The Siamese children are not taught to keep Sunday, for there is no Sabbath in that heathen land; and even their occasional holy days are mere gala-days, when, dressed in their best and gayest garments, they go to the temples with their mothers to make offerings to the image of their dead god Buddha. From the temples they are often taken to some theatrical show to spend the remainder of the day. During the national holiday season these theatrical performances are going on all the time, besides Chinese street-shows very much like our Punch and Judy; and fathers, mothers and children all gamble. As the streets in Siam are almost all rivers and canals, the Siamese boys and girls early learn to row, and paddle their little boats almost as soon as they learn to swim, which they do when they are only four or five years old. Their canoes are sometimes so small that it is a puzzle to know how they can manage them so safely. [Illustration: A CHINESE STREET SHOW.] We have seen that in their plays the Siamese and American children have much in common, but in their home-life it is different. Siamese parents love their children as truly, if not as wisely, as American fathers and mothers love theirs. Generally the children are allowed to do just as they please until the parents become angry; then they are sometimes very cruelly punished. The hand of a little one is sometimes bent back until the child writhes in agony. They are whipped very severely too, although it must be confessed that the children sometimes scream and cry very loudly before they are hurt. But these punishments are not often administered for what we would consider sinful. The parents lie, swear and gamble, so that they cannot well punish their children for following their example. They often curse their children for a very little thing, and so the children learn to curse each other. But there is one thing that the Siamese children could teach young folks in America――reverence for their parents and for old age and respect for those in authority over them. CHAPTER X. _FIRST HAIR-CUTTING OF A YOUNG SIAMESE._ The attention of the traveler as he passes in his boat along the rivers and canals of Siam, in town or country, is often arrested by the sound of music proceeding from beneath an extemporized awning in front of some dwelling by the wayside. There a promiscuous crowd have gathered and are witnessing a theatrical performance, the actors and actresses with chalked faces or hideous masks and in glittering and fantastic attire. The centre of attraction, however, is manifestly a pretty child of a dozen summers or so, richly attired and fairly overlaid with jewelry――necklaces, gold chains, armlets, bracelets and anklets.