esteem, but elephants of this hue enjoy the highest privileges. Next to the elephants, white monkeys are regarded with great reverence, and have a regularly appointed staff of household officers to do them service. Monkeys of this colour are said to be peculiar to Siam. The reasons alleged by the Siamese for their respect for these animals, may seem to some plausible enough. They say, "The monkey is a man, not very handsome to be sure; but no matter, he is not less our brother." They also say he will not speak from prudential motives, lest he might be forced to enter the king's service, and work without pay. A Siamese monkey did speak once, as the story goes, and to such effect that he was appointed to head an army, then preparing to attack a host of giants. Of his qualifications as a general, one proof is recorded-be severed a mountain in twain with a single kick.

But to return to the white elephant. The reason adduced for the reverence offered to this animal is that it is believed that Buddha will again revisit the earth under the form of a white elephant. The country inhabited by such an animal is believed to be particularly favoured by Heaven. If the governor of a province captures one of these animals, he orders a way to be cut through the forest for the safe conduct of the prize. When he reaches the banks of the Meinam, he is ushered on board a canopied and highly ornamented raft prepared for his reception, and here he is regaled with the dainties most flattering to his palate. A noble of high position, sometimes even the king himself, attends him on the raft. Persons of the highest rank go forth in barges to meet this distinguished guest. Strains of music, shouts of joy attend the procession, which having reached the capital, all the great dignitaries of the state go forth to bid the elephant welcome. The king confers on him some euphonious title, and elevates him to the rank o`the highest nobility. He is then conducted to the palace that has been prepared for him, where he is received by the officers of his household, and the servants appointed to wait on him. Every delicacy that can tempt a sensitive proboscis is served in vessels of gold and silver, a diadem is placed on his head, his attendants prostrate themselves in his presence as before the king, and if his tusks are grown they are adorned with costly rings. This well-caredfor animal indulges in the bath, and on these occasions his servants attend him, holding a large red parasol to shield his excellency from the sun's rays. If he happen to fall ill, he is visited by the court physician, and the priests offer up solemn prayers for his recovery. If he die, the whole kingdom is plunged in grief; a universal mourning prevails, and all finishes by the highest funeral honours being paid to the deceased elephant-noble.

During Sir John Bowring's stay in Siam, he had the honour of being presented to the white elephant, and the king, as a special mark of favour, presented Sir John with a few hairs from the favourite's tail. One of the most valuable presents offered to Queen Victoria by his Siamese majesty, at least in his estimation, was a tuft of the elephant's hairs. His Majesty ordered portraits of the white favourite to be made, which he distributed amongst his English visitors, and when this beloved elephant died the king sent Sir John, "from a beloved

and faithful friend," a 'portion of her white skin, "with beautiful body-hairs preserved in spirits."

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Though the king of Siam has not yet been able to rid himself of these national superstitions, it must be confessed that there are few men living more in advance of the general state of knowledge in their country. There is in the royal palace a house, above the entrance of which is written in English Royal Pleasure," and the same words in the Sanscrit character. This dwelling is arranged much after the fashion of a European residence. It resembles more the abode of a philosopher than one corresponding to the ordinary ideas of "royal pleasure." In this house are numerous scientific instruments, a great variety of Parisian clocks and pendules, thermometers, barometers, telescopes, microscopes, all evidences of the king's intellectual tastes. In this retreat of literary leisure, the statues of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert have a place.

The beauty of the royal palace, and the amount of wealth contained in it, are wonderful. This palace is surrounded by high white walls about a mile in circumference. It consists of a number of detached edifices, comprising military posts, public offices, menageries, with accommodation for about a thousand soldiers, with war-elephants and artillery. Within these walls is the palace of the white elephant, and here, of course, are the apartments of the numerous ladies of the court. The pavement of all these pagodas is either of marble or granite. In the middle of the central court is the hall of audience, a large oblong apartment, supported by pillars. Here Sir John Bowring saw a portrait of the Pope, an engraving of Queen Victoria, a picture of the Emperor of China, and representations of other distinguished persons. In this hall the body of the king remains for a year after death in a golden urn, when it is burned with great ceremony. The royal throne is placed at one end of the hall of audience. His majesty can enter without passing through the hall, and when the sound of musical instruments announces the royal presence, all the nobles bow their faces to the ground. The royal princes and nobles are ranged on the right and left of the throne, but considerably beneath, as the throne is elevated twelve feet from the floor.

In the most retired part of the palace are the apartments allotted to the ladies. The female inhabitants of the palace are reckoned at three thousand,-of these six hundred are wives of the king, the remainder are attendants. To compensate these ladies for their seclusion, there are beautiful gardens attached to their department of the palace, where, besides taking exercise, they are often amused with theatrical exhibitions. Of the wealth of Eastern monarchs it is not easy to form a correct estimate; but the support of three thousand ladies who wear diamond necklaces and earrings, with other costly ornaments, can form no small item in the royal expenditure. But it is perhaps on the temples that the most elaborate care is expended. One of those within the palace walls is of great beauty. The floor is covered with mats of silver, and the building is filled with things the most curious and costly. There are statues from Europe, and porcelain vases from China. There are colossal figures of Buddha of massive

gold. There are other objects which can be supposed to possess only a local value. Amongst these we may reckon old garments belonging to former kings, and grotesque tusks of departed elephants. There are gold and silver ornaments in great variety, and specimens of wood and ivory curiously wrought. But the great glory of this temple is a statue of Buddha, raised on a high pedestal, conspicuous above every other object in the place. This figure is a foot and a half in height, and said to be cut out of a solid emerald. This idol is held in the

highest veneration. It is dressed in gorgeous garments covered with gold and precious stones. The costume varies according to the different seasons of the year; indeed, the costliness of the temples and idols seems something fabulous. In one temple there is a figure of Buddha 165 feet in length, formed of brick and covered with a thick leaf of gold. The height of the pedestal on which this figure rests is eighty two paces, and the foot of the image measures six paces.

There are several figures of Buddha within the precincts of the royal palace. In the corridors alone, it is said there are nine hundred gilt figures of the god. In the city and suburbs of Bangkok there are one hundred temples, or wats, whose wealth and beauty exceed those of all the other buildings in the capital. Like the royal palace, these wats consist of several piles of brick buildings, covered over with a kind of cement, giving to the whole the appearance of marble. The style of architecture is very elaborate, particularly displayed in the ornaments of the doors and windows. Some of the latter are made of coloured glass, cunningly fashioned to represent different figures. Some are richly gilt, others are adorned with pearls. Around the larger buildings there are small pagodas with gilded spires and ornamented with coloured glass. These temples, so gaily glittering in the sun, contrast with others, perhaps older, embowered in the deep shade of venerable trees, where bats and crows and many nocturnal birds make their abode, diffusing incessant sound into the deep gloom; and these tree-surrounded temples, with their chattering crows and screeching owls, look like the castles of our medieval barons. A wat sometimes covers a space of from three to five acres, and in the erection of one of these buildings from two to five thousand men were constantly employed during fifteen years. The consecration of these temples forms a splendid spectacle, where the king himself is often a prominent actor. We have already mentioned the stature of some of the figures of Buddha. Upon one of these four hundred and fifty ounces of gold-leaf were expended. In a single temple there are often as many as four or five hundred priests, with a thousand boy attendants. "The pagoda," says Sir John Bowring, "is in fact only the prominent ornament of a vast expanse filled with beautiful edifices, among which will be found a score of Chinese belvederes, a succession of halls, accessible from the water-side; a vast building for preaching; two magnificent temples,-one to hold the image of Buddha, another devoted to the worship of the priests, who occupy from two to three hundred prettily-built houses, some in brick, others in wood.” The grounds within the enclosure are laid out with elaborate luxury.

There are extensive gardens filled with the rarest fruits and flowers, ponds adorned with curiously-wrought rock-work, pyramids two or three hundred feet in height, their graceful spires formed of coloured glass or porcelain. Canals traverse these grounds, and on the waters boats are constantly moving, giving additional beauty to the scene. Amongst other ornaments, tall poles are fixed in the ground, bearing on the top a golden swan; beneath, a bright-coloured, fantasticshaped flag floats in the air. At the different entrances are huge statues of giants, warriors, or persons of historical or mythological renown. The priests have not only provided instruction for the living in large libraries; they have also furnished accommodation for the dead in the shape of funeral pyres, always ready in case of need. But the prominent object in every temple is a vast statue of Buddha, to which everything else within the temple-the wealth, the ornaments-all seems secondary in the eyes of its votaries.

In the Siamese temples are figures of wood-spirits, fabulous beings much venerated by the people of the country; they are said to inhabit the deepest recesses of the forest, and take no interest in human affairs. The head is like that of a bird, and so are the body, legs, and tail; the wings resemble those of a dragon, the breast that of a human being. To recount all the details of even one pagoda would fill a volume. Upon the embellishment of these temples the Siamese concentrate the effusion of a feeling compounded of religious fanaticism and national pride. Speaking of one of these temples, Sir John Bowring says: "The height of the principal tower is three hundred feet; but any representation would be wholly inadequate to convey a distinct idea of the gay, glittering, gaudy, and gorgeous edifice, and its surrounding towers, turrets, and buildings. It is the most prominent object on the rivers, as you ascend, and rising as it does over a great mass of the richest tropical vegetation, the effect is most striking and beautiful."

The chief dependencies of Siam are Laos and Cambodia. The people of Laos possess many points of resemblance with the Siamese, both in customs and language. The productions of the country are valuable, the traffic being chiefly carried on with the Chinese, who exchange the small wares of their country for gold-dust, silver, copper, ivory, silk, cotton, &c., all which articles are largely supplied by the people of Laos.

The favourite food of these people is fish dressed in the sun and seasoned with red pepper. There is besides abundance of rice, poultry, venison, beef, and vegetables. The inhabitants eat of all these things, nor do they despise serpents, lizards, rats, bats, frogs, &c. ; in short, animals that no European would think of eating except in case of actual starvation. At their meals the humbler classes seldom use either earthenware or porcelain; their eating vessels are made of wicker-work, manufactured with great skill. These vessels are graceful in shape, handsomely gilded and ornamented. The furniture of one of these houses consists of chests in which the silk garments of the family are deposited, and some bamboo baskets, with some mats for beds.

They are not a warlike people; their military arms are the gun and sarbacan, the latter being a bamboo tube, through which they blow an arrow. They are very skilful in the use of these weapons; their arrows especially seldom missing aim. They venerate the medical art, and many of the early Christian missionaries found the way, whilst ministering to their physical weakness, to pour into their souls that knowledge that gives true life. One of these missionaries says that these people are acquainted with the medicinal properties of many plants wholly unknown to Europeans. But with this knowedge much superstition is mingled. They put great faith in lustral waters, during the administration of which they tie bits of coloured threads on the legs and arms of the patient, nor are they less credulous as to the healing power of the teeth of tigers, serpents, bears and other animals remarkable for strength, whilst the entrails of the boa, monkey, and crocodile excite a like faith.

The Laodians profess the Buddha religion, and, like the Siamese, are lavish in the beautifying of their temples. Besides Buddha, they reverence genii, in whom they seem to have more faith than even in the great deity himself. These genii have various offices, and are dispersed in different localities. The wood-genii abide in the forest depths, and woe to the luckless wight who vantures to penetrate the gloom. Some disappear altogether from the upper world, and are never heard of more, Others, after years spent in a land of dreams and magical illusions, find themselves again at the threshold of their own huts; but their wives and children have forgotten them, they no longer recognize them. There is another class of these fays, a kind of Puck, who put their sole delight in frightening human beings, sometimes assuming fantastic shapes upon the highways, or creating terrible noises, to frighten unwary travellers.

The Laodians have also their Lares,-peaceful, protecting spirits, but who require considerable personal attention. A pyramid is erected at one end of the house, and here the household genius dwells. Upon an altar, offerings of wax-candles and odoriferous woods are placed, as well as rice and arrack, for the household god loves good cheer. Every morning and evening a portion of hot rice is placed before him; he relishes the steaming odour, and sometimes even the contents of the pot disappear. But this god is not very hospitable, for should a guest remain more than three days in the house he receives a hint that his presence has become disagreeable to the thevada, and, for fear of provoking an open manifestation of his displeasure, it would be better to depart. An intimation so significant is seldom disregarded.

THE NEW CARBINES. A board of three officers, Major Briscoe president, has been ordered to assemble at Canterbury barracks, to report on the new carbines issued to the 2nd and 3rd Dragoon Guards. They are perfectly useless. The 2nd Dragoon Guards proceed to Umballa immediately, and the 3rd Dragoon Guards embark for Kirkee in August. The ammunition issued for these carbines is also of too large a diameter. These regiments are to have the new pattern cavalry sword in place of the one issued in 1853.