Early in the morning, “when dying clouds contend with growing light;” when the fox-bat is returning from his nightly wanderings, to suspend himself on the holy fig trees, which lie scattered about the temples of Budha, and like the midnight marauder, shrinks from the sacred light of day; the tokay has ceased to send forth his harsh, loud, and monotonous cry; the prowling tiger has retired to his lair; the tuneful birds have chanted forth their first matins, or the labourer has returned to his daily task; when every thing is hushed in the solemnity of night, in the stillness of a temporary death, you are suddenly aroused by the din of the pagan bells, sounding far and wide through the depths of the surrounding palm-forests, summoning the worshippers of Gautama to early prayers. In the confusion of the moment, between slumbering and waking, you are transported, in imagination, to far distant lands, where the Sabbath bell calls forth its votaries. But how great the contrast! One summons to the worship of an imaginary god; the other to the worship of the everlasting and true God, the Lord of all things--of light and life. Pra-chadis, or thin tall spires, from twenty to sixty feet in height, are in great numbers; and there is one at the krong or capital, which towers to the height, probably, of a hundred and fifty feet. The houses of the Talapoys are contiguous to the temples, and are generally shaded by fruit and forest trees. Small temples, having a high roof, and four wide avenues leading to the centre, for the burning of the richer sort, and a raised platform in the open air, for those who can only pay small fees, are placed at the most convenient spot near the water. A long bath, or small pond, containing young alligators, seems to be a necessary appendage to all temples. The grounds about the front of many of the richer temples, are neatly and prettily laid out with avenues, clumps of trees, shrubbery, &c. The priests derive a considerable revenue by making small images, either of the unconsumed bones of certain deceased persons, or else of common clay, gilt; and also by writing on palm-trees, certain moral or religious sentences, in the sacred language. The Indian lotus, with its broad leaf, is nowhere neglected, but is found about every temple, growing from large porcelain or stone vases, neatly, and sometimes elaborately wrought. Every Siamese temple is not only a place for worship, but it is likewise a monastery: females are in them, old and worn out, and their characters are far from being respected. They only do menial offices, dress in white, and have nothing to do with the worship in the temples. As rice, their chief support, is abundant, it is but just that the Talapoys should support them in their old age.