Here they were fortunate in finding in the harbour the native-built trading vessel Lion, Captain Dupont, owned by the King of Siam. Although the ship was modeled after western vessels, it was of the rudest native workmanship, without conveniences for occidental travellers; and even the orientals who took passage had only deck space allotted to them. For these three Westerners one small cabin was made available and had to serve them day and night for the twenty-four day voyage, a sail cloth being suspended in the middle as a concession to foreign ideas of privacy. Provisions had to be secured at Singapore and the Chinese cook of the vessel paid to prepare them.
The passage from the South China Sea into the Gulf of Siam proved to be the climax of the whole trip. A violent and prolonged storm was encountered which not only added greatly to the misery of the ship’s company but imperiled their lives:
“For nearly three days,” writes Dr. House, “we have not had one cheering glimpse of the sun. Squall after squall of rain has burst in its fury upon us; indeed it has been almost one incessant rain, and the wind all the time from the most unfavourable quarter has at last increased to a gale, driving the ship from her course towards we know not what islands and rocks.... The waves are rolling wildly, scowling rain clouds begird the horizon and shut out the sky above us and the view before us. It is now three days since the captain has been able to get an observation, and the dead reckoning is in these seas little to be depended upon, owing to the strong currents. Our situation is no more safe than it is agreeable.... Every wave rolls us also to and fro, so that if one sits or stands he is obliged to be continually bracing himself, now this way, now that, to keep the center of gravity; and every now and then is pitched by some sudden lurch against the nearest object so that sides and arms and elbows fairly ache with the bruises.... And all this time there is in your ears the creaking of the rudder chains and the dismal splashing of the great waves as they surge up under the stern windows. But a greater annoyance yet remains to be spoken of. The deck over us (the roof of our cabin) leaks in a hundred different places upon us, not in drops but in streams. In my compartment there is but one dry place, and that is the mattress; and even that is not wholly dry, for now and then it drops down upon the pillow. The floor is as wet as if being mopped; wet trunks, wet books, wet baskets lie around. The chairs are too wet to sit upon, and so the bed is the only place for rest.”
WELCOMED BY OTHER MISSIONARIES
Fortunately the voyage of twenty-four days was not all like this, and after the storm had abated there was much to make the days interesting. At length came the first sight of Siam:
“Friday, March 19. The first sight of Siam. Thy people, O Siam, shall be my people; but my God shall be their God. Here would I die and here would I be buried.... Henceforth I would live for Thee, my God. Thou art a kind Master; and oh, Thou hast bought me, every power and faculty; Thou hast bought me by Thy precious blood. Let me henceforth shrink from nothing—but sin and remissness in Thy blessed service. With the beginning of my missionary life I give myself anew, tremblingly but trustingly to do Thy will O God, my Creator, Guide and Redeemer.”
The following day, Saturday, March 20, 1847, Dr. House landed in Bangkok. The arrival of the new missionary party met with a most cordial welcome by the small group of fellow Americans already engaged in the work. At that time Siam was occupied by two American missions, besides French Catholic missions. The American Board was then represented by Rev. Jesse Caswell and Rev. Asa Hemmenway with their wives; while the Baptist Board was represented by the following men and their wives: Revs. J. T. Jones, Josiah Goddard, and E. N. Jenks, and Mr. J. H. Chandler, a lay missionary.
“Early on the morning of the 20th of March, just eight months to a day from the time of our leaving New York, we found ourselves at the bar which obstructs the entrance of the great river of Siam.... I was despatched with the captain in a swift, but alas open, boat that I might, if the ship was unable to get over the bar, make arrangements with friends to send down for Mr. and Mrs. Mattoon. After a rather broiling row of some twenty miles along a river far more beautiful than I had been led to suppose, arrived at the outskirts of this truly great city about sundown. We had still some three miles or more before we reached the residence of the missionaries of the A. B. C. F. M., and it was then dark. Was most kindly welcomed by Mr. Caswell and Mr. Hemmenway, the only missionaries of that Board now left; and glad indeed they appeared to see me.”