Siam : The Land of the White Elephant as It Was and IsBacon, George B. (George Blagden)
History
Siam : The Land of the White Elephant as It Was and Is
Bacon, George B. (George Blagden)
Thailand -- Description and travel; Thailand -- History
minister and confidential adviser of the present King of Kamboja. His
sister is the wife of the subject of this short notice. Señor Ribeiro
favored us with the most authentic and satisfactory account which we had
yet obtained of the late revolution and present state of Kamboja.'"
[Illustration: ONE OF THE SONS OF THE LATE FIRST KING.]
It is not safe always to judge by the appearance. This grotesque old
personage, whom the narrative describes, represented a story of strange
and romantic interest, extending through two centuries of wonderful
vicissitude, and involving the blending of widely separated
nationalities. But to resume the narrative:
When at last, after our stay in Bangkok was almost at an end, we were
invited by "supremus rex" to spend the evening at his palace, we found
our friend of the beaver hat and sky-blue coat and purple breeches in
charge of a squad of attendants in one of the outer buildings of the
court, where we were to beguile the time with more refreshments until
his majesty should be ready for us. Everything about us was on a larger
scale than at the second king'sthe grounds more spacious, and the
various structures with which they were filled, the temples, armories,
and storehouses, of more ambitions size and style, but not so neat and
orderly. A crowd of admiring spectators clustered about the windows of
the room in which we were waiting, watching with breathless interest to
see the strangers eat: so that as we sat in all the glory of cocked hats
and epaulets, we had the double satisfaction of giving and receiving
entertainment.
But presently there came a messenger to say that the king was ready for
us. And so we walked on between the sentries, who saluted us with
military exactness, between the stately halls that ran on either hand,
until a large, closed gateway barred our way. Swinging open as we stood
before them, the gates closed silently behind us, and we found ourselves
in the august presence of "Rex Supremus Siamensium."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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