THE KING IN HIS STATE BARGE.--BETEL AND TOBACCO.
On their arrival at Bangkok, our friends found that the king had
returned, and was to begin on the following day his annual visits to the
temples of the city. Once a year he goes in state to the temples, and
about two weeks are consumed in making the rounds of all of them. The
Siamese attach much importance to this ceremony, as their country is
considered the principal seat of the Buddhist religion, and the king is
its first defender. Therefore it is considered necessary that he should
worship officially at the shrines of the leading temples of the capital,
in addition to his daily worship in the temples attached to the grand
palace.
The consul arranged to accompany Doctor Bronson and the youths to one of
the temples the king was to visit, so that they might see the
procession, and have a glimpse of the ruler of Siam. About ten o'clock
in the forenoon they left the hotel in their boat, and a half-hour's
pull up and across the river brought them to the spot. They spent a
little while in the inspection of the temple and its surroundings: they
had visited the same temple in the first days of their stay in Bangkok,
and therefore many things were familiar to their eyes. But where it had
been quiet before all was now activity, and there was a considerable
assemblage of people, who had come, like themselves, to witness the
ceremony.
After a time there was a stir, and the announcement was made that the
king was coming. The boys looked up the river in the direction of the
palace, and, sure enough, there was the royal procession; and it was a
sight that almost took away the breath of both Frank and Fred.
[Illustration: STATE BARGE OF THE KING OF SIAM.]
There was a flotilla of a dozen or more boats and barges of the most
gorgeous description our friends had ever seen. The largest of them was
occupied by the king, and had a hundred and twenty men to row, or rather
to paddle it. The boat was said to be fifty yards in length, but nobody
was able to say positively what were its exact dimensions; at any rate,
it was long enough and handsome enough to satisfy the most fastidious
spectator. The rowers were in a double line, and in scarlet uniforms;
at each stroke they raised their paddles high in air, and their
movements were so timed that the paddles on both sides were dipped at
exactly the same moment. The boat sat quite low in the water, and its
stern had a sharp and high curve to it that doubtless made the middle of
the craft appear lower than it really was. The bow was bent upwards as
high as the stern, and Frank thought it could not be less than ten or
twelve feet out of the water. It appeared to be much heavier than the
stern, and was fantastically carved; the Doctor told the boys that the
carving was intended to represent the _Nagha Mustakha Sapta_, or
seven-headed serpent, which is one of the mythological deities of Siam.
Considerably nearer to the stern than the bow there was a sort of throne
elevated on four pillars, and having a gorgeous canopy above it. On this
throne the king was seated; the canopy had a spire like that of some of
the temples, and consequently the seat in the barge possessed a certain
religious character. Near him were attendants holding canopies not
altogether unlike umbrellas, and at a distance these canopies suggested
the appearance of golden cones. The boat was driven rapidly through the
water by the powerful arms of its rowers, and their movements were timed
by a man waving a huge baton, after the manner of the drum-major of a
brass band. The other boats moved at the same speed; they were smaller
than that of the king, some of them having no more than thirty or forty
rowers; and they belonged to the Siamese nobles and ministers of state,
who were required to accompany the king on his official visits to the
temples.
The gilding and bright colors on the boats were fairly dazzling to the
eyes of the young travellers. In all their travels hitherto, they had
seen nothing half as gorgeous as this spectacle, and Frank was inclined
to pinch himself to make sure he was not dreaming. He was destined to be
still more astonished when told that the king's boat was inlaid with
mother-of-pearl and crystal, and with sparkling shells and bright
stones, so that it resembled a piece of jewellery for the use of a giant
such as the world never saw. He wondered what must have been the cost of
such a boat, but there was no one who could tell him.
[Illustration: A BODY OF THE ROYAL GUARDS.]
Soon the boat was at the little platform which served as a landing-place
in front of the temple. A file of soldiers, uniformed somewhat after the
European manner, and carrying rifles of foreign manufacture, was drawn
up near the path where his majesty would pass on his way to the temple
door; they were commanded by an officer whose complexion was of the
Siamese tint, and who spoke English so fluently that the boys thought he
must have had a most excellent teacher, and been a very apt pupil. They
were undeceived when they learned that he was a native of Philadelphia,
and formerly served in the army of the United States. Doctor Bronson
observed that the soldiers were well drilled, as they went through the
manual of arms with the precision of a regiment of English or American
infantry.
The Siamese army is drilled after the European manner, and has had
drill-masters from the United States and half the countries of Europe in
the last thirty years. The navy is also under foreign management, and
the harbor-master of the port of Bangkok is an Englishman, who has lived
there a long time. Several foreigners are in the custom-house and other
official service, and the steamers of the navy have European engineers.
The foreigners in the Siamese service are well paid, and generally get
along easily with the natives. Some of them are greatly trusted by the
king, and have shown themselves fully worthy of the royal confidence.
In time of war the entire male population of the country capable of
bearing arms is liable to be called out, and every man is bound to serve
as a defender of his nation. Whenever soldiers are wanted, the king
sends a command to the governors of the various provinces, and tells
them what their quota will be, and they are expected to comply
immediately with the demand. The troops thus levied are fed and clothed
and armed at the expense of the government, but they do not receive any
pay in money; and when the emergency for which they were wanted is
passed they are dismissed and sent home. The standing army in time of
peace is quite small, and the soldiers are fed and clothed, and their
pay in money is about six dollars a month. The Siamese navy contained,
at the time our friends were at Bangkok, about a dozen steam gun-boats,
carrying from two to ten guns each, and several new vessels were on the
stocks in the royal dock-yards. A large naval force is not needed in
Siam, and the king wisely refrains from expending a great deal of money
on useless ships of war.
[Illustration: THE KING VISITING A TEMPLE.]
The king stepped ashore on the little platform previously mentioned, and
mounted a sedan-chair, on which he was to be carried to the temple. His
head was protected from the sun by a canopy like a large umbrella; and
both the seat and canopy were gayly decorated, and shone with gilding.
As the bearers proceeded with their royal burden, the people knelt in
homage to their ruler, and the strictest silence was observed. One after
another the nobles and high officials landed from their boats, and
proceeded to the temple, surrounded or followed by their attendants. It
was a novel spectacle to the boys, this procession of dignitaries, and
they watched it with great interest. Each of the officials had a man to
carry his pipe and tobacco, another for his betel-box, another for his
tray, holding a teacup and a pot of tea; and some of them had two or
three others for the transportation of various things. The betel-boxes
were of gold, and most exquisitely wrought, and they must have cost a
great deal of money to make. The prime-minister was the last to arrive,
and the boys were told that the ceremony would not begin till he had
entered the temple.
[Illustration: THE FRONT OF THE TEMPLE.]
The strangers were not invited to see the services inside the building,
and therefore they remained where they were till the king came out and
returned to his boat. The ceremony lasted about half an hour, and
consisted of the repetition of prayers by the priests, and responses by
the king; it was said to be not unlike the celebration of mass in a
Catholic church, and it has been remarked by many visitors to the Far
East that the forms of Buddhist worship have a considerable resemblance
to those of Rome.
The king went to his boat, which was drawn up to the platform as before;
and as soon as he was seated, the signal was given to the rowers to move
on. Away they paddled to another temple, situated up one of the canals;
and the other boats followed the royal one as rapidly as possible. By
taking a path through some gardens near the temple, our friends reached
a point on the bank of the canal where they could see all the boats as
they went along.
After the procession had gone the boys wanted to ramble through the tall
grass, but changed their minds when told that possibly they might
encounter a cobra or some other deadly snake. Cobras are not
unfrequently found around the Siamese temples; and though accidents are
not of common occurrence, there are enough of them to make a stranger
careful about his promenades.
It was past noon, and the heat of the sun was not of the lightest. The
Doctor suggested a return to the hotel, and the boys were quite willing
to accept it, as they wanted to think over the strange spectacle they
had witnessed. They thought they had done quite enough for one day, and
considered that they had been very fortunate in seeing the king, and
witnessing one of the pageants for which Siam is celebrated.
On their way back in the boat, Frank asked the Doctor to tell him
something about the use of the betel-nut. They had observed that the
king was vigorously chewing the substance, which is to the Siamese what
tobacco is to many Americans, and the ministers of state were following
his example. All classes of people indulged in the amusement, and their
mouths had a reddish appearance in consequence.
"The leaf of the betel-pepper," said the Doctor, "and the nut of the
areca-palm are prepared as follows: the nut is sliced quite thin, and a
little quicklime is sprinkled on it, so as to give it a pungent flavor,
and the two substances are then wrapped in the leaf. In this form it is
taken into the mouth and chewed, and the operation is generally
performed with a very vigorous action of the jaws. The saliva has a
reddish tint, and it is so bright that many strangers are deluded into
the belief that the natives are spitting blood. The practice of chewing
this substance began originally in the Malay peninsula, but it has
gradually spread all over India, the countries of Indo-China, and the
Malay Archipelago. Would you like to try it?"
The boys had the curiosity to make an experiment with the betel-nut;
and, as soon as they reached the hotel, the Doctor made their wants
known to the landlord. In a little while some of the substance was
brought, and the youths ventured to chew it.
A very short trial was quite sufficient. They found the taste anything
but agreeable; and Frank thought the same sensation could be had by
dissolving in the mouth a piece of alum as large as a small pea, or a
more extensive piece of lime. The delusion might be kept up by adding
any common leaf and a few grains of pepper, and Fred was confident that
it would require a long time for him to be accustomed to it. "Of
course," said he, "one might learn in time to like betel, just as men in
America learn to like tobacco; but, as far as I can judge, the taste of
tobacco is the less disagreeable of the two."
The astringency of the betel-nut was removed from the tongues of the
experimenters by a free use of the milk of green cocoa-nuts; and each of
the boys made a quiet promise to himself that he would not learn to chew
betel for anything in the world.
"And we may as well include tobacco," said Frank, "and leave it to rest
at the side of betel. I certainly don't like the process of chewing
betel, and it is no worse than that of chewing the favorite weed of
America."
Fred agreed with his cousin, and the two concluded that they would not
adopt the habit of many of their countrymen. Just then it occurred to
them that they had not seen any other people than their own using
tobacco in this form, and so they asked the Doctor if the habit was
exclusively an American one.
[Illustration: THE TOBACCO-PLANT.]
"Practically so," was the Doctor's answer. "In no other country than
ours is the habit of chewing tobacco at all prevalent; a few sailors and
others who have lived or been in the United States have adopted and
carried it home, and these are virtually the only people not Americans
who indulge in it. Other nations are far greater smokers than ourselves,
but we have very nearly a monopoly of chewing the leaf of the famous
plant of Virginia."
[Illustration: SIR WALTER RALEIGH AND HIS PIPE.]
One of the boys asked if tobacco was not first found in America; he
thought he had read that it was used by the Indians at the time of the
discovery of the Western Continent by Columbus, and was introduced to
Europe by Sir Walter Raleigh.
"I am unable to answer your question with exactness," said the Doctor,
"for the simple reason that the matter is involved in obscurity. It is
said by some historians that the sailors accompanying Columbus were one
day greatly astonished at seeing smoke issuing from the mouths and
nostrils of some of the natives, and they found, on investigation, that
it was produced by the combustion of a fragrant herb or plant. On their
return they introduced it into Spain and Portugal. In 1560 Jean Nicot
was ambassador of France at the Court of Lisbon, and learned the use of
tobacco from a merchant who had been in America. When he next went to
France, he presented the weed to the queen, and it soon became known
throughout Europe. From him it was called _L'herbe Nicotienne_, or "the
Nicotian weed," and the name has come down to our times. Near the same
period Sir Francis Drake introduced it into England, and Sir Walter
Raleigh made it fashionable; so rapidly did the use of it spread that in
less than twenty years nearly every class of society was addicted to it.
"Some writers contend that tobacco, or some similar plant, was smoked in
Asia long before the discovery of America; in proof of this they assert
that the pipe in nearly its present form is to be seen on many ancient
sculptures; and it is certainly singular that a people so conservative
as the Chinese and other Asiatics should have made the use of tobacco
universal in the comparatively short period that has elapsed since its
discovery in America. On the other hand, we can infer that it was not
known in Asia as early as the eighth century, because the tales of the
Arabian Nights, which are supposed to be a perfect picture of the
customs of that time, make no mention of smoking."
"Does Marco Polo make any mention of it in his travels in Asia?" Fred
asked. "If it had been known in his time, I think he would have been
pretty certain to say something about it."
"I believe he makes no allusion to it," the Doctor responded; "and this
fact is quoted by those who contend that the practice was of American
origin. But, whatever the origin of smoking tobacco, the custom has
spread over the whole globe, and prevails among savages no less than
among the most civilized and enlightened nations. All classes of people,
from highest to lowest, are smokers; and, though the practice has been
the subject of severe penalties, it has continued to spread. Laws were
passed against it by several governments. In Russia, smokers were
punished by having a pipe-stem passed through the cartilage of the nose
for their first offence; and for a second, they were ordered to be
flogged to death. Sultan Amurath IV. ordered that all smokers should be
strangled; and in Switzerland it was officially announced that the use
of tobacco was one of the sins forbidden by the Ten Commandments. The
Popes of Rome issued edicts against it; and one of them, Urban VII.,
decreed the excommunication of all who should use tobacco. King James
wrote the famous 'Counterblast against Tobacco,' and other publications
were made condemning the importation of Sir Walter Raleigh; but all to
no purpose. The practice could not be put down; and to-day there is no
article of luxury or dissipation that is so universally known as
tobacco.
"There are about forty different varieties of tobacco described by
botanists which are smoked, or chewed, or snuffed, in various parts of
the world. By far the greater part of the tobacco used annually is
smoked, and in some countries snuff-taking, like chewing the weed, is
practically unknown. In nine cases out of ten in America the use of
tobacco begins by smoking, and in other countries the proportion is
probably a hundred times as great. The tobacco used in Asia and in some
parts of Europe is much milder than that of America. England is the
largest consumer of strong tobacco outside of the United States, and the
revenue derived from it by the British custom-house goes far towards
paying the expenses of the government.
[Illustration: PIPES OF ALL NATIONS.]
"Tobacco was first smoked in pipes, and all the early representations of
smokers contain no picture of the cigar. Sir Walter Raleigh used a pipe
which was much like the one most popular in England at the present day,
and it was not till long after his time that the leaf, rolled into a
cigar, became fashionable. Different nations have adopted different
forms for the pipe; and it is noticeable that the more indolent the
people the longer is its pipe-stem. With the English and American pipe
the smoker can enjoy himself while employed, but with the Eastern pipe
he can do nothing else while smoking. With a cigar, or a short pipe, a
man may write or work; but when he takes the hookah of Turkey, or the
nargileh of Syria and Egypt, his occupation, other than smoking, must be
limited to conversation and reading. Each country has adopted the form
best suited to its tastes; and it would be the height of absurdity to
give the ragged newsboys of New York an Oriental pipe-stem two yards in
length, and expect them to enjoy it as they do the short stumps of
cigars they gather in the street. On the other hand, the Turkish lady
reclining on her divan would consider the short dhudeen of the Irish
apple-woman a wretched substitute for the hookah, with its flexible stem
and its bowl of water through which the smoke bubbles on its way to her
mouth.
[Illustration: YOUNG AMERICA.]
"Whether tobacco is injurious or otherwise has been a subject of much
discussion, and the advocates on each side have said a great deal that
their opponents will not admit. It would require more time than I have
at my command to tell you even a tenth part of the arguments for and
against tobacco, and therefore I will not enter upon the discussion of
the subject. Volumes have been written upon it, and doubtless other
volumes will find their way into print as the years roll on."
[Illustration: THE EAST.]
[Illustration: THE WEST.]