PRESENTATION TO THE KING.--DINNER AT THE PALACE.
While they were at lunch, and discussing the sights and scenes of the
morning, a messenger arrived with a note from the consul. It was to the
effect that the king would receive him, accompanied by Doctor Bronson,
at three o'clock that afternoon. The consul added that he would call at
the hotel with his boat about half-past two, and they would proceed
thence together. The Doctor had no time to lose in making his toilet for
the ceremony; he finished it, and was seated on the veranda of the hotel
not more than two minutes before the consul arrived. At the latter's
suggestion, the boys joined the party; and it was arranged that, while
the two gentlemen were having their audience with the king, the youths
could amuse themselves in the palace-grounds under the guidance of the
consular secretary.
[Illustration: COURT-YARD OF THE ROYAL PALACE AT BANGKOK.]
They had a slow journey up the river to the palace, as the tide was
against them, and compelled the boat to hug close to the shore; but they
were there a little before three o'clock, and had a short walk from the
landing-place to the front of the palace. They were shown to a platform
in the court-yard, and were received there by the interpreter and
secretary of the king, who announced that his majesty would be ready for
the audience in a few moments. The platform was under a wide-spreading
tree, that furnished a most grateful shade; and there were many small
trees and bushes growing in large pots that stood in irregular rows. Two
or three groups of servants were crouched in the yard, which was paved
with large blocks of stone, and a little way off a royal elephant was
undergoing his daily exercise in charge of his keepers. Coffee was
brought, and with it cigars and cigarettes; and a quarter of an hour
passed away quite agreeably to all concerned. At the end of that time, a
messenger came and said something to the secretary in Siamese; the
secretary then turned to the gentlemen, and told them the king was
waiting for them. He led the way towards a low gate-way, and the boys
remained with the consular secretary.
They had a pleasant ramble in the palace-grounds, and saw the stables
where the white elephants were kept, as well as the elephants
themselves. The secretary told them the audience would occupy about half
an hour, and they would have that time at their disposal before
returning to the platform in the court-yard. In half an hour they came
back, and waited for the Doctor and the consul. They were not there
three minutes before the gentlemen returned, and were ready to go back
to the hotel.
On their way homeward, the Doctor told the boys what he had seen and
done, and the consul added here and there little bits of information to
the Doctor's story. The Doctor was so pleased with the visit, that he
spent the evening writing an account of the affair; and it was not till
a late hour that he finished it. He readily consented to allow the boys
to copy it, so that it could form part of the narrative of their journey
in Siam. Here it is:
"After leaving the platform, where we had rested to await the pleasure
of the king, we soon came to a gate-way that was guarded by a double
file of soldiers, who presented arms as we approached. The gate-way led
us close to the apartments of the women, and I managed to have glimpses
of the dusky occupants of the place as we walked along. Some of them
were pretty; but their mouths were so disfigured by betel-chewing that
the effect was not agreeable. Our glance was only a hurried one, as we
were speedily at the door of the palace.
"We mounted a stairway to the king's apartments; then we passed through
a hall ornamented with busts and portraits of European sovereigns,
living or dead, and then we entered a large saloon, where we found
ourselves in the presence of the king.
"His majesty approached as we entered--exactly as a private gentleman
might do in his own house when a visitor calls--and, after shaking hands
with the consul, he paused for the latter to introduce me. As soon as I
was introduced, he shook hands with me after the Occidental fashion, and
invited us to seats near a table in the centre of the room. The sofa
where he sat was at right angles to the position of our chairs, so that,
by partially turning, he faced us both. At his left stood the
interpreter, who translated the king's Siamese words into English, but
rarely translated our own words into Siamese, as the king understands
our language perfectly, and speaks it with very few mistakes.
Ceremonious presentations are always conducted with the aid of an
interpreter, and the king appears to understand only his own language;
but when he wishes to have a free and confidential conversation with a
foreign consul or other personage, he dismisses his interpreter, and
talks away in English with perfect ease.
[Illustration: CHULALONKORN I., SUPREME KING OF SIAM.]
"His majesty's voice is full, clear, and resonant, and he pronounces
every word with the utmost care. As he talks, his face brightens; he
gesticulates gracefully, and to a sufficient extent to make his
conversation quite un-Oriental in character. His complexion is the true
Siamese bronze; his cheek-bones are high, and the outlines of his face
are decidedly handsome. His thick black hair is parted gracefully in the
middle, and not cropped after the Siamese style; he has a slender
mustache, which evinces careful training, and gives promise of future
greatness. He wore at the ceremonial the Siamese trousers, with white
stockings, and he had on his feet shoes of patent-leather, if I observed
them correctly. His upper garment was a sack of military cut, and made
of white linen; it terminated with a sort of upright collar, and was
closely buttoned. The only ornament I noticed upon it was a row of three
stars on each side of the throat.
"Like all other kings, his majesty is well provided with uniforms, and
every ceremonial has a dress peculiarly adapted to it. His military
uniform, when he appears at the head of his troops, is quite European in
style, but his court-dress for state ceremonials adheres strictly to
the Siamese model. It is richly embroidered and studded with jewels;
the crown rises in the form of an elongated pyramid, with an aigrette of
jewels, and the sandals are so thickly set with precious stones that
there is very little of the foundation-work to be seen.
"His majesty asked how long I had been in Siam, and how I liked the
country; wished to know if I had visited the temples of Bangkok, and
what I thought of them; and made other inquiries touching my movements.
When these questions had been answered, he spoke of the visit of the
United States ships of war several months before, and expressed the wish
to see more of our ships and more of our countrymen in Siam. He asked
when we would have American steamers running between Bangkok and
Hong-kong to connect with the Pacific Mail and Occidental and Oriental
lines, and said he hoped for a rapid increase of commerce between Siam
and the United States. Evidently he is sincerely desirous of intimate
commercial relations with us, as he said there were many articles of
American manufacture which they wished to be supplied with; while we, on
the other hand, would doubtless be willing to purchase rice at a lower
price than we were now paying.
"Tea and cigars were served while we were engaged on these topics, which
occupied a period of ten or fifteen minutes. Then the conversation took
a miscellaneous turn; and he dwelt upon the peculiarities of the
different languages that are spoken in his dominions: it seems that his
majesty is well versed in the various dialects and distinct languages,
and he is like the Emperor of Austria, as he can converse with all his
subjects in their own tongue. Then he talked with the consul about some
matter that the latter had brought before him at a previous interview;
and after that there was a convenient pause, in which we rose and made
our adieux. The king followed us to the door of the room, and, before
shaking hands in farewell, he invited the consul and myself to dine with
him the following evening. Of course we accepted without a moment's
hesitation, and then made our way out as we had entered. The whole
affair from beginning to end was quite free from stiffness or severity,
and proved the king to be, as he is represented, a most accomplished
gentleman."
Sixty years ago a presentation to the King of Siam was a much more
ceremonious affair than the one here recorded, and it required a great
deal of study and rehearsal on the part of all concerned. Mr. Crawfurd,
who came to Siam in 1822 at the head of an embassy from the
Governor-general of India, gives the following account of his
presentation:
"We left our dwelling at half-past eight in the morning for the
palace. A twelve-oared barge, with the rowers dressed in scarlet
uniforms, was furnished by the court for the conveyance of the
gentlemen of the mission; another for our Indian attendants, about
twenty in number; while the sepoys of the escort were conveyed in
the ship's launch. It was made a particular request that our
servants, especially the sepoys of the escort, should form part of
the procession. About nine o'clock we landed under the walls of the
palace, where we found an immense concourse of people waiting to
view the spectacle. The accommodation for conveying us to the
palace consisted of net hammocks suspended from poles, furnished
with an embroidered carpet, and, according to the custom of the
country, borne by two men only. The management of these vehicles
was a matter of some difficulty, and our awkwardness became a
subject of some amusement to the crowd. We passed through a street
of Siamese military arranged in single file, and then came to a
gate-way where we were compelled to leave our side-arms, as no
person was permitted to come into the palace enclosure with arms
about him. We were also compelled to dismount from our litters and
leave our escort behind us.
[Illustration: PRIME-MINISTER OF SIAM.]
"We passed through another street of soldiers, and finally came to
a large hall, eighty or ninety feet long by forty broad. We were
conducted inside, and carpets were spread for us to sit on while
waiting to be summoned to the royal presence. We waited about
twenty minutes, and were then taken to the hall of audience, where
we were requested to take off our shoes and leave behind us our
Indian attendants. As soon as we entered the gate we found a band
of music of about one hundred persons drawn up to form a street for
our reception. The instruments consisted of drums, gongs, brass
flutes, and flageolets.
"Opposite the door of the hall there was an immense screen, which
concealed the interior from view. We passed the screen to the right
side, and, as had been agreed upon, taking off our hats, made a
respectful bow in the European manner. Every foot of the great hall
was so crowded with prostrate courtiers that it was difficult to
move without treading upon some officer of state. Precedence is
decided upon such occasions by relative vicinity to the throne; the
princes being near the foot of it, the principal officers of
government next to them, and thus in succession down to the lowest
officer who is admitted. We seated ourselves a little in front of
the screen, and made three obeisances to the throne in unison with
the courtiers. This obeisance consisted in raising the joined hands
three times to the head, and each time touching the forehead. To
have completed the Siamese obeisance it would have been necessary
to bend the body to the ground, and touch the earth with the
forehead at each prostration.
"The hall of audience was a well proportioned and spacious saloon,
about eighty feet long, perhaps half this in breadth, and about
thirty feet high. Two rows, each of ten handsome wooden pillars,
formed an avenue from the door to the throne, which was situated at
the upper end of the hall. The walls and ceiling were painted a
bright vermilion, the cornices of the former being gilded, and the
latter thickly spangled with stars in rich gilding. The throne and
its appendages occupied the whole of the upper end of the hall. The
throne was gilded all over, and about fifteen feet high, and it had
much the appearance of a handsome pulpit. A pair of curtains of
gold tissue upon a yellow ground concealed the whole of the upper
part of the room except the throne, and they were intended to be
drawn over this also except when used. The king, when seated on his
throne, had more the appearance of a statue than of a living being.
The general appearance of the hall of audience, the prostrate
attitude of the courtiers, the situation of the king, and the
silence which prevailed, presented a very imposing spectacle, and
reminded us much more of a temple crowded with votaries engaged in
the performance of some solemn rite of religion than the
audience-chamber of a temporal monarch.
[Illustration: THE KING OF SIAM IN HIS STATE ROBES.]
"The words which his Siamese majesty condescended to address to us
were delivered in a grave, measured, and oratorical manner. One of
the first officers of state delivered them to a person of inferior
rank, and this person to the interpreter who was behind us, and
explained them in the Malay language, which we understood. After a
few questions and answers relative to our mission, the king said,
"'I am glad to see an envoy here from the Governor-general of
India. Whatever you have to say, communicate with the minister of
foreign affairs. What we chiefly want from you are fire-arms.'
"His majesty had no sooner pronounced these words than we heard a
loud stroke, as if given by a wand against a piece of wainscoting,
and then the curtains on each side of the throne, moved by some
invisible agency, closed upon it. This was followed by the same
flourish of wind instruments as on our entrance, and the courtiers,
falling on their faces to the ground, made six successive
prostrations. We made three obeisances, sitting upright as agreed
upon. The ceremony was over.
"During the audience a heavy shower had fallen, and it was still
raining. His majesty took this opportunity of presenting each of us
with a small umbrella, and sent a message to desire that we would
view the curiosities of the palace at our leisure. When we reached
the threshold of the audience-hall we perceived the court yard and
the roads extremely wet and dirty from the rain, and naturally
demanded our shoes, which we had left at the last gate. This was a
favor which could not be yielded; and we were told that the princes
of the blood could not wear shoes within the sacred enclosure where
we now were. It would have been impolitic to evince ill-humor or
remonstrance, and therefore we feigned a cheerful compliance with
this inconvenient usage, and proceeded to gratify our curiosity."
[Illustration: A YOUNGER BROTHER OF THE KING.]
Doctor Bronson had no such ceremony to pass through as did Mr. Crawfurd
in 1822; he was not required to remove his shoes at the gate-way, and he
did not pass along a hall full of kneeling courtiers. The present king
has ordained that persons of all ranks shall come before him erect, just
as they would enter the presence of a king in Europe, and as far as
possible he has made the usages of his court correspond to the European
model.
Of the dinner to which the consul and Doctor Bronson were invited, the
latter wrote as follows:
"The dinner was quite in the European style, and was prepared by a
French cook who has been in his majesty's employ for several years. The
party consisted of his majesty, six of his younger brothers, the king's
private secretary, the consul, and myself. The conversation was general,
and touched many topics; the king had many questions to ask about the
United States, and particularly wished to know the difference between
Siamese slavery of the present day and American slavery of the past.
After dinner we sat on the balcony, listening to the music of the band,
and breathing the soft evening air. During part of the dinner and all
the rest of the evening the king threw off his reserve, dismissed his
interpreter, and conversed freely in English, which he spoke easily, and
with great correctness. It was half-past nine o'clock when we left the
palace, and were escorted to our boat to return to the hotel."
[Illustration]