CHAPTER III.
Interpreter arrives.—Requested to land the Guns.—Entertained by a Chief.—Physiological Remarks on the Siamese.—Progress to Bankok.—A floating Bazar.—Bankok described.—The Governor General’s Letter to the King delivered to a Chief.—A suspicious Attempt made to get Possession of the Presents.—Interview with one of the Ministers.—Disgusting Servility of his Attendants.—Negotiations respecting the Performance of the Court Ceremonies.—Proceed to the Palace.—Addressed in good Latin by a Native.—Observations on the Road to the Audience.—Description of the Audience.
March 26th.—Early in the morning, a man, dressed somewhat in the style of an European sailor, came off, and stated that he had been sent from Bankok to act as interpreter, and to accompany us to the capital. This was one of that degraded, but self-important class of society, well known in India under the general title of Portuguese, a title to which a hat and one or two other articles of clothing in the European fashion would seem to give every black man, every native, and every half caste, an undisputed claim. Our visitor bore the characteristic national features of the Siamese, amongst whom he had been born; he spoke the Portuguese language with ease and fluency, but English very imperfectly. He said, that the chief of Packnam requested that the guns might be landed, as the ship could not otherwise be permitted to proceed upwards without an order from court to that effect. It was observed, that the Portuguese frigate did not land her guns; he replied, that such was a special indulgence from the court. Mr. Crawfurd was, at the same time, invited on shore to dinner, the chief representing that he had received orders to entertain all persons of the rank of ambassadors or envoys during their stay within his jurisdiction. Very little notice was taken of, and no direct communication was held with, the interpreter.
This sort of verbal communication, on matters of business, did not augur well towards the success of our mission. We could not fail to remark, that the different personages who had as yet visited us, were either of very low rank, or of none at all, neither did they exhibit any mark by which they might be recognised as acting from authority. The chief, or, as the gentlemen of our party styled him, governor of Packnam, himself, to all appearance, of small political importance, being merely the head man of several poor fishing villages, did not condescend to visit us, or to hold other communication with us than that described. It was hinted that a man of some rank had been sent hither to receive us, but neither did this personage make his appearance. After breakfast, Captain M’Donnell went on shore to wait upon the chief of Packnam; he induced the latter to send a young man, a relation of his, on board. This man was received with much attention; he appeared to take little notice of the ship, or, indeed, of any thing else; he was naked from the waist upwards, and rather meanly dressed even for a Siamese; he partook of sweetmeats and spirits, and after inviting Mr. Crawfurd to go on shore, and conversing with the latter for about half an hour, he rose and departed, Mr. Crawfurd having agreed to visit the chief in the evening.
We accordingly set out in three different boats, Mr. Crawfurd and Captain Dangerfield having their servants, harkaras, silver sticks, state umbrellas, and dressed in the uniform of the Governor-General. A crowd of people, consisting of old men and women, and many children, were collected on the beach, and appeared to view us with considerable curiosity. The young man who had visited us on board, alone received us at the landing-place, from whence we walked through a narrow noisome lane, paved with wood, the distance of about fifty yards, to the chief’s house, a place of sorry appearance; we ascended by a flight of wooden steps into a small enclosed court, which opened behind into the house. In an open room, tawdrily ornamented with Chinese paper lanterns, Dutch glass, and scraps of painted paper, we found the chief, a tall, slender, rather elderly man, seated on a chair; he got up to welcome Mr. Crawfurd, and conducted him to a chair on his left. A table was placed in the centre of the room, and soon after we had taken our seats (we were luckily accommodated with chairs), a dinner, consisting of roast pork, roast ducks and fowls, and a pilaw, were brought in. The dishes were cooked after the European fashion, two or three native Christians who attended, to judge by their busy manner, being very anxious to approve themselves on the present occasion. We had dined before going on shore, but at the request of the chief, who, indeed, appeared to be very desirous of pleasing us, we sat down to table, accompanied by the interpreter already alluded to, but neither the chief nor any of his family partook of the entertainment. A crowd of people were collected in the court, and viewed us as we sat, evidently with considerable interest. Opposite to the chief sat the personage who had been sent to receive us; he was a good-looking, middle-aged man, a Malay, who had been once or twice in Bengal: we spent nearly two hours thus conversing on various subjects. On our getting up to depart, the chief rose and shook hands with all of us.
March 27.—No communication had arrived respecting permission for us to proceed to the capital. One of the king’s boats, which had been sent down for the purpose of taking Mr. Crawfurd to Bankok, returned this morning. This was a long and narrow boat, turned up at the bow and stern, bearing resemblance to a canoe, and provided with a sort of chair in the middle, over which a shed of mats had been erected. The rowers were numerous, but the accommodation trifling, as it could carry but one or two persons. It appeared not a little absurd that they should think of offering only this boat for the accommodation of a numerous party. It was doubtless expected that Mr. Crawfurd would go up alone.
Accompanied by Mr. Rutherford, I went on shore in the evening, and strolled through the village. We found it difficult to land, it being now low water, and the banks consisting of soft mud. We ascended into a house built, as a great proportion of the village is, over the river. We passed thus from house to house, on elevated boards, till we reached dry land. We found the people remarkably civil, and even obliging. They received us with smiles, and seemed anxious to entertain us. The women were not less forward than the men on these occasions. They collected round us, talked, laughed, and expressed not the least apprehension. We found the houses dirty, and lumbered with billets of wood, with little provision for ease. Yet the people appeared to live in tolerable comfort, though their means of subsistence, if we except that which they derive from the river and the sea, was not very evident. There appeared a great paucity even of fish. Rice they seemed to have in abundance. They were well fed, and stout, but rather below the middle stature. They cut the hair close to the head, leaving a short tuft on the forehead, which they comb backward. There is no difference in this respect between the men and women, both cutting the hair off short. Europeans are not more attentive to render their teeth white, than the Siamese are to make them black. Amongst them black teeth only are considered beautiful, and it must be allowed that they succeed perfectly well in this species of ornament. This, together with the coarse red painting of the mouth and lips, which they derive from the constant eating of betel, catechu, and lime together, gives to them a disgusting appearance. The face of the Siamese is remarkably large, the forehead very broad, prominent on each side, and covered with the hairy scalp in greater proportion than I have observed in any other people. In some, it descends to within an inch or even less of the eye-brows, covers the whole of the temples, and stretches forwards to within nearly the same distance of the outer angle of the eye. The cheek bones are large, wide, and prominent. A principal peculiarity in the configuration of their countenance is the great size of the back part of the lower jaw. The corona process here projects outwards, so as to give to this part of the face an uncommon breadth. One would imagine, on a careless inspection, that they were all affected with a slight degree of goitre, or swelling of the parotid gland. A similar appearance is often observable in Malays. The people generally go naked from the waist upwards, sometimes throwing a piece of cloth over the shoulders. Old women in general expose the breast; but the young, and the middle aged, wrap a short piece of cloth round the chest, of sufficient length to form a single knot in front, thus leaving the shoulders and arms bare. From the loins to the knee, they wrap a piece of blue or other coloured cloth, over which the better sort wear a piece of Chinese crape, or a shawl.
The bazar, if a few scattered huts along a path may deserve that name, was extremely meagre. A few plantains, pumpkins, betel, tobacco, and jagory, were almost the only articles it afforded, by the sale of which a few old women contrived to gain a subsistence.
We proceeded to a monastic institution, situated on the bank of the river. The houses here are well built, spacious, and convenient. The whole is included in an extensive and open space of ground, kept clean and neat. The accommodation for the priests is excellent; the houses are well raised, the floors and walls made of boards. A neat temple occupies one extremity of the enclosure. The fraternity received us with great cheerfulness, and, at our request, readily admitted us into the interior of the temple. Here, raised to about the middle height of the edifice, on a broad platform or altar, we discovered about fifty gilded images of Buddha, all in the sitting posture. The principal image, considerably above the human stature, was placed behind, and over him was raised a sort of arched canopy of carved and gilded wood. The others were ranged close before him. On each corner of the altar, with their faces turned towards the images, clothed in the usual costume of their order, and in the attitude of devotion, stood two priests. The general form of the figure of Buddha was not essentially different from that worshipped by the natives of Ceylon. The hair is short and curled, the head surmounted by a flame or glory, the countenance placid, benign, and contemplative. They have given somewhat of a Siamese, or rather Tartar expression to the features, by rather prolonging the eyebrows, and giving an obliquity to the eye; the nose is more sharp, and the lips very thick.
The Buddha of the natives of Ceylon, on the contrary, is a complete model of the ancient Egyptian or Ethiopian countenance, from which their images never deviate in the slightest degree. There can be no question, however, that both nations intend to represent one and the same personage.
Nearly in the centre of this enclosure, a temporary building, of a pyramidal form, and constituted of successive stages, was then building. We were informed that this was intended to contain the funeral pile on which the body of a chief, who had died about five months before, was to be burnt in the course of another month; it being customary, amongst Siamese of rank, to preserve the bodies of their relations in their houses for a greater or shorter period, according to the rank of the deceased. Great preparations were now making for the approaching ceremony, and, in a building close by, we found some priests at work, painting devices for the occasion. These were principally grotesque figures of old men, monsters, serpents, &c.
In the course of the evening, we called upon the relative of the late chief. He seemed well pleased at our taking notice of the preparations that were going forward, and still more when I expressed a desire to see the body, which lay in one end of the room, behind a white screen. He immediately led us to the place, cast the screen aside, and exhibited an oblong box, covered with white muslin, and ornamented with green-coloured and gold-leaf fringe.
We proceeded along the bank for nearly two miles, on a paved path-way; the ground here being low and swampy. This village rarely exhibits more than two or three houses in depth from the river; yet, extending in a continuous line for several miles, the population must be very considerable. We passed several other handsome temples. It should be observed, that at the monastic institution mentioned above, there is a battery facing the river, but it cannot be said to command it. Here there are ten or twelve iron guns, mounted on decayed carriages, half sunk into the earth, and at present unserviceable.
March 28th.—The boat which had gone the day before returned during the night, and we now saw it in its usual place. The Malay, whom we had met at the house of the chief, and who had been sent to meet us, returned in it. He came on board in the course of the morning, and stated that the ship might proceed up the river, without delay or restriction of any sort. The anchor was accordingly immediately weighed, and though the tide was against us, we proceeded up with an easy breeze. The banks of the river were still very low; they were thickly planted with the attap, which gave them a picturesque appearance; in the background we observed the betel palm to grow in great abundance, and to appearance spontaneously, the ground being too low to admit of cultivation. Besides these, the jungle consisted of various species of Calamus, and of bamboo, and long grass. Proceeding farther up the river, extensive plains opened in prospect. They presented rather a steril aspect, the harvest having been lately gathered in. These plains occupy the left bank of the river, over which they were now elevated about eight or ten feet. We were given to understand, that in the rainy season they are covered with water, to the depth of two or three feet, and are therefore well adapted for the cultivation of rice. They appeared to extend as far as the eye could reach. Between them and the river, there is a narrow strip of jungle. Houses are interspersed along the bank, and surrounded by extensive plantations of areca palms, plantains, and a few cocoa-nut trees. The houses are small, but neat, consisting of one or two rooms, raised about three feet from the ground. The opposite side of the river is covered with jungle. The banks are tolerably steep, with very deep water, from thirty to sixty feet near to their edge. The mud is stiff, plastic, forming, in all probability, an excellent soil. The gentlemen of our party went on shore in the evening, as we lay at anchor, waiting the turn of tide. They shot several species of birds, amongst which were a beautiful Pigeon, a Minor, and the blue Jay of Bengal.
We saw the Adjutant, and several species of Falco flying about.
About sun-set, we again weighed anchor, and continued to proceed up the river till about midnight. We now began to be much molested with musquitoes.
March 29th.—We recommenced proceeding up the river at an early hour, and about 8 A.M. cast anchor nearly opposite to the middle of the town.
In the course of our progress this morning, the various scenes upon the river afforded considerable interest. Numerous small canoes, for the most part carrying but one individual, small covered boats, &c., were plying in every direction. The market-hour was now approaching, and all seemed life and activity. Here one or more of the priests of Buddha were guiding their little canoe on its diurnal eleemosynary excursion. There an old woman hawked betel, plantains, and pumpkins. Here you saw canoes laden with cocoa-nuts,—there, groups of natives were proceeding from house to house, on their various occupations. But the most singular feature in the busy scene was the appearance of the houses, floating on the water, in rows about eight, ten, or more, in depth, from the bank. This novel appearance was peculiarly neat and striking. The houses were built of boards, of a neat oblong form, and towards the river provided with a covered platform, on which were displayed numerous articles of merchandise: fruit, rice, meat, &c. This was, in fact, a floating bazar, in which all the various products of China and of the country were exposed for sale. At either end the houses were bound to long bamboos driven into the river. They are thus enabled to move from place to place according as convenience may demand. Every house is furnished with a small canoe, in which they visit, and go from place to place to transact business. Almost all those collected in this quarter seem to be occupied by merchants, many of them very petty no doubt, and by tradespeople, as shoe-makers, tailors, &c. The latter occupations are followed almost exclusively by the Chinese. The houses are in general very small, consisting of a principal centre room, and one or two small ones, the centre being open in front, for the display of their wares. The houses are from twenty to thirty feet in length, and about half that space in breadth. They consist of a single stage, the floor raised above the water about a foot, and the roof thatched with palm leaves. At low water, when the stream is rapid, there appears to be but little business done in these shops. Their proprietors are then to be seen lolling or sleeping in front of their warehouses, or otherwise enjoying themselves at their ease. At all hours of the day, however, many boats are passing and repassing. They are so light and sharp in their form, that they mount rapidly against the stream. They are rowed with paddles, of which the long canoes have often eight or ten on each side. The number of Chinese appears to be very considerable; they display the same activity and industry here that they do wherever they are to be found. Their boats are generally larger, and rowed by longer paddles. They have a sort of cabin, made of basket-work, in the centre, which serves to contain their effects, and answers the purposes of a house. Many of them carry pieces of fresh pork up and down the river for sale.
The river at Bankok is about a quarter of a mile in breadth, without including the space occupied on each side by floating houses. It carries down a large body of water, and contains a large proportion of soft mud; its depth, even close to the bank, generally varies from six to ten fathoms, whilst its rapidity is about three miles an hour. As far as we could yet judge, not having been on shore, we suspected that by far the greater part of the population lived on the water, in floating houses, moveable from place to place. The inconveniences of a city built in this manner must be numerous. The houses are small, the accommodations trifling, and the occupants must be ever on their guard against accidents. A trifling population must in this way occupy a vast extent of ground. You look in vain for any thing better than a small, low hut, of one stage only in height. These little houses, or huts, it is true, are generally handsome and neat, but they make, on the whole, a paltry, though to us a novel, appearance. Their form is chiefly Chinese, as is also that of their temples.
In the course of the day, two children, about six years old, the son and nephew of the minister who conducts all the business carried on between the court and Europeans of every description, came on board to see the ship, bringing with them a present, consisting of sweetmeats and fruits. They were neatly dressed, from the waist downwards, and had their bodies slightly rubbed over with a yellowish colour, either turmeric or powdered sandal wood. They wore round the neck several ornaments of gold and precious stones, none of them of much value. Each had a long necklace of moon-stones set in gold thrown over the shoulder, and suspended from the neck a large, broad, golden ornament, studded with diamonds, sapphires, and rubies, all of inferior quality and of trifling value. Like all Indian children, they shewed a wonderful precocity of manners, conducting themselves with the greatest ease and propriety.
In the evening we were visited by a man of rank, second to the minister alluded to. He was an old, lively, and inquisitive man, upwards of sixty-five years of age. He came in one of the king’s boats, which was rowed by men dressed in coarse scarlet cloth.
This old gentleman conversed for some time with great ease and affability, inquired into the respective rank and occupation of the several gentlemen of the mission, and seemed to welcome us with great cordiality. He soon intimated that the object of his visit was to procure the letter from the Governor-General to the King. He had brought with him a handsome golden cup for its reception. On this, the letter, wrapt in gold tissue, was placed in his presence. On his expressing a wish to depart, Mr. Crawfurd took up the cup, and raising it to his head, proceeded through a double line of sepoys, with presented arms, drawn out for the occasion, to the gangway, from which he handed it down to one of the gentlemen of the mission placed in the chief’s boat to receive it. The latter delivered it to the chief, who placed it negligently on a piece of old carpet, on which he sat.
March 30th.—The Portuguese, who continued to visit us from time to time, brought a message from the minister Peea-Suri-Wong-Montree, to the effect, that he would be happy to accommodate the mission with a house during their stay at Bankok. The offer was accepted, and, at the request of Mr. Crawfurd, Captain Macdonald went on shore to examine the house. His report was far from flattering to our expectations. The building, which appeared to be an out-house, intended for a store-room, contained but four small, ill-ventilated rooms, the approach to which led through a trap-door from below, and on three sides they were almost entirely excluded from fresh air. There was not a single out-house for the accommodation of a numerous train of followers. The place was besides completely shut out from the court, and the open space occupied by the chief himself, whose accommodations appeared to be abundantly ample and comfortable. A list of the persons forming the suite of the Agent of the Governor-General had been transmitted to the minister at an early period after our arrival, by which he must have been convinced that the house he had allotted was totally inadequate for the accommodation of the party. Besides, the manner in which it had been granted, was calculated to awaken suspicion that he either wished to have the mission entirely at his own disposal, excluding every one else from visiting us, and be enabled to keep the strictest watch over our conduct, or that he wished to degrade it, by affecting to regard it as of but little importance. The latter inference appeared the more probable, from the circumstance of his own accommodations being abundantly respectable and ample, and yet the number of his retainers did not appear to equal that of our followers. With Asiatics, as with other nations, it is the custom for the government to provide accommodation for persons sent on the public service from one court to another, in an official capacity.
In the present instance, it was conferred by an individual, in a very inadequate manner, and as a matter of favour and of indulgence on his part. It should be observed, however, that the number of houses built of brick and mortar, and roofed with tiles, is here very scanty; and, although the house allotted for the use of the mission was in all respects inferior to those occupied by the chief, yet it is possible that they may have considered it as admirably adapted for the purpose.
No person of rank had yet waited on the Agent to the Governor General, and all communication with the minister was carried on through the Malay so often alluded to, a man to all appearance of low rank, cunning, suspicious, and artful in the highest degree. He could be looked upon only in the light of a vigilant spy, supple, fawning, and familiar, yet ready to take advantage of every expression, and of every act of our conduct, nor were the most trifling and indifferent matters beyond his notice; and, on one occasion, when a young gentleman on board, not connected with the mission, went to visit the Portuguese Consul, this man meanly traced his steps, and followed him into the house. His character was besides publicly spoken of as being little short of infamous; and, on more than one occasion, he had been treated by the captains of American and European ships with a degree of harshness and rigour which no man possessed of the least degree of feeling or of credit could have possibly submitted to. His particular duty is to superintend the conduct of the Malays who frequent this port. I may observe of this man, that he appeared to be about forty-five years of age. He was tall, active, and rather thin. In appearance, he was not to be distinguished from that sect of Mohammedans so numerous on the coast of Coromandel, Malabar, and Ceylon, and usually known under the general and indefinite appellation of Moormen. The sect is called Mopla. They are, for the most part, petty traders, and are generally to be seen hawking their wares about the houses of Europeans. They shave the head, and wear on its crown a small white cap. This man always wore such a cap: the upper part of his body was naked: round the loins he wore a piece of coarse cloth, turned up between the legs, and, at times, a coarse shawl. Such were the accomplishments, and such the appearance of Kochai-Sahac, a man whom it was scarce possible to look upon without distrust.
The ship had not yet been secured, before a message was brought by this man to demand the presents for the king. A list of the articles had been demanded, and forwarded as soon as we entered the mouth of the river. Their first object was to procure an English horse, originally intended as a present for the king of Cochin China. It would seem that they were much pleased with this gift, and indeed they were struck with astonishment at the great value of the presents in general, and hence they could but ill conceal their joy on the occasion, and that they had been little accustomed to receive gifts of such value. Unlike the more civilized states of further India, the Siamese court, in the urgency and frequency of its demands, betrayed a degree of meanness and avidity in this matter at once disgusting and disgraceful. For several successive days, there was no end to their importunities. The most valuable, as well as the most trifling articles, were taken away without the least ceremony, and intrusted to the Moorman and a few common labourers. In the course of the day, a mean-looking person came on board, saying, that he was desired to take away the presents. The circumstance appeared suspicious. He was told that he could not have them, on which he went away apparently quite satisfied. It is probable that this man had been sent by the prince, or some other person of rank, to pry into the affair, as the Moorman asserted that he was unauthorized to make any such demand. The articles, as they came up, with the exception of the horse, consisting of superfine cloth, English shawls, muslins, glass ware, muskets, and a small barouche, were taken to the minister’s house, where they underwent a severe scrutiny.
The Portuguese consul at this place now sent a person in his suite to wait upon the Agent of the Governor General. He spoke French with tolerable accuracy, and excused the consul from not coming in person, alleging as the reason, that the court would look upon such a visit in an unfavourable light, on account of our not having as yet paid a visit to the king; but that ceremony over, he would have the pleasure of calling.
On wishing to go on the river in the evening, we learnt the disagreeable intelligence that we were to be prisoners, and restricted from intercourse with the people until the ceremony of our introduction should be over. The only latitude we could aspire to was to pass from the ship to the house on shore occupied by the Agent of the British government, at the distance of a few yards only. This circumstance was the more irksome, from the day of our intended introduction having been put off for another week, and it was rendered the more disagreeable by the inadequate accommodation they had assigned to the mission. They seemed anxious only to procure presents, and presents in any shape were eagerly snatched at. They shewed none of those little attentions so pleasing to strangers, and understood by every people who have made the least progress in civilization. Their conduct in this respect formed a striking and unfavourable contrast with that of the Barman people towards Colonel Symes on a similar occasion. Neither fruit nor any other refreshment was offered to us; nor was the assistance of labourers to be procured even when solicited. It was mysteriously hinted that the king would provide our people with food during our stay, but no such offer was ever tendered. The conduct of the court was that of marked neglect, which, in a people notoriously guided by ceremony and form, could only be attributed to design, and in no degree to ignorance. Their conduct neither amounted to personal insult, nor to ostensible contempt; and it is perfectly evident that they entertained proper sentiments of respect for our government, and an ill-concealed dread of its well-known power, from which we might have inferred that they would make no difficulty in granting whatever such a government would deign to ask.
In the evening a message was brought by the Malay, to say that the minister would be glad to see Mr. Crawfurd. Accompanied by Captain Dangerfield, he accordingly made him a visit. He received them in a large and lofty hall, open on one side, spread with carpets, and hung with glass lights and Chinese lanterns. They took their seats on carpets spread for the purpose, and were entertained with tea, fruit, and Chinese preserves. It would appear that the conversation was of a general nature, and rather formal. They were well-pleased with the attention of the chief, and spoke favourably of their reception. He offered to make what alterations were deemed necessary to fit the house for our convenience, an offer which he subsequently bore little in remembrance. The servility which the attendants of this man observed towards him, appears to have been quite disgusting, and altogether degrading to humanity. During the whole of the visit they lay prostrate on the earth before him, and at a distance. When addressed, they did not dare to cast their eyes towards him, but raising the head a little, and touching the forehead with both hands united in the manner by which we would express the most earnest supplication, their looks still directed to the ground, they whispered an answer in the most humiliating tone. The manner in which he was approached by the servants of his household was even still more revolting to nature. When refreshments were ordered, they crawled forward on all fours, supported on the elbow and toes, the body being dragged on the ground. In this manner they pushed the dishes before them from time to time, in the best manner that their constrained and beast-like attitude would admit, until they had put them into their place, when they retreated backwards in the same grovelling manner, but without turning round.
How abominable! how revolting this assumption of despotic power! that would vainly assimilate a weak and frail mortal to the Deity, and that could trample under its feet not only the body, degrading it to the condition of the brute beasts of the field, but even the mind of man, and render servility perpetual!
Yet this haughty chief was himself but a minister of the fifth order in importance, doomed to take his turn of beast-like grovelling, as was subsequently exhibited on visiting Chroma-chit, son to the king. Every man here is doomed to crawl on the earth before his superior. The nation must be considered as entirely the slaves of the king, of whose lives, as well as property, he can dispose at will.
Masters’ commands come with a power resistless,
To such as owe them absolute subjection.
A few days after this Mr. Crawfurd, accompanied by Lieutenant Rutherfurd, visited the Prince Chroma-chit, an illegitimate son of the reigning king. The hour appointed was about eight o’clock in the evening.
He was seated in the middle of a spacious hall, ornamented chiefly in the Chinese style. Common looking-glasses, Dutch glass, shades, lamps, and Chinese lanterns adorned the walls and were suspended from the ceiling. The prince received them sitting, and on their entrance pointed to carpets placed at a distance for the visitors to sit upon. Like most other Siamese men of rank, the prince is uncommonly stout, and rather bloated with fat. His form is unwieldy and coarse, his manner grave and unbending, and his general appearance that of being much older than he really is. The conversation, as reported by Mr. Rutherford, turned upon the usual topics of public visits at Asiatic courts; such as the length of our voyage, the age of the visitors, their ordinary employments; the health of the Governor General of India; the state of England, and so forth. After some time, boxes containing betel and tobacco sprouts were offered; and afterwards sweetmeats in profusion were introduced.
It is always the custom at this court to visit the prince, previously to visiting the king. Almost all matters of government, in whatever department, are in the hands of this prince, who is considered to have shewn genius and talent equal to the great charge with which he is intrusted. All matters relating to peace or war, to foreign intercourse, or to domestic regulations, to affairs of religion, of policy or of justice, are equally at his disposal, and rarely referred to the king, but for the purpose of gaining his final consent. The inferior agents of government are entirely under his control, and have no power to do any thing of themselves without first obtaining his opinion, for which purpose they generally wait upon him twice a-day. He, at this interview, as did the king afterwards on the occasion of our introduction to him, signified that Suri Wong Montree[5], the chief who had accommodated the party with a house, would make known to him the objects of their mission, and at the same time expressed his authoritative expectation that this chief was attentive to our wants.
The submission of the attendants was on this occasion even more marked than that observed towards Suri Wong, who was himself now amongst the number strewed on the ground in humble obeisance towards their prince. The latter conversed through the medium of the Malay, or rather Moorman, by which name I shall call him in future, who was on this occasion assisted by another personage of the same description, who spoke the Hindustani with tolerable accuracy. The two Malay interpreters of the Agent of the Governor General were not permitted to be present.
It is customary amongst the Siamese to send home after the visitors the sweetmeats which had been brought forward during the visit, as it is also to place on the floor before them the presents they had made. This was done by Suri Wong, and by this prince, and again was this ceremony observed when we were introduced to the king, though in the latter case the most insignificant only of the presents from the Governor General of Bengal were introduced, and these were so laid out as to make the least possible display.
Numerous were the proposals, and more numerous the reports brought from day to-day respecting the ceremonies to be performed by us on being presented at court. Many conferences had taken place between Mr. Crawfurd and the Moorman on the important topic, and matters were referred by the latter to the chief, Suri Wong. What the nature of these conferences were I am altogether ignorant, not having been present at them; and, indeed, as I do not understand Malayan, the language in which they were carried on, my presence was the less necessary. It was to be feared, however, that the cunning Moorman would exert every means in his power, and leave nothing untried to induce compliance on the part of the Agent of the Governor General, with all the ceremonies prescribed by the Siamese court, of whose moderation, in matters of this nature, we might in some degree judge, by the haughty demeanour of the few chiefs we had yet seen. It was, therefore, alike the interest, as it was the undisguised intention of the Moorman to claim merit with his employers in proportion to his success in the present matter. He commenced by introducing the question in the most artful and clever manner, boldly asserting that a report had gone abroad to the effect that the public Envoy of the Government of Bengal meant to act in a disrespectful manner towards the King of Siam—that it was his intention, throwing his arms impudently behind his back, to stand before the king without shewing any mark of respect whatever. Mr. Crawfurd replied, that so far from this being the case, he had come to do honour to the King of Siam before his subjects, and then mentioned what ceremonies he was willing to perform. With this assurance the Moorman was said to have gone away contented.
Another matter, which appears to have created much discussion and frequent reference, regarded the manner in which the members of the mission should proceed to the place of audience. It was first proposed, that after proceeding to the usual landing-place in boats, they should thence continue on foot to the audience hall. This proposal was given up for that of going on horseback, and this last finally to that of being carried in palanquins.
Matters were at length settled, and we were given to understand that we were to proceed to the palace at an early hour on the following day.
I accompanied Mr. Crawfurd on an early visit to the Barkalan, Suri Wong Montree. On this occasion he was seated on a piece of red carpet, and leaned on a velvet cushion; he rose up as we entered, and pointed to a mattress covered with chintz, placed near to the door for us to sit on. His manner appeared to me to be stiff, haughty, assuming, and altogether without dignity to support it. The conversation between him and Mr. Crawfurd lasted nearly half an hour, and turned chiefly on commercial matters. He stated that the country could furnish annually 50,000 peculs of sugar, and 30,000 of pepper. He appeared to have greatly exaggerated the annual produce in benzoin, and observed, that the forests could supply sapan wood in any quantity. He desired to know if the Siamese would be permitted to purchase arms in our ports in India.
When we returned on board, Capt. Dangerfield remained behind after breakfast, for the purpose of being informed respecting the nature of the ceremonies to be performed by us on the following day in the royal presence. In the course of the day we received a note from Capt. D., stating that Mr. Crawfurd wished to see us on shore on a matter of duty. We found that there existed a difference of opinion on the subject in question. * * * * * * * *
This was the first we had heard of the matter in a serious way. We had often in a jocular manner talked on the subject, but, as has been observed, we were yet ignorant of what was expected of us. Immediately thereafter, however, the nature of the intended salutations was pointed out to us, differing certainly very materially from what we had anticipated, and from what Mr. C. had pointed out on a former evening as that which we were to perform. The mode of salutation, in its present shape, admitted of little objection; and, accordingly, after a very few remarks, we agreed to the performance of it. We were to take off our shoes at the door of the hall of audience; when we had entered, we were to take off our hats, and making a bow in the English manner, we were to advance to the seats appointed for us, and there sitting down, with the legs bent backwards and under us, but a little to one side, we were to make three salutations with the hands united before the face, touching the forehead each time. The union of the hands in this manner appearing to be expressive of supplication, and being used as the sign thereof by many Asiatics, Capt. Dangerfield proposed that in its stead we should salute in the manner done at some of the Hindu courts, by performing the salam with both hands, raising them separately to the head at the same time. It was observed that the difference was very immaterial, and that therefore the Siamese mode should be preferred; besides it appeared that the members of the mission might perform the salutation with more or less correctness as they judged proper, and that it would be deemed enough if they touched the forehead with the hands in any way.
April 8.—It had been communicated to us that the ceremonies of the day would commence at an early hour. Accordingly about seven A.M. we were in attendance on the Agent to the Governor General. At eight o’clock two boats, a large and a small one, shaped like canoes, and turned up at the bow and stern, had come for the purpose of taking us to the palace. The larger had, I think, thirteen paddles, and a man to steer it. It was without ornament of any sort, plain, but neat, with a boarded space in the centre, over which was erected a sort of matted roof. A piece of old carpet, and a small, but old velvet cushion, were placed upon this boarded space. The rowers in this boat were dressed in caps and loose jackets made of coarse red cloth. The other boat was of small dimensions, but also provided with a seat in the centre, and a cover similar to that of the former.
In this there were stationed only five or six rowers, none of whom appeared to be Siamese. Their appearance was very wretched and mean. They had scarce a rag of clothes of any description, and consisted of boys and decrepit old men. The guard of Sepoys, amounting to thirty in number, were placed in the ship’s long-boat, and preceded us to the landing-place near to the palace, where they waited the arrival of the British Agent.
The Barkalan, Suri Wong Montree, set out at an early hour, dressed in his robes of ceremony for the occasion.
The Moorman, Khochai-Sahac, was in attendance to conduct the mission to the palace, and when the boats were ready, gave intimation that it was time to proceed. The smaller boat was occupied by the servants and followers of the mission, while the Agent to the Governor General, accompanied by the gentlemen of his suite, entered the larger. In this we found two Portuguese, who had been born in the country; one of them a respectable-looking man. They were apparently sent to act as interpreters by the way. The more respectable-looking of the two, seeing that I spoke the Portuguese language very imperfectly, to my great surprise addressed me in the Latin language. The purity of his phraseology excited my surprise still more. It was vastly superior to the monkish jargon, spoken by certain orders of the clergy in some parts of the Continent of Europe. Yet this man had received his education in Siam, in the Catholic seminary of this place. I concluded that he was of the clerical order, but in this I was mistaken.
Our boats, accompanied by a small one which conveyed the Moorman, proceeded towards the palace at a moderate rate. Our presence seemed to excite but little attention on the part of the inhabitants of the floating houses which line the banks of the river, occupied almost exclusively by the Chinese, or on the part of those on board the junks, or those passing and re-passing on the river. Some were observed to laugh immoderately, while others covered the face to conceal mirth which might be considered as rude. A few minutes brought us to the landing-place, within a few paces of the outermost wall of the palace. The Sepoys had arrived here before us, and now disembarked and drew up in a line on the road. The boat which conveyed the servants, being very indifferently supplied with rowers, was still far behind, so that we had to wait in our boat till their arrival. The place we landed at was dirty, inconvenient, and lumbered with wood and small canoes. It might have been taken for the entrance into a wood-merchant’s yard, than many of which this was much less clean and convenient. As great a crowd of people, almost entirely males, as could be collected together in so small a space was here assembled, and viewed us with much, but I cannot say with respectful, curiosity. The gate and wall of the palace were lofty, but mean-looking and in bad taste; neither were the three other gates and inner walls that we passed remarkable for the opposite qualities, not even for labour in their construction, or strength in the design.
Our servants having arrived, we landed, and the palanquins intended for our conveyance were produced. Without our being aware of it, they had come along with us in the boat; a circumstance which will excite but little surprise when it is known that these palanquins consisted merely of a netting in the exact shape of a sailor’s hammock suspended from a pole. A small piece of carpet was spread in the centre, and each vehicle was carried on the shoulders of two men, one at each end of the pole. We at first experienced a little difficulty in preventing ourselves from rolling out of this contrivance, and our awkward attempts to do so seemed to afford great amusement to the spectators, who kept shouting aloud until we were within the gate.
We took possession of our vehicles in the order of our respective ranks, the Agent to the Governor General proceeding first. In this manner, accompanied by our Sepoys, the procession passed to an inner gate, distant from the first about one hundred and fifty yards; the road was dirty, and here and there coarsely paved. At this gate we were detained for a few minutes, when it was thrown open. Here we were directed to leave the vehicles, and proceed on foot. We were at the same time directed to take off our swords, and to leave the Sepoys here. We had now entered a spacious and open court of great extent, with various ranges of large tiled buildings disposed in tolerable order, and traversed by roads paved with coarse-grained granite, disposed in right lines.
It deserves to be mentioned, that at the gate last-mentioned, the Moorman, Khochai-Sahac, was joined by another man of the same caste. These, as well as other Moormen whom we saw on the present occasion, were dressed in long loose gowns and turbans, ornamented with gold leaf or tinsel. The two Moormen proceeding in front, and a crowd of spectators on either side, we walked to the distance of about one hundred yards on a paved road, when turning a short way to the right, we were shewn into a large open building, of mean appearance, and not particularly clean. We had as yet seen no guards or armed persons, and no one on duty except the people at the last gate. In front of the building we had now entered, about six or eight elephants had been drawn up at regular distances, each surmounted by two men in quaint costume.
In this room was placed a small platform, raised about a foot from the ground, covered with a coarse white cloth, and close by a large old carpet was spread, on which we were desired to seat ourselves. Betel and tobacco sprouts were introduced on coarse brass dishes, and a like attention was paid to our servants, who sat on the opposite side of the room. The place was soon crowded with a multitude of low people, some of whom were resting on their knees, and others standing, and all of them were very noisy, insomuch, that now and then it was deemed necessary to coerce with the rod. The profuse and unsparing liberality with which it was applied, seemed to argue the great utility as well as the frequent use of this sort of argument, and we never observed it to fail in procuring a temporary silence. After we had waited somewhat less than half an hour, it was notified by two men, dressed in an upper garment of white cloth, in the fashion of a wide shirt, with a narrow strip of coarse lace about the middle of the arm, and another at its extremity, that we were called for. These men appeared to me to belong to the police department; and afterwards, when they accompanied us to see the elephants and other objects, they occasionally applied the rod with laudable vigour, to maintain order amongst the rabble. Without addressing themselves to the Agent to the Governor General, they now delivered their message to the Moormen. The latter proposed that we should here pull off our shoes, and walk the remainder of the way without them. This however was overruled, and we again turned into the road which we had left on entering. A line of men armed with muskets was drawn up on each side of the road, and extended to the next gate. Nothing could be more ridiculous or more unsoldierlike than the appearance of this guard, composed of puny boys, scarce able to stand under a musket, and of men of all ages. In their caps only was there any thing like uniformity observable. These were all painted red, and I cannot give a better idea of them than by saying that they exactly resembled the slouched helmets once worn by the workers of fire-engines at home. They scarcely had boldness to look us in the face as we passed; and among the whole number, which perhaps might amount to one hundred, we did not observe a single flint, nor possibly a serviceable musket. Some had bayonets with scabbards on their muskets, and others scabbards without bayonets. With their muskets awkwardly and slovenly shouldered, some on one side and some on the other, we passed them without exciting sufficient interest to obtain the least notice.
When we had arrived at the gate in front, we were again desired to pull off our shoes. Our servants and followers were permitted to advance no further, and even the interpreters to the Agent to the Governor General were not allowed to proceed. Leaving our shoes at this place, we advanced, on a paved road, through a passage about fifty yards in length, enclosed by a wall on each side, until we came to another, and the innermost gate. This also opened into a spacious oblong place, in which were disposed several lofty and handsome buildings, occupied by the king, or appropriated to particular offices. This space was also intersected by coarsely paved roads, no way remarkable for cleanliness, breadth, or beauty. Facing the gate at which we last entered, there was drawn up a double line of musicians, one on each side of the road through which we advanced. A shrill pipe and numerous tomtoms were the only instruments whose sounds we heard, though we observed a number of men furnished with horns, trumpets, chanks, &c. The music though rude, was not inharmonious or displeasing to the ear, and the interrupted beat, uniform regularity, and softness of the tomtoms was even agreeable. On our right a numerous body of men armed with stout, black, glazed shields and battle axes, were disposed in several close lines within a railing, resting on their knees, and almost concealed by their shields; behind these were placed a few elephants, furnished with scanty but rather elegant housings. Still preceded by the Moormen, we advanced slowly through the musicians to the distance of nearly thirty yards from the last gate, when making a short turn to the right, we entered a plain-looking building, at one end, and soon found that this was the hall of audience. Fronting the door, and concealing the whole of the interior apartment, there was placed a Chinese screen, covered with landscapes and small plates of looking-glass. We halted for a moment on the threshold, and taking two or three steps to the right, so as to get round the screen, we found ourselves suddenly, and somewhat unexpectedly, in the presence of majesty. A more curious, more extraordinary, or more impressive sight has perhaps rarely been witnessed than that on which we now gazed, with mingled feelings of regret, (I should say of indignation,) and of wonder: of wonder excited by the display of taste, elegance and richness in the decorations; of regret, or of indignation, caused by the debased condition of a whole nation. Such a scene was well calculated to take a firm hold on the imagination. I shall, however, endeavour to describe it in its true colours, and with the least possible aid from that faculty. The hall was lofty, wide, and well aired, and appeared to be about sixty or eighty feet in length, and of proportionate breadth. The ceiling and walls were painted with various colours, chiefly in the form of wreaths and festoons; the roof was supported by wooden pillars, ten on each side, painted spirally red and dark green. Some small and rather paltry mirrors were disposed on the walls, glass lustres and wall shades were hung in the centre, and to the middle of each pillar was attached a lantern, not much better than our stable lanterns. The floor was covered with carpets of different colours. The doors and windows were in sufficient numbers, but small and without ornament; at the further extremity of the hall, a large handsome curtain, made of cloth covered with tinsel or gold leaf, and suspended by a cord, divided the space occupied by the throne from the rest of the apartment. On each side of this curtain there were placed five or six singular but handsome ornaments, called chatt, consisting of a series of small circular tables suspended over each other, diminishing gradually so as to form a cone, and having a fringe of rich cloth of gold, or tissue, suspended from each tablet.
A few of the presents from the Governor General, as bales of cloth and cut-glass, were placed nearly in the middle of the room, and on one side; but we neither remarked the letter from the Noble Marquis, nor did it appear that any notice whatever was taken of it on this public occasion.
With the exception of a space about twenty feet square, in front of the throne, which was kept clear, the hall was crowded with people to excess. Those of every rank, from the highest to the lowest, from the heir apparent to the throne, to the meanest slave present, had his proper place assigned to him, by which alone he was to be distinguished. The costume of all ranks was plain, neither rich nor showy.
The curtain placed before the throne was drawn aside as we entered. The whole multitude present lay prostrate on the earth, their mouths almost touching the ground; not a body or limb was observed to move, not an eye was directed towards us, not a whisper agitated the solemn and still air. It was the attitude, the silence, the solemnity of a multitude simultaneously addressing the great God of the universe, rather than the homage of even an enslaved people. Not even Rome, fertile in a race of tyrants, nor Dionysius himself, ever produced any degradation to compare with this in ignominy.
Raised about twelve feet above the floor, and about two yards behind the curtain alluded to, there was an arched niche, on which an obscure light was cast, of sufficient size to display the human body to effect, in the sitting posture. In this niche was placed the throne, projecting from the wall a few feet. Here, on our entrance, the king sat immoveable as a statue, his eyes directed forwards. He resembled in every respect an image of Buddha placed upon his throne; while the solemnity of the scene, and the attitude of devotion observed by the multitude, left little room to doubt that the temple had been the source from which the monarch of Siam had borrowed the display of regal pomp. He was dressed in a close jacket of gold tissue, on his left was placed what appeared to be a sceptre; but he wore neither crown nor other covering on the head, nor was the former emblem of the office of royalty displayed on the occasion. The throne was hung round with the same sort of cloth which formed the curtain in front, and behind it were placed two of the conical-shaped ornaments formerly mentioned; except in the quality of the cloth with which the throne was surrounded, we could observe no indication of opulence, or of magnificence. There were neither jewels, nor costly workmanship, nor precious stones, nor pearls, nor gold observable about the person of the king, his throne, or his ministers. The latter were disposed in three lines laterally, extending from the curtain in front; and thus bounded on each side the empty space at the foot of the throne, according to their respective ranks. The chief Suriwong was placed at a very respectful distance. A considerable degree of light was thrown laterally on the floor at the base of the throne, where large and elegant fans were waved by persons placed behind the curtain. This circumstance added considerable effect to the scene.
Such is a sketch of the form and appearance of Siamese royalty, displayed on our entering the hall. When we had passed the screen, and come in sight of the throne, we pulled off our hats and bowed in the European manner, the two Moormen at the same time falling prostrate, and crawling before us on the ground towards the throne. We were desired to advance in a stooping posture; a narrow space, about three feet in width, was left open in the centre for us to advance through. When we had advanced a few paces in this narrow space, being closely surrounded by the crowd of people, and distant from the throne more than half the length of the hall, all the ministers being a considerable way in front of us on either side, we were desired to seat ourselves on the carpet, in the narrow lane or space through which we had advanced, which we did in the best way we could, the two Moormen placing themselves immediately in front of the Agent to the Governor General and his Assistant, for the space would only admit of two persons sitting beside each other. Mr. R. and I, therefore, placed ourselves immediately behind the former. We now performed the salutations agreed upon, after which a voice from behind the curtain in front of the throne interrupted the silence which had hitherto prevailed, by reading in a loud tone a list of the presents which had been sent by the Governor General.
The King now addressed some questions to the Agent to the Governor General. He spoke in a firm though not a loud voice; in his person he was remarkably stout, but apparently not bloated or unwieldy; he appeared to be about sixty-five years of age. The questions were repeated by the person who had read the list of presents, and from him they were conveyed in whispers by several individuals, till they reached the Moorman, Kochai-Sahac, who, prostrate like the rest on the ground, whispered them to the Agent to the Governor General, in a tone which I could not hear, though placed immediately behind the latter. The answers to the throne were passed on in the same way. From the tenor of these questions, as related afterwards by Captain Dangerfield, it would appear that they were of a very general nature, and not particularly interesting. While these questions were passing, betel was introduced in handsome silver vessels and gold cups. The audience having lasted about twenty minutes, the King rose from his seat, and turning round to depart, the curtain was immediately drawn in front of the throne. On this all the people raised a loud shout, and turning on their knees, performed numerous salutations, touching the earth and their forehead alternately, with both hands united. The princes and ministers now assumed a sitting posture, by which, for the first time, we were enabled to observe their respective places. We left the hall of audience without further ceremony. A heavy shower of rain had fallen during the interview, and the roads leading to the different parts of the palace, at no time noted for cleanliness, were now covered with water and converted into a dirty puddle; we therefore requested to have our shoes, but in vain, for no notice whatever was taken of our request. On leaving the door of the audience-hall, a paltry Chinese umbrella, which might be purchased in the bazar for a rupee, was given to each of us. Not knowing with what view it was presented, I was about to reject it, when I was told that it was meant as a present from the King.