The Mission to Siam, and Hué, the Capital of Cochin China, in the Years 1821-2

by George Finlayson

It was evident that the Pra-klang was anxious to make as great display as possible before the stranger, and though the taste exhibited throughout, and more particularly in the too profuse decorations of the room, were widely different from what we are accustomed to admire, yet it must be admitted that the effect produced was altogether surprising, and far beyond what we could have anticipated from a people unquestionably very rude in many of the arts of civilized life. It deserves to be mentioned, however, that the glass manufacturer of Europe had contributed not a little towards this display.

The ambassador seemed little inclined to abate one jot of his dignity on this occasion. After keeping the anxious chief and his bustling attendants in suspense for several hours, he at length appeared with twenty or thirty attendants, and some persons bearing presents in boxes.

The ambassador was rather an elderly man, below the middle stature, of a thin, lanky, and spare habit, with sharp eyes and sunk cheeks. He was remarkably fair for an Asiatic. He wore on his head a piece of black crape, loosely rolled into the form of a turban. He had on a loose gown, with wide sleeves, of the same material and colour as his turban, and both he and his suite were habited in black. Several chobs were carried before him, and three black umbrellas were held over him. A few menials were dressed in jackets of coarse red cloth and conical caps, surmounted by a plume of red hair.

The address of the ambassador was both dignified and easy. He stood on the threshold for an instant, surveying the room, regardless of the chief, and advanced to the carpet in the centre of the place. He here made a slight salutation by raising his right hand towards his face. His interpreter and a few others seated themselves by him. Sweetmeats were now introduced, and after the lapse of an hour or so, they parted.

On the 17th May, the noisy ceremony called Khon-chook terminated, on which occasion the English and Portuguese in the place, consisting of Mr. Crawfurd and suite, Mr. de Sylveira, the Portuguese consul, and his secretary Mr. Baptiste, Captain M’Donnell of the John Adam and two of his mates, Captain Smith and Mr. Storm of the brig Phœnix, and two Portuguese from Macao, were invited by the Pra-klang to a dinner prepared in the European fashion.

I have before remarked that it is an invariable and very ancient custom amongst the Siamese to preserve a lock of hair on the forehead of their children, which is guarded intact until a certain period of their age, when it is cut with great ceremony. The ceremony is called Khon-chook, and takes place at the 11th, 13th, or 15th year of age, according to the inclination of the parents. It is a time of great festivity and shew. The relations and friends of the family make presents according to the extent of their ability; the priests are frequently assembled to say prayers; are fed and presented with new robes of yellow cloth, that being the only colour they are permitted to wear. Different bands of national music are assembled, and the festivities are kept up with unceasing attention for the space of five days. On this occasion, the eldest, and favourite son of the Pra-klang, a puny, sickly, but intelligent boy, had attained the proper age for the performance of this ceremony. The rank and situation of the father was such as to command a very bountiful supply of presents. Of these we may instance that of the Prince Chroma-chit, who is said to have given four catties of silver, equal to 240 ticals, and that of the Agent to the Governor General, who gave five. The tical is somewhat less than a third more in value than a rupee.

This ceremony would appear to be more agreeable to the tenets and practice of the Hindu than of the Bauddhic religion. The priests of the latter took no farther interest in it than to repeat certain prayers at particular periods, whilst the tonsure is, in fact, performed by a Brahman, with great ceremony, and an affectation of mystery, after he had repeated a set of unintelligible prayers. A few Brahmans are maintained in the country for the due performance of this particular ceremony. The Siamese entertain considerable respect for the professors of the Hindu faith. It is not to be expected however that Brahmans so situated, exiled from the soil which originated and cherished their faith, would long preserve its tenets in purity. The prayers of the priests of Buddha were repeated by several persons at once, in a sort of recitative style, and, as usual, in the Pali or sacred text, a language altogether unintelligible to the vulgar, and but imperfectly understood even by the greater number of priests. The multitude listen to these prayers with the most perfect indifference. They neither observe decorum nor respect on such occasions, each seeming by his conduct to imply that this was a business which touched him little, either as regards this world or the next. Even in the temple, their respect for the sanctity of the place, which the presence of their idols might be supposed to command, is but little observable. Both priests and laymen are often seen squatted on the pavement playing at chess, and other games of chance, before the shrines of the gods.

Several of the best bands of music were assembled on this occasion, and relieved each other in succession. One of these consisted of female performers only; the others of male performers, whose music was occasionally interspersed with the plaintive notes of a female voice. The difference of the several bands consisted chiefly in the greater or less power, or body of the music, if I may so express it; the softest and most pleasing being that of the female band.

The Siamese are naturally very fond of music, and even persons of rank think it no disparagement to acquire a proficiency in the art. This music is for the most part extremely lively, and more pleasing to the ear of an European, than the want of proficiency in the more useful arts of civilized life would lead him to expect of such a nation. Whence this proficiency has arisen may be somewhat difficult to explain, more especially as the character of their music partakes but little of that eccentricity of genius and apparent heaviness of mind and imagination, for which they are, in other respects, so remarkable. We have no means of ascertaining what is of domestic origin, or how much they may be indebted to foreign intercourse for the improvement of their music. On inquiry we were told that the principal instruments were of Barman, Pegu, or Chinese origin, and that much of the music had been borrowed from the two first mentioned nations, particularly from Pegu.

It is somewhat singular that these nations again consider the Siamese as superior in musical skill, and attribute to the latter the invention of the principal instruments, as may be seen in Colonel Symes’s account of those countries.