YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE KINGDOM AND PEOPLE SIAM. THE KINGDOM AND PEOPLE OF SIAM; WITH A NARRATIVE OF THE MISSION TO THAT COUNTRY IN 1855. By SIR JOHN BOWRING, F.R.S. HER MAJESTY'S PLENIPOTENTIARY IN CHINA. Seals of the First King of Sia.rn. VOLUME I. LONDON: JOHN W. PARKER AND SON, WEST STRAND. 1857. [The Author of this Work reserves the right of Translation.] LONDON : SAVILL AND .EDWARDS, PRINTERS, CHANDOS SIRKKT, COVENT GARDEN. TO HIS MAJESTY PHRA BARD SOMDETCH PHRA PARAMENDR MAHA MONGKUT PHRA CHOM KLAU CHAU YU HUA, W)t JFkst Itins of Siam, THESE VOLUMES ARE RESPECTFULLY AND GRATEFULLY DEDICATED, BY ONE WHO HAS WITNESSED IN HIS MAJESTY THE RARE AND ILLUSTRIOUS EXAMPLE OF A SUCCESSFUL DEVOTION OF THE TIME AND TALENT OF A GREAT ORIENTAL SOVEREIGN TO XHE CULTIVATION OF THE LITERATURE AND THE STUDY OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESTERN NATIONS; BY ONE WHO FEELS HONOURED BY HIS MAJESTY'S CONFIDENCE AND KINDNESS, AND WHO REJOICES IN THE HOPE THAT THE EXTENSION OF COMMERCIAL AND SOCIAL RELATIONS WILL ASSOCIATE THE GROWING ADVANCEMENT OF SIAM WITH THE PROSPERITY AND CORDIAL FRIENDSHIP OF THE CIVILIZED WORLD. GOVEHNMENT HOUSE, HONG KONG, August, 1856. VOL. I. ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE FIRST VOLUME. / Poeteait of the Fibst King of Siam .... To face Title. Facsimile of Piest King's Autogeaph t Mode of appeoaching Supeeioes 129 Mandabin in oedinaet Costume (No. i) 130 Mandabin in oedinaet Costume (No. 2) 132 Specimen of Ancient Siamese Insceiption, about a.d. 1284 . 278 Images of Buddha 316 Floating House on the Meinam , . . 403 Monument of the late King of Siam 413 Peince in Full Deess 449 Pagoda of the late Somdetch Chao Phaja 456 The Saceed Elephant of Siam 476 PREFACE. TN submitting these volumes to the indulgent con sideration of the public, the Author feels assured that the peculiar circumstances under which they are necessarily published (he being many thousand miles away from England, and therefore unable himself to correct the press) will not be forgotten by the reader, and that he will not appeal in vain for a lenient judg ment on such errors as may be in consequence found in the "Work. At the same time, he has taken every precaution ih his power to ensure correctness. The Author cannot omit this opportunity of return ing his thanks to Bishop Paxlegoix, for the permis sion kindly given by him to make use of the contents of his interesting work (published in 1854) entitled Description du Royaume Thai ou Siam. He has not failed to take advantage of this permission to a con siderable extent. Vlll PREFACE. The majority of the Illustrations contained in these volumes are taken from original photographs, made on the spot expressly for the Work. In this category is the portrait of the First King of Siam, the original of which his Majesty has done the Author the honour to send him. Hongkong, August, 1856. CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. CHAPTER I. PAGE Geography J CHAPTER II. History 35 CHAPTER III. Population 8l CHAPTER IV. Manners, Customs, Superstitions, Amusements .... 93 CHAPTER V. Legislation , • • I1° CHAPTER VI. Natural Productions 20° CHAPTER VII. Manufactures 237 CHAPTER VIII. Commerce 24I X CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX. TAGE Revenues 262 CHAPTER X. Language and Literature 270 CHAPTER XI. Religion 287 CHAPTER XII. Christian Missions to Siam 335 CHAPTER XIII. Bangkok 391 >h 321 1 I l^rVi^t^-^ ^'¦^WX^WX^J >j; ^c If ^ ' ? s£^t>] a-^/j£< ^3 sj^n^y ^C^^€^Jf £^<^X^X^C_ /Xi~^y~- ¦'X^-Xr f£z> ^£-t^*^& '^L^P^i^. ^2^C*< i«^n ^2-2-17-Cc/ ^y XsS^^y~~^f^^ ^X-*) y^^&c*^^ ypx^ ? IE0 ^^IS-UA 4X1^- £ — /flL^c^y&~- jl^nJ' \&X*SXX- ^ ><^- ~*-1^~SJ / THE KINGDOM AND PEOPLE OF SIAM. CHAPTER I. GEOGRAPHY. rPHE kingdom of Siam is composed of forty-one -*- provinces, each governed by a Phaja, or func tionary of the highest rank. There are a considerable number of other districts under the authority of officials of lower ranks. There are five provinces in the north — Sang Kaldk, Phitsaldk or Phitsanulok, Kamphang Phet, Phixai, Raheng. In the centre, nine provinces — Nontaburi or Talat- Khuan, Pak-Tr'et, Patummatani or Samkhok, Jutliia or Krung-Kao, Ang- Thong, Muang-Phrom, Muang-In, Xainat, Nakhon-Savan. Ten eastern provinces — Phetxabun, Bua-Xum, Sara-Buri, Nophaburi, Nakhon-Najok, Pachin, Kabin, ¦Sasong-Sao or Petriu, Battabong, and Phanatsani Khom., Seven western provinces — Muang-Sing, Suphan or Suphannaburi, Kan-chanaburi or Pak-Phrek, Rapri or Raxahuri, Nakhon Xaisi, Sdkhonburi or Tha-Chin, Samut-Songkhram or Mei-Khlong. VOL. i. b 3 GEOGRAPHY. Ten southern provinces —Pakhlat or Nakhon- Khuen-Khan, Paknam or Sanauthaprakan, Bangplasoi or Xalaburi, Rajong, Chantabun or Chantaburi, Thung- Jai, Phiphri or Phetxaburi, Xumphon, Xaija, Xalang or Salang. Siam has been divided by Siamese annalists into two regions, the Northern, Muang-Nua, and the Southern, Muang-Tai; the Northern being that first occupied. The Southern annals are sometimes de nominated the " Records of the Royal City " ( Ayu- thia), and take their date from the period when Ayuthia became the capital of Siam.* The native name of the kingdom of Siam is Thai, meaning the Free, or Muang Thai (the Free king dom, or kingdom ofthe Free). Bishop Pallegoix, a high authority in such a question, says that the modern name Siam is derived from one of the ancient titles ofthe country, Sajam, meaning "the dark race." In the Siamese books, according to Kampfer, it (the name of the kingdom) is sounded with this epithet, Krom-Threp Pramma Laa Ikoon — Circuitus visita- tionis Deorum — " The Circle of the visitation of the Gods." This somewhat resembles the common Chinese name for their empire, Tien-hia, the " Under Heaven," meaning that celestial influences are con fined to China alone. The frontiers of the kingdom have considerably * Joao de Barros says that nine kingdoms were in his day subject to the sovereigns of Siam, of which only two were peopled by the Siamese races; namely, tlie southern kingdom, of which Ayuthia was the capital, and the northern, having for -its capital Chaumua. Only in these two was the Siamese language spoken. — Decadas, vol. v. p. 161. SIAM. 3 varied at different periods of its history;* but on the western, northern, and eastern frontiers of Siam, the territorial line cannot be very accurately traced, as there are many tribes whose subjection is by no means complete, and border wars between the Malayan and Burmese races on one side, and the Cambodian and the Cochin Chinese on the other, are of constant occurrence; but its present boundaries extend from four to twenty or twenty-one degrees of N.-lat. or nearly twelve hundred miles in its greatest length : its greatest breadth is from ninety- six to one hundred and two degrees of E. long., and may be estimated at about three hundred and fifty miles. Borgman estimates the whole area of Siam and its dependencies at two hundred and ninety thousand square miles, Crawfurd at one hundred and ninety thousand miles. The districts beyond the limits of Siam proper, to the north and east, are in a state of some dependence, and pay tribute with more or less regularity, but generally once in three years. The token of subjection is the presentation of a tree made of gold or silver, usually accompanied with gifts of the various and most valuable produce of the country. The more sub- * Camoens speaks of Tavai as the beginning of the Siamese empire — Olha Tavai cidade, onde comeca De Siao largo o imperio tam comprido — {1ms. can. x. cxxiii.) and of the subjection to Siam of Pam, Patane, and other kingdoms. The earliest accounts we possess of Siam are those given by the ancient Portu guese chroniclers. These, in all important particulars, agi-ee with those which are to be- found in other early records of travellers. Joao de Barros devotes one chapter of his Decades (Decada iii., liv. ii. cap. v.) to a de scription of the Grande Reyno de Siao, which he ranks among the three great Oriental empires, subject to "poderosos principes," the first being China, the second Siam, the third Bisnaya. B a 4 GEOGRAPHY. stantial evidence of recognised authority is the furnishing the contingents of troops when the King of Siam is engaged in war with the neighbouring States. But the hold of the Suzerain on the vassal is as fluctuating as the political agitations which from time to time trouble the tranquillity of these regions. Siam itself pays tribute to China ; the King of Siam seeks from the Emperor at Peking a special recognition of his right to reign. He sends every three years his envoy to the Chinese capital. There is no doubt that the Siamese receive in the remission of duties upon the cargoes of the tribute-bearing ships more than an equivalent for the tribute they bear, and the Government of China in no respect interferes with that of Siam, nor do the Chinese in Siam enjoy any other privileges and advantages than those which result from their superior industry, activity, aptitude for business, perseverance, and capital. Yet the external forms of vassalage con tinue to be observed rather out of reverence for ancient traditions and usages, than from any power which China possesses to enforce the rights of sove reignty, or any disposition on the part of Siam practically to submit to them. The extent of submission of all dependent States is decided by the adjacency and the efficient display and exercise of civil or military authority on the part of the sovereign authority, whose influence is relaxed by distance. The sovereign governs as much and as far as he is able. He frequently (as in more civilized parts of the world) appropriates to himself titles which are shadows, mementos of MOUNTAIN RANGES. 5 a state of things that has passed away. At the .present time have we not a King of Jerusalem in Italy ? and it was only by the Treaty of Amiens that the title of Rex Franciae was surrendered by the Sovereign of Great Britain. Sovereignty over the kingdom of Cambodia, which is on the frontiers of Siam and Cochin China, is claimed by each, and the Cambodian prince, unable to resist either of the sovereigns, pays tribute to both. The snowy mountain ranges of the north descend from the Chinese province of Yunnan, and branch off into two great divisions, between which lies the fertile valley of Siam : another chain runs down to the western side, extending over a surface of seven hun dred and fifty miles, to the Malayan peninsula. The elevation of these mountains has not been accurately ascertained, but they probably tower up to five or six thousand feet. On the eastern bank of the Tenasserim river rises the chain of the " Three Hun dred Peaks," which, as their name denotes, are remark able for their sharp and conical forms. It is said there would be little difficulty in establishing a water communication between the Bay of Bengal and the Gulf of Siam. In about lat. u° the direct passage across the isthmus is about fifty miles. A ship canal, if practicable, would be next in importance to those which have been proposed to cross the Isthmus of Darien, in America, and that of Suez, in Egypt; and it is to be hoped that our opening relations with Siam will lead to an investigation and solution of a question so interesting to geographical and com mercial inquiry. 6 GEOGRAPHY. This would, indeed, be a noble work; and, if the information I received be correct, a few miles of canalization are alone required to unite the navigable river communications which now exist. The time which would be saved in all voyages between India and Eastern Asia, by avoiding the long detour by the Straits of Malacca, may often be estimated, not by- days, but by weeks. The chain of mountains which divide Siam from Cambodia is little known ; but where it has been seen or visited, the elevations are found to be of a mode rate height, and are clothed with vegetation. Com munications with Cambodia are for the most part tardy and difficult. I was informed by the Catholic Bishop, that in visiting Bangkok he has been able to traverse by water a considerable part of the distance between the Cambodian and the Siamese capitals; but the existing maps are very unsatisfactory and imperfect. The various mountain chains which run through the Siamese territories are ramifications from the great Himala range, and descend into Cambodia on the south-east, and to the Malayan peninsula on the south-west. But Siam proper may be deemed a vast plain from which the mountains rise higher and higher as we reach the Laos dependencies. What the Nile is to Egypt is the Meinam to Siam, with the distinction that while deserts and desolation bound the green line which fringes the borders of the Nile, there is along the banks of the Meinam, wherever labour has failed to redeem the soil, a vast, fertile, and feracious jungle, which has to be reclaimed, but THE RIVER MEINAM. 7 which when reclaimed would, no doubt, be maonifi- cently productive. The flowing of the never-failing rivers — the fall of the periodical rains — the fervour of the tropical sun — the richness of the soil, — all invite the cares of the cultivator, and would bring the recompence of abundant harvests. The area of the valley of the Meinam has been estimated by some authorities at about 12,000 square miles, but this extent probably embraces only that alluvial portion of the soil which is visited by the annual inundations. The soil of Siam is indeed in all the prolific parts alluvial, formed of the mud or clay brought down by the rivers from the mountains. The Meinam (or Menam),* a word which means the "mother of waters," has its source in the mountains of Yunnan in China, at a distance of about 800 miles from its mouth. It receives many tributaries in its course — divides itself after receiving the waters of the Phitsalok branch, and again unites above Bangkok, where, with a depth of from six to eight fathoms, it rolls its magnificent tide into the Gulf of Siam. The Meinam has its annual inundation. Impreg nated with the rich soil which it brings from the interior, in the month of June its waters begin to rise, and in August they overflow the banks to a height sometimes exceeding six feet above the ordinary level. In the first public audience I had with the first King, he called my attention to the inundation * Olha o rio Menao que se derrama Do grande lago que Chiamai se chama. The Meinam now behold, whose waters take Their sources in the great Chiamai lake. — CamoSs, Lus. s. cxxv. » GEOGRAPHY. of the river, as the main source of the fertility of the soil: the rice-fields become greener and more pro mising as, the waters spread, which generally remain till the month of November, the land having the ap pearance of a lake. Boats traverse it in all directions, temporary canals being formed among the rice- fields to. facilitate their circulation. Pallegoix affirms that though the high lands are submerged for several months, the lower regions of the country at a distance of thirty miles from the sea are never inundated, which he attributes to the strength of the tides, which, in rising, drive back the descending waters with an irresistible force ; and at the ebb they make their way by the ordinary stream to the ocean, so that they have no time to spread themselves over the adjacent lands. A failure of the inundation is perdition to a large portion of the rice-crops. But the country sometimes suffers fearfully from these inundations. That of 183 1 nearly destroyed all the sugar plantations, and three or four feet of water continuing to cover the face of the country, almost all the cattle perished. The rice-harvest was seriously affected, and the finest fruit-trees swept away, so that it was said only one durian tree was left in Siam ; but fruit abounded — fruit of singular variety and excellence — in 1855, and the mischiefs of the floods appeared to have been wholly repaired. The following note on the names of rivers in Siam is from the pen of the present king, and is one of his contributions to the Bangkok Calendar of 1850: — " The word Menam in Siamese is a generic name for river, and one of the names of the Bangkok river. CURIOUS CUSTOM. 9 But as the Siamese call all rivers ' Menam,' , and the word is used by them in the same manner as river in English, and Nudi in Hindustani and Pali, it is wrong for Americans and some other nations to call the Bangkok river simply ' Menam,' for it has a specific name, same as the Amazon, Ganges, &c. It is the custom ofthe Siamese to call the stream nearest to them ' Menam,' and add the name of one of the principal towns or villages on its banks to it, as Menam Bangkok, Menam Koung, Menam Tachin, &c. The true name of the Bangkok river is 'Menam Chau Phya,' but it has become obsolete." When the waters of the Meinam are supposed to have reached their highest point, the King deputes one hundred Bonzes, who are instructed to command the inundation to proceed no further. These function aries embark on state barges, issue the royal man date to the waters, bidding them turn back in their course ; and they accompany their intervention with exorcisms, which are sometimes ineffectual, and show that the falling of the waters is no more subject to the commands of the Sovereign of Siam than were the tides on the British shores controlled by the Danish King. The ancient annals of Siam report that, in the seventh century, Chinese junks ascended the Meinam as far as Sangkhalok, which is a distance of one hun dred and twenty leagues from the sea. At the present time, the river is only navigable to a distance of about thirty leagues. On the eastern branch of the Meinam the rapids commence at Pak Priau, where the rowers leave the IO GEOGRAPHY. boats, and drag them, as they are able, through the rocks and foaming waters ; but they are often driven back by the impetuosity of the stream. There are about ten waterfalls within the space of seven or eight leagues, but none impassable, and during six months of the year the great floods cause them to disappear. The Meinam disembogues itself through its three mouths at the head of the Gulf of Siam, after a course of nearly eight hundred miles, though by some writers estimated at one thousand miles, of which about four hundred and fifty form what is called the valley of the Meinam, with an average breadth of about fifty miles of land, constituting, according to the usually-received estimates, an area of above twenty-two thousand square miles of territory, whose fertility is not exceeded by that of any portion of the globe. In ascending and descending the Meinam, I was amused with the novel sight of fish leaving the river -—gliding over the wet banks, and losing themselves among the trees of the jungle. Pallegoix asserts that such fish will wander more than a league from the water. " Some years ago," — I translate his words, — "a great heat had dried up all the ponds in the neigh bourhood of Ayuthia : during the night torrents of . rain fell. Next day, going for a walk into the country, how great was my surprise at seeing the ponds almost full, and a quantity of fish leaping about ! ' Whence have these fish come ? ' I inquired of a labourer: . ' yesterday there was not one.' He said they were come under favour ofthe rain. In 1831, when fish were uncommonly cheap, the Bishop of Siam thought FISH OE SIAM. II fit to buy a supply of living fish, and he poured fifty cwt. into his ponds : but, in less than a month, nine- tenths escaped during a rain that fell in the night. There are three species of this wandering fish, called Pla-xon, pla-duk, pla-m6. The first is voracious, and about the size of a carp ; salted and dried, it can be preserved for a year : it is very abundant, and exported to China, Singapore, and Java, and is a particularly wholesome and health-giving fish. " The dog's tongue is a fish shaped like the sole ; it attaches itself to the bottom of boats, and makes a sonorous noise, which is more musical when several are stuck to the same bank and act in concert."* Kampfer puts forth a theory that " were it not for the vast pains it would require to trace out its several channels through the forests and deserts, and to open a navigation, it might be possible for vessels to go from hence (Siam) to Bengal." Of the Meinam he remarks that the inundations, beginning in September, and falling in December, are the results of the dis solving of the snow in the mountainous regions, aided by the heavy rains ; that the water on the land rises to the level of the river before the river swells, and inundates the banks ; that the land water is nitrous, the river sweet and wholesome ; that though the flow of water is naturally towards the sea, the inundations principally benefit the upper and middle regions ; that the fertility of the soil is such, that the rice grows as fast as the water rises, and that the ripe ears are gathered by the reapers, and the straw, "often of * Pallegoix, i. 193 — 4. 12 GEOGRAPHY. incredible length," left in the water; and that if the absence of the north wind prevent the return of the waters to their ordinary channel, there is a great creation of malaria, whose effects are most pernicious to the public health, and are sought to be warded off by imposing and costly religious ceremonies through the whole country.* According to. the reports of travellers, there are numerous towns and villages to the north of Bang kok, along the sides ofthe Meinam ; the adjacent plains being principally dedicated to the cultivation of rice. In some of the inhabited localities, the different races, Siamese, Cochin-Chinese, Peguans, Laos, and Chinese are blended; in others a separate race is located. Between the modern and the ancient capital, Bang kok and Ayuthia, is a village called the " Sunken Ship," the houses being erected round a mast which towers above the surface at low water. 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. Ayuthia was founded A. d. 1351, and was devastated by the Bur mese in 1 75 1, when Bangkok became the royal resi dence. The native name of Ayuthia was Sijon Thijan, meaning " Terrestrial Paradise. "f * Kampfer, p. 44. f The Siamess are in the habit of giving very ostentatious names to their cities, which, as La Loubere says, " do signify great things." Tian- CITY OF JUDDA. 13 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 Ayuthia 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). " The city of Judda is built upon an island in the river Menam. It is the ordinary residence of the King of Siam, 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 itself, 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 thousand families. It is looked upon as impregnable, by tong, for instance, signifies " True gold ;" Canapong-pet, " Walls of dia mond-" La Kongunau, " Mountain of heaven."1 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 spectacle." * Mandelsloe was bom in Lower Saxony, A.D. 1615. He left Europe on his Oriental travels in 1636 to make a tour ofthe Indies, of which the principal object was to establish relations between the Duke of Holstein and the Shah of Persia. 1 LaLoubere, English Translation, p. 4. London, 1693. 14 GEOGRAPHY. reason of the overflowing of the river at six months' end. The King of Siam, who takes amongst his other titles that of Paecan Salsu, i. e., — Sacred Mem ber of God, — has this to boast of, that, next to the Mougul, 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 rice, copper, lead, saltpetre, &c, to foreigners. Mendez Pinto makes hie 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 process of time." Ayuthia was formerly one of the most distin guished cities of the East. The spires of the pagodas and pyramids, blackened by time, still tower above the magnificent trees which grow amidst the masses of ruins they overshadow. The ancient city was AYUTHIA — GOLDEN MOUNTAIN. 15 about three leagues in circumference. Amidst the broken walls of palaces and temples are colossal statues from fifty to sixty feet high. These are mostly of brick, covered with brass of the thickness of two fingers. The annals of Siam report, that in founding one of these statues, 2o,ooolbs. of copper, 2ooolbs. of silver, and 4oolbs. of gold were employed. The walls of the city are overturned — thick and impenetrable masses of weeds, brushwood and tall trees, tenanted by bats and vultures, cover the vast desolation. In the midst of the heaps of rubbish, treasures are often discovered. The new city of Ayuthia surrounds the ancient site. It has two lines of floating bazaars. Its population is about 40,000. At a league's distance from the city, on the northern side, is a majestic edifice called the "Golden Mountain," built a.d. 1387. It is a pyramid four hundred feet high, each side having a staircase by which large galleries surrounding the building are mounted. From the third stage there is a splendid prospect ; and there are four corridors by wliich the dome is entered, in whose centre is a gilded image of Buddha, rendered fetid by the depositions of millions of bats, which day and night are flitting in dire con fusion around the altar. The dome is elevated one hundred and fifty feet above the galleries, and termi nates in a gilded spire. I have received the following account of the pre sent condition of Ayuthia, the old capital of Siam, from a gentleman who visited it in December, 1855:— " Ayuthia is at this time the second town of the 16 GEOGRAPHY. 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 Burmese, and some natives of Laos. They are principally employed 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 astringent liquor called toddy, and sugar, is manu factured 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 character of the vegetation is, however, different from that around Bangkok. The cocoa and areca palms become rare, and give place to the bamboo, " The city is naturally considered one of the most important in the country, but is protected by no REMAINS OF THE OLD CITY 17 fortifications. It has a governor and deputy-governor, and some inferior officers appointed over it. "The King pays commonly one visit during the year to the capital of his ancestors, which lasts a week or two. He has a palace erected on the river-side, on the site of the old palace, which, however, has little of the appearance of a royal residence, the greater part of the building being constructed of teak and bamboo. " Most of the principal merchants of Bangkok have houses in the town, which are used either as shops or as residences wherein to pass a week or two of recrea tion in the hot season. " The only visible remains of the old city are a large number of wats, in different stages of decay. 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 Siamese 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 woodwork, 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 Guadama, once resplendent with gold and jewels, but now broken, mutilated, and without a shadow of their previous splendour. There is one sacred spire of immense vol. 1. c I 8 GEOGRAPHY. height and size, which is still kept in some kind of repair, and which is sometimes 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 crockery, with which the spires and temples of Bangkok 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 Kalahom to the governor, instructing him to furnish us with everything requisite for our convenience, we waited on that official, but were unfortunate 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 superin tend the catching of elephants, and he, without demur, gave us every assistance in his power. "After visiting the ruins, therefore, we inspected the ELEPHANTS. 19 kraal or stockade in which the elephants are cap tured. 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. Inside 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 surrounded with stakes, wherein some men are stationed for the purpose of securing the animals. These abound in the neighbourhood of the city, but cannot exactly be called wild, as the majority of them have, at some time or other, been subjected to servitude. They are all the property of the king, and it is criminal 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 colour approaching to white or red, black nails on the toes (the common colour of these nails is black and white), and intact tails (for, owing to their pugnacious disposition, it is rarely that an elephant is caught which has not had its tail bitten off). On this occasion the kings, and a large concourse of nobles, assemble together to wit ness 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 c 2 %0 GEOGRAPHY. 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 occur rence, men being frequently killed by the infuriated animals, which are 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 enjoyed the opportunity of judging of their capabili ties, 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 traversing 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 imper vious 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 COUNTRY ABOVE AYUTHIA. 21 is Phit Salok, and it contains about five thousand inhabitants, whose principal occupation is the cut ting 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 flattering. He visited it in the rainy season, and says, it appears little better than a desert— a few huts by the side of the stream — neither towns, nor sol diers, nor custom-houses. Rice was found cheap and abundant, everything else wanting. Some of the Bishop's adventures 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. The Mandarin took the opportunity to seek information 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 con troversy, as the Siamese said that was an impossible condition. In some places, the many-coloured pa godas towered above the trees, and they generally possessed a gilded Buddha twenty feet in height. The Bishop observes that the influence of the Budd hist priests is everywhere paramount among the Siamese, but that they have little hold upon the Chinese, Malays, or Laos people. In one of the vil lages they offered a wife to one of the missionaries ; but finding the present unacceptable, they replaced the lady by two youths, who continued in his service, and he speaks well of their fidelity. {Annales de. la Propagation, vol. xxxv.) 22 GEOGRAPHY. The principal port of Siam is that of Paknam, at the mouth of the Meinam river, from which Bangkok is distant about eighteen miles in a straight line, but nearly thirty in consequence of a considerable bend in the, river. There is a bar composed of hard sand on the southern, and soft sand on the northern side, which is between three and four miles in width, and which crosses" the entrance of the Meinam at a dis tance of five to six miles. This bar has only twelve to thirteen feet of water at spring tides, and in many parts only two to three feet at the neap. Paknam has a population of between six and seven thousand souls. It has three handsome fortresses, one on each bank of the river, and the other in its centre commanding the entrance. A tree, called the same, which grows abundantly in the neighbour hood of Paknam, is much valued, because its wood being once kindled, the flame is not easily extin guished. The inhabitants are expected in case of summons immediately to man the fortresses. A few miles above Paknam is Paklat, a town prin cipally peopled by Peguans. The number of inha bitants is about seven thousand. It has a consider able fortress on each side of the river ; attached to that on the left bank is a strong beam composed of heavy iron cables and huge spars of wood, which might be employed to prevent the passage of any hostile vessel up the Meinam to Bangkok. The number of troops on the forts appeared to be small. Paklat furnishes considerable supplies of firewood to the capital. Rice and garden-stuffs are largely cui- RIVER MEINAM. 23 tivated, and palm-leaves for the roofs of the houses of the poor. Independently of its main branches, the Meinam has many smaller tributaries. The western, or longest branch, called in Chinese, Nan-ting-ho (Southern Ting River) has its source in lat. 240, and is joined in lat. 22° by the Meiprein, which is deemed the principal arm by the Siamese. The Me-Klong is sometimes called a branch of the Meinam ; but though joined before it reaches the sea by one of the arms of the Meinam, it appears an independent stream running from the Kareen country from between lat. 16° and 170 N..; and though the valley which it waters is narrow, it is extremely fertile. The Ta-Chin branch of the Meinam flows between Me-Klong and Bangkok, but is only navigable for small craft. At Saphai, a distance of sixty miles from the sea, there is on the Me-Klong so strong an ebb and flow of the tide that large vessels are often left quite dry. The capital of the province of Me-Klong bears the name of the river. It was visited by Pallegoix, who speaks of it as a populous and beautiful city, with its floating bazaars, fine pagodas and gardens, and a population of ten thousand, the largest proportion of which are Chinese. There is a considerable fortifi cation for the defence of the place. The soil is re markably fertile, and the salt-pits produce enough to supply the whole kingdom. Both sides of the river are peopled and cultivated. One place is called the village of the Twenty Thousand Palms, from the 24 GEOGRAPHY. quantities of that noble tree which are found in the locality. Of the Me-Klong canal and river Dr. Dean. gives the following account :— " On Monday morning we went to the mouth of the Ta-Chin river, a couple of miles below the town, where our boatmen cast their net for fish. It was past mid-day on Monday, when, the tide favouring, we passed up the Ta-Chin river, some three or four miles from its mouth, when we entered the Me-Klong canal, which connects the Ta- Chin with the Me-Klong river. We reached the town of Me-Klong, at the opposite terminus of the canal, at half-past nine o'clock the next morning, having stopped an hour and a half where the tides meet, at a place called Ma-Hou (dog-howl). " At Me-Klong we took breakfast in our boat, while anchored in front of a wat or temple. These wats are the only hotels as well as the only school-houses and colleges in the country. Here travellers find a shelter in the open sheds in front of the temples ; but every traveller in this country is supposed to carry with, him his bread and provisions, and cooking mate rials. This town has a population of ten or - twelve thousand Siamese ; but a short distance above, on the Me-Klong river, are villages of Chinese, with their floating houses and well-filled shops. Me-Klong is the native place of the Siamese twins, whose parents are now dead. Some of the family still reside at this place, whose chief interest about their absent bro thers is that they should send home some money for their poor relations. But if. as is reported, they were sold for money, and sent away by their friends PORT OF CHANTABURI. 25 into a foreign country, they may not be under very great obligations to remit money to those who sold them. "At six o'clock p.m. on Tuesday, we entered the canal from the Me-Klong river, which leads to the gardens of Bangchang ; and at nine o'clock the same evening reached the mission-house, now occupied by Chek-Suan. On calling to him from the boat, he replied that he was ' reading for evening worship, but had not prayed.' When he had done praying, he came to the boat to receive us. Bangchang is an extensive plain of the richest soil, in many parts highly cultivated as gardens." {Missionary Magazine, p. 40.) Chantaburi is of the ports of Siam probably the second in commercial importance. It is at the mouth of a river, which, though not long in its course, fertilizes a considerable district by its inun dations during the rainy season. The rocks at the entrance of Chantaburi present all the appearance of a colossal lion couchant, — to whose head, mane, throat, eyes, and ears, nothing seems wanting; but the illusion is dissipated on approaching the river, and the lion is separated into masses of rudely-shaped stones. Trees, called Kong-Kang, whose roots have the form of a tripod sustaining the trunk, are spoken of as peculiar to the banks of this stream. There is a custom-house at the entrance of the Chantaburi river, and a considerable trade is car ried on, principally with Cochin China, and by the Cochin Chinese, among whom the Catholic mis- 2,6 GEOGRAPHY. sionaries claim about one thousand as their converts. Chantaburi has six thousand inhabitants — Siamese, Chinese, and Cochin Chinese. There is a public market-place, a manufactory of arrack, and many pagodas. In consequence of the cheapness of wood, and the facility of conveying it down the river, the building of ships is generally in a state of activity. About a dozen junks come annually from China with the produce of that country; and they carry away pepper, cardamums, gamboge, eagle-wood, hides, ivory, sugar, wax, tobacco, salt fish, and other commodities, which are also shipped to the Straits settlements. There is much cultivation in the neigh bourhood of the town, and the fruits of the field and the garden are various and excellent. The planting of coffee has lately been introduced, and the quality is said to be good. The inhabitants of the forests of Chantaburi are accustomed to chase the wild beasts with fire-arms and nets ; but they attack the rhinoceros armed with solid bamboos, of which one end has been hardened by exposure to the fire and sharpened: they invite the animal by loud cries and clapping their hands to meet them, which he is wont to do by rushing violently upon them, opening and closing his wide mouth; they attack him in front, and drive the bamboos violently into his throat with surprising dexterity, taking flight on all sides. The animal, in his agony, throws himself on the ground, and becoming exhausted by the effusion of blood and the extremity of his suffering, he soon becomes the prey of his courageous assailants. All the MOUNTAINS OF CHANTABURI. 27 passages to a district are sometimes closed with nets, and fire being applied to the jungle, the wild animals are destroyed as they seek to escape. In the north of the province of Chantaburi is an elevated mountain, called the Mountain of the Stars. Popular tradition reports, that from its peak every star is seen of the size of the sun. It is also averred that the mountain is rich in precious stones. I am not aware that any traveller has ascended it. On the eastern side of the province is a mountain, or mountain range, extending nearly thirty miles, called Sahab. At its foot are prosperous planta tions of coffee. Report speaks of its unexplored mineral riches. Various streams flow towards the plain, whose waters are conveyed by wheels con structed of bamboos for the irrigation of the plants. The Governor of Chantaburi, and the principal authorities, dwell in a fortification near the river side, on a hill at about two leagues from the capital. The fort is surrounded by a deep ditch. The soil at the foot of the hill is so impregnated with metallic oxides, that it is of a deep purple or blood colour, and may be used for paint. Not far from the foot is the mountain celebrated among the Siamese as the Precious Stone Mountain. The topaz, the ruby, the sapphire, the garnet, and others are found there. Pallegoix says he himself picked up precious stones from the ground. A little to the north of Bangplasoi, and about thirty miles to the east of Paknam, is a large navi gable river, the Bangpatung, which is reported to have its source in the mountains of Cambodia. 28 GEOGRAPHY. Little is known of its exact course; but it flows through a rich and cultivated country, and sends the produce of its banks to Bangplasoi for shipment or sale. Bangplasoi has a convenient harbour, whose waters are so abundant in fish that the price is incredibly low. There are great numbers of Chinese settlers. The town has about six thousand inhabitants. The neighbouring country is productive. There are extensive salt-pits, and boundless supplies of shells,. which are burnt into lime for agricultural purposes. The Mei-Kong is a large river flowing through the eastern side of Laos and Cambodia; it is said to be more than fifteen hundred miles long, but its navigation is much impeded by shallows and sand banks at its mouth. This is the river of which there is a fine description in the tenth book of the Lusiad, at whose mouth the poet was wrecked, and into whose placid and gentle stream he speaks of flinging his luckless songs. See thro' Cambodia Meikon's river goes, Well named the " Captain of the Waters,'' while So many a summer tributary flows To spread its floods upon the sands, as Nile Inundates its green banks. — And shall I to this gentle river throw My melancholy songs, and to its breast Confide the welted leaves that tell the woe Of many a shipwreck, dreary and distrest, — Of famine, perils, and the overthrow Of him, by fate's stern tyranny opprest — • Of him whose resonant lyre is doomed to be More known to fame than to felicity P HARBOUR OF KOSICHANG. 29 Ves passa por Cambaja Mecom rio, Que capitao das aguas se interpreta ; Tantas recebe d'outro so no estio, Que alaga os campos largos e inquieta. Tem as echentes quais o Nilo pio Este recebera, placido e brando No seu regaco os cantos que molhados, Vem do naufragio triste e miserando Dos procellosos baixos escapados ; Das fomes, dos perigos grandes, quando Sera 0 injusto mando executado, Naquelle cuja lira sonorosa Sera mais aflamada que ditosa, Lusiadas, cant. x. cxxvij. cxxviij. There is a group of islands which form the har bour of Kosichang, near Bangplasoi, in lat. 130 12', long, ioo0 55', which are much visited for supplies by vessels trading to Siam ; a considerable extent of land is there under maize cultivation. The edible birds'-nests are collected in considerable quantities in the vicinity. The harbour is very fine, affording complete shelter for any number of vessels, and has great facilities for watering from a fine fresh stream, which will fill one hundred casks in a day. Hamilton calls this group "The Dutch Islands;" and, it appears, vessels of that nation were formerly accustomed to wait there for their cargoes, the open roadstead opposite Paknam being much exposed and dangerous, and at a considerable distance from the shore. As a naval station, the position is important. {Singapore Chronicle, March 16, 1826.) The Gulf of Siam is little exposed to the typhoons and tempests which do such damage in the Chinese seas. The Admiralty charts are full of extraordi- 30 GEOGRAPHY. nary blunders.* Some were pointed out by Mr. Craw- furd more than a third of a century ago, but have remained uncorrected to the present hour. On board H.M.S. Rattler, when, according to charts, and our own accurate reckoning, we ought to have been safe in the middle of the bay, we were driving right ahead upon Cape Liant, which is placed in the charts twenty-five miles too much to the east. The anchor age at the mouth of the Menam is placed . fifty -two miles too far to the eastward. Most of the islands are more or less out of their real positions. There is a gulf current, which, from October to March, flows from north to south at the rate of nearly three miles an hour. After April, its ordinary course is from south to north. Calms prevail during the months of May, June, and July. M^iny of the islands in the Bay of Siam present objects of interest, and their productions might be well worthy of attention. Pallegoix speaks of the beautiful marble he found in the island of Si-Xang, polished as brightly by the waves of the sea as it could have been by the hand of man. In many of the islands are caves, in which the sea-swallow builds its glutinous nests, which are collected four times in the year, and form so large an article of commerce and consumption in China. Great are the * Pulo Panjang— lat. 9° 18' N., long. 1030 36'. Placed on Admiralty chart about eighteen miles too far west. Cape Liant— lat. 12° 34', long. 101° 11'. Placed on Admiralty chart twenty-five miles too far east, and six too far south. Menam Bar — anchorage in four fathoms, lat. 130 24' 50" N., long. ioo° 36' 30" E. The entrance to the Menam river in four fathoms is placed on Admiralty chart fifty-two miles too far east. CAPE LIANT. 31 perils to which the natives expose themselves in mounting or descending to collect these precious ministers to the gourmandise of the central Flowery Land, and many lives are lost in the adventurous pursuit. Fine specimens of rock crystal, white, yellow, and blue, and beautiful varieties of shell-fish, are among the attractions of the islands. " The whole of the coast from Kamao, in Cambodia, quite up to what is called by the Siamese Lem Sam- me-san, the Cape Liant of Europeans, is an uninter rupted archipelago of beautiful islands. Pulo Uri, the most easterly, is but a small island six miles long. I had an opportunity of landing on it, and found a family of Cochin-Chinese, and two or three Chinese, who had settled here for the purpose of procuring the sea-slug, which abounds on its coasts. Their hut was miserable, and a little cultivated ground near it, producing a few sweet- potatoes, constituted the whole of their wealth. In it was a figure of a Chinese deity, and a number of tablets, containing the names of the junks which had touched at it for some time. They commonly stop here for a day or two, on their way from China to Siam, for the purpose of pro curing fresh water, of which the island contains an abundant supply. Previous to their sailing, it is their custom to consult the before-mentioned deity as to whether they shall prosecute their voyage or not. This is done in the following manner :— A book is prepared, in which a number of sentences are written and numbered. A similar number of small pieces of sticks are prepared, with correspondent numbers on them. These are placed in a holloAv 32 GEOGRAPHY. bamboo, and shaken until one of them falls out ; the number of the piece of wood is then compared with the corresponding motto, and according as this latter is favourable or otherwise, the junks pursue their voyage, or wait until they obtain a more favourable answer." (Moor's Notices Ind. Arch. p. 239.) The coast of Siamese territory on the side of the Bay of Bengal has many groups of islands, among which a vessel can pass safely, the depth being seldom less than from four to five, and generally from twenty to thirty fathoms. St. Matthew's Island, in lat. io°, is eighteen miles long and six broad, having an ex cellent harbour. Salanga, or Junk Ceylon, in lat. 8°, is sixteen miles in length and six in breadth ; on the east side it has several harbours, as have the islands of the Lacaive group. Our knowledge of the interior of Siam is exceed ingly imperfect and fragmentary. Indeed, with large portions of the kingdom we are wholly unac quainted. The impediments to communication are no doubt in progress of removal, but some of the difficulties and embarrassment which the traveller meets with may be judged of by the following extract from a Report of Father Bruguiere in the Annales de la Foi : — " It would be impossible for a traveller, left to himself, not to lose himself in these dense forests. One has sure guides walking before to clear the way, who cry out from time to time, and make signals to those behind them. Recourse must frequently be had to the hatchet and fire in order to open a way. The number of sloughs, pools, and small streams CLIMATE. ^ which are encountered, often compelled those who were on foot to travel with bare feet, which, from the thorns and venomous insects which abound in these situations, was not without danger. Provi dence watched over us, and in the midst of so many perils preserved us from all accidents. From the hour of ten in the morning till four in the afternoon the heat is excessive. For shelter against the power of the sun's rays, it is customary for native travellers to cover the head with a linen cloth, which acts as a veil. This, however, does not prevent the skin of the face from blistering and peeling off. When one is forced to traverse sandy tracks in the hot season, the rays of the sun, thrown back by the sand as by a reflector, render it intolerable. The eyes, above all, are sensibly affected by it. So many inconveniences combined rendered all my party sick, with the exception of myself, and obliged me to renew a part of my escort." {Association de la Prop, de la Foi, No. xv. p. 254, 5-) The climate of Siam is, for a tropical region, salu brious. During our visit we suffered somewhat from the heat, which was frequently from ninety-five to ninety-six in the shade ; but the health of the mem bers of the embassy, and of the officers and crews of Her Majesty's ships, was good ; and the missionaries bore testimony to the general excellence of the cli mate. We expected to have been much tormented with musquitoes, which are such a pest on the Ira- waddy ; but though they abounded at Paknam, they troubled us little at Bangkok or its neighbourhood. The jungle fever is perilous to travellers who pass vol. 1. d 34 GEOGRAPHY. into the interior, exposed to all the inconveniences which the absence of shelter and succour brings with it. The diseases which afflict the Siamese are those common to tropical regions ; fevers, diarrhoeas, and dysenteries being the most fatal. The south west monsoons generally envelop the mountains of Western Siam in clouds, which are dispersed in thunder-storms, and followed by heavy rains. The north-east monsoon, which visits Siam at the end of September, brings with it cool and refreshing wea ther; but as the wind veers gradually towards the south, and thence to the south-west, the change of climate from cold to heat is quiet and agreeable. In the month of March, heavy dews fall at break of day. 35 CHAPTER II. HISTORY. ANTERIOR to the establishment of Ayuthia, about the middle of the fourteenth century, the annals of Siam are made up of traditional legends and fables, such as most nations are fond of substi tuting in the place of veracious history. The Siamese group their early ancestors around the first disciples of Buddha (Gaudama), and begin their annals about five centuries before the Christian era. A succession of dynasties, frequently shifting their capital cities in- which Buddhistical miracles and the intervention of superhuman agency are constantly exhibited, figure in the first volumes of the Siamese records. There are accounts of intermarriages with Chinese princesses, of embassies and wars with neighbouring States, all interblended with wonders and miraculous interpositions of Indra and other divinities ; but from the time when the city of Ayuthia was founded by Phaja-Lthong, who took the title of Phra*-Rama-Thibodi, the succession of * As the word Phra, which so frequently occurs in these volumes, here appears for the first time, I have to remark that it is probably either derived from or of common origin with the Pharaoh of antiquity. It is given in the Siamese Dictionaries as synonymous with God — ruler, priest, and teacher. It is, in fact, the word by which sovereignty and sanctity are associated in the popular mind. As the title Divus was appropriated by the Roman Emperor, — as in most monarchies a sort of sacredness is attached to D 2 36 HISTORY. sovereigns and the course of events are recorded with tolerable accuracy. The following dates, which are taken from the annals and constitute important religious epochs in the early history of Siam, may be probably deemed approximative to the truth : — Christian Buddhist Era. Era. The present ruling Buddha is said to have died on the third day of the sixth month of the year of the Serpent, corre sponding with b.c 543 The first great Buddhist Council was assembled under Ajata Sutra (in India) , the year of Buddha's death 1 The second Great Council, under Kala Sokkaraja (India) was called together in . 443 — 100 The third Great Council, by Sri Dhamma Soka, in 325 — 218 The fourth Great Council, in ... . 143 — 400 The Buddhist teacher, Phra Buddha Ghosa, introduced Buddhism into Cam bodia, a.d 422 — 965 It was in the one-thousandth year of Buddha, A. d. 457, that King Ruang, whose advent and glo rious reign had been announced by a communication from Gaudama himself, and who possessed, in conse quence of his " merits," a white elephant with black tusks, introduced the Thai alphabet, which was com municated to a large assemblage of Buddhist priests. The ancient annals terminate with the establish- rp the royal person, — the Orientals have made "gods" of their kings, their heroes, and their sages, without any scruple. Image-worship is, in fact, only the materializing or incarnating of the idea of Deity. SIAMESE MONARCHS. 37 ment of Chao Uthong, in the new city of Si Ayo Thaya (Ayuthia), but they leave the exact date of the establishment in some obscurity. The following is the succession of Siamese monarchs from the founding of the capital of Ayuthia :* — Siamese Christian Era. Era. 712 — 1350 Phra Rama Thibodi. 731 — 1369 „ Rame Suen (his son). 732 — 1370 „ Borom Raxa (his brother) . 744 — 1382 „ Rame Suen (2nd). 747 — x3^5 „ Phaja Ram (his son). 763 — 140 1 Inthaxara. 792 — 1430 Borom Raxa Thirat. 805 — 1443 Boroma Trai Lokharat. 834 — 1472 Phra Rama Thibodi. 875 — 1-5'li Raxa Kuman. 876 — '514 Xaj a Raxa Thirat. 889 — 1527 Phra Jot Fa. 891 — 1529 Maha Cha Kraphat Raxa Thirat. 909 — 1547 Phra Chao Xang Phuok. 914 — 1552 Mahinthara Thirat. 926 — 1564 Phra Naret. 957 — J595 Eka Thotsarot. 963 — 1601 Chao Fa. 964 — 1602 Phra Chao Song Tham. 989 — 1627 Phra Chao Prasat Thong. 1017 — 1655 Chao Fa Xai. 1018 — 1656 Phra Chao Xam Phuok. 1050 — 1688 Phra Phet Raxa. * It will be noticed that the spelling of the names in this list is not in all cases identical with that in the detailed annals which follow. The discrepancy arises from the peculiarity of the Siamese language, and the variety of spelling employed by the different authorities cited. The same remark applies to all the similar variations in the names of individuals and places throughout these volumes. 38 HISTORY. Siamese Christian Era. Era. 1059 — 1697 Chao Dua. J 068 — 1706 (Name of king unknown). 1120 — 1758 Chao Dok Ma Dua. 1128 — 1766 Interregnum. 1129 — 1767 Phaja Tak. 1173 — 1811 Phra Phuti Chao Luang (founder of present dynasty). 1187 — 1825 Phen din Kiang. 1 2 13 — • 1851 Phra Chao Prasat Thong. Somdetch Phra Paramendr Maha Mongkut, the reigning sovereign, succeeded to the throne in 1851. The attempts to disentangle the facts from the fictions of Siamese chronicles would be a hopeless, and consequently a useless task, and would repre sent, like most of the pages of Oriental antiquity, revolutions, conspiracies, murders, changed dynasties, and events which would afford excellent materials for the novel or the drama, but often in their details of very doubtful historical authority. During the last five centuries, the ordinary vicissitudes of Orien tal despotisms are exhibited in interrupted suc cessions, losses and conquests of territory ; but in the obscurity which surrounds the shifting and uncertain names of the Kings of Siam, the reigns of the different sovereigns will not always be recognised under the titles I have given, as various authorities employ various designations, and some of the terms are but vague enunciations of the royal rank. It is the Siamese theory that the name of a king is too sacred to be uttered. What follows is a translation from the Latin, and is given by Bishop Pallegoix as a ORIGIN OF THE SIAMESE. 39 Chronology of the Kingdom of Siam. (The explanatory notes have been furnished to me in MS. by the first King.) The annals of the Siamese are divided into two parts. The first* is entitled the Annals of the Northern Kingdom; it comprehends a tolerably fabulous history, from about the time of Buddha Phra-Kh6dom to the foundation of Juthia. The later annals, however, commence from the building of Juthia, and give a sufficiently veracious narrative down to the present day. Part I. This is, then, the origin of the Siamese : — There were two Brahminical recluses dwelling in the woods, named Satxanalai and Sitthimongkhon, coeval with Phra-Kh6dom, 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 Batha- marat, erected the city Savan thevalok, or Sangkha- 16k, about the year 300 of the era of Phra-Kh6dom (b. c. about 243). Bathamarat founded three other cities, over which * " The first part of the ancient history of Northern Siam is prepared and printed by Bishop Pallegoix, according to a book which he has read from one book of an author ; but there are other books of the ancient Siamese histories which are otherwise, and which the Bishop J. Pallegoix does not know, but they all full of feable, and are not in satisfaction for believe." — MS. Note of the first King of Siam. 40 HTSTORY. he placed his three sons. The first he appointed ruler in the city of Haripunxai, the second in Kam- ph6xa nakhon, the third in Phetxabun. These four sovereignties enjoyed, for five hundred years or more, the utmost peace and harmony under the rule of the monarchs of this dynasty. About the year 960 of the era of Phra-Kh6dom, ' Aphajakhamiini, king of Haripunxai, having retired to a mountain for the purpose of meditation, had intercourse with a queen of the Nakha3,* to whom he presented his ring. She conceived and brought forth a son in the same spot. Now, a certain hunts man accidentally discovered the child with the royal ring, and brought him up. ' The youth having one day entered the court, the whole palace trembled; the King acknowledged his son, received him, and gave him the name of Arunnarat. When he had grown to be a man, he was made king of the city of Satxanalai, under the name Phra-Ruang; at that time he threw off the yoke of the King of Cambodia, and reduced to his authority all the sovereigns in his vicinity. In the year 1000 of the era of Phra-Kh6dom, Phra-Ruang abolished the Buddhist era (phuthasakkharat), and ordained a new one, which is the era of the Siamese, and is called chuulasakkarat — the lesser era. Incensed because the Emperor of China would not unite with the other kings for the purpose of abolishing the era, Phra-Ruang, having embarked in a ship with his brother, reached, by some wonderful means, the pre- * The Nakhse are a fabulous race, dwelling under the earth. — Bishop Pal legoix. SIAMESE ANNALS. 41 sence of the Emperor of China, who professed him self to be his disciple, and gave him his daughter in marriage. Phra-Ruang returned with a large retinue of Chinese, introduced the characters of the Siamese language, and appointed his brother King of Xieng-mai. Proceeding one day to the river, he disappeared; it was thought he had rejoined his mother, the Queen of the Nakhse, and would pass the remainder of his life in the realms beneath. His brother, Sucharat, succeeded him in the king dom of Satxanalai. Shortly after, Sithammakrai pidok, King of Xieng-s^n, with five other monarchs of Laos, besieged the city of Satxanalai ; but by the mediation of a celebrated Talapoin (priest), Phra phiitha K6sa, Sucharat surrendered his daughter to the King of Xieng-s^n, and concluded peace. Sithammakrai pidok founded the city Phitsanul6k, or Phitsilok, formed a matrimonial alliance between his son Krais6nrat, and the daughter of the King of Satxanalai, and made him ruler in L6phaburi (others wise Lav6.) Sithammakrai pidok died about the year 1300 of the Buddhist era, and was succeeded by his son Phra-chao xat Sakhon. At this time wars arose among the Kings of Laos, and, after seven generations, the ancient regal race was almost totally extirpated. In the year 1600 of the Buddhist era,. Kh6tathe- varat reigned in Inthapat, the royal city of Cam^- bodia. At that time every one was expecting the advent (phu-mi-bun) of some powerful monarch. Then Phra-In (or the deity Indra) appeared to a certain paralytic lying on the highway, and presented him 42 HISTORY. with a miraculous horse and trappings, and some celestial medicines; having anointed himself with which, he immediately became whole and vigorous ; he mounted the horse, and, borne through the air in rapid flight, arrived at the city of Inthapat ; seeing which, Khdtathevarat fled eastward with one hun dred thousand men. His son Phaja Kh6tabong founded the cities Phichit and Phixai. But this paralytic was made King of Cambodia, under the name Phaja Krek, and is reported to have instituted a new era adopted by no one. The posterity of Phaja Krek became extinct after three generations; there remained only the King's daughter, who was married to a powerful and rich man named Uthong. Phaja Uthong reigned seven years in Cambodia, but a severe pestilence having prevailed, he emigrated with his people, and proceeding to the south, founded on a certain island in the river Menam a new city, Krung Theph maha nakhon Siajuthaja — "a great town impregnable against angels:" Siamese era 71J, Christian era 1349. There is another account of the foundation of Juthia. Phaja Uthong was reigning in Kamphing phet ; having despatched men to inspect the southern country, they brought back intelligence that it was extremely fertile, and. abounded in fish. Phaja Uthong then emigrated with all his people, and arrived at the aforesaid island, in which he erected Juthia. This latter account is more credible than the former. SIAMESE ANNALS. 43 Part IL* rn.~ ,» v, , „ «, Chrisiian Uhuulasakkarat. j;ra_ 712 King Uthong assumes the name Phra Rama- 1350 thibodi ; appoints his son Phra Rame suen, King of Lopha-buri. At that time, the fol lowing kingdoms were subject to the King of Siam : — l, M&laka. 2, Xa-va. 3, Tanao- si (Tenasserim) . 4, N&khon si th&m&r&t (Ligor). 5, Th&vai. 6, Mo-ta-mS (Marta- ban). 7, Mo-]&ml6ng (Moulmein). 8, Song Khla. 9, Chanthabun. 10, Phits&nulok. 11, Siikkk6th&i. 12, Phixai. 13, S&v&nkha-lok. 14, Phichlt. 15, K&mphingphgt. 16, Nakhon sSvan. War was entered into against the Cam bodians, and numerous captives were brought away. The founding of the city of Sia Yutfy£, the sacred city, commonly known by the name of Ayuthia, called Indura or Indaya by the Bur mese, and sometimes spoken of in old books as India, is one of the most memorable events in Siamese annals. The Brahminical soothsayers having been consulted, they decided that in the 7 12th year ofthe Siamese era, on the sixth day of the waxing moon, the fifth month, at ten minutes before four o'clock, the foundation should be laid. Three palaces were erected in honour of the King ; and vast countries, among * " This part also was prepared and printed by Bishop Pallegoix according to the books written by a party of authors. There are other books and statements of old men said differently in other wise, but the reign and numbers of late kings very correct. All names of cities and place aud kings are very uncorrect, as they were got from corrupted sounds of pro nouncing of Sankrit of the ignorant teacher, and not accort the knowledge of literature in Siam. The teachers of the author are not persons of royal service, do not know the proper names of kings, &c." — MS. Note by the first King of Siam. 44 HISTORY. Chiiulasakkarat. •^••D- 7 12 which were Malacca, Tenasserim, Java, and many 1350 others whose position cannot now be defined, were claimed as tributary States. But it would be idle now to inquire how far they were held in subjection; and with respect to many of them there is no record showing when or how, if ever really subjected, they emancipated themselves from the Siamese yoke. 731 Phra Rame suen succeeded his father, but 1369 reigned only one year. 732 Phra Borommaraxa, his brother, occupies 1370 the throne, and reigns twelve years. In the year a. d. 1380, a gold image of Buddha is said to have been cast in the city of Pichai, which weighed fifty-three thousand catties, or one hundred and forty-one thousand lbs., which would represent the almost incredible value (at seventy shillings per ounce) of nearly six mil lions sterling. The gold for the garments weighed two hundred and eighty-six catties. 744 The King having died, is succeeded by 1382 Chao thong Ian, who, after three days, is slain by his brotheAPhra Rame suen. The city of Xieng-mSi is taken, and many of the people of Laos are made captives. 747 The King of Siam takes possession of the 1383 capital of Cambodia, and leaves but five thou sand souls therein. In 749, he builds the famous temple Phiikhao thong (mount of gold), and afterwards dies. His son Ph&j&ramchao reigns fourteen years. 763 Intharaxa, King of SuphannSburi, takes 1401 Juthia ; instals his son Chao hi, King of Sttph&n; Ch&o ji, King of Preksiraxa; Ch&o s£m, King of the city of X&in&t. SIAMESE ANNALS. 45 Chuulasakkarat. A.D. 780 At the decease of their father, Chao ai and 141 8 Ch&o ji hasten to Juthia to seize the throne ; mounted on elephants, they both meet together on a bridge; a contest ensues, and both fall, killed by each other's hands. At the death of his brothers, Chao sam rules the kingdom under the name Boromm&raxathirat. 792 The King conquers Xieng-mai, and leads 1430 twelve thousand of its inhabitants into captivity. 796 At the King's decease, his son BorommStrai 1434 lok&nat ascends the throne. 805 A great dearth prevails ; one khSnan or coco 1443 of rice costs one fu'ang. 834 The King being dead, his son Phra Rama- 1472 thibodi succeeds to him ; he cast an immense image of Buddha, in a sitting posture, from gold, silver, and copper, the height of which was fifty cubits. 871 Phra Borommaraxa succeeds his father. 15°9 875 Raxa kuman ascends the throne. I513 876 At his father's death, Xaija, raxa thirat rules 1514 the kingdom. 887 A vast conflagration occurs in Juthia, lasting [525 three days, and destroying one hundred thou sand houses. 889 At the decease of his father, Phra Jot fa, aged 1527 eleven, is appointed king. But the Queen, his mother, Si suda chan, proclaims a certain mandarin, her paramour, king, and murders her son; but soon after a conspiracy having been formed, the usurper and the Queen pay the penalty of their crimes; and an uncle of the 891 defunct monarch ascends the throne, under the 1529 name Maha chakraphat raxathirat. 894 The King of Siam conquers Cambodia; the 1532 46 HISTORY. Chuulasakkarat. A.I). 894 King of Cambodia surrenders his sons, one of 1532 whom is made ruler of Sangkhalok. 905 The King of Hongsavadi (Pegu), with a vast 1543 army of three hundred thousand men and seven hundred elephants, advances to besiege Juthia. The King of Siam enters into single combat with the King of Pegu ; but his ele phant having fled, the Queen Surijothai, clad in the royal robes, with manly spirit fights in her husband's stead until she expires on the elephant from the loss of an arm. Being com pelled to raise the siege from want of provisions, the King of Hongsavadi returns to his domi nions. Of this period of Siamese history Diogo de Couto gives the following account :* — A warlike expedition was fitted out by the Burmese and Peguans in 1544, to obtain possession of a white elephant belonging to the Siamese, which had excited the cupidity of the King of Ava. He attacked Siam with innumerable armies, be sieged the capital, and made peace ultimately on condition that the King of Siam should be come his vassal — " should give him his daughter in marriage, send every year a lady of high rank to Ava, and certain elephants for the King's service ;" but, in 1548, when the Burmese am bassadors came to claim the lady, the Siamese nobles revolted, and killed the ambassadors. This led to another war, and Siam was attacked by a force which, with Oriental exaggeration, the chronicle represents to have consisted of one million five hundred thousand soldiers, four * Decadas. KING OE PEGU'S INVASION. 47 Chiiulasakkarat. A.D. 905 thousand elephants, and beasts of burthen not 1543 to be counted. The King of Pegu was accom panied by a considerable number of Portu guese for the protection of his royal person, under the command of Diogo Soares de Mello, and the account given by the Portuguese chro nicler of the expedition is in the most inflated and extravagant style. " This barbarous people," he says, " marched with majesty and greatness exceeding that of all the kings of the world ; for at night they never rested, except in beautiful houses, gilded and decorated, and prepared anew every day for their reception. They brought with them from Pegu the timber, the furniture, the roofs, the doors, and every needful thing, which were sent forward on elephants, who were accom panied by more than two thousand workmen, such as blacksmiths, carpenters, locksmiths, painters, gilders, and others, who built, fur nished, and adorned the habitations. They had forges too ; so that, on the King's arrival, hand some palaces awaited him, with numerous apart ments, verandahs, boudoirs, cooking establish ment, with arrangements for his women; and the palaces were surrounded with strong fortifi cations, and the King was served in vessels of gold and precious stones ; and he had horses and elephants for his special service, and a tri umphant car worked in gold — all making an infinite machinery." When he came to a river, a branch of the Meinam, " the greatness and the display exceeded that of Xerxes when he crossed the Hellespont to the conquest of Greece." They were twenty-five days travelling over high 48 HISTORY. Chiiulasakkarat. A.D. 905 mountains, in order to find a passage. There 1543 were twenty-five thousand Siamese to defend the place where it was determined to cross; and the Burmese having placed thirty thousand nien under the command of Soares, they forced their way across the river, and marched to the attack of the Siamese capital, which was de fended by six hundred thousand men, having two years' provision within the city. The description given by Couto of the banks of the Meinam, which, he says, is the Boris fluvius of Ptolemy, resembles in most respects their present condition. The result, however, of the great expedition was calamitous. The city was bombarded on many sides ; but the Siamese King had, as the Portuguese chronicler tells us, the good fortune to possess fifty brave Lusitanians, to whom he committed the defence of the weakest part of the city walls, so that neither Peguans nor Burmese could enter. Meanwhile, the waters rose ; upon which attempts were made to bribe the heroic Portuguese defenders; but, to use the words of the historian, " they sent the same reply which the men of the city of Synania gave to Brutus the consul, when he besieged them ; and seeing their constancy and valour, he sent to ask for a sum of money, and he would raise the siege ; to which they answered, .' that their ancestors had not left them money to redeem their lives, but arms to defend them.' No other nation but the Romans, says Vale rius Maximus, was worthy of using language so noble; but the privilege also belonged to the valiant knight of Portugal in Siam, .who SIEGE OF CAMPAPE. 49 Chiiulasakkarat. A-D. 905 told the invader, that all the gold in the world 1543 would not seduce them ; that while they were alive he should not enter the city; and that even after they were all dead and cut to pieces, if it might be, they would still defend it." So the undeceived Burman withdrew with his army, and, after a march of twenty days, beleaguered the great city of Campape ; but all his efforts failed, which the chronicler attributes to a somewhat ignoble method of defence which the Siamese employed ; for they made a great collection of human excrements in huge jars, which they flung down upon the besiegers, who, unable to bear the intolerable stench, retired with their whole army to the countries from whence they came. 909 At this time the city of Juthia was exceed- 1547 ingly flourishing, and was resorted to by the merchants of all nations. The King possessed seven white elephants, from which was derived the name Phra Chao Xang phuok. Having been informed of this, the King of Hongsavadi sent an embassy to demand two white elephants from the Siamese superfluity ; on the King of Siam refusing, the King of Pegu came with an army of nine hundred thousand men, seven thousand elephants, and fifteen thousand horses, to besiege Juthia. But when the two Kings met together, the King of Juthia gave up four white elephants and his son, and the King of Pegu returned through PhitsSuiildk. Mendez Pinto, who is much less of a liar than he is generally held to be, speaks of an excellent King of Siam who reigned a. d. 1547, and who, returning from a successful war, was VOL. I. E 3? HISTORY. Chuulasakkarat. A.D. 909 poisoned by the Queen to prevent his discovering 1547 that she had been faithless to him in his absence, and was then in a state of pregnancy. Once entered upon this criminal career, she murdered her son, the heir to the crown, and placed her lover on the throne, in 1548. But, in 1549, the usurper and his paramour were assassinated in a temple, and an illegitimate brother and uncle of the two last kings were called forth from a cloister and advanced to the throne. Bishop Pallegoix' version is to the effect, that about this period the King of Siam was so fortunate that he captured no less than seven white elephants. This extraordinary good fortune excited the cupidity of the King of Pegu, who, in the year 910 (a.d. 1548), sent an embassy of five hundred persons, desiring that two of the seven might be transferred as a mark of honour to himself. After much fruitless nego tiation, the King of Siam refused to accommo date his royal neighbour, on the plea that the Peguans were uninstructed in the art of managing white elephants, and had once, on that account, returned two to the King of Siam (alarmed, no doubt, at the consequence of any disaster befalling the sacred animals); while, on the other hand, the King of Siam had observed what an unwonted prosperity the ^possession of so many sacred quadrupeds had brought to his country. The refusal, however, was thought by the King of Pegu sufficient to justify his making war upon Siam, which he invaded with ninety thousand men, and succeeding in his attack so as to menace Ayuthia, the Siamese capital, the matter was SIEGE OF JUTHIA. 51 Chiiulasakkarat. A.D. 909 arranged; and, in compensation for the trouble 1547 he had taken, he obtained four white elephants instead of two from the King of Siam, and then returned complacent to Pegu. 914 The King of Juthia abdicates in favour of 1552 his son Mahiuth&rathirat, and becomes a tala- poin, to which order he is ordained the follow ing year * 917 The King of Hongsavadi advances with a 1JJ55 formidable army of one million men, and sur rounds Juthia with his forces; the siege endures for nine months. In the mean while, Phra Ch&o Xang phuok dies. His son, much given to pleasure, neglects the siege, and on the 26th day of the ninth moon of the year 918, by the treachery of a particular mandarin, the city was betrayed to and seized by the enemy. The King of Hongsav&di bore away from thence immense wealth, and innumerable cap tives, leaving there only a thousand men, under the government of Phra Th&mm&raxa thirat, once King of Phltgilok ; but he led away cap tive the King of Juthia, who died on the way. Bishop Pallegoix says, the heir to the Siamese throne was captured, and, falling ill, was given over to the care of ten physicians. He died, and all the physicians were put to death. The King of Cambodia availed himself of the disasters of Siam to invade the kingdom, * This withdrawal from political squabbles to the safety and sanctity of the religious profession is not an uncommon occurrence in Siam. When the late King usurped the throne, his present Majes'ty retired to a Budd hist temple, from whence he was brought forth to occupy the throne after the seclusion of a quarter of a century. — See chapter xiii. E 2 52 HISTORY. Chiiulasakkarat. A.D. 917 and failing to conquer the capital, he devastated 1555 the whole of the country through which he passed. 919 The King of Lavek (Cambodia) fails in his 1557 siege of Juthia, but takes away many prisoners from the country. 920 Phra Thammaraxa thirat appoints his son 1558 Phra Naret-suen, sixteen years old. King of Phitsantilok. 921 The King of Cambodia again and again ,1559 assaults Juthia, and depopulates the whole country. 926 The King of Hongsavadi, dreading Phra 1564 Naret on aecount of his valour and warlike exploits, insidiously invites him, wishing to kill him ; Phra Naret proceeded to meet him, but, having been made acquainted with the plot, returns, bringing away ten thousand cap tives from the country of Pegu ; and when a formidable army pursues him, he upsets the general who commanded in the King's stead from his elephant by a stroke of his gun; upon which the enemy was thrown into con fusion and put to flight. 929 Phra Naret subdues several cities lying 1567 westward, and leads away from them innume rable captives to Juthia ; the walls and towers of which place are restored by him. 930 Phra Naret is victorious over the King of 1568 Xieng mai; he then conquers the King of Hongsavadi, whom he repeatedly drives back from the boundaries of his dominions. He subjects to his rule the kingdom of Laos, and other adjoining States. 945 Phra Naret had bound himself by an oath 1583 MURDER 0E THE KING OF CAMBODIA. 53 Chiiulasakkarat. A.D. 945 to wash his feet in the blood of the perfidious 1583 monarch of Cambodia ; so, immediately on find ing himself freed from other enemies, he assailed Cambodia, and besieged the royal city of Lavek ; 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 amid the clang of trumpets. 949 The indefatigable warrior Phra Naret in- 1587 vades the kingdom of Pegu, and takes Mo-ta- ma (Martaban) and the capital of Hongsavadi, and appoints Siamese to govern them. Bishop Pallegoix narrates that Phra Naret held Ayuthia in subjection to the King of Pegu ; but being called on to march with a large con tingent of troops, he was informed by a bonze of an intention to sacrifice him ; upon which he invaded the Peguan territory, made ten thou sand captives, and after long wars established his own authority in Siam. He attacked the King of Cambodia, accusing him of perfidy, and of his invasion of the kingdom in the moment of his adversity. He swore that he would bathe his feet in the blood of the per fidious Cambodian, who having been made prisoner, was murdered, and his blood, still warm, brought in a golden vessel to Phra Nar&t, who, in the presence of his courtiers, and to the sound of loud musie, literally accom plished his vow. He died while leading an army to attack the Burmese. 955 Phra Naret collects an army for the invasion 1593 of Angoa (Ava), but dies on the way; his brother, Ekathotsarot, succeeds to him, and reigns peacefully for six years. 54 HISTORY. Chuulasakkarat. A.D. 955 Misunderstandings, contests, negotiations, 1593 victories, and reverses, fill the pages of Siamese, Peguan, Laos, and Cambodian history to the end of the sixteenth century. Immense armies figure on those pages, — one of a million, and another of half a million of men. Much childish narrative is mingled in the annals. It has been remarked that guns are referred to long before the discovery of gunpowder in Europe,* while "gunpowder" is first spoken of in the Siamese annals in the year a.d. 1584. In the same year there is mention of the capture of Portuguese vessels which had taken part with the Cambodians against the Siamese. The phraseology found in some of the records is amusingly characteristic. One of the Siamese kings, in answer to the menaces of the Peguans, says, " As well may a white ant endeavour to overthrow Mount Meru."f A Peguan asks, "Are the Peguans only posts, to which the Siamese elephants are to be tied?" 963 At the death of Ekathotsarot, his son, Chao 1 601 Fa, "the one-eyed," ascends the throne, and is murdered by conspirators in the following year. Then Phra Si sin is exalted to the regal dignity, tinder the name of Phra Chad Song tham. In his reign was discovered and con secrated the celebrated footstep of Buddha, Phra Bat, at the base of a famous mountain; to the eastward of Juthia. Of the political relations of Siam in the beginning of the seventeenth century, the * Chinese Repository, vi. p. 397. f The Central Mountain of Earth, reported in Buddhist books to be 798,000 miles high. : SIAM IN THE SEVENTEENTH -CENTURY. 55 Chiiulasakkarat. A.D. 963 following account is given by Peter Will Floris 1601 (Thevenot, vol. i. p. 21) : — "The King of Siam fortified himself by the destruction of the kingdom of Pegu, and has since conquered the kingdom of Cambaya, Laniaugh, Zayomay, Leegor, Parava, Thena- sarim, and several others. This conqueror, called by the Portuguese the Black King of Siam, died in 1605, and left his kingdom to- his brother, whom they designated as the White King. He was a prince who only desired to reign in peace. He died in 1610, leaving several children. Thence arose great troubles in the State; for the King, on his deathbed,- caused his eldest son, a youth of great promise, to be put to death; the murder being com mitted at the suggestion of one of the nobles, who, being very rich and powerful, aspired to the throne. The present King is the second son of the White King, and soon caused the traitorous noble to be put to death. Among his slaves there were two hundred and eighty Japanese, who, on the report of his death, rushed to the palace, gained possession of the gates and the King's person, making him pro mise to put to death four of the principal nobles, signing the promise with his blood ; — and, not content with this, they retained as hostages four principal palipas, or priests, as a security for the fulfilment of his promise. These slaves, satisfied with their vengeance, and loaded with booty, returned home, leaving trace* of their cruelty in every direction, while none of the country people dared to appear before them. This mark of weakness brought about 55 HISTORY. Chunlasakkarat. A.D. 963 a revolt in the kingdoms of Cambaya and of 1601 Laniaugh. A Peguan, named Banga-de-lau, raised a faction in that State ; and in the follow ing year the King of Laniaugh entered the kingdom of Siam, hoping to find it in disorder from the revolt of the Japanese, but they had already left the country ; and the King of Siam having taken the field, the Laniaugh King retired, not daring to encounter him. It is reported that the neighbouring princes have formed a league, and are to enter the country with a large army; an attempt which is not likely to succeed, unless they have established some private understanding." 989 Phra Chao Song tham is killed by a man- 1627 darin named Siirivong, who seizes the throne under the name Phra Chao Pras&t thong. He had a son named Phra Narai, so called from his appearing at his birth to have four arms. 1017 Phra Chad Prasat thong dies, bequeathing 1655 his sceptre to his son, Chao Fa xai, who is soon afterwards slain by Phra Narai, and his uncle, Si Suthammaraxa. His uncle reigns some months ; but having attempted to violate the sister of Phra Narai, he is vanquished and killed, by the enraged brother. 1 018 Phra Narai is made king, under the name 1656 Phra Chad Xang phuok. He kills his two brothers for engaging in a conspiracy against him. Phra Narai is the sovereign who became afterwards famous in European history in eon- sequence of his political relations with Louis XIV., and the nomination of the celebrated Greek Constantine Phaulcon (or Falcon) to be his prime minister. RELATIONS WITH THE FRENCH. 57 Chiiulasakkarat. A.D. 1019 Constantine Falco arrives at Juthia; he 1657 makes himself most acceptable to the King, who raises him by degrees to the rank of Phaja Vixaien. Phra Chao Xang phuok sends am bassadors to France. 1023 He despatches an army to besiege Ava, which 1661 he is unable to conquer : proceeding thence, he overcomes Xieng mai. Constantine Falco is raised to the first dignity of the State, Chao phaja Sam&ka najok; he compels many talapoins to withdraw from the temples and execute works, and thus excites the hatred and indignation of the mandarins against himself, who, under the generalship of Chao Du'a, attempt to accomplish his death. Phra Narai was then sick at Lophaburi. 1044 Chao Du'a and Phra Phetraxa conspire 1682 against the King ; they assassinate Constantine, and, the King being deceased, usurp the king dom. The intimate union of Phauleon with the French no doubt led to his own destruction, and that of his master. There are sufficient grounds for believing that Phauleon was desirous of handing over the sovereignty of Siam to the French King, of which the advent of consider able bodies of French soldiers is unm'istakeable evidence. Chao Du'a, a natural son of Phra Narai, associated himself with a leading noble, Phra Phet Raxa, and the most influential bonzes, to preserve the religion and the inde pendence of Siam. It is said that, on Phet Raxa's succession, he sent an embassy to Paris to conciliate the exasperated Grand Monarque. This sovereign is harshly spoken of by the 58 HISTORY. Chiiulasakkarat. A.D. ' 1044 Catholic missionaries, — as is his successor, 1682 Chad Dii'a, whom they call a cruel, barbarous, and debauched monarch. The resistance and persecution they experienced at this period may well account for the severity of their strictures. 1050 Phra PhStraxa again sends ambassadors to 1688 France. 1059 At the decease of Phra Phgtraxa, Chao Du'a 1697 takes possession of the throne ; he delighted in angling and hunting, and was notorious for: his debauchery and cruelty. 1068 The son of Chao Du'a succeeds his father. 1706 He drives out the Anamese from Cambodia, which he makes tributary to him. 1094 At the King's death, a civil war arises; 1732 Uparat, or the Viceroy, kills the King's sons, and usurps the kingdom. During his reign, gold mines were opened in Bangtaphan. 1 120 The King being dead, Chao Dok Madu'a 1758 reigns but one year ; he resigns the sceptre to his brother, and becomes a talapoin. The King of Ava besieges Juthia, but, being seized by a malady, retreats and dies on his way home. 1 128 The King of the Burmans depopulates the 1766 whole country, and besieges Juthia for two years ; and, having taken it, sets it on fire, and; almost totally destroys it. But the King of Juthia escaped from the country, and, wander ing about, soon afterwards died, wasted away by famine. 1 1 29 The Burmans being still in possession of 1767 Juthia, there arose a powerful man named Phaja Tak, who had been governor of one of the north ern provinces of Siam, whose father was a FHAJA TAK. 59 Chuulasakkarat. A.D. 1129 Chinese, and his mother a Siamese. He, fore- 1767 seeing the destruction of the city, gathered together about a thousand brave men, and with them he routed the Burman troops, aud advan cing to Bangplas6i, Rajong, Chanthabun, Phii- thaimat (Caneao), reduced under his rule not only the maritime provinces, but even Cam bodia ; and, hearing of the destruction of Juthia, furnished a hundred ships with arms and fight ing men, hastened to the yet smoking ruins of the city, assaulted the Burmans, routed and dispersed them, and established the seat of a new government at Thana Buri (Bangkok). Then occurred a distressful famine; Phaja Tak imported rice from foreign lands, and liberally distributed it to the people. 1 13 1 Phaja Tak conquers Korat (Ligor), Phltsanii- 1769 16k and Cambodia. 1136 Phaja Tak seizes Xieng mai, to which he 1774 appoints a new ruler. The Burman hordes having made an incursion, he surrounds them with his forces until the enemy, reduced by famine, surrender themselves prisoners. 1139 He conquers the kingdom of Satanakhanahtit 1777 (Vieng Chan), from whence he carries off a most precious image of Phra Keo, formed of an immense emerald.* 1142 The King, seized with insanity, wishes to be 1780 equally adored with Buddha, exacts money from the rich, and treats the mandarins harshly. 1143 This occasions sedition ; the populace attacks 1781 him in his palace ; the terrified monarch flies to a temple, and is ordained a talapoin. * See chapter xiii. 60 HISTORY. Chuulasakkarat. 1 144 But, soon after, Phaja chakkri, returning from 1782 the war against the Anamese, ordered him to be dragged from the temple and slain, and occu pied the throne in his place, under the name Phra Phuttiichao hiang (Phe'n din ton). At this time he transferred the city and palace from the west to the east bank of the river. During his reign the Burmans made frequent incursions into the Siamese territories, but were always strongly repulsed. Of this sovereign (Phaja T&k) Bishop Pallegoix gives the following account : — He came forth from the mountain retreats of Makhon Najok, defeating again and again the Burmese troops. Descending to Bang plasoi, he was there proclaimed king; and being joined by multitudes of the people, he took Chantabun, constructed a hundred ships of war, seized upon Phuthaimat or Kankao on the confines of Cochin China, re duced Cambodia, drove from Ayuthia and the rest of the kingdom all the Burmese invaders, and established his royal residence at Bangkok, to which he gave the name of Thanaburi. He conquered Ligor, Phitanulok, and afterwards Vieng Chan, the capital of the Laos kingdom, whence he brought what is called the Emerald Buddha (Phra Keo), which is the pride and glory of Bangkok at the present day. His exactions are said; to have been greater than his conquests. The bonzes averred that he aspired ta the divine honour of Buddha. A revolt took place in the city, and the King escaped to a neighbouring pagoda, and declared himself to have become a member of the priest- REIGN OF CHAO PRASAT THONG. 6l Chiiulasakkarat. A.D. 1144 hood; but the prime minister who succeeded 1783 him caused him to be driven from the pagoda, and he was executed in 1782, under the plea that he would trouble the public peace. 1173 His successor reigned twenty-nine years, and 1811 was succeeded by his son, who carried on the administration peacefully for fourteen years. His common name among the people is Phen- din-klang. 1187 At his death, his son, the late monarch, 1825 ascended the throne, under the name Borom- matham-mikaraxathirat Phra Chao Prasat Thong. The two principal events which distinguished the reign of Chao Prasat Thong, were the burning of the royal palace, and his war upon the Laos country, in 1828. Of the results of that war an account is given by a writer obviously well informed ; and the picture of manners is so graphic and characteristic, that I transfer it to these pages.* The invasion of Cochin China by sea and by land had no other result than the capture of a number of Guannanites, (the Chinese name for Cochin China is Guan-nan, usually written Annan or Annam,) who were, according to custom, condemned to slavery in Siam. " The expedition against Laos was successful. As usual in Siamese warfare, they laid waste the coun try, plundered the inhabitants, brought them to Bangkok, sold and gave them away as slaves. The * The whole paper is entitled "Notes on Siam," taken in 1833, from Moor's Notices of the Indian Archipelago,]). 199, 200; Singapore, 1837. 6% HISTORY. prince Yun Chow and family made their escape into Cochin China; but instead of meeting with a friendly reception, they were seized by the King of that coun try, and delivered as prisoners to the Siamese. The King 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 merciful, 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, respectable-looking, old grey-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 Yun Chan were, that the King of Siam would appoint a new prince to govern 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." I requested the King to favour me with an account of his own dynasty, and received the following reply :— THE ROYAL DYNASTY. 6$ " His Excellency Sir John Bowring, Knighted Doctor of Laws, the Governor of Hong Kong, tyc. st Strain A, i 05 ^ U i ri Kill HAP. T UITK JEWELLERY AND ORNAMENTS. 131 used by both sexes. On all ceremonial occasions, and in visits from inferiors to superiors, it is usual to wear a silk scarf round the waist. In the presence of the King, the nobles have a garment with sleeves made of tulle, of the most delicate texture, and richly orna mented, Avhich they often take from their shoulders and fasten round their waist. The women Avho ply on the river wear rather a graceful sort of white jacket, fastened in front. In cold weather an outer garment or robe is worn, whose value depends on the rank and opulence of the Avearer. , There is a universal passion for jewellery and orna ments of the precious metals, stones, &c. It is said there is scarcely a family so poor as to be without some valuable possessions of this sort. Rings of silver and gold adorn the arms and the legs of chil dren; rich necklaces, earrings, and belts, are some times seen in such profusion as quite to embarrass the wearer. Female children, up to the age of twelve or thirteen wear a gold or silver string with a heart in the centre, performing the part often assigned to the fig-leaf in exhibitions of statues. To the necks of children a tablet called a bai soma is generally sus pended, bearing an inscription as a charm against mischief ; and men have a metallic ball attached to a belt, to which they attribute the virtue of rendering them invulnerable. A necklace consisting of seven lumps of gold or silver is worn by girls as a protect ing influence. Though both the head and feet of the Siamese are almost invariably bare, I have seen ornamented slip pers used by the nobles, but very rarely. The gar- K 2 133 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. ments which are on great occasions worn over the shoulders are felt as an encumbrance, and are fre quently removed and fastened round the waist, and employed to wipe aAvay the perspiration from the body, even in the midst of the most imposing cere monies. There is little difference in the costume of the sexes. The demeanour of the women is invaria^ bly modest, and the lightness of their garments and nudity of their breasts are considered no more in decorous than an uncovered face or hand among Europeans. Of the garments worn by the Siamese, the panung, called by the Portuguese panks, and by French writers pagne, is Avorn round the waist and thighs. Those presented by the King are called pasompai. The panung is of cotton, linen, silk, embroidered or decorated according to the taste and opulence of the wearer. The seva kaau, or loose muslin shirt, is the ancient garment of the Siamese; it is thrown off in hot weather. The pakum, or upper linen, is thrown over the shoulders and twisted round the arms. A chetna, or handkerchief, is usually carried by a- slave, and used to wipe the perspiration off the neck and chest. The folloAving names and descriptions of the ordi nary garments were given me at Bangkok : — Sumpack. Yesture girded round the waist. Sacklia. The gold sash. Succhangua. The robe throAvn OArer the shoulders. Pa piom. The pagne or principal garment, which IMTTDAPIN IN 0FDI!7/,r.Y ro?^rj',li "radon, Join "!' ' = rysT i Son.Wss' Strand J 857. REMARKS ON THE SIAMESE. 133 passes round the body and between the legs, and the ends of which are tucked in behind. Yang nai. The jacket. The following remarks upon the Siamese people, written by a Siamese in his native language, and translated by an American missionary (the Rev. W. P. Buell), are not without interest. The foot notes are by the latter. " In the kingdom of Siam things are thus — viz., The men and women have a form three cubits high (near five feet), it is generally agreed. Some are three cubits and a half. A few are four cubits high ; about one man in a hundred. " Another subject : The complexion of the Siamese is a dark red. Some are light, and they dress after the same fashion. There is no difference. They make their teeth black. They take the shell of a cocoa-nut, burn it and take the dark Avater which comes out of the shell, and rub it on the teeth. The teeth then become black. When the teeth are well blacked, they take quicklime and spread it on seri leaf to be rolled up — they take of betel-nut quartered, one part, and one seri leaf rolled up— they take tobacco rolled up into a little ball about the size of the poot-sa fruit [this resembles our crab apple, but is much smaller], and all being prepared, they eat, taking the tobacco to wipe the teeth, and then de positing it between the lips and the teeth. " Again : the men smoke cigars. These cigars they carry behind their ears. Sometimes they also carry there a scented preparation made with fragrant mate rials, and a wreath of flowers is worn on the wrist. 134 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. " Another subject : They preserve long finger-nails. In the cool of the day [evening] they take hog's fat to anoint the nails every day. Another way is to take garlic to rub their nails, and the nails grow long very fast. They take care not to do any labour — they only Avork at toys. The man who keeps long finger-nails is a man of dissolute mind. His heart rides on primpness. He is the master of harlots, and desires to deck himself that he may stroll about and talk with the women that they may have a heart to love him. Men of this sort are few; amongst a hundred men there will be about forty. " At the present time, persons fancy pa-nungs.* Chintz pleases the men. Pa-nungs of alternate stripes of silk and gold thread — also chintz of a very small blue and white check, Avith gold thread borders, please the women. "Again: the men are pleased with pa-homsf of black silk crape [two widths] seAved together, and * " A pa-nung is about three yards of strong India chintz, of star pattern, on deep red, blue, green, and chocolate coloured grounds. The Siamese place the middle of this, when opened, to the small of the back, bringing the two ends round the body before, and the upper edges being twisted together are tucked in between the body and the cloth. The part hanging is folded in large pletes, passed between the legs and tucked in behind as before." f " A pa-hom is a large scarf, about 2\ yards long by if yards wide, and generally made of silk — two widths sewed together. The middle of the pa-hom opened is placed under the left arm, and the two ends passing up before and behind, and crossing over the right shoulder, hang down as low as the hips. The labouring men have a strip of white cotton cloth about tA yards long which they either tie around the waist or head, or throw carelessly over one shoulder; but, perhaps, more generally the middle passes around the throat, and the two ends are thrown loosely over both shoulders, hanging down behind. The lower class of females wear a white cotton shirt or jacket, fitting tight around the body, extending down a very little below the hips, and with long sleeves." REMARKS ON THE SIAMESE. 135 also silk crape of various colours. If they wish them to make merit,* they can. If they Avish to go any where, they can. If they wish to go to transact business, they can. If they wish to visit their rela tions, they can according as they fancy a pa-nung or a pa-hom. There is no particular choice. A pa nung either dark, red, purple, green, light or scarlet, with a silk crape pa-hom, answers the same purpose. There is particular choice. " Again : the men cut off their hair. The shape of their hair is like the lotus flower. They cut that hair all around even with the edge of the hair on the forehead. On the back part they shave off the whole. They preserve only what is on the crown.f " As to the women, they cut their hair like the open lotus flower. They never shave, but preserve the whole head, trimming the forehead, the eyebrows, and a small circle around the crown. J And they bore their ears, and insert ear-rings made with pure gold, set with jeAvels and precious stones. They also wear finger-rings made with pure gold, and set in the same way. They also wear guards — the strands being made with pure gold. They have * " i. c. are dressed clean enough to go and see the priests, and carry them presents, if they choose." f " It is seldom, too, that a Siamese man is ever seen with a beard. This is always plucked out by the roots, and never suffered to grow even to a moderate length. This gives them an effeminate appearance.'' J " When the women are not very particular to keep this circle distinct, and when the men, too, are careless about keeping their heads shaved, which is very commonly the case, there is no discoverable difference between the hair of the males and females. Immediately after the birth of a child, the mother often shaves her head perfectly bare ; and at the death of a relative." 136 "MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. girdles ; they have sashes ; they have bracelets ; and their pa-homs are the same with those of the men mentioned above. " Another subject : The children (male and female) dress themselves, preserving a bunch of hair — some, about a cubit and a half long — others, only a cubit; and it is twisted up into a knot on the crown of the head, and a gold pin is stuck in, and a wreath encir cles the knot. Bracelets encircle the wrists, and anklets encircle the ankles. Strands of large beads also encircle the wrists. A large badge js worn about the neck. A double guard is worn atliAvart the breast, having a roll of gold sheeting strung on it. The pa-nung being put on, they take a girdle and gird the loins. " All these ornaments Avhich are used in the dress of [royal] children are made with pure gold, set Avith jewels, precious stones, and jet; different ones being made in different ways. " Another subject. If one be a prince, he fares well. If one be the child of a prince, he fares well. If one be the nepheAV of a prince, he fares well. If one be the offspring of the royal family, he fares well. Would such visit any one, he can. Would he walk for pleasure in any direction, he can. Would he go anywhere, he has four men to carry him on their shoulders. He has an -umbrella spread over him. He has men to attend him, and various marks of dis tinction — viz., a royal Avaiter, a royal goglet, and a royal betel-bag prepared according to the rank of princes. " Again : public officers and the children of public THE SEASONS. 137 officers act according to their several grades, agree able to established customs. "Another subject. Gardeners' and farmers' pa- nungs and pa-homs are different [from princes']. They are vulgarly short, and they wear a jacket [short white shirt, buttoned up before] and a hat suitable to keep off the rays of the sun.* " We have a season in the first, second, and third months that is considered very cool.f All the in habitants of the exalted city [Bangkok] put on jackets, because it is very cool. But in the hot season the men prepare themselves cloth of light materials, in width about two cubits, in length about two cubits and a half, and they dip this pa-hom in water [i. e., it is kept moist about the shoulders]. * "The Siamese most generally go bareheaded, except some of the labouring class, who have a hat formed of a species of palm-leaf, stitched together in the form of au inverted milk-pan. Inside of this is con structed a. simple ratan frame, fitting the head, and which keeps it on. They never wear shoes or sandals. Go where you will, from the king to the peasant, you will see all classes and sexes barefooted." f " Tlie cool season here commences about the middle or full moon in November, and lasts until the same time in February. During this time there is a clear sky, cool atmosphere, and pretty constant and bracing winds. The thermometer stands usually at 720 P., although the older missionaries have seen it at 59° P. " The hot season commences about the middle or full moon of February, and continues until the same time in June. This season is trying to Europeans ; but with prudence, perhaps, not more so than the summer and autumn months in our Southern States in America. The thermometer rises usually to 960 P. " The rainy season commences about the middle or full moon in June, and lasts until the same time in November. During this season the atmosphere is usually very pleasant, except in the middle of the day, when the rays of the sun striking the wet earth with great power, cause a steam to arise which is unpleasant while it lasts. Our showers come only once or twice a day, and but for an hour or two at a time. This season is almost equal to a second cool season, and not to be dreaded, as some at home suppose." 138 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. " In this explanation respecting the kingdom of Siam, [it will be seen that] the manner of dressing is, in general, the same throughout the kingdom." The superstitions of the Siamese are not originally traceable to their religious creed, noi* to the primitive teachings of Gaudama (Buddha), who prohibits his disciples from consulting soothsayers, putting trust in auguries, or valuing charms and prognostics. But the infusion of a corrupted Brahminism from India, and of a low Buddhism from China, working upon the credulity of a wretchedly-instructed population, have fed that passion for mystery and belief in invisi ble agencies by which the ignorant seek to explain inexplicable phenomena, and to frame excuses and find consolations for their individual misfortunes. Independently of the official astrologers of the Court, there are men called modu who are paid by the people for their professional advice as to the daily business of life, the result of commercial speculations, the de sirableness of a matrimonial engagement, the fit time for shaving the head-tuft, for beginning a journey, how to win at play, how to recover lost' or stolen pro perty, &c. Their functions differ little from those of the white wizards and witches who, to this hour, are not without influence in the ruder parts of Great Britain, and whose supernatural knowledge of events is firmly believed in by a considerable portion of the agricultural population at the present hour.* Confidence in talisrnans may have been of Malayan * In my native county (Devonshire) I could cite recent examples of extraordinary credulity. AMULETS — STRANGE PREJUDICE. 139 or Mahomedan origin ; and the belief in alchemy is probably traceable to the same source. Many charms are supposed to render their wearer invulnerable, among Avhich a ball of solid mercury is deemed of undoubted efficacy. Noav, the art of freezing quick silver was probably possessed by the Arabs, and there may be abundant traditional evidence of the existence of the metal in a solid state. To some rare woods mixed with various ingredients, the same virtues are attributed as to hard quicksilver. But the ordinary amulets are composed of gold and silver beads, strung on a thread which has been blessed by the bonzes, or of small metallic plates on which mysterious characters are engraved. The necklaces of the women have been almost all steeped in holy water. Magicians are called in when invalids are supposed to be in a dangerous state, who make images of clay, which they convey to the woods and bury, promising by their incantations that the disease shall be transferred to the image.* The strange prejudice in favour of odd numbers, which dates from the highest antiquity, and is spread through the Avestern world, exists in all its force among the Siamese. They will build no staircase having an even number of stairs ; no house must have an even number of rooms, doors, or windows : yet the decimal system is the universal medium by which all the associations connected with eternity and infi nity are impressed on the Siamese mind; and the gradations from tens to hundreds, thousands, mil- * Pallegoix, ii. 48, 49. 140 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. lions, billions, are favorite elements of religious speculations among the bonzes. Of an ancient ceremony frequently referred to by travellers, which required the immolation of three human beings when any new gate was constructed in a Siamese city, I could find no vestige in Siam. Though many details are given of the proceedings in a letter from Bishop Bruguiere, Pallegoix doubts the existence of such a usage. It has probably fallen into desuetude. The ghoule and vampire superstitions have made their Avay into Siam, modified in their details, but preserving the great outlines of the Oriental type. Infants born before their time are generally delivered to the magicians, as such premature birth is deemed of evil augury. Among the strange fancies is one that a magician can reduce a buffalo to the size of a pea, which being swalloAved by the person he is employed to bewitch, the pea re-assumes its former shape, and bursts the interior of the wretch who has SAvallowed it. Love-philtres are sold by the magicians, and are believed to be efficacious in winning the affections and exciting the passions of those to whom they are administered. Demons are believed to be the keepers of hidden treasures, which demons are frequently invoked ; and many tales are told of the success of those who have conciliated, and the punishments of those who have exasperated them. The dread of ghosts and demons is universal among the Siamese! We often saw little rafts of SUPERSTITIONS. I41 bamboo, Avith small images of human beings (repre senting families), and offerings of betel-nut, rice, fruits, and floAvers, lighted with small tapers, the Avhole floating on the river for the purpose of conci liating the spirits of the waters. When epidemics attack the people, similar offerings are placed on four cross roads. One mode of conciliating is by tying ' a cotton thread round the Avaist, to show that the doctors are held in remembrance. As to the fabulous creations which are crowded into the legendary tales and current superstitions of the Siamese, there is no end to the catalogue : mer maids and sirens on the waters, ogres and giants on the land, nymphs in the forests, ghosts and spirits everywhere, dragons and fire-spitting serpents, birds, some of which attack and feed upon living men, some with women's breasts, and others with elephants' trunks. The field of investigation may be left to those who like to contemplate the extravagances of prurient imaginations, and dive into the enormous abyss of human folly and credulity. The wildest superstitions (many of them importa tions from India and the Malay countries) are con nected with pregnancy and the birth of children, as with death and the dead. An enceinte woman is sup posed to become the object of special visitation from evil spirits, in order to obtain a future mastery over the fruit of the womb, and many incantations and charms are used for her protection. The corpse of a woman dying in child-bed is believed to be an object of particular concupiscence to magicians, who extract from it the elixir of life. Such corpses are not 142 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. allowed to be consumed by fire, but are interred'; and it is held that by the performance, by hired magicians, of certain ceremonies over the grave, the deceased will burst the tomb, mount upwards with a fearful yell, assume a gigantic form, when being again controlled by magic arts, the body re-descends to the grave, having lost all power of molesting the living. After death, a man's corpse is washed, coloured with turmeric, and rubbed with quicklime; then wrapped in white cloth. The arms are raised as if in adoration, and a piece of gold or silver placed in the mouth. Quicksilver and honey are poured doAvn the throat; after Avhich, the body is placed upright — a tube from the mouth is passed through the roof of the house to carry off the offensive effluvia above — holes are made in the feet, in which bamboos are placed, to convey the depositions that descend. But these and other observances, more or less onerous and costly, depend upon the position and wealth of those concerned. In the case of opulent persons, money is scattered profusely among the croAvds who assemble to witness the funeral ceremonials in their various stages. The study of alchemy was at one time a favourite pursuit among the Siamese. No doubt, the science was introduced under Moorish or Mahomedan in fluence. La Loubere mentions (p. 63) a King of Siam who wasted two millions of livres in search of the philosopher's stone. The opinion entertained of the supernatural power of amulets, or talismans, may probably be traced to the same source. But EDUCATION. 143 such is the supposed influence of such charms, that if it can be proved that either a plaintiff or defendant has worn one during the proceedings of action at law, he is condemned, ipso facto, to lose his suit. The bonzes are charged with the public education, and schools are attached to most of the religious establishments. Instruction in the creeds and rites of Buddhism constitutes, naturally, a very important part of the system of instruction. A considerable portion of the male population are able to read and Avrite, but there are few means of acquiring any of the higher branches of knowledge. There is, not withstanding, especially among the nobles, much devotion to the study of the mechanical arts, and even considerable acquaintance with the use of nau tical and philosophical instruments. " The average amount of payment for tuition in common schools at Bangkok is eight dollars per annum, thirty -five shillings, from each boy; and fifteen dollars more cover all his expenses for board, clothes, stationery, &c. Some wealthy Chinese have private teachers,, at a cost of eight dollars per month. A school-room may be hired at two dollars and a half per month, or even less." ( Chinese Repository, vii. p. 309. ) The education of women is much neglected in Siam; there are few among them that can read or write. At the theatrical exhibitions within the palace, hoAvever, a woman was the prompter, and turned over, with great alacrity, the MS. pages of the play which was being acted. Many of them are taught music ; and the wives and concubines of the 144 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. nobles are frequently engaged in singing, and giving concerts for the amusement of their lords and their lords' guests. Some of them practise the arts of em broidery — make garlands and other ornaments of flowers for the adornment of the houses, and prepare sweetmeats and delicacies for the table. Among the courtesies of the King, we were in the habit of re ceiving boxes of cakes, on which was written, " Pre pared by the ladies of the palace for royal service." The medical science, though under the immediate patronage of royalty, cannot be deemed in a very advanced or satisfactory state. I observed, however, that the Siamese had much confidence in their native doctors ; and on one occasion, when I offered to the senior Regent of the Kingdom the services of the medical gentleman who accompanied the Mission, the offer was accepted with great unwillingness and dis trust, though the treatment of the native physicians had obviously failed, and the patient Avas suffering extreme pain. The head of the physicians is located within the King's palace, and has a considerable body of " royal doctors " under his orders, Avho hold the office hereditarily from father to son. The Siamese divide the profession into two departments — those who treat external and those who deal with internal ailments ; which is, in fact, the broad distinction be tween surgery and medicine. The number of the professional doctors is immense, from the lowest quacks to the class that, by long experience, have attained to some real understanding of the action of particular medicaments on the human frame. The arts of charlatanerie are as rife in Siam as elsewhere; MEDICAL PRACTICE. 145 but a custom prevails there for the protection of the patient, which might, perhaps, be introduced with advantage into other countries, of which the simple condition is, " No cure, no pay." When a person is ill, the doctor is sent for, and the first inquiry is, " Can you remove my com plaint?" After deliberation or examination, the reply is generally in the affirmative. Then the negotiation commences as to the sum to be paid for the cure, and the amount is settled by a Avritten contract, the doctor always demanding tAVo wax candles for an offering to the god of medicine, and six salungs (equal to 3s. yd.) for the cost of medicines. If the patient's health improve under the doctor's care, the visits continue ; if the doctor think the case hopeless, his visits cease, and there is an end of the contract. There are said to be two medical schools or systems in Siam contending for the mastery — the Indian and the Chinese — and it would be difficult to say which is the most crowded with follies and super stition. Here is a Siamese recipe, which seems to combine the nonsense of both. It is a prescription for what was called " morbific fever :" — " One portion of rhinoceros horn, one of elephant's tusk, one of tiger's, and the same of crocodile's teeth; one- of bear's tooth; one portion composed of three parts bones of vulture, raven, and goose; one portion of bison and another of stag's horn, one portion of sandal. These ingredients to be mixed together on a stone with pure water; one half of the mixture to be swallowed, the rest to be rubbed vol. 1. i- 146 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. into the body; after which the morbific fever will depart."* There are books on medicine translated into Sia mese from the Pali. As regards anatomy, they are, of course, like all ancient works on the subject, ex ceedingly rude, and full of false notions; but as regards the application of herbs and simples, many of the instructions are valuable, and the nature of various portions of the vegetable kingdom is well understood. There is a general treatment of sick persons which is often successful. They are dieted to a thin rice-soup, with a small infusion of dried fish as a condiment. Shower-baths are used three or four times a day. The attendant nurse takes a large quantity of hot water, in which there is a strong infusion of medicinal herbs, and squirts it with great violence in a shower of vapour over the body of the patient: this operation is frequently repeated. Rubbing all the joints and limbs and sur face of the body, in the manner of Oriental shampoo ing, is an habitual practice. Sometimes the doctor stands himself on the knees of the patient, and rubs the whole frame with the soles of his feet. The general character of diseases in Siam differs little from that of other Oriental tropical climates. Vaccination has been introduced. The cholera has several times visited Siam. On the whole, the ave rage mortality is less, and the chance of life greater, than in most countries under the same latitude. The Siamese are a musical people, and possess a * Pallegoix, i. 342. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 147 great variety of both Avind and stringed instru ments — cymbals, drums, great and small, many of which are singularly shaped; indeed, almost every combination of materials is employed out of which the ingenuity of man has produced sweet sounds. The Khong-bong is an instrument of great power ; it is composed of a semicircle of suspended tongues, or flat pieces of sonorous wood or metal; in the centre of which the musician stands and strikes the notes with two wooden hammers. The harmony is perfect, and is heard at a considerable distance. The Ranat is a Khong-bong on a smaller scale, in which the tongues are disposed in a straight line before the player. They have a species of guitar or violin, the surface (over which are the strings) being made of the skin of the boa, or some other serpent, stretched on half a cocoa-nut shell. This instrument I have seen in China. One of their flutes is played through the nostrils. The Takhe is a species of guitar placed on the ground, with metal chords, which are struck by the artificial nails, or claAVS, of the ladies, fixed like thimbles on the tops of the fingers. They are several inches long, and are bent outward, ending in a sharp point. They are invariably worn by the women in dramatic repre sentations. I had, on the occasion of the death of a nobleman in Siam, an opportunity of purchasing the musical instruments used in his family. The following description was furnished me from Bangkok. The first set, Nos. i, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, forms a l 2 148 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. band which the Siamese call Pe pat. It consists of the following : — 1. Pe (Flute). This is considered the principal instrument ofthe set. It is manufactured of Siamese " red wood." 2. Khong; the Khong-bong, as before described. When playing thereon, the performer sits partially encircled by the instrument, on which he plays by means of the two hammers. The tones are height ened or lowered by the addition or removal of a portion of the composition of tin and wax affixed to the inside of the cones, or bells. The instrument is tuned by comparison Avith the ra-nat : the bells are made of brass. 3. Ra-nat. The keys of this instrument are made of sonorous wood, such as " red wood," and others. It is performed on by means of the two hammers. 4. Ta paen. A small drum, beaten by the hands. 5. Puang-man. A small drum, the same shape as the preceding, but smaller. 6. Klong. A large drum, or gong. It rests on the two sticks when performed on, and is beaten by two staves. The drums are covered with the skin of the buffalo. These form the common band. The second set, Nos. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, with the addition of a khong and a ra-nat, is called Mahari. 7. Saw ( Yiolin). This instrument bears great price among the Siamese, on account of the extreme diffi culty which exists in procuring a cocoa-nut of the MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 149 necessary shape for forming the body of the violin, and as much as fifty ticals is sometimes given for one. The nut is covered with goat-skin ; the small eye-shaped instrument affixed thereto is for regu lating the tone. It is held in a slanting position, resting on the ground, when played. 8. Kajape (Guitar). This is a far more simply constructed instrument than the preceding. It is held by the left hand, and rested on the right knee. The strings are struck by the long nails, which the higher classes here, as well as in China, cultivate universally. In case, however, the musician lacks these fashion able ornaments, a piece of ivory, or wood, is sub stituted. 9. Klue (Flute), made of bamboo. 10. Th6n ; a kind of drum, which, when played, is placed horizontally on the knees, and struck with the right hand. The orifice at the other end is closed or opened by the left hand, according to the note it is desired to produce. This instrument is constructed of earthenware : the skin used is that of the boa. 11. Rumana; a kind of drum, beaten by the hand. The piece of wood and cord attached are for tuning the instrument; the string being inserted between the skin and frame by the stick : ox-skin (not buffalo) is here used. 12. Ching (Cymbals). These form the singing band. The songs of the Siamese are not wanting in a certain plaintive expression — they are full of repe- 15° MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. titions. The subjects are generally historical, record ing the feats of ancient warriors, or amorous— and these are frequently gross and lascivious. The Siamese have no written music ; their several tunes are attained by ear alone, and are a curious but not inharmonious melange of the sounds produced by their various instruments. The profession of music is esteemed worthy; indeed, the highest ambition of the fair sex in Siam is to possess the faculty of per forming the graceful evolutions and charming tunes of the Lakhon pu ying, or dancing girls. These girls are trained from their earliest infancy; their limbs are contorted into unnatural positions by pain ful and barbarous processes, and they are otherwise adapted to their profession. Their perception of con cord in the notes is as acute as that of an European musician, and they are equally as long in tuning their instruments. The soft and tuneful notes of their music form an agreeable contrast to the loud, monotonous, and dis cordant tones of the music of the Chinese; a fact much to be wondered at, when the civilization of their respective countries is taken into consideration. Per haps, however, the great apathy of the Siamese, compared with the industry of the Chinese — their consequent fondness for amusement, and their system of polygamy, offer the best explanation of the marvellous difference. The close of each day, in fact, at every nobleman's house, is the signal for the commencement of music and dancing; and the concert is continued without interlude till SIAMESE CHESS-BOARD. 15 1 the next day has been encroached upon by some hours. Add to this the time given to it daily by the numerous Avomen, Avhose almost sole occu pation it is, and it might well be a matter of surprise that the Siamese have not attained greater pro ficiency in the art. Among the amusements of the Siamese is the game of chess ; but it differs from the Indian or Euro pean game, and has no doubt been imported from China, as the chess-board, the pieces, and the moves, in all respects resemble those of the Chinese. The chess-board of the Siamese, like ours, has sixty-four squares, which are not distinguished into black and white. They place their pieces on the corners of the squares ; the board is divided into two portions by a space they call the river. There are nine points on each line, and forty-five on each half of the board. The number of pieces is the same as with us. Each player has a king, two guards, two elephants, two knights, two chariots, two cannons, and five pawns. Each player places nine pieces on the first line of the board, on his own . side ; the king in the centre, a guard (minister) on each side of him, two elephants next, two knights next, and then the two chariots upon the extremities of the board; the two cannons in front of the two knights, and the pawns on the fourth line. The king moves only one square at a time, but not diagonally, and can only move in an enceinte (or court) of four squares — his own, the queen's, and queen's- pawn's -and king's-paAvn's — and they never castle. 152 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. The two guards remain in the same limits, and can only move diagonally; the elephants move diagonally, but only two squares at a time, and must not pass the river. Their knight moves like ours, but must not pass over pieces ; he can pass the river, which is considered as one square. The chariots move like our castles, and cross the river, and the cannons the same. The pawns always move one step ; they cross the river, and they may move sideways as well ; they take in the same way that they move. The object of the game is, as among us, to give checkmate. The cannons are allowed to pass over any piece. The king must not be opposite the other king without a piece between. The cannon can only take where there is a piece between itself and the piece it takes ; but the intervening piece may belong to either player. (La Loubere, vol. ii., p. 122.) It is deemed a sin for the Siamese bonze or talapoin not to have made himself acquainted with the hidden powers of numbers; and, like other Orientals, the priests employ their leisure hours in solving mathe matical problems. Agrippa, in his second work, De Occulta Philosophia, chap. 22, gives a great many curious examples of what are called Magic Squares : they represent the art by which a large square being divided into any number of small squares, the figures representing the whole number of squares should be so arranged by arithmetical progression, as that, whether added up perpendicularly, horizontally, or transversely, the sum-total of the figures shall always be the same. The following are examples : — CURIOUS PROPERTIES OF NUMBERS. MAGIC SQUARES. *53 IS- 34- 4 9 2 3 5 7 8 i 6 i IS H 4 12 6 7 9 8 IO n 5 "3 3 2 16 «g. 65- i7 24 1 8 IS 23 5 7 14 16 4 6 13 20 22 10 12 19 21 3 11 13 25 2 9 11 24 7 20 3 4 12 2S 8 16 i7 5 13 21 9 10 18 1 14 22 23 6 19 2 15 Regular Arrangement from Left to Right. 65. 65 1 6S 6 2 6S 11 7 3 16 12 8 4 21 17 13 9 5 22 18 14 10 23 19 15 24 20 25 iS- iS IS 1 IS 4 2 7 S 3 8 6 9 34- 8 11 14 1 2 13 12 7 9 6 3 16 15 4 5 10 !54 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. 260. I 63 62 4 S 59 58 8 56 10 11 53 52 14 IS 49 48 18 r9 4S 44 22 23 41 25 39 38 28 29 35 34 32 33 3i 3° 36 37 27 26 40 24 42 43 21 20 46 47 17 16 5° 5i 13 12 54 55 9 S7 7 6 60 61 3 2 64 5< >S- I 99 98 4 96 5 7 93 92 10 90 12 88 87 15 16 84 83 19 11 80 79 23 24 76 75 27 28 72 21 31 60 «9 33 34 66 65 37 38 62 70 42 58 57 45 46 44 53 49 5i 41 52 48 47 55 56 54 43 59 5° 61 39 63 64 35 36 67 68 32 40 30 29 73 74 26 25 77 78 22 71 20 32 18 17 85 86 14 13 .89 81 91 2 3 97 6 95 94 8 9 100 Cock-fighting is a favourite sport of the Siamese. Though strictly prohibited, one cannot pass the streets without seeing crowds surrounding the scenes of combat. A courageous game-cock is a great treasure, and the object of special attention. The race is smaller than the English, and more resembles the pheasant in size and shape. There is a small belli cose fish, too, which attacks its fellow with great POPULAR AMUSEMENTS. 1,55 ferocity — bristling its fins, and exhibiting the utmost excitement : one of these, seeing its reflection in a glass, will violently advance, head foremost, against the shadoAv. The battles of crickets and the formica- leo are favourite sports of the people, from their childhood up. Lotteries have been introduced by the Chinese, and often lead the Siamese to utter desti tution. In fact, the passion for gaming and betting seems unchecked, either by public opinion or the power of the law. Kite-flying is the amusement of young and old. I do not think the art is so well understood as in China, where not only kites of a great variety of size and shape are seen, but they are made musical. When certain winds prevail, kite-battles are much in vogue; the sport being to entangle the kite of your adversary, and to drag it and the string into your own possession. Much noise and excitement accompany these aerial combats. Boat-races are not unfrequent, nor are pugilistic combats. Dancing on the tight and slack rope, pup pet-shows, sleights of hand, optical illusions, wrest ling, and sham fights, are among the ordinary recreations of the people. They share the love of amusement with the Chinese, but have few of the laborious and persevering virtues which characterize the people of China. Computation of Time. — Two eras, a civil and a religious, are used by the Siamese. The latter is dated from the death of the present ruling Buddha [Somana Khodom), five hundred and forty-three years before Christ; so that the present year (1856) 156 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. is the 2399th of the religious epoch. The civil era dates from the reign of a Siamese monarch Avhose capital was Sangkhalok, a.d. 638; so that a.d. 1856 in the Siamese civil calendar should be 1218.* In the treaty I made with the Siamese, there were several corrections as to the dates in which the first King took a particular interest; and the 18th April, 1855, the day when the treaty was signed in quadruplicate, is there recorded to be the second day of the sixth month of the 1217 th year of the civil era of Siam. The year is composed of twelve lunar months, generally beginning in December, and having alter nately twenty-nine and thirty days. Every three years an intercalary month is introduced. The months are called the first, second, third, and so on to the twelfth moon. There are two cycles — the small consisting of twelve years, bearing the names of the year of the Rat, the Ox, the Tiger, the Hare, the Great Dragon, the Little Dragon, the Horse, the Goat, the Monkey, the Cock, the Dog, and the Pig. The great cycle is a fivefold repetition of the small cycle, arranged in decades, the first beginning with the Rat and ending with the Cock. The second decade begins with the Dog ; and the decades proceed regularly through the years of the smaller cycle — a new cycle recommencing every sixty years. f * This corresponds with the year 4493 of the Chinese, or the 53rd year of the 75th cycle of 60 years. It is the 1219th year of the Parsee era of Yezdejird. f The Chinese cycle, also of 60 years, is composed of combinations of two sets of characters, — the celestial (or stems) consisting of 10, and the terrestrial (or branches) of 12. The branches are used to divide the day into periods of 2 hours each. They bear the same name as the Siamese^ except that the Little Dragon is called by the Chinese the Snake. COMPUTATION OF TIME.. 157 The Thai reckon, not by days, but by nights : repose, instead of activity, is the instrument byi which time is measured. They generally inquire, "Where did you rest ?" instead of " What did you do ?" They say, " This is the first night of the moon ; how many nights did you take for your journey?" The daj^s of the week must have been adopted from the West: they are Sunday, Moond&y, .Marsday, Mercuryd&y, Jupiter- day, Venusd'&y, and Saturnd&y* The names of the stars and constellations are taken principally from the Sanscrit. The day is divided into four equal parts of six hours, counting from sunrise. There is a subdivision into watches of three hours, which reckon from sunset ; the hour is divided into ten bat, and the bat into six noths, which therefore correspond to the European minute. According to Kampfer, the days of the week are — Sunday . . Van athet . Day of the sun. Monday . Van chau . „ moon. Tuesday . Van ngankau „ labour. Wednesday Van poeth . „ meeting. Thursday . Van prahat . „ hand day. Friday . . Van sok . . „ rest. Saturday . Van saun . „ attraction. f The Siamese divide the day into twelve hours — * Though the Gothic and Scandinavian nations have, in the cases of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, given the names of Scandi navian deities to those days of the week — Tuisco, Woden, Thor, Friga — most of the Northern nations have preserved the Latin names, as in — French, 3fardi, JHercredi, Jeudi, Vendredi. Spanish, Martes, Miercoles, Jueves, Viernes. Italian, Martedi, Mercoledi, Giovedi, Venerdi, While for Saturday they have taken the Sabbatical word. f Kampfer, p. 41. 158 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. from sunrise to sunset; the night (according to the custom of the ancients) into four watches, the last ending with the broad daylight. The eighth and fifteenth days of the moon are considered holy by the Siamese, and are observed as days for rest and Avorship : on them the temples are visited, and offerings made to Buddha, and to the priests, who preach to the people in a large open hall. No fishing or hunting is permitted on these days, and neither fresh fish nor meat is sold in the bazaar, under pain of fine and corporal punishment. The new year, Song Kran, is celebrated for three days; and the astrologers predict the character of the year by associating it Avith some animals, upon whose back it is represented to be mounted on its approach. The Visa Khabuxa, on the 15th day of the 6th month, is another holiday, when the King sends presents to the bonzes of fruits and flowers, and odoriferous woods for cleansing their teeth. On the Rekna, beginning the 6th day of the 6th moon, the King keeps his palace for three days, and a mock king is invested by the people with temporary sovereignty, who sends out his ministers to catch what they can in the bazaars or open shops, and even confiscates junks that arrive during the exercise of his precarious authority. His mock majesty proceeds to a field in the town, and makes some furrows with a golden plough : leaning against the branch of a tree, he places his right foot on his left knee, and is bound to stand on one leg as evidence of his legitimacy. Hence his popular title is King Hop. A variety of vegetables are scattered in his presence, and a cow being brought in, what- HOLIDAY PROCESSIONS. 1 59 ever she first eats is pronounced likely to be scarce, and the people are advised accordingly. The whole farce is probably intended to throw scorn upon popu lar influences, and reconcile the subject to the autho rity of a real King; for the reality of the royal authority of a King of Siam is a fact not to be mistaken, and may well be contrasted with the doings of a transitory impostor. The Khao-vasa, 6th of the 8th month, is a sort of Lent, when all the wandering bonzes are required to return to their temples : it generally ushers in the rainy season. Sat, the last day of the ioth moon, when presents are made of cakes of the new rice. Katliin, the 16th day of the nth month; after which the King makes, during seven days, his royal visits to the great pagodas, and distributes new vestments to the bonzes. These pro cessions are in magnificent barges ; and the King is accompanied by the princes and high officers of the state, each in a separate barge, the whole number of rowers not being less than 8,000 to 10,000. When the royal processions are over, those of the people follow. Loi Kathong, on the 15th day of the 12th moon, the festival of the angel of the river, whose forgiveness is then asked for every act by which the Avaters of the Meinam have been rendered impure. Offerings are made of little rafts of plantain leaves, bearing lighted tapers, and ornamented by flags and flowers. These tributes are launched at night, and carried by the current into the sea. Phapa, at the beginning of the 12th month, when nightly proces sions take place to the pagodas, and alms and offerings are left by boys and girls for the bonzes, while they 16b MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. are supposed to sleep : they are waked by stones and bricks flung against the doors of their cells, when, as if exasperated, they turn out to scold the invaders of their repose, but are soothed by the gifts they bring. The young people all take flight, and return home with shouts, and songs, and laughter. On the Jinga- tana, at the close of the 4th month, a cord is made of dog's grass, which is taken to be blessed by the bonzes; and the cord is fastened round the walls of the city. At a signal given by the astrologers, suc cessive bursts of artillery are heard, which are sup posed to frighten giants and plague-demons, who are known to attack the city on that particular night. Trut is the festival of the close of the year, being the end of the 4th moon, when visiting and playgoing are universal.* Though our acquaintance with the capital of Siam is now tolerably complete, the interior of the country has been so little explored, that it would be idle to undertake any general description of the pro vinces. I shall, therefore, content myself with giving some extracts from different sources which are not without interest or instruction. In reporting one of his excursions into the country, Bishop Pallegoix speaks of a large assemblage of gaily-ornamented barges, filled with multitudes of people in holiday dresses, whom he met above Ayu thia, 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, * Pallegoix, i. p. 250 — 2. PILGRIMAGE TO THE " FOOT OF BUDDHA." l6l 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 Phra-bat, where the foot-print of the god is found. More than five hun dred barges were there, all illuminated : a drama was performed on the shore ; there was a great display of vocal and instrumental 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 towards the sacred mountain. In such localities the spirit of fanaticism is usually intemperate and persecuting; and the bishop says, the governor received him angrily, and accused him of "intending to debauch his people by making them Christians." But he was softened by presents and explanations, and ulti mately 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 account : — "I engaged a guide, mounted an elephant, and took the route of Phra-bat, followed by my people. I was surprised to find a wide and excellent road, VOL. I. M 162 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. 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 became crooked, and we stopped to bathe in a large pond. At four o'clock, we reached the magnificent monastery of Phra-bat, built on the declivity, but nearly at the foot of a tall mountain, formed by fan tastic rocks of a bluish colour. The monastery has several walls surrounding it ; and having entered the second enclosure, we found the abbe-prince, seated on a raised floor, and directing the labours of a body of workmen. His attendants called on us to prostrate ourselves, but we did not obey them. ' Silence ! ' he said ; ' you know not that the farang honour their grandees by standing erect.' I approached, and presented him with a bottle of sal- volatile, 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 assistant (the balat), and directed him to accompany us. The balat took us round a great court surrounded with handsome edifices ; showed us two large temples ; and we reached a broad marble . staircase with balustrades of gilded copper, and made the round of the terrace which is the base of the monument. 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 PHRA-BAT — STATUE OF BUDDHA. 163 adorned with gilt pictures representing the events in the history of Buddha. " The interior is yet more brilliant ; the pavement is covered with silver mats. At the end, on a throne 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 distinctly visible, being covered Avith rings, ear ornaments, bracelets, and gold necklaces, the offerings of devotees when they come to worship. The his tory 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 appeared 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 Phra-bat to be built, which has been enlarged and enriched by his successors. " 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 sove reign 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 pre- M 2 164 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. sent 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 SGore of young girls, and they gave the name 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 handsome wooden house, and gave me tAvo guards of honour to serve and watch over me, forbidding my going out at night on account of tigers. The following morn ing 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 leaAres were altogether like the shape and the colours 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 com fortable night's rest, we left Tha Rua to return to our church at Ayuthia." I received from a gentleman, now resident in Siam, the following notes of an excursion to the city of Pechaburi : — " 1855, July gth. — We left Bangkok about three in the afternoon, and although we had the tide in our favour, 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 Cheapside during the busiest part of the day. Although I had been in Bangkok four months, I had not the least conception that there Avas such a population spread along the creeks. More EXCURSION TO PECHABERI. 365 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 wat, 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 Burmese invasion. Here, the Siamese say, a body of Burmans 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 pro ceeded rapidly until about 12 p.m., when Ave reached the other branch ofthe Meinam (Menam mahachen), and there we halted for the night. " ioth. — Our journey to-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, &c. &c. Alligators and otters abounded in the creeks ; and we shot several, and one of a peculiar breed of monkey also we killed. The Siamese name of it is chang, and it is accounted a great delicacy: they also eat with avidity the otter. We crossed during the day the Hai-chin, a river as broad as the Meinam at Bangkok. Towards evening we entered the Mei- Klong, Avhich 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. 166 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. " nth. — 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, although 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 month of the river, myriads of monkeys Avere 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 towards us, shouting, * Ling, ling, ling, ling!' {ling, monkey). As I oould 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 unplea sant 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 yards behind. The whole scene was ludicrous in the extreme, and I really think, if my life had de pended 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 MAGNIFICENT PAGODA — CAVE OF IDOLS. 167 us, screaming, 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, hoAvever, did not appear to take my view of the case : smart ing under the disgrace, and the bamboos against which he ran in his retreat, he seized my gun, and fired both barrels on the exulting foe ; they immedi ately 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, whilst the most admirable cultivation prevails all along its course. " The name Pechaburi is derived from pet, a dia mond, and buri, a town (only used in composition) : this, I imagine, is connected with our word borough. " 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. " The talapoins 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 168 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. 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 laborious. But when we reached the top, we were well repaid. The country for miles in each direc tion 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 cocoa-nut trees, which are used as boundaries to the fields — those fields tra versed by suitable footpaths. Then towards the sea the view was more varied : rice and sugar-cane held undisputed sway for a short distance from the town; then cocoa-nuts became more frequent, until the rice finally disappeared ; then the bamboos gradually in vaded the cocoa-nut 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 distance. " With great reluctance did we descend from the little pagoda, which is built upon the very summit; but evening was coming on, and we had observed in 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 PECHABURI. 169 most part, neatly built, and no floating houses are visible. Rice and sugar are tAVO-thirds dearer at Bangkok than thej^ are here ; and the rice is of a particularly fine description. We called upon the governor during the evening. Next morning we started for home, and arrived, without any accident, on Saturday evening." 170 T CHAPTER Y. LEGISLATION. HE following short notice of the constitution of -*- the judicial establishments and of the laws of Siam was furnished to me from a native source. But, in a country where the authority of the sovereign is absolute, it is obvious that the organization of the tribunals and the protecting power of legislation can afford but very inadequate security, should the supreme royal will at any time supersede the ordi nary course of justice. To a great extent, also, the power of interfering with the action of the tribunals is possessed and exercised by the high nobles, accord ing to their rank and influence. Any party having a complaint to prefer does so before the San Luang {San, building; Luang, king). This court is presided over by " Kun Li Tdmarat" and " Kun cha san ;" — these officiate alternately for fifteen days. They take doAvn the complaint in writing, and hand it over to the Luk K'un. This tribunal is composed of four Luang* and eight assessors. Their business is to examine the com plaint that has come doAvn from the San Luang. If they consider that it is a fit and proper case for trial, * The nobility are graduated in the following order: — Somdets; Chau P'aya; P'aya,- P'ra ; Luang; K'un. LAW-COURTS — BRIBERY. 17 1 they pass it over to P'ra Rachanichai. He decides to Avhat department it belongs. The courts of the various departments are named K'un San. Of these there are four — viz., (1) Chau P'aya Kralahom's. This department takes cognizance of cases belonging to the Southern Provinces. (2) Chau P'aya Nikorabudin's court entertains cases belonging to the Northern Provinces. (3) Chau P'aya P'ra Kiang' s court entertains cases relating to the Foreign department. (4) Chau P'aya Yumaret, criminal cases. The " K'un San" are the courts in which the whole proceedings of a case are carried through, embracing the examining witnesses, receiving bail, &c. Bribery is said to flourish from the judge down to the lowest clerk, — all have their price. The judges in these courts are the only lawyers in the kingdom, and generally exceedingly clever men. The case being finished, it is sent back to the " Luk K'un" for decision. The decision is then handed to the " P'ra Krai Si," or uP'ra Krai Lem," — officers whose duty it is to deliver the sentence : this sentence they also put in force after it has been approved of by the King. Appeal. — Appeal is allowed, not against the de cision, but against the sentence. This appeal is made to the King.* * During a certain part of one day in the week, the King sits in public for the purpose of receiving complaints. As, of course, he is far above the people, he lets down a small case, into which the paper containing the com plaint is put, and his Majesty draws it up with a cord and reads it. I7« LEGISLATION. Bail. — Bail is required both from plaintiff and defendant before the case is commenced by the uK'un San;" and in case of either party not appearing, the bail is held responsible for him. Bail is not allowed in criminal cases. Punishments. — Decapitation is awarded for treason, murder, aggravated robberies, piracy, and arson.* Coining is punished by cutting off the right hand of the actual coiner, and the fingers of the man who passed the bad money. Most of those who suffer this punishment die, in consequence of the ignorance of the doctors. Debtors are imprisoned, or work in irons for the King, during the pleasure of the creditor. If, even by accident, a house should catch fire, the owner of it is seized, and led through the town, three days on shore and three days on the river. He is obliged to repeat, every few minutes, " My house caught fire ; take care, and be warned by me." He is then, if rich, put into prison, and only released by paying a heavy fine. This severity is not unneces sary in Bangkok. One peculiarity of the judges may be mentioned here. Every nobleman has a certain number of "marks of dignity" (it is impossible to convey the exact idea by any corresponding phraseology). If a nobleman insult another of the same rank, but hold ing a greater number of " marks of dignity," he is considered as insulting his superior, and punished accordingly. The judges, in order to preserve them * Princes of the blood-royal are put to death either by strangulation, or beating them to death with clubs. No royal blood must fall to the ground. CHARACTER OF THE SIAMESE LAWS. 1 73 from insult in their office, have each " ten thousand marks," although they are only Luang. This is the number the Kralahom holds; so that, if he were insulted by the judge, or vice versd, it would be held that they were equal. A sort of synopsis of the laws of Siam has been published by Col. James Loav;* but he seldom gives the text, and has availed himself of the titles of the chapters to introduce sundry curious details and observations on Siamese customs and manners, the result rather of desultory reading than of local observation and personal knoAvledge. I have selected a few of the commentator's gatherings, which, though in many particulars unsatisfactory, are not without interest. The laws of a country are among the most prominent and practical evidences of its civilization and advancement; and, on the whole, the Siamese must be deemed superior to the Chinese. " Will you not look into our laws?" was an inquiry made of me by one of the Regents of Siam. I had objected to allowing British subjects to be rendered amenable to laws of whose character I was but little informed. I asked how many volumes I should be required to study? " About seventy," he said. My answer may easily be anticipated. But who shall answer the question — In how many volumes must the laws of England be looked for? The principal articles of the Siamese code were printed a few years ago at Bangkok, in a quarto volume, which is reported to contain nineteen out of * Journal of Eastern Archipelago, vol. i., p. 429. Singapore, 1847. 174 LEGISLATION. the seventy volumes of manuscript laws. But though this portable and useful publication was intended for general use, it is now only obtainable by favour and with considerable difficulty. The Siamese generally divide their laws into three principal sections : — i. The Phra-tam-ra, which prescribes the titles and duties of public functionaries. 2. Phra-tam-nun — codes of the ancient Kings. 3. Phra-raxa-kam-not — modern codes, under the various heads of Robbers, Slaves, Conjugal Duties, Debts and Contracts, Disputes and Law-suits, Inheri tance, and Generalia. Pallegoix says he has made himself master of the codes, and speaks favourably of them, and of their adaptation to the national charac ter and wants. The groundwork is traceable to the institutions of Menu. There is a provision that all the provincial judges shall have a copy of the laws, and that the King shall read a portion of them every day ; which is probably as much practically in force, as the enactment that " all law-suits shall be termi nated in three days :" such days are frequently pro longed to years. Judicatures, or Courts of Law. — There are practi cally in Siam three principal tribunals for the admi nistration of justice, — those ofthe King, the princes, and the provincial governors. A governor holds daily sittings in the portico of his official residence. His auxiliaries are — Balat, or lieutenant-governors; the Jokabat, who is a sort of public accuser, and check upon the governor; the SIAMESE TRIBUNALS. 175 Mahat thai, who is the executive officer of the governor; the Sassade, or keeper of the popular records, and especially of the census. The Luang muang is an officer charged with the local police; the Luang pheng is the reader of the law applicable to the case under judgment; the Khun-khueng is the inflictor of punishments. This tribunal is called the Kromakan, but it invariably refers all important matters to the judgment of the King. Every high functionary has a court, named a Chang wang, exercising a sort of authority ; but the supreme tribunal of the King, called the Sala luk khun, is the great resort of judicial action. This court is presided over by the Phaja rong muang, who has a number of subordinate officers, charged with investigations, and, to some extent, with deci sions. They occupy raised seats in separate halls, on the stairs and neighbourhood of which crowds of prostrate suitors are to be seen, while the judges converse, smoke, drink tea, and chew betel. The action of the judiciary is tolerably prompt and despotic. A deposition having been laid before a judge, messengers are despatched to arrest the accused, around whose neck a white cloth is tied, and he is brought to the Them, or provincial prison, and is placed in fetters, unless he can pay for exemption. He must be provided for while in prison by his friends ; and when he is conducted to the pre sence of the judge, the indictment is read, and the witnesses interrogated; their depositions are com mitted to writing, and the accused is allowed to call any number of witnesses in his defence. A false 1 76 LEGISLATION. accuser is condemned to punishment, and to the costs of the suit. Blows of bamboo are used to force criminals to confess — to name their accomplices, who are seized as soon as denounced. Pallegoix says that there is a universal venality among the judges, and that litigated cases end generally in the ruin of both the contending parties,* — a result not confined to Siam. The capital is divided into districts, each being under the control of a commissary of police; but there is no patrol, nor ambulatory watch. Disorders and tumults are rare, and dealt with in so summary and arbitrary a way, that it seems everybody's interest to keep the peace. When it is disturbed, the police seize upon all persons indiscriminately; and lucky is the man who escapes from prison without having been severely fleeced. The ordinary modus procedendi before a Siamese tribunal is sufficiently simple. The plaint is brought forward in writing, copied, and read to the com plainant; it is sealed with prepared clay, and an impression made in the clay by the complainant's nail. A synopsis of the plaint is sent to the defen dant, who puts in his answer, which is copied and sealed. When the case is appointed for hearing, an attempt at conciliation is made ; if it fail, the deposi tions on both sides are read. The witnesses may be examined as to their depositions. When the evidence is gone through, the subordinate judges give their opinions in writing; these are referred to the chief * Pallegoix, i. 361. PERSONS DISQUALIFIED AS WITNESSES. 177 judge, Avho pronounces the aAvard : there are appeals from the loAver to the higher courts, and, in all cases, to the King. The expense of an ordinary suit is from 12 to 30 ticals (305. to 75s.) : this is paid by the losing party. Legal reasons for excluding Avitnesses are so many, that they would appear seriously to interfere Avith the collection of evidence. Those shut out by moral impediments are: — Drunkards, opium- smokers, gam blers, notorious vagabonds, goldsmiths, braziers, blacksmiths, shoemakers, executioners, beggars, pot ters, dancing women, women who have been thrice married, adulterers, clerks, orphans, players and tumblers, undutiful children, contemners of religion, slaves, intimate friends and inmates of parties con cerned, quacks, strumpets, liars and sorcerers, per sonal enemies. Some of these exclusions are the result of ancient prejudices and traditions, especially those which refer to particular trades, as in the instance of potters, who are shut out in consequence of a murder committed on a virtuous man by a potter ages ago. A bad reputation attaches to the other excluded trades. By physical causes : — Yirgins and unmarried women, pregnant females, blind and deaf persons, persons above seventy or under seven years of age, persons on their deathbed, hermaphrodites, persons suffering under loathsome and cutaneous diseases. Midwives are excluded, probably because their ser vices may be suddenly required. By intellectual incapacities: — Persons who can not read, persons Avho cannot reckon up to ten, persons ignorant of the laAv and of the eight cardinal vol. 1. N 178 LEGISLATION. sins {i.e., idiots), persons who cannot distinguish right from wrong, persons excluded by mental incapacity from the priesthood, lunatics. In contrast to these exclusions, the code directs that special weight shall be given to the evidence of priests and religious persons, to those learned in the law, to individuals of rank and good character, to laymen who have been in the priesthood, &c. The following is a copy of the Siamese oath, or Sapath, which is administered to witnesses in the Siamese courts : — " I, , Avho have been brought here as an evi dence in this matter, do now, in the presence of the divine P'hra P'hoott hee rop (meaning Buddha), declare that I am wholly unprejudiced against either party, and uninfluenced in any way by the opinions or advice of others ; and that no prospects of pecu niary advantage or of advancement to office have been held out to me: I also declare that I have not received any bribe on this occasion. If what I have now spoken be false, or if in my further averments I should colour or pervert the truth so as to lead the judgment of others astray, may the three holy existences, viz., Buddha, the Bali [personified], and the Hierarchy before whom I now stand, together Avith the glorious Devattas of the twenty-two firma ments, punish me. "If I have not seen, yet shall say that I have seen — if I shall say that I know that which I do not know, then may I be thus punished : — Should innumerable descents of the Deity happen for the regeneration and sanation of mankind, may my erring and migrating THE SIAMESE OATH. 179 soul be found beyond the pale of their mercy. Wherever I go, may I be encompassed by dangers and not escape from them, whether arising from mur derers, robbers, spirits of the ground, of the forest, of the Avater, or of the air, or from all the T'hewatda [or divinities Avho adore Buddha], or from the gods of the four elements, and all other spirits. May blood flow out of every pore of my body, that my crime may be made manifest to the world. May all or any of these evils overtake me three days hence. Or may I never stir from the place on Avhich I now stand; or may the Hatsanee ["lash of the sky" — viz., lightning] cut me in twain, sothat I may be exposed to the derision of the people; or if I should be walking abroad, may I be torn in pieces by either of the four preternaturally-endowed lions, or destroyed by poisonous herbs or venomous snakes. If Avhen in the water of the rivers or ocean, may charakhe [or alligators], hera [the fabulous horned alligator], mang kan [a fabulous animal, which in Siamese astronomy represents Capricorn], mach^ [or large fishes], devour me; or may the winds or waves overwhelm me : or may the dread of such evils keep me during my life a prisoner at home, estranged from every pleasure ; or may I be afflicted by the in tolerable oppressions of my superiors ; or may cholera morbus cause my death : after which, may I be pre cipitated into hell, there to go through innumerable stages of torture ; amongst which, may I be condemned to carry water over the flaming regions in open wicker- baskets, to assuage the heat felt by Y-haan Wetsoo- wan, Avhen he enters the infernal hall of justice, [he N 2 100 LEGISLATION. is one of the thirty judges in hell, who relieve each other alternately, and was once a king on earth,] and thereafter may I fall into the lowest pit of hell. Or if these miseries should not ensue, may I after death migrate into the body of a slave, and suffer all the hardships and pains attending the worst state of such a being during a period of years measured by the sands of the four seas : or may I animate the body of an animal or beast during five hundred genera tions; or be born an hermaphrodite five hundred times ; or endure in the body of a deaf, blind, dumb, houseless beggar, every species of loathsome disease during the same number of generations : and then may I be hurried to narok [or hell], and then be crucified by P'hreea Yom [one of the kings of hell]."* The codes contain many lessons to the judges, recommending them to enforce the claims of justice; to be impartial; to resist plausible and sophistical arguments; to follow the example of an illustrious rajah, a king of the Dog nation, who compelled his subjects to stuff their ears with cotton, lest they should be stunned when their country was invaded by the king of the nation of Lions. An unjust judge is to be cut on the forehead Avith a sword ; to be ex posed in the pillory ; and if he shall falsify any docu ment, to be imprisoned in chains. The King is re quired to furnish any ignorant judge with copies of the codes, so that he may not plead his un acquaintance with the law as an apology for his errors. * The Siamese text of this oath is in Jones' Grammatical Notices of the Siamese Language, p, 68 — 71. It is extracted from a native volume ou the Law of Evidence. INQUESTS CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. l8l Coroners' Inquests. — When the body of a murdered person is found, the nearest officers of police gather together and inspect it. They seize all the suspected characters in the neighbourhood, who are detained in prison until the judges see fit to order their liberation. The heads of police are punished if within a certain time they are not on the track, or have not succeeded in arresting supposed offenders. The police are authorized to call upon the inhabitants to assist their search. The capital punishment of nobles is extraordinary in Siam. They are put into a sack, and beaten to death in a public place. Such, a few years ago, was the fate of the son of the most powerful noble in the land, the present Somdetch, who Avas supposed to have been intriguing with one of the wives of the late King. Coining is so common in Siam, that it is said more than one-tenth of the whole silver circulation (ticals) is spurious. On conviction, the man who blows the bellows is punished by having his right- hand fingers chopped off; he who forms the coin has his right hand cut off; he who impressed the King's mark Avill lose his right arm. These punishments Avere inflicted in a case which occurred just before I visited Siam. Executions are rare; beheading is the common mode of their infliction. In case of murder or suicide, the houses within a circle of sixty fathoms from the spot where it has been committed are made responsible, and subjected to a heavy fine. Thus, there is a great anxiety to prevent quarrels termi nating in bloodshed, and a general confederation to 182 LEGISLATION. remove and to fling into the river any dead body that may be found, lest the neighbourhood be compromised. Some offences are visited by very barbarous punish ments. The penalty for melting an idol of gold or silver, stolen from a temple, is to be burnt alive. Adulterers are punished by marking with a hot iron on the cheeks, and the forehead is sometimes branded for other crimes. A bonze convicted of adultery is stripped in public of his yellow robes, flagellated till the blood springs, and condemned to cut grass for the royal elephants to the end of his days. This is one of the most infamizing punishments, from which the criminal is never redeemed. The ta ven is another punishment to which particular opprobrium attaches. The convict, loaded with chains, and wearing the cangue* is marched through the principal streets of the toAvn, preceded by cymbals and accompanied by police-officers ; he is compelled to cry without ceasing, in a loud voice, " My crime is— [so and so]. Be warned by my example." When his voice is weak or silent, he is beaten with sAVords. He is thus escorted for three successive days through the town on foot, and three times in a boat round the city, subjected to the same conditions. Murder is punishable with death : but executions, Avhich are ordinarily by beheading or piercing the body with spears, are unfrequent. After death, the bodies are impaled, and left to be devoured by birds of prey. I had no opportunity of visiting the interior of the prisons of Siam, of which I heard a miserable * A collar of wood, fastened round the neck. TREATMENT OF PRISONERS — ADOPTION. 183 account from all Avho had obtained access. But the prisoners are mostly turned out by day, and employed in public Avorks of all sorts. At night they are all fastened together by one long chain, and it is said they are so crowded that there is scarcely room for their bodies on the ground Avhere they lie. Groups of criminals are constantly met with in the streets, bearing fetters from the lightest to the heaviest, and escorted by the police, armed with muskets or thick staves of bamboo. A majority of those who bear the least quantity of irons were said to be debtors, who could at any moment be redeemed on the payment of their debts ; but no criminal con victed of any serious offence could be released Avith out the interposition of the King. The worst convicts carry a collar of iron round the neck, hand cuffs, leg-gyves, and an iron belt round the waist, to all which the cangue is sometimes superadded, — the sufferings caused by which depend upon the Aveight of the instrument. Personal Relations, Successions, fyc. — The practice of adoption is common in Siam. The first official person whom the King sent to me, on my arrival at Bangkok, was " an adopted son," who was the child of a deceased friend of his Majesty, and Avho had a considerable influence at Court, and was the deposi tory of all the King's Avishes. The terms of adoption are generally announced publicly by the adopter, and many enjoy all the privileges of an heir. A wife, with the husband's consent, or a widow, after his death, may adopt ; and as the performance of funeral rites is expected from the heir of the deceased, it is natural 184 LEGISLATION. that childless persons should provide for their be coming ministration. Marriages are the subjects of much negotiation; but the contract is a civil, not a religious one, although the bonnes frequently take a part in the ceremonials — as, indeed, they do on most occa sions of display. There are none of the difficulties of access betAveen the sexes which frequently exist in Oriental countries; and there is little disposi tion on the part of the parents to force the marital engagement upon their children, when repugnant to them. Independently of the arrangements as to dowry, spontaneous gifts are made for the domestic comforts of the espoused. The bridegroom removes to the vicinity of the lady's residence, and she con veys his meals to him for three days before the marriage. The form pronounced is one taken from the Pali books, — " Be ye married, and live together until ye be separated by death." The rank of an unmarried woman is regulated by that of her father ; of a married, by that of her husband. In Siam> women appear to take an active part in the direction of household affairs ; but in the presence of their husbands (at least, Avhen strangers are witnesses) they always appear prostrate. The deportment of married Avomen is generally modest and decorous, exhibiting much timidity when foreigners approach, but less than Chinese women of rank ordinarily display. Wives — Widows. — There are four classes of wives in Siam : — ast. The wife of royal gift, Avho takes pre cedence in rank. and. The legal Avife, who has been MARRIAGE. 185 married according to the legal forms. 3rd. The wife of affection. 4th. The slave Avife ; that is, the handmaid with whom the owner has cohabited, and who, in consequence, becomes emancipated. I imagine that this classification is rather the result of opinion than of legal status. I observed only two grades of wives among the Siamese, the first Avife, and the subordinate and subsidiary wives. Marriage is only allowed beyond the seventh degree of blood affinity : a widow may marry her deceased husband's brother, and a widower his deceased wife's sister. The opprobrium of incontinence attaches to a woman on her fourth marriage; and her rights of inheritance are limited to the doAvry she brought her husband, and to property personally acquired. A third of a man's property goes to his widows; but on the subdivision, a larger proportion to the legal wife. The ordinary period of marriage for men is about twenty ; that of women, about fourteen. As regards Sovereigns, they may marry a sister or a daughter to preserve the royal race. The ancient Egyptians were not scru pulous on this head, nor are some other Oriental nations.* A wife may be pawned by her husband as security for a debt ; but there is a power of protection, for, on public announcement from the Avife that the affairs of the husband are becoming embarrassed, she cannot be made a victim of the consequences. Pro perty is disposable by will or gifts, but, in case of in testacy, escheats to the King. In ordinary cases, it is divided into three parts — one of which goes to the * Low, p. 347—50. 186 LEGISLATION. parents and grand-parents, one to the widow, and one to the children and near relations on the male side : if there be no ancestors or widow, the children and relatives divide the whole. There is a registrar of the estates of deceased per sons, and claims are expected to be put in before the obsequies are terminated. The claim must be per sonally put forward. Provision for the payment of outstanding debts must be made before the property is distributed. A Siamese leaving his country with out the consent of his parents, forfeits his claim to their property ; but the law is modified, if he prove his return to provide for their wants before death, and attended the administration of the funeral rites.* Traitors and rebels are excluded from the right of inheritance — slaves, of course. There are many forms as to the making gifts, so as to secure the heirs to property against being deprived of their rights ; such as requirements that such gifts shall be made at certain periods before the death of the giver. Low states that on the death of a minister, the King inherits one-fourth of the property, on the assumption that the public functions can in no instance have been honestly performed ; and the remaining three-fourths are distributed in the usual manner. If among the Avive3 there be any who have been bestowed by the King, she receives half a portion more than that which reverts to an ordinary wife. Three years' cohabitation are necessary to the establishment of a widoAv's claim; a wife emancipated by her husband * Low, p. 345—6. CUSTOMS REGARDING LAND. 187 from slavery does not inherit — her children do. On the demise of a wife bestowed by the King, the King receives one-third of her property, her husband one- third, and the remaining third is partitioned among her relatives.* All rights in a country Avhose government is abso lutely despotic are, of course, held on sufferance. As regards the soil, a title is, however, created by the fact of a party having cleared it and brought it into cultivation, the produce being subject to the tax payable upon it. Authority must be obtained for clearing the land, and it becomes alienable and heri table. An old laAv, or recorded usage, gives to the cultivator a claim on the Sovereign of land for sow ing, on the condition of paying a fourth of the gross produce ; and the same record says that the Sovereign should lend money without interest to industrious and meritorious subjects. f The great Chinese ceremonial of honouring agri culture by the Emperor's guiding the plough, and furrowing a portion of land, was formerly a Siamese custom ; but it is delegated now to the keeper of the granaries. The Siamese hold that the condemnation of man to cultivate and harvest by the sweat of his brow, is the punishment of sins committed in a prior state of existence ; and the failure of a crop is still attributable to the prevalence of sin, which leads the Supreme Intelligence to order that the grain, instead of multiplying upon earth, shall ascend spiritualized to heaven. * Low, p. 351—3. f Bali Meelent Nara Melinda Raja, quoted by Low, p. 337. 188 LEGISLATION. Commercial Laws. — The maximum rate of interesjt in Siam is six per cent, per month ; but after three months the rate is reduced to three per cent, per month, which is the average rate : compound interest is not allowed. If money be borrowed on produc tive property, such as stores, cattle, carts, or articles which may be beneficially used by the parties to whom they are pledged, no interest is charged ; but the ordinary mode of borrowing, is to pledge the person and property of the borrower. The Pali code allows a Sovereign to charge seventy- five per cent, interest for money lent from the Trea sury, and half that amount to private lenders; but when the sum of interest due reaches that of the capital lent, the interest ceases, unless on a neAV agreement. Money is borrowed on deposits placed in the hands of third parties. The deposit cannot be sold without the consent of the depositor, but may be transferred to other parties who will give effect to the original conditions. For effecting sales, bargain-money is usually paid doAvn. The more important contracts are in writing, but the hand- Avriting must be that of a disinterested person. Secret associations, according to Colonel Low,* are bound together by mingling the blood of the con spirators with arrack, salt, and chillies (capsicums) ; and the swords of the parties are rubbed with the mixture — swords which have been used in battle, and stained with the blood of an enemy, being pre ferred. All the spirits and deities are invoked to * P- 393- SLAVERY AND SLAVES. 189 witness the contract, and to visit the perjurer with all imaginable evils; after Avhich, the mystic com pound is tasted by all the associates. The folloAving information respecting the state of slavery and slaves has been furnished me by a gen tleman resident at Bangkok; and, as containing a more correct description of the laAVS which regulate and the position occupied by a large portion of the population of Siam, I have thought the details not unworthy of the reader's notice : — " Throughout the Avhole of this paper I have used the terms 'slaves' and 'slavery' to express the Siamese words ' bau' and ' Vat.' I have used them in deference to the opinions of preceding writers, but I consider that some other words would much better express their meaning. " The various classes of slaves were distinguished by a King of Siam Avho reigned in the year 1359, Siamese sacred era — that is, about 937 years ago. He divides them into seven classes; but as some of these bear a great resemblance to each other, I have taken the more common division, and make only three distinct classes : — " ist. Slaves captured in war. " 2nd. Slaves by purchase.* " 3rd. Slaves by birth. " I. Prisoners of war (now in Siam) may be divided into the folio Aving nations : — * Slaves by debt, which at first sight might appear to be a separate class, will, upon closer inspection, be found to belong to this class. 10,000 10,000 20,000 1,000* 190 LEGISLATION. "(1) Malays, amount to ... . 5,000 (2) Cochin Chinese „ (3) Peguans „ (4) Laos „ (5) Burmese „ " These nearly all belong to the Kings : some few are given to the principal nobles; but, even in that case, they are always considered as ' bau chauchawit,' or 'King's men.' " The Cochin Chinese mostly belong to the second King, the first King having a great antipathy to that people. " The Malays and a few Peguans are employed as sailors — average pay eight ticals a month, whilst the serang gets from twenty to thirty ticals. " The Cochin Chinese, some Malays and Peguans, and the Laos men, are employed as soldiers. Their pay, whilst on service, amounts to four ticals per mensem ; they also get their rice during that time. " They must serve three months during the year; the remaining nine they may employ as suits them best. Their children, if sons, become slaves to the King; if daughters, their parents are at liberty to sell them the same as Siamese. " Of these nations, the Malays and Cochin Chinese hold a high character for honesty — the Burmese quite the reverse; in fact, the Burmese village of Kok-kwai, immediately below Bangkok, is so well known, that when a boat is stolen, the loser goes * " The numbers here are different from what the Bishop gives ; but this includes only Shii fighting men" SLAVERY AND SLAVES. 191 directly to Kok-kwai, and it is seldom that he fails to recover it for a consideration. " All these various nations have small villages scattered about the country ; for instance, the Malays at Ayuthia, the Peguans at Paklat, &c. " King's men consider themselves decidedly superior to any other slaves, and presume considerably upon their fancied superiority. " II. Slaves by purchase. " These are divided into two classes, — redeemable and irredeemable. The latter class are not numerous ; they are chiefly young girls sold by their parents. With these no security is given, and, as a natural consequence, more than four-fifths abscond when they get an opportunity, and the owner has no redress. They thus become rather a losing invest ment. " We now come to the principal class of slaves in Siam,* — slaves by purchase, and redeemable. These are either sold by their parents, or sell themselves after having once been free. No one can sell a slave without his own consent.f Prices of slaves vary from eighty to one hundred and twenty ticals for men, and from sixty to one hundred for women. The method of selling and buying is very simple : — every slave has a paper; which paper his master retains, but must give it up whenever the slave pro- * " The Bishop gives a third of the population as about the number of slaves. I suppose by this he includes Chinese, for there are distinctly much more than a third of Siamese who are slaves." f " I stated this upon the authority of several very learned Siamese ; but, upon looking over the laws, I found that it was not absolutely correct." 193 LEGISLATION. duces the amount mentioned in it. A copy of a female slave's paper is given in Bishop Pallegoix' book. The difference between that and a man's paper is very slight. " ' Wednesday,* the 7th day of the waning moon of the nth month of the year 121 7 of the little era (Chuulasakkarat). I, Kow, the husband, and Nu, the wife, sell our son Pau to L'uang Lurassakon, for the sum of one hundred ticals; our son being the slave of no one else, nor of the King. For the truth of which I hold myself responsible; and if the said Pau should run away, I hold myself responsible for him.' " Such is the bill of sale ; but as nearly always the father and mother are slaves, some other surety is required, which is given in another paper. " Anything that the slave may break, or whatever money he may borrow from his master, is added to the original amount ; so that we have instances where the papers represent four hundred ticals. f " Masters are bound to furnish rice and salt fish, but not clothes ; and it has always remained a mys tery to me how they ever manage to get new sarongs. The only way I can suggest is, that sometimes they manage to pick up a stray fowl or duck; or if they are hired out, sometimes the master will, in an excess of generosity, throw them an old panlung. " III. The position of slaves by birth differs in no * "Nine-tenths of the documents are dated Wednesday, even if the agreements are made on another day." f " Redeemable slaves are said to be bought 'K'ai fak ;' irredeemable, ' K'ai hat.' " REMARKS ON SLAVERY. 193 respect from that of slaves by purchase ; the treat ment is the same, and the mode of purchase, with the exception that there is a fixed price for them Avhen they reach manhood, viz., forty-eight ticals. "The laws with reference to this class of slaves are so accurately defined, ' that it is not necessary for me to say any more respecting them. "I will now proceed to make a_few remarks upon slavery in Siam, and endeavour to give my reasons why it cannot, with reference to the two last classes, be considered as slavery in the European sense of the word. " Bishop Pallegoix states that slaves are ' well treated in Siam — as well as servants are in France ; ' and I, from what I have seen, would be inclined to go even farther, and say, better than servants are treated in England. This is proved by the fact that whenever they are emancipated, they always sell themselves again. Masters cannot ill-treat their slaves, for they have always the remedy of paying the money they represent; and he must be a very worthless character who cannot get somebody to advance the sum. If they are treated harshly, you may make certain that generally it is the man's own fault. The only punishment which can be con sidered severe is the being put ' into chains ; ' and this is rarely done until every other means have been tried. If no improvement takes place from this last punishment, the slave is handed over to the King, and takes his placa Avith the convicts — a punishment to which death itself is far preferable. But these vol. 1. 0 194 LEGISLATION. are men whose crimes would be as heavily punished in England. It is true, there is no trial required ; but no man is so foolish as to lose his slave unless there are weighty reasons for so doing. " In small families, the slaves are treated like the children of the masters; they are consulted in all matters, and each man feels that as his master is prosperous, so is he. The slaves, on the other hand, are faithful, and when their master is poor, will devote every fuang they can beg or steal to his necessities, and, as long as he will keep them, will pass through any amount of hardship. Seldom do you see such attachment between masters and paid servants in England. " Despite of what the Bishop says about the hu manity and virtues of the Roman Catholics in Siam, I believe that no slaves are so ill treated as those of Christians; and he should, when mentioning the cruelties practised upon Christian slaves by the Siamese, have made some mention of the opposite case. " The principal hardship that slaves suffer is an insufficiency of food ; and as their food is so simple, they require plenty of it — and they certainly do con sume an enormous quantity. " Men purchased ' K'ai fak ' cannot be considered slaves, as they have the power of redemption in their own hands. " That the slave is a simple debtor, and gives his services for the interest of the money lent, may be proved from the fact, that the surety, in case of the LAAVS OF SLAVERY. 195 man dying while in your service, must refund to you the original sum ; that if a man is sick, and is attended to in his master's house, the surety is liable for the interest during the time of the man's illness ; that men may borrow money upon interest, and live apart from their master's house, and yet in some cases they are liable as his servants. If we consider them, then, as debtors, Ave shall probably be correct; and especially as the rate of interest in Siam is about thirty per cent., it does not appear astonishing that a man should prefer working to paying such an extor tionate rate. " Laws of Slavery. — There are seven classes of slaves — viz., " 1. Bought with money. 2. By birth. 3. Left by legacy. 4. By gift. 5. Those who become so from gratitude. 6. Voluntary slaves in time of famine. 7. Prisoners of war. " These seven classes may be claimed, and com pelled to work. " The folloAving six classes cannot be compelled to work : — " 1. Manumitted slaves. 2. Those slaves whom the master has allowed to become talapoins. 3. Those whom their master has given to the talapoins. 4. When the master himself has become a priest. 5. Those who come to live round the man's house. 6. Those who come to live upon his lands.* * " Useless as these two last clauses may appear, yet they are often infringed in a country where might is right." 0 2 196 LEGISLATION. " Slaves bought with money are subdivided into three classes : — " (a.) Those slaves who are free by payment of the debt. [These must have a seeurity.] "(#.) Those who are bought irredeemably. [These have no security.] • " (c.) Those Avho pay interest and do not work. " Husbands may sell their wives, parents their children, masters their servants. " When children are sold under the full value, they must not be beaten till they bleed. " When slaves K'ai fak {a) take their master's place in prison, half their money must be remitted; but if they are K'ai kat {b), no part is to be re mitted.* " If a man sell a slave, and after receiving the money refuse to give up- the man, he shall pay twice the price, — three quarters to the buyer, and one quarter to the Government. "If a buyer disapprove of a slave before three months have elapsed, he may claim back his money. If a master strike a slave so that he die, no claim can be had upon the surety, and the master shall be punished according to laAv. "Anything that the slave shall break after the money has been paid, shall be added to the redemp tion-money paper. * " It is a very common thing, when masters have been arrested for debt, to make their slaves take their place till they can collect sufficient money. I never heard, however, of any slave having had any portion of his redemption-money remitted for it." LAAVS OF SLAVERY. 1 97 " If, in minding cattle, he should be negligent, and they be lost, he shall pay ; but if more be given than he can possibly look after, he shall pay half. But if robbers bind him, and steal the cattle, he is not liable. " Any claim against the slave must be made before he is sold to another master. ". If a master insist upon a female slave marrying against her will, half her redemption-money must be remitted. " If a slave go to war in lieu of his master, or by the King's command, and fight there, all his redemp tion-money must be remitted : if he do not fight, half must be remitted. "If a slave be placed to plant rice, &c, he cannot leave until the season be finished. " If a master sell a slave, and then repurchase him, if the master dies, only half can be demanded from the slave. " If, when rice is dear, a slave sells himself below the standard price (forty-eight ticals for women, and fifty-six for men), when rice gets cheap, his price shall be raised to the standard. " If a slave injure himself when at work, compensa tion shall be allowed according to the amount of injury. " If a slave die in defence of his master, nothing can be demanded from the security. " In case of any epidemic, and the relations of the slave who is ill with it attend him, nothing can be demanded. " If a merchant have a slave who has been in the 198 LEGISLATION. habit of collecting accounts and selling goods for his owner, and that slave abscond with money received on his master's account, his master cannot claim ; or if he has bought goods on his master's account, the seller cannot claim. " If a man have several wives, the smaller selling themselves to the higher wives, no interest can be claimed, as they are all considered sisters. " If a master wishes to get rid of a slave and cannot, he may take him to the judges ; and if they cannot sell him within three days, and another person buys him after that time, he must be ' K'ai hat: " The children of slaves who are relatives of the master are free. " If a slave run away, the money expended in apprehending him must be added to his account. " Slaves having children, the children must be charged for according to age. " If the parent's price is below twenty-four ticals each, their children are not considered slaves. " If a slave quarrel with his master, the judges will not receive his complaint until he has paid his money, unless it is a serious charge. " If a slave makes money while in service, at. his death it goes to his master; but if he had money before, it goes to his relatives. " If a slave accuse his master of capital crimes falsely, he has his lips cut off; but if the charge is true, he receives his freedom. Children always accompany the mother. LAWS OF SLAVERY. 199 " Two slaves, husband and wife, having their names on the same paper, if one of them run away, the other can be charged. " I have given, I think, all the important laAvs, and in general they are literally translated, — for the greatest part of which I have to thank Mr. Hunter." 200 CHAPTER VI. NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. Vegetables. AS regards the productions of Siam for the con sumption of its people, and for the supply of foreign countries, the state of agriculture is gene rally rude and backward. Few or none of the in struments which represent the application of science to the culture of the land are to be found in Siam, — a country whose rural population is comparatively small — whose soil, spontaneously creative alike from its alluvial character, and from an abundance of water and of sunbeams to give vegetation every pos sible impetus, rewards the cultivator by large har vests for a small outlay of capital or labour. Im mense tracts remain to be recovered from the jungle; and there can be no doubt that, under the influence of peace and commerce, vast districts will be sub jected to the beneficent SAvay of the husbandman. China, that has already poured her millions of men into Siam, is at hand to provide from her teeming and superfluous multitudes the principal element wanting for the full development of the territorial opulence of Siam; while the presiding presence of European settlers will no doubt furnish the appli ances which knowledge, wealth, and civilization are able to bring to regions so inviting. PREPARATION OF THE LAND. 201 Though there is much land occupied by the Chi nese where the state and mode of agricultural culti vation resemble that exhibited in the " middle king dom," from whence the settlers came, the general condition of the productive land is far less favourable than in China. China, indeed, in all her populous provinces, represents, under the action of an immense repartition of property, and the presence of a super abundant supply of hands, a surface rather resem bling a continuity of gardens than of fields or mea dows. It is horticulture more than agriculture — at all events, in the adjacency of cities and large towns, which afford cheap and abundant supplies of manure, whose value is thoroughly appreciated by the cul tivator. In many parts of Siam, the land is prepared during the rainy season by turning in herds of buffaloes to trample down the weeds and move the soil, which is afterwards harrowed by a coarse rake, or a bush of thorny shrubs. The seed is then broadcast upon the surface. But wherever the Chinese are established, they introduce their native usages and improve ments. I do not feel myself competent to present a com plete catalogue of the natural productions of Siam, and I shall principally notice those which more pecu liarly characterize the country, or which excited my special attention. In its great outlines, the animal, mineral, and vegetable world resembles that of other tropical regions, though in every part of the field there are varieties in detail which belong to the domain of the naturalist. They will become in time 202 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. the objects of particular attention, and no portion of the East is probably so inviting as the Siamese regions, from their extent, their richness, and their novelty. There is, indeed, almost everything to explore ; and the inquirer may now " expatiate boldly," with a certainty of having a full recompence for his exertions and investigations. The production of rice is estimated at twenty-five thousand tons. Rice is sold by the coyan of one hundred baskets : a basket is supposed to be sufficient for the food of a man during a month. The ordinary cost of a basket is about 7\d. sterling.* The extent of cultivable rice-land is capable of being doubled or trebled : there is now only one rice-harvest in a year, and there might well be two. There can be little doubt that Siam is able to provide a supply of one hundred thousand tons of rice per annum by improved and extended cultivation. Moor says, — " The rice of Siam is equally famed with its sugar. Rice is produced in immense quan tities all along the banks of the river, in a rich allu vial soil, irrigated by the waters of the Menam. The exportation of this article is prohibited ; notwithstand ing which, it finds its way to Singapore and other parts in the Straits. At Singapore, I once had an opportunity of seeing the rice of Manilla, Java, Bengal, Cochin China, Siam, and Queda, all exhibited at the same time; and, if I recollect right, that of Siam was pronounced to be superior to all the rest."f * Mr. Low says that the medium price of a measure of rice of 315 gallons is 3*. sterling. P. 341. f Notices Ind. Arch., p. 236. RICE — SUGAR. 203 The removal of the prohibition on the export of rice is one of the great benefits conferred by the late treaty. It is now alloAved to leave the country, unless a royal ordinance shall proclaim the existence of a dearth; but as already the prospect of large foreign demands is extending the field of cultiva tion, free trade in this all-important article will certainly give more security against the visitations of famine than could ever be hoped for from any restric tion upon its exportation. The present amount of sugar produced is very large, and it may be increased indefinitely with the demand. " It is produced almost everywhere in the kingdom, under the direction of the Chinese settlers. Its quality, which yields to that of no sugar in the world, is too well knoAvn for me to enlarge upon it in this place. The principal part of it is sent to China, and the Americans have lately taken away several shiploads of it."* There are extensive sugar plantations in the pro vince of Nakhon-Xaisi. Pallegoix counted more than thirty manufactories, each employing from two to three hundred workmen, almost all Chinese. Among these the Catholic missionaries have met with much success. On one occasion the governor threatened to burn their church, but the King inter fered for its protection. Sugar is largely manufactured in various other parts of Siam. The principal establishments are the pro perty of the Chinese. The manufacture is carried on * Moor's Ind. Arch., p. 236. 204 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. in very primitive- style : the motive power consists of buffaloes ; the cane is crushed between two cylinders of hard wood. Large fires are applied to the enor mous vessels in which the juice is subjected to eva poration; and when it has reached the required consistency, it is poured into cones made of clay. Quicklime is employed for the purification of the saccharine matter. A single building generally serves, not only for the manufacture of the sugar, but for the abode of all the labourers employed. Sugar will probably become the most important of all the exports of Siam. The soil is admirably adapted to its cultivation. Aquila or eagle wood (lignum aloes) is knoAvn for its fragrance, especially when burnt. Many me dicinal virtues are attributed to it by the Siamese, who employ* it to cure a great variety of diseases. Only one species of tree contains the odorous element. The natives go forth into the woods to seek it, pro vided with saws, hatchets, and scissors, of various forms. When by certain signs they have discovered the tree of which they are in search, they fell it, saw it into fragments, which they examine with great care, and throwing aside the white, they only pre serve the dark wood, which is obtained in various shapes, and is sold at about ten shillings per pound. Every Christian family in the districts where it grows is bound to pay to the King a tribute of two pounds weight of eagle-wood. This wood is " an article of great consumption as a perfume among the nations of Eastern Asia, who use it in all their funeral, marriage, and other ceremonies. It is the GUTTA-PERCHA, ETC. — THE BAMBOO. 205 diseased part of a tree, and, perhaps, is only to be found in one tree in twenty, and in that one only in a very small quantity. The labourers employed in finding it frequently cut up several trees before they find the smallest portion of it. It is principally found in the islands situated in the Gulf of Cambodia."* Gutta-percha has of late years become an important article of commerce. The remarkable qualities of this extraordinary and valuable gum are generally appreciated in its application to so many purposes of manufacture, art, and science. The tree grows in the maritime districts of Siam ; and the gutta-percha which used to be sold at about five dollars a hundred weight, fetches now five or six times that price. Cardamums are the produce of a tree of about a man's height: at the end of the branches grow groups of flowers, which produce the three-lobed fruit with whose aromatic and piquant taste we are familiar. Gamboge is extracted by an incision in the tree, whence the gum flows into a hollow bamboo, which when filled is withdrawn and broken, and the gum being thoroughly hardened, is taken out. The bamboo performs among the Siamese a great portion of the multitudinous services which the still more ingenious and inventive inhabitants of China have extracted from it. It is employed for building, for baskets, mats, and vessels of every sort. In some shape or other, it is used for food,f for clothing, * Moor's Notices Ind. Arch., p. 236. f The ancients were not unacquainted with its use. SeeiElian,lib.iv. cap. 34. 206 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. for shelter, for navigation, for comfort, for ornament. It is the plant alike of the utilitarian and the poet, — one perpetualty turning to account its infinite variety of uses, the other celebrating its multifarious beauties: it is the raw material of the shipwright and the builder, the tool-maker and the carver; out of it are constructed instruments of music and weapons of war. The hardness of the wood, the facility with which it is split into the minutest threads, the straightness and regularity of its fibres, its smoothness of surface, the rapidity of its growth, all add to its value. It lends itself from the most exquisite and minute carving to the coarsest usages of the crate and the hurdle, collecting, conveying, or distributing every species of fluid. It supplies fire by friction, and is the great Avater-conductor, being an almost ready-formed conduit. In some species, the knots or separations in the stalk are distant six or seven feet; in others they are adjacent. For boxes, for nets, for cordage, for thread, for numerous imple ments and instruments, it is the ever-present ma terial. Perhaps, amidst the many gifts of Providence to a tropical region, the bamboo is the most benig nant, appropriate, and accessible. The author, the sculptor, the architect, and the painter have all laid it under contribution in the field of imagination and the development of art ; and if the camel is charac teristic of the desert, the bamboo may be considered typical of the Indo-Chinese nations. Its leaves, its stems, its branches, its roots, all contribute to mul titudinous objects, a detailed description of which would fill thousands of pages. RATTAN — DRAGON'S BLOOD — RAK. 207 Next to the bamboo, the rattan has place for the services it renders to the community. Its for midable prickles furnish an excellent fence ; it inter laces its long stalks with the forest-trees, and these are often the most valuable from their length and strength. The drug called dragon's blood is the produce of one of the varieties of the rattan. Its tenacity, its polish, its flexibility, the ease with which its fibres are separated into any size, render it invaluable for twine and cordage, for sofas and chairs, for trellis- work, for sieves, panniers, baskets, mats, for every species of ligatures ; and last, but certainly not least, for the castigation of malefactors and slaves.* The tree called rak by the Siamese is a species of banana, and furnishes the beautiful varnish so much valued in the lacquer-ware of China. Incisions are made in the bark, from whence exudes a thick, viscid, dirty-white gum, which is passed through a cloth, and put into jars of water, in which it is pre served from drying by contact Avith the air. This varnish is so caustic, that not only does it burn and ulcerate the skin, but its vapours produce inflamma tion of the eyes, and pustules on the face. When exposed to the air, it becomes first brown, and then intensely black. It is used for book-covers, baskets, furniture, and especially for gilt idols. It is neither affected by sun nor rain. Pallegoix expresses sur prise that it has not been employed in Europe as a protection for gilded works, which so soon perish when exposed to the fluctuations of the seasons. * Pallegoix, i. 143. 208' NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. The fan -palm grows to an immense height in Siam. It produces fruit after fifteen years, and lives to an incredible age. Amidst the fan-shaped leaves which crown the top of the tree, branches of fruit, which is used for food, are produced in the shape of almonds. During the flowering- season, an incision is made at the foot of the blossoms, to which a hollow bamboo is suspended, and a sweet liquid exudes. It becomes intoxicating in twenty-four hours; but if immediately evaporated, it gives an uncrystallizable sugar, which is sold in earthen pots. The fan-palm produces the leaves which are employed for writing. The cocoa-nut palm is very abundant. The white pulp of the fruit is rasped, kneaded in hot water, and the juice being expressed through a piece of cloth, is much used for making cakes. When boiled, this juice is converted into an oleaginous substance, which becomes speedily rancid. The sago-palm is also a native of Siam, but is principally found on the Malayan side. Boiled with sugar and the milk of the cocoa-nut, it is much esteemed. The curcuma, or Indian saffron, is a bulbous, fleshy root, of a deep golden colour, and an aromatic smell. It is reduced to a fine powder, and employed to colour the skins of women and children. In the morning, Siamese mothers may be seen industriously engaged in yellowing their offspring from head to heel. So universal is the custom, that in caressing the children of the Kings or the nobles, you may be certain to carry away yellow stains upon your dress. A small quantity mingled with quicklime makes a TUE GUNCHA PLANT. 209 paste of a bright pink colour, of which the consump tion is so large for spreading on the betel leaves which are used to wrap round the areca nut, that I have seen whole boat-loads moving about for sale amidst the floating bazaars on the Meinam. Curcuma is knoAvn to be the colouring matter in the curries, mulligatawnies, and chutnees of India. A plant called guncha, Avhich possesses many of the intoxicating properties of opium, is grown abun dantly and consumed largely in Siam. It is smoked, and its effects, at first exhilarating and sometimes even infuriating, are folloAved, after three or four hours, by deep sleep, ultimately producing a train of diseases similar to those which the inordinate use of opium creates. The consumption of this latter drug in Siam is large, but principally among the Chinese population. The importation is said to amount annually to about tAvelve hundred chests, but I saw no reason to suppose that it is much used by the Siamese people ; indeed, the cost of the luxury must, to a great extent, be prohibitory. The following is the account given by La Loubere of the fruits of Siam. Since he wrote, Europeans have become familiarized with many of the fruits he describes, such as the pine-apple, the tamarind, the cocoa-nut, and even the banana. In addition to the fruits described by La Loubere, Ave found many Avhich have no doubt been introduced since his time, such as the mangosteen from the Straits, the lichee from China; and no doubt avc should have discovered many others, had our stay been prolonged. " The Indian figs, Avhich the Siamese call elephants' VOL. 1. P 2IO NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. trunks {cloiiey-ngouan chang), have not the taste of our figs, and are, in my opinion, not so 'good. The Siamese melons likewise are not real melons, but the fruit of a tree known in the American Islands by the name of papaya. The fig is of the size and shape of a sausage. The green skin, which becomes dark, separates easily from the flesh; and it has none of those little pips which are like specks of gravel in our figs. Its taste is strong, and is at the same time sour and sweet. " The banana the Siamese call cloiiey-ngau-chang, or elephant's tooth ; it is longer and greener than the fig. These fruits hang in bunches from the top of the trees. The bananas exposed to heat become like dried apples. " The guava, (in Siamese, hue kiae) is about the size of an apple. The skin is greyish green, and beneath it the fruit is about the consistence of a lemon, but not so white. It at first tastes like strawberries, but it is much stronger. This flesh is of the thickness of a crown-piece, and contains a liquid full of .little pips. " The jac (in Siamese, ca-noun) is of the shape of a large melon. They have a grey skin, and contain a great number of pips or kernels, which are about the size of a pigeon's egg. These, when roasted, are like our chestnuts. The fruit is yellow and suc culent, of a sweet taste and a powerful smell. " They preserve a fruit like plums ; it has the taste of a medlar, and has sometimes two and three stones, larger than those of the medlar. They call it moussida. SIAMESE FRUITS. 211 " The heart-of-beef is so called from its size and shape ; the skin is thin, and within it there is a ma terial like white cream, very pleasant. They call it mancout. " The durian (in Siamese, tourrien) has a most dis agreeable odour. It is of the size of a melon, covered with prickles. It contains several shells, within which is the fruit ; and fewer of these shells the better is the fruit, but there are rarely fewer than three. " The mango (in Siamese, ma moiian) has the taste of the peach and apricot, but stronger. They are sometimes as big as a child's hand ; they are flat and oval, in the shape of an almond. The skin is like that of a nectarine, with a yellowish colour ; and the fruit itself is like a pulp, and covers a large stone. " The Siamese have acid fruits Avith which they quench their thirst ; they are in the shape of plums. " The tamarind is also sour, and has a covering like the almond, and many of them again are inside a husk. The syrup is very agreeable, but receives the taste of the pimpernel by long keeping. "I speak nothing about sugar or pepper, as I have not seen them. The pepper hangs down in little berries like currants. " The anana (in Siamese, separai) tastes like our nectarine. They say it is unhealthy, as its juice eats into iron. Its shape is that of a large fir-apple. The plant which produces it is only three feet high. Sometimes there spring from the large one, one or two smaller fruits. Each plant bears but one fruit. " The coco (in Siamese, mapr'au) is a nut, but very large. In the wood of the coco is a very agreeable p 2 212 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. liquor, which, as the fruit ripens, congeals, and forms a very agreeable beverage." * The durian is deemed by the Siamese the king of fruits. Its smell is offensive to European sense, and I have heard it compared to the stink of carrion and onions mingled. But the exquisite flavour of the fruit renders even its fragrance attractive to its habitues, and it is the only fruit which has ever a considerable money-value in the Siamese market. It is the produce of a fine tree, whose branches stretch out almost horizontally. The durian is of the size of a melon, covered with sharp pyramidical points, more prominent than those of the pine-apple. The external skin opens spontaneously when it is ripe, and the interior consists of four lobes, of a creamy consistence and a whitish colour, in which are nuts more or less in number. The Siamese, who are passionate gamblers, make the quantity of nuts to be found in a durian the constant subject of their betting, f Joao de Barros places the passion for the * La Loubere, vol. ii., p. 84. f The following curious notice of the "duriaoen" is given in Linschotten's Travels : — " In Malacca there is a fruit so pleasant, both for taste and smell, that it excelleth all other fruites, both of India and Malacca, although there are many both excellent and very good. This fruit is called in Malayo (which is the province wherein it groweth) duriaoen, and the blossomes buaa, and the tree batan. It is a, very great tree, of solide and firme wood„with a grey barke, having many branches, and excessive great store of fruit : the blossome is white and somewhat yellow ; the leaves halfe a handfull long, and two or three fingers broad, rounde, and somewhat hollowe ; outwardly darke greene, and inwardly light greene, and some what after a red colour. It beareth a fruit of the bignes of a mellon, covered with a harde husk, with many small and thicke sharpe prickles ; outwardly greene, and with strikes downe along the sides like the mellon. They have within them foure holes, or partitions, according to the length thereof, in each of the whieh holes are yet three or foure cases ; in each THE MANGOSTEEN. 213 durian as almost on a level Avith the attractions of the " mogas Malacas," — the dark Malayan maidens. Mangosteens are produced contemporaneously with durians, and are generally eaten after them. The Siamese consider the durian a heating fruit, and that it is desirable to temper its action by the delicious and refreshing mangosteen. This beautiful fruit grows on a leafy tree, which rises to the height of fourteen to fifteen feet. The fruit, of the size of a small orange, is contained in a smooth shell, of a deep mahogany colour; the number of its internal lobes being marked by a sort of star at the top, which look as if they had been artificially carved upon the shell. The inside of the shell is of a bright red, and surrounds a fruit of snoAvy whiteness, divided into case, or shell, a fruite as white as milke, and as great as a hennes egge, but better of taste and sauour, like the white meat which the Spaniards make of ryce, capons flesh, and rose-water, called mangiar bianco, yet not so soft or slymie ; for the other that are yellow, and not white within, are either spoyled or rotten, by evil aire or moysture: they are accounted the best which have but three nuttes in each hole, next them those that have foure, but those of five are not good, and such as have any cracks or cliftes in them. " This fruit is hot and moist ; and such as will eat them must first treade upon them softly with his foote, and breake the prickes that are about them. Such as neuer eate of it before, when they smell it at the first, thinke it senteth like a rotten onyon; but having tasted it, they esteeme it above all other fruites, both for taste and sauour. Here you must note a wonderful contrarietie that is between this fruit duriaoen and the hearbe bettele; which in truth is so great, that if there were a whole shippe, shoppe, or house full of duriaoens, wherein there lay certaine leaves of bettele, all the duriaoens would presently rotte and bee spoyled. And likewise by eating over many of those duriaoens, they heat the maw, and make it swell ; and one leafe of bettele, to the contrairie, being laide colde upon the hart, will presently cease the inflammation, rising or swelling of the maw. And so if, after you have eaten duriaoens, you chance to eat a leafe or two of bettele, you can receive no hurt by the duriaoens, although you have eaten neuer so many. Hereupon, and because they are of so pleasant a taste, the common saying is, that men can neuer be satisfied with them." 214 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. segments, some of the larger of which have seeds in the centre. The mangosteen has the reputation of possessing the flavour of the strawberry and the fragrance of the raspberry. It may be eaten in large quantities with safety, and is, perhaps, on the whole, the most popular of tropical fruits. The shell is used as an astringent in cases of dysentery, and as a mordant for fixing a black colour in dyeing. The jack is to the durian what coarse earthen ware is to porcelain. There are two species of the jack-tree in Siam, the fruit of both of which is used for food. The first has long deeply-serrated leaves, and bears a huge oval fruit, sometimes as large as a man's head. Under a thick skin there is a mealy and fibrous pulp, which is succulent, but someAvhat laxative when fully ripe. The fruit is gathered before it reaches its complete maturity, when its flesh is white and firm. It is roasted, or boiled in Avater, scraped, and eaten without any condiment. It is a healthy and agreeable food, something resembling wheaten bread in taste : it is often cut into slices and cooked in sauce of palm-sugar with cocoa-nut milk. The second species of jack is a fine oval-leaved tree, whose trunk, of a bright yelloAV, is used for dyeing the garments of the priests. Its enormous fruits sometimes weigh from ten to forty pounds, and are attached either to the trunk, or the larger branches capable of supporting them. The fruit is cut into thick slices, and large nuts are taken out, enve loped with a yellow, thick, and odorous pulp, which is then eaten : the nuts being roasted or grilled like ches- nuts, are liked by children. A single fruit will suffice SIAMESE FRUITS. 2 1 5 for the meal of fifteen to twenty persons, and a single tree will produce a hundred of such fruits in a year. The mangos of Siam are excellent : there is a species called the durian mango Avhich is superla tively so. Some of the mango-trees groAV to the height of from thirty to forty feet. The fruit resembles in shape a flattened egg. It has rather a thick skin, which is easily removed, and has beneath it a golden, fragrant, and delicious pulp, of the con sistency of a peach or pear. It is a wholesome fruit ; Avhen half ripe, it makes an excellent and appetite- exciting pickle. The tamarind grows to an enormous size, and lives for centuries. Under its shade the Siamese are ac customed to assemble for most of their social games. Its young leaves are used for seasoning ragouts ; its pods contribute to almost every Siamese dish. When the seeds are removed, the pulp may be preserved for a Avhole year : it is much valued for medicine. The guava, the papay, the plantain — the orange, of which there are twenty varieties — lemons, citrons, pomelos, pomegranates, jujubes, pine-apples — are in abundance. The plantain, or banana, deserves special mention, as the Siamese say there are no less than fifty sorts, in size from a little finger up to an elephant's tusk, sweetish, sugary, acid, succulent, mealy, fragrant — in many varieties of odours and flavours. It is the first fruit given to children at the breast. Mahomedans say the plantain was sent by Allah to the Prophet, Avhen he lost his teeth in his old age. It grows at every period of the year, and is eaten by everybody, 2l6 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. whatever his rank or station. The green plantain leaves are employed for a thousand domestic uses; they make coverings and wrappers, whether loose or seAved into many shapes, and give to everything a character of spring-like freshness. The makok produces a sharp and acid fruit ; after eating which, if water is drunk, a sweet taste is left in the mouth and palate, which remains for a whole day. Under the tree called the Indian poplar, Soma- nakhodom is said to have indulged his divers contem plations, and by religious exercises to have reached that sanctity which made him a Buddha. Hence the tree has the same holy character in Siam which the Hindus give to the feus religiosa, a tree also found in Siam. The wild vine produces grapes, of which a bunch sometimes Aveighs as much as from ten to fifteen pounds. Pallegoix says that a tolerably good wine is made of this fruit, but I had no oppor tunity of tasting it in Siam. Other fruits excited our attention: the rose-co loured jambo, fragrant as a rose, and esteemed for its medicinal qualities; the maprang, a species of plum, yellow or gold, with a fibrous nut instead of a stone ; the hamut sida, reddish broAvn, with a SAveet pulp around a smooth nut ; the takhob, a hairy plum, having a green pulp filled with small seeds, which are eaten with it. There are several varieties of the lichee, probably introduced from China : one of the species is so attractive to the bats, that it is necessary to protect every bunch in a net-work of bamboo to prevent its being devoured by them. The rambutan is well known in the Straits settle- COMMON VEGETABLES. 21 7 ments. The sathon is of the size of a peach, its flesh acid but pleasant ; its thick and fleshy skin is made into preserves. The makhuit, round as a ball, with a hard, white, ligneous shell, contains a sort of apple- marmalade mixed with small seeds. The shell of the matum is still harder, and can only be broken with a hammer; within is a yellow viscous jelly, with a balsamic perfume. The most common vegetables are maize, cucum bers, gourds, radishes, cabbages, mustard, lettuces, melons and water-melons, tomatoes, celery, mint, parsley, chervil, cummin, coriander, garlic, onions, leeks, peas, beans, and a great variety peculiar to the tropics and to Siam itself. The sweet potato and the yam abound ; the latter grows to the weight of twenty to thirty pounds. Many nutritious roots are cultivated, and others grow wild. , The kloi is remarkable for its snowy whiteness, but it is poi sonous until cut in slices, steeped in water, and exposed to the sun. A root which Pallegoix calls the ground pistachio produces a quantity of almond-shaped nuts, which are employed for making cakes, and from which an oil is expressed for domestic use. The oil of the small sesame is employed for the same purposes. The nieng-lak, a large tree, bears a minute fruit, of which a pinch being put into a glass of Avater, sud denly swells, impregnates the water, and gives it a refreshing and agreeable taste. The seeds of the lotus, the aquatic chesnut, a water-lily whose stalks when cut grow so rapidly as to be visible to the naked eye, and a fleshy cress that 2l8 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. floats upon the ponds, are among the most appre ciated vegetable food. There is an enormous demand, and of course a vast production, of fragrant flowers in Siam. They are used in the religious services of the temples, for the adorning the persons of women and children, for domestic ornaments, for presents to guests ; they are largely employed in all processions and ceremonials, and their cultivation is an object of primary atten tion to the peasantry. The lotus, among all the Buddhist nations, is the sacred and the favoured flower. In Siam there are seven varieties. The smallest has a white flower scarcely larger than a daisy, and is found in rivers, principally at the time of inundations. Its stems are esculent, and are eaten both raw and cooked. The red lotus serves only to ornament ponds. There are lotus-flowers (nympha3a), blue, green, .light, and dark yellow ; but they are rare. The great lotus is a magnificent rose-coloured floAver, whose golden stamina breathe a delicious fragrance. It is the ornament of all festivities, and is sent habitually as an offering to the King, the priests, and to Buddha himself. When the flower is impregnated, it pro duces from seven to eight nuts, which are sur rounded with green pulp. These nuts, boiled or grilled, are considered a great delicacy. The seeds of the nymphaBa are placed in balls of soft earth, which are flung into ponds ; and soon small leaves develop themselves on the surface of the water, and continue to increase in size to the extent of a foot in diameter. The maii is a fragrant flower, growing on a shrub FLOWERS. 219 of about a yard high. There are gardens around Bangkok wholly devoted to its cultivation. It is of the size of a small pink, of the purest white, and is always gathered before it is fully opened, to preserve its rich odours. With it water is perfumed, and medicine made palatable; the Avreaths and topknots worn by children are braided from this floAver, and it is used for necklaces and bracelets, and often pre sented to guests in garlands which are hung upon the arm or carried in the hand. I have received these flowers in purses of silk, or of silver, from the Kings and the nobles of Siam. They are presented in a variety of shapes, concealed under gauze, or sheltered beneath cases made of the banana leaf; sometimes they are suspended in festoons from the mosquito curtains of your bed, or placed on your table in vessels of silver. A yellow flower, called the champa, is one of the most fragrant ; it is almost always worn behind the ears of children, and it gives variety to the garlands which are so commonly distributed. A single champa will fill a room with its odour. The kadanga is a flower from whose calyx four yellow petals hang, diffusing a sweet perfume, and rendering an essential oil. The phut, which some what resembles a white rose, is also a favourite and fragrant garden-flower.* Animals. Elephants are abundant in the forests of Siam, arid grow sometimes to the height of twelve or * Pallegoix, i. 147 — 8. 320 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. thirteen feet. The habits of the elephant are grega rious; but though he does not willingly attack a man, he is avoided as dangerous; and a troop of elephants will, when going down to a river to drink, submerge a boat and its passengers. The destruc tion even of the Avild 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, whom, they compel, by blows of the proboscis, to enter the walled prisons Avhich 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, plan tains, 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 ascer tains the depth by his proboscis, advances slowly, and when he is out of his depth he SAvims, breathing through his trunk, Avhich is visible when the whole of his body is submersed. He descends into ravines impassable by man, and by the aid of his trunk THE ELEPHANT. 221 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, Avhich announces to his driver that he desires repose. In Siam the howdah is a great roofed basket, in Avhich the traveller, with the aid of his cushions, comfortably ensconces himself. The motion is disagreeable at first, but ceases to be so after a little practice. Elephants in Siam are much used in warlike expeditions, both as carriers and combatants. All the nobles are mounted on them, and as many as a thousand are sometimes collected. They are marched against palisades and entrenchments. In the late war with Cochin China, the Siamese general sur prised the enemy with some hundreds of elephants, to Avhose 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 Bruguieres 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. f * Pallegoix, i. T50 — 4. f Annales de la Prop., xxv., p. 74. 222 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. His account of the Siamese mode of capturing wild elephants is this : — In the month of March, a number of female elephants are turned out into the woods : they are recalled by the sound of horns, and are always accompanied by a number of males, who follow them into a park, surrounded by high pali sades; having entered which, the doors are shut upon them. Men are placed upon a terrace, pro-, tected by large trunks of trees, from whence they throw round the legs of the elephant they propose to capture a rope, by which he is bound. Every species of torture is used : he is lifted by a machine in the air — fire is placed under his belly — he is com pelled to fast — he is goaded with 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 Sia mese. 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 fore legs ; and having found an opportunity of trampling on and killing the keeper, the elephant deposited the fragments upon the dead body. The Siamese certainly treat the elephants as reason able beings ; and La Loubere says that Avhen the three were despatched which the King of Siam presented to Louis XIV., they whispered these words in their ears : — " Go ; depart cheerfully. You will, indeed, be slaves, — but slaves to the greatest monarch in the world, whose sway is as gentle as it is glorious." No THE TIGER. 223 doubt, this sort of invention was suited to the taste of the Grand Monarque, and the temper of the times. 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 satisfaction 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.* The Emperor Galba is reported to have trained elephants to dance upon ropes. Tigers abound, especially in the Laos country. They sometimes prowl about the tents, and carry off oxen and buffaloes; but their common prey is the wild deer and pigs of the forests. The Laos people capture the tiger by making an enclosure of heavy piles, in which they place a live dog. They sur round the inner by an outer enclosure, leaving a suspended door open. The tiger, attracted by the cries of the dog, enters the outer enclosure, and, in prowling round, touches the spring which holds the door, and it closes, upon him, when the inhabitants come and destroy him. The skin of the spotted tiger is much valued for its beauty. Tiger-cats are common. Kampfer, on arriving at the Dutch factory called Amsterdam, whose ruins are yet to be seen at about two leagues from the mouth of the * La Loubere, p. 41 — 8. 224 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. Meinam, visited the governor, a Swede by birth, and Core by name. He Avas " under some grief, having lost a tame Suri cat, which he found again to-day, but in the belly of a snake he had killed, and which, as he complained, had robbed him before of many of his hens, having always been lurking in corners under the houses. We had an accident with another sort of thief, who at night had got under the house where seven of us fellow-travellers lay together. He had laid hold of the corner of a waistcoat hang ing through a crevice of the floor, which was made of split bamboons, and was pulling it through with such a force, that one of us awaked, who, suspecting a thief, seized it, and called to his sleeping companions for help. While they Avere thus pulling and hauling Avho should have it, Core, who from former experi ence immediately suspected a tyger, fired a gun and frightened him away." The rhinoceros is sought principally for his horns and skin, which latter is supposed to possess great me dicinal virtue for strengthening the sick. Though so thick and tough, Pallegoix says that, being grilled and scraped, and boiled with spices until reduced to gelatine, it becomes a very agreeable food. Horses are rarely seen, except within the Kings' palaces; and they are only small ponies, mostly brought from a distance. When our Mission was publicly received by the second King, several car riages with horses were sent for the reception of myself and suite, and the first King offered me a pair as a present for my use in Hongkong. Tame buffaloes and oxen are not alloAved to be killed, ANIMALS OF THE JUNGLE AND FOREST. 22,5 but the prohibition does not extend to the wild races of the Avoods. We found it difficult to obtain beef for our sailors. Many of the Brahminical prejudices are associated with Buddhism. In China I have seen vehement proclamations against the killing of oxen and buffaloes. I remember one issued to this effect : — " Kill pigs — they are dirty and useless, except to eat; kill sheep — they cannot plough or help you in your agricultural labours : but how can you dare kill buffaloes and oxen, that work with you in the fields? and is not the Bull one of the celestial signs? Have you thought of this? Tremble and refrain." Bears, Avild pigs, porcupines (which, the Siamese insist, fling their quills against both men and dogs), elks, deer, roebucks, gazelles, goats, and other ani mals, tenant the jungles and the forests of Siam. There is a large consumption of dried venison, and great multitudes of deer are killed during the inun dations. Civet cats, monkeys (the ourang-outang is found on the Malayan side), squirrels, flying squirrels, otters, whose skins are an article of some importance in trade, hares (a popular animal, and a frequent actor in the tales and fables of the Siamese, who attribute to " puss" an unusual amount of sagacity), rats, musk-rats, and mice, may be mentioned among the quadrupeds most common in Siam. Dogs and cats are seen in large numbers in the streets and houses of the Siamese. The dogs are fetid and filthy, quite of the Pariah race; their presence, in the temples especially, is an annoyance and an offence. Of the cats, many are of colours and VOL. I. Q 226 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. shapes unlike the common European races. They have long tails, and short tails, and curled tails, and no tails at all. The best ratcatchers are of a dun colour, with black and Avhite spots, of Avhich we brought more than one specimen aAvay ; and they became favourites for their virtuous dispositions and useful qualities. Bats abound. The larger species do much mis chief in the gardens, as they live principally on fruit. They are black in colour, are nearly as big as a cat, and invade the mango and lichee trees by hundreds and thousands. Their principal domicile is amidst the thick foliage in the courts of the pagodas and temples, and among the tufts of the bamboo. Mul titudes are caught in the net with Avhich the fruit- trees are protected against their ravages. They are skinned and eaten by the Siamese ; but Pallegoix says they have a urinous taste, Avhich the employment of red pepper is not sufficient to subdue. At night they hang over the city of Bangkok like a dense black cloud, Avhich appears to be leagues in length.* Some of the birds attracted our admiration : — The karien, a noble stork as tall as a man, having black, grey, and white plumage, with a neck and crest of brilliant red : they cannot, when running, be over taken by the SAviftest greyhound, and form most picturesque objects when fishing on the borders of the marshes and lakes; the snoAvy pelicans, busied by day in the pursuit of their prey, and seeking, in triangular groups, solitary trees in the forest for rest at night. The Avonderful beauty of the plumage of * Pallegoix, i. 172. THE FEATHERED RACE. 227 the halcyons (kingfishers), some of which gaAre us the first announcement of our adjacency, was among the earliest objects of delight. The white ibis is everywhere found. The male peacock, of enormous size, and Avith plumage of singular lustre, may be seen on the top of a tall tree, gathering the females around him by his inharmo nious cries. The Argus-pheasant is common, and its feathers are an article of commerce. There is a species called by the natives " heaven's hen." Toucans, parrots, parroquets, are seen in the forests, in which pigeons and turtles sometimes crowd the branches of the trees. Of the falcon races there is a great variety in Siam. The common vulture is a useful conser vator of the public health, and scavenger for the removal of public nuisances. He devours the car rion and putrid animal substances, which Avould otherwise be intolerably offensive. The adjutant is a valuable auxiliary in the same good work, but he does not wait for his prey till death has made it noisome. The singing-birds are many. There is a species of thrush which imitates all the sounds he hears, — the barking of a dog, the mewing of a cat, the crowing of a cock, and the human voice, so as to be an almost perfect imitation. A little black-and-Avhite bird, which, from the colour of its plumage, Pallegoix calls the dominican, sings very sweetly at daybreak, and in the spring season. A variety of humming birds are found in the gardens, the feathers of one Q 2 228 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. of which, of a purple colour with white spots, are exported to foreign countries.* The number and audacity of the crows in Bangkok, and other populous places in Siam, are amazing. Pallegoix says, " They devastate the gardens, and eat all the ripe fruit; carry away chickens, and all eatables exposed to the sun : they enter houses by door or window; will steal cakes and plantains from the hands of children ; will raise up the covering of pots and pans, and carry off their contents, not only for present use, but to be stored for future supply. They conceal their robberies in the roofs of the houses, or in hollow trees, and often assemble to make war upon jays, pigeons, and less courageous birds. Of the food that is given to dogs, cats, poultry, the crows inA'ariably steal the largest por tion. No doubt, they destroy many nuisances, in the shape of insects and animals more annoying than themselves. If you fling a stone among them, their number only increases, and they salute you with a tenfold clamour ; if you kill one, a thousand come to inquire what you are doing, and, instead of getting rid of the plague of their presence, you augment it a hundred-fold. "f The reptiles of Siam are multitudinous. Croce diles are found in the rivers, from their mouths to their shalloAvs. They deposit about twenty eggs in the sand, each about double the size of goose-eggs. The eggs are esteemed rather a dainty; but they are only carried away when the thief has a horse at hand on which he can take immediate flight from the * Pallegoix, i. 171. f Ibid^, i. l6g— 6. CROCODILES. 229 irate mother, Avho, according to Pallegoix, invariably rushes forth to protect her progeny. Of the young crocodiles, multitudes are destroyed by the larger fish, and by their own race. 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 croco dile has been denounced, 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 deposited 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 a3 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 motion, catch hold of the crocodiles; that during the struggle, a knot is thrown over the animal's tail; that the extremity of the tail is cut off,, and a sharp bamboo passed through the vertebrae of the spine into the brain, when the animal expires.* * Pallegoix, i. 175. 230 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. There are many species of lizards ; the largest is the takuet. His name has passed into a Siamese pro verb, as the representative of a crafty, double-dealing knave ; as the takuet has two tongues, or rather one tongue divided into two. The noisy tookay never fails to make his presence known. He is excused for his clamours, on account of the services he renders in destroying vermin. The inhabitants call him the clock, and say he announces the hours. Cameleons, flying lizards, serpents from the most gigantic to the smallest species, are noticeable among the reptiles. The larger are eaten by the Siamese; and, if Pallegoix is to be believed, the boa now and then eats a child in return.* The boa is reverenced by the Chinese, and. is frequently found on board the junks, where he is considered as a tutelary guardian, and daily sacrifices are offered to him. Serpent adoration is one of the most widely-spread of human superstitions. Serpent-charmers practise their arts in Siam. They exhibit vipers which are trained to dance, to fight with one another, and to exhibit all sorts of extraordinary tricks, and acts of submission to their masters. They have been rendered harmless by the extraction of their poison: and I heard of no instance of a serpent-charmer being injured in educating his sometimes exasperated subjects. Pallegoix has an account of a " fiery serpent," said to redden and burn the plant over which he passes. But he doubts the tales he had heard. He speaks with more personal knowledge of a serpent * Pallegoix, i. 178. THE TURTLE, TORTOISE, ETC. 231 that is attracted by fire, and follows any light or torch in the darkness, and is only escaped from by aban doning the light Avhich has excited his attention. There is a snake called by the Siamese " sunbeams," from its very brilliant colours; it is inert and easily avoided, but its bite is said to be mortal. An immense frog sings the bass in the great chorus of grasshoppers, crickets, cicadas, and other musicians, Avhich, especially during rain, fill the whole atmosphere with their varied music. Sea, river, and land turtles are used for food by the Siamese. The sea-turtle sometimes weighs 150 pounds; and they are so abundant, that ships are laden Avith their eggs, Avhich are principally con sumed by the nobles. One species of the river- tortoise is taken by the line and hook, a^ plantain being used for bait, while for another species the bait is a fish. There is a variety Avhich is a regalia of the crown, and is regularly Avatched by guards, Avho surprise it Avhen it lands at night to deposit its eggs in the sand. The eggs are sent to the palace ; the animal is alloAvcd to escape, after being branded with a hot iron, as the property of the King. The field- tortoise is often hunted by clogs : both the flesh and the eggs of the animal are a favourite Siamese dish. Whales, dolphins, porpoises, flying-fish, sharks, SAVord-fish, bonitos, dorys, and a vast number of other fishes, are found in the Bay of Siam. Rays, soles, salmon, &c, abound in the mouths of the rivers. The fishing and salting of praAvns and shrimps is a considerable trade : crabs, craAvfish, and lobsters are also prepared for food. The bicho de 232 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. mar forms a very important article of export to China. Pallegoix speaks of a large fish, called the meng-phu, weighing from thirty to forty pounds, of a bright greenish-blue colour, which will spring out of the Avater to attack and bite bathers. He says there is also a tetraodon, called by the Siamese the moon, Avithout teeth, but with jaAvs 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.* Land and sea crabs are the common food of the people. A favourite condiment is the kapi, which is made of shrimps pressed into a paste, and salted after the first stage of putrefaction has commenced. If in the more salient portion of the field of animal existence I feel unable to do more than point out a few of the most prominent objects, I dare not attempt to penetrate into that multifarious popula tion of the insect world, which to describe requires knoAvledge which I do not possess, and space of which I cannot dispose. The centipede and the scorpion are too troublesome not to be specially mentioned. The exquisite pain caused by the bite of the centipede may be alleviated by the application of quicklime. There is a luminous centipede which gives a bright light even when crushed ; it is a small variety, and is said sometimes to enter the orifice of the human ear, and to cause extreme suffering. The scorpion is very intrusive : it will conceal itself * Pallegoix, i. 193, THE FIRE-FLY. 233 in the folds of your garments, enter your pockets, hide itself in the leaves of your books ; no known application will save from great annoyance the person whom it bites. A large species is called the elephant-scorpion: when it attacks the huge beast, he roars with intolerable agony; it is seldom known to bite a human being, and from its size is easily avoided. The cockroach is a universal, all- devouring, ever-present pest : the mosquito, from the pain it inflicts, is still more annoying. Ants of all colours, sizes, and shapes invade everything, and attack everybody : some of them sting sharply. The white ants are as insinuating, as destructive, as in any part of the tropics. How can I pass the fire-flies in silence? They glance like shooting stars, but brighter and lovelier, through the air, as soon as the sun is set. Their light is intense, and beautiful in colour as it is glittering in splendour — now shining, anon extin guished. They have their favourite tree3, round which they sport in countless multitudes, and pro duce a magnificent and living illumination: their light blazes and is extinguished by a common sym pathy. At one moment every leaf and branch appears decorated with diamond-like fire ; and soon there is darkness, to be again succeeded by flashes from innumerable lamps which whirl about in rapid agitation. If stars be the poetry of heaven, earth has nothing more poetic than the tropical fire-fly. " The glow-worn^s (cicindelae) settle on some trees like a fiery cloud, with this surprising circum stance, that a whole swarm of these insects, having 234 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. 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 regularity and exactness, as if they were in a perpetual systole and diastole."* The white ants commit great ravages in Siam, and are as much a pest to dwellings as are the mosquitoes to their inhabitants. Minerals. Metals. — Gold is found in many parts of Siam. The most productive locality is that of Bang Taphan, in the province of Xumphon, at the foot of the high mountains called the Three Hundred Peaks. Grain- gold and nuggets are collected. The soil containing the gold is crushed and Avashed in Avooden boAvls, and, by agitation, the metal is separated from the mass. The gold-mine is guarded by orders from the King, and Avorked only under special authority. Private individuals are alloAved to collect gold, on condition of their paying for the privilege a certain amount per day ; but the climate is most unhealthy, and the yelloAV fever carries off in less than a month the greatest part of the adventurers. Silver is only found in combination with copper, antimony, lead, and arsenic. Copper is produced in large quantities. Pallegoix says there are mountains of copper ore which give thirty per cent, of metal, but that the copper has * Kampfer, p. 45. METALS — PRECIOUS STONES. 235 hitherto been mainly used for the manufacture of idols. Tin is an important article of production and export. It is principally Avorked in the provinces of Xalang, Xaija, Xumphon, Rapri, and Pak Phrek. The Chinese are the most active tin-miners, and work in associated bands. Lead is brought abundantly from mines in the mountainous districts of Pak Phrek and Suphan. The ore is argentiferous. Antimony and zinc are found in the mountains of Rapri; but the metals not being used by the Siamese, the ores are not Avorked. Iron mines at Tha Sung are wrought by the Chinese, the principal openers of the various sources of productive industry in Siam and other countries to which they migrate. The ore is very rich, and spread over an extensive plain. It is collected by the Siamese, and sold to the Chinese, to whom it is conveyed in Siamese boats plying on a canal which divides the plain. Above six hundred Chinese are engaged at the furnaces, occupied night and day: the iron being converted into thick plates, is sold in Bangkok. Precious Stones. — Pallegoix says that a great quantity of precious stones are collected in the neighbourhood of the Sabab mountain, and that they are found still more abundantly on the frontiers of the Xong tribes, where they are gathered by the peasantry, who sell the, Avhole at prices varying from sixteen to sixty francs per pound. Among the stones so collected, the Governor of Chantabun 236 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. showed him rock crystals, cats'-eyes as large as a nut, topazes, hyacinths, garnets, sapphires of deep blue, and rubies of various colours. The Bishop says that, in wandering through the Chantabun mountains, they collected in an hour tAvo handfuls of precious stones. There are certain localities in which the King forbids their collection, except for his own account. ^37 CHAPTER VII. MANUFACTURES. rpHE manufacture of the precious metals by the -*- Siamese into a variety of vessels, — particularly vases, urns, tea and coffee pots and urns, boxes, and other articles, in which gold is embossed on silver in a style somewhat resembling that for Avhich the Russians are celebrated, — has obtained for the Bangkok goldsmiths an Oriental celebrity. Their number must be great, as the King informed me he had employed no less than six hundred for several months in making the tomb of his brother, the late King. .The 'gold vessels of Siam are almost all of an orange colour, which, I was informed, was produced by exposing them, in a certain state of manufacture, to the action of sulphur. Mother-of- pearl is much used for inlaying woods. The glass manufactures are numerous, particularly for the production of variegated vitreous substances, mingled with metallic oxides, Avith which the temples are covered, and which glitter gaily in the bright sun. Gold-beaters are also abundant; and there is an enormous demand for their work, particularly for gilding statues of Buddha, for ornamenting temples, pictures, and other decorations. Copper and iron founders are also ingenious workmen; and Pallegoix says that by a supply of metal from a multitude of 238 MANUFACTURES. crucibles not containing more than 100 pounds each, a colossal statue of fifty feet in height has been pro duced in the capital.* Some of the most costly of the garments worn by the people of high rank were, as Ave learnt, manufac tured in their houses ; and they prided themselves on their being able to produce textures more valuable than any they imported from foreign countries. The laws forbid the use of certain garments to any but persons of elevated condition. As to the ordinary dresses of the people, they are almost wholly made from cotton stuffs of foreign origin. Earthenware of coarse quality, tiles, and the com mon productions of the potter's Avheel, are provided by native manufacturers : so are vessels of brass and iron, and the domestic utensils for daily use. I have received the folloAving native account of the mode of manufacturing a peculiar species of cloth, the use of which is confined to the nobility, Avho boast that it has never been successfully imi tated out of Siam : — " This description of cloth, called Pha Poom, is used by gentlemen of distinction and rank in Siam and Cambodia, as sarongs or dresses, and is also worn by the nobles and followers of his Majesty and his ambassadors. This description of cloth has been manufactured to perfection in Siam and Cambodia from ancient times. " In the manufacturing of this cloth, white silk yarn is used, and dyed in the following manner : — * Pallegoix, i. 354. PECULIAR KIND OF CLOTH — FINE ARTS. 239 " The silk yarn is taken in the quantity of about a handful; and the parts that it is desired should remain undyed are tied round with the leaves called ka pho, and then put into the dyeing matter, the parts exposed only taking the dye. " The leaves are then removed, and tied round the parts that have been dyed, and other parts that it is desired should remain Avhite or undyed, and is again put into the dyeing matter of a different colour, the parts exposed only taking the dye. This process of removing and tying of the leaves is repeated ; the silk yarn is all dyed of the requisite colours, and then it is woven into cloth, having flowers on both sides nearly alike. This description of cloth is only manu factured in Siam and Cambodia, but when it was first invented is unknown." The arts of drawing and painting are mostly formed on Chinese models, but in a ruder shape. Most of the sculptured images are imported from China, and have all the monstrous forms which are popular among the Chinese. But the Siamese paint, decorate, and gild their temples far more ostenta tiously than the Chinese. They have a class of men who study caligraphy, and are proud of exhibiting specimens of their art. The books of the Siamese open in one continuous sheet, folded fan-like; the usual length of the page from eight to twelve inches, the breadth three or four : the paper is black, and the characters are written generally with gamboge, though sometimes with white paint. All hasty records are made with chalk, which is easily removed when the record is not intended to be permanent. 240 MANUFACTURES. Indian {i. e. China) ink is also used for writing on light-coloured paper. The leaves of a sort of palrn^ tree (koi) are employed as tablets, which are written on by a stile, but principally for the re-production of the sacred books. These are fastened loosely toge ther by strings, so that they can be easily turned over. They are preserved under richly-painted and gilded coverings, and are highly appreciated. Pal legoix says that there are a number of ladies in the palace specially occupied in Avriting these books.* An American missionary says : — " On our way to Ayuthia (from Bangkok) we stopped a little to examine a paper-manufactory. The paper is made here from the bark of a tree or plant called khri. It is reduced to a pulp by manual beating, soaked in water, and then run into a mould, which consists of a. rectangular box, about fourteen by twenty inches, with a piece of coarse cloth stretched over the bottom for a strainer; and then, instead of pressing, it is exposed to dry in the sun before it is removed from the mould. When dried, it is ready for use, but cannot be written upon Avith ink, as it spreads; and the texture is coarse, resembling wrapping-paper. The Siamese use a kind of soft stone, or steatite pencil, for writing."! * Pallegoix, i. 348. f Missionary Herald, Berlin, 1840, p. 73 — 4. 241 CHAPTER VIII. COMMERCE. rpiME was when Bangkok occupied the third place -"- among the commercial cities to the east of the Cape of Good Hope — (first, Calcutta; second, Can ton) — and as many as sixty British vessels Avere en gaged in trade Avith the River Meinam ; but such has been the baneful influence of bad legislation — such the destructive progress of monopoly — that when I visited Siam, all that remained to represent foreign trade was one English (half-caste) merchant, one Armenian, and a few Anglo-Indians from Bombay and Surat. The existing commerce, carried on in square-rigged vessels, was wholly possessed by the King and the nobles, Avhile the mass of the junk coasting-trade had passed into the hands of the Chinese; but even this latter branch of commerce had been so interrupted by the pirates on the coasts of China and in the Gulf of Siam, that the junks employed had been reduced to one-tenth of the number formerly engaged. Yet, looking at the wonderful aptitudes of Siam, it is obvious that nothing but mismanagement and misrule could have prevented the rapid growth and extension, instead of the decline and decay, of the commerce of so feracious a, region. Four great rivers, navigable at a considerable distance from their mouths, open cheap and easy communications VOL. I. R 242 COMMERCE. with vast regions of cultivable lands; multitudes of canals lend their auxiliary aid ; the general spirit of the people is favourable to maritime pursuits, and the trader occupies a respectable position in public opinion. In fact, from the monarch to the meanest of his subjects, everybody is disposed to barter and to turn to profit the exchange of commodities. The greater activity of the multitudinous Chinese, and their roving and adventurous spirit, have made them the principal channels of trading operations in all parts of the country: there are no districts too remote to be explored by them, no object of traffic too small to escape their notice, — they are awake to everything which is to leave lucre in their hands ; they are masters of the art of exploring and of ex ploiting, (we want an English word, though exhaust ing would be hardly too strong,) and their presence often reminds me of the vultures which I have seen gathering from all quarters of the heavens to feed upon a camel that has fallen down in the deserts, or the tens of thousands of black ants which collect around and deArour or carry away the body of a cockroach which has had the misfortune to be trodden upon. Let it not, however, be supposed that I look with any feelings but those of complacency upon the exo dus of the Chinese from their native land, and their outpourings on all adjacent regions. I believe there is no class of settlers who, under proper control, are so likely to be useful — that the very quality, the passion for acquiring wealth, which leads them to dare all danger and difficulty, is a most valuable recom CHINESE TRADERS. 243 mendation. Their own habits of subordination, — their inborn and inbred respect for authority — their gregarious spirit, Avhich drives them into associations of every sort, private and public, praiseworthy and pernicious, — only require a thorough knowledge of their character to be turned to the best account. Already they constitute nearly half the population of Siam. Every year there is a considerable influx, principally from the Island of Hainan, and from the provinces of Kwang tung and Fookien ; the two latter districts affording, indeed, the chief supply of emi grants not only to Siam, but to Cochin China, the Straits, California, Australia, Western America, and generally to the countries in which Chinamen are located. As most of the Chinese junks come down by the north-east and return by the south-west monsoon, their trading affairs are very sluggishly conducted ; and long credits, irregularities, and delays have, no doubt, added to the profits, but have increased the risks of commerce, especially to the foreign trader desirous of realizing his import cargo and obtaining produce in return. It Avas an ancient joke of one of the Catholic bishops, that every foreigner who came to Siam should be accompanied by three cargoes — one of presents for the King and the ministers, another of the commodities which he desired to sell, and- a third loaded with patience to enable him to wait for their sale.* The establishment of capitalists, with Avarehouses for stowing goods, ready to purchase the * Pallegoix, i. 326. R 2 244 COMMERCE. produce of the country, or to exchange the goods they import for such produce, will in future years regulate or supersede the existing state of things. Van Schouten (1636) reports on the commerce of Siam, — " The principal traffic of the country is in stuffs which come from the Coromandel coast and from Surat, Chinese manufactures, jeAvels, gold, benzoin, gum-lac, wax, sapan-wood, eagle-wood, tin, lead, and deer-skins — more than one hundred thou sand deer being annually caught, the skins of which are sold in Japan at a great profit. They also deal largely in rice, of which all the Oriental nations consume great quantities. The King is the greatest merchant in the whole kingdom, annually sending to the Coromandel coast and to China, Avhere he is held in high honour. Each year he obtains large sums by trafficking in the kingdom of Pegu, at Jongoma and Langhojangh, " The coinage of the country is of very pure silver. The tical is worth 30 sols, the mace 7\ sols, and the foang 3 sols 9 deniers. They usually reckon by catties of silver; each catty being worth 20 taels, or 144 livres; for the tael is worth some what more than 7 francs. All commerce is con ducted by this money, no other being current in the country: but from Manilla and the islands of Borneo and Legneo is brought a shell, of which eight or nine hundred are worth a franc ; and this is used in purchasing the necessaries of life, which are ex ceedingly cheap." (P. 34.) In La Loubere's time all foreign trade was mono polized by the King. He says that no individual was ANCIENT COMMERCE OF SIAM. 245 allowed to sell imported articles ; and that the King was not contented with selling by wholesale, but had shops in the bazaars where his commodities were dealt out in retail. He not only monopolized the sale of imports, but compelled his subjects to buy the Avares he imported; and parents were ordered to clothe their children before the accustomed age for Avearing garments. Tin, ivory, areca, and some other articles could only be sold to the King, and by him were supplied to foreigners ; but the export was free of many important articles of produce, — rice, sugar, fish, salt, gums, birds' nests, oils, spices, &c. The ancient commerce of Siam Avas, when La Loubere Avrote, in a state of decadence, in consequence of the King's monopolies ; and he reports that only two or three Dutch barks traded Avith the country. Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, the famous exaggerator, states that, in his time, more than a thousand foreign ships were engaged in the Siamese trade. " Com merce," the French ambassador Avell remarks, " re quires a certain liberty;" and when the prices at which imports Avere to be bought and exports to be sold were arbitrarily fixed by the King, there Avas little encouragement for the commercial adven turer. (P. 113.) In the former days of Siamese commerce, teak, cassia, oil of turpentine, sandal-Avood, resins, ginger, pepper, tobacco, coffee, cotton, sugar, benzoin (gum benjamin), eagle-wood, cardamums, gutta percha, cardego, and a variety of oils, were the principal vegetable commodities for exportation. The dyewoods of Siam were objects of considerable 246 COMMERCE. trade, consisting of shumac, rosewood, kele, (for yel low,) jackwood, sapan or campeche wood, jo, and laclake, for red dyes ; ebony fruit (name not men tioned) for black, and a fruit called carthame for rose colour. Metals, ivory, skins and horns of animals, con tributed largely to the export cargo. Mr. Craw- furd furnished Mr. M'Culloch {Dictionary, article Bangkok) with the following list of exports from Siam : — "Black pepper, sugar, tin, cardamums, eagle- wood, sapan-wood, red mangrove bark, rosewood for furniture and cabinet work, cotton, ivory, stick-lac, rice, areca-nuts, salt fish; the hides and skins of oxen, buffaloes, elephants; rhinoceros, deer, tigers, leopards, otters, civet cats, and pangolins ; of snakes and rays, with the belly-shell of a species of land- tortoise; the horns of the buffalo, ox, deer, and rhinoceros ; the bones ofthe ox, buffalo, elephant, rhi noceros, and tiger ; dried deers' sinews ; the feathers of the pelican, of several species of storks, of the peacock and kingfisher, &c. ; and, finally, esculent swallows' nests." He omits one of the most im portant articles of produce and export — teak-wood for ship and other building. Gutzlaff gives the folloAving accurate account of the Chinese junk trade with Siam : — " The junks, every year, in February, March, and the beginning of April, arrive from Hainan, Canton, Sookah (or Soo a chen, in Chaou-chow-foo), Amoy, Ningpo, Seang-hae for Shang-hae heen, in Kiangnan), and other places. Their principal imports consist of CHINESE JUNK TRADE. 247 various articles for the consumption of the Chinese, and a considerable amount of bullion. They select their export cargo according to the different places of destination, and leave Siam in the last of May, in June, and July. These vessels are about eighty in number. Those which go up to the Yellow Sea take mostly sugar, sapan-wood, and betel-nut. They are called pak-tow sun (or pih-tow chuen)— white-headed vessels, — are usually built in Siam, and of about two hundred and sixty or three hundred tons, and are manned by Chaou-chow men from the eastern district of Canton province. The major part of these junks are OAvned either by Chinese settlers at Bangkok, or by the Siamese nobles. The former put on board, as supercargo, some relati\re of their own, generally a young man who has married one of their daughters ; the latter take surety of the relatives of the person whom they appoint supercargo. If anything happens to the junk, the individuals who secured her are held responsible, and are often, very unjustly, thrown into prison. Though the trade to the Indian Archipelago is not so important, yet about thirty or forty vessels are annually despatched thither from Siam. " Chinese vessels have generally a captain, who might more properly be styled supercargo. Whether the owner or not, he has charge of the whole cargo, buys and sells as circumstances require, but has no command whatever over the sailing of the ship. This is the business of the hochang, or pilot. During the whole voyage, to observe the shores and promon tories are the principal objects which occupy his attention day and night. He sits steadily on the side 248 COMMERCE. of the ship, and sleeps when standing, just as it suits his convenience. Though he has nominally the command over the sailors, yet they obey him only when they find it agreeable to their own wishes ; and they scold and brave him just as if he belonged to their own company. Next to the pilot (or mate) is the to-kung (helmsman), who manages the sailing of the ship : there are a few men under his immediate command. There are, besides, two clerks — one to keep the accounts, and the other to superintend the cargo that is put on board : also, a comprador, to purchase provisions; and a heang-kung (or priest) who attends to the idols, and burns every morning a certain quantity of incense, and of gold and silver paper. The sailors are divided into two classes : a feAV, called tow-muh (or headmen), have charge of the anchor, sails, &c. ; and the rest, called ho-ke (or comrades), perform the menial work, such as pulling ropes and heaving the anchor. A cook and some barbers make up the remainder of the crew. " All these personages, except the second class of sailors, have cabins, — long, narrow holes, in which one may stretch himself, but cannot stand erect. If any person wishes to go as a passenger, he must apply to the tow-muh in order to hire one of their cabins, which they let on such conditions as they please. In fact, the sailors exercise full control over the vessel, and oppose every measure which they think may prove injurious to their own interest; so that even the captain and pilot are frequently obliged, Avhen wearied out Avith their insolent behaviour, to, CHINESE JUNK TRADE. 249 crave their kind assistance, and to request them to show a better temper. " The several individuals of the crew form one Avhole, whose principal object in going to sea is trade, the Avorking of the junk being only a secondary object. Every one is a shareholder, having the liberty of putting a certain quantity of goods on board, Avith Avhich he trades wheresoever the vessel may touch, caring very little about how soon she may arrive at the port of destination. " The common sailors receive from the captain nothing but dry rice, and have to provide for them selves their other fare, which is usually very slender. These sailors are not usually men who have been trained up to their occupation, but wretches who are obliged to flee from their homes ; and they frequently engage for a voyage before they have ever been on board a junk. All of them, however stupid, are commanders; and if anything of importance is to be done, they will baAvl out their commands to each other till all is utter confusion. There is no sub ordination, no cleanliness, no mutual regard or interest. " The navigation of junks is performed Avithout the aid of charts, or any other helps except the compass : it is mere coasting, and the whole art of the pilot consists in directing the course according to the promontories in sight. In time of danger, the men immediately lose all courage; and their inde cision frequently proves the destruction of their vessel. Although they consider our mode of sailing as somewhat better than their OAvn, still they cannot 250 COMMERCE. but allow the palm of superiority to the ancient craft of the ' Celestial Empire.' AVhen any alteration for improvements is proposed, they Avill readily answer, ' If Ave adopt this measure, we shall justly fall under the suspicion of barbarism.' " The most disgusting thing on board a junk is idolatry, the rites of which are performed with the greatest punctuality. The goddess of the sea is Ma- tseo po — called also Teen-how, or ' queen of heaven.' She is said to have been a virgin who lived some centuries ago in Fuh Kien, near the district of Foo Chow. On account of having, with great fortitude and by a kind of miracle, saved her brother, who was on the point of drowning, she was deified, and loaded with titles not dissimilar to those bestowed on the Virgin Mary. Every vessel is furnished with an image of this goddess, before which a lamp is kept burning. Some satellites, in hideous shape, stand round the ' portly queen, who is always represented in a sitting posture. Cups of tea are placed before her, and some tinsel adorns her shrine. " When a vessel is about to proceed on a voyage, she is taken in procession to a temple, where many offerings are displayed before her. The priest recites some prayers, the mate makes several prostrations, and the captain usually honours her by appearing in a full dress before her image. Then an entertain ment is given, and the food presented to the idol is greedily devoured. Afterwards, the good mother, who does not partake of the gross earthly substance, is carried in front of a stage, to behold the minstrels, and to admire the dexterity of the actors : thence she CHINESE JUNK TRADE. 25 1 is brought back, with music, to the junk, Avhere the merry peals of the gong receive the venerable old inmate, and the jolly sailors anxiously strive to seize whatever may happen to remain of her banquet. " The care of the goddess is entrusted to the priest, who never dares to appear before her with his face unwashed. Every morning he puts sticks of burning incense into the censer, and repeats his ceremonies in every part of the ship, not excepting even the cook's room. " When the junk reaches any promontory, or when contrary winds prevail, the priest makes an offering to the spirits of the mountains, or of the air. On such occasions (and only on such), pigs and fowls are killed. When the offering is duly arranged, the priest adds to it some spirits and fruits, burns gilt paper, makes several prostrations, and then cries out to the sailors, ' Folio av the spirits,' who suddenly rise and devour most of the sacrifice. When sailing out of a river,' offerings of paper are constantly thrown out near the rudder. " But to no part of the junk are so many offerings made as to the compass. Some red cloth, which is also tied to the rudder and cable, is put over it, incense sticks in great quantities are kindled, and gilt paper, made into the shape of a junk, is burnt before it. Near the compass, some tobacco, a pipe, and a burning lamp are placed, the joint property of all; and hither they all crowd to enjoy themselves. When there is a calm, the sailors generally contribute a certain quantity of gilt paper, which, pasted into the form of a junk, is set adrift. If no wind folloAvs, 252 COMMERCE. the goddess is thought to be out of humour, and recourse is had to the demons of the air. When all endeavours prove unsuccessful, the offerings cease, and the sailors wait with indifference." For the last twenty years, the number of junks employed in the Siamese trade has been gradually diminishing, and they have been to some extent replaced by vessels built on European models. In 1832, only three or four square-rigged vessels were in the habit of visiting the Meinam, — mostly Arabian vessels bearing the British flag. Under the impulse given by the present Prime Minister, a considerable number of trading- vessels have been built for Siamese account on excellent models, and ship-building is likely to become a very extensive and prosperous undertaking in Siam. It was in the year 1835 that the present Phra Kalahom began the building of ships on the European model; and he has pursued the meritorious work with great perseverance and success. These vessels belong to the two Kings and principal nobiUty. In a few years, square-rigged vessels will, no doubt, supersede junks altogether for foreign voyages. The Parsees have been called the Jews of India. Their commercial spirit has led them into the remotest regions. I found some of them in Siam, carrying on a trade with Surat and Bombay. They are men tioned by Joao de Barros as established in Siam in the beginning of the sixteenth century,* and are said to have influenced the King of Malacca to throw off his subjection to the Siamese. * Decadas, vol. iv., p. 15. ARTICLES EXPORTED. 253 Pallegoix gives the following list of articles ex ported, their prices and quantities. He does not mention his authorities for the estimate ; but I doubt, on the whole, if the quantities be stated in excess : the statement at best is, however, only approximative. Clean rice .... Teak-wood Sapan-wood . Cocoa-nut oil . Sugar Palm sugar Salt Pepper Cardamums Bastard cardamums . Laclake .... Tin Iron Ivory Gamboge .... Rhinoceros horns Small deer horns . Stag horns Buffalo horns . Deer sinews . Rhinoceros hides . . Tigers' bones . Buffalo and ox hides . Gum benjamin Edible birds' nest3 . Dried fish .... Dried prawns . Balatchang, or Icapi Wood-oil .... Rosin Rosewood .... Damars, or torches . Rattans .... Bark for dyeing . . Sea-slugs .... 20 ticals the coyan* . 1 tical p. picul . 10 „ . . 7 „ (averg.)p.picnl 1 fuang the jar . 6 ticals the measure . 10 „ p. picul . . 200 „ „ . . 16 ticals p. picul 24 „ 80 ticals p. picul . 1 tical p. hide 100 „ picul Various prices . 5 to 6 ticals p. picul 1 fuang p. packet I >1 S3 QUANTITIES SHIPPED. 1,500,000 130,000 500,000 700,000 250,000 l8o,000 12,000 70,000 70O 6,000 11,000 5,000 20,000 500600 70 30,000 200 300 250 300 70 120,000 200 20 100,000 20,00020,000 25,000 l6,00O 250,000 300,000260,000300,000 5,000 coyan. trees. piculs. jars. measures. piculs. pairs. piculs. hides. piculs measures. piculs. packets. piculs. * The coyan is 100 baskets. 254 COMMERCE. AETICLES. Gold-dustRaw cotton . . Indigo paste . . Kele (yellow wood) Lead .... Aquila-wood . . Tobacco . . . Precious stones . EbonyFish-oil . . . CapsicumsTortoiseshellFeathersOnions .... Ginger Iron stoves, &c. Sardines (salted) . Coffee .... PBICE. 8 ticals p. picul . 4 » <=atty i ticalp. i ooobundles 20 to 6o ticals p. catty 2 to 3 ticals p. picul I tical p. picul 1 6 ticals p. picul QUANTITIES SHIPPED. 200,000 bales. 60,000 jars. 6,ooo piculs. 90,000 piculs 12,000 „ The prices of Siamese produce given to me at Bangkok in April, 1855, were — Sugar, white „ 2nd quality „ 3rd quality „ red Pepper, black Lac, old . . „ new Gamboge . . Gum benzoin Cardamums . Tin . . . . Tallow . . . Cotton . . . „ uncleaned Cocoa-nut oil 7i to 7i ticals per 6| to 7 }) 61 » 3 » 8 to 9 » 11 )> 8 )> 30 to 35 W 40 to 60 » 130 to 400 >} 30 to 35 }> 8 to 12 i) 12 to J3 >) 4 11 9 » picul. OPIUM. 255 Rice 30 ticals per coyan of 100 baskets. Hides 4 ticals per picul. Horns 6 Sapan-wood | to 1 tical „ Hemp 10 ticals „ Opium has become one of the most important articles of importation ; its consumption is said to be about 1200 chests, which represent a value of nearly 150,000^. sterling. The vice of opium-smoking is mostly confined to the Chinese, and among them it seems as ineradicable as the consumption of spirituous liquors among many of the European nations. The former laws against the importation and use of opium were as helpless as they were severe. I give in the Appendix the last decree, which was issued in 1839 by the late King. Ten thousand copies were prmted at the American Missionary press. The decree ori* ginated in a contest between Chinamen (engaged in smuggling opium) and Siamese, which led to the loss of many lives. For some time an active search was carried on, and severe punishments were inflicted on the traders in and smokers of opium. The King allowed a certain quantity to those who would suffer from a sudden cessation of the habit. But the influ ence of the Chinese, the wants of the Treasury, the impotency of prohibitions and punishments to arrest the evil, have led to the legalization of the drug, and the establishment of an opium farm, for which a large sum is annually paid by an opulent Chinese con tractor. The custom-house service is carried on Avith consi- 256 COMMERCE. derable activity. We found several revenue-boats at the entrance of the Meinam, in the Gulf of Siam, whose business it was to report the arrival of ships. All along the banks of the river are small custom house stations; and they are said to practise many exactions, and to connive at many irregularities. This would be only according to Oriental custom, and the small pay received by the officers, no doubt encourages their venality. They interfere little with the barques of the nobles, and, no doubt, make amends for their abstention from acting against the influential and strong by their heavier oppressions upon the weak and the unprotected. In this respect Siam offers no exception to the rest of the Eastern world. Under former treaties, foreign vessels were not called upon to pay duty on imports or exports; but the enormous charge for tonnage-dues, whatever might be the value of the cargo, had nearly destroyed the foreign trade. The tonnage-dues collected from Chinese and Siamese vessels are very various. Sailing-boats able to proceed to sea pay from 8 to 40 ticals ( il. to 5I. ) ; small junks, from 40 to 60 ticals {5I. to 7I. ios.) ; large junks, from 80 to 200 ticals {10I. to 25I.) The English and American Treaty established, in lieu of all other charges, a tonnage-duty of 1700 ticals (215/.) per fathom of 78 English inches. This amount, though reduced by royal decree to 1000 ticals (125^.), was too heavy to be borne. This mode of taxing cargo is so obviously unjust, as by it the most and the least valuable commodities are subjected to the same THE COINAGE. 2,57 imposts, that it seems strange such a scheme could have been concurred in by British and American negotiators. However, by the neAV treaty, tonnage- dues are wholly abolished, and moderate duties on exports and imports substituted. The money that circulates in Siam consists princi pally of silver ticals or bats of the value of 25. 6d. sterling, with smaller coins, constituting its sub divisions. The coin is an irregular ball, but has two impressions, made by bloAvs, bearing the King's mark. There is a double tical — a half tical, called song- salung — a quarter tical, the salung — and the half salung, or fuang, which represents 1200 cowries. These shells are generally employed for the small purchases of the people, about 100 of them representing a farthing. They are collected on the Siamese coast. Pallegoix says, that for a fuang (less than ^d.) fifty or sixty varieties of vegetables may be purchased in the public markets. Four ticals make the Siamese ounce — 20 ounces the catty, or Siamese pound of silver. The larger amounts are" reckoned in pounds of silver, of which the sterling value is about 10I. Gold coins, resembling the silver in form and size, are issued, but in small quantities. Copper coins are issued by individuals in the provinces ; and stamped glass, or enamel bearing inscriptions, is also used as a circulating medium. The Government issues pro missory notes of various amounts, even to one- eighth of a tical. They do not seem extensively current, and, I believe, have not experienced any depreciation. vol. 1. s 2^8 COMMERCE. The French authorities quote the Siamese weights as; lb. oz. dr. sc. gr- 76170 3 8-0949 2 1 6-1898 IO 0 47597 3 2 12 2 0-7811 I 9 6 1 o'39°55 18 ii 14 2 4-460 35-2 poles. Avoirdupois Weight. cwt. qr. Sun = 45 centigrammes = Fuang = 2\ grammes = Salung = 4^ = Bat = 18 „ = IKang =1440 „ = Cati = 720 „ = Kab = 72 kilogrammes = 1 1 Measures. Va =2 metres = 78-742 inches. Cubit = 50 centimetres = 19-6855 „ JSmpan = 25 centimetres = 9-84275 „ Kabiet = y of an inch. Sen = 20 va. 100 sen = 4000 metres = 2 miles, 3 furlongs, 400 sen = 1 jot, or 1 Siamese league. Kanan = about \ litre. Thang = 20 kanan, or small bushel.