MARCH 15, 1862.--On board the small Siamese steamer Chow Phya, in the
Gulf of Siam.
I rose before the sun, and ran on deck to catch an early glimpse of the
strange land we were nearing; and as I peered eagerly, not through mist
and haze, but straight into the clear, bright, many-tinted ether, there
came the first faint, tremulous blush of dawn, behind her rosy veil; and
presently the welcome face shines boldly out, glad, glorious, beautiful,
and aureoled with flaming hues of orange, fringed with amber and gold,
wherefrom flossy webs of color float wide through the sky, paling as
they go. A vision of comfort and gladness, that tropical March morning,
genial as a July dawn in my own less ardent clime; but the memory of two
round, tender arms, and two little dimpled hands, that so lately had
made themselves loving fetters round my neck, in the vain hope of
holding mamma fast, blinded my outlook; and as, with a nervous tremor
and a rude jerk, we came to anchor there, so with a shock and a tremor I
came to my hard realities.
The captain told us we must wait for the afternoon tide to carry us over
the bar. I lingered on deck, as long as I could dodge the fiery spears
that flashed through our tattered awning, and bear the bustle and the
boisterous jests of some circus people, our fellow-passengers, who came
by express invitation of the king to astonish and amuse the royal
household and the court.
Scarcely less intelligent, and certainly more entertaining, than these
were the dogs of our company,-? brutes of diverse temperament,
experience, and behavior. There were the captain's two, Trumpet and Jip,
who, by virtue of their reflected rank and authority, held places of
privilege and pickings under the table, and were jealous and overbearing
as became a captain's favorites, snubbing and bullying their more
accomplished and versatile guests, the circus dogs, with skipper-like
growls and snarls and snaps. And there was our own true Bessy,--a
Newfoundland, great and good,--discreet, reposeful, dignified,
fastidious, not to be cajoled into confidences and familiarities with
strange dogs, whether official or professional. Very human was her
gentle countenance, and very loyal, I doubt not, her sense of
responsibility, as she followed anxiously my boy and me, interpreting
with her heart the thoughts she read in our faces, and responding with
her sympathetic eyes.
In the afternoon, when we dined on deck, the land was plainly visible;
and now, as with a favoring tide we glided toward the beautiful Meinam
("Mother of Waters"), the air grew brighter, and the picture lived and
moved; trees _grew_ on the banks, more and more verdure, monkeys swung
from bough to bough, birds flashed and piped among the thickets.
Though the reddish-brown water over the "banks" is very shallow at low
tide, craft of moderate burden, with the aid of a pilot, cast anchor
commonly in the very heart of the capital, in from ten to twelve fathoms
of water.
The world has few rivers so deep, commodious, and safe as the Meinam;
and when we arrived the authorities were contemplating the erection of
beacons on the bar, as well as a lighthouse for the benefit of vessels
entering the port of Bangkok. The stream is rich in fish of excellent
quality and flavor, such as is found in most of the great rivers of
Asia; and is especially noted for its _platoo_, a kind of sardine, so
abundant and cheap that it forms a common seasoning to the laborer's
bowl of rice. The Siamese are expert in modes of drying and salting fish
of all kinds, and large quantities are exported annually to Java,
Sumatra, Malacca, and China.
In half an hour from the time when the twin banks of the river, in their
raiment of bright green, seemed to open their beautiful arms to receive
us, we came to anchor opposite the mean, shabby, irregular town of
Paknam, or Sumuttra P'hra-kan ("Ocean Affairs"). Here the captain went
ashore to report himself to the Governor, and the officials of the
custom-house, and the mail-boat came out to us. My boy became impatient
for _couay_ (cake); Moonshee, my Persian teacher, and Beebe, my gay
Hindostanee nurse, expressed their disappointment and disgust, Moonshee
being absurdly dramatic in his wrath, as, fairly shaking his fist at the
town, he demanded, "What is this?"
Near this place are two islands. The one on the right is fortified, yet
withal so green and pretty, and seemingly so innocent of bellicose
designs, that one may fancy Nature has taken peculiar pains to heal and
hide the disfigurements grim Art has made in her beauty. On the other,
which at first I took for a floating shrine of white marble, is perhaps
the most unique and graceful object of architecture in Siam; shining
like a jewel on the broad bosom of the river, a temple all of purest
white, its lofty spire, fantastic and gilded, flashing back the glory of
the sun, and duplicated in shifting, quivering shadows in the limpid
waters below. Add to these the fitful ripple of the coquettish breeze,
the burnished blazonry of the surrounding vegetation, the budding charms
of spring joined to the sensuous opulence of autumn, and you have a
scene of lovely glamour it were but vain impertinence to describe. Earth
seemed to have gathered for her adorning here elements more
intellectual, poetic, and inspiring than she commonly displays to pagan
eyes.
These islands at the gateway of the river are, like the bank in the
gulf, but accumulations of the sand borne down before the torrent, that,
suddenly swollen by the rains, rushes annually to the sea. The one on
which the temple stands is partly artificial, having been raised from
the bed of the Meinam by the king P'hra Chow Phra-sat-thong, as a work
of "merit." Visiting this island some years later, I found that this
temple, like all other pyramidal structures in this part of the world,
consists of solid masonry of brick and mortar. The bricks made here are
remarkable, being fully eight inches long and nearly four broad, and of
fine grain,--altogether not unlike the "tavellae" brick of the Egyptians
and ancient Romans. There are cornices on all sides, with steps to
ascend to the top, where a long inscription proclaims the name, rank,
and virtues of the founder, with dates of the commencement of the island
and the shrine. The whole of the space, extending to the low stone
breakwater that surrounds the island, is paved with the same kind of
brick, and encloses, in addition to the P'hra-Cha-dei ("The Lord's
Delight"), a smaller temple with a brass image of the sitting Buddha. It
also affords accommodation to the numerous retinue of princes, nobles,
retainers, and pages who attend the king in his annual visits to the
temple, to worship, and make votive offerings and donations to the
priests. A charming spot, yet not one to be contemplated with unalloyed
pleasure; for here also are the wretched people, who pass up and down in
boats, averting their eyes, pressing their hard, labor-grimed hands
against their sweating foreheads, and lowly louting in blind awe to
these whited bricks. Even the naked children hush and crouch, and lay
their little foreheads against the bottom of the boat.
His Majesty Somdetch P'hra Paramendr Maha Mongkut, the late Supreme
King, contributed interesting _souvenirs_ to the enlargement and
adornment of this temple.
The town, which the twin islands redeem from the ignominy it otherwise
deserves, lies on the east bank of the river, and by its long lines of
low ramparts that face the water seems to have been at one time
substantially fortified; but the works are now dilapidated and
neglected. They were constructed in the first instance, I am told, with
fatal ingenuity; in the event of an attack the garrison would find them
as dangerous to abandon as to defend. Paknam is indebted for its
importance rather to its natural position, and its possibilities of
improvement under the abler hands into which it is gradually falling,
than to any advantage or promise in itself; for a more disgusting,
repulsive place is scarcely to be found on Asian ground.
The houses are built partly of mud, partly of wood, and, as in those of
Malacca, only the upper story is habitable, the ground floor being the
abode of pigs, dogs, fowls, and noisome reptiles. The "Government House"
was originally of stone, but all the more recent additions have been
shabbily constructed of rough timber and mud. This is one of the few
houses in Paknam which one may enter without mounting a ladder or a
clumsy staircase, and which have rooms in the lower as well as in the
upper story.
The Custom-House is an open _sala_, or shed, where interpreters,
inspectors, and tidewaiters lounge away the day on cool mats, chewing
areca, betel, and tobacco, and extorting moneys, goods, or provisions
from the unhappy proprietors of native trading craft, large or small;
but Europeans are protected from their rascally and insolent exactions
by the intelligence and energy of their respective consuls.
The hotel is a whitewashed brick building, originally designed to
accommodate foreign ambassadors and other official personages visiting
the Court of Siam. The king's summer-house, fronting the islands, is the
largest edifice to be seen, but it has neither dignity nor beauty. A
number of inferior temples and monasteries occupy the background, and
are crowded with a rabble of priests, in yellow robes and with shaven
pates; packs of mangy pariah-dogs attend them. These monasteries consist
of many small rooms or cells, containing merely a mat and wooden pillow
for each occupant. The refuse of the food, which the priests beg during
the day, is cast to the dogs at night; and what _they_ refuse is left to
putrefy. Unimaginable are the stenches the sun of Siam engenders in such
conditions.
A village so happily situated might, under better management, become a
thriving and pleasing port; but neglect, cupidity, and misrule have
shockingly deformed and degraded it. Nevertheless, by its picturesque
site and surroundings of beauty, it retains its hold upon the regretful
admiration of many Europeans and Americans, who in ill health have found
strength and cheer in its sea-breezes.
We heartily enjoyed the delightful freshness of the evening air as we
glided up the Meinam, though the river view at this point is somewhat
marred by the wooden piers and quays that line it on either side, and
the floating houses, representing elongated A's. From the deck, at a
convenient height above the level of the river and the narrow serpentine
canals and creeks, we looked down upon conical roofs thatched with
attaps, and diversified by the pyramids and spires and fantastic turrets
of the more important buildings. The valley of the Meinam, not over six
hundred miles in length, is as a long deep dent or fissure in the
alluvial soil. At its southern extremity we have the climate and
vegetation of the tropics, while its northern end, on the brow of the
Yunan, is a region of perpetual snow. The surrounding country is
remarkable for the bountiful productiveness of its unctuous loam. The
scenery, though not wild nor grand, is very picturesque and charming in
the peculiar golden haze of its atmosphere. I surveyed with more and
more admiration each new scene of blended luxuriance and
beauty,--plantations spreading on either hand as far as the eye could
reach, and level fields of living green, billowy with crops of rice and
maize, and sugar-cane and coffee, and cotton and tobacco; and the wide
irregular river, a kaleidoscope of evanescent form and color, where
land, water, and sky joined or parted in a thousand charming surprises
of shapes and shadows.
The sun was already sinking in the west, when we caught sight of a tall
roof of familiar European fashion; and presently a lowly white chapel
with green windows, freshly painted, peeped out beside two pleasant
dwellings. Chapel and homes belong to the American Presbyterian Mission.
A forest of graceful boughs filled the background; the last faint rays
of the departing sun fell on the Mission pathway, and the gentle swaying
of the tall trees over the chapel imparted a promise of safety and
peace, as the glamour of the approaching night and the gloom and mystery
of the pagan land into which we were penetrating filled me with an
indefinable dread. I almost trembled, as the unfriendly clouds drove out
the lingering tints of day. Here were the strange floating city, with
its stranger people on all the open porches, quays, and jetties; the
innumerable rafts and boats, canoes and gondolas, junks, and ships; the
pall of black smoke from the steamer, the burly roar of the engine, and
the murmur and the jar; the bewildering cries of men, women, and
children, the shouting of the Chinamen, and the barking of the
dogs,--yet no one seemed troubled but me. I knew it was wisest to hide
my fears. It was the old story. How many of our sisters, how many of our
daughters, how many of our hearts' darlings, are thus, without friend or
guide or guard or asylum, turning into untried paths with untold stories
of trouble and pain!
We dropped anchor in deep water near an island. In a moment the river
was alive with nondescript craft, worked by amphibious creatures, half
naked, swarthy, and grim, who rent the air with shrill, wild jargon as
they scrambled toward us. In the distance were several hulks of Siamese
men-of-war, seemingly as old as the flood; and on the right towered,
tier over tier, the broad roofs of the grand Royal Palace of
Bangkok,--my future "home" and the scene of my future labors.
The circus people are preparing to land; and the dogs, running to and
fro with anxious glances, have an air of leave-taking also. Now the
China coolies, with pigtails braided and coiled round their low,
receding brows, begin their uncouth bustle, and into the small hours of
the morning enliven the time of waiting with frantic shouts and
gestures.
Before long a showy gondola, fashioned like a dragon, with flashing
torches and many paddles, approached; and a Siamese official mounted the
side, swaying himself with an absolute air. The red _langoutee_, or
skirt, loosely folded about his person, did not reach his ankles; and to
cover his audacious chest and shoulders he had only his own brown
polished skin. He was followed by a dozen attendants, who, the moment
they stepped from the gangway, sprawled on the deck like huge toads,
doubling their arms and legs under them, and pressing their noses
against the boards, as if intent on making themselves small by degrees
and hideously less. Every Asiatic on deck, coolies and all, prostrates
himself, except my two servants, who are bewildered. Moonshee covertly
mumbles his five prayers, ejaculating between, _Mash-Allah! A Tala-yea
kia hai?_ [Footnote: "Great God! what is this?"] and Beebe shrinks, and
draws her veil of spotted muslin jealously over her charms.
The captain stepped forward and introduced us. "His Excellency Chow Phya
Sri Sury Wongse, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Siam!"
Half naked as he was, and without an emblem to denote his rank, there
was yet something remarkable about this native chief, by virtue of which
he compelled our respect from the first glance,--a sensibly magnetic
quality of tone or look. With an air of command oddly at variance with
his almost indecent attire, of which he seemed superbly unconscious, he
beckoned to a young attendant, who crawled to him as a dog crawls to an
angry master. This was an interpreter, who at a word from his lord began
to question me in English.
"Are you the lady who is to teach in the royal family?"
On my replying in the affirmative, he asked, "Have you friends in
Bangkok?"
Finding I had none, he was silent for a minute or two; then demanded:
"What will you do? Where will you sleep to-night?"
"Indeed I cannot tell," I said. "I am a stranger here. But I understood
from his Majesty's letter that a residence would be provided for us on
our arrival; and he has been duly informed that we were to arrive at
this time."
"His Majesty cannot remember everything," said his Excellency; the
interpreter added, "You can go where you like." And away went master and
slaves. I was dumfoundered, without even voice to inquire if there was a
hotel in the city; and my servants were scornfully mute. My kind friend
the captain was sorely puzzled. He would have sheltered us if he could;
but a cloud of coal-dust and the stamping and screaming of a hundred and
fifty Chinamen made hospitality impracticable; so I made a little bed
for my child on deck, and prepared to pass the night with him under a
canopy of stars.
The situation was as Oriental as the scene,--heartless arbitrary
insolence on the part of my employers; homelessness, forlornness,
helplessness, mortification, indignation, on mine. Fears and misgivings
crowded and stunned me. My tears fell thick and fast, and, weary and
despairing, I closed my eyes, and tried to shut out heaven and earth;
but the reflection would return to mock and goad me, that by my own act,
and against the advice of my friends, I had placed myself in this
position.
The good captain of the Chow Phya, much troubled by the conduct of the
minister, paced the deck (which usually, on these occasions, he left to
the supercargo) for more than an hour. Presently a boat approached, and
he hailed it. In a moment it was at the gangway, and with robust, hearty
greetings on both sides, Captain B----, a cheery Englishman, with a
round, ruddy, rousing face, sprang on board; in a few words our
predicament was explained to him, and at once he invited us to share his
house, for the night at least, assuring us of a cordial welcome from his
wife. In the beautiful gondola of our "friend in need" we were pulled by
four men, standing to their oars, through a dream-like scene, peculiar
to this Venice of the East. Larger boats, in an endless variety of form
and adornment, with prows high, tapering, and elaborately carved, and
pretty little gondolas and canoes, passed us continually on the right
and left; yet amid so many signs of life, motion, traffic, bustle, the
sweet sound of the rippling waters alone fell on the ear. No rumbling of
wheels, nor clatter of hoofs, nor clangor of bells, nor roar and scream
of engines to shock the soothing fairy-like illusion. The double charm
of stillness and starlight was perfect.
"By the by," broke in my cheery new friend, "you'll have to go with me
to the play, ma'm; because my wife is there with the boys, and the
house-key is in her pocket."
"To the play!"
"O, don't be alarmed, ma'm! It's not a regular theatre; only a
catchpenny show, got up by a Frenchman, who came from Singapore a
fortnight since. And having so little amusement here, we are grateful
for anything that may help to break the monotony. The temporary
playhouse is within the palace grounds of his Royal Highness Prince Krom
Lhuang Wongse; and I hope to have an opportunity to introduce you to the
Prince, who I believe is to be present with his family."
The intelligence was not gratifying, a Siamese prince had too lately
disturbed my moral equilibrium; but I held my peace and awaited the
result with resignation. A few strokes of the oars, seconded by the
swift though silent current, brought us to a wooden pier surmounted by
two glaring lanterns. Captain B---- handed us out. My child, startled
from a deep sleep, was refractory, and would not trust himself out of my
fond keeping. When finally I had struggled with him in my arms to the
landing, I saw in the shadow a form coiled on a piece of striped
matting. Was it a bear? No, a prince! For the clumsy mass of reddish-
brown flesh unrolled and uplifted itself, and held out a human arm, with
a fat hand at the end of it, when Captain B---- presented me to "his
Royal Highness." Near by was his Excellency the Prime Minister, in the
identical costume that had disgraced our unpleasant interview on the
Chow Phya; he was smoking a European pipe, and plainly enjoying our
terrors. My stalwart friend contrived to squeeze us, and even himself,
first through a bamboo door, and then through a crowd of hot people, to
seats fronting a sort of altar, consecrated to the arts of jugglery. A
number of Chinamen of respectable appearance occupied the more distant
places, while those immediately behind us were filled by the ladies and
gentlemen of the foreign community. On a raised dais hung with kincob
[Footnote: Silk, embroidered with, gold flowers.] curtains, the ladies
of the Prince's harem reclined; while their children, shining in silk
and ornaments of gold, laughed, prattled, and gesticulated, until the
juggler appeared, when they were stunned with sudden wonder. Under the
eaves on all sides human heads were packed, on every head its cherished
tuft of hair, like a stiff black brush inverted, in every mouth its
delicious cud of areca-nut and betel, which the human cattle ruminated
with industrious content. The juggler, a keen little Frenchman, plied
his arts nimbly, and what with his ventriloquial doll, his empty bag
full of eggs, his stones that were candies, and his candies that were
stones, and his stuffed birds that sang, astonished and delighted his
unsophisticated patrons, whose applauding murmurs were diversified by
familiarly silly shrieks--the true Siamese Did-you-ever!--from behind
the kincob curtains.
But I was weary and disheartened, and welcomed with a sigh of relief the
closing of the show. As we passed out with our guide, the glare of many
torches falling on the dark silent river made the swarthy forms of the
boatmen weird and Charon-like. Mrs. B---- welcomed us with a pleasant
smile to her little heaven of home across the river, and by the
simplicity and gentleness of her manners dispelled in a measure my
feeling of forlornness. When at last I found myself alone, I would have
sought the sleep I so much needed, but the strange scenes of the day
chased each other in agitating confusion through my brain. Then I
quitted the side of my sleeping boy, triumphant in his dreamless
innocence, and sat defeated by the window, to crave counsel and help
from the ever-present Friend; and as I waited I sank into a tumultuous
slumber, from which at last I started to find the long-tarrying dawn
climbing over a low wall and creeping through a half-open shutter.