GENERAL VIEW OF BANGKOK.
They were still in the midst of cocoa and other tropical trees, when the captain told them they were at Bangkok. There was a saw-mill and a dock-yard among the trees on one side of the river, and farther on was a large house, with an open space of an acre or more between it and the river. They had reached what may be called the foreign portion of the city; the native part is nearly three miles farther on, and quite concealed by a bend in the stream.
We will see what the boys had to say of Bangkok in their letters to friends at home. Here is what Frank wrote:
"My dear Mother,—We had a charming voyage from Saigon to this port. The weather was fine, and we amused ourselves in various ways; one thing we did was to read up the story of Marco Polo's travels six hundred years ago, and then tell it over to the Doctor. Sometimes it was so hot that we slept on deck, and when it was raining hard we used to go out in our bathing-suits and have a shower-bath that was simply perfect. We had a picturesque ride up the Menam to this city; and we have seen lots of curious things since we landed.
"We came ashore with the captain, and he took us at once to the only hotel in the place. It is a funny sort of a hotel, as you have to go out-of-doors to pass from the dining-room to the sleeping-rooms and the parlor, where we sit when we want to rest. The rooms are not more than ten feet square, and I don't think Fred's will measure as much as that. I made the remark that you couldn't swing a cat around there; and the landlord said he had no cat, and even if he had one he didn't want to swing her anyway. You ought to see the landlord; he is a German, and as jolly as you could wish. He was formerly a sea-captain, and everybody calls him 'Captain Salje.' He must weigh pretty nearly three hundred pounds, and when he laughs he shakes all over. He speaks English as well as German, and he also speaks the language of the country and that of Java, where he lived a long time. When things don't get along well in the kitchen, he goes in among his servants, and you hear his voice ringing out all over the house. He is a capital landlord, and we like his table better than that of any hotel we have seen since we left San Francisco.
