patch of
stiff bristles on the top of the head, like a shoe-
brush, is no longer the universal style. European
trims are fashionable in the capital, and some of the
young men are trying to cultivate the mustache, while
the women let their hair cover the whole head and
dress it with cocoanut oil. They shave their foreheads,
rub beeswax on their lips, powder their faces, and
perfume their bodies. They bend their joints back
and forth to make them supple, and give the elbow a
peculiarly awkward twist which they consider very
graceful.
" Their salutations are decidedly peculiar. The
old style is to get down on all fours, and then resting
on the knees, raise the clasped hands three times
above the head, and also bow the head forward until
the brow touches the floor. They kiss with their
noses, by pressing them against their friends', and say-
ing 'Very fragrant, very fragrant !' while they take
long, satisfied sniffs. Many are now learning to shake
hands and make graceful bows like Europeans, but
the imported kiss is not yet in vogue, and I do not
see that it ever can be until betel is discarded, for at
present the nose is a more kissable feature of the
Siamese face than the mouth.
" The people are exceedingly fond of jewelry, and
SIAMESE LIFE AND CUSTOMS 241
often their gold chains and rings are the only adorn-
ment the body can boast. Many a young girl refuses
to wear a jacket because it would cover up her chains,
which are worn as a hunter carries his game-bag, over
one shoulder and under the arm. She prefers a scarf
which she can arrange and rearrange, and thus display
the glitter of her golden ornaments. They wear a
great many gold rings, and their ear-rings are often
costly and beautiful. They also have gold armlets
and anklets and charms encircling neck and waist, and
the higher ranks now wear gold girdles with jewelled
clasps. The jewelry is of odd and unique designs
snake-bracelets ; necklaces of gold turtles, fish and
flowers, set with gems ; dragon-headed rings, with
diamond, emerald, or ruby eyes, and a tongue that
moves. Some rings have little birds poised upon
them, with out-spread wings and sparkling with
jewels; golden elephants, and many other rich and
costly designs. . . .
"All ordinary Siamese houses must have three
rooms ; indeed, so important is this number consid-
ered to the comfort of the family, that the suitor must
often promise to provide three rooms ere the parents
will let him claim his bride. There is the common
bedroom, an outer room where they sit during the day
and receive their visitors, and the kitchen. Let me
begin at the latter and try to describe the dirty, dingy
place. Having no godliness, the next thing to it, clean-
liness, is entirely lacking. There is a rude box filled
with earth, where they build the fire and do what
they call the cooking ; that is, they boil rice and make
curry, and roast fish and bananas over the coals. There
242 SIAM
is no making of bread or pie, of cake or pudding ; no
roasts, no gravies, no soups. Even vegetables are
seldom cooked at home, but are prepared by others
and sold in the markets, or peddled in the streets.
There they buy boiled sweet potatoes, green corn, and
preserved fruits, curries, roasted fish, and ants, pea-
nuts, and bananas, sliced pineapples, and melons, and
squash. Pickled onions and turnips are sold in the
streets of Bangkok just as pickled beets are in Da-
mascus. Curry is made of all sorts of things, but is
usually a combination of meat or fish, and vegetables.
If you want an English name for it that all can un-
derstand, you must call it a stew. The ingredients
are chopped very fine or pounded in a mortar, espe-
cially the red peppers, onions, and spices. The pre-
dominant flavor is red pepper, so hot and fiery that
your mouth will smart and burn for half an hour after
yon have eaten it. Still many of the curries are very
good, and with steamed rice furnish a good meal. But
sometimes a ' broth of abominable things is in their
vessels,' as for instance, when they make curry of rats
or bats, or of the flesh of animals that have died of
disease, and they flavor it with kapick, a sort of rot-
ten fish, of which all Siamese are inordinately fond.
It is unrivalled in strength of fragrance and flavor.
Siam is unique in that she possesses two of the most
abominable things, and yet the most delicious, if we
believe what we hear, and they are the durian, a large
fruit found only on this peninsula, and 'kapick,' which
I hope is not found anywhere outside of Siam.
" There is no regularity about their meals, and they
do not wait for one another, but eat when they get
SIAMESE LIFE AND CUSTOMS 243
hungry. In the higher families the men always eat
first and by themselves, and the wives and children
and dogs take what is left. The usual rule is for each
one to wash his own rice-bowl, and turn it upside down
in a basket in a corner of the kitchen, there to drip
and dry till the next time it is needed. They eat with
their fingers, very few having so much even as a spoon.
" The kitchen floors are nearly all made of split
bamboos, with great cracks between, through which
they pour all the slops and push the dirt, so there is
no sweeping or scrubbing to do. Xear the door are
several large earthen jars for water, which are filled
from the river by the women or servants as often as
they get empty, and here they wash their feet before
they enter the house. They also use brass basins and
trays a great deal, but for lack of scouring they are
discolored and green with verdigris, and I cannot help
thinking the use of such vessels is one fruitful source
of the dreadful sores and eruptions with which the
whole nation is afflicted."
It would be hopeless to endeavor to describe all
the peculiarities of native fashion and thought, many
of which, indeed, are already disappearing under the
advancing tide of western civilization. Like all idol-
atrous nations, the people are subject to rank super-
stitions and curious fancies, some of them gross or
brutal, but more often whimsical in their extrava-
gance. To express, for example, the duration of a
kop, one of the divisions of eternity, they say that
when a stone ten miles square, which is visited once
a century by an angel who brushes it with a gossa-
mer web, is finally worn away, then a kop is com-
244 SIAM
pleted. Compared with other Asiatic nations, the
Siamese cannot be called cruel, what pain they in-
flict comes iu most cases from ignorance or obtuse-
ness, seldom from wantonness. Punishments, of
course, involve whipping, and in capital offences the
victim loses his head in the old-fashioned way. But,
Miss Cort tells us, " after taking a soothing draught,
provided by merciful Buddhists who wish to make
merit, the victim's eyes are bandaged and his ears
stuffed with mud, and thus he is at least partially
unconscious of the stroke that destroys his life. . .
Some offenders, instead of being executed, are de-
graded from all titles and rank, and condemned to
cut grass for elephants for life. They are branded
on the forehead, and have to cut the .grass them-
selves ; no one is allowed to help them, nor can they
buy it with their own money." A glance at the
customs connected with birth, marriage, and death
will be interesting, and will serve to illustrate the
peculiarities of Siamese life.
" Marriages," says Sir John Bowring, " are the
subject of much negotiation, undertaken, not directly
by the parents, but by ' go-betweens,' nominated by
those of the proposed bridegroom, who make pro-
posals to the parents of the intended bride. A
second repulse puts the extinguisher on the attempt-
ed treaty ; but if successful, a large boat, gayly
adorned with flags and accompanied by music, is
laden with garments, plate, fruits, betel, etc. In the
centre is a huge cake or cakes, in the form of a
pyramid, printed in bright colors. The bridegroom
accompanies the procession to the house of his future
SIAMESE LIFE AND CUSTOMS 245
father in-law, where the lady's dowry and the day
for the celebration of the marriage are fixed. It is
incumbent on the bridegroom to erect or to occupy a
house near that of his intended, and a month or two
must elapse before he can carry away his bride. No
religious rites accompany the marriage, though
bonzes are invited to the feast, whose duration and
expense depend upon the condition of the parties.
Music is an invariable accompaniment. Marriages
take place early ; I have seen five generations
gathered round the head of a family. I asked the
senior Somdetch how many of his descendants lived
in his palace ; he said he did not know, but there
were a hundred or more. It was indeed a frequent
answer to the inquiry in the upper ranks, ' What
number of children and grandchildren have you ? '
'Oh, multitudes; we cannot tell how many.' I in-
quired of the first king how many children had been
born to him ; he said, ' Twelve before I. entered the
priesthood, and eleven since I came to the throne.'
I have generally observed that a pet child is selected
from the group to be the special recipient of the
smiles and favors of the head of the race.
" Though wives or concubines are kept in any
number according to the wealth or will of the hus-
band, the wife who has been the object of the mar-
riage ceremony, called the Khan mak, takes prece-
dence of all the rest, and is really the sole legitimate
spouse ; and she and her descendants are the only
legal heirs to the husband's possessions. Marriages
are permitted beyond the first degree of aifinity.
Divorce is easily obtained on application from the
246 SIAM
woman, in which case the dowry is restored to the
wife. If there be only one child, it belongs to the
mother, who takes also the third, fifth, and all those
representing odd numbers ; the husband has the
second, fourth, etc. A husband may sell a wife that
he has purchased, but not one who lias brought him
a dowry. If the wife is a party to contracting debts
on her husband's behalf, she may be sold for their
redemption, but not otherwise."
One natural result of polygamy is, not only to take
away from the beauty and dignity of the marriage
relation, but also to lessen the amount of ceremony
with which the marriage is celebrated. A Siamese
of the higher class is generally " so much married,"
that it is hardly worth his while to make much fuss
about it, or indulge in much parade on the occasion.
Accordingly the ceremonial would seem to be much
less than that of burial. For a man can die but once,
and his funeral is not an event to be many times re-
peated.
A singular custom connected with childbirth is de-
scribed by Dr. Bradley, a former American mission-
ary. The occasion was the first confinement of the
wife .of the late second king, in the year 1835. Dr.
Bradley was dining with a party of f riends at the
house of the Portuguese consul. He says : " Just
before we rose from table, a messenger from Prince
Chowfah-noi [the late second king] came, apologiz-
ing for his master's absence from the dinner, and re-
questing my attendance on his wife in her first par-
turition. The call for me, although silently given,
was quickly understood by all the party, and the in-
SIAMESE LIFE AND CUSTOMS 247
terest which it excited was of no ordinary character,
because it indicated a violation of the sacred rules,
absurdities, and cruelties of Siamese midwifery, and
that too by the second man in the kingdom.
"I was obedient to the call, and was forthwith
conducted thither in H. ft. Ilighness's boat after
I had accompanied my wife to our home. The
prince was at the landing awaiting my arrival. His
salutation in English was most expressive, indicating
peculiar pleasure in seeing me, informing me that
his wife had given birth to a daughter a little before
my arrival, and saying that in accordance with Siam-
ese custom, she was lying by a fire. He expressed
great abhorrence of the custom, and desired me to pre-
vail upon his friends and the midwives to dispense
with it, and substitute the English custom. To con-
firm him still more in his opinion that the English
custom was incomparably the best, I spread before
him many arguments and appealed to humanity it-
self. He appeared to enter fully into my views, say-
ing that his wife was of the same opinion, but ex-
pressed much fear that no improvement could be
made in her situation in consequence of the influence
of the ex-queen, his mother, and princesses and mid-
wives.
" I was not allowed to see his wife until after his
mother and princesses had retired, which was not till
quite late in the evening. The prince went a little
time before me to prepare the way, and then sent
his chamberlain to conduct me to the house of his
wife, where he received me and led me to the bed-
side of his suffering companion. She was surrounded
248 SIAM
by a multitude of old women affecting wondrous wis-
dom in the treatment of their patient. The fiery or-
deal had indeed commenced, and the poor woman
was doomed to lie before a hot fire a full month. I
found the mother lying on a narrow wooden bench
without a cushion, elevated above the floor eight or
ten inches, with her bare back exposed to a hot fire
about eighteen inches distant. The fire, I presume
to say, was sufficiently hot to have roasted a spare-lib
at half the distance. Having lain a little time in this
position, she was rolled over and had her abdomen
exposed to the flame.
"With all the reasoning and eloquence I could
employ, both through the prince and speaking di-
rectly to them, I could not persuade the ignorant
women that it would be prudent to suspend their
course of treatment, even for a night, so that the
sufferer might have a little quiet rest on a comfort-
able bed. They said that, the plan of treatment
which I proposed was entirely new to them, and that
I was also a stranger, and therefore it would not do
at all to expose so honorable a personage to the dan-
gers of an experiment.
" The prince then informed me that this amount
of fire was to be continued three days, after which
its intensity would have to be doubled, and continued
for 30 days, as it was the mother's first child. The
custom, he said, is to abridge the term to 25, 20, 18,
15, and 11 days, according to the number of children
the woman has had.
" Having had a look at the infant princess lying
in a neatly-curtained bed, I retired from the place
SIAMESE LIFE AND CUSTOMS
with scarcely any expectation that my visit would ef-
fect any immediate good.
" I visited Chowfah-noi the next evening in com-
pany with Mrs. B. The thought had occurred to me
that she could probably exert more influence with the
females than I could, and that possibly she might in-
duce them to adopt my plan of practice in relation to
the mother and the child. We were heartily wel-
comed by his royal highness, who first took much
pleasure in showing us all his curiosities, and then
gave us an interview with his lady. She was still
lying by a hot fire, and complained much of soreness
of the hips from pressure on the hard couch. At
first she seemed to be somewhat abashed at the pres-
ence of Mrs. B., whom she had never before seen.
But it was not long ere that was all exchanged for a
good degree of intimacy, seeing that she was a woman
like herself. Mrs. B. prevailed on her to take some
of my medicine and to have the child put to the
breast of its mother instead of giving it up to a wet-
nurse. But though she made the experiment in our
presence, there was no reason to think that it was
continued.
" Two days later the prince sent for me in great
haste, about 2 P.M., to see his wife and child. I has-
tened to the palace, but was too late to do anything
for the child, as it had died a little before my arrival.
The prince was evidently much affected at the death
of his first-born, and there was much weeping among
the relatives and servants, who had congregated in
multitudes in apartments adjacent to the room which
the mother occupied. The prince was very anxious
17
250 S1AM
concerning his wife, and seemed to wish with all his
heart to have her taken out of the hands of native
physicians and placed under my care. This he la-
bored indefatigably to accomplish for more than two
hours, while I waited for the result. But to his
sorrow he at length reported that he could not suc-
ceed, and said that his mother and sisters and phy-
sicians, together with a multitude of conceited and
headstrong old women, were too much for him, and
that he would be obliged to allow them to go on in
their own way, however hazardous the consequences.
He wished me to give him the privilege of sending for
me if his wife should by her own physicians be con-
sidered in a dangerous way. I had declined doing any-
thing in the case unless I could have the entire care
of the patient, fearing that if I attempted to admin-
ister while the native means were being employed,
I should bring reproach both upon European medi-
cal practice, and the dear cause which I had espoused."
" Shaving the hair tuft of children is a great fam-
ily festival, to which relations and friends are in-
vited, to whom presents of cakes and fruits are sent.
A musket-shot announces the event. Priests recite
prayers, and wash the head of the young person, who
is adorned with all the ornaments and jewels accessi-
ble to the parents. Music is played during the cere-
mony, which is performed by the nearest relatives ;
and congratulations are addressed, with gifts of sil-
ver, to the newly shorn. Sometimes the presents
amount to large sums of money. Dramatic repre-
sentations among the rich accompany the festivity,
which in such case lasts for several days.
BUILDING ERECTED AT FUNERAL OF SIAMESE OF HIGH RANK.
SIAMESE LIFE AND CUSTOMS 251
"Education begins with the shaving the tuft, and
the boys are then sent to the pagodas to be instructed
by the bonzes in reading and writing, and in the dog-
mas of religion. They give personal service in re-
turn for the education they receive. That education
is worthless enough, but every Siamese is condemned
to pass a portion of his life in the temple, which
many of them never afterward quit. Hence, the
enormous supply of an unproductive, idle, useless
race.
" When a Thai' (Siamese) is at the point of death
the talapoins are sent for, who sprinkle lustral water
upon the sufferer, recite passages which speak of the
vanity of earthly things from their sacred books, and
cry out, repeating the exclamation in the ears of the
dying, ' Arahang ! arahang ! ' (a mystical word im-
plying the purity or exemption of Buddha from con-
cupiscence). When the dying has heaved his last
breath the whole family utter piercing cries, and ad-
dress their lamentations to the departed : ' O father
benefactor ! why leave us ? What have we done to
offend you ? Why depart alone ? It was your own
fault. Why did you eat the fruit that caused the
dysentery ? We foretold it ; why did not you listen
to us ? O misery ! O desolation ! O inconstancy
of human affairs ! ' And they fling themselves at
the feet of the dead, weep, wail, kiss, utter a thou-
sand tender reproaches, till grief has exhausted its
lamentable expressions. The body is then washed
and enveloped in white cloth ; it is placed in a coffin
covered with gilded paper, and decorated with tinsel
flowers. A dais is prepared, ornamented with the
252 SIAM
same materials as the coffin, but with wreaths of flow-
ers and a number of wax-lights. After a day or two
the coffin is removed, not through the door, but
through an opening specially made in the wall ; the
coffin is escorted thrice round the house at full speed,
in order that the dead, forgetting the way through
which lie has passed, may not return to molest the
living. The coffin is then taken to a large barge,
and placed on a platform, surmounted by the dais, to
the sound of melancholy music. The relations and
friends, in small boats, accompany the barge to the
temple where the body is to be burnt. Being ar-
rived, the coffin is opened and delivered to the offi-
cials charged with the cremation, the corpse having
in his mouth a silver tical (2s. Qd. in value) to defray
the expenses. The burner first washes the face of
the corpse with cocoanut milk ; and if the deceased
have ordered that his body shall be delivered to vult-
ures and crows, the functionary cuts it up and dis-
tributes it to the birds of prey which are always as-
sembled in such localities. The corpse being placed
upon the pile, the fire is kindled. When the com-
bustion is over, the relatives assemble, collect the
principal bones, which they place in an urn, and con-
vey them to the family abode. The garb of mourn-
ing is white, and is accompanied by the shaving of
the head. The funerals of the opulent last for two
or three days. There are fireworks, sermons from
the bonzes, nocturnal theatricals, where all sorts of
monsters are introduced. Seats are erected within
the precincts of the temples, and games and gambling
accompany the rites connected with the dead."
SIAMESE LIFE AND CUSTOMS 253
At the death of any member of the royal family
the funeral ceremonies become a matter of national
importance. If it is the king who is dead the whole
country is in mourning ; all heads are shaved. The
ceremonies at the cremation of the body of the late
first king lasted from the 12th of March (1870) till
the 21st of the same month. The king of Cheung-
mai came from his distant home among the Laos to
be present on the occasion ; and the pomp and ex-
pense of the ceremony, for which preparations had
been more than a year in progress, surpassed any-
thing that had been known in the history of Siam.
The following description of the funeral of one of
the high commissioners who negotiated the English
treaty, and who died a few days after the signing of
the treaty, was furnished to Sir John Bowring by
an eye-witness. The ceremonies at the royal funeral
were not dissimilar, though on a more extensive
scale.
" The building of the men, or temple, in which
the burning was to take place, occupied four months,
during the whole of which time between three and
four hundred men were constantly engaged. The
whole of it was executed under the personal superin-
tendence of the ' Kalahome.'
" It would be difficult to imagine a more beautiful
object than this temple was, when seen from the op-
posite side of the river. The style of architecture
was similar to that of the other temples in Siam ;
the roof rising in the centre, and thence running
down in a series of gables, terminating in curved
points. The roof was covered entirely with scarlet
254 SIAM
and gold, while the lower part of the building was
blue, with stars of gold. Below, the temple had four
entrances leading directly to the pyre ; upon each
side, as you entered, were placed magnificent mir-
rors, which reflected the whole interior of the build-
ing, which was decorated with blue and gold, in the
same manner as the exterior. From the roof de-
pended immense chandeliers, which at night in-
creased the effect beyond description. Sixteen large
columns, running from north to south, supported the
roof. The entire height of the building must have
been 120 feet, its length about fifty feet, and breadth
forty feet. In the centre was a raised platform,
about seven feet high, which was the place upon
which the urn containing the body was to be placed.
Upon each side of this were stairs covered with scarlet
and gold cloth.
" This building stood in the centre of a piece of
ground of about two acres extent, the whole of which
ground was covered over with close rattan-work, in
order that visitors might not wet their feet, the
ground being very muddy.
" This ground was enclosed by a wall, along the in-
side of which myriads of lamps were disposed, ren-
dering the night as light as the day. The whole of
the grounds belonging to the adjoining temple con-
tained nothing but tents, under which Siamese plays
were performed by dancing-girls during the day.
During the night, transparencies were in vogue.
Along the bank of the river, Chinese and Siamese
plays (performed by men) were in great force, and
to judge by the frequent cheering of the populace, no
SIAMESE LIFE AND CUSTOMS 255
small talent was shown by the performers, which
talent in Siam consists entirely in obscenity and vul-
garity.
" All approaches were blocked long before day-
light each morning, by hundreds nay, thousands of
boats of every description in Siam, sampans, mapet,
matteng, ma guen, etc., etc.; these were filled with
presents of white cloth, no other presents being ac-
cepted or offered during a funeral. How many ship-
loads of fine shirting were presented during those few
days it is impossible to say. Some conception of the
number of boats may be had from the fact that, in
front of my floating house I counted seventy-two
large boats, all of which had brought cloth.
" The concourse of people night and day was quite
as large as at any large fair in England ; and the
whole scene, with the drums and shows, the illumi-
nations and the fireworks, strongly reminded me of
Greenwich Fair at night. The varieties in national
costume were considerable, from the long flowing
dresses of the Mussulman to the scanty pan-hung
of the Siamese.
" Upon the first day of the ceremonies, when I
rose at daylight, I was quite surprised at the number
and elegance of the large boats that were dashing
about the river in every direction. Some of them
with elegantly-formed little spires (two in each boat)
of a snowy-white, picked out with gold, others with
magnificent scarlet canopies with curtains of gold,
others filled with soldiers dressed in red, blue, or
green, according to their respective regiments, the
whole making a most effective tableau, far superior
256 81AM
to any we had during the time the embassy was
here.
" "Whilst I was admiring this scene I heard the cry
of Scdet (the name of the king when he goes out),
and turning round, beheld the fleet of the king's
boats sweeping down. His majesty stopped at the
men, where an apartment had been provided for
him. The moment the king left his boat, the most
intense stillness prevailed a silence that was abso-
lutely painful. This was, after the lapse of a few
seconds, broken by a slight stroke of a tom-tom.
At that sound every one on shore and in the boats
fell on his knees, and silently and imperceptibly
the barge containing the high priest parted from the
shore at the Somdetch's palace, and floated with the
tide toward the men. This barge was immediately
followed by that containing the urn, which was
placed upon a throne in the centre of the boat. One
priest knelt upon the lower part of the urn, in front,
and one at the back. (It had been constantly
watched since his death.) Kothing could exceed the
silence and immovability of the spectators. The tales
I used to read of nations being turned to statues
were here realized, with the exception that all had
the same attitude. It was splendid, but it was fear-
ful. During the whole of the next day, the urn
stayed in the men, in order that the people might
come and pay their last respects.
" The urn, or rather its exterior cover, was com-
posed of the finest gold, elegantly carved and studded
with innumerable diamonds. It was about five feet
high and two feet in diameter.
SIAMESE LIFE AND CUSTOMS 257
"Upon the day of the burning the two kings ar-
rived about 4 P.M. The golden cover was taken off,
and an interior urn of brass now contained the body,
which rested upon cross-bars at the bottom of the urn.
Beneath were all kinds of odoriferous gums.
" The first king, having distributed yellow cloths
to an indefinite quantity of priests, ascended the steps
which led to the pyre, holding in his hand a lighted
candle, and set fire to the inflammable materials be-
neath the body. After him came the second king,
who placed a bundle of candles in the flames ; then
followed the priests, then the princes, and lastly the
relations and friends of the deceased. The flames
rose constantly above the vase, but there was no un-
pleasant smell.
" His majesty, after all had thrown in their can-
dles, returned to his seat, where he distributed to the
Europeans a certain number of limes, each containing
a gold ring or a small piece of money. Then he com-
menced scrambling the limes, and seemed to take par-
ticular pleasure in just throwing them between the
princes and the missionaries, in order that they might
meet together in the ' tug of war.'
" The next day the bones were taken out, and dis-
tributed among his relations, and this closed the cer-
emonies. During the whole time the river each night
was covered with fireworks, and in Siam the pyro-
technic art is far from being despicable."
CHAPTER XVII.
NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF SIAM
r I ^IIE varieties of animal and vegetable life with
1 which the tropics everywhere abound are in
Siarn almost innumerable. From the gigantic ele-
phant and rhinoceros in the jungle to the petty mos-
quitoes that infest the dwellings and molest the slum-
bers of the crowded city ; from the gigantic Indian
fig-tree to the tiniest garden-blossom, an almost infin-
ite diversity of life and growth invites attention.
The work of scientific observation and classification
has been, as yet, only very imperfectly accomplished.
Much has been done by the missionaries, especially
by Dr. House of the American Presbyterian Mission,
who is a competent and scientific observer. And the
lamented Mouhot, gathered vast and valuable collec-
tions in the almost unexplored regions to which he
penetrated. But no doubt there are still undiscovered
treasures of which men of science will presently lay
hold.
" Elephants," says Bowring, " are abundant in the
forests of Siam, and grow sometimes to the height of
twelve or thirteen feet. The habits of the elephant
are gregarious ; bat though he does not willingly at-
tack a man, he is avoided as dangerous ; and a troop
of elephants will, when going down to a river to drink,
NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF SI AM 259
submerge a boat and its passengers. The destruction
even of the wild elephant is prohibited by royal
orders, yet many are surreptitiously destroyed for the
sake of their tusks. At a certain time of the year
tame female elephants are let loose in the forests.
They are recalled by the sound of a horn, and return
accompanied by wild males, which they compel, by
blows of the proboscis, to enter the walled prisons
which have been prepared for their capture. The
process of taming commences by keeping them for
several days without food. Then a cord is passed
round their feet, and they are attached to a strong
column. The delicacies of which they are most fond
are then supplied them, such as sugar-canes, plantains,
and fresh herbs, and at the end of a few days the
animal is domesticated and resigned to his fate.
" Without the aid of the elephant it would scarcely
be possible to traverse the woods and jungles of Siam.
He makes his way as he goes, crushing with his
trunk all that resists his progress ; over deep morasses
or sloughs he drags himself on his knees and belly.
When he has to cross a stream he ascertains the
depth by his proboscis, advances slowly, and when he
is out of his depth he swims, breathing through his
trunk, which is visible when the whole of his body is
submerged. He descends into ravines impassable
by man, and by the aid of his trunk ascends steep
mountains. His ordinary pace is about four to five
miles an hour, and he will journey day and night if
properly fed. When weary, he strikes the ground
with his trunk, making a sound resembling a horn,
which announces to his driver that he desires re-
260 SIAM
pose. In Siam the liowdah is a great roofed basket,
in which the traveller, with the aid of his cushions,
comfortably ensconces himself. The motion is dis-
agreeable at first, but ceases to be so after a little
practice.
" Elephants in Siam are much used in warlike ex-
peditions, both as carriers and combatants. All the
nobles are mounted on them, and as many as a thou-
sand are sometimes collected. They are marched
against palisades and entrenchments. In the late
war with Cochin-China the Siamese general surprised
the enemy with some hundreds of elephants, to whose
tails burning torches were attached. They broke
into the camp, and destroyed more than a thousand
Cochin-Chinese, the remainder of the army escaping
by flight.
" Of elephants in Siam, M. de Brnguieres gives
some curious anecdotes. He says that there was one
in Bangkok which was habitually sent by his keeper
to collect a supply of food, which he never failed to
do, and that it was divided regularly between his
master and himself on his return home ; and that
there was another elephant, which stood at the door
of the king's palace, before whom a large vessel
filled with rice was placed, which he helped out with
a spoon to every talapoin (bonze) who passed.
" His account of the Siamese mode of capturing
wild elephants is not dissimilar to that which has
been already given. But he adds that in taming the
captured animals every species of torture is used. He
is lifted by a machine in the air, fire is placed under
his belly, he is compelled to fast, he is goaded with
NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF SI AM 261
sharp irons, till reduced to absolute submission. The
tame elephants co-operate with their masters, and,
when thoroughly subdued, the victim is marched
away with the rest.
" Some curious stories are told by La Loubere of
the sagacity of elephants, as reported by the Siamese.
In one case an elephant, upon whose head his keeper
had cracked a cocoa-nut, kept the fragments of the
nut-shell for several days between his forelegs, and
having found an opportunity of trampling on and
killing the keeper, the elephant deposited the frag-
ments upon the dead body.
" I heard many instances of sagacity which might
furnish interesting anecdotes for the zoologist. The
elephants are undoubtedly proud of their gorgeous
trappings, and of the attentions they receive. I was
assured that the removal of the gold and silver rings
from their tusks was resented by the elephants as
an indignity, and that they exhibited great satisfac-
tion at their restoration. The transfer of an elephant
from a better to a worse stabling is said to be accom-
panied with marks of displeasure."
If the elephant is in Siam the king of beasts, the
white elephant is the king of elephants. This fam-
ous animal is simply an albino, and owes his celebrity
and sanctity to the accident of disease. He is not
really white (except in spots); his color is a faded
pink, or, as Bovvring states of the specimen he saw,
a light mahogany. In September, 1870, however, a
very extraordinary elephant arrived in Bangkok, hav-
ing been escorted from Paknam with many royal hon-
ors. A large part of the body of this animal was
262 SIAM
really white, and great excitement and delight was
produced by its arrival at the capital. The elephant
which Bowring saw and described died within a year
after his visit. She occupied a large apartment with-
in the grounds of the first king's palace, and not
far off, iu an elevated position, was placed a golden
chair for the king to occupy when he should come
to visit her. " She had a number of attendants, who
were feeding her with fresh grass (which I thought
she treated somewhat disdainfully), sugar-cane, and
plantains. She was richly caparisoned in cloth of
gold and ornaments, some of which she tore away and
was chastised for the offence by a blow on the pro-
boscis by one of the keepers. She was fastened to an
upright pole by ropes covered with scarlet cloth, but
at night was released, had the liberty of the room,
and slept against a matted and ornamented partition,
sloping from the floor at about an angle of forty-five
degrees. In a corner of the room was a caged mon-
key, of pure white, but seemingly very active and mis-
chievous. The prince fed the elephant with sugar-
cane, which appeared her favorite food ; the grass she
seemed disposed to toss about rather than to eat. She
had been trained to make a salaam by lifting her pro-
boscis over the neck, and did so more than once at the
prince's bidding. The king sent me the bristles of
the tail of the last white elephant to look at. They
were fixed in a gold handle, such as ladies nse for
their nosegays at balls."
There seems some reason for believing that the
condition of the white elephant is not at present
quite so luxurious as it used to be, and a correspond-
NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF SI AM 263
ent of Miss Cort is quoted as saying " I think it is
time the popular fallacy about feeding the white ele-
phant from gold dishes, and keeping him in regal
splendor was exploded. Except on state occasions
it has no foundation in fact." Advancing civiliza-
tion begins to make it evident, even to the Siamese,
that there are other things more admirable and more
worthy of reverence. It was noticed that the late
second king, especially, did not always speak of the
noble creature with the solemnity which ancient
usage would have justified, and even seemed to
think that there was something droll in the venera-
tion which was given to it. But the superstition in
regard to it is by no means extinct, and the pres-
ence of one of these animals is still believed to be a
pledge of prosperity to the kin'g and country.
" Hence," says Bowring, " the white elephant is
sought with intense ardor, the fortunate finder re-
warded with honors, and he is treated with atten-
tion almost reverential. This prejudice is traditional
and dates from the earliest times. When a tribu-
tary king or governor of a province has captured a
white elephant he is directed to open a road through
the forest for the comfortable transit of the sacred
animal, and when he reaches the Meinam he is re-
ceived on a magnificent raft, with a chintz canopy
and garlanded with flowers. He occupies the centre
of the raft and is pampered with cakes and sugar.
A noble of high rank, sometimes a prince of royal
blood (and on the last occasion both the first and
second kings), accompanied by a great concourse of
barges, with music and bands of musicians, go forth
264 8IAM
to welcome his arrival. Every barge has a rope at-
tached to the raft, and perpetual shouts of joy attend
the progress of the white elephant to the capital,
where on his arrival he is met by the great digni-
taries of the state, and by the monarch himself, who
gives the honored visitor some sonorous name and
confers on him the rank of nobility. He is con-
ducted to a palace which is prepared for him, where
a numerous court awaits him, and a number of of-
ficers and slaves are appointed to administer to his
wants in vessels of gold and silver."
It is believed that these albinos are found only in
Siam and its dependencies, and the white elephant
(on a red ground) has been made the flag of the
kingdom. It is probable enough that the festival of
the white elephant, which at the present day is cele-
brated in Japan (the elephant being an enormous
pasteboard structure " marching on the feet of men
enclosed in each one of the four legs"), may be a
tradition of the intercourse between that country
and Siam, which was formerly more intimate than
at present.
" The white monkeys enjoy almost the same priv-
ileges as the white elephant ; they are called pdja,
have household and other officers, but must yield
precedence to the elephant. The Siamese say that
' the monkey is a man not very handsome to be
sure ; but no matter, he is not less our brother.' If
he does not speak, it is from prudence, dreading lest
the king should compel him to labor for him with-
out pay ; nevertheless, it seems he has spoken, for
he was once sent in the quality of generalissimo to
NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF 81 AM 265
fight, if I mistake not, an army of giants. With one
kick lie split a mountain in two, and report goes
that he finished the war with honor.
" The Siamese have more respect for white ani-
mals than for those of any other color. They say
that when a talapoin meets a white cock he salutes
him an honor he will not pay a prince."
Tigers are abundant in the jungle, but are more
frequently dangerous to other animals, both wild and
domestic, than to men. The rhinoceros, the buffalo,
bears, wild pigs, deer, gazelles, and other smaller
animals inhabit the forests. Monkeys are abundant.
In Cambodia Monhot found several new species.
And the orang-outang is found on the Malayan pen-
insula. Various species of cats, and among them
tailless cats like those of Japan, are also to be found.
Bats are abundant, some of them said to be nearly
as large as a cat. They are fond of dwelling among
the trees of the temple-grounds, and Pallegoix says
(but it seems that the good Bishop must have over-
stated the case, as other travellers have failed to
notice such a phenomenon) that " at night they hang
over the city of Bangkok like a dense black cloud,
which appears to be leagues in length."
Birds are abundant, and often of great size and
beauty ; some of them sweet singers, some of them
skilful mimics, some of them useful as scavengers.
Peacocks, parrots, parroquets, crows, jays, pigeons,
in great numbers and variety, inhabit the forest
trees.
What the elephant is in the forest, the crocodile
is in the rivers, the king of creeping things. The
18
266 SIAM
eggs of the crocodile are valued as a delicacy ; but
the business of collecting them is attended with so
many risks that it is not regarded as a popular or
cheerful avocation. It will be well for the collector
to have a horse at hand on which he can take imme-
diate flight. The infuriated mother seldom fails,
says Pallegoix, to rush out in defence of her pro-
geny.
"At Bangkok there are professional crocodile-
charmers. If a person is reported to have been
seized by a crocodile, the king orders the animal to
be captured. The charmer, accompanied by many
boats, and a number of attendants with spears and
ropes, visits the spot where the presence of the cro-
codile has been announced, and, after certain cere-
monies, writes to invite the presence of the crocodile.
The crocodile-charmer, on his appearance, springs on
his back and gouges his eyes with his fingers ; while
the attendants spring into the water, some fastening
ropes round his throat, others round his legs, till the
exhausted monster is dragged to the shore and de-
posited in the presence of the authorities." Father
Pallegoix affirms that the Annamite Christians of
his communion are eminently adroit in these dan-
gerous adventures, and that he has himself seen as
many as fifty crocodiles in a single village so taken,
and bound to the uprights of the houses. But his
account of the Cambodian mode of capture is still
more remarkable. He says that the Cambodian
river-boats carry hooks, which, by being kept in mo-
tion, catch hold of the crocodiles, that during the
struggle a knot is thrown over the animal's tail, that
NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF SI AM 267
the extremity of the tail is cut off, and a sharp bam-
boo passed through the vertebrae of the spine into
the brain, when the animal expires.
There are many species of lizards, the largest is
the takuet. His name has passed into a Siamese
proverb, as the representative of a crafty, double-
dealing knave, as the takuet has two tongues, or
rather one tongue divided into two." This is per-
haps the lizard (about twice as large as the American
bull-frog) which comes into the dwellings unmolested
and makes himself extremely useful by his destruc-
tion of vermin. He is a noisy creature, however,
with a prodigious voice. He begins with a loud and
startling whirr-r-r-r, like the drumming of a par-
tridge or the running down of an alarm-clock, and
follows up the sensation which he thus produces by
the distinct utterance of the syllables, "To-kay,"
four or five times repeated. He is not only harmless,
but positively useful, but it takes a good while for a
stranger to become so well acquainted with him that
the sound of his cry from the ceiling, over one's bed
for instance, and waking one from a sound sleep, is
not somewhat alarming.
There is no lack of serpents, large and small. Pal-
legoix mentions one that will follow any light or
torch in the darkness, and is only to be avoided by
extinguishing or abandoning the liojht which has at-
O CJ O O
tracted him. There are serpent-charmers, as in other
parts of India. They extract the poison from cer-
tain kinds of vipers, and then train them to fight with
one another, to dance, and perform various tricks.
Pallegoix mentions one or two varieties of fish that
268 SIAM
are interesting, and, so far as known, peculiar to
Siamese waters. One, " a large fish, called the meng-
phu, weighing from thirty to forty pounds, of a
bright greenish-blue color, will spring out of the
water to attack and bite bathers." He says there
" is also a tetraodon, called by the Siamese the moon,
without teeth, but with jaws as sharp as scissors. It
can inflate itself so as to become round as a ball. It
attacks the toes, the calf, and the thighs of bathers,
and, as it carries away a portion of the flesh, a wound
is left which it is difficult to heal. 1 '
Of centipedes, scorpions, ants, mosquitoes, and the
various pests and plagues common to all tropical
countries it is not necessary to speak in detail.
Sir John Bowling considered that sugar was likely
to become the principal export of Siam, but thus far
it would seern that rice has taken the precedence.
The gutta-percha tree, all kinds of palms, and of
fruits a vast and wonderful variety (among which
are some peculiar to Siam), are abundant. The
durian and mangosteen are the most remarkable, and
have already been described. So far as is known,
they grow only in the regions adjacent to the Gulf of
Siam and the Straits of Sunda. And though there
are many fruits common to these and to all tropical
countries which are more useful (such as the banana,
of which there are said to be in Siam not less than
fifty varieties, " in size from a little finger to an ele-
phant's tusk "), there are none more curious than
these. The season of the mangosteen is the same
with that of the durian. The tree grows about
fifteen feet high, and the foliage is extremely glossy
NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF SIAM 269
and dark. The fruit may be eaten in large quanti-
ties with safety, and is of incomparable delicacy of
flavor. No fruit in the world has won such praises
as the mangosteen.
Of the mineral treasures of Siam, enough has been
already indicated in the description of the wealth and
magnificence which is everywhere apparent. We
need only add that coal of excellent quality and in
great abundance has been recently discovered, and
that the country is also rich in petroleum, which
awaits the wells and refineries by which it may be
profitably used. Gold and silver mines are both
known but little is produced from them. The gov-
ernment is obliged to import Mexican dollars in or-
der to melt and recoin them in the new mint.
CHAPTER XVIII.
CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN SIAM THE OUTLOOK FOB
THE FUTURE
NO account of the present condition of Siam can
be at all complete which does not notice the
history of missionary enterprise in that country. Al-
lusion has already been made to the efforts of Roman
Catholic missionaries, Portuguese and French, to in-
troduce Christianity and to achieve for the Church a
great success by the conversion of the king and his
people. The scheme failed, and the political in-
trigue which was involved in it came also to an ig-
nominious conclusion ; and the first era of Roman
Catholic missions in Siam closed in 1780, when a
royal decree banished the missionaries from the king-
dom. They did not return in any considerable num-
bers, or to make any permanent residence until 1830.
In that year the late Bishop Pallegoix, to whom we
owe much of our knowledge of the country and the
people (and who died respected and beloved by
Buddhists as well as Christians), was appointed to re-
sume the interrupted labors of the Roman Catholic
Church. Under his zealous and skilful manage-
ment, much of a certain kind of success has been
achieved, but very few of the converts are to be
found among the native Siamese. There is at pres-
CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN SIAM 271
ent on the ground a force of about twenty mission-
aries, including a vicar apostolic and a bishop, with
churches at ten or a dozen places in the kingdom.
Their converts and adherents are chiefly from the
Chinese, Portuguese half-castes, and others who value
the political protection conferred by the priests.
The religious success of the Protestant missionaries,
which has not been over-encouraging, has also been
in the first place, and largely, among the Chinese resi-
dents. A few Siamese converts are reported within
the past few years, and their number is steadily in-
creasing. The first Protestant mission was that of
the American Baptist Board, which was on the
ground within three years after the arrival of Bishop
Pallegoix, though several American missionaries of
other denominations had been in the country and
translated religious books before this. The Baptists
were followed within a few years by Congregation al-
ists and Presbyterians from the United States. But
" as time passed on one agency after another left the
field, until to-day the entire work of Christianizing
the Siamese is left to the Board of Foreign Missions
of the Presbyterian Church in the United States,"
which began work in Bangkok of 1840.
At first sight their efforts, if measured by a count
of converts, might seem to have resulted in failure.
The statistics show but little accomplished ; the roll
of communicants seems insignificant. And of the
sincerity and intelligence even of this small handful
there are occasional misgivings. On the whole, those
who are quick to criticise and to oppose foreign mis-
sions might seem to have a good argument and to
272 SIAM
find a case in point in the history of missions in
Siam.
But really the success of these efforts has been ex-
traordinary, although the history of them exhibits an
order of results almost without precedent. Ordinar-
ily, the religious enlightenment of a people conies
first, and the civilization follows as a thing of course.
But here the Christianization of the nation has
scarcely begun, but its civilization has made (as this
volume has abundantly shown) much more than a
beginning.
For it is to the labors of the Christian missionaries
in Siam that the remarkable advancement of the
kings and nobles, and even of some of the common
people, in general knowledge and even in exact sci-
ence, is owing. The usurpation which kept the last
two kings (the first and second) nearly thirty years
from their thrones was really of great advantage both
to them and to their kingdom. Shut out from any
very active participation in political affairs, their
restless and intelligent minds were turned into new
channels of activity. The elder brother in his cloister,
the younger in his study and his workshop, busied
themselves with the pursuit of knowledge. The
elder, as a priest of Buddhism, turned naturally to
the study of language and literature. The younger
busied himself with natural science, and more espe-
cially with mathematical and military science. The
Roman Catholic priests were ready instructors of the
elder brother in the Latin language. And among
the American missionaries there were some with a
practical knowledge of various mechanical arts. It
CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN SIAM 273
was from them that the two brothers learned English
and received the assistance and advice which they
needed in order to perfect themselves in Western
science. At a very early day they began to be fami-
liar with them ; to receive them and their wives on
terms of friendly and fraternal intimacy ; to send for
them whenever counsel or practical aid was needed in
their various philosophical pursuits and experiments.
Through the printing-presses of the Protestant mis-
sions much has been done to arouse the people from
the lethargy of centuries and to diffuse among them
useful intelligence of every sort. The late king was
not content until he established a press of his own, of
which he made constant and busy use. The medical
missionaries, by their charitable work among the
rich, in the healing of disease and by instituting va-
rious sanitary and precautionary expedients, have
done much to familiarize all classes with the excel-
lence of Western science, and to draw attention and
respect to the civilization which they represent. It
is due to the Christian missionaries, and (without
any disparagement to the excellence of the Roman
Catholic priests), we may say especially to the Amer-
ican missionaries, more than to any enterprise of
commerce or shrewdness of diplomacy that Siarn is
so far advanced in its intercourse with other nations.
When Sir John Bowring came in 1855 to negotiate
his treaty, he found that, instead of having to deal
with an ignorant, narrow, and savage government, the
two kings and some of the noblemen were educated
gentlemen, well fitted to discuss with him, with in-
telligent skill and fairness, the important matters
274 SIAM
which he had in hand. Sir John did his work for
the most part ably and well. But the fruit was ripe
before he plucked it. And it was by the patient and
persistent labors of the missionaries for twenty years
that the results which he achieved were made not
only possible but easj\
Hitherto the Buddhist religion, which prevails in
Siam in a form probably more pure and simple than
elsewhere, has firmly withstood the endeavors of the
Christian missionaries to supplant it. The converts
are chiefly from among the Chinese, who, for centu-
ries past, and in great numbers, have made their homes
in this fertile country, monopolizing much of its in-
dustry, and sometimes, with characteristic thrif tiness,
accumulating much wealth. They have intermarried
with the Siamese, and have become a permanent ele-
ment in the population, numbering, in the coast region,
almost as many as the native Siamese, or Thai. For
some reason they seem to be more susceptible to the
influence of the Christian teachers, and many of them
have given evidence of a sincere and intelligent at-
tachment to the Christian faith. The native Siam-
ese, however, though acknowledging the superiority
of Christian science, and expressing much personal
esteem and attachment for the missionaries, give
somewhat scornful heed, or no heed at all, to the re-
ligious truths which they inculcate. The late second
king was suspected of cherishing secretly a greater
belief in Christianity than he was willing to avow.
But after his death, his brother, the first king, very
emphatically and somewhat angrily denied that there
was any ground for such suspicions concerning him.
CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN SIAM 275
For himself, though willing to be regarded as the
founder of a new and more liberal school of Buddh-
ism, he was the steady " defender of the faith " in
which he was nurtured, and in the priesthood of which
so many years of his life were passed. He seldom did
anything which looked like persecution of the mission-
aries, but contented himself with occasionally snub-
bing them in a patronizing or more or less contemp-
tuous manner. This attitude of contemptuous indif-
ference is also that which is commonly assumed by
the Buddhist priests. " Do you think," said one of
them on sotne occasion to the missionaries, " do you
think you will beat down our great mountains with
your small tools ? " And on another occasion the
king is reported to have said that there was about as
much probability that the Buddhists would convert
the Christians, as that the Christians would convert
the Buddhists.
But there can be little doubt with those who take
a truly philosophical view of the future of Siam, and
still less with those who take a religious view of it,
that this advancement in civilization must open the
way for religious enlightenment as well. Thus far
there has come only the knowledge which " puffeth
up." Arid how much it puffeth up is evident from
the pedantic documents which used to issue from
the facile pen of his majesty the late first king. A
little more slowly, but none the less surely, there
must come as well that Christian charity which
" buildeth up." Even if the work of the mission-
aries should cease to-day, the results accomplished
would be of immense and permanent value. They
276 SIAM
have introduced Christian science ; they have made
a beginning of Christian literature, by the trans-
lation of the Scriptures ; they have awakened an
insatiable appetite for Christian civilization ; and
the end is not yet.
CHAPTER XIX.
BANGKOK AND THE NEW SIAM
" T DO not believe," says the Marqnis de Beauvoir
1 (in his " Voyage Round the World," vol. ii.),
" that there is a sight in the world more magnificent or
more striking than the first view of Bangkok. This
Asiatic Venice displays all her wonders over an ex-
tent of eight miles. The river is broad and grand ;
in it more than sixty vessels lie at anchor. The
shores are formed by thousands of floating houses,
whose curiously formed roofs make an even line,
while the inhabitants, in brilliant-colored dresses, ap-
pear on the surface of the water. On the dry land
which commands this first amphibious town, the
royal city extends its battlemented walls and white
towers. Hundreds of pagodas rear their gilded
spires to the sky, their innumerable domes inlaid
with porcelain and glittering crystals, and the em-
brasures polished and carved in open-work. The
horizon was bounded to right and left by sparkling
roofs, raised some six or seven stories, enormous
steeples of stone- work, whose brilliant coating daz-
zled the eyes, and bold spires from one hundred and
fifty to two hundred feet in height, indicating the
palace of the King, which reflected all the rays of
the sun like a gigantic prism. It seemed as though
278 SIAM
we had before us a panorama of porcelain cathe-
drals.
"The first general view of the Oriental Venice
surpassed all that we could have hoped for in our
travellers' dreams. We longed to get into gondolas
and go through the lively canals which are the streets
of the floating town, and where the bustle, animation,
and noise bewildered us. ... At length, jumping
into a boat, we directed our rowers toward the tower
of the Catholic mission by signs. We were nearly an
hour crossing over, as we had to struggle against the
rising tide. Thus we were able to study the details
of the floating town while we went through its streets,
or rather canals, between the crowded houses, each one
of which formed a small island. We met and passed
thousands of light boats, which are the cabs and om-
nibuses of Bangkok. The waving paddle makes
them glide like nut-shells from one shop to another.
Some were not much more than three feet long, with
one Siamese squeezed in between piles of rice, ba-
nanas, or fish ; others hold fifteen people, and are so
crowded that one can hardly see the edge of the boat,
which is a hollow palm-tree.
" As to the children, who are scattered about in
profusion, their dress consists of a daub of yellow
paint ; but they are most fascinating little things. I
was charmed with them from the very first moment,
but it grieves me to think that some day they will
become as ugly as their fathers and mothers and
that is saying much ! Their little hair-tufts, twisted
round with a great gold pin, are surrounded by pretty
wreaths of white flowers. They are merry and full
BANGKOK AND THE NEW SIAM 279
of tricks, and very pretty to see in their childish
nakedness; yet they are more dressed than the
growri-np young ladies who were bathing. Besides a
heap of bracelets and necklaces of gold or copper
gilt, with which they are covered like idols, they
wear a small vine-leaf, cut in the shape of a heart,
and hung round the waist by a slight thread. This
hanging leaf, which is about two inches long and one
and a half broad, marks their caste. For the rich it
is gold, for the middle classes silver, for the poor red
copper.
" The grandest and most characteristic pagoda is
on the right bank, surrounded by a fine and verdant
wood. It rises amidst a cluster of small towers
which command a central pyramid three hundred
feet high. This is at the base in the form of the
lower part of a cone, with one hundred and fifty
steps ; then it becomes a six-sided tower with dormer
windows supported by three white elephants' trunks ;
the graceful spire then rises from a nest of turrets,
and shoots upward like a single column rounded off
into a cupola at the summit ; from thence a bronze
gilt arrow extends twenty crooked arms that pierce
the clouds. When lighted up by the rays of the sun
it all becomes one mass of brilliancy ; the enamelled
colors of flaming earthenware, the coating of thou-
sands of polished roses standing out in the alabaster,
give to this pagoda, with its pure and brilliant archi-
tecture unknown under any other sky, the magical
effect of a dream with the colossal signs of reality.
" As we approached it, gliding slowly along in a
gondola against the impetuous current of the river, the
280 SIAM
promontory looked like an entire town, a sacred town
of irregular towers, crowded kiosques, painted sum-
mer-bouses, colonnades and statues of pink marble
and red porphyry. But on landing we bad to pass tbe
ditcbes and sballows wbicb surround tbe sacred ram-
parts, wbere, walking with measured steps, was a whole
population of men, with beads and eyebrows shaved,
and whose dress was a long saffron-colored Roman
toga. These were tbe ; talapoins,' or Buddhist
priests. In one band they bold an iron saucepan, and
in tbe other the ' talapat/ a great fan of palm-leaves,
the distinguishing sign of their rank. The lanes
they live in are horribly dirty, and their houses are
huts built of dirty planks and bricks, which are fall-
ing to pieces. One could imagine them to be the
foul drains of the porcelain palaces wbicb touch them,
luckily hidden by bowers of luxuriant trees. More
than seven hundred talapoins or 'phras' looked at
us as we passed, with an indifference that bordered on
contempt. And when we saw the sleepy and besot-
ted priests of Buddha, who looked like lazy beggars,
and the twelve or fifteen hundred ragged urchins who
surrounded them in the capacity of choristers, and
who grow up in the slums together with groups of
geese, pigs, chickens, and stray dogs, it seemed a
menagerie of mud, dirt, and vermin belonging to
tbe monastery ; and we could not help noticing the re-
markable contrast wbicb exists between tbe fairy-like
appearance of tbe temple as seen from tbe town, and
the horrible condition of tbe hundreds of priests who
serve it. ...
" We only had to go up a few steps to pass from
BANGKOK AND THE NEW SIAM 281
the dirty huts to marble terraces. We scaled the
great pyramid as high as we could go ; no such easy
matter beneath a scorching sun which took away onr
strength, and blinded by the dazzling whiteness of
the stone-work. But a panaroma of the \vhole town
was now laid before us, with the windings of the
river, the royal palaces, the eleven pagodas in the
first enclosure, the two and twenty in the second, and
some four hundred porcelain towers and spires, look-
ing as though planted in a mound of verdure formed
by the masses of tropical vegetation. In the symme-
trical colonnades which we visited there are hundreds
of altars, decorated with millions of statuettes of
Buddha, in gold, silver, copper, or porphyry. On
the left side is a very large temple with a five-storied
roof in blue, green, and yellow tiles, and dazzling
walls. A double door of gigantic size, all lacker-
work inlaid with mother-o'-pearl, opened to us, and
we were in the presence of a Buddha of colored
stone-work. He was seated on a stool, nearly fifty
feet high, his legs crossed, a pointed crown upon his
head, great white eyes, arid his height was nearly
forty feet. This deified mass, altogether attaining to
the height of ninety feet, is the only thing that re-
mains unmoved at the sound of more than fifty gongs
and tom-toms, which the bonzes beat with all their
strength. Incense burns in bronze cups, and a ray of
light penetrating the window strikes upon five rows
of gilded statuettes which, in a body of two or three
hundred, crouch at the feet of the great god, and
baskets of splendid fruit are offered to them ; you
can imagine who eats it. Suits of armor are fixed
19
282 SIAM
against the walls, and at certain distances the seven-
storied umbrella hangs like a banner. As for the
bas-reliefs, their description would take a whole vo-
lume ; they represent all the tortures of the Buddhist
hell. I shuddered as I looked on these wretched creat-
ures, some fainting away, thrusting out their tongues,
which serpents devoured, or picking up an eye torn
out by the claw of an eagle, twisting round like tee-
totums, or eagerly devouring human brains in the
split skull of their neighbor. On the other side of
these walls there are colored frescoes. The illustra-
tions extend into a whole world of detail of the
Buddhist religion, which varies in eveiy part of Asia
and is so impossible to separate from tradition, and
so contradictory in its laws."
Each king in turn seems to wish to rebuild the
royal residence, and here is a brief description, from
Mr. Bock, of that which King Chulalonkorn has
erected for himself: "Adjoining the old building is
the new palace, called the Chakr Kri Maha Prasat,
the erection of which has long been a favorite scheme
of his majesty, who in 1880 took formal possession
of the building. The style is a mixture of different
schools of European architecture, the picturesque and
characteristic Siamese roof, however, being retained.
The internal fittings of this palace are on a most
elaborate scale, the most costly furniture having been
imported from London at an expense of no less than
80,000. One of the features of the palace is a large
and well-stocked library, in which the king takes
great interest all the leading European and Ameri-
can periodicals being regularly taken in.
BANGKOK AND THE NEW SIAM 283
" Here the king transacts all state business, assisted
by his brother and private secretary, Prince Deva-
wongsa usually called Prince Devan. These two
are probably the hardest-worked men in the country,
nothing being too great or too trivial to escape the
king's notice. A friend of mine, who has had many
opportunities of observing the king's actions, writes to
me : ' Every officer of any importance is compelled to
report in person at the palace, and the entire affairs
of the kingdom pass in detail before his majesty
daily. Although the king is obliged through policy
to overlook, or pretend not to see, very many abuses
in the administration of his government, yet they do
not escape his eye, and in some future time will come
up for judgment.'
" Inside the palace gates were a number of soldiers
in complete European uniform, minus the boots,
which only officers are allowed to wear. At the
head of the guard, inside the palace gates, is the
king's aunt, who is always ' on duty,' and never
allows anyone to pass without a proper permit.
Passing through a long succession of courts and
courtyards, past a series of two-storied and white-
washed buildings the library, museum, barracks,
mint, etc., all of which are conveniently placed with-
in the palace grounds we were led to an open pavil-
ion, furnished with chairs and tables of European
manufacture, in which were two court officers, neatly
dressed in the very becoming court suit snow-white
jacket with gold buttons, a 'pa-nung,' or scarf, so
folded round the body as to resemble knickerbockers,
with white stockings and buckled shoes.
284 SIAM
" The ninth child of his father and predecessor on
the throne, King Chulalonkorn has profited by the
liberal education which that father was careful to
give him, and, with a mind fully impressed by the
advantages afforded by large and varied stores of
knowledge, he has striven to give practical effect to
the Western ideas thus early instilled in him. Born
on September 22, 1853, he was only fifteen years of
age when he came to the throne, and during his
minority his Highness the Somdeth Chow Phya
Boromaha Sri Suriwongse an able and upright
statesman, the head of the most powerful and noble
family in the country, which practically rules the
greater portion of Western Siam acted as regent.
. . . Although the king shows great favor to
Europeans, he does not display any undue predilec-
tion for them, and only avails himself of their assist-
ance so far as their services are indispensable, and
as a means of leavening the mass of native official-
dom. The example of the sovereign has not been
without its effect on the minds of his native advisers,
and the princes and officials by whom he is surround-
ed are rapidly developing enlightened ideas. This
is the more important since many of the highest
offices are hereditary, and there is consequently not
the same scope for the choice by the king of men
after his own heart which he would otherwise have.
As one instance out of many, I may mention the case
of his Highness Chow Sai, the king's body-physician,
one of the last offices that one would suppose to be
hereditary ! Chow Sai is one of those princes who
are favorably disposed toward Europeans ; he is well
BANGKOK AND THE NEW SIAM 285
read, and some years ago sent his eldest son to be
thoroughly educated for the medical profession in
Scotland. Chow Sai's father, by the way, was a
great believer in European medicines, especially Hol-
loway's pills, of which he ordered the enormous quan-
tity of ten piculs, or over 1,330 pounds ; a large stock
still remain, with their qualities, no doubt, unim-
paired."
Before leaving the palace we may pause a moment
to hear a quaint tale of Oriental cunning by means
of which a former king succeeded in obtaining the
jar of sacred oil still preserved here with religious
care. The story, as told in Cameron's book,* re-
minds one of the artful dodges employed by zealous
monks of the Middle Ages to secure saints' relics with
their profitable blessings. " When the English took
possession of Ceylon," relates the author, " Tickery
Bundah and two or three brothers children of the
first minister of the King of the Kandians were
taken and educated in English by the governor.
Tickery afterward became manager of coffee planta-
tions, and was so on the arrival of the Siamese mis-
sion of priests in 1845 in search of Buddha's tooth.
It seems be met the mission returning disconsolate,
having spent some 5,000 in presents and bribes in
a vain endeavor to obtain a sight of the relic. Tick-
ery learned their story, and at once ordered them to
unload their carts and wait for three days longer, and
in due time he promised to obtain for them the
desired view of the holy tooth. He had a check on
the bank for 200 in his hands at the time, and this
* Our Tropical Possessions in Malayan India,
286 SIAM
he offered to leave with the priests as a guarantee
that he would fulfil his promise ; he does not say
whether the check was his own or his master's, or
whether it was handed over or not. Perhaps it was
the check for the misappropriation of which he after-
ward found his way to the convict lines of Malacca.
The Siamese priests accepted his undertaking and
unloaded the baggage, agreeing to wait for three
days. Tickery immediately placed himself in com-
munication with the governor, and represented, as he
says, forcibly the impositions that must have been
practised upon the King of Siam's holy mission, when
they had expended all their gifts and not yet obtained
the desired view of the tooth.
" The governor, who, Tickery says, was a great
friend of his, appreciated the hardship of the priests,
and agreed that the relic should be shown to them
with as little delay as possible. It happened, how-
ever, that the keys of the mosque where the relic
was preserved were in the keeping of the then resi-
dent councillor, who was away some eight miles
elephant shooting. But the difficulty was not long
allowed to remain in the way. Tickery immediately
suggested that it was very improbable the councillor
would have included these keys in his hunting furni-
ture, and insisted that they must be in his house.
He therefore asked the governor's leave to call upon
his wife, and, presenting the governor's compliments,
to request a search to be made for the keys. Tickery
was deputed accordingly, and by dint of his charac-
teristic tact and force of language, carried the keys
triumphantly to the governor.
BANGKOK AND THE NEW SIAM 287
" The Ivandy priests were immediately notified
that their presence was desired, as it was intended to
exhibit the great relic, and their guardian offices
would be necessary. Accordingly, on the third day
the mosque or temple was opened ; and in the build-
ing were assembled the Siamese pi iests and wor-
shippers with Tickery on the one side the Kandy or
guardian priests on the other, and th ) recorder arid
the governor in the centre.
"After making all due offering to the tooth of the
great deity, the Siamese head priest, who had brought
a golden jar filled with otto of roses, desired to have
a small piece of cotton with some of the otto of roses
rubbed on the tooth and then passed into the jar,
thereby to consecrate the whole of the contents. To
this process the Ivandy priests objected, as being
a liberty too great to be extended to any foreigners.
The Siamese, however, persevered in their requests,
and the governor and recorder, not knowing the cause
of the altercation, inquired of Tickery. Tickery,
who had fairly espoused the cause of the Siamese,
though knowing that in their last request they had
exceeded all precedent, resolved quietly to gratify
their wish ; so in answer to the governor's interroga-
tory, took from the hands of the Siamese priest a
small piece of cotton and the golden jar of oil.
' This is what they want, your honor ; they want to
take this small piece of cotton so ; and having
dipped it in this oil so ; they wish to rub it on this
here sacred tooth so; and having done this to return
it to the jar of oil so ; thereby, your honor, to conse-
crate the whole contents.' All the words of Tickery
288 SIAM
were accompanied by the corresponding action, and
of course the desired ceremony had been performed
in affording the explanation. The whole thing was
the work of a moment. The governor and recorder
did not know how to interpose in time, though they
were aware that such a proceeding was against all
precedent. The Kandy priests were taken aback,
and the Siamese priests, having obtained the desired
object, took from Tickery's hands the now conse-
crated jar, with every demonstration of fervent
gratitude. The Kandy priests were loud in their
indignation ; but the governor, patting Tickery on
the back said, ' Tickery, my boy, you have settled
the question for us ; it is a pity you were not born in
the precincts of St. James', for you would have made
a splendid political agent ! '
" Tickery received next morning a douceur of a
thousand rupees from the priests, and ever since has
been held in the highest esteem and respect by the
King of Siam, also by the Buddhist priests, by whom
he is considered a holy man. From the King he re-
ceives honorary and substantial tokens of royal favor.
He has carte blanche to draw on the King for any
amount, but he says he has as yet contented himself
with a moderate draft of seven hundred dollars."
There used to be a story current in Bangkok that
every new king made it his pious care to set up in
one of the royal temples a life-size image of Buddha
of solid gold. Though we need not believe this tale,
it would be hard to exaggerate the impression of
lavishness and distinction produced upon the visitor
to this city, full of temples. Nothing in great China
BANGKOK AND TUB NEW SI AM 289
or artistic Japan can compare with their peculiar
brilliance or their wonderful array of color flashing in
the tropical sunlight. We have no reason to repeat
the enthusiastic descriptions which travellers never
tire of giving, impressed as they are sure to be by an
architecture which, with all its wealth and oddity of
detail, harmonizes perfectly with the rich vegetation in
the midst of which it is placed. Change and decay are,
however, doing their part in reducing the pictu-
resqneness of this strange city. No Oriental thinks
of perpetuating a public monument by means of con-
stant attention and repairs, and many of these gay
edifices already lose their fine details by long expos-
ure to the effects of a climate in which nothing en-
dures long if left to itself. With the improvements
introduced by the present king and his father are dis-
appearing also many of those features of daily life in
the capital which once heightened its oriental charm.
A pleasure park has been made, in which, and on
some of the new macadam roads about the city, the
foreigners and richer natives drive in wheeled vehi-
cles. So long, however, as the roads are covered by
the annual inundations and made unserviceable for
months at a time, the use of carriages must be almost
as restricted here as that of horses in Venice. A
more regrettable innovation is that of dress-coats,
starched linens, and to some extent dresses, in the
fashionable circles of Siam. Taken out of their easy
and becoming costumes, and encased in ill-fitting and
uncomfortable Western clothes, the Siamese nobles
can hardly be said to have improved on the old days.
With the removal of their nakedness the lower
290 SIAM
classes, too, are becoming more conscious, while con-
tact with a higher civilization has introduced vices
among them without always bringing in their train
the Christian virtues of cleanliness and truth.
The population of Bangkok increases steadily with
its prosperity and influence, and is to-day variously
estimated at from three hundred thousand to half a
million souls, nearly half of whom perhaps are Chi-
nese. Its main article of export is rice, which goes
not only to every country of Asia, but to Australia
and America. Sugar and spices, as well as all pro-
ducts of tropical forests, are also largely exported.
The customs returns of 1890 show a considerable im-
provement of the Bangkok trade over previous years,
the exports being $19,257,728 against $13,317,696
for 1889, a difference of over $5,540,000 ; the imports
of 1890 were $15,786,120, against $9,599,541 in 1889,
a gain of more than six millions.
Gas and kerosene are both used for illumination,
the former in the palaces of royalty and the nobility,
where the electric light has also been introduced.
Foreign steam engines and machinery are employed
in increasing numbers, while iron bridges span many
of the smaller canals, and steam dredges keep the
river channel clear. Telegraphic communication has
long since been established with the French settlement
of Saigon, in Cochin China, and thus with the outer
world, and since the British occupation of Burmah a
line is promised from Rangoon into Siam. A rail-
way has been commenced between Bangkok and
Ayuthia, to extend thence to Korat, a total distance
of 170 miles; but the overflow of the Meinam, which
BANGKOK AND THE NEW SIAM 291
renders a considerable embankment or causeway
along the river necessary, is a serious obstacle to its
construction, while the great waterway itself renders
a railroad less necessary in Siam than in other conn-
tries. Another line, from Bangkok to the mouth of
the Pakong River, 36 miles southeast of the city, is
also in contemplation ; while a design exists to event-
ually connect Zimme with the sea by a line running
the whole length of the Meinam Yalley.
Thus the beautiful city, in awaking from the dream
of its old, narrow life, must become by degrees like
other busy trade centres of the civilized world, cursed
with its sins as well as blessed with its strength and
excellence. The tastes and education of the present
sovereign have led 'him to hasten, so far as a single
will could, this progress toward modern methods of
living. He has abolished the ancient custom of
prostration in the presence of a superior, so that now
a subject may approach even his king without abase-
ment. He has by degrees put an end to slavery as a
legalized institution, throughout the country, and al-
though many of his poorer subjects are hardly better
off under the system of forced service than as actual
slaves, the change, if only in some sort one of name,
is a change for the better. He strives to make Bang-
kok the pulse of the kingdom, through which the
life-blood of its commerce and control must course,
achieving by his polity that highly centred system of
administration, without which no pure despotism can
be either beneficial or successful.
As an indication of the spirit that is quickening
New Siam we should not forget to mention the ex-
292 SIAM
hibition held in Bangkok in 1882, to celebrate the,
centennial of the present dynasty and of its estab-
lishment as the capital. An object-lesson on such a
grand scale was of course a thing before unheard-of
in Eastern Asia, but its benefits to the people of this
region were both wide-spread and real, and are still
to some extent active in the form of a museum where
many of the exhibits are permanently preserved for
examination and display. "The exhibition will be
given " run the words of the royal announcement
"so that the people may observe the difference be-
tween the methods used to earn a living one hundred
years ago and those now used, and see what progress
has been made, and note the plants and fruits useful for
trade arid the improved means of living. We believe
that this exhibition will be beneficial to the country."
Miss Mary Hartwell, one of the American mis-
sionaries in Bangkok, in describing the exposition
says : " Nothing there was more significant than its
school exhibit. The Royal College was solicited to
make an exhibit representing the work done in the
school. This consisted chiefly of specimens of writ-
ino- in Siamese and Eno-lish. translations and solu-
O ^
tions of problems in arithmetic, the school furniture,
the text-books in use, and the various helps employed
in teaching, such as the microscope, magnets, electric
batteries, etc. The Siamese mind is peculiarly
adapted to picking up information by looking at
things and asking questions, and it is believed that
this exhibit will not only enhance the reputation of
the college, but give the Siamese some new ideas on
the subject of education.
THE PALACE OF THE KING OF SIAM, BANGKOK.
BANGKOK AND THE NEW SIAM 293
" Miss Olmstead and I, together with our assistant,
Ma Tuen, have been training little fingers in fancy-
work, or rather overseeing the finishing up 'of things,
to go to the exhibition. April 25th we placed our
mats, tidies, afghans, rugs, cushions, needle-books,
edgings, work-bags, and lambrequins in the cases al-
lotted to our school in the Queen's Room, and on the
26th we were again at our posts to receive his Majesty
the King, and give him our salutations upon his first
entrance at the grand opening. He was dressed in a
perfectly-fitting suit of navy-blue broadcloth, without
any gaudy trappings, and never did he wear a more
becoming suit. His face was radiant with joy, and
his quick, elastic step soon brought him to us. He
uttered an exclamation of pleasure at seeing us there,
shook our hands most cordially, took a hasty survey
of our exhibits, and then cried out with boyish en-
thusiasm, ' These things are beautiful, mem ; did
you make them ? ' ' Oh, no,' I responded, ' we
taught the children, and they made them.' ' Have
you many scholars?' was the next question. 'About
thirty-one,' I answered. Turning again to the cases
lie exclaimed, emphatically, 'They are beautiful
things, and I am coming back to look at them care-
fully am in haste now.' And off he went to the
other departments. Since then we see by the paper
published in Bangkok, that his Majesty has paid the
girls' school of Bangkok the high compliment of de-
claring himself the purchaser of the collection, and
has attached his name to the cases."
" The king of this country," says a discriminating
writer in the Saturday Review, " is no doubt one of
29<i- SIAM
the monarchs whom it is the fashion to call ' enlight-
ened.' But he understands the word in a very dif-
ferent sense from that which is often applied to it in
London. He does not interpret it to mean a sover-
eign who throws about valuable lands and privileges
to be scrambled for by all the needy adventurers and
greedy speculators who are on the watch for such
pickings. Ko ; King Chulalonkorn and his minis-
ters, many of whom are highly accomplished men,
are sincerely anxious for the speedy development of
the great resources over which they have command.
They have shown, by the most practical proofs, that
they have this desire and are able to carry it out.
An extensive network of telegraphs has rapidly been
established throughout their wide territory. Schools,
hospitals, and other public buildings have been
erected and are increasing every day. In 1888 a
tramway company, mainly supported by Siamese
capital, began running cars in the metropolis. A
river flotilla company, wholly Siamese, carries the
passenger traffic of the fine stream on which Bangkok
is built ; and in 1889 important gold-mining opera-
tions were begun by a company formed in London,
in which the great majority of subscribers are Siam-
ese nobles and other inhabitants of that country.
Lastly, a well-known Englishman, formerly Governor
of the Straits Settlements, obtained some years ago
a contract for surveying a trunk line of railway in
Siam, for which he was paid some 50,000 by the
Siamese government.
u With these evidences staring us in the face, it
would be very absurd to speak of the country or its
BANGKOK AND THE NEW SIAM 295
ruler as hanging back in the path of progress. One
must, moreover, remember that, besides these signs
of advancement, a free field has been and is opened
to the wide employment of foreign capital in ordi-
nary matters of trade. llice-mills, saw-mills, and
docks are doing a very large business, with very
large profits to their owners, who jconsist of English,
French, German, and Chinese capitalists. ... A
policy of reaction or inaction is the very reverse of
that which Siam now professes ; and the ruling powers
in that country are as anxious as any foreigner to im-
prove it in a wise, liberal, and even generous spirit.
We have thus, on the one hand, a king and ministers
sincerely desirous of promoting European enterprise,
and, on the other hand, a European public hardly
less ready to embark capital therein."
Unfortunately for Siam, there lies in the way of
her advancement the same stumbling-block of extra-
territoriality which has impeded the honest aspira-
tions of other Asiatic states. The term implies those
civil and judicial rights enjoyed by foreigners living
in the East, who, under treaties for the most part ex-
torted when the conditions were entirely different, ex-
ercise the privilege of governing and judging them-
selves independently of native officers and tribunals.
In such eager and enlightened countries as Japan and
Siam, this limitation to the autonomy of the sover-
eign is peculiarly humiliating as well as intensely un-
suitable to existing conditions. The simplest meas-
ures of police ordinance and local government, even
if it be a new liquor traffic law, or an opium farm
regulation, cannot be carried into effect without the
296 SIAM
separate consent of every European power, whether
great or small, which has a consul in the place. Add
to this the too common contingency of unjust or inef-
ficient consuls, wholly unqualified for their offices, and
their frequent inability to properly control the adven-
turers or aliens nominally residing under their flag,
and the drawbacks to further improvement in Siam,
as in other parts of Asia, may be dimly understood.
With the revision of the antiquated treaties now in
force commercial relations between Siam and the
countries of Christendom would soon be established
on a fair footing, to the mutual advantage of all par-
ties interested.
THE END.
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