Siam: Its Government, Manners, Customs, &c.

by N. A. McDonald

The late King always entertained the highest regard for his instructor, the Rev. J. Caswell, and besides building a tomb over his grave, presented his widow with $1,500 as a token of his regard.

The Presbyterian Board has now six missionaries with their families in Siam proper, and two amongst the Laos, a tributary kingdom to the north. They are distributed as follows:— Messrs. House, McDonald, George, and Carrington, in Bangkok; Messrs. McFarland and Van Dyke in Petchaburi; and Messrs. McGilvary and Wilson amongst the Laos. The American Baptist Union has also a mission to the Chinese in Siam. The missionaries are. Rev. William Dean, D. D., and Rev. S. B. Partridge, with their wives, and the Misses F. A. Dean and A. M. Fielde, single ladies. The Rev. D. B. Bradly, M. D., was originally sent out by the American Board, but is now in nominal connection with the American Missionary Association, but is wholly self-sustaining, receiving no support from any Board. Besides supporting his family, he preaches regularly and does other mission work. The Rev. S. J. Smith was formerly in connection with the American Baptist Union, but has dissolved his connection with that Board, and is now self-sustaining, and also does much missionary work. This is our force for at least eight millions of people.

When the writer arrived in Siam ten years ago, there was but one native convert in connection with the Presbyterian mission church. We have now at Bangkok a church numbering about twenty members; also one at Petchaburi with about the same membership. We have also a school in connection with our mission which averages about twenty five pupils. This school has not met the expectations of those who have had charge of it, but there is no reason to be discouraged at the results. Whilst many of the pupils have gone back to heathenism, and others have turned out badly, a goodly number are exemplary Christians, and some are looking forward to the ministry, and hope some day to preach the gospel to their countrymen.

Ten years ago we had the Gospels alone of the Scriptures translated; we have now the whole New Testament. Many portions of it, especially the Epistles, need revising, still it answers the purpose. We have also the Old Testament translated as far as through Joshua, and also the prophecy of Ezekiel, and minor prophets. Our mission hopes soon to be able to give the people the entire Scriptures in their own language. Our printing press is constantly at work printing the Scriptures and religious tracts.

It has also been the duty of the writer, shortly before leaving the country, to visit the scene of the last persecution (if we except the late troubles in China) which the history of the church has to record. North of Siam proper, there are a number of petty Laos kingdoms, all of which are in a certain sense tributary to Siam. They pay a small annual tribute, and the King of Siam claims the prerogative of nominating the successor to the throne when a vacancy occurs, but aside from this each of those kings is absolute in his own dominions. The largest of those kingdoms is Chieng Mai, and the capital city of the same name is situated in latitude 18° 48' north, or about five degees north of Bangkok. About three years ago two of our missionaries, Rev. Messrs. McGilvary and Wilson, having previously made a visit to that kingdom, determined to establish a mission there. They obtained permission from the King, and also from the Siamese government, and with great difficulty and self-denial removed their families thither, following the river all the way up over the thirty-two rapids. Their goods at the rapids had to be taken from the boats and carried around, whilst the boats had to be drawn up with ropes. The whole journey occupied some three months, a much longer time than it now takes to come to the United States.

At first they were kindly received by the King, but gradually his friendship began to cool down. This they attributed to the influence of a mongrel Portuguese whom the King had taken into his employ, and who was a Roman Catholic, and looked upon the missionaries as his enemies. After his departure the King again became more friendly. Some two years after their arrival they were permitted to baptize two Laos Christians, and not long afterwards five others were received. This appeared to arouse the wrath of the King, and before the missionaries were aware of it, he had arrested and executed two of the Christians, and warrants were issued for the other five, but they managed to escape arrest. The two who were executed were faithful witnesses for the truth, and died as courageously and as triumphantly for the faith, as any in that long list of martyrs which the history of the Church has to record. We find here amongst the mountaineer Laos, men who but a short time before had embraced Christ,—infants as it were, but a span long in faith,—sealing their faith with their blood. Had we no other fruits of our long labors in Siam than this glorious conversion, and still more glorious death of those mountaineer Laos, that alone will more than a thousand times repay all the expenditure of men and money upon that kingdom.

The missionaries were not aware of the execution of the Christians at the time, but soon discovered that servants and all those in connection with them were leaving, and upon inquiring the cause learned with difficulty what had happened, and that the others were leaving through fear of the King. Most of the princes of the kingdom, and apparently all the people, were indignant at the conduct of the King, but such was the fear of him that no one durst scarcely whisper a word, lest it might come to his ears, and their head pay the penalty of their rashness. He ruled with a rod of iron. The slightest theft, and continual drunkenness, were punished with death; and I must say, I know of no country where property is so secure from theft as in Chieng Mai.

Such however, was the known treachery of the King, and such the many stories afloat, that the missionaries supposed their own lives in danger. They tried to communicate with the mission at Bangkok, but such was the fear of the King that they could get no one to carry a letter, although they offered at one time as high as five hundred rupees ($225) to any one who would carry a letter to Bangkok. Fortunately however, a Burmese came along who was a native of British Burmah, and an English subject, and who offered to carry the letter for nothing. When we at Bangkok heard the news, we did not know but that they and their families might be murdered; we however deemed it our duty to make some effort to communicate with them. We accordingly sent a committee to wait upon the Regent of Siam, who, after expressing his indignation at what had happened, kindly offered a "Ka HLuáng," or government officer, to accompany any one of us who might wish to go up, who should be the bearer of a letter to the King of Chieng Mai, and who should also be a safe conduct to us. The officer had power to levy on provincial towns along the way such provisions and other things as we needed, and had also power to chastise delinquent governors who were slow to comply with our demands. It fell to the lot of the writer, in company with the Rev. S. C. George, to go on this important and rather dangerous errand. The letter from the Siamese government only ordered the King of Chieng Mai to allow the missionaries to remain peaceably, if they wished to, and if they desired to leave, to offer them every facility in his power to do so, and by no means to offer them any personal violence, as that would involve the Siamese government in difficulty with the United States government.

After storing our boat with a few necessaries which could not be secured by the way, and shipping a crew of six good boatmen, we turned her bow toward the north. The Siamese officer with his boats was to follow on in a day or two, expecting to overtake us ere we reached Raheng. We rowed by day, and a few hours by night when the moon was favorable, and when bedtime came, tied our boat up to the bank and slept till morning. After taking our morning meal of rice we were off again. We thus journeyed for ten days, passing the provincial towns of Aungtawng, Chinat, Monorom, &c., all of which provinces have governors.

There is nothing striking in the country or scenery on this portion of the route. The banks of the river are low and the scenery rather monotonous. The tenth day brought us to Nakawn Sawán, a provincial town at the junction of the two principal branches of the river. Here the novelty of the trip (if there be any novelty in it) was to commence. Our course lay rather northwest, and the current in the branch of the river which we were to take became very rapid, so that our oars which had hitherto served us a good purpose refused to serve us further. We had now to resort to poling. We had however, prepared ourselves somewhat for the emergency, and had secured several bamboo poles about fifteen feet long, in the butt ends of which were short iron forks. A man with one of these poles walked to the bow of the boat, and placing the end of the pole containing the fork firmly upon the bottom, he placed his shoulder to the other end and walked to the stern. Another was ready to take his place, and thus they kept the boat constantly moving. It required great dexterity however on the part of the steersman to keep the bow of the boat to the current, and thus be enabled to stem it. So soon as he allowed the bow to turn the least to the current, the poles would lose their hold, and we were set adrift, and in a few minutes would lose what we would make in an hour, and besides it was dangerous, as the river was full of snags. The river here spreads out over a sandy bottom, and many places where it was tolerably shallow it presented the appearance of a boiling chaldron. The bottom too, was treacherous; on one side of the boat we would be against a sand-bar, whilst on the other our poles would not touch bottom. The receding waters too, at that season of the year, left huge sand-bars running out from either bank to a point in the middle of the stream, and also numerous little sand-islands. Some portions of the route were solitary in the extreme, and in the morning we were aroused by the crowing of the jungle-fowl, and the scream of the peacock. In ten days more of poling, making in all about twenty-one from Bangkok, we reached Raheng, the last Siamese provincial town on the Laos borders. Here it was determined to leave our boats and take elephants across the country to Chieng Mai. We accordingly levied upon the Governor a sufficient number of elephants, and an escort of men to see us through the jungle. After some little delay our elephants were reported ready. The Governor of Raheng also, as a special favor, allowed his Lieutenant-Governor, a fine young nobleman, acquainted with the route, to accompany us in addition to the principal officer who had accompanied us from Bangkok. Our elephants were brought up each with a saddle, or howdah, on his back. A frame is made not unlike a wood-horse, on the top of which a seat is made about four feet long, like a buggie seat, and over which a basket cover is placed to shield the rider from the sun, and the whole, when on the elephant, resembles somewhat the top of a calash buggie. Raw hides are placed on the back of the elephant to keep it from chafing, and the saddle is then girthed on with a strong ratan rope. A cushion is placed in the seat, so that the rider, for a change, can lie down. The Siamese often sleep whilst the elephant is going, but we preferred to sit upright. You mount by means of a high block, or stand, but in the absence of this the elephant is taught to hold up his front leg, and his knee forms a step by means of which the rider can climb up. The driver sits astride the neck, in front of the saddle, with a short stick in his hand, on the end of which is a sharp iron hook, and when the animal becomes unruly he drives this hook unmercifully into his flesh, which soon brings him to his senses. Oftentimes one or two of the natives would crawl on behind to ride, for a rest. An elephant can carry four persons and a considerable amount of baggage with ease.