EASTERN GEOGRAPHY. 



gamboge of commerce, turn spi-ries *.{ rardamom. gutla-percha, lac, 

 and several other guminiferoua varieties* Amongst cultivated plants 

 thu leading jil.-n-v b taken by rin*. wlueh sup) .Ik* the great staple 

 of food, ami of which as mjinv as forty varieties are found. Next in 

 importance is cotton, which seems to be indigenous in the up hind 

 regions, and which after supplying the* native loom] is exported to 

 China. Other <'*'..inMiiir.L| plain* are sugar of excellent quality, 

 tobacco widely cultivated on the plains, mails, the cocoa-nat and 

 areca jwilms black [tepper in the Shnntahnn ■ti-strict, the soybean 

 and ground pea. Fish, a chief article, of diet, abound in the rivers 

 and gulf, and large quantities of ngapi, a favourite dish tit every 

 table, are prepared from fermented lish mid shrimps Slm-h I — 

 wax comes from Bnttambang, 



Tin- mineral resource* nre chielly copper, tin, nuignctie iron ores, 

 and antimony hi the Lao counirj north of the Knmt mountains. 

 Several streams are washed for gold, and rubies, sapphire, and other 

 precious stones are sent dow n by the torrents I'mot the Koh-Sabap, 

 or *■ Mountain of Gems," oast of Sliantabiin. The gold mines or 

 auriferous sands of Tifk Who in Hatlambang are also productive. 

 They nre at present worked by |wo {.'Inuese companies. 



Industries— Trade.— In the useful arts rif life the Siamese 

 have scarcely advanced mtich beyond the somewhat low level of 

 their Burmese neiglilxmrs. From the ntitive cotton they weave 

 fabric "f course and liner texture fur the ].n\il Pt"-i|«iT**jui"ii:^. and al*o 

 prepare their own earthenware. Formerly both the Siamese and 

 Loos displayed considerable skill in bronze cabling for the Buddhist 

 tannics*! but lit peasant the smelters and workers in iron appear to 

 he mainly the resident Chinese. The national table and in- 

 vontive faculty have been chiefly exercised in the de*ign and struc- 

 ture of their sacred edifices ami royal palaces. The finest monuments 

 of past limes are found in the ruined city of Ayuthia. But the 

 group of temples visited by Crawfurd in 1821 still covered u square 

 of 0. r rf) feet on each side. The teitiples within the enclosure, dispose*! 

 r..i:nd a large --••nlriil bni!diug. '■••iilained nll^gether I of") image* of 

 Buddha, some of which were of colossal sire. The ground storey of 

 these structures is usually of plain brick and mortar, all ornament- 

 ation being reserved for the elaborately carved upper portion and 

 teak root richly gilt on Isith sides, or covered with a coat of bright 

 vemiillinii, The etchings also, whether of hv:i>s 1 maize, . «r brkk, 

 are usually gitt all over. Some of the large elugics of Buddha stand 

 beneath lofty pyramidal spires attached to the temples, the most 

 noteworthy of which still towers to a height of some 400 feet 



