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
That part of the city which
is walled in is nearly square, and divided by a partition-wall, running
from east to west; the northern, much the largest part, is called the
“old city;” the southern portion, more recently built, the “new city.”
The circuit of the wall does not exceed six miles: its southern part,
running east and west, is parallel with the river, from which it is
removed about fifteen or twenty rods: on this side are the “_Foreign
Factories_;” on the north, the city rests on the brow of the hill, and
is at its highest point about two hundred and fifty feet above the
surface of the river. The foundation and lower part of the wall, the
arches and the gates, are formed of coarse sandstone; its remaining
portion is built with soft brick. The walls are from twenty-five to
forty feet high, and from twenty to twenty-five feet thick; the north
side being the most substantial; on the east side the elements have
made great havoc: a line of battlements with embrasures surmounts
the walls, in the rear of which is a broad pathway. Two short walls,
designed to block up the narrow space between the main wall and the
ditches of the city, extend from its southeast and southwest corners;
through each of these there is a gate.
The city has sixteen gates, of which twelve are outer, and four open
through the wall which separates the old from the new city; they are
all guarded by soldiers, closed at an early hour in the evening, and
opened at dawn of day. The streets and buildings in the suburbs are
similar to those in the city, the houses of which occupy the whole
space between the _wall and the river_ on its southern side; on its
eastern quarter they are much less extensive; and in its northern
division there are only a few solitary huts. The houses on the south
are generally built against the wall which they overlook.
The suburbs are scarcely less extensive and populous than the city,
in which there are upward of six hundred streets, flagged with large
stones, chiefly of granite; they vary in width from two to sixteen
feet, the medium and most usual breadth being from six to eight.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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