Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat: In the U. S. Sloop-of-war Peacock, David Geisinger, Commander, During the Years 1832-3-4Roberts, Edmund
History
Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat: In the U. S. Sloop-of-war Peacock, David Geisinger, Commander, During the Years 1832-3-4
Roberts, Edmund
Southeast Asia -- Commerce; Southeast Asia -- Description and travel
The dinner was dressed “à la Siamese and Portuguese.” A stage was
erected in the court-yard for vaulters and tumblers; when the dessert
was produced, which consisted of some thirty dishes of confectionary
and fruit, they commenced their surprising feats. They consisted of
about a dozen, belong to the step-brother of the king, the prince
Cha-fa-Nooi, or Mum-fa-Nooi, and are the same that were exhibited at
the praklang’s brother’s, a few nights since. After the cloth was
removed, the king of Siam was given, as a toast by me, all standing;
and in return, the praklang proposed the President of the United
States, which was drunk likewise, all standing up. Two or three
complimentary toasts then followed. The tumblers continued their sports
for two hours, until sunset; then twelve young actors and actresses,
very richly clad, made their appearance, and performed pantomimes
and posture-dances, till past nine, when our party, being heartily
tired of the performances, begged leave to retire. Their sports, we
understood, were continued till after midnight; the music was the same
we had before. The three curtains, which conceal the entrances into
the interior of the house, were raised; when the players began, each
door appeared to be full of the minister’s numerous wives, and in front
some dozens of his children, all bedecked with necklaces, bangles,
&c.; their skins being coloured with saffron or turmeric, for it is
considered here a great desideratum to have the skin of a light yellow.
The women were not generally so masculine in appearance as those we
saw abroad, and were of a lighter complexion, being less exposed. Some
of them appeared but a shade or two less than white. They were clad in
sombre-coloured silk waist and breast cloths, but wore no jewels; the
teeth of even the youngest were black as jet, and their lips and gums
of a livid hue.
On the cutting of the hair from the crown of the male children, a
display is made by every person, however humble, from the firing of two
or three muskets to feasting, fireworks, dancing, music, and acting,
in all their varieties; presents are expected from all relatives,
acquaintances, and friends, which constitute a fund for the boy. A
similar amount of gifts is expected in return, upon a like occasion;
but a man high in office always has the best of the bargain.
[Sidenote: PRESENTS.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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