Show blath biath kak kek ka there latre is one 0 he peculiar in siam whim isolates it from every other empire of the earth eart ill hil starn slain has no nn cities no strong built well vell fortified elegantly constricted lownis and cities wita suburbs and su suburban bulbar burbar villas the pagan in Hind hindustan ri in ih the archim arcan jecture of his bis temple tempie te pie the anost tn ost ast splendid efforts of greece in her funniest sunniest stin sun niest days the tai taj mahal mahai was something in exquisite e in in the conception of the brain that arst first cune edne conceived elved its existence in ena eun embryo china and japan bava hava noble specimens also of architectural beauty and all christendom and the ottoman empire have eo some bome to show in the shape of what consal conati utes a city the tent of 0 the arab of the desert and the floating house bouse of 0 the siamese are very much assimilated now they thun are swallowed up la in the botex of some town or city constituting an item elther either central or now they are isolated aad in f fact act the siamese may be called the bedouins Bedou ins of the river wh I 1 I 1 the arabs faith clings tightly to his mare ou on vt whose hose back he may fleetly traverse the sandy wastes pursuing or pursue pursued dt the siamese relies upon the excellence and ness of his bis canoe which illich constitutes his bis all in all whether for pleasure or for flight or for the remunerative services it renders him in fulling or in the conveyance and vending of the produce of the soil As in the desert we may encounter the solitary tent lent of an arab his spear artuck stuck into inlo the ground and his well weli beloyed mare fastened thereto so in desolate portions of the menara are to be encountered single floating houses with the indispensable canole cahoe chained to the front and her in fishing or some other occupation the inh bitante bi tants pass the time in d tranquility i the capital of siam slam bangkok is nothing more nor less than 9 congregate congre gati n of wooden huts buts or cabins floating upon strongly kom bow constructed ted bamboo rafts any score or two of which may at any given moment be loosed from their moorings and shift the scene of their future homes either farther up or lower down the river hns hub has thus weakening the city citi in the number of its houses bouses and inhabitant 3 or else as is not enof ten the case some thousand ton ship or junk of huge proportions swings suddenly to the tide carrying away a small colony of houses which arif drift i away ri rapidly eidly to the astonishment and terror of the yelling inmates with the exception of a few palas ces cea and watts a few monumental pil pit ars are and european residences bangkok has nothing substantial about it and some unusual flood tides might any night sweep away the greater mass of houses bouses and population and leave th the e astonished inmates of the more solid fabrics fabric s on terra firina firms positively poli poll ively irely alone in their glory that a so lodged should be almost amphibious phi fhi phinious bious blous in their natures cannot be a matter of surprise the first duty of man and of woman also in siam is to learn to a wim wlm and infants baraiy barely able to toddle about take take to the water as kindly as young ducklings duc klings thy th y may be said to be a scrupulously cleanly people if often lavat ioro a e a proof thereof for one half of the day except excerpt ing during the monsoon they are paddling and swimming about men women and children heterogeneously outly mixed up and destitute of any sense of delicacy or shame as they almost are of clothing yet yei with all this it cannot be i aid said that the tb siamese are an immoral people indeed in lri this respect they are far superior to the tha na tives lives cf the continent of india and there ia ita much more of simplicity and gentleness about their disposition and none of that crafty treachery and revenge which ia the pre bomin ant feature of cf the malays dalays Al alays to whom in every other rese reap ct they bear close resemblance As aa a rule admitting of vry very few except exceptions imis inde edhe siamese both men and women are short of stature but remarkably sinewy and strong about the legs and arms the thel complexion varies according to their their ex exposure to the run from a alight light fawn color to a diep deep copper verging merging sometimes upon bronze they have all flat faces with high cheekbones cheek bones small mall sharp eyes flat spreading a preace ling noses noles with large nostrils but generally speaking berv verv very fair mouth mouths w th beautiful white teeth which the women disgustingly disfigure according to their notions of beauty beau tyby by dyeing into a jet black with the aid of betel bete nut both men and women shave the head bead fearing leaving in only an upright tuft of hair sticking stick ingup u just jt in I 1 the centre of their low beetle beetie brows foreheads their costumes consist from the king kino king own ward of a loose or skirt skir t which fastens round the wait walt and han hangs hans s to just be low the knees unmarried girls wear in addi ion ti 0 this abis a loose white scarf flung over the shoulders so BO as to conceal the bust is indeed the consume of the S amese owen is precisely the bame same excepting only the headdress as the nayar women in the thie trav trava i ectore acore districts the great d fforence in nai nal beauty however is immense S |