[CHAPTER XIX.]
LEAVING SIAM.—LIFE UNDER THE OCEAN WAVE.
The time came for leaving Siam. Our friends had enjoyed their visit to the Land of the White Elephant, and had seen many things that were full of interest; they wished to remain longer, but they remembered there were other countries to be seen, and other people whose manners and customs they wished to learn from personal observation. So they prepared to continue their journey.
Their next place of destination was Singapore. Between that city and Bangkok there is a service of steamers each way about once a week; it is somewhat irregular, as the movements of the ships depend more or less upon the amount of freight offering and the facility of obtaining cargoes. The steamers are under the Siamese flag; some of them belong to the government, while the others are the property of Chinese or Siamese merchants established at Bangkok. All of them are small, to make sure of passing the bar at the mouth of the Menam, and their passenger accommodations are rather limited.
THE DOCTOR GETTING READY.
The distance from Bangkok to Singapore is about eight hundred miles; and, as the ships are not built for speed, the voyage usually takes from four to five days. Our friends engaged passage on the Bang Yong Seng, and were told to be on board by seven o'clock in the morning of the day fixed for departure. The steamer was at her dock about a mile above the hotel, and consequently Doctor Bronson and the boys proposed to leave the hotel soon after six o'clock, in order to be in season. When they suggested their plan to Captain Salje, the proprietor of the establishment, the latter laughed, and said he would have breakfast ready for them at half-past six, and then they would have an abundance of time.
"How can that be?" the Doctor asked.
"Very easy to explain," the captain responded. "The river is so narrow that the steamer cannot turn around where she is. She backs down below here, and does it very slowly, and you need not go to the dock at all. You can have your baggage ready, and when we see her coming you can pull out with the boat and drop along-side. The gangway-ladder will be down, and you can get on board and have your baggage handed up without the least trouble."