In every other country that I have as yet visited, the oath of allegiance is taken once only, on the Sovereign's accession to the throne; but in Siam this ceremony is regularly performed twice every year. And a very peculiar ceremony it is, too. All the Government officials, Civil and Military, are collected together in one place, particularly set apart for the purpose, and a large bowl of water is placed in their midst. Certain of the priests of Buddha then come iv, and mumble solemn i ions over the water, into which they anathema is drunk by every member of the assembly, and the people implicitly believe that, over any human punishment ed for the crime of disloyalty, direst vengeance is sure to overtake performed, King, in particul unself up to the gayest hilarity. of the oath of allegiance to him remove heavy load from his mind, for he is quite assured that, extreme joy, og pal
making valuable out on all sort of excursions, riding, driving, and boating. It thus happens that th priesthood are the chief gainers by thi ceremony, which takes place at those season of the year when the crops are being gathered in; #0 that what with rich gifts from th King, and large presents of rice, sugar, from the people, the idle priesta are alway well supplied, and live upon the fat of the land. 'The chief amusement, however, to which the Siamese resort on these fes occasions is boat-racing, at which they a debts, but on which, although iterate gamblers, they never bet smallest coin. They' look upon this national amusement as an amusement on] which requires no incentive yoy are the most expert swimwneountered, and, indeed, almost very me to the water, and, time they arrive at the age of seven tht, they are perfectly well able to take care of themselves in it. They go out in canoes, generally three or four in each, and race with one another, deliberately capsizing each other's crafts, and only laughing and clapping their hands wildly at this kind of fun, which would be anything but fun if only they could not swim like fish, No sort of mishap whatever that takes place on water alarms them, for men, women, and children, all are thoroughly accomplished in the art of natation; and {haveoftenthought to myself, while watching them indulging in this rather boisterous amusement, that the foreigner who went out boating with them, and could not swim well, would be ina sad light indeed. If he fell into the n ple cannot bring themselves to believe that any human being is not as expert a swimmer as any among themselves, and, before they could be made to comprehend' the sad fact, the unfortunate man would certainly drown. My caution, therefore,.to all non-boat ith the natives, unless you are swimmers jing Siam, is—don't go out tired of 1i Thave said that the Siamese are inveterate blers, and I have not exaggerated in least. This is the worst national vice, sad auch it will continue to be as long as it both actively and passively, Gambling the Government, as at present, encourages houses in Siam are as plentiful as coffee houses at Baghdad and Cairo, or grog shops largest portion of the Governmient revenue in Calcutta and Bombay; and, perhaps, the
is derived from them. One single dit of the Fort is farmed out for 3,600,000 ticals, equivalent to about 42 lakhs of rupees, a year; and, if s0 small portion of Bangkok fetches so large an income, you can conceive how large must be the annual sum the whole city contributes. These gambling houses are large sheds erected in every direction, and always filled with men, women, and children, who squat round in circles of ten or a dozen, devoting themselves heart and soul to the demoralizing propensity which they have neither the will nor the ability to overcome, You have a servant, who has, perhaps, served you well and faithfully through the mouth, You pay him his wages, and he is at once off to some gambling shed, where, if he is unlucky, he loses every fraction of his money. Then, and not till then, does he return to duty; and in some instances, by no means rare, he does not return even then, Once taken ion of by the demon of gen bling, he is not content with losing his money' only; but, if he has a ly, he stakes his wife and ch them also, he is not satis very often he stakes his own life and liberty. The last is done in this wise. The man goes to a money-lender, of whom there is no lack, and borrows a certain amount, at a ruinous rate of interest, on condition that, if he is not able to repay him within a certain time, he will work for him until the debt, principal and interest, has been liquidated, 'A bond is executed to th effect; the borrower receives Dondservant of his creditor. His creditor, may he, does not personally need his services 5 he hires one else who doos, and appropriates half his wages in liquidation of the debt incurred. This state of things continues for years, for, once in the power of a money-lender, it is one of the most difficult things to get out of it again; and not unfree quently the poor slave di very, having over and over again paid his creditor the sum originally borrowed, but yet not free from his debt, which the exorbitant rate of interest at which be borrowed has out to a most enormous size. This 'a most, cruel species of slavery, and the present Kin of Siam, who calls himself an enlightened i 1 professes to regard keenly the jis subjects, ought to devote hi self vigorously to its final and complete ex! pation. And royal interference is the more urgently called for, as not only do adults Bur even these of their children, who, with amble away their own lives and liberty
out fault whatever of their own, find themselves, on arriving at an age when they are able to work, enslaved to hard taskmasters, who dispose of them as they profit largely by the fruits of their "he boys vants by their owner, who draws their 8 and recoups himeelf for the adv: their father—an adi been pai and, per hay will be, paid. The girls, too, are hired out, ostensibly as servants, but in reality their servitude is nothing more or prostitution, They are servant and and thus it comes about that father are vit children. Recently the making some slight effort towards prosing, this most demoralizing gambling, or, rati of ives and children, by' curt ry, andenacting that children below acertain age shall not be permitted to be 1d, or pledged, as above described. But this does touch the root powerful and resolute stroke that it down. It must not only conti existence, but even founs! unless the King, by a Royal edict common with other well-wisha hope that the time is such an edict will be p: cooner it is, the better
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.