224
SIAM BOOK iii
When
a man dies all his relatives and friends should come to the burial, and
when they place the body in the ground they take off all the bracelets
on their arms and legs and bury them with the deceased.
CHAPTER XVIII
Concerning the Kingdom of Siam.1
The greater
part of the Kingdom of Siam is situated between the Gulf of the same
name and the Gulf of Bengal, adjoining Pegu on the north and the
peninsula of Malacca on the south. The shortest road and the best which
Europeans can take to reach this Kingdom is to go from Ispahan to
Hormuz, from Hormuz to Surat, from Surat to Golkonda, and from Golkonda
to Masulipatam, where they should embark for Denouserin,2
which is one of the ports of the Kingdom of Siam. From Denouserin to
the capital town, which bears the name of the Kingdom, there are about
thirty-five days' journey ; one part is traversed by ascending a river,
and the remainder in a cart or upon elephants. The road both by land
and water is uncomfortable, because on the land portion one must"
always be on guard against lions 3 and tigers ; and by
water, as the river makes rapids in many places, it is difficult to
make the boats ascend, but this is accomplished by the aid of
machinery. It is the route which I recommended, on the return from one
of my voyages to India, to three bishops whom I met on the road. The
first was the Bishop of Beryte,4 whom I met at Ispahan ; the second the Bishop of Megalopolis,5 when crossing the Euphrates ;
1 One of the most important early accounts of Siam is that of Simon de la Loubere, Du Royaume de Siam, Amsterdam, 1691, of which an English translation, by A. P. Gem, R. S. S., was published in London, 1693, under the title of A New Historical Relation of the Kingdom of Siam. The references in the notes are to the latter work.
1 Tenasserim, which, however, was included in the Kingdom of Pegu, though at times conquered and held by Siam (Yule, Hobson-Jobson, 914).
* There are no lions in Siam. * Beyrout, in Syria.
5 Metellopolis of Finlayson, Mission to Siam, 257 : perhaps Megalopolis in Arcadia.
