had about him. We put an end to all this importunity, by informing the governor, that, as soon as we returned to the ship, we would direct a clerk to make out a list of the presents, for his satisfaction. This conversation afforded an early, but a good specimen of the indelicacy and rapacity, which we afterwards found so characteristic of the Siamese court and its officers, upon every question of a similar nature. "After the discussion respecting the presents, the chief reminded us of the compliment which his Siamese majesty had paid to the mission, in so promptly despatching an accommodation-boat to convey us to Bang-kok; and he entreated us to make no difficulty about accepting this gracious mark of royal attention, while he besought us also to comply with the established usage, in landing the guns of the ship. We repeated what we said before, of the total inadequacy of a single boat to accommodate our large party, which consisted of seventy-four persons. With respect to landing the cannon, we stated, that a Portuguese man of war had, two years before, been permitted to visit the capital, and that a mission from the British government had a right to be treated with equal favour. Much pains were taken to convince us, that it would be proper to comply with the wishes of the court, but we persevered in our objections. With this discussion our visit ended. It was a striking contrast to European usage, that the whole of this demiofficial conversation passed in the presence and hearing of a great crowd of the lower orders, who occupied the entire area of the court, opposite to the place where we sat. The people, indeed, pressed up to the very door of the saloon. The chiefs by no means checked their curiosity, and on their part they listened to what passed with respectful attention. being given that it should be again produced when the mission was presented at court, was delivered on the quarter-deck, under a salute, and carried away by the escort appointed to take charge of it, in a gold vase, having a state umbrella extended over it. The letter, as Mr. Crawfurd remarks, is in the East accounted by far the most important part of the embassy, the critical examination to which it is subjected extending even to the envelope and the shape and quality of the paper. Having got hold of the letter, the next thing which the Siamese authorities looked after, was the presents by which it was accompanied. First, therefore, came a request from his majesty, for the immediate delivery of the horse, which he was particularly impatient to see ; and soon after, another, for the rest of the articles. "A trifling circumstance," says Mr. Crawford, "which took place on delivering them, afforded a singular example of indelicacy on the part of the officers of the Siamese government. Among a great many pieces of British muslin, which constituted an article of the presents, it was alleged that there was a short delivery of four, as the numbers did not correspond with the list given in at Pak-nam. This serious defalcation was communicated to me by a formal message, and a hope expressed that the deficiency would be made up. At the same time no notice was taken of two pieces of fine Genoa velvet, which had been delivered beyond the quantity expressed in the list, although of ten times the value of the muslins! As soon as our clerk brought this last circumstance to the notice of the messengers, not another word was said about the alleged defalcation in the muslins!" After landing, and being accommodated with a house by order of the government, the first ceremony which the mission were called upon to undergo, was that of being presented to Prince Kromchiat, the eldest son of the king. who superintended the foreign and commercial department of the state. We must, however, refer our readers to the work itself for the particulars of this interview, which continued for "What we saw in our visit to Pak-nam, was not calculated to impress us with a very exalted opinion of the progress of the Siamese nation in the arts which conduce to the comforts, or reasonable enjoyments of life. The cottage of an English peasant, not on the brink of a workhouse, possesses more real comfort than did the mansion of the governor of Pak-nearly two hours, and was not over till between nam, who, we were told, exercised an arbitrary authority over 50,000 people." After some further negotiation, it was at last conceded by the court, that the landing of the cannon should be dispensed with, and the ship accordingly proceeded on its way to the capital, which it reached on the 29th of March. The town, as seen from the river, appeared to consist of a crowd of mean huts and hovels, grotesquely interspersed with palms, fruittrees, and the tall and glittering spires of numerous temples of Buddha. The vessel, soon after its arrival, was visited by the son and nephew of the Prah-klang, both of whom, upon being served with a repast on board, eat, drank, and chewed tobacco, with a rapacity that seems a good deal to have astonished their entertainers. A secretary, too, came in the course of the day, directly from his majesty, for the purpose of drawing up a formal description of the English horse, which had greatly excited the royal curiosity. Last of all, a deputation arrived to receive the letter of the Governor-General, which, on a pledge eleven and twelve o'clock at night. The prince, a heavy and corpulent figure, about thirty-eight years of age, but looking much older, sat on a mat, while his courtiers lay at a great distance in front of him, crouching on their knees and elbows. It had been stipulated that the interpreters of the mission should be admitted, but when they attempted to follow Mr. Crawfurd and Mr. Rutherford into the hall of audience, they were so jostled by the attendants as to be forced to withdraw. The conversation was therefore carried on through the medium of two of the courtiers, one of whom being of superior rank, received the prince's words in the first instance, while the other, who lay crouched in his rear, repeated them to the English envoy in Malay. The ceremony of their presentation at court having been fixed for the 8th of April, Mr. Crawfurd and his friends left their dwelling at half past eight on the morning of that day. After leaving the river, across which they were carried in barges provided by the court, they were received under the walls of the pa this it was impossible to obtain proof. The letter of the Governor-General was neither read nor exhibited, notwithstanding the distinct pledge which had been given to that effect. lace in net hammocks, borne by two men only, their awkwardness in the management of which unstable vehicles, occasioned no little merriment among the immense crowd assembled to view the spectacle. At last, however, after "The words which his Siamese majesty conpassing through various apartments, they ar- descended to address to us, were delivered in rived in safety at the entrance of the hall of a grave, measured, and oracular manner. One audience, where they were compelled to leave of the first officers of state delivered them to behind them their shoes and Indian attendants, a person of inferior rank, and this person to as well as their interpreters, who, as on the Ko-chai-sahak, who was behind us, and exformer occasion, were jostled and prevented plained them in the Malay language. The from following, notwithstanding a previous questions put, as they were rendered to us, stipulation that they should be allowed to re- were as follows:-The Governor-General main within hearing. Every foot of the hall of India (literally, in Siamese, the Lord, or was "literally so crowded," says Mr. Craw- Governor, of Bengal), has sent you to Siamfurd, with prostrate courtiers, that it was What is your business? A short explanation difficult to move without the risk of treading of the objects of the mission was given in reply. on some officer of state. Precedence is de-Have you been sent with the knowledge of cided, upon such occasions, by relative vicinity the King of England?' It was here explained, to the throne." The gentlemen of the mission, that from the great distance of England, the after being first seated pretty far to the back political intercourse with the distant nations of ground, were, upon making their obeisances, the East, was commonly entrusted to the maby raising their joined hands three times to nagement of the Governor-General of India. the forehead, requested to advance, and were Is the Governor-General of India brother to finally settled about half way towards the the King of England? To this question it throne. This promotion, however, was only was replied, that the Governor-General of obtained at the expense of an additional round India had been the personal friend of his soof obeisances. We give the conclusion of the vereign from early life, but that he was not his affair in Mr. Crawfurd's own words: brother. The following questions were successively put: What difference is there in the ages of the King and the Governor-General?' Was the Governor-General of India in good health when you left Bengal? Where do you intend to go after leaving Siam?' 'Is peace your object in all the countries you mean to visit?' 'Do you intend to travel by land or water from Saigun to Turan?' Is it your intention to visit Hue, the capital of Cochin China?' After receiving replies to these different questions, his majesty concluded with the following sentence: I am glad to see an envoy here from the Governor-General of India. Whatever you have to say, communicate to the minister, Suri-wung-kosa. What we chiefly want from you are fire-arms.' "The throne, and its appendages, occupied the whole of the upper end of the ball. The first was gilded all over, and about fifteen feet high. It had much the shape and look of a handsome pulpit. A pair of curtains, of gold tissue upon a yellow ground, concealed the whole of the upper part of the room, except the throne; and they were intended to be drawn over this also, except when used. In front of the throne, and rising from the floor, were to be seen a number of gilded umbrellas of various sizes. These consisted of a series of canopies, decreasing in size upwards, and sometimes amounting to as many as seventeen tiers. The king, as he appeared seated on his throne, had more the appearance of a statue in a niche, than of a living being. He wore a loose gown, of gold tissue, with very wide sleeves. His head was bare, and he wore neither crown, nor any other ornament on it. Close to him was a golden baton, or sceptre. "The general appearance of the hall of audience, the prostrate attitude of the courtiers, the situation of the king, and the silence which prevailed, presented a very imposing spectacle, and reminded us much more of a temple crowded with votaries engaged in the performance of some solemn rite of religion, than the audience chamber of a temporal monarch. "The king seemed a man between fifty and sixty years of age, rather short in person, and disposed to corpulency. His features were very ordinary, and appeared to bespeak the known indolence and imbecility of his character; but upon this subject it was not easy to form any correct opinion, owing to the distance we were at from the throne, and the sort of chiaro scuro cast upon it, evidently for effect. "To the left of the throne we saw exhibited the portable part of the presents from the Governor-General; a secretary proceeded to read a list of them; and I make no doubt they were represented as tribute or offering, although of "His majesty had no sooner pronounced these last words, than we heard a loud stroke, as if given by a wand against a piece of wainscoting; upon which the curtains on each side of the throne, moved by some concealed agency, closed upon it. This was followed by the same flourish of wind instruments, and the same wild shout, which accompanied our entrance; and the courtiers, falling upon their faces to the ground, made six successive prostrations. We made three obeisances, sitting upright, as had been agreed upon. "As soon as the curtain was drawn upon his majesty, the courtiers, for the first time, sat upright, and we were requested to be at our ease-freely to look round us, and admire the splendour and magnificence of the courtsuch being nearly the words made use of by the interpreter in making this communication to us. "During the audience a heavy shower had fallen, and it was still raining. His majesty took this opportunity of presenting us each with a small umbrella, and sent a message to desire that we would view the curiosities of the palace at our leisure. When we arrived at the threshold of the hall of audience, we per ceived the court-yard and the roads extremely wet and dirty from the fall of rain. We naturally demanded our shoes, which we had left at the last gate. This was a favour which could not be yielded, and we were informed that the first princes of the blood could not wear shoes within the sacred inclosure where we now were. It would have been impolitic to have evinced ill-humour, or attempted remonstrance; and therefore we feigned a cheerful compliance with this inconvenient usage, and proceeded to gratify our curiosity." We cannot afford, however, to accompany our author in his barefoot survey; but we must quote a few sentences from his account of a visit paid to him in the afternoon of the same day, by the minister, Suri-wung-kosa: The visit," says Mr. Crawfurd, "afforded an opportunity of observing one of the most singular and whimsical prejudices of the Siamese. This people have an extreme horror of permitting any thing to pass over the head, or having the head touched, or, in short, bringing themselves into any situation in which their persons are liable to be brought into a situation of physical inferiority to that of others, such as going under a bridge, or entering the lower apartment of a house, when the upper one is inhabited. For this sufficient reason their houses are all of one story. The dwelling which we occupied, however, had been intended for a warehouse, and consisted, as already mentioned, of two stories, while there was no access to the upper apartments, except by an awkward stair and trap-door, from the corresponding lower ones. This occasioned a serious dilemma to the minister. A man of his rank and condition, it was gravely insisted upon, could not subject himself to have strangers walk over his head, without suffering seriously in public estimation. "To get over this weighty objection, a ladder was at last erected against the side of the house, by which his excellency, although neither a light nor active figure, safely effected his ascent about three o'clock in the afternoon. The native Christians, of Portuguese descent, had prepared an abundant entertainment after the European manner, which was now served up. The minister sat at table, but without eating. His son and nephew, the youths whom I have before mentioned, also sat down, and partook heartily of the good things which were placed before them. No Oriental antipathies were discoverable in the selection of the viands. Pork, beef, venison, and poultry, were served up in profusion, and there was certainly nothing to indicate that we were in a country where the destruction of animal life is viewed with horror, and punished as a crime. The fact is, that in practice, the Siamese eat whatever animal food is presented to them, without scruple, and discreetly put no questions, being quite satisfied, as they openly avow, if the blood be not upon their own heads." The succeeding week was employed by Mr. Crawfurd and his friends, who, having been presented at court, were now at full liberty to go abroad, in viewing whatever was to be seen about the capital and its neighbourhood. It was not until the 16th of April that they found it possible to commence the negotiation, with the management of which they had been charged. On that day they at last obtained their first conference with the Prabl-klang; but neither on this, nor on any subsequent occasion, did they succeed in effecting any definite arrangement of the points they met to discuss. The invincible procrastination of the Siamese court, where the settlement of the most important matters of state is at any time liable to be interrupted for the sake of the idlest ceremonies, or by such accidents as a domestic disturbance in the family of the minister, or a fit of ill-humour on the part of the monarch, or a royal progress from one quarter of the palace to another, would of itself have been an obstacle, in any circumstances, to the speedy adjustment of such a business as that entrusted to the Governor-General's mission. But in the present case there were other and still more insuperable difficulties in the way. The object which the Siamese authorities had evidently most at heart, throughout the negotiation, was to obtain a promise that, in the event of the commercial treaty being arranged, they should enjoy the privilege of at all times supplying themselves with fire-arms and warlike stores at the British ports. This was a permission, however, which Mr. Crawfurd regrets that he was not authorized to yield to the extent demanded. To a question upon the subject, which was put to him by the Prahklang, at one of their earliest interviews, it was replied, "that if the Siamese were at peace with the friends and neighbours of the British nation, they would certainly be permitted to purchase fire-arms and ammunition at our ports, but not otherwise." This, however, was very far from satisfying the wishes of the Siamese minister. The answer, even by the terms in which it was conveyed, was conceived to point too plainly at the Burmans; and "the interpreter," says Mr. Crawfurd, "hesitated to explain it; informing me, in an under tone, that according to Siamese notions it was considered uncivil to make any allusion to the national enemy; an observation which shows the rancorous and irreconcileable temper with which those two nations view each other." Besides this difficulty, however, another of nearly equal magnitude contributed effectually to defeat the success of the mission at the courts both of Siam and of Cochin China. The haughty autocrats of these two countries obviously looked with contempt upon an ambassador from the delegated government of India. In Cochin China, Mr. Crawfurd was not even introduced to the presence of the king; and neither the one monarch nor the other condescended to reply in his own name to the letters of the Governor-General. No explanation that Mr. Crawfurd could offer upon this point, had the least effect in softening the not unnatural prejudices which he had to encounter. He found himself met again and again, in spite of all his endeavours, by the broadest hints as to the arrogance of a mere provincial governor presuming to place himself on a level of equality with the sovereign prince of a mighty nation, and expressions of surprise, that the mission had not rather come with credentials from the king of England himself. The court of Cochin China even refused, on this account, to accept of the presents sent by the Marquis of Hastings. In Siam, the pride of the king and his ministers yielded the victory here to their avarice and rapacity, and the presents were received; but only as offerings or tribute from an inferior to his lord paramount, as was made sufficiently intelligible by the whole conduct and demeanour of the court, as well as expressly declared in the answer to the letter of the Governor-General. Notwithstanding these discouragements, however, Mr. Crawfurd continued to persevere in his attempts to attain, as far as possible, the objects of his mission. The point which he was principally anxious to carry, was the abolition of the right of pre-emption claimed and exercised by his Siamese majesty, in regard to all goods imported for sale into his kingdom. This important innovation in the mercantile usages of the state, which none of the ministers would undertake to mention to the king, it was at last agreed that Mr. Crawfurd himself should propose, at an audience to be granted for the purpose. But no second audience was ever obtained, and the negotiation was terminated, after several very unsatisfactory conferences with the Prah-klang, by the fol lowing ultimatum from the Siamese government:-"That if English merchant ships come to the port of the capital, upon their arrival at the mouth of the river, they shall be searched by the governor of Pak-nam, and their small arms and cannon landed, according to former custom, and then that the ships shall be conducted to the capital. As soon as they are anchored, the superintendent of customs shall afford all assistance in buying and selling with the merchants of Siam, and the duties and charges shall not be more than heretofore, nor afterwards raised. Let the English merchants come to Siam to sell and buy in conformity to this agreement." Although this very satisfactory and important document was put into the hands of the envoy on the 12th of June, it was the middle of July before the state of the bar in the river permitted the mission ship to take its departure. From that time till nearly the end of August was occupied in the voyage to Saigun, the first port at which the party touched in the Cochin Chinese dominions. Having reached the Point of Kandyu, which lies at the mouth of the river of Saigun, they were visited by the mandarin of that place, as well as very hospitably entertained by him on shore. Leaving the ship there, Mr. Crawfurd and Mr. Finlayson, with a retinue of about thirty attendants, proceeded in boats up the river to the town of Saigun, where they arrived on the morning of the 29th. Here they were met at once by a difficulty which they had not anticipated. The governor of Lower Cochin China insisted upon seeing the letter from the Governor-General to the king-and would be satisfied with nothing but the original, which had unfortunately been left in the ship at Kandyu. After a good deal of contention, however, the letter was at last sent for, and obtained; but we must leave our author himself to relate what took place upon its arrival: "Notice of this was, without delay, sent to the mandarins charged with our business, and the three persons who had visited us before, lish entertain of the black inhabitants of Hin- | doostan!!' The whole of this tedious conference lasted eight hours. The luckless interpreter, Antonio, was so overcome with the intricacy, not to say the danger of his part of the task, and the difficulty of pleasing every body, that he declared, that to have done it justice would have required the head of an elephant!" The remainder of the story of the Mission to Cochin China may be soon told. After having been honoured with an audience of the governor, Mr. Crawfurd quitted Saigun on the 3d of September, and, having regained the ship after a sail of a few hours, the whole party proceeded on their voyage along the western coast of the peninsula towards the capital of the kingdom, the city of Hué. On the 15th they reached the harbour of Touran, where leaving the ship moored, Mr. Crawfurd, accompanied only by Mr. Finlayson and about a dozen attendants, embarked a few days after on board of two galleys provided for them by the government, and, after a short voyage, reached their final destination. The first matter that engaged the authorities here was, as usual, the Governor-General's letter, the Chinese translation of which had to undergo another very minute and scrupulous revisal. Among other expressions that were objected to, was one mentioning the death of the late king. This was considered highly improper, as his majesty, it was observed, ought to have been represented not as dead, but as merely gone to heaven! No alterations, however, that were made upon the Governor-General's letter, could procure the mission the honour of a presentation at Court. The utmost that could be obtained from the minister, in reference to this point, was a promise that he would convey their desire to his majesty, which was extorted from him only after a world of argument and solicitation. "It is natural enough," said he, with a smile, at the close of a long conversation upon the subject, "that you should employ every expedient in your power to attain the honour of being presented to so great a king." by Mr. Gibson, which Mr. Crawfurd has printed in his appendix, no fewer than ten thousand of them perished from thirst, hard labour, or disease. We are sorry we cannot treat our readers to an account of the various ready-cooked dinners which were sent as presents by his Cochin Chinese majesty to the mission, during the few remaining days they resided at his capital. The most remarkable of the dainties served up upon one of these occasions, consisted of three bowls of hatched eggs, which it was stated formed a delicacy beyond the reach of the poor, and only adapted for persons of distinctionthe fact being, that eggs in this condition cost thirty per cent. in the market more than fresh ones. It is the universal practice, accordingly, when great entertainments are to be given, to set the hens to hatch, that the guests may be provided with this favourite delicacy. After ten or twelve days, the eggs are considered as ripe for eating. In consequence of the presents sent by the Governor General having, as we have already stated, been refused by the King, Mr. Crawfurd felt it necessary respectfully to decline accepting of those offered by his majesty for the government of Bengal. This conduct at first gave a good deal of umbrage to the Siamese authorities; but finding their efforts to shake the resolution of the envoy of no effect, they desisted after a short time from pressing the point. They made the circumstance, however, a pretext for refusing to the mission a letter from the king himself for the GovernorGeneral; and Mr. Crawfurd was finally obliged, as he had been at Siam, to take his departure with only one from the minister. In reply to the request which had been made on the subject of commercial intercourse, his majesty was pleased to grant permission to English ships, to visit three parts of the kingdom only, viz., Saigun, Han or Touran, with Faifo, and the capital; and although this was a very limited concession, in comparison with what had been promised at an earlier period of the nego tiation, it was deemed quite useless to make any farther attempt to obtain a more liberal ar 17th of October, and having travelled by land to Touran, and embarked there, reached Singapore on the 16th of November, and Calcutta on the 29th of the following month. "On the same day," says Mr. Crawfurd, "I made my report to the Marquis of Hastings, whom I found on the point of sailing for England. His Lordship was pleased to approve of the discretion with which, under many difficult and embarrassing circumstances, the affairs of the mission had been conducted; and I had afterwards the honour of receiving the official approbation of his immediate successor, my amiable and lamented friend, the late Mr. Acland." Two or three days afterwards, the intend-rangement. The mission quitted Hué on the ant of the port came with a message from his majesty, to say that every thing being now settled, the party were at perfect liberty to go abroad wherever they pleased; and they proceeded accordingly to visit the different quarters of the city and its vicinity. We wish we could extract the very interesting account our author gives us of the fortifications erected under the superintendence of the former king, instructed and assisted by a few French engineers. The defences around the town, the barracks, and, above all, the arsenal, are described as all constructed on the most scientific principles, and kept in admirable order. The roads, bridges, and canals in the neighbourhood, are also said to be excellent. These improvements, however, had been effected by their despotic author at the expense of a prodigious waste both of the treasure and the lives of his subjects-the provision for supplying the workmen with water, having, for one thing, been so deficient that, as we find from the very curious journal of the Burmese embassy Museum.-VOL. XIV. During the late Burmese war, a second mission was sent by the Governor-General to Siam, which was not, however, attended by any more important results than that whose proceedings we have just been sketching. Even the spirited attempts that were for some time made by certain English capitalists, to establish a commercial intercourse with that No. 79.-D |