It is to be feared, however, that his majesty's protest came too late, and that, like many another blunder, the name Pechaburi has obtained such currency that it cannot be superseded.
Sir John Bowring "received from a gentleman now resident in Siam the notes of an excursion to this city in July, 1855.
"'We left Bangkok about three in the afternoon, and although we had the tide in our favor, we only accomplished five miles during the first three hours. Our way lay through a creek; and so great was the number of boats that it strongly reminded me of Cheapside during the busiest part of the day. Although I had been in Bangkok four months, I had not the least conception that there was such a population spread along the creeks. More than four miles from the river, there appeared to be little or no diminution in the number of the inhabitants, and the traffic was as great as at the mouth of the creek.
"'Having at last got past the crowd of boats, we advanced rapidly for two hours more, when we stopped at a wat, in order to give the men a rest. This wat, as its name "Laos" implies, was built by the inhabitants of the Laos country, and is remarkable (if we can trust to tradition) as being the limit of the Birmese invasion. Here, the Siamese say, a body of Birmans were defeated by the villagers, who had taken refuge in the wat: and they point out two large holes in the wall as the places where cannon-balls struck. After leaving this, we proceeded rapidly until about 12 P.M., when we reached the other branch of the Meinam (Meinam mahachen), and there we halted for the night.
"'Our journey the next day was most delightful: most of it lay through narrow creeks, their banks covered with atap and bamboo, whilst behind this screen were plantations of chilis, beans, peas, etc. Alligators and otters abounded in the creeks; and we shot several, and one of a peculiar breed of monkey also we killed. The Siamese name of it is chang, and it is accounted a great delicacy: they also eat with avidity the otter. We crossed during the day the Tha-chin, a river as broad as the Meinam at Bangkok. Toward evening we entered the Mei-Klong, which we descended till we reached the sea-coast. Here we waited till the breeze should sufficiently abate to enable us to cross the bay.
"'11th.—We started about 4 A.M., and reached the opposite side in about three hours. The bay is remarkably picturesque, and is so shallow that, although we crossed fully four miles from the head of the bay, we never had more than six feet of water, and generally much less. Arrived at the other side we ascended the river on which Pechaburi is built. At the mouth of the river myriads of monkeys were to be seen. A very amusing incident occurred here. Mr. Hunter, wishing to get a juvenile specimen, fired at the mother, but, unfortunately, only wounded her, and she had strength enough to carry the young one into the jungle. Five men immediately followed her; but ere they had been out of sight five minutes we saw them hurrying toward us shouting, "Ling, ling, ling, ling!" (ling, monkey). As I could see nothing, I asked Mr. Hunter if they were after the monkey. "Oh, no," he replied; "the monkeys are after them!" And so they were—thousands upon thousands of them, coming down in a most unpleasant manner; and, as the tide was out, there was a great quantity of soft mud to cross before they could reach the boat, and here the monkeys gained very rapidly upon the men, and when at length the boat was reached, their savage pursuers were not twenty yards behind. The whole scene was ludicrous in the extreme, and I really think if my life had depended upon it that I could not have fired a shot. To see the men making the most strenuous exertions to get through the deep mud, breathless with their run and fright combined, and the army of little wretches drawn up in line within twenty yards of us, screaming, and making use of the most diabolical language, if we could only have understood them! Besides, there was a feeling that they had the right side of the question. One of the refugees, however, did not appear to take my view of the case. Smarting under the disgrace, and the bamboos against which he ran in his retreat, he seized my gun, and fired both barrels on the exulting foe; they immediately retired in great disorder, leaving four dead upon the field. Many were the quarrels that arose from this affair among the men.
"'The approach to Pechaburi is very pleasant, the river is absolutely arched over by tamarind trees, while the most admirable cultivation prevails all along its course.
"'The first object which attracts the attention is the magnificent pagoda, within which is a reclining figure of Buddha, one hundred and forty-five feet in length. Above the pagoda, the priests have, with great perseverance, terraced the face of the rock to a considerable height. About half-way up the mountain, there is an extensive cave, generally known amongst foreigners as the "Cave of Idols;" it certainly deserves its name, if we are to judge from the number of figures of Buddha which it contains.
"'The talapoins assert that it is natural. It may be so in part, but there are portions of it in which the hand of man is visible. It is very small, not more than thirty yards in length, and about seven feet high; but anything like a cavern is so uncommon in this country, that this one is worth notice. We now proceeded to climb the mountain. It is very steep, but of no great height—probably not more than five hundred feet. It is covered with huge blocks of a stone resembling granite; these are exceedingly slippery, and the ascent is thus rendered rather laborious. But when we reached the top we were well repaid. The country for miles in each direction lay at our feet—one vast plain, unbroken by any elevation. It appeared like an immense garden, so carefully was it cultivated; the young rice and sugar-cane, of the most beautiful green, relieved by the darker shade of the cocoanut trees, which are used as boundaries to the fields—those fields traversed by suitable foot-paths. Then toward the sea the view was more varied: rice and sugar-cane held undisputed sway for a short distance from the town; then cocoanuts became more frequent, until the rice finally disappeared; then the bamboos gradually invaded the cocoanut trees; then the atap palm, with its magnificent leaf; and lastly came that great invader of Siam, the mangrove. Beyond were the mountains on the Malay Peninsula, stretching away in the distance.
"'With great reluctance did we descend from the little pagoda, which is built upon the very summit; but evening was coming on, and we had observed in ascending some very suspicious-looking footprints mightily resembling those of a tiger.