The king we seldom saw. There was to be a procession on the river one day, and His Majesty, with the ladies of the court, was to go to the river’s edge to view it. The ladies invited me to accompany them, and I did so, and sat with them at some distance from the king. His Majesty recognized me among them, and called me to him. I approached him as I would approach the President of the United States. He received me with politeness and pleasant salutations, and handed me the glass with which he was viewing the procession. I received it from his hand, and with it watched for a while the pageant as it slowly moved over the river. I then returned the glass, bade His Majesty adieu and returned to my seat among the princesses. For their sakes I was glad of this little episode, for in those days Siamese etiquette required inferiors to prostrate themselves upon hands and knees, with faces to the earth, before superiors. In this position their salutation was to place their hands together, touch them to the forehead and bow to the floor or earth. In this painful attitude even the princes and nobles always appeared before His Majesty, and the custom prevailed throughout all the ranks. The elbows and knees of the king’s courtiers were hard and callous, as they were obliged so often to be in attendance upon His Majesty. One day I was visiting a very friendly princess, a daughter of the late king. She was delighted with our calls. On this occasion I found her lame and sore. It was at the time when the young queen was sick unto death. Under such circumstances the king deigns to be present in the sick chamber, and this princess was one among the number called to wait upon His Majesty. In carrying out his orders they were obliged to crawl upon their hands and knees, and her knees were all blistered by the day’s waiting. I could not refrain from saying, “Why, we are not made like cats and dogs! We are made to walk upright.” This remark pleased her, and after thinking a few moments she said, “How true! and how much easier and nicer to walk upright!” But, thinking a few moments more, she said, “But, ah, it cannot be done here.” Sure enough, such is the power of custom that it could not be done then and there, but influences were at work which would gradually undo those hard, servile customs. When those princesses saw me walk upright in the presence of the king they would naturally think, “Why are we not permitted to do the same?” and thus one little step is taken to remove the shackles.