14 PARKES. [Dec. la, 1855. 



Mr. Parkes notices especially two of the Laos races, viz, the wJiite- 

 hellied Laos, who do not tattoo ; and the black-hellied Laos, so called 

 because they tattoo themselves with figures of tigers, dragons, and all 

 kinds of monsters. 



The rivers are the highways in many parts of Siam, and canals are 

 very numerous in the S. portion. A large part of the country is inun- 

 dated in the wet season, and then boats do not confine themselves to 

 the canals, but sail over the rice-fields. The productions of Siam are 

 very various, but the chief are rice, indigo, maize, sugar, cotton, pepper, 

 lac, gums, &c. 



Bankok, the capital, is situated on the lower part of the river. The 

 houses are mostly built of teak, and the temples are very numerous. 

 Several of them are very large, containing from 50 to 100 priests in 

 each. Ayuttaya, the former capital, was situated on an island 14*^ 20' 

 N. lat. It covered the whole island. There were formerly many 

 colossal idols, the cost of which may be estimated when it is stated 

 that 25,000 lbs. of copper, a large quantity of silver, and 400 lbs. of 

 gold were consumed in making one idol. The modern town contains 

 floating houses, like those at Bankok. The population of Bankok is 

 variously estimated from 350,(X)0 to 400,000, and of these about one- 

 third are Chinese. The city extends about 7 miles along both banks, 

 having a breadth almost as great in one part. There are walls round 

 portions of it, 30 feet high and 10 feet thick. Its temples are covered 

 with coloured tiles, and are profusely gilded. Fruit-trees may be seen 

 in every direction. The floating houses extend some distance from the 

 banks of the stream. 



Mr. Crawfurd expressed his satisfaction at the notes Mr. Parkes had 

 put together. He said that a large part of Siam was a mere wilderness, 

 and that not more than one-fifth of the whole territory was cultivated. 

 The inundations referred to by Mr. Parkes might be very well com- 

 pared to those of the Ganges ; except that in the case of the Menam the 

 lower valley was not inundated more than 10 leagues counting from the 

 sea, as the ground was high. Bankok, the capital, stood on this high 

 ground. The bar at the mouth of the Menam was 10 miles broad, 

 having 2 feet of water upon it at low water, and 14 feet at high water. 

 The climate of Siam was very good, and that of the S. part extremely 

 healthy. Siam is emphatically a sugar-producing country ; it is also 

 the only country that produces gamboge, which derives its name from 

 Camboja. Some kinds of fruit which grow here luxuriantly Can scarcely 

 be grown in any other part of Asia. 



Mr. Simmonds, in confirmation of what Mr. Crawfurd had just stated, 

 said that in 1845 no less than 340,000 cwt. of sugar were exported. 

 "The list of valuable products of Siam might be very greatly extended^ 



