42 THROUGH THE KLAWNGS 



gamble, and a band sends up uninterrupted melody 

 from out of the darkness at the rear. But the most 

 imposing array of shops is on the Meinam River, 

 the Strand of Bangkok, along which for six miles 

 the city spreads itself in floating shops. On the 

 klawngs, that wind throughout the. city with the 

 deviousness, and apparently with all the aimless- 

 ness of a cow path, the natives rear single-room 

 veranda-like houses on stilts, six to eight feet above 

 the "water. The Siamese builds his house of one 

 story and on stilts for several reasons. The first, 

 no doubt, is to avoid the unpardonable sin of living 

 on a lower story while an upper one is occupied by 

 other human beings, especially women, who, in 

 Siam, are not regarded as of much importance. 

 The second, and I should say the most practical, 

 if not the most aesthetic, reason is to have a waste 

 gate of easy access for the continually flowing sa- 

 liva from betel-nut chewing, and household refuse, 

 which may thus be easily disposed of through the 

 crevices of an openly constructed floor. And not 

 the least advantage of this style of house, is the 

 opportunity its elevation affords dogs, pigs, crows 

 and other scavengers, whose immunity from death 

 at the hands of man is only another proof of many 

 why Buddha should have given a religion to this 

 people. A lesser reason is to secure a higher and 

 a healthier floor to live upon above the damp soil ; 



