1840.] Mission to the Court of Siam. 21 



mission, and a request to furnish me with what I might require ; 

 they said they had not heard a word of my approach before the 

 moment of my arrival ; they said it was impossible to take 

 elephants and horses by this route to Bankok, that indeed there 

 was no road even for foot passengers. They departed with the 

 information they had obtained to the Myo-won, who in about 

 an hour sent to say he would be glad to see me if I wished 

 to call on him, and I did so before dinner. After the usual topics 

 were discussed, he repeated with such earnestness and apparent 

 sincerity, appealing to his age (which may be about seventy-eight) 

 as a voucher for his veracity, that the road was impassable 

 between this and Bankok, in fact that no road existed, that it 

 was scarcely possible to resist conviction, particularly as I had 

 not had time to make any private inquiries amongst the people, 

 and had learned nothing about the road except the general 

 assertion of all we have asked about it, that it is good and 

 daily travelled. I was obliged to consent to his writing to the 

 ministers, and as I had no Siamese writer, I myself wrote to 

 Mr. Hunter — a British merchant who has resided at Bankok 

 many years, and has often been the channel of communication 

 with the ministers both from Singapore and Maulmain — stating 

 the fact of my arrival here, and begging him to intimate the same 

 to the ministers, with the reason of my not writing, and a 

 request not to be kept longer than necessary. I much fear it 

 will be impossible, in compliance with the terms of my instruc- 

 tions, to have any of the cattle in Maulmain by the beginning 

 of May. My previous information regarding the goodness of the 

 road has been confirmed by the people of the village and the 

 Pounghees, who also told my people that messengers from Pra- 

 pree arrived here yesterday with a communication regarding 

 me, the nature of which I have not learned. 



February 4th. — Have had communication with the people of 

 the village to-day. I endeavoured to send some of my Taline 

 people to a village of their countrymen on the opposite side 

 of the river to buy fowls, and inquire about the road, but a 

 boat was refused them, and the town officers offered to procure 

 any thing we wanted. 



February bth. — We have received from the town provisions 



