OFFICERS OF GOVERNMENT.
Next in rank and station to the king, is the wang-na, commonly called, by Europeans, the second king. This high officer is always one of the most exalted of the princes, and is chosen by the king at the time of his accession to the throne. When he survives the king he commonly succeeds him on the throne; but when the wang-na dies first, it is seldom that another is appointed to fill his place, during the reign of the same king. Hence there was no one who held the office at the time of our arrival, the one chosen on the accession of the present king having died about ten months before.
At the head of the Siamese administration is the supreme council, consisting of the following officers:—
First: A president, a prince of high rank. When the mission was in the country, this office was held by the prince Khroma-luang-rah.
Second: Chao-phaya-bodin-deeha or khroma-ha-thai, formerly called Chao-phaya-chakri. He has the general superintendance of the northern provinces adjoining Pegue, and of the principalities of Laos and Camboja.
Third: Chao-phaya-maha-sena, or khroma-ka-la-hom; he is of equal rank with the lastmentioned, and holds the office of commander-in-chief of all the land and sea forces, with the general superintendance of the southwestern provinces, even to the last tributary Malay rajah.
Fourth: Chao-phaya, praklang or khromatha, the minister of commerce and foreign affairs, who also has the superintendance of the southeastern provinces adjoining Cochin-China. This office and the lastmentioned, are at present held by one individual.
Fifth: Chao-phaya-jomarat, or khroma-muang, minister of criminal justice.
Sixth: Chao-phaya-phollathep, or khrom-na, minister of agriculture and produce.
Seventh: Chao-phaya-therama-terat, or chroma-wang, governor of the royal palace.
The mission, during its stay in the country, had intercourse only with the praklang, and the subordinate officers of his department. These were:—
First: Chao-phaya praklang: Chao-phaya is the first in order of the honorary titles. Praklang is said to signify, “lord of the store-houses,” and is the title of the office. This signification corresponds with the title given to him by the Chinese, viz.: “Great minister of the treasuries or store-houses.”
Second: Phaya-si-piphat. This office is held by one of the brothers of the praklang. Phaya is the second honorary title.
Third: Phaya-piphat-kossa, called by the Portuguese, the second praklang.
The other officers in this department, consisting of four phayas, two pras, (or officers of the third rank,) eleven luangs, (of the fourth rank,) &c., were never met with by the mission, exceptwhen in the presence, and acting under the orders, of their superiors.
Connected with this department is that of the Farang-khroma-tha, “Frank (or European) commercial board,” under the direction of the Luang-sura-sakhon, chief of the Linguists, or captain of the port. This office is at present held by Sur-Jose-da-Piedade.
The commander of the artillery, Phaya-viset, Song-khiam, is also often brought in connexion with foreign missions. This office is held by Sur-Beneditto-de-Arvellegeria, a Cambojan Portuguese, who, with his brother, Sur-Pascoal, has been for many years in the employ of the king of Siam. The governors of all provinces, whether great or small, are of the second rank, or phayas, with one exception, that of the governor of Ligore, called Chao-phaya-lahhon. Their subordinate officers are not known.
ANCIENT LAWS OF SIAM—LEGAL OATHS—PUNISHMENT FOR DEBT—DIVORCES—POPULATION OF SIAM—STATURE AND COMPLEXION OF THE SIAMESE—DIVISION OF TIME—BOUNDARIES AND POSSESSIONS OF SIAM—MARINE OF SIAM—IMPORTS—INLAND TRADE—CURRENCY—TREATY OF COMMERCE—TABLE OF EXPORTS.
ANCIENT LAWS OF SIAM—LEGAL OATHS—PUNISHMENT FOR DEBT—DIVORCES—POPULATION OF SIAM—STATURE AND COMPLEXION OF THE SIAMESE—DIVISION OF TIME—BOUNDARIES AND POSSESSIONS OF SIAM—MARINE OF SIAM—IMPORTS—INLAND TRADE—CURRENCY—TREATY OF COMMERCE—TABLE OF EXPORTS.
The Siamese have writtenlaws, which are dated as far back as 561 of Christ; and others are referred to in their courts, to the years of 1053-1614 and 1773.
The higher officers of state are the justices and magistrates, but the final decision rests with the principal local authority within whose district the delinquent resides. Where the government is a perfect despotism, and the channels of justice are polluted by corrupt propounders of the law, equity and justice are but empty names, and good laws a mere mockery. Oaths are administered to witnesses only on formal and solemn occasions: the following being the form used in their courts as translated by Capt. Lowe:—
“I, who have been brought here as an evidence in this matter, do now, in the presence of the divine Prah-Phutt hi-rop (Budha,) declare that I am wholly unprejudiced against either party, and uninfluenced in any way by the opinions or advice of others, and that no prospects of pecuniary advantage, or of advancement to office, have been held out to me; I also declare that I have not received any bribe on this occasion. If what I have now spoken be false, or if in my further averments I should colour or pervert the truth, so as to lead the judgment of others astray, may the three Holy Existences, viz.: Budha, the Bali (personified,) and the three priests, before whom I now stand, together with the glorious Dewatas (demi-gods) of the twenty-two firmaments, punish me.
“If I have not seen, yet shall I say I have seen; if I shall say that I know that which I do not know, then may I be thus punished. Should innumerable descents of the Deity happen for theregeneration and salvation of mankind, may my erring and migrating soul be found beyond the pale of their mercy—wherever I go, may I be encompassed with dangers, and not escape from them, whether arising from murderers, robbers, spirits of the earth, of the woods, of water, or of air, or from all the divinities who adore Budha, or from the gods of the four elements, and all other spirits.
“May blood flow out of every pore of my body, that my crime may be made manifest to the world; may all or any of these evils overtake me within three days, or may I never stir from the spot on which I now stand, or may thehatsani, or lash of the sky, (lightning,) cut me in two, so that I may be exposed to the derision of the people; or if I should be walking abroad, may I be torn to pieces by either of the four supernaturally endowed lions, or destroyed by poisonous herbs or venomous snakes. If when in the waters of the rivers or ocean, may supernatural crocodiles or great fishes devour me, or may the winds and waves overwhelm me; or may the dread of such evils keep me, during life, a prisoner at home, estranged from every pleasure, or may I be afflicted with the intolerable oppressions of my superiors, or may a plague cause my death; after which may I be precipitated into hell, there to go through innumerable stages of torture, among which may I be condemned to carry water over the flaming regions in open wicker baskets, to assuage the heat felt by Than-Wetsuan, when he enters the infernal hall of justice, and thereafter may I fall into the lowest pit of hell; or if these miseries should not ensue, may I after death migrate into the body of a slave, and suffer all the hardships and pains attending the worst state of such a being, during a period of years, measured by the sand of four seas; or may I animate the body of an animal, or beast, during five hundred generations; or be born an hermaphrodite five hundred times, or endure in the body of a deaf, blind, dumb, houseless beggar, every species of loathsome disease during the same number of generations, and then may I be hurried to varah, or hell, and there be crucified by Phria-yam, one of the kings of hell.”
The Siamese are extremely capricious, in the standard value of witnesses; the oath of priests and men in office, bearing a preference over all others, while there are not less than twenty-eight in number, who are excluded, and declared to be incompetent; they are as follows: contemners of religion, persons in debt, the slavesof a party to a suit, intimate friends, idiots, those who do not hold in abhorrence the cardinal sins, among which are enumerated, besides theft and murder, drinking spirits, breaking prescribed fasts, and reposing on the mat or couch of a priest or parent, gamblers, vagrants, executioners, quack-doctors, play-actors, hermaphrodites, strolling musicians, prostitutes, blacksmiths, persons labouring under incurable disorders, persons under seven or above seventy, bachelors, insane persons, persons of violent passions, shoemakers, beggars, braziers, midwives, and sorcerers.
Tortures are resorted to in cases of treason or atrocious robbery, and even among debtors where property is supposed to be concealed, as well as the ordeal by water and immersing the hands in boiling oil or melted tin. He who remains the longest under water, and the hand which comes forth unscathed, are pronounced to be innocent. A debtor may be punished by stripes and imprisonment, or dried, as it is termed by the Siamese, that is exsiccated by being exposed to the direct rays of a burning sun, suffering in addition the torments from myriads of noxious insects, and finally to be sold as a slave if he is unable to discharge his debt.
A great number of debtors are seen in irons about the bazars, whose only mode of subsistence is by begging; and they seldom ask in vain of a people who are pre-eminently charitable.
PUNISHMENTS.
Theft is punished with the bamboo and with imprisonment, and even hard labour for life, in aggravated cases. Murder, counterfeiting coin, and forging the royal signet, with imprisonment for life, and the severest punishment of the bamboo; and in cases of cruel and deliberate murder, with death, by decapitation. A breach of the marriage-vow is not deemed a highly criminal act, and it is easily commuted by paying a fine, according to the rank or standing of the parties, from the sum of two hundred and seventy to ninety dollars. Marriage is a civil contract, and the Talapoins are not considered, in any way, necessary to legalize the contract; but their prayers and benedictions are occasionally bestowed. Insults are punished, from an inferior to a superior, according to the aggravation of the offence, by a fine, and even by corporal punishment, when a priest is the aggrieved party.
If a priest commits a criminal act, he is divested of the sacerdotal habit, and is punished generally with more severity than a layman. Divorces are easily obtained, and each party receives back whatever was contributed to the common stock. The minor male children go to the mother, and the female to the father. Property can only be given to the wife and children, and daughters receive from a half to a whole share more than the sons. Wills must be made in the presence of four witnesses.
Siam appears to be a place of refuge for the surrounding nations, and is composed of a great variety of people, viz.: Siamese, Laos, Cambojans, Malays, Kariangs, Lawas, Kas, Chongs and Semangs, Chinese, Mohammedans, and Hindoos of western India, Peguans, and Portuguese. The population of the whole empire, including their late conquests in the Malay peninsula, does not probably exceed three millions and six hundred thousand, (although many Siamese rate it, in round numbers, at five millions.) Of this number, I am led to believe, from frequent conversations held with men in office, that the Siamese do not exceed one million and six hundred thousand. The native population of Lao, about one million and two hundred thousand. The Chinese at not less than half a million, there being nearly three hundred and forty thousand in the capital and the villages which compose Bang-kok. The Malays, probably, amount to three hundred and twenty thousand; and the remainder are natives of western India. Peguans, Cambojans and Portuguese, the latter from pretty correct authority, do not exceed fourteen hundred in the whole Siamese dominions. The Kariangs, the Lawas, the Kas, and the Chongs, are wild and migratory races; the three first inhabit the mountains and fastnesses of Lao, from the Burman dominions to Camboja. The Chongs inhabit the hilly country, bordering on the eastern side of the Siamese gulf. The Semangs are a race of savage negroes, dwelling in the mountainous regions of the Malay peninsula, of which a very curious and particular statement was published by J. Anderson, Esq., included in his account of the “Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Malay Peninsula,” which I have subjoined at the end of my Journal on Siam.[†]
By actual admeasurement of a great number of Siamese, it is ascertained that the average height does not exceed five feet and four inches. Their skin is darker then the Chinese, yet they are several shades lighter than the Malays; their complexion is rather a dark shade of yellow or a yellowish brown. All classes delight inheightening it, by using turmeric. A light yellow is considered to be the “ne plus ultra” of all colours and all shades. This taste is derived, probably, from the numerous Chinese who reside there. Owing to their frequent bathing, and daily using a clean waist-cloth, their skin is remarkably smooth, soft, and shining. They are inclined to obesity, have large lower limbs and stout long arms; yet they are by no means a strong or robust people. Thefaceis broad and flat—the cheek-bones round, but prominent—thenoserather small, round at the point, and rather hollow at the bridge—they have large mouths and rather thick lips—the lower jaw is long and full at the extremities, and the countenance apparently square—the eyes are small and black, the white tinged with a yellow cast—the forehead, although broad in a lateral direction, is generally low—the beard is very scanty. The diameter of the head is remarkably short from the front, backward; the top is unusually flat, and from the crown to the nape of the neck, (in a large proportion of them,) is nearly in a straight line. The hair is always black, thick, coarse, and lank.
DIVISION OF TIME.
The Siamese week consists of seven days; the months, alternately, of twenty-nine and thirty days; and twelve months, or three hundred and fifty-four days, make a year. The year being solar, an intercalary month of thirty days is added every third year after the eighth month. The month is divided into a dark and a bright half, as the moon is upon the increase or the wane. The Siamese new year corresponds with that of the Chinese, which commencesafterthe last half of the month of January, or the sun’s entrance into Aquarius. It is very certain, that in forming their calendar, they depend upon that constructed at Peking. There is also a greater division of time, consisting of twelve years, each year taking the name of some animal, thus:—
Siamese.English.First yearChuatRat.Second yearChabuOx or cow.Third yearKhānTiger.Fourth yearThōHare.Fifth yearMarongDragon, or great snake.Sixth yearMasengSnake, or lesser serpent.Seventh yearMa-miaHorse.Eighth yearMa-meeGoat.Ninth yearWock, or VockMonkey, or ape.Tenth yearRay-ka, or RakaCock, or fowl.Eleventh yearChō, or Chō-ChōDog.Twelfth yearKhan, or KunPig, or hog.
The Siamese have two epochs, sacred and popular. Thesacredera dates from the death of Gautama, and the year 1833 corresponded to the 2376 year. The vulgar era was instituted when the worship of Gautama was first introduced; and the year 1833 corresponded with the year 1194, and was the fifth, or dragon year.
Siam proper extends from about the latitude of 23° north, to the gulf of that name, and is bounded, west by the Burman empire, and east by the Lao (Lau) mountains. This is the valley of the Menam, the “Mother of waters,” the country of the true Siamese. The Menam, after watering the low, flat land, by its annual deposites, empties itself, by three channels, into the gulf of Siam. The boundaries of the Siamese dominions on the bay of Bengal, extend from the Burman, (or more correctly speaking, in the present day,) theEnglishBurmese dominions, as far south as the boundary line between the petty states of Perak and Quedah, in the straits of Malacca, in about the latitude of 5° north, in which is included the valuable island of Junk, Ceylon or Salung, containing a vast body of tin ore. It then extends nearly east, across the Malay peninsula, in about the same latitude, between the provinces of Tungano and Pakhang, the shores of which are bathed by the China sea: it then extends north to the head of the gulf of Siam. The Siamese government, during the year 1832, brought under their immediate subjection, nearly the whole of the tributary states in the Malay peninsula. They possess, also, a large part of the late kingdom of Lao, including the former capital of the empire, called Lau-chang, situated on the great river Camboja, in about the sixteenth degree of north latitude, and which is represented to be very populous. They hold also (with the exception of a small portion of the southern part) the province of Batabang, in Camboja. Their eastern boundary line is in about the longitude of 105°, and extends north to the latitude of 15°, being the dividing line between Lao and Camboja, and extending south to the Siamesegulf, the boundary being the island of Kong, (alias Ko Kong,) situate in north latitude 10° 43′, and longitude 103° 17′ east. Extending north, on the east coast of the gulf, lies Chautabun, once a part of the ancient kingdom of Camboja. It is well known as a rich and valuable possession of Siam.
The Siamese possess no ships of war, but they have an immense number (probably not less than five hundred) of war-canoes; some of them being over a hundred feet in length, and made of a single teak-tree: they have also, probably, fifty or sixty vessels, having two or three masts, using fore and aft sails, and carrying from three to eight brass guns: the largest do not exceed a hundred tons’ burden: these are neatly and strongly built, and many of them are even elegant models. The whole number of mariners employed in foreign and coasting voyages, may be fairly estimated as amounting to not less than thirteen thousand.
PRODUCTS—IMPORTS.
Siam is a very fertile country, and abounds in productions suited for foreign trade, beyond any other with which I am acquainted to the eastward of the cape of Good Hope. It is no less distinguished for the variety and abundance of its mineral, than it is acknowledged to be for its vegetable productions. I have annexed a statement, showing the exports of 1832, the quantities of each article, the prices, &c., &c.
To the Siamese trade may be added that of ship building, which is carried on very extensively. A great number of Chinese junks are built here annually; the timbers are of a very hard wood called marbao, and the plank is of the finest teak in the world. Many of these vessels are of a thousand tons’ burden.
The imports consist of British piece goods, white and printed, with some woollens. India goods, of all descriptions, the coarser from Bengal, and the finer and more expensive, from Surak. From China are brought silks and teas, porcelain, quicksilver, and almost every other article exported from that country. From other sources powder, arms, and cannon; glass ware, and crockery; cutlery; some drugs; arrack; wine, &c., &c. Opium is strictly prohibited; but the Chinese and others introduce, clandestinely, large quantities for sale. There is an immense trade carried on at the capital, called Si-a-Yuthia, (pronounced See-ah-you-té-ah,) and on the opposite, or right bank of the river, at Bang-kok.
Cotton twistis daily increasing in demand, more particularlylow numbers, from twenty to thirty. Twist, of a bright red, (not narrow,) from number forty to fifty, always sells well; yellow and green are died in the country, as well as ordinary red. Not more than twenty peculs should be sent by one vessel.
Siamese dressesshould be of small star patterns, on red, blue, and green grounds, with a few chocolate grounds: theredgrounds must bebright; they should be in the proportion offourtooneof the others. Each case should contain twenty corges, containing four hundred dresses.
Prints, generally called seven eighths, find a ready market. They must be all of the star pattern, bright ground and narrow. The proportion is, two pieces of red to one of black or blue, in a case of a hundred pieces. Some on cloth, of thirty-four to thirty-six inches, would also sell.
Chintz.Large pattern furniture chintz is saleable. It is used for curtains and screens. Patterns running lengthwise, are preferred.
Ells.Long ells find a ready sale. The consumption ofredis very great. There should be one hundred pieces of red to twenty of green.
Woollens.Thinladies’ cloths only are in demand; heavy, thick broadcloths will not sell. From September to December, there is a demand for them. Red and green are the favourite colours. In a bale of twelve pieces, each seventeen and a half to eighteen yards in length, there should be five of red, four of green, one of yellow, one of light blue, one of light purple.
Steel, in tubs of a small size, sells readily in small parcels.[†]
The inland trade is a very important branch, especially with Lau, and the Chinese province of Yunan, &c. This domestic traffic is carried on, on the Menam, in flat-boats, and on bamboo-rafts. Boats leave Lau in August and September, when the river is swollen by the periodical rains, and arrive at Bang-kok in November and December. They bring stic-lac, benzoin, raw silk, ivory, beeswax, horns, hides, timber, &c., &c. The articles of merchandise exported into China, through Lau, consist of coarse woollens, broadcloths, cutlery, gold, copper, lead, &c., &c. The Chinese are the principal foreign traders. The Siamese prosecute a large foreign and coasting trade to China, Camboja, Cochin-China, the Malay peninsula, to Singapore, to the eastern coast of Sumatra, to the bay of Bengal, &c., &c. The traffic between the countries lying on the shores of the straits of Malacca and the bay of Bengal, is generally conducted by three different routes, across the Malay peninsula; and then reshipped, in boats, on the gulf of Siam, to the capital: the imports being British and Indian goods, opium, esculent swallows’ nests, &c., &c.
The population of the capital and Bang-kok, with their suburbs, may fairly be rated at four hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, I deem it best to state this fact, so that it may be seen that, in a commercial point of view, it is a place of great importance.
COINS AND WEIGHTS.
The Siamese coin no money strictly speaking; they usebentbars of silver, made nearly round and stamped with a star. Those of the largest size are called baats, and by Europeansticals. They are of the value ofsixty-onecents and a small fraction. The halves are denominated two salings, the quarters one saling; there are also eighths, called one tuang. They have a gold currency formed in the same manner and of various values; they have no copper or tin coin: occasionally, some of the latter may be seen brought from Calantin, &c.: cowries or bias are used in their stead.
Thecurrencyis as follows: one thousand and fifty cowries or bias make one tuang; two tuangs, one saling; four salings, one baat or tical.
Imaginary or money of account: four baats, one tamling; twenty tamlings, one catty or eighty baats; fifty catties, one pecul or one thousand baats.[†]
Theweightsare the same as in China, being the pecul and catty; one hundred catties making one pecul; one catty, one and a third pounds avoirdupois. The fathom is the measure in most frequent use, being six feet, six inches; also, twelve finger-breadths make one span; two spans, one cubit; four cubits, one fathom; twenty fathoms, one sen; one hundred sens, one yuta or yut.
TREATY WITH SIAM.
On the twentieth day of March, 1833, corresponding to Wednesday, the last of the fourth month of the year 1194, calledPi-ma-rong-chat-tava-sok, (or the year of the dragon,) the final articles of the first commercial treaty between Siam and the United Stateswere concluded after a negotiation of twenty-two days, and on the first day of April they were signed and sealed; but only a single copy of the treaty could be obtained, notwithstanding the promise of the chao-phaya praklang, one of the first ministers of state, that two copies should be furnished me. No other reason was assigned for this breach of promise, than that it was not customary.
It is written in four languages, viz.: Siamese, Chinese, Portuguese, and English, and is of the great length of nine feet and seven inches. Previously to the signing of the treaty, the charges were not defined and fixed; now, all obstacles and impositions are removed, and but a single charge is made of seventeen hundred ticals on every Siamese fathom of seventy-eight inches on the breadth of the vessel, if merchandise is imported, and fifteen hundred if specie only is brought. This charge is in full of all import and export duties either on vessel or cargo. The sixth article of the treaty relates to debtors. As foreigners were equally liable to the penalties with the natives, I deemed it most proper to guard against the barbarity, which gave the creditor in fact the power of life and death over his debtor, and therefore in the early stage of the negotiation, I proposed an article (which was agreed to) which released the American citizen only, from all pains and penalties, by delivering to his creditors all the property he possessed. About a fortnight after its conclusion, the minister inserted an additional clause, making it reciprocal, so that the Siamese debtor might receive the same benefit of the American creditor. He was told it would have an unequal operation, as it would very rarely occur that an American would incur a debt to a Siamese; but he insisted that it should remain as it was, although I proposed nullifying the whole article. But still if any American feels disposed to take advantage of a code of laws written in blood, it will readily suggest to him that a transfer of his debt to a responsible Siamese, will give him a free and unimpeded course to hunt down a prostrate victim.
An attempt was made to reduce the measurement-duty on vessels bringing specieonly, to eight hundred ticals (instead of fifteen hundred) but it did not prove successful, and a similar failure was the result of another proposition to admit vessels wishing to purchase a part of a cargo only, by paying a proportionate part of the measurement-duty.
The treaty has removed all obstacles to a lucrative and important branch of our commerce; the merchant being left free to sell or purchase where and of whom he pleases. Prior to this period, the American merchant was not allowed to sell to a private individual the cargo he imported, nor purchase a return cargo. The king claimed the exclusive right of purchase and sale in both cases; and furthermore, such parts of the imported cargoes as were most saleable, were selected and taken at his own valuation, which was always at prices far below the market value, asprofitwas the sole object in making the purchases.
Secondly: he also fixed the prices of the articles wanted for return cargoes, and no individual dared offer any competition either in buying or selling.
Thirdly: the American merchant not only did not obtain a fair value for his merchandise, but it is notorious that he had to pay from twenty to thirty per cent. more for the produce of the country than he could have purchased it for from private hands.
Fourthly: the vexations occasioned by delay were a matter of serious complaint. It was no uncommon circumstance to be delayed from two to four months beyond the stipulated time. The loss sustained, say for three months’ charter, and interest on the capital employed for that time, &c., &c., amounted to several thousand dollars. In addition to all these evils the merchant was frequently obliged to take payment ininferiorarticles, at thehighestmarket value for thebest, and evenunsaleablemerchandise at high prices.
Fifthly: the duties on imports were not permanent; they varied from eight to fifteen per centum.
Sixthly: the export duty on sugar of the first quality, was one dollar and a half (Spanish) per pecul, which was not less than from 25 to 30 per centum upon the first cost, and other articles were charged in the same proportion.
Seventhly: port-charges and other exactions were not defined and fixed, but they generally amounted to not less than three and a half (Spanish) dollars per ton.
Eighthly: Presents were expected, and in fact exacted, from the king to the lowest custom-house officer, according to the usages of Asiatics; there were but a few vessels that did not pay upward of a thousand dollars, if they had a valuable cargo. The difference, therefore, in exactions and impositions, prior and subsequent to the conclusion of the treaty, may be stated on a vessel of two hundred and fifty tons, having a twenty-five feet beam, as follows: The duties,formerly, were from eight to fifteen per cent. onimports; the average rate was not less than ten per cent.
Now, on a cargo of $40,000, it would give the sum of$4,000Addto this $1,50 per pecul on sugar exported, which was equal, at the lowest calculation, to twenty-five per cent., on $40,000, which gives10,000Also, $3,50 per ton for charges975And presents, say1,000If there is added thedifferencein the sale of the imported cargo to the king or to individuals, the estimate cannot be less than twenty per cent., and probably twice that amount would not cover the loss,8,000Addto this an additional price paid to the king on the produce exported, say it was twenty per cent., is8,000Three months’ charter, arising from detention, at $900 per month2,700Three months’ loss of interest is600$35,275From this amount deduct thesingle chargeof 1,700 ticals per each Siamese fathom on thebreadthof vessels bringing merchandise. If only specie were brought, 1,500 ticals.Sixty-eight thousand ticals at sixty-one cents, on seventy-five feet beam, is4,275Making a difference of not less than$31,000
The result is, that the treaty has secured to us a valuable branch of commerce which was entirely destroyed, and which will continue to increase vastly, as the Siamese recover from the serious disasters which resulted from the inundation of the valley of the Menam, for upward of three months, during the year 1831.
NAMES OF EXPORTS.QUANTITY.PRICES.Pepper,38,000 peculs,10 ticals per pecul.Sugar, 96,000 peculs,15,000 1st sort,8 do. do.60,000 2d do.7 a. 7½ do. do.20,000 3d sort,6 a. 6½ ticals per pcl.1,000 Preto or black,2½ a. 3½ do. do.Sugar candy,5,000 peculs,15 16 do. do.Tin, 1,600,000 lbs.,1,200 do.20 22 do. do.Tobacco,3,500 do.100 bundles, 4 ticals.Benzoin,100 do.50 a. 55 peculs.Cardamom, 73,150 lbs.,550 1st sort,100 a. 360 a. 380.do. 2d do.150 a. 280 300.3d do.300 200 220.Ivory, 40,000 lbs.,300 peculs,160 a. 180.Bar-iron, 2,260,000 lbs.,20,000 do.3½ a. 4.Kwalahs or iron pans, 60,000,1st size,4 ticals per peculs.2d do.3 do. do.3d do.2½ do. do.4th do.2 do. do.5th do.2 do. do.6th do.1½ do. do.7th do.1¼ do. do.Aguils or eagle-wood,10 a. 12 do.1st sort, 400 ticals.2d and 3d, 250 and 200.Cotton,30 a. 40,00026 clear, 8 in seed.Swallows’ nest, (esculent,)10 a. 121st sort, 10,000.2d do. 6,000.3d do. 4,000.Bichos do Mar or Tripang,Camphire, Malayan,Wax, yellow,1,800, do.55 a. 60.Gamboge,250, 6 quantities averaging from 40 to 80 p. p.Varnish,500,50 per pecul.Salt,8,000 peculs,2½ a. 3½ per pecul.Dried fish,60,000,3 a. 4 do.Sapan-wood,200,000,from 1 a. 3½ salings per pec.Teak-timber,127,000 logs,Rose-wood,200,000 peculs,3 salings per pecul.Barks, Mangrove, &c.,200,000 bundles,6 ticals per 100 bundles.Leather, Deer,100,000,20 a. 25 per 100.Iron-wood, (ebony)1,500 peculs,2½ peculs.Dried meat,1,600,6 per do.Copper300,50 a. 55.Rhinoceros skins,not ascertained.Buffalo do.1,500,8 a. 10.Ox do.300,7 a. 8.Elephant do.not ascertained.Tiger do.do.Leopard do.do.Bear do.do.Snake do.do.Civet-cat do.do.„ „ Drug,not ascertained.Dragons’ blood,do.Sharks’ fins,65 to 70 peculs,a. 65 per peculs.Buffalo and ox horns,300 do.3 a. 4 per do.Deers’ antlers, do. soft,26,000 pairs,1½ a. 2 ticals per pair.do. horns, do.3,000 peculs,8 a. 9 per pecul.Ox and Buffalo bones,300,1 do.Elephant do.450,7 do.Rhinoceros do.do.do. horns,do.Tiger, the entire bodies for China market,56 a. 60 do.Peacock’s tails,1,200 trains,7 a. 8 per pecul.Raw silk, (from Lao)200 peculs,200 ticals per do.Rough pitch,10,000,3 to 8 do. do.Wood oil,15,000,3 to 6 do. do.Takan, an inferior or bastard Cardamom,4,000,32 to 40 do. do.Feathers,4,000 pairs of wings,65 a. 100 do. do.Large feathers for fans,100 to 150 pairs,30 ticals per pecul.Fish skins,1,800 peculs,30 do. do.Jagra or palm-sugar,150,000 pots,4 to 6 pots 1 tical.Rattans,200,000 bundles,4 ticals per 100 bundles.
The foregoing is the quantity ascertained by the government for 1832, to which may be added a considerable quantity for each article smuggled, and principally by the Chinese. The exports, therefore, for the year 1832, taking the foregoing statement to be correct, amount to a sum not less thanfourand ahalf millions of dollars.
The foregoing is the quantity ascertained by the government for 1832, to which may be added a considerable quantity for each article smuggled, and principally by the Chinese. The exports, therefore, for the year 1832, taking the foregoing statement to be correct, amount to a sum not less thanfourand ahalf millions of dollars.
DEPARTURE FROM BANG-KOK FOR SINGAPORE—SINGAPORE—COMMERCE—BUGIS—MARITIME LAWS—DEPARTURE FROM SINGAPORE—STRAITS OF GASPAR—ISLAND OF JAVA—POPULATION OF JAVA—CLOTHING—DYING—STAMPING—FRUITS—BIRDS.
DEPARTURE FROM BANG-KOK FOR SINGAPORE—SINGAPORE—COMMERCE—BUGIS—MARITIME LAWS—DEPARTURE FROM SINGAPORE—STRAITS OF GASPAR—ISLAND OF JAVA—POPULATION OF JAVA—CLOTHING—DYING—STAMPING—FRUITS—BIRDS.
Having brought my mission to a close in a very satisfactory manner, I was, on the evening of the third of April, invited to wait upon the praklang. The principal object of the visit was to reiterate his assurances, that every facility should be granted to American commerce, both in selling their cargoes, and in collecting their debts. And, furthermore, to state, that the presents the king and himself desired, should be returned with the ratified treaty.
The following list was then given of the presents desired by the king and the praklang:—
For the king: Five pairs of stone statues of men and women; some of the natural and some of the larger size,clothed in various costumes of the United States. Ten pair of vase lamps, of the largest size, plain glass. One pair of swords, with gold hilt and scabbards; the latter ofgold, notgilt—shape of blade, a little curved.
For the praklang: One mirror, (or pair of mirrors,) three cubits long by two broad, fixed in a stand, so as to form a screen; frame, carved and gilt; back, painted green. Soft, hairy carpeting, of certain dimensions; and some flower and fruit trees, planted, or in seed, with flower-pots.
I then took leave, after many demonstrations of good-will.
Some presents of the productions of the country, were sent to me, of very mean quality, and of inconsiderable value.
On the fourth, the same boats being in readiness, which brought us to the city, in the evening we embarked, reached the ship in the morning, and the day following, made sail down the gulf.
Our passage to Singapore (a distance of less than a thousand miles) occupied us till the first of May; the winds being very light and adverse, and constantly shifting between the south and southeast points. On the nineteenth, we made the group of islands, called the “Great Redangs.” On the twenty-second, when Pulo Brala was in sight, we spoke a Portuguese brig from Singapore, having on board an assistant Roman Catholic bishop for Siam, and a new consul, to take the place of Mr. Silviera; two days subsequently, we fell in with two small Cochin-Chinese junks, from the province of Nhiatrang, for Singapore, who sent a boat alongside, and asked most beseechingly for water, having been, as they said, destitute of any for the last six days, as they had brought only an earthen pot or two, for the supply of two vessels; being apparently wretchedly poor, a full cask was given them, after they had drunk to satiety. We successively fell in with Pulo Timoan and Pulo Aor. The vicinity of these islands is remarkable, as well as the southeastern point of the Malay peninsula, for piratical vessels, which are constantly cruising about in search of small trading vessels. On the thirtieth, we were swept by the violence of the current on the Romania bank, where we anchored in nine and three quarters fathoms of water; the following day we anchored about two miles from Singapore, near to our old friend, Captain Lambert, of his Britannic majesty’s frigate, Alligator.
SINGAPORE.
We called upon governor Ibbetson, who presides over this island, Malacca, and Pulo Penang, and were received by him and the Honourable Mr. Bonham with much hospitality and kindness; and subsequently, by the Honourable Sir Benjamin H. Malhin, the recorder, and lady. The situation of the governor’s house is upon a hill, which overlooks the town and the numerous islands in the straits. It is a most delightful situation; the approach to it, from the base of the hill, is lined on the right side, by nutmeg and other spice trees, &c., being the garden belonging to the government; but owing to some cause, they do not succeed well—the fruit does not arrive at maturity. The country in the immediate neighbourhood of the town, excepting in the direction of the new harbour, and a few other spots, is still in a state of nature, the soil giving an ungrateful return for the labour of the husbandman. Fruit succeeds well, even the delicate mangusteen; but wheat, coffee, and pepper have repeatedly failed, or the crops havebeen so inconsiderable, as to be unworthy of attention. Gambir, alias catechu or terra japonica, succeeds well; it is used as a die, or chewed with areca. Esculent plants and farinaceous roots, natural to a tropical climate, are here in perfection. This island is about twenty-seven miles long, and from five to fifteen miles in breadth. It is separated from the Malay peninsula by the old strait of its own name, being from one fourth to a mile and half in width.
About three leagues south of the settlement is an extensive chain of islands, very thinly inhabited by a race of savages. This open space of water is a continuation of the straits of Malacca, and is called the strait of Singapore; it is the high road of commerce between the eastern and western parts of Asia. The town of Singapore was founded by the British in 1819, and was then only the resort of fishermen and pirates; and was carefully avoided by the regular traders. The year following its occupation, it was visited by nearly seventy thousand tons of shipping, and of this amount, about one fifth were native vessels, belonging principally to the various islands in the Indian Archipelago. The establishment of this as a free port, most seriously affects the commerce of Batavia; it has drawn from it a most valuable native trade.
The town is formed upon a regular plan, the streets intersecting each other at right angles; the streets and roads are in excellent order, the former having sidewalks. There is a great number of well-built houses of brick, which are stuccoed, and have tile roofs. Many of the houses have galleries or porticoes, and the grounds are prettily laid out with trees and shrubbery. On the less valuable streets, the houses and shops are built of wood, and covered with tile. On the outskirts, the houses are thatched, and more particularly those inhabited by the Bugis and Balinese, and the poorest class of Chinese. A good wooden bridge connects the peninsula or western part with the eastern. On this creek, or arm of the sea, into which empties a rivulet, are situated the principal warehouses; and here small vessels discharge their cargoes into very convenient and well arranged buildings. The quays are built of stone, with very convenient slips, and good cranes for landing goods. The island being situate within a degree and a half of the equator, no material change takes place—a perpetual summer reigns—flowers never cease blowing, and fruits are ever in blossom or progressing towards maturity. It is an old saying, that not a day passes at Singapore without rain; but it has been well ascertained that the rainy and fair days are about equal in number throughout the year; although in some years it has rained about two hundred and forty days, or two thirds of the year. November and December are the coolest and most rainy months; the thermometer then falls occasionally as low as 72°, and in the hot and dry months of April and May, it attains to 90°. The climate is remarkably salubrious, and fevers and dysentery, which are so fatal within the tropics, are here of rare occurrence, owing, it is supposed, to the free current of air which passes through the straits; but wherever its beneficial influence is excluded, those diseases are very fatal; and this is the case about that beautiful and romantic spot, the new harbour, situate but a few miles to the westward of the town. The island is also free of those dreadful scourges, storms and hurricanes, and violent gusts of wind.
I visited (in company with Captain Lambert, and the commander of the Peacock) the person who is styled the sultan of Johore, who ceded this and other islands to the British, for the sum of sixty thousand dollars, and an annuity of twenty-four thousand per year. He was formerly chief judge to Sultan Mahomet, of Johore. At his decease, he seized upon this part of his possessions. The sultan’s residence is surrounded by a high brick wall, having strong gates, guarded by soldiers. Within it is a new mosque; a hall of audience, neatly built; with many other houses of brick and thatch. We were conducted into the hall, which is used as a banqueting place also; and shortly after, we heard the loud breathing of a person who seemed in deep distress, endeavouring to ascend the staircase; finally the sultan made his appearance, and with great difficulty reached the centre of the room. I verily thought he would have died within the first ten minutes, of suffocation. He was most grossly, or rather beastly fat, and reminded us of the Anthropophagi, or men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders; for neck, he had none. His eyes were enormously large, and they had the terrific appearance of having started from their sockets. He was truly a most disgusting and frightful object. After he was able to breathe a little freely, the usual compliments passed, and inquiries made, a feast was brought in, consisting of a great variety of articles, which were neatlyserved up by numerous waiters. Two fine lads, his sons, accompanied him; they were handsomely dressed, wearing turbans, and armed with daggers. The sultan expressed himself gratified with the visit, and we then took leave.