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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
During many leisure hours, while absent amid the sunny glades and emerald vales of Asia’s most favored kingdom, Siam, I made numerous notes concerning that land of mystic lore and ruined fanes, a section novel to all who have been so fortunate as to have visited its walled city with its hundred glittering spires, whose temples and palaces are marvels of architectural beauty, whose wide-spreading rice-fields feed untold millions, its groves of waving palms ever ready to minister to man’s wants, i
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THE PEARL OF ASIA. I. SIAM PROPER—THE PEARL.OF ASIA.
THE PEARL OF ASIA. I. SIAM PROPER—THE PEARL.OF ASIA.
By reference to the map it will be found that Siam is an extensive kingdom of southeastern Asia, containing an area of about 250,000 square miles. In the north the country is mountainous, but it stretches toward the south into well-watered fertile plains on which are raised large crops of paddy (rice), the principal article of export; the next article of importance is teak wood, obtained from the forests in the interior and rafted down the river. Sugar cane, pepper, teal seed and froit trees are
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III, RECEPTION BY WIS MAJESTY KING CIIUL- ALONGKORN.
III, RECEPTION BY WIS MAJESTY KING CIIUL- ALONGKORN.
The first official act that a minister performs when he reaches Bangkok is to call on the Foreign Minister, now II. R. II. Prince Devawongse, and request an audience with the King, at the same time presenting an office copy of the letter of the President to Chulalongkorn I. Duly armed with a copy of President Cleveland’s letter and a copy of the remarks to be made in presenting it, in company with the Vice Consul General, Dr. McDonald, I was driven to the palace of the Foreign Minister, who gave
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Iv. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COUNTRY AND HABITS OF THE PEOPLE.
Iv. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COUNTRY AND HABITS OF THE PEOPLE.
The natives of Siam, the peasants, are virtually peons; they attach themselves to some master and have his name tattoed on their wrist, called sak, otherwise they are liable to be arrested and placed in the army for life. For the privilege of becoming a retainer of a nobleman the servant gives one month service during the year, which he can work out, or he can pay from five to ten ticals for his time. If he should get into difficulty with any of the many tax collectors his master sees that he is
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LV. AYUTHIA, THE ANCIENT CAPITAL,
LV. AYUTHIA, THE ANCIENT CAPITAL,
Gen. Grant and other eminent travelers have visited Ayuthia, the old capital of the Kingdom of Siam, once the residence of a long line of kings prior to the pres ent dynasty. It was destroyed by Burmese invaders in 1767, since which it has been a place of but little importance, noted solely forits ruins, which are massive and wide-spread, amply worth the trouble and time it takes to visit them, Scattered over the pluin can be seen the debris of over fifty temples and pagodas, their white walls,
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VI. DINING WITH THE KING.
VI. DINING WITH THE KING.
While lying ina chair on the veranda of the Legation building, indolently watching the ever-changing panorama on the swiftly-flowing Menam covered with boats, from the tiny canoe of the ruachong, ferry boatman, to the majestic ocean steamer, and contrasting the difference between the land of the prairie and the land of the palm, I was aroused by the approach of my kavass, a native who speaks English and is an attache of the Legation, who, after the usual salam, said: “ Your Excellency, a messeng
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VIL * WONDERFUL RUINS OF ANGKOR AND NAGKON WAT.
VIL * WONDERFUL RUINS OF ANGKOR AND NAGKON WAT.
But seldom has a white traveler visited the marvel ous and stupendous ruins of Angkor and Nagkon Wat, in the sylvan solitudes of Siam, but those who have been so fortunate speak with awe ofits immensity and beauty, remarking that these relies of a past age “are as imposing as the ruins of Thebes or Memphis and more mysterious.” While making a tour of the East, Frank Vincent, Jr., in company with Rev. 8. I. McFarland, made a visit to Angkor, the first Americans that had penetrated the vast wilds
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VIII. THE SUPREME PALACE AND ROYAL TEMPLES.
VIII. THE SUPREME PALACE AND ROYAL TEMPLES.
Nowhere can be seen a more unique collection of buildings than those closely grouped together within the palace walls of Siam’s capital city, the most mportant of which is the supreme palace, the residence of His Majesty and his many queens, where he grants audiences to the diplomatic corps and receives distinguished guests, also, the Princes and officials of his realms. The building (as can be seen from the engraving) is very handsome, pure white, built in the French style with a magnificant fa
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xX. THE WATER RITE.
xX. THE WATER RITE.
Among the many religious ceremonies of the Siamese none 1s more peculiar or more closely observed than the water (nom) rite, which takes place during the month of April, about the time the mangoes are ripe. Then the natives assemble at the nearest wat close to the shore of the gulf or by the banks of a river and build myriads of sand piles about eighteen inches high, shaped like a bee-hive, which they decorate with flowers and small paper flags of various colors, then sprinkle them with water hi
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XI. CEREMONIES OF HAIR CUTTING.
XI. CEREMONIES OF HAIR CUTTING.
When a Siamese child, boy or girl, has reached a suitable age, the time for which is fixed by the soothsayer, or astrologer who casts its horoscope, ranging from nine, eleven, thirteen or fifteen years; the even numbers being avoided as unlucky—no more superstitious people exist than the Siamese—the coming of age, as it is termed, is celebrated with the most elaborate ceremonies called So-kan or hair cutting.” Prior to this time the head of the child is shaved with the exception ofa tuft or top-
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XII. WAT-SA-KET AND THE SIAMESE GOLGOTHA.
XII. WAT-SA-KET AND THE SIAMESE GOLGOTHA.
Ong of the first places visited by tourists while in Bangkok is Wat-Sa-Ket, a temple crected on a vast mound of brick at the intersection of two of the large klangs or canals that permeate the city. It is about two hundred and fifty feet in height, built about sixty years ago, in the form of a bell with a circumference of one thousand feet, and is surmounted by a temple that can be seen from any part of the city, access to which is by a flight of stone steps in front, or by a circular roadway th
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XII11, A SIAMESE EXECUTION.
XII11, A SIAMESE EXECUTION.
It is seldom that the Siamese resort to capital punishment, most violations of law being punished by imprisonment, the major crimes by incarceration for life, such as murder and treason. As soon as sentenced the prisoner is manacled and turned over to some Prince or noble, whose slave he becomes, and he is then placed under a task master who proceeds to get all the work out of him possible. Under his control the doomed one has a foretaste of hades ere he shufiles off his mortal coil. The life pr
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XIV. PADDY (RICE) AND ITS CULTIVATION.
XIV. PADDY (RICE) AND ITS CULTIVATION.
Paddy or rice fields are seldom sown in Siam, the plant is raised in beds and then transplanted. They prepare the beds or nurseries, as they term them, by breaking the ground and harrowing it until it is soft, and then irrigating it so that when they sow the seed the bed is in a semi-fiuid state. The seed, which has been sprouted, is then sown so that it will come up as thick as possible. This'part of the work is always done by the women, during the latter part of May or early in June. Being spr
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XV. EXCESSIVE TAXATION OF THE PEOPLE.
XV. EXCESSIVE TAXATION OF THE PEOPLE.
The King is the collector and disburser of the revenue of his kingdom and it is impossible for any one not conversant with the interpal affairs of Siam to know what the amount of the revenue is, as it is derived from various sources: First, imports and exports; second, direct taxation, which is annexed ; third, donations to His Majesty and the corvee. This latter is unlimited, as hundreds of thousands bave to pay a personal tax ranging from ten to twenty ticals, and then the King, through his of
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XVI. THE KING'S INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS SON.
XVI. THE KING'S INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS SON.
Several years since His Majesty concluded to send several of his sons to England, for the purpose of having them educated at Cambridge and Oxford, but before doing so prepared a series of instructions for their guidance while in that far-off land, which are worthy of perpetuation as coming not only from a monarch, but a father who felt a deep interest in the welfare of his children. The following is a correct translation: ’ “I desire to putmy wishes in a form of written instructions for the guid
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XVIL FUNERAL OF A CHINESE MANDARIN.
XVIL FUNERAL OF A CHINESE MANDARIN.
A novelsight is frequently witnessed in Bangkok, conveying the remains of a mandarin from his residence to one of the Hong Kong steamers, so that it can be transported to the home of his nativity and buried beside his parents. The boat that contains the coffin is filled with friends and relatives, all dressed in white, that being the color of their mourning garmeuts, this is accompanied by other boats decorated and containing musicians, priests and others making quite a display. The beating of g
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XVIII. ROYAL PALACES AT BANG-PA-IN AND RATBUREE.
XVIII. ROYAL PALACES AT BANG-PA-IN AND RATBUREE.
Siam is a land of legends that run back into the storied past, when an almost unknown civilization flourished ere its present religion, from a faint spark was blown into a blaze by the saintly Gautama, the Buddha of the East, whose myriads of followers have reared their temples on mount and in emerald vales and beside flowing rivers, whose white walls and gilt spires dot the landscape far aid wide and from their cloistered halls can be heard at early morn the beat of drums and the clangor of bel
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XIX, THE LEGAL OATH ADMINISTERED TO WITNESSES.
XIX, THE LEGAL OATH ADMINISTERED TO WITNESSES.
The Siamese have regularly appointed judges and various courts are held for the purpose of trying criminals and the settlement of disputes. Among the oaths administered to witnesses, after they are taken to a Buddhist temple by an officer of the court, is the annexed. It has been partially amended by the judges in Bangkok, but is still used in the interior towns and villages and would" seem to be binding enough for all practical purposes. This oath was translated and published in the Siam Advert
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XX. INSTALLATION OF THE CROWN PRINCE.
XX. INSTALLATION OF THE CROWN PRINCE.
One of the grandest pageants cver witnessed in Bangkok was the occasion of declaring the Crown Prince heir to the throne of Siam. The ceremonies lasted four days and commenced with a grand procession within the palace walls to which the consular body and foreign residents. were invited. A large pavilion had been erected for the nobles and consular body immediately opposite the royal pavilion to which the guests were escorted along the broad avenue, which was covered with matting, through long li
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XXT, PROMINENT TEMPLES AND PAGODAS.
XXT, PROMINENT TEMPLES AND PAGODAS.
Of the fifty-eight leading wats or temples in the city of Bangkok wat P’hya, or temple of the Emerald Idol, situate in the palace grounds, excells all others not only in the city but kingdom, for the beauty of its exterior and interior. Itsstyle of architecture is similar to most of the wats but its main beauty is the finish of its exterior ; the floor laid with German silver bricks, its altar surmounted by the sacred emerald idol, the walls elaborately covered with paintings representing Nirvan
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XXII. BUDDHISM IN SIAM.
XXII. BUDDHISM IN SIAM.
A number of learned oriental scholars have spént years in reading the vast mass of fact and fiction that has come down to us from the writers of the East concerning the Lord Buddha, whose followers now number at least one-third of the human race, but none have given it a closer attention than the late Henry Alabaster, who spent many years in Bangkok as interpreter to the British Legation and councillor of the King, a ripe Pali scholar, and from his work, “The Wheel of the Law,” collated from Sia
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XXII1, A TRANSLATION FROM THE PONGSA- WADAN,
XXII1, A TRANSLATION FROM THE PONGSA- WADAN,
OR HISTORY OF THE KINGS OF SIAM. In the yearof the cock 1019 (—A. D. 1658) a French ship captain came with merchandise in his vessel to Siam to trade. About that time the King of Siam was building a large ship. When it was finished and allready to launch, he commanded his interpreters to ask the French merchant how they launched large vessels most successfully in France? The Frenchman being a man of intelligence, and having great experience in ship. carpentry, answered, that he would volunteer t
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XXIV. “TAUT KATIN” OR WAT VISITING.
XXIV. “TAUT KATIN” OR WAT VISITING.
Annually the King visits the various .wats adjacent to Bangkok and in fact every wat throughout his realms is either visited by himself in person or by deputy during the month of September. Taut Katin means the laying down of a pattern to cut patchwork, and this is generally the time of year that the priests are furnished with robes for their next year wear, being donated by the King and his suite and others who are desirous of making merit, the robes having been made by the devout believers in
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. . XXV. GRAND DISPLAY OF THE ROYAL FLOTILLA ON THE MENAM.
. . XXV. GRAND DISPLAY OF THE ROYAL FLOTILLA ON THE MENAM.
In days agone the sparkling waters of the Adriatic amorously kissed the prow of the beaucentaur and reflected back from its pellucid depth thesillken banners of the Doge of Venice and his accompanying cavaliers when he cast into the opaline flood a jeweled ring, wedding the Queen of the Lagoons to the tideless tide, whose white-lipped waves spent a wealth of kisses on barge and gondola, mirroring chivalry and beauty on each swelling billow, a gleam of glory that must ever flash from the annals o
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XXVI. THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY AMONG THE AFFLUENT,
XXVI. THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY AMONG THE AFFLUENT,
From a Siamese manuscript I condense the following in regard to the marriage between a couple of young people in the higher walks of life. Elsewhere I spoke of the ceremony in general. The first step is to secure an elderly woman, a friend of the family, whom the parents of the young man consult in regard tosecuring asuittable wile for their son, she arranges a meeting of friends at the house of the parents of the young woman whom she has selected; the day having been declared favorable by the a
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M XXVIII. "THE ATTAP PALM, TONG YANG AND OTHER TREES.
M XXVIII. "THE ATTAP PALM, TONG YANG AND OTHER TREES.
One of the most peculiar growths of Siam is the Attap Palm, a cross between a tree and a fern, found only in the alluvial lands at the head waters of the gulf and along the rivers entering therein, Its leaves are held in high repute by the natives as a thatch for covering their houses. Its center or trunk is a large bulb, from two to three feet in diameter, from which shoot from thirty to forty immense leaves, somewhat resembling the cocoa palm, which stand out with singular uprightness and then
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XXVIII IIOLIDAYS AND TESTIVALS T'EEP CHING CH’A HOLIDAYS.
XXVIII IIOLIDAYS AND TESTIVALS T'EEP CHING CH’A HOLIDAYS.
These always occur on the 7th and 9th waxing moon of thesecond month. On each of these days a large procession is made for the Chief Minister of the Rice Department, by which he is carried in great pomp to the place called Sou ch’ing ch’a (pillars for swinging). A brick platform, carpeted with white muslin and tastefully curtained, having been prepared for him, he ascends it, and stands on one foot attended by four Brahmin priests, two on his right and two on his left hand, until three games of
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XXIX. CUSTOM OF THE SIAMESE FOR THE DYING AND DEAD—CREMATIONS, ETC.
XXIX. CUSTOM OF THE SIAMESE FOR THE DYING AND DEAD—CREMATIONS, ETC.
The late Dr. D. B. Bradley, one of the early missionaries that went to Siam and who had freeentree into the palace of King Monkut, wrote a series of articles for his calender, and to it I am indebted for much of the. following account of the ceremonies attending the death of a high noble or King, he being in attendance when the late King was cremated. . ‘When a Buddhist prince is found to be at the point of death, his or her attendants, wishing to give the departing spirit as good a passport int
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XXX, PRACTICE OF MEDICINE—NATIVE DOCTORS.
XXX, PRACTICE OF MEDICINE—NATIVE DOCTORS.
The Siamese formerly believed that the human system is composed of four elements: water, wind, fire and earth; that disease is simply a disarrangement of these elements; hence if fire from without, the heat of the sun, for instance, enters the body in undue proportion fevers, small-pox, ete., necessarily follows. Each element is claimed by the physicians to have its regular seasons, similar to climatic changes. In the native books that they read they are told that during such a month that wind i
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XXXI1. SIAMESE PLOUGHS, OX-YOKES AND HARROWS.
XXXI1. SIAMESE PLOUGHS, OX-YOKES AND HARROWS.
A native plough is not worthy of thename. They are of two kinds, one designed to be drawn by a single ‘buffalo, and the other by a yoke of oxen. The difference between them is mainly in the length of the beam. . The plough for a single buffalo has a beam only about four feet long ; but the beam for a yoke of oxen is from 10 to 12 feet in length, proceeding forward from the handle with an upward curve, then downward, and then again upward to a slender and graceful point "which is seen above the h
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XXXII, BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF SIAMESE HISTORY.—A TRANSLATION.
XXXII, BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF SIAMESE HISTORY.—A TRANSLATION.
The history commences with a Laos king who reigned in Chieng-rai, at that time the capital of the kingdom. The neighboring king of Sa-tawng invaded his country and took the capital and carried away many captives. On the capture of Chieng-rai the king with many of its inhabitants fled and took refuge within the boundaries of Siam. Crossing the river Po, they came to the ancient city of Paap then in ruins. This city and Kam-p’aang-p’et weresituated on opposite sides of the river. The king being en
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XXXIIT,
XXXIIT,
Translation of His Majesty’s speech in reply to Col. J. T. Child, Minister Resident. Avpiexce oF January 17, 1891. ‘We regret that you should be compelled to leave our capital so quickly, We have while you fulfilled the office of Minister Resident to our court received vari ous proofs of your endeavor to maintain our friendly relations, and thus we are bound to you by love and must praise you for the spirit in which you approached all questions with our Minister in order to make our friendly rel
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XXXIV. HIS MAJESTY’'S BIRTHDAY FESTIVITIES.
XXXIV. HIS MAJESTY’'S BIRTHDAY FESTIVITIES.
The festivities celebrating His Majesty's birthday lasts for three days, when the city of Bangkok is a scene of unrivaled mirth and jollification. This event occurs on the 26th of September, during which time business is virtually suspended and at night the city is illuminated in the most gorgeous manner, each one trying to outdo his neighbor in the display of lights. At noon on the third day the diplomatic body, the princes and nobles repair to the supreme palace to tender congratulations to IT
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XXXV. THE MONEY STANDARD OF SIAM.
XXXV. THE MONEY STANDARD OF SIAM.
Silver is the standard of values in Siam, no gold being coined except a few pieces that the King distributes on coronation orcremation ceremonies. The gold pieces are similar in design to those of the silver coinage and possess twenty times their value. Their table of money and weights is as follows : Fifty Biah make one Solot, two Solots one At, two Ats one See-o or Pai, two See-o one Seek, two Seeks one Fuang, two Fuangs one Salung, four Salungs one Baht or Tical, four Bahts one Tamlu'ng, twen
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XXXVI. THE PRESS OF SIAM.
XXXVI. THE PRESS OF SIAM.
This is no land for newspapers, the history of the press of Siam is a novel one. There are now two English printed papers published there, the Times, * simi-weekly, at $20 per annum, and the Advertiser weekly, at $24 per annum. They represent the two extremes, one favorable to the Siamese, the other in decided opposition. Tor a half century the missionaries have endeavored to keep pace with the times by publishing an annual calendar and newspapers. By their efforts several papers have been start
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