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PEEPS AT MANY LANDS
SIAM
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BURMA
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HOLLAND
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ICELAND
INDIA
ITALY
JAPAN
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Containing 37 full-page illustrations in colour
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PUBLISHED BY
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK
SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W.
AGENTS
AMERICA THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
64 & 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK
CANADA THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD.
27 RICHMOND STREET WEST, TORONTO
INDIA MACMILLAN & COMPANY, LTD.
MACMILLAN BUILDING, BOMBAY
309 BOW BAZAAR STREET, CALCUTTA
AUSTRALASIA OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, MELBOURNE
[Illustration: A TYPICAL CANAL SCENE. _Chapter II._]
PEEPS AT MANY LANDS
SIAM
BY
ERNEST YOUNG, B.SC.
HEAD MASTER OF THE LOWER SCHOOL OF JOHN LYON, HARROW
FORMERLY OF THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, SIAM
AUTHOR OF "THE KINGDOM OF THE YELLOW ROBE," ETC.
WITH TWELVE FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
IN COLOUR
BY
EDWIN A. NORBURY, R.C.A.
LONDON
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK
1908
TO
MY CHILD FRIEND,
SYBIL MARJORIE COOPER,
I AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATE THIS, MY FIRST
BOOK FOR CHILDREN
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. A PEEP INTO SIAMESE HISTORY 1
II. IN EASTERN VENICE 5
III. DOWN THE RIVER 10
IV. THE CHILDREN 15
V. SCHOOLS 18
VI. AMUSEMENTS 22
VII. THE STORY OF BUDDHA 27
VIII. THE MONKS 34
IX. THE TEMPLES 39
X. THE SHAVING OF THE TOP-KNOT 44
XI. HOUSES 48
XII. FOOD AND DRESS 55
XIII. FISHING 56
XIV. RICE 60
XV. A PLOUGHING CEREMONY 65
XVI. ELEPHANTS 69
XVII. WHITE ELEPHANTS 75
XVIII. TRIAL BY ORDEAL 79
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
BY EDWIN A. NORBURY, R.C.A.
A TYPICAL CANAL SCENE _frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
A CORNER OF THE GRAND PALACE ENCLOSURE, BANGKOK 4
THE RIVER MARKET, BANGKOK 9
THE GULF OF SIAM--MOONLIGHT 16
A BUFFALO CART 25
A GROUP OF BUDDHIST MONKS 32
THE TEMPLE OF WAT POH 41
MOUNT PRABHAT 48
A FISHING-BOAT NEAR THE ISLAND PAGODA, PAKNAM 57
THE ANNUAL RICE-PLOUGHING FESTIVAL 64
AN ELEPHANT HUNT AT AYUTHIA 73
A RELIGIOUS WATER PROCESSION 80
_Sketch-Map of Siam on p. viii._
[Illustration: SKETCH-MAP OF SIAM.]
SIAM
CHAPTER I
A PEEP INTO SIAMESE HISTORY
You have doubtless already learned in your history of England that at
one time this island home of ours was peopled by wild, uncivilized
tribes, who were driven away into the hills of the north and the west by
invaders who came to our shores from the lands on the other side of the
North Sea. At different times, Jutes, Saxons, Danes, and Angles poured
their warriors upon our coasts, killed the people, burnt their homes,
and stole their cattle. And one of these invading tribes, the Angles,
gave its name to a part of our island, which is to this day known as
England--that is, Angle-land, the land of the Angles.
Now, in the same way, the people who live in Siam at the present time
are the descendants of invaders who swept into the country and drove the
original inhabitants into the hills. No one is quite certain where the
Siamese actually came from, but it is likely that their home was upon
the mountain-slopes of Tibet. Their ancestors were a wild and vigorous
race who tattooed themselves. They descended from the mountains and
settled in China, where they became a peaceable people, living upon
their farms, rearing their crops and tending their herds, and perhaps
thinking little of war and bloodshed any more. These people are known as
the _Shans_. Then, one day, there came down upon them a great horde of
invaders, who drove most of them away from their homes. Some stayed
behind as slaves; other wanderers travelled to the west and settled in
the country we now call Burma; and, finally, some of the exiles pushed
on to the valleys and hill-sides of Northern Siam, and these are the
people whose descendants we call the Siamese. The word "Siam" is really
the word "Shan," the name of the earliest settlers in the land. Amongst
the first of the European nations to visit this little-known country
were the Portuguese; and when they came home to Europe again, and told
their story of the people they had found in Further India, they both
spelled and pronounced the word "Shan" as "Siam," and that is how we get
the name. The Siamese never call themselves by this name. The native
name for the people is "Thai," which means "free," and the country of
Siam is to them always "Muang Thai"--that is, "the Land of the Free."
We shall not stay here to tell the long story of how the Siamese, in the
course of many hundreds of years, have fought all the people upon their
borders--those who live in Cambodia, Pegu, Annam, and Burma. This
history is full of curious stories of brave and cruel men, two of whom
deserve just a word or two here.
About the time when Charles II. was reigning in England, a Greek named
Constantine Phaulkon arrived in Siam. He had been wrecked, together with
a number of Siamese officials, upon the coast of India, and they had
invited him to visit their country. He accepted the invitation, and they
introduced him to the King. Phaulkon was a very clever man, and he
became the chief friend and adviser of the Sovereign. He built a fort
and a palace, and round the town that was then the capital he erected a
wall, which was strengthened at intervals by small towers. The ruins of
the palace built by this Greek are still to be seen in the old city.
Phaulkon grew so powerful that the Siamese princes and nobles got
jealous, and when the King became sick, so that he could no longer hold
the reins of power, the angry princes and their friends made up their
minds to get rid of the King's foreign favourite. One dark night
Phaulkon was summoned to attend a meeting of the chief men of the
country. He hurried to the palace, little thinking what was in store for
him. On his arrival he was seized and thrown into prison, and finally he
was tortured to death.
Now, about a hundred years later, at a time when George III. was on the
throne of England, and when we were fighting the American colonists
because they would not pay the taxes we tried to impose upon them,
another foreigner rose to great power in Siam. This foreigner was a
Chinaman, named Phya Tak. The Burmese had invaded Siam, and had done a
great deal of damage. So Phya Tak got together an army, composed chiefly
of robbers and outlaws, and with these fierce soldiers he drove all the
Burmese away. When he had achieved this great victory, he came to
Bangkok, and caused himself to be crowned King of the country; and ever
since his day Bangkok has been the capital of Siam. Phya Tak did not
reign very long, for after a time he became mad. He fled to a monastery
and donned the robes of a priest. But this did not help him very much,
for the man who had been his chief friend and general murdered the mad
King and reigned in his stead. The usurper assumed the crown in 1782,
and the Sovereign who now rules over the country is his great-grandson.
The present King's full name and title is His Majesty Phrabat Somdetch
Phra Paramindr Maha Chula Lon Kawn Phra Chula Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua. He
became King when he was not quite seventeen years of age, and his health
at that time was so delicate that at first it was feared he would not
live. However, on the day that he was crowned it rained very heavily,
and then all his subjects felt very happy indeed; for if it rains when
the King is crowned, then will he certainly live for many years. And so
it has happened, for he is still alive, having reigned now about
twenty-nine years.
[Illustration: A CORNER OF THE GRAND PALACE ENCLOSURE, BANGKOK.]