The English Governess at the Siamese Court being the Recollections of Six Years in the Royal Palace at Bangkok

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THE SUPREME KING

THE

ENGLISH GOVERNESS AT

THE SIAMESE COURT: BEING

RECOLLECTIONS OF SIX YEARS IN THE ROYAL PALACE AT BANGKOK.

ANNA HARRIETTS LEONOWENS. M

itl)

Illustration*,

FROM PHOTOGRAPHS PRESENTED TO THE AUTHOR BY THE KING OF SIAM.

BOSTON: FIELDS, OSGOOD, 1870.

& CO.

t)

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870,

BY FIELDS, OSGOOD, &

CO.,

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at

UNIVERSITY PRESS: WELCH, BIGELOW, CAMBRIDGE.

Washington.

&

Co.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V. VI. VII.

VIII.

IX.

X.

XL

THE SUPREME KING

Frontispiece.

.... ....

THE PRIME MINISTER

Page

.

THE TEMPLE OF THE SLEEPING IDOL

PUPIL OF THE ROYAL SCHOOL

PRESENTATION OF A PRINCESS

49

...

52

.....

102

THE BEAUTIFUL GATE OF THE TEMPLE

A

H

78

GATEWAY OF THE OLD PALACE

129

A WAR ELEPHANT

140

THE HEIR-APPARENT

154

SIAMESE ACTOR AND ACTRESS

176

SPIRE OF THE TEMPLE

....

WATT-POH

180

PRIESTS AT BREAKFAST

203

XIII.

THE PRINCESS OF CHIENGMAI

223

XIV.

A ROYAL BARGE

295

XII.

XV. XVI.

.

RUINS OF THE NAGHKON WATT.

(Double.)

SCULPTURES OF THE NAGHKON WATT.

.

(Double.)

.

.

.

306 310

TO

MRS. KATHERINE I

HAVE not asked your

these pages of

but I

my

know you

COBB.

leave, dear friend, to dedicate to

you

experience in the heart of an Asiatic court;

will indulge

object in inscribing

S.

me when

your name here

ciation of the kindness that led

you

is

I

tell

to evince

to urge

me

you that

my

my

single

grateful appre

to try the resources

of your country instead of returning to Siam, and to plead so ten derly in behalf of

my

children.

wish the offering were more worthy of your acceptance. But to associate your name with the work your cordial sympathy has I

and thus pleasantly to retrace even the saddest of my amid the happiness that now surrounds me, a hap piness I owe to the generous friendship of noble-hearted American fostered,

recollections,

women,

is

I remain,

indeed a privilege and a compensation.

with true

affection, gratitude,

Your

and admiration,

friend,

A. H. L. 26th July, 1870.

PREFACE. j~TS *-

-*

Mongkut, the Supreme

to Singapore for

P hra Paramendr Maha

Somdetch

Majesty,

"T

an English lady

tion of his children,

my

the project

friends pointed to me.

ilected

but, strange as

;

upon

it

undertake the educa

to

was with much reluctance that

it

of Siam, having sent

King

it

At

first

I consented to entertain

seem, the more I re-

may

the more feasible

it

appeared, until at

length I began to look forward, even with a glow of en thusiasm, toward the

new and

-untried field I

was about

to enter.

The Siamese Consul

at Singapore,

Ching, had written strongly in

my

Hon. W. Tan Kim-

favor to the Court of

Siam, and in response I received the following letter from the

King himself

:

ERA, 1862, 26th February. GIIAND ROYAL PALACE, BANGKOK.

"ENGLISH

"

To MRS. A. H. LEONOWENS "

in

MADAM

:

heart, that

We

:

are in good pleasure,

you are in willingness

and

satisfaction

to undertake the

education of our beloved royal children.

And we hope

that in doing your education on us and on our children

PREFACE.

VI

call inhabitants of

(whom English will do

benighted land) you

endeavor for knowledge of English

your best

language, science, and literature, and not for conversion to Christianity

as the followers of

;

aware of the powerfulness of truth

Buddha

and

are mostly

virtue, as well as

the followers of Christ, and are desirous to have facility

and literature, more than new religions.

of English language "

We

beg to invite you to our royal palace to do your

upon us and our you here on return

best endeavorment see

expect

to

Chow

Phya.

"

We

have written

We

children.

shall

of Siamese steamer

Mr. William Adamson, and to

to

our consul at Singapore, to authorize to do best arrange

ment

for

you and "

ourselves.

Believe "

me Your

faithfully, "

S. S. P. P.

(Signed)

MAHA

MONGKUT."

About a week before our departure for Bangkok, the captain and mate of the steamer Rainbow called upon

One

me.

of these gentlemen

had

for several years served

the government of Siam, and they came to warn

me

of

the trials and dangers that must inevitably attend the en terprise in

which

too late to deter

I

was embarking.

me from

ments addressed to

my

Though

it

was now

the undertaking by any argu

fears, I

can nevertheless never

forget the generous impulse of the honest seamen, said

"

:

Madam, be advised even by

strangers,

who

who have

PREFACE.

Vll

proved what sufferings await you, and shake your hands of this

mad

for the

Court of Siam.

By

undertaking."

the next steamer I sailed

In the following pages I have tried faithful account of the scenes

were gradually unfolded to the language, and by

me

other

all

to give a full

and

and the characters that as I

began

means

to understand

to attain a clearer

insight into the secret life of the court,

I

was thank

ful to find, even in this citadel of Buddhism, men, and

women, who were

above

all

amid

infinite

difficulties,

"

lovely in their

in the

bosom

lives,"

of a

who,

most cor

rupt society, and enslaved to a capricious and often cruel yet devoted themselves to an earnest search after

will,

On

truth.

the other hand, I have to confess with sorrow

and shame, how

fall short, in

ment, our

far we,

benighted

sisters

them, Love, Truth, and

but and,

"

living

when

for

our boasted enlighten

and

piety, of

of the East,

Wisdom

whom

are not

some of

With many

of

mere synonyms

they long with lively ardor,

found, embrace with joy.

Those of in the

gods,"

all

true nobility

"

"

with

my readers who may find themselves interested

wonderful ruins recently discovered in Cambodia

are indebted to the earlier travellers,

M. Henri Mouhot,

Dr. A. Bastian, and the able English photographer. James

Thomson,

F. E. G. S. L., almost as

much

as to myself.

To the Hon. George William Curtis of and to all my other true friends, abroad and I feel

very grateful.

New

York,

in America,

PKEFACE.

Vlll

And I

am

finally, I

would acknowledge the deep obligation

under to Dr.

J.

W. Palmer, whose

literary experi

ence and skill have been of so great service to vising

and preparing

my

manuscript for the

me

in re

press.

A. H. L.

CONTENTS. PAGE I.

ON THE THRESHOLD

.

.

II.

A

SIAMESE PREMIER AT

III.

A

SKETCH OF SIAMESE HISTORY

IV.

V.

His EXCELLENCY

S

.

HOME

VII. VIII. IX.

X. XI. XII.

1

14 25

.42

.

.... ....

THE KING AND THE GOVERNESS MARBLE HALLS AND FISH-STALLS

OUR HOME

IN

OUR SCHOOL

BANGKOK

IN THE

PALACE

MOONSHEE AND THE ANGEL GABRIEL

THE WAYS OF THE PALACE

.

.

.

... ...

SHADOWS AND WHISPERS OF THE HAREM

XV.

THE CITY OF BANGKOK

XVI.

THE WHITE ELEPHANT

THE QUEEN CONSORT

XIX.

THE HEIR-APPARENT.

67

.

.

.

78

88

93

102 116

.

.

125

129 .

THE CEREMONIES OF CORONATION

XVIII.

.

DARLING

FA-YING, THE KING

S

49

54

73

AN OUTRAGE AND A WARNING

XXI.

.

.

.

HAREM AND HELPMEET

XIV.

XX.

.

THE TEMPLES OF THE SLEEPING AND THE EMERALD

XIII.

XVII.

.

.

.

IDOLS VI.

.

.

.

.

.140

.

.

.

.

.

146 151

ROYAL HAIR-CUTTING

.

AMUSEMENTS OF THE COURT SIAMESE LITERATURE AND ART

154 167

.

.

.

.

175

X

CONTENTS. XXII.

BUDDHIST DOCTRINE, PRIESTS, AND WORSHIP

.183

.

XXIII.

CREMATION

204

XXIV.

CERTAIN SUPERSTITIONS

217

XXV. THE SUBORDINATE KING XXVI.

THE SUPREME KING

:

HIS

222

CHARACTER AND ADMIN

ISTRATION

XXVII. XXVIII.

XXIX.

MY

237

RETIREMENT FROM THE PALACE

.

.

.

THE KINGDOM OF SIAM THE RUINS OF CAMBODIA.

269

286

Ax EXCURSION

NAGHKON WATT XXX. THE LEGEND OF THE MAHA NAGHKON

TO THE 300

.

314

of Letter fre/n present

Siy>nyju>

itiny of Siatn)

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C/

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4s

4^kA*^ tfO^S^

(sl^tf

V^**stsi_^

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