C H A P T E R I I I . ■ -
C iv .i l G e o g r a p h y .
- Manners. — language. — yLiterature'. — Cities. — -Edifices. •— Manufactures
Commerce.
Maskers f g MIF.RE is a confiderable limilitude in the manners^and cuftoms -of
C ustoms. all the. Hates between the vaft countries of China and Hindpftan;
■ with Ih'aderrif difference,- as they Approximate to. either of thefe yori of
civilization. Siang.though centrical, . has embraced a; branch of Hindoo
■ faith, and .the manners are rather Hindoftanie than Chmefe. J
. Loubere has given an ample and interefting account of Siamefe manners.
The fair fex are under few feftraints, and are married a t an
esulyage^being paft parturition at forty., The efppufals ar^rcpncluded
by female mediation; and as wealth is carefully, concealed, from dread
of extortion by the magiftrate or prince, a prieft or magician is COn-
fulted concerning the propriety of the alliance."* .On the third viifit the
parties ate bonfidered .as,wedded, after thl exchange of a few prefents,
and without any further ceremony'civil or facredl' Polygamy is allowed;
bat is rather pradifed- from oftentation than any other motive,
and-one wife is always acknowledged as fupreme. From pride .die N
royal marriages are fomefimes inceftuous, and the king does not Kefifate ■
to efpoufe his own lifter. Divorce is feldom practifed, as mutual ne-
ceflities and habits perpetuate-the union of the poor; and the rich may ’
choofe a more compliant wife without difmifling the former. " A temporary
amorous intercourfe is rather forbidden by the pride of the fex,
than by any moral or legal conlideratioris, being regarded as a brief
marriage, and inconftancy as a divorce, Few women became mins fill
they be advanced in years.
According to the fame excellent author the Siamefe funerals cbn-
fiderably relemble tbofe of the Chinefe.1 The body is inclofed 'in a
*
wooden
•wooden hier or varnilhed coffin ; and the monks called Talapoins, (perhaps
from their tafapan, or peculiar umbrella,) - fîïïg. hymns in the Bali
tongue. After a folemn procelfion the body is-, burnt on a funeral pile
o f precious woods, erefted- near Ionic temple ; and the, fpedtaelcis often
Tendered more magnificent by the? addition g£theatrical ^exhibitions, in
which the Siamefe excel. The tombs - are in a pyramidal form ; and
thole of the kings large and lofty, I Mourning is not ‘prescribed, by thç
laws, as ! in’ China : and the ‘poor-a'rë buried with 'Itsf^*c&rei&blay.'-! , '
As -wc1 eat* léfs * in fuirimbr fhrin hi winter, do in* gerieM nations inhabiting
warm climates are temp eta trè in tdieti-’ The Oothmon''nourilh-
mentr; of. the1' Siam’dfê cbnfiffis*'ih fibe ahd''“hIh, 'hèih which'-artMes- are
abundant. ’ They affô ieht,*fi'zaras, fats, arid lèverai’ kiridsdoP infedts.
The Value bf about rone penny' "lÿcriid^iuffieed' a poor-man
his daily pound of rice, with ŸoiU.è' dried* filh ‘aud rack. The1 buffàloes
yield’rich m'ilk; but Butter’would tbelt and xHe^âie^fà’nbid,' and efterifb
is,'unknown. Little animal food 'is’ ufed'5in Siam, mutton1 dnd beef
bjëing'" very bad"; ’ and while "'the Chinefe Indulge ih all- viands,1 the
ddEtritte of Boodft' ratber'inffueftcè^ the Siâm'efe,4 and induces a hürfbr it
the éffufion of bilbod. So'that Siam in this, as in d£he*r rèfpecïs,' formfc
a media! pbint of cbfnparifon between China and'Hindoftan. -Yet in
grand feftivals the Chinefe manner'is fomefimes kdo’ptted.
The houfes are fmallj and conftrtuâed of bambôos'iïffon jrillars, to
güard ,*againft inundations'1 *ïb cotamari in' this 'cbuntryV They are
fpcMily deftroy'ed1 and replaced ; and a conflagration/ if - a^bbhtmon,1 is
at the fame' time a flight calamity. Even the palaces only exceed the
common habitations by occupying a mo r e ex t en uve* ip ac e ,5 and' being
conftrudted of timber, with à few ornaments : they' are alfo of a greater
height, but never exceed one floor. If, they continue as Loubere de-
feribes them, they form aftriking contrail with the fplendid edifices1,of
the Birmans; but it is probable ‘that, rivalry has produced greater pomp.
Brick was however ufed in the'conftradlion bf temples, and funeral
pyramids. It* is' To 'bé'Vîlhed that Lbühefe had. figured the Istfer as
well as the former ; and’ indeed to • be^ègletted ift'général that a mofé
intelligent voyager to Siam has no.t fupplied any defebls.in his'int,eroding
narrative._ 1
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