Middletown transcript., 1868-04-25
A Floating City.

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, maies-
tic stream, moored in regular streets and
alleys, extending as far as the eye can
reach, are upwards of 1000 neat little
houses, each house floating on a compact
raft of bamboos, and the whole interme-
diate 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
amongst these we occasionally encounter
stray house broken loose from its moor
ings and hurrying down the stream with
the tide, amidst the uproar and shouts of
the inhabitants and all the spectators. We
also 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 as we can
see, are three stately pillars, erected to the
memory of three defunct kings, celebrated
for some acts of valor and justice; and
little beyond these, looming like a line of
battle ships among a lot of cookie shells,
rises the struggling and not very elegant
palace of the king where his Siamese ma
jesty, with ever SO many wives and chill
dren, resides.
Right ahead, where the city terminates,
and the river, making a curve, flows be-
hind tho ralaoa 70 r
surmounted with top of mango tree, over
which peep the roofs of two houses and
flagstaff, from which floats the royal pen
nant and jack of Siam-a flag of red
groundwork, with white elephant worked
in the centre. This is the fort and palace
of the Prince Chou Eau King Siam, and
one of the most extraordinary and intel
lectual men in the East OF him, howev-
er, We shall see and hear more after we
have bundled our traps on shore and taken
a little rest. Now be careful how YOU
step out of the boat into the balcony of the
floating house, for it will recede 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 vet saw
landed but we now form an idea, though
a very small one, of the vast population 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 a
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 a little
side room for books and writing; and be-
hind these, extending the length of the
other two, bedroom. OF course We
must bring or make our own furniture for
though those houses are pretty well off, on
this score the Siamese have seldom any-
thing besides their bedding materials, a
few pots aad pans to cook with, few jars
OF stores, and afishing-net or two. Every
house has canoe attached to it, and nc
nation detests walking so much as the Sia-
mese; at the same time they are all expert
swimmers, and both men and women begin
10 acquire this very necessary art at a
very early age. Without it man runs a
momentary risk of being drowned, as,
when canoe upsets, none of the passcrs
by ever think it necessary to lend any aid
supposing them fully adequate to the task
of saving their own lives. Canoes arc
hourly being upset, owing to the vast con.
course of vessels and boats plying to and
fro; and owing to this negligence or care.
lessness in rendering assistance, a Mr.
Benham, an American missionary, lost
his life some twelve years ago, having
upset his 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.