NOTES ON THE SIAMESE PROVINCES OF KOOWI, &C. 77 



Rangoon and Tonquin, Chinamen have been continually 

 dropping for centuries, mixing and marrying with the natives, 

 so that the wonder is not that they have affected the race 

 along the shore, but that they have not affected it more. The 

 children of a Chinese-Siamese marriage — unlike the weaklings 

 produced by such a wide divergence as the Siamese and 

 European — are robust, of larger stature, and more muscular 

 than the native, comparatively dark in complexion, and want- 

 ing the business smartness and mental activity of the father, 

 as well as lacking that peculiar mental subtlety commonly 

 found in the Siamese. Very curious to state, while the 

 female offspring of a Chinese-Burmese marriage is as a rule 

 of very prepossessing appearance, yet her Siamese cousin is 

 invariably very ugly. The Chinese-Siamese is often a man 

 of great ability, as can be seen by the large numbers that have 

 raised themselves to affluence by trade, and in the last century, 

 when the Burmese had overrun Siam and were grinding her 

 down, one Phaya Fak (a Chinese-Siamese) arose, rallied his 

 countrymen round him, led them from victory to victory, 

 until Siam was again free. Those that know the dallying 

 nature of the Siamese must recognize the Herculean task this 

 man performed. 



Each of these provinces has its Governor appointed by the 

 King, that of Champoon occupying the highest rank, but 

 without exception they are greedy, ignorant, narrow-minded 

 men, who hate the foreigner, his trade and his habits. They 

 form a marked contrast to the discreet Chinamen that preside 

 over the destinies of the provinces lying South of these, who 

 in every way offer inducements to the capitalist to invest and 

 open out the resources of the country, either agricultural or 

 mining. But these old Siamese Governors are conservative 

 of all their rights, and desire nothing more urgently than to 

 keep the bustle and activity of civilization as far away as 

 possible, and to be allowed to tread their own way, and I, for 

 one, do not blame them. 



What the future of those provinces may be, I cannot say; 

 no doubt they contain much latent mineral and agricultural 

 wealth, but as long as the Siamese labourer can gain his 



