CHAPTER XXI
ON THE VOYAGE TO SAIGON
The steamer was obliged to descend the Menam at less than half speed, to avoid running down any of the multitude of boats and vessels that thronged the river, and because the stream was so crooked.
"How far do you think Bangkok is from the Gulf, Captain Ringgold?" asked the general, at the close of the session.
"About twenty miles," replied the commander.
"One description of the city that I have read makes it forty miles, another twenty-six, and three others make it twenty miles," added the pacha; "and I suppose the last is the right distance."
"I have come to that conclusion after consulting all the books we have on the subject. You have said the second king of Burma had been abolished, General; are you confident that such is the case? We certainly did not see him, and I did not hear anything about him," added the captain.
"In the first place, I consider Chambers excellent authority, and you have the latest edition in the library, and the date is last year; and it says in so many words that the second has been done away with. The king who was the father of Chulalongkorn died in 1868. His prime minister was a progressive man, who introduced many reforms in Siam; and I am sure that he could not have helped seeing the absurdity of the second king. The present king is well educated, and also a progressive man, as his father was not. I am sorry we did not look the matter up, which we might easily have done with the assistance of the missionaries. But I am satisfied that I was correct in regard to the statement."
In the course of another hour the ship came to the mouth of the river. Crocodiles appear to prefer the mouth of a stream, and a considerable number were seen at the entrance to a canal or cut-off. The pilot stopped the screw, and backed it, in order to avoid a collision with a couple of vessels in the channel. As the two vessels were under sail, it looked as though it would be some time before the channel was clear; and the "Big Four" hastened to their staterooms for their repeating-rifles.
Their appearance thus armed created a sensation on the upper deck, and all the party secured positions where they could see the sport. Mrs. Belgrave manifested some anxiety when she saw the arms, for she was somewhat afraid of such weapons.