ITS                    GOVERNMENT, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, &c.                                   BY                          Rev. N. A. McDONALD,               For ten years a Missionary in that country.                              PHILADELPHIA:                             ALFRED MARTIEN,                          1214 CHESTNUT STREET.                                  1871.       Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by                       

In giving these pages to the public the author has no ambition to make a book. Having been invited by the Principal of Milnwood Academy, at Shade Gap, Pa., to deliver in that Institution a series of lectures, or talks, on Siam, its government, manners, customs, &c., a few friends have requested that they be reduced to paper and published, which is his only apology for giving them to the public in book form. A few additions have been made, and the facts are narrated as seen and understood

GEOGRAPHY, Etc. On my "overland" journey from Siam to the United States, through France and England, many persons were accustomed to accost me saying, "Pardon me, Sir, but what nationality is that young man who is with you?" referring to my Siamese boy. That boy, Sir, is a Siamese. "A Siamese! Well, I must confess my geography is a little shaky,—I scarcely know where Siam is,—but I remember now that is where the Siamese twins came from." Referring, of course, to those unfortunate beings who by s

Siam proper is divided into fifty-eight provinces, which are each presided over by a Governor appointed by the Central Government at Bangkok. There are also several Malay states down the peninsula, and six or eight petty Laos kingdoms north of Siam proper which are tributary to the king of Siam. These Laos kingdoms pay a small annual tribute, and the King of Siam claims the prerogative of nominating a successor to the throne, when a vacancy occurs. This successor is taken of course from their ow

The religion of Siam is Budhism. It would however be impossible on an occasion of this kind to give any extended outline of Budhism, and besides this the principal works on that subject in the English language are dry and uninteresting to the general reader or listener. Any translations from the Budhist classics must also be necessarily stiff, and many of the names unintelligible, unless accompanied with explanations; I shall only, therefore, give as brief an outline as I can of the Budhist fait

The education of the Siamese is necessarily limited and the standard low, when compared with that of European countries. The temples or monasteries are the common schools of the country. Every priest can take to the temple with him as many pupils as he can teach, so that at almost every temple can be found a nice collection of boys, making a very respectable school. These boys besides being taught the rudiments of their own language, and the tenets of the Budhist religion, act also as servants t

The principle clothing of the Siamese consists of a waist-cloth called a "pa nung," corresponding to the sarang of India. It is about two-and-one-half yards long, and one yard wide; is placed around the waist, neatly tucked in, the two ends brought together, twisted, and brought back between the legs and tucked in behind. Formerly this was the only clothing worn, except a scarf thrown around the shoulders in cool weather. The King formerly used to receive foreigners whilst dressed in that style.

It has long been the custom amongst the Siamese to ascribe honor and glory to their princes and lords, in proportion to the number of wives they have, and can maintain. The king has generally one whom he constitutes his Queen Consort. A young princess of the highest rank that can be found in the kingdom is selected. She however is not certain of promotion until after she has lived with the king for a time, and has succeeded in gaining a large place in the royal affections. When this is sufficien

The Siamese dispose of their dead by cremation. When a prince of rank is found to be near death, the relatives suspend every other care, and assist in giving the departing spirit as good a passport as possible into the spirit land. Every effort is made to fix the thoughts of the dying man on Budha. They take their turns in calling out as loudly, and distinctly as possible, "Pra Arahang," one of the names of Budha. It is uttered as much as eight times in a minute, so that it is impossible to hear

When we consider that amidst all the light which the latter half of the nineteenth century sheds upon the subject, the theory and practice of medicine amongst western nations are still enveloped in darkness, and are constantly changing, it is not to be wondered at that a nation like the Siamese is almost wholly in the dark upon such a subject. The Rev. D. B. Bradly, M.D., the oldest missionary in Siam, and who for many years practised medicine in Bangkok, has prepared an abstract of the Siamese

The staple of the country is rice. Their farming operations are simple in the extreme, and as the soil is very fertile, I know of no place where the husbandman is so abundantly rewarded for so little labor. Their plough is exactly like that used in Scripture times, and pictures of which you have doubtless seen in books on biblical antiquities. It consists simply of a crooked stick, answering for beam and handle, to which a sheath is attached, to the end of which a small shovel is affixed. It has

The twenty-fours of the day are divided into two equal parts. The day is called Wán , and the night Kún . The former begins at 6 A.M., and the latter at 6 P.M. The hours of the forenoon are numbered from one up to six, or mid-day. The hours of the afternoon are numbered in the same way. The forenoon is called Pëla Chow , and the afternoon Pëla Bai . The word denoting an hour of the day is Mong , and that denoting an hour of the night is Toom . In expressing 9 o'clock, A.M., they would say, "Sam

Archaic spellings have been retained, but obvious typographic errors have been corrected. Otherwise the author's spelling of non-English words, including tone marks, has been preserved as printed, even when inconsistent, e.g. Birmah vs. Burmah. Use of double capital letters in HLuang appears to be intentional by the author, to represent the digraph in the Thai spelling of the word, and as such has been preserved as is. Ditto marks in lists have been replaced with the appropriate text....