24 
JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CBYLON). [VOL. XVIII. 
On the seventeenth day of the solar month Kataka about five hours 
before daAvn three officers came and accompanied us in boats. We 
landed in the street at the great gate in the city wall and entered 
carriages drawn by horses. The two sides of the street were decorated 
with various kinds of cloths and hung with gilt lamps shaped like 
pumpkins decorated with glass and plates of mica ; the street shone 
as with moonlight in the blaze of a hundred thousand lamps. We 
drove up the middle of the street as far as the great gate called Yam 
Thak. It was one unbroken stretch of gold-worked cloths of five 
colours, trays and boxes of silver and gold, ornaments of copper, 
bronze, brass, and zinc, red and white sandalwood, embroidered quilts 
and curtains, all kinds of medical stores, rice, cocoanuts, plantains, 
mandarin oranges, oranges, sweetmeats, all manner of flowers, all 
manner of eatables and drinkables, with sweets and meats : the shops 
were adorned with gilding, and the street a blaze of splendour. 
When we arrived within sight of the palace, which shone with gilt 
work, we alighted from our carriages and rested a short time in a hall 
hung with beautiful curtains where, according to their custom, sapu 
flowers were presented to us. Then we proceeded within the palace, 
entering by two gates adorned with gilding and all kinds of colours. 
On either side of the great throne were arranged figures of bears, lions 
rakshas, door-guardians, nagas, and bairawa yakshayas, two of each, 
adorned with gold. In their midst rose the throne, which appeared 
about 10 cubits high ; round it were fixed golden sesat^ while 
marvellous golden embroideries were hung round. The walls them- 
selves were gilt and the finials above the dais were of gold. Here we 
were brought before the king and presented the royal letter and presents, 
after which we were graciously permitted to visit the interior of the 
place. 
To the right of this was a gilt elephant stall ; within — covered with 
trappings of solid gold, with golden bells, frontlets, and eye-chains, gold- 
worked lienduvm and cmhiisa^ behind a network of ropes plated with 
gold, with a golden awning above secured to a post covered with plates 
of gold, with gilt tail and trunk, its tusks adorned with golden rings 
and encased with golden sheaths set with two magnificent gems at their 
tips, eating sugar-cane from a large gilt boat set up within, while another 
such held water for its use — there stood, on a gold-worked platform, a 
tusked elephant, with its eyes and hair the colour of copper. In a 
similar stall was a black tusker thickly covered with gray spots. 
Similarly on our left were two elephants in their stalls. 
In front of the gate in a gilt stable, almost hidden beneath their 
trappings of solid gold, was a ring of horses ; a similar ring faced this, 
alsoianother of elephants with gilt trappings. In the intervals of these 
was an innumerable host armed with gilt swords and shields resting 
on their knees ; another dressed in armour with tridents in their 
hands ; another armed with bows with gilt quivers suspended round 
their necks ; another of specially powerful men wearing on their heads 
the spire-shaped Siamese hat ; and another standing in line with guns 
and pouches. There was also a motley crowd resting on their knees, 
dressed in gorgeous clothes, with their heads wrapped in cloths of 
various hues ; this consisted of Pattani, Moors, Wadiga, Mukkara, 
men of Delhi, Malacca, and Java, Kavisi, Chinese, Paraiigis, Hol- 
landers, Sannasis, Yogis, English, French, Castilians, Danes, men from 
Surat, Ava, and Pegu, representing every race. Within the great gate 
on either side were two platforms on which stood two palmirahs and 
