We were surrounded by Siamese, Cambojans, Burmese, Pequans, Malays, Chinese, Cochin-Chinese, Moors, and people of Lao, dressed all in the costumes of their respective countries, but all of them at the disposal of the “master of lives,” as the king of Siam is styled. It was before observed, that the princes were nearest the throne, on a separate carpet; behind them, on another carpet, were the praklang and the higher officers of state, as precedence is decided here by relative vicinity to the throne: the lowest officers admitted, are those at the very entrance of the hall. When the courtiers enter, they crawl in on all fours, and, when dismissed, crawl out again backward, “à la crab,” or “à la lobster;” and when the numbers are great, their appearance is most ludicrous. During the audience the utmost silence was observed by the courtiers; not an eye was even cast toward us until it was ended. One would suppose that all who were there present, were assembled before the throne of Him who is to _sit_ in judgment at the latter day, rather than before a temporal monarch; there were such a stillness and solemnity at times, that the scene was quite oppressive. The audience, which lasted about half an hour, being ended, his majesty ordered us to be shown the white and other elephants, the temples, &c., within the palace-walls. On our exit from the building, the music again struck up and ended when we passed the lines. We were first conducted by the interpreters and some half dozen officers, to the stables of the more valuable elephants, kept within the enclosure. The first shown to us was the sacred white elephant, a more gentle and peaceable character than the one secured without the walls, near the river; he was much whiter also, but this might be owing to his being kept cleaner, his eyes were larger, sound, and healthy in appearance, and the skin free from scurf. I was particularly requested to feed him with bananas and sugar-cane, which he received from my hands most gently, rubbing his long proboscis once over the back of my hand and then made three salams with his trunk. Fresh cut grass was placed in small bundles before him, and when annoyed by the flies and moschetoes, he would take a wisp and brush his legs, throwing it afterward on his back. In this stall was a white monkey, of the size of a small dog, a perfect Albino, the iris, pink, &c., &c.; he was kept in a cage, and appeared never to be quiet for a single second. We passed on to four other stalls, which contained spotted elephants; they are noble animals, and I consider them more worthy of notice than the white ones. We passed on to the great temple of the palace, which was repairing, where Budha sat enthroned on high, of a gigantic size, shining with gold and yellow cloths, and protected with a yellow umbrella. The walls were covered with historical paintings, relative to the wanderings of Rama; and the outer courts were filled with descript and non-descript animals of all sorts, in