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

by George Finlayson

Mr. Crawfurd now expressed his satisfaction at the hospitality and kind treatment we had experienced since our arrival, as well as with the manner in which the objects of the mission had been conducted; that he had no doubt, the more the two nations were acquainted with each other, the better friends they would become; that he should accept of the presents which the King had been pleased to offer to him, with all becoming respect, and consider them as an honourable mark of personal distinction; that with regard to the presents intended for the Governor General, the mandarins must well know that things of this sort were by no means necessary to ensure the friendship of powers so well disposed towards each other; that he hoped, therefore, the King would not take it amiss if he declined receiving them; that he would, however, do what might be considered equivalent, he would go, as proposed at first, to the hall of ceremonies to view them, and that he would report to the Governor General that such things had been offered.

It seems as if the mandarins had been prepared to receive an answer of this nature, and the French gentlemen observed that they had stated it as their opinion that the presents for the Governor General would not be received. The mandarin, in a good-humoured way, used every argument that he could think of to induce Mr. Crawfurd to accept them; but being assured repeatedly that this could not be done without an express order to that effect, he desisted, and the matter seemed amicably, if not satisfactorily, adjusted on both sides. The Tacoon said that the letters should be delivered on the following day, and that at an early hour a boat should be sent to convey us to the hall of ceremonies, in the palace, where the presents would be laid out for inspection. He had asked, on our entrance, whether we wished to return by sea or by land; and on its being answered by land, he said that it was not at present very practicable to go by sea; and that he would give us his boat to convey us the first stage of our journey, which it would be more agreeable to accomplish by water, the navigation being inland. Palanquins and bearers should be provided to convey us the rest of the way. Satisfied with this arrangement, we fixed our departure for the morning of the 14th. He observed, that a certain number of bullocks, hogs, goats, ducks, fowls, rice, and sugar, would be offered for the use of the ship, and conveyed to Turon.

Mr. Crawfurd answered that he would accept them with pleasure, and again expressed his satisfaction at the liberality of the commercial regulations. During the time we remained here, the Mandarin had sent his assistant to communicate respecting the commercial regulations. It was agreed that the English should be permitted to trade to all the ports of Cochin China; and that their ships should be measured in the manner that the Chinese junks were. The Mandarin now observed that permission had been granted to trade to the ports of Saigon, Han, (Bay of Turon,) and Hué. This is, in fact, restricting it to the two former; the difficulties attending the entrance of the latter, impeded by a shallow bar at its mouth, and exposed to a wide and open sea, rendering the permission almost of no avail. He observed that Tonquin being a lately conquered country, the King had thought proper to restrict the trade in the manner mentioned.

From the readiness with which leave had in the first instance been granted to trade to all the ports in the kingdom, and from the surprise which that communication excited in our very obliging friends, but very certainly also our political enemies, the French gentlemen, when the matter was mentioned to them incidentally by Mr. Crawfurd, there appeared reason to suspect that the restrictions now made were of their counselling. Mr. Crawfurd expressed his assent to these restrictions.

Whilst the latter part of the conversation was going forward, preparations were making for a repast. The table was soon covered with sweetmeats, jellies, roasted ducks and fowls, and a great variety of fruits, of which we were requested to partake. The Mandarin now laid aside the distant and formal manner which he had hitherto observed, and, approaching the table, conversed with much familiarity, laughing as before very loudly at times. Four or five young children had collected round him. He observed that these were part of thirty-six children who were now alive and in his house, and that the entire number of whom he had been the parent was fifty-four. He said that he was now sixty-six years of age, that he had served three kings, and had filled the office he now holds for the last twenty-one years, and that he expected to have more children born to him. All his children had been born, he said, since the late king had ascended the throne. Previous to that period, being engaged in war, flying from place to place, pursuing or pursued, he had found how unfavourable such a life is to the increase of families, but that he hoped he had profited by the quiet which followed.

The mandarins opposite to us seemed to relish the repast. They devoured rather than ate of it, and, with an avidity and coarseness of manner which was altogether disgusting. Fat pork and rotten eggs they seemed to consider as delectable morsels, and were not sparing of their powers of consumption. It will appear scarcely credible to an European, that both here and in many parts of China, fresh eggs are looked upon with indifference, while those that have become to a certain degree putrid are much esteemed, and that the latter cost in the market thirty per cent. more than the former. Eggs that contain young ones are still more highly esteemed, and, amongst the numerous dishes sent to us by the king, were two plates full of hatched eggs, containing young that were already fledged. We were assured that this was considered as a mark of great distinction. Doubting still of the fact, we sent them to the soldiers appointed as our guard, who gobbled them up in haste with the most luxurious voracity.

The table was now cleared, and the conversation that followed was of a general nature; when, to our great astonishment, the little mandarin of Han, a man who had often visited us both here and on board ship, without giving us any more favourable notion of his capacity than that of his being a poor silly creature, with scarcely two ideas in his head, got up, and, in a loud and sharp voice, exclaimed, that we had come from the Governor of a province, that we had offered presents to a great king, who, not receiving them, we were now returning without the presents he had deigned to offer. Had the little man done that justice to the bottle, which he did to the fat pork and hatched eggs, one might have supposed this intemperate remark to have proceeded from inebriety. It would appear, however, to have been the result of pure folly, for on this, though not on all the occasions we had seen him, he was apparently sober. Before he had time to proceed further, Mr. Crawfurd replied, that he had not called for the opinion of this mandarin, and would hear no more from him. That the matter having been fully discussed with the Tacoon, in their presence, it was now surely at rest. The little mandarin evidently felt this as a keen rebuke. Mistaking the nature of the part which I had performed in the transactions of the day, and conceiving himself to be on terms of great intimacy with Mr. Crawfurd, he thought that such an observation could only have come from me. So, rising again, with still more animated energy, he observed, that there was but one name in the Governor General’s letter, meaning thereby, that but one had a right to speak there. He said nothing further, and sat down, apparently much offended; the more so for that I could not help laughing at his mistake. The Tacoon also laughed very heartily at the occurrence. The observation however, though seemingly thrown out by accident, made some impression upon the two mandarins, senior to that of Han; and the Tacoon, seeing that it was likely to lead to further discussion, terminated the affair by saying, that he would refer the matter to the king. Thus, by one unlucky, unnecessary expression of a weak and foolish man, were our plans entirely frustrated.

The conversation on our part was carried on entirely in the French language, M. Chaigneaux acting as interpreter between us.

Oct. 15th.—Two of the assistants to Tuan-kam, (Mandarin of Elephants,) who had been present at our last interview with him, called upon Mr. Crawfurd with a sealed copy of the Commercial Regulations. They said, that the letter for the Governor General could not be delivered unless the presents were accepted; that those intended for Mr. Crawfurd and the ship should be delivered at Turon. They asked if Mr. Crawfurd really wished to have the letter; and that if he would accept of the presents for the Governor General, it would be made out without delay. Mr. Crawfurd replied, that he had already delivered his sentiments on the subject of the presents, and that as to the letter, it was for the king to decide whether he should receive it or not. They inquired when we wished to depart, and were told, on the day after to-morrow. They said that we might visit the Tuan-kam on the following day, which was agreed to. They now took their leave, apparently disappointed at the result of the interview. It appeared that they thought Mr. Crawfurd could not return to Bengal without an answer to the letter to the king.

16th.—We visited the Mandarin of Strangers. He had sent a clerk early in the morning, to say that four men only would be provided for carrying the baggage of Mr. Crawfurd, myself, a European clerk, an interpreter, and servant. We had been requested to state the day before, in writing, the number of persons that would be required for this purpose, and had mentioned twelve. We were now not a little surprised to learn that they had reduced this number to four, and not conceiving that such an order could have been authorized by the minister, sent the man away.