VOYAGE FEOM INDIA TO SIAM AND MALACCA. 167 



either the fault of my interpreter or the ignorance of the chemist, 

 which prevented my finding* anything* Hke it. I boug-ht another 

 kind of oil, which was green, and had a bad smell, it was an 

 Oleum Coctum. Most of the remedies which they keep in their 

 shops consist of herbs and roots, which are packed up in little 

 parcels of about one pound's weight, with the name of the contents 

 written on the outside. These parcels fill up the upper part of 

 the walls, while lower down stood some glasses and vessels in no 

 order, of unequal size and shape ; below these were a few drawers 

 for minor articles, as cut roots, seeds, etc. The chemist also had 

 some medical books in big octavo ; they contained some miserable 

 woodcuts from plants, about one inch in size, but I could not really 

 recognise one among them all, and the anatomical figures were 

 of a similar kind. As for instance, the bowels were designed in 

 five equal rows, lying horizontally one on the top of the other, a 

 testis, like an upturned bottle, from which rose three tubes. 

 The same manner of treatment was followed as regards repre- 

 sentations of animals and stones. I should have liked to have 

 bought these books or to have found out their names, but did 

 not succeed in doing either. 



4. — In the middle of the day the ship sailed from Bangkok, 

 and I was glad to leave this disagreeable place, which only as 

 far as natural history was concerned had given me some pleasure. 

 But before I leave it, I will make the following description of it. 

 The stream divides the town into two principal parts, one of 

 them is situated at the right side, as one goes up the stream 

 towards the north, and has formerly been a French fortress. 

 The other part lies at the left side towards the south and belonged 

 to the Portuguese. The French town, as well as that of the 

 Portuguese, was oblong in shape, and they both have small 

 fortifications along the stream, consisting of solid ramparts and 

 walls ; there is also a wall all around each town, and at the side 

 towards the land there is a deep ditch, which is navigable for 

 small boats. There are few batteries on the walls outside the 

 fortress. The wall on the ramparts, which has more than a man's 

 height, is divided into leaf-like partitions, being so large that a 

 man could stand in them. 



The French town begins a little before the former Portuguese 

 one, but does not extend as far at the other end. It is intercepted 

 by ditches, navigable for boats ; like the whole country it lies 



