The Sun.
London, England, 1861-03-27 00:00:00

SIAM.

A series of reports received from our consuls cn
the trade of foreign countries has been issued by
the Board of Trade, with a promise that they shall
in future be published more speedily; this may
easily be, for the present series relates to the year
1858. The longest report is from Sir R. Schomburg,
British Consul at Siam. He states that a rapid
development of the commercial resources of Siam
has taken 'place since our treaty, negotiated in
1855, came into operation ; but the Siamese Go-
vernment do not as yet appreciate the great advan-
tages of a free commerce, and fear it may be favour-
able to foreigners and disadvantageous to them-
selves. Their principal export is of rice to China,
and next to it sugar, of which ten times the pre-
sent quantity might be produced if there Ivere suffi-
cient labour to be had ; but the extraction of the
juice of the cane and its manufacture into sugar
are carried on without any of the modern improve-
ments for acquiring the largest possible quantity
from the cane and a superior quality of sugar. The
alluvial districts might produce as fine cotton as the
United States ; but there is a scarcity of labourers,
and it is bulky for transport in canoes down the
river, Her Majesty's Government included among
the presents forwarded to the Sovereigns of Siam a
hydraulic press to compress cotton into bales. Coffee
grows luxuriantly, and is of a superior description;
it might be cultivated to an unlimited extent. A
number of woods, the produce of the forests of
Siam, may become of importance. The teak
wood is considered the strongest and most
durable timber of India, or perhaps of the world,
only the greeuheart of Guiana vying with it; but
it had become scarce, and the supply had almost
ceased. The takieng might perhaps rival it in size
and quality, if examined more closely. Sir R.
Schomburg saw, at the building sheds of the first
king, a log of this wood, which was being prepared
for the construction of a war-canoe, measuring 135
feet, and perfectly sound and without a flaw. It
possesses the property of being easily bent by arti-
ficial means. There are many ornamental woods,
the colour and suitableness to receive a high polish
of which would render then valuable articles of
export. A beautiful dye of a brilliant colour is pre-
pared from the heart of the jack tree, which might
also become of importance. Sir R. Schomburg had
seen silk cloth manufactured in Siam of a green
colour, with much more lustre than sap green;
this green dye, he was told, was extracted from
a vegetable substance procured in the forests of the
interior. There is said to be a varnish obtained by
incision from a tree, probably the theet, on which
neither the SUN nor the rain has influence, and
hence it is employed for securing the gilding of idols;
it might be advantageously employed for gilded
monuments and ornaments which are exposed to
the influence of the atmosphere. The balsamic
resins of Siam also deserve attention. The betel nut
is extensively cultivated, to be used as a stimulant;
and so is hemp, for the sake of its intoxicating and
narcotic qualities, it being used in the preparation
of " guncha," which has the same effects as opium ;
but
a considerable quantity of opium of inferior
quality is produced in the tributary provinces of
Siam, on the China border. Elephants abound in
theinterior of Siam. The hides are sent to China,
where, having undergone a process similar to that
of obtaining gelatine, they are considered a delicacy.
Ihe horns of the rhinoceros are said to possess medi-
cinal virtues. The Chinese likewise attach fanciful
virtues, medicinal and invigorating, to the bones iftigers and crocodiles, and the hairy•covered young
horns of the deer.