Savannah morning news., 1885-06-27
AN AsTAqIC COURT.
A Glimpse of the habits and Life of the
Siamsse.

which will not expire until the middle OF
next August. His friends say that he
has no desire to return to siam. The eli
mate is not healthy one. Europeans
cannot stand it on a stretch. To become
acclmated, 1t seems, is only another
term for being brought home in a coffin al
the governments expense ana received in
the United states by a committee. Gen.
HaldermBn has no ambition in that direc-
tion, though his years stay in Bangkok
does not seem 70 have affected his
health. He is as well to-day
apparently as when he left the United
States for Siam and the Siamese III 1882.
He is a tall, iue looking man Of about 81.
HIS bearing is soldierly. A pair Of mas
siye shoulders support a wellshaped head,
His face. tanned by exposure to a tropical
sun. is surrounded by a full gray beard.
cut short. The hair Is quite black. He
wore, when ] saw him, loose fitting suit
of clothes. English in texture, French in
cut, and Siamese in color. An interna-
tiOnal black stOvepipe covered his head,
ana in his right hand he carried Quaker
umbrella. | asked the General 10 give
some OF the impressions which the cOun-
try and people Of Slam had left upon his
mind.
''Ihe life in country like Siam,' he
said, lis not very pleasant, and YOU get
tired Of 1t IN "A short time. There IS no
society. Few white people remain there
Tor any length OF time. Many of the Eu-
rOpeans settled there are engaged in the
disreputable liquor traffic and belong to
very undesirable class Of people. The
climate is bot. There is no sanitarium in
the neighborhOOd OF Bangkok to which
favaa E.r.A
There are no hotels, no public travelling
c0nyeyances. Ii you want to travel YOU
have 10 move your entire household along
with yOu, and that is expensive. Ser
wants are cheap enough, but it requires
ten Siamese 70 do the work of one Euro
peau. Supplies are not dear, but a Euro
pean, and especially the representative Of
foreign country, is always charged
twice As much as a native would be for
the same article. The expense TO go to
sam Is about 5000 for one person.
How did you ind the people inclined
toward AmericansY'
every fGyorably, indeed. The CONNER
cial possibilities are great, though at
present the Siamese are anything but Il
commercial people. They are agricultur-
lists. The chief exports are rice, sugar,
pepper, Japan wood and hides. China
carries on larger trade with Siam than
any other country
Tell me something about the govern
ment."
''The King is man Of about 30. he is a
pleasant, intelligent and well-meaning
man. He speaks English. His Secretary
Is also his half-brother. It is easy enough
70 secure an audience. There is very
little ceremony considering that it is an
Asiatic court. l would, for instance, ad-
dress note to the Secretary and say 1
wished TO have an audience with the
King. A reply would come promptly
agreeing to request. / would don a fllI
dress suit, present myself at the gates
of the palace, be received by the
guards, passed along by different junction
aries until l reached his Majesty2s pres
ence.. He would shake hands with me in
ordinary European fashion, listen to what
i had TO say, and when / had finished /
would rise and bow myself out. When /
told my English and French colleagues
that l never awaited the Kings pleasure
to terminate the interview, but always
rose when / had stated my business, they
We're somewhat surpr' sed. They regarded
1t as breach of etiquette, but the King,
am told, liked II very much.
"Ihe hlng is very much married man.
he has some 5000 wives. The establish
ment where they are housed is a city
almost in itself. They are kept very close
from the eyes of men. No Europeans and
very few natives Of the male sex are al
lowed TO enter the sacred precincts. Mrs.
Palgraye, the wife Of the English agent,
did get permission once TO visit the
Queens establishment. There is, by the
way, only one Queen, the others are
merely cOncubines. IL was very plainly
furnished. There was no splendOr, gor-
geOusness and all that sort of thing at all.
The floors were marble, and the women
sat on mats and rugs. They were chew
ing the betel root and constantly splitting:
splttoOns abOunded. A few hangings
were all the decoration the walls had.
The women were very much like the Chi
nese women. The head is large, the face
broad, forehead low, the cheek bones
prominent, the lips thick, the eyes black,
though not upturned as in the case of the
Chinese. There is, of course, a whole ar
my Of female attendants"
Now something about Slams politics ?"
Well. you know IL is an absolute mon.
archy. But there are two parties, or IA.
ther factions. One is headed by the King.
the other was led until recently. when he
died, by the eX-Regent, who governed
during the minority OF the present King.
There exists a good deal Of Jealousy. and
as the crown does not descend DIV right OF
primOgeniture, the death Of ruler gives
rise always 10 serious trouble. The pres
ent dynasty has held sway for about four
generations. / had little difficulty when
the eX-Regent died, which did not,
however, lead 70 any serious con-
sequences. He was sour old
gentleman, querulous and cross. paid
him visit in my official capacity and so
did the English and French agents in
theirs. He returned their calls, but did
not return mine. When he died all the
foreign representatives half-masted their
hags according 10 custom. | did not. /
was requested by the Prime Minister to
do 50. refused. l said that a man who
had shown 50 little respect for the dag of
the United States should not be honored
by 10 when dead. The matter was re-
ported 10 the King. He said nothing. But
when ] saw him later, he told me that he
was very glad ! acted as l did. 10 lad
taught the followers OF the eX-Regent a
lesson.
''Tho King remembered Gen. Grant
very vol. Whom left Siam lac charged
me with message for him. was pre-
vented through Gen. Grants illness from
delivering II. Altogether succeeded very
well indeed in gaining the Kings conf-
cencc. When he received me In audience
FOR the lust time be said; Il hope you
VIII como back. Gen. Grant had two
terms. You ought 10 have two terms
also' lie presented me with two decora-
TONS, and also wished 10 present me with
valuable piece Of property. This, how
ever, reilsed.fbut Induced him 90 give
DO lu fao slmuio 20 the limited statnl f,t