Siam

si-am', an independent kingdom situated in southwestern Asia. It lies in that part of the continent, which, from its intermediate position, is called Indo-China. France claims the eastern part of Indo-China; Great Britain claims the west. Siam retains the territory between them that these two powers have been pleased to leave it. It includes a part of the long Malay peninsula. On a school map Siam seems a small country. In reality it is larger than France, and has a population greater, it is thought, than that of Sweden. From June to November, the Menam River overflows its valley. It is sometimes called the Nile of Siam. The valley of the Nile is famous for wheat; that of Menam for rice. Rice is the chief food of the people. The rice crop is entirely dependent on the annual overflow for its success. Siam has three regions of interest--the uplands and mountains, the river plains, and the city of Bangkok. Minister John Barrett crowds a volume of description into the following brief paragraph:

For eight hundred miles the mother of waters flows through dense jungles where Englishmen in khaki helmets go to hunt for elephants; through broad paddy fields, where little brown men in bamboo hats snare rice birds; then it divides the city of Bangkok in two parts, and goes outward in majesty to the sea. It is the good and evil of Siam, and the priests watch it as they watch for the nod of Buddha.

The sapphire, ruby, and the topaz, tin, iron, copper and lead, zinc and antimony, are found in the hills and mountains of Siam. Cocoa and other palms are found in the dense jungles. Vast quantities of teak wood are sent down to the river. The work of carrying the timbers out of the jungles is performed by trained elephants who balance the logs on their tusks. Rice, as stated, is the chief crop. Indian corn, sweet potatoes, the mango, pomegranate, guava, pineapple, and black pepper, as well as tobacco and cotton, are produced in considerable quantities. There is really little limit to the future possibilities of Siam in this direction.

The Menam is full of fish. Cormorants, kingfishers, storks, and pelicans take their share. Crocodiles, lizards, tortoises, and green turtles bury their eggs on the shore. Geese and ducks nest in the reeds and swim about on the waters, unless they are pulled under by a hungry crocodile. Rats and mice, squirrels, and porcupines, are the chief gnawing animals. The tiger, the leopard, the bear, the wildcat, and a wild dog, with several species of deer, are found in the forests. The one-horned rhinoceros is common. There are many large serpents, including the python. In the remotest jungles, the largest elephants known may be found. They are not very wild. The natives make a practice of capturing them and training them to work. There are a few white specimens--mere huge albinos--which are regarded by the inhabitants as sacred. They are kept in the temples, none but royalty may ride on one. The reverence paid this animal has gained for Siam the name of the "Land of the White Elephant."

Bangkok is a picturesque city. The number of its inhabitants can only be estimated, but its population is believed to equal to that of St. Louis, Boston, or Baltimore. It is built on islands near the mouth of the Menam River. The houses are of light bamboo construction and stand on piles. A large number of temples, with lofty, gilded spires, and palaces surrounded by large gardens, give the city a picturesque appearance. A large part of the population lives in house-boats, which are moored, seven or eight deep, along the shores. The boatmen are engaged in fishing, and in carrying goods up and down the river from the head waters of the Menam to Singapore. They and their families have no other homes.

The people of Siam belong to the yellow race. They are short in stature, averaging but little over five feet. In religion they are followers of Buddha, in whose service there are 5,000 temples and 60,000 priests. Ordinary laborers earn about fifteen cents a day.

The principal exports of the country are rice, teakwood, dried fish, and pepper. Cloth, kerosene, opium, and hardware are the chief imports. There are telegraph lines and a few railroads. Bangkok has two electric street-car lines and electric lights. Siam is a member of the postal union. It costs but five cents to pay the postage on a letter to Bangkok from any postoffice in America. The lowest temperature known at Bangkok is 54 deg. F.; the highest 97 deg.; the mean average for the year is 81 deg. Frost is unknown.

When the Siamese first came into contact with Europeans, they did not understand what snow and ice were. Two English travelers once told the king that in their country water grew so hard that people could walk and slide on it. He took grave counsel with his wisest advisers, and informed the foreign scientists, at least so the anecdote runs, that the presence of such accomplished liars was not desired in the kingdom of Siam.

A feature of Siamese life of great interest to outsiders is the royal elephant hunt, the greatest hunt in the world. Unless interrupted by other matters, the king, accompanied by his court and a great number of tame elephants, beaters, and hunters, goes up each year to the interior of his country to drive wild elephants. A stockade or kraal has been built at a convenient place near the bank of the Menam River. A great extent of jungle is surrounded by a cordon of elephants and beaters. They advance toward the center, driving the wild elephants before them. As the hunt nears the center, droves of from ten to twenty-five of these immense beasts with their young may be seen fording the streams or threading the jungles, seeking to escape. The kraal is formed of immense timbers set on end after the manner of an American stockade. Openings are left for the elephants to enter. The elephants come plunging wildly through the forest and find themselves in the stockade before they are aware. The jam at the passages is not infrequently so great that some of the weaker elephants are injured or killed. When two terrified elephants attempt to pass through a narrow opening at the same time, neither will back out. A roundup of this sort brings not infrequently as high as 250 elephants, large and small. When they come from the forest the old elephants are, as a rule, gaunt and wrinkled. They are encrusted with mud or even covered with moss. They are sorted by their captors. The finest are taken for royal service or for use in the cities. The great bulk, however, are tamed by hunger and trained to carry teak through the forests and load timbers at the wharves. After a few months of captivity, food, and currying they become sleek, contented, intelligent fellows, much attached to their keepers.