The English Governess at the Siamese Court | Page 3

and ran on deck to catch an early glimpse of the
strange land we were nearing; and as I peered eagerly, not through mist
and haze, but straight into the clear, bright, many-tinted ether, there
came the first faint, tremulous blush of dawn, behind her rosy veil; and
presently the welcome face shines boldly out, glad, glorious, beautiful,
and aureoled with flaming hues of orange, fringed with amber and gold,
wherefrom flossy webs of color float wide through the sky, paling as
they go. A vision of comfort and gladness, that tropical March morning,
genial as a July dawn in my own less ardent clime; but the memory of
two round, tender arms, and two little dimpled hands, that so lately had
made themselves loving fetters round my neck, in the vain hope of
holding mamma fast, blinded my outlook; and as, with a nervous
tremor and a rude jerk, we came to anchor there, so with a shock and a
tremor I came to my hard realities.
The captain told us we must wait for the afternoon tide to carry us over
the bar. I lingered on deck, as long as I could dodge the fiery spears that
flashed through our tattered awning, and bear the bustle and the
boisterous jests of some circus people, our fellow-passengers, who
came by express invitation of the king to astonish and amuse the royal
household and the court.
Scarcely less intelligent, and certainly more entertaining, than these
were the dogs of our company,-? brutes of diverse temperament,
experience, and behavior. There were the captain's two, Trumpet and

Jip, who, by virtue of their reflected rank and authority, held places of
privilege and pickings under the table, and were jealous and
overbearing as became a captain's favorites, snubbing and bullying
their more accomplished and versatile guests, the circus dogs, with
skipper-like growls and snarls and snaps. And there was our own true
Bessy,--a Newfoundland, great and good,--discreet, reposeful, dignified,
fastidious, not to be cajoled into confidences and familiarities with
strange dogs, whether official or professional. Very human was her
gentle countenance, and very loyal, I doubt not, her sense of
responsibility, as she followed anxiously my boy and me, interpreting
with her heart the thoughts she read in our faces, and responding with
her sympathetic eyes.
In the afternoon, when we dined on deck, the land was plainly visible;
and now, as with a favoring tide we glided toward the beautiful
Meinam ("Mother of Waters"), the air grew brighter, and the picture
lived and moved; trees grew on the banks, more and more verdure,
monkeys swung from bough to bough, birds flashed and piped among
the thickets.
Though the reddish-brown water over the "banks" is very shallow at
low tide, craft of moderate burden, with the aid of a pilot, cast anchor
commonly in the very heart of the capital, in from ten to twelve
fathoms of water.
The world has few rivers so deep, commodious, and safe as the
Meinam; and when we arrived the authorities were contemplating the
erection of beacons on the bar, as well as a lighthouse for the benefit of
vessels entering the port of Bangkok. The stream is rich in fish of
excellent quality and flavor, such as is found in most of the great rivers
of Asia; and is especially noted for its platoo, a kind of sardine, so
abundant and cheap that it forms a common seasoning to the laborer's
bowl of rice. The Siamese are expert in modes of drying and salting
fish of all kinds, and large quantities are exported annually to Java,
Sumatra, Malacca, and China.
In half an hour from the time when the twin banks of the river, in their
raiment of bright green, seemed to open their beautiful arms to receive
us, we came to anchor opposite the mean, shabby, irregular town of
Paknam, or Sumuttra P'hra-kan ("Ocean Affairs"). Here the captain
went ashore to report himself to the Governor, and the officials of the

custom-house, and the mail-boat came out to us. My boy became
impatient for couay (cake); Moonshee, my Persian teacher, and Beebe,
my gay Hindostanee nurse, expressed their disappointment and disgust,
Moonshee being absurdly dramatic in his wrath, as, fairly shaking his
fist at the town, he demanded, "What is this?"
Near this place are two islands. The one on the right is fortified, yet
withal so green and pretty, and seemingly so innocent of bellicose
designs, that one may fancy Nature has taken peculiar pains to heal and
hide the disfigurements grim Art has made in her beauty. On the other,
which at first I took for a floating shrine of white marble, is perhaps the
most unique and graceful object of architecture in Siam; shining like a
jewel on the broad bosom of the river,