"The religion of Siam, like that of Burma, is Buddhist, in whose honor most of the temples whose spires you can see are erected," said the professor, as he pointed to several of them.
"We don't care to see them in detail, even if we had the time," suggested Louis. "I know they are magnificent pieces of architecture, and wonderful to behold; but we have had about enough of that sort of thing."
The party landed, and walked to the temple. It looked like an exaggerated bell, the spire being the handle, and the lower portion looking like an enormous flight of circular stairs for the roof. It was over two hundred feet high. Attached to it in the rear was a structure with a pitched roof. They bought photographs of it at the stand of a native who spoke a little French. At this point Achang procured a guide who spoke French, and he conducted them to the Temple of the Sleeping Idol.
"It is not much of a temple compared with the one we have just visited," said the professor. "We must go into it."
They entered, conducted by the guide. The building looked like three pitched-roof structures set together, the middle one into the largest at the bottom, and the smallest into the middle one. It contains an enormous figure of Buddha, one hundred and sixty feet long, which about fills the interior of the temple. It is constructed of brick, plastered and then gilded, so that it looks like a golden statue in a reclining posture. The feet are sixteen feet long, and the arms six feet in diameter.
The party looked in at another temple, which contains a brass statue of Buddha fifty feet high, with other smaller statues, and a variety of objects that were unintelligible to the visitors. Various other temples were examined hastily on the way to the royal palace, but they were only a repetition of what they had often seen before.
The palace was a magnificent building, or series of buildings, for a half-civilized country. The tourists were permitted to enter at the gate, though the guide was excluded. They saw a squad of the royal guards who were drilling on the pavement, and they regarded them with great interest. They wore a Zouave uniform, though with a short frock-coat buttoned to the chin, with round caps in cylindrical form, and visors. They were armed with muskets, and commanded by native officers.
"This palace is a big thing," said the professor, "and is a mile in circumference, surrounded by walls."
It contained, besides the palace of the king, the public offices, temples, a theatre, barracks for several thousand soldiers, and apartments for three thousand women, six hundred of whom are the wives of the king. But what interested them more than most of the sights was the famous white elephant. He is said to be of equal rank with the king, and is treated with all possible deference and respect. He has a palatial stable; and being a king, he lives like one. His servants and attendants are all priests. But he is not a pleasant sprig of royalty, and the visitors were warned not to go too near him.
But it was time to return to the ship, and they found the boat in the canal which Achang had indicated. At dinner the conversation was concerning the city, and the party mentioned many things the Nimrods had not seen. On Tuesday morning the ship sailed on her voyage to Saigon.