The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1884-05-07
SIAN AND IT'S PEOPLE.


Indo-China, and is nearly rs large as
our State of Texas. The country con-
sists for the most part OF mountains,
swamps and jungles. The great river
Moinam traverscs its center, and inun-
dates the valley through which it runs
Wild animals abound in Siam, and OF
these the elephant is the most famous.
II is highly priced, being really indis-
pcnsabie in threading tho iungles. Be-
fore the introduction OF firearms ele-
plants were used for war, but now they
are chiefly valued for transportation.
In President Lincoln's time the King
Of Siam, that is, the father of the pres
ent King, showed his kindly feeling to-
ward the American people by writing o
long letter TO our Government, in which
he proposed TO send donation OF sew
eral pairs of elephants TO stock the for
ests of the South. He recommended
them as beasts Of burden, and cable to
travel through woods and iungles
where no cart-roads had yet been
made" and proceeded at length to
give directions for their care and
culture.
The sacred white elephant, which is
not really white, but sort of light ma
hogany color, is sand TO be variety pc
culiar to Siam. The flag of Siam is n
white elephant on red ground. The
animal itself is an object of veneration,
being considered to be the incarnation
Of future Buddh He has building
to himself connected with the palace,
and ten or twelve keepers to wait on
him. He is fed upon fresh grass and
bananas served in rich dishes, and is
covered with ornaments, his tusks be-
ing encircled with rings of pure gold.
The people of Siam number about
five millions, of whom less than half
are Siamese, the remainder being Chi
nesc, Malays and Laos. They are for
the most part ignorant and degraded.
Their religion is Buddhism, and its
priests are lazy, mercenary and corrupt
men, and its temples are often the CEN
tiers OF vice. Yet there is much that is
interesting about the Siamese. They
are aflectionatc in their families, arc
witty in conversation, and are less
given TO falsehood than most Oriental
people. They are very fond Of play,
and spend half their time in amuse-
ments. As result, the IDorb of the
country has gone largely out of their
hands. The energetic, ubiquitous John
Gilman an has stepped over into the
possessions OF his solf-indulgent neigh
Dor, and has quietly availed himself OF
tho lattor's unimproyed opportunities.
Having absorbed the commerce Of tho
country and much of its productive in-
dustry. it looks as ii ho might before
long obtain the Government as well.
Tho Government Of Siam is hered-
itary monarchy, and there are two
Kings re gning together. The first or
"suprGme King aS he calls himself, Is
the real ard absolute ruler. The second
King has his own palace, and disposes
Of 0ne-third OF the revenue, but has no
real voice in the Government. The
late Kings. who were brothers, were
quito remarkable men, and seem TO
have possessed plenty OF the energy
and industry usually lacking in the
Siamesc character. Before coming TO
the throne the first King was n Bud
dhist priest, and devoted, himself TO
study. lie WAS very enthusiastic as
tronolner. and in Tact came TO his death
in 1868 in consequence of exposure and
excitement in viewing q solar eclipse,
which he had himself accurately calcu-
lated. 1t is evident that he was less
woll-informed regarding sections of this
mundane sphere than OF the motions Of
the heavenly bodies. since it was he
who proposed to visit herd Of Gle
plants upon the dominions of Uncle
Sam. He was very pedantic and self
conceitod, and prided himself on his
knowledge of English, which he used
in n yery amusing manner. Tho sec
ond King was equally able and more
practical, devotipg himself TO military
matters and TO natural science. Both
OF tho Kings were led by their thirst for
knowledge to cultivate friendly relations
with the American missionaries. Among
the latter there were some who had q
practical acquaintance with various me
chanical arts, and these the two BROTH
ers frequently called TO their aid. They
were eager to introduce all the i'm
provements of advanced civilization, al
though they rejected the religion from
whence that civilization springs.
Travellers tell OF the odd contrasts OF
new methods with ancient barbaric Gus
toms TO be met with in Siam on every
hand. Visiting the eruditc English
speaking astronomer King, they were
received with great courtesy, sat on
European chairs and found themselves
in the midst Of English books and pict-
nf a