The governor of the province, sitting upon his mat, with his vessels and ornaments of gold spread out before him, seemed the most indifferent of them all, and spent the greater portion of the time occupied by reading the oath in picking fleas from his favorite dog and in cracking them over his thumb. After the reading of the oath the various weapons were dipped into the water, which exercise was accompanied by the chanting of the priests and the blowing of conch-shells, after which all in authority drank of the water and sprinkled it upon their heads, bowing toward the idol and toward Bangkok, where the king resides. This ended the ceremony, and all departed to their homes. CHAPTER XXI. _HISTORY OF THE MISSIONS IN SIAM AND LAOS._ The American trading-vessel, commanded by Captain Coffin, which in 1829 brought to this country the famous “Siamese Twins,” brought also an earnest appeal for aid in evangelizing that then almost unknown land of their birth. The appeal came from the zealous German missionary Gutzlaff and his associate, the Rev. Mr. Tomlin, of the London Missionary Society, who six months before had made their way to Siam, where they found not only an open door, but a large and most inviting field, for missionary labor. Their own societies not encouraging their permanent occupation of this advanced post in heathendom, both these brethren urged the American churches to enter in and possess the land for Christ. In response to the appeal of Gutzlaff, which was specially addressed to them, the American Board of Foreign Missions instructed the Rev. David Abeel, then in China, to visit Siam with a view to its occupancy if he deemed it advisable. Dr. Abeel reached Singapore just as Mr. Tomlin was on the eve of embarking on a second visit to Bangkok, and arrived with him in Siam on June 30, 1831, a few days after Mr. Gutzlaff, disheartened by the death of his devoted wife, had sailed away in a native junk for Tientsin on the first of his memorable voyages of missionary exploration up the coast of China. He had been in Siam nearly three years in all, and had baptized one Chinese convert, whose name was Boontai. The new-comers found the people eager for the books and medicines they had brought, and they labored faithfully for the good of the many Siamese and Chinese of high and low degree who came to visit them. In six months, however, Mr. Tomlin was called away, and Dr. Abeel also was obliged to leave Siam on a trip to Singapore to recruit his impaired health. Returning to Siam, he labored on till November 5, 1832, when continued ill-health drove him finally from the field.