CHAPTER XIII.

BANGKOK.

General Description of City.

THE principal interest of the Kingdom of Siam is confined to the City of Bangkok. Widely extended as are the provinces and dependencies of Siam, its capital, perhaps more than any capital in the world, unites a greater variety of objects peculiar to itself, and presents a more remarkable contrast to the general character of the surrounding country. This is mainly attributable to the nature of the government—a monarchy, absolute and ostentatious, around which society, in all its forms, is in a state of prostration. The humiliation of one order or rank of men to another, from step to step, is the object which first excites the marvel of the traveller. To me who have been accustomed to witness the subjection of the multitude before high office and dignity in China, the scenes in Bangkok were almost incredible. Every grade is in a state of humble submission to the grade above it, till, culminated in the person and presence of the Sovereign, all the concentrated reverence takes the character of universal adoration, and announces, less a mortal raised above his fellow-mortals, than a god in the presence of trembling, abject men.

The approach to Bangkok is equally novel and beautiful. The Meinam is skirted on the two sides with forest-trees, many of which are of a green so bright as to defy the powers of art to copy. Some are hung with magnificent and fragrant flowers; upon others are suspended a variety of tropical fruits. Gay birds, in multitudes, are seen on the branches in repose, or winging their active way from one place to another. The very sandbanks are full of life; and a sort of amphibious fish are flitting from the water, to be lost among the roots of the jungle-wood. On the stream all varieties of vessels are moving up and down, some charged with leaves of the atap palm, which at once adorn and cause them to be wafted by the wind along the water. few huts of bamboo, with leaved roofs, are seen; and in the neighbouring creeks, the small boats of the inhabitants are moored. Here and there is a floating house, with Chinese inscriptions on scarlet or other gay-coloured paper; and at greater distances from one another are temples adjacent to the river, whose priestly occupants, always clad in yellow garments, their heads shaven bare, and holding a palm-leaf fan between their faces and the sun, sit in listless and unconcerned vacancy, or affected meditation, upon the rafts or railings which skirt the shore.

A

But the houses thicken as you proceed; the boats increase in number; the noise of human voices becomes louder; and, one after another, pyramidical temples, domes, and palaces are seen towering above the gardens and forests. Over the perpetual ver

SCENE ON THE RIVER.

393

dure, so emerald-bright, roofs of many-coloured adornings sparkle in the sun. Sometimes white walls are visible, through whose embrasures artillery is peeping; multitudes of junks grotesquely and gaily painted, whose gaudy flags are floating in the breezes; each junk with the two great eyes which are never wanting in the prow; ("No have eyes, how can see?" say the Chinese ;) square-rigged vessels, most of which carry the scarlet flag with the white elephant in the centre; while, on both sides of the river, a line of floating bazaars, crowded with men, women, and children, and houses built on piles along the banks, present all the objects of consumption and commerce. Meanwhile, multitudes of ambulatory boats are engaged in traffic with the various groups around. If it be morning, vast numbers of priests will be seen in their skiffs on the Meinam, with their iron pot and scrip, levying their contributions of food from the well-known devotees, who never fail to provide a supply for the multitudinous mendicants (if mendicants they can be called), whose code alike prohibits them from supplicating for alms, and from returning thanks when those alms are given.

Seldom is music wanting to add to the interest of the scene. The opulent Siamese have invariably bands of musicians in their service;-the gongs of the Chinese, the sweet pipes of the Laos, the stringed and wind instruments of the native population, seem never still.

The city of Bangkok extends along the banks of the Meinam a distance of several miles. The greater proportion of the population is on the left side of the

river. The number has been variously estimated from 50,000 to half a million, so imperfect are Oriental statistics. My impression, without any accurate means of knowledge, is that the population somewhat exceeds 300,000. Pallegoix says that it may be estimated at above 400,000, composed of

In discussing this matter with the Catholic missionaries, they generally concurred in maintaining the accuracy of the Bishop's estimate, and stated that they had made a comparison of the ground occupied by the Catholic Christians, who came immediately under their cognizance, with the whole extent of the city, and had satisfied themselves that 400,000 was about the total number of the inhabitants of Bangkok.

I copy from Moor's Notices of the Indian Archipelago the following estimates. They serve to show how imperfect our information is on the subject of the population of Siam:

"This table of the population cannot be relied on as giving anything more than a very faint and imperfect view of the inhabitants. The Chinese who pay this triennial tax are those who have emigrated to Siam, or their children, who retain the Chinese habits and speak the Chinese language. Those children who speak only Siamese (and their number is very great) are marked upon the wrist like the Siamese. The Chinese descendants make at least half as many as the pure Chinese. The wives of the Chinese are Siamese, Peguans, Malays, Cambojans, and Burmese; and all speak the Siamese language. The children pay no tax till seventeen or eighteen years of age; nor do the women ever pay any capitation tax. If any considerable portion of Chinese are married (and it would seem that a great proportion of them are) the population of the other classes is much greater than is stated. The Cochin Chinese are said to be 1000; but more than 2000 arrived at Bangkok in 1834. The priests are estimated at 20,000 by Mr. Hunter. Though this estimate is probably beyond the truth, they may safely be reckoned at 15,000; deducting 1000 for other races, 14,000 would remain as Siamese priests, and yet the number of priests will not equal the number of male Siamese who are not in the priesthood: allowing it, however, to be equal, the male Siamese would be 28,000. Females and children would swell the number to 60,000 or 70,000 at the least. The Peguans, who are estimated at 5000, reside at Bangkok in but small numbers. Their principal settlements are Paek-làte, fifteen miles below Bangkok, and Samkok and the neighbouring villages, fifteen or twenty miles above. Their whole number in Siam is about 40,000. The Burmans and Tavoyers together amount to 1000 or 1200, the Malays to 8000 or 10,000, the Portuguese descendants to 500 or 600, and the Christians about a dozen. You see I deny the name Christian to some who are very fond of claiming it. I do it on the same principle that I could not call a 'pickpocket' a 'gentleman.'"-Moor's Notes, as above.

† A poll-tax amounting to about three dollars is levied upon every Chinaman on first entering the country, and re-collected triennially. This secures to them the privilege of exercising any craft or following any trade they please, and exempts them from the half-yearly servitude required by the King from every other Oriental stranger resident in Siam.-Tomlin's Journal.