The Sun.
London, England, 1826-08-08 00:00:00

SIAM.

The following details relative to the Mission of
Captain BURNEY to Siam, are from the Cakutta
Government Gazette of the 23d of February :
The brig Guardian, with the Mission on board, on en-
tering the Gulf of Siam, experienced much difficulty in
hearing up against the N. E. Monsoon, but reached the
mouth of the Menam River on the 17th November. A

pilot from the capital came on board on the 21st, but it
was necessary to wait for the spring tides to cross the
Bar: this, was on the 26th, when the brig crossed in 11-1
feet. Between that and the mouth of the River, a dis-
tance of 8 or 9 miles, the vessel was taken for the most
part, and through the night tides only, through the mud,
with a quarter less two fathoms of water. At Pakman
Fort a demand was made for the brig to land her guns,
but was not persisted in.
_ . _

This Fort has been much enlarged since Mr. Craw-1
ford's Mission, and another opposite to it erected, and
between these, about 100 yards from the right bank, a
battery of 40 'pins has been constructed in the River,
upon a foundation of loose stones: the construction does
not appear very secure.
In working up the River, the brig repeatedly came so
close to the bank, that the boughs of the trees touched the
cabin windows, and yet thelead showed from 5 to 7 fathoms
,water. The Menton is considered to be one of the finest
rivers in the world: the map of it in Ktempfer's Japan, is
said to be very correct.
On the 4th of December, the vessel anchored off
Mooung Mai, or New Town, •a large village on the
right bank, inhabited mostly .• by emigrants from Pep.
Other defences have been erected here. At this
place ..a Deputation of several Siamese Chiefs of Rank,
arrived to receive charge of. the Governor-General's
letter—they arrived with a fleet of State boats, one
of which Was to convey the letter, after it was placbd
in a cup of red wood with • lozenges of mother of
pearl : this cup is used to receive the letters of
the King of Cochin China and the Emperor of China.
—ln another of the boats, the Envoy embarked,
accompanied by Capt..Maefarquhar and. Jose Pediado, the
Port Captain. They arrived at Bankok at eight in the
evening, and the Envoy took up his abode with Mr. Hun-
ter, an English merchant, who has been a resident in the
Siamese capital for the last fifteen months. As soon as
intimation of the . intended Mission arrived, the Prah
Khang, or Chief Minister, commenced the construction of
a house for its accommodation; but the building was not
completed. Building a dwelling expressly for the Mission
was said, to he a greater honour than if. they had been pro-
vided with, a house of gold.. This .house was occupied by
the Mission on the 10th, and although hastily and unskil-
fully put together, was not uncomfortable. It had the ad-
vantage also of being removed from the close surveillance
of the: Minister, being near that part of the town inhabited
by native Christians.
- After several conferences with the Ministers, in which,
although the most friendly sentiments were expreSsed, yet
evident doubts of our having gained any serious or pen 7
manent advantages over the Burmese were exhibited, the
Envoy was admitted to an audience of the King on the
16th December.

Early on the morning of that day, the Mission left .the
house in four .bosts. The first conveyed, the. Savoys:
the second, Captain Macfarquhar, the Interpreter, and
the Envoy with the Public Letter: the third the chairs
of ceremony, and , the fourth, Captain Sutherland, Mr.
Hunter, and a band of Siamese Music. Two or three
hundred small boats, followed with Siamese Officers,
and those whom curiosity had brought to witness the
scene.

On arriving at the opposite aide of the river, Captain
Macfarquhar and the Envoy got into their chairs, and
the rest of the gentlemen mounted the small horses which
were in waiting with tolerably decent appointments. They
proceeded in this manner as faro ;the gateway of the second
Court, where the Native Christians only pulled off their
shoes ,and stockings, whilst the Enioy and his companions
were requested to dismount, to leave the Sepoys; and walk
a short distance into .a hall, in which they found several
Siamese, Officers in waiting, with state elephants standing
outside. They were detained in this hall for about an hour,
and then summoned into the presence of the King, who they
were informed had taken his seat on the throne. On their
way they passed through a body of Siamese troops, seated
on their hands, with a railing on each side of the road,
which was lined .by 2 or 300 drums, and other instru-
ments that made a tremendous noise. At the door of the
hall of audience, all the Siamese attendants fell on their
knees and forearms, in which posture they moved, before
and, on each side. The moment the members of the Mis-
sion entered, anti saw. the King, which they could not im-
mediately do, as he was seated on a throne ten or twelve
feet high, at the farther end of the hall, which appeared to
have been purposely darkened, they made three profound
bows, whilst the Siamese struck their heads on the ground,
and raised their hands joined to their foreheads the same
munber .of times. They then moved on about twenty
paces, where they again bowed, and the Siameie made
their obeisances three times, after which they sat down on
the carpet that covered the floor. At a signal from the
Chief, entitled Phya Phi Phut, the Envoy roseJiolding the
;Governor-Generalisiletter over his,' head, 'and advancing
six or eight paces beyond the Chief, where a gold vase
No been placed, he deposited the letter upon it, and then
taking out the English address which be had prepared,
read it out with a loud ,voice, and.plaeing it by, the side of
the Governor-General's letter, retired to his seat, keeping
his face towards the King. The whole of the English
Gentlemen then, as had been previously settled, joined
their hands anti raised them three times against the fore-
head. His Majesty desired that they should approach him
nearer, and they were moved eight or ten paces in ad-
vanes, A Chief then read out a list .of the presents,
pronounced
tint a complimentary speech previously pre-
pared, in reply.
The King put a
umber of questions to the Envoy •
many of them were frivolous, but others indicated his being
tolerably well acquainted with the state of affairs in the
vicinit of his kingdom.. He was much pleased with
Captain Burney'S son, a boy of six years of age, who had
been conducted to the audience by the previous desire of
ordered some
toys. to,be prepared, which were
the minister, and for whom his MaJestY'l
presented to him at the
el*to of the audience. During the whole of the interview,
His Majesty was masticating betel very diligently. After
the conversation had ceased, a Siamese officer, bearing an
instrument in the who e of a scep
' tre, and seated on the
floor some way in advance of the mission, rose upon his
knees' and made three obeisances
eisances to the king, who took
up his kris, 4nfi
noise like the stroke of a, wand was
heard, on which
'Maine of gold cloth were immediately
before the king's throne. The whole of the
Siamese then me de teir usual obeisances towards the
curtains.
The hall of audience is about 120, feet long by 60 feet
broad, and is 40 feet high. It is supported by on
each of which hangs a Chineae
painting on
glass, repre-
aenting an English otlicer,or lady ; the throne is in shape
like a bolt, placed upon a platform,
with
a small canopy,
the whole covered with gold. The k•turwore a* close
dress of cloth of gold, and d I it:
a rests of muslin over he
had no crown. Immediately
the ,throne sat the

Princes of the blood, Brid on each side the ministers ac-

cording to their relative ranks • the courtiers wore
generally the same sort of dress as ;be king, or transparent
muslin robes over Surat kinkhabs. Several Chinese
and Cochin Chinese were pro,enr, as were some Laos
officers, resembling Gorkhas in appearance,
but richly
habited.

On leaving the hall of the audience, the Envoy, and the
gentlemen who accompanied him, were taken to see the
white elephant and one or two of the temples.'
On the 19th the Envoy was presented to the Wag-na
with the same state and ceremony as at his presentation
to the king, with the exception of making but. one bow in
place of three : the same questions as those put by the
king were repeated by the Wag-na. This chief; who is
usually called by the native Christians the Second King,
is a brother of the late monarch : he exercises an especial
superintendence over the Southern and Malayan states,
and is described as a benevolent good humoured man,
partial to Europeans. He is a good portly figure, and
during the audience was smoking a cigar.
On
.the night of the 29th a third presentation took
place to Prince Krom, Mean Sitrin, an Uncle of the present
King, and Superintendant of the Foreign and Commercial
relations—he is a mild, good-looking man, about 38 years
of age; there was less ceremony on this than on the two
former occasions, but it was of the same nature, and nearly
the same questions were addressed to this Envoy.
The manner in which the Envoy has been received' is
clearly indicative of feelings of respect, and there has been
no deficiency on the score of civility at leas t. We learn
that abundance of rice has been sent for the use of the
escort by order of the King. The residence of the Mis-
sion does not appear to be watched, and the members are
allowed to visit freely most parts of the town. The prin-
cipal Ministers furnish alternately supplies of fruit and ve-
getables, and the King's Steward has sentw. it is said, by
special command, several, dishes of meat, cooked in the
Siamese fashion, which is reported to be not particularly
agreeable to European palate: the Wag-na shows the
Mission similar attentions, and a boat -with ten men are
placed at its disposal. The members of the Mission do
not appear to think very highly of the Siamese force from
what they saw of it. The Cavalry were ill dressed and
equipped, and mounted on Pegu ponies, which, though
strong serviceable-animals, were as rough and coarse as in
a state of nature. The Infantry, even of the King's Body
Guard, were poor, thin, ill set race, armed with old
rusty muskets; the most formidable force, consisted of a
party of stout able bodied men, each armed with a thick
stick. The Siamese Soldier, when detached against the
Burmese frontiers, for the purpose of making captives, or
as they term it catching the Burmese, is supplied with
musket, a bamboo full of rice, and a hoe, With which last
instrument he digs a hole for himielf, in which he lies con-
cealed, until some of the enemy come near enough to be
surprised.
These incursions, for the sake of carrying off prisoners,
attended with the perpetration of every act of ravage and
cruelty, appear to have been the principal mode in which
the long subsisting enmity between the Burmese and Sia-
mese Governments has tnanifesti4.l its existence for some
years past. No course or hostilities could be more ruinous
to the population of the bordering districts, and such of
them as may eventually come under our authority,will gain
a blessing of no slender value, in protection against these
harassing and-destructive inflictions. ' •

CLARE, LIMERICK, AND KERRY.
THE COUNTY OF CLARE.

This county extends from Galway along the course of the At-.
lantie, on the west and south-west, and is bounded on the east
and south-east by the Shannon. Those parts which border on
the ocean, and are attached to Galway, are barren, and only pro.
doctive in feeding sheep on a short ',met herbage, which
gives the . mutton. a peculi.o ly delicious flavour. The other dis-
tricts in the line of the Shannon are very fertile. The commu-
nication to the, upper parts of the county is still very imperfect, and
strangers who cannot manage to climb rocks, sod make a journey
opt the back of a wild pony, hid better give up the attempt to
penetrate further
.than Ennis. To that town a mail coach de-
parts every evening from Limerick. At each side of the road it
travels, the most valuabggrexing lands lie., During the war,
itnniense herds of oxen, weighing from six to eight hundred Weight
each, were fed and sold for the Government contracts to the pro-
, vision dealers at Limerick or Cork. That was the golden age of
the county of Clare, and the grazier' advanced from a humble
condition of life to the rank of gentry, and established a permanent
footing in the halls of the old Irish Aristocracy.
The middle men were then in Paradise ; they took farms and
they re-let them. I have known a plough-boy acquire 2,0001. a -
year in that way. As all their leases were made for lives, the
Sums paid to the Insurance Offices to protect their interests were
immense, and the agents of Companies scarcely known in London
tOatle fortunes ! The graxier's system was this—he took a farm
Of SOO acres, or several farms of that site, at a rent of from 2!. 9s.
to 3/. an acre. If the land was of the primest quality, it fattened
one bullock each acre. The grazier bought his stock et the fairs
Of Ballynasloe,Lougreagh, or Spans-hill—the first in October, the
two latter in the spring. He selected at Ilallynalloe some hundred
head of cattle, four years old, which be fed on hay, not in yards
but in open fields, during the winter and spring, and then turned
them out in May, on the pasture for six months, when they were
ready for the market. Those bought in the spring were turned
put at once to be fattened. These store cattle were bought.from

2./. to 154 earth, and cost, in hay feeding and the rent of an
acre, about Si. more; awl they produced, on the average, in the
merchant's cellar, from *2l. to 951. each. The expenses of keep-
ing up the farms were very moderate on this ardent ; a few herds-
luau were the only persons employed in a greet tract of country.
The grazier rode on horseback once or twice a week over his
pastures. The heaviest cattle were selected for the planters' tables
an Jamaica, and fetched& rate higher by some shillings than any
other. The next in quality were put up.for the East India ship-
ping; the middling for his Majesty's Nary in tierces and barrels;
mid the lightest, including corn beef, was packed in barrels for
general ship use.
With the peace came a great alteration in the condition of the
county Clare gentry. Many of them who held their heads high
were bowed down to their original duet. The tail rents of farms
were put an end to, and- the insurances of interests were given
up. There was nothing but breaking and smashing among
them. Latterly matters have settled down mare quietly, and the
present state of the county may be 'thus destnibed. A few gra-
ziers still retain their lands, for a supply of fat cattle is always
wanted for the Navy, and the East and West Indian provisions,
but at mute reduced from 31. to 2!. au acre. 'During the last
year, however, a small rise has taken place of 10e. en acre, and
this day's rent of the best laud may be taken at 45e. to 50s.
The farmers and graziers are now turning their attention to dairy
keeping, and making butter, for the Limerick market.; The
largest proprietor has but 40 COO, : and the ordinary stock is mot
more than seven or eight. The butter isorade in churn barrels,
which are turned by two women. The milk is set fir two or
three days, and the cream taken off,' and put into the churn.
The skimmed milk which has become soar is given to the poor,
or by the avaricious sold to them. A firkin of butter contains
about half a cwt. When a stdfieient number are filled, they are
drawn on Cara into Limerick, and sold to the exporter at a va-
ty; 'from the same sense, year. Throughout this wen-
!nation of qualities settled by a aware inaPectur. In consequence
there has been a total failure of the bay
, of the
iexsl4trettchmelyiers,dr,ythempr,auloalwithiprhing Kummer, the' return of
crop, and
.tat article is expected to reavha very high price be-
fore the next harvest. The feel of the entire county is turf, and
a great portion of it is taken up with bogs. On the banks of
the Shannon there is a daily aril& to Limerick, in boats of 15 to
20 tons, of this commodity, aced latterly the distillers in that city;
Meta& Stein and Brown, have made it available for their 'fires.
The gentry of Clare live on better terms together than those of
soy other county. Happily there are neither political nor reli-

gious distinctions among them, and all attempts to inflame the
passions of the people are regularly defeated., This good under-
standing is owing to the kind feeling which prevails between the
Roman Catholic Priests and the Ministers of the E.,tabliabed
Church. I think the Roman Catholic Bishop, Dr. O'Shaug-
nessy, is one of the finest men I ever saw, and the concurrence
of all dames declare him to be one of the beat.

Dining the rebellion of 1798, this county was the part of Ire-
land where the least impression was made. .The.peasantry are a
very poor and hard-faroured race, except in the immediate vici-
nity of Drornoland, (Sir Edward °Brien's). I. forgot to say
that hihourer`a wages is' here Bd. to 10d. a-day.