Before asking the reader to accompany me into the interior of Siam, it will not be amiss, in the next chapter, to give a short sketch of the kingdom itself and of its past history.
CHAPTER II.
Geography and History of the Kingdom of Siam.
HISTORY OF SIAM.
The name of Siam was first heard in Europe in the year 1502. Nine years after Alphonso d’Albuquerque had conquered the peninsula of Malacca, some intercourse took place between Portugal and Siam, which, however, was interrupted by the long wars between this country and the Burmese.
In 1632 an English vessel touched at the ancient capital Ayuthia. Shortly afterwards the Portuguese at Goa sent a party of Dominican and Franciscan missionaries to Siam, and the communication between the two nations became more frequent. The King engaged in his service three hundred Portuguese soldiers, who were distributed over the country, having lands allotted to them for cultivation, and who contracted marriage with native women. The missionaries built two churches, and established a school.
After a while the Dutch power began to supplant that of Portugal in the East, and, in the course of the seventeenth century, the empire of Siam was brought into contact with the new conquerors of the Indies. The Portuguese colonies gradually became extinct; and the influence of the Batavian settlers increased so much, that they established at Ayuthia a Dutch factory, which, under its director Schonten, attained its greatest prosperity about the year 1690. Various articles of merchandise were introduced into Siam, from whence, in return, were exported skins, sapan-wood, &c.; and the country, from its position and the richness of its natural productions, became at that time an important station for the commerce of the Dutch between China and Japan, and the valuable islands of Ceylon and Java.
France herself, at the height of her maritime power under Louis XIV., could not equal the power of the Dutch Company, though, at one period, chances eminently favourable presented themselves to her. A Greek adventurer named Constantine Phaulcon, of whom we shall have subsequently to speak, opened for himself a remarkable career in Siam, where he was converted to Romanism by the missionaries. He suggested to the King to send envoys to Louis XIV., and their arrival in France produced a sensation, the echo of which we have heard in our own day in the embassy from the same country to Napoleon III. His Most Christian Majesty replied by accrediting ambassadors to the Siamese Court—De Chaumont in 1685, and La Loubéze in 1687. Each was accompanied by several Jesuit priests; and a force of 500 men, under the command of General de Fargues, was stationed at Bangkok. The General, however, was not able to maintain his position; Constantine met with a tragic end, and the Jesuit fathers were kept as hostages. These failures destroyed the French influence for more than a century and a half, and for a time strengthened the power of Holland.
This brief glance at the intercourse between Europe and Siam in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries will suffice.