40 THKOUGH THE KLAWNGS 



look for native industrial development. The day 

 is probably not far off when Siam's industries will 

 depend upon foreign guidance; and if England, 

 not France, supplies that impetus— the world will 

 be the gainer. 



By those people who delight in comparisons— 

 and read travellers' folders especially compiled for 

 tourist consumption— Bangkok has been variously 

 called the Constantinople of Asia and the Venice 

 of the East. True, there is pertinence in both com- 

 parisons. Certainly Bangkok is the home of the 

 gaunt and ugly pariah dog, which spends its day 

 foraging to keep life in its mangy carcass ; multi- 

 plying meanwhile with the fecundity of cats in a 

 tropical clime, because the Buddha faith forbids 

 its killing. Nor are outcast dogs the only pests 

 of Bangkok, to grow numerous because of native 

 religious prejudice ; more noisy crows perch of an 

 early morning on your window casing, than in 

 the space of a day hover near the " Towers of 

 Silence " at Bombay awaiting the pleasure of the 

 vultures that are feeding on the earthly remains 

 of one that has died in the faith of the Parsee. 



Some people imagine Bangkok a city of islands ; 

 hence I suppose the comparison with Venice. 

 Bangkok has, indeed, a very large floating popu- 

 lation, and the city is intersected by many 

 klawngs or canals; at certain times of the year, 



