VISITING THE PRINCE OF THE ELEPHANTS.—AYUTHIA.—SOMETHING ABOUT CROCODILES.
The party went ashore as soon as the boat was made fast. Frank was first to scramble up the bank, closely followed by Fred; then came the Doctor and the consul together, and behind them the interpreter of the consulate. At the consulates generally throughout the East it is the custom to have an interpreter, to facilitate dealings with the native officials and others; he is usually a native who has been taught English in some of the mission-schools, or he may be of American or European parentage, and familiar from his youth with the language of the country where he lives. In the present instance the interpreter was an intelligent young Siamese, who was educated by the missionaries, and spoke English with great fluency. He was of much service to the Doctor and his young companions, as he could tell them many things of interest concerning Siam and what it contained.
"We will first go," said the consul, "to call on the Prince of the Elephants. He lives in that house you see up there," he continued, as he pointed to a light structure of poles and matting, a hundred yards or so from the bank.
The interpreter was sent on ahead to herald the arrival of the strangers, and returned in a few minutes with the announcement that the prince was ready to receive them.
The consul and Doctor Bronson went forward, while Frank and Fred brought up the rear. Frank thought the house was not a very sumptuous palace for a prince, especially one who had the title of the Prince of the Elephants. Fred was of the same opinion, but said they might as well reserve their judgment until they had seen what was within. Externally, the house was like a rough shed of poles for a framework, with its sides covered with matting, to allow a free circulation of air. Some of the mats were rolled up, while others were closed; and it was certainly a very convenient house for a climate as hot as that of Siam. They were received in the upper story, to which they ascended by a rough stairway, which could be removed as readily as a ladder. What the lower floor contained they did not know, as all the mats around it were closed.
They found the prince just inside the door-way, and seated, or rather squatted, on a bench about two feet high. Chairs had been placed for the strangers, and they were invited to be seated. The interpreter remained standing, and, after a moment's pause, the prince asked who the visitors were. The interpreter explained; and while he did so, Frank made good use of his eyes to see what the prince was like and how he lived.
THE YOUNG PRINCE.
His royal highness appeared to be about fifty years old, or perhaps fifty-five. He was dressed in the native costume, without any gold-lace or other ornament to designate his high rank; the boys were somewhat disappointed at this, as they had expected to see a great personage covered with fine clothes, and ornamented with an abundance of diamonds and other precious stones. A youth, whom they supposed to be his son, stood near him, and occasionally leaned against the bench in a familiar way. Servants were creeping about the floor, and it made a strange impression on the youths to see the humble attitudes of half a dozen or more of the attendants as they waited for orders in a corner of the room. This is the position of respect in Siam, and, until the present king was crowned, it would have been as much as one's life was worth to venture into the presence of any member of the royal family in the European manner.
When he ascended the throne, he commanded that the old custom of creeping, and bowing the head to the floor in the presence of the king, should cease; it was a great innovation, but, as it was by royal command, it could not be opposed. The rule is enforced at the king's palace, but not at the palaces of the subordinate princes; and thus it happened that Frank and Fred were witnesses of what to them was a curious custom, and by no means an agreeable one.
The prince in whose presence they were was the uncle of the king. His name was Chow Phan Alah, and the boys learned from the consul that he was a man of marked ability, who had been prominent in public affairs for a long time. Socially, he adhered to the old customs of the country, as was evident in the creeping and crouching of those around him; but in politics he was progressive, and a good deal of the advancement that Siam had made in the past twenty years was due to his energy and shrewdness.
The interview lasted about a quarter of an hour. While the party was in the reception-hall, the prince ordered cigars and fruit to be served, and when they retired he sent a basket of fruit after them as a present. The consul had suggested that Doctor Bronson and the youths would like to see the stables of the elephants, and also wished to attend the elephant-hunt that was to come off about that time. The first request was granted at once; and the prince sent one of his officers to show the stables and their occupants, and also the corral close by, where the wild elephants were caught. He regretted to say that the hunt had been postponed a few days on account of the swollen condition of some of the rivers, which made it difficult to drive the animals through the forest. The boys were disappointed to hear this, but they were consoled with the reflection that they could see the spot where the hunt would take place, and the Doctor promised to explain to them how it was conducted.
PORTRAIT OF "CHANG."
The elephant-stable was only a huge shed, with the earth for a floor. It contained three or four elephants, all the others being out in the forest with the hunting-party. The largest of the elephants was brought out for their inspection; he was named "Chang," and was thought to be not far from seventy years old. As the elephant lives to the age of one hundred and fifty years and upwards, old Chang was just in the prime of life when the boys saw him, and his step was as elastic as that of a youth of twenty. He was not overjoyed to meet the strangers, and flourished his trunk in a menacing way; but at a sign from his keeper he ceased his demonstrations, and became thoroughly obedient.
MACEDONIAN COIN, WITH ANCIENT GOAD.
Chang had been at work hauling timber during the cool hours of the morning, and his harness was still on his back. It consisted of a stout breastplate of ropes and leather, which was held in place by a pad on his back. Just below his shoulder a stout ring was inserted in the breastplate, and to this the ropes by which the timber was drawn were attached. The driver sat on his neck, and directed him by means of an iron goad that had a hook near the end. Frank could not at first understand the use of this iron, but he soon found out. The officer asked the boys if they would like to take a ride on the beast, and we may be sure they assented at once. Chang was directed to a place at the side of a high wall, to which a sloping path led. The boys mounted to the top of the wall, and were thus enabled to take their places on the elephant's back.
MODERN GOAD.
The driver said something in Siamese, and the elephant at once moved off. He did not go fast enough to suit the driver, and then the goad came into play. His neck was prodded with it, and the hook was inserted into his ear in a way that made him understand and obey. The goad has been in use without any modification of shape for two thousand years or more, as is shown by ancient coins of a date prior to the Christian era.
As soon as Chang found that the driver was determined to use the goad he made no further opposition, and went along as peaceably as an obedient horse. The elephant generally obeys through affection for his driver; and instances have been known where one of these huge beasts has shown great grief at the loss of his favorite keeper, and refused all food until he literally starved to death. Very often the driver talks to the elephant, and the beast seems to understand perfectly what is said to him. Chang's driver did so, and hardly had he begun speaking before the elephant swung his trunk from side to side, and gave little grunts of satisfaction. The boys could not understand the language; but the interpreter told them that the driver was praising Chang for his good conduct, and asking him why he behaved so badly when the strangers came so far to see him. And with an eye to his own pocket, he said, "They are very nice gentlemen, and will certainly give some ticals to buy bananas for good old Chang." Of course the interpreter told what had been said, and the boys, when the ride was over, fulfilled the promise that had been made on their behalf.
A WAR ELEPHANT.
One of Chang's companions was led out from the stable, and assigned to Doctor Bronson and the consul. The interpreter had mounted with the boys, and so the officer who came by the command of the prince took a place with the others. He told the consul that the animal they were riding was trained for war purposes; and though he was occasionally put at work, like Chang, whenever timber was to be hauled, he ordinarily had nothing to do. Each of his tusks had three rings of silver encircling it, and he was evidently proud of his ornaments. The famous white elephants in the royal stables at Bangkok have rings of pure gold on their tusks; they are not always sensible of the honor that is shown them, and when the rings are being put in place they manifest their displeasure in the most emphatic ways. On one occasion two of the court jewellers were killed by an elephant that objected to be ornamented after the customary manner of the country, and it was only after a long time that he submitted to the operation.
When used for war, these elephants are equipped with a howdah, or basket, on their backs, and two or three soldiers are seated in it. They have a plentiful supply of weapons, and frequently so many as to encumber them greatly when they come to close quarters with the enemy. Elephants are not used in battle as much as in ancient times; the great body of the beast makes a magnificent mark for a rifle, and when wounded an elephant is more dangerous to his friends than to the enemy. Formerly a great number of elephants was kept for fighting purposes, but since the introduction of fire-arms the value of this huge beast for anything in war beyond the transportation of supplies has ceased to be apparent. Consequently, they are not at all numerous; and probably, if the Siamese were to indulge in war at the present time, they would not bring a single elephant into the battle-field.
Thus mounted, our friends went through the ruins of the ancient capital of Siam. It was a novel promenade, and one that the boys were not likely to forget in a hurry.
"The funniest thing yet," said Frank. "We went through Tokio and Kioto in jinrikishas; we rode on a wheelbarrow in Shanghai; we were carried in sedan-chairs in Canton and Hong-kong; and here we are seeing the ruins of Ayuthia from the back of an elephant. Wonder what we shall do next in the way of novel travelling!"
But though greatly enjoying their ride, they did not forget that they were out for an excursion through a city, or rather through what was once a city. And the magnitude and extent of the ruins impressed them greatly, and showed what a magnificent place Ayuthia must have been in the days of its glory.
NEAR THE PALACE.
The streets and yards, and even the houses, were overgrown with tropical trees that had been undisturbed for a hundred years and more; that they had made good use of their time, was everywhere apparent in the crumbling walls and the fallen towers that rose before the eyes of the visitors wherever they were turned. In several instances the bushes and climbing plants had completely covered the towers of the temples, and made them appear more like a great mass of verdure than a structure of brick and mortar.
IN THE RUINED CITY.
At one place the party descended from their elephants and went to the top of a wing of the former palace of Ayuthia. From the summit the view was extensive, and of a character not easy to describe. Frank thought it was not greatly unlike the view from the tower of Wat Seh Kate at Bangkok, as the abundance of trees made it difficult to see much more than the spires of the pagodas; and this was the most that could be seen in Ayuthia. But as he looked directly below him, he saw that the streets and court-yards were desolate, and he missed the throng of people that made the streets of Bangkok alive. Many parts of the palace were in a good state of preservation, and it seemed a pity that the city could not be repaired and peopled as it was of old.
It is said that when the Burmese overran Siam and captured her capital in 1769, the walls were so massive, and the buildings so excellent in construction, that the destruction of Ayuthia occupied nearly two months. Many parts of the walls are still in existence, and it is not at all difficult to trace the boundaries of the city. The distance it is necessary to travel to pass around the city by following its walls, is variously stated at from five to ten miles; and as our friends did not make the journey, they have left the question undecided.
A ruined city is a melancholy spectacle in any land and under any sky, and the boys were not at all sorry when the excursion through Ayuthia was over. They had more reasons than sentimental ones, as they found the motion of the elephant was not particularly agreeable when continued for a long time, and it required a good deal of attention to keep from falling off the back of their new-fashioned steed. When they dismounted at the stables, they were obliged to stretch themselves two or three times to make sure that their backbones were in the proper place, and both were positive that they had all the elephant-riding they cared for—for that day at least.
"It is nothing when you get used to it," said the consul. "If you had a journey of several days or weeks to make on an elephant, you would become accustomed to the motion in a short time, and could then endure it indefinitely."
The Doctor confirmed this view of the matter, and said the motion of the elephant was not nearly as hard as that of the camel for a beginner, and much easier to endure. "A camel," said he, "shakes you violently forward and back without cessation, while the motion of the elephant is not unlike that of a horse at a walk. If you have not mounted a horse for a long time, you will find yourself very sore and stiff after your first day's travel on the gentlest steed that was ever used, and this feeling will continue for two or three days. By degrees you get accustomed to it, and then you pay no farther attention to aches or pains, for the reason that you do not have them. It is just the same with an elephant or a camel, only the camel is much the worse.
"In some respects the elephant is a most remarkable animal. He possesses great intelligence, and can be taught to do many things that border upon reason. Books of natural history are full of incidents of the elephant's high order of intellect; the stories may sometimes be exaggerated, but there is no question that the majority of them are correct. In nothing is this more apparent than in the capture of his wild kindred; and it is a curious fact that the elephant, after being thoroughly domesticated, manifests no desire to return to his forest-life, and seems to take pleasure in assisting at the capture of others. We will talk about this business by-and-by, and meantime will complete our study of Ayuthia."
So far as the actual inspection of the ruined city was concerned, the study to which the Doctor referred was already completed, and the party returned to the boat.
Frank asked if it was not possible to go farther up the river, and make a general exploration of Siam. Fred seconded him in the question, which was anxiously propounded to the consul and Doctor Bronson.
"There are several reasons why we cannot do it," the former answered. "In the first place, we are limited for time of using the steam-launch and barge; secondly, I cannot spare the time to go farther; thirdly, we have not the necessary provisions and equipments for a wild journey; and, fourthly—"
"Never mind the other reasons," said the Doctor; "those you have given are quite sufficient. We will go back, and be thankful that we have seen so much. Only a few visitors to Siam ever have the opportunity of coming to Ayuthia and seeing its wonderful ruins."
As the boat moved off, on her return to Bangkok, the consul explained to the boys that the Menam was about nine hundred miles in length, and had a general course from north to south. It flows through an exceedingly fertile country, and the Siamese are very proud of it. Its name in Siamese means "Mother of Waters;" and though it is not to the country what the Nile is to Egypt, it is certainly of great importance. From the source of the river to its mouth, the forest is dense and luxurious, except where clearings have been made for purposes of agriculture. Teak, sapan, and other tropical trees grow to a great size, and the underbrush is so thick that it is next to impossible to walk about until a path has been opened.
Fred thought it would be nice to have a bath in the Menam; and proposed that they should try a swim in its waters the first time they had an opportunity.
CROCODILES AT HOME.
"I would advise you not to try it," the consul answered. "It is safe enough at Bangkok, where there is so much movement of boats, and you might bathe there without danger. But in this part of the river there are plenty of crocodiles, and the higher up you go the more of them do you find. M. Mouhot, who explored the Upper Menam in 1861, and died at the village of Louang Prebang in that year, says that in some instances he found the banks covered with crocodiles basking in the sun, and they were so unused to attacks that they were not at all disturbed by the presence of his boat. They frequently swallow incautious swimmers who venture into the parts of the river where they abound; and sometimes cattle going to the river to drink are seized by them. In such fights the crocodile is generally the victor, as he is thoroughly at home in the water, and his jaws have an enormous amount of strength."
TAKING A BITE.
"What is the difference between the alligator and the crocodile?" one of the boys asked.
"There is no material difference," the Doctor answered, "between the two. The alligator is American, and the crocodile Asiatic; and there is a slight difference in the formation of the head, and in the number and arrangement of the scales. The habits of the two are similar; they live in the water for the greater part of the time, but do not suffer any inconvenience when removed from it. They live mainly on fish, but have no prejudice against swallowing other game. Hence their fondness for men, and also for pigs, sheep, dogs, cattle, and anything else that comes in their way. The tastes of both are identical; and I presume that if you brought a crocodile and an alligator together, and put them to live in the same tank, they would acknowledge their relationship, and dwell in peace and quietness. On the other hand, they might indulge in a deadly combat; and in this, again, their similarity would be shown, as they are not always of an amiable disposition, and often indulge in fierce battles."
Fred asked if it was possible for them to stop on the way down the river and have a hunt for crocodiles.
Frank retorted that they had no fire-arms for shooting this kind of game or any other; and it was his opinion that their captures would not be numerous under the present circumstances.
THE DOCTOR'S CRACK SHOT.
"To shoot a crocodile," said the Doctor, "you must first have him where you can shoot, and then you must have the weapon ready. It must be a powerful rifle, carrying a large ball; and there are very few places on the reptile's body where your shot will have any effect. If you are an expert with the rifle, you may hit him in the eye when he is swimming across a stream; the bullet penetrates the brain, and causes speedy death; but if you strike him an inch away from the eye, your shot is wasted. I once killed a large alligator in this way; it was the first I had ever shot, and I was very proud of my achievement. The next day and the next I tried to repeat the performance, and I kept it up for a week without result. I was unable to get a similar chance, as not one of the reptiles made his appearance, though the bayou was full of them.
ALLIGATOR AND CRANE.
"The alligator makes great use of his tail in fighting, and in sweeping his game into his mouth. A blow of the tail from even a small alligator will break a man's leg, and I have known it to cut off a tree two inches in diameter. When the fellow wishes to capture anything, he tries to creep along-side, and when within reach he opens his mouth and sweeps his great tail around at the same instant, and the prize disappears down his capacious throat. Once I saw an alligator lying on a bank where some cranes were feeding not far away. He was motionless as a log—which he much resembled—but I could see that he had his eye open, and was on the lookout for a breakfast. By-and-by one of the cranes wandered near him, and like a flash his tail swept the bird into his mouth. Then he stretched out and 'set himself again,' as my guide said, for another crane.
THE TROCHILUS.
"It is a curious circumstance, mentioned by Herodotus, and greatly discussed since his time, that there is a small bird called the trochilus that fearlessly enters the mouth of the crocodile, and relieves it of the leeches and flies that disturb it. The bird and the crocodile seem to be on the most friendly terms; and it is thought by some writers that the bird performs the additional service of sentinel to its huge friend, and warns him of the approach of danger."
TROCHILUS AND CROCODILE.
Fred suggested that it was just possible that the bird was only an inquisitive fellow, and finding the crocodile's mouth open, he looked in to see what sort of a house it would make. And the crocodile, on his part, did not think the little bird was large enough to pay him for shutting his jaws on it; and so the intruder escaped solely on account of his diminutive size.
"When you see a crocodile or an alligator asleep on a bank," the Doctor continued, "you can, perhaps, get a good shot by creeping near enough to send a bullet under his fore-leg. The skin there is not protected by scales, and a bullet will penetrate it. Especially if you have explosive balls that burst on the moment of concussion, you can tear a great hole inside your game, and seriously interfere with his digestion. I shot one once in this way on a sand-bar in the Nile, a few miles above the first cataract; he was nearly twenty feet long, and it took my men a whole day to remove his skin. I was within thirty paces of him when I fired, and, as I had good aim, I sent the bullet exactly where I wished, he gave a few convulsive movements with his tail, and then stretched out stiff and dead."
The Doctor paused; and the consul took up the conversation with an account a friend had given him of a fight between a bear and an alligator in Western Louisiana.
"My friend was out hunting one day," said the consul, "and was suddenly startled by a loud roaring in the bushes not far off. He cautiously crept near, expecting to see a couple of bulls preparing for combat; what was his astonishment to see a large bear and a full-grown alligator eying each other, and poising themselves for an encounter.
"Bruin was on his hind legs, his mouth was covered with foam, and there were several streams of blood on his black coat. The alligator was on the tiptoes of all his legs, and he lashed his tail furiously, and kept his great jaws moving as if trying their ability to close on the bear at the proper moment.
THE ALLIGATOR AND THE BEAR.
"The bear growled, and the alligator roared like a bull; and it was his roaring that had attracted my friend's attention. They had evidently indulged in a clinch before he saw them, and were making ready for a second round. For fully a minute they remained in the attitudes in which he first beheld them, and neither could make up his mind how to take the best hold. Finally Bruin dropped on all fours, and ran at the alligator; the latter met him by throwing his head and body to one side, and delivering a blow with his tail that knocked the bear over on the ground, and rolled him several yards away. The blow sounded as though it had been given with a club with the force of half a dozen men, and it is safe to say that the strongest man would have been killed by it.
"The bear was not discouraged, for he picked himself up and ran once more at the alligator. He did it three times in succession, and with the same result; the alligator knocking him over each time.
"Bruin now saw that he must change his tactics. He made his next run in such a way as to avoid the tail, and he was fairly on the alligator's body before the blow could be given. The great tail was lashed furiously from side to side, but to no purpose, as it could not hit the bear either way. The force of the charge upset the alligator, and turned him completely over; the bear's jaws closed on one of his fore-legs, while the shaggy paws were clasped around the scaly body. The reptile was in a bad way, as his great weapon of warfare, the tail, was useless; and his neck was not flexible enough to enable him to bite. He roared in despair, and then bethought himself of a new trick.
"His tail, as he lashed it around, happened to hit a small tree; he pushed against this tree as with a lever, and by using it as a fulcrum he managed to wriggle along to the bank. Then another convulsive movement threw him and his antagonist into the water.
"The bank from which they fell was about four feet high, and they tumbled in with a loud splash. They disappeared below the surface, and were out of sight for nearly two minutes. The bear came up, and, after scrambling to the shore, he gave a brief glance at the stream, to make sure that there was no chance of renewing the combat; then, shaking the water from his skin, he hurried off into the forest. My friend could have shot the bear with the utmost ease, but in consideration for the courage and determination he had shown he did not do so."
"He was right," said Frank; "such bravery should command respect."
"But how about the alligator's part of the fight?" the Doctor asked.
"As to that," responded the youth, "the alligator deserves no credit. When he found he could not conquer the bear on equal terms, he sneaked into the river. He could live in the air or in the water, while the bear could not fight below the surface of the stream, and could not even live there. All the alligator had to do was to sink in the water, and the bear must drown or let go his hold. I like the bear's bravery, but don't think much of the other fellow."
"No more do I," Fred chimed in; "and it is a pity that the alligator could not have been shot before he rolled from the bank. All the race of crocodiles is a cruel one, and ought to be exterminated."
"They are fast being driven from existence," said the Doctor. "Twenty-five years ago they were numerous in the Nile below Luxor; while to-day they are rarely seen below the first cataract, which is more than a hundred miles above Luxor. They are also becoming scarce in the rivers of India; and the alligators in the southern parts of the United States are not nearly as numerous as they were. Still, there are enough for all the demand that is likely to be made for them, and anybody who will invent a way of killing them rapidly will confer a benefit upon the human race."
JUST HATCHED.
"In regions where these reptiles abound, the natives have adopted the sensible plan of destroying the eggs whenever they find a nest. The nests are made in the sand or on a bank of earth, and the female alligator usually lays from twenty to forty—rarely more than the latter number. They are hatched by the heat of the sun: the mother does not sit on the nest like a hen, but she stays in the neighborhood and fights for their protection. When the chicks emerge from the shell they hurry off to the water, or to a hiding-place in the mud; and they seem to understand that they will be subject to many dangers until they get large enough to defend themselves. Cranes and fish are fond of them in their tender youth, and even the fathers of the alligator family seem to mistake them for frogs, and eat them with apparent delight.
"In some parts of India the natives dig a circular pit, and cover it with sticks and leaves. The pit surrounds a little island or mound of earth, and is close to a stream where crocodiles abound. On the mound they fasten a young goat, and his bleatings during the night attract the crocodiles, who break the slight floor of sticks with their heavy bodies, and fall into the pit prepared for them. Heavy stakes are set in the bottom of the pit, and as the reptile falls he is generally impaled on one or more of them.
"I have read of a famous old crocodile who defied all the ordinary modes of capture, in one of the rivers of India. Finally an English officer hit upon a trick that was successful. He put a pound of powder in a can, and attached it to an electric wire, so that he could explode it at pleasure; then he placed this can inside the carcass of a sheep, and by means of a rope floated it over where the crocodile lay. The crocodile rose and swallowed the bait; the officer, who was standing ready with his electric battery on the shore, completed the connection of the wires, and an instant afterwards the reptile that had been a terror to the neighborhood had ceased to exist. The can of powder exploded in his stomach, and his body, when it came to the surface, was so torn and distorted that it could hardly be recognized as the remains of a crocodile."
COMING OUT TO SUN HIMSELF.