1838.] Excursions to the Eastward, 685 



when sitting in durbar. I bowed in the English fashion to the young 

 chief and then sat down on a chair which had been placed for me six 

 paces in front of the raised platform, on which he had seated himself 

 with his legs crossed and supported by cushions. Behind me the native 

 officer and havildar with their swords on, stood along with several other 

 attendants, The Siamese interpreter to the Mission placed himself on 

 the carpet at my feet. Close on the left squatted both the minister of 

 the chief and also his interpreter. The object of this interview was to 

 explain to the Siamese the nature and objects of the Burmese war, and 

 to obtain permission to cross the Peninsula to Ligor. The chief posi- 

 tively refused to comply with the latter request until he had the sanc- 

 tion of his father. 



The Mission therefore would proceed, I told him, up the coast in 

 order to open a more speedy communication with ^the Ligoreans. The 

 young governor smoked segars during the whole audience. The minister 

 alluded to is a very fat man, and the uneasy, unnatural posture which 

 etiquette compelled him to keep, gave him the appearance of a huge 

 baboon, the resemblance being heightened by the manner in which, ac- 

 cording to the Siamese fashion, his hair was brushed up in front. 



The interpreter passed and repassed betwixt the chief and myself on 

 his knees and elbows, a tedious and disgusting operation, but charac- 

 teristic of the procrastinating nature of Siamese diplomacy. 



The governor was naked from the waist upwards. His hair was 

 short and his head uncovered. 



The lower half of his person was clothed in a dress of silk and gold. 

 This is the common dress in lower Siam, and the raja of Ligor and 

 his sons affect simplicity, partly it may be supposed through policy, 

 and the fear of exciting the cupidity of the minions about the court of 

 JBankok. 



Many however of the inferior officers wear silk vests or tunics em- 

 broidered with gold or silver, and also long crape scarfs which they 

 either use like cloaks, or wind round them as sashes. The favorite 

 color for these last is black. 



The town of Keddah stands on the south bank of the river, and 

 consists of a single street of mean artap houses*. It is protected by a 

 brick defence, comprising an area of about eighty yards by fifty. With- 

 in are the houses of the governor and his officers and soldiers. The 

 wall of this work varies in height from eight to ten feet. Several large 

 iron guns are mounted on the wall facing the river. There is no 



* This term is given to the eastward to houses constructed of light materials 

 and thatched with artap or nipah leaves. 

 4 d 2 



