336 
THE SOIL. 
ed as no weak bar to the mental improvement, and to the develop¬ 
ment of the physical energies of these tribes. They cannot perceive 
the utility of arts and sciences which, tinder more rigorous climes, 
necessity has originated, and which refinement and habit superadded 
to that necessity, now uphold and invigorate. 
It does not appear from any of the Siamese writings examined by 
me, or from information orally obtained, that the Sovereign is the 
virtual proprietor of the soil. That he is perfectly despotic cannot 
be doubted. But eastern despots generally encourage agriculture, 
and however the case may have stood originally. It is evident from 
law cases quoted in the digests anti decisions that the occupiers of the 
land have a firm prescriptive if not an indefeasible proprietory right 
in it. Perhaps their Kings may have deemed, and with truth, that 
their own prosperity w as linked with the admission of that right; 
and hence may have arisen the fixed assessment on landed property, 
which has not altered since the days of the earliest intercourse of 
Europeans with Siam. It is collected either in kind at 10 per cent 
or in money. Ten per cent on the value of the nett produce is here 
meant. Although this for Asia is a light tax in itself, yet when ta¬ 
ken in conjunction with the obligation to personal service for the 
state, and with other exactions to which all are liable, it will be found 
on the whole oppressive. Besides the Kings will often break through 
all law, social or moral. 
The assessment however is ouly fixed on land under grain cultiva¬ 
tion. Where it is stocked with valuable or useful trees and shrubs, 
the ruling power exerts the right of apportioning the tax to its in¬ 
creasing value to its owner. These observations are supported by 
passages in the Digests wherein cases in point are produced, and 
some have been derived from inquiries amongst the Siamese. In 
one instance a suit is brought into Court to recover damages from a 
Defendant for encroaching upon, and using a portion of land be¬ 
longing to the prosecutor, which it is stated he had originally dear - 
ed and cultivated « And ill another clause it is provided, that “ Pro¬ 
perty in the soil, or consisting of plantations and bee-tracts [meaning 
certain spaces of woodland where bees are abundant] must be proven 
