VOYAGE FROM INDIA TO SI AM AND MALACCA. 139 



much of its ripe seed. Ipomoea coccinea and hepaticifolia looked 

 magnificent this fine morning*. I found a small eret^t but very 

 sickly shrub with only few branches, which had the character of 

 the Ovieda piimatifolia, in a grassy place, together with a peculiar 

 Apocynum and an Erigeron, which also seemed new to me. 



After I had described my new plants and put them away, I 

 paid my visit to the chief Talapoin of this big temple. I found 

 that he inhabited a brick house, which was not divided into 

 rooms, and had no windows. His bed was on the ground, about 

 one foot above the floor. His clothes, the provision of matting 

 and his books were hanging on poles, or lay about rolled up in 

 bundles. He showed me one of his books which was folded 

 together in the fashion of the Siamese ; it was more than two 

 feet long and scarcely one foot wide and about as thick. The 

 two top pages and the edges were gilt; it was divided into 

 several parts, and at the begining and end of each part illumina- 

 ted fig^ures were painted, executed in very fine colours. 



I wanted very much to learn something about his reli- 

 gion from him. He would however not tell me anj^thing 

 referring to it, he would not even pronounce the name of the 

 great god, neither that of the god to whom the pagoda was 

 consecrated. At last, after he had spoken to me of his 

 acquaintance with a Dutch captain, I asked him to take me 

 into the big temple, so that I might see the great and 

 celebrated idol of the Siamese. He consented to do so, and 

 he led me through a small back door at the western side. The 

 temple inside consists of one room, but on both sides there are 

 four very thick stone pillars, which could not have been spanned 

 by four men. They were painted with a brownish-red colour 

 with big darker spots. At the side there were idols in life size in 

 a sitting posture, at each side five in number. Between them 

 were flat painted columns, and twice there were four other idols 

 close together, so altogether there were eighteen idols. Upon 

 those flat columns were some nations represented, always a man 

 and a woman in their national dress. There were represented a 

 Dutchman and his wife, a Cambodian and his wife, an inhabitant 

 of Lao and his wife, a Chinese, a Cochin Chinese, a Siamese, all 

 with their respective wives, etc. The idols at the entrance were 

 painted with gold, those at the left were painted black. 

 Above the idols there were some painted pictures representing 



