126 OX THE PAT AN I. 



man of great force of character, and exercises more power through- 

 out the Patani provinces than any other individual in them : he is 

 elder brother to the Captain China, and both, as well as the Raja, 

 are under the immediate control of Singora. 



The people are quiet and comparatively industrious, but a no* 

 inconsiderable portion of the town labour is left to the women, who 

 may be seen plodding about a great part of the day with loads of 

 various descriptions balanced on their heads. 



There is a goodly company of Siamese priests in Patani, and it 

 is one of the sights of the place to watch them of a morning in 

 companies of twenty or more arrayed in their robes of yellow 

 calico marching in Indian file through the town to receive their daily 

 alms, visiting from door to door with great solemnity, and headed 

 by a kind of high priest before whom is borne a long gold or silver 

 headed staff or rod. Their robes are worn much as the Kling 

 Chitties wear their white and airy costume, but are much more 

 voluminous, and under the ample folds of these they carry large bas- 

 kets in which are deposited the voluntary contributions of the people. 

 Few, if any, words are exchanged as the yellow regiment proceeds 

 on its house-to-house visitation, which is conducted in the most 

 perfect order, and, generally speaking, the inhabitants are all in 

 waiting outside their doors with their offerings of rice, fish, cakes 

 and other food. This is part of their religious system and seems 

 to be cheerfully acquiesced in even by those who are not of the 

 Siamese persuasion. Celibacy is a strict law of the priesthood, 

 and I was informed that for one of their order even so much as to 

 touch one of the other sex is a high offence. 



Many youths even of good families, such as sods of the Rajas 

 in the Siamese provinces, enter the priesthood for a period (a kind 

 of noviciate) in order to be inducted into the mysteries of their 

 religion, as also to receive a good education, and, as a rule, the 

 education of the Siamese youth is, to a large extent, entrusted to 

 the priests. 



The Siamese dialect is very much used in Patani and is spoken 

 fluently by most of the Chinese and also by many of the Malays ; 

 it is the official language of the country and must be used in all 

 communications with Singora, where it is exceedingly difficult to 



