HAMILTON S ACCOUNT OF THE EAST INDIES. 47 {
again (leaving fome royal gratuity to the priefts for their miraculous prefent) and isattended in ftate to his palace.
His reafon for honouring the river and his people that time of the year, is to forbidthe river formally to flow higher or longer than fuch a number of inches in height, orof days in time, as he fets it ; yet fometimes it difobeys his royal commands.
All the Mandarines belonging to the government, whofe affairs require their refi-dence in the city, whofe numbers generally amount to 3000, muff; daily attend in thepalace, except they have leave to be abfent, and if any one tranfgreffes, he is feverely■whipped with fplit rattans, which cut pretty deep into the flefh, and leave confpicuousmarks behind them. The greater the marks appear, the greater the honour theytake them to be ; and the pretty ladies are not exempted from the flagellation, forvery fmall faults. And I have feen fome pretty agreeable young gentlewomen withrattan marks on their backs, which they are fo far from covering, that as they pafsthe ftreets, they expofe their backs, though their breafts, bellies, and necks, arecovered with a fcarf, feeming to glory in being fo much taken notice of by the-greateft King on earth.
The women in Siam are the only merchants in buying goods, and fome of themtrade very confiderably. The hufbands in general are maintained by the induftry oftheir wives. And the Europeans that trade to Siam , accommodate themfelves as theydo in Pegu, with temporary wives, almoft on the fame conditions too, and it is thoughtno difgrace to have had many temporary hulbands, but rather an honour that theyhave been beloved by fo many different men. The Chriftian prieffs cry down that■way of marrying, and want every heretic, as well as Chriftian catholic, to be tied,to fome young laffes of their bringing up, but the heretics, according to their innateprinciples, generally continue deaf and obftinate to the grave advice and found doc'trine of the holy fathers, and marry according to the Siam way. The catholics dareDot do fo for fear of excommunication, but the Siam wives generally prove the molt*obedient, loving, and chafte, for which reafon, when the catholics once go fromSiam to follow their bufmefs in other countries, they feldom return to Siam , but leavetheir beloved wives a legacy to the church, who is a very indulgent mother to hertermagant daughters.
The natives of both fexes go bare-headed, and their hair cut within two inches ofthe Ikin, and gummed, and combed upwards, which makes their head feem very big,,and all in briftles like a boar’s back. They are well fliaped in body and limbs, with alarge fore-head and a little nofe, and handfome mouth with plump lips, and black;fparkling eyes ; their ears of a moderate fize, but large thick lappets. The menhave but little hair on their chins, and they are of an olive-colour, but the women of aftraw complexion, and fome of the ladies have a little tincture of red in their cheeksa nd lips, but whether it is natural or artificial I know not. They are very prolificand long-lived, which may be partly imputed to their temperance in eating anddrinking.
After the ufurper had fettled himfelf on the throne of Siam, he ordered the French to deliver their fort at Bencock to an officer that he fent to take poffeflion of it, but.they refufed, without firft making terms for themfelves, on which he fent a part of hisarmy to attack it, and threatened every man’s life that returned before it was taken.His orders were punctually put in execution, and all the French got, was the honour°f dying bravely in the defence of their liberty. The fort Hands ftill undeinolifhed,kut no artillery is in it.