541 



SI AM. 



SIAM. 



Prodttetimt. Siam is rich in natural productions. Rice is most 

 extensively cultivated and largely exported, chiefly to China. On the 

 alluvial soil of the Menam it generally yields forty-fold ; and when 

 only thirty-fold, it is considered an indifferent crop. With the 

 exception of Bengal, Siam unquestionably exports more rice than any 

 country in Asia. Maize is also extensively cultivated, particularly in 

 the mountain districts, but it is not much exported. Wheat and other 

 cereals are little if at all grown. Of leguminous plants, the Phateolui 

 radiatut, the Phcueolus maximut, and the Arachii hypogcea are most 

 commonly cultivated, and the first is exported to China and the 

 Malay Islands. The roots cultivated in other tropical countries are 

 common, especially the sweet potato. The cocoa and areca palms are 

 cultivated extensively in the lower tracts, and the oil obtained from 

 the first ia an important article of export. Siam is noted for a great 

 variety and abundance of fruit-trees, and their produce surpasses that 

 of all other parts of India in flavour. The neighbourhood of Bang- 

 kok is one forest of fruit-trees. The most exquisite fruits are the 

 mango, the mangustan, the orange, the durian, the lichi, and the pine- 

 apple, with many others of inferior value. 



Several other plants are cultivated as articles of foreign trade. 

 The most important is the sugar-cane, which is extensively exported 

 to China, the western parts of Hindustan, Persia, Arabia, and Europe. 

 The cultivators of the cane are always Siamese, but the manufacturers 

 of sugar are invariably Chinese. Black pepper of a superior quality 

 is cultivated to an enormous extent in the country east of the Gulf of 

 -:am; nearly the whole of it is exported to China. Tobacco, which 

 formerly was imported, is now grown so generally, that considerable 

 quantities are exported to Cochin-China and to several of the Malay 

 countries; the best is grown in the countries east of the Gulf of 

 Siam. Cotton does not succeed in the low countries, but a cotton of 

 good quality is grown in the more elevated tracts on the Malay penin- 

 sula, and in those which divide the alluvial region of the Meuam 

 from the mountains of Siam. 



The forests, which cover nearly all the mountain ranges of Siam, 

 yield several articles of trade. Cardamums are collected in the forests 

 on the mountains of Camboja, and go to China, where they fetch a 

 very high price. In the mountainous and woody districts of Laos a 

 gum i collected which nearly resembles benzoin, with which it was 

 long confounded. Qamboge is collected in the mountains of Camboja, 

 whence its name. Aquila-wood is procured in the countries east of 

 the Gulf of Siam, as far north as 13* 10' N. lat, and considerable 

 quantities of it go to China, where it is used as a perfume in the 

 temples. Sapan wood is got from the forest*, with which the moun- 

 tains of Siam are clothed, between 10* and 15* N. lat In point of 

 quantity, if not of value, it is the moat considerable of all the exports 

 of Siam. It is principally sent to China, but a very considerable 

 quantity is also exported to Bengal and Europe. 



The foresti of Siam contain many valuable timber-trees ; one which 



yields a considerable article of export, is called by the Siamese Wai 

 deng, or red-wood, and by the Portuguese Pao Rosa, or rose-wood, 

 but it does not resemble the rose-wood used in Europe, though it is 

 used in China, whither large quantities are exported for cabinet- 

 work. The teak-forests are very extensive, but all of them are in 

 Laom, or north of IS* N. lat ; great numbers of teak-trees are floated 

 down the Menam, when the river is swollen, to Bang-kok. 



:*m the elephant exists in the greatest perfection. The finest 

 are found in the forest of Suphan, between 14* and 15* N. lat, west 

 of Bang-kok, but they inhabit every part of the kingdom. In Bang- 

 kok their uie is prohibited, except to a few persona of very high rank. 

 In all other parts of the country they are freely employed, both for 

 riding and as leasts of burden, especially in Southern Laos, whose 

 capital, Lanjang, takes its name from this circumstance, signifying 

 'the place of ten millions of elephant*.' The number of wild 

 elephants is very great, and they are regularly hunted on account of 

 the government White elephants are found occasionally ; they are 

 regarded with great veneration, and two or more are kept in a royal 

 watt, or temple, and attended by a large band of priests. The person 

 who nicceeda in trapping a white elephant receives a considerable 

 reward ; if the animal be a very fine one the reward is a handsome 

 pen-ion, which is continued to his descendants. The double-honied 

 rhinoceros is more frequently met with in Siam than in any other 

 country : like the elephant it is hunted for iU hide and horn, both 

 of which are exported to China. The tiger is extremely common, 

 though not equal in size to that of Bengal : his bones and skin con- 

 stitute, a considerable article of commerce with China ; the bones are 

 tned by the Chinese aa a medicine. The black tiger is by no means 

 rare. The skins of leopards, which are also very common, go to 

 China. The true civet ( Vittm civttta) is reared by the Siamese for 

 its musk. The scaly skin of the pangolin (Jfanu penladactyla) is 

 sent to China, where it also appears to be used for its supposed 

 medicinal virtues. There is also the orang-utan. There are seven 

 lifterent kinds of deer, among which the common stag (Cemt Eltphat), 

 the muntjac, and the cbevrotin (Motckut pyymrttu and Jat-anicut) are 

 most common. The buffalo is numerous in the alluvial tracts, where 

 ferrwl to the ox for agricultural labour. Black cattle are 

 ore numerous in the more elevated districts, and are only kept for 

 agricultural purposes, their milk being too trifling in quantity to be 

 useful, and the slaughter of them is forbidden even to strangers. 



But the numerous wild cattle which are found in many parts of the 

 country are shot by professed huntsmen, for their hides, horns, bones, 

 and flesh ; the flesh, after being converted into jerked beef, forms an 

 article of trade with China. The horses of Siam are of a small kind, 

 resembling our ponies. A small kind of goat is kept about the temples. 

 Hogs are very numerous, both in a domestic and in a wild state. The 

 lard, prepared with great care, is exported to the European settle- 

 ments in the neighbouring countries. Fowls in their wild state exist 

 in the forests of Siam, and the common fowl is reared in the lower 

 countries. Common ducks are reared in great numbers by the 

 Chinese, but geese are almost unknown. The peacock is common in 

 the forests, and the feathers are exported to China. There are several 

 species of pheasants and pigeons, and also of 'wading birds. The 

 feathers of the kingfisher, the blue jay, the pelican, and several birds 

 of the crane' and stork families, are sent to China. There are tortoises 

 and crocodiles in the Menam, but they are not so common as in the 

 Ganges. The green turtle (Tettudo Midat) abounds on the islands 

 along the eastern shores of the Gulf of Siam, and the eggs are sent 

 to Bang-kok, where they are used for food. Lizards and serpents are 

 numerous. 



Fish are abundant, but generally of inferior quality ; several kinds 

 however are dried and exported. Shrimps and prawns dried and 

 prepared are an article of export under the name of balacbang. The 

 C'occui lacca produces the dye or gum called lac in commerce. The 

 lao of Siam is of very superior quality, containing a larger portion of 

 colouring-matter than that of Bengal and of the Birman empire. It 

 is exported to China and the European settlements. 



Several kinds of animals in Siam contain individuals of a white 

 colour, which is rarely the case in other countries. Besides white 

 elephants, Finlayson found white monkeys, white buffaloes, and white 

 deer, and be thinks that this anomaly in the colour of the animals is 

 connected with the peculiarities of the climate. 



Gold is obtained in small quantities in the mountains of the Malay 

 peninsula, and at the southern extremity of those of Siam. Tin 

 exists in many places in the southern mountains, in those of the 

 Malay peninsula, and also on the island of Salanga. It constitutes a 

 considerable article of export Iron is very abundant in both ranges 

 which form the boundary of the valley of the Menam, and is worked 

 on a very extensive scale. Copper and lead are found in some places, 

 and worked to some extent Zinc is said to abound, but is not 

 worked. Antimony is worked on a small scale. The sapphire, the 

 Oriental ruby, and the Oriental topaz arc obtained by digging the 

 alluvial toil at the bottom of the bills that surround tbe plain of 

 Cban-ti-bon. Salt is made in the low wooded and uninhabited 

 country which extends along the sea between the mouths of the 

 Menam. 



InAnki/aiilt. The population of Siam is composed of different 

 nation-, part of whom are aborigines, and part emigrants from other 

 countries. The first class of inhabitants consists of Siamese, Loos, 

 Cambojans, and Malays, who have attained a certain, though different 

 degree of civilisation, and of Kariang, Lawa, Kha, Chong, and 

 Samang, who occupy some mountain regions, and seem to be back- 

 ward in civilisation. The immigrant nations are Chinese, Moham- 

 medans, Hindoos, Peguans, and Portuguese. 



The Siamese, Laos, Cambojans, and Malays, who constitute about 

 three-fourths of the entire population, seem to belong to the same 

 race with the Birmaus and inhabitants of Cochin-China : they are all 

 members of the great Mongol family. Their average height is five 

 feet three inches. The skin is of a lighter colour than that of the 

 Asiatics to the west of the Ganges, a colour which, in the high ranks, 

 where a yellow cosmetic is generally used, approaches that of gold. 

 Ita texture is remarkably smooth, soft, and shining. They have a 

 strong tendency to obesity. The cheek bones are large and prominent, 

 and give to the whole face the form of a lozenge. The forehead, 

 though less prominent towards the side, is broad, and covered with 

 the hairy scalp in greater proportion than in any other people. In 

 some it descends to within an inch, or even Uas, of the eyebrows, 

 coven the whole of the temples, and stretches forward to within 

 nearly the same distance of the outer angle of the eye. The diamtter 

 of tbe head from the front backwards ia very short, and hence the 

 general form is somewhat cylindrical; and, in a great number of 

 instances, from the crown to the nape of tbe neck ia nearly a straight 

 line. Tbe top of the head is often unusually flat. The hair is black, 

 thick, coarse, and long. Tho features are uover bold, prominent, or 

 well defined. The nose is small, round at the point, but not flattened 

 as in tho negro ; and the nostrils, instead of being parallel, diverge 

 greatly. The mouth is wide, but not projecting ; the lips are r.ither 

 thick. The eyes are small, and the outer angles are more turned up 

 than in the western races, though not so much as in the Chinese. The 

 eyebrows arc neither prominent nor well marked, Tho beard consists 

 only of a few straggling hairs. 



The Siamese call thrm-.elvei Thay, but are called by the Malays, and 

 some other neighbouring nations, Zeam, or Zain, from which word 

 the term Siam is derived. They speak a peculiar language, of which 

 however that which is spoken in Laos is only a dialect It consists 

 of monosyllabic words ; but these are mixed with a considerable 

 number of words taken from the Pali language, and others from the 

 Chinese. The alphabet is mixed up with characters taken from the 



