Siam is the land lying just to the east of Burmah; on account of the extreme reverence paid to the white elephant it is often called the Land of the White Elephant. It has a population of 6,300,000, who are, with but a few exceptions, Buddhists. Buddhism entered this country in 638 A.D., and was thus the last nation to yield to the power of that religion. The Siamese people are gentle, cheerful, timid, careless and almost passionless. They are disposed to idleness, inconstancy and inaction; they are liberal almsgivers, severe in enforcing decorum between the sexes. They are fond of sports, and spend half their time in amusements. They are sharp and even witty in conversation, and resemble the Chinese in their dexterity in imitation. Of theatrical displays, rope-dancing and the like, they are extremely fond. Of the wit of the people, the best evidence is to be found in their familiar proverbs, of which a few are here cited: “When you go into a wood, do not forget your wood-knife.” “An elephant though he has four legs may slip; and a doctor is not always right.” “Go up by land you meet a tiger; go down by water you meet a crocodile.” “If a dog bite you, do not bite him again.” As in most Oriental lands there is the greatest and most painful contrast between the luxury and splendor of the king’s court and the poverty and squalor of the common people. The royal palaces are filled with all that wealth and power can procure. The peasants’ hovels are denied even the common comforts of life; they are bare and comfortless. They contain no furniture, but only a few roughly made vessels of earthenware, and a mat or two spread upon the floor. The food of a peasant consists of a bowl of rice with a morsel of fish. At a Siamese State dinner there are usually served with great ceremony from sixty to a hundred carefully cooked dishes. THE CELEBRATED WAT CHANG PAGODA. This is the most splendid temple in Bangkok. It is shaped somewhat like a bell, rising to the height probably of 250 feet. Every inch of its surface glitters with curious ornaments and carvings; the forms of men and birds, and beasts like nothing in heaven above, nor earth beneath, nor waters under the earth. It is made of brick and plastered on the outside. In a large niche in the sides, about two-thirds of the way to the top are images of Buddha, riding on four white elephants made of shining porcelain each facing toward one of the points of the compass. A sharp spire rises from the summit. All over this temple tower, from the base to the top, from every projecting point hang a multitude of small sweet-toned bells, swinging and ringing in the slightest breeze, filling the air with liquid melody. [Illustration: TOWER OF WAT CHANG PAGODA AT BANGKOK, SIAM.] [Illustration: FUNERAL TEMPLE OF WOOD, BAMBOO AND PAPER, TO BE BURNED WITH THE BODY OF A DEAD KING.]