340 
THE SOIL, 
looking towards the East with their hands held out open before then! 
in a hollow form.* 
It is said by the Siamese, but with what truth has not been shewn, 
that in the 6th month when the King, agreeably to ancient usage, is 
bound to circumambulate the city during seven successive days,f 
should any delay take place in the preparation of the conveyance for 
his use, whether it be an elephant, chariot, palankeen, or a horse, 
all of which ought to be in requisition,—it is incumbent on him to 
stand on one foot until the cavalcade is ready, under pain of losing 
his crown. It is not probable that the tiara is ever placed in jeopar¬ 
dy from this silly custom. 
Several tribes of Hindus salute a superior by standing in the man¬ 
ner above described, and holding their joined hands in front of their 
faces or foreheads. 
Amongst the omens dreaded by a Prince are certain appearances 
in the heavens, eclipses, comets, falling of bats, dreams, bleeding- of 
statues, (in which they believe,) twinkling of the eyelids, words acc¬ 
identally heard in walking the street, calling of lizards, &c. 
The Siamese traditions respecting the introduction of agricultural 
habits amongst the human race, are coeval with those which have 
reference to their mundane chronology, and have apparently been de¬ 
rived from the west, and incorporated into their history, after they 
had themselves become an agricultural people. They suppose that 
there is a Me p,ha sop or primary principle from which grain sprung. 
Of this it is related in the Bali work Tri P,hom or Tree loka, “ the 
three words displayed,” that, in the first and innocent age, grain 
(meaning rice) was not only abundant but was cultivated without 
trouble. It so happened, however, that the fair sex (alas!) of those 
times had most voracious appetites for this kind of food, and devour¬ 
ed such quantities of it, that the Mh p,ha-sop, in order to punish 
them, ordained that they should only reap chaff in future. The males, 
finding that a scarcity had ensued, and that they had difficulty in 
* Asiatic Researches vol. v. p. 235. 
j This is also the period of a great Hindu festival, vide A. S. Journal 
Thx H5p. 1L 
