The military forces do not draw their pay from the public treasury. Each provincial governor has certain lands in his province, the produce of which is devoted to the support of the soldiery in time of peace, and in war time he supplies them with arms, food, and clothing. Officers are distinguished from the rank and file by the magnificence of their pipes which have certain joints to indicate the rank.
The Kingdom of Jangoma is situated on the north of Siam. It is not easy to define its boundaries accurately as they have changed owing to revolutions and political events. The country is governed by the priests whose power should be limited by law since the inhabitants style themselves "free-men," a title which servile and degraded races ought not to assume. Few details are known of the country and its inhabitants and we can only draw our conclusions from certain Chinese accounts and Siamese traditions. The following is all that is at present known to us on this matter.
The inhabitants are a well-built and vigorous race. Owing to the heat of the sun they wear scanty raiment consisting of a thin loin cloth. They go bareheaded and have never used shoes. The women are as voluptuous as the Peguans, but are much more handsome and are greatly in demand for the harems of pleasure loving Kings. Although the soil produces every necessary and even some luxuries of life, corn cannot be cultivated. But instead of bread, rice cakes form the staple article of diet. Besides necessaries of life the country produces musk, pepper, silk, gold, silver, copper and gums. It is true that certain travellers say that the bulk of these products come from China. But it would be less costly for a company established in Siam to procure them from Jangoma, rather than from the remotest East, and more so as this nation having had no commercial relations is unaware of the advantages of its geographical position.
We have very little information about the customs of the country, but it is known that the devil plays an important part in the beliefs of the inhabitants. The sick promise him sacrificial offerings and if he condescends to restore them to health they celebrate their recovery by a great feast to which all their friends and relations bring gifts of fruits to propitiate the evil spirit whom they look upon as the author of all diseases.
They are quite sure that the devil has no ear for music, as it is by instrumental efforts that they endeavour to drive him out of the house. The same motive, doubtless prompts them to summon priests to chant round the bedside of the sick man, who encouraged by their dismal voices expects a speedy relief from his pains. Death, which is a cause of mourning to men of other races of the earth, is for this nation a festal and delightful event. There seems to be a total lack of regret for the departed or at least they skilfully disguise their feelings in the matter. The corpse is borne on a reed litter by sixteen men to the place of cremation. The friends and relations, preceded by a band, follow in the procession. Quantities of presents are offered to the idolatrous priests who like birds of prey, live on the spoils of the dead. When the corpse has been cremated the funeral party returns to the house and the next two days are spent in feasting and dancing. After this, the widow bedecked with the trappings of woe proceeds to the cremation ground. All groan loudly and weep as they pick up the bones left by the flames. As a sign of mourning they merely get their hair cut.
Laos, which signifies thousands of elephants, derives its name from the numbers of these animals living in the forests of that country.
The climate is so mild and the air so pure that we are told that men of a hundred and even a hundred and twenty years still retain the full powers of their manhood. The bounties of nature are manifest in the plains and valleys and even the hilly districts. The watercourses which receive the mountain torrents, distribute the water evenly over the land and there are neither marshes nor stagnant ponds. The eastern bank of the river is the more fertile, the animals on this side are larger and finer, and the trees are more lofty. Here is grown the best rice of the East. The ground on which it has been sown, becomes covered with a sort of foam after the harvest and the heat of the sun converts it into solid salt.
Benzoin and lacquer of the best quality are found in the country, and from the latter Spanish wax is made.
Although ivory of superior quality is abundant, they consider rhinoceros horn to be of more value, as it is supposed to have the property of rendering the possessors lucky. The people of the upper classes as they happen to become more prosperous, discard the horn they possess so as to buy another which is reputed to be more efficacious and none of their valuables is guarded with greater care.
The flowers that stud the plains nourish swarms of bees which supply honey and wax. Tin, lead and iron mines are an important asset to the country. Gold and silver are found in the rivers whence it is extracted by means of iron nets.