222 Mission to the Court of Siam. [No. 99. 



was no road that way for elephants ; and Mr. Hunter said, 

 he had seen elephants brought down the river on rafts. I 

 said it was merely my personal dislike to travel in a boat 

 that made me wish to go by land, but that that must not be 

 allowed to interfere with public duty ; if I were obliged to go 

 by water, I should wish to leave the boats as soon as I could 

 proceed by land, and buy elephants for the rest of the journey. 

 He said I might go how I pleased ; that the Isoboas have had 

 orders to allow the people to sell, and had never interfered 

 with their doing so. I said they had never in so many words 

 ordered them not to sell cattle, but he well knew how easy 

 it was to prevent it without such an order ; as difficulties were 

 thrown in the way, and the people were indirectly brought 

 into trouble and fined, who did sell their cattle. He said the 

 Isoboas were only tributary. 



I asked when I was to have the honor of paying my respects 

 to his Majesty; he said, he was but minister, and could only say 

 I should have an audience ; it remained with his Majesty to fix 

 the day. I have been visited to-day by the Portuguese Consul 

 and his Secretary, by the American Missionaries, and have re- 

 ceived presents from his Majesty and the Praklang of fruits, &c. 



February \2th. — Received presents of fruits, &c. from the King 

 and Praklang, and a message from his Majesty to know if we 

 were supplied with every thing we wanted, and whether my 

 people wanted any thing, Benedito, the native Portuguese, 

 the head of the native Christians here, (of whom there are a 

 good many), was the bearer of the message, and said he had 

 orders to call on me daily and attend to my wants. The Chow-fa, 

 the second legitimate son of the late king, a very extraordinary 

 man for a Siamese, has been expressing a strong wish to see 

 me ; he is about thirty years of age, reads and writes English 

 with very great facility, has his house furnished expensively in 

 the English style, and is on terms of intimacy with Mr. Hunter 

 and other English gentlemen here, notwithstanding the strictness 

 of Siamese etiquette. He was nearly coming to see me this 

 evening, in fact he came down to the house and spoke to Mr. 

 Hunter and Captain Browne for an hour or so. I have seen none 

 of the officers of Government to-day, nor shall I before my 



