EAGLE CAPTURING A MONKEY.
"In seizing a monkey, the eagle always endeavors to grasp him by the back and neck, one claw being in the neck, and the other farther down. The reason of this is that, unless the monkey is firmly held by the neck, he will turn his head and inflict a terrible bite on his assailant; but as long as the neck is thus held he is powerless. It is said that the first thing the eagle does, after taking a monkey, is to put out his eyes with his powerful beak; but in so doing he is in danger of having his head seized by the monkey's paws."
"On the whole," said Frank, "I don't think I care about forming an intimate acquaintance with the monkey."
Fred was of the same opinion, and the subject of conversation was changed.
[CHAPTER XIV.]
THE KING IN HIS STATE BARGE.—BETEL AND TOBACCO.
On their arrival at Bangkok, our friends found that the king had returned, and was to begin on the following day his annual visits to the temples of the city. Once a year he goes in state to the temples, and about two weeks are consumed in making the rounds of all of them. The Siamese attach much importance to this ceremony, as their country is considered the principal seat of the Buddhist religion, and the king is its first defender. Therefore it is considered necessary that he should worship officially at the shrines of the leading temples of the capital, in addition to his daily worship in the temples attached to the grand palace.
The consul arranged to accompany Doctor Bronson and the youths to one of the temples the king was to visit, so that they might see the procession, and have a glimpse of the ruler of Siam. About ten o'clock in the forenoon they left the hotel in their boat, and a half-hour's pull up and across the river brought them to the spot. They spent a little while in the inspection of the temple and its surroundings: they had visited the same temple in the first days of their stay in Bangkok, and therefore many things were familiar to their eyes. But where it had been quiet before all was now activity, and there was a considerable assemblage of people, who had come, like themselves, to witness the ceremony.