10 THE KING'S MAHOUT 



hunt," but what is nothing more or less than a 

 means of adding to the work-a-day elephants kept 

 in the king's stables. 



Lee comfortingly assured me he thought it could 

 be arranged for me to make a trip with Choo to 

 the elephant encampment ; and sure enough it came 

 about in due course that as his Majesty, Phrabat 

 Somdet Phra Paramendr Maha Chulalongkorn 

 Klou, otherwise and more briefly known as Chula- 

 longkorn I, had commanded a royal hunt, Choo 

 and I in season set out on our way up the river in 

 a canoe, carrying no provisions, for we were to 

 stop the nights en route with friends of the firm 

 of Lee Boon Jew & Son. 



Choo's journey to the jungle resembled the tri- 

 umphant march of a popular toreador. 'Twas 

 fortunate we had given ourselves ample time, for 

 we tarried often and long; not that I objected, 

 because I am always on the lookout for human 

 documents, and this trip was full of them, many 

 not altogether agreeable, but interesting, for these 

 were the real people of Siam. Now, the real 

 people of Siam are not always pleasant to live 

 with ; too many of them are poor, and dirty, not- 

 withstanding the river flowing past the door— 

 though, speaking of dirty things, it would be diffi- 

 cult to find water farther from its pure state than 

 these rivers which serve to sewer and to irrigate 



