CHAP. I. The Geographical Description.

NAvigation has sufficiently made known the Sea Coasts of the King­dom of Siam, and many Authors have described them;How much this Kingdom is unknown. but they know almost nothing of the Inland Country, because the Siameses have not made a Map of their Country, or at least know how to keep it secret. That which I here present is the work of an European, who went up the Menam, the principal River of the Country, to the Frontiers of the King­dom; but was not skilful enough to give all the Positions with an entire exact­ness. Besides he has not seen all; and therefore I thought it necessary to give his Map to Mr. Cassini, Director of the Observatory at Paris, to correct it by some Memorials which were given me at Siam. Nevertheless I know it to be still defective; but yet it fails not to give some notices of this Kingdom which were never heard of, and of being more exact in those we already have:

Its Frontiers extend Northward to the 22^d. Degree, or thereabouts;Its Frontiers Northward. and the Road which terminates the Gulph of Siam, being almost at the Latitude of 13 degrees and a half, it follows, that this whole extent, of which we hardly have any knowledge, runs about 170 Leagues in a direct Line, reckoning 20 Leagues to a degree of Latitude, after the manner of our Seamen.

The Siameses do say that the City of Chiamai is fifteen days journey more to the North, than the Frontiers of their Kingdom, that is to say at most,The City of Chiamai and its Lake. be­tween sixty and seventy Leagues; for they are Journeys by water, and against the Stream. 'Tis about thirty years since their King, as they report, took this City, and abandon'd it, after having carried away all the People; and it has been since repeopled by the King of Ava, to whom Pegu does at present render Obedience. But the Siameses which were at that expedition, do not know that famous Lake, from whence our Geographers make the River Menam arise, and to which, according to them, this City gives its Names: which makes me to think either that it is more distant than our Geographers have conceived, or that there is no such Lake. It may also happen that this City adjoyning to se­veral Kingdoms, and being more subject than another to be ruined by War, has not always been rebuilt in the same place: And this is not difficult to imagine of the Cities which are built only with wood, as all in these Countreys are, and which in their destruction leave not any Ruines nor Foundations. How­ever it may be doubted, whether the Menam springs from a Lake, by reason it is so small at its entrance into the Kingdom of Siam, that for about fifty Leagues, it carries only little Boats capable of holding no more than four or five Persons at most.

The Kingdom of Siam is bounded from the East to the North by high Moun­tains, which separate it from the Kingdom of Laos, The Country of Siam is only a Valley. and on the North and West by others, which divide it from the Kingdoms of Pegu and Ava. This double Chain of Mountains (inhabited by a few, savage, and poor, but yet free Peo­ple, whose Life is innocent) leaves between them a great Valley, containing in some places between fourscore and an hundred Leagues in bredth, and is wa­tered [Page 4] from the City of Chiamai to the Sea, that is to say from the North to the South, with an excellent River which the Siameses call Me-nam, or Mother-water, to signifie, a great water, which being encreased by the Brooks and Rivers it re­ceives on every side, from the Mountains I have mentioned, discharges it self at last into the Gulph of Siam by three months, the most navigable of which is that toward the East.

Cities seated on the River.On this River, and about seven Miles from the Sea, is seated the City of Bancok: and I shall transiently declare, that the Siameses have very few habita­tions on their Coasts, which are not far distant from thence; but are almost all seated on Rivers navigable enough to afford them the Commerce of the Sea. As to the names of most of these places, which for this reason may be called Ma­ritime, they are disguised by Foreigners. Thus the City of Bancok is called Fon in Siamese, it not being known from whence the name of Bancok is derived, altho there be several Siamese Names, that begin with the word Ban, which signifies a Village.

The Gardens of Bancok.The Gardens which are in the Territory of Bancok, for the space of four Leagues, in ascending towards the City of Siam to a place named Talacoan, do supply this City with the Nourishment which the Natives of the Country love best, I mean a great quantity of Fruit.

Other Cities on the Menam.The other principal places which the Menam waters, are, Me-Tac the first City of the Kingdom to the North North-West, and then successively Tian-Tong, Campeng pet or Campeng simple, which some do pronounce Campingue, Laconcevan, Tchainat, Siam, Talacoan, Talaqueou, and Bancok. Between the two Cities of Tchainat and Siam, and at a distance, which the Maeanders of the River do render almost equal from each other, the River leaves the City of Louvo a little to the East, at the 14 d. 42 m. 32 S. of Latitude, according to the observations which the Jesuites have published. The King of Siam does there spend the greatest part of the year, the more commodiously to enjoy the diver­sion of Hunting: but Louvo would not be habitable, were it not for a channel cut from the River to water it. The City of Me-Tac renders obedience to an Hereditary Lord, who, they say, is a Vassal to the King of Siam, whom some call Paya-Tac, or Prince of Tac. Tian-Tong is ruin'd, doubtless by the Ancient Wars of Pegu. Campeng is known by the Mines of excellent Steel.

Another River likewise called Menam.At the City of Laconcevan the Menam receives another considerable River which comes also from the North, and is likewise called Menam, a name common to all great Rivers. Our Geographers make it to spring from the Lake of Chia­mai: but it is certain that it hath its source in the Mountains, which lye not so much to the North as this City. It runs first to Meuang-fang, then to Pitchiai, Pitsanoulouc, and Pitchit, and at last to Laconcevan, where it mixes, as I have said with the other River.

Pitsanoulouc, which the Portugueses do corruptly call Porselouc has formerly had hereditary Lords, like the City of Me-Tac: and Justice is at present exe­cuted in the Palace of the Ancient Princes. 'Tis a City of great commerce, fortified with fourteen Bastions, and is at 19 degrees and some minutes Lati­tude.

Laconcevan stands about the mid-way from Pitsanoulouc or Porselouc to Siam, a distance computed to be Twenty five days Journey, for those that go up the River in a Boat or Balon; but this voyage may be performed in twelve days when they have a great many Rowers, and they ascend the River with speed.

Cities of Wood.These Cities, like all the rest in the Kingdom of Siam, are only a great num­ber of Cabbins frequently environ'd with an enclosure of Wood, and some­times with a Brick, or Stone Wall, but very rarely of Stone. Nevertheless as the Eastern people have ever had as much magnificence and pride in the figures of their Language▪ as simplicity and poverty in whatever appertains to Life, the names of these Cities do signifie great things; Tian-Tong, for in­stance, signifies True Gold; Campeng pet, Walls of Diamond; and 'tis said that its Walls are of Stone:The supersti­tion of the Si­ameses at Meu­ang-fang. and Laconcevan signifies the Mountain of Heaven.

But as for what concerns Meuang fang, the word Fang being the name of a Tree famous for dying, and which the Portugueses have called Sapan; some in­terpret [Page]

[Page 5] it the City of the Wood of Sapan. And because that there is kept a Tooth, which is pretended to be a Relick of Sommona-Codom, to whose Memory the Siameses do erect all their Temples; there are some who call not this City Meuang-fang, but Meuang-fan, or the City of the Tooth. The superstition of these people continually draws thither a great number of Pilgrims, not Siameses only, but from Pegu, and Laos.

Such another Superstition prevails at a place named Prabat, Another Su­perstition at Prabrat. about five or six leagues to the East-North-East of the City of Louvo; the superstition is this; In the Balie Language, which is the learned tongue of the Siameses, or the Tongue of their Religion, Bat signifies a Foot, and the word Pra, of which it is not possible exactly to render the signification, signifies in the same tongue whatever may be conceived worthy of veneration and respect. The Siameses do give this title to the Sun and Moon, but they do also give it to Sommona-Co­dom, to their Kings, and some considerable Officers.

The Prabat is therefore the print of a mans foot,What it is. cut by an ill Graver upon a Rock; but this impression containing about 13 or 14 inches in depth, is five or six times as long as a man's Foot, and proportionably as broad. The Siameses adore it, and are perswaded that the Elephants, especially the white ones, the Rhinoceros, and all the other Beasts of their Woods, do likewise go to wor­ship it when no person is there; And the King of Siam himself goes to adore it once a year with a great deal of Pomp and Ceremony. It is covered with a Plate of Gold, and inclosed in a Chappel which is there built. They report that this Rock which is now very flat and like a new mown Field, was formerly a very high Mountain, which shrunk and waxed level on a sudden under the Foot of Sommona-Codom, in memory of whom they believe that the Impression of the Foot does there remain. Nevertheless it is certain by the Testimony of ancient men, that the Antiquity of this Tradition exceeds not 90 years. A Talapoin, or Religious Siamese, of that time, having doubtless made this Impression himself, or procured it to be made, and then feigned to have miraculously discovered it; and without any other appearance of Truth, gave Reputation and Credit to this Fable of the levell'd Mountain.

Now in all this the Siameses are only gross Imitators.The Original of this Super­stition. In the Histories of India it is related, with what respect a King of the Island of Ceylon kept an Apes Tooth, which the Indians averred to be a Relique, and with what Sums he en­deavoured to purchase and ransom it from Constantine of Brigantium, then Vice­roy of the Indies, who had found it amongst the Spoils taken from the Indians: But Constantine chose rather to burn it, and afterwards throw the Ashes into a River. 'Tis known likewise that in the same Island of Ceylon, which the Indi­ans do call Lanca, and on a real Mountain which is not levelled, there is a pre­tended print of a Man's foot, which has for a long time been in great Venera­tion there. It doubtless represents the Left foot: For the Siameses report that Sommona-Codom set his right foot on their Prabat, and his left on Lanca; altho the whole Gulph of Bengala runs between them.

The Portuguese have called the Print at Ceylon Adam's Foot,What the A­dam's foot of Ceylon is. and believe that Ceylon was the Terrestrial Paradise, from the Faith of the Indians at Ceylon, who declare that the Impression which they reverence, is the Print of the first Man: Every one of these Heathenish Nations vigorously asserting that the first Man inhabited their Country. Thus the Chineses do call the first man Puoncuò, and believe that he inhabited China. I say nothing of some other Impressions of this nature, which are rever'd in several places of the Indies; nor of the pre­tended print of Hercules foot, mentioned by Herodotus. Lib. 4. c. 82. I return to my subject.

CHAP. II. A Continuation of the Geographical Description of the King­dom of Siam, with an Account of its Metropolis.

Other Cities of the King­dom of Siam.ON the Frontiers of Pegu is seated the City of Cambory, and on the borders of Laos the Town of Corazema, which some do call Carissima, both very Famous. And in the Lands which lie between the Rivers above the City of Laconcevan, and on the Channels which have a Communication from one River to the other, there are two other considerable Cities, Socotai, almost in the same Latitude with Pitchit, and Sanquelouc more to the North.

A Countrey intersected with Chan­nels. The City of Siam descri­bed.The Country being so hot that it is inhabitable only near Rivers, the Siameses have cut a great many Channels; and without having better Memoirs or Notes, 'tis impossible to reckon up all the Cities seated thereon.

'Tis by the means of these Channels, called by the Siameses Cloum, that the City of Siam is not only become an Island, but is placed in the middle of seve­ral Islands, which renders the situation thereof very singular. The Isle wherein it is situated, is at present all inclosed within its walls, which certainly was not in the time of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto; if notwithstanding the continual mistakes of this Author, who seems to rely too much on his memory, we may believe what he says, that the Elephants of the King of Pegu, who then besieged the City of Siam, did so nearly approach the Walls, as with their Trunks to beat down the Palisado's which the Siameses had there placed to cover them­selves.

Its Latitude, according to Father Thomas the Jesuit, is 14 d. 20 m. 40 S. and its Longitude 120 d. 30 m. It has almost the figure of a Purse, the mouth of which is to the East, and the bottom to the West. The River meets it at the North by several Channels, which run into that which environs it; and leaves it on the South, by separating itself again into several streams. The King's Palace stands to the North on the Canal which embraces the City; and by turning to the East, there is a Causey, by which alone, as by an Isthmus, People may go out of the City without crossing the water.

The City is spacious, considering the Circuit of its Walls, which, as I have said, incloses the whole Isle; but scarce the sixth part thereof is inhabited, and that to the South-East only. The rest lies desart, where the Temples only stand. 'Tis true that the Suburbs, which are possessed by strangers, do conside­rably increase the number of the People. The streets thereof are large and strait, and in some places planted with Trees, and paved with Bricks laid edge­wise. The Houses are low, and built with Wood; at least those belonging to the Natives, who, for these Reasons, are exposed to all the Inconveniences of the excessive heat. Most of the streets are watered with strait Canals, which have made Siam to be compar'd to Venice, and on which are a great many small Bridges of Hurdles, and some of Brick very high and ugly.

Its Names.The Name of Siam is unknown to the Siamese. 'Tis one of those words which the Portugues of the Indies do use, and of which it is very difficult to discover the Original. They use it as the Name of the Nation, and not of the Kingdom: And the Names of Pegu, Lao, Mogul, and most of the Names which we give to the Indian Kingdoms, are likewise National Names; so that to speak rightly, we must say, the King of the Peguins, Laos, Moguls, Siams, as our An­cestors said, the King of the Franc's. In a word, those that understand Portu­guese, do well know that according to their Orthography, Siam and Siaom are the same thing; and that by the Similitude of our Language to theirs, we ought to say the Sions, and not the Siams: so when they write in Latin, they call them Siones. The true Name of the Siameses signi­fies Francs.

The Siameses give to themselves the Name of Tai, or Free, as the word now signifies in their Language: And thus they flatter themselves with bearing the [Page] [Page]

[Page 7] Name of Francs, which our Ancestors assum'd when they resolved to deliver the Gauls from the Roman Power. And those that understand the Language of Pegu, affirm that Siam in that Tongue signifies Free. 'Tis from thence perhaps that the Portugues have derived this word, having probably known the Siame­ses by the Peguins. Nevertheless Navarete in his Historical Treatises of the King­dom of China, chap. 1. art. 5. relates that the Name of Siam, which he writes Sian, comes from these two words Sien lo, without adding their signification, or of what Language they are; altho' it may be presumed he gives them for Chi­nese, Meuang Tai is therefore the Siamese Name of the Kingdom of Siam (for Meuang signifies Kingdom) and this word wrote simply Muantay, is found in Vincent le Blanc, and in several Geographical Maps, as the Name of a Kingdom adjoining to Pegu: But Vincent le Blanc apprehended not that this was the King­dom of Siam, not imagining perhaps that Siam and Tai were two different Names of the same People.

As for the City of Siam, the Siameses do call it Si-yo-thi-ya, the o of the Syl­lable yo being closer than our Dipthong an. Sometimes also they call it Crung the-papra maha nacon: But most of these words are difficult to understand, because they are taken from this Baly Language, which I have already declared to be the learned Language of the Siameses, and which they themselves do not always perfectly understand. I have already remark'd what I know concerning the word Pra, that of Maha signifies Great. Thus in speaking of their King, they stile him Pra Maha Crassat; and the word Crassat, according to their re­port signifies living; and because the Portugues have thought that Pra signifies God, they imagin that the Siameses called their King, The great living God. From Si-yo-thi ya, the Siamese Name of the City of Siam, Foreigners have made Judia, and Odiaa, by which it appears that Vincent le Blanc, and some other Authors, do very ill distinguish Odiaa from Siam:

In a word, the Siameses, of whom I treat, do call themselves Tai Noe, Two different People called Siameses. little Si­ams. There are others, as I was informed, altogether savage, which are called Tai yai, great Siams, and which do live in the Northern Mountains. In several Relations of these Countries, I find a Kingdom of Siammon, or Siami: but all do not agree that the People thereof are savage.

In fine, the Mountains which lie on the common Frontiers of Ava, Other Moun­tains, and o­ther Frontiers. Pegu and Siam, gradually decreasing as they extend to the South, do form the Peninsula of India extra Gangem, which terminating at the City of Sincapura, separates the Gulphs of Siam and Bengala, and which with the Island of Sumatra forms the famous Strait of Malaca, or Sincapura. Several Rivers do fall from every part of these Mountains into the Gulphs of Siam and Bengala, and render these Coasts habitable. The other Mountains which rise between the Kingdom of Siam and Laos, and extend themselves also towards the South, do run gradually decreasing, till they terminate at the Cape of Camboya, the most Eastern of all those in the Continent of Asia toward the South. 'Tis about the Latitude of this Cape, that the Gulph of Siam begins; and the Kingdom of this Name ex­tends a great way towards the South in form of an Horseshoe on either side of the Gulph, viz. along the Eastern Coast to the River Chantebon, where the King­dom of Camboya begins; and opposite thereunto, viz. in the Peninsula extra Gan­gem, which lies on the West of the Gulph of Siam, it extends to Queda and Patana, the Territories of the Malayans, of which Malaca was formerly the Me­tropolis.

After this manner it runs about 200 Leagues on the side toward the Gulph of Siam, and 180, or thereabouts, on the Gulph of Bengal, The Coasts of Siam. an advantageous situation which opens unto the Natives of the Countrey the Navigation on all these vast Eastern Seas. Add that as Nature has refus'd all manner of Ports and Roads to the Coast of Coromandel, which forms the Gulph of Bengal to the West, it has therewith enrich'd that of Siam which is opposite to it, and which is on the East of the same Gulph.

A great number of Isles do cover it,Isles of Siam in the Gulph of Bengal. and render it almost everywhere a safe Harbor for Ships; besides, that most of these Isles have very excellent Ports, and abundance of fresh water and wood, an invitation for new Colonies. The [Page 8] King of Siam affects to be called Lord thereof, altho' his People, who are very thin in the firm Land, have never inhabited them; and he has not strength enough at Sea to prohibit or hinder the enterance thereof to strangers.

The City of Merguy.The City of Merguy lies on the North-West Point of a great and populous Island, which at the extremity of its course forms a very excellent River, which the Europeans have called Tenasserim, from the Name of a City seated on its Banks about 15 Leagues from the Sea. This River comes from the North, and after having passed through the Kingdoms of Ava and Pegu, and enter'd into the Lands under the King of Siam's Jurisdiction, it discharges itself by three Cha­nels into the Gulph of Bengal, and forms the Island I have mention'd. The Ports of Merguy, which some report to be the best in all India, is between this Isle and another that is inhabited, and lies opposite, and to the West of this, wherein Merguy is situated.

CHAP. III. Concerning the History and Origine of the Siameses.

The Siameses little curious of their Hi­story.THE Siamese History is full of Fables. The Books thereof are very scarce, by reason the Siameses have not the use of Printing; for upon other Ac­counts I doubt of the report, that they affect to conceal their History, seeing that the Chineses, whom in many things they imitate, are not so jealous of theirs. However that matter is, notwithstanding this pretended Jealousy of the Siame­ses, they who have attain'd to read any thing of the History of Siam, assert that it ascends not very high with any character of truth.

The Epocha of the Siameses.Behold a very dry and insipid Chronological Abridgment which the Siameses have given thereof: But before we proceed, it is necessary to tell you, that the current year 1689, beginning it in the month of December 1688, is the 2233 of their Aera, from which they date the Epocha, or beginning (as they say) from Sommona-Codom's death. But I am persuaded that this Epocha has quite another foundation, which I shall afterwards explain.

Their Kings.Their first King was named Pra Poat honne sourittep-pennaratui sonanne bopitra. The chief place where he kept his Court was called Tchai pappe Mahanacon, the situation of which I ignore; and he began to reign An. 1300. computing after their Epocha. Ten other Kings succeeded him, the last of which, named Ipoja sanne Thora Thesma Teperat, remov'd his Royal Seat to the City of Tasco Nacora Louang, which he had built, the situation of which is also unknown to me. The twelfth King after him, whose Name was Pra Poa Noome Thele seri, obli­ged all his People in 1731, to follow him to Locintai, a City seated on a River, which descends from the Mountains of Laos, and runs into the Menam a little above Porselouc, from which Locontai is between 40 and 50 Leagues distant. But this Prince resided not always at Locontai; for he came and built, and inhabited the City of Pipeli on a River, the mouth of which is about two Leagues to the West of the most occidental mouth of Menam. Four other Kings succeeded him, of which Rhamatilondi, the last of the four, began to build the City of Siam in 1894, and there established his Court. By which it appears, that they allow to the City of Siam the Antiquity of 338 years. The King Regent is the twen­ty fifth from Rhamatilondi, and this year 1689, is the 56^th or 57^th year of his age. Thus do they reckon 52 Kings in the space of 934 years, but not all of the same Blood.

The Race of the present King.Mr. Gervaise in his Natural and Political History of the Kingdom of Siam, gives us the History of the now Regent King's Father; and Van Vliet gives it us much more circumstanciated, in his Historical Relation of the Kingdom of Siam, printed at the end of Sir Thomas Herbert's Travels into Persia. I refer the Reader thither to see an Example of the Revolutions, which are common at Siam; for this [Page 9] King who was not of the Royal Race, tho' Vliet asserts the contrary, took away the Scepter and Life of his Natural Lords, and put to death all the Princes of their Blood except two, which were alive when Vliet writ, but of whom I could not learn any News. Without all doubt this Usurper put them to death like the rest. And in truth, John Struys, in the First Tome of his Voyages, asserts that this was the Fate of the last of these two Princes, who was alive in the year 1650, and was then 20 years old; the Tyrant put him to death that very year, with one of his Sisters, upon an Accusation notoriously false: But a re­markable Circumstance of the History of his Usurpation, was, that entering by force of Arms into the Palace, he forced the King to quit it, and flie into a Temple for refuge; and having drag'd this unfortunate Prince out of this Temple, and carry'd him back a Prisoner to the Palace, he caus'd him to be de­clared unworthy of the Crown and Government, for having deserted the Palace. To this Usurper who died in 1657, after a Reign of 30 years, succeeded his Brother; because his Son could not, or durst not then to dispute the Crown with him. On the contrary, to secure his Life, he sought a Sanctuary in a Cloyster, and cloath'd himself with the inviolable Habit of a Talapoin. But he afterwards so politickly took his measures, that he dispossess'd his Uncle, who flying from the Palace on his Elephant, was slain by a Portuguese with a Musquet.

Ferdinand Mendez Pinto relates that the King of Siam, Another Ex­ample of the Revolutions of Siam. who reigned in 1547, and to whom he gives great Praises, was poyson'd by the Queen his Wife at his return from a military Expedition. This Princess deliberated thus to prevent the vengeance of her Husband, by reason that during his absence she had maintain'd an amorous Commerce, by which she prov'd with Child. And this Author adds, that she soon after destroy'd the King her own Son in the same manner, and had the Credit to get the Crown set upon her Lover's Head the 11^th of November 1548. But in January 1549, they were both assassinated in a Temple, and a Bastard Prince, the Brother and Uncle of the two last Kings, was taken out of a Cloyster to be advanced on the Throne. The Crowns of Asia are always instable, and those of India, China and Japan, much more than the others.

As for what concerns the Origine of the Siameses, it would be difficult to judge whether they are only a single People,A Doubt as to the Origine of the Siame­ses. directly descended from the first Men that inhabited the Countrey of Siam, or whether in process of time some other Nation has not also setled there, notwithstanding the first Inhabi­tants.

The principal Reason of this Doubt proceeds from the Siameses understand­ing two Languages, viz. the Vulgar, which is a simple Tongue,Two Langua­ges at Siam. consisting almost wholly of Monosyllables, without Conjugation or Declension; and another Lan­guage which I have already spoken of, which to them is a dead Tongue, known only by the Learned, which is called the Balie Tongue, and which is enricht with the inflexions of words, like the Languages we have in Europe. The terms of Religion and Justice, the names of Offices, and all the Ornaments of the Vulgar Tongue are borrow'd from the Balie. In this Language they compose their best Songs; so that it seems at least that some Foreign Colony had for­merly inhabited the Countrey of Siam, and had carry'd thither a second Lan­guage. But this is a Dispute that might be rais'd concerning all the Countries of India; for, like Siam, they all have two Languages, one of which is still re­maining only in their Books.

The Siameses assert that their Laws are Foreign,What the Sia­meses report concerning the Origine of their Laws and Religion. and came to them from the Countrey of Laos, which has, perhaps, no other Foundation than the Confor­mity of the Laws of Laos with those of Siam, even as there is a Conformity between the Religions of these two Nations, and with that of the Peguins. Now this does not strictly prove that any of these three Kingdoms hath given its Laws and its Religion to the rest, seeing that it may happen that all the three may have deriv'd their Religion and their Laws from another common Source. However it be, as the Tradition is at Siam, that their Laws and Kings came from Laos, the same Tradition runs at Laos, that their Kings and most of their Laws came from Siam.

[Page 10] Of the Balie Language.The Siameses speak not of any Country where the Balie Language, which is that of their Laws and their Religion, is now in use. They suspect indeed, according to the report of some amongst them, which have been at the Coast of Coromandel, that the Balie Language has some similitude with some one of the Dialects of that Country: but they agree at the same time that the Letters of the Balie Language are known only amongst them. The secular Missionaries established at Siam, are of opinion that this Language is not entirely extinct: by reason they saw in their Hospital a man come from about the Cape of Como­rin, who interspers'd several Balie words in his discourse, affirming that they were used in his Country, and that he had never studied, and knew only his Mother Tongue. They moreover averr for truth, that the Religion of the Siu­meses came from those Quarters, because that they have read in a Balie Book, that Sommona-Codom whom the Siameses adore, was the Son of a King of the Island of Ceylon.

The Siameses resemble their Neighbours.But setting aside all these uncertainties, the vulgar Language of the Siameses, like in its Simplicity to those of China, Tonquin, Cochinchina, and the other States of the East, sufficiently evinces that those who speak it, are near of the same Genius with their Neighbours. Add hereunto their Indian Figure, the colour of their Complexion mixt with red and brown, (which corresponds neither to the North of Asia, Europe, nor Africk,) Add likewise their short Nose rounded at the end, as their Neighbours generally have it; the upper Bone of their Cheeks high and raised, their Eyes slit a little upwards, their Ears larger than ours, in a word all the Lineaments of the Indian and Chinese Physiognomy; their Countenance naturally squeez'd and bent like that of Apes, and a great many other things which they have in common with these Animals, as well as a mar­vellous passion for Children. For nothing is equal to the Tenderness which the great Apes expressed to their Cubs, except the Love which the Siameses have for all Children, whether for their own, or those of another.

The King of Siam loves Children till 7 or 8 years old.The King of Siam himself is incompass'd with them, and delights to educate them till seven or eight years old: after which, as they lose the childish Air, they do also lose his Favour. One alone, say some, was there kept till between twenty and thirty years of Age, and is still his favourite. Some do call him his adopted Son, others suspect him to be his Bastard; He is at least Foster Brother to his Lawful Daughter.

That the Sia­meses came not from far to In­habit their Country.But if you consider the extreamly Low Lands of Siam, that they seem to escape the Sea as it were by miracle, and that they lye annually under rain wa­ter for several Months, the almost infinite number of very incommodious In­sects which they engender, and the excessive Heat of the Climate under which they are seated; it is difficult to comprehend that others could resolve to inhabit them, excepting such as came thither by little and little from places adjacent: And it may be thought that they have been inhabited not many Ages, if a Judg­ment may be made thereof by the few Woods that are stubbed as yet. More­over it would be necessary to travel more to the North of Siam, to find out the warlike People which could yield those innumerable swarms of men, which de­parted out of their own Country to go and possess others. And how is it possi­ble that they should not be stopp'd on the Road, among some of those soft and effeminate People, which lye between the Country of the Scythians, and the Woods and impassable Rivers of the Siameses? 'Tis not therefore probable that the Lesser Siameses, which we have spoken of, are descended from the Greater, and that the Greater withdrew into the Mountains which they inhabit, to free themselves from the Tyranny of the neighbouring Princes, under which they were born.

Strangers that have come to Siam.Nevertheless it is certain that the Siamese blood is very much mixed with fo­reign. Not to reckon the Peguins, and the Inhabitants of Laos, which are at Siam, and whom I consider almost as the same Nation with the Siameses; 'tis not to be doubted that there formerly fled to Siam a great number of Strangers from different Countries, upon the account of a free Liberty of Trade, and by reason of the Wars of the true India, China, Japan, Tonquin, Cochinchina, and other States in the South part of Asia. They report likewise that in the City of [Page] [Page]

[Page 11] Siam, there are forty different Nations: but inasmuch as Vincent le Blanc speaks in these very terms concerning the City of Martaban, this affected Number of Forty Nations appears unto me an Indian Vanity. The entire annihilation of the Commerce of Siam, having in these last years forc'd most of the Foreigners, that fled thither, to seek out new Retreats, three or four Canoniers which are of Bengal, do now compose a Nation; three Cochinchinese Families do make another; the Moors alone which ought to be reckon'd only for one, do make more than ten, as well for that they came to Siam from different Nations, as for their being of various conditions, as Merchants, Soldiers, and Labourers. (I call Moors af­ter the Spanish manner, not the Negro's, but those Mahometans of Arabian Extra­ction, which our Ancestors have called Sarracens, and whose race is spread al­most through our whole Hemisphere.) And notwithstanding all this, when the Ambassadors of the Foreigners, which at Siam are called the Forty Nations, came to salute the King's Envoys, there were reckoned no more than one and twenty Nations, computing as the Siameses would have us.

They inhabit different quarters in the City or Suburbs of Siam; The people of the Kingdom of Siam not very nume­rous. and yet this City is very little inhabited in respect to its Bigness, and the Country much less in Proportion. It must be imagined that they desire not a greater People, for they count them every year; and do well know, what no person ignores, that the only secret to encrease them, would be to ease them in the Taxes and Im­positions. The Siameses do therefore keep an exact account of the Men, Wo­men, and Children; and in this vast extent of Land, according to their own Confession, they reckon'd up the last time but Nineteen Hundred Thousand Souls. From which I question not that some retrenchment is to be made for Vanity and Lyes, Characters essential to the Eastern people; but on the other hand, thereunto must be added the Fugitives, which do seek a Sanctuary in the Woods against the Government.

CHAP. IV. Of the Productions of Siam, and first of the Woods or Trees.

THe Country of Siam lyes almost wholly incultivated and cover'd with Woods. One of their most eminent Trees is a kind of Reed,The Bambou. called in Indi­an, Mambou, in Portuguese, Bambou, in Siamese, Mai pai. The Indians apply it to an in­finite number of uses. Aelian lib. 4. cap. 34. mentions it as their most ancient nou­rishment. At present they use it little; and that only in some of their dishes, when it is tender; and to preserve it, they Pickle it up in Vinegar, as we do Cucumbers and Samphire. This Tree resembles the Poplar, it is strait and tall, and the Leaves thereof few, pale, and longish. It is hollow, and grows in shoots like our Reeds, and its shoots are separated from one another by knots: but it has Branches and Thorns, which our Reeds have not. It grows very close, and the same Roots do shoot forth several stems, so that nothing is thick­er or more difficult to pass than a Forest of Bambou; and so much the more be­cause the wood thereof is hard and difficult to cut, although it be easie to cleave. The Siameses do set it on fire by Friction, which is a token of its hardness. They have two pieces of Bambou clest, which are like two pieces of Lath, in the edge of the one they do make a notch, and do forcibly rub in this hole with the edge of the other, as with a Saw; and some dry leaves, or other combustible matter, which is put in the notch, fails not to catch fire without firing the Bambou. There is no Reed but has naturally somewhat either more or less of a Sugary juice. That of the Bambou is famous in some places of India, as an excellent Remedy for several Maladies. It escaped my curiosity to ask whether the Sugar of the Bambou of Siam is as much sought after upon this account, as that of the Bambou of Malaca, which is not far distant.

[Page 12] The Arvore de Raiz.The Siameses report that they likewise have that Tree, which the Portuguese have called Arvore de Raiz, and they Co-pai, but that they have no plenty: and they add that its wood hath this property (doubtless by its smell) that when any person hath a little of it near him in his Bed, it drives away the Gnats. 'Tis from the Branches of this Tree, so frequently described in the Relations of India, that several Fibers do hang down to the ground, which there take root, and become as so many new Trunks: so that by little and little this Tree gains a considerable plot of ground, on which it forms a kind of Labyrinth by its stems, which continually multiply, and which adhere to one another by the branches, from which these stems are fall'n. We have seen the Siameses seek out other Remedies against the Gnats than that of this wood: and this perswades me either that it is very rare, or that this vertue which is attributed there­unto, is not well attested.

The Cotton Tree and Ca­poquier.But the Siameses have other Trees more useful, and in great plenty. From the one they do gather Cotton: another yields them Capoc, a kind of Cotton-wool extreamly fine, and so short that 'tis impossible to spin it, to them it serves instead of Down.

Trees which produce Oyls or Gums.From certain Trees they extract several Oyls which they mix in Ciments, to render them more binding. A wall that is plaister'd therewith, is whiter, and bears as good a Polish as Marble; and a Bason made of one of these Ciments preserves water better then glazed Earth. They do likewise make better Mor­tar than our's: by reason that in the water which they use, they do boyl a cer­tain bark, the skins of Oxen, or Buffalo's, and Sugar. A kind of Trees very common in their Woods yeilds that Gum, which composes the body of that excellent Varnish, which we see on several works of Japan, and China. The Portuguez do call this Gum Cheyram, a word perhaps derived from Cheyra, which signifies a Perfume, although this Gum has not any Odor of it self. The Siameses do not well know how to put it in use. At Siam I saw a Tunquinese of this Trade, but he wrought nothing well for want perhaps of a certain Oil which was necessary to mix with the Cheyram, and which he supplied, as he could, by a much worse. I would have brought him to France, had he not been afraid to pass the Sea, as he had promised me at first. In a word, some say that the best way to render the Varnish more curious, is to lay on the more coverings, but this is to make it much dearer. The Relations of China do also declare, that there are two diffe­rent Materials for the Varnish, and that the one is much better than the other. The Cheyram is proved by a drop thereof pour'd into Water; and if this drop sinks to the bottom without separating, the Cheyram is good.

Trees whose Bark serves to make Paper.The Siameses make Paper of old Cotton rags, and likewise of the bark of a Tree named Ton coi, which they pound as they do the old rags: but these Pa­pers have a great deal less Equality, Body and Whiteness than ours. The Sia­meses cease not to write thereon with China Ink. Yet most frequently they black them, which renders them smoother, and gives them a greater body; and then they write thereon with a kind of Crayon, which is made only of a clayish Earth dry'd in the Sun. Their Books are not bound, and consist only in a very long Leaf, which they roll not up as our Ancestors did theirs, but which they fold in and out like a Fan: and the way which the Lines are wrote, is accord­ing to the length of the folds, and not according to their breadth. Besides this they write with a Styletto and the Leaves of a Tree resembling the Palm: This Tree they call Tan, and these Leaves Bailan; they cut them in a very long and narrow Square, and on these Tables are writ the Tables and Prayers, which the Talapoins do sing in their Temples.

The Siameses have also Timber proper for the building of Ships, and furnish­ing them with Masts: But they having no Hemp, their Cordages are made of the Brou Brou is a green Bark or skin which is on the Coco, like as on our Nuts: but that of the Coco is three fingers thick, and its Fibers may be twisted into a Cord. of Coco, and their Sails are Mats of great Rushes: These Equipments do not countervail ours by much; but their Sails have this advantage, that spon­taneously supporting themselves, they do better receive the Wind, when it is near it; that is to say when it blows as much against us as possibly it can, with­out being contrary to the Course.

[Page 13]In fine, the Siameses have Timber proper for building of Houses,Wood for o­ther uses. for Wainscotting and Carving; they have both light and very heavy Wood, some easie to cleave, and others which cleaveth not, what Wedges soever it receives. This last is called by the Europeans, Wood-Mary, and is better than any to make the Ribs of Ships. That which is heavy and tough is called Iron-wood, very well known in our Islands of America, and it is affirmed in process of time it eats the Iron. They have a Wood which for its Lightness and Colour some conceive to be Fur, but it takes the Carver's Chisel in so many different ways without split­ting that I question whether we have any like it in Europe.

But above all, the Siameses have Trees so high and so strait,Trees for Ba­lons. that one alone is sufficient to make a Boat or Balon, as the Portugueses speak, between 16 and 20 Fathom long. They hollow the Tree, and then by the heat of the Fire enlarge the Capacity thereof; which done, they raise the sides with an edge, that is to say with a Board of the same length: And in fine, at both the ends they fasten a Prow and a Poop very high, and a little bending out, frequently adorn'd with sculpture and gilding, and with some pieces of Mother of Pearl.

Nevertheless amongst so many different sorts of Wood,They have none of our Wood. they have none of those which we know in Europe.

They have not been able to raise any Mulberry Trees, and for this reason they have no Silk-worms. No Flax also grows amongst them, nor in any other place of India, or at least it is not in any esteem. The Cotton which they have in a­bundance is, they say, more agreeable and more healthful to them; by reason that Cotton-cloth grows not cold by being wet with sweat, and consequently occasions not the catching cold, as Linnen does.

They have the Cinnamon Tree,The Cinna­mon and Fir Tree. inferior indeed to that of the Island of Cey­lon, but better than any other; they have the Sapan, and other Woods proper for Dying.

They have also the Wood Aquila or Aloes,Wood Aquila. not so good indeed as the Calam­ba of Cochinchina, but better than the Wood Aquila of any other Country. This Wood is found only in pieces, by reason they are only certain rotten places in Trees of a certain kind. And every Tree of this same Species has it not, and those which have, have them not all in the same place; so that it requires a te­dious search in the Wood. 'Twas formerly very dear at Paris, but is at present to be had at a reasonable rate.

CHAP. V. Concerning the Mines of Siam.

NO Country has a greater Reputation of being rich in Mines than the Coun­try of Siam, The Reputa­tion of the Mines of Siam. and the great quantity of Idols and other cast works which are there seen, evinces that they have been better cultivated there in former times, than now they are. 'Tis believed likewise that they thence extracted that great quantity of Gold, wherewith their Superstition has adorned not only their almost innumerable Idols, but the Wainscot and Roofs of their Temples. They do likewise daily discover Pits anciently dug, and the remains of a great many Furnaces, which are thought to have been abandon'd during the ancient Wars of Pegu.

Nevertheless the King that now reigns has not been able to find any Vein of Gold or Silver, that is worth the pains that he has therein employed;The State of the Mines at present. although he hath applied unto this work some Europeans, and amongst the rest a Spaniard that came from Mexico, who found, if not a great fortune, at least his Subsistence for twenty years, even to his Death, by flattering the Avarice of this Prince, with the imaginary promises of infinite Treasures. After having dug and min'd in several places, they light only on some very mean Copper Mines, tho inter­mixt [Page 14] with a little Gold and Silver: Five hundred weight of Ore scarce yielding an Ounce of Metal; neither understood they how to make the separation of Metals.

Tambac.But the King of Siam, to render his mixture more precious, caus'd some Gold to be added thereunto: and this is what they call Tambac. 'Tis said that the Mines of the Isle of Borneo do naturally produce it very Rich: and the scarceness augments the price thereof, as it formerly increased that of the famous Corinthi­an Brass; but certainly that which makes the true value thereof amongst the Sia­meses, is the quantity of Gold wherewith it is thought to be mixed. When their Avarice creates desires it is for the Gold, and not for the Tambac; and we have seen that when the King of Siam has ordered Crucifixes to be made to present to the Christians, the most noble and smallest part, which is the Christ, has been of Gold, the Cross alone of Tambac. Vincent le Blanc relates, that the Peguins have a mixture of Lead and Copper, which he calls sometimes Ganze, and sometimes Ganza, and of which he reports that they make Statues, and a small Money which is not stampt with the Kings Coin, but which every one has a right to make.

Mr. Vincent the Physitian re­tained by the King of Siam to work in his Mines.From Siam we brought back Mr. Vincent the Physitian. He departed from France, to go into Persia, with the late Bishop of Babylon, and the report of the arrival of the King's first Ships at Siam, made him to go thither as well out of a desire to travel, as in hopes of procuring his return into France. He understood Mathematicks and Chymistry, and the King of Siam retained him some time at the work in his Mines.

What he re­lates concern­ing the Mines of Siam.He informed me that he rectified the labours of the Siamese in some things, so that they obtain a little more profit than they did. He show'd them a Mine of very good Steel at the top of a Mountain, which had been already discovered, and which they perceived not. He discovered to them one of Crystal, one of Antimony, one of Emeril, and some others, with a Quarry of white Marble. Besides this, he found out a Gold Mine, which to him appear'd very rich, as far as he was able to judge without trying it; but he has not showed it them. Se­veral Siameses, most Talapoins, came secretly to consult him about the Art of purifying and separating Metals, and brought him divers specimens of very rich Ore. From some he extracted a very good quantity of fine Silver, and from others, the mixture of several Metals.

Tin and Lead.As for Tin and Lead, the Siameses have long since improved it from very plentiful Mines, and though not very skilful, yet they cease not to get a con­siderable revenue by it. This Tin, or Calin, as the Portuguese report, is sold through all India; 'Tis soft and basely purified, and a specimen thereof is seen in the common Tea Boxes or Cannisters, which come from this Country. But to render it harder and whiter, like that of the finest Tea Boxes, they mix it with Cadmia, a sort of Mineral easily reducible to powder, which being melt­ed with the Copper, makes it yellow: but it renders both these Metals more brittle: And 'tis this white Tin which they call Tontinague. This is what Mr. Vincent relates on the subject of the Mines of Siam.

Mines of Loadstone.In the Neighbourhood of the City of Louvo they have a Mountain of Load­stone. They have another also near Jonsalam, a City seated in an Island of the Gulph of Bengal, which is not above the distance of a Mans voice from the Coast of Siam: but the Loadstone which is dug at Jonsalam loses its vertue in three or four Months; I know not whether it is not the same in that of Louvo.

Precious Stones.In their Mountains they find very curious Agate, and Mr. Vincent inform'd me that he has seen, in the hands of the Talapoins, who secretly busie themselves in these researches, some samples or pieces of Saphires and Diamonds that came out of the Mine. He assured me also that some particular Persons having found some Diamonds, and given them to the King's Officers, were retired to Pegu by by reason they had not receiv'd any recompence,

Steel.I have already said that the City of Campeng-pet is famous for Mines of excel­lent Steel. The Inhabitants of the Country do forge Arms thereof after their fashi­on, as Sabres, Poniards, and Knives. The Knife which they call Pen is used by all, and is not look'd upon as Arms, although it may serve upon occasion: The blade [Page 15] thereof is three or four Fingers broad, and about a Foot long. The King gives the Sabre and the Poniard. They wear the Poniard on the left side, hanging a little before. The Portuguese do call it Christ, a word corrupted from Crid, which the Siameses use. This word is borrow'd from the Malayan Language, which is famous throughout the East, and the Crids which are made at Achim in the Isle of Sumatra, do pass for the best of all. As for the Sabre, a Slave always carries it before his Master on his right shoulder, as we carry the Musquet on the left.

They have Iron Mines which they know how to melt,Iron. and some have inform'd me that they have but little thereof; besides, they are bad Forge-men. For their Gallies they have only wooden Anchors, and to the end that these An­chors may sink to the bottom, they fasten stones unto them. They have nei­ther Pins, nor Needles, nor Nails, nor Chisels, nor Saws. They use not a Nail in building their Houses, altho' they be all of Wood. Every one makes Pins of Bambou, even as our Ancestors us'd Thorns for this purpose. To them there comes Padlocks from Japan, some of Iron, which are good; and others of Copper, which are very naught.

They do make very bad Gunpowder. The defect, they say,Salt-Petre and Powder. proceeds from the Salt-Petre which they gather from their Rocks, where it is made of the dung of Batts, Animals which are exceeding large and very plentiful throughout India. But whether this Salt-Petre be good or bad, the King of Siam sells a great deal of it to Strangers.

Having described the natural Riches of the Mountains and Forests of Siam, 'twould be proper in this place to speak of the Elephants, Rhinoceros, Tygers, and all other savage Beasts wherewith they are stored: yet seeing this matter has been sufficiently explicated by a great many others, I shall omit it, to pass on to the inhabited and cultivated Lands.

CHAP. VI. Of the cultivated Lands, and their Fertility.

THey are not Stony, it being very difficult to find a Flint;The Country of Siam is Clayie. and this makes me to believe of the Country of Siam, what some have reported of Egypt, that it has been gradually formed of the clayish Earth which the Rain-waters have carry'd down from the Mountains. Before the mouth of the Menam, there is a Bank of Owse, which, in the Sea-phrase, is call'd the Bar, and which prohibits entrance to great Ships. 'Tis probable that it will increase itself by little and little, and will in time make a new Shore to the firm Land.

'Tis therefore this Mud descending from the Mountains,The annual Inundation fattens the Lands of Si­am. that is the real cause of the Fertility of Siam, where-ever the Inundation extends itself. In other, and especially on the highest places, all is dry'd and burnt with the Sun, in a little time after the Rains. Under the Torrid Zone, and likewise in Spain, whose Climate is more temperate, if the Lands are naturally fertile, (as for Ex­ample, between Murcia and Carthagena, where the Seed yields sometimes an hundred fold) they are nevertheless so subject to Drought, Insects, and other Inconveniences, that it frequently happens that they are deprived of the whole Harvest several years together: And 'tis this which betides all the Countries of India which are not subject to be overflowed, and which besides the barrenness of the Soil, do suffer the ravages of contagious and pestilential Distempers which succeed it. But the annual Inundation gives to Siam the assurance and plenty of the Rice Harvest, and renders this Kingdom the Nourisher of several others.

Besides the Inundations fatning the Land, it destroys the Insects;It destroys the Insects. altho' it always leaves a great many, which extremely incommode. Nature instructs all the Animals of Siam to avoid the Inundation. The Birds which perch not in [Page 16] our Countries, as Partridges and Pigeons, do all perch in that. The Pismires doubly prudent, do here make their Nests and Magazines on Trees.

White Ants at Siam.There are white Ants, which, amongst other ravages which they make, do pierce Books through and through. The Missionaries are oblig'd to preserve theirs, by varnishing them over the cover and edges with a little Cheyram, which hinders them not from opening. After this precaution, the Ants have no more power to bite, and the Books are more agreeable, by reason that this Gum be­ing mixt with nothing that colours it, has the same lustre as the Glasses where­with we cover Pictures in Miniature. This would be no dear nor difficult Ex­periment, to try whether the Cheyram would not defend the wood of our Beds against Buggs. 'Tis this same Cheyram, which being spread upon Canvas, makes it appear like Horn. Therewith they us'd to environ the great Cresset-lights, which some reported to be of Horn, and all of a piece. Sometimes also those little Cups varnish'd with red, which come to us from Japan, and whose lightness astonishes us, do consist only of a double Cloth put into the form of a Cup, and cover'd over with this Gum mixt with a colour, which we call Lacca, or Chinese Varnish, as I have already declar'd: these Cups last not long, when too hot Liquors are put therein.

The Marin-gouins.To return to the Insects, which we have begun occasionally to speak of, the Marin-gouins are of the same Nature as our Gnats; but the heat of the Climat gives them so much strength, that shamois Stockings defend not our Legs against their Stings. Nevertheless it seems possible to know how to deal with them; for the Natives of the Country, and the Europeans that have inhabited there for several years, were not so marked with them as we were.

The Millepede.The Millepede or Palmer is known at Siam, as in the Isles of America. This little Reptile is so called, because it has a great number of feet along its body, all very short in proportion to its length, which is about five or six Inches. What it has most singular (besides the scales in form of rings, which cover its body, and which insert themselves one into the other in its motions) is, that it pinches equally with its head and tail, but its Stings, tho' painful, are not mortal. A French Man of that Crew which went to Siam with us, and whom we left there in perfect health, suffer'd himself to be stung in his Bed above a quarter of an hour, without daring to lay hold on the Worm to relieve himself. The Siameses report, that the Millepede has two heads at the extremities of its body, and that it guides itself six months in the year with the one, and six months with the other.

The Igno­rance of the Siameses in things Natu­ral.But their History of Animals must not easily be credited, they understand not Bodies better than Souls; and in all matters their inclination is to imagine Wonders, and persuade themselves so much the more easily to believe them, as they are more incredible. What they report of a sort of Lizard named Toc-quay, proceeds from an Ignorance and Credulity very singular. They imagine that this Animal feeling his Liver grow too big, makes the Cry which has im­pos'd on him the name of Toc-quay, to call another Insect to its succor; and that this other Insect entering into his Body at his mouth, eats the overplus of the Liver, and after this repast retires out of the Toc-quay's body, by the same way that he enter'd therein.

Shining Flyes.The shining Flyes, like Locusts, have four wings, which do all appear when the Fly takes a flight; but the two thinnest of them are concealed under the strongest when the Fly is at repose. We hardly saw these little Animals, by reason that the rainy time was past when we landed. The North-winds, which begin when the Rains cease, either kill them, or drive them all away. They have some light in their Eyes, but their greatest splendor proceeds from under their wings, and glitters only in the Air, when the wings are display'd. What some report therefore is not true, that they might be us'd in the Night instead of Candles; for tho' they had light enough, what method could be contriv'd to make them always flie, and keep them at a due distance to illuminate? But thus much may suffice to be spoken concerning the Insects of Siam; they would afford matter for large Volumes to know them all.

[Page 17]I shall say only that there are not fewer in the River and Gulph,Insects in the waters. than on the Land; and that in the River there are some very dangerous, which is the reason that the rich Men do bathe themselves only in houses of Bambou.

CHAP. VII. Of the Grain of Siam.

RICE is the principal Harvest of the Siameses, and their best Nourishment;Rice. it refreshes and fattens: And we found our Ship's Crew express some re­gret, when after a three months allowance thereof, they were return'd to Bisket; and yet the Bisket was very good, and well kept.

The Siameses know by experience how to measure the water,The way of boiling it in pure water; fire and time ne­cessary to the Rice, without bursting the Grain, and so it serves them for Bread. Not that they mix it with all their other Food as we do Bread; when they eat Flesh or Fish for example, they eat the one and the other without Rice; and when they eat Rice, they eat it separately. They squeeze it a little between the ends of their Fingers to reduce it into a Paste, and so they put it into their mouth, as our Poor do eat Pottage. The Chineses do never touch any meat but with two small Sticks squar'd at the end, which do serve them instead of a Fork. They hold to their lower Lip a small Porcelane or China Cup, wherein is their portion of Rice; and holding it steady with their left hand, they strike the Rice into their mouth with the two Sticks which they hold in their right hand.

The Levantines, or Eastern People,Or in milk. do sometimes boil Rice with Flesh and Pepper, and then put some Saffron thereunto, and this Dish they call Pilau. This is not the practice of the Siameses: but generally they boil the Rice in clear wa­ter, as I have said; and sometimes they boil it with milk, as we do on fasting days.

At Siam, in the Lands high enough to avoid the Inundation,Wheat. there grows Wheat: they water them either with watering Pots like those in our Gardens, or by overflowing it with the Rain-water, which they keep in Cisterns much higher than these Lands. But either by reason of the Care or Expence, or that the Rice suffices for common use, the King of Siam only has Wheat; and perhaps more out of Curiosity, than a real Gusto. They call it Kaou Possali, and the word Kaou simply signifieth Rice. Now these terms being neither Ara­bian, nor Turkish, nor Persian, I doubt of what was told me, that Wheat was brought to Siam by the Moors. The French which are setled there, do import Meal from Surrat; altho' near Siam there is a Windmil to grind Corn, and ano­ther near Louvo.

In a word, the Bread which the King of Siam gave us, was so dry,Wheaten Bread too dry at Siam. that the Rice boil'd in pure water, how insipid soever, was more agreeable to me. I less wonder therefore at what the Relations of China report, that the Soveraign of this great Kingdom, altho' he has Bread, does rather prefer Rice: yet some Euro­peans assur'd me, that the wheaten Bread of Siam is good, and that the driness of ours must proceed from a little Rice-flower, which is doubtless mixt with the Wheat, for fear perhaps lest the Bread should fail.

At Siam I have seen Pease different from ours. The Siameses, like us,Other Grain. do make more than one Crop, but they make only one in a year upon the same Land: not that the Soil was not good enough, in my opinion, to yield two Crops in a year, as some have related concerning some other Cantons of India, if the Inundation did not last so long. They have Turky-Wheat only in their Gardens. They do boil or parch the whole Ear thereof, without unhusking or breaking off the Grains, and they eat the inside.

CHAP. VIII. Of the Husbandry, and the difference of the Seasons.

Oxen and Buffalo's em­ploy'd in Husbandry.THey equally employ Oxen and Buffalo's in Husbandry. They guide them with a Rope put through a hole which they make in the Cartilage that separates the Nostrils: And to the end that the Rope may not slip when they draw it, they do tie a knot on each side. This same Cord runs also through a hole, which is at the end of the draught Tree of their Plough.

The Siamese Plough.The Plough of the Siameses is plain, and without Wheels. It consists in a long Beam which is the Rudder, in another crooked piece which is the Handle, and in another shorter and stronger piece, fastned almost at Right Angles under­neath at the end of the Handle; and 'tis this Third which bears the share. They fasten not these four pieces with Nails, but with leather Thongs.

How they cleanse the Rice from the Chaff.To unhusk the Rice, they employ large Beasts; when it is trodden out; they let it fall by little and little from a very high place, to the end that the wind may carry away the Chaff. And because the Rice has an hard Skin like Spelt, a sort of Corn very common in Flanders, and other places, they bruise it in a great wooden Mortar, with a Pestle of the same; or in a Hand-mill, all the pieces of which are also of Wood. They knew not how to describe them to me.

Three Seasons only, and two sorts of years.They know only three Seasons, the Winter, which they call Nanaou, the Begin­ning of Cold; the Little Summer, which they call Naron, the Beginning of Heat; and the Great Summer, which they call Naron-yai, the Beginning of Great Heat; and which strips the Trees of their Leaves, as the Cold does ours. They have two years together consisting of twelve months, and a third of thirteen.

The names of their days from the Planets.They have no word to express Week; but, like us, they call the seven days by the Planets, and their days correspond to ours. I mean, that when it is Monday here, it is Monday there, and so of the rest; but the day begins about six hours sooner there, than here. Amongst the Names they have given to the Pla­nets, that of Mercury is Pout, a Persian word, which signifies an Idol; from whence comes Pout-Gheda, a Temple of false Gods; and Pagode comes from Pout-Gheda.

From whence they begin their years.They begin their year on the first day of the Moon in November or December, according to certain Rules; and they do not always denote the years by their number, but by the names they give them; for they make use of a Cycle of sixty years, like the other Eastern Nations.

The Cycle of 60 years.A Sexagenary Cycle is a Revolution of sixty years, as a week is a Revolu­tion of seven days; and they have names for the years of the Cycle, as we have for the days of the week. 'Tis true, I have not been able to discover that they have more than twelve different names, which they repeat five times in every Cycle to arrive at the number of sixty, and in my opinion with some ad­ditions which do make the differences thereof. They will date therefore, for instance, from the year of the Pigg, or of the Great Serpent, which amongst them are the names of the year; and they will not always denote what year of their Aera this shall be, as we sometimes date a Letter upon one of the days of the week to which we set down the name, without noting what number it is in the month. At the end of this Relation, I will give you the twelve names of the years in Siamese, with those of the seven days of the week.

Their months.Their months are vulgarly esteem'd to consist of thirty days. I say vulgar­ly, because that in Astronomical exactness there may be some month longer or shorter; but the Siameses do observe it otherwise than we, in that we give names to the months, and they do not. They call them by their order, the first month, second month, &c.

The distin­ction of their Seasons.The two first Months, which answer almost to our Months of December and January, do make their whole Winter; the third, fourth, and fifth, do belong to their little Summer, the seven others to their great Summer. Thus they have [Page 19] Winter at the same time as we; by reason they lye to the North line like us. But their greatest Winter is at least as hot as our greatest Summer. After the time of the Inundation they cover the Plants in their Gardens from the heats of the Sun, as we do sometimes cover ours from the cold of the Night or Winter: But as to their Persons, the diminution of the heat appears unto them a very in­commodious cold. The little Summer is their Spring, and they utterly ignore the Autumn. They only reckon a great Summer; although it seems that they might reckon two after the manner of the Ancients, who have written of India, seeing that they have the Sun perpendicularly over their heads twice a year; once when it comes from the Line to the Tropick of Cancer, and another time when it returns from the Tropick of Cancer towards the Line.

Their Winter is dry, and their Summer rainy.Of the Mon­soons. The Torrid Zone would doubt­less be uninhabitable, as the Ancients have held, were it not for that marvellous Providence which makes the Sun continually to draw the Clouds and Rains af­ter it, and the Wind incessantly to blow there from one of the Poles, when the Sun is toward the other. Thus at Siam in Winter, the Sun being in the mid­dle of the Line, or towards the Antarctick Pole, the North-winds do constant­ly prevail, and temper the Air very sensibly to refresh it. In Summer, when the Sun is on the North of the Line, and perpendicularly over the head of the Si­ameses, the South-winds which continually blow there, do cause continual Rains, or at least do make the weather always inclined to Rain; leaving most People in doubt whether this Season of Rains ought not to be called the Winter of Siam. 'Tis this constant Rule of the Winds, which the Portuguese have called Monçaos, and we after them Monsoons (Motiones aëris, according to Ozorius and Maffeus.) And this is the reason that the Ships can hardly arrive at the Bar of Siam during the six Months of the North-winds, and that they can hardly depart thence during the six Months of the South-winds. At the end of this work I will give the order of the Winds and Tides in the Gulph of Siam, in favour of those that love to reason on Philosophical matters.

The Siameses do not give many forms to their Lands.The time of ploughing and reaping. They till them and sowe them, when the Rains have sufficiently softened them; and they gather their harvest when the waters are retired, and sometimes when they are yet remain­ing on the ground, and they can go only by Boat. All the land that is over­flowed is good for Rice, and 'tis said that the Ear always surmounts the waters; and that if they encrease a foot in twenty four hours, the Rice grows a foot also in twenty four hours: but though it be averr'd that this happens sometimes, I cannot without much difficulty believe it in so vast an Inundation: And I ra­ther conceive that when the Inundation surmounts the Rice at any time, it rots it.

They gather Rice also in divers Cantons of the Kingdom which the Rains do not overflow; and this is more substantial, better relisht, and keeps longer.Another sort of Rice. When it has grown long enough in the Land where it was sown, it is transplant­ed into another, which is prepared after this manner. They overflow it, as we do the Salt Marshes, until it be throughly soft; and for this purpose it is ne­cessary to have high Cisterns, or rather to keep the Rain-water in the Field it self by little Banks made all round. Then they let the water go to feed the Land, level it, and in fine, transplant the Rice-Roots one after the other, by thrusting them in with the Thumb.

I am greatly inclin'd to believe,The original of Agriculture with the Sia­meses. that the Ancient Siameses lived only upon Fruits and Fish, as still do several people of the Coasts of Africk; and that in process of time Husbandry has been taught them by the Chineses. We read in the History of China that 'twas anciently the King himself, that annually first set his hand to the Plough in this great Kingdom, and that of the Crop which his Labour yielded him, he made the Bread for the Sacrifices. The Lawful King of Tonquin and Cochinchina together, who is called the Buado's, likewise observe this Custom of first breaking up the Lands every year; and of all the Royal Functions, this is almost the only one remaining to him. The most im­portant are exercised by two Hereditary Governors, the one of Tonquin, and the other of Cochinchina, who wage war, and who are the true Soveraigns; although [Page 20] they profess to acknowledge the Bua, which is at Tonquin, for their Soveraign.

The Ceremo­ny of the Sia­meses touching Agriculture.The King of Siam did formerly also set his hand to the Plough, on a certain day of the year: For about an Age since, and upon some superstitious Observa­tion of a bad Omen, he labours no more; but leaves this Ceremony to an ima­ginary King, which is purposely created every year: yet they will not permit him to bear the Title of King, but that of Oc-ya-Kaou, or Oc-ya of the Rice. He is mounted upon an Ox, and rides to the place where he must plough, attended with a great train of Officers that are obedient to him. This Masquerade for one day gets him wherewithal to live on the whole year. And by the same su­perstition has deterred the Kings themselves. It is look'd upon as ominous and unlucky to the person. I suspect therefore that this custom of causing the lands to be ploughed by the Prince, came from China, to Tonquin, and Siam, with the Art of Husbandry.

It is Politick and Supersti­tious both to­gether.It may perhaps have been invented only to gain credit to Husbandry, by the example of Kings themselves; but it is intermixt with a great many superstiti­ons, to supplicate the good and evil Spirits, whom they think able to help or hurt the goods of the Earth. Amongst other things, the Oc-ya-Kaou offers them a Sacrifice, in the open field, of an heap of Rice-sheaves, whereunto he sets fire with his own hand.

CHAP. IX. Of the Gardens of the Siameses, and occasionally of their Liquors.

Their Pulse and Roots. The Potatoe.THE Siameses are not less addicted to the manuring of Gardens, than to the ploughing of Arable Lands. They have Pulse and Roots, but for the most part different from ours. Amongst the Roots the Potatoe deserves a par­cular mention. It is of the form and size almost of a Parsenep, and the inside thereof is sometimes white, sometimes red, sometimes purple; but I never saw any but the first sort: Being roasted under the Ashes, it eats like the Chesnut. The Isles of America made it known to us; it there frequently supplies, as some report, the place of Bread. At Siam I have seen Chibbols, and no Onions, Garlick, Turneps, Cucumbers, Citruls, Water-melons, Parsley, Bawm, Sorrel. They have no true Melons, nor Strawberries, nor Raspberries, nor Artichoaks, but a great deal of Asparagus, of which they do not eat. They have neither Sallory, nor Beets, nor Coleworts, nor Coleflore, nor Turneps, nor Parseneps, nor Carrots, nor Leeks, nor Lettuce, nor Chervil, nor most of the Herbs whereof we compose our Sallads. Yet the Dutch have most of all these Plants at Batavia, which is a sign that the Soil of Siam would be proper thereunto. It bears large Mushromes, but few and ill tasted. It yields no Truffles, not so much as that insipid and scentless kind, which the Spaniards do call Criadillas de tierra, and which they put into their pot.

Cucumbers, Chibbols, Garlick, Radishes.The Siameses do eat Cucumbers raw, as they do throughout the East, and also in Spain; and it is not impossible but their Cucumbers may be more wholsom than ours, seeing that Vinegar doth not harden them: They look upon them, and call them a kind of Water-Melons. Mr. Vincent inform'd me that a Persian will eat 36 pound weight of Melons, or Cucumbers, at the beginning of the sea­son of these Fruits to purge himself. The Chibbols, Garlick, and Radishes have a sweeter taste at Siam, than in this Country. These sort of Plants do lose their Rankness by the great Heat: And I easily believe what those who have experi­enc'd it have assured me, that nothing is more pleasant than the Onions of Aegypt, which the Israelites so exceedingly regretted.

Flowers.I have seen a great many Tuberoses in the Gardens of Siam, and no Roses, nor Gillyflowers; but it is said there are plenty of Gillyflowers, and few Roses, and that [Page 21] these Flowers have less scent here than in Europe; so that the Roses have hardly any. The Jasmine is likewise so rare, that 'tis said, there are none but at the King's House. We were presented with two or three Flowers as a wonder. They have a great many Amaranthus, and Tricolors. Except these most of the Flowers and Plants which adorn our Gardens, are unknown to them: But in their stead they have others which are peculiar to them, and which are very agree­able for their Beauty and Odor. I have remark'd of some that they smell only in the Night, by reason that the heat of the day dissipates all their Spirits. Our Flowers have most scent about the Evening, and we have some, but few, that smell only at Night.

Whatever has not naturally a great deal of taste and smell,Why there is no Muscadine Grapes in Persia nor at Suratt. cannot keep them in Countries extreamly hot. Thus though there be Grapes in Persia, and at Su­ratt, yet there can be no Muscadine Grapes, what care soever is therein employ­ed. The best Plants, which are transported thither from Europe, do presently degenerate, and yield the second year ordinary Grapes only.

But at Siam, where the Climate is much hotter, there are no good Grapes.Nor Grapes at Siam. The few Vines which are planted at Louvo, in the King's Garden, produce only some bad Grapes, which are small and of a bitter taste.

Pure Water is their ordinary Drink; they love only to drink it perfum'd,Pure water the ordinary drink of the Siameses. whereas to our Palate Water which has no smell, is the best. As the Siameses go not to draw it at the Springs, which are doubtless too remote, it is wholesom only when it has been setled more or fewer days, according as the Inundation is higher or lower, or wholly run out: For when the Waters retire, and they are filled with Mud, and perhaps with the ill Juices which they take from the Earth, or when the River is re-entred into its Channel sufficiently muddy, they are more corrosive, do cause Disenteries and Lasks, and cannot be drunk without danger, till they have let them stand in great Jars or Pitchers, the space of three Weeks or a Month.

At Louvo the Waters are much more unwholsome than at Siam; The Waters of Louvo and of Tlee Poussone. by reason that the whole River flows not thither, but only an Arm, which has been turned thither, which runs always decreasing after the Rains, and at last leaves its Channel dry. The King of Siam drinks water from a great Cistern made in the Fields, on which is kept a continual Watch. Besides that this Prince has a little house called Tlee Poussone, or Rich Sea, about a League from Louvo. It is seated on the brink of certain Low-lands, about two or three Leagues in extent, which receive the Rain-waters and preserve them. This little Sea is of an irre­gular figure, its Shores are neither handsom nor even; but its Waters are whole­some, by reason they are deep and setled, and I have also heard that the King of Siam drinks thereof.

For pleasure and conversation the Siameses do take Tea, Tea. I mean the Siameses of the City of Siam. For the use of Tea is unknown in all the other places of the King­dom. But at Siam the Custom is throughly setled, and 'tis amongst them a necessary Civility to present Tea to all that visit them. They call it Tcha, as do the Chineses, and have not two Terms, the one for what we call Tea, and the other for what we call Cha, or Flower of Tea. 'Tis certain that it is not a Flower But to assert whether they are the budding Leaves, and consequently the ten­derest, or the highest, and consequently the less nourished, or the point of the Leaves, which have been boil'd at China, or a kind of particular Tea; is what I cannot determine, by reason that various Accounts have been given me thereof.

The Siameses do reckon three sorts of Tea, the Tchaboui or Boui Tea, Three sorts of Tea. which is reddish, which some say fattens and is astringent; 'tis look'd upon at Siam as a Remedy for the Flux. The Somloo Tea, which on the contrary purges gently. And the third sort of Tea, which has no particular Name, that I know, and which neither loosens nor binds.

The Chineses and all the Orientals, use Tea as a Remedy against the Head-ach:Tea is a sudo­rifick. But then they make it stronger, and after having drunk five or six Cups, they lye down in their bed, cover themselves up, and sweat. It is not very difficult, in such hot Climates, for Sudorificks to operate, and they are looked upon there almost as general Remedies.

[Page 22] The manner of preparing Tea.They prepare the Tea in this manner. They have Copper Pots tinn'd on the inside, wherein they boil the Water; and it boils in an instant, by reason the Copper thereof is very thin. This Copper comes from Japan, if my Memory fails me not; and 'tis so easie to work, that I question whether we have any so pliant in Europe. These Pots are called Boulis; and on the other hand they have Boulis of red Earth, which is without taste, tho without Varnish. They first rince the Earthen Bouli with boiling water to heat it, then they put in as much Tea, as one can take up with the Finger and Thumb, and afterwards fill it with boiling water; and after having covered it, they still pour boiling water on the outside, they stop not the Spout as we do. When the Tea is sufficiently infu­sed, that is to say when the Leaves are precipitated, they pour the Liquor into China dishes; which at first they fill only half, to the end that if it appear too strong or too deep, they may temper it, by pouring in pure water, which they still keep boiling in the Copper Bouly. Nevertheless if they will still drink, they do again fill the Earthen Bouly with this boiling water, and so they may do several times without adding any more Tea, until they see that the water re­ceives no tincture. They put no Sugar into the Dishes, by reason they have none refin'd which is not candy, and the candy melts too slowly. They do therefore take a little in their mouth, which they champ as they drink their Tea. When they would have no more Tea, they turn the Cup down on the Saucer; because that 'tis the greatest incivility among them to refuse any thing, and that if they leave the Cup standing, they fail not to serve them again with Tea, which they are oblig'd to receive. But they forbear to fill the Dish, unless they would testifie to him unto whom they present it full, that 'tis, as some say, for once, and that it is not expected that he ever come again to the House.

Excellent wa­ter necessary for Tea.The most experienced do say that the Water cannot be too clear for Tea, that Cistern-water is the best as being the most pure, and that the finest Tea in the world becomes bad in water, which is not excellent.

Whether it is necessary to drink the Tea hot.In a word, if the Chineses drink Tea so hot, 'tis not perhaps that they have found it either more wholesom or more pleasant after this manner; for they drink all sorts of Liquor at the same degree of heat, unless the Tartars have now taught them, as it is said, to drink Ice. 'Tis true that the infusion of Tea is perform'd quicker in hot water than cold; but I have drunk with pleasure what I had infused cold for above a day.

The Siameses adhere not to Tea: they freely drink Wine, when they have it; altho whatever inebriates is prohibited them by their Morality. The Eng­lish and Dutch do sometimes bring it them from Schiras in Persia, or from Eu­rope. Our Bourdcaux and Chors Wines came very sound to Siam, altho they had twice passed the Line; and at our return the remainder of these Wines, was perhaps much stronger and better kept, than it would have been, had it conti­nued always a shore. I say nothing concerning the Wines of China and Japan, which are only Beers exceedingly well mixt, but very pleasant. The China Wine, of which I have brought a bottle, would not keep to France, altho the Dutch Beer kept very well to the Indies.

Other Li­quors, Tari and Neri.The Siameses do likewise drink two sorts of Liquors, which are called Tari and Neri, and which they extract from two sorts of Trees called Palmites, from a name general to every Tree which has great Leaves, like the Palm-tree. The manner of collecting this drink is, in the Evening to make an Incision in the bark of the Tree, near the top of its Trunk, and to apply thereunto a Bottle as close as it is possible, luteing it with Clay, that the Air may not enter therein. The next Morning the Bottle is full, and this Bottle is generally a Pipe of great Bambou, to which the knot serves as a bottom. These two Liquors may also be collected in the day time, but it is said that then they are eager, and are used as Vinegar. The Tari is drawn from a sort of wild Cocotier, or Coco-tree, and Neri from the Arequier, a sort of Tree which I shall presently speak of.

Aqua vitae pre­ferred before all, and of what they make it.But as in hot Countries the continual dissipation of the Spirits, makes them desire what encreases them, they passionately esteem Aqua Vitae, and the strong­est more than the others. The Siameses do make it of Rice, and do frequently rack it with Lime. Of Rice they do at first make Beer, which they drink not; [Page 23] but they convert it into Aqua Vitae which they call Laou, and the Portuguese Arak, an Arabian word, which properly signifies sweat, and metaphorically essence, and by way of excellence Aqua Vitae. Of the Rice Beer they likewise make Vi­negar.

The English inhabiting at Siam do use a drink which they call Punch, Punch, an En­glish Drink. and which the Indians do find very delicious. They put half a pint of Brandy or A­rak, to a pint of Limonade with Nutmeg and a little Sea Bisket toasted and broke, and beat it all together until the Liquors be well mixed. The French call this drink Boule Ponche, and Bonne Ponche, from the two English words, a Bowl of Punch.

In a word, the Moors of Siam drink Coffee, Coffee and Chocolat. which comes to them from Ara­bia, and the Portuguese do drink Chocolate, when it comes to them from Manille, the chief of the Phillipines, where it is brought from the Spanish West-Indies.

The Siameses do esteem fruit better than all things;Fruits. they eat all the day long if they have it. But excepting Oranges, Citrons and Pomegranates, there is not at Siam any of the fruits that we know. The Citrons which they call Ma-crout, are small, full of Juice and very sowre, and the skin very smooth. They appeared to me of a singular quality, in that they are rotten on the inside, when their peel is sound and entire. But they have moreover a kind of sowre, and no sweet Lemons, and on the contrary the Oranges and Pomegranates are all sweet; un­less for sowre Oranges they would take the Pampelmouses, which have the taste and shape thereof, but which are as big as Melons, and have not much Juice. The Siameses do with reason range them among the species of Oranges, and call them Soum-o, and Soum signifies an Orange. Amongst the sweet Oranges the best have the Peel very green and rough; they call them Soum-keou, or Crystal Oranges; not that they have any transparency, but because they appear to them in their kind, of the repute of Crystal, which they highly value. They give of these Soum-keou to their sick, and sell them, as 'tis said, at five sous a piece when the season is past; a considerable price in a Country where a man commonly lives for two Liards a day.

Now tho this sort of Oranges lasts not the whole year,Certain Fruits at every Sea­son. yet there is always one sort or other. There is also of that Fruit which the Europeans call Bananas, or Indian-Figs, and the Siameses Clouei, all the year. All the other Fruits con­tinue only a time. 'Tis at Achem only at the North Point of the Isle of Suma­tra, that Nature produces them all at every season. Those excellent Canes of one single Shoot or Joynt, between nine and ten foot long, do grow only at Achem; but Rice, which is their principal nourishment, frequently fails them: and they do then dearly purchase it with the Gold, which they find so plenti­fully amongst them, that they contemn it. without Philosophy.

I designedly omit the Description of several Fruits,The difference of the Fruits of Siam from ours. and refer it to the end of this work. I will now only speak of the Areca, and shall say of the Indian Fruits in general, that they have for the most part so strong a taste and smell, that one loves them not, till accustomed thereunto; and I think that then they do no hurt. By a contrary reason, our Fruits are at first insipid and without flavor, to him that is accustomed to the Indian Fruits.

The Areca, which the Siameses do call Plou, is a kind of great Acorn,The Areca and Betel, which yet wants that wooden Cup wherein our Acorn grows: When this Fruit is yet tender, it has at the center or heart a greyish substance, which is as soft as Pap. As it drys it waxes yellower and harder, and the soft substance it has at the heart grows hard too: It is always very bitter and savory. After having cut it into four parts with a Knife, they take a piece every time, and chew it with a Leaf resembling Ivy called Betel by the Europeans which are at the Indies, and Mak by the Siameses. They wrap it up to put it the more easily into the mouth, and do put on each a small quantity of Lime made of Cockle-shells, and redded by I know not what art. For this reason the Indians do always carry this sort of Lime in a very little China dish, for they put so little on every Leaf, that they consume not much In a day, altho they incessantly make use of the Areca, and the Betel. The Areca whilst tender wholly consumes in the Mouth, but the dry always leaves some remains.

[Page 24] Their effect.The sensible effect of this Acorn and this Leaf is to excite much spitting, if they care not to swallow the Juice; but it is good to spit out the two or three first Mouthfuls at least, to avoid swallowing the Lime. The other less sensible effects, but which are not doubted in the Indies, are to carry from the Gums, perhaps by reason of the Lime, whatever may prejudice them, and to fortifie the Stomach, either by reason of the Juice that is swallowed at pleasure, and which may have this quality, or by reason of the superfluous moistures which they discharge by spitting. Thus have I never found any person at Siam with a stinking breath, which may be an effect of their natural Sobriety.

Another effect of the Areca and Betel.Now as the Areca and Betel do cause a red spittle independently on the red Lime which is mix'd therewith, so they leave a Vermilion Tincture on the Lips and Teeth. It passes over the Lips, but by little and little it thickens on the Teeth till they become black: So that persons that delight in neatness, do blacken their Teeth, by reason that otherwise the spittle of the Areca and Betel, mix'd with the natural whiteness of the Teeth, causes an unpleasant effect, which is remarked in the common People. I shall transiently declare, that the Vermi­lion Lips, which the Siameses saw in the Pictures of our Ladies which we had carried to this Country, made them to say that we must needs have in France, better Betel than theirs.

How they blacken their Teeth, and how they red­den the Nails of their little fingers.To blacken their Teeth, they do thereon put some pieces of very sowre Le­mon, which they hold on their Jaws or Lips for an hour, or more. They report that this softens the Teeth a little. They afterwards rub them with a Juice, which proceeds either from a certain Root, or from the Coco, when they are burnt, and so the operation is perform'd. Yet it pleases them sometimes to relate that it continues three days, during which it is necessary, they say, to lye on their Belly and eat no solid Food: But some have assur'd me that this is not true, and that it is sufficient to eat nothing hot for two or three days. I be­lieve rather that their Teeth are too much set on edge, to be able for some time to eat any thing solid. It is necessary continually to renew this operation to make the effect thereof continue; for this Blackness sticks not so strong to the Teeth, but that it may be rub'd off with a burnt Crust of Bread reduc'd to Pow­der. They love also to redden the Nails of their little Fingers, and for this end they scrape them, and then apply a certain Juice, which they extract from a lit­tle Rice bruised in Citron Juice with some Leaves of a ree, which in every thing resembles the Pomegranate Tree, but bears no Fruit.

Of the Pal­mites in gene­ral.In brief, the Arequier or Arectree, and all the Trees which are called Palmites, have no Branches, but great, long and broad Leaves, like the Palm-tree; and they have their Leaves only at the top of the stalk, which is hollow. These sorts of Trees do annually produce a new Shoot of Leaves, which spring out of the middle of the Leaves of the preceeding year, which then fall off, and leave a mark round the Trunk; so that by these marks which are so many knots, and which are close together, they can easily compute the Years, or Age of the Tree.

This is what I had to say concerning the Extent and Fertility of the Kingdom of Siam, I will now discourse of the Manners of the Siameses in general; that is to say of their Habit, Houses, Furniture, Table, Equipage, Diversions and Affairs.

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CHAP. I. Of the Habit and Meen of the Siameses.

THey hardly cloath themselves.They wear few Cloaths, not so much by reason of the heat, as by the simplicity of their Man­ners. Tacitus reports concerning the German Infantry in his time, that it was either all naked, or cover'd with light Coats; and even at this present there are some Savages in the Nor­thern America, which go almost naked; which proves, in my opinion, that the simplicity of Manners, as well as the Heat, is the cause of the Naked­ness of the Siameses, as it is of the Nudity of these Savages. 'Tis not but that Cloaths are almost insupportable to the French which arrive at Siam, and who know not how to forbear acting and stirring; but it is unhealthful for them to uncloath themselves, by reason that the Injuries of the excessively hot Air are not less dreadful, than those of the extreamly cold Air to which one is not ac­custom'd; yet with this difference, that in very hot Climats 'tis sufficient for health, to cover the Stomach. The Spaniards do for this reason cover it with a Buffalo's Skin four double; but the Siameses, whose Manners are plain in eve­ry thing, have chosen to habituate themselves from their Infancy, to an almost entire Nudity.

They go with their Feet naked, and their Head bare;The Pagne, the Habit of the Siameses. and for Decency only they begirt their Reins and Thighs down to their Knees with a piece of painted Cloth about two Ells and an half long, which the Portuguese do call Pagne, from the Latin word Pannus; sometimes instead of a painted Cloth, the Pagne is a silken Stuff, either plain, or embroider'd with a border of Gold and Silver.

The Mandarins, or Officers, do wear besides the Pagne, A Muslin Shirt serves them for a Vest. a Muslin Shirt which is as their Vest. They pluck it off, and wrap it about their middle, when they approach a Mandarin much higher than them in Dignity, to express unto him their readiness to go where he shall please to send them. And yet the Officers whom we saw at the Audiences of the King of Siam, remain'd cloath'd there­with as with their Habit of Ceremony; and by the same reason they always had their Bonnets high, and pointed on the Head. These Shirts have no Neck-band, and are open before, they taking no care to fasten them, to cover their Stomach. The Sleeves hang down almost to their Wrists, being about two Foot wide, but without being plaited above or below. Moreover, the Body thereof is so strait, that not slipping nor falling down over the Pagne, it sets in several wrinckles.

In Winter they do sometimes put over their shoulders a breadth of Stuff or painted Linnen, either like a Mantle or a Scarf,A Scarf a­gainst the Cold. the ends of which they wind very neatly about their Arms.

But the King of Siam wears a Vest of some excellent Sattin brocaded,How the King wears Vests of Silk. the Sleeves of which are very strait, and reach down to the Wrist; and as we ap­parel our selves against the Cold under our Wastcoats, he puts this Vest under the Shirt which I have described, and which he adorns with Lace, or European [Page 26] Point. 'Tis not lawful for any Siamese to wear this sort of Vest, unless the King gives it him, and he makes this Present only to the most considerable of his Officers.

A sort of Mi­litary Vest.He sometimes also gives them another Vest or Garment of Scarlet, which is to be worn only in War, or at Hunting. This Garment reaches to the Knees, and has eight or ten Buttons before. The Sleeves thereof are wide, but with­out Ornament, and so short, that they touch not the Elbows.

The Red Co­lour for War and Hunting.'Tis a general Custom at Siam, that the Prince, and all his Retinue, in the War or Hunting, be cloath'd in Red. Upon this account the Shirts which are given to the Soldiers, are of Muslin dy'd Red; and on the days of Ceremo­ny, as was that of the Entry of the King's Ambassadors, these Red Shirts were given to the Siameses, which they put under their Arms.

The high, and pointed Cap.The white, high, and pointed Cap, which we saw on the Ambassadors of Siam, is a Coif of Ceremony, whereof the King of Siam and his Officers do equally make use; but the King of Siam's Cap is adorn'd with a Circle, or a Crown of precious Stones, and those of his Officers are embellish'd with divers Circles of Gold, Silver, or Vermilion gilt, to distinguish their Dignities; or, have not any Ornament. The Officers wear them only before the King, or in their Tribu­nals, or in some Ceremony. They fasten them with a Stay under their Chin, and never pull them off to salute any person.

Babouches.The Moors have introduc'd amongst them the use of Babouches or Slippers, a kind of pointed Shoes without quarter or heel. They leave them at the Gates of their own and others Houses, to avoid dirtying the places where they enter. But, where-ever their King, or any other person is, to whom they owe Re­spect, (as is for instance a Sancrat, or Superior of their Talapoins) they appear not with Slippers.

The Neatness of the Palace of Siam.Nothing is neater than the King of Siam's Palace, as well by reason of the few persons admitted therein, as of the Precautions with which they enter.

Hats for Tra­velling.They esteem of Hats for Travelling, and this Prince causes them to be made of all Colours in almost the same shape with his Bonnet; but very few persons amongst the People vouchsafe to cover their Head against the heat of the Sun: and they do it but with a linnen Clout, and only when on the River, where the Reflexion most incommodes.

The Habit of the Women.The difference of the Womens Habit from the Mens, is, that the Women fastning their Pagne length-wise round their Bodies, as likewise the Men do, they let it fall down broad-ways, and imitate a close Coat, which reaches down half-way their Leg; whereas the Men raise up their Pagne between their Thighs, by pulling through one of the ends, which they leave longer than the other, and which they tie to the Girdle behind, in which they do in some sort resemble our Breeches. The other end of the Pagne hangs before, and as they have no Pockets, they do frequently tye thereunto their Purse for the Betel, after the manner that we tye any thing in the corner of our Handker­cheif. They do sometimes also wear two Pagnes one over the other, to the end that the uppermost may sit more neat.

A Nakedness almost entire.Excepting the Pagne, the Women go all naked, for they have no Muslin Shifts, only the Rich do constantly wear a Scarf. They do sometimes wrap the ends thereof about their Arms; but the best Air for them, is to put it singly over their Bosom at the middle, to make smooth the wrinkles thereof, and to let the two ends hang down behind over their Shoulders.

Modesty in this Naked­ness.Nevertheless so great a Nudity renders them not immodest. On the contra­ry, the Men and Women of this Country are the most scrupulous in the world of shewing the parts of their Body, which Custom obliges them to conceal. The Women who sat stooping in their Balons the day of the King's Ambassa­dor's Entry, turn'd for the most part their Backs to the Show, and the most Cu­rious hardly look'd over their Shoulder. 'Twas necessary to give the French Sol­diers some Pagnes to wash in, to remove the Complaints which these People made, at seeing them go all naked into the River.

[Page 27]The Infants go there without a Pagne to four or five years of age, but when once of that age, they are never uncover'd to chastise them; and in the East it is an exceeding Infamy to be beaten naked on the parts of the Body, which are generally conceal'd.

'Tis from hence perhaps,Why they chastise with the Cudgel. that the use of the Cudgel sprang up amongst them in chastising, by reason that neither the Whip, nor the Rod, would be sufficiently felt through their Cloaths.

Moreover, they pluck not off their Cloaths to lie down,Modesty in the Bed, and also in the Bath. or at least they only change the Pagne, as they do to bathe themselves in the River. The Women bathe themselves like the Men, and do exercise themselves in swimming; and in no part of the world do they swim better.

Their Modesty renders the Custom of Bathing almost insupportable unto them, and few amongst them can resolve to do it.Other Proofs of their Mo­desty. They have affixt Infamy to Nakedness: And they are no less careful about the Modesty of the Ears, than of the Eyes; seeing that impure and baudy Songs are prohibited by the Laws of Siam, as well as by those of China. Yet I cannot affirm that they may not be us'd at all; for the Laws prohibit no other, than the Excess already too much establish'd: And from China there comes some Porcelane Figures and Paintings so immodest, that they are no more permitted than the Baudiest Songs.

Those Pagnes that are of an extraordinary beauty and gaudiness,What Pagnes are permitted. as those of Silk with Embroidery, or without Embroidery, and those of painted Linnen very fine, are permitted to those only to whom the Prince presents them. The Women of Quality do greatly esteem the black Pagnes, and their Scarf is fre­quently of plain white Muslin.

They wear Rings on the three last Fingers of each Hand,Rings, Brace­lets, Pendants. and the Fashion permits them to put on as many as possibly can be kept on. They freely give half a Crown for Rings with false Stones, which at Paris cost not above two Sols. They have no Necklaces to adorn their Necks, nor their Wives; but the Women and Children of both Sexes wear Pendants. They are generally of Gold, Silver, or Vermilion gilt, in the shape of a Pear. The young Boys and Girls of a good Family have Bracelets, but only to six or seven years of Age; and they equally wear them on their Arms and Legs. They are Rings of Gold, or Silver, or Vermilion gilt.

As these People have their Body of another Colour than ours,Their Naked­ness surprizeth not. it seems that our Eyes do not think them Naked, at least their Nakedness has nothing which surprized me; whereas a Naked White Man, when I met one, always appear'd a new Object unto me.

The Siameses are rather Small, than Great;The Statute of the Sia­meses. but their Bodies are well pro­portion'd, which I principally attribute to their not swadling in their Infancy. The care that we take to form the shape of our Children, is not always so suc­cessful, as the liberty which they leave to Nature to proceed in forming theirs. 'Tis true, that the Breasts of the Siamese Women uphold not themselves from their Childhood, and hang down rather to their Navel; but otherwise, their Body is well proportioned, and their hanging Breasts offend not the Eyes of their Husbands: so true it is that the Phantasies, even they which seem to be most natural, do greatly consist in Custom.

The shape of their Faces, as well of the Men as Women,Their Meen. participate less of the Oval, than the Lozenge; it is broad and high at the Cheek-bones, and on a sudden their Forehead contracts and terminates almost as much in a Point, as their Chin. Moreover, their Eyes slit a little upwards are small, and not over­brisk, and the white thereof is generally yellowish. Their Jaws are hollow, by reason they are too high above; their Mouths are large, their Lips thick and pale, and their Teeth blacken'd. Their Complexion is gross, and of a brown mix'd with red, unto which the continual Sun-burning contributes as much as the Birth.

The Women use neither Paint nor Patches; but I have seen a great Lord,A blue Co­lour laid on the Body. whose Legs were blu'd with a dull Blue, like that mark which the Gunpowder leaves. They that shew'd me it, inform'd me that it was a thing affected by the [Page 28] Great Men, that they had more or less blue according to their dignity; and that the King of Siam was blu'd from the sole of his Feet, to the hollow of his Stomach. Others assur'd me that it was not out of Grandeur, but Super­stition; and others would make me to doubt whether the King of Siam was blue. I know not how it is.

The Nose and Ears of the Siameses.The Siameses, as I have said, have their Nose short and round at the end, and their Ears bigger than ours; and the larger they have them, the more they esteem them: A Phantasy common to all the East, as it appears by all the Statues of Porcelane and other matter, which come from thence. But in this there is a difference amongst the Orientals; for some do stretch their Ears at the tip to lengthen them, without boring them any more than is necessary to put Pendants therein. Others, after having bor'd them, do by little and little enlarge the hole, to thrust in bigger and bigger Sticks: And it happens, espe­cially in the Country of Laos, that they can almost thrust their Fist into the hole, and that the tip of the Ear touches the Shoulders. The Siameses have Ears somewhat bigger than ours, but naturally and without Artifice.

Their Hair.Their Hair is black, thick and lank, and both Sexes wear it so short, that all round the Head it reaches only to the top of the Ears. Underneath this they are very closely shaved, and this Fashion pleaseth them. The Women raise it on their Forehead, yet without fastning it again; and some, especially the Pe­guins, do let it grow behind, to wreath it. The young unmarried wear it af­ter a particular manner. They cut with Scissars very close the Crown of the Head, and then all round they pull off a small Circle of Hair about the thick­ness of two Crown-pieces, and underneath they let the rest of their Hair grow down almost to their Shoulders. The Spaniards, by reason of the heat, do thus frequently shave the Crown of their Head, but they pluck off no­thing.

The Fancy of the Siameses for white Women.Now every one being in love with the things of his own Country, I doubted not but the Pictures of some of the most beautiful persons of the Court, which I had brought into this Country, would ravish the Siameses into admiration. The painting thereof was better than that of those little Pictures which are daily sent into Foreign Countries; yet it must be confess'd that the Siameses hardly consider'd them, and that after the Pictures of the Royal Family, before which they respectively bowed themselves, not daring stedfastly to behold them, they exceedingly esteemed that of the Duke of Montauzier, by reason of his high and warlike Meen. We asked two young Mandarins what they thought of a great Puppet or Baby, that we shew'd them. One of them reply'd, that a Woman like this would be worth an hundred Catis, or fifteen thousand Livres, and his Companion was of the same mind; but he added, that there was not any person at Siam that could purchase it. Whether they put so high a value on a white Woman, either for the singular delight which they take in them, or only by reason that whatever comes from far, ought to be very dear, I leave to be determin'd. 'Tis certain, that whether it be Fancy, or Grandeur, the King of Siam has some white Mingrelian, or Georgian Women, which he purchases in Persia: And the Siameses that had been in France acknowledg'd, that tho' they were not at first very much struck either with the whiteness, or with the features of the French Women, yet they presently apprehended that they alone were handsom, and that the Siameses were not. As to the habit of the Pup­pet, the two Mandarins absolutely contemn'd it, as too intricate and troublesom for the Husband that would pull it off from his Wife: And I have since con­sider'd, that they imagin'd perhaps that our Wives lay in their Cloaths, like theirs, which would doubtless be very troublesom.

The Siameses are very neat.As the Cloaths imbibe whatever the Body transpires, it is certain that the less one is cloath'd, the more easie it is to be neat, as the Siameses are. They perfume themselves in several places of their Body. On their Lips they put a sort of perfum'd Pomatum, which makes them appear much paler than naturally they are. They bathe themselves three or four times a day, or oftner, and it is one of their Neatnesses not to make a Visit of Conse­quence without bathing; and in this case they make a white spot on the [Page 29] top of their Breast with a piece of Chalk, to shew that they came from the Bath.

They bathe themselves two ways,Two ways of Bathing. either by going into the water after our fashion, or by causing water to be pour'd over their Body with Ladles; and they sometimes continue this sort of Bathing for an hour. In a word, they need not to warm the water for their Domestic Baths, no notwithstanding it has been kept several days, and in Winter; it always continues naturally hot.

They take care of their Teeth, altho' they black them:The Neatness of their Teeth and Hair. they wash their Hair with Water and sweet Oils, as the Spaniards do, and they use no more Powder than they; but they comb themselves, which most of the Spaniards do not. They have Combs from China, which instead of being all of a piece like ours, are only a great many Points or Teeth tied close together with Wire. They pluck their Beard, and naturally have little; but they cut not their Nails, they are sa­tisfy'd to keep them neat.

We saw some Dancers by Profession, who, for Beauty,An Affecta­tion for long Nails. had put on very long Copper Nails, which made them appear like Harpies. At China, at least before the Conquest of the Tartars, the Custom was neither to cut the Nails, nor the Hair, nor the Beard. The Men wore on their Heads a Net of Hair or Silk, which they fasten'd behind; and which not covering the top of the Head, left a space, through which they pull'd out their Hair, and then wreath'd and fasten'd it with a Bodkin. And it is said that this Dress on which they sometimes also wore Bonnets, or a kind of Hats, did cause Megrims, and other very violent pains in their Head.

CHAP. II. Of the Houses of the Siameses, and of their Architecture in Publick Buildings.

IF the Siameses are plain in their Habits, they are not less in their Houses,The Siameses keep the same Simplicity in every thing. in their Furniture, and in their Food: Rich in a general Poverty, because they know how to content themselves with a little. Their Houses are small, but surrounded with pretty large Grounds. Hurdles of cleft Bambou, oftentimes not close compacted, do make the Floors, Walls and Roofs thereof. The Piles, on which they are erected to avoid the Inundation, are Bambou's as thick as one's Leg, and about 13 Foot above the Ground, by reason that the Waters do sometimes rise as much as that. There never is more than four or six, on which they do lay other Bambou's across instead of Beams. The Stairs are a Ladder of Bambou, which hangs on the outside like the Ladder of a Wind­mill. And by reason that their Stables are also in the Air, they have Climbers made of Hurdles, by which the Cattle enter therein.

If every House stands single, 'tis rather for the privacy of the Family,Houses soon built. which would be discover'd through such thin Walls, than for fear of Fire: For besides that, they make their little Fire in the Courts and not in the Houses, it is im­possible for them in any case to consume any great matter. Three hundred Hou­ses which were burnt at Siam in our time, were rebuilt in two days. On a time when a Boom was shot to please the King of Siam, who beheld it at a distance, and from one of the Windows of his Palace, it was necessary for this purpose to remove three Houses, and the Proprietors had taken and carry'd them away with their Furniture in less than an hour. Their Hearth or Chimney is a Basket full of Earth, and supported with three Sticks like a Tripode. And thus they place the Fires wherewith they enclose great spaces in the Forests for the hunting of the Elephants.

[Page 30] There are no Inns at Siam.'Tis in Houses of this Nature, or rather in these sorts of Tents, but bigger, that they lodged us along the River. They had built them purposely for us, by reason there are not any wherein they could lodge us. There are no Inns at Siam, nor in any State of Asia. But in Turkey, Persia, and Mogul there are Ca­ravansera's for Travellers, that is to say public Buildings without Furniture, in which the Caravans may shelter themselves, and here every one eats and lies according to the Provisions and Conveniences which he carries thither. In the Road from Siam to Louvo, I saw a Hall for this use. 'Tis a space about the bigness of an ordinary Hall, enclosed with a Wall about, as high as one may easily lean over, and covered with a Roof, which is laid upon wooden Pillars set at equal distances in the wall. The King of Siam does sometimes dine there in his Travels, but as for particular persons, their Boats serve them for their Inn.

Hospitality why unknown amongst the People of A­sia.Hospitality is a Vertue unknown in Asia, which in my opinion proceeds from the care that every one takes to conceal his Wives. The Siameses practise it on­ly as to the Beasts, which they freely succour in their Distresses: But the Tala­poins having no Wives, they are more hospitable than the People. At Siam was a French man who resolv'd to keep an Inn there; and some Europeans only did sometimes go thither. And although amongst the Siameses, as well as a­mongst the Chineses, it be an established practice to entertain one another, yet it is rarely in this Country, and with much Ceremony: and especially no open Table is there kept; so that it would be difficult to lay out much in keeping a Table, if one would.

What Houses were purpose­ly built for the King's Ambassadors.There being no house proper for us on the banks of the River, they built some after their Country fashion. Hurdles laid on Piles, and covered with Mats of Bulrush, did not only make the Floors, but the Area of the Courts. The Hall and Chambers were hung with painted Cloaths, with Cielings of white Muslin, the extremities of which hung sloping. The Floors were cover'd with Rush­mats, finer and more shining than those of the Courts; and in the Chambers where the King's Ambassadors lay, Tapestry-carpets were laid over the Mats. Neatness appeared every where, but no Magnificence. At Bancok, Siam, and Louvo, where the Europeans, Chineses, and Moors have built Houses of Brick, they lodged us in Houses of this sort, and not in Houses purposely built for us.

Brick-Houses for the Am­bassadors of France and Por­tugal, which were not Fi­nished.Yet we saw two Brick Houses which the King of Siam had built, one for the Ambassadors of France, and the other for those of Portugal, but they are not fi­nished; by reason perhaps of the little probability there was, that they would be frequently inhabited. Moreover it is certain that this Prince begins several Brick buildings, and finishes few. The reason of which I know not.

The Houses of the great Officers of Si­am.The great Officers of this Court have Timber Houses, which are said to be great Armories; but therein do lodge only the Master of the House, his Princi­pal Wife, and their Children. Every one of the other Wives with her Chil­dren, every Slave with his Family, have all their little Apartments separate and alone, but yet inclosed within the same Inclosure of Bambou with the Master's House; altho they be so many different Families.

Their Houses have but one Story.One single story sufficeth them; and I am perswaded that this manner of building is more commodious to them than ours; seeing that they are not strait­ned for room (for there remains some in the City, and they take it where they please) and seeing they build with those slight materials, which every one takes at pleasure in the Woods, or which he buys at a low rate of him that has been there to take them. Nevertheless it is reported that the reason why their Houses have but one story, is that no Person may be higher in his own House than the King of Siam, when he passes thro the street mounted on his Elephant; and that further to assure themselves that they are all lower than this Prince when he goes either by Water or by Land, they must shut all their Windows, and come into the Street, or into their Balons to prostrate themselves. Thus they did on the day of the Entrance of the King's Ambassadors, less out of curio­sity for the Show, than out of respect to his Majesties Letter: But it should seem that this custom of coming down out of their Houses, is a sufficient re­spect to their Prince. For it is not true, that the Houses erected, as they are on [Page] [Page]

[Page 31] Piles, are lower than the King on his Elephant; and it is less true, that they are not higher than the King in his Balon. But what they doubtless observe, is that their Houses are less exalted than the Palaces of this Prince. Moreover his Palaces consisting only of one story do sufficiently evince, that this is the Phantasie of the Country in their Buildings; the true reason of which I will give you in the sequel.

The Europeans, Chineses, and Moors, do there build with Brick,Brick-Houses for Foreign­ers. every one according to his Genius; for that they alone will be at the expence, as I conceive, or that they alone have the Liberty thereof, as it is reported. At the side of their Houses, to keep off the Sun and not hinder the Air, some do add Pent-houses, which are sometimes supported by Pillars. Others do make the bodies of the House double, which do reciprocally receive the light one from the other, to the end that the Air may pass from one to the other. The Chambers are large and full of Windows, to be the more fresh and airy. And those of the first story have lights over the lower Hall, which ought to be so called by reason of its heighth, and which sometimes is almost all enclosed with Buildings, through which it receives the light. And 'tis this they call Divan, an Arabian word which properly signifies a Council-Chamber, or Judgement-Hall.

There are other sorts of Divans, Halls called Divan. which being built on three sides do want a fourth Wall, on that side which the Sun shines least on, in the whole Course of the year, for between the Tropicks it illuminates every where according to the several Seasons. On the side which is open they do put a Pent-house, as high as the Roof: and the inside of the Divan is frequently adorn'd from the top to the bottom with little Niches contrived either in the Wall, or in the Wainscot, in which they put some China Dishes. We had a Divan of this last sort in our House at Siam; and in the Front under the Pent-house there played a little Foun­tain.

The Palaces of Siam and Louvo, Palaces and Temples of Brick, but low. and several Pagodes or Temples are likewise of Brick, but the Palaces are low, by reason they have no more than one story, as I have intimated; and the Pagodes are not raised high enough in proportion to their bigness. They are much darker than our Churches; perhaps because the Obscurity imprints more respect, and seems naturally to have something re­ligious. Moreover they are of the shape of our Chappels, but without Vaults, or Cielings; only the Timber-work which supports the Tiles, is varnished with red interspersed with some streaks of Gold.

The King of China's Palace is still of Wood;Brick-Build­ings modern at Siam. and this perswades me that Brick Buildings are very modern at Siam, and that the Europeans have there in­troduced the practice and use thereof. And because that the first Europeans, which have built in this Country, were Factors, and have called their Houses, Factories; the Siameses, from the word which in their language signifies Factory, do likewise name their ancientest Brick-Pagod, as if they should say Pagode-Factory, or Pagode of the Factory.

In a word, they know no exterior Ornament for Palaces, nor for Temples,They know not the five Orders of Ar­chitecture. save in the Roofs, which they cover with that ordinary Tin which they call Ca­lin, or with Tiles varnished with yellow, as it is in the King of China's Palace. But tho there appears not any Gold in the Palace of Siam on the outside, and there is but little gilding on the inside, yet they fail not to call it Prassat-Tong, or the Golden Palace, because they give pompous names to every thing which they honour. As for what concerns the five Orders of Architecture, composed of Columns, Architraves, Frizes, and other Ornaments, the Siameses have not any knowledge thereof; and it is not in Ornaments of Architecture, that amongst them consists the real Dignity of the Royal Houses and the Temples.

Their Stairs are so mean, that a pair of Stairs of ten or twelve steps,Stairs and Gates. by which we went up into the Hall of Audience at Siam, exceeded not two foot in breadth. They were of Brick joyning to the Wall on the right side, and with­out any Rail on the left. But the Siamese Lords minded it not; they went up crawling on their Hands and Knees; and so softly, that they might have said that they would surprize the King their Master. The Gate of the Hall being square, but low and strait, was agreeable to the Stairs, and placed on the left [Page 32] Hand at the Extremity or Corner of the Wall of the Hall. I know not whether they understand subtilty, and whether they do not believe that a very little Door is too big, seeing it is thought that they ought to prostrate themselves to enter therein. 'Tis true that the entrance into the Hall of Louvo is better, ac­cording to our Fancy; but besides that, the Palace of Louvo is more modern, the Prince does there lay aside his State, which resides principally in the Metropolis, as I shall relate in the sequel.

Wherein the dignity of Pa­laces consist.That which amongst them makes the real dignity of the Houses, is that altho there is no more than one story, yet they are not all level. As for example, in the Palace, the King and Lady's Apartment is higher than the rest, and the nearer an Apartment is to it, the higher it is in respect to another, which is further distant: So that there is always some steps to ascend from one to the other: For they all joyn to one another, and the whole is from end to end on a line; and it is that which causes the inequality in the Roofs. The Roofs are all high­ridged, but the one is lower than the other; as it covers a part lower than ano­ther. And a lower Roof seems to come out from a higher Roof, and the high­est to bear on the lowest, like a Saddle, the fore-bow of which bears on the hind part of another.

The same at China.In the King of China's Palace it is the same: And this inequality of the Roofs, which seems to proceed one from under another, after the manner that I have explain'd it, denotes grandeur, in that it supposes an inequality of parts, which is not found in these Countries, at least in considerable number, but at the King's Houses; to the end that the further one is permitted to go into this set of Build­ings, the more indeed he ascends, and the greater distinction he perceives. The great Officers will have three parts, one higher than another, which are divided by three Roofs of different elevation: But at the Palace of the City of Siam I have seen seven Roofs proceeding one from under another before the Building: I know not whether there were not others behind. Some square Towers, which are in the Palace, do seem also to have several Roofs, one three, another five, another seven, as if they were square Goblets laid one upon another; and in one of these Towers is a very great Drum headed with an Elephants Skin, to beat the Tocsin or Alarum in case of need.

The same in the Temples or Pagodes.As to the Pagodes, in those that I have seen, I observed only one single Pent-house before, and another behind. The highest Roof is that under which the Idol stands, the other two which are lower, are thought to be only for the People; although the People forbear not to enter every where on the days when the Temple is open.

Pyramids.But the Principal Ornament of the Pagodes, is to be accompanied, as gene­rally they are, with several Pyramids of Lime and Brick, the Ornaments of which are very grosly performed. The highest are as high as our ordinary Stee­ples, and the lowest not exceeding two Fathom. They are all round, and do little diminish in bigness as they rise; so that they terminate like a Dome: It is true that when they are very low, there proceeds from this Dome-like extremity a Tin Spire very small and sharp pointed, and high enough in relation to the rest of the Pyramid. Some there are which diminish and grow thick again four or five times in their heighth, so that the Profile of them goes waving: But these Bellyings out are smaller as they are in a higher part of the Pyramid. They are adorn'd in three or four places of their Contour, with several Furrows or Flutings at Right Angles, as well as in that they have some hollow, as in that they have some raised, which diminishing gradually in proportion to the Dimi­nution of the Pyramid, do run terminating in a point at the beginning of the next bellying out, from whence do again arise new Flutings.

A Description of certain Halls of the Palace.I cannot tell what the King of Siam's Apartments are; I have only seen the first piece thereof, which is the Hall of Audience at Siam and Louvo. 'Tis said that no person enters further, not the King's Domesticks themselves, excepting his Wives and Eunuch; in which, if it is true, this Prince maintains a greater heighth than the King of China. I likewise saw the Council-chamber in the Palace of Louvo; but it was also a first Room of another Pile of Building, I mean that it was not preceeded by any Anti-Chamber. At the Front and two [Page 33] sides of this Hall lyes a Terrass, which commands as well over the Garden which environs it, as it is commanded by the Hall; and it is on this Terrass, and under a Canopy, purposely erected on the North-side, that the King's Am­bassadors were at a private Audience, which the King of Siam gave them; and this Prince was in a Chair of State at one of the Hall Windows. In the mid­dle of the Garden and in the Courts there are some single open Rooms, which are called Halls; I mean those square places, that I have already described, which inclosed with a Wall, no higher than one may lean over, and cover'd with a Roof, which bears only upon Pillars placed at equal distances in the Wall. These Halls are for the chief Mandarins, who do there sit cross-legg'd, either for the Functions of their Offices, or to make their Court, or to expect the Prince's Orders, viz. in the Morning very late, and in the Evening until the approach of the Night, and they stir not thence without Order. The less considerable Mandarins sit in the open Air, in the Courts or Gardens; and when they know by certain signals that the King of Siam sees them, altho he be invisible, they do all prostrate themselves on their Hands and Knees.

When we din'd in the Palace of Siam, The places of the Palace where we di­ned. 'twas in a very pleasant place under great Trees, and at the side of a store-pond, wherein it was said that amongst several sorts of Fish there are some which resemble a Man and Woman; but I saw none of any sort. In the Palace of Louvo we dined in the Garden, in a single Hall, the Walls of which supported the Roof. They are plaistered with a Ci­ment extremely white, smooth, and shining, upon occasion of which it was told us there was much better made at Suratt. The Hall has a Door at each end, and is encompast with a Ditch between two or three Fathoms in breadth, and perhaps one in depth, in which there are twenty little Jet-deaus, at equal distances. They play like a watering pot, pierced with several very little holes, and they spurt no higher than the edge of the Ditch, or thereabouts, because that instead of raising the Water, they have dug away the Earth to make the Ba­sons low.

The Garden is not very spacious:The Garden of Louvo. the Compartments and Borders thereof are very little and formed by Bricks laid edgeways. The Paths between the Borders cannot contain two a brest, nor the Walks more: But the whole being planted with Flowers, and several sorts of Palmites and other Trees, the Gar­den, Hall, and Fountains, had I know not what Air of Simplicity and Cool­ness, which caused Delight. 'Tis a remarkable thing that these Princes should never be inclined to use Magnificence in their Gardens; altho from all Antiqui­ty the Orientals have admired them.

The King of Siam exercising the Chace sometimes for several days,Palaces of Bambou in the Woods. there are in the Woods some Palaces of Bambou, or if you please, some fixed Tents, which only need furnishing to receive him. They are red on the outside, like those of the great Mogul, when he goes into the Country, and like the Walls which serve as an Inclosure for the King of China's Palace. I have given the Mo­del thereof, not only that the Simplicity of it may be seen, but principally be­cause some assur'd me that the King of Siam's Apartments, in his Palaces of Si­am and Louvo is according to the same Model. 'Tis only a little Dormitory, where the King and his Wives have each a little Cell: Nevertheless the truth of what few persons do see, is always hard to know. However some also assur'd me concerning this Prince, what I have heard reported of Cromwel, which is that for fear of being surprized by any Conspiracy, this Prince hath several A­partments wherein he locks himself at night, it being impossible to divine exact­ly in which he lyes. Strabo reports of the Indian Kings in his time, that this ve­ry reason obliged them to change their Bed and Apartment several times in the same Night. And this is almost all that can be spoken concerning the manner of Building amongst the Siameses. Their Furniture is as follows.

CHAP. III. Of the Furniture of the Siameses.

Their gross Houshold-stuff.THeir Bedstead is a wooden Frame very strait and matted, but without Head or Posts. It has sometimes six Feet, which are not joined by cross pieces, sometimes it has none at all; but the generality have no other Bed than a Matt of Bulrush. Their Table is like a Drum-head with the Edges raised, and without Feet. They have at Table neither Cloth nor Napkin, nor Spoon, nor Fork, nor Knife, they are serv'd with Morsels ready cut. No Seats, but Bulrush Matts, finer or courser: No Carpets, when the Prince gives them not to them: And those of fine Cloth are very honourable, by reason of the dearness thereof. The Rich have Cushions to lean on, but they use them not to sit on, not the King himself. That which amongst us is of Stuff or Wooll, or Silk, is generally amongst them of white or painted Cotton.

Their Vessels.Their Vessels are either of Porcelane, or Potter's Clay, with some Vessels of Copper. Wood plain, or varnish'd, Coco and Bambou afford them all the rest If they have any Vessel of Gold or Silver, 'tis very little, and almost only by the Liberality of the Prince, and as a Chattel belonging to their Offices. Their Buckets to draw up Water are of Bambou, very neatly woven. In the Markets the People are seen to boil their Rice in a Coco, and the Rice to be sufficiently drest, before the Coco begins to burn; but the Coco serves no more than once.

Their Tools.In short, every one builds his House, if he causeth it not to be built by his Slaves; and for this Reason the Saw and the Plane are every ones Tools. At the end of this Volume the most Curious will find a List, which two Mandarins gave me of the ordinary Moveables in their Families. 'Tis not that every par­ticular person has so many, but perhaps none has more. They do there add the names of the principal parts of a House, of their Habits, and of their Arms. There may be seen the plain, but neat manner after which they built, and fur­nisht themselves with Moveables; and several particulars of their Manners, which I there relate upon the occasion of certain Moveables.

The King's Furniture.Their King's Furniture is almost the same, but richer and more precious than those of particular persons. The Halls, which I saw at the Palaces of Siam and Louvo, are all Wainscoted, and the Wainscot is varnish'd Red, with some streaks and foliages of Gold. The Floors were cover'd with Carpets. The Hall of Audience at Louvo was all over embellish'd with Looking-glasses, which the King's Squadron had brought to Siam. The Council-Chamber was furnish'd after this manner. In the Room there was a Sopha made exactly like a great Bedstead with its Posts, its Bottom and its Curtain-Rods all cover'd with a Plate of Gold, and the bottom with a Carpet, but without Tester or Curtains, or any sort of Garniture; instead of the Bolster there were Cushions pil'd, on which the King lean'd, but sat not thereon, as I have already remark'd, he had only a Carpet under him. In this Hall, at the Wall of the right side in relation to the Sopha, there was an excellent Glass which the King had sent to the King of Siam by M. de Chaumont. There was likewise a wooden Chair of State gilded, in which this Prince shew'd himself to the King's Ambassadors at a private Au­dience, which I have mention'd; and a Tiab or Cup to put Betel in, about two Foot high, or thereabouts, and cas'd with Silver curiously wrought, and gilded in some places.

The Table-Plate which we saw at the King's Palace.In all the Entertainments which we receiv'd at the Palace, we saw great store of Silver Plate, especially great Basons round and deep, with a Brim about a Fin­ger's breadth, in which were serv'd up great round Boxes about a Foot and an half in Diameter. They were cover'd, and had a Foot proportion'd to their bigness, and 'twas in these Boxes that the Rice was serv'd up. For the Fruit they gave us some gold Plates, which were reported to have been made purposely for [Page 35] the Entertainments which the King of Siam made for M. de Chaumont; and it is true that this Prince eats not in flat Plate. They esteem for his Dignity, that the Messes which are serv'd up to him are only in high Vessels, and Porce­lane is more common at his Table, than Gold or Silver: A general Custom in all the Courts of Asia, and even in that of Constantinople.

CHAP. IV. Concerning the Table of the Siameses.

THE Table of the Siameses is not sumptuous:That the Sia­meses eat little, and what their Food is. As we eat less in Summer than in Winter, they eat less than we, by reason of the continual Summer in which they live; their common Food is Rice and Fish. The Sea affords them very delicate small Oysters, very excellent small Turtles, Lobsters of all sizes, and admirable Fish, the sorts of which are unknown to us. Their River is also very plentiful of Fish, and principally very good and curious Eels: But they make little esteem of fresh Fish.

Amongst the Fresh-water Fish, they have some little ones of two sorts,A Wonder re­ported of two sorts of Fish. which do here deserve to be mention'd. They call them Pla out, and Pla cadi, that is to say the Fish out, and the Fish cadi. To free me from all doubts, some have assur'd me, that after they have salted them together, as the Siameses us'd to do, if they leave them in an earthen Pot in their Pickle, where they soon corrupt, by rea­son they salt ill at Siam, then, that is to say when they are corrupted, and as it were in a very liquid Paste, they do exactly follow the flux and reflux of the Sea, growing higher and lower in the Pitcher as the Sea ebbs or flows. Mr. Vin­cent gave me a Pot thereof at his arrival in France, and assur'd me that this Ex­periment was true, and that he had seen it; but I cannot add my Testimony thereunto, by reason I was too late advertised thereof at Siam, to have an occa­sion of ascertaining it by my own Eyes; and that the Pot which Mr. Vincent gave me, and which I brought to Paris, perform'd this Effect no more: perhaps because the Fish were too much corrupted, or that their virtue of imitating the flux and reflux of the Sea continues only a certain time.

The Siameses find much difficulty to make good Salt,Bad Salt at Siam: The desire of the Siameses for corrupt meats. by reason that Meats do hardly take Salt in excessive hot Countries; but they love Fish ill season'd and dry better than fresh, even stinking Fish displeaseth them not no more than rotten Eggs, Locusts, Rats, Lizards, and most Insects: Nature doubtless framing their Appetite to things, the Digestion whereof is more easie to them. And it may be that all these things have not such an ill taste as we imagine.Whatever smells ill, is not always ill tasted. Nava­rette in Pag. 45. Tom. I. of his Historical Discourses of China, relates that he at first exceedingly detested the Brooded Eggs of a Bird which he calls Tabon, but that when he eat thereof, he found them excellent. 'Tis certain that at Siam new-laid Eggs are very unwholsom; we do here eat Vipers, we draw not certain Birds to eat them; and sometimes Venison a little over-hunted is best relisht.

A Siamese makes a very good Meal with a pound of Rice a day,What a Sia­mese expends a day in Food. which amounts not to more than a Farthing; and with a little dry or salt Fish, which costs not more. The Arak or Rice Brandy is not worth above two Sols for that quantity, which amounts to a Parisian Pint; after which it is no wonder if the Siameses are not in any great care about their Subsistence, and if in the Evening there is heard nothing but Singing in their Houses.

Their Sauces are plain, a little Water with some Spices, Garlic, Chibols,Their Sauces. or some sweet Herb, as Baulm. They do very much esteem a liquid Sauce, like Mustard, which is only Cray-Fish corrupted, because they are ill salted; they call it Capi. They gave Mr. Ceberet some Pots thereof, which had no bad Smell.

[Page 36] They yellow their Chil­dren.That which serves them instead of Saffron is a root, which has the Taste and Colour thereof when it is dry and reduc'd to Powder: the Plant thereof is known under the Name of Crocus Indicus. They account it very wholesom for their Children, to yellow the Body and Face therewith. So that in the streets there are only seen Children with a tawny Complexion.

What Oil they eat.They have neither Nuts, nor Olives, nor any eating Oil, save that which they extract from the Fruit of Coco; which, tho always a little bitter, yet is good, when it is fresh drawn: but it presently becomes very strong, insomuch that it is not eatable by such as are not accustomed to eat bad Oil. The Taste is al­ways made, and it happened at my return from a very long Voyage, where I met with no extraordinary Oil, that I found the excellent Oil of Paris insipid and tasteless.

How Rela­tions must be understood with reference to him that writes them.Wherefore I cannot forbear making a remark very necessary, truly to under­stand the Relations of Foreign Countries. 'Tis that the words, good, excellent, magnificent, great, bad, ugly, simple, and small; equivocal in themselves, must always be understood with reference to the Phantasie of the Author of the Rela­tion, if otherwise he does not particularly explain what he writes. As for ex­ample, if a Dutch Factor, or a Portuguese Monk do exaggerate the Magnificence, and good Entertainment of the East; if the least House of the King of China's Palace appears unto them worthy of an European King, it must be supposed that this is true, in reference to the Court of Portugal. And yet some may doubt hereof, seeing that in truth the Apartments of the Palace of China, are no other than Wood varnished on the inside and outside, which is rather agree­able and neat than magnificent. Thus (because it would not be just to contemn every thing, that resembles not what we do now see in the Court of France, and which was never seen before this great and glorious Reign) I have endeavour'd to express nothing in ambiguous Terms, but to describe exactly what I have seen, thereby to prevent the surprising any person by my particular Fancy, and to the end that every one make as true a Judgment of what I write, as if he had performed the Voyage that I have done.

Another Re­flection on the same Subject.Another defect in Relations is the Translation of the Foreign Words. As for instance, amongst the King of China's Wives, there is only one that hath the Honours and Title of Queen: the rest are under her, although they be all legi­timate, that is to say permitted by the Laws of the Country. They are called verbatim the Ladies of the Palace, and at Siam they have the same Name. The Children of these Ladies honour not their natural Mothers, as the Chineses are obliged theirs, but they render this Respect, and give the Name of Mother to the Queen; as if the second Wives bore Children only for the principal Wife. And this is also the Custom at China, in the Houses of private Persons, who have several Wives; to the end that there may be an entire subordination, which maintains Peace there as much as possible. And that the Children be not permit­ted to dispute amongst them the merit of their Mothers. We read almost the same thing of Sarah, who gave Hagar her Bond-maid unto Abraham, to have, as she said, some Children by her Slave, being past Child-bearing her self. Some other Wives of the Patriarchs practised the same, and it is evident that being the principal Wives, every one was thought the Mother of all her Husband's Chil­dren. But to return to what I have spoken concerning the danger of being de­ceived by the Translations of the Foreign words in Relations, who sees not the Equivocation of these words, the Ladies of the Palace, put into the mouth of a Chinese, or Portuguese, or in the mouth of a French-man, who translates a Portuguese Relation of China? The same Equivocations are found in the names of Offices? Because that all Courts and all Governments do not resemble. All Functions are not found every where, and the same are not every where attri­buted to the same Offices, that is to say to Offices of the same name: besides that such a Function will be great and considerable in one Country, which may be inconsiderable in another. As for example, the Spaniards have Marshals, which they at first design'd in imitation of the Marshals of France, and yet an Ambassador would find himself exceedingly mistaken, if being accompanied to the Audience of the King of Spain, by a Marshal of Spain, he should think him­self [Page 37] as highly honoured, as if he were accompany'd to the King's Audience by a Marshal of France. Now the more remote the Courts are, the greater is the defect, when the same Words and the same Idea's are transferred from the one to the other. At Siam it is a very honourable Employment to empty the King's Close-stool, which is always emptied in a place appointed, and carefully kept for this purpose; it may be out of some superstitious Fear of the Sorceries which they imagine may be perform'd on the Excrements. At China all the Splendor and Authority is in the Offices which we call the Long Robe: And their Military Officers, at least before the Domination of the Tartars, con­sisted only of unfortunate Wretches, who were not thought endow'd with Merit sufficient to raise themselves by Learning.

A third defect of Relations is to describe things only in one Particular,Another Re­flection on the same Subject. if I may so say. The Reader conceives that in every thing else the Nation whereof he is inform'd resembles his, and that in this only it is either ex­travagant or admirable. Thus if it be simply said, that the King of Si­am puts his Shirt over his Vest, this would appear ridiculous to us; but when the whole is understood, it is found, that, tho' all Nations act al­most on different Principles, the whole amounts almost to the same; and that there is not in any place any thing marvellous or extravagant. But enough is spoken on this Subject, I return to the good Cheer of the Siameses.

They have Milk from the Female Buffalo, which has more Cream,The Milk at Siam. than the Milk of our Cows; but they make not any sort of Cheese, and scarce any Butter. Butter does hardly take any Consistence there by reason of the Heat; and that which is brought from Suratt and Bengale, through Climates so extreamly hot, is very bad, and almost melted in arriving there.

They disguise dry Fish after several manners,How the Sia­meses disguise their Meats. without varying the Prepara­tion. For Example, they will cut it into thin Slices, twisted like the Virmicelli of the Italians, or the oeufs filez of the Spaniards. The Chineses are so addicted to this way of disguising their Meats, that of a Drake, for Example, they will make a Soldier, of an Ananas a Dragon, and this Dragon shall be painted in several Colours. Heretofore in Europe several Sugar Figures were serv'd up amongst the Fruit, but they eat them not; and the Germans call'd them Schaw-essen, or Food to look upon.

Of more than thirty Dishes,A Chinese Re­past. wherewith we were served at Siam after the Fashion of the Chineses, it was not possible for me to eat of one: Altho' it be naturally as easie to me as to any other, to accommodate my self to strange Tastes. At the sight therefore of so strange a Repast, I rested more satisfy'd with what some report of the Chineses, that they taste, without loathing, the Excrements of Men and other Animals, to chuse out the most proper to ma­nure and improve their Lands; and that they commonly eat of all the Viands, which we abhor, as Cats, Dogs, Horses, Asses, Mules, &c.

In which they are very opposite to the Siameses, The Siameses do love Flesh little, and have no Butchers Meat. who do rarely eat of any Flesh, tho' it be given them. But when they vouchsafe so far as to eat thereof, they rather chuse the Guts, and whatever is most loathsom to us in the Intestines. In their Bazars or Markets they do sell Insects broil'd or roasted, and they have not any other Roast-meat. The King of Siam gave us some Poultry, and other live Animals, for our Servants to kill and dress for our Table. But in general all Food there is tough, Juiceless and Crude; and by degrees the Euro­peans themselves, which inhabit at Siam, do refrain eating thereof. The an­cient Inhabitants of the Isle of Rhodes, according to Aelian, esteemed not those who preferred Flesh before Fish. The Spaniards and Italians do eat little, and do eat it dry roasted; and we find that the English eat too much, and that they eat it too raw: 'Tis that as the Countries are hotter, Sobriety is more natural.

The Siameses take no care of Poultry. They have two sorts of Hens,The Poultry. some are like to ours, others have the Skin and Comb black, but the Flesh and the [Page 38] Bones white; and when these black Hens are boil'd, it is impossible to distin­guish them from the white ones either by the taste or colour; altho' there are some persons who generally esteem the black best. Ducks are very plentiful and very good, but 'tis a Food, which, as it is said, does easily cloy. The Indian Cocks are brought to us from the West-Indies, and there are none at Siam.

Game.Peacocks and Pigeons are wild there; all Partridges are gray: Hares are very scarce, and no Rabbets to be seen. It may be that the Race could not preserve itself in the Woods, amongst all the carnivorous Animals, wherewith they are stored. There is great plenty of Francolins, and excellent Snipes; here they do eat Turtle-doves, whose Plumage is variegated, Parrots, and divers small Birds, which are good.

Wild-Fowl.But Wild-Fowl is secure amongst the Siameses; they love neither to kill them, nor hinder their liberty. They hate the Dogs that will take them; and moreover, the heighth of their Herbage, and the thickness of the Woods do ren­der the Chace difficult; yet the Moors do exceedingly divert themselves in the flight of Faulcons, and these Birds do come to them from Persia.

The Peculi­arity of the Birds of Siam.A thing which will appear singular, (altho' it be common at Brasil, and it may be in other hot Countries) is, that almost all the Birds at Siam are beauti­ful to behold, and are all very unpleasant to hear. There are several sorts, which imitate the Voice; all have some Cry, but no warbling Note. And tho' in this Country there are some of the Birds which we have here, they are, for Example, neither Nightingales nor Canary-Birds, but Sparrows, Peacocks, Crows, and Vultures. The Sparrows do enter boldly into the Chambers, there to pick up the little Insects, wherewith they swarm. The Crows and Vultures are very plentiful, and very familiar; because no person frights them, and the people feed them out of Charity. They do generally give them the Children, which die before three or four years old.

What we call Butcher's Meat, is worth nothing at Siam.Goats and Sheep are here very scarce, small, and not over-good; they are to be bought only of the Moors: the King of Siam caused a quantity of them to be nourished for himself. They generally keep the Ox and Buffalo for Tillage, and sell the Cows, and the whole is very bad to eat.

The goodness of the Pig.The Pig is there very small, and so fat, that it is distasteful; yet the flesh thereof is the wholsomest that can be eaten in most of the Countries of the Torrid Zone, and is given to sick persons. The Pigs are excellent also on the Sea, when they eat Bisket; whereas the Sheep do frequently taste of the wooll, by reason they eat it one from another, as Poultry eats their feathers.

The price of Meats.As to the price of Meats in the Kingdom of Siam, a Cow is not worth above ten Sols in the Provinces; and a Crown, or thereabouts, in the Metropolis: A Sheep four Crowns: A Goat two or three Crowns, (tho' the Moors do sell them very unwillingly, because this is their principal Food:) A Pig is not worth above seven Sols, by reason the Moors eat not thereof; Hens are worth about twenty pence a dozen, and a dozen of Ducks is worth a Crown.

Volatiles do multiply ex­ceedingly at Siam.All Volatiles do multiply extreamly at Siam; the heat of the Climate al­most hatches the Eggs. Venison also is not wanting, notwithstanding the spoil which the wild Beasts make thereof, if the Siameses were greedy of Dain­ties: But when they kill Bucks, and other Beasts, it is only to sell the Skins thereof to the Dutch, who make a great Trade thereof to Japan.

The Distem­pers of the Siameses.Yet to the discredit, in my opinion, of Sobriety, or because that in proportion to the heat of their Stomach, the Siameses are not more sober than us, they live not longer, and their Life is not less attack'd with Diseases than ours. Amongst the most dangerous, the most frequent are Fluxes and Dissenteries, from which the Europeans that arrive at this Country, have more trouble to defend them­selves, than the Natives of the Country, by reason they cannot live sober enough. The Siameses are sometimes attackt with burning Fevers, in which the transport to the Brain is easily formed, with defluxions on the Stomach. Moreover, Inflamations are rare, and the ordinary continual Fever kills none, no more than in the other places of the Torrid Zone: Intermitting Fevers are also rare, but violent, tho' the cold Fit be very short. The External does so ex­ceedingly [Page 39] weaken the Natural Heat, that here are not seen almost any of those Distempers, which our Physitians do call Agues: and this is so throughout In­dia, and also in Persia, where, of an hundred sick persons, Mr. Vincent the provin­cial Physician, whom I have already mention'd, declar'd that he scarce found one which had the Fever, or any other hot distemper. Coughs, Coqueluches or Quinancies, and all sorts of Defluxions and Rheumatisms are not less frequent at Siam, than in these Countries; and I wonder not thereat, seeing that the weather is inclined to Rain so great a part of the year: but the Gout, Epilepsy, Apoplexy, Pthysick, and all sorts of Cholick, especially the Stone, are very rare.

There are a great many Cankers, Abcesses, and Fistula's. Fresipeli are here so frequent, that among twenty men, nineteen are infected therewith; and some have two thirds of their body cover'd therewith. There is no Scurvy, nor Dropsie, but a great many of those extraordinary distempers, which the peo­ple conceive to be caused by Witchcraft. The ill consequences of a debauch are here very frequent, but they know not whether they are ancient or modern in their Country.

In a word, there are some contagious diseases,What is the Plague at Si­am. but the real Plague of this Country is the Small Pox: It oftentimes makes dreadful ravage, and then they interr the bodies without burning them: but because their Piety always makes them desire to render them this last respect, they do afterwards dig them up again: and that which exceedingly surprizes me, is, that they dare not do it till three years after, or longer, by reason, as they say, that they have experi­mented, that this Contagion breaks out afresh, if they dig them up sooner.

CHAP. V. Concerning the Carriages and Equipage of the Siameses, in general.

BEsides the Ox and Buffalo, which they commonly ride,Their dome­stick Animals. the Elephant is their sole Domestick Animal. The Hunting of Elephants is free for all, but they pursue this Chase only to catch them, and never to kill them. They never cut them, but for ordinary service they use only the Female Elephants: the Males they design for the War. Their Country is not proper for the breeding of Horses, or they know not how to breed them: but I believe also that their Pastures are too course and moorish, to give Courage and Mettle to their Horses; and this is the reason that they need not to cut them to render them more tractable. They have neither Asses nor Mules; but the Moors which are settled at Siam, have some Camels, which come to them from abroad.

The King of Siam only keeps about two thousand Horses:The King of Siam's Horses. He has a dozen of Persian, which are now nothing worth. The Persian Ambassador presented them to him about four or five years since, from the King his Master. Ordi­narily he sends to buy some Horses at Batavia, where they are all small and very brisk, but as resty as the Javan people are mutinous; either for that the Country makes them so, or that the Hollanders know not to manage them.

I have more than once seen in the streets of Batavia the Burgesses of the City on Horseback; but in an instant their Ranks were broken,The Cavalry and Infantry of Batavia. by reason that most of their Horses would stop on a sudden, and would refuse to march: and mine Host hereupon inform'd me, that the common fault of the Javan Horses was to prove very resty. The Dutch Company maintain Infantry at Batavia, amongst which there is a good number of French. As for what concerns the Cavalry, there is no other than the Burgesses, who notwithstanding the heat of the Cli­mate, do cloath themselves with good Buff, with rich trappings embroider'd with Gold and Silver. No Burgher serves in the Infantry: but if a Souldier demon­strates [Page 40] that he has wherewith to settle and maintain himself at Batavia, either by a Marriage or a Trade, they never refuse him neither his liberty, nor his right of Burghership.

The King of Siam rides lit­tle or not at all on Horse­back.When we arriv'd there were two Siameses to buy two hundred Horses for the King their Master, about an hundred and fifty of which they had already sent away for Siam. 'Tis not that this Prince loves to ride on Horseback; this way seems to him both too mean and of too little defence: for the Elephant appears to them much more proper for Battel, though when all comes to all, it may reasonably be doubted whether he be more proper for War, as I shall show in the sequel. They report that this Animal knows how to defend his Master, and to set him upon his back again with his Trunk, if he is faln, and to throw his Enemy on the ground. When the King of Siam seiz'd on the Crown, the King his Unkle fled from the Palace on an Elephant, and not on Horseback, altho a Horse seems much properer to fly.

A Guard Ele­phant in the Palace.In the Palace there is always an Elephant on the Guard, that is to say Har­nessed and ready to mount, and no Guard-Horse. Yet some have assur'd me, that the King of Siam disdains not absolutely to ride on Horseback, but that he does it very rarely.

The King of Siam never seen on Foot.In this place of the Palace where the Guard-Elephant stands, there is a little Scaffold, to which the King walks from his Apartment, and from this Scaffold he easily gets upon his Elephant. But if he would be carry'd in a Chair by men, which he sometimes is, he comes to this sort of carriage, at the due heighth of placing himself therein, either by a Window or a Terrace, and by this means neither his Subjects nor Strangers do ever see him on Foot. This Honour is only reserved for his Wives and Eunuchs, when he is lock'd up with­in his Palace.

Their Sedans.Their Chairs or Sedans are not like ours, they are square and flat Seats, more or less elevated, which they place and fix on Biers. Four or eight men (for the Dignity herein consists in the Number) do carry them on their naked Shoulders, one or two to each Staff, and other men relieve these. Sometimes these Seats have a Back and Arms like our Chairs of State, and sometimes they are simply compast, except before, with a small Ballister about half a Foot high; but the Siameses do always place themselves cross-legged. Sometimes these Seats are o­pen, sometimes they have an Imperial; and these Imperials are of several sorts, which I will describe in speaking of the Balons, in the middle of which they do likewise place these Seats, as well as on the backs of Elephants.

The Imperial not very ho­nourable at Si­am, but the Parasol is.As often as I have seen the King of Siam on an Elephant, his Seat was with­out an Imperial, and all open before. At the sides and behind do rise up to the top of his Shoulders three great Foliages, or Feathers gilt, and bent outwards at the Point: but when this Prince stops, a Footman, who stands ten or twelve paces from him, shelters him from the Sun with a very high Umbrella like a Pike, with the Head three or four Foot in Diameter: and this is not a small fatigue, when the Wind blows thereon. This sort of Umbrella, which is only for the King, is called Pat-boouk.

How they get upon an Ele­phant.To return to the riding of the Elephant, those that would guide him them­selves do seat themselves on his Neck, as on a Horse, but without any kind of Saddle; and with a punch of Iron or Silver they prick him on the head, some­times on the right side, sometimes on the left, or exactly in the middle of the Forehead, telling him at the same time whether he must go, and when he must stop; and on the Road in the descents of the ways they advise him to go de­scending, Pat, Pat, that is to say, descend, descend. But if one will not take the pains to guide him, he places himself on his back in a Chair, instead of a Saddle, or without a Chair and on his Hair, if we may so speak of an Animal that has none: And then a Servant, or commonly he that takes care of feeding the Elephant, gets up on his Neck and guides him; and sometimes there is also another man seated on the Crupper. The Siameses do call him that is placed on the Crupper Houa-sip, or the Chief of Ten, because that they suppose out of Pride, that an Elephant has a great number of men to serve him, and that there are ten under the command of the Houa-sip. Him that sits upon the Elephants [Page]

[Page] [Page 41] Neck they do call Nai-Tchang, or Captain of the Elephant, and he commands over all those that are appointed for the service of the Elephant.

But because that in this Country they go more by Water than by Land,The Carriage of the Balons. the King of Siam has very fine Balons. I have already said that the Body of a Balon is composed only of one single Tree, sometimes from sixteen to twenty Fathom in length. Two men sitting cross-leg'd by the side one of another, on a Plank laid across, are sufficient to take up the whole breadth thereof. The one Pagayes at the right, and the other on the left side. Pagayer is to row with the Pagaye, and the Pagaye is a short Oar, which one holds with both hands, by the middle, and at the end. It seems that he can only sweep the water though with force. It is not fixed to the edge of the Balon, and he that manages it, looks where he goes; whereas he that rows, turns his back to his Road.

In a single Balon there are sometimes an hundred,An exact De­scription of a Balon. or an hundred and twenty Pagayeurs, thus ranged two and two with their Legs crossed on Plancks: but the inferior Officers have Balons a great deal shorter, where few Pagayes or Oars, as sixteen, or twenty do suffice. The Pagayeurs or Rowers, do strike the Pagaye in Consort, do sing, or make some measured Noises; and they plunge the Pagaye in a just cadence with a motion of the Arms and Shoulders, which is vigorous, but easy, and graceful. The weight of this Bank of Oars serves as Ballast to the Balon, and keeps it almost even with the water, which is the reason that the Pagayes are very short. And the Impression which the Balon receives from so many men which vigorously plunge the Pagaye at the same time, makes it al­ways totter with a motion which pleases the Eye, and which is observ'd much more at the Poop and Prow; because they are higher, and like to the Neck and Tail of some of Dragon, or some monstrous Fish, of which the Pagayes on ei­ther side shew like the Wings or the Fins. At the Prow one single Pagayeur takes up the first Rank, without having any Comrade at his side. He has not room enough to cross his left Leg with his right, and he is forced to stretch it out over an end of a stick, which proceeds from the side of the Prow. 'Tis this first Pa­gayeur that gives the motion to all the rest. His Pagaye is somewhat longer, by reason that he is posted in that place where the Prow begins to rise, and that he is so much the further from the Water. He plunges the Pagaye once to every measure, and when it is necessary to go swifter he plunges it twice; and lifting up the Pagaye continually, and only for decency with a shout, he throws the water a great way, and the next stroak all the Equipage imitates him. The Pi­lot stands always at the Poop, where it rises exceedingly. The Rudder is a ve­ry long Pagaye, which is not fixed to the Balon, and to which the Steersman seems to give no other Motion, than to keep it truly perpendicular in the wa­ter, and against the edge of the Balon sometimes on the right side, and some­times on the left. The Women Slaves do row the Ladies Balons.

In the Balons of ordinary service, wherein there are fewer Pagayeurs, Several sorts of Balons. there is in the middle a Cabin of Bambou, or other Wood, without Painting or Var­nish, in which a whole Family may be held, and sometimes this Cabin has a lower Pent-house be fore, under which the Slaves are; and many of the Siameses have no other Habitation. But in the Balons of Ceremony, or in those of the King of Siam's body, which the Portuguese have called Balons of State, there is in the middle but one Seat, which takes up almost the whole breadth of the Balon, and wherein there is only one Person and his Arms, the Sabre and Lance. If it is an ordinary Mandarin, he has only a single Umbrella like ours to shelter him­self; if it is a more considerable Mandarin, besides that his Seat is higher, he is covered with what the Portugueses call Chirole, and the Siameses Coup. 'Tis an Arbor all open before and behind, made of Bambous cleft and interlac'd, and co­ver'd within and without with a black or red Varnish. The red Varnish is for the Mandarins at the right hand, the black for those of the left, a distinction which I shall explain in its due place. Besides this the extremities of the Chirole are gilded on the outside the breadth of three or four Inches, and some pretend that 'tis in the fashion of these gildings, which are not plain, but like Embroi­dery, that the Marks of the Mandarins Dignity are. There are also some Chi­roles cover'd with Stuff, but they serve not for many weather. He that commands [Page 42] the Equipage sometimes cudgels, but very rarely, those which row softly and out of measure, places himself cross-leg'd before the Mandarins Seat, on the ex­tremity of the Table, on which the Seat is fixed. But if the King chances to pass by, the Mandarin himself descends upon this Table, and there prostrates himself; his whole Equipage does likewise follow his example, and his Balon stirs not till the King's be out of sight.

The Balons of the Body which are cal­led Balons of State.The Imperials of the Balons of State are all over gilded, as well as the Pagayes: They are supported by Columns, and loaded with several pieces of Sculpture in Pyramids, and some have sheds against the Sun. In the Balon where the King's Person is, there are four Captains or Officers to command the Equipage, two before and two behind they sit cross-leg'd; and this is the Ornament of the Balons.

The Swift­ness of the Ba­lons:Now as these Vessels are very narrow, and very proper to cut the water, and the Equipage thereof numerous, it cannot be imagin'd with what swiftness it carries them, even against the Stream, and how pleasant a sight it is to behold a great number of Balons to row together in good order.

The Ente­rance of the Kings Ambas­sadors into the River.I confess that when the King's Ambassadors entred in the River, the Beauty of the Show surpriz'd me. The River is of an agreeable breadth, and notwith­standing its Maeanders, there is always discover'd a very great extent of its Chan­nel, the Banks whereof are two Hedge-rows continually green. This would be the best Theater in the World for the most sumptuous and magnificent Feasts: but no Magnificence appears like a great number of men devoted to serve you. There were near three Thousand embarkt in seventy or eighty Balons, which made the Train of the Ambassador. They rowed in two ranks, and left the Balon with the King's Ambassadors in the middle. Every one was animated and in motion: All eyes were taken up with the diversity and number of the Balons, and with the pleasantness of the River's Channel; and yet the ears were diverted by a barbarous, but agreeable noise of Songs, Acclamations and In­struments; in the intervals of which the Imagination ceased not to have a sensi­ble taste of the natural silence of the River. In the night there was another sort of Beauty, by reason that every Balon had its Lanthorn; and that a noise which pleases, is much more pleasant in the night.

The ancient Magnificence of the Court of Siam.'Tis asserted at Siam that the Court was formerly very magnificent, that is to say, there was a great number of Lords adorn'd with rich Stuffs, and a great many precious Stones; and always attended with an hundred or two hundred Slaves, and with a considerable number of Elephants: but this is gone ever since the Father of the present King cut off almost all the most considerable, and consequently the most formidable Siameses, as well those who had served him in his Revolt, as those which had opposed him. At present three or four Lords only have permission to use those Chairs or Sedans, which I have spoken of. The Palankin (which is a kind of Bed, that hangs almost to the ground, from a great Bar, which men carry on their Shoulders) is permitted to sick persons, and some diseased old men, for 'tis a Carriage wherein they can only lie along. But though the Siameses may not freely use these sorts of Conveniences, the Eu­ropeans which are at Siam, have more permission herein.

Ʋmbrella's.The use of Ʋmbrella's, in Siamese Roum, is also a Favour which the King of Siam grants not to all his Subjects, although the Umbrella be permitted to all the Europeans. Those which are like to ours, that is to say, which have but one round, is the least honorable, and most of the Mandarins have thereof. Those that have more rounds about the same handle, as if they were several Ʋmbrella's fix'd one upon another, are for the King alone. Those which the Siameses do call Clot, which only have one round, but from which do hang two or three painted Cloaths like so many Hangings, one lower than the other, are those which the King of Siam gives to the Sancrats or Superiors of the Talapoins. Those which he gave to the King's Ambassadors were of this last sort, and with three Cloaths. You may see the figure thereof in that of the Balons of the King's Ambassadors.

The Umbrella of the Tala­poins, and the Origine of the word Talapoin.The Talapoins have Ʋmbrella's in the form of a Screen, which they carry in their hand. They are of a kind of Palmito leaf cut round and folded, and the folds thereof are tyed with a thread near the stem, and the stem which they [Page 43] make crooked like an S is the handle thereof. In Siamese they call them Talapat, and 'tis probable that from hence comes the name of Talapoi or Talapoin, which is in use amongst Foreigners only, and which is unknown to the Talapoins themselves, whose Siamese name is Tchaou-cou.

The Elephant is the carriage of every one that can take one by hunting,The Elephant and Boat per­mitted to all. or purchase one; but the Boat is the more universal carriage: no person can travel without one, by reason of the annual Inundation of the Country.

Whilst the King of Siam is in his Metropolis,When and how the King of Siam shews himself. the ancient custom of his Court requires that he show himself to the people five or six days of the year only, and that he does it with Pomp. Heretofore the Kings his Predecessors did first break up the ground every year, till they left this Function to the Oc-ya-kaou; and it was attended with great Splendor. They also went out another day to perform on the water another Ceremony, which was not less superstitious, nor less splen­did. 'Twas to conjure the River to return into its Channel, when the Agricul­ture requir'd it, and when the Wind inclining to the North assured the return of fair weather. The present King was the first that dispenc'd with this trou­blesom work, and it is several years since it seem'd abolished; because, say they, that the last time he perform'd it, he had the disgrace of being surpriz'd with rain, altho his Astrologers had promised him a fair day.

Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, relates that in his time the King of Siam used to shew himself one day in a year upon his white Elephant, to ride through nine streets of the City, and to extend great Liberalities to the People. This Ceremony, if it has been in use, is now abolished. The King of Siam never mounts the white Elephant, and the reason which they give is, that the white Elephant is as great a Lord as himself, because he has a King's soul like him. Thus this Prince shews himself in his Metropolis no more than twice a year, at the beginning of the sixth and twelfth month, to go and present Alms of Silver, yellow Pagnes—, and fruits to the Talapoins of the Principal Pagods. On these days, which the Sia­meses do call Van pra, a holy, or excellent day, he goes upon an Elephant to the Pa­godes which are in the same City, and by water to another, which is about two leagues from the City down the River. On the days following he sends the like Alms to the less considerable Pagods: but this extends not above two leagues from the Metropolis, or thereabouts. And in the last month of the year 1687, this Prince went no where in person; he contented himself with sending every where.

If therefore the King of Siam shews himself in his Metropolis, 'tis upon some Ceremonies of Religion, At Louvo, The King of Siam lives with less pomp at Louvo than at Sam where it is permitted him to lay aside his Kingship, he frequently goes abroad, either for the hunting of the Tyger and Ele­phant, or to stir himself; he goes with so little Pomp, that when he marches from Louvo to his little house of Thlee-poussone with his Ladies, he gives not any carriage to the women which are of the Company: which is doubtless a respect from these women Slaves to their Mistresses.

Nevertheless he has always in his retinue two or three hundred men as well on foot as on horseback;The King of Siam's Retinue. but what is this in comparison of those Trains of fif­teen and twenty thousand men which the Relations do give him on days of Ce­remony? Before him do march some Footmen with Staves, or with long Truncks to shoot Peas with, to drive all the People out of his way, and especial­ly when the Ladies follow him; and likewise before he goes out the Europeans are therewith acquainted, if there are any lately arrived, to avoid meeting him: As for all the Asiaticks, they very well know this custom, which is the same in all the Courts of Asia. Barros reports, that in the true India, when a Nobleman walks in the Streets he is always preceded by one of his Domesticks, who crys po, po, that is to say, close, close, to the end that all the Ploughmen may dis­perse themselves. Osorius reports, that 'tis the Ploughman that is obliged to cry out, and he subjoyns, that it is for fear lest any Nobleman should touch him unawares, and revenge this Affront by killing him. The Neiras I call Nobles, who alone make profession of Arms, and who think them­selves defiled, when they touch a Ploughman. At Siam and China the principal Magistrates have Officers that go before them, who make the People to stand in Ranks, and who would cudgel those that would not retire, or which would [Page 44] not render to their Master all the other respects which are due unto him, and which in these Countries we found very insupportable. 'Tis no wonder there­fore if the King of China, the Great Mogul, the King of Persia, and the other Asiatick Potentates have thought it consistent with their Dignity, thus to adver­tize the People of their March. Those that do for this purpose precede the King of Siam, are called Conlaban and Coeng. The Conlaban's do keep the right hand, and the Coeng's the left: and we shall see in the List of certain Officers, that Coeng is the Title of the Provost. 'Tis upon the same account, that is to say, to disperse the People from the person of the King of Siam, when he travels, that two Officers of his Horse Guard, of Men and Laos, do march on both sides, but about 50 or 60 paces from him. His Courtizans appear first at the Rende­vouz, or they do sometimes follow on Foot with their hands joyn'd on their Breast. Sometimes they follow on Horseback, sometimes on Elephants, but in this case their Elephants have no Chairs. The Foot and Horse-Guards do likewise follow, but confusedly and without any order; and if this Prince stops, all that follow him on Foot, prostrate themselves on their Knees and Elbows; and those that follow on Horseback, or on Elephants, do entirely bow down themselves on these Animals. Those which are named Schaou-mou, do also follow a Foot: They are the King's Domesticks, which are not Slaves. Some do carry his Arms, and others his Boxes with Betel and A­rek.

The singular Respect of the Siameses for their King.When this Prince gave to the King's Ambassadors the diversion of taking an Elephant, twelve Lords cloath'd in Scarlet, and with their red Caps, arrived be­fore the King at the place of the Show, and seated themselves cross-leg'd on the ground before the place, where the King their Master was to stand. They were turn'd toward the place of the Show; but so soon as they heard the Noise of this Prince's March, they prostrated themselves on their Knees and Elbows to­wards the place from whence the sound came, and as the Noise approached they turned themselves by little and little towards the Noise, and still remained prostrate: So that when the King their Master was come they were prostrate before him, and their back was turned to the Show; and whilst the Show con­tinued they made not any motion, and exprest not any sign of Curiosity. But my Discourse insensibly leads me to speak of the Shows and other Diversions of the Siameses,

CHAP. VI. Concerning the Shows, and other Diversions of the Siameses.

The way of catching a wild Ele­phant.THE place, where the Elephant is that they would take, is as it were a very broad and very long Trench: I say, as it were a Trench, because it is not made by digging, but by raising the Earth almost perpendicular on each side, and it is upon these Terrasses that the Spectators stand. In the bottom, which is between these Terrasses, is a double row of Trunks of Trees above ten Foot high, planted in the Earth, big enough to resist the Attacks of the Ele­phant, and far enough from one another to let a Man pass between, but too close to let an Elephant pass through. 'Tis between these two rows of Trunks, that the tame Female Elephants, which they had led into the Woods, had en­ticed a wild Male Elephant. Those which guide them thither, do cover them­selves with Leaves, to avoid frighting the Elephants of the Woods, and the Female Elephants have understanding enough, to make the Cries proper to call the Males. He was already intrap'd in the double row of Trunks, by follow­ing the Females, and could no more return into the Woods; but the design was to take him and tie him, to shut him up and tame him. The Egress from the space wherein he was, is a strait Cortina, composed also of great Trunks of [Page 45] Trees. So soon as the Elephant is enter'd into this Cortine, the Gate through which he enters, and which he opens by thrusting it before him with his Pro­boscis, shuts again with its own weight: the other Gate through which he must pass is shut; and besides the space is so narrow, that he cannot turn himself therein. The difficulty was to engage the wild Elephant in this Cortine, and to engage him single; for the Females were still with him in the Trench, and he did not separate from them. Several Siameses who stood behind the Palli­sado's of the Trunks, and the Foot of the Terrasses, where the Elephant could not come at them, enter'd every where between the Trunks into the space, where the Elephant was, to vex him; and when the Elephant pursued one of them, he fled very swiftly behind the Pallisado's, between which the enraged Elephant vainly thrust his Proboscis, and against which he broke the end of one of his Teeth. Whilst he thus pursued after those which provoked him, others laid long Nooses for him. One of the ends of which they kept; and they threw them at him with so much dexterity, that the Elephant in running never fail'd to put one of his hind-feet therein: so that by diligently putting the end of the Noose, they clos'd and fasten'd it a little above the Elephant's foot, These Nooses were of great Ropes, one of the ends of which was put into the other like a Slip-knot, and the Elephant dragged three or four of them at each hind-foot. For as soon as the Noose is once knit, he lets go the end thereof, to avoid being drag'd himself by the Elephant. The more he is exasperated, the less he associates with the Females; and yet to make them quit this space, a Man mounted on another Female enter'd therein, and went back again seve­ral times through the Cortine, and this Female which he mounted, called the others, by a dry blow, which she struck against the ground with her Proboscis. She darted it perpendicularly downwards, yet avoiding to strike altogether with the end, which she kept bended upwards. And when she had repeated this Call twice or thrice, he that rid her, made her to return back again through the Cortine. In fine, after he had perform'd this Trick five or six times with this Female, the other Female follow'd her, and soon after the Elephant return'd to himself, because they forbore to vex him, resolv'd to go after them. He push'd open the first door of the Cortine with his Proboscis, and so soon as he was en­ter'd, they threw several Buckets of water on his Body to refresh him, and with an incredible swiftness and dexterity they ty'd him to the Trunks of the Cor­tine with the Nooses, which were already at his feet. Then they made a tame Elephant to enter backwards into the Cortine, to whose Neck they also ty'd the savage Elephant by the Neck, and at the same time unloos'd him from the Trunks; and two other tame Elephants being likewise led to the Succor, all the three, the one on one side, the other on the other, and the third behind, do conduct the wild Elephant under a Pent-house near adjoining, where they fasten and tie him close by the Neck to a Pivot planted upright, which he made to turn as he turn'd round. They said that he need remain at this Pivot but 24 hours, and that in this space of time they would lead some tame Elephants to him to keep him company, and comfort him: that after 24 hours they would carry him into the Stable appointed for him; and that in eight days he would bethink himself, and submit to Slavery.

They speak of an Elephant as of a Man;What the Sia­meses do think of the Ele­phants. they believe him perfectly ratio­nal, and they relate such rational things of him, that he only wants Speech. This is one, for Example, to which you may give what Credit you please. Some have related to us for a known Truth, that a Man having crack'd a Coco on the head of an Elephant which he rode, and using for this purpose the back of that kind of Punch, with which I have said that they guide the Elephants, this Elephant took up a resolution of revenging himself as soon as he could. He gather'd up with his Proboscis, as they say, one of the Shells of the Coco, and kept it several days, never letting it go but to eat, during which he kept it carefully between his two fore-feet. In fine, he that had affronted him, approaching him to give him food, the Elephant seiz'd him, trampled him under his feet, and slew him, and for his Justification laid the Coco-Shell on the dead Body. 'Tis in these terms that the Relation was made to us: for the Siameses do think that [Page 46] Elephants are capable of Justice, and of profiting by the punishments one of another; and they alledge that in War, for Instance, when these Animals muti­ny, it is needful only to kill one on the spot, to render all the others wise. But these Relations, and several others, which I have forgot, do seem very fabulous; and not to digress from the Example, which I have mentioned, it is, in my opi­nion, very evident, that if the offended Elephant had consulted reason, he would not have waited another opportunity of revenge, but would have wreak'd his vengeance on the spot; seeing that every Elephant can with his Proboscis throw off the Rider, and having thrown him on the ground, trample him under foot, and kill him.

How the Sia­meses took leave of the three Ele­phants, which the King of Siam sent into France.As for my self, during the time I was at Siam, I saw no marvellous Act per­form'd by any of these Animals, tho' I am persuaded that they are more docible than others. They embarked three young ones, which the King of Siam sent to the three Princes the Grandsons of France. The Siameses which brought them on Board our Ships to embark them, took leave of them, as they would have done of three of their Companions, and whisper'd them in their Ears, say­ing, Go; depart chearfully, you will be Slaves indeed, but you will be so to three the greatest Princes of the World, whose Service is as moderate at it is glorious. They afterwards hoisted them into the Ships, and because they bow'd down themselves to go under the Decks, they cry'd out with admiration, as if all Animals did not as much to pass under low places.

The Elephant is very dange­rous when he is enraged.One day at Louvo an Elephant tore in pieces in the Street the Brother of a young Mandarin, who was with the King's Ambassadors, as Mr. Torph had been with the Ambassadors of Siam. They said indeed that the Elephant was enra­ged, but this Rage was not of a Beast more reasonable, but only more cruel than the rest. Thus to render the Elephants of War more tame, they are ac­company'd with Females, when they are led out to water and wash themselves, and I know not whether without this Train it could ever be accomplish'd. The Siameses report, that the Elephants are sensible of Grandeur; that they love to have a great House, that is to say, several Grooms for their service, and some Females for their Mistresses, (with whom nevertheless it is said that the Ele­phants desire familiarity only in the Woods, so long as they are savage, and at full liberty:) that without this state, they afflict themselves at the little regard had for them; and that when they commit any great Fault, the severest punish­ment that can be inflicted on them, is to retrench their House, to take away their Females, to remove them from the Palace, and to send them into Stables abroad. They say that an Elephant having been punish'd after this manner, and being set at liberty, returns to his Lodge at the Palace, and kills the Elephant which was put in his place; which seems neither incredible nor strange, provi­ded the way be free and open: for every Animal loves his usual Lodging, and according as he is more or less Couragious, he will use more or less Violence to drive out another Animal.

A Fight of Elephants.To return to the Diversions of the Court of Siam, we saw a Fight of two Elephants of War. They were retained by the hind-feet with Cables, which several Siameses held, and which besides this were fasten'd to Capstains. The Elephants could hardly cross their Trunks in the Fight, two Men were mounted on each of them to animate them; but after five or six Attacks the Combat ended, and they brought in the Females, who parted them. At the great Mogul's Palace, the Elephants are permitted to approach nearer, and these Animals endeavor to beat off each other's Rider, and frequently they knock him down and kill him. At Siam they neither expose the Life of Men nor Beasts, by way of Sport or Exercise.

Cock-fight­ing.They love Cock-Fighting. The most Couragious are not always the biggest, but those which are naturally the best armed, that is to say, those which have the best Spurs. If a Cock falls, they give him drink; by reason that they ex­perimentally know that it is oftentimes only an effect of Thirst, and indeed he generally renews the Fight after quenching his Thirst. But as it almost always cost the life of one of the Cocks, the King of Siam prohibited these sort of Duels; because the Talapoins cry'd, and said, That the Owners of the Cocks would [Page 47] for their punishment be bastinado'd in the other World with Bars of Iron. I forbore going to a Fight of an Elephant and a Tyger, because the King of Siam would not be there, and that I knew they would not permit to these Animals the li­berty of using all their Courage. Some inform'd me that the Tyger had been very Cowardly, and that the Show had succeeded ill. The hunting of Ele­phants perform'd by an enclosure of Fires in the Woods, has been described by others: the King of Siam went not to that which was perform'd whil'st the King's Ambassadors were at his Court, neither were they invited; but the other Diversions which were exhibited to them all at once, and in a vast Court, were these.

The one was a Chinese Comedy,A Chinese Comedy. which I would willingly have seen to the end, but it was adjourned, after some Scenes, to go to Dinner. The Chinese Comedians, whom the Siameses do love without understanding them, do speak in the Throat. All their words are Monosyllables, and I heard them not pro­nounce one single one, but with a new breath: some would say that it throttles them. Their Habit was such as the Relations of China describe it, almost like that of the Carthusians, being clasp'd on the side by three or four Buckles, which reach from the Arm-pit to the Hip, with great square Placards before and be­hind, whereon were painted Dragons, and with a Girdle three Fingers broad; on which, at equal distances, were little squares, and small rounds either of Tor­toise-Shell or Horn, or of some sort of Wood: And these Girdles being loose, they were run into a Buckle on each side to sustain them. One of the Actors who represented a Magistrate, walk'd so gravely, that he first trod upon his Heel, and then successively and slowly upon the Sole and Toes; and as he rested on the Sole, he rais'd the Heel; and when he rested on his Toes, the Sole touch'd the ground no more. On the contrary, another Actor, walking like a Madman, threw his Feet and Arms in several extravagant Postures, and after a threatning manner, but much more excessive, than the whole Action of our Captains or Matamores. He was the General of an Army; and if the Rela­tions of China are true, this Actor naturally represented the Affectations com­mon to the Soldiers of his Country. The Theater had a Cloth on the bot­tom, and nothing on the sides, like the Stages of our Rope-dancers and Jack-puddings.

The Puppets are mute at Siam, Puppets. and those which come from the Country of Laos are much more esteemed than the Siamese. Neither the one nor the other have any thing, which is not very common in this Country.

But the Siamese Tumblers are excellent,Rope-dancers, and other sorts of excel­lent Tumblers. and the Court of Siam gives the di­version thereof to the King, when he arrives at Louvo. Aelian reports, that Alexander had some Indian Rope-dancers at his Wedding, and that they were esteem'd more nimble than those of other Nations. These are their Actions, which it is necessary to confess I did not closely and carefully consider, because I was more attentive to the Chinese Comedy, than to all the other Shows, which were at the same time exhibited to us. They plant a Bambou in the ground, and to the end of this they join another, and to the end of this second a third, and to the end of the third a Hoop: so that this makes as it were the wood of a round Racket, the Handle of which would be very long. A Man holding the two sides of the Hoop with his two Hands, puts his Head upon the inferior and inward part of the Hoop, raises his Body and his Feet on high, and continues in this posture an hour, and sometimes an hour and half: then he will put a Foot where he had plac'd his Head, and without standing otherwise, and without fixing the other Foot, he will dance after their manner, that is to say, without raising himself, but only by making Contorsions: And what renders all this more perilous and difficult, is the continual wavering of the Bambou. A Bambou dancer of this sort, they call Lot Bouang; Lot signifies to pass, and Bouang a Hoop.

There dyed one, some Years since, who leap'd from the Hoop,A Tumbler exceedingly honour'd by the King of Siam. supporting himself only by two Ʋmbrella's, the hands of which were firmly fix'd to his Girdle: the Wind carry'd him accidentally sometimes to the Ground, sometimes on Trees or Houses, and sometimes into the River. He so exceedingly diverted [Page 48] the King of Siam, that this Prince had made him a great Lord: he had lodged him in the Palace, and had given him a great Title; or, as they say, a great Name. Others do walk and dance, after the mode of the Country, without raising themselves; but with Contorsions on a Copper-wire as big as the little Finger, and stretch'd after the same manner as our Rope-dancers do stretch their Rope: And they say, that the more the Wire is stretched, the more difficult it is to stand, by reason it gives a greater spring, and is so much the more uncer­tain. But what they account most difficult, is to get upon this Wire by the part of that same Wire which is fasten'd to the ground, and to descend thence by one of the Bambou's, which are plac'd like a St. Andrew's Cross to support it: as also to sit on the Wire cross-leg'd, to hold there one of those Bands, which serves them as a Table to eat on it, and to raise themselves on their Feet. They cease not likewise to ascend and dance upon an extended Rope, but without a Counterpoise, and with Babouches or Slippers on their Feet, and with Sabres, and Buckets of water fasten'd to their Legs. There are such who plant a very high Ladder in the ground, the two sides of which are of Bambou's, and the steps of Sabres, the edges of which are turned upwards. He goes to the top of this Ladder, and stands, and dances without any support on the edge of the Sa­bre, which makes the last step thereof; whilst the Ladder has more motion than a Tree shaken by the wind: then he descends Head foremost, and passes nim­bly, winding between all the Sabres. I saw him descend, but observed not when he was on the highest Sabre; and I went not to examine whether the Steps were Sabres: not reckoning that the Sabres could be keen, except perhaps the lowest, because they are most expos'd to view. I omit the rest of this matter, as little important, and because I have not sufficiently observ'd it to support it with my Testimony.

Tame Ser­pents.The Emperor Galba being in his Praetorship, exhibited to the Roman People the sight of some Elephants dancing upon Ropes. The Elephants of Siam are not so experienc'd, and the only Animals that I know the Siameses instruct, are great Serpents, which, they say, are very dangerous. These Animals do move themselves at the sound of the Instruments, as if they would dance. But this passes for Magic, because that always in that Country, as oftentimes in this, those who have some extraordinary Artifice, do pretend that it consists in some mysterious words.

Religious Shows: An Illumination on the Wa­ters, and ano­ther on the Land, and in the Palace.The Siameses have also some Religious Shows. When the Waters begin to retreat, the People returns them Thanks for several Nights together with a great Illumination; not only for that they are retired, but for the Fertility which they render to the Lands. The whole River is then seen cover'd with floating Lanthorns, which pass with it. There are of different Sizes, according to the Devotion of every particular Person; the variously painted Paper, whereof they are made, augments the agreeable effect of so many Lights. Moreover, to thank the Earth for the Harvest, they do on the first days of their Year make another magnificent Illumination. The first time we arriv'd at Louvo was in the Night, and at the time of this Illumination; and we saw the Walls of the City adorned with lighted Lanthorns at equal distances; but the inside of the Palace was much more pleasant to behold. In the Walls which do make the Inclosures of the Courts, there were contrived three rows of small Niches all round, in every of which burnt a Lamp. The Windows and Doors were like­wise all adorn'd with several Fires, and several great and small Lanthorns, of dif­ferent Figures, garnished with Paper, or Canvas, and differently painted, were hung up with an agreeable Symmetry on the Branches of Trees, or on Posts.

Excellent Ar­tificial Fire-works.I saw no Fire-works, in which nevertheless the Chineses of Siam do excel, and they made some very curious during our residence at Siam and Louvo. At China there is also made a solemn Illumination at the beginning of their Year, and at another time another great Festival on the Water without any Illumina­tion. The Chineses agree not in the Reasons they give thereof, but they give none upon the account of Religion, and those which they give are puerile and fabulous.

[Page 49]We must not omit the Paper-Kite, in Siamese Vao, A Paper-Kite. the Amusement of all the Courts of the Indies in Winter. I know not whether it be a piece of Reli­gion, or not; but the great Mogul, who is a Mahometan, and not an Idolater, delights himself also therein. Sometimes they fasten Fire thereunto, which in the Air appears like a Planet. And sometimes they do there put a piece of Gold, which is for him that finds the Kite, in case the String breaks, or that the Kite falls so far distant, that it cannot be drawn back again. That of the King of Siam is in the Air every Night for the two Winter-months, and some Man­darins are nominated to ease one another in holding the String.

The Siameses have three sorts of Stage-Plays.Three sorts of Stage-Plays amongst the Siameses. That which they call Cone is a Figure-dance, to the Sound of the Violin, and some other Instruments. The Dancers are masqued and armed, and represent rather a Combat than a Dance: And tho' every one runs into high Motions, and extravagant Postures, they ceasse not continually to intermix some word. Most of their Masks are hideous, and represent either monstrous Beasts, or kinds of Devils. The Show which they call Lacone, is a Poem intermixt with Epic and Dramatic, which lasts three days, from eight in the Morning till seven at Night. They are Histories in Verse, serious, and sung by several Actors always present, and which do on­ly sing reciprocally. One of them sings the Historian's part, and the rest those of the Personages which the History makes to speak; but they are all Men that sing, and no Women. The Rabam is a double Dance of Men and Women, which is not Martial, but Gallant; and they presented unto us the Diversion thereof with the others, which I have before mentioned. These Dancers, both Men and Women, have all false Nails, and very long ones, of Copper: They sing some words in their dancing, and they can perform it with­out much tyring themselves, because their way of dancing is a simple march round, very slow, and without any high motion; but with a great many slow Contorsions of the Body and Arms, so they hold not one another. Mean while two Men entertain the Spectators with several Fooleries, which the one utters in the name of all the Men-dancers, and the other in the name of all the Women-dancers. All these Actors have nothing singular in their Habits: on­ly those that dance in the Rabam, and Cone, have gilded Paper-Bonnets, high and pointed, like the Mandarins Caps of Ceremony, but which hang down at the sides below their Ears, and which are adorned with counterfeit Stones, and with two Pendants of gilded wood. The Cone and the Rabam are always call'd at Funerals, and sometimes on other occasions; and 'tis probable that these Shows contain nothing Religious, since the Talapoins are prohibited to be present there­at. The Lacone serves principally to solemnize the Feast of the Dedication of a new Temple, when a new Statue of their Sommona-Codam is plac'd therein.

This Festival is likewise accompany'd with races of Oxen,Wrestling and Boxing. and several other Diversions, as of Wrestlers, and Men that fight with their Elbow and Fist. In Boxing, they guard their Hand with three or four rounds of Cord instead of the Copper Rings, which those of Laos do use in such Combats.

The Running of Oxen is perform'd in this manner.A Race of Oxen. They mark out a Plat of 500 Fathom in length, and two in breadth, with four Trunks, which are planted at the four Corners, to serve as Boundaries; and it is round these Li­mits that the Coutse is run. In the middle of this place they erect a Scaffold for the Judges: and the more precisely to mark out the middle, which is the place from whence the Oxen were to start, they do plant a very high Post against the Scaffold. Sometimes 'tis only a single Ox which runs against ano­ther, the one and the other being guided by two Men running a foot, which do hold the Reins, or rather the String put into their Noses, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and other Men are posted at certain di­stances, to ease those which run. But most frequently it is a Yoke of Oxen fasten'd to a Plough, which runs against another Yoke of Oxen joined to ano­ther Plough; some Men guide them on the right side and on the left, as when it is only a single Ox which runs against another: But besides this, it is necessary that each Plough be so well sustained in the Air by a Man running, that it never touch the ground, for fear it retard the Animals that draw it; and these Men which thus support the Ploughs, are more frequently reliev'd than the others. [Page 50] Now tho' the Ploughs run both after the same manner, turning always to the right round the space which I have described, they set not out from the same place. The one starts at one side of the Scaffold, and the other at the other, to run reciprocally one after the other. Thus at the beginning of their Course they look from opposite places, and they are distant one from the other half a Circle, or half the space over which they were to run. Yet they run after the same manner, as I have said, turning several times round the four Boundaries, which I have mentioned, till the one overtakes the other. The Spectators are nevertheless all round, yet is it not necessary to have Bars to hinder from ap­proaching too near. These Courses are sometimes the subjects of Bettings, and the Lords do breed and train up small, but well-proportion'd Oxen for this Ex­ercise; and instead of Oxen, they do likewise make use of Buffalo's.

A Race of Balons.I know not whether I ought to rank amongst the Shows, the Diversion which was given us of a Race of Balons; for in respect of the Siameses it is ra­ther a Sport, than a Show. They chuse two Balons the most equal in all things as is possible, and they divide themselves into two Parties to bett. Then the Captains do beat a precipitate measure, not only by knocking with the end of a long Bambou which they have in their hands, but by their Cryes, and the Agitation of their whole Body. The Crew of Rowers excites itself also by several redoubled Acclamations, and the Spectator which betts, hollows also, and is in no less motion than if he really rowed. Oftentimes they commit not to the Captains the care of animating the Rowers, but two of the Bettors do execute this Office themselves.

The excessive love of Ga­ming.The Siameses love Gaming to such an Excess as to ruine themselves, and lose their Liberty, or that of their Children: for in this Country, whoever has not wherewith to satisfy his Creditor, sells his Children to discharge the Debt; and if this satisfies not, he himself becomes a Slave. The Play which they love best, is Tick-Tack, which they call Saca, and which they have learnt perhaps from the Portuguese; for they play it like them and us. They play not at Cards, and their other hazardous Sports I know not; but they play at Chesse after our and the Chinese way. At the end of this Work I will insert the Game of Chesse of the Chineses.

The Siameses love to smoke Tobacco. Tobacco-Smoke (for they take none in Snush) is also one of their greatest pleasures, and the Women, even the most considerable, are entirely addicted thereunto. They have Tobacco from Manille, China, and Siam; and tho' these sorts of Tobacco are very strong, the Siameses do smoke it without any weak­ning it; but the Chineses and Moors do draw the Smoke through water, to di­minish the strength thereof. The method of the Chineses is, to take a little wa­ter into their mouth, and then proceed to fill their mouth with Tobacco-Smoke, and afterwards they spit out the water and the Smoke at the same time. The Moors make use of a singular Instrument, the Description and Figure of which you will find at the end of this Work.

The common life of a Sia­mese.Such are the Diversions of the Siameses, to which may be added the Domestic. They love their Wives and Children exceedingly, and it appears that they are greatly beloved by them. Whilst the Men acquit themselves of the six months work, which they every one yearly owe to the Prince, it belongs to their Wife, their Mother, or their Children to maintain them. And when they have satisfy'd the Service of their King, and they are return'd home, the generality know not unto what business to apply themselves, being little accustomed to any particu­lar Profession; by reason the Prince employs them indifferently to all, as it plea­seth him. Hence it may be judged how lazy the ordinary life of a Siamese is. He works not at all, when he works not for his King: he walks not abroad; he hunts not: he does nothing almost but continue sitting or lying, eating, playing, smoking and sleeping. His Wife will wake him at 7 a clock in the morning, and will serve him with Rice and Fish: He will fall asleep again hereupon; and at Noon he will eat again, and will sup at the end of the day. Between these two last Meals will be his day; Conversation or Play will spend all the rest. The Women plough the Land, they sell and buy in the Cities. But it is time to speak of the Affairs and serious Occupations of the Siameses, that is to say of their Mar­riages, of the Education they give to their Children, of the Studies and Profes­sions to which they apply themselves.

CHAP. VII. Concerning the Marriage and Divorce of the Siameses.

'TIs not the Custom in this Country to permit unto Maids the Conversation of young men. The Mothers chastise them, when they surprize them so:The care they have of keep­ing their Daughters. but the Girls forbear not to get out, when they can; and this is not impossible towards the Evening.

They are capable of having children at twelve years of Age,At what Age they marry them. and sometimes sooner; and the greatest part have none past forty. The Custom is therefore to marry them very young, and the Boys in proportion. Yet there is found some Siameses. who disdain Marriage all their life, but there is not any that can turn Talapoinesse, that is to say, consecrate her self to a Religious life, who is not ad­vanc'd in years.

When a Marriage is design'd,How a Sia­mese seeks a Maid in Mar­riage, and how their Marriage is concluded. the Parents of the young man demand the Maid of her Parents, by women advanced in years and of good Reputation. If the Parents of the Maid have any inclination thereunto, they return a favourable Answer. Nevertheless they reserve unto themselves the liberty of consulting first the mind of their Daughter; and at the same time they take the hour of the young mans Nativity, and give that of the Birth of the Maid: and both sides go to the Southsayers to know principally whether the Party proposed is rich, and whether the Marriage will continue till death without a divorce. As every one carefully conceals his riches, to secure them from the oppression of the Ma­gistrate, and the Covetuousness of the Prince, it is necessaty that they go to the Southsayer, to know whether a Family is rich, and it is upon the advice of the Southsayers that they take their Resolution. If the Marriage must be concluded, the young man goes to visit the Lady three times, and carries her some presents of Betel and Fruit, and nothing more precious. At the third Visit the Relations on both sides appear there likewise, and they count the Portion of the Bride, and what is given to the Bridegroom to whom the whole is delivered upon the spot, and in presence of the Relations, but without any writing. The new married couple do also commonly receive on this occasion some presents from their Uncles: and from that time, and without any Religious Ceremony, the Bridegroom has a right to consummate the Marriage. The Talapoins are pro­hibited to be present thereat. Only some days after they go to the house of the New Married folks to sprinkle some Holy-water, and to repeat some Prayers in the Baly-Tongue.

The Wedding as in all other places, is attended with Feasts and shows.The Nuptial Feast. They do hire and invite profest Dancers thereunto; but neither the Bridegroom, nor the Bride, nor any of the Guests do dance. The Feast is made at the house of the Brides Relations, where the Bridegroom takes care to build an Hall on pur­pose, which stands alone: And from thence the new married persons are con­ducted into another single Building, built also on purpose, at the expence and care of the Bridegroom, in the Inclosure of Bambou, which makes the Inclosure of the House of the Brides Relations. The new married persons continue there some Months, and then go to settle where it pleases them best to build an House for themselves. A singular Ornament for the Daughters of the Mandarins which are married, is to put on their head that Circle of Gold, which the Mandarins put on their Bonnet of Ceremony. Next to this the decking consists in having finer Pagnes then ordinary, more excellent Pendants, and more curious Rings on their Fingers, and in greater quantity. Some there are who report that the pretended father-in-Law, before the conclusion of the Marriage of his Daughter with his Son-in-Law, keeps him six Months in his house, to know him better. Some absolutely deny that this is true. And all that, in my opi­nion, may have given occasion to the report, is that it belongs to the Bride­groom to build the Wedding Room, and House, which he is to have at his Fa­ther-in-Law's, [Page 52] during which, that is to say for two or three days at most, his fu­ture Spouse brings him Food, without dreading the Consequences thereof, be­cause the Marriage is already concluded, altho' the Feast be deferred.

The Riches of the Mar­riages at Siam.The greatest Portion at Siam is an hundred Catis, which do make 15000 Livres; and because it is common that the Bridegroom's Estate equals the Por­tion of the Bride, it follows that at Siam the greatest Fortune of two new mar­ried Persons exceeds not 10000 Crowns.

Of Plurality of Wives.The Siameses may have several Wives, tho' they think it would be best to have but one; and it is only the Rich that affect to have more, and that more out of Pomp and Grandeur, than out of Debauchery.

A considera­ble distinction between them.When they have several Wives, there is always one that is the chief: they call her the great Wife. The others, which they call the lesser Wives, are indeed legitimate, I mean permitted by the Laws, but they are subject to the Principal. They are only purchas'd Wives, and consequently Slaves; so that the Children of the little Wives do call their Father Po Tchaou, that is to say Fa­ther Lord, whereas the Children of the principal Wife do call him simply Po, or Father.

The degrees of Alliance prohibited, and how the Kings of Siam dispense with this Article.Marriage in the first degrees of Kindred is prohibited them, yet they may marry their Cousin-German. And as to the degrees of Alliance, a Man may marry two Sisters one after the other, and not at the same time. Nevertheless the Kings of Siam do dispense with these Rules, and do think it hardly possible to find a Wife worthy of them, but in persons that are nearly related to them. The present King married his Sister, and by this Marriage was born the Prin­cess his only Daughter, whom it is said he has married. I could not find out the truth, but this is the common Report: And I think it probable, in that her House is erected as unto a Queen; and the Europeans who have call'd her the Princess-Queen, have made the same judgment thereof with me. The Relations inform us, that in other places as well as at Siam, there are some Ex­amples of these Marriages of the Brother with the Sister; and it is certain that they have been anciently frequent amongst a great many Pagan Nations, at least in the Royal Families: either to the end that the Daughter might suc­ceed to the Crown with the Son, or out of the fear I have mention'd, that these Kings have had of misplacing their Alliances,Thus Jupiter had married his Sister. if they married not their own Sisters. For as to what others add, that it is to the end that the People may not doubt of having a Soveraign of the Royal Blood, at least by his Mother, I find no probability therein as to the East, where the People are so little wedded to the Blood of their Kings, and where the Kings do think to assure themselves of the Fidelity of their Wives, by keeping them very closely.

The Laws of Succession for Widows and Children.The Succession in particular Families is all for the great Wife, and then for her Children, who inherit from their Parents by equal Portions. The little Wives and their Children may be sold by the Heir; and they have only what the Heir gives them, or what the Father before his death has given them from hand to hand, for the Siameses know not the use of Wills. The Daughters born of the little Wives, are sold to be themselves little Wives; and the most powerful purchasing the handsomest, without having any regard to the Parents from whom they descend, do after this manner make very unequal Alliances: and those with whom they make them, do not thereby acquire any more Honour or Protection.

Wherein con­sists the For­tune of a Sia­mese.The Estate of the Siameses consist chiefly in Moveables. If they have Lands, they have not much, by reason they cannot obtain the full Property thereof: It belongs always to their King, who at his pleasure takes away the Lands which he has sold to particular persons, and who frequently takes them again without returning the value. Nevertheless the Law of the Country is, that Lands should be hereditary in Families, and that particular persons may sell them one to another: But this Prince has regard only to this Law, as far as it suits him, be­cause it cannot prejudice his Demesnes, which generally extend over all that his Subjects possess. This is the Reason that they get as few Immoveables as they can, and that they always endeavor to conceal their Moveables from the know­ledge of their Kings: and because that Diamonds are Moveables the most easie [Page 53] to hide and transport, they are mightily sought after at Siam, and in all India, and they sell them very dear. Sometimes the Indian Lords do at their death give part of their Estate to the King their Master, to secure the rest to their Family, and this generally succeeds.

The Families are almost all happy at Siam, A Divorce. as may be judged by the Fidelity of the Wives in nourishing their Husband, whilst he serves the King: A Ser­vice which by a kind of Oppression lasts not only six Months in a Year, but sometimes one, two, and three Years together. But when the Husband and Wife cannot support one another, they have the remedy of Divorce. 'Tis true that it is in practice only amongst the Populace; the Rich who have several Wives, do equally keep those they love not, and those they love.

The Husband is naturally the Master of the Divorce,What are the Laws thereof. but he never refuseth it to his Wife, when she absolutely desires it. He restores her Portion to her, and their Children are divided amongst them in this manner. The Mother has the first, the third, the fifth, and so all the odd ones. The Father has the second, fourth, sixth, and all the even ones. Hence it happens, that if there is no more than one Child, it is for the Mother; and that if the number of Children is unequal, the Mother has one more: whether that they judge the Mother would take more care thereof, than the Father; or that having born them in her womb, or nourished them with her milk, she seems to have a greater Right therein, than the Father; or that being weaker, she has more need of the suc­cor of her Children than he.

After the Divorce,And the Con­sequences. it is lawful for the Husband and Wife to marry again with whom they please; and it is free for the Woman to do it in the very day of the Divorce, they not troubling themselves with the Doubt that may thence arise touching the Father of the first Child, that may be born after the second Marriage. They rely on what the Wife says thereof; a great sign of the little Jealousie of this People. But tho' the Divorce be permitted them, yet they consider it as a very great Evil, and as the almost certain Ruine of the Chil­dren, which are ordinarily very ill treated in the second Marriages of their Pa­rents. So that this is one of the Causes assigned why the Country is not popu­lous; altho' the Siameses are fruitful, and do very frequently bring Twins.

The power of the Husband is despotical in his Family,Of the Pater­nal Power. even to the selling his Children and Wives, his principal Wife excepted, whom he can only repu­diate. The Widows inherit the power of their Husbands, with this restriction, that they cannot sell the Children which they have of the even number, if the Father's Relations oppose it; for the Children dare not. After the Divorce, the Father and Mother may each sell the Children which fell to them by lot, according to the Division I have mentioned. But the Parents cannot kill their Children, nor the Husband his Wives, by reason that in general all Murder is prohibited at Siam.

The Love of free persons is not ignominious, at least amongst the Populace:Amorous Con­versations. It is there look'd upon as a Marriage, and Incontinency as a Divorce. Never­theless the Parents do carefully watch their Daughters, as I have said; and Children are no where permitted to dispose of themselves to the prejudice of the paternal Power, which is the most natural of all Laws. Moreover, the Siameses are naturally too proud easily to give themselves to Foreigners, or at least to invite them. The Peguins which are at Siam, as being Strangers them­selves, do more highly esteem of Foreigners; and do pass for debauched per­sons in the minds of those who understand not that they seek a Husband. Thus they continue faithful until they are abandon'd; and if they prove big with Child, they are not less esteem'd amongst those of their Nation, and they do even glory in having had a white Man for a Husband. It may be also that they are of a more amorous Complexion than the Siameses; they have at least more spirit and briskness. 'Tis an established opinion in the Indies, that the people have more or less vigor and spirit, according as they are nearer, or remoter from Pegu.

CHAP. VIII. Of the Education of the Siamese Children, and first of their Civility.

The love of the Siamese Children for their Parents.THE Siamese Children have docility and sweetness, provided they be not discountenanc'd. Their Parents know how to make themselves extream­ly beloved and respected, and to inspire an extream Civility in them. Their Instructions are marvellously assisted by the Despotic Power, which I have said they have in their Family; but the Parents do also answer unto the Prince for the Faults of their Children. They share in their Chastisements, and more especially are obliged to deliver them up when they have offended. And tho' the Son be fled, he never fails to return and surrender himself, when the Prince apprehends his Father, or his Mother, or his other collateral Relations, but older than himself, and to whom he owes Respect: And this is a great proof of the love of the Siamese Children to their Parents.

Civility neces­sary to the Siameses.As to Civility, it is so great throughout the East, even amongst Strangers, that an European who has liv'd there a long time, finds much difficulty to re-ac­custom himself to the Familiarities of these Countries. The Indian Princes being very much given to Traffic, they love to invite Strangers amongst them, and they protect them even against their own Subjects. And hence it is that the Siameses do for Example appear savage, and that they eschew the Conversa­tion of Strangers. They know that they are thought always to be in the wrong, and that they are always punish'd in the Quarrels they have with them. The Siameses do therefore educate their Children in an extream Modesty, by reason that it is necessary in Trade, and much more in the Service, which for six Months in the Year they render unto the King, or to the Mandarins by order of their King.

Their Inclina­tion to Si­lence.Silence is not greater amongst the Carthusians, than it is in the Palace of this Prince; the Lords dispense not therewith more than others. The sole desire of speaking, never excites the Siameses to say any thing that may displease. 'Tis necessary that they be thoroughly convinced that you would know the truth of any thing, to embolden them to declare it against your opinion. They do in nothing affect to appear better instructed than you, not in the things of their own Country, altho' you be a Stranger.

The Raillery amongst them.They appear'd to me very far from all sort of Raillery, by reason they under­stand not any, perhaps thro' the fault of the Interpreters. 'Tis principally in matter of Raillery, that this ancient Proverb of the Indians is verified, That things best weighed, when delivered by an Interpreter, are as a pure Spring which runs thro' mud. Most safe it is to droll little with Strangers, even with those that un­derstand our Language; because that Railleries are the last thing that they un­derstand, and that it is easie to offend them with a Raillery which they under­stand not. I doubt not therefore that the Siameses know how to jest wittily one with another. Some have assur'd me, that they do it frequently amongst Equals, and even in Verse; and that as well the Women as the Men are all very readily verst therein; the most ordinary method of which is amongst them a continued Raillery, wherein emulously appears the briskness of the An­swers and Repartees. I have observ'd the same thing amongst the people of Spain.

The Polite­ness of the Siamese Lan­guage.But when they enter into earnest, their Language is much more capable than our's, of whatever denotes Respect and Distinction. They give, for instance, certain Titles to certain Officers, as amongst us are the Titles of Excellence and Greatness. Moreover, these words I and Me, indifferent in our Language, do ex­press themselves by several terms in the Siamese Tongue; the one of which is from the Master to the Slave, and the other from the Slave to the Master. Another is from the Man of the people to a Lord; and a fourth is us'd [Page 55] amongst Equals; and some there are which are only in the mouth of Talapoins. The word You and He are not expressed in fewer manners. And when they speak of Women, (because that in their Tongue there is no distinction of Gen­ders into Masculine and Feminine) they add to the Masculine the word Nang, which in the Balie Language signifies Young, to imply the Feminine, as if we should say for Example, Young Prince, instead of Princess. It seems that their Civility hinders them from thinking that Women can ever grow old.

By the same Complaisance they call them by the most precious or most agree­able things of Nature, as young Diamond, young Gold, young Crystal, young Flower. The Names of the Sia­meses. The Princess, the King's Daughter, is called Nang fa, young Heaven; if he had a Son, he would be called, as some report, Tchaou fa, Lord of Heaven. 'Tis cer­tain that the white Elephant which Mr. de Chaumont saw at Siam, and which was dead when we arriv'd there, had attain'd to an extream old Age; yet be­cause it was a Female, and that they believe moreover that in the Body of white Elephants there is always a Royal Soul, they called her verbatim, Nang Paya Tchang peuac, young Prince white Elephant.

The words which the Siameses use by way of Salute, are cavai Tchaou, The words which the Siameses use in saluting. I salute Lord. And, if 'tis really a Lord that salutes an Inferior, he will bluntly answer, Raou vai, I salute, or ca vai, which signifies the same thing; altho' the word ca, which signifies me, ought to be naturally only in the mouth of a Slave speaking to his Master; and that the word Raou, which also signifies me, denotes some dignity in him that speaks. To ask, How do you? they say, Tgiou de? Kindi? That is to say, Do you continue well? Do you eat well?

But it is a singular Observation,How they are permitted to ask News of their King's health. that it is not permitted a Siamese to ask his Inferior any News concerning their King's health; as if it was a Crime in him, that approaches near the person of the Prince, to be less informed thereof, than another that is obliged to keep at a greater distance.

Their civil posture of Sitting is as the Spaniards sit, crossing their Legs;How they sit. and they are so well accustom'd thereunto, that, even on a Seat when given them, they place themselves no otherwise.

When they bow, they do not stand; but if they sit not cross-leg'd,Their Postures they bow themselves out of respect to one another. The Slaves and the Servants before their Masters, and the common People before the Lords keep on their knees, with their Body seated on their heels, their head a little inclin'd, and their hands joined at the top of their forehead. A Siamese which passeth by another, to whom he would render Respect, will pass by stooping with joined hands more or less elevated, and will salute him no otherwise.

In their Visits, if it is a very inferior person that makes it,Their Cere­monies in Visits. he enters stooping in­to the Chamber, he prostrates himself, and remains upon his knees, and sitting upon his heels after the manner that I have described; but he dares not to speak first. He must wait till he to whom he pays the Visit, speaks to him: and thus the Mandarins that came to visit us on the behalf of the King of Siam, waited always till I spake to them first. If it is a Visit amongst Equals, or if the Superior goes to see the Inferior, the Master of the House receives him at the Hall-door, and at the end of the Visit he accompanies him thither, and never any further. Moreover, he walks either upright, or stooping, according to the degree of Respect which he owes to the Visitor. He likewise observes to speak first, or last, according as he can, or as he ought; but he always offers his place to him whom he receives at his House, and invites him to accept it. He afterwards serves him with Fruit and Preserves, and sometimes with Rice and Fish; and more especially he with his own hand presents him with Arek and Betel, and Tea. The common People forget not Arek, and Persons of Quality do sometimes accommodate themselves therewith. At the end of the Visit, the Stranger first testifies that he will go; as amongst us, and the Master of the House consents thereto with very obliging Expressions,To what de­gree the high­est place is the most ho­nourable. and he must be greatly superior to him that renders him the Visit, to bid him depart.

The highest place is so far the most honourable according to them, that they dared not to go into the first Story, even for the service of the House, when the [Page 56] Kings Ambassadors were in the lower Hall. In the Houses, which strangers do build of Brick above one story, they observe that the undermost part of the Stairs never serves for a passage, for fear lest any one should go under the feet of another that ascends: but the Siameses build no more than one story, by reason that the bottom would be useless to them, no person amongst them being willing either to go or lodge under the feet of another. For this reason, though the Siamese Houses be erected on Piles, they never make use of the un­der part, not so much as in the Kings House, whose Palace being uneven, has some pieces higher than others, the under part of which might be inhabited. I remember that when the Ambassadors of Siam came to an Inn near Vincennes, the first Ambassador being lodged in the first story, and the others in the se­cond, the second Ambassador perceiving that he was above the King his Ma­sters Letter, which the first Ambassador had with him, ran hastily out of his Chamber bewailing his offence, and tearing his hair in despair.

The right hand more ho­nourable then the left at Si­am.At Siam the right hand is more honourable than the left: the floor of the Chamber opposite to the door is more honourable than the sides; and the sides more than the wall where the door is, and the wall which is on the right hand of him that sits on the floor, is more honourable than that which is on his left hand. Thus in the Tribunals, no person sits on the Bench fixed to the wall which is directly opposite to the door, save the President, who alone has a de­terminative Vote. The Councellors, who only have a Consultative Vote, are seated on other lower Benches along the side-walls, and the other Officers a­long the wall of the door. After the same manner, if any one receives an im­portant visit, he places the Visitor alone on the floor of the Chamber, and seats himself with his back towards the door, or towards one of the sides of the Chamber.

Why the Ci­ties at China are all after one Model.These Ceremonies and a great many others are so precise at China, that it is necessary that the Entries of the Houses, and the Rooms where particular per­sons receive their Visits, and those where they entertain their Friends, be all af­ter one model, to be able to observe the same Civilities. But this Uniformity of building, and of turning the buildings to the South, so that they front the North in their entering in, has been much more indispensible in the Tribunals, and in all the other publick houses; insomuch that whoever sees one City in this great Kingdom sees them all.

The exactness of the Siameses in their Cere­monies.Now Ceremonies are as essential, and almost as numerous at Siam as at China. A Mandarin carries himself one way before his Inferiors, and another way before his Superiors. If there are several Siameses together, and there unexpectedly comes in another, it frequently happens that the posture of all changes. They know before whom, and to what degree, they must keep themselves inclined or strait, or sitting: whether they must joyn their hands or not, and keep them high, or low: whether being seated they may advance one Foot, or both, or whether they must keep them both conceal'd by sitting on their heels. And the miscarriages in these sorts of duties may be punished with the cudgel by him to whom they are committed, or by his orders, and on the spot. So that there is not introduced amongst them those Airs of familiarity, which in diversions do at­tract rudeness, injuries, blows and quarrels, and sometimes intemperance and im­pudence: they are always restrained by reciprocal respects. What some report concerning the Chinese Hat, is a thing very pleasant. It has no brim before nor behind, but only at the sides: and this brim, which terminates in an oval, is so little fastened to the body of the Hat, that it flaps, and renders a man ridi­culous, at the least irregular motion which he makes of his head. Thus these people have imagined, that the less men are at ease, the fewer faults they com­mit.

They are ac­customed thereunto from their in­fancy.But all these forms, which seem to us very troublesom, appear not so to them, by reason they are early accustomed thereunto. Custom renders the distincti­ons less severe to them, than they would be to us: and much more the thoughts that they may enjoy it in their turn: He that is Superior or Inferior to day, changing his condition to morrow, according to the Prudence, or the Caprici­ous Humor of the Prince. The hereditary distinctions which the Birth does [Page 57] here give to so many persons who are sometimes without merit, will not ap­pear less hard to undergo, to him who should not be thereto accustomed, or who should not comprehend that the most precious recompence of Vertue is that, which one hopes to transmit to his posterity.

The Custom is therefore at Siam and China, How the great men dispense with these in their Inferiors that when the Superior would discreetly manage the Inferior, and testify a great deal of consideration for him (as it sometimes happens in the intrigues of Court) the Superior affects publickly to avoid the meeting the Inferior; to spare him the publick submissions, with which he could not dispense if they should meet him. Moreover, affability to­wards Inferiors, Easiness of access, or going before them, do pass for weakness in the Indies.

The Siameses constrain not themselves to belching in conversation,Certain things incident a­mongst us are not so amongst them, and on the contrary. neither turn they aside their face, or put any thing before their mouth, no more than the Spaniards. 'Tis no incivility amongst them to wipe off the Sweat of their forehead with their Fingers, and then to shake them against the ground. For this purpose we use a Handkercheif, and few of the Siameses have any: which is the reason why they very slovenly perform every thing whereunto the Hand­kercheif is necessary. They dare to spit neither on the Mats, nor the Carpets; and because they are in all houses a little furnished, they make use of spitting-pots which they carry in their hand. In the Kings Palace they neither cough, nor spit, nor wipe their Nose. The Betel which they continually chew, and the juice of which they swallow at pleasure, hinders them: Nevertheless they cannot take Betel in the Prince's presence, but only continue to chew that which they have already in their Mouth. They refuse nothing that is offered them, and dare not to say, I have enough.

As the most eminent place is always amongst them the most honourable,What is the greatest Af­front among the Siameses. the head, as the highest part of the body, is also the most respected. To touch any person on the head or the hair, or to stroke ones hand over the head, is to offer him the greatest of all affronts. To touch his Bonnet, if he leaves it any where, is a great incivility. The mode of this Country amongst the Europeans which dwell there, is never to leave their Hat in a low place, but to give it to a Servant, who carries it higher than his Head, at the end of a Stick, and with­out touching it; and this Stick has a foot, to the end that it may stand up, if he that carries it, be obliged to leave it.

The most respectful, or to say better, the most humble posture,What postures are more or less respectful. is that in which they do all keep themselves continually before their King: in which they express to him more respect than the Chineses do to theirs. They keep them­selves prostrate on their knees and elbows, with their hands joyned at the top of their forehead, and their body seated on their heels; to the end that they may lean less on their elbows, and that it may be possible (without assisting themselves with their hands, but keeping them still joyned to the top of their forehead) to raise themselves on their knees, and fall again upon their elbows, as they do thrice together, as often as they would speak to their King: I have remark'd, that when they are thus prostrate, they lean their back-part on one side or other, as much as possibly they can, without displacing their knees, as it were to lessen and undervalue themselves the more.

By the same principle, it is not only more honourable, according to them, to be seated on a high seat, than on a low seat; but it is much more honourable to be standing than sitting. When Mr. de Chaumont had his first audience, it was necessary that the French Gentlemen which accompany'd him, should enter first into the Hall, and seat themselves on their heels, before the King of Siam appeared; to the end that this Prince might not see them a moment standing. They were prohibited to rise up to salute him, when he appeared. This Prince never suffered the Bishops nor the Jesuits to appear standing before him in the Audiences. It is not permitted to stand in any place of the Palace, unless while walking: and if in this last Voyage of 1687, at the first audience of the Kings Ambassadors, the French Gentlemen had the honour of entring, when the King of Siam was already visible, it was only because the Mandarins, which had ac­companied the Ambassadors of Siam into France, were admitted into the [Page 58] Gallery of Versailles, when the King was seated on the Throne which he had erected there.

How the King of Siam accomodates the Ceremo­nies of his Court, to those of the Court of France.The King of Siam had that respect for the King of France, as to acquaint him by M^r. de Chaumont, that if there was any Custom in his Court which was not in the Court of France, he would alter it; and when the King's Ambassa­dors arrived in this Country, the King of Siam affected indeed to make them a Reception different in several things from that which he had made to M^r. de Chaumont, to conform it the more to that which he understood the King had made to his Ambassadors. He did one thing, when M^r. des Farges saluted him, which never had any Precedent at Siam: for he commanded that all the Offi­cers of his Court should stand in his presence, as did M^r. des Farges, and the other French Officers which accompany'd him.

Why I chose to speak to the King of Siam rather standing, than sitting.Remembring therefore that M^r. de Chaumont had demanded to compliment him sitting, and knowing that his Ambassadors had spoken standing to the King, (an Honour which he highly esteem'd) he informed me, that he would grant me the liberty to speak to him sitting or standing; and I chose to deliver all my Compliments standing: And if I could have raised my self higher, I should have received more Honour. 'Twas in the King of Siam, as they in­formed me, a mark of respect for the King's Letters, not to receive them stand­ing, but sitting.

Another Sia­mese Civility.To lay a thing upon one's head, which is given, or received, is at Siam, and in a great many other Countries, a very great mark of respect. The Spaniards, for Example, are obliged by an express Law to render this respect to the Cedules, or written Orders, which they receive from their King. The King of Siam was pleas'd to see me put the King's Letter on my head, in delivering it to him: he cry'd out, and demanded, Where I had learnt that Civility us'd in his Country? He had lifted up to his Forehead the King's Letter, which M^r. de Chaumont de­liver'd him; but understanding, by the report of his Ambassadors, that this Civility was not known in the Court of France, he omitted it, in regard of the King's Letter, which I had the Honour to deliver him.

The manner of saluting among the Siameses.When a Siamese salutes, he lifts up either both his hands join'd, or at least his right hand to the top of his forehead, as it were to put him whom he sa­lutes on his head. As often as they take the liberty to answer to their King, they always begin again with these words, Pra pouti Tchaou-ca, co rap pra ouncan sai claou sai cramom: That is to say, High and Mighty Lord of me thy Slave, I de­sire to take thy Royal Word, and put it on my Brain, and on the top of my Head. And it is from these words Tchaou-ca, which signifie Lord of me thy Slave, that amongst the French is sprung up this way of speaking faire choca, to signifie Ta vai bang com, or to prostrate himself after the Siamese manner. Faire la Zombaye to the King of Siam, signifies to present him a Petition, which cannot be done without performing the cocha. I know not from whence the Portugueses have borrow'd this way of speaking. If you stretch out your hand to a Siamese to take hold on his, he puts both his hands underneath yours, as to put himself entirely into your power. 'Tis an Incivility, in their opinion, to give only one hand, as also not to hold what they present you, with both their hands, and not to take with both hands what they receive from you. But let this suffice as concerning the Civility with which the Siameses inspire their Children, altho' I have not ex­hausted this Subject.

CHAP. IX. Of the Studies of the Siameses.

They put their Children to the Tala­poins.WHen they have educated their Children to seven or eight years old, they put them into a Convent of Talapoins, and make them assume the ha­bit of a Talapoin: for it is a Profession which obliges not, and which is quitted [Page 59] at pleasure without disgrace. These little Talapoins are called Nen: they are not Pensioners, but their Friends do daily send them Food. Some of these Nens are of a good Family, and have one or more Slaves to wait upon them.

They are taught principally to Read, to Write, and to cast Accompt;What they learn. by rea­son that nothing is more necessary to Merchants, and that all the Siameses do ex­ercise Traffic. They are taught the Principles of their Morality, and the Fa­bles of their Sommona-Codom, but no History, nor Law, nor any Science. They likewise teach them the Balie Tongue, which, as I have more than once decla­red, is the language of their Religion, and their Laws; and few amongst them do make any progress therein, if they do not a long time adhere to the pro­fession of the Talapoin, or if they enter not into some offices: for it is in these two Cases only that this language is useful to them.

They write the Siamese and Balie from the left hand to the right,The Balie and Siamese Lan­guages com­pared with the Chinese. after the same manner as we write our Languages of Europe: in which they differ from most of the other Asiatics, who have ever wrote from the right to the left; and from the Chineses also, who draw the line from the top to the bottom; and who in the ranging of the lines in one Page, do put the first on the right hand, and the others successively towards the left. They are different also from the Chi­neses, in that they have not like them a Character for every word, or even for every signification of a single word; to the end that the writing may have no Equivocations like the Language. The Siamese and Balie Tongues have, like ours, an Alphabet of few letters, of which are compos'd syllables and words. Moreover, the Siamese Language participates greatly of the Chinese, in that it has a great deal of Accent, (for their Voice frequently rises above one fourth) and in that it consists almost all of Monosyllables: so that it may be presumed, that if one perfectly understood it, one should find that the few words which it has of several syllables, are either foreign, or composed of Monosyllables, some of which are used only in these Compositions.

But the most remarkable Similitude that is between these two Languages,The Siamese and Chinese Languages have no De­clensions of words, the Balie has. and which is not found in the Balie, is that neither the one nor the other have any Declension or Conjugation, nor perhaps Derivations, which the Balie has. As for Example, the word which signifies Content, may likewise signifie Content­ment; and that which signifies Good, will signifie Well, and Bounty, according to the various ways of using them. The placing alone denotes the Cases in Nouns, and herein their disposition is hardly different from ours. And as to the Conjugations, the Siameses have only four or five small Particles, which they put sometimes before the Verb, and sometimes after, to signifie the Numbers, Tenses, and Moods thereof. I will insert them at the end of this Volume, with the Siamese and Balie Alphabets; and it is in this that their whole Gram­mar almost consists.

Their Dictionary is not less simple: I mean,The Siamese Language not copious, but very figura­tive. that their Language is not co­pious; but the turn of their Phrase is only more various, and more difficult. In cold Countries, where the Imagination is cold, every thing is called by its Name; and they do there abound as much or more in words, than in things: And when one has fixed all these words in his memory, he may promise him­self to speak well. It is not the same in hot Countries, few words do there suffice to express much, by reason that the briskness of the Imagination employs them in an hundred different ways, all figurative. Take two or three Examples of the methods of speaking Siamese. Good Heart signifies Content, thus to say, If I was at Siam, I should be content; they said, If I were City Siam, me heart good much. Sii signifies Light, and by a Metaphor Beauty; and by a second Metaphor, this word Sii being joined with Pak, which signifies Mouth; Sii-pak, signifies the Lips; as if one should say, The Light, or Beauty of the Mouth. Thus, The Glory of the Wood, signifies a Flower; the Son of the Water implies in general, whatever is ingender'd in the Water without it be Fish; as Crocodiles, and all sorts of aquatic Insects. And on other occasions, the word Son will only denote Smalness, as the Sons of the Weights, to signifie small Weights, contrary to the word Mother, which in certain things they make use of to signifie Greatness. In short, I have not seen any words in this Language that have resemblance to [Page 60] ours, excepting those of po and me, which signifie Father and Mother, in Chinese fu, mu.

Arithmetic.I proceed to Arithmetic, which after Reading and Writing, is the principal Study of the Siameses. Their Arithmetic, like ours, hath ten Characters, with which they figure the Nought like us, and to which they give the same Powers as we, in the same disposition, placing, like us, from the Right to the Left, Unites, Tens, Hundreds, Thousands, and all the other Powers of the Number Ten. The Indian Merchants are so well vers'd in casting Accompt, and their Imagination is so clear thereupon, that it is said they can presently resolve very difficult Questions of Arithmetic; but I suppose likewise that they do never resolve what they cannot resolve immediately. They love not to trouble their heads, and they have no use of Algebra.

An Instrument which serves the Chineses for an Abacus, or Compting Table.The Siameses do always calculate with a Pen; but the Chineses make use of an Instrument which resembles the Abacus, and which F. Martinius, in his Hi­story of China, intimates, that they invented about 2600 or 2700 years before Jesus Christ. However it be, Pignorius, in his Book de Servis, informs us, that this Instrument was familiar to the ancient Roman Slaves that were appointed to cast Accompt. I give the Description and Figure thereof at the end of this Work.

The Siameses not proper for Studies of Application.The Studies to which we apply our selves in our Colledges, are almost abso­lutely unknown to the Siameses; and it may be doubted whether they are fit for such. The essential Character of the People of Countries extreamly hot, or extreamly cold, is sluggishness of Mind and Body; with this difference, that it degenerates into Stupidity in Countries too cold, and that in Countries too hot, there is always Spirit and Imagination; but of that sort of Imagination and Spirit, which soon flaggs with the least Application.

They have Imagination and Laziness.The Siameses do conceive easily and clearly, their Repartees are witty and quick, their Objections are rational. They imitate immediately, and from the first day they are tolerable good Workmen: so that one would think a little Study would render them very accomplisht, either in the highest Sciences, or in the most difficult Arts; but their invincible Laziness suddenly destroys these hopes. It is no wonder therefore if they invent nothing in the Sciences which they love best, as Chymistry and Astronomy.

They are na­turally Poets, and their Poetry is Rhyme.I have already said that they are naturally Poets. Their Poetry, like ours; and that which is now used throughout the known World, consists in the num­ber of Syllables, and in Rhyme. Some do attribute the Invention thereof to the Arabians, by reason it seems to have been they that have carried it every where. The Relations of China report, that the Chinese Poetry at present is in Rhyme; but tho' they speak of their ancient Poetry, of which they still have several Works, they declare not of what nature it was, because, in my opinion,They read the ancient Cha­racters in the present Lan­guage. it is difficult to judge thereof: for tho' the Chineses have preserved the sense of their ancient Writing, they have not preserved their ancient Language. However, I can hardly comprehend from a Language wholly consisting of Mo­nosyllables, and full of accented Vowels, and compounded Dipthongs, that if the Poetry consists not in Rhyme, it can consist in Quantity, as did the Greek and Latin Poems.

Their Genius in Poetry.I could not get a Siamese Song well translated, so different is their way of thinking from ours; yet I have seen some Pictures, as for Example, of a plea­sant Garden, where a Lover invites his Mistress to come. I have also seen some Expressions, which to me appear'd full of Smootiness, and gross Immodesty; altho' this had not the same Effect in their Language. But besides Love-Songs, they have likewise some Historical and Moral Songs altogether: I have heard the Pagayeurs sing some, of which they made me to understand the sense. The Lacone which I have mentioned, is no other than a Moral and Historical Song; and some have told me, that one of the Brothers of the King of Siam com­pos'd some Moral Poems very highly esteem'd, to which he himself set the Tune.

They are no Orators.But if the Siameses are born Poets, they neither are born, nor do become Orators. Their Books are either Narrations of a plain Style, or some Sentences [Page 61] of a broken Style full of Idea's. They have no Advocates: the Parties do each declare their Cause to the Register, who, without any Rhetoric, writes down the Facts and Reasons which are told him. When they preach, they read the Balie Text of their Books, and they translate and expound it plainly in Siamese, without any Action, like our Professors, and not our Preachers.

They know how to speak to a Business,Their Com­pliments al­ways the same. and do therein manage themselves with a great deal of Insinuation; but as for their Compliments, they are all after one Model, which is indeed very good; but which is the reason that in the same Ceremonies they do always speak almost the same things. The King of Siam himself has his words almost counted in his Audiences of Ceremony; and he spake to the King's Ambassadors almost the same that he had deliver'd to M^r. de Chaumont, and before him to the late Bishop of Heliopolis.

I have not forgot that excellent Speech which the Ambassador of Siam made to the King at his Audience of Leave,The last Speech which the Ambassa­dor of Siam made in France. and which alone might cause a Belief that the Siameses are great Orators; if we could judge of the merit of the Original, by that of the Translation: But this is difficult, especially in two Languages, which have so little similitude one to the other. All that we ought to think thereof, is, that the main of the Design and Thought is the Siamese Ambassador's; and I wonder not that he has admir'd the excellent Meen, the Majestic Air, the Power, the Affability, and all the extraordinary qualities of the King. They ought to amaze him more than another, because that these Virtues are absolutely unknown in the East; and if he had dar'd to declare the Truth, he would have confessed that the Flattery natural to those of his Coun­try, had made him all his life to extol those very things where they were not, and that he saw the first Example thereof in the King. When the Mandarins came on Board our Ship to carry the first Compliment of the King of Siam to the King's Ambassadors, they took Leave of them, by testifying unto them that they demanded it unwillingly, and out of an indispensible necessity of going to satisfie the Impatience of the King their Master, about the things which they had to relate unto him: A Thought natural and good, on which runs the whole beginning of the Ambassador's Speech of Leave. And as to that ex­cellent place where he ends, that their Relation of him and his Colleagues would be put into the Archives of the Kingdom of Siam; and that the King their Master would do him an Honour to send him to the Princes his Allies, he was in this a less Orator, than Historian. He render'd an account of a Practice of his Country, which is not omitted in great occasions, and which is in use in other Kingdoms. One Example there is in Osorius, in the 8^th Book of his Histo­ry of Emanuel King of Portugal, where he relates how Alphonsus, the 2^d Chri­stian King of Congo, inserted into his Argives the History of his Conversion, and that of another famous Embassy which he had received from Emanuel, and how he imparted it to all the Princes his Vassals. We may therefore be assu­red, that the Siameses are not Orators, and that they never have need to be such. Their Custom is not to make either Speech or Compliment to the Princes to whom they send them, but to answer the things about which these Princes in­terrogate them. They made a Speech at this Court, to accommodate them­selves to our Customs, and to enjoy an Honour they highly valued; which was, to speak to the King, before his Majesty spake to them. This is all we can say of their Poetry, and their Rhetoric.

They absolutely ignore all the parts of Philosophy,They have a Moral Philo­sophy, and no Theology. except some Principles of Morality, where, as we shall see in discoursing of the Talapoins, they have in­termixt Truth with Falshood. I will at the same time also demonstrate, that they have not any sort of Theology, and that we might perhaps justifie them about the worshipping of the false Deities whereof they are accused, by an Impiety more culpable, which is not to acknowledge any Divinity neither true nor false.

They study not the Civil Law:How they study their Laws. They learn the Laws of their Country on­ly in Employments. They are not Public, as I have said, for want of Print­ing; but when they enter into any Office, they put into their hands a Copy of the Laws which concern it: And the same thing is practised in Spain, tho' the [Page 62] Laws be there in the hands of all persons, and that there are publick Schools, to teach them. As for example, in the Provisions of a Corregidor they will in­sert the whole Title of the Corregidors, which is in the compiling of their Or­dinances and Decrees. I have likewise seen some example of this in France.

CHAP. X. What the Siameses do know in Medicine and Chymistry.

The King of Siam has his Physicians from divers Countries.MEdicine cannot merit the name of a Science amongst the Siameses. The King of Siam's principal Physicians are Chineses; and he has also some Siameses and Peguins: and within two or three years he has admitted into this quality Mr. Paumart, one of the French Secular Missionaries, on whom he re­lies more than on all his other Physicians. The others are obliged to report dai­ly unto him the state of this Prince's health, and to receive from his hand the Remedies which he prepares for him.

They under­stand not Chy­rurgery nor Anatomy.Their chief Ignorance is to know nothing in Chyrurgery, and to stand in need of the Europeans, not only for Trapans, and for all the other difficult Operati­ons of Chyrurgery, but for simple Blood-lettings. They are utterly ignorant of Anatomy: and so far from having excited their Curiosity, to discover either the Circulation of the Blood, or all the new things, that we know touching the structure of the body of Animals, that they open not the dead bodies, till af­ter having roasted them in their Funeral solemnities, under pretence of burning them; and they open them only to seek wherewith to abuse the superstitious credulity of the people. For example, they alledge that they sometimes find in the Stomach of the dead, great pieces of fresh Pig's flesh, or of some other Animal, about eight or ten pound in weight: and they suppose that it has been put therein by some Divination, and that it is good to perform others.

They have not any princi­ple, but Re­ceipts.They trouble not themselves to have any principle of Medicine, but only a number of Receipts, which they have learnt from their Ancestors, and in which they never alter any thing. They have no regard to the particular symptoms of diseases: and yet they fail not to cure a great many; because that the natural Temperance of the Siameses preserves them from a great many evils difficult to cure. But when at last it happens that the Distemper is stronger than the Remedies, they fail not to attribute the cause thereof to Inchantment.

The Chinese Physicians are great Mounte­banks.The King of Siam understanding one day that I was somewhat indisposed, tho it was so little, that I kept not my Chamber, he had the goodness to send all his Physicians to me. The Chineses offer'd some Civility to the Siameses and Peguins: and then they made me sit, and sat down themselves: and after ha­ving demanded silence, for the company was numerous, they felt my pulse one after the other a long time, to make me suspect that it was not only a grimace. I had read that at China there is no School for Physicians, and that one is there admitted to exercise the profession thereof, at most by a flight examination made by a Magistrate of Justice, and not by Doctors in Physick. And I knew moreover, that the Indians are great Cheats, and the Chineses much greater: so that I had throughly resolved to get rid of these Doctors without making any experience of their Remedies. After having felt my pulse, they said that I was a little feverish, but discerned it not at all: they added that my Stomach was out of order, and I perceived it not, save that my voice was a little weak. The next morning the Chineses return'd alone to present me a small Potion warm, in a China Cup cover'd and very neat. The smell of the remedy pleas'd me, and made me to drink it, and I found my self neither better nor worse.

The diffe­rence of the Chinese Moun­tebanks from ours▪'Tis well known that there are Mountebanks every where, and that every Man who will boldly promise Health, Pleasures, Riches, Honors, and the knowledge of Futurities, will always find Fools. But the difference that there [Page 63] is between the Mountebanks of China and the Quacks of Europe on the account of Medicine, is that the Chineses do abuse the sick by pleasant and enticing Re­medies, and that the Europeans do give us Drugs, which the humane Body seeks to get rid off by all manner of means: so that we are inclined to believe that they would not thus torment a sick person, if it was not certainly very neces­sary.

When any person is sick at Siam, What Reme­dies are used at Siam▪ he begins with causing his whole body to be moulded by one that is skilful herein, who gets upon the Body of the sick person, and tramples him under his feet. 'Tis likewise reported that great bel­ly'd women do thus cause themselves to be trodden under foot by a Child, to procure themselves to be delivered with less pain: for in hot Countries, though their Deliveries seem to be more easie by the natural Conformation of the wo­men, yet they are very painful, by reason perhaps that they are preceded with less Evacuation.

Antiently the Indians apply'd no other Remedy to plenitude, than an Exces­sive diet; and this is still the principal subtilty of the Chineses in Medicine. The Chineses do now make use of Blood-letting, provided they may have an European Chyrurgion: and sometimes instead of Blood-letting they do use Cupping-glas­ses, Scarifications and Leeches.

They have some Purgatives which we make use of, and others which are pe­culiar to them; but they know not the Hellebore, so familiar to the Antient Greek Physicians. Moreover they observe not any time in purging, and know not what the Crisis is: though they understand the benefit of Sweats in distempers, and do highly applaud the use of Sudorificks.

In their Remedies they do use Minerals and Simples, and the Europeans have made known the Quinquina unto them. In general all their Remedies are very hot; and they use not any inward Refreshment: but they bath themselves in Fevers, and in all sorts of diseases. It seems that whatever concenters or aug­ments the natural heat, is beneficial to them.

Their sick do nourish themselves only with boiled Rice,The Diet of the sick Sia­meses. which they do make extreamly liquid: the Portuguese of the Indies do call it cange. Meat-Broths are mortal at Siam, because they too much relax the Stomach: and when their Pa­tients are in a condition to eat any thing solid, they give them Pigs flesh pre­ferable to any other.

They do not understand Chymistry, although they passionately affect it;Their Igno­rance in Chy­mistry, and their Fables about this matter. and that several amongst them do boast of possessing the most profound secrets thereof. Siam, like all the rest of the East, is full of two sorts of persons upon this account, Impostors and Fools. The late King of Siam, the Father of the present Prince, spent two Millions, a great summ for his Country, in the vain research of the Philosophers Stone: and the Chineses, reputed so wise, have for three or four thousand years had the folly of seeking out an Universal Remedy, by which they hope to exempt themselves from the necessity of dying. And as amongst us there are some foolish Traditions concerning some rare persons that are reported to have made Gold, or to have lived some Ages; there are some very strongly established amongst the Chineses, the Siameses, and the other Orientals, concerning those that know how to render themselves immortal, ei­ther absolutely, or in such a manner, that they can die no otherwise than of a violent death. Wherefore it is supposed, that some have withdrawn them­selves from the sight of men, either to enjoy a free and peaceable Immortality, or to secure themselves from all foreign force, which might deprive them of their life, which no distemper could do. They relate wonders concerning the knowledge of these pretended Immortals, and it is no matter of astonishment that they think themselves capable of forcing Nature in several things, since they imagine that they have had the Art of freeing themselves from Death.

CHAP. XI. What the Siameses do know of the Mathematics.

The great Heat of Siam, repugnant to all application of Mind.THE quick and clear Imagination of the Siameses should seem more pro­per for the Mathematics, than the other Studies, if it did not soon weary them; but they cannot follow a long thread of Ratiocinations, of which they do foresee neither the end nor the profit. And it must be confessed for their Excuse, that all application of Mind is so laborious in a Climate so hot as theirs, that the very Europeans could hardly study there, what desire soever they might have thereunto.

The Ignorance of the Siame­ses touching the principal parts of Ma­thematics.The Siameses do therefore know nothing in Geometry or Mechanics, because they can be absolutely without them: And Astronomy concerns them only as far as they conceive it may be assistant to Divination. They know only some Practical part thereof, the Reasons of which they disdain to penetrate; but of which they make use in the Horoscopes of particular Persons, and in the Com­position of their Almanac, which, as it were, is a general Horoscope.

Of the Sia­mese Calendar, and why they have two Epocha's.It appears that they have twice caused their Calendar to be reformed by able Astronomers, who, to supply the Astronomical Tables, have taken two ar­bitrary Epocha's, but yet remarkable for some rare Conjunction of the Planets. Having once established certain Numbers upon these Observations, they by the means of several Additions, Substractions, Multiplications and Divisions, have given for the following Years the secret of finding the place of the Planets, al­most as we find the Epact of every Year, by adding eleven to the Epact of the Year foregoing.

The most Mo­dern is evi­dently Arbi­trary.The most Modern of the two Siamese Epocha's, is referred to the Year of Grace 638. I gave to M^r. Cassini, Director of the Observatory at Paris, the Sia­mese Method of finding the place of the Sun and Moon by a Calculation, the ground of which is taken from this Epocha. And the singular Merit which M^r. Cassini has had of unfolding a thing so difficult, and penetrating the Reasons thereof, will doubtless be admired by all the Learned. Now as this Epocha is visibly the ground only of an Astronomical Calculation, and has been chosen rather than another, only because it appear'd more commodious to Calculation than another, it is evident that we must thence conclude nothing which respects the Siamese History; nor imagine that the Year 638, has been more Famous amongst them than another for any Event, from which they have thought fit to begin to compute their Years, as we compute ours, from the Birth of the Sa­viour of the World.

The most An­cient also ap­pears Arbitra­ry.By the same Reason I am persuaded, that their most Ancient Epocha, from which in this Year 1689, they compute 2233 Years, has not been remarkable at Siam for any thing worthy of Memory, and that it proves not that the King­dom of Siam is of that Antiquity. It is purely Astronomical, and serves as a Foundation to another way of calculating the places of the Planets, which they have relinquished for that new Method which I have given to M^r. Cassini. Some person may discover to them the Mistakes, where in process of time this ancient Method must fall; as in time we have found out the Errors of the Re­formation of the Calendar made by the Order of Julius Caesar.

And is not ta­ken from the death of Som­mona-Codom.The Historical Memoirs of the Siameses re-ascending, as I have remark'd in the beginning, to 900 Years, or thereabouts, it is not necessary to seek the Foun­dation of their Kingdom in the 545^th Year before the Birth of Jesus Christ; nor to suppose that from this time they have enjoyed a Succession of Kings, which they themselves are absolutely ignorant of. And tho' the Siameses do vulgarly report, that this first Epocha, from which they compute, as I have said, 2233 Years, is that of the death of their Sommona-Codom; and altho' it refers almost to the time in which Pythagoras liv'd, who has sowed in the West the Doctrine of the Metempsychosis, which he had learnt from the Egyptians, yet it is [Page 65] certain that the Siameses have not any Memoirs of the time in which their Som­mona-Codom might have lived: And I cannot persuade my self that their Som­mona-Codom could be Pythagoras, who was not in the East, nor that their an­cient Epocha is other than Astronomical and Arbitrary, no more than their Modern Epocha.

But if the Siameses do still make use thereof in their Dates,The Variety of Style in their Dates. after having re­linquish'd it in their Astronomical Calculations, it is because that in things of Style they do not easily alter the Usages unto which they are accustomed; and yet they cease not to date sometimes with respect to that modern Epocha which they have taken, as I have said, from the Year of our Lord 638. But their first Month is always the Moon of November or December, in which they de­part not from the ancient Style, even then when they date the Year according to their new Stile; tho' the first Month of the Year, according to this new Style, be the fifth or sixth of the old Style.

This, in few words, is the whole Skill of the Siameses in Astronomy.What the Sia­meses do think of the System of the World. More­over, they understand nothing of the true System of the World, because they know nothing by Reason. They believe therefore, like all the East, that the Eclipses are caused by some Dragon, which devours the Sun and Moon (per­haps by reason of the Astronomer's metaphorical way of speaking, that the Eclipses are made in the Head and Tail of the Dragon:) And they make a great noise, with Fire-shovels and Kettles, to scare and drive away this pernicious Animal, and to deliver those beauteous Planets. They believe the Earth Four-square, and of vast Extent, on which the Arch of Heaven rests at its ex­tremities, as if it was one of our Glass-Bells with which we cover some of our Plants in our Gardens. They assert, that the Earth is divided into four habi­table parts of the World, so separated one from the other by Seas, that they are, as it were, four different Worlds. In the middle of these four Worlds, they suppose an exceeding high Pyramidal Mountain with four equal sides, called, Caou pra Soumene (Caou signifies, a Mountain, and to Mount;) and from the Surface of the Earth, or the Sea, to the top of this Mountain, which, as they say, touches the Stars, they compute 84000 Iods, and every Iod contains about 8000 Fathoms. They reckon as many Iods from the Surface of the Sea to the Foundations of the Mountain; and they likewise reckon 84000 Iods extent of Sea from each of the four sides of this Mountain to every of the four Worlds which I have mentioned. Now our World, which they call Tchiampion, lies, as they report, to the South of this Mountain, and the Sun, Moon and Stars do incessantly turn round it; and it is that, which according to them, makes the Day and Night. At the top of this Mountain is a Heaven, which they call In­tratiracha, which is surmounted by the Heaven of Angels. This Sample, which is all I know thereof, will suffice to demonstrate their Grossness; and if it does not exactly accord to what others have writ before me concerning this matter, we must not more admire the variety of the Siamese Opinions in a thing they understand not, than the contrariety of our Systems in Astronomy, which we pretend to understand.

The extream Superstition of the Indians is therefore a very natural Conse­quence of their profound Ignorance; but for their Excuse, some People,The Indians are Supersti­tious propor­tionably to their extream Ignorance. more illuminated than them, have not been less Superstitious. Have not the Greeks, and after them the Romans, believed in Judiciary Astrology, Augurs, Presages, and all sorts of Arts invented under pretence of Divining and Predicting? They thought that it was the goodness of the Gods, to bestow on Men some Succors to penetrate Futurities; and the words Divination and Divine are the same word in their Origine, because that according to the ancient Pagans, the Art of Divining was only an Art to consult the Deities. The Siameses are also of opinion, that there is an Art of Prophecying, as there is one of restoring Health to the Sick: And when the King of Siam's Soothsayers are mistaken, he causes them to be bastinado'd, not as Impostors, but as negligent persons; as he commands his Physicians to be cudgell'd, when the Remedies they give him, perform not the Effect which is thereby promised.

[Page 66] The Authori­ty of Sooth­sayers over the Siameses.This Prince, no more than his Subjects, undertakes no Affair, nor Expedition, till his Diviners, which are all Brames or Peguins, have fix'd him an hour prospe­rously to set upon it. He stirs not out of his House, or if he be gone, he en­ters not again, so long as his Diviners prohibit him. Sunday seems to him more lucky than the other days, because that in his Tongue he has preserv'd the name of the Sun's-day. He believes the Increase of the Moon more lucky than the Decrease; and besides this, the Almanac which he causes Annually to be made by a Brame Astrologer, denotes to him and his Subjects, the lucky or unlucky days for most of the things they used to do: A Folly which is perhaps too much tolerated amongst the Christians, witness the Almanac of Milan, to which so many persons do now give such a blind Belief.

And Presages.The Siameses do take the Howlings of wild Beasts, and the Cryes of Stags and Apes, for an ill Omen; as several persons amongst us are frightned with the Barking of the Dogs in the Night. A Serpent which crosses the way, the Thunderbolt which falls on a House, any thing that falls as it were of itself, and without any apparent Cause, are Subjects of dread to the Siameses, and the rea­sons of laying aside or setting upon an Affair, how important and pressing so­ever it be. One of the ways they make use of to foretel things to come, and which is common to all the Orientals, is to perform some superstitious Ceremo­nies, then to go into the City, and to take for an Oracle about what they desire to know, the first words which they hear accidentally spoken in the Streets, or in the Houses. I could learn no more thereof, by reason that the Christian In­terpreters, which I made use of, look'd upon these things with Horror, as Witch­craft and Compacts with the Daemon, altho' it be very possible that they are on­ly Fooleries full of Credulity and Ignorance. The ancient Francs, by a like Su­perstition, consulted in their Wars the first words which they heard sung in the Church, at their entring thereinto. At this very day several persons have a Superstitious Belief in certain Herbs which they gather the Evening of St. John, from whence is risen this Proverb, To use or employ all the Herbs of St. John, that is, the utmost skill in an Affair: And amongst the Italians, there are some, who, after having wash'd their Feet in Wine on St. John's Eve, do throw the Wine out at Window, and so stand afterwards to hear those that pass along the Street, taking for a certain Augury on what they desire to know, the first word they hear spoken.

The Indians accused of Sorcery, and why.But that which has rais'd the Reputation of great Sorcerers amongst the In­dians, is principally the continual Conjurations which they use to drive away the evil Spirits with, and attract the good. They pretend to have some Talis­mans, or Characters which they call Cata, to accomplish whatever they please; as to kill, or to render invulnerable; and to impose Silence on Persons and Dogs, when they would commit a wicked Action, and not be discovered. If they prepare a Medicine, they will fasten to the brim of the Vessel several Pa­pers, wherein they will write some mysterious words, to hinder the Petpayatons from carrying away the vertue of the Remedy with the steem. These Petpaya­tons are in their Opinion some Spirits diffused in the Air, of whom they believe, amongst other things, that they do first enjoy all the Maidens; and that they do them that pretended hurt, which is renewed every Month. In a Storm at Sea, they will fasten to all the Tackle such like written Papers, which they believe proper to assuage the Winds.

Superstitions for Women in Child-bed.The superstitions which they use towards Women in Child-bed, appear not less ridiculous, although they be founded perhaps on some benefit for health. They believe that Women in Child-bed have need of being purified: whether that the Jews, spread throughout the Earth, have sowed this Tradition amongst several Nations, or that the people of hot Countries are more easily prejudiced than those of cold Countries with the natural impurities of Women. The Siameses keep the Women in Child-bed before a continual and great fire for a month, where they turn them sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other. The smoak does greatly incommode them, and passes slowly through an Aperture, which they make in the roof of their houses. The Peguins do put their Wives on a kind of Bambou-grate, very nigh, with fire underneath; but [Page 67] they keep them thus no more than four or five days. At the up-rising, the one and the other return thanks to the Fire for having purified their Wives; and in the Entertainment which they give on this occasion to their Friends, they eat nothing which they have not first offered to the Fire, leaving it some time near it. During the whole time of lying in Child-bed, the Women neither eat nor drink any thing that is not hot: and I understand that our Midwives. forbid their Women also to drink any thing cold.

But the most speedy and most sensible effects of the pretended Divinations of the Indians are in the use of certain Philtres, which are only natural drinks.Philtres look'd upon as the effect of Magick. The Indies do produce some Simples, the kinds, force, or use of which we un­derstand not. The Amorous Philtres, or Love-potions, are those which debi­litate the Imagination, and make a Man to become a Child; so that after this it is easie to govern him. My domesticks assur'd me that they had seen a man at Batavia, of whom it was reported that his wife had render'd him senseless after this manner. Other drinks do cause other effects. The Relations are full of those which the women of Goa frequently give their Husbands; and which render them so stupid for 24 hours, that they can then be unfaithful to them in their presence. Opium, or the quintessence of Poppies, causes such different ef­fects, that it procures sleep, or watchfulness, as it is variously prepared. The Indians going to Battel, do take thereof to inspire them with courage, or rather with fury. They then run headlong upon the Enemy like wild Boars: It is dangerous to attend them, but one may avoid them by turning out of the way, for they go forwards. Moreover, the effect of Opium lasts only some hours, af­ter which they relapse not only into their natural cowardice, but into a faint­ness, which leaves them but little action for their defence. And such were those Macassers, which had conspired against the King of Siam, some months be­fore the Kings Ambassadors arrived there.

The Siameses have likewise some Distempers,Distempers considered as the Effects of Magick. the symptoms of which are sometimes so strange, that they think the cause thereof can be attributed only to Witchcraft. But besides these extraordinary cases, their Physicians do al­most continually accuse the greater Energy of the Spirits, with the inefficacious­ness of their Remedies; and they do herein play such subtile juggling tricks, or rather they deal with persons so credulous, that whilst we were at Siam, they made a sick man believe, that he had voided a Deers skin with a Medicine, and that he must have swallowed this Deers skin by a Magical effect, and without per­ceiving it. This is what I judged necessary to relate concerning the Siameses Su­perstitions, of which every one may judge as he pleases: for if on the one hand I have seen nothing which obliges me to accuse them of Sorcery, on the other hand I am not concern'd to justifie them entirely.

But before we quit this subject I will here add one thing,Superstition or Vanity touching the walls of Cities. which may be at­tributed at your pleasure, to Superstition or Vanity: One day when the King's Ambassadors were saluted by the real or supposed Ambassadors, from Patana, Camboya, and some other neighbouring Courts, the Ambassadors of some of the several Nations which are at Siam, were also at this Visit: and among the rest there were two, who said that the City of their Origine, the name of which I have forgot, remained no more: but that it had been so considerable, that it was impossible to go round it in three Months. I smil'd thereat as at a ground­less folly: and in a few days after Mr. de la Mare the Ingineer, whom Mr. de Chau­mont had left at Siam, informed me, that when by the King of Siam's order he had been at Ligor to take the draught thereof, the Governour would not permit him to go round it under two days, though he could have done it in less than an hour. Let us proceed to the study of the last part of the Ma­thematicks.

CHAP. XII. Concerning Musick, and the Exercises of the Body.

The Siameses have no Art in Singing.MUsick is not better understood at Siam, than Geometry and Astronomy. They make Airs by Fancy, and know not how to prick them by Notes. They have neither Cadence, nor quaver no more than the Castilians: but they sometimes sing like us without words, which the Castilians think very strange; and in the stead of words, they only say noi, noi, as we do say lan-la-lari. I have not remark'd one single Air, whose measure was triple, whereas those are without comparison the most familiar to the Spaniards. The King of Siam, without shewing himself, heard several Airs of our Opera on the Violin, and it was told us that he did not think them of a movement grave enough: Never­theless the Siameses have nothing very grave in their Songs; and whatever they play on their Instruments, even in their Kings march, is very brisk.

They have not several parts in their Con­sorts.They understand not more than the Chineses the diversity of Parts in compo­sition; they understand not the Variety of the Parts; they do all sing Unisons. Their Instruments are not well chose, and it must be thought that those, where­in there appears any knowledge of Musick, have them brought from other parts.

Their Instru­ments: the Re­beck, Hoboy, Basons.They have very ugly little Rebecks or Violins with three strings, which they call Tro, and some very shrill Hoboys which they call Pi, and the Spaniards Chirimias. They play not ill, and accompany them with the noise of certain copper Basons, on each of which a man strikes a blow with a short stick, at cer­tain timesThe Ear guides them, no person beating the Time. in each measure. These Basons are hung up by a string, each has a Pole laid a-cross upon two upright Forks: the one is called Schoungschang, and it is thinner, broader, and of a graver sound than the other, which they call Cong.

The Tlounpoun­pan.To this they add two sorts of Drum, the Tlounpounpan, and the Tapon. The wood of the Tlounpounpan is about the size of our Timbrels, but it is cover'd with skin on both sides like a true Drum, and on each side of the wood hangs a leaden ball to a string. Besides this the wood of the Tlounpounpan is run through with a stick which serves as a handle, by which it is held. They rowl it between their hands like a Chocolate-stick, only that the Chocolate stick is held inver­ted, and the Tlounpounpan strait: and by this motion which I have described, the Leaden Balls which hang down from each side of the Tlounpounpan, do strike on each side upon the two Skins.

The Tapon.The Tapon resembles a Barrel; they carry it before them, hung to the Neck by a Rope; and they beat it on the two Skins with each fist.

They have another Instrument composed of ......., which they call Pat-cong. The ...... are all placed successively every one on a short stick, and planted perpendicular on a demi-circumference of Wood, like to the felleys of a little Wheel of a Coach. He that plays on this Instrument is seated at the center cross-legg'd; and he strikes the ....... with two sticks, one of which he holds in his right hand, and the other in his left. To me it seems that this Instrument had only a fifth redoubled in extent, but certainly there was not any half notes, nor any thing to stop the sound of one ......., when another was struck.

The Consort which follows the King in his Marches.The March which they sounded at the entrance of the Kings Ambassadors, was a confused noise with all these Instruments together: The like is sounded in attending on the King of Siam; and this noise, as fantastical and odd as it is, has nothing unpleasant, especially on the River.

Instruments accompanying the Voice.They sometimes accompany the Voice with two short sticks, which they call Crab, and which they strike one against the other; and he that sings thus, is sti­led Tchang cap. They hire him at Weddings with several of those Instruments I have mentioned. The people do also accompany the Voice in the Evening [Page 69] into the Courts of the Houses, with a kind of Drum called Tong. They hold it with the Left hand, and strike it continually with the Right hand. 'Tis an earthen Bottle without a bottom, and which instead thereof is covered with a Skin tyed to the Neck with Ropes.

The Siameses do extreamly love our Trumpets, theirs are small and harsh,Trumpets and Drums. they call them Tre; and besides this they have true Drums, which they call Clong. But tho' their Drums be lesser than ours, they carry them not hanging upon their Shoulder: They set them upon one of the Skins, and they beat them on the other, themselves sitting cross-leg'd before their Drums. They do also make use of this sort of Drum to accompany the Voice, but they seldom sing with these Drums but to dance.

On the day of the first Audience of the King's Ambassadors,They have false ones to make a show. there were in the innermost Court of the Palace an hundred Men lying prostrate, some holding for show those ugly little Trumpets which they sounded not, and which I suspect to be of wood, and the others having before them every one a little Drum without beating it.

By all that I have said,The Exercises of the Body. it appears that in some cases the Mathematics are as much neglected at Siam, as the other Sciences. They have Exercises of the Body in no more Esteem than those of the Mind. They know not what the Art of Riding the Great Horse is: Arms they have none, except the King gives them some; and they cannot purchase any, till he has given them some. They exercise them only by the Order of this Prince. They never fire the Musquet standing, no not in War: To discharge it, they place one Knee on the ground, and frequently proceed to sit on their Heel, stretching forward the other Leg, which they have not bent. They hardly know to march, or keep themselves on their Feet with a good grace. They never stretch out their Hams well, be­cause they are accustomed to keep them bended. The French taught them how to stand to their Arms, and till the arrival of the King's Ships at Siam, their Sentinels themselves sat upon the ground. So far are they from running Ra­ces, purely for Recreation sake, that they never walk abroad. The heat of the Climate causes a great Consumption in them. Wrestling, and Fisty-cuffs, are the Jugler's Trade. The running of Balons is therefore their sole Exercise. The Oar and Pagaye are in this Country the Trade of all the People from four or five years old. They can Row three days and three nights almost without resting, altho' they cannot undergo any other Work.

CHAP. XIII. Of the Arts exercised by the Siameses.

THey have no Companies of Trades,They are bad Artificers, and why. and the Arts flourish not amongst them, not only by reason of their natural sluggishness, but much more by reason of the Government under which they live. There being no security for the wealth of particular persons, but to conceal it well every one there con­tinues in so great a simplicity, that most of the Arts are not necessary to them, and that the Workmen cannot meet with the just value of the Works on which they would bestow a great deal of Expence and Labour. Moreover, as every particular Person does Annually owe six Months service to the King, and that frequently he is not discharged for six Months, there is no Person in this Coun­try that dares to distinguish himself in any Art, for fear of being forced to work gratis all his life for the service of this Prince. And because that they are in­differently employ'd in these Works, every one applies himself to know how to do a little of all, to avoid the Bastinados; but none would do too well, be­cause that Servitude is the reward of Ingenuity. They neither know, nor de­sire to know how to do otherwise, than what they have always done. 'Tis no matter to them to have 500 Workmen, for several Months, upon what a few [Page 70] Europeans, well paid, would finish in a few days. If any Stranger gives them any direction, or any Machine, they forget it so soon as their Prince forgets it. Wherefore no European offers his service to an Indian Prince, who is not receiv'd, as I may say, with open Arms. How little Merit soever he may have, he al­ways has more than the natural Indians; and not only for the Mechanic Arts, but for the Sea, and for Commerce, to which they are much more affected. The Inconvenience is, that the Indian Kings do well know the Secret, either of en­riching a Stranger only with hopes, or of detaining him amongst them if they have really enrich'd him. Nothing is so magnificent as the Grants which the great Mogul gives: But is there found one European that has carry'd away much wealth out of his Service?

What Arts they exercise.To return to the Industry of the Siameses, the Arts which they understand are these. They are reasonable good Joyners, and because they have no Nails, they very well understand how to fasten pieces together. They pretend to Sculpture, but grosly perform it. The Statues of their Temples are very ill made. They know how to burn Brick, and make excellent Ciments, and are not unskill'd in Masonry. Nevertheless their Brick Buildings do not last, for want of Foundations: they do not make any, even in their Fortifications. They have no melted Crystal, nor Glass; and it is one of the things they most esteem. The King of Siam was extreamly pleased with those Fosset-cut Glas­ses, which multiply an Object; and he demanded entire Windows with the same property.

The Windows of the Chineses.The Windows of the Chineses are compos'd with Threds of Glass as big as Straws, laid one by another, and glued at the ends to Paper, as we solder the Quarries of Glass into our Window-frames. They do frequently put some Paintings on these sorts of Glasses, and with these Glasses thus painted, they sometimes make Pannels of Screens, behind which they love to set some lights, because they extreamly admire the Fancy of Illuminations.

How the Sia­meses do use Metals.The Siameses do know to melt Metals, and cast some Works in Molds. They do cover their Idols, which are sometimes enormous masses of Brick and Lime, with a very thin Plate either of Gold or Silver, or Copper. I have in my possession a little Sommona-Codom, which is thus cover'd over with a Copper Plate gilded, and which is yet full of the Ciment, which served as the Model. With such a Plate of Gold or Silver they cover certain of their King's Move­ables, and the Iron hilt of the Sabres and Daggers, which he presents to some of his Officers, and sometimes to Strangers. They are not wholly ignorant of the Goldsmith's Trade; but they neither know how to polish, nor to set precious Stones.

How they write on a Leaf of Gold.They are excellent Gilders, and know very well how to beat the Gold. As often as the King of Siam writes to another King, he does it upon a Leaf of that Metal as thin as a Leaf of Paper. The Letters are imprinted thereon with a blunt Poinson or Bodkin, like those with which we write in our Table-Books.

They are bad Smiths, and no Tanners.They make use of Iron only as it is Cast, by reason they are bad Forge-men; their Horses are not shod, and have commonly Stirrups of Rope, and very paltry Snaffles. They have no better Saddles, the Art of Tanning and prepa­ring Skins, being absolutely unknown at Siam.

They make little Linnen, and no Stuffs.They make little Cotton-Cloth, and that very course, with a very nasty Painting, and only in the Metropolis. They make no Stuffs, neither of Silk, nor Wooll, nor any Tapestry-work: Wooll is here very scarce. They understand Embroidery, and their Designs please.

The painting of the Siame­ses and Chine­ses.In one of their Temples I saw a very pleasant Picture in Fresco, the Colours of which were lively. There was no Ordonance, and it made us to re­member our ancient Tapestries: 'Twas not certainly the work of a Siamese hand.

The Siameses and Chineses know not how to paint in Oil; and, moreover, they are bad Painters. Their Fancy is to slight and disesteem whatever is after Nature only. To them it seems that an exact Imitation is too easie, wherefore [Page 71] they overdo every thing. They will therefore have Extravagancies in Paint­ing, as we will have Wonders in Poetry. They represent Trees, Flowers, Birds, and other Animals, which never were. They sometimes give unto Men impos­sible Proportions, and the Secret is, to give to all these things a Facility, which may make them to appear Natural. This is what concerns the Arts.

CHAP. XIV. Of the Traffic amongst the Siameses.

THE most general Professions at Siam are Fishing for the common People,Fishing and Commerce are the two Professions which do al­most employ all the Sia­meses. and Merchandize for all those that have wherewith to follow it. I say all, not excepting their King himself. But the Foreign Trade being reserved al­most entire to the King, the Home Trade is so inconsiderable, that it is impos­sible to raise any competent Fortune thereby. That simplicity of Manners, which makes the Siameses to let go most of the Arts, makes them also to slight most of the Commodities which are necessary to the Europeans; yet see how the Siameses carry on their Commerce.

In their Loans, a third person, whosoever he be, writes down the Promise;What their private Wri­tings are. and this sufficeth them in Justice, because it is determined against the word of the Debtor who denies, upon the double Testimony of him that produ­ces the Promise, and of him that writ. It is necessary only that it ap­pear by the viewing of the Writing, that it is not the Creditor that writ the Promise.

Moreover, they sign no Writings,What their Signature is. neither do they apply any Seal to private Writings. 'Tis only the Magistrates that have a Seal, that is properly a Seal which the King gives them as an Instrument of their Offices. Particular Per­sons, instead of a Signature, do put a single Cross; and tho' this kind of Signa­ture be practised by all, yet every one knows the Cross which is under his own hand; and it is very rare, they say, that any one is of a Reputation so bad as to disown it in Justice. In a word, I shall transiently declare, that we must not search out any Mystery in that they sign with a Cross: 'Tis amongst them on­ly a kind of Flourish which they have preferr'd before any other, probably be­cause it is more plain.

I have said, that they endow the Virgins at their marrying;They have no public Wri­ting nor No­taries. and that the Por­tion is paid to the Husband in presence of the Parents, but without any Wri­ting. I have said also, that they make no Will, and that before their death they dispose of their Estate with their own hand, and to whom they please, and that after this manner Custom disposes of their Inheritance. They Trade little with Immoveables, no person amongst them thinking it safe to purchase Land of another; the Prince gives, or sells thereof, to whoever would have it. But the real Property remaining always in him, is the reason that none in this Country does care to purchase much Land, nor to meliorate it, for fear of ex­citing a desire of it in one more powerful than himself. And thus needing no Writings of long continuance, they have not thought fit to have any Notaries.

As to the small Trades, they are almost all of so little Consequence,The small Trades. and Fi­delity is there so great, that in the Bazars or Markets the Seller counts not the Money which he receives, nor the Buyer the Commodity, which he purchases by Tale. They were scandaliz'd to see the French buy the least things with more Caution.

The Hour of the Market is from Five in the Evening to Eight or Nine.They use no Ell. They use no Ell, by reason they buy Muslins, and other Linnens, all in whole Pieces. They are very poor and miserable in this Country, when they buy [Page 72] Cloth by Ken, a term which signifies the Elbow and Cubit both, and for these they measure with their Arm, and not with any sort of Ell.

They have the Fathom, which they use in several things, and especially in measuring the Roads.Nevertheless they have their Fathom, which equals the French Toise within an Inch. They use it in Buildings, in surveying of Land, and perhaps in other things; and especially in measuring the Roads, or Channels, through which the King generally passes. Thus from Siam to Louvo, every Mile is marked with a Post, on which they have writ the number of the Mile. The same thing is ob­serv'd in the Country of the great Mogul, where Bernier reports, that they mark the Kosses, or Half-miles, with Tourrettes, or little Pyramids, and every one knows that the Romans denoted their Miles with Stones.

The Coco serves the Siameses as Measure for Grains and Liquors.The Coco serves as a Measure for Grain and Liquors in this manner. As all the Coco's are naturally unequal, they measure the Capacity thereof by those little Shells called Coris, which serve for small Money at Siam, and which are not sensibly greater one than the other. There is therefore such a Coco which contains a thousand Coris, as some have informed me, such an one which con­tains five hundred, and such another more or less. To measure Corn they have a kind of Bushel, called Sat in the Siamese, which is made only with interlac'd Bambou; and to measure Liquors, they have a Pitcher called Canan in Siamese, Choup in Portuguese; and it is according to these sorts of Measures, that they make their Markets. But for want of Policy, and a Standard, according to which the Measures should legally be regulated, the Buyer accepts them only after ha­ving measur'd them with his Coco, the Capacity of which he knows by the Coris; and he uses either Water, or Rice, according as he would measure either the Canan or the Sat with his Coco. In a word, the quarter of the Canan is called Leeng, and forty Sats do make the Seste, and forty Seste's the Cohi. It is impossible to de­clare the resemblance which Measures so little exact have with ours. I have said moreover, that a Pound of Rice a day sufficeth a Man, and that it is worth no more than a Farthing. M^r. Gervaise says, that the Seste of Rice is reckon'd to weigh an hundred Catis, that is to say, two hundred twenty and five of our Pounds.

Money serves them for Weights.They are not more exact as to their Weights, in general they call them Ding; and the pieces of their Money are more nice and true, and almost the only ones which they use, altho' their Money be frequently false or light. Some inform'd me, as a thing very remarkable, that the Siameses sold course Silver by weight, because they had seen in the Market that Commodity in one of the Scales, and the silver Money which serv'd as a Weight in the other. The same Names do therefore signifie the Weights and Money both.

Their Monies.Their silver Coins are all of the same Figure, and struck with the same Stamps, only some are smaller than others. They are of the Figure of a little Cylinder or Roll very short, and bowed quite at the middle, so that both ends of the Cy­linder touch'd one another. Their Stamps (for they have two on each piece, struck one at the side of the other in the middle of the Cylinder, and not at the ends) do represent nothing that we knew, and they have not explain'd them to me. The proportion of their Money to ours is, that their Tical, which weighs no more than half a Crown, is yet worth three shillings and three half-pence. I give the Figure and Size thereof, and at the end of this Work you will find their Measures for the Lengths, as well as their Coins and their Weights. They have no Gold, nor Copper-Money. Gold is a Merchandize amongst them, and is twelve times the value of Silver, the purity being supposed equal in both the Metals.

The Chinese Money.Neither Gold nor Silver are Monies at China: They cut these Metals into ill shaped pieces, with which they pay for other Commodities; and for this pur­pose it is necessary, that they always have a pair of Gold Scales, and a Touch­stone in their hand. Their pair of Gold Scales is a little Roman Balance; but amongst them there is such cheap living, that for ordinary Provisions their own Money, which is only Copper, sufficeth them. They thred it in a certain num­ber on a Cord, for it is perforated in the middle, and they count by strings, and not by pieces.

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[Page 73]The Japaneses have a flat Gold Coin somewhat longer than broad,The Coupan the Gold Mo­ney of Japan. and round­ed like an oval. I give exactly the size and figure thereof. It is struck at several stamps with hatchings. Its weight is four Drams and a half, and twelve grains, and is at least Twenty three Carrats, as far as we can judge thereof without melting it. It is called Coupan, and its value is vulgarly esteemed Ten Crowns a piece.

The base Coin at Siam is no other than those little Shells I have already men­tioned, and of which I have likewise given the size and figure.Shells, the base Money of Siam. The Europeans which are at Siam do call them Coris, and the Siameses Bia. They fish them up abundantly at the Maldives Islands, and sometimes at the Phillipine Isles, but in very little quantity, as some have informed me. Nevertheless Navarrette in his Dis­course of China, pag. 62. speaks thus concerning the Coris, which he calls Seguejes. 'Tis imported, saith he, from the coast of India and Manille: They are innumerable at the Isle of Luban, which is one of the Phillipines. And a little after he subjoyns, the Seguejes are brought from the Isles of Baldivia, which are the Maldiviae.

'Tis not easie to say how far the use of this Money extends it self.How much the use of this Money is ex­tended. It is cur­rent throughout India, and almost over all the coasts of Africk; and some have informed me that it is received in some places of Hungary: but I can hardly believe it, by reason I see it not worth the trouble to carry it thither. It breaks much in the use; and as there is less of it, it is more worth in respect to the Silver Mo­ney; as likewise it lowers its price when there arrives any considerable cargo by any Ship: for it is a kind of Merchandise. The ordinary price at Siam is that a Fouan, or the eighth part of a Fical, is worth eight hundred Coris, or that 7 or 800 Coris are hardly worth a Penny: The lowness of Money being a certain sign of a good Market, or rather of the cheapness of Commodities.

CHAP. XV. A Character of the Siameses in general.

AS easiness of living consists in the reasonable price of things necessary for life,The Siameses are good Peo­ple. and as good manners are more easily preserved in a moderate easi­ness, than in a Poverty attended with too much labour, or in an over-abundant Idleness, it may be affirm'd that the Siameses are good men. Vices are de­testable amongst them, and they excuse them not as witty conceits, nor as sub­limity of mind. A Siamese never so little above the refuse of the people, is so far from making himself drunk, that he accounts it a shame to drink Arak.

Adultery is rare at Siam, Adultery is rare at Siam. not so much because the Husband has the power of doing himself Justice over his Wife, (that is to say, to kill her if he finds her in a palpable offence, or to sell her, if he can convict her of Infidelity) as be­cause the Women are not corrupted by Idleness (for it is they that maintain the men by their Labour) nor by the Luxury of the Table or of Cloaths, nor by Game­ing, nor by Shows. The Siamese Women do not play: they receive no Visits from men; and Plays are very rare at Siam, and have no appointed days, nor certain price, nor publick Theater. It must not however be thought that all Marriages are chaste, but at least any other Love more immoderate, than that of the Wives is, they say, without example.

Jealousie is amongst them only a meer opinion of Glory,The Jealousie of the Siameses to their Wives. which is greater in those, that are most highly advanced in Dignity. The Wives of the People managing all the Trade do enjoy a perfect Liberty. Those of the Nobles are very reserved, and stir not abroad but seldom, either upon some Family visit, or to go to the Pagodes. But when they go out, they go with their face unco­vered, even when they go on foot; and sometimes it is hard to distinguish them from the Women-slaves which accompany them. In a word, they not only find nothing austere in the constraint under which they live, but they place their [Page 74] glory therein. They look upon a greater liberty as a shame: and would think themselves slighted and contemned by a Husband that would permit it them: They are jealous for them as much as they are themselves.

The Glory of the Asiatick Women.There is not a vertuous Woman in Asia, who in time of War chuses not ra­ther that her Husband should kill her, than that he should suffer her to fall un­der the power of the Enemies. Tacitus in the Twelfth Book of his Annals, gives an example thereof in Zenobia, the wife of Rhadamistus. The Husbands themselves do think it the most shameful thing in the world to them, that their Wives should fall into the Enemies hands; and when this happens, the great­est affront that can be done them, is not to restore them their Wives. But tho the Women of Asia be capable of sacrificing their life to their glory, there ceases not to be some amongst them, who take secret pleasures when they can, and who hazard their glory and their life upon this account. 'Tis reported that there have been some examples hereof amongst the King of Siam's Wives: How closely soever they be shut up, they do sometimes find out a way to have Lovers. Some have assur'd me, that the ordinary method by which this Prince punishes them, is first to submit them to a Horse, accustomed I know not how, to the love of Women, and then to put them to death. 'Tis some years since he gave one to the Tygers, and because these Animals spared her at the first, he offered her a Pardon: but this Woman was so unworthy as to refuse it, and with so many affronts, that the King looking upon her as distracted, ordered again that she should dye. They irritated the Tygers, and they tore her in pieces in his presence. It is not so certain that he puts the Lovers to death, but at the least he causes them to be severely chastized. The common opinion at Siam is, that 'twas a fault of this nature, which caused the last disgrace of the late Barcalon, elder Brother to the King of Siam's first Ambassadour to the King. The King his Master caused him to be very severely bastinado'd, and forbore to see him, yet without taking away his Offices. On the contrary, he conti­nued to make use of him during the six months, that he survived the blows which he had received; and he with his own hand prepared all the Remedies which the Barcalon took in his last sickness, because no person dared to give him any, for fear of being accused of the death of a man, who appeared so dear to his Master. Bernier relates some examples, by which it appears that the Great Mogul does not always punish the Women of his Seraglio that offend­ed in their duty, nor the Men that are their Accomplices, with death. These Princes consider these sorts of Crimes, like the others, which may be commit­ted against their Majesty, unless any sentiment of Love renders them more sensible of Jealousie.

The Jealousie of the Siameses towards their Daughters.The Siamese Lords are not less jealous of their Daughters than of their Wives: and if any one commits a fault, they sell her to a certain man, who has a privi­ledge of prostituting them for Money, in consideration of a Tribute which he pays the King: 'Tis said that he has six hundred, all Daughters of Officers in esteem. He likewise purchases Wives, when the Husbands sell them, being convicted of Infidelity.

Their respect towards Old Men.Disrespect towards Old Men is not less rare at Siam than at China. Of the two Mandarins which came on board the Kings Ambassadours Ship, to bring them the first Compliment from the King of Siam; the younger, tho the highest in dignity, yielded the first place and speech to the elder, who was not above three or four years older.

The Siameses great Lyars.Lying towards Superiours is punished by the Superiour himself; and the King of Siam punishes it more severely than any other: and notwithstanding all this, they lye as much or more at Siam, than in Europe.

Great Union in their Fami­lies.The Union of Families there is such, that a Son who would plead against his Parents, would pass for a Monster: Wherefore no person in this Country dreads Marriage, nor a number of Children: Interest divides not Families: Po­verty renders not Marriage burdensome.

Begging is rare and Shameful at Siam.Our Domesticks observed only three sorts of Beggars, Aged, Impotent and Friendless persons. Relations permit not their Kindred to beg Alms: They charitably maintain those that cannot maintain themselves out of their Estate [Page 75] or Labour. Begging is shameful there, not only to the Beggar, but to all his Family.

But Robbing is much more ignominious than Begging,The Siameses are Robbers.I say not to the Rob­ber himself, but to his Relations. The nearest Friend dare not concern them­selves about a Man accused of Theft; and it is not strange that Thievery should be reputed so infamous, where they may live so cheap: Thus are their Houses much less secure, then our worst Chests. Nevertheless as it is not possible to have true Vertue, but in the eternal prospects of Christianity, the Siameses do seldome as I may say refuse to steal whatever they meet with. 'Tis properly amongst them that opportunity makes the Thief. They place the Idea of per­fect Justice in not gathering up lost things, that is to say in not laying hold on so easie an occasion of getting. After the same manner the Chineses to exaggerate the good Government of some of their Princes, do say that under their Reign Justice was in so high an esteem among the People, that no person meddled with what he found scattered in the high Road; and this Idea has not been unknown to the Greeks. Anciently in Greece the Stagyritae made a Law in these words: What you have not laid down take not up; and it is perhaps from them that Plato learned it, when he inserted it amongst his Laws. But the Siameses are very remote from so exquisite a probity.

Father d' Espagnac, Some exam­ples of Theft committed by the Siameses. one of those pious and learned Jesuits which we carried to Siam, being one day alone in the Divan of their House, a Siamese came boldly to take away an excellent Persian Carpet from off a Table that was before him: and Father d' Espagnac let him do it, because he imagined not that he was a Robber. In the Journey which the King caused the Ambassadors from Siam to make into Flanders, one of the Mandarins which accompanied them, took twen­ty Scions in a house, where the Ambassadors were invited to dine, as they so­journed in one of the principal Cities of Picardy. The next day this Mandarin conceiving that these Scions were Money; gave one to a Footman to drink; and his Theft was hereby discovered, but no Notice taken thereof.

Behold likewise an ingenious prank, which proves that the opportunity of stealing has so much power over them, that it sometimes sways them, even when it is perilous. One of the Officers of the King of Siam's Magazines having stolen some Silver, this Prince ordered him to be put to death, by forcing him to swallow three or four Ounces of melted Silver, and it happened, that he who had order to take those three or four Ounces of Silver out of that Wretch's throat, could not forbear filching part of it. The King therefore caused him to die of the same punishment, and a third exposed himself to the same hazard by com­mitting the like Offence: I mean by stealing part of the Silver, which he took out of the last dead Man's throat. So that the King of Siam, pardoning him his Life, said, there is enough punisht, I should destroy all my Subjects, if I should not resolve to pardon them at last.

It must not be doubted after this,Robbers in the Woods of Si­am and China, which do ve­ry rarely kill. of what is reported of the Siameses who live in the Woods, to withdraw themselves from the Government, that they frequently rob the Passengers, yet without killing any. The Woods of China have been continually pestered with such Robbers: and there are some who af­ter having enticed a great many Companions with them, have formed whole Ar­mies, and at last rendered themselves Masters of that great Kingdom.

On the other hand, Fidelity is exceeding great at Siam, in all sorts of Traffick,The fidelity of the Siameses in Commerce, their bound­less Usury, and their Avarice. as I have elsewhere remarked: but Usury is there practised without bounds. Their Laws have not provided against it, though their Morality prohibits it. Avarice is their essential Vice; and what is more wonderful herein, is that they heap not up riches to use them, but to bury them.

As they traffick not almost with immoveables, make no Wills,They are ve­ry revengful, and how. nor publick Contracts, and as in a word they have no Notaries, it seems that they cannot almost have any Suits, and they have indeed few Civil, but a great many Cri­minal causes. 'Tis principally out of spight that they exercise their secret Ha­treds and Revenges; and they find facility therein with the Judges, who in this Country, as in Europe, do live on their profession. The Siameses have naturally an aversion to blood: but when they hate, even unto death, which is very rare, [Page 76] they assassinate, or they poyson, and understand not the uncertain Revenge of Duels, yet most of their quarrels do terminate only in blows, or reciprocal de­famations.

Other quali­ties of the Sia­meses.The Ancients have remark'd that it is the Humidity of the Elements, which defends the Indians against that action of the Sun, which burns the Complexion of the Negro's, and makes their Hair to grow like Cotton. The Nourishment of the Siameses is likewise more aqueous, than that of any other People of the Indies; and unto them may be safely attributed all the good, and all the bad qualities, which proceed from Phlegm and Spittle; because that Phlegm and Spittle are the necessary effects of their Nourishment. They are courteous, polite, fearful, and careless. They contain themselves a long time, but when once their Rage is kindled, they have perhaps less discretion than we have. Their Timidity, their Avarice, their Dissimulation, their Silences, their Inclination to lying do increase with them. They are stiff in their Customs, as much out of Idleness, as out of respect to their Ancestors, who have transmitted them to them. They have no curiosity, and do admire nothing. They are proud with those that deal gently with them, and humble to those that treat them with rigour. They are subtile and variable, like all those that perceive their own weakness.

Their Friend­ship is perfidi­ous.Their manner of promising themselves an eternal amity, is by drinking of the same Aqua Vitae in the same Cup, and when they would swear themselves more solemnly, they taste the blood one of another; which Lucian gives us for a Cu­stom of the ancient Scythians, and which is practised also by the Chineses, and by other Nations: but the Siameses cease not sometimes to betray after all these Ceremonies.

They are na­turally more moderate than we are, be­cause they are more dull.In general they have more Moderation than us: their Humors are as calm as their Heaven, which changes only twice a year and insensibly, when it turns by little and little from Rain to Fair-weather, and from Fair-weather to Rain. They act only by necessity, and do not like us place merit in Action. It seems not rati­onal to them that Labour and Pains should be the Fruit and Reward of Vertue. They have the good Fortune to be born Philosophers, and it may be that if they were not born such, they would not become so more than we. I therefore willingly believe what the Ancients have reported, that Philosophy came from the Indies into Europe, and that we have been more concerned at the insen­sibility of the Indians, than the Indians have been at the wonders, which our inquietude has produced in the discovery of so many different Arts, whereof we flatter our selves, perhaps to no purpose, that necessity was the Mother. But enough is spoken of the Siameses in general, let us enter into the particulars of their manners, according to their various conditions.

CHAP. I. Of the several Conditions among the Siameses.

AT Siam all Persons are either Freemen or Slaves.Of the Slave­ry according to the Man­ners of Siam. The Master has all power over the Slave, except that of killing him: And tho' some may report, that Slaves are severely beaten there, (which is very pro­bable in a Country where free persons are so rigidly bastinado'd) yet the Slavery there is so gentile, or, if you will, the Liberty is so abject, that it is become a Proverb, that the Siameses sell it to eat of a Fruit, which they call Durions. I have already said, that they chuse rather to enjoy it, than to enjoy none at all: 'Tis certain also, that they dread Beggary more than Slavery; and this makes me to think, that Beggary is there as painful as ignominious, and that the Siameses, who express a great deal of Charity for Beasts, even to the reliev­ing them, if they find any sick in the Fields, have very little for the Men.

They employ their Slaves in cultivating their Lands and Gardens,In what the Slaves are employed. and in some domestic Services; or rather, they permit them to work to gain their livelihood, under a Tribute which they receive, from four to eight Ticals a Year, that is to say, from seven Livres ten Sols, to fifteen Livres.

One may be born, or become a Slave. One becomes so either for Debt,A Siamese may be born, or become a Slave. as I have said, or for having been taken Captive in War, or for having been con­fiscated by Justice. When one is made a Slave for Debt, his Liberty returns again by making satisfaction; but the Children born during this Slavery, tho' it be but for a time, continue Slaves.

One is born a Slave, when born of a Mother-slave; and in the Slavery,How he is born a Slave, and to whom he belongs. the Children are divided as in the Divorce. The first, third, fifth, and all the rest in the odd number belong to the Master of the Mother: the second, fourth, and all the others in the even rank belong to the Father, if he is free; or to his Master, if he is a Slave. 'Tis true, that it is necessary upon this account, that the Father and Mother should have had Commerce together, with the consent of the Master of the Mother: for otherwise all the Children would belong to the Master of the Mother.

The difference of the King of Siam's Slaves from his Subjects of free condi­tion, is, that he continually employs his Slaves in personal labours,The difference between the King of Siam's Slaves, and his other Subjects. The Slaves of private men owe not any service to the King. Of the Sia­mese Nobility. and main­tains them; whereas his free Subjects only owe him six months service every Year, but at their own expence.

In a word, the Slaves of particular men owe not any service to that Prince; and tho' for this Reason he loses a Freeman, when this man falls into slavery, ei­ther for Debt, or to avoid Beggary, yet this Prince opposes it not, neither pre­tends any Indemnity upon this account.

Properly speaking, there is not two sorts of Conditions among free persons. Nobility is no other thing than the actual possession of Offices, the Families [Page 78] which do long maintain themselves therein, do become doubtless more illustri­ous and more powerful; but they are rare: and so soon as they have lost their Offices, they have nothing, which distinguishes them from the common People. There is frequently seen at the Pagaye, the Grandson of a Man who died a great Lord, and sometimes his own Son.

Of the Priests or Talapoins.The distinction between the People and the Priests is only an uncertain di­stinction, seeing that one may continually pass from one of these States to the other. The Priests are the Talapoins, of whom we shall speak in the sequel. Under the Name of People I comprehend whatever is not a Priest, viz. the King, Officers, and People, of whom we now proceed to speak.

CHAP. II. Of the Siamese People.

The Siamese people is a Militia.THE Siamese People is a Militia, where every particular person is registred: They are all Souldiers, in Siamese Taban, and do all owe six Months service annually to their Prince. It belongs to the Prince to arm them, and give them Elephants or Horses, if he would have them serve either on Elephants, or on Horseback: but it belongs to them to cloath, and to maintain themselves. And as the Prince never employs all his Subjects in his Armies, and that often­times he sends no Army into the Field, though he be at War with some of his Neighbours, yet for six months in the year he employs in such a work, or in such a service as pleases him, those Subjects which he employs not in the War.

Is counted and divided into men on the right hand, and on the left.Wherefore, to the end that no person may escape the personal service of the Prince, there is kept an exact account of the People. 'Tis divided into men on the right hand, and men on the left, to the end that every one may know on what side he ought to range himself in his Functions.

And by Bands.And besides this it is divided into Bands, each of which has its Chief, which they call Nai: so that this word Nai is become a term of Civility, which the Siameses do reciprocally give one to the other, as the Chineses do interchange the Title of Master or Governor.

What diffe­rence there is between a Band and a Company.I have said that the Siamese People is divided by Bands, rather than by Com­panies; because that the number of Soldiers of the same Band is not fix'd, and because that all those of the same Band, are not of the same Company in the Army: and I have said, that Nai signifies Chief, though some translate it by the word Captain; because that the Nai does not always lead his Band to the War, no more than to the six months Service: His care is to furnish as many men out of his Band, as are required, either for the War, or for the six months Service.

The Children are of the same Band with their Parents.The Children are of the same Band with their Parents; and if the Parents are of different Bands, the Children in the odd rank are of the Mother's Band, and the Children in the even rank of the Father's; provided nevertheless that the Mother's Nai hath been acquainted with the Marriage, and that he hath gi­ven his consent thereunto: otherwise the Children would be all of the Mother's Band.

The Talapoins and Women are exempt from service, and yet are re­gister'd, and why.Thus, though the Talapoins and Women do enjoy all exemption from Service, as not being esteemed Soldiers, yet they cease not to be set down in the Rolls of the People: the Talapoins, because they may return when they please to a secu­lar condition, and that then they fall again under the power of their natural Nai: the Women because their Children are of their Band, or all, or the greatest part, as I have said.

The Advanta­ges of the Nai.'Tis one of the Nai's Priviledges to be able to lend to his Soldier sooner than any other, and to be able to satisfie his Soldiers Creditor; thereby to make his Soldier his Slave, when he is insolvable. As the King gives a Balon to each [Page 79] Officer with a certain number of Pagayeurs, and as these are the Officers, which are also the Nai, every Officer has his Pagayeurs in his Band. They brand them on the outside of the Wrist with an hot Iron and an Anchor over it; and these sort of Domesticks are called Bao. But none of the Bao's or Pagayeurs owes to his Nai only this service, and that only six months in the year, wherefore they are released from six months to six months, or by month, as it pleases the Nai: the Nai has also some Offices in the Law as we shall see.

Now the more numerous his Band is, the more powerful he is esteemed:What at Siam are the digni­ties of Pa-ya, Oc-ya and the rest. The Offices and Employments of Siam being important only in this. The Dignities of Pa-ya, Oc-ya, Oc-Pra, Oc-Louang, Oc-Counne, Oc-Meuing, and Oc-Pan, are seven degrees of these Nai. 'Tis true that the Title of Oc-Pan is now dis­used. Pan signifies a Thousand, and it was thought that an Oc-Pan was Chief of a Thousand Men. Meuing signifies Ten Thousand, and it is thought that an Oc-Meuing is the Chief of Ten Thousand Men: not that in truth it was so, but that in the Indies they magnifie the Titles, No person could give me the true signification of these words, Pa-ga, Oc-ya, Oc-Pra, Oc-Louang, Oc-Counne, nor how many men are assigned to each of the five Dignities; but it is probable that as the words Pan and Meuing are Terms of Number, the rest are so too.

The word Oc seems to signifie Chief;Of the word Oc. for they have another Title without Function, viz. Oc-Meuang, which seems to signifie Chief of a City, in that Meuaug signifies a City, and in that it is necessary to have been made Oc-Meuang before he be effectually made Governor, whom they call Tchaou-Meuang, Lord of a City.

But this word Oc is not Siamese; Chief in Siamese is called Houa, This word is not Siamese, and how they use it. and this word Houa properly signifies the Head. From hence comes Houa Sip, Chief of Ten, which is, as I have elsewhere said, the Title of him that mounts the Elephant at the Crupper. After the same manner they call him, that bears the Royal Standard in the Balon where the King is, Houapan, or Chief of a Thousand. To re­turn to the word Oc, a Superior never useth it to an Inferior. Thus the King of Siam speaking to Oc-Pra Pipitcharatcha, will not, for example, say Oc-Pra Pi­pitcharatcha, but only Pra-Pipitcharatcha; A man relating his own Titles himself, will also modestly suppress this term Oc; and in fine, the inferiour People in speaking of the highest Officers will omit the word Oc, and will say for exam­ple, ya-yumrat, for Ocya yumrat; Meuing Vai, for Oc Meuing Vai.

The Portuguese have translated the word Pa-ya, by that of Prince;Of the word Pa-ya. not in my opinion, from their right understanding it, but because they have seen this Ti­tle given to Princes, and that the King of Siam gives it himself; but he some­times gives it also to the Officers of his Court, which are not Princes▪ and he gives it not always to the Princes of the Blood. The Lords of the Great Mo­guls Court are called, according to Bernier, Hazary, Dou-hazary, Penge, hecht, and Deh-hazary, that is to say, One Thousand, Two Thousand, Five, Eight, and Ten Thousand, as if one should say, Lords over so many Thousands of Horse: though in reality they could neither maintain, nor command so great a number. The great Moguls eldest Son, he says, is called Twelve Thousand, as if he had the effective command of Twelve Thousand Horse. 'Tis no strange thing there­fore that the King of Siam's Subjects being esteemed Soldiers, as those of the Great Mogul are esteemed Horsemen, have equally assumed in both Courts the term of number, to express the highest Dignities, and to name the Princes them­selves; yet I cannot affirm this is so at Siam, by reason that I know only that the words Pang and Meuing are Siamese and numeral Terms: but as to the other names of Dignity, which I have mentioned, some have informed me that they are Balie, and that they understood them not. I know that in the Country of Laos the Dignities of Pa-ya and Meuang, and the honourable Epithets of Pra are in use; it may be also that the other Terms of Dignity are common to both Nations, as well as the Laws.

In reference to the six Dignities (for that of Oc-pan is obsolete,Six orders of Cities of Siam. as I have said) there are now at Siam six Orders of Cities, which have been anciently determi­ned according to the Rolls of the Inhabitants. So that such a City, which was then found very populous had a Pa ya for Governor, and such which was less [Page 80] populous had an Oc-ya, and the rest had also other Dignities in proportion to the Inhabitants which they contained. But it is not necessary to believe that these Cities have ever been so populous as the Titles of their Governors import; by reason, as I have often alledged, that these People are very proud in Titles. On­ly the greatest Titles were given to the Governors of the biggest Cities, and the least Titles to the Governors of the Cities less inhabited. Thus the City of Me-Tac, of which I have spoken at the beginning, had a Governor called Pa-ya-Tac, and the word Me which signifies Mother, and which is joyned to Tac, seems to intimate that the City of Me-Tac was very great. The City of Porselouc had also a Pa-ya; Tenasserim, Ligor, Corazema and other, have still some Oc-ya. Lesser Cities, as Pipeli and Bancock, have the Oc-pra, others have the Oc-Louang, or the Oc-Counnes, and the least of all have the Oc-Meuing. The Portuguese have translated these Titles according to their fancy by those of King, Vice-Roy, Duke, Marquis, Earl, &c. They have given the Title of Kingdom to Metac, Tenassa­rim, Porselouc, Ligor, and Pipeli; either by reason of their hereditary Gover­nours, or for having been like Pipeli the residence of the Kings of Siam; and to the Kings of Siam they have given the Title of Emperor, because the Spani­ards have ever thought the Title of Emperor ought to be given to Kings, that have other Kings for Feudataries: So that upon this single reason some Kings of Castille have born the Title of Emperor, giving to their Children the Title of Kings of the several Kingdoms which were united to their Crown.

The dignities of the Siameses are not annext to the single Governments of City or Pro­vince.To return to the Titles of the Siameses, they are given not only to the Go­vernors, but to all the Officers of the Kingdom; because that they are all Nai: and the same Title is not always joyned to the same Office. The Barcalon, for example, has sometimes had that of Pa-ya, as some have informed me, and now he has only that of Oc-ya. But if a Man has two Offices, he may have two different Titles in respect to his two Offices: and it is not rare that one Man has two Offices, one in the City and the other in the Province, or rather one in Title and the other by Commission. Thus Oc-ya Pra-Sedet who is Governor of the City of Siam in Title, is now Oc-ya Barcalon by Commission: the King of Siam finding it his interest, because that upon this account he gives not to one Officer a double Sallery.

The Equivo­cations which this causes in Relations.But this Multiplication of Offices on the same Head causes a great deal of Obscurity and Equivocation in the ancient Relations of Siam; because that when a man has two Offices, he has two Titles, and two Names, and when the Re­lation imports that such an Oc-ya for example, is concerned in such a thing, one is inclined to believe that the Relation has stil'd this Oc-ya by the title of the function which it attributes to him, and frequently it has named him by the title of another Office. Thus if a Relation of the Kingdom of France made by a Siamese should intimate, that the Duke of Mayne is General of the Suisses, the Siameses might groundlesly perswade themselves, that every General of the Suisses bears the Title of Duke of Mayne. And this is what I had to say touching the People of Siam.

CHAP. III. Of the Officers of the Kingdom of Siam in general.

The proper signification of the word Man­darin.THE Portugueses have generally called all the Officers throughout the whole ex­tent of the East Mandarins; and it is probable that they have formed this word from that of Mandar, which in their Language signifies to command. Navaret­te, whom I have already cited, is of this opinion; and we may confirm it, because that the Arabian word Emir, which is used at the Court of the Great Mogul, and in several other Mahometan Courts of the Indies, to signifie the Officers, is derived from the Arabian Verb amara, which signifies to command. The word Manda­rin [Page 81] extends also to the Children of the Principal Officers, which are considered as Children of Quality, called Mon in Siamese. But I shall make use of the word Mandarin, only to signifie the Officers.

The King of Siam therefore makes no considerable Mandarin, The King of Siam gives Names to the considerable Mandarins. but he gives him a new Name; a Custom established also at China, and in other States of the East. This Name is always an Elogium; sometimes it is purposely invented, like that which he gave to the Bishop of Metelpolis, and like those which he gives to the Forreigners that are at his Court; but oftentimes these Names are ancient, and known for having been formerly given to others; and those are the most honourable, which have been heretofore born by persons very highly advanced in Dignity, or by the Princes of the Royal Blood. And although such Names be not always accompanied with Offices and Authority, they cease not to be a great Mark of Favour. It likewise happens that the same Name is given to several persons of different Dignities; so that at the same time the one, for example, will call himself, Oc-Pra Pipitcharatcha, and the other Oc-Counne Pipitcharatcha. These Names, of which the first words are only spoken, and which do every one make a Period, are taken almost all entire out of the Baly Tongue, and are not always well understood: But this, and the Stile of the Laws, which participate very much of the Baly, and the Books of Religion, which are Baly, are the cause why the Kings of Siam ought not to ignore this Tongue. Forasmuch as, I have elsewhere said, it lends all its Ornaments to the Siamese, and that oftentimes they do elegantly intermix them, either in speak­ing or in writing.

The Law of the State is, that all Offices should be hereditary;All Offices are hereditary. and the same Law is in the Kingdom of Laos, and was anciently at China. But the selling of Offices is not there permitted: and moreover the least fault of the Patent, or the capricious Humor of the Prince, or the Dotage of the Inheritor may take away the Offices from the Families, and when this happens it is always without Recompence. Very few Families do long maintain themselves therein, espe­cially in the Offices of the Court, which are more than the rest under the Ma­ster's power.

Moreover, no Officer at Siam has any Sallary. The Prince lodges them,The Profits of the Offices. which is no great matter; and gives them some moveables, as Boxes of Glod or Silver for Betel; some Arms, and a Balon; some Beasts, as Elephants, Horses, and Buffalo's; some Services, Slaves, and in fine some Arable Lands. All which return to the King with the Office, and which do principally make the King to be the Heir of his Officers. But the principal gain of the Offices consists in Extorsions, because that in this there is no Justice for the weak. All the Officers do hold a correspondence in pillaging; and the Corruption is greatest in those from whence the Remedy ought to come. The Trade of Pre­sents is publick; the least Officers do give unto the greatest, under a Title of Respect; and a Judge is not there punished for having received Presents, if otherwise he be not convicted of Injustice, which is not very easie to do.

The Form of the Oath of Fidelity consists in swallowing the water,The Oath of Fidelity. over which the Talapoins do pronounce some Imprecations against him, who is to drink it, in case he fails in the Fidelity which he owes to his King. This Prince dispenses not with this Oath to any persons that engage themselves in his Service, of what Religion or Nation soever.

The Publick Law of Siam is written in three Volumes.The Publick Law of Siam is written. The first is called Pra Tam Ra, and contains the Names, Functions, and Prerogatives of all the Offices. The second is intituled, Pra Tam Non, and is a Collection of the Constitutions of the Ancient Kings; and the third is the Pra Rayja Cammanot, wherein are the Constitutions of the now Regent King's Father.

Nothing would have been more necessary than a faithful extract of these three Volumes,The difficulty of procuring the Books thereof. rightly to make known the Constitution of the Kingdom of Siam: but so far was I from being able to get a Translation, that I could not procure a Copy thereof in Siamese. It would have been necessary upon this ac­count to continue longer at Siam, and with less business. This is therefore what I could learn certainly about this matter, without the assistance of those Books, [Page 82] and in a Country where every one is afraid to speak. The greatest token of Servitude of the Siameses is, that they dare not to open their mouth about any thing that relates to their Country.

CHAP. IV. Concerning the Offices of Judicatory.

The Division of the King­dom of Siam by Provinces.THE Kingdom of Siam is divided into the upper and lower. The upper lies towards the North, (seeing that the River descends from thence) and contains seven Provinces, which are named by their Chief Cities, Porselouc, San­quelouc, Lacontai, Campeng-pet, Coconrepina, Pechebonne, and Pitchai. At Porselouc do immediately arise ten Jurisdictions, at Sanquelouc eight, at Lacontai seven, at Campeng-pet ten, at Coconrepina five, at Pechebonne two, and at Pitchai seven. And besides this there are in the upper Siam one and twenty other Jurisdictions, to which no other Jurisdiction resorts; but which do resort to the Court, and are as so many little Provinces.

In the lower Siam, that is to say in the South part of the Kingdom, they reckon the Provinces of Jor, Patana, Ligor, Tenasserim, Chantebonne, Petelong or Bordelong, and Tchiai. On Jor do immediately depend seven Jurisdictions, on Patana eight, on Ligor twenty, on Tenasserim twelve, on Chantebonne seven, on Petelong eight, and on Tchiai two. And besides this, there are likewise in the lower Siam thirteen small Jurisdictions, which are as so many particular Pro­vinces, which resort only to the Court, and to which no other Jurisdiction re­sorts. The City of Siam has its Province apart, in the heart of the State, be­tween the upper and lower Siam.

The Gover­nor is the Judge.The whole Tribunal of Judicature consists properly only in a single Officer, seeing that it is the Chief or President only that has the deliberate voice, and that all the other Officers have only a consultative voice, according to the Cu­stom received also at China, and in the other Neighbouring States. But the most important prerogative of the President is to be the Governour of his whole Ju­risdiction, and to command even the Garrisons, if there be any; unless the Prince hath otherwise disposed thereof by an express order. So that as in other places these Offices are hereditary, it is no difficult matter for some of these Governors, and especially the most powerful, and for the most remote from Court, to withdraw themselves wholly or in part from the Royal Autho­rity.

Jor belongs no more to the Kingdom of of Siam.Thus the Governor of Jor renders Obedience no longer, and the Portugueses give him the Title of King. And it may be he never intends to obey, unless the Kingdom of Siam should extend it self, as Relations declare, to the whole Peninsula extra Gangem. Jor is the most Southern City thereof, seated on a Ri­ver, which has its Mouth at the Cape of Sincapura, and which forms a very excellent Port.

Nor Patana.The People of Patana live, like those of Achem in the Isle of Sumatra, under the Domination of a Woman, whom they always elect in the same Family, and always old, to the end that she may have no occasion to marry, and in the name of whom the most trusty persons do rule. The Portuguese have likewise given her the Title of Queen, and for Tribute she sends to the King of Siam every three Years two small Trees, the one of Gold, the other of Silver, and both loaded with Flowers and Fruits; but she owes not any assistance to this Prince in his Wars. Whether these Gold and Silver Trees are a real Homage, or only a Respect to maintain the liberty of Commerce, as the King of Siam sends Presents every three Years to the King of China, in consideration of Trade on­ly, is what I cannot alledge; but as the King of China honours himself with these sorts of Presents, and takes them for a kind of Homage, it may well be, [Page 83] that the King of Siam does not less value himself on the Presents he receives from the Queen of Patana, altho' she be not perhaps his Vassal.

The Siameses do call an Hereditary Governor Tchaou-Meuang; The Gover­nor is Lord. Tchaou signi­fies Lord, and Meuang a City or Province, and sometimes a Kingdom. The Kings of Siam have ruin'd and destroy'd the most potent Tchaou-Meuang, as much as they could, and have substituted in their place some Triennial Governors by Commission. These Commission-Governors are called Pouran, and Pou signi­fies a Person.

Besides the Presents which the Tchaou-Meuang may receive, as I have declar'd,The Profits or Rights of the Tchaou-Meuang. his other legal Rights are,

First, Equally to share with the King the Rents that the arable Lands do yield, which they call Naa, that is to say Fields; and according to the ancient Law, these Rents are a Mayon, or quarter part of a Tical for forty Fathom, or two hundred Foot square.

2^dly, The Tchaou-Meuang has the profit of all Confiscations, of all the Penal­ties to the Exchequer, and ten per Cent. of all the Fines to the Party. The Confiscations are fixed by Law according to the Cases, and are not always the whole Estate, not even in case of sentence of Death; but sometimes also they extend to the Body, not only of the Person condemn'd, but of his Children too.

3^dly, The King of Siam gives the Tchaou-Meuang some men to execute his Orders; they accompany him everywhere, and they row in his Balon. The Siameses do call them Kenlai, or Painted Arms; by reason that they pink and mangle their Arms, and lay Gunpowder on the wounds, which paints their Arms with a faded Blue. The Portuguese do call them Painted Arms, and Officers; and these Painted Arms, are still used in the Country of Laos.

4^thly, In the Maritime Governments, the Tchaou-Meuang sometimes takes Cus­toms of the Merchant Ships, but it is generally inconsiderable. At Tenasserim it is eight per Cent. in the kind, according to the Relation of the Foreign Missions.

Some have assur'd me,The Humani­ty of the Sia­meses to­wards those that have suf­fered Ship­wrack. that the Siameses have the Humanity not to appropriate any thing to themselves of what the Tempest casts on their Coasts by Ship­wrack; yet Ferdinand Mendez Pinto relates, that Lewis de Monteroyo, a Portuguese, having suffer'd Shipwrack on the Coast of Siam near Patana, the Chabaudar, or Custom-house Officer, which he names Chatir, confiscated not only the Ship and its Cargo, but Monteroyo himself, and some Children; alledging, that by the ancient Custom of the Kingdom, whatever the Sea cast upon the Coasts, was the profit of his Office. 'Tis true, that this Author adds, with great Praises on the King of Siam who then reigned, that this Prince, at the Request of the Portugueses which were at his Court, set Monteroyo at liberty, and restor'd him all the Prize, and the Children; but he subjoins also that it was out of Charity, and on the day that this Prince went through the City mounted on a white Ele­phant, to distribute Alms to the People.

5^thly,A continuance of the Rights or Profits of the Tchaou-Meuang. The Tchaou-Meuang arrogating to themselves all the Rights of Sove­raignty over the Frontiers, do levy, when they can, extraordinary Taxes on the People.

6^thly, The Tchaou-Meuang do exercise Commerce every where, but under the name of their Secretary, or some other of their Domestics. And this last Cir­cumstance demonstrates that they have some shame, and that the Law perhaps prohibits them; but that in this they are not more scrupulous than their King.

7^thly, In some places where there are Fish-ponds, the Tchaou-Meuang take the best of the Fish when the Pond is emptied; but he takes for his own use only, and not to sell, and the rest he leaves to the People.

8^thly, Venison and Salt are free throughout the Kingdom, and the King him­self has laid no Prohibition nor Impost thereon. Salt is there of little value. I have heard that they have Rock-salt, and they make it of Sea-water; some have told me with the Sun, others with Fire; and, perhaps, both is true. At the places where the Shoars are too high to receive the Sea, and in those, where Wood is not near at hand, the Salt may fail, or cost too much to make, as in [Page 84] the Island of Jonsalam, the Inhabitants whereof do rather chuse to import their Salt from Tenasserim.

The Rights or Profits of the Pou-ran.The Pou-ran, or Governor by Commission, has the same Honours, and the same Authority as the Tchaou-Meuang, but not the same Profits. The King of Siam names the Pou-ran upon two Accounts, either when he would have no Tchaou-Meuang, or when the Tchaou-Meuang is obliged to absent himself from his Government; for the Tchaou-Meuang has no ordinary Lieutenant who can sup­ply his place in his absence, as in France the Chancellor has none. In the first Case the Pou-ran has only the Profits which the King assigns him at naming him; in the second Case he takes the Moyety of the Profits from the Tchaou-Meuang, and leaves him the other Moyety.

The Names and Functions of the Officers which com­pose a Tribu­nal.Now follows the ordinary Officers of a Tribunal of Judicature, not that there are so many in every one, but that in any one perhaps there is not more.

Oc-ya Tchaou-Meuang. The Tchaou-Meuang is not always Oc-ya, he has some­times another Title, and the other Officers of his Tribunal have always some Titles proportion'd to his.

Oc-Pra Belat. His Name signifies Second, but he presides not in the absence of the Tchaou Meuang, because he has no determinative Voice.

Oc-Pra Jockebatest, a kind of Attorney-General, and his Office is to be a strict Spy upon the Governor. His Office is not Hereditary, the King nomi­nates some person of Trust; but Experience evinces, that there is no Fidelity in these Men, and that all the Officers hold a private Correspondence to pillage the People.

Oc Pra Peun commands the Garrison, if there is any, but under the Orders of the Tchaou-Meuang; and he has no Authority over his Soldiers, but when they are in the Field.

Oc-Pra Maha-Tai, is, as it were, the Chief of the People. His Name seems to signifie the Great Siamese; for Maha signifies Great, and Tai signifies Siamese. 'Tis he that levies the Soldiers, or rather that demands them of the Nai: who sends Provisions to the Army, who watches that the Rolls of the People be well made; and who, in general, executes all the Governor's Orders which concern the People.

Oc-Pra Sassedi makes and keeps the Rolls of the People. 'Tis an Office very subject to Corruption, by reason that every particular person endeavors to get himself omitted out of the Rolls for money. The Nai do likewise seek to fa­vor those of their Band, who make Presents to them, and to oppress those with labour who have nothing to give them. The Maha Tai, and the Sassedi, would prevent this disorder, if they were not the first corrupted. The Sassedi begins to enter down Children upon the Rolls, when they are three or four Years old.

Oc-Louang-Meuang is, as it were, the Mayor of the City; for, as I have al­ready said, Meuang signifies City; but as for what concerns the Title of Oc-Louang, it does not signifie Mayor, and is no more applied to that Office than another Title. This Mayor takes care of the Polity and Watch. They kept a Watch every Night round the Ambassador's Lodgings, as round the King of Siam's Palace, and this was a very great Token of Honour.

Oc-Louang Vang is the Master of the Governor's Palace, for Vang signifies Pa­lace. He causes it to be repair'd, he commands the Governor's Guards, and even their Captain; and, in a word, he orders in the Governor's Palace, whatever has relation to the Governor's charge.

Oc-Louang-Peng keeps the Book of the Law and the Custom, according to which they judge; and when Judgment is passed, he reads the Article thereof, which serves for the Judgment of the Process: and, in a word, it is he that pro­nounces the Sentence.

Oc-Louang Clang has the Charge of the King's Magazine, Clang signifies Maga­zine. He receives certain of the King's Revenues, and sells to the People the King's Commodities, that is to say those, the Trade of which the King appropriates to himself, as in Europe the Princes do generally appropriate the Trade of Salt to themselves.

[Page 85] Oc-Louang Couca has the Inspection over Foreigners; he protects them, or ac­cuses them to the Governor.

Moreover there are some Officers in every superior Tribunal to send to the in­ferior Justices, when the Tchaou-Meuang or Pouran are dead, whilst that the King fills the place: and the number of these Officers are as great as that of the inferior Justices.

Oc-Louang or Oc-Counne Coeng is the Provost: he is always armed with a Sa­bre, and has Painted Arms like Archers.

Oc-Counne Pa-ya Bat is the Keeper of the Goal or Prisons: and the word Pa-ya; which the Portugueses have translated by that of Prince, seems exceedingly vili­fied in the Title of this Office. Nai-Goug is the true Goaler, Couc signifies a Prison, and nothing is more cruel than the Prisons of Siam. They are Cages of Bambou exposed to all the injuries of the Air.

Oc-Counne Narin commands those that have the care of the Elephants, which the King has in the Province: for there are some in several places, because it would be difficult to lodge and feed a very great number of Elephants toge­ther.

Oc-Counne Nai-rang is the Purveyor of the Elephants. In a word, there is an Officer in every Tribunal to read the Tara or Orders from the King to the Gover­nor, and an House in an eminent place for to keep them: As within the inclo­sure of the King of Siam's Palace there is a single House, on an eminent place, to keep all the Letters which the King of Siam receives from other Kings.

These are the Officers which are called from within. Besides these,An important distinction in­to Officers within and Officers with­out. there are others which are called from without, for the Service of the Province. All have an entire dependance upon the Governor; and altho those without have the like Titles, yet they are very inferior to the Officers within. Thus an Oc-Meuang within the Palace, is superior to an Oc-ya without; and in a word it is not necessary to believe that all those who bear great Titles, must always be great Lords: That infamous fellow who buys Women and Maids to prostitute them bears the Title of Oc-ya; he is called Oc-ya Meen, and is a very contempti­ble person. There are none but debauch'd persons that have any Correspon­dence with him. Every one of the Officers within has his Lieutenant, in Sia­mese Balat, and his Register in Siamese Semien, and in his House, which the King gives him, he has generally an Hall to give his Audiences.

CHAP. V. Of the Judiciary Stile and Form of Pleading.

THey have only one Stile for all matters in Law,They have not a double Stile. and they have not thought fit to divide them into Civil and Criminal: either because there is always some punishment due to him that is cast, even in a matter purely Civil, or because that suits in matters purely Civil are very rare there.

'Tis a general Rule amongst them, that all Process should be in writing,They plead only in wri­ting and by giving Bail. The Function of the Nai in Law Suits. and that they plead not without giving Caution.

But as the whole People of the Jurisdiction is divided by Bands, and that their principal Nai are the Officers of the Tribunal, whom I shall call by the general name of Councellors; in case of process the Plaintiff goes first to the Councellor who is his Nai, or to his Country Nai, who goes to the Councellor Nai. He presents him his Petition, and the Councellor presents it to the Governor. The Duty of the Governour is nicely to examin it; and to admit or reject it, ac­cording as to him it seems just or unjust; and in this last case to Chastise the Party, who presented it, to the end that no person might begin any process rash­ly, and this is likewise the Stile or form of China, but it is little observed at Siam.

[Page 86] How a Pro­cess is prepa­red at Siam.The Governor then admits the Petition, and refers it to one of the Councel­lors; and ordinarily he returns it to him that presented it, if he is the common Nai of both parties: but then he puts his Seal thereunto, and he counts the lines and the cancelling thereof, to the end that no alteration may be made. The Councellor gives it to his Deputy and to his Clerk, who make their report to him at his House in his Hall of Audience: And this report, and all those which I shall treat of in the sequel, are only a Lecture. After this the Councellor's Clerk presented by his Master, reports or reads this very Petition, in the Go­vernour's Hall, at an Assembly of all the Councellors; but in the absence of the Governor, who vouchsafes not to appear at whatever serves only to prepare the Cause. The Parties are there called in under pretence of endeavouring to reconcile them: and they are summon'd three times, more for fashions sake, than with a sincere intention of procuring the accommodation. This Reconci­liation not succeeding, the Court orders, if there are witnesses, that they should be heard before the same Clerk, unless he be declared suspected. And in such another Session, that is to say, where the Governor is not present, the Clerk reads the Process and the depositions of the Witnesses, and they proceed to the Opinions, which are only consultative, and which are all writ down, begin­ning with the Opinion of the last Officer.

The Form of the Judgments.The Process being thus prepar'd, and the Council standing in presence of the Governor, his Clerk reads unto him the Process and the Opinions; and the Governor, after having resumed them all, interrogates those whose Opinions seem to him not just, to know of them upon what reasons they grounded them. After this Examination he pronounces in general terms, that such of the Parties shall be condemned according to the Law.

The Law or Custom is read.Then it belongs to Oc-Louang-Peng to read with a loud voice the Article of the Law, which respects the suit: but in that Country, as in this, they dispute the sense of the Laws. They do there seek out some accommodations under the title of Equity; and under pretence that all the circumstances of the fact are never in the Law, they never follow the Law. The Governour alone decides these disputes, and the Sentence is pronounced upon the parties, and set down in Writing. But if it be contrary to all appearance of Justice, it belongs to the Jockebat, or the Kings Attorney General, to advertise the Court thereof, but not to oppose it.

Suits are a long time de­pending. They have no Advocate nor Attorney.Every suit ought to end in three days, and some there are which last three years.

The parties do speak before the Clerk, who writes down what they tell him; and they speak either by themselves, or by another: but it is necessary that this other, who herein performs the office of an Attorney or Advocate, should be at least Cousin German to him for whom he speaks; otherwise he would be punished, and not heard.

Before whom they produce.The Clerk receives likewise all the Titles and Deeds, but in presence of the Court, who counts all the lines thereof.

Proofs subsidi­ary to the Torture.When ordinary proofs do not suffice, they have recourse to Torture in Ac­cusations, which are very grievous upon this account; and they apply it rigo­rously, and in several ways: or rather they use the proofs of Water and of Fire, or of some others as superstitious, but not of Duelling.

The Proof of the Fire.In the Proof of Fire they erect a Pile of Faggots in a Ditch, in such a manner that the surface of the Pile be level with the edge of the Ditch. This Pile is five fathomslong, and one broad. Both the parties do walk with their naked Feet from one end to the other, and he that has not the sole of his Feet hurt gains his Suit. But as they are accustomed to go with naked Feet, and that they have the sole of the Foot hard like Horn, they say that it is very common that the Fire spares them, provided they rest the Foot upon the Coals: for the way to burn themselves is to go quick and lightly. Two men do generally walk by the side of him that passes over the Fire, and they lean with force upon his Shoulders, to hinder him from getting too quick over this proof: and it is said that this weight is so far from exposing him more to be burnt, that on the contrary he stifles the Action of the Fire under his Feet.

[Page 87]Sometimes the proof of the Fire is performed with Oil,Another sort of Proof by Fire. or other boiling matter, into which the parties do thrust their hand. A Frenchman, from whom a Siamese had stole some Tin, was perswaded, for want of proof, to put his hand into the melted Tin; and he drew it out almost consumed. The Siamese being more cunning extricated himself, I know not how, without burning; and was sent away absolved; and yet six Months after, in another Suit, wherein he was engaged, he was convicted of the Robbery, wherewith the Frenchman had ac­cused him. But a Thousand such like events perswade not the Siameses to change their form.

The Proof of the Water is performed after this manner.The Proof of the Water. The two parties do plunge themselves into the Water at the same time, each holding by a Pole, along which they descend; and he that remains longest under Water is thought to have a good Cause. Every one therefore practises from their Youth, in this Country, to familiarize himself with Fire, and to continue a long time under Water.

They have another sort of Proof,A Proof by Vomits. which is performed by certain Pills prepa­red by the Talapoins, and accompanied with Imprecations: Both the parties do swallow them, and the token of the right Cause is to be able to keep them in the Stomach without casting them up, for they are vomitive.

All these Proofs are not only before the Judges, but before the People,The various successes of these Proofs. and if the two parties do escape equally well, or equally ill with one, they have re­course to another Tryal. The King of Siam uses them also in his Judgments, but besides this he sometimes delivers up the parties to Tygers, and he whom the Tygers spare for a certain time is adjudged innocent. But if the Tygers devour them both, they are both esteemed guilty. If on the contrary the Tygers do meddle neither with the one nor the other, they have recourse to some other Proof, or rather they wait till the Tygers determine to devour one or both of the Parties. The Constancy with which it is reported that the Siameses do un­dergo this kind of death, is incredible in persons, who express so little Cou­rage in War.

There are sometimes several Provinces which appeal one to the other;The Degrees of Appeal. which multiplies the degrees of Appeal to three or four. An Appeal is permitted in all cases, but the charges thereof are always greater, as it is necessary to travel further to plead, and in a Tribunal superior,

But when there ought to pass the sentence of Death,Judgments of Death reser­ved to the Prince, or to some extraor­dinary Com­missioners. the decision thereof is reserved to the King alone. No other Judge than himself can order a capital punishment, if this Prince does not expresly grant him the power thereof; and there is hardly any precedent, that he grants it otherwise than to some extra­ordinary Judges, whom this Prince sends sometimes into the Provinces, either upon a particular case, or to execute Justice at the places of all the crimes wor­thy of death. All the Criminals are kept in the Prisons till the arrival of the Commissioners: and they have sometimes, as at China, the power of deposing and punishing the ordinary Officers with death, if they deserve it. But if the King of Siam grants other Commissions for his Service, or for the Service of the State, it is rare that he exempts the Commissioner from taking the assistance of the Governor of the places where he sends him.

The usual Punishment of Robbery is the Condemnation to the double,The Punish­ment of Rob­bery extended to Estates. and sometimes to the triple; by equal portions to the Judge and Party: But it is most singular in this, that the Siameses extend the Punishment of Robbery to every unjust Possessor in a Real Estate: So that whoever it evicted out of an Inheritance by Law, not only restores the Inheritance to the Party, but likewise pays the value thereof, half to the Party, and half to the Judge. But if by the King's special permission the Judge can put the Robber to death, then he can at his own discretion order either Death, or the pecuniary Mulct, but not Death and the pecuniary Mulct together.

But to show how dear Justice is in a Country, where Provisions are so cheap, I will add at the end of this work, a Note that was given me of the charges of Justice, where you will likewise see a particular of the form: but the charges are not the same in all the Tribunals, as I have already declared. He for whom [Page 88] this Roll is, has four inferior Jurisdictions, and he appeals to another, which ap­peals to the Court.

CHAP. VI. The Functions of the Governor and Judge in the Me­tropolis.

The King is the Tchaou-Meuang of the Metropolis.IN the Metropolis, where there is no other Tchaou-Meuang than the King, the Functions of Governor and Judge are divided into two Offices: and the other Functions of the lesser Offices, which compose a Tribunal of Tchaou-Meu­ang, are destributed to the principal Officers of the State; but with greater Extent and Authority, and with higher and more pompous Titles.

The Office of Yummarat, which they pronounce Yumrat.The President of the Tribunal of the City of Siam, to whom all the Appeals of the Kingdom do go, they call Yumrat. He generally bears the Title of Oc-ya, and his Tribunal is in the King's Palace; but he follows not the King, when that Prince removes from his Metropolis; and then he renders Justice in a Tow­er, which is in the City of Siam, and without the inclosure of the Palace. To him alone belongs the determinative Voice; and from him there also lyes an Appeal to the King, if any one will bear the expence.

The Judiciary form before the King.In this case the Process is referred and examined by the King's Council; but in his absence to a Sentence inclusively consultative, as is practised in the Council of the Tchaou-Meuang. The King is present only when it is necessary that he pronounce a definitive Judgment: and according to the general form of the Kingdom, this Prince, before passing the Sentence, resumes all the opinions and debates with his Councellors, those which to him seem unjust; and some have assured me, that the present King acquits himself herein with a great deal of Ingenuity and Judgment.

The Office of Pra-sadet, which is pro­nounced Pra-sedet.The Governor of the City of Siam is called Pra-sedet, and generally also bears the Title of Oc ya. His Name, which is Baly, is composed of the word Pra, which I have several times explained, and of the word Sedet which signifies, say some, the King is gone; and indeed they speak not otherwise, to say that the King is gone. But this does not sufficiently explain what the Office of Pra-sedet is: and in several things it appears, that they have very much lost the exact un­derstanding of the Baly. M^r. Gervaise calls this Office Pesedet; I always heard it called Pra-sedet, and by able men, altho they write it Pra-sadet.

The Recepti­on which the Governors gave to the King's Am­bassadors, eve­ry one in his Government.The course of the River from its Mouth to the Metropolis, is divided into several small Governments. The first is Pipeli, the second Prepadem, the third Bancock, the fourth Talaccan, and the fifth Siam. The Officers of every one of these Governments received the King's Ambassadors at the enterance into their Jurisdiction, and they left them not till the Officers of the next Jurisdiction had joyned and saluted them: and they were the particular Officers of each Govern­ment that made the Head of the Train. Besides this there were some Officers more considerable, that came to offer the King their Master's Balons to the Am­bassadors, at the Mouth of the River: and every day there joyned new Officers, that came to bring new Compliments to the Ambassadors: and who quitted not the Ambassadors after they had joined them.

The place where the King's Am­bassadors ex­pected the day of their en­trance.The King's Ambassadors arrived thus within two Leagues of Siam, at a place which the French called the Tabanque; and they waited there eight or ten days for the time of their entrance into the Metropolis. Tabanque in Siamese signifies the Custom House: and because the Officer's House, which stands at the Mouth of the River, is of Bamhou like all the rest, the French gave the name of Tabanque to all the Bambou-houses where they lodged, from the name of the Officers House, which they had seen first of all.

[Page 89]The day therefore that the King's Ambassadors made their enterance,The Governor of Siam came to fetch them. Oc-ya Prasedet as Governour of the Metrpolis came to visit, and compliment them at this pretended Tabanque.

CHAP. VII. Of the State Officers, and particularly of the Tchacry, Calla-hom, and of the General of the Elephants.

AMongst the Court Officers are principally those,Of the chief Officers in ge­neral. to whom are annexed the Functions of our Secretaries of State: but before an enterance be made into this matter, I must declare that all the chief Officers in any kind of Affairs whatever, have under them as many of those Subaltern Officers which compose the Tribunal of the Tchaou-Meuang.

The Tchacry has the distribution of all the Interior polity of the Kingdom:Of the Tchacry. to him revert all the Affairs of the Provinces: All the Governours do immedi­ately render him an Account, and do immediately receive Orders from him: he is President of the Council of State.

The Calla-hom has the appointment of the War:Of the Calla-hom. he has the care of the Forti­fications, Arms, and Ammunitions: He issues out all the Orders, that con­cern the Armies; and he is naturally the General thereof, altho the King may name whom he pleases for General. By Van Vliet's Relation it appears that the Command of the Elephants belonged also to the Calla-hom, even without the Army. But now this is a separate Employment, as some have assured me: either for that the present King's Father, after having made use of the Office of the Calla-hom to gain the Throne; resolved to divide the Power thereof, or that naturally they are two distinct Offices, which may be given to a single Person.

However it be, 'tis Oc-Pra Pipitcharatcha corruptly called Petratcha, Of the Gene­ral of the Ele­phants. who com­mands all the Elephants, and all the Horses: and it is one of the greatest Em­ployments of the Kingdom, because that the Elephants are esteemed the King of Siam's Principal Forces. Some there are who report that this Prince main­tains Ten Thousand, but is impossible to be known, by reason that Vanity al­ways inclines these People to Lying: and they are more vain in the matter of Elephants, than in any thing else. The Metropolis of the Kingdom of Laos is called Lan-Tchang, and its name in the Language of the Country, which is almost the same as the Siameses, signifies Ten Millions of Elephants. The King of Siam keeps therefore a very great number: and it is said that three men at least are re­quired for the service of every Elephant: and these men, with all the Offiers that command them, are under the orders of Oc-Pra Pipitcharatcha: who though he has only the Title of Oc-Pra, is yet a very great Lord. The people love him because he appears moderate; and think him invulnerable, because he expres­sed a great deal of Courage in some Fight against the Peguins: his Courage has likewise procur'd him the Favour of the King his Master. His Family has con­tinued a long time in the highest Offices: is frequently allied to the Crown; and it is publickly reported that he or his Son Oc-Louang Souracac may pretend to it, if either of them survive the King that now Reigns. The Mother of Oc-Pra Pip [...]haratcha was the King's Nurse, and the Mother of the first Ambassador whom we saw here: and when the King commanded the great Barcalon, the Brother of this Ambassador, to be bastinado'd the last time, 'twas Oc-Louang Soura­cac the Son of Oc-Pra Pipitcharatcha that bastinado'd him by the King's order, and in his presence; the Prince's Nurse, the Mother of the Barcalon, lying prostrate at his Feet, to obtain pardon for her Son.

CHAP. VIII. Concerning the Art of War amongst the Siameses, and of their Forces by Sea and Land.

The Siameses not proper for War.THe Art of War is exceedingly ignor'd at Siam: the Siameses are little in­clined to this Trade. The over-quick imagination of the excessive hot Countries, is not more proper for Courage, than the slow imagination of Countries extreamly cold. The sight of a naked Sword is sufficient to put an hundred Siameses to flight; there needs only the assured Tone of an European, that wears a Sword at his side, or a Cane in his hand, to make them forget the most express Orders of their Superiors.

How con­temptible the men in the In­dies are as to their Courage.I say moreover, that every one born in the Indies is without Courage; al­though he be born of European Parents. And the Portugueses born in the Indies have been a real proof thereof. A society of Dutch Merchants found in them only the Name and the Language, and not the Bravery of the Portuguese: and if other Europeans went to seek out the Dutch, they would not be found more Valorous. The best constituted men are those of the Temperate Zones: and amongst these the difference of their common aliments, and of the places which they inhabit, more or less hot, dry or moist, exposed to the Winds or to the Seas, Plains or Mountains. Woods or Champains, and much more the several Governments do cause very great differences. For who doubts, for example, that the Antient Greeks, brought up in liberty, where incomparably more Va­lorous then the present Greeks, depressed by so long a Servitude? All these rea­sons do concur to effeminate the Courage of the Siameses, I mean the heat of the Climate, the flegmatick Aliments, and the Despotick Government.

The Siameses abhor blood.The Opinion of the Metempsychosis inspiring them with an horror of blood, deprives them likewise of the Spirit of War. They busie themselves only in making Slaves. If the Peguins, for example, do on one side invade the lands of Siam, the Siameses will at another place enter on the Lands of Pegu, and both Parties will carry away whole Villages into Captivity.

How in fight­ing they dis­guise the de­sign of killing their Enemies.But if the Armies meet, they will not shoot directly one against the other, but higher: and yet as they endeavour to make these random Shots to fall back upon the Enemies, to the end that they may be overtaken therewith, if they do not retreat, one of the two Parties do's not long defer from taking flight, upon perceiving it never so little to rain Darts or Bullets. But if the design be to stop the Troops that come upon them, they will shoot lower than it is neces­sary; to the end that if the Enemies approach, the fault may be their own in coming within the reach of being wounded or slain. Kill not is the order, which the King of Siam gives his Troops, when he sends them into the Field: which cannot signifie that they should not kill absolutely, but that they shoot not directly upon the Enemy.

How the King of Singor was taken by a Frenchman.Some have upon this account informed me a thing, which in my opinion, will appear most incredible. 'Tis of a provincial named Cyprian, who is still at Surat in the French Company's Service, if he has not quitted it, or if he is not lately dead: the name of his Family I know not. Before his entrance into the Companies service, he had served some time in the King of Siam's Army in quality of Canoneer; and because he was prohibited from shooting strait, he doubted not that the Siamese General would betray the King his Master. This Prince sending afterwards some Troops against the Tchaou-Meuang, or if you will, against the King of Singor, on the western Coast of the Gulph of Siam, Cyprian wearied with seeing the Armies in view, which attempted no persons life, determin'd one night to go alone to the Camp of the Rebels, and to fetch the King of Singor into his Tent. He took him indeed, and brought him to the Siamese General, and so terminated a War of above twenty years. The King [Page 91] of Siam intended to recompence this service of Cyprian with a quantity of Sapan-wood; but by some intrigue of Court he got nothing, and retir'd to Surat.

Now though the Siameses appear to us so little proper for War,The Siameses have little to fear from their Neighbours. The King of Siam has no o­ther Troops maintain'd than his fo­reign Guard. yet they cease not to make it frequently and advantageously, by reason that their Neigh­bours are neither more potent nor more valiant than them.

The King of Siam has no other Troops maintained than his foreign Guard, of which I will speak in the sequel. 'Tis true that the Chevalier de Fourbin had showed the Exercise of Arms to four hundred Siameses, which we found at Bancock: and that after he had quitted this Kingdom, an Englishman, who had been a Sergeant in the Garrison of Madraspatan, on the Coast of Coromandel, showed this same exercise, which he had learnt under the Chevalier de Fourbin, to about eight hundred other Siameses, to show the King of Siam that the Che­valier de Fourbin was not necessary to him. But all these Soldiers have no other pay, than the Exemption from the six Months Service for some of their Family. And as they cannot easily maintain themselves from their own Houses, by rea­son they receive no money, they remain at their own Habitations; the four hundred about Bancock, and the other eight hundred at Louvo, or thereabouts. Only for the security of Bancock some Detachments went thither by turns to keep a continual Guard, and the rest being thereabouts might render themselves in case of an Alarm. But according to the common practice of the Kingdom of Siam, the Garrisons which it may have, are composed of persons, who serve in this by six Months, as they should serve in another thing; and who are re­lieved by others when they have served their full time.

The Kingdom of Siam being very strong by its impenetaable Woods,The Country of Siam is very strong without Forts. and by the great number of Channels, wherewith it is interspersed, and in fine by the annual Innundation of six Months, the Siameses would not hitherto have places well fortified for fear of losing them, and not being able to retake them; and this is the reason they gave me thereof. The Castles they have would hardly sustain the first shock of our Soldiers; and though they be small and ugly, because they would have them such, yet is it necessary to employ the skill of the Euro­peans to delineate them.

'Tis some years since the King of Siam designing to make a wooden Fort on the Frontier of Pegu, The Siameses know not how to make a wooden Fort. had no abler a person to whom he could entrust the care thereof, than to one named Brother Rene Charbonneau, who after having been a Servant of the Mission of S^t. Lazarus at Paris, had passed to the Service of the Foreign Missions, and was gone to Siam. Brother Rene, who by his Industry knew how to let blood, and give a Remedy to a sick Person (for it is by such like charitable Employments, and by some presents, that the Missionaries are permitted and loved in this Country) defended himself as much as he could from making this Fort, protesting that he was not capable: but in short he could not prevent rendering obedience, when it was signified to him that the King of Siam absolutely requir'd it. He was afterwards three or four years Governor of Jonsalam by Commission, and with great approbation: and because he desired to return to the City of Siam to his Wife's Relations, which are Portugueses, Mr. Billi, the Master of Mr. de Chaumont's Palace, succeeded him in the Em­ployment of Jonsalam.

The Siameses have not much Artillery. A Portuguese of Macao, Of their Artil­lery. who died in their service, cast them some pieces of Cannon; but as for them, I question whether they know how to make any moderately good: though some have in­formed me that they have hammered some out of cold Iron.

As they have no Horses (for what is two thousand Horse at most,In what their Armies consist. which 'tis reported that the King of Siam keeps?) their Armies consist only in Elephants, and in Infantry, naked and ill armed, after the mode of the Country. Their order of Battel and Encampment is thus.

They range themselves in three lines,What is their order of battle and of their Encampments. each of which is composed of three great square Battalions; and the King, or the General whom he names in his absence, stands in the middle Battalion, which he composes of the best Troops, for the security of his Person. Every particular Captain of a Battalion keeps himself also in the midst of the Battalion which he commands: and if the nine [Page 92] Battalions are too big, they are each divided into nine less, with the same sym­metry as the whole body of the Army.

Elephants of War.The Army being thus ranged, every one of the nine Battalions has six­teen male Elephants in the rear. They call them Elephants of War: and each of these Elephants carries his particular standard, and is accompanied with two female Elephants; but as well females as males are mounted each with three armed Men; and besides this the Army has some Elephants with Baggage. The Siameses report that the female Elephants are only for the dignity of the males; but as I have already declared in the other part, it would be very difficult al­ways to govern the males without the Company of the females.

The Artillery begins the Fight.The Artillery, at the places where the River grows shallow, is carried on Waggons drawn by Buffalo's, or Oxen, for it has no carriage. It begins the Fight, and if it ends it not, then they place themselves within reach to make use of the small shot, and Arrows, after the manner as I have explained, but they never fall on with vigour enough, nor defend themselves with constancy enough, to come to a close Fight.

The Siameses easie to break, and to rally.They break themselves and fly into Woods, but ordinarily they rally with the same facility. as they are broken; and if on some occasion, as in the last Conspiracy of the Macassars, it is absolutely necessary to stand firm, they can promise themselves to retain the Soldiers, only by placing some Officers behind, to kill those that shall fly. I have elsewhere related how these Macassars made use of Opium to endow themselves with Courage: 'tis a custom practised prin­cipally by the Ragipouts, and the Melays, but not by the Siameses: the Siameses would be afraid to become too Couragious.

Elephants not proper for War.They very much rely upon the Elephants in Combats, though this Animal for want of Bitt or Bridle, cannot be securely governed, and he frequently re­turns upon his own Masters when he is wounded. Moreover he so exceeding­ly dreads the fire, that he is never almost accustomed thereunto. Yet they ex­ercise them to carry, and to see fired from their back little pieces about three foot long, and about a pound of Ball; and Bernier reports that this very practice is observed in the Mogul's Country.

The Siameses incapable of Sieges.As for Sieges they are wholly incapable thereof, for men that dare not set up­on the Enemies when in view, will not vigorously attack a place never so little Fortified, but only by Treachery, in which they are very cunning, or by Fa­mine, if the Besieged cannot have provision.

Their weak­ness by Sea.They are yet more seeble by Sea than by Land. Not without much ado the King of Siam hath five or six very small Ships, which he principally makes use of for Merchandize; and sometimes he arms them as Privateers against those of his Neighbours, with whom he is at War. But the Officers and Seamen, on whom he confides, are Foreigners; and till these latter times he had chosen En­glish and Portuguese: but within these few years he hath employed some French. The King of Siam's Intention is, that his Corsairs should kill no person, no more than his Land Forces, but that they use all the Tricks imaginable to take some Prizes. In his War at Sea, he proposes to himself only some Reprizals from some of his Neighbours, from whom he believes himself to have re­ceived some injury in Trade. And the contrivances succeed whilst his Enemies are not in any distrust. Besides this he has fifty or sixty Galleys, whose An­chors, I have said are of Wood. They are only moderate Boats for a Bridge, which do every one carry fifty or sixty men to Row and to Fight. These men do fight by turns, as in every thing else: There is only one to each Oar; and he is obliged to Row standing, because the Oar is so short, for lightness sake, that it would not touch the water, if not held almost perpendicular. These Gallies only coast it along the Gulph of Siam.

CHAP. IX. Of the Barcalon, and of the Revenues.

THe Pra-Clang, or by a corruption of the Portugueses, the Barcalon, Of the Barca­lon. is the Offi­cer which has the appointment of the Commerce, as well within as with­out the Kingdom. He is the Superintendent of the King of Siam's Magazines, or if you will, his chief Factor. His name is composed of the Balie word Pra, which I have so often discoursed of, and of the word Clang, which signifies Magazine. He is the Minister of the foreign affairs, because they almost all relate to Commerce; and 'tis to him that the fugitive Nations at Siam address themselves in their affairs, because 'tis only the liberty of Trade that formerly invited them thither. In a word, it is the Barcalon that receives the Revenues of the Cities.

The King of Siam's Revenues are of two sorts, Revenues of the Cities,The King of Siam's Reve­nues arise from two Sources. and Revenues of the Country. The Country Revenues are received by Oc ya Pol­latep, according to some, or Vorethep, according to Mr. Gervase.

They are all reduced to the Heads following.

1. On Forty Fathom Square of cultivated Lands,His Duties on cultivated Lands. a Mayon or quarter of a Ti­cal by year: but this Rent is divided with the Tchaou-Meuang where there is one; and it is never well paid to the King on the Frontiers. Besides this, the Law of the Kingdom is, that whoever ploughs not his ground pays nothing, though it be by his own negligence that he reaps nothing. But the present King of Si­am, to force his Subjects to work, has exacted this duty from those that have pos­sessed Lands for a certain time, although they omit to cultivate them. Yet this is executed only in the places where his Authority is absolute. He loved no­thing so much, as to see Strangers come to settle in his States, there to manure those great uncultivated Spaces, which without comparison do make the most considerable part thereof: in this case he would be liberal of untilled grounds, and of Beasts to cultivate them, though they had been cleared and prepared for Tillage.

2. On Boats or Balons, On Boats. the Natives of the Country pay a Tical for every Fa­thom in length. Under this Reign they have added that every Balon or Boat above six Cubits broad should pay six Ticals, and that Foreigners should be obliged to this duty, as well as the Natives of the Country. This duty is levied like a kind of Custom at certain places of the River, and amongst others at Tchainat, four Leagues above Siam, where all the Streams unite.

3. Customs on whatever is imported or exported by Sea. Besides which,Customes. the body of the Ship pays something in proportion to its Capacities, like the Balons.

4. On Arak or Rice-Brandy, or rather on every Furnace where it is made,On Arak. which they call Taou-laou, the People of the Country do pay a Tical per Annum. This Duty has been doubled under this Reign, and is exacted on the Natives of the Country, and on Strangers alike. 'Tis likewise added, that every Seller of Arak by re-tail, should pay a Tical a year, and every Seller by whole-sale, a Ti­cal per Annum for every great Pot, the size of which, I find no otherwise de­scribed in the Note which was given me.

5. On the Fruit called Durion, for every Tree already bearing,On Durions. or not bearing Fruit, two Mayons or half a Tical per annum.

6. On every Tree of Betel, a Tical per annum. On Betel.

7. On every Arekier they formerly paid three Nuts of Arek in kind:On the Arek. under this Reign, they pay six.

8. Revenues entirely new, or established under this Reign,New Imposts. are in the first place, a certain Duty on a School of Recreation permitted at Siam. The Tri­bute which the Oc-ya Meen pays, is almost of the same Nature, but I know not whether it is not ancienter than the former. In the second place, on every Coco-Tree, [Page 94] half a Tical per Annum; and in the third place on Orange-Trees, Mango-Trees, Mangoustaniers and Pimentiers, for each, a Tical per Annum. There is no duty on Pepper, by reason that the King would have his Subjects addict them­selves more to plant it.

A Demesn re­served to the King.9. This Prince has in several places of his States some Gardens and Lands, which he causes to be cultivated, as his particular demesn, as well by his Slaves, as by the six Months Service. He causes the Fruits to be gathered and kept on the places, for the maintenance of his House, and for the nourishment of his Slaves, his Elephants, his Horses, and other Cattle; and the rest he sells.

10. A Casual Revenue is the Presents which this Prince receives, as well as all the Officers of his Kingdom, the Legacies which the Officers bequeath him at their death, or which he takes from their Succession; and in fine, the extraor­dinary Duties, which he takes from his Subjects on several occasions: as for the Maintenance of Foreign Ambassadors, to which the Governors, into whose Juris­diction the Ambassadors do pass, or sojourn, are obliged to contribute; and for the building of Forts, and other publick works, an expence which he levies on the People, amongst whom these works are made.

Confiscations and Fines. Six Months Service.11. The Revenues of Justice do donsist in Confiscations and Fines.

12. Six Months service of every one of his Subjects per Annum: a Service which he or his Officers frequently extend much further, who alone discharges it from every thing, and from which there remains to him a good Increase. For in certain places this Service is converted into a payment made in Rice, or in Sapan-wood, or Lignum-aloes, or Saltpetre, or in Elephants, or in Beasts Skins, or in Ivory, or in other Commodities: and in fine, this Service is some­times esteemed and paid in ready Money; and it is for the ready Money that the Rich are exempted. Anciently this Service was esteemed at a Tical a Month, because that one Tical is sufficient to maintain one Man: and this computation serves likewise as an assessment on the days Labour of the Workmen, which a particular Person employs. They amount to two Ticals a Month at least, by reason that it is reckon'd that a Workman must in 6 Months gain his Maintenance for the whole year; seeing that he can get nothing the other six Months that he serves the Prince. The Prince now extorts two Ticals a Month for the exemp­tion from the six Months Service.

Commerce, a Revenue ex­traordinary or casual.13. His other Revenues do arise from the Commerce, which he exercises with his Subjects and Foreigners. He has carried it to such a degree, that Merchandize is now no more the Trade of particular persons at Siam. He is not contented with selling by Whole-sale, he has some Shops in the Bazars or Markets, to sell by Re-tail

Cotton-cloath.The principal thing that he sells to his Subjects is Cotton-cloath: he sends them into his Magazines of the Provinces. Heretofore his Predecessors and he sent them thither only every Ten Years, and a moderate quantity, which be­ing sold, particular persons had liberty to make Commerce thereof: now he conti­nually furnishes them, he has in his Magazines more than he can possibly sell; and it sometimes happens that to vend more, that he has forced his Subjects to cloath their Children before the accustomed Age. Before the Hollanders came into the Kingdom of Laos, and into others adjacent, the King of Siam did there make the whole Commerce of Linnen with a considerable profit.

The Calin or Tin.All the Calin is his, and he sells it as well to Strangers as to his own Subjects, excepting that which is dug out of the Mines of Jonsalam on the Gulph of Ben­gal: for this being a remote Frontier, he leaves the Inhabitants in their ancient Rights, so that they enjoy the Mines which they dig, paying a small profit to this Prince.

Ivory, Salt­petre, Lead, Sapan.All the Ivory comes to the King, his Subjects are obliged to vend him all that they sell, and Strangers can buy only at his Magazine. The Trade of Saltpetre, Lead and Sapan, belongs also to the King: they can buy and sell them only at his Magazine, whether one be a Siamese or Stranger.

Arek. Arek, a great deal of which is exported out of the Kingdom, can be sold to Foreigners only by the King: and for this end he buys some of his Subjects, besides that which he has from his particular Revenues.

[Page 95]Prohibited Goods, as Powder, Sulphur and Arms,Prohibited Goods. Skins of Beasts. can be bought or sold at Siam, only at the King's Magazine.

As to the Skins of Beasts, this Prince is obliged, by a Treaty made with the Hollanders, to sell them all to them; and for this purpose he buys them of his Subjects: but his Subjects do convey away a great many, which the Hollanders buy of them in secret.

The rest of the Commerce at Siam is permitted to all, as that of Rice, Fish,The Com­merce free to all persons. Salt, Brown Sugar, Sugar-Candy, Ambergreese, Wax, the Gum with which Varnish is made, Mother of Pearl, those edable Birds-Nests which come from Tonquin and Cochinchina, which Navaratte reports to be made of the Sea-froth in some Rocks, by a kind of small Sea-Birds, which resemble Swallows, Gumme Gutte, Incense, Oyl, Coco, Cotton, Cinnamon, Nenuphar, which is not exactly like ours; Cassia, Dates, and several other things, as well the growth of the Kingdom, as brought from abroad.

Every one may make and sell Salt; fish and hunt, as I have declared,Salt, Fishing, Hunting. and without paying any thing to the King. It is true, that the necessary Policy is used in Fishing; and Oc-Pra Tainam, who receives the particular Revenues of the River, hinders those ways of Fishing, which destroy too much Fish at once.To what Sum the King of Si­am's Revenues amount.

The King of Siam has never been well paid his Revenues in lands remote from his Court. 'Tis said that the ready Money that he formerly received, amounted to Twelve hundred thousand Livres, and that what he now gets a­mounts to Six hundred thousand Crowns, or to Two Millions. 'Tis a difficult thing to know exactly: all that I can assert is, that in this Country it is report­ed (as a thing very considerable, and which seems Hyperbolical) that the present King of Siam has augmented his Revenues a Million.

CHAP. X. Of the Royal Seal, and of the Maha Obarat.

THere is no Chancellor at Siam. There is no Chancellor at Siam. The King gives not his Seal to any person. Every Officer that has the Power of giv­ing the Sentences, or Orders in Writing, which they call Tara in general, has a Seal which the King gives him: and the King himself has his Royal Seal, which he commits to no person whatever, and of which he makes use for the Letters he writes, and for whatever proceeds immediately from him. The Fi­gure which is in the Seals, is not hollow, but in Relievo. The Seal is rub'd over with a kind of Red Ink, and is printed on the Paper with the Hand. An infe­rior Officer takes this Pains; but 'tis the duty of the Officer to whom the Seal belongs, to pluck it with his own Hand from the Print.

After several remarks, which I have made, it seems to me,Of the Maha-Oharat. that whatever is done in the King of Siam's Name has no Power, if it is not done at the place where this King actually resides. Certain reasons have hindered, why they have not certainly inform'd me thereof. However, it is certain, that for the reason which I have alledged, or for some other, there is at Siam as it were a Vice-Roy, who represents the King, and performs the Regal Functions in the King's Absence; as when this Prince is at War. This Officer is called Maha-Oharat, as it was given me in writing, or Ommarat, according to the Abbot de Choisy, and M^r. Gervaise. And the Abbot de Choisy adds, that the Maha Omarat has a right of sitting down in the King's Presence, a Circumstance which some have informed me to be peculiar to another Officer, of whom I shall speak in the se­quel. At present they give him the Title of Pa-ya, and they do thereunto add the word Tchaou, which signifies Lord; Tchaou Pa-ya Maha Omrat: Sometimes he has only the Title of Oc-ya, as in Vliet's Relation, where he is called Oc-ya Ombrat. He is thereunto qualified as Chief of the Nobility, which signifies no­thing, but the first Officer of the Kingdom.

CHAP. XI. Of the Palace, and of the King of Siam's Guards.

Officers with­in and with­out.IT now remains for me to speak of the King, and of his House. This Prince's Palace has its Officers within, and its Officers without; but so different in dignity, that an Oc-Meuing within commands all the Oc-ya without. They call Officers within, not only those which lodge always in the Palace, but those whose functions are exercised in the Palace: And they call Officers without the Palace, not all the Officers of the Kingdom, which have no Function in the Palace, but those which having no Function in the Palace; yet have not any without which respects not the Service of the Palace. Thus the Spaniards have Servants, which they call de Escalera arriba, and others which they call de Esca­lera abaxo, that is to say Servants at the top of the Stairs, or which may go up the Stairs to their Master, and to those to whom their Master sends them, and others who wait always at the bottom of the Stairs.

Three Inclo­sures in the King of Siam's Palace.The King of Siam's Palaces have three Inclosures: and that of the City of Siam has them so distant one from the other, that the space thereof appears like vast Courts. All that the inward Close includes, viz. the King's Apartment, some Court, and some Garden, is called Vang in Siamese. The whole Palace with all its Inclosures is called Prassat, though Vliet in the Title of his Relation translates the word Prassat by that of Throne. The Siameses neither enter into the Vang, nor depart thence without prostrating themselves, and they pass not before the Prassat. And if sometimes the stream of the Water carries them, and forces them to pass thereby, they are pelted with showers of Pease, which the King's Servants shoot over them with Trunks. M^r. de Chaumont and the King's Ambassadors landed, and left their Umbrella's at the first entrance of the Prassat.

Of the Oc-ya Vang.The Oc-ya Vang commands in the Vang; and in him reunites all the Functions which respect the Reparations of the Palace, the Order which must be observed in the Palace, and the Expence which is made for the Maintenance of the King, of his Wives and of his Eunuchs, and of all those whom this Prince maintains in the Vang. 'Twas the Oc-ya Vang, who, after the Example of all the other Go­vernours, which had received the King's Ambassadors at the entrance of their Government, came to receive them at the Gate of the Vang; and who intro­duced them to the Audience of the King his Master.

The Gates of the Palace, and of the precau­tions with which persons are admitted.The Gates of the Palace are always shut; and behind each stands a Porter, who has some Arms, but who instead of bearing them, keeps them in his Lodge near the Gate. If any one knocks, the Porter advertises the Officer, who com­mands in the first Inclosure, and without whose permission no person enters in, nor goes out: but no person enters armed, nor after having drunk Arak, to as­sure himself that no drunken man enters therein. Wherefore the Officer views, and smells the breath of all those that must enter therein.

The Meuing Tchion.This Office is double, and those that are in it do serve alternately and by day. The days of Service they continue twenty four whole hours in the Palace, and the other days they may be at home. Their Title is Oc-Meuing Tchion, of rather Pra Meuing Tchion: for at the Palace before the word Meuing there are some who put the word Pra instead of Oc, though some have told me that it is Oc-Meuing, and not Pra-Meuing that he must be always called. 'Twas one of these Meuing Tchions who brought the first Compliment from the King of Siam to the Ambassadors, when they were in the Road; and who stayed constantly with them after they were landed, as Mr. Torpff, continued always with the Ambas­sador of Siam.

Painted Arms.Between the two first Inclosures, and under a Pent-house, is a small number of Soldiers unarmed and stooping. They are those Kenhai or Painted Arms, of whom I have spoken. The Officer who commands them immediately, and who is a Painted-Arm himself, is called Oncarac, and he and they are the Prince his [Page 97] Executioners; as the Officers and Soldiers of the Pretorian Cohorts, were the Executioners of the Roman Emperors. But at the same time they omit not to watch the Prince's person; for in the Palace there is wherewith to arm them in case of need. They row the Balon of State, and the King of Siam has no other Foot-guard. Their Employment is hereditary, like all the rest of the Kingdom; and the ancient Law imports that they ought not to exceed six hundred: But this must doubtless be understood that there ought to be no more than six hun­dred for the Palace: for there must needs be many more in the whole extent of the State; because that the King, as I have said elsewhere, gives thereof to a very great number of Officers.A Guard of Slaves for a Show.

But this Prince is not contented with this Guard on days of Ceremony, as was that of the first Audience of the King's Ambassadors. On such occasions he causes his Slaves to be armed; and if their number is not sufficient, the Slaves of the principal Officers are armed. He gives to them all some Muslin Shirts dyed red, Muskets, or Bows, or Lances, and Pots of gilded wood on their Heads, which for this purpose are taken out of the Magazine: and the quantity of which, in my opinion, determines the number of these Soldiers of show. They formed a double Rank at the reception of M^r. de Chaumont; and so soon as he was past, those which he had left behind, made haste to get be­fore by the by-ways, to go to fill up the vacant places which were left for them. In our time they marched by the sides of the Ambassadors, till they stopt up the space through which they were to pass. We also found part of these Slaves prostrate before the little Stairs, which goes up to the Hall of Audience. Some held those little useless Trumpets, which I have spoken of; and others had be­fore them those little Drums, which they never beat. The Meuing Tchion are the Nai of all these Slaves; and these Slaves row the Balons of the King's retinue, and are moreover employed on several works.

Anciently the Kings of Siam had a Japponese Guard,The King of Siam has no standing Jap­ponese Guard. composed of six hundred men: but because these six hundred men alone, could make the whole King­dom to tremble when they pleased, the present King's Father, after having made use of them to invade the Throne, found out a way to rid himself of them, more by policy than force.

The King of Siam's Horse-guard is composed of Men from Laos, The Horse-Guard from Meen, and La­os. and another neighbouring Country, the chief City whereof is called Meen: and as the Meens and Laos do serve him by six Months, he makes this Guard as numerous as he pleases, and as many Horse as he would employ therein.

Oc-Coune Ran Patchi commands this Guard on the right hand: His Son is in France, and has for some years learnt the Trade of a Fountain-maker at Triannon. Oc-Coune Pipitcharatcha, or as the People say, Oc-Coune Petratcha, commands the half of this Guard, which serves on the left hand: but over these two Officers Oc-ya Lao commands the Guard of the Laos, and Oc-ya Meen the Guard of the Meen: and this Oc-ya Meen is a different person from him that prostitutes lewd Women.

Besides this the King of Siam has a foreign standing Horse-guard,A Foreign Horse-Guard. which con­sists in an Hundred and Thirty Gentlemen: but neither they, nor the Meen, nor the Laos, do ever keep Guard in the Palace. Notice is given them to ac­company the King when he goes out, and thus all this is esteemed the exterior Service, and not the interior Service of the Palace.

This foreign Guard consists, first in two Companies of thirty Moors each,Of what it is composed. Natives, or originally descended from the States of the Mogul, of an excellent Meen, but accounted Cowards. Secondly, in a Company of twenty Chinese Tartars armed with Bows and Arrows, and formidable for their Courage; and lastly in two Companies of Twenty five Men each, Pagans of the true India, habited like the Moors, which are called Rasbouts, or Raggibouts, who boast themselves to be of the Royal blood, and whose Courage is very famous, though it be only the effect of Opium, as I have before remarked.

The King of Siam supplies this whole Guard with Arms, and with Horses:What it costs. and besides this every Moor costs him three Catis and twelve Teils a year, that is to say 540 Livres, or thereabouts, and a red Stuff Vest; and every of the [Page 98] two Moorish Captains five Catis and twelve Teils, or 840 Livres, and a Scarlet Vest. The Raggibouts are maintained according to the same rate; but every Chi­nese Tartar costs him only six Teils, or 45 Livres a year, and their Captain fifteen Teils, or 112 Livres, ten Sols.

The Elephants and Horses of the Palace.In the first Inclosures are likewise the Stables of the Elephants and Horses, which the King of Siam esteems the best, and which are called Elephants and Horses by Name: because that this King gives them a Name, as he gives to all the Officers within his Palace, and to the important Officers of the State, which in this are very much distinguished from the Officers on whom he imposes none. He that hath the care of the Horses, either for their maintenance, or to train them up, and who is as it were the chief Querry, is called Oc Louang Tchoumpon; his Belat, or Lieutenant is Oc-Meuing Si Sing Toup Pa-tchat; but he alone has the Priviledge of speaking to the King: Neither his Belat nor his other inferior Officers do speak unto him.

The Elephants of Name.The Elephants of Name are treated with more or less Dignity, according to the more or less honourable Name they bear; but every one of them has several Men at his Service. They stir not out, as I have elsewhere declared, without trappings; and because that all the Elephants of Name cannot be kept within the Compass of the Palace, there are some which have their Stables close by.

Of the White Elephant.These People have naturally so great an esteem of Elephants, that they are perswaded that an Animal so noble, so strong, and so docile, can be animated only with an illustrious Soul, which has formerly been in the body of some Prince, or of some great Person: but they have yet a much higher Idea of the White Elephants. These Animals are rare, and are found, say they, only in the Woods of Siam. They are not altogether White, but of a flesh colour, and for this reason it is that Vliet in the Title of his Relation has said, the White and Red Elephant. The Siameses do call this colour Peuak, and I doubt not that it is this colour inclining to White and moreover so rare in this Animal, which has procur'd it the Veneration of those People to such a degree, as to perswade them what they report thereof, that a Soul of some Prince is always lodged in the body of a White Elephant, whether Male or Female it matters not.

The Esteem which the Si­ameses do make of the White colour in Ani­mals.By the same reason of the colour, White Horses are those which the Siameses most esteem. I proceed to give a proof thereof. The King of Siam having one of his Horses sick, intreated M^r. Vincent, that Physician which I have frequently mentioned, to prescribe him some Remedy. And to perswade him to it (for he well knew that the European Physicians debased not themselves to meddle with Beasts) he acquainted him that the Horse was Mogol (that is to say White) of four races by Sire and Dam, without any mixture of Indian blood; and that had it not been for this consideration he would not have made him this re­quest. The Indians call the White, Mogols, which they distinguish into Mogols of Asia, and Mogols of Europe. Therefore whence soever this respect is for the White colour, as well in Men as in Beasts, I could discover no other reason at Siam, than that of the veneration which the Siameses have for the White Elephants. Next to the White they most esteem those which are quite Black, because they are likewise very rare; and they Dye some of this colour, when they are not naturally Black enough. The King of Siam always keeps a White Elephant in his Palace, which is treated like the King of all those Elephants, which this Prince maintains. That which Mr. de Chaumont saw in this Country, was dead, as I have said, when we arrived there. There was born another as they report­ed on the 9^th of December 1687. a few days before our departure: but this Ele­phant was still in the Woods, and received no Visit, and so we saw no White Elephant. Other Relations have informed us how this Animal is served with Vessels of Gold.

The King of Siam's Balons.The Care of the King's Balons, and of his Gallies, belongs to the Calla-hom. Their Arsenal is over against the Palace, the River running between. There every one of these Barges is lock'd up in a Trench, whereinto runs the Water of the River; and each Trench is shut up in an Inclosure made of Wood, and covered. These Inclosures are locked up, and besides this a person watches there at Night. The Balons of ordinary Service are not so adorned as those for [Page 99] Ceremony; and amongst those for Ceremony there are some which the King gives to his Officers for these occasions only: for those which he allows them for ordinary Ceremonies, are less curious and fine.

CHAP. XII. Of the Officers which nearest approach the King of Siam's Person.

IN the Vang are some of those single Halls which I have described;In what place of the Palace the Courtiers wait. How the King of Siam shows himself to them. in which the Officers do meet, either for their Functions, or to make their Court, or to wait the Orders of the Prince.

The usual place were he shows himself unto them, is the Hall, where he gave Audience to the King's Ambassadors; and he shows himself only through a Window, as did antiently the King of China. This Window is from a higher Chamber, which has this prospect over the Hall, and which may be said to be of the first Story. It is nine Foot high or thereabouts; and it was necessary to place three steps underneath, to raise me high enough to present the King's Letter to the King of Siam. This Prince chose rather to cause these three steps to be put, than to see himself again obliged to stoop, to take the King's Letter from my hand, as he had been obliged to do, to take that which Mr. de Chau­mont deliver'd him. 'Tis evident by the Relation of Mr. de Chaumont, that he had in his hands a kind of Gold Cup, which had a very long handle of the same matter; to the end that he might use it to give the King's Letter to the King of Siam. He did it, but he would not take this Cup by the handle to raise the Letter; so that it was necessary that the King of Siam should stoop out of the Window to receive it. 'Tis with the same Cup, that the Officers of this Prince deliver him every thing that he receives from their hands. At the two Corners of the Hall which are at the sides of this Window, are two doors about the heighth of the Windows, and two pair of very narrow Stairs to ascend. For the Furniture there is only three Ʋmbrella's, one before the Win­dow with nine rounds, and two with seven rounds on both sides of the Win­dow. The Ʋmbrella is in this Country as the Daiz or Canopy is in France.

'Tis in this Hall that the King of Siam's Officers, which if you please,The King of Siam's Pages. may be named from his Chamber, or rather his Anti-chamber, do expect his Orders. He has Forty four young men, the oldest of which hardly exceeds twenty five years of Age: the Siameses do call them Mahatlek, the Europeans have called them Pages. These Forty four Pages therefore are divided into four Bands, each consisting of eleven: the two first are on the right hand, and do prostrare them­selves in the Hall at the King's right hand; the two others are on the left hand, and do prostrate themselves on the left hand. This Prince gives them every one a Name and a Sabre; and they carry his Orders to the Pages without, which are numerous, and which have no Name, that is imposed on them by the King. The Siameses do call them Caloang, and 'tis these Caloangs that the King ordinarily sends into the Provinces upon Commissions, whether ordinary, or extraordinary.

Besides this the Forty four Pages within have their Functions regulated: Some,Their Functi­ons. for example, do serve Betel to the King, others take care of his Arms, others do keep his Books, and when he pleases they read in his presence.

This Prince is curious to the highest degree.How the King of Siam loves Reading. He caused Q. Curtius to be translated into Siamese, whilst we were there, and has since order'd several of our Histories to be translated. He understands the States of Europe; and I doubt not thereof, because that once, as he gave me occasion to inform him that the Empire of Germany is Elective, he asked me whether besides the Empire and [Page 100] Poland, there was any other Elective State in Europe? And I heard him pro­nounce the word Polonia, of which I had not spoken to him. Some have as­sur'd me that he has frequently asserted, that the Art of Ruling is not inspired, and that with great Experience and Reading he perceived that he was not yet perfect in understanding it. But he design'd principally to study it from the History of the King: he is desirous of all the News from France; and so soon as his Ambassadors were arrived, he retain'd the third with him, until he had read their Relation to him from one end to the other.

The Officers which com­mand the Pa­ges within.To return to the Forty-four Pages, Four Officers command them; who, be­cause they so nearly approach the Prince, are in great esteem, but yet not in an equal degree: for there is a great difference from the first to the second, from the second to the third, and from the third to the fourth. They bear only the Title of Oc-Meuing, or of Pra-Meuing: Meuing Vai, Meuing Sarapet, Meuing Semeungtchai, Meuingsii. The Sabres and Poniards which the King gives them are adorned with some precious Stones. All four are very considerable Nai, ha­ving a great many subaltern Officers under them; and though they have only the Title of Meuing, they cease not to be Officers in chief. The Pa-ya, the Oc-ya, the Oc-pra, and the other Titles are not always subordinate to them, only the one must command more persons than the other. In a word, 'twas Meu­ingsii which accompany'd Meuing Tchion on Board our Ships, to bring to the King's Ambassadors the first Compliment from the King of Siam, and it was to him that Meuing Tchion, tho' higher in dignity, gave the precedency and the word; because that Meuingsii was three or four years older, but the eldest of both was not thirty.

Of the single Officer which prostrates not himself before the King of Siam.Whilst the Ambassadors were at Audience, there was in one place an Officer, whom we perceived not, who alone, as they informed me, has the Priviledge of not prostrating himself before the King his Master; and this renders his Office very honourable. I forgot to write down his Title in my Memoirs. He always has his Eyes fixed upon this Prince, to receive his Orders, which he understands by certain Signs, and which he signifies by Signs to the other Officers which are without the Hall. Thus when the Audience was ended, I wou'd say when the King had done speaking to us, this Prince, in that silence which is profound, gave some Signal, to which we gave no heed; and immediately at the bottom of the Hall, and in an high place, which is not visible, was heard a tinkling Noise, like that of a Timbrel. This Noise was accompany'd with a Blow, which was ever and anon struck on a Drum, which is hung up under a Pent­house without the Hall, and which for being very great, renders its sound grave and Majestie; it is cover'd with an Elephant's Skin: yet no person made any motion, till that the King, whose Chair an invisible hand did by little and little draw back, removed himself from the window, and closed the Shutters thereof; and then the Noise of the tinkling and of the great Drum ceased.

CHAP. XIII. Of the Women of the Palace, and of the Officers of the Wardrobe.

The King of Siam's Cham­ber.AS to the King of Siam's Chamber, the true Officers thereof are Women, 'tis they only that have a Priviledge of entering therein. They make his Bed, and dress his Meat; they cloath him, and wait on him at Table: but none but himself touches his Head when he is attir'd, nor puts any thing over his Head. The Pourveyors carry the Provisions to the Eunuchs, and they give them to the Women; and she which plays the Cook, uses Salt and Spices only by weight, thereby never to put in more nor less: A practice, which, in my opinion, is only a Rule of the Physicians, by reason of the King's unhealthy dis­position, and not an ancient custom of the Palace.

[Page 101]The Women do never stir out but with the King,Of the late Queen his Wife and his Sister. nor the Eunuchs without express Order. 'Tis reported that he has eight or ten Eunuchs only, as well white as black. The late Queen, who was both his Wife and his Sister, was called Nang Achamahisii. It is not easie to know the King's Name, they care­fully and superstitiously conceal it, for fear lest any Enchantment should be made on his Name. And others report, that their Kings have no Name till af­ter their death, and that it is their Successor which names them, and this would be more certain against the pretended Sorceries.

Of Queen Achamahisii is born, as I have related in the other Part, the Princess,Of the Prin­cess his only Daughter. the King of Siam's only Daughter, who now has the Rank and House of a Queen. The King's other Wives (which in general are called Tchaou Vang, because that the word Tchaou, which signifies Lord, signifies likewise Lady and Mistress) do render Obedience to her, and respect her as their Soveraign. They are subject to her Justice, as well as the Women and Eunuchs which serve them; because that not being able to stir out, to go plead elsewhere, it necessarily fol­lows that the Queen should judge them, and cause them to be chastised, to keep them in peace. This is thus practised in all the Courts of Asia; but it is not true neither at Siam, nor perhaps in any part of the East, that the Queen has any Province to govern. 'Tis easie also to comprehend, that if the King loves any of his Ladies more than the rest, he causes her to remove from the Jea­lousie and harsh Usage of the Queen.

At Siam they continually take Ladies for the service of the Vang, The King of Siam takes the Daughters of his Sub­jects for his Palace, when he pleases. or to be Concubines to the King, if this Prince makes use thereof. But the Siameses de­liver up their Daughters only by force, because it is never to see them again; and they redeem them so long as they can for Money. So that this becomes a kind of Extortion, for they designedly take a great many Virgins meerly to restore them to their Parents, who redeem them.

The King of Siam has few Mistresses, that is to say eight or ten in all,He has few Ministresses. not out of Continency, but Parsimony. I have already declared, that to have a great many Wives, is in this Country rather Magnificence, than Debauchery. Wherefore they are very much surprized to hear that so great a King as ours has no more than one Wife, that he had no Elephants, and that his Lands bear no Rice; as we might be, when it was told us that the King of Siam has no Horses, nor standing Forces, and that his Country bears no Corn nor Grapes, altho' all the Relations do so highly extol the Riches and Power of the Kingdom of Siam.

The Queen hath her Elephants and her Balons,The Queen's House. and some Officers to take care of her, and accompany her when she goes abroad; but none but her Women and Eunuchs do see her. She is conceal'd from all the rest of the People; and when she goes out either on an Elephant, or in a Balon, it is in a Chair made up with Curtains, which permit her to see what she pleases, and do prevent her being seen: And Respect commands, that if they cannot avoid her, they should turn their back to her, by prostrating themselves when she passes along.

Besides this she has her Magazine, her Ships, and her Treasures.Her Magazine and her Ships. She exercises Commerce; and when we arrived in this Country, the Princess, whom I have reported to be treated like a Queen, was exceedingly embroiled with the King her Father, because that he reserved to himself alone almost all the Foreign Trade, and that thereby she found herself deprived thereof, contrary to the an­cient Custom of the Kingdom.

Daughters succeed not to the Crown, they are hardly look'd upon as free.Of the Suc­cession to the Crown, and the Causes which render it uncertain. 'Tis the eldest Son of the Queen that ought always to succeed by the Law. Nevertheless because that the Siameses can hardly conceive that amongst Prin­ces of near the same Rank, the most aged should prostrate himself before the younger; it frequently happens that amongst Brethren, tho' they be not all Sons of the Queen, and that amongst Uncles and Nephews, the most advanced in Age is preferred, or rather it is Force which always decides it. The Kings them­selves contribute to render the Royal Succession uncertain, because that instead of chusing for their Successor the eldest Son of the Queen, they most frequently follow the Inclination which they have for the Son of some one of their Con­cubines with whom they were enamour'd.

[Page 102] The occasion which tendred the Hollanders Masters of Bantam.'Tis upon this account that the King of Bantam, for example, has lost his Crown and his Liberty. He endeavoured to get one of his Sons, whom he had by one of his Concubines, to be acknowledged for his Successor before his Death: and the eldest Son which he had by the Queen put himself into the hands of the Hollanders. They set him upon the Throne after having vanquished his Father, whom they still keep in Prison, if he is not dead: but for the reward of this Service they remain Masters of the Port, and of the whole Commerce of Ban­tam.

Of the Succes­sion to the Kingdom of China.The Succession is not better regulated at China, though there be an express and very ancient Law in favour of the eldest Son of the Queen. But what Rule can there be in a thing, how important soever it be, when the Passions of the Kings do always seek to imbroil it? All the Orientals, in the choice of a Go­vernor, adhere most to the Royal Family, and not to a certain Prince of the Royal Family: uncertain in the sole thing wherein all the Europeans are not. In all the rest we vary every day, and they never do. Always the same Man­ners amongst them, always the same Laws, the same Religion, the same Wor­ship; as may be judged by comparing what the Ancients have writ concerning the Indians, with what we do now see.

Of the King of Siams Ward­robe.I have said that 'tis the Women of the Palace which dress the King of Siam; but they have no charge of his Wardrobe; he has Officers on purpose. The most considerable of all is he that touches his Bonnet, altho he be not permit­ted to put it upon the Head of the King his Master. 'Tis a Prince of the Royal blood of Camboya; by reason that the King of Siam boasts in being thence de­scended, not being able to vaunt in being of the race of the Kings his Prede­cessors. The Title of this Master of the Wardrobe is Oc-ya Out haya tanne, which sufficiently evinces that the Title of Pa-ya does not signifie Prince, seeing that this Prince wears it not. Under him Oc-Pra Rayja Vounsa has the charge of the cloaths. Rayja or Raja or Ragi or Ratcha, are only an Indian term variously pronounced, which signifies King, or Royal, and which enters into the compo­sition of several Names amongst the Indians.

CHAP. XIV. Of the Customs of the Court of Siam, and of the Policy of its Kings.

The Hours of Council.THe common usage of the Court of Siam is to hold a Council twice a day; about Ten a clock in the Morning, and about Ten in the Evening, reckoning the hours after our fashion.

The division of the day and night accord­ing to the Sia­meses.As for them, they divide the day into Twelve hours, from the Morning to the Night: The Hours they call Mong: they reckon them like us, and give them not a particular name to each, as the Chineses do. As for the Night, they di­vide it into four Watches, which they call Tgiam, and it is always broad Day at the end of the Fourth. The Latins, Greeks, Jews, and other people have divi­ded the Day and Night, after the same manner.

Their Clock.The People of Siam have no Clock; but as the Days are almost equal there all the Year, it is easie for them to know what Hour it is, by the sight of the Sun. In the King's Palace they use a kind of Water-Clock: 'Tis a thin Copper Cup, at the bottom of which they do make an almost imperceptible hole. They put it quite empty upon the water: which by little and little enters therein through the hole; and when the Cup is full enough to sink down, this is one of the hours, or a twelfth part of the day. They measure the Watches of the Night by such a like method, and they make a Noise on Copper Basons when the Watch is ended.

[Page 103]I have related how Causes are determined in the King of Siam's Council:How the King of Siam exa­mines Affairs in his Council, and how he terminates them. Af­fairs of State are there examined, and decided almost after the same manner. That Councellor to whom this Prince has committed a business, makes the re­port thereof, which consists in reading it, and then proceeds to the consultative Opinions; and hitherto the King's Presence is not necessary. When he is come he hears the report, which is read to him concerning the former Consult, he resumes all the advices, confutes those which he approves not, and then decides. But if the Affair seems to him to merit a more mature deliberation, he makes no decision: but after having proposed his difficulties, he commits the examination thereof to some of his Council, whom he purposely appoints; and principally to those who were of a different Opinion from his. They, af­ter having again consulted together, do cause the report of their new Consulta­tion to be made by one of them, in a full Council, and before the King; and hereupon this Prince consummates his Determination. Yet sometimes, but very rarely, and in affairs of a cerrain Nature, he will consult the principal San­cras, which are the Superiors of the Talapoins; whose credit in other matters he depresses as much as he can, though in appearance he honors them exceedingly. In a word, there is such a sort of affairs, wherein he will call the Officers of the Provinces: but on all occasions, and in all affairs, he decides when he pleases; and he is never constrained to either ask advice of any person, or to follow any other advice than his own.

He oftentimes punishes ill Advice, or recompences good.He punishes bad Counsels, and recompen­ces good. I say good or bad according to his sense, for he alone is the Judge thereof. Thus his Ministers do much more apply themselves to divine his sentiments, than to declare him theirs, and they misunderstand him, by reason he also endeavours to conceal his Opinion from them.

In a word, the affair on which he consults them,Sometimes he consults about Affairs invent­ed by way of Exercise. He examines his Officers a­bout their Ob­ligations. A Law against the Ambition of the Great Men. is not always a real con­cern; 'tis sometimes a question, which he propounds to them by way of exercise.

He likewise has a custom of examining his Officers about the Pra-Tam-Ra, which is that Book, which I have said contains all their Duties; and causes such to be chastized with the Bastinado, who answer not very exactly; even as a Father chastizes his Children in instructing them.

'Tis an ancient Law of the State established for the security of the King, whose Authority is naturally almost unarmed, that the Courtiers should not render him any visit without his express leave, and only at Weddings and Fu­nerals, and that when they meet, they should speak with a loud voice, and in the presence of a third person: but if the Kings of Siam be unactive, or negli­gent, not any Law secures them. At present the Courtiers may appear again at the Academy of Sports, where the great number seems to take away all op­portunity of Caballings.

The Trade of an Informer, so detested in all places where men are born free,The Trade of an Informer commanded at Siam by the Law. is commanded to every person at Siam, under pain of death for the least things; and so whatever is known by two Witnesses, is almost infallibly related to the King: because that every one hastens to give information thereof, for fear of being herein prevented by his Companion, and remain guilty of Silence.The King of Siams Precau­tions to pre­vent being de­ceived.

The present King of Siam relies not in an important affair upon the single re­port of him to whom he has committed it; but neither does he rely also on the report of a single Informer. He has a number of secret Spies, whom he sepa­rately interrogates; and he sometimes sends more than one to interrogate those who have acted in the affair, whereof he would be informed.

And yet it is easie for him to be deceived;Why they are frequently in­effectual. for throughout the Country eve­ry Informer is a dishonest man, and every dishonest man is an Infidel. More­over Flattery is so great in India, that it has persuaded the Indian Kings, that if it is their interest to be informed, it is their dignity to hear nothing that may dis­please them. As for example, they will not tell the King of Siam, that he wants Slaves or Vassals, for any enterprize he would go about. They will not tell him that they cannot perform his Commands: but they execute them ill, and when the mischief appears, they will excuse it by some defect. They will tell [Page 104] him ill news quite otherwise than it is; to the end that the truth reaching his Ears only by degrees, may vex him less, and that it might be easier to paci­fie him at several times. They will not counsel him a bad thing; but will so insinuate it, that he may think himself the Author, and only take to himself the bad success. And then they will not tell him that he must alter a thing that he has done amiss; but they will persuade him to do it better some other way, which will only be a pretence: and in the new project they will suppress, with­out acquainting him, what they designed to reform, and will put in the place what they designed to establish. I my self have seen part of what I relate, and and they have assured me the rest.

The King of Siams rigorous Justice.Now such like Artifices are always very perilous; they offend the present King in nothing without being punish'd. Being severe to extream rigour, he puts to death whom he pleases without any formality of Justice, and by the hand of whom he pleases, and in his own Presence. And sometimes the Accuser with the Criminal, the Innocent with the Calumniator: for when the proofs remain doubtful, he, as I have said, exposes both parties to the Tygers.

How he in­sults over the dead body.After the Execution he insults over the dead body with some words, which are a lesson to the living; as for example, after having made him who had robb'd his Magazine, to swallow some melted Silver, he says to the dead body, Miserable wretch, thou hast robb'd me of Ten Pieces of Silver, and Three Ounces on­ly are sufficient to take away thy life. Then he complains that they with-held him not in his Anger; either that he indeed repents sometimes of his precipi­tate Cruelties, or that he would make believe that he is cruel only in the first Transport.

The Various Punishments of the Court of Siam.Sometimes he exposes a Criminal to an enraged Bull, and the Criminal is armed with a hollow stick, consequently proper to cause fear, but not to wound, with which he defends himself some time. At other times he will give the Criminal to Elephants, sometimes to be trampled under foot and slain, sometimes to be tossed without killing: for they affirm that the Elephants are docible to that degree, and that if a Man is only to be tossed, they throw him one to the other, and receive him on their Trunck, and on their Teeth, without letting him fall on the ground. I have not seen it, but I cannot doubt of the manner which they have assured me.

The Punish­ments have respect to the Crimes.But the Ordinary Chastisements are those, which have some relation to the Nature of the Crimes. As for example, Extortion excercised on the People, and a Robbery committed on the Prince's Money, will be punished by the swal­lowing of Gold or Silver melted: Lying, or a Secret revealed, will be punished by Sowing up the Mouth. They will slit it to punish Silence, where it is not to be kept. Any Fault in the execution of Orders, will be Chastised by prick­ing the Head, as to punish the Memory. To prick the Head, is to cut it with the edge of a Sabre: but to manage it securely, and not to make too great wounds, they hold it with one hand by the Back, and not by the Handle.

The punish­ment of the Sword and the Cudgel.The punishment of the Glave or Sword is not executed only by cutting the Head off, but by cutting a man through the middle of the Body: And the Cudgel is sometimes also a punishment of death. But when the Chastisement of the Cudgel ought not to extend to death, it ceases not to be very rigorous, and frequently to cause the loss of all knowledge.

The Punish­ment with which Prin­ces are punish­ed.If the matter is to put a Prince to death in form, as it may happen, or when a King would rid himself of some of his Relations, or when an Usurper would extinquish the race, from which he has ravish'd the Crown, they make it a piece of Religion not to shed the Royal blood: but they will make him to die with hunger, and sometimes with a lingering hunger, by daily substracting from him something of his food; or they will stifle him with Rich Stuffs; or rather they will stretch him on Scarlet, which they mightily esteem, because the Wool is rare, and dear; and there they will thrust into his Stomach a billet of Saunders Wood. This Wood is odoriferous, and highly esteem'd. There are three sorts; the white is better than the yellow, and both do grow only in the Isles of Solor and Timor, to the East of Java. The red is esteemed the least of all, and it grows in several places.

[Page 105]The Kings of Asia do place their whole security in rendering themselves formi­dable, and from time out of mind they have had no other Policy:The extreme distrust of the Kings of Siam. whether that a long Experience has evinced that these People are uncapable of Love for their Soveraign; or that these Kings would not be advised that the more they are fear'd, the more they have to fear. However it be, the extream distrust in which the Kings of Siam do always live, appears sufficiently in the cares which they take to prevent all secret Correspondence amongst the great Men, to keep the Gates of their Palace shut, and to permit no armed person to enter, and to disarm their own Guards. A Gun fired, by accident or otherwise, so near the Palace that the King hears it, is a capital Crime; and the noise of a Pistol be­ing heard in the Palace, a little after the Conspiracy of the Macassars, 'twas doubted whether the King had not with this shot killed one of his Brothers; because that the King alone has power to shoot, and that moreover one of his Brethren had been suspected of having medled in this Conspiracy: and this doubt was not cleared when we left Siam.

Besides these Punishments which I have mentioned,Infamous Pu­nishments. they have some less do­lorous, but more infamous, as to expose a Man in a public place loaded with Irons, or with his Neck put into a kind of Ladder or Pillory, which is called Cangue, in Siamese Ka. The two sides of this Ladder are about six foot long, and are fastned to a Wall, or to Posts, each at one end, with a Cord; insomuch that the Ladder may be rais'd up, and let down, as if it was fasten'd to Pullies. In the middle of the Ladder are two Steps or Rounds, between which is the Neck of the Offender, and there are no more Rounds than these two. The Offender may sit on the ground, or stand, when the weight of the Ladder, which bears upon his Shoulders, is not too big, as it is sometimes; or when the Lad­der is not fastned at the four ends: for in this last Case it is planted in the Air, bearing at the ends upon Props, and then the Criminal is as it were hung by the Neck; he hardly touches the ground with the Tips of his Toes. Besides this, they have the use of Stocks and Manacles.

The Criminal is sometimes in a Ditch to be lower than the ground; and this Ditch is not always broad, but oftentimes it is extremely narrow, and the Criminal, properly speaking, is buried up to the Shoulders. There, for the greater Ignominy, they give him Cuffs or Blows on the Head; or they only stroke the hand over his Head, Affronts esteemed very great, especially if re­ceived from the hand of a Woman.

But what is herein very particular, is,The shame of the Punish­ments lasts no longer than the Punish­ments. It is attended with Honour that the most infamous Punishment is reproachful only as long as it lasts. He that suffers it to day, will re-enter tomorrow, if the Prince thinks fit, into the most important Offices.

Moreover, they boast of the Punishments which they receive by Order of their King, as of his paternal care for him whom he has the goodness to cha­stise. He receives Compliments and Presents after the Bastinado, and it is prin­cipally in the East that Chastisements do pass for testimonies of Affection. We saw a young Mandarin shut up to be punished, and a Frenchman offering him to go and ask his Pardon of his Superior: No, replied the Mandarin in Portuguese, I would see how far his Love would reach; or as an European would have said, I would see how far he will extend his Rigor. To be reduced from an eminent place to a lower is no Reproach, and this befel the second Ambassador whom we saw here. Yet it happens also, that in this Country they hang themselves in despair, when they see themselves reduced from an high Employment to an extreme Poverty, and to the six Months Service due to the Prince, tho' this Fall be not shameful.

I have said in another place,Others are in­cluded in the Punishments with the Cri­minals. that a Father shares sometimes in the punishment of the Son, as being bound to answer for the Education which he has given him. At China an Officer answers for the Faults of all the persons of his Family, be­cause they pretend, that he who knows not how to govern his own Family, is not capable of any public Function. The Fear therefore, which particular per­sons have of seeing their Families turned out of the Employments, which do make the Splendor and Support thereof, renders them all wise, as if they were all Magistrates. In like manner at Siam, and at China, an Officer is punished for [Page 106] the Offences of another Officer that is subject to his Orders, by reason that he is to watch over him that depends on him; and that having power to correct him, he ought to answer for his conduct. Thus about three years since we saw at Siam for three days, Oc-Pra-Simo-ho-sot, by Nation a Brame, who is now in the King of Siam's Council of State, exposed to the Cangue with the head of a Malefactor, which they had put to Death, hung about his Neck; without be­ing accused of having had any other hand in the crime of him, whose head was hung to his Neck, than too great Negligence in watching over a Man that was subject to him. After this 'tis no wonder in my opinion, that the Bastinado should be so frequent at Siam. Sometimes there may be seen several Officers at the Cangue, disposed in a Circle; and in the midst of them will be the head of a man, which they have put to death; and this head will hang by several strings from the Neck of every one of these Officers.

The least pre­tence for a Crime is punished.The worst is, that the least appearance of guilt renders an action criminal: To be accused is almost sufficient to be culpable. An action in it self innocent becomes bad, so soon as any one thinks to make a Crime thereof. And from thence proceed the so frequent disgraces of the principal Officers. They know not how, for instance, to reckon up all the Barcalons that the King of Siam has had since he reigned.

The Policy of the Kings of Siam, cruel a­gainst all, and against their own Bre­thren.The Greatness of the Kings, whose Authority is despotical, is to exercise Power over all, and over their own Brethren. The Kings of Siam do maim them, in several ways, when they can: they take away or debilitate their sight by fire; they render them impotent by dislocation of Members, or sottish by Drinks, securing themselves and their Children against the Enterprizes of their Brethren, only by rendring them incapable of reigning: he that now reigns has not treated his better. This Prince will not therefore envy our King, the sweetness of being beloved by his Subjects, and the Glory of being dreaded by his Enemies. The Idea of a great King is not at Siam, that he should render himself terrible to his Neighbours, provided he be so to his Subjects.

The Govern­ment of Siam more burden­some to the Nobles than to the Popu­lace.Yet there is this Reflection to be made on this sort of Government, that the Yoke thereof is less heavy, if I may so say, on the Populace than on the Nobles. Ambition in this Country leads to Slavery: Liberty, and the other Enjoy­ments of Life are for the vulgar Conditions. The more one is unknown to the Prince, and the further from him, the greater Ease he enjoys; and for this reason the Employments of the Provinces are there considered, as a Recompence of the Services done in the Palace.

How tempe­stuous the Mi­nistry is at Si­am.The Ministry there is tempestuous: not only thro the natural Inconstancy, which may appear in the Prince's Mind; but because that the ways are open for all persons to carry complaints to the Prince against his Ministers. And though the Ministers and all the other Officers, do employ all their artifices to render these ways of complaints ineffectual, whereby one may attack them all, yet all complaints are dangerous, and sometimes it is the slightest which hurts, and which subverts the best established favour. These examples, which very fre­quently happen, do edifie the People; and if the present King had not too far extended his exactions without any real necessity, his Government would as much please the Populace, as it is terrible to the Nobles.

The King of Siam's regards for his peo­ple.Nevertheless he has had that regard for his People, as not to augment his Duties on cultivated Lands, and to lay no imposition on Corn and Fish; to the end that what is necessary to Life might not be dear: A moderation so much the more admirable, as it seems that they ought not to expect any from a Prince educated in this Maxim, that his Glory consists in not setting limits to his power, and always in augmenting his Treasure.

The Inconve­niences of this Government. It renders the Prince wave­ring on his Throne.But these Kings which are so absolutely the Masters of the Fortune and Life of their Subjects, are so much the more wavering in the Throne. They find not in any person, or at most in a small number of Domesticks, that Fidelity or Love which we have for our Kings. The People which possess nothing in property, and which do reckon only upon what they have buried in the ground, as they have no solid establishment in their Country, so they have no obligation thereto. Being resolved to bear the same Yoke under any Prince whatever, and [Page 107] having the assurance of not being able to bear a heavier, they concern not them­selves in the Fortune of their Prince: and experience evinces that upon the least trouble they let the Crown go, to whom Force or Policy will give it. A Sia­mese, a Chinese, an Indian, will easily die to exert a particular Hatred, or to avoid a miserable Life, or a too cruel Death: but to die for their Prince and their Country, is not a Vertue in their practice. Amongst them are not found the pow­erful motives, by which our People animate themselves to a vigorous Defence. They have no Inheritance to lose, and Liberty is oftentimes more burdensom to them than Servitude. The Siameses which the King of Pegu has taken in war, will live peaceable in Pegu, at Twenty miles distant from the Frontiers of Siam, and they will there cultivate the Lands which the King of Pegu has given them, no remembrance of their Country making them to hate their new Servitude. And it is the same of the Peguins, which are in the Kingdom of Siam.

The Eastern Kings are looked upon as the adoptive Sons of Heaven.How uncer­tain the ex­tream Respect of the Orien­tals is for their Kings. 'Tis believed that they have Souls celestial, and as high above other Souls by their Merit; as the Royal Condition appears more happy than that of other men. Nevertheless, if any one of their Subjects revolts, the People doubt presently which of the two Soul [...] is most valuable, whether that of the Lawful Prince, or that of the Rebellious Subject [...]; and whether the Adoption of Heaven has not passed from the King to the Subject. Their Histories are all full of these examples: and that of China, which Father Martinius has given us, is curious in the ratiociniations, by which the Chineses, I mean the Chinese Philosophers, are often perswaded that they followed the Inclination of Heaven in changing their Soveraign, and sometimes in preferring a High-way-man before their Lawful Prince.

But besides that the despotick Authority is almost destitute of defence,These Princes do oftentimes lose their Au­thority by be­ing too jea­lous. it is moreover rather usurped by him that possesses it, in that the exercise thereof is less communicated. Whoever takes upon him the Spirit or Person of a Prince, has almost nothing more to do to dispossess the Prince; because that the exercise of the Authority being too much reunited in the Prince, there is none besides him that prohibits it in case of need. Thus is it not lawful for a King to be a Minor, or too easie to let himself be governed. The Scepter of this Country soon falls from hands that need a support to sustain it. On the contrary, in Kingdoms where several permanent bodies of Magistracy divide the Splendor and the Exercise of the Royal Authority, these same bodies do preserve it entire for the King, who imparts it to them; because they deliver not to the Usurper that part which is in their hands, and which alone suffices to save that which the King himself knows not how to keep.

In the ancient Rebellions of China it appears,The peril in re-uniting all the Royal Au­thority in the Seal. that he who seized on the Royal Seal, presently rendered himself Master of all; because that the people obeyed the Orders where the Seal appear'd, without informing themselves in whose hands the Seal was. And the Jealousie which the King of Siam has of his, that I have said he intrusts with no person, persuades me that it is the same in his Country. The danger therefore to these Princes is in that wherein they place their security. Their Policy requires that their whole Authority should be in their Seal, to exercise it more entire themselves alone: And this Policy as much exposes their Authority, as their Seal is easie to lose.

The same danger is found in a great Treasure,A publick Treasure ne­cessary to de­spotick Go­vernments, and what are the Inconve­niences there­of. The Conclu­sion of this Chapter. the only spring of all the De­spotick Governments, where the ruin'd people cannot supply extraordinary Subsidies in publick necessities. In a great Treasure all the Forces of the State reunite themselves, and he that seizes on the Treasure, seizes on the State. So that besides a Treasures ruining the People, on whom it is levied, it frequently serves against those that accumulate it; and this likewise draws the dissipation thereof.

The Indian Government has therefore all the defects of the Despotick Go­vernment. It renders the Prince and his Subjects equally uncertain: It betrays the Royal Authority, and delivers it up entire, under pretence of putting the more entire Management thereof into the hands of a single person; and more­over it deprives it of its natural defence, by separating the whole Interest of the [Page 108] Subjects from that of the Prince and State. Having therefore related how the Kings of Siam do treat their Subjects, it remains to show how they treat, as well with foreign Princes by Embassies, as with the foreign Nations which are fled to Siam.

CHAP. XV. Concerning the Form of Embassies at Siam.

The Eastern Ambassadors represent not their Masters, and are less honored than in Europe.AN Ambassador throughout the East is no other than a Kings Messenger: he represents not his Master. They honour him little, in comparison of the respects which are render'd to the Letters of Credence whereof he is Bearer. Mr. de Chaumont, tho an Ambassador extraordinary, never had a Balon of the Body, not on the very day of his entrance; and it was in a Balon of the Body that the Kings Letter was put, which he had to deliver to the King of Siam. This Balon had four Ʋmbrella's, one at each corner of the Seat; and it was attended with four other Balons of the Body, adorn'd with their Ʋmbrella's, but empty; as the King of Spain, when he goes abroad in his Coach, and that he would be seen and known, has always one which follows him empty, which is called de respeto, a word and custom come from Italy. The Kings Presents were like­wise carry'd in Balons of the Body; and the same things were observed at the en­trance of the King's Envoys. Thus the Orientals make no difference between an Ambassador and an Envoy: And they understand not Ambassadors, nor or­dinary Envoys, nor Residents; because they send no person to reside at a foreign Court, but there to dispatch a business, and return.

The Siamese Embassies con­sists in three persons.The Siameses do never send more nor less than three Ambassadors together. The first is called Rayja Tout, that is to say, Royal Messenger, the second Oubba Tout, and the third Tri Tout (terms which I understand not) but the two last Ambassadors are obliged in every thing to follow the Advice of the first.

They are looked upon as Messengers which carry a Letter.Every one therefore who is the carrier of a Letter from the King, is reputed an Ambassador throughout the East. Wherefore, after the Ambassador of Persia, which Mr. de Chaumont left in the Country of Siam, was dead at Tenas­serim, his Domesticks having elected one amongst them, to deliver the King of Persia's Letter to the King of Siam, he that was elected was received without any other Character, as the real Ambassador would have been, and with the same honors which the King of Persia had formerly granted to the Ambassador of Siam.

He returns them no An­swer, but a Recepisse.But that wherein they treat an Ambassador like a meer Messenger, is, that the King of Siam, in the Audience of Leave, gives him a Recepisse of the Letter he has received from him; and if this Prince returns an Answer, he gives it not to him, but he sends his own Ambassadors with him to carry it.

How the King of Siam is ad­vertised of the Arrival of an Ambassador.A foreign Ambassador which arrives at Siam, is stopped at the Entrance of the Kingdom, until the King of Siam has received intelligence thereof; and if he is accompanied with Siamese Ambassadors, as we were, it belongs to the Si­amese Ambassadors to go before, to carry unto the King their Master, the news of their Arrival, and of the Arrival of the foreign Ambassador, whom they brought with them.

An Ambassa­dor has his Charges born at Siam. He must Commu­n [...]cate his In­structions.Every foreign Ambassador is lodged and maintained by the King of Siam, and during the time of his Embassy he may exercise Merchandize; but he cannot treat of any affair till he has delivered his Letter of Credence, and communicated his Original Instructions. They dispenced with this last Ar­ticle to Mr. de Chaumont, and the King's Envoys; but the Ambassadors of Siam dispenc'd not therewith in France: They communicated their Instru­ctions.

[Page 109]The Ambassador cannot enter into the Metropolis,He enters not into his Me­tropolis till he goes to Au­dience, and de­parts thence in going from the Audience of Leave. The Solemn Audiences. till he goes directly to Audience, nor continue therein till after the Audience of Leave: in going from the Audience of Leave he departs out of the City, and negotiates nothing more. Wherefore on the Evening before the Audience of Leave, the King of Siam demands of him, Whether he has any thing to propose? And in the Audience of Leave, he asks him, If he is contented?

The Majesty of the Prince resides principally in the Metropolis, 'tis there that the Solemn Audiences are given; out of this City every Audience is accounted private, and without Ceremony. The whole Guard, as well the Ordinary, as that of Ostentation, was put in Arms for the Audience at Siam: the Elephants and the Horses appear'd with their best Harness, and in great number, on the Entry of the King's Envoys, and there was almost nothing of all this for the Audiences at Louvo. At Siam the Ʋmbrella, which was before the King's win­dow, had nine Rounds, and the two which were at the side had seven each. At Louvo the King had no Ʋmbrella before him, but two on each side, which had each four Rounds apiece, and which mounted up much lower than those of Siam. The King was not at Louvo at a single window, as at Siam; he was in a wooden Tower joined to the Floor of the Hall, into which he enter'd behind, and immediately, by a Step higher than the Hall. So that tho' this Prince was as high at Louvo as at Siam, yet he was at Louvo in the Hall of Audience; whereas at Siam he was in another Room, which had a Prospect into the Hall. Moreover, the Gate of the Hall at Louvo was large, and in the middle of the Tower, that is to say opposite to the King; whereas at Siam the door was low and strait, and almost at the corner of the Hall: differences, which have all their reasons in this Country, where the least things are measured and performed with diligence. At the Audience at Siam there were 50 Mandarins prostrate in the Hall, 25 on each side, in five Ranks, each consisting of five. At the Audiences at Louvo there were no more than 32, 16 on each side, in four Ranks, of four in a Rank. The Audience of Reception, where the Letter of Credence is delivered, is al­ways given in the chief City, and with all the magnificence imaginable, in respect to the Letter of Credence: the other Audiences are given with­out the City, and with less Pomp, because there appears no Letter from the King.

The Custom in all Audiences is, that the King speaks first,What is ob­served in Au­diences. and not the Am­bassador. What he speaks in Audiences of Ceremony, is reduced to some Questions almost always the same; after which, he orders the Ambassador to address himself to the Barcalon upon all the Propositions which he has to make. Harrangues please him not at all; tho' he had the goodness to acquaint me, upon the Compliments I had the Honour to make to him, that I was a great Contri­ver of Words. We were fain to embellish them with Figures, and therein to use the Sun, Moon and Stars; Ornaments of Discourse, which may please them in other things: This Prince thinks that the longer an Ambassador speaks the first time, the less he honours him. And indeed when the Ambassador is only a Messenger, which delivers a Letter, it is natural that he has nothing to say which is not asked him. After the King has spoken to the Ambassador, he gives him Arek and Betel, and a Vest, with which the Ambassador cloaths himself im­mediately, and sometimes a Sabre, and a Chain of Gold.

This Prince gave Sabres, Chains of Gold and Vests,To Foreign­ers which are not Ambassa­dors, he gives Audience only by accident. The Indians are cunning and deceitful in their Ne­gotiations. or sometimes only Vests to the principal French Officers, but gave them Audience only as it were by ac­cident in his Gardens, or out of his Palace at some Show.

In all sorts of Business, the Indians are slow in concluding, by reason of the length of their Councils, for they never depart from their Customs. They are very phlegmatic and hypocritical. They are insinuating in their Speeches, captious in their Writings, deceitful, to such a degree as to Cheat. The praise which the King of Siam's Wives and Concubines give him, when they would flatter him to the highest degree, was to tell him, not that he was an Hero, or the greatest General in the World, but that he had always been more politic and witty, than all the Princes with whom he had to do. They engage them­selves in writing as little as they can. They will rather receive you into a Port, [Page 110] or into a Castle, than they will agree with you to surrender them up to you by a Treaty in ample Form, and sealed by their Barcalon.

That the Eu­ropeans have ever found it necessary to treat the In­dians with arrogance.The Portugueses being naturally bold and distrustful, have always treated the Indians with a great deal of Loftiness, and with very little Confidence: And the Dutch have thought they could not do better, than herein to imitate the Portugueses; because that indeed the Indians being educated in a Spirit of Ser­vitude, are crafty, and, as I have said in another place, subservient to those who treat them haughtily, and insolent to those that use them gently. The King of Siam says of his Subjects, that they are of the temper of Apes, who tremble so long as one holds the end of their Band, and who disown their Master, when the Band is loosed. Examples are not rare in India of simple European Factors, who have bastinado'd the Officers of the Indian Kings without being punished. And it is evident, that the certain vigorous Repartees which are sometimes made in our Countries, appear to us more daring, than the Bastinado is in theirs; pro­vided it be given them in cold Blood, and not in Anger: A Man that suffers himself to be transported with Passion, is what the Indians most contemn.

Presents are essential to Embassies in the East.But as Trade is their most sensible Interest, Presents are essential for them in Embassies. 'Tis a trafficking under an honourable Title, and from King to King. Their Politeness excites them to testify by several Demonstrations, how they esteem the Presents which they have received. If it is any thing of use, tho' it be not for their use, they publickly prepare whatever shall be necessary to use it, as if they had a real desire thereof. If it is any thing to wear, they will adorn themselves therewith in your presence. If they are Horses, they will build a Stable on purpose to lodge them. Was it only a Telescope, they would build a Tower to see with this Glass. And so they will seem to make an high ac­count of all sorts of Presents, to honour the Prince which sends them, unless he has received Presents from their part with less demonstrations of Esteem. Nevertheless they are really concern'd only for the Profit. Before that the King's Presents went out of our hands, some of the King of Siam's Officers came to take an exact description thereof in writing, even to the counting all the Stones of every sort which were interspers'd in the Embroideries; and to the end that it might not seem that the King their Master took this care to prevent being robbed by his Officers, through whose hands the Presents were to pass, they pretended that this Prince was curious and impatient, and that it was necessary to go render him an account of what this was, and to be ready to an­swer him exactly upon the least things.

The Orientals do esteem it a great Honour to receive Em­bassies.All the Oriental Princes do esteem it a great Honour to receive Embassies, and to send the fewest they can: Because that, in their Opinion, it is a Badge which cannot be alien'd from them and their Riches, and that they can content themselves without the Riches of Foreigners. They look upon Embassies as a kind of Homage; and in their Courts they retain the Foreign Ministers as long as it is possible, to prolong, as much as in them lies, the Honour which they receive. Thus the great Mogul, and the Kings of China and Japan, do never send Ambassadors. The King of Persia likewise sends only to Siam, because that the King of Siam's Ambassador had demanded it, as I proceed to relate.

The Siamese Ambassadors are accoun­table.The Siamese Ambassadors are accountable, because that they are loaded with Goods; and it rarely happens, that they render an Account good enough en­tirely to avoid the Bastinado. Thus Agi Selim ('tis the name of a Moor, whom the King of Siam sent eight or nine years since into Persia, as his Ambassador) was severely chastised at his return, tho' in appearance he had served very faith­fully. He had established Commerce with Persia, and had brought with him that Persian Ambassador, who, as I have several times related, dyed at Tenasserim. He was a Moula, or Doctor of the Law of Mahomet, whom Agi Selim had de­manded of the King of Persia, to instruct, as he pretended, the King of Siam in Mahumetanism. Bernier Tome II. pag. 54. reports that during his abode in the Indies, some Ambassadors from Prester John, who, as every one knows, pro­fesses to be a Christian, demanded of the great Mogul an Alcoran, and eight of the most renowned Books that were in the Mahumetan Religion; a base Flat­tery, which exceedingly scandalized Bernier. But generally speaking, these tra­ding Kings do exceedingly make use of the pretence of Religion, for the increase of their Commerce.

CHAP. XVI. Of the Foreigners of different Nations fled to, and setled at Siam.

The Policy observed in respect of the Strangers fled to Siam.'TWas, as I have said, the Liberty of Commerce, which had formerly invi­ted to Siam a great multitude of Strangers of different Nations; who set­tled there with the Liberty of living according to their Customs, and of pub­lickly exercising their several ways of Worship. Every Nation possesses a diffe­rent Quarter. The Quarters which are without the City, and which do com­pose the Suburbs thereof, the Portugueses do call Camp, and the Siameses Ban. Moreover every Nation chooses its Chief, or its Nai, as the Siameses do speak, and this Chief manages the Affairs of his Nation with the Mandarin, whom the King of Siam nominates for this purpose, and whom they call the Mandarin of this Nation. But Affairs of the least importance are not determined by this Man­darin, they are carried to the Barcalon.

The Fortune of the Moors very different at Siam, at se­veral times.Amongst the several Nations, that of the Moors has been the best established under this Reign. It once hapned that the Barcalon was a Moor, probably be­cause the King of Siam thought by this means better to establish his Commerce, amongst the most powerful of his Neighbouring Princes, who do all make pro­fession of Mahumetanism: The principal Offices of the Court, and of the Pro­vinces were then in the hands of the Moors: The King of Siam caused several Mosques to be erected for them at his expence, and he still bears the charges of their principal Festival, which they celebrate for several days together, in me­mory of the Death of Haly, or of his Children. The Siameses, which embraced the Religion of the Moors, had the Priviledge of being exempted from the per­sonal Service: But the Barcalon Moor soon experienced the Inconstancy of the Fortunes of Siam, he fell into Disgrace, and the Credit of those of his Nation fell afterwards into Decay. The considerable Offices and Employments were taken away from them, and the Siameses which were turned Mahumetans, were forc'd to pay in ready Money for the six Months Service, from which they had been exempted. Nevertheless their Mosques are remaining to them, as well as the publick Protection which the King of Siam gives to their Religion, as to all foreign Religions. There are therefore three or four Thousand Moors at Siam, as many Portugueses born in India, and as many Chineses, and perhaps as many Malays, besides what there is of other Nations.

The Foreign Commerce ceased at Siam has caused the Richest Stran­gers, and espe­cially the Moors to de­part thence.But the richest Foreigners, and especially the Moors, are retired elsewhere, since the King of Siam has reserved to himself alone almost all the foreign Commerce. The King his Father had heretofore done the same thing, and perhaps it is the Policy of Siam to do it thus from time to time; otherwise it is certain that they have almost always left the Trade free, and that it has fre­quently flourished at Siam. Ferdinand Mendez Pinto reports, that in his time there were annually above a thousand foreign Ships; whereas at present there goes no more than two or three Dutch Barks.

Why the Fo­reign Trade ceased at Siam.Commerce requires a certain liberty: no person can resolve to go to Siam, necessarily to sell unto the King what is carry'd thither, and to buy of him alone what one would carry thence, when this was not the product of the Kingdom. For though there were several foreign Ships together at Siam, the Trade was not permitted from one Ship to the other, nor with the Inhabitants of the Country, Natives or Foreigners, till that the King, under the pretence of a preference due to his Royal dignity, had purchased what was best in the Ships, and at his own rate, to sell it afterwards as he pleased: because that when the season for the departure of the Ships presses on, the Merchants choose rather to sell to great loss, and dearly to buy a new Cargo, than to wait at Siam a new season to depart, without hopes of making a better Trade.

[Page 113]In a word, 'tis neither the natural Riches,The Natural Siameses cannot afford a great Trade. nor the Manufactures of the King­dom of Siam, that should tempt one to go thither. The natural Siameses, ruin'd as they are by impositions and services, cannot carry on a great Trade, though they should have all the liberty imaginable▪ The Trade is manag'd only with the superfluous Money, and in the places where the Impositions are very great, there is scarcely found Money necessary for life. The vast summ levied on the people returns slowly to the people, and especially in the remote Provinces; and the whole does not return, because that a great part thereof remains in the hands of those, that tend upon the receipts and expences of the Prince. And as to that part which returns to the people, it remains not in their hands for their uses; it soon goes thence to return to the Princes Coffers: so that it must needs be, that all the small Trades do cease for want of Money; which cannot be, but the general Commerce of a State does greatly suffer. But this is yet much truer at Siam, where the Prince annually accumulates his Revenues, in­stead of expending them. Having thus explained what respects the King, the Officers, and the People of Siam, it remains to speak of their Talapoins, or Priests.

CHAP. XVII. Of the Talapoins, and their Convents.

THey live in Convents, which the Siameses do call Vat; The origine of the word Pa­god. and they make use of the Temples, which the Siameses do call Pihan, and the Portugueses Pagode, from the Persian word Poutgheda, which signifies a Temple of Idols; but the Portugueses do use the word Pagode, to signify equally the Idol and the Temple.

The Temple and the Convent do take up a very great square piece of ground,A Description of the Con­vents of the Talapoins. encompast with an Inclosure of Bambou. In the middle of the ground stands the Temple, as in the place esteemed the most honourable in their Encampments; and at the corners of this ground, and along the Bambou Inclosure, are ranged the Cells of the Talapoins, like the Tents of an Army; and sometimes the Rows thereof are double, or triple: These Cells are little single Houses, erected on Piles, and that of the Superior is after the same manner, but a little larger and higher than the rest. The Pyramids stand near and quite round the Temple: and the ground which the Temple and the Pyramids take up, besides its being higher, is inclosed between four Walls: but from these Walls to the Cells there likewise remains a great void piece of Ground, which is as it were the Court of the Convent. Sometimes these Walls are all bare, and serve only as an Inclosure to the ground, which the Temple and the Pyramids take up: Sometimes along these Walls there are covered Galleries of the Figure of those, which in our Religious Houses we call the Cloyster; and on a counterwall breast high, which runs along these Galleries, they place in a Train, and close together, a great number of Idols sometimes gilded.

Though at Siam there are some Talapoinesses, or Women,They have Cells for the Talapoinesses. who in most things do observe the Rule of the Talapoins, yet they have no other Convents than those of the Talapoins themselves: The Siameses do think that the advanced Age of all these Women, for there are none young, is a sufficient caution of their Chasti­ty. There are not Talapoinesses in all the Convents: but in those where any are, their Cells run along one of the sides of the Bambou Inclosure, which I have mentioned, without being otherwise separated from those of the Talapoins.

The Neus, or Talapoin Children, are dispersed one, two,How the Tala­poin Children are lodg'd. or three into every Talapoins Cell, and they serve the Talapoin with whom they lodge, that is to say with whom they have been placed by their Parents: So that when a Talapoin has two or three Nens, he receives no more. In a word, these Nens are not all young; some there are which do grow old in this Condition, which is not thought entirely religious, and the eldest of all they call Taten. It belongs to [Page 114] him to pluck up the Weeds which grow in the ground of the Convent, which the Talapoins themselves cannot do, in their opinion, without sin.

The Halls of the Convent.The School of the Nens is a Hall of Bambou standing alone; and besides this Hall, there is always such another, where the People carry their Alms on the days when the Temple is shut, and where the Talapoins assemble for their ordinary Conferences.

The Steeple.The Steeple is a Wooden Tower standing also alone, they call it Horacang, or the Belfry; but the Bell has no Clapper. They strike it with a Mallet or Wooden Hammer to sound it: and it is only in War, or for things of War, that they strike their Basons, and other Instruments of Brass or Copper, with Iron Hammers.

Of the Supe­riors.Every Convent is under the Conduct of a Superior called Tchaou-Vat, that is to say, Lord or Master of the Convent; but all the Superiors are not of equal dignity: The most honorable are those which they call Sancrat, and the Sancrat of the Convent of the Palace is the most reverend of all. Yet no Superior, nor no Sancrat, has Authority or Jurisdiction over another. This body would be too formidable if it had but one head, and if it acted always unanimously, and according to the same Maxims.

Of the San­crats.The Missionaries have compared the Sancrats to our Bishops, and the simple Superiors to our Curates; and they have some inclination to believe that this Country has formerly had some Christian Bishops, to whom the Sancrats have succeeded. None but the Sancrats indeed can make Talapoins, as none but Bi­shops can make Priests. But otherwise the Sancrats have not any Jurisdiction nor any Authority, neither over the People, nor over the Talapoins, which are not of their Convent; and they could not inform me whether they have any particular Character which makes them Sancrats, save that they are Superiors of certain Convents designed for Sancrats. Every Convent therefore design'd for a Sancrat is distinguished from the other Convents, wherein there are only simple Superiors, by some Stones planted round the Temple, and near its Walls, each of which is double, and bears some resemblance, but at a very great di­stance, with a Mitre set upon a Pedestal. I have inserted the Figure thereof in the Print of a Temple. Their Name in Siamese is Sema. Now 'tis this re­semblance of these Stones with the Mitres, that is the principal Foundation of the Suspicion, which the Missionaries have, that the Sancrats have succeeded some Bishops. The more of these Stones there is round a Temple, the more the Sancrat is thought advanced in Dignity; but there never is fewer than two, nor more than eight. The Ignorance under which the Siameses are, as to what these Stones do signifie, has put the Missionaries upon seeking the Origine there­of in Christianity.

The honors of the Sancrats.The King of Siam gives to the principal Sancrats a Name, an Umbrella, a Se­dan, and some men to carry it; but the Sancrats do make use of this Equipage only to wait upon the King, and they never are Talapoins that carry the Sedan. The Sancrat of the Palace is now called Pra Viriat.

The Spirit of this Institution.The Spirit of the Institution of the Talapoins, is, to keep themselves from the Sins of the People, to lead a penitent Life for the Sins of those that bestow Alms upon them, and to live on Alms. They eat not in common, and tho they be very hospitable to the Seculars, which have recourse to them, and even to Christians, yet it is prohibited them to share the Alms which they receive, or at least to do it presently; because that every one of them being thought to repent sufficiently, has no need to redeem his Sins by bestowing Alms on his Companion, and perhaps they would also oblige them all to the fatigue of begging: Nevertheless a Talapoin is not prohibited from ever giving any thing to his Brother, or from assisting him in a real Necessity. They have two Lodg­ings, one on each side of their door to receive the Passengers, who desire a bed amongst them.

There are two sorts of Tala­poins.There are two sorts of Talapoins at Siam, as in all the rest of the Indies. Some do live in the Woods, and others in the Cities. And those of the Woods do lead, as they say, a Life which would appear intolerable, and which would doubtless be so in Countries less hot than Siam, or than the Thebais of Aegypt.

[Page 115]All, that is to say those of the Cities, and those of the Woods,They are ob­liged to Celi­bacy under the penalty of the Fire. are obliged under pain of Fire strictly to keep Celibacy, so long as they continue in their Profession; and the King of Siam, from whose Jurisdiction they cannot with­draw themselves, pardons them not in this point: for as they have great Privi­ledges, and amongst other things are exempted from the six Months Service, it imports him that the Profession of Talapoin become not altogether convenient, for fear lest all his Subjects embrace it.

To diminish the number of these priviledged Persons,And to a cer­tain degree of Literature un­der pain of be­ing expelled out of the Con­vent. he causes them to be from time to time examined as to their Knowledge, which respects the Balie Language and its Books: and when we arrived in this Country, he had just re­duc'd several Thousands to the Secular condition, because they had not been found learned enough. Their Examiner was Oc-Louang Souracac, a young man of about Twenty eight or Thirty years old, the Son of that Oc-Pra Pipitcharat­cha, who, as I have said, commands the Elephants; but the Talapoins of the Woods had refused to submit to the Examination of a Secular, and consented to be examined only by one of their Superiors.

They educate the Youth, as I have related;They Educate the Youth and instruct the People. and they explain their Doctrine to the People, according as it is written in their Balie Books. They preach the next day after every new and every full Moon, and the People are ever very con­stant in the Temples. When the Channel of the River is full of Rain-water, until the Inundation begins to sink, they preach every day, from six in the Morning till Dinner-time, and from one in the Afternoon till five in the Even­ing. The Preacher is seated cross-leg'd in a high Chair of State, and several Ta­lapoins release one another in this Office.

The People approves the Doctrine which is preach'd to them in these Balie words, sa tou sa, which signifies, it is so Sir, This Trade is gainful. or in other Siamese words which amount to the same sense; and then they give Alms to the Preacher: and those that do preach frequently, not only at this time, but during the whole course of the year, do easily become rich.

Now it is this time which the Europeans have called the Lent of the Talapoins. Of the Lent of the Talapoins and of their facility in fast­ing. Their Fasting is to eat nothing from Noon, unless they may chew Betel: but when they do not fast, they only eat Fruit in the Afternoon. The Indians are naturally so sober, that a Fast of Forty, nay of an Hundred days, appears not in­credible to them. Twist, a Dutch Author, in his Description of the Indies reports, that Experience has certainly evinced that there are some Indians that can fast Twenty, Thirty, and Forty days, without taking any thing but a little Liquor mixed with some bitter Wood reduced to Powder. The Siameses have cited the example of a Talapoin, whom they pretend to have fasted an hundred and seven days, without eating any thing But when I sounded their opinion thereon, I found that they attributed this Fast to Magick; and to prove it to me, they added, that it was easie to live on the Grass of the Fields; provided they breathed thereon, and utter'd certain words, which they understood not, or which they would not in­form me, or which they said that others understood.

After the Rice-Harvest the Talapoins do go for three Weeks to watch in the Nights in the middle of the Fields,The Watch of the Siameses in the Fields; and the E­steem which the People makes thereof. under small Huts of branches of Leaves ranged square; and in the day they return to visit the Temple, and to sleep in their Cells. The Hut of the Superior stands in the middle of the others, and higher. They make no Fire in the Night to scare away the wild Beasts, as all those that travel in the Woods of this Country us'd to do, and as was done round the Tabanques wherein we lodged: So that the People look upon it as a Miracle, that the Talapoins are not devoured; and I know not what precaution they use, except that of enclosing themselves in a Park of Bambou. But doubt­less they chose places little exposed, remote from the Woods, and where the sa­vage Beasts cannot come with Hunger, but after having found a great deal of Food, for it is the season wherein there is plenty of Forage on the ground. The People admire also the security, in which the Talapoins of the Woods do live: For they have neither Convent nor Temple to retire into. They think that the Tygers, Elephants, and Rhinoceros do respect them, and lick their hands and feet, when they find any one asleep: but these may make a Fire of Bambou, [Page 116] to defend themselves from these Animals, they may lie in the closest Thickets; and moreover, though the people should find the remains of some man devoured, it would never be presumed he was a Talapoin; and when they could not doubt thereof, they would presume that this Talapoin had been wicked, and would not cease to believe that the Beasts respect the good. And it must needs be that the Woods are not so dangerous as they report, seeing that so many Families do seek Sanctuary there against the Government.

The Talapoins have a Chap­let.I know not what the Talapoins do pretend, either by this Watch, or by their Lent; I ignore also what the Chaplets of one Hundred and eight Grains, on which they recite certain Balie words, do mean.

Their Habit.They go with naked feet and bare-headed, like the rest of the People: round their Reins and Thighs they wear the Pagne of the Seculars, but of yellow Lin­nen, which is the colour of their Kings, and of the Kings of China: and they have no Muslin Shirt, nor any Vest. Their Habit consists of four pieces. The first which they call Angsa, is a kind of Shoulder Belt of yellow Linnen, five or six Inches broad; they wear it on their left Shoulder, and button it with a single button on the right Hip; and it descends not lower than the Hip. Over this Belt they put another great yellow cloath, which is called the Pagne of the Talapoin, and which they call Pa Schivon, or the Cloth of several pieces, because it ought to be patched in several places. 'Tis a kind of Scapulary, which rea­ches down to the ground behind and before; and which covering only the left Shoulder returns to the right Hip, and leaves the two Arms and all the right Shoulder free. Over the Pa Schivon is the Pa Pat. 'Tis another cloth four or five Inches broad which they do likewise put over the left Shoulder, but like a Hood; it descends to the Navel before, and as much behind as before. Its co­lour is sometimes red: the Sancrats and the most ancient Talapoins do wear it thus, but the Angsa and the Pa Schivon can never be other than yellow. To keep the Pa Pat and the Pa Schivon in a posture, they girt the middle of their bo­dy with a Scarf of yellow Cloth which they call Rappacod, and which is the fourth and last piece of their Habit.

They have a little Iron-Ba­son for beg­ging. They shave all the Head, and have a Screen in their hand.When they go a begging they carry an Iron Bason, to receive what is given them; and they carry it in a Linnen Bag, which hangs on the left side, by two ends of a Rope hung like a Belt over the right Shoulder.

They shave all their Beard, Head, and Eyebrows; and to defend themselves from the Sun they have the Talapat, which is their little Ʋmbrella, in form of a Screen, as I have already said in the other part. The Superior is forced to shave himself, because no person can touch his head, without showing him disrespect. By the same reason a young Talapoin dares not to shave an old one: but it is law­ful for the old to shave the young, I mean those Children whose Education is committed to them, and who know not how to shave themselves. Neverthe­less when the Superior is very old, it is necessary that he permit another to shave him; and this other does it after having desired an express Permission. In a word, the Razors of Siam are of Copper.

The days on which they shave them­selves, are days of Devotion to the People.The days on which they shave themselves, are those of the new and full Moon; and on these days the Talapoins and the People do fast, that is to say, they eat nothing from Noon. The People abstain also on these days from going a Fishing, not that Fishing is a work, for they abstain not from any other Labor, but because that, in my opinion, they esteem not Fishing wholly innocent, as we shall see in the sequel. And in fine, the People on these days do carry unto the Convents some Alms, which consist in Money, Fruits, Pagnes, or Cattle. If the Cattle are dead, the Talapoins do eat them: if they are alive, they let them live and die about the Temple; and they eat them only when they die of themselves. Near certain Temples there is also a Pond for the living Fish, which is offer'd to the Temple: and besides these Festival days, common to all the Temples,The People love to adorn themselves to go to the Temples: and their Charity to Animals. every Temple has a particular one appointed to receive the Alms, as if it was the Feast of its Dedication: for I could not learn what it is.

The People voluntarily assist at these Festivals, and make a show with their new Cloaths. One of their greatest Charities is to give Liberty to some Ani­mals, which they buy of those that have taken them in the Fields. What they [Page 117] give to the Idol, they offer not immediately to the Idol, but to the Talapoins; and they present it to the Idol, either by holding it in their hand before the Idol, or by laying it upon the Altar; and in a little time after they take it away, and convert it to their own uses. Sometimes the People offer up lighted Tapers, which the Talapoins do fasten to the knees of the Statue, and this is the reason why one of the knees of a great many Idols is ungilt. As for bloody Sacri­fices, they never offer up any, on the contrary they are prohibited from killing any thing.

At the Full Moon of the fifth Month,The Siameses do wash their Idols, their Talapoins, and their Parents. the Talapoins do wash the Idol with perfumed waters, but respect permits them not to wash its head. They after­wards wash the Sancrat. And the People go also to wash the Sancrats, and the other Talapoins: And then in particular Families the Children do wash their Parents, without having regard to the Sex; for the Son and the Daughter do equally wash the Father and the Mother, the Grandfather and the Grandmo­ther. This Custom is observed also in the Country of Laos, with this Singu­larity, that the King himself is washed in the River.

The Talapoins have no Clock;The hour on which the Ta­lapoins do wash them­selves. and they wash themselves only when it is light enough to be able to discern the veins of their hands, for fear lest if they should wash themselves earlier in the morning, they should in walking kill any Insect without perceiving it. This is the reason why they wash later in the shortest days, tho' their Bell fails not to wake them before day.

Being raised, they go with their Superior to the Temple for two hours.They go to the Temples in the morn­ing. There they sing or repeat out of the Balie, and what they sing is written on the Leass of a Tree somewhat longish, and fasten'd at one of the ends, as I have said in discoursing of the Tree which bears them. The People have not any Prayer-Book. The posture of the Talapoins, whilst they sing, is to sit cross-leg'd, and continually to toss their Talipat or Fan, as if they would continually fan them­selves: so that their Fan goes or comes at each Syllable which they pronounce, and they pronounce them all at equal times, and after the same tone. In en­tering in and going out of the Temple, they prostrate themselves three times be­fore the Statue, and the Seculars do observe the same; but the one and the other do remain in the Temple sitting cross-leg'd, and not always pro­strate.

In going from Prayer, the Talapoins go into the City to beg Alms for an hour;Then to beg­ging, on which alone they do not always live. but they never go out of the Convent, and never re-enter, without going to salute their Superior, before whom they prostrated themselves to touch the ground with their Forehead; and because that the Superior sits generally cross-leg'd, they take one of his Feet with both their hands, and put it on their head. To crave Alms they stand at the Gates, without saying any thing; and they pass on after a little time, if nothing is given them. It is rare that the People sends them away without giving them, and besides this their Parents never fail them. The Convents have likewise some Gardens, and cultivated Lands, and Slaves to plough them. All their Lands are free from Taxes, and the Prince touches them not; altho' he has the real property thereof, if he divests not him­self by writing, which he almost never does.

At their return from begging, the Talapoins do breakfast if they will,How they fill up the day. and are not always regular in presenting to the Idol what they eat, tho' they do it some­times after the manner that I have related. Till Dinner-time they study, or employ themselves as to them seems meet, and at Noon they dine. After Din­ner they read a Lecture to the little Talapoins, and sleep; and at the declining of the day they sweep the Temple, and do there sing as in the morning for two hours, after which they lie down. If they eat in the evening, it is only Fruit; and tho' their day's work seems full by what I have said, they cease not to walk in the City after Dinner for their pleasure.

Besides the Slaves which the Convents may have,The secular Servants of the Talapoins. they have each one or two Servants which they call Tapacaou, and which are really Seculars, tho' they be habited like the Talapoins, excepting that their Habit is white, and not yellow. They receive the money which is given to the Talapoins, because the Talapoins [Page 118] cannot touch it without sinning: they have the care of the Gardens and Lands, which the Convent may have, and in a word they act in the Convents for the Talapoins, whatever the Talapoins conceive cannot be done by themselves, as we shall see in the Sequel.

CHAP. XVIII. Of the Election of the Superior, and of the Reception of the Talapoins and Talapoinesses.

The Election of the Supe­rior.WHen the Superior is dead, be he Sancrat or not, the Convent elects ano­ther, and ordinarily it chuses the oldest Talapoin of the House, or at least the most learned.

How a Secu­lar does, who builds a Tem­ple, and begins a Convent. How a Tala­poin is admit­ted.If a particular person builds a Temple, he agrees with some old Talapoin at his own choice to be the Superior of the Convent, which is built round this Temple, as other Talapoins come thither to inhabit; for he builds no Talapoins Lodging before-hand.

If any one would make himself a Talapoin, he begins with agreeing with some Superior that would receive him into his Convent; and because there is none but a Sancrat, as I have said, can give him the Habit, he goes to demand it of some Sancrat, if the Superior with whom he would remain, is not him­self a Sancrat; and the Sancrat appoints him an hour some few days after, and for the Afternoon. Whoever should oppose him would sin; and as this Pro­fession is gainful, and it lasts not necessarily the whole life, the Parents are al­ways very glad to see their Children embrace it. I have not heard what Mr. Gervaise reports, that it is needful to have a permission in writing from Oc-ya Pra Sedet, to be receiv'd a Talapoin. I see not likewise how this could be practicable in the whole extent of the Kingdom; and they have always assu­red me, that it is free for every one to make himself a Talapoin, and that if any one did oppose the reception of another into this Profession, he would sin. When any one therefore is to be admitted, his Parents and his Friends accom­pany him to this Ceremony with Instruments and Dancers, and they stop fre­quently by the way to see dancing. During the Ceremony, the Demandant, and the Men that are of his Retinue, do enter into the Temple where the Sancrat is; but the Women, the Instruments, and the Dancers enter not there­in. I know not who shaves the Head, the Eye-brows and the Beard of the Demandant, or whether he shaves it not himself. The Sancrat gives the Habit with his own hand, and he cloaths himself therewith, letting the secular Habit fall underneath when he has put on the other. Mean while the Sancrat pro­nounces several Balie words; and when the Ceremony is ended, the new Ta­lapoin goes to the Convent, where he must remain, and his Parents and Friends accompany him thither: But from this time he must no more hear any Instru­ment, nor behold any Dance. Some days after the Parents do give an Enter­tainment to the Convent, and they exhibit a great many Shows before the Temple, which the Talapoins are prohibited to see.

Whether there are seve­ral degrees of Talapoins.Mr. Gervaise distinguishes the Talapoins into Balouang, Tchaou-cou and Pecou. As for me, I have always heard say that Balouang, which the Siameses do write Pat-louang, is only a Title of Respect. The Siameses gave it to the Jesuits, as we do give them the Title of Reverence. In this Country I never heard speak of the word Picou, but only of Tchaou-cou, which I shall explain in the Sequel, and which some have informed me to be the Siamese word which signifies Ta­lapoin. So that they say, He is a Tchaou-cou, and I would be Tchaou-cou, to signifie he is a Talapoin, and I would be a Talapoin. Nevertheless as there may be some dif­ference between the Sancrats and Talapoins, which the persons whom I con­sulted, knew not, tho' otherwise expert, it may well be that there is some like­wise [Page 119] between the Talapoins themselves, some of which might be Pat-louang, and others Picou, and that the general name of all might be Tchaou-cou; I refer my self to Mr. Gervaise.

The Talapoinesses do call themselves Nang Tchii: They are clad in white,Of the Tala­poinesses. like the Tapacaou, and are not esteemed altogether Religious. A simple Superior suf­ficeth to give them the Habit, as well as to the Nens: And altho' they cannot have any carnal Commerce with Men, yet are they not burnt upon this account, as the Talapoins are, which are surprized in a Fault with the Women. They deliver them up to their Parents to bastinado them, because that neither the Talapoins nor the Talapoinesses can strike any person.

CHAP. XIX. Concerning the Doctrine of the Talapoins.

ALL the Indies are full of Talapoins, Divers kinds of Talapoins in the Indies. tho' they have not everywhere this Name, and live not everywhere after the same manner. Some marry, and others strictly observe Celibacy. Some eat Meat, provided it is given them slain, others never eat any. Some do kill Animals, others kill none at all; and others do kill very rarely, and for some Sacrifice. Their Doctrine appears not more exactly the same in all places, tho' the Foundation thereof be always the opinion of the Metempsychosis; and their Worship is also various, tho' it always refers to the dead.

It seems that they believe all Nature animated, not only Men,How they believe the whole anima­ted Nature, and what Idea they have of the Anima­tion Beasts and Plants, but the Heaven, the Planets, the Earth, and the other Elements, the Rivers, the Mountains, the Cities, the Houses themselves. And moreover, as all Souls appear to them of the same Nature, and indifferent to enter into all Bodies, of what kind soever they be, it seems that they have not the Idea of the Animation as we have. They believe that the Soul is in the Body, and that it rules the Body, but it appears not that they believe like us, that the Soul is physically united to the Body, to make one with it. So far are they from think­ing that the natural Inclinations of Souls is to be in Bodies, that they believe it is a Penance for them, to extirpate their Sins by their Sufferings, because that indeed there is no kind of Life which has not its Troubles. The supreme Feli­city of the Soul, in their opinion, is not to be obliged to animate any Body, but to remain eternally in repose. And the true Hell of the Soul is on the contra­ry, according to them, the perpetual necessity of animating Bodies, and of pas­sing from one to another by continual Transmigrations. 'Tis said, that amongst the Talapoins, there are some which boldly assert, that they remember their past Transmigrations; and these Testimonies do doubtless suffice to confirm the People in the Opinion of the Metempsychosis. The Europeans have sometimes translated by the word Tutelar Genius, the Souls which the Indians give to the Bodies, which we esteem inanimate: But these Genii are certainly in the Opi­nion of the Indians only real Souls, which they suppose equally to animate all the Bodies wherein they are present, but after a manner which corresponds not to the Physical Ʋnion of our Schools.

The Figure of the World, according to their Doctrine, is eternal;What they think of the Eternity of the World. but the World which we see is not, for whatever we see therein, lives in their Opinion, and must die; and at the same time there will spring up other Beings of the same kind, another Heaven, another Earth, and other Stars; and this is the ground of what they say, that they have seen Nature decay and revive again several times.

No Opinion has been so generally receiv'd amongst Men,Of the nature of the Soul ac­cording to them. as that of the Im­mortality of the Soul; but that the Soul is immaterial, is a Truth the knowledg of which is not so much propagated; Thus is it a very great difficulty to give [Page 120] unto a Siamese the Idea of a pure Spirit; and this is the Testimony which the Missionaries give thereof, that have been longest amongst them. All the Pagans of the East do believe indeed that there remains something of Man after his death, which subsists separately and independantly from its body; but they give extent and figure to what ramains, and in a word they attribute unto it all the same Members, and all the same solid and liquid Substances whereof our Bodies are composed. They suppose only that the Souls are of a matter subtile enough, to be free from touch and sight; tho' they believe that if any one be wounded, the blood which flows from its wound, may appear. Such were the Manes and Shades of the Greeks and Romans, and it is by this figure of the Souls like unto that of the Bodies, that Virgil supposes that Aeneas knew Palinurus, Dido, and Anchises in Hell.

The Absurdi­ty of their Opinion.Now what is altogether impertinent in this Opinion, is, that the Orientals cannot tell why they attribute the humane Figure, rather than any other, to the Soul, which they suppose able to animate all sorts of Bodies, besides the humane Body. When the Tartar which now reigns at China, would force the Chineses to shave their hair after the Tartarian fashion, several of them chose rather to suffer death, than to go, they said, into the other World, to appear before their Ancestors without hair; imagining, that they shaved the head of the Soul, by shaving that of the Body.

Of the Pu­nishments and Recompences of the Soul after death.The Souls therefore, tho' material, are yet imperishable in their Opinion; and at their departure out of this life, they are punished or recompenced, with Pu­nishments or Pleasures proportioned in greatness and duration to their good or evil works, until they re-enter into the humane Body, wherein they must enjoy a Life more or less happy, according to the Good or Evil they have committed in a former Life.

How they ex­plain the Pro­sperity of the Wicked, and the Misfor­tunes of the Good.If a Man is unfortunate before he has done amiss, as if he is dead-born, the Indians believe that he has merited it in a former Life, and that then perhaps he caused some Great-belly'd Woman to miscarry. If, on the contrary, they ob­serve a wicked Man to prosper, they believe that he enjoys the Recompence which he has merited in another Life by good Actions. If the Life of the Man is mixt with Prosperity and Adversity, 'tis because every Man, they say, has done Good and Evil when he formerly lived. In a word, no Person suffers any Mis­fortune, according to their Opinion, if he has always been innocent; nor is he always happy, if he has at any time been culpable; nor does he enjoy any Pro­sperity, which he has not merited by some good Action.

Of the several places where the Soul passes after death.Besides the divers manners of being of this World, as of Plant, or of Ani­mal, to which the Souls are successively linked after death, they reckon several places out of this World, where the Souls are punished or rewarded. Some are more happy, and others more miserable than the World wherein we are. They make all these places as Stages in the whole extent of Nature, and their Books do vary in the number; tho' the most common Opinion is, that there are nine happy, and as many unhappy. The nine happy places are over our heads, the nine unhappy are under our feet; and the higher a place is, the happier it is; as also the lower it is, the more unhappy it is: so that the happy extend far above the Stars, as the unhappy do sink a great way beneath the earth. The Siameses do call the Inhabitants of the superior Worlds Theuada, those of the inferior Worlds Pii, and those of this World Manout. The Portugueses have translated the word Theuada by that of Angels, and the word Pii by that of Devils; and they have given the Name of Paradice to the superior Worlds, and that of Hell to the inferior.

It there re­vives again.But the Siameses do not believe that the Souls in departing out of the Body do pass into these places, as the Greeks and Romans thought that they went into Hell: they are born, according to them, at the places where they go; and there they do live a life, which from us is conceal'd, but which is subject to the infir­mities of this, and unto death. Death and a new Birth are always the road from one of these places to another, and it is not till after having lived in a cer­tain number of places, and during a certain time, which ordinarily extends to some thousands of years, that the Souls there punished or recompenced, do hap­pen to spring up again in the World wherein we are.

[Page 121]Now as they suppose that the Souls have a new habitation in the places where they revive, they think they stand in need of the things of this Life;To live a life full of Cares like this. and all the ancient Paganism believed the same. With the body of a dead man, the Gauls burnt the things which he had most esteemed, during his Life, Move­ables, Animals, Slaves, and even free Persons, if he had any singularly devoted to his Service.

They still practice worse than this, if it is possible,Why the Indi­an women burn them­selvs with the body of their Husband. among the Pagans of the true India, where the Wife glories in burning herself alive with the body of her Husband, to meet his Soul in the other world. I well know that some presume that this Custom was formerly introduced in the Indies, to secure the Husbands from the Treason of their Wives, by forcing them to die with them. Mandesh reports this opinion, and Strabo had reported it before him, and had disapproved it, thinking it improbable either that such a Law was established, or that such a reason for establishing it was true: Indeed, besides that this Cu­stom is extended to the Moveables and Animals, things all innocent, it is free in regard of the Women, none of which dies after this manner, if she desires it not; and it has been received in too great a part of the Country, to imagine that the Crimes of the Women have given occasion thereunto. Wives to be Slaves, or as Slaves to their Husbands, are not either more dissatisfied with their Condition, nor greater Enemies to their Husbands, and they change no part of the Condition as to this regard, by a second Marriage. Thus it is observed that the Indian Women have always look'd upon the Liberty they have of dying with their Husbands, not as a Punishment, but as a Felicity which is offered them. The Wo­men Slaves do sometimes follow their Mistress to the Funeral Pile, but volun­tarily and without compulsion. And moreover it is not a thing without pre­cedent in the Indies, that an Husband enamour'd with his Wife, will burn himself with her, in hopes of going to enjoy another Life with her.

Navarette reports it is a Custom of the Tartars, This Custom is received a­mong the Tar­tars, and is not without exam­ple among the Chineses. that when there dies one amongst them, one of his Wives hangs herself, to follow him into the other World; but that the Tartar which reigned at China in 1668. abolished this Custom: and he adds, that though it be not common to the Chineses, nor ap­proved by Confucius, yet it is not without example. He relates one in his time, of the Vice-Roy of Canton, who being poysoned himself, and feeling the ap­proach of Death, called her whom he loved the best of his Wives, and desired her to follow him: which she did by hanging herself so soon as he was dead.

But certainly neither the Chineses, nor the Tonquineses, nor the Siameses, The Oecono­my of the Chi­neses and of their Neigh­bors in Buri­als. nor the other Indians beyond the Ganges, have ever, as it is known, received the Custom of permitting the Women to burn: and moreover they have by a wise Oeconomy established, that instead of real Furniture and Money, it should suf­fice to burn with the dead bodies, those very things delineated in paper cut, and oftentimes painted or gilded: under pretence, in my opinion, that in matter of Types, those of the things in Paper were as good as those of the things them­selves, which the Paper represents. Wherefore the People report, that this Paper which is burnt, is converted in the other Life to the things which it re­presents. The richest Chineses cease not to burn at least some real Stuffs, and they burn moreover so much Paper, that this expence alone is considerable.

But all these Oriental People do not only believe that they may be helpful to the dead, as I have already explained:The power of the Dead over the Living, the Source of the worship of the Dead. they think also that the dead have the power of tormenting and succouring the living: and from hence comes their Care and Magnificence in Funerals; for it is only in this that they are magni­ficent. Hence it comes also that they pray to the dead, and especially the Ma­nes of their Ancestors to the Great-Grand-Father, or to the Great-Great-Grand-Father; presuming that the rest are so dispersed by divers Transmigrations, that they can hear them no more. The Romans likewise prayed to their dead An­cestors, tho they believed them not to be Gods. Thus Germanicus in Tacitus, at the beginning of a military expedition besought the Manes of his Father Drusus to render it happy, because that Drusus himself had made war in that Country.

[Page 122] They fear on­ly their dead Acquaintance.But by a prevention, which I see diffused likewise among the Christians, that are afraid of Spirits, the Orientals neither expect nor fear any thing from the dead of foreign Countries, but from the dead of their City, or of their Quar­ter, or of their Profession, or of their Family.

CHAP. XX. Of the Burials of the Chineses and Siameses.

The Reason of speaking of the Burials of the Chineses.THE Burials of the Chineses are described in several Relations, but I shall not forbear speaking a word thereof, to render those of the Siameses more intelligible; because that the Customs of a Country do always better illustrate themselves, by the comparison of the Customs of the neighbouring Countries.

What are the Principal Cir­cumstances thereof.The first care of the Chineses in Burials is to have a Coffin of precious Wood; in which they do sometimes make an expence above their Fortune: and though they bury their bodies without burning them, they forbear not, at their Inter­ment, to burn Goods, Houses, Animals, Money, and whatever is necessary to the Conveniences of Life; but all in Paper, except some real Stuffs which are burnt at the Funerals of the rich. Father Semedo reports, that at the Burial of a Queen of China her goods were really burnt. The second care of the Chineses in Burials is, to chuse out a place proper for the Tomb. They chuse it accord­ing to the advice of the Soothsayers, imagining that the repose of the deceased depends on this choice, and that of the felicity and repose of the living depends on the repose of the dead. If therefore they are not the Proprietors of the place declared by the Soothsayers, they fail not to buy it, and sometimes dearly. And in the third place, besides the Funeral Train, which is great, they give magnificent entertainments to the dead person, not only when they bury him, but annually on the same day, and several times in the year.

The worship of the Dead.In their House they have a Chamber designed for the Manes of their An­cestors, where from time to time they go to render the same Devotions to their Figure, as they render'd to their Body in interring it. They do again burn Perfumes, Stuffs, and cut Papers; and they do make them new repasts. The Tonquineses, according to Father de Rhodes, do intermix these sorts of repasts with Paper-meats, which they burn. The same Author very largely relates the Prayers which the Tonquineses make to the dead, how they demand of them a long and happy Life; with what zeal they redouble their Worship and Prayers in their Misfortunes, when the Soothsayers assure them that they ought to attribute the cause thereof to the Anger of their Parents.

The Chineses at present are en­tirely impious.Several Relations of China assert, that the learned men, which in this Coun­try are the most important Citizens, do consider the Ceremonies of Funerals, only as civil Duties, to which they add no Prayers: That at present they have not any sense of Religion, and do not believe the existence of any God, nor the Immortality of the Soul; and that tho they render unto Confucius an exterior Worship in the Temples which are consecrated to him, yet they demand not of him the Knowledge, which the learned Men of Tonquin demand of him.

The Doctrine of the Ancient Chineses on the worship of the Dead, and that it is very probable that they never prayed to the dead in Fune­rals.But, whether the Funerals which the learned Chineses do make for their Pa­rents be without Prayers, or not; it is certain that the ancient Spirit of the Doctrine of the Chineses, was to believe the Immortality of the Soul, to expect good and evil from the dead, and to address some Prayers unto them, if not in Burials, at least in the disgraces of Life to attract their protection. Moreover, what opinion soever they have had of the Power of the dead to succor the liv­ing, it is very probable that they thought, that the dead were in need at the moment of the Burial, that is to say in the Entrance and Establishment of another Life, and that it then belonged to the living to succor the dead, and not to de­mand succor of them.

[Page 123]But it is time to relate what the Funerals of the Siameses are.The Burials of the Siameses. So soon as a man is dead his body is shut up in a wooden Coffin, which is varnished and gild­ed on the outside: and as the Varnish of Siam is not so good as that of China, and hinders not the stench of the dead body from passing through the cracks of the Coffin, they endeavour at least to consume the Intestines of the dead with Mercury, which they pour into his Mouth, and which, they say, comes out at the Fundament. They sometimes make use also of Leaden Coffins, and some­times also they gild them: but the Wood of their Coffins is not so precious as at China, because they are not so rich as the Chineses. Out of a respect they place the Coffin on some high thing, and generally on a Bedsted which hath feet, and so long as the body is kept at the house, whether to expect the Head of the Family, if he is absent, or to prepare the Funeral Solemnities, they burn Per­fumes and Tapers by the Coffin; and every night the Talapoins come to sing in the Balie Language, in the Chamber where it is exposed: they do range them­selves along the Walls. They entertain them, and give them some Money: and what they sing are some moral Subjects upon Death, with the Road to Heaven, which they pretend to show to the Soul of the deceased.

Mean while the Family chuses a place in the Field,How they burn the bo­dies. there to carry and burn the body. This place is generally a Spot near the Temple, which the Deceased, or some of his Ancestors had built; or near some other Temple, if there is none peculiar to the Family of the deceased, This space is inclosed with a square inclosure made of Bambou, with some kind of Architecture, almost of the same work as the Arbours and Bowers of our Gardens, and adorned with those Papers Painted or Gilded, which they cut to represent the Houses, Move­ables, and Domestic and Savage Animals. In the middle of this Inclosure the Pile composed entirely or partly of Odoriferous wood, as are the white or yellow Saunders, and Lignum Aloes, and this according to the Wealth and Dignity of the deceased. But the greatest honor of the Funeral consists in erect­ing the Pile, not in eagerly heaping up Wood, but in great Scaffolds, on which they do put Earth, and then Wood. At the Burial of the late Queen, who died seven or eight years ago, the Scaffold was higher than ever was yet seen in this Country, and a Machine was desired of the Europeans, to raise the Coffin decently to that heighth.

When it is resolved to carry the Corps to the Pile (which is always done in the Morning) the Parents and Friends do carry it with the sound of a great ma­ny Instruments. The Body marches first, then the Family of the deceased,The Train. Men and Women all cloathed in White, their Head covered with a White Vail, and lamenting exceedingly; and in fine, the rest of the Friends and Re­lations. If the Train can go all the way by water, it is so done. In very magnificent Funerals they carry great Machines of Bambou covered with paint­ed and gilded Paper, which represents not only Palaces, Moveables, Elephants, and other common Animals, but some hideous Monsters, some of which re­semble the humane Figure, and which the Christians take for the Figures of Devils. They burn not the Coffin, but they take out the body which they leave on the Pile: and the Talapoins of the Convent, near which the body is burnt, do sing for a quarter of an hour, and then retire to appear no more. Then begin the shows of the Cone and of the Rabam, which are at the same time, and all the day long, but on different Theaters. The Talapoins think not that they can be present thereat without Sin; and these Shows are not exhibited at Fune­rals upon any religious Account, but only to render them more magnificent. To the Ceremony they add a festival Air, and yet the Relations of the deceased forbear not to make great Lamentations, and to shed many Tears, but they hire no Mourners, as some have assured me.

About Noon the Tapacaou, or Servant of the Talapoins, sets fire to the Pile,The Servant of the Tala­poins lights the Funeral Pile. which generally burns for two hours. The Fire never consumes the body, it only roasts it, and oftentimes very ill: but it is always reputed for the Honor of the deceased, that he has been wholly consumed in an eminent place, and that there remains only his Ashes. If it is the Body of a Prince of the Blood, or of a Lord whom the King has loved, the King himself sets fire to the Pile, [Page 124] without stirring out of his Palace. He lets go a lighted Torch along a Rope, which is extended from one of the Windows of the Palace to the Pile. As to the cut Papers, which are naturally designed for the Flames, the Talapoins do frequently secure them, and seize them to lend them to other Funerals; and the Family of the deceased permits them to do it. In which it appears that they have forgot the reason, why the neighbouring Nations dispence not from burn­ing such Papers effectually: and in general it may be asserted, that there are no Persons in the world, which do ignore their own Religion so much as the Tala­poins. It is very difficult, say some, to find any one amongst them that knows any thing. It is necessary to seek their Opinions in the Balie Books, which they keep, and which they study very little.

Alms at Fune­rals.The Family of the deceased entertains the Train, and for three days it be­stows Alms: viz. On the day that the body is burnt, to the Talapoins which have sung over the body, the next day to their whole Convent, and the third day to their Temple.

Funerals re­doubled.This is what is practised at the Funerals of the Siameses: to which it is requi­site only to add, that they imbellish the Show with a great many Fire-works, and that if the Funerals are for a man of great consequence, they last with the same Shows for three days.

Bodies dug up to receive greater Fune­ral Honors.It sometimes also happens that a Person of great Quality causes the body of his Father to be digged up again, though a long time dead, to make him a pompous Funeral; if when he died, they made him not such a one, as was worthy of the present Elevation of the Son. This participates of the Customs of the Chineses, who communicate as much as they can to their dead Relations, the Honors to which they arrive. Thus when a man not born a Kings Son arrives at the Crown of China, he will with certain Ceremonies cause the Ti­tle of King to be given to his deceased Father.

What the fire consumes not, is buried under Pyramids: and how the Sia­meses do call these Pyra­mids.After the body of a Siamese has been burnt, as I have said, the whole Show is ended; they shut up the remains of his Body in the Coffin, without any Or­der; and this depositum is laid under one of those Pyramids, wherewith they encompass their Temples. Sometimes also they bury precious Stones, and other Riches with the body, because that it is to put them in a place which Re­ligion renders inviolable. Some there are who say, that they cast the Ashes of their Kings into the River, and I have read of the Peguins, that they make a Paste of the Ashes of their Kings with Milk, and that they bury it at the mouth of their River when the Sea is retired: but as the Fire never consumes all, and as it principally spares the Bones, the Siameses and Peguins do put these remains of their Kings under Pyramids. These Pyramids are called Pra Tchiai di. Pra is that Baly Term, which I have frequently mentioned. Tchiai-di signifies Good Heart, that is to say Contentment, as I have explained it in the other part: So that Pra Tchiai-di amounts to these words sacred repose, as much as those of Repose and Contentment do resemble.

From whence came the fan­cy of Pyra­mids for Tombs.A Tomb quite flat like ours would not in their opinion be honourable enough, they must have something of Eminence: and this is the fancy of the Pyramids of Aegypt, and the Mausolea. Some People yet more vain have joyned Epitaphs thereto: and because that time effaces the Inscriptions, which are exposed to view, others have secretly put their names on the principal Stones of certain stately edifices: So that when they are discovered, their work is already demo­lished to the Foundation. The Siameses still keep to the first degree of Vanity, which is single Pyramids without any Epitaph, and so slightly erected, that those which last longest, do never last an Age.

Why the Sia­meses love to build Tem­ples.Those that have neither Temple nor Pyramid, do sometimes keep at their house the ill burnt remains of their Parents: But there hardly is a Siamese rich enough to build a Temple, who does it not, and who buries not the Riches he has remaining. The Temples are inviolable Sanctuaries, as I have said, and the Kings of Siam, as well as particular persons, commit their Treasures to them. I know that the Siameses have demanded some smooth Files of the Europeans, to cut the great Iron Bars which linked the Stones in the Temples, under which there was Gold concealed. The Siameses which have not wherewith to build a [Page 125] Temple, cease not at least to make some Idol, which they give to some of the Temples already built: Which in these People is a sentiment of Vanity or Religion, whereas the building of Temples may be as much the Interest of pre­serving their Riches to their Family, as any other thing.

The Poor interr their Parents without burning them;The Funerals of the Poor. but if it is possible for them, they invite the Talapoins, who stir not without a Gratuity. Those that have not wherewithal to pay the Talapoins, do think they do honor enough to their dead Parents, to expose them in the Field on an eminent place; that is to say on a Scaffold, where the Vulturs and the Crows devour them.

I have already said,Funeral ho­nors retarded. that in Epidemical Distempers they bury the Bodies without burning them; and that they dig them up and burn them some years after, when they think all the danger of the Infection is past.

But they never burn those that Justice cuts off, nor Infants dead-born,Those that are deprived of Funeral Ho­nors. nor Women that die in Child-bed, nor those which drown themselves, or which perish by any other extraordinary disaster, as by a Thunderbolt. They rank these unfortunate persons amongst the guilty, because they believe that such Misfortunes never happen to innocent Persons.

Mourning at China is prescirbed by the Law,Mourning. and that for the Father and Mo­ther lasts three years, and deprives or bereaves the Son during this time, of all sorts of publick Employment, if it is not Military: though to me it seems that this exception as to Millitary Employments, is a late establishment. On the contrary, the Siameses have no forced Mourning: they give marks of Sor­row only as much as they are Afflicted; so that it is more common at Siam, that the Father and the Mother put on Mourning for their Children, than that the Children wear it for their Father and Mother. Sometimes the Father turns Talapoin and the Mother Talapoinesse, or at least they shave the head one of the other: but there is only the true Talapoins, that can likewise shave the Eye-brows.

To me it appeared not that the Siameses invoke their dead Parents,Whether the Siameses pray to the Dead. what en­quiry soever I have made upon it; but they cease not to believe themselves frequently tormented with their Apparitions: and then they carry Viands to their Tombs, which the Beasts do eat; and they give Alms for them to the Ta­lapoins, because they think that Charity is a Ransom for the Sins of the dead, as well as of the living. Besides this the Siameses almost on all occasions, do offer up Prayers to the good Genij, and imprecations against the bad, of which I have already given some examples; And these Genij are certainly in their opi­nion only Souls, all as I have said, of the same Nature.

The wicked Genij are the Souls of those, which dye,How it must be understood that the Souls of the Good are changed into Angels, and the Souls of the wicked into Devils. either by the hand of Justice, or by some of those extraordinary misfortunes, which make them to be judged unworthy of Funeral Honors. The good Genij are all the other Souls, esteemed more or less good, according as they have been more or less Virtuous in this life. And this wholly resembles the Opinion of Plato, who requires that one should adhere to Vertue during life, to the end that the custom thereof may continue after death. This amounts likewise to that Antient O­pinion, which was spread also amongst some of the Antient Christians, that the Souls of the good are changed into Angels, and the Souls of the wicked in­to Devils. But amongst the Indians, this doctrine is no other, than that the Souls of the good, spring up again after Death, in one of those places, which the Portugueses have called Paradice, and the Souls of the wicked, in one of those other places, which they do call Hell. Some continuing to be good after Death, do good to men, others continuing to be wicked, do hurt to men, and every thing else, as much as they can. And who knows whether these seve­ral Paradices which they believe, are not a confused remembrance of the seve­ral Orders of the Celestial Spirits.

Now through an incredible blindness,The Indians have no God which is the Judge of Hu­mane Actions. the Indians admit not any Intelligent Being, which judges of the goodness or badness of Humane actions, and which orders the Punishment or Recompence thereof. Upon this account they ad­mit only a blind fatalility, which, say they, is the reason that Prosperity accom­panies Vertue, and Misfortune Vice; as it determines heavy things to descend, [Page 126] and light things to ascend. And because that nothing more repugns reason, than to suppose an exact Justice in chance, or in the Necessity of Fate, the Indi­an People incline themselves to believe something Corporeal in good or bad works, which, they say, has the power of doing unto men, the Good or Evil which they deserve. But since we have often said, that the Indians do own the distinction of good or bad Works, it is necessary to set down the Principles of of their Morality.

CHAP. XXI. Of the Principles of the Indian Morals.

Five Negative Precepts.THey are reduced to five Negative Precepts, very near the same in all the Cantons of the Indies. Those of the Siameses are such as follow.

• 1. Kill nothing.
• 2. Steal nothing.
• 3. Commit not any impurity.
• 4. Lye not.
• 5. Drink no intoxicating Liquor, which in general they call Laou.

The first Pre­cept extends to Plants and Seeds.The first Precept is not limited to the Killing either Men or Animals: but it extends to Plants, and to Seeds; because that by a very probable Opinion, they believe that the Seed is only the Plant it self in a Cover. The Man therefore observing this Precept, as they understand it, can live only on Fruit; foras­much as they consider the Fruit not as a thing which has Life, but as a part of a thing which has Life, and which suffers not, though its Fruit be pluck'd. In eating the Fruit it is necessary only not to eat the Kernel nor Stone, because they are Seeds: and it is necessary not to eat Fruit out of season, that is to say, in my opinion, before the Season; because that it is to make the Seed, which the Fruit contains, abortive, by hindering it from ripening.

And to the not destroying any thing in Na­ture.Besides this, the Precept of not killing, extends to the not destroying any thing in Nature: by reason they think that every thing is animated, or if you will, that there are Souls every where, and that to destroy any thing what­ever, is forceably to dispossess a Soul. They will not, for instance, break a Branch of a Tree, as they will not break the Arm of an innocent Person. They believe that it is to offend the Soul of the Tree. But when once the Soul has been expelled out of a body, they look upon this as a Destruction already wrought, and think nothing to be destroyed in nourishing themselves with this Body. The Talapoins make not any scruple of eating what is dead, but of kil­ling what they think alive.

In several things they do more abhor Blood than Murder.In several things they testify a greater Abhorrence of Blood, than of Murder: It is prohibited them to make any Incision, from whence there gushes out Blood; as if the Soul was principally in the Blood, or that it was only the Blood. And this perhaps is a confused remembrance of the ancient Command of God, who permitting unto man the use of Meats, prohibited him from eating the Blood of the Animals, because that the Blood supplys in them the place of the Soul. There are some Indians which dare not to cut a certain Plant, because there comes out a red Juice, which they take for the Blood of this Plant. The Sia­meses do scruple to go a fishing, only on the days when the Talapoins shave their Head. This done, it seems to them that when they fish, they commit no Crime; by reason they think not themselves guilty of the Death of the Fishes. They say they only pull them out of the Water, and shed not their Blood. The least evasion sufficeth them to elude the Precepts. Thus they think not to sin by killing in War, because they shoot not direct at the Enemy: though at the bottom they endeavour to kill, as I have already explained it, discoursing of their manner of fighting.

[Page 127]But if any one tells them, that according to the opinion of the Metempsychosis, The Opinion of the Metemp­sychosis favour­able to the Murder of the unhappy, if it renders not all Murder indif­ferent. Murder oftentimes appears laudable, seeing that it may deliver a Soul from a miserable Life: They answer that forceably to dispossess Souls is always to offend them; and that moreover they are not relieved, because they re enter into the like Bodies, there to fill up the rest of the time, during which they are designed for this sort of Life. But they consider not that this reason would also prove that they did no real Injury in killing: and the Chineses who in this do think otherwise than the Siameses, do kill their Children when they have too many, and they alledge that it is to make them spring up more happy.To kill them­selves appears to them a ve­ry laudable thing.

Moreover all the Indians do think, that to kill themselves is not only a thing permitted, because they believe themselves Masters of their selves; but that it is a Sacrifice advantageous to the Soul, and which acquires it a great degree of Vertue and Felicity. Thus the Siameses do sometimes hang themselves out of Devotion, on a Tree which in Balie they call Pra sa maha Pout, and in Siamese Ton po. These Balie words do seem to signifie the excellent, or the holy Tree of the great Mercury; for Pout signifies Mercury, in the Balie Name of Wednesday. The Europeans do call this Tree, the Tree of the Pagodes, because the Siameses do plant it before the Pagods. It grows in the Woods like the other Trees of the Country, but no particular Person can have thereof in his Garden; and it is of this Wood, that they make all the Statues of Sommona-Codom, which they would make of Wood. But in that Zeal which sometimes determines the Sia­meses to hang themselves, there is always some evident subject of a great di­staste of Life, or of a great Fear, as is that of the Anger of the Prince.The Story of a Peguin which burnt himself.

'Tis about six or seven years since a Peguin burnt himself, in one of the Tem­ples, which the Peguins at Siam have called Sam-Pihan. He seated himself cross-leg'd, and besmear'd his whole body, with a very thick Oil, or rather with a sort of Gum, and set fire thereunto. 'Twas reported that he was very much discon­tented with his Family, which nevertheless lamented exceedingly about him. After the Fire had smother'd and roasted him well, his body was covered with a kind of Plaister; and thereof they made a Statue which was gilded and put up­on the Altar, behind that of the Sommona-Codom. They call these sorts of Saints Pra tian tee; tian signifies true, tee signifies certainly. Behold then how the Sia­meses understand the first Precept of their Moral Law.The Prohibi­tion of Impu­rity extends to the Prohibiti­on of Marri­age.

I have nothing particular to say upon the second: but as to the third which prohibits all manner of Uncleanness, it extends not only to Adultery, but to all carnal Commerce of a Man with a Woman, and to Marriage itself. Not on­ly Celibacy is amongst them a state of Perfection, but Marriage is a state of Sin: either through that Spirit of Modesty, which amongst all Nations is an­next to the use of Marriage, and which seems therein to suppose an evil where­at they blush: or through a general Aversion to all natural indecencies, some of which were legal Impurities among the Jews. They wash themselves amongst certain People after having seen their Wives, as after some other sort of Pollution. Mahomet thought Women unworthy of Paradice, and without declaring what they shall become, he promises some fairer and more beautiful to his Elect.The Chinese Philosophers esteem Di­vorce a Virtu­ous Action.

The Chinese Philosophers do say, that a Wife is a thing evil in itself, and that one must neither keep his own, nor take another, when he has Children, that may render unto their Parents from whom they are born, and to their Ancestors, the Duties which the Christian Religion thinks necessary to the repose of the dead. Without this pretended necessity they would believe Marriage unlawful, and so soon as they have Children, they think it a Vertue to make a Divorce. They cite the example of Confucius, who quitted his Wife when he had a Son: they alledge the example of this Son, who likewise quitted his; and the exam­ple and opinion of several other Chinese Philosophers, who have made a Divorce with their Wives, and who have esteemed the Divorce amongst the virtuous Actions. They condemn as a Corruption of the ancient manners of China, the Opi­nion of the modern Chinese People, who as well as the Siameses, guided by the sen­timents of Nature, look upon Divorce, if not as an Evil, at least as a Misfortune. I know nothing concerning the fourth Precept, which deserves to be explained.

[Page 128] Every Liquor which intoxi­cates, is prohi­bited.The fifth not only prohibits intoxicating, but the drinking of any Liquor, which may intoxicate, though one makes not himself drunk therewith. They esteem a thing evil in itself, which may hurt by the quantity.

'Tis thus that they understand their Precepts, neither do they believe that real Vertue is made for every one, but only for the Talapoins. They think that what is Sin in itself, is Sin for all; and the Talapoins make neither Vow, nor any thing whatever, which is a Sin in them, which is not a Sin to all the World; but according to them, the Trade of Seculars is to sin, and that of the Talapoins not to sin, and to exercise Repentance for those that sin. They comprehend like us, that those who are designed to expiate the Sins of others by Repentance, ought to be more pure than others; and that the Punishment due and necessa­rily annext to Sin, may yet pass from the guilty to the innocent, if the innocent will willingly submit himself to deliver the guilty. Moreover they conceive the Nature of Sin very grosly, and very materially; for the Talapoins content them­selves with abstaining from Actions which they think wicked, but they scruple not to make the Seculars commit them, to get Advantage thereby. Thus when they would eat Rice, Rice being a Seed they cannot boil it without Sin, because it is to kill it: But they make their Tapacaou, which are their Domestic Seculars, or rather they cause the Talapoin-Children, which they educate, to commit this pretended Sin; and when the Rice is boiled, then they eat it. They are also prohibited to piss on the Fire, or in the Water, or on the Earth, because that this would be to extinguish the Fire, or to corrupt those two other Elements: they piss in some Vessel, and a Secular Servant pours it where he pleases, and it matters not whether he sins. The Seculars do therefore observe, or elude the Precepts only through the fear of the publick Chastisements, or through the natural strangeness which they might have to what they shall think Sin; but they ransom their Sins by their good Works, which principally consist in bestowing Alms on the Temples and Talapoins, according to the ancient Tradi­tion known perhaps throughout the Earth, and so frequently repeated in the Holy Scripture, that Alms deeds ransom Sins. It is easie also to observe in them a very natural and very just sentiment, which is that they much more condemn the Sins which may be easily avoided, than those which are inevitable, though they think that all are Sins. But to the end that the Morality of the Talapoins may be better understood, I will insert at the end of this Work, most of their Maxims verbatim, as they were given me. I will add only some Remarks to make them better understood.

The Spirit of the Maxims of the Talapoins.There will be seen the respect which they have for the Elements, and for all Nature. They are prohibited to speak injuriously of any thing natural; to dig any hole in the Earth, and not to fill it up again after they have done it; to boil the Earth, as to boil Rice; to kindle the Fire, because it is to destroy that with which it is kindled; and to extinguish it when it is once kindled. There we shall see that they take care of Purity and Decency, as much as of real Virtue: that they have some Idea's of almost all the Virtues, and that they have hardly any that is exact; because they carry some to superstitious scruples, and that they live short of others.

Vertue accor­ding to them is impossible.Moreover these Maxims are only for the Talapoins; not that they think that any person can violate them without Sin: but it is that they see it is impossible for any one not to infringe them: as for example, it is very necessary that some person make the Fire. They are surprized at the Beauty of our Morality, when it is told them that it equally invites all men to Vertue, because they compre­hend not that this can be a thing practicable: but when they are made to un­derstand it, and are informed that Vertue consists not in those impossible things, wherein they place it, they contemn what is told them, and do believe them­selves more pure and virtuous than the Christians: or rather they return again to believe that they alone are Creeng, that is to say pure, and that the Christians are Cahat, or designed to sin, like the rest of Mankind: A prevention which must quite confound us, and which proves the extream necessity which humane reason has of a superior Light, not to err in the knowledge of good and evil, the Idea's of which do nevertheless appear unto us so easie, and so natural.

[Page 129]If therefore the Talapoins do think themselves only vertuous,The Vanity of the Talapoins. it is no wonder if they likewise allow themselves all the Pride imaginable in regard of the Se­culars. This Pride appears in all things; as in that they affect to seat themselves higher than the Seculars, never to salute any Secular, and never to bewail the death of any person, not even that of their Parents. They have a Practice which resembles Confession, for from time to time they seem secretly to render an account of their Deportments to their Superior; but are so far from confes­sing themselves Sinners, that they only run over the Precepts, to say they have not violated them. I have not stolen, say they, I have not lied, and so of the rest. And in a word they are not humble, and they have rather the Idea's of Humiliations and Mortifications than of Humility.

They seem to understand Entertaining and Retirement. A Talapoin sins, Some Appear­ances of cer­tain Mona­stick Vertues in the Tala­poins. if in walking along the Streets, he has not his Senses composed. A Talapoin sins, if he meddles with State Affairs. They concern not themselves therein, without a great deal of Distraction, and without attracting the Envy and Hatred of seve­ral; which suits not to a Talapoin, who ought only to mind his Convent, and to edifie every one by his Modesty. But moreover I believe that a wise Policy has greatly contributed to interdict State-Affairs to persons, who have so great a Power upon the Minds of the People. They understand Religious Obedience. Obedience is the Vertue of every one in this Country, and it is no wonder that it is found in their Cloisters. They likewise understand Chastity. A Talapoin sins, if he coughs to attract on him the Eyes of the Women, if he beholds a Woman with Complacency, or if he desires one; if he uses Perfumes about his Person, if he puts Flowers to his Ears: and in a word, if he adorns himself with too much Care. And some would likewise say, they understand Po­verty, because it is prohibited them to have more than one Vestment, and to have it precious: To keep any thing to eat from the Evening, till the next day; to touch either Gold or Silver, or to desire it. But at the bottom, as they may abandon their Profession, they act so well, that if they live poorly whilst they are Talapoins, they fail not to heap wherewith to live at their Ease, when they cease to be so. And these are the Idea's which the Siameses have of Vertue.

CHAP. XXII. Of the Supream Felicity, and Extream Infelicity amongst the Siameses.

IT remains for me to explain wherein they place perfect Felicity,Perfect Feli­city. that is to say, the supream Recompence of good Works, and the utmost Degree of Unhappiness, that is to say the greatest Punishment of the Guilty. They be­lieve therefore that if by several Transmigrations, and by a great number of good Works in all the Lives, a Soul acquires so much Merit, that there is not in any World any mortal Condition, that is worthy of it; they believe, I say, that this Soul is then exempt from every Transmigration, and every Animation, that it has nothing more to do; that it neither revives, nor dies any more; but that it enjoys an eternal Unactivity, and a real Impassibility. Nireupan, say they, that is to say this Soul has disappeared: it will return no more in any World:What the Por­tugueses have called Para­dice and Hell, are neither the Perfect Felici­ty, nor the ex­tream Infelici­ty, according to the Siameses. and 'tis this word which the Portugueses have translated it is annihila­ted; and likewise thus, It is become a God, though in the Opinion of the Siame­ses, this is not a real Annihilation, nor an Acquisition of any divine Nature.

Such is therefore the true Paradice of the Indians: for tho' they suppose a great Felicity in the highest of the nine Paradices, of which we have already discoursed; yet they say that this Felicity is not eternal, nor exempt from all Inquietude; seeing that it is a kind of life, where one is born, and where one [Page 130] dies. By the like reason, their true Hell is not any of those nine places which we have called Hell, and in some of which they suppose Torments and eternal Flames: for tho' there may eternally be some Souls in these Hells, these will not always be the same: No Soul will be eternally punished; they will revive again to live there a certain time, and to depart thence by death.

The utmost degree of In­felicity.But the true Hell of the Indians is only, as I have already said, the eternal Transmigrations of these Souls, which will never arrive at the Nireupan, that is to say, will never disappear in the whole duration of the World, which they do think must be eternal. They believe, that it is for the Sins of these Souls, and for their want of ever acquiring a sufficient merit, that they shall continually pass from one Body to another. The Body, whatever it be, is always according to them, a Prison for the Soul, wherein it is punished for its Faults.

The Wonders which they relate of a Man that de­serves the Ni­reupan, and how they con­secrate their Temples to him.But before that a Man enters into the supreme Felicity, before that he disap­pears, to speak like them, they believe that after the Action, by which he con­cludes to merit the Nireupan, he enjoys great Priviledges from this life. They believe that it is then that such a Man preaches up Vertue to others with much more efficacy; that he acquires a prodigious Science, an invincible strength of Body, the power of doing Miracles, and the knowledge of whatever has be­fallen him in all the Transmigrations of his Soul, and of whatever should hap­pen to him till his death. His death must likewise be of a singular sort, which they think more noble than the common way of dying. He disappears, they say, like a Spark, which is lost in the Air. And it is to the memory of these sorts of Men, that the Siameses do consecrate their Temples.

Tho' they be­lieve in seve­ral, they ho­nour only one named Sommo­na-Codom.Now tho' they say that several have attain'd to this Felicity, (to the end, in my opinion, that several may hope to arrive thereat) yet they honour only one alone, whom they esteem to have surpassed all the rest in Vertue. They call him Sommona-Codom; and they say that Codom was his Name, and that Sommona signifies in the Balie Tongue, a Talapoin of the Woods. According to them, there is no true Vertue out of the Talapoin-Profession, and they believe the Talapoins of the Woods much more vertuous than those of the Cities.

No Idea of a Divinity a­mongst the Siameses.And this is certainly the whole Doctrine of the Siameses, in which I find no Idea of a Divinity. The Gods of the ancient Paganism which we know, go­vern'd Nature, punished the wicked, and recompenc'd the good; and tho' they were born like Men, they came of an immortal Race, and knew not death. The Gods of Epicurus took care of nothing, no more than Sommona-Codom; but it appears not that they were Men arrived thro' their Vertue at that state of an happy Inactivity, they were not born, neither did they dye. Aristotle has ac­knowledged a first Mover, that is to say a powerful Being, who had ranged Na­ture, and who had given it, as I may say, the swing, which preserv'd the harmo­ny therein. But the Siameses have not any such Idea, being far from acknow­ledging a God Creator; and so I believe it may be asserted, that the Siameses have no Idea of any God, and that their Religion is reduced all intire to the worship of the dead. And it is necessary that the Chineses understand it thus, and that they think not that Pagode signifies God: for Father Magaillans informs us, that they are offended when Confucius is treated as a Pagode; because this is to treat him not as God, which would not be an injury to Confucius: but as a Man arrived at the supreme Vertue of the Indians, which the Chineses do think very much inferior to the Vertue of Confucius.

CHAP. XXIII. Concerning the Origine of the Talapoins, and of their Opinions.

It seems that it may be found in the Chinese Anti­quity.WHen I would seek by what degrees Humane Reason could precipitate itself into such strange Digressions, I think to find the Footsteps there­of in the Chinese Antiquity.

[Page 131]The Chineses are so ancient,If the an­cient Chineses acknowledge the Deity, they soon cor­rupted the Idea thereof. that it must be presumed that at the beginning they knew the true God, and by him good and bad Works, and the Recompen­ces or Punishments which the one and the other were to expect from that Om­nipotent Judge, but that by little and little they have obscur'd and corrupted these Idea's. God, that Being so pure and so perfect, is at most become the ma­terial Soul of the entire World, or of its most beautiful part, which is the Heaven. His Providence and his Power have been no more than a limited Providence and Power, tho' nevertheless a great deal more extensive than the strength and prudence of Men. It seems, says Father Trigaut, in the first Book of his Christian Expedition to China, chap. 10. That the ancient Chineses have believed the Heaven and the Earth animated, and that they have ador'd the Soul as a Supreme God, calling him the King of Heaven, or simply the Heaven and the Earth. Father Trigaut might raise the same doubt upon all things; for the Doctrine of the Chineses has continually attributed Spirits to the four parts of the World, to the Planets, to the Mountains, to the Rivers, to the Plants, to the Cities and their Ditches, to Houses and their Chimnies, and, in a word, to all things. And all the Spirits appear not good to them; they acknowledge some wicked ones, to be the immediate cause of the mischiefs and disasters to which the humane life is subject. Moreover, as they thought the Earth and the Sea fixt to the Heaven by the Horizon, they have attributed but one Spirit or one Soul to the Heaven and the Earth; tho' nevertheless, and perhaps by some thought contrary to their first opinion, they have built two different Temples, the one consecrated to the Heaven, and the other to the Earth.

As therefore the Soul of Man was, in their opinion,They have ta­ken from God the infinite Providence and Omnipo­tence. the source of all the vi­tal Actions of Man; so they gave a Soul unto the Sun, to be the source of its qualities and of its motions: and on this Principle the Soul's diffused every where, causing in all Bodies the Actions which appear natural to these Bodies, there needs no more to explain in this opinion the whole oeconomie of Nature, and to supply the Omnipotence, and infinite Providence, which they admit not in any Spirit, not even in that of the Heaven.

In truth, as it seems that Man, using things natural for his nourishment,They have made God as a King of all Nature, but not a King al­ways obeyed. or for his conveniency, has some power over things Natural, the ancient opinion of the Chineses, allowing such a like power proportionably to all the Souls, supposed that that of the Heaven might act over Nature, with a prudence and strength incomparably greater than Humane Prudence and Power. But at the same time it acknowledg'd in the Soul of every thing, an interior force, independent by its nature from the Power of Heaven, and which acted sometimes against the Designs of Heaven. The Heaven governed Nature as a powerful King: the other Souls paid Obedience to him: He almost continually forced them, but some there were which sometimes dispenced with obeying him.Confucius be­lieves extream Vertue impos­sible, and con­sequently he thinks the Idea we have of God impossi­ble.

Confucius discoursing of boundless Vertue, which is the true Idea that we have of the Divinity, thinks it impossible. How vertuous soever, saith he, a man is, there will yet be a degree of Vertue, to which he cannot attain. The Heaven and the Earth, adds he, tho' so great, so perfect, and so curiously wrought, cannot yet satisfy the Desires of all; by reason of the Inconstancy of the Seasons, and of the Elements: so that Man finds in them wherewith to reprehend, and even just Subjects of Indignation. Wherefore if we throughly comprehend the greatness of extreme Virtue, we shall neces­sarily confess that the whole Ʋniverse can neither contain nor sustain the weight thereof. If, on the contrary, we think upon that subtil and conceal'd point of Perfection in which it consists, we shall confess that the whole World can neither divide nor penetrate it. These are the words of Confucius, as Father Couplet has given them us, by which this Philosopher seems to have had no other intention, than to describe the real Divinity, which he believes impossible, seeing that he finds it no where, not even in the Spirit of the Heaven and the Earth, which is what he conceived most perfect.The Worship due to the Cre­ator divided a­mongst the Creatures by the Ancient Chineses.

The Divine Power and Providence being thus distributed as by Piece-meals, to an infinite number of Souls, the ancient Chineses thought themselves obliged to address to this infinite multitude of Souls and Spirits, the Vows and Wor­ship which they ow'd only to one alone.

[Page 132] Of Nature they make a State like to theirs.Of Nature they make an invisible Monarchy, which they mould theirs upon, and of which they believe that the invisible members had a continual corre­spondence with the members of the Chinese Monarchy, which they thought to possess near the whole Earth. To the Spirit of Heaven they allot six principal Ministers, as the King of China has six, which are the Presidents of the six chief Tribunals, wherein they only have a determinative Voice. They believe that the King of Heaven (for they give this Title to the Spirit of Heaven) inter­meddled only with the person and manners of the King of China: That all men ought to honour this supream Spirit, but that the King of China only was wor­thy to offer Sacrifices unto him; and for these Sacrifices they had no other Priest. The Ministers of China offer'd Sacrifices to the Ministers of Heaven: and every Chinese Officer thus honoured an Officer like to him near Heaven. The People sacrificed to a multitude of Spirits diffused every where, and every one was Priest in this sort of worship: there being not any Order, or Religious body, for the service of the Temples, and for the Sacrifices.

What the In­dians have ad­ded to these Errors.The Indians do now believe, like the ancient Chineses, some Souls, as well good as bad, diffused every where, to which they have distributed the Divine Omnipotence. And there is yet found some remains of this very Opinion amongst the Indians, which have embraced Mahumetanism. But by a new Er­ror the Pagans of the Indies have thought all these Souls of the same nature, and they have made them all to rowl from one body to another: The Spirit of the Heaven of the ancient Chineses had some Air of Divinity: It was, I think, immortal, and not subject to wax old, and to die, and to leave its place to a Successor: but in the Indian Doctrine of the Metempsychosis, the Souls are fixed no where, and succeeding one another every where, they are not one better than another by their nature: they are only designed to higher or lower functi­ons in Nature, according to the merit of their work.

Why the Indi­ans have con­secrated no Temple to the Spirits, not even to that of Heaven. The Antient Chineses have divided the Justice of God. The Justice of Heaven was principally busied in pu­nishing the Faults of the Kings of China.Thus the Indians have consecrated no Temples to the Spirits, not so much as to that of Heaven: because they believe them all Souls, like all the rest, which are still in the course of Transmigration, that is to say in Sin, and in the Tor­ments of different sorts of life, and consequently unworthy of having Altars.

But if the ancient Chineses have, as I may say, reduc'd the Providence and Omnipotence of God into piece-meals, they have not less divided his Justice. They assert that the Spirits, like concealed Ministers, were principally busied in punishing the hidden faults of men; that the Spirit of Heaven punished the faults of the King, the Ministring Spirits of Heaven the faults of the King's Mi­nisters, and so of other Spirits in regard of other men.

On this Foundation they said to their King, that though he was the adoptive Son of Heaven, yet the Heaven would not have any regard to him by any sort of Affliction, but by the sole consideration of the good or evil, that he should do in the Government of his Kingdom. They called the Chinese Empire, the Celestial Command; because, said they, a King of China ought to govern his State, as Heaven governed Nature, and that it was to Heaven, that he ought to seek the Science of Governing. They acknowledged that not only the Art of Ruling was a Present from Heaven; but that Regality it self was given by Heaven, and that it was a present difficult to keep; because that they supposed that Kings could not maintain themselves on the Throne without the savour of Hea­ven, nor please Heaven but by Vertue.

How they be­lieve their Kings respon­sable to Hea­ven for the manners of their Subjects.They carried this Doctrine so far, that they pretended that the sole Vertue of Kings, might render their Subjects Vertuous; and that thereby the Kings were first responsible to Heaven for the wicked manners of their Kingdom. The Vertue of Kings, that is to say, the Art of Ruling according to the Laws of China, was, in their Opinion a Donative from Heaven, which they called Celestial Reason, or Reason given by Heaven, and like to that of Heaven: The Vertue of Subjects, according to them, the regards of the Citizens, as well from one to another, as from all towards their Prince, according to the Laws of China, was the work of good Kings. 'Tis a small matter, said they, to punish Crimes, it is necessary, that a King prevents them by his Vertue. They extoll one of their Kings for having reigned Twenty two years, the People not perceiving, [Page 133] that is to say, not feeling the weight of the Royal Authority, no more than the force which moves Nature, and which they attribute to Heaven. They report then that for these Twenty two years there was not one single Process in all China, nor one single Execution of Justice; a Wonder which they call to govern imperceptably like the Heaven, and which alone may cause a doubt of the Fidelity of their History. Another of their Kings meeting, as they say, a Criminal, which was lead to Punishment, took it upon himself, for that under his Reign he committed Crimes worthy of Death. And another seeing China afflicted with Sterility for seven years, condemned himself, if their History may be credited, to bear the Crimes of his People, as thinking himself only culpable; and resolved to devote himself to death, and to sacrifice himself to the Spirit of Heaven, the Revenger of the Crimes of Kings. But their History adds, that Heaven, satisfied with the Piety of that Prince, exempted him from that Sacrifice, and restored Fertility to the Lands by a sudden and plentiful Rain. As the Heaven therefore executes Justice only upon the King, and that it in­flicts it only upon the King for what it sees punishable in the People, the Mi­nisters of Heaven do execute Justice on the secret Faults which the King's Ministers commit, and all the Officers which depend upon them: and after the same manner the other Spirits do watch over the Actions of the Men, that in the Kingdom of China have a rank equal to that, which these Spirits do pos­sess in the invincible Monarchy of Nature, whereof the Spirit of Heaven is King.

Besides this the natural Honor which most men have of the dead,The Chineses fear their dead Parents. whom they knew very well in their Life-time; and the Opinion which several have of having seen them appear to them, whether by an effect of this natural Honor, which represents them to them, or by Dreams so lively, that they resemble the Truth; do induce the ancient Chineses to believe that the Souls of their Ance­stors, which they judged to be of very subtile matter, pleased themselves in continuing about their Posterity; and that they might, though after their death, chastise the Faults of their Children. The Chinese People still continue in these opinions of the temporal Punishments, and Rewards which come from the Soul of Heaven, and from all the other Souls; though moreover for the great­est part they have embraced the Opinion of the Metempsychosis, unknown to their Ancestors.

But by little and little the Men of Letters, that is to say,The Impiety of the present Chineses which are men of Learning. those that have some degrees of Literature, and who alone have a Hand in the Government, being become altogether impious, and yet having altered nothing in the Lan­guage of their Predecessors; have made of the Soul of Heaven, and of all the other Souls, I know not what aerial substances, uuprovided of Intelligence; and for the Judge of our Works, they have established a blind Fatality; which, in their opinion, makes that which might exercise an Omnipotent and Illuminated Justice. How ancient this Impiety is at China, belongs not to me to determin. Father de Rhodes in his History of Tonquin, accuses Confucius himself therewith: Father Couplet, to whom we owe the Translation of several of this Philoso­phers Works, pretends to justifie him; and he at the same time recites several Arguments of the modern Chineses, by which they endeavour to demonstrate, that it is a thing wholly conformable to the Principles of Nature, that by the secret, but certain sympathies, between Vertue and Felicity, and between Vice and Infelicity, Vertue must always be prosperous, and Vice always un­happy: but in truth their Arguments are so elevated, and so forced, and corre­spond so ill to the Language of their Ancestors, that it is very apparent that they are only the effect of a great extravagancy of Imagination, which was not in their Ancestors.

The Siameses do not less dread Spirits, than the Chineses; The Siameses have no other Judge of Hu­mane Actions than Fatality though they imagine not perhaps the Conformity between the Kingdom of the dead and theirs; and moreover they have not lost the Idea of the Divinity less than the Chineses, and that they have yet preserved this ancient Maxim, which promises Rewards to Vertue, and which threatens Sin with Punishments; they have found out no other way, than to attribute this distributive Justice to a blind Fatality. So [Page 134] that according to them, 'tis the Fatality which makes the Soul to pass from one state to a better or a worse, and which retains them more or less proportionably to their good or bad works. And it is by these degrees that men are wholly fallen from the Truth, when they would guide themselves by that weak reason, in which they so mightily glory.

The Indians believe the Ta­lapoins and their Doctrine as Ancient as Mankind.As to the Origin of the Talapoins and their Compeers, which are spread throughout the East, under several Names, as Bramins, Jogues, and Bonzees; it is so obscure in Antiquity, that it is difficult, in my opinion, ever to discover it. It appears that the Indians do believe this kind of men, and their Doctrine, as ancient as the World. They name not their Founder; and they think that it is of this Profession, that all the men have been, whose Statues are honoured in their Temples, and all those others which they suppose to have been adored before those, which they now adore.

The Chineses do name Che-Kia for the Au­thor of this Doctrine.The Chineses report, that the Bonzees and their Doctrine came to them from the Indies, in the eighth year of the Reign of Mim-ti, which answers to the 65^th of our Salvation: and as they love to give the Origin of all things, they say that it was a Siamese named Che Kia, who was the Author thereof, about One Thousand years before the Nativity of Jesus Christ, though the Siameses themselves do pretend no such thing, and who boasting Antiquity in all things, like all the other Indians, they imagine that the Doctrine of the Metempsychosis, is as ancient as the Souls themselves. The Japponneses do call the Che-Kia of the Chineses, Chaka, and the Tonquineses have corrupted this same word after another manner: for according to Father de Rhodes, they call it Thika.

That this Che-Kia is certain­ly the Siamese name of the Talapoins.Now these words Che-Kia, and Chaka, do nearly enough approach these Siamese words Tchaou-ca, and Tchaou-cou, to make suspect that they are only a light corruption thereof. Tchaou-ca and Tchaou-cou signifies Lord, or literally Lord of me, with this difference, that the word ca which signifies me, is us'd only by Slaves in speaking to their Masters, or by those who would render such a respect to him, to whom they speak: whereas the word cou which likewise signifies me, is not so respectful, and is joyned to the word Tchaou, to speak in the third Person to him that discourses of his Lord. In speaking therefore to a Talapoin, they will say unto him Tchaou-ca, and in speaking of him to another they will call him Tchaou-cou. But what is remarkable is, that the Talapoins have no other name in Siamese: so that they say literally, crai pen Tchaou-cou, I would be Lord, to signifie I would be Talapoin. Their Sommona-Codom they call Pra-poute Tchaou, which verbatim signifies the Great and Excellent Lord, and it is in this sense that they speak it of their King: but these words may also signifie, the Great and Ex­cellent Talapoin. After the same manner amongst the Arabians, the word Mou­la, which signifies a Doctor of Law, properly signifies Lord, and the word Master is equivocal in our Language: it is spoken of a Doctor, and likewise of the King. I find therefore some reason to believe, that the Chineses having re­ceived the Doctrine of the Metempsychosis from some Siamese Talapoin, they have taken the general Name of the Profession, for the proper Name of the Author of the Doctrine: and this is so much the more plausible, as it is certain that the Chineses do also call their Bonzees by the Name of Che-Kia, as the Siameses do call their Talapoins Tchaou-cou. 'Tis therefore impossible to assert, from the Testi­mony of the Chineses, that there was an Indian named Che-Kia, Author of the Opinion of the Metempsychosis, a Thousand years before Jesus Christ: seeing that the Chineses, who have received this Opinion since the Death of Christ, and perhaps much later than they alledge, are forced to confess, that they have nothing related concerning this Che-Kia, but upon the Faith of the Indians; who speak not one word thereof, not thinking that there ever was any first Author of their Opinions.

The Antient way of In­structing the People, was by Poetry and by Musick.Before the Bonzees came from the Indies to China, the Chineses had not any Priests nor Religious; and they have none as yet for their Antient Religion, which is that of the State. Amongst them, as amongst the Greeks, the most Antient way of instructing the People, was by Poetry and Musick. They had three hundred Odes, whereof Confusius made great Esteem, like to the Works of So­lomon: for they contained not only the knowledge of the Plants, but all the [Page 135] Duties of a good Chinese Citizen, and doubtless all their Philosophy: and it may be that these Odes are still preserved. The Magistrates took care to have them sung Publickly, and Confusius complains for that in his time he saw this Practice almost extinguished, and all the Antient Musick lost. According to him, the most sure mark of the loss of a State was the loss of the Musick; and Plato, like him, thinks Musick essential to good Policy. These two great Philo­sophers had learnt that Manners cannot be preserved, without the continual in­struction of the People, and that the Laws, that is to say, the only Foundati­on of the Publick Authoriry and Repose, cannot long continue, where the Manners are corrupted: for where the Manners are corrupted, they only Study to Violate or Elude the Laws. The Learned remark in the Pentateuch, the Tracts of such a like Poetry, which contain'd the History of Illustrious Men, even of those that were more Antient than the Deluge: Moses cites certain places thereof, wherein is remarked the Poetick Stile.

I conceive therefore that Men being wearied with singing always the same things, and losing by little and little the sense of the old Songs,How the Tala­poins and their Brethren might have succeeded the Antient Poe­try and Musick. have ceased to sing them, and have sought some commentaries on the Verses, which they they sung no more, for lack of understanding them: That then the Magistrates left the care of these Commentaries to other Men, and that they by little and little imposing on the belief of the People, have inserted in their Lectures, many things to their particular advantage, which are the Source of the Super­stitious Veneration, which the Indians do still retain for the Talapoins and their Fellow-Brethren.

However it be, their Habit, their Convents, and their Temples are invio­lable, though the Revolutions of this Country, may have showed some exam­ples of the contrary. V [...]iet whom I have often quoted, relates that when the present King's Father seized on the Crown, he thought it impossible securely to make an attempt upon the Person of one of the Princes of the Royal Family, till he had cunningly made him first to quit the Talapoins Pagne which he wore. After the same manner when this Usurper was dead, his Son who now Reigns, seeing his Uncle by the Father's side seize on the Throne, turned Talapoin to se­cure his Life, as I have reported at the biginning of this Relation.

CHAP. XXIV. Of the Fabulous Stories which the Talapoins and their Bre­thren have framed on their Doctrine.

THE Talapoins are therefore obliged to supply the ancient Musick,Fables com­mon to all the Indians. and to explain their Balie Books unto the People with an audible Voice. These Books are filled with extravagant stories, grafted on the Doctrine which I have explained: and these Fables are almost the same throughout India, as the ground of the Doctrine is every where the same, or very near. They every where be­lieve the Metempsychosis, and that it is only a way to punish the Souls for their faults, and to carry them gradually unto Perfection. They believe Spirits every where diffused, good and bad, capable of aiding and of hurting, but which are no other than the Souls of the dead; and they admit the Worship of these Spi­rits, though they raise no Altars to them; but only to the Manes of the men, whom they conceive to be arrived at the highest degree of Vertue, as far as they think Vertue possible. They all have some Quadruped, which they pre­fer before all others; some favourite Bird, and some Tree, which they princi­pally adore. They all believe the same thing of the pretended Dragon which causes the Eclipses, and of the pretended Mountain, round which the whole Heaven turns, to make the Days and the Nights. They have almost the same five Precepts of Morality, they reckon near the same number of Hells and Para­dice. [Page 136] They all expect other men, who ought to merit Altars, like those to whom they have already consecrated some; to the end that every one may have the Field free to pretend to the supream Vertue. They all suppose that the Planets, the Mountains, the Rivers, and particularly the Ganges, may think, speak, marry and have Children. They all relate the ridiculous Metempsychoses of the men whom they adore, in Pigs, Apes and other Beasts. Abraham Roger in his Book of the Religion of the Bramins relates, that the Pagans of Paliacata, on the Coast of Coromandel, do believe that their Brama whom they adore, was born almost, as some Balie Books do say Sommona-Codom was born, viz. of a Flower, which was sprung from the Navel of an Infant, which, they say, was a leaf a Tree in the form of an Infant biting its Toe, and swimming on the Water, which alone subsisted with God. They take no notice that the Leaf-Infant, subsisted too: and according to Abraham Roger, they in this Country be­lieve in God, but in a God which is not adored: and without doubt he has with as little ground advanced, that others have writ that the Siameses believe a God.

The Fables which the Sia­meses relate of their Sommona-Codom.'Tis no fault of mine that they gave me not the life of Sommona-Codom transla­ted from their Books, but not being able to obtain it, I will here relate what was told me thereof. How marvellous soever they pretend his Birth has been, they cease not to give him a Father and a Mother. His Mother, whose Name is found in some of their Balie Books, was called, as they say, Maha Maria, which seems to signifie the great Mary, for Maha signifies great. But it is found writ­ten Mania, as often as Maria: which proves almost that these are two words Man-ya, because that the Siameses do confound the n with the r only at the end of the words, or at the end of the Syllables, which are followed with a Con­sonant. However it be, this ceases not to give attention to the Missionaries, and has perhaps given occasion to the Siameses to believe, that Jesus being the Son of Mary, was Brother to Sommona-Codom, and that having been crucified, he was that wicked Brother whom they give to Sommona-Codom, under the Name of Thevetat, and whom they report to be punished in Hell, with a Punishment which participates something of the Cross. The Father of Sommona Codom was, according to this same Balie Book, a King of Teve Lanca, that is to say, a King of the famous Ceylon. But the Balie Books being without Date, and without the Author's Name, have no more Authority than all the Traditions, whose Origin is unkown. This now is what they relate of Sommona-Codom.

'Tis said, that he bestowed all his Estate in Alms, and that his Charity not being yet satisfied, he pluck'd out his Eyes, and slew his Wife and Children, to give them to the Talapoins of his Age to eat. A strange contrariety of Idea's in this People, who prohibit nothing so much as to kill, and who relate the most execrable Parricides, as the most meritorious works of Sommona-Codom. Per­haps they think that under the Title of Property a Man has as much Power over the Lives of his Wife and Children, as to them it seems he has over his own: For it matters not if otherwise the Royal Authority prohibits particular Siameses from making use of this pretended Right of Life and Death over their Wives, Children and Slaves; whereas it alone exerts it equally over all its Subjects, it may upon this Maxim of the despotic Government, that the Life of the Sub­jects properly belong to the King.

The Siameses expect another Sommona Codom, I mean another miraculous man like him, whom they already name Pra Narotte, and whom they suppose to have been foretold by Sommona-Codom. And they before-hand report of him, that he shall kill two Children which he shall have, that he will give them to the Talapoins to eat, and that it will be by this pious Charity that he will con­summate his Vertue. This expectation of a new God, to make use of this Term, renders them careful and credulous, as often as any one is proposed to them, as an extraordinary Person; especially if he that is proposed to them, is entirely stupid, because that the entire Stupidity resembles what they represent by the Inactivity and Impassibility of the Nireupan. As for example, there ap­peared some years since at Siam, a young Boy born dumb, and so stupid, that he seemed to have nothing humane but the Shape: yet the Report spread it self [Page 137] through the whole Kingdom, that he was of the first men, which inhabited this Country, and that he would one day become a God, that is to say arrive at the Nireupan. The People flocked to him from all parts, to adore him and make him Presents, till that the King fearing the consequences of this Folly, caused it to cease by the Chastisement of some of those, that suffered themselves to be seduced. I have read some such thing in Tosi's India Orientale, Tom. I. pag. 203. He re­ports that the Bonzees of Cochinchina, having taken away from them a stupid Infant, show'd him to the People as a God, and that after having inrich'd them­selves with the Presents which the People made him, they published that this pretended God would burn himself; and he adds that they indeed burnt him publickly, after having stupified his Senses by some Drink, and calling the in­sensible state, wherein they had put him, Extasie. This last History is given as a crafty Trick of the Bonzees, but it demonstrates, as well as the first, the Belief which these People have, that there may daily spring up some new God, and the Inclination which they have to take extream Stupidity, for a beginning of the Nireupan.

Sommona-Codom being disingaged, by the Alms-deeds which I have mentioned, from all the Bands of Life, devoted himself to Fasting, to Prayer, and to the other Exercises of the perfect Life: But as these Practises are possible only to the Talapoins, he embraced the Profession of a Talapoin; and when he had heap­ed up his good works, he immediately acquired all the Priviledges thereof.

He found himself endowed with so great a Strength, that in a Duel he van­quished another man of a consummated Vertue, whom they call Pra Souane, and who doubting of the Perfection whereunto Sommona-Codom was arrived, chal­lenged him to try his Strength, and was vanquisht. This Pra Souane is not the sole God, or rather the sole perfect Man, which they pretend to have been contemporary with Sommona-Codom. They name several others, as Pra Ariaseria, of whom they report that he was Forty Fadoms high, that his Eyes were three and a half broad, and two and a half round, that is to say, less in Circumference than Diameter, if there is no fault in the Writing from whence I have taken this Remark. The Siameses have a time of Wonders, as had the Aegyptians and the Greeks, and as the Chineses have. For Instance, their principal Book, which they believe to be the work of Sommona-Codom, relates, that a certain Ele­phant had Three and thirty Heads, that each of its Heads had seven Teeth, every Tooth seven Pools, every Pool seven Flowers, every Flower seven Leafs, every Leaf seven Towers, and every Tower seven other things, which had each seven others, and these likewise others, and always by seven; for the num­bers have always been a great Subject of Superstition. Thus in the Alcoran, if my Memory deceives me not, there is an Angel with a very great number of Heads, each of which hath as many Mouths, and every Mouth as many Tongues, which do praise God as many times every day.

Besides corporal strength, Sommona-Codom had the power of doing all sorts of Miracles. For example, he could make himself as big and as great as he pleas'd: and on the contrary, he could render himself so little, that he could steal out of sight, and stand on the head of another man, without being felt either by his weight, or perceived by the Eyes of another. Then he could an­nihilate himself, and place some other man in his stead: that is to say, that then he could enjoy the repose of the Nireupan. He suddenly and perfectly under­stood all the things of the World: He equally penetrated things past and to come, and having given to his body an entire Agility, he easily transported himself from one place to another, to preach Vertue to all Nations.

He had two principal Disciples, the one on the right Hand, and the other on the left: they were both plac'd behind him, and by each other's side on the Altars, but their Statues are less than his. He that is plac'd on his right Hand is called Pra Mogla, and he that is on his left Hand is called Pra Scaribout. Be­hind these three Statues, and on the same Altar, they only represent the Officers within the Palace of Sommona-Codom. I know not whether they have Names. Along the Galleries or Cloysters, which are sometimes round the Temples, are the Statues of the other Officers without the Palace of Sommona-Codom. Of [Page 138] Pra Mogla they report, that at the request of the damned he overturned the Earth, and took the whole Fire of Hell into the hollow of his Hand: but that designing to extinguish it, he could not effect it, because that this Fire dried up the Rivers, instead of extinguishing, and that it consumed all that whereon Pra Mogla placed it: Pra Mogla therefore went to beseech Pra Pouti Tchaou, or Som­mona-Codom, to extinguish Hell Fire: but though Pra Pouti Tchaou could do it, he thought it not convenient, because, he said, that men would grow too wicked, if he should destroy the Fear of this Punishment.

But after that Pra Pouti Tchaou was arrived at this high Vertue, he ceased not to kill a Mar, or a Man (for they write Mar and Man, though they pronounce always Man) and as a Punishment for this great fault, his Life exceeded not Eighty years, after which he died, by disappearing on a sudden, like a Spark which is lost in the Air.

The Man were a People Enemies to Sommona-Codom, whom they called Paya Man; and because they suppose that this People was an Enemy to so holy a Man, they do represent them as a monstrous People, with a very large Visage, with Teeth horrible for their Size, and with Serpents on their Head instead of Hair.

One day then as Pra Pouti Tchaou eat Pig's flesh, he had a Chollick fit which killed him: An admirable end for a man so abstemious: but it was necessary that he died by a Pig, because they suppose that the Soul of the Man whom he slew, was not then in the Body of a Man, but in the Body of a Pig: as if a Soul could be esteemed, even according to their Opinion, the Soul of a Man, when it is in the Body of a Pig. But all these inventers of Stories are not so attentive to the Principles of their Doctrine.

Sommona-Codom before his Death, ordered that some Statues and Temples should be Consecrated to him, and since his Death he is in that State of repose, which they express by they word Nireupan. This is not a place but a kind of Being: for to speak truly, they say Sommona-Codom is no where, and he enjoys not any Felicity: he is without power, and out of a condition to do either Good or Evil unto Men: expressions which the Portugueses have rendered by the word Annihilation. Nevertheless on the other hand the Siameses do esteem Sommo­na-Codom happy, they offer up Prayers unto him, and demand of him what­ever they want: whether that their Doctrine agrees not with it self; or that they extend their worship beyond their Doctrine: but in what Sense soever they attribute Power to Sommona-Codom, they agree that he has it only over the Siameses, and that he concerns not himself with other People, who adore other Men besides him.

That it is pro­bable that Sommona-Co­dom never has been.As therefore they report nothing but Fables of their Sommona-Codom, that they respect him not as the Author of their Laws and their Doctrine, but at most as him who has re-established them amongst Men, and that in fine they have no reasonable Memory of him, it may be doubted, in my Opinion, that there ever was such a man. He seems to have been invented to be the Idea of a Man, whom Vertue, as they apprehend it, has rendered happy, in the times of their Fables, that is to say beyond what their Histories contain certain. And because that they have thought necessary to give at the same time an oppo­site Idea of a Man, whom his wickedness has subjected to great Torments, they have certainly invented that Thevetat, whom they suppose to have been Brother to Sommona-Codom, and his Enemy. They make them both to be Tala­poins, and when they alledge that Sommona-Codom has been King, they report it, as they declare he has been an Ape and a Pig. They suppose that in the several Transmigrations of his Soul he has been all things, and allways excellent in eve­ry kind, that is to say he has been the most commendable of all Pigs, as the most commendable of all Kings. I know not from whence Mr. Gervaise judges that the Chineses pretend that Sommona-Codom was of their Country: I have seen nothing thereof in the Relations of China, but only what I have spoken con­cerning Chekia or Chaka.

The Life of Thevetat was given me translated from the Baly, but not to in­terrupt my discourse, I will put it at the end of this Relation. 'Tis also a Tex­ture [Page 139] of Fables, and a curious specimen of the thoughts of these men, touching the Vertues and Vices, the Punishments and Rewards, the Nature and the Transmigrations of Souls.

I must not omit what I borrow from Mr. Harbelot. A conjecture upon the Ety­mology of Sommona-Co­dom, and what Language the Baly may be. I have thought it neces­sary to consult him about what I know of the Siamese; to the end that he might observe what the words which I know thereof, have in common with the Arabian, Turkish and Persian: and he informed that Suman, which must be pro­nounced Souman, signifies Heaven in Persian, and that Codum, or Codom, signifies Ancient in the same Tongue; so that Sommona-Codom seems to signifie the eternal, or uncreated Heaven, because that in Persian and in Hebrew, the word which sig­nifies Ancient implys likewise uncreated or eternal. And as touching the Baly Tongue, he informed me, that the ancient Persian is called Pahalevi, or Pahali, and that between Pahali and Bahali the Persians make no Difference. Add that the word Pout, which in Persian signifies an Idol, or false God, and which doubt­less signified Mercury, when the Persians were Idolaters, signifies Mercury amongst the Siameses, as I have already remark'd. Mercury, who was the God of the Sciences, seems to have been adored through the whole Earth; by rea­son doubtless that Knowledge is one of the most essential Attributes of the true God. Remarks which may hereafter excite the curiosity of the learned men, that shall be designed to travel into the East.

But I know not whether to this hour it is not lawful to believe that this is a proof of what I have said,It seems to prove that the worship of the Chineses is more antient at Siam than the Opinion of the Metempsychosis. that the Ancestors of the Siameses must have adored the Heaven, like the ancient Chineses, and as perhaps the ancient Persians did, and that having afterwards embraced the Doctrine of the Metempsychosis, and forgot the true meaning of the name of Sommona-Codom, they have made a man of the Spirit of Heaven, and have attributed unto him all the fables that I have related. 'Tis a great Art to change the belief of the People, to leave unto them their ancient words, by cloathing them with new Idea's. Thus, it may be, that the Ancestors of the Siameses have thought that the Spirit of Heaven ruled the whole Nature, though the modern Siameses do not believe it of Som­mona-Codom: they believe on the contrary, as I have said, that such a care is op­posite to the supream felicity. They believe also that Sommona-Codom has sin­ned, and that he has been punished, at the time that he was worthy of the Nireupan, because they believe the extream virtue impossible. They believe that the worship of Sommona-Codom is only for them, and that amongst the other Nations there are other men, who have render'd themselves worthy of Altars, and which those other Nations must adore.

All the Indians in general are therefore perswaded,What is the Spirit of the Faith of the Indians, or the Submission which they have to their Traditions. that different people must have different Worships, but by approving that other People have each their worship, they comprehend not that some would exterminate theirs. They think not like us that Faith is a Virtue: they believe because they know not how to doubt; but they perswade not themselves that there is a Faith and Worship which ought to be the Faith and the Worship of all Nati­ons. Their Priests preach not that a Soul shall be punished in the other world, for not having believed the Traditions of his Country in this, because they un­derstand not that any of them denies the Fables of their Books. They are rea­dy to believe whatever is told rhem of a foreign Religion, how incomprehen­sible soever it be: but they cannot believe that their own is false: and much less can they resolve to change their Laws, their Manners, and their Worship. One had better to show them the contrarieties and gross Ignorance in their Books: they do sometimes agree herein, but for all this they reject not their Books; as for some falsity we reject not every Historian, nor every Physical Book. They believe not that their Doctrine has been dictated by an eternal and infallible Truth, of which they have not only the Idea; they believe their Doctrine born with the man, and written by some men, which to them ap­pear to have had an extraordinary knowledge, and to have led a very innocent life: but they believe not that these men have ever sinned: nor that they could be ever deceived. As they acknowledge no Author of the Universe, so they acknowledge no first Legislator. They erect Temples to the Memory of cer­tain [Page 140] men, of whom they believe a thousand Fables, which the superstition of their Ancestors have invented in the course of several Ages: and this is what the Portugueses have called the Gods of the Indies. The Portugueses have thought that what was honoured with a Publick Worship, could be only a God: and when the Indians accepted this word God for those men, to the Memory of whom they consecrate their Temples, tis that they understand not the force thereof.

That the wor­ship of the Sia­meses proves not that they believe a Di­vinity.There is nothing that may be taken in more various Senses, nor which may receive more different Interpretations than exterior Worship. Statues have not always been the Marks of a Divine Honor. The Greeks and the Romans have erect­ed them, like us, to Persons yet living, without any design to make them Gods. The Chineses do proceed further, and they not only consecrate Statues to some Magistrates yet living, but they erect unto them some sorts of Temples, and sacred Edifices: They establish to them a Worship accompanied with Pro­testations, Perfumes and Lights; and they preserve certain things of their Ap­parel as Relicks: though it cannot be thought that they respect these Magistrates, yet living as Gods, but as men very much inferior to the King of China their Master, of whom they make no Divinity. There are several Christian Princes which are served upon the Knee, and the Deputies of the third State speak to the King only in this Posture. We give Incense to particular Persons in our Churches; and the Christians do honor their Princes with many and great Marks of exterior Worship. Thus the exterior Worship of the Indians is not a proof that they acknowledge, at least at present, any Divinity; and hitherto we ought rather to call them Atheists than Idolaters. But when they offer Sa­crifices to others than to God, and they joyn Vows to render themselves pro­pitious, we cannot excuse them of Idolatry: for in having entirely forgotten the Divinity, they only are greater Idolaters, when they terminate their Worship to what is not God, and that they make it the sole Object of their Religion.

CHAP. XXV. Diverse Observations to be made in preaching the Gospel to the Orientals.

That our Be­lief scandalizes the Orientals in several things; that one must not preach to them without cauti­on, if one has not the gift of Miracles.FRom what I have said concerning the Opinions of the Orientals, it is easie to comprehend how difficult an enterprize it is to bring them over to the Christian Religion; and of what consequence it is, that the Missionaries, which preach the Gospel in the East, do perfectly understand the Manners and Belief of these People. For as the Apostles and first Christians, when God supported their Preaching by so many wonders, did not on a sudden discover to the Hea­thens all the Mysteries which we adore, but a long time conceal'd from them, and the Catechumens themselves, the knowledge of those which might scanda­lize them; it seems very rational to me, that the Missionaries, who have not the gift of Miracles, ought not presently to discover to the Orientals, all the Mysteries nor all the Practices of Christianity. 'Twould be convenient, for example, if I am not mistaken, not to preach unto them, without gteat cauti­on, the worshipping of Saints: and as to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, I think it would be necessary to manage it with them, if I may so say, and not to speak to them of the Mysterie of the Incarnation, till after having convinced them of the Existence of a God Creator. For what probability is there to begin with perswading the Siameses to remove Sommona-Codom, Pra Mogla, and Pra Saribout from the Altars, to set up Jesus Christ, S^t. Peter and S^t. Paul, in their stead? 'Twould not perhaps be more proper to preach unto them Jesus Christ crucified, till they have first comprehended that one may be unfortunate and innocent; and that by the rule received, even amongst them, which is, that [Page 141] the Innocent might load himself with the Crimes of the Guilty, it was necessary that a God should become Man, to the end that this Man-God should by a laborious life, and a shameful, but voluntary Death satisfie for all the Sins of men: but before all things it would be necessary to give them the true Idea of a God Creator, and justly provoked against men. The Eucharist after this will not scandalize the Siameses, as it formerly scandalized the Pagans of Europe: foras­much as the Siameses do believe that Sommona-Codom could give his Wife and Children to the Talapoins to eat.That the read­ing of the Ho­ly Scripture ought to be permitted to them only with Caution.

On the contrary, as the Chineses are respectful towards their Parents even to a scruple, I doubt not that if the Gospel should be presently put into their Hands, they would be scandalized at that place, where when some told J. Christ that his Mother and his Brethren asked after him, he answered in such a manner, that he seems so little to regard them, that he affected not to know them. They would not be less offended at those other mysterious words, which our divine Saviour spake to the young Man, who desired time to go and bury his Parents. Let the dead, saith he, bury the dead. Every one knows the trouble which the Japponneses expressed to St. Francis Xavier upon the Eternity of Damnation, not being able to believe that their dead Parents should fall into so horrible a Misfortune, for want of having embraced Christianity, which they had never heard of. It seems necessary therefore to prevent and mollifie this thought, by the means which that great Apostle of the Indies used, in first establishing the Idea of an omnipotent, all-wise, and most just God, the Author of all good, to whom only every thing is due, and by whose will we owe unto Kings, Bi­shops, Magistrates, and to our Parents, the Respects which we owe them. These Examples are sufficient to show with what precautions it is necessary to prepare the minds of the Orientals, to think like us, and not to be offended with most of the Articles of the Christian Faith.

The Chineses do not less respect their Teachers than their Parents;'Tis necessary to speak to the Orientals with an esteem of their Legi­slators. and this sentiment is so well established amongst them, that they chastise the Tutor to the Prince, the presumptive Heir of the Crown, for the Faults which that Prince commits; and that there are some Princes, who being made Kings, have revenged their Tutors. The Indians do likewise greatly honour the Memory of those, whom they believe to have preach'd up Virtue efficaciously: they are those, whom they have judged worthy of their whole Worship; and they take Offence that we are scandalized thereat. Could we, say they, do less for those, who have preached unto us so holy a Doctrine? Father Hierom Xavier, a Portu­guese Jesuit, having published at Agra a kind of Catechism, under the Title of the Mirrour of Truth: A Persian of Ispahan named Zinel Abedin wrote an answer thereunto, under the Title of the Mirrour repuls'd, which the Congregation de Propaganda fide thought necessary to have confuted: and it committed the care thereof to Father Philip Guadagnol, of the Order of the Regular Minimes. But he spake so unworthily of Mahomet, that his confutation proved ineffectu­al; because that the Mission of Ispahan dar'd never to publish it: and this Mis­sion desiring Father Guadagnol somewhat to moderate his Satyr, this good Father running into the other extream, made a Panegyrick upon Mahomet, which drew upon him a Reprimand from the Congregation de propaganda. 'Tis therefore ne­cessary in these sorts of matters to observe a wise Moderation, and to speak respectfully, at least to the Indians, of Brama, Sommona-Codom, and all the rest, whose Statues are seen on their Altars. 'Tis necessary to agree with them that these men have had great natural lights, and intentions worthy of Praise; and at the same time to insinuate to them, that being men, they are deceived in se­veral things important to the eternal Salvation of Mankind, and principally in that they have not known the Creator.

But next to this Blindness, which it is necessary to demonstrate inexcusable,That these Law-givers may be praised in some things. why should we not praise the Legislators of the East, as well as the Greek Legi­slators, for that they have applied themselves to inspire into the People, what to them has appeared most virtuous, and most proper to keep them in Peace and Innocence? Why should we blame them for the Fables, which a long suc­cession of Ages full of Ignorance has invented upon their account, and of which [Page 142] probably they have not been the Authors: considering that when they had spoken magnificently of their persons, they had only done what is pardonable in almost all other Legislators? They have the merit of haveing known before the Greeks some intelligent Beings superior to man, and the Immortality of the Soul.

That the Doctrine of Metempsychosis may be ex­cused by Phy­sical Reasons.But if they have believed the Metempsychosis, they have been thereto induced by apparent Reasons. Ignoring all Creation, and establishing moreover that a Soul cannot proceed from a Soul, and that there could not be an infinite number of Souls; they were forced to conclude that the infinite number of the living, which had succeeded one another in the World, during all this past Eternity, which they supposed that the World had already lasted; could not be anima­ted by this finite number of Spirits, unless they had passed an infinite number of times from one body to another. The Opinion of the Metempsychosis is there­fore founded on several Principles which we receive; and certainly contains on­ly one Falsity, which is the pretended Impossibility of the Creation.

And by Poli­tick Reasons.As to the natural consequences of this Doctrine, the Prohibition of Meats is very wholsom in the Indies, and the Horror of Blood would be every where useful. The great Barcalon, elder Brother to the first Ambassador of Siam, cea­sed not to reproach the Christians for the bloody Madness of our Wars. On the other hand, the Opinion of the Metempsychosis comforts men in the Misfor­tunes of Life, and fortifies them against the Horrors of Death, by the Hopes which it gives of reviving another time more happily: and because that men are credulous in proportion to their desires, 'tis observed that those, who esteem themselves the most unhappy People in this Life, as Eunuchs, do strongly ad­here to this hope of another better Life, which the Doctrine of the Metempsy­chosis has given to good men.

The fear of the dead Parents excused by Po­litick Reasons.But if Error can be advantageous, what other can be so much as that Fear of Children for their dead Parents. Confucius makes it the only Foundation of all good Policy. And indeed it establishes the Peace of Families, and of King­doms: it bends men to Obedience, and renders them more submissive to their Parents and to their Magistrates; it preserves good Manners and the Laws. These People comprehend not that they can ever abandon the Opinions and Customs, which they have received from their Fathers, nor avoid, if they did, the Resentment which, in their Opinion, their Ancestors would express thereat. The Chinese Doctrine has no other Paradice, nor Hell, than this Republic of the dead, where they believe that the Soul is received at the departure out of this Life, and where it is well or ill entertained with the Souls of its Ancestors, according to its Vertues or its Vices.

This fear cau­ses the stabili­ty of the Laws of China.'Tis upon this consideration, that the Lawful Kings of China have abstained from making any Innovations on the Government. None but Usurpers dare to do this, not only by the Right which force gives them, but because that not being descended from the Kings their Predecessors, they have not thought any respect due to their Establishments.

Yet it has its Inconvenien­ces.Nevertheless as all errors have bad sides, Confucius being ask'd by one of his Disciples, whether the dead had any sense of the Respects which their Children paid them, answer'd, That it was not fitting to make these over-curious sorts of Questions; that by answering negatively, he fear'd to abolish the respect of Children for their dead Parents;The Talapoins must not be thought know­ing and Inte­rested Impost­ors. That it is ne­cessary with the Orientals to use all the insinuations which our Re­ligion and the example of the first Christians can permit us. and by answering affirmatively, he dreaded the exciting the best Persons to kill themselves, to go and joyn their Ancestors.

'Twould also be, I know not what Injustice to treat the Talapoins as Impostors, and interessed Persons. They deceive only because they are first deceived: they are not more cunning, nor more intetested than the Seculars. When they preach to the Seculars to bestow Alms upon them, they think their Preaching their Duty; and in every Country the Ministers of the Altar do live on the Altar.

I am therefore convinced, that the true secret of insinuating into the mind of these People, supposing one has not the Gift of Miracles, is not directly to con­tradict them in any thing, but to show them, as at unawares, their Errors in the Sciences, and especially in the Mathematicks and Anatomy, wherein they are [Page 143] most palpable: 'Tis to change the Terms of their Worship the least Imaginable, by giving to the true God, either the Name of Soveraign Lord, or that of King of Heaven and Earth, or some other Name which signifies in the Lan­guage of the Country, what is most worthy of Veneration, as the word Pra in Siamese: But at the same time it be necessary to instruct them to annex unto these Names the intire Idea of the Deity, an Idea so much the more easie to receive, as it only heightens and embellishes the mean Idea's of the false Gods. Gott which now signifies God in German, was anciently, according to Vossius, the Name of Mercury, who seems to have been every where adored. Certainly the words Theos and Deus have not always signified in Greece and Italy the God, which we adore. What then have the Christians done? They have accepted these Names in the stead of the ineffable Name of God, and they have explain­ed them after their manner. From the Knowledge of an eternal, spiritual God and Creator, it would be easie to descend to the Faith of Jesus Christ: and these People would make no Opposition, if first they saw themselves cured of some sensible Ignorance. The Spirit of man is such, that he almost implicitly receives the Opinions of him, who has visibly convinc'd him of his first Errors. Thoroughly convince a sick person that the Remedy which he uses is not good, and he will immediately take yours.

But in my opinion it is one of the most important Articles of the conduct of the Missionaries,How the Mis­sionaries ought to accommo­date them­selves to the simple customs of the Orien­tals, in what concerns not Religion. to accommodate themselves entirely to the simplicity of the Manners of the Orientals, in their Food, Furniture, Lodging, and whatever the Rules of the Talapoins prescribe, wherein they have nothing contrary to Christianity. The example of Father de Nobilibus the Jesuit is famous. Being in Mission to the Kingdom of Madura in the Indies, he resolved to live like a Jogue, that is to say, like a Bramin of the Woods; to go with his Feet naked, and his Headbare, and his Body almost naked, in the scorching Sands of this Country, and to nourish himself with that excess of frugality, which appear'd intollerable: and it is reported that by this means he converted near forty thousand persons. Now as this exact imitation of the Indian severity is the true way to make some Conversions, so the further one should remove therefrom, the more one should attract the hatred and contempt of the Indians. It is necessary to learn in these Countries, to make a shift with whatever they do, and not to sustain the ne­cessities, or rather the superfluities of these Countries, if one would not cause Jealousie and Envy to some Nations, the particular persons of which conceal their fortune, because they can preserve it only by hiding. The less the Missi­onaries appear settled, the more the Mission is established, and the better it pro­motes Religion. As the East is not a Country of settlement for private per­sons, it would be an injury to think to accomplish it: the Natives of the Coun­try do not themselves enjoy any solid fortune; and they would not fail to pick quarrels with those that should appear richer than them, to deprive them of their Riches. Moreover, the Orientals seem to have no prejudice for any Reli­gion; and it must be confessed, that if the beauty of Christianity has not con­vinc'd them, it is principally by reason of the bad opinion, which the Avarice, Treachery, Invasions, and Tyranny of the Portugueses, and some Christians in the Indies, have implanted and rivetted in them. But it is time to conclude this Relation with the Life of Thevetat, the Brother of Sommona-Codom, and with all the other things that I have promised.