American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-01-18
A Siamese Harem.

Mrs. Anna ii. Leonowens, author of
1.-The English Governess mt the Siamese
Court" thus describes the interior of the
Duke Chow P'Haya Mandtree's harem-
and makes general observations upon ha-
rem life and the routine through which a
novice has to pass
Every harem is 4 little world in itself,
composed entirely of women-some who
rule, others who obey. and those who
serve. Here disinterestednesS vanishes
out of sight. Each oneis for herself. They
are nearly all young women, but they
have the appearance of being slightly
blighted. Nobodyis too much in earnest.
or too much alive, or too happy. The
general atmosphere is that of depression.
They are bound to have no thought for
the world they have Quilted, however
pleasant it may have been; to ignore all
ties and affections to have no care but for
one individual alone, and that the master.
But if you became acquainted with some
of these very women under favorable
conditions-very rare, however-you
might gather glimpses of recollections of
the outer world, of earlier life and strong
affections, of hearts SCARED and disfig
ured and broken, of suppressed signs and
unuttered sObs, that would dispose you to
melancholy reflections and sad torebO-
dings, and, if you were by nature tender.
to shedding of tears. Their dress and
.iarities, and vet it is all harmonious out
wardly. They are unconscious of the ter
rible DETACHMENT they have undergone.
Yet it sometimes happens that this same
little world has its greatness, and always
when q woman becomes a mother her life
changes. She passes from the noble to
the noble; then she becomes pure, worthy,
honorable.
The wall that surrounded the Dukes
palaces and temples enclosed also about
500 houses, with gardens and artificial
lakes and fountains and av;aries. Most
of the houses are built of solid masonry.
with here and there theater of carved
wood; the streets were narrow, and the
covered baZsars in no way remarkable.
except for the shops of female jewelers.,
gold and silver smiths. All tie palaces
and temples faced the river. The Oldest
Hindoo temple stood here. beside a Bud
dhist temple and monastery, from which
household were supplied. The most re-
narkable edifice, however, was the dukes
tower or summer-house, of four lofty sto-
ries, opening all round into arches,
made entirely of carved wood and
richly gilt. 1t commanded mag
nificent view of the river, and over
looked more than one-half of the
city of Bangkok. When you mount the
highest chamber, you open your eyes
upon scene too sOlemnly and mysteri-
Ously beautiful to be adequately described.
You seem to be midway in the air, look
ing down upon a city of temples and pala-
ces. gardens, lakes, minarets, pagodas,
and p'hra-chai dees j; thousands of boats
glide noiselessly over the silver flood that
winds on forever. The great height
bushes out even the joyous voices that are
hushed nowhere else. In the gloom at
the upper end of the river many boat
man, perched on the prov of his boat,
seems like the angel of death guiding
shore, and overhead the sky looks like
some blue door, such as must lead straight
into heaven.
In every ducal or royal harem there are
great many buildings designed and built
for the express purpose of training and
educating the women, and every girl has
to go through certain forms and observ-
ances before she is admitted among the
favored ones. The female teachers, ply
sicians and judges who are placed over
them generally receive a careful profess
sional education-the best the country
can supply. Mere children are often TAX
en- into these places and trained to be act
resses, dancers, musicians, and singers.
Every department has Il superintendent,
who is generally lady of high rank, and
is responsible to the duke only. The
mode of teaching in the schools is pecu-
liar; no books are used by the pupils. who
are placed in rows, with female officers in
attendance to administer the rattan in all
cases of inattention. The teacher either
reads or sings the first line of poem or
plays the first bar of an air the head pu-
pill repeats it after her, and SO on to the
last girl in the class then all together
until they have learned it by heart. Dane
ing and gymnastics are taught in the
same way. Often 100 different airs and
poems are committed to memory by very
young girls, who are thus converted into
walking libraries.