Dr. House and Mr. Mattoon were sent for again by the king a few days later, and availed themselves of this occasion to present to His Majesty several useful presents sent out by American admirers.
TOURS WITH MRS. HOUSE
While in America, in 1855, the Sunday school of his home church provided funds for the purchase and outfitting of a boat for touring. The result was a boat equipped for the work, affording more comfort than possible in the native boats. Along the side of the small cabin, lockers were fitted, serving both as seats and place for storage. A removable table between afforded space for writing or eating. For the night an extension bridged the space between the lockers, and this, covered with cushions, made a comfortable double bed. In December of 1856 Dr. House made the first tour with Mrs. House. Customs, and scenes in Siam had by this time grown so familiar to him that his letters home do not contain details as did his earlier letters. Their first tour together, in company with some of the other missionaries, was up the Meklong River in western Siam as far as the town of Kanburi amidst some fine mountain scenery. Several other trips occurred; one of them to Petrui:
“A fortnight or more,” he writes, “exploring some of the totally unvisited districts of the eastern portion of the plain which constitutes central Siam—you know my passion for penetrating into remote and unexplored regions and out of the way places.”
If perchance this enthusiasm conveys the impression that these journeys were of unmingled pleasure and simple romance it is well to have that fancy checked by some material facts; for, continuing the narrative of this trip, the doctor writes:
“Upon review of the tour I can recall but few that I remember with more satisfaction. But for pleasure—I cannot say much for a tour. Our confined quarters (cabin five by seven), the rocking of the boat with every movement of ours or of the boatmen, the hot sun upon the roof and sides by day and the myriads of mosquitos as the evening comes on (and such ravenous merciless mosquitos, too), the monotony of the scenery on the lower stream and absence of all that is pretty or picturesque in the villages and houses of the natives, and last but not least the universal uproar among all the dogs whenever one steps ashore anywhere in their villages—all detract largely from the romance and not a little from the comfort of a mission tour in this country.”
MARKS OF GROWTH
Dr. House continued to be superintendent of the mission school after his return in 1856, and although he makes very few references to this work in his journal from now on, yet there are occasional items which mark the growth. From this period Mrs. House appears as a factor in the educational work, but her achievements will occupy a separate chapter. In August after the return the doctor writes:
“Our school is much enlarged—many applicants to learn English. The eldest child of the son of the Prime Minister now comes regularly to Mrs. Mattoon, a very bright lad of seven. At the request of the king I am teaching two princes; one of sixteen, his grandson, the other a grandson of the late king, a boy of eleven. And by order of H. M. a dozen of the sons of his servants are now learning English in our school as day scholars.... There is a spacious bamboo school house going up in the back part of our lot.”
This growth, however, was in the educational work. While the workers did not belittle the importance of the school, they were well-nigh sick of heart with deferred hopes, a feeling that is reflected in their report to the Board for the year 1856: