to distinguish the ruling and privileged nation from subjected tribes. It is also
applied to the Laos, with the epithet “ great,” while the Siamese themselves bear that
■of “ little,” terms, however, which, probably, signify no more than elder and younger.
The kingdom of Siam extends fi’om about the 4° to the 22° of north latitude,,
or to the length of 1080 geographical miles. Its breadth is very irregular, varying
from 150 to 360 miles. Its entire area, tributary states included, has been estimated
at 12,330 geographical leagues, or 111,000 geographical miles.
To the north Siam is bounded by the territory of the Burmese in one quarter, and
by the British in another ; to the west by the British territory and the Bay of Bengal ;
to the south by the Malay States of Perak and Jehor, and by the Gulf of Siam, and to
the east by the territories of Cochin China. The essential parts of tbe kingdom, however,
seem to lie between the 14° and 17° of latitude, and embracing about 36,000
geographical square miles, do not much exceed in extent the island of Java.
The coast line of Siam, on the gulf of its own name, extends to about 1000 miles,
but on that of Bengal, to not more than 200. It contains no deep bays or inlets,
but on the Siamese gulf, the embouchures of several large rivers. The Gulf of Siam
extends from between the 8° and 9° of north latitude to between the 13° and 14°, and
all its upper or northern coast is in possession of the Siamese. Along its coasts the
depth of water is usually from nine to ten fathoms, and in the centre from fifty to
sixty. A current at the rate of three miles an hour prevails in the gulf running from
north to south during the northern monsoon, and in the opposite direction during the
southern. I t is beyond the reach of the region of hurricanes, and usually its navigation
is safe and easy. Both its eastern and western coasts contain many islands,—a
few of them thinly inhabited, and all of them green, wooded, but sterile.
The mountain chains of Siam have a direction from north to south, and seem to be
three in number, but of their height and geological formation we have no reliable
information. The most westerly range seems to be a continuation of the great central
one, which runs through the Malay Peninsula. Some of the highest points of this
rise to the height of 5000 feet. Up to the 14° of latitude, this range yields iron, tin,
and gold, and no doubt the formation is sedimentary and plutonic.
The Menam, the Mekong, the Meklong, the Petriii, the Tachin, and the Chantibun
are the principal rivers of Siam. The first of these, of which the literal meaning is-
“ mother of waters,” is by far the most important, in so far as regards Siam itself. It
is said to have its source in the Chinese province of Yunan, and is computed to have
a course of 300 leagues. Between the 17° and 18° of latitude it receives a large
affluent, the Phitsalok, and in about the 16° it divides into several branches, producing
an extensive system of irrigation. At the ancient capital Yuthia, it receives
another affluent, and nine leagues from the sea, above the modern capital Bangkok,
all the branches unite, and thus débouché at Paknam, literally “ the river’s mouth.”
From the ancient capital to the sea, the Menam is navigable for large vessels, having,
from bank to bank, a depth varying from six to nine fathoms, and at Bangkok it is
half-a-mile broad, a spacious river and convenient harbour. A bar, composed of mud
and sand, however, obstructs its entrance, about ten miles in breadth, on which the
depth at low water does not exceed three feet, nor at high, even during spring tides, above
fourteen. The three rivers, the Meklong, the Petriii, and the Tachin, all of short course,
have their distinct embouchures at tbe head of the gulf, but are connected with the
Menam, or principal river, by natural canals, which contribute to extend its irrigation
and navigation. All these together inundate the lands in their neighbourhood, from
June to November, and, by their deposit, fertilise a plain which is considered to be about
sixty leagues in length, by twenty-five in breadth, or having an area of .6750 geographical
miles. In the month of August the water overflows the banks of the Menam,
rising to the height of forty inches above its ordinary level in the dry season, in some
years having even an elevation of double this amount. It is remarkable, however,
that this inundation does not extend to the lands which border the river for eleven
leagues inland from the sea, which are so high as not to be affected by it. The
valley of the Menam is obviously of modern creation, for even at the city of Bangkok,
at the depth of twenty-five feet below the surface, abundant débris of sea-shells and
crustaceæ are found, and the water reached is stated to be as salt as that of the gulf.
The river of Chantibun, which is of short course, disembogues on the eastern coast
of the gulf, between the 12° and 13° of latitude, and is stated to fertilise a narrow
plain twelve leagues in length. The Mekong, or great river of Kamboja, is said to
have a course of 500 leagues, and must be reckoned one of the greatest rivers of Asia.
A small portion of it only passes through the territory of Siam,—that which is inhabited
by the tributary Laos and Kambojaus.
Lakes do not seem to be numerous in Siam, or at least not to be of great extent.
One, however, is described as existing in the tributary part of Kamboja. This is
called Talesap,—said to be situated between tbe 11° and 12° of latitude,—to be
twenty leagues in circumference, and to abound in fish.
As to climate the year in Siam as in other Asiatic countries within the same
latitudes, is divided into two seasons, a wet and a dry, the first of which extends
from the middle of June to tho middle of October. The south-west monsoon during
this time blows over the country, and for the rest of the year, the north-east. At
the capital, Bangkok, Fahrenheit’s thermometer ranges in the months of December and
January from 50° to 53°, and in March and April, the hottest months, from 86° to 95°.
Over the great alluvial plain the ventilation is as complete as in the open sea, and
lienee the country equal in salubrity to any tropical one. But in many of the confined
and thickly wooded valleys the climate is deleterious from malaria.
The mineral products of Siam of economical use are iron, lead, tin, gold, zinc, and
antimony. Iron is chiefly manufactured in the little town of Thasung on the Menam
in about latitude 16° 30'. The ore obtained in the western range of mountains and
said to be of good quality, is brought to the place of manufacture by a small river,
and being smelted by the Chinese is sent in pigs to be cast into those caldrons
which are so generally used in the country itself, and largely exported to the Malayan
countries. Tin is described as the produce of four different provinces, exclusive of
the tributary Malay States which also yield it. These provinces extend from about
the 8° to the 15° of latitude, and seem to be part of the same formation which
extends to the Malay peninsula and its islands as far as Banca and Billiton. Lead,
zinc, and antimony are found in the ranges of mountains which lie on the western
borders of Siam between the 13° and 14° of latitude, but no mines of them seem ever
to have been worked, and, indeed, although the two first metals are well known to
the Chinese, they are unacquainted with the last. Gold is produced only in the
same localities which yield tin, the most noted mines being at a place called Baug-
tapan, at the base of the range of mountains called the “ Three hundred peaks,” close
to the western shore of the gulf, and between the latitudes of 11° and 12°.
The only remarkable gems found in the Siamese territory are the ruby and
sapphire, said to be found in the valleys among the mountains of Chantabun or
Chantaburi, on the eastern side of the gulf between the 12° and 13° of latitude.
These precious stones, however, would seem to be much less abundant than those of
the Burmese mines in the country of the Shans or Laos. Long ranges of limestone
mountains exist in the western part of the Siamese territory. Culinary salt obtained
by solar evaporation is largely produced near the sea on the banks of the river
Meklong. This which is in unusually large crystals of great purity, furnishes the
whole kingdom, and is the commodity which chiefly supplies the Malayan countries,
with the exception of Java.
The useful spontaneous or cultivated vegetable products of Siam are, with a few
exceptions, the same as those of the Malayan Archipelago, and especially of Java,
although there be a difference of some eight degrees of latitude between them. The
cereal corns are rice, the great staple of the country, of which no fewer than forty
varieties are reckoned to be cultivated, and maiz, of course, as a plant of American
origin of comparatively recent introduction. The chief pulses grown are the
Phaseolus radiatus, or Soy bean, and the Arachis hypogsea or ground pea, the first
but not the last being an article of exportation. The chief cultivated palms are the
coco-nut, the areca, and the palmyra. The first yields the principal supply of oil
for home consumption, and is a large article of export, and the last, the sugar, for
domestic use. The sugar-cane has been immemorially known to the Siamese, and
the historian, Diogo de Cauto states that both sugar and spirits were made from it
when the Portuguese first visited Siam towards the commencement of the sixteenth
century. This, however, seems to have ceased for a long time, and it was not until
about the year 1810, or about eleven years before my own visit to the country, that
the Chinese settlers began to cultivate the cane for the manufacture of sugar. After
Bengal, Java and the Philippine island of Luzon, Siam is, at present, tho principal
sugar-producing country in Asia, and the produce is of a very high quality and well-
known in the markets of Europe.
Cotton is extensively cultivated in upland regions, but not within the tract of
inundation. It supplies not only the whole domestic consumption, but is to some
extent exported to China. Its Siamese name, fai, would seem to imply that it is
a native and not an exotic. Black pepper is confined to the district of Chantabun or
Chantaburi on the eastern side of the gulf and between the 11° and 12° of latitude.