Early next morning we went in our boats through the town, the house: cf which.. built of wood, float upon rafts moored to piles. The river swarmed with saffron-robed priests, each paddling his own canos, and collecting contributions of provision from house to house. The Siamese women are the most hideous of their kind, yellow, wrinkled, and naked to the waist. The Siamest temples art really grand buildings, twice the height of those in China, more durably built, of excellent proportions, and with massive entrance doors of ebony inlaid with mother-ofpearl, elaborately chased.

We paid our respects to Hs Majesty the first King, and found his guards prostrate, vith their noses in the grass, outside the royal residence, with their muskets by their sides; in which position they remained throughout a lengthened audience, in a drenching rain, looking wretched but resigned. His Majesty invited us to a cold tin in the Siamese style which was far from bad Next day he sent us some baskets of confectionery and fruit, accompanied by the following curious letter, which was sealed with a ship in full sail, with the motto 'Friend.'

(No. 38.)

Royal residence, grand palace: August 10, 1858.

To Captain MacDougall, Royal Navy, and his two accompanying officers of H.B.M. Steamer.

Sirs, I have more pleasure to-day to supply you with some Siamese articles of food in certain number of our dishes for your table here trusting that the manufacture of our Siamese cookers will prove some curiousty and excite your notice upon them on some what and that they will be mark or proof of my good will toward the servants of Her Britannic Majesty who become my most respected and distinguished royal friend and by the only royal race my affectionate sister.

I doubt not these dishes will be acceptable to you who now in British consulate here with Thomas George Knox Esquire and Markham Esquire

I have the honor

to be your welwisher

SOZ MINGKUT

Major King of Siam Reigning 3645 days ago.

The king speaks English as he writes, very

creditably, and is a well-informed and affable monarch.

While in India, several of my messmates in the ward-room witnessed the performances of some Indian jugglers. These fellows were travelling through the country from place to place, and halting in an open space, the performance began as soon as a sufficient number of spectators had collected, and who stood in a ring round the man and a girl who were going to exhibit. They were dressed in the ordinary light costume of the country, and had no paraphernalia with them besides a common empty basket, which was handed round, a sword, and a few seeds. The girl was a merry, pleasing, graceful creature, and who danced and talked to the audience at intervals. Suddenly

the man found fault with her about something, spoke sharply to her, told her to sit down on the ground, and then put the basket over her. He spoke to her under the basket, and she answered, upon which he drew his sword, and plunged it up to the hilt in the basket. A scream of agony came from under it, the man withdrew his sword covered with blood, and blood also streamed out from under the basket.

He then became frantic and reckless, and stabbed through the basket in all directions. At length the shrieks of pain died away, and after a few low sobs and moans all was still.

The man then seemed seized with remorse, and lifted up the basket, but nothing was there! Then was heard a merry shout from outside the spectators, who looked round, and as they opened out the girl came laughing and bounding through.

The next thing he did was to take a pip of an orange, put it in the ground, and put the basket over it. He then made an harangue, lifted up the basket, and there was an orange bush firmly rooted in the ground, with ever so many oranges growing upon it.. Several other marvellous things were done, which surpassed anything ever attempted by European conjurors.

CHAPTER XV.

IN course of time I joined the 'Excellent' at Portsmouth to qualify as a gunnery officer. While going through the 'Hythe Course' with a squad of blue-jacket seamen gunners, with whom I marched out daily to the rifle ranges. at Browndown, I had frequent occasion to speak to them about their too common habit of swearing, which I heard too much of as I relaxed the usual discipline while we were all exercising and firing together. On board, as I conducted a prayer-meeting, I was looked upon as a religious officer, and as religion is looked upon by these swearing fellows as a thing fit only for milk-sops and muffs, I prayed that in this trial of musketry skill which we were going about I might not substantiate the common belief.

Naturally, I am an uncommonly bad shot, not having a good eye, and those that fired with me were picked men, who threw their rifles