The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1868-05-08
II FLOatina Citu.

One OF the most wonderful cities in the
world is Bankok, the capital OF Siam. -
Did you ever witness such sight in your
life ? On either side of the wide males
tic stream, incurred in regular streets and
alleys, extending as far as the eye can
reach, are upwards of 10000 neat little
houses, each house floating on compact
raft of bamboos, and the whole iuterme-
date space of the river presents to our as
tonished gaze one dense mass of ships,
junks and boats of every conceivable
shape, color and size. As we glide
among these we occasionally encounter a
stray house broken loose from its moorings
and hurrying down stream with the tide,
amidst the uproar and shouts of the in
habltants and all the spectators. We al
SO noticed that all the front row of houses
are neatly painted shops, in which various
tempting commodities are exposed for
sale; behind these again, at equal dis
tances, rise the lofty, elegant porcelain
towers of the various watts and temples.
On our right hand side, as far away as
we can see, are three stately pillars, erect
ed to the memory of three defunct kings,
celebrated for some acts of valor and jus
tice ; and little beyond these, looming
like line Of battle ships among lot Of
cockle-shells, rises the struggling and noe
very elegant palace Of the king, where his
Siamese majesty, with his ever SO many
wives and children, resides. Ia
Right ahead, where the city terminates,
and the river, making curve, flows be-
hind the palace, is a neat looking fort,
surmounted With top of mango trees,
over which peep the roofs of two houses
and flag staff, from which floats the royal
pennant and jack of Siam-a flag of red
groundwork, with white elephant work.
ed in the centre. This is the fort and
palace Of the Prince Chou Eau King
Siam, and one of the most extraordinary
and intellectual men in the East. OF
him, however, we shall see and hear more
after We have bundled our traps on shore
and taken little rest. Now be careful
how you step out of the boat into the bal
cony of the floating house, for it will re-
cede to the force of your effort to mount,
and if not aware of this, you lose your
balance and fall into the river. Now we
are safely transhipped, for we cannot as
yet say landed ; but we now form an idea,
though very small one, of the vast pop.
ulation Of the city Of Bankok.
We take brief survey of our present
apartments, and find everything, though
inconveniently small, clean and in other
respects comfortable. First, we have
little balcony that overhangs the river,
and is about twenty yards long by one and
a half broad. Then we have an excellent
sitting-room, which serves us for parlor,
dining room and all then we have Lie.
tie side-room for books and writing and
behind these, extending the length of the
other two, a bed room. OF course we
must bring or m a k 9 our own fur
niture, for though these houses are pref
ty well off, on this score the Siamese
have seldom anything besides their bed.
ding materials, few pots and pans to
cook with, few jars of stores, aud a
fishing net or two. Every house has a
canoe attached to it, and no nation de-
tests walking SO much as the Siamese |;
at the same time they are all expert
swimmers, and both men and women be-
gin to acquire this very necessary art at
very early age Without il man runs
momentary risk Of being drowned as,
when canoe upsets, none of the, pass
ers by ever think it necessary to lend
any aid, supposing them fully adequate
to the task Of saving their own lives
Canoes are hourly being upset, owing to
the vast concourse of vessels and boats
plying to and fro and owing to this
negligence or carelessness in rendering
assistance, Mr.. Benham, an American
missionary, lost his life some twelve years
ago, having upset bis canoe when it was
just getting dusk, and though surrounded
by boats, no one deemed it necessary to
stop and pick the poor man up.