elephant and a horse, such as we usually see among German toys.

After nightfall we were visited by a Talapoiu, or priest, who seemed to be the head man among the very few people on the island. He entered the cabin in a half-bent posture, in token of respect, but very soon assumed an erect position. A robe of dirty yellow cloth hung from his shoulders to the knees; his head and eyebrows were closely shaven, and his arms and legs were bare. He seated himself, and drew from his girdle a small tin box, from which he filled his mouth with arecanut, betel-leaf and chunam; and, thus fortified, he talked, chewed, and gesticulated; but his speech, though it might have been very fine for aught we knew, was to us a rigmarole. In return for it, we offered him bread, tobacco, snuff, and gin; the last he carried to his people; but instead of putting the snuff in his nose, he wrapped it in a piece of paper, and made us understand, if the quantity were increased, the present would be more acceptable. He appeared unwilling to touch a tumbler with his lips, and in place of it, drank out of the top of his own tobacco-box. He carried with him a sheet of slate paper, twenty feet long by fifteen inches broad, folded alternately right and left, so that its dimensions were about two inches thick, four broad, and fifteen long. After making him comprehend, by the aid of a short vocabulary, arranged by Mr. Roberts on his for

INHABITANTS OF SI-CHANG.

421

mer visit, who we were, and writing with his pencil of talc upon his book, the name of the ship, and whither we were bound, he took leave, seemingly well satisfied with what he had done.

Early the following morning, we went in pursuit of white squirrels; under the protection of the religious prejudices of the inhabitants against taking away animal life, there is nothing to interrupt their increase, and we found them in considerable numbers. Two or three men of Mongol physiognomy attached themselves to our train, and were ever ready to point out the game. With the exception of a sarong about the hips, they were naked, and viewed our clothes and fowlingpieces with apparent wonder and astonishment; and were not content until they had felt every article of our dress, even to our shoes. They all chewed areca-nut and its concomitants; their teeth were consequently black, and their mouths were any thing but agreeable to look upon. It is probably owing to this disgusting habit, that the areca-nut-chewing nations of the East, have never acquired the custom of kissing!

On our return to the boat, we found the inhabitants of the village eating breakfast, consisting of boiled rice and fish, of which they very politely invited us to join, but our prejudices against filthy appearances compelled us to decline. They were squatted round a large dish, from which they supplied their bowls, and then shovelled the mouth

full of rice with chop sticks. The village consists of half a dozen huts of bamboo and boards, raised on posts a foot or two from the ground. They were cheerless, and far from clean. The women, in general, wore only a sarong; some few added a piece of black crape folded diagonally over the chest, so as partially to conceal the bosom, and young girls wandered about in nature's suit, as unsophisticated and shameless as Eve before her

fall.

At three o'clock P.M. the ship was got under way, but very soon ran upon a rock in the midchannel, where she remained two hours, until the rising of the tide carried her off without damage. On sounding round, it was found that the rock was not more than one hundred feet in extent, beyond which there was four and five fathoms water. A few hours brought us to the Roads of Siam, where we anchored about eight o'clock P.M. and exchanged signals with the Enterprise.

The next day we looked for land, but without a spy-glass could see none. The anchorage for ships, drawing more than twelve feet water, is ten miles from the mouth of the Meinam, which is deep enough as far as the city; but there is a bar eight miles from its entrance which interrupts large vessels, and may be a serious obstacle to foreign trade.

We were obliged to wait, patiently as we might, a reply to Mr. Roberts's communication, from the

authorities, before we could proceed to Bankok. When it was carried from the Enterprise to Paknam, two miles up the river, the old governor was unwilling to forward it to the P'hra Klang, until there had been a deal of talk and interpretation.

424

PRINCE MOMFANOI.

CHAPTER XXIV.

SKETCHES IN SIAM.

April, 1836.

On the 28th of March, the ship was visited by Prince Momfanoi, heir-apparent to the throne of Siam. The boat he came in was not distinguishable from those of the common people; it had a semicylindrical roof of wattled bamboo over the stern, under which he reposed, sheltered from the sun, but suffering from the want of ventilation, though both ends of the oven were open. Unaccustomed to go afloat, he was threatened with sea. sickness after being a short time on board, and therefore departed early for the shore.

The Prince was dressed in a jacket of pink damasked crape, closely fitting the body, and reaching from the hips to the throat; a sarong of dark silk, knotted in front, the ends hanging down nearly to the ground, and over it was tied a light sash, upon which two jewelled rings of large size were strung. This costume left the head, arms,