king. For two weeks each month the maiden was to live with King Sol in
some distant home, but during the other half of the month the stars
were to be permitted to gaze upon her lovely face and call her moon.
One other stipulation was made--namely, that Sol should never kiss
Rosy Morn whenever there was any one looking on. But this latter part
of the agreement he occasionally breaks, for during the eclipse of the
moon he is seen by many thousands of people, impudently kissing her
silver face before the public gaze. Then the dwellers upon earth make
a great noise to remind him of his promise, and to let him know how
very shocked they are.
Though this story exists in the native legends, it is not generally
accepted as giving the true theory of the eclipse; the idea of sun- or
moon-eating demons being far more popular. But this latter story also
gives an account of the origin of the gold and silver mines of Siam.
The cave in which Rosy Morn and Old Sol held their daily meetings, is
said to be near Ayuthia. Until a few years ago, pilgrimages were made
to this cave, and into a bottomless pit, every one according to his
rank, cast in gold and silver as a memorial of the day when silver and
precious metals were first discovered in the kingdom of Siam.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE PILGRIMAGE TO PRABAT.
About one hundred miles to the north-north-east of the city of
Bangkok there stands an isolated hill, whose sides are greatly scored
with "rays" that plainly indicate its volcanic origin. As all the
surrounding land is but a wide stretch of low level plain, flooded in
the rainy season, the jagged peak is a conspicuous object for many
miles away from its base. The hill is known as Mount Prabat. The name
"Pra-bat" is a compound of two words, meaning "the holy foot," and
is given to the hill because popular superstition asserts that in a
hollow in its rocky sides there is a footprint of the holy Buddha.
Thousands of people every year make their way to the spot to worship
this memento of their Master's presence on this earth. From Bangkok
the pilgrims ascend the Menam Chow Phya in boats, until they reach
the old ruined capital of Ayuthia, from which point, the rest of the
journey, some fourteen or fifteen miles, is made by land. Some people
trudge the whole way on foot; some ride in the picturesque buffalo
carts, or in the cumbersome bullock waggons; while others travel by
means of elephants. The howdah of the elephant is no gorgeously
caparisoned seat, like those so often seen in Indian pictures, but
is merely a plain wooden saddle, covered over with a light canopy
of basket-work which shields the head from the heat of the sun, and
the thorns of the long spiny creepers that hang from the branches
overhead. The Siamese elephant does not kneel in order to allow the
passenger to mount, but he lifts one of his front legs, and bends it
at the knee so as to form a kind of step. A sharp iron spike, stuck
in the end of a long rod or pole, is the weapon used by the mahout or
elephant driver to guide the beast and to urge it to greater speed. It
functions both as whip and reins.
The road, in the height of the pilgrim season, is thronged throughout
its whole length with crowds of people going and returning, and
there are plenty of enterprising Chinese and Siamese at convenient
intervals along the track, anxious to make a little honest profit by
supplying the devotees with food. Rice is the chief article offered
for sale, and is cooked in bamboo shoots, which here take the place
of the ordinary iron pot. Sugar obtained from the palm tree, and wild
honey in the comb, from the trees in the neighbouring forest, are also
largely disposed of as palatable forms of light refreshment.
On the hill, and round about it, there are many temple-like buildings
and houses for the attendant priests. Salas, rooms for preaching,
halls filled with hundreds of idols, and huts made of bamboo for the
use of the pilgrims abound at the base of the hill, and testify to
the large number of worshippers who annually frequent the place. On
trees and temples, on shrines and shanties, are hung innumerable
bells, which when light are swung by every breeze, and when heavy
are banged by the worshippers. A native band performs hour by hour,
and endeavours, unsuccessfully, to drown the clear sweet melody of
the bells in its harsh discord of gongs and drums. The mountain is
dotted all over with the usual white spire-crowned pagodas, and, over
the footprint, a particularly beautiful shrine has been erected. Its
roof is built in seven stories which overlap each other, and upon
the summit rests a very tall prachadee with a snow-white spire and
a richly gilded base, which indicates with dazzling brilliancy, the
whole day through, the exact locality of the sacred spot. The whole
structure is placed on a small projecting platform in the rock, and
the ascent is made by a series of about fifty or sixty steps cut in
the solid rock. Up these steps all truly devout Buddhists crawl on
their hands and knees, and as the result of the visits to the shrine
of thousands of worshippers who year by year have come to bow before
the footprint of their ancient teacher, the steps are distinctly worn
and polished.
The external walls of the building are covered with brightly coloured
mosaics; the outer surfaces of the heavy doors and windows are
beautifully inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and the whole of the interior
is decorated with a series of perspectiveless frescoes, illustrating
various scenes from the life of Buddha. The platform of rock is
about thirty feet square; and inside the building the floor is laid
with plates of solid silver covered over with a carpet of pure silver
net-work, which is polished intensely bright by the knees of the
devotees. Two copies of the sacred footprint are hung on the walls.
Both are made of pure gold, and one of them has all the mystic symbols
inlaid with precious stones. The footprint itself is about four feet
long and one foot and a half broad, and both in size and shape bears
no resemblance whatever to the footprint of anything either human
or divine. It is in a dark hole, and cannot be distinctly seen. The
golden copies on the wall are apparently purely imaginative. Railings
of solid bars of silver enclose the depression in the rock, and render
minute examination perfectly impossible. A gilt canopy with flowing
curtains of cloth of gold is suspended from the roof immediately above
the object of the people's veneration.
The numerous worshippers enter on their knees. They carry wax candles
in their hands, and crawl up to the depression, prostrate themselves
devoutly at its edge, fasten a bit of gold-leaf on the sides of the
hole, sprinkle holy water on their heads, and then crawl out again on
hands and knees. Offerings of bottles, looking-glasses, wax and paper
flowers, and other tawdry objects are heaped in piles on the floor.
The more valuable gifts are carefully preserved elsewhere. Those who
cannot afford to give anything at all, satisfy their consciences by
carefully fanning the footprint itself.
[Illustration: PRABAT HILLS FROM NEAR AYUTHIA.
_Page 375._]
The Siamese are not the only people in the world who have been known
to reverence a supposed footprint, nor is Prabat the only place
where the impress of the feet of the holy of old is pointed out.
The footprint superstition is world-wide. There is the well-known
footprint on Adam's Peak in Ceylon, which is claimed by the Buddhists
as marking the place where Buddha once stood. It is worshipped by the
Brahmins as being that of Siva, while the Mahomedans assert that it
was made by Adam, and Christians have been known who have stated that
they believe it to be the footprint of St. Thomas. On the Kodam Rasul
Hill near Hyderabad, the Mahomedans have found a footprint of Mahomed.
At Thanet, St. Augustine left the marks of his feet upon a rock upon
which he pressed heavily when he landed upon our heathen shores. In a
circular chapel over a foot-like depression in the rocky sides of the
Mount of Olives, the footprint of Christ is pointed out to travellers.
On the other side of the world the inhabitants of the island of Samoa
exhibit a similar memorial of Tiitii; while the ancient Mexicans
claimed to possess an equally authentic relic of Tezcatlipoa.
In a "Life of Buddha", written in Sanskrit, it is said that when
Gautama was born he bore in his person a number of signs or personal
peculiarities that at once foretold that his ultimate destiny was
that of a powerful emperor or of a widely renowned and worshipped
teacher. There are thirty-two chief and eighty minor signs given, and
they mostly refer to personal characteristics considered handsome or
beautiful in men or women according to the Oriental idea of beauty.
Some of them do not appear to the mind of the European to be at all
conducive to an impressive or handsome presence. For instance, the
wonderful being who is born with the thirty-two major distinguishing
marks of future greatness or holiness, has amongst other things, a
skin of the colour of gold, arms so long that they reach far below the
knees when he stands upright, and a thin butterfly kind of tongue long
enough to reach round and enter his ears when fully produced. Upon his
fingers and toes there should be a network of lines described with
mathematical regularity.
The worship of the footprint in the Far East extends back for many
years, and in many of the oldest sculptures that have been brought
from India, there are to be seen distinct representations of the sole
of a foot with the mark of a wheel in the centre. At first, all other
marks, except this universal one of the wheel, varied considerably
in character, and were few in number. But the imaginations of the
Eastern worshippers gradually added further ornamentations until the
sole of the foot was covered entirely by a collection of symbols. The
elaboration of these signs reached its greatest height in Siam and
Burmah.
There is nothing in the earliest scriptures to warrant the present
widely-spread superstition, and, in fact, it is not until many years
after Buddha's death that any mention of such a belief is to be found
in the Sanskrit writings.
The Prabat relic in Siam was discovered in 1602 A.D., by a hunter
named Boon. It is very probable that he had at some time or other
been a pilgrim to Ceylon, for such pilgrimages to Adam's peak were
not uncommon in those days. One day when hunting in the forest he
noticed a depression in the rock, which he thought resembled the relic
in Ceylon. He proclaimed his discovery to many people, and the king,
hearing the report, sent a body of learned monks to the place to
examine the footprint and report upon its authenticity. They examined
and compared it with the copies they possessed of the one in Ceylon,
and returned to the king, declaring that it was perfectly genuine.
Thereupon, the sovereign, being only too willing to accept the
conclusions of the monks, made no further enquiry as to the character
of the discovery, but built a shrine over it, and ordered his people
to worship it annually. This they gladly did, for their national pride
was intensely gratified by the belief that they had in their country
so unmistakable a proof that the holy Buddha had once resided amongst
them.
In all the well-known Buddhist footprints the figure of a wheel
or disc occupies the centre. It probably first represented speed,
and was therefore symbolical of fleetness of foot, an attribute
of greatness in early days. In later times it lost the form of an
ordinary chariot wheel, and became the Chakkra or quoit of Vishnu and
Indra. Its form is well seen in the watermark on Siamese stamps, and
on the old Siamese coins. In the hands of Vishnu and Indra it was a
powerful weapon of destruction, as it always annihilated all those
enemies against whom, in their wrath, they hurled it. In the Buddhist
mythology it has lost its material character, and taken on a new
significance, as representing the pure moral teachings of Gautama,
which when cast by holy men against the ignorance and sin of the world
will effectually destroy them.
The other marks on the footprints in Siam and Burmah are later designs
added by credulous and imaginative worshippers. They are grouped
symmetrically round the central Chakkra, and represent various
attributes of royal power, and holiness, or else are symbolical of
different natural and supernatural ideas. The principal of them are
mentioned below. There are the sixteen heavens of the formed Brahmas,
and the six heavens inhabited by the inferior angels or Devas. Another
sign represents Mount Meru, the centre of each system of the universe.
There are also depicted on the sole of the foot, the seven mountains
which form a ring round Mount Meru, and the seven belts of deep dark
ocean that lie in the valleys between them, and in whose waters
monstrous fishes and water-elephants gambol and amuse themselves.
Then there is another ocean, the eighth, in which float four worlds
inhabited by human beings. In the first of these worlds, the men have
faces such as are familiar to the dwellers upon our own particular
planet. In the second, the faces of the inhabitants are square in
shape, while those of the third have a round moon-like visage, and
those of the fourth have countenances bounded by semi-circles. Another
compartment of the footprint holds Mount Chakrawan, the great
mountain of crystal which encircles the world and forms a wall around
it. The heavens are represented by a group of stars. The Himalaya
Mountains, that appear so often in Hindoo legends, are not forgotten,
nor are their seven lakes in which bloom lotuses of many different
colours, ever omitted. Five rivers flow from the Himalaya Mountains,
and on their banks are the great forests inhabited by fabulous beasts
and birds. The Naga king, the seven-headed cobra who shielded Buddha,
with his seven hoods, during a time of danger, finds a place in
another compartment. But amidst all these curious and mystic symbols
there is no animal of evil disposition, for upon the foot of the
holy man there was nothing of bad omen. Figures representing royal
authority occur in the form of a palace, a flag, a throne, a royal
sword, a white seven-storied state umbrella, a spiral crown, and a
golden ship.
It is rather surprising that the late king, who was very hostile to
many popular superstitions, encouraged the worship at the shrine on
the hill at Prabat. Perhaps he half believed in it himself, or perhaps
he thought it good for his people to be reminded as often and as
forcibly as possible of the life of the founder of the national faith.
The reader need scarcely be told that not only is the whole footprint
purely fabulous, but that also there is nothing in the authentic
history of ancient times to warrant the notion that Buddha ever set
foot in Siam at all.
The two following stories referring to Buddha's feet are given by
Alabaster, as being translated from the Burmese "Life of Buddha" by
Bishop Bigandet.
"During all the time that elapsed after the rain, Buddha
travelled through the country, engaged in his usual
benevolent errand, and converting many amongst men and
angels. In the country of Gaurint, in a village of Pounhas,
called Magoulia, the head man, one of the richest in the
place, had a daughter whose beauty equalled that of a
daughter of the angels. She had been in vain asked in
marriage by princes, nobles, and Pounhas. The proud damsel
had rejected every offer. On the day that her father saw
Gautama he was struck with his manly beauty and deportment.
He said within himself, 'This man shall be a proper match
for my daughter.' On his return home he communicated his
views to his wife. On the following day, the daughter
having put on her choicest dress and richest apparel,
they all three went with a large retinue to the Dzetawon
monastery. Admitted to the presence of Buddha, the father
asked for his daughter the favour of being allowed to
attend on him. Without returning a word or reply, or giving
the least sign of acceptance or refusal, Buddha rose up and
withdrew to a small distance, leaving behind him on the
floor the print of one of his feet. The Pounha's wife, well
skilled in the science of interpreting wonderful signs,
saw at a glance that the marks on the print indicated a
man no longer under the control of passions, but a sage
emancipated from the thraldom of concupiscence."
The story goes on to relate how the father made a further offer of
his daughter to Buddha, and how the saint preached to the parents a
sermon that stilled their longings to possess him for a son-in-law.
They returned home with their still unmarried daughter. She never
forgave the man who had refused her love, and cherished for him a
lively and life-long hatred.
The other story tells of a visit paid by the saint Kathaba to the pile
upon which Buddha was laid for his cremation.
"Standing opposite to the feet, he made the following
prayer, 'I wish to see the feet of Buddha whereupon are
imprinted the marks that formerly prognosticated his future
glorious destiny. May the cloth and cotton they are wrapt
with be unloosened, and the coffin as well as the pile be
laid open, and the sacred feet appear out, and extend so
far as to lie on my head.' He had scarcely uttered this
prayer when the whole suddenly opened, and there came out
the beautiful feet, like the full moon emerging from the
bosom of a dark cloud."
CHAPTER XX.
THE ELEPHANTS.
The Siamese Twins and the Siamese White Elephants are the two objects
round which many an Englishman grouped all his knowledge of "The
Kingdom of the Yellow Robe" until the political troubles of the past
few years drew public attention to this hitherto little known country.
The elephants have given rise to a proverbial expression in England,
which is a little misleading when viewed in the light of Siamese
opinion. To give to a European a useless and troublesome present
is known as giving him a "white elephant," but to give a Buddhist
a present of a white elephant would be to give him possession of a
creature which, kindly treated, would cause blessings and good fortune
to fall in showers around him in this and all future existences.
The white elephant has been held in great respect in many countries,
and has played a great part in many legends. In Enarea, in Central
Africa, elephants of this colour are reverenced.
When Shahab ud-Din, in 1194, attacked and defeated Jaya Chandra of
Benares, he captured from his conquered foes a white elephant which
refused to make obeisance to its new master, and made a furious
assault upon its driver when he attempted to coerce it into respectful
behaviour.
In the time of the grandfather of Mahomed, when the Christian king of
Himyar advanced against Kenanah in Hijaz, to revenge the pollution of
a Christian church at Sennaa, he secured his victory beforehand by
going to the scene of battle upon an elephant whose skin was of the
colour of milk.
In Siam the representation of the white elephant is everywhere
conspicuous. The national flag is "a white elephant on a scarlet
ground." The mercantile flag is "a white elephant on a blue
ground." On every temple and official building in the land there
is a representation in stone, plaster, or colour of this wonderful
creature. But the _body_ of a real white elephant has never yet been
seen. The creature who bears the name is simply an elephant which is
a little lighter in colour than the ordinary elephant. For the sake
of convenience we shall refer to it as the "white elephant," though
there is no such name for it in the native language, and though its
colour is very much more like that of a dirty bath-brick. Even this
distant approach to whiteness is not distributed generally all over
the body, but is usually confined to a few solitary patches near the
extremities. These blotches of lighter colour are not natural or
hereditary. They are often the result of an eruptive affection. The
irritation that accompanies the disease causes the animal to rub the
affected part against the trunks of trees or other hard material, and
so to destroy the epidermal surface. All so-called white elephants
have, however, a few really white hairs which are not to be accounted
for in this manner.
The white elephant has at times been worshipped with a veneration
which, though we may consider it misdirected, may charitably be
regarded as laudable in intention. It has been believed that this
particular animal contains the soul of some very distinguished person,
possibly that of a Buddha, who in some future age will appear in human
form to enlighten and bless the world by his counsel and example. This
being the belief, the adoration that is offered to such an animal is
reasonable.
The white elephants in the stables at Bangkok have chiefly been
captured in the Laos territories in the north. When one of them is
caught, the finder is handsomely rewarded, and there is general
rejoicing throughout the land. It is immediately handed over to the
king, who provides for its earthly comforts ever after. It is of
priceless value, and cannot be bought or sold.
About twenty years ago a body of Brahmin astrologers who are
permanently attached to the court, declared that the present reign
would be an especially happy one, and that several white elephants
would be caught. Both their forecasts have proved correct. Their
prophetic utterances were conveyed from one end of the country to the
other, and large rewards were offered to the men who would discover a
white elephant. For a long time a most diligent search in forest and
jungle was made by the native hunters. Every place where elephants
had ever been seen or heard of was examined with great care and
perseverance, but without success. One day, however, a number of men
caught sight of an elephant of excellent shape, but his colour gave
no evidence that he was one of the kind they were searching for. On
looking closer at the mud-bespattered animal, they were attracted by
some peculiarity in the skin, and also by the pale Neapolitan yellow
colour of the iris of the eye. This latter mark being considered as
one of the chief beauties of a white elephant, they determined to
capture the animal. This was a matter speedily accomplished. They then
took the animal home and gave it a good bath, patiently scrubbing
and scraping away until all the accumulated mud and dirt upon it was
removed, when to their almost infinite joy and astonishment they
beheld a most beautiful specimen of the white elephant family. It was
of pale bath-brick colour, and on its back there were actually a few
hairs that could, without any flattery, be truly called white. This
elephant is said to be the finest example of the kind ever captured.
The excitement which prevailed in the whole land to its furthest
boundaries, and affected the whole population from king to coolie, is
said to have been unrealisable to the English mind. It was more than a
mere national rejoicing, for in many thousands of homes it was mingled
with that deep superstitious veneration in which the Oriental mind
satisfies its longings and its imagination. Gorgeous preparations
were made for the elephant's reception. The king travelled up the
river as far as Ayuthia to meet it; Bangkok was decorated and
illuminated; every nobleman was arrayed in his richly embroidered
cloth of gold, and was followed by his retinue of servants. People
from outlying districts poured into the city to swell the enormous
crowd of spectators; every available ornament for personal use was
displayed; the brightest colours were donned; flags and bunting were
hoisted; and when the noble animal appeared, surrounded by gaily
gilded state barges, a group of Brahmin priests descended to the
river's edge to receive the living cause of all this rejoicing. To it
they read an address, of which the following translation is a part:
"With holy reverence we now come to worship the angels who
preside over the destiny of all elephants. Most powerful
angels, we entreat you to assemble now, in order that you
may prevent all evil to His Majesty the King of Siam, and
also to this magnificent elephant, which has recently
arrived. We appeal to you all, whom we now worship, and
beg that you will use your power in restraining the heart
of this animal from all anger and unhappiness. We also beg
that you will incline this elephant to listen to the words
of instruction and comfort, that we now deliver.
"Most Royal Elephant! We beg that you will not think too
much of your father and mother, your relatives and friends.
We beg that you will not regret leaving your native
mountains and forests, because there are evil spirits
there that are very dangerous; and wild beasts are there
that howl, making a fearful noise; and there too is the
big bird which hovers round and often picks up elephants
and eats them; and there are bands of cruel hunters who
kill elephants for their ivory. We trust that you will not
return to the forest, for you would be in constant danger.
And that is not all: in the forest you have no servants,
and it is very unpleasant to sleep with the dust and filth
adhering to your body, and where the flies and mosquitoes
are troublesome.
"Brave and noble elephant! We entreat you to banish every
wish to stay in the forest. Look at this delightful place,
this heavenly city! It abounds in wealth and in everything
your eyes could wish to see or your heart desire to
possess. It is of your own merit that you have come to
behold this beautiful city, to enjoy its wealth, and to
be the favourite guest of His Most Exalted Majesty the
King."[J]
Then the Brahmin priests baptised the sacred beast with holy water,
and, after its purification, bestowed upon it the highest of the
titles which the king can confer upon his subjects. The title was
written on a piece of sugar-cane. Upon this cane there were also a
number of sentences describing the virtues, qualities, and perfections
of the new nobleman. When the baptismal ceremonies were over, the
sugar-cane was handed to the beast, that he might eat it, a part
of the ceremony which the elephant understood, and performed with
noteworthy despatch. It was then lodged in the royal stables, with a
few other brethren who had previously experienced the same fêting and
reverence.
Old accounts tell us that the white elephants were treated, during
their lives, with the greatest respect and care. Their stables were
comfortable, and their food consisted of such dainties as were thought
most likely to be appreciated by them. Their food was presented to
them upon silver salvers, by servants who knelt as they offered the
dish. Their eyes were reverently wiped; they received cool sponge
baths at frequent intervals; and it might fairly be supposed that they
led about as lazy and luxurious a life as any creature could desire.
If they were ill the wisest of the court physicians were sent to them,
and their ailments received as much weighty consideration as those of
a king. At death they were deeply mourned for, their departure from
this life being attended with the usual eastern pomp and ceremony.
They do not live in this condition now. As Henry Norman says in his
book on "The Far East"--"they are in a plight that would shame the
bear-cage of a wandering circus; tended by slouching ruffians who
lie about in rags and tatters, eking out a scanty livelihood by
weaving baskets, and begging a copper from every visitor in return
for throwing a bunch of seedy grass or rotting bananas to the swaying
beasts, which raise their trunks in anticipation of the much needed
addition to their scanty diet."
Elephant stories are prevalent in the myths which cloud and hide
the purer ideas of the Buddhist faith. Shortly before the birth of
Buddha, his mother Queen Maia had a vision. The four kings of the
world removed her to the Himalayan Forest, and there seated her on
an immense rock. She was bathed, robed, and adorned by a number of
queens, and was then led to a golden palace standing on a silver
mountain, and requested to rest on a couch, with her face turned
to the west. She did so, and beheld a golden mountain on which the
future Buddha marched in the form of a white elephant. It descended
the golden mountain, and bearing a white lotus flower in its trunk,
and trumpeting loudly as it came, made its way to the couch of the
astonished Queen Maia.
The birth of Buddha was attended by a number of portents which
betokened that a most distinguished person had appeared on earth.
Either he was a Buddha or a universal emperor--
"A Chakravartin, such as rise to rule
Once in each thousand years."[K]
If he were the latter, he would possess "seven gifts", tokens of his
future universal power. One of them was
"... a snow white elephant,
The Hasti-Katna, born to bear his King."[L]
By the signs on his foot, which we have already described, he was
known to be a Buddha. One of these signs is an elephant, named
Chatthan. This is the three-headed elephant on which Indra rides, and
is represented in many Siamese decorations, and in the royal coat of
arms, but in all the sculptures which represent the sole of Buddha's
foot, the elephant possesses only one head.
There is also in Siamese story a king of elephants, Chatthan or
Chaddanta, who lives on the shores of the lake Chatthan in the
Himalayas. Here he resides in a golden palace, attended by eighty
thousand ordinary elephants. The elephant Chatthan is sometimes known
as "the elephant of six defences," an allusion to his possession of
six tusks.
When the great king Mara (who reigns over all the Mara angels, and
corresponds in the Buddhist scriptures to the Satan of the Bible) came
to tempt the Buddha as he sat under the Bo-tree, in the time when
he attained the wisdom and holiness of Buddhahood, it is said that
he came on an elephant. He assumed an immense size, and brandishing
numerous weapons in his thousand arms, advanced to the tree, riding
on his elephant Girimaga, which was no less than a thousand miles in
height.
A number of similar elephant stories could easily be compiled, for
they are plentifully distributed in the legends of the East. Probably
the great size and strength of the beast are the bases upon which the
stories rest.
How important the elephant was in former times may be gathered from
a letter written to Sir John Bowring by the late king, when that
nobleman visited Siam in March 1855, on a diplomatic mission. Sir
John's steamer had scarcely anchored at the bar at the mouth of the
river, when a letter was handed to him from the sovereign, welcoming
him to the country in very flattering terms. The letter was signed
when the king suddenly added a postscript, saying, "I have just
returned from the old city Ayudia, of Siam, fifteen days ago, with the
beautiful she-elephant which Your Excellency will witness here on Your
Excellency's arrival."
Every few years there is a great elephant "hunt" at Ayuthia,
to procure elephants for government service. A large kraal of
quadrangular shape is erected. Its walls are six feet thick, and there
is but one entrance. Inside the walls there is a fence of thick stakes
set a few inches apart from each other. A herd of wild elephants is
driven by tame ones into the enclosure, and the best of those thus
obtained are noted. A good elephant should be of a light colour,
have black nails on his toes, and his tail intact. As many of the
stronger elephants often lose their tails in fights, it is not always
possible to obtain an animal which is both powerful and handsome. The
chosen elephants are lassoed, and their feet bound together. The tame
elephants render great assistance in the work, and vigorously prod
with their tusks any captives who become obstreperous. After a few
days' dieting and training the captured animals are ready to be taught
their several duties.
* * * * *
Writers upon foreign countries generally consider it a portion of
their task to make mental if not outspoken comparisons between
their mother land and the land they have been discussing, and they
generally make their comparisons in favour of the former. Yet it is
not easy for any man to hold the balance fairly, and to say in what
way a nation is wanting; for whether the comparison be of things
moral or social, there arises the difficulty of fixing a standard of
measurement. Morality cannot be weighed in a balance or measured with
a foot-rule. What is reprehensible in one country may be at least
excusable in another. Take, for instance, the effect of climate upon
national morality. In a cold country a man who is not born to wealth
must either work or starve. Hence arise the pushing, prosperous,
practical, so-called civilised nations of the world. But in a warm
and fertile country where the fruit grows to your hand, and the earth
brings forth her abundance for your maintenance, where the sun and
the rain perform nearly all the agricultural labour that is needed,
it is scarcely to be wondered at that the people do not hanker
after work. It is therefore scarcely permissible to call them lazy
according to the general acceptation of the meaning of the term. They
have no particular liking for long and vigorous toil in the blazing
heat of the sun, and their apparent indolence is the result of their
environment. It will never be otherwise until humanity has lost its
human nature.
The progress of any Oriental nation towards civilisation, such as we
understand it, must of necessity be slow. Their intense conservatism
is not easily to be abolished.
To the country of Siam these remarks are particularly applicable.
Those who describe the habit of chewing betel-nut as disgusting,
forget that there can be no one universal standard to judge by, and
that many European habits appear equally revolting to the Eastern.
When speaking of the dirtiness of their dwellings it would be as well
to remember the slums of the great European cities, and the defective
sanitation of the majority of their dwelling-places. And when
pronouncing judgment upon the slowness with which educational reforms
are being undertaken, it should not be forgotten that we ourselves, in
spite of our long educational history and our modern reforms, number
our illiterate voters by hundreds.
The climatic, racial, and social differences between the nations of
the East and of the West are too great to render it easily possible
for a member of either to sum up for or against the general moral
condition of the other. The present writer, while believing that the
evolutionary laws of growth and development apply as well to nations
as to animals and plants, is well content to leave to others the task
of estimating the intrinsic value of Siam's present moral and social
condition; hoping only that his attempts to portray briefly some of
the manners and customs, the ideas and interests of her people, as
he has actually seen them in daily life and intercourse, may help to
give a truer notion of their condition and prospects, than would more
lengthy criticisms founded on general observations of those merely
political matters which necessarily bound the horizon of the casual
and passing traveller.
FINIS.
Andrée and his Balloon Expedition
By HENRI LACHAMBRE and ALEXIS MACHURON
With coloured Frontispiece and 40 full-page Illustrations. Cr. 8vo. 6s.
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start, and a detailed and authoritative account of the
final preparation and start for the famous flight into the
Unknown.
The volume is fully illustrated, and contains a short
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The two authors accompanied the Expedition to Spitsbergen,
the one author in 1896, and the other in July, 1897.
This work is being published simultaneously in four
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Andrée and his Balloon
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Unknown.
The volume is fully illustrated, and contains a short
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Through China with a Camera
By JOHN THOMSON, F.R.G.S.
With about 100 Illustrations. Foolscap 4to. _One Guinea net._ This
work contains probably the finest series of pictures of China ever
published.
_CONTENTS._
CHAPTER I. A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE CONDITION OF CHINA, PAST AND PRESENT.
" II. THE CHINAMAN ABROAD AND AT HOME.
Chinese Guilds--Hong-kong--Native
Boats--Shopkeepers--Artists--Music Halls.
" III. THE CHINAMAN ABROAD AND AT HOME (_continued_).
Gambling--Typhoons--The floating population of
Hong-kong--North branch of the Pearl River.
" IV. CANTON AND KWANG-TUNG PROVINCE.
Tea--Foreign Hongs and Houses--Schroffing.
" V. CANTON (_continued_).
Its general appearance--Its population--Streets--Mode of
transacting business--Signboards--Work and Wages--The
willow-pattern bridge--Juilin, Governor-General of the two
Kwang--Clan fights--Hak-kas--The mystic pills--Dwellings of
the poor--The Lohang-tang--Buddhist monastic life--On board
a junk.
" VI. CANTON (_continued_). MACAO. SWATOW. CHAO-CHOW-FU--AMOY.
The charitable institutions of China--Macao--Description
of the town--Its inhabitants--Swatow--Foreign
settlement--Chao-chow-fu--Swatow
fan-painters--Modellers--Chinese art--Village
warfare--Amoy--The native quarter--Abodes of the
poor--Infanticide--Manure-pits--Human remains in
jars--Lekin--Romantic scenery--Ku-lang-su--The foreign
settlement.
" VII. FORMOSA.
Takow harbour, Formosa--La-mah-kai--Difficulties
of navigation--Tai-wan-fu--The Taotai--His
yamen--How to cancel a state debt--The Dutch in
1661--Sylvan lanes--Medical Missions--A journey to
the interior--Old watercourses--Broken land--Hak-ka
settlers--Poahbe--Pepohoan village--Baksa valley--The name
"Isla Formosa"--A long march--The central mountains--Bamboo
Bridges--"Pau-ah-liau" village--The physician at
work--Ka-san-po village--A wine-feast--Interior of
a hut--Pepohoan dwellings--A savage dance--Savage
hunting-grounds--La-lung village--Return journey.
" VIII. FOOCHOW AND THE RIVER MIN.
The Japanese in Formosa--Cause of the invasion--The
River Min--Foochow Arsenal--Chinese gunboats--Foochow
city and great bridge--A City of the dead--Its
inhabitants--Beggars--Thieves--Lepers--Ku-shan
Monastery--The hermit--Tea plantation on Paeling
hills--Voyage up the Min--Shui-kow--An up-country
farm--Captain Sheng and his spouse--Yen-ping
city--Sacrificing to the dead--Shooting the Yen-ping rapids
A Native passenger-boat.
" IX. SHANGHAI. NINGPO. HANKOW. THE YANGTSZE.
Steam traffic in the China Sea--In the wake of a
typhoon--Shanghai--Notes of its early history--Japanese
raids--Shanghai foreign settlement--Paul Sii,
or "Su-kwang-ki"--Shanghai city--Ningpo--Native
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Upper Yangtsze, Ichang--The Gorges--The great
Tsing-tan rapid--Mystic fountain lights--A dangerous
disaster--Kwei-fu--Our return--Kiukiang--Nanking; its
arsenal--The death of Tsing-kwo-fan--Chinese superstition.
" X. CHEFOO. PEKIN. TIENTSIN. THE GREAT WALL.
The foreign settlement--The Yellow River--Silk--Its
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enamelling--Yuen-Ming-Yuen--Remarkable cenotaph--A Chinese
army--Li-Hung-Chang--The inn of "Patriotic Perfection"--The
Great Wall--The Ming tombs.
Problems of the Far East
JAPAN--COREA--CHINA
By the RT. HON. GEORGE N. CURZON, M.P.
With numerous Illustrations and Maps. _Extra crown 8vo, 7s. 6d._
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Short Stories
Poems
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote A: "Chulakantamangala." Captain Gerini.]
[Footnote B: See Chapter X.]
[Footnote C: "The Wheel of the Law". Alabaster.]
[Footnote D: "Siam Repository."]
[Footnote E: "Siam." Miss Cort.]
[Footnote F: Lightning.]
[Footnote G: "Siam", Bowring.]
[Footnote H: See "Buddhism", Rhys Davids.]
[Footnote I: A Siamese "chang" or "catty" is equal to about 2-2/3 lbs.
avoirdupois.]
[Footnote J: "Siam". Miss Cort.]
[Footnote K: "Light of Asia". Arnold.]
[Footnote L: "Light of Asia". Arnold.]
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes
Minor punctuation errors have been silently corrected. Some
hyphenation inconsistencies have been standardized.
The two pages of ads at the beginning of the book have been moved to
the ads section at the end of the book.
LoI: Added Fishing Lugger, page 174.
LoI: Changed "Klong" to "Khlong" to match illustration caption.
(Orig: Klong near Petchaboorree.)
Page 2: Changed "suceess" to "success."
(Orig: new sovereign owed much of his suceess.)
Page 18: "kharki" may be a typo for "khaki."
(Orig: postmen in their yellow kharki uniforms)
Page 115: Deleted duplicate "of."
(Orig: cut into rectangular pieces of of the same size)
Page 261: Changed "foo" to "food."
(Orig: they must not partake of solid foo of any description.)
Page 268: Changed "obselete" to "obsolete."
(Orig: these counsels are so many obselete laws,)
Page 270: Changed "he" to "be."
(Orig: his mind should he well controlled.)
Page 325: Changed "carcases" to "carcasses."
(Orig: better spent in burning dead dogs' carcases.)
Page 335: Changed "the" to "he."
(Orig: With mingled joy and grief the parted with his long-loved)
Page 338: Changed "he" to "be."
(Orig: Whatever he ordered to he done in his own provinces)
Page 358: Changed "estabished" to "established."
(Orig: afterwards definitely estabished as annual occurrences)
Page 395: Changed "on" to "one."
(Orig: On of them was)
End of Project Gutenberg's The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe, by Ernest Young