CHAPTER X.

SIAM CONTINUED.

On his first visit, the writer spent six months at Siam, which time was devoted to the study of the Chinese and Siamese languages, and to the ordinary duties of the mission. A few general remarks, founded upon the information obtained at that time, and corrected and enlarged by a succeeding visit, will give the reader some idea of the place and its inhabitants.

The country, as far as regards scenery and improve. ments, is extremely uninteresting. There is not a hill-scarcely a mound to interrupt the dead level, which spreads in a wide compass around the capital. The soil is exceedingly productive ; it surpasses in the rich variety, and abundance of its fruits, nearly all the adjacent regions, and is probably not surpassed by any country of the east.*

Bankok, the capital, is situated upon the Meinam. The palaces of the two kings, and of some of the princes, are inclosed within a wall, while the suburbs extend about two or three miles above and below the royal residences, and on each side of the river. As the houses are generally situated upon the water, or near its edge, the river may be considered as the highway, the mart and pleasure grounds of the city. Here the mass of the population reside, carry on their business and take their recreation.

The most projecting row of houses is built upon bamboo rafts, and moored or secured to fixtures upon shore.

Of course, their locality can be changed without difficulty, and sometimes, without the concurrence of the inmates. It is no uncommon thing to see them come floating down the stream, with all their contents, set adrift, perhaps, by ships in their vicinity, and carrying away, in their turn, those against which they may be driven by the impulse first received, or the eddies into which they are whirled.

Those houses situated nearer the shore, or partly on the bank of the river, are founded upon piles raised above the rise of the tides. These are generally inhabited, although some of the best are used as cool retreats for the kings and men of wealth, who live on shore. In many places, the dwellings retire some distance from the margin of the river, and either form a narrow extended street, as on the city side of the water ; or branch off toward the interior; or are scattered over the face of the country, amid gardens, jungle, and rice fields. There are many interesting and varying views, as you pass up the winding course of Meinam. The finest specimens of architecture are the temples, which generally occupy the best sites, and cover, with the array of monastic buildings attached to them, a large area of ground. These and the palaces, glittering with gold and other ornaments, together with a few mansions belonging to the princes, derive no trilling part of their magnificence from the contiguity and contrast of the mean huts composing the remainder of the city.

In passing along the river, many rural beauties are fancied to exist on shore. A variety of palms, the bread fruit, the silk cotton, (Bumbax cliba,) the tamarind, with a profusion of other less majestic, though equally valuable trees--all flourishing in this congenial soil, and blooming in the richest luxuriance, appear like groves, and arbors, and parks; while the houses and temples, peeping through the self-formed avenues, are mistaken for dwellings of taste and comfort. But the place is disenchanted of its beauty, the moment the shore is gained. The temples excepted, where some little taste and ingenuity are displayed, every thing is improvable, but nothing improved. Neither order, convenience, ornament, nor comfort, are consulted in the situation and structure of their houses.

In and near the city, a few streets have been laid out, while in many parts, instead of accommodating the houses to any line of roads, the roads, or paths, are interrupted and bent in almost every direction, by the encroachment of the buildings. The want of roads and good foot-paths, and almost all conveniences for out-door exercise, is one of the most serious objections to a residence in Siam. The natives, like their god Budha, appear to luxuriate in indolence, and consequently, when obliged to move, are contented with the most passive modes of locomotion. The rivers, creeks, and canals, are so numerous, that they can go in boats to almost every place, were business or pleasure calls them.

There are many points of painful interest connected with the state of society in Siam. Its population, consisting of four or five millions of souls, is made up of Siamese, natives of Laos, Cambojians, Peguins, Malays, Burmese, descendants of Portuguese, Cochin-Chinese, and Chinamen.

With the exception of the Chinese, who pay a triennial capitation sum, this whole population is divided into two classes--such as are bound to perpetual slavery, and those who are submitted to a service tax of a portion of their time. The former are either conquered enemies, from the country of Laos and the Malayan peninsula, or stolen subjects from the frontiers of Burmah and Pegu. Twenty thousand Laos captives were transferred at one time from their native land, and distributed among the Siamese princes, and men of authority. These poor creatures are more oppressed than all their fellow slaves. As you enter the palaces of the kings, or mansions of the great men, it is distressing to witness women and men of every age, toiling in fetters, as though the clank of their chains was music in the ears of their cruel lords. The reason assigned for such inhumanity, is the fear of their escape; but one is strongly tempted to believe, from this and other cruelties equally revolting, that they estimate their own importance, as much by the misery as the multiplicity of their slaves. Many of this class, having no employment at home, are sent out to labor for the benefit of their masters; some of them own several thousands, and derive considerable emolument from their services.

It is not uncommon to expose these unfortunate beings to sale, often at the most reduced prices, and to have them purchased even by officers of government, for a traffic as vile as the deepest depravity could suggest. Numbers of females are daily sent forth in the most disgraceful capacity, and if they do not return at night with a sum fixed by their masters, they are often cruelly beaten. If they refuse this odious life—and some of them have spurned its debasement—the master is quite at liberty as to the mode and measure of the punishment. To the number of slaves already mentioned, must be added the children, whom the alledged necessities of their parents oblige them to sell, and who are bought for any purpose which their covetous or licentious masters may choose.

The other class referred to, who are submitted to a service tax of part of their time, includes all the other inhabitants of the country, with the exception of the Chinese. Even the natives of Siam, and the no. minal Christians, descendants of Portuguese, are among the number. These, with some exceptions of the more wealthy, are reduced to a state of partial slavery, being obliged to employ much of their time in the king's service, and receiving for their labor the smallest compensation. If they are not so fortunate as to lay by a small store during their liberty, for this