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In the evening we went with the Salwidhans to Saranrom Park, 
where a Buddhist fair was being held. In small booths various 
articles were for sale, and refreshments were being cooked over 
rosy braziers. In a small theatre a troop of dancers were performing, 
and although the place was peeked to the doors and we could only- 
get glimpses of the dance by standing on tiptoe and looking in through 
the windows, the effect of the dancers, wearing masks, the conventional 
heed-dresses, and sparkling gero-stiadded silk costumes, was very 
beautiful, and I would have enjoyed a closer and more adequate view 
of the posturing that constiti:tes a Siamese dance. We were more 
fortunate in hearing a Siamese orchestra, for we were invited right 
into their pavilion, seated beside the drums, and given a most 
interesting concert. Here again we heard the ; yllophone-like 
instrument, and also gongs, fifteen or twenty of them, arranged in 
a semi-circle, mounted on a wooden base, constituting a single 
instrument played by one m?n. Two xyllophones, two sets of gongs, 
one flute, and' f our drums, made up the orchestra. They were 
eecompanied by a chorus of five yong girls, chanting the story of 
Buddha's life. It was interesting to see, even if the music meant 
little to Occidental-trained ears. 
July 25 - 
Up early, and out to the Polo Club at eight o'clock, to 
watch the jumping competition between the Bangkok Polo Club and 
the Siamese cavalry officers. They had beautiful, spirited horses, 
but the track was slippery and treacherous. Time and again the 
horses refused the jumps; there were many spills, one of them a 
bad one when a Siamese broke his shoulder. The riding over, we 
had an elaborate breakfast, and then went on to the. Shorts Club 
for a swim. The pool here is a beauty, and the 1 ' place U^tr-~s<rci*l 
m&o^^g, for Bangkok society on Sunday mornings. We met the 
Cullings, and others whom we knew, and sipped cold drinks and ate 
curry puffs between swims. 
In the afternoon we went with the Salwidhans to the National 
Museum, where in a fine old palace are housed the artistic and 
historic treasures of Si am. There were many cases of Buddhas of 
all ages and of all materials - gold, bronze, stone, plaster, etc. 
A carved ivory howdah that once belonged to the Royal Family took 
my eve, as did the display of richly colored, handwoven silks. 
Here' was a case of old Siamese money, and I was surprised to learn 
that the type that is now used only by souvenir hunters for buttns 
once existed in pieces as big as your fist and worth eighty ticals. 
A print of Buddha's foot, in bronze, with each toe as big as an 
ordinary man's foot is one of the exhibits, as is also a model of 
the tooth, a replica of the original in Kandy. The tooth itself 
is something over an inch in length. Many bells, gongs and drums 
tempted Bill to test them for tone, but when he struck one of them 
Phys looked startled, and explained that the accompanying Siamese 
text said that if you wanted a child to strike this bell. Whereupon 
Bill struck it five times more. Old manuscripts are housed in 
lovely cases of inlaid wood. There are beautiful exhibits of 
armor and of ceramics - in fact all the arts, industries, and customs 
of ancient Siam are here shown at their best. 
A ride thr ugh "silver street", where dozens of open- fronted 
shops display a dazzling amount of silver work, finished the afternoon. 
We bought a jade ring and a pair of cuff links, and called it a day. 
