Travels in India (Tavernier) 143: Concerning the Kingdom of Siam

143

The greater part of the Kingdom of Siam is situated between the Gulf of the same name and the Gulf of Bengal, adjoining Pegu on the north and the peninsula of Malacca on the south. The shortest road and the best which Europeans can take to reach this Kingdom is to go from Ispahan to Hormuz, from Hormuz to Surat, from Surat to Golconda, and from Golconda to Masulipatam, where they should embark for Denouserin, which is one of the ports of the Kingdom of Siam. From Denouserin to the capital town, which bears the name of the Kingdom, there are about thirty-five days’ journey; one part is traversed by ascending a river, and the remainder in a cart or upon elephants. The road both by land and water is uncomfortable, because on the land portion one must always be on guard against lions and tigers; and by water, as the river makes rapids in many places, it is difficult to make the boats ascend, which is nevertheless accomplished by the aid of machinery. It is the route which I recommended, on the return from one of my voyages to India, to three bishops whom I met on the road. The first was the Bishop of Beryte, whom I met at Ispahan ; the second the Bishop of Megalopolis, when crossing the Euphrates ; the third the Bishop of Heliopolis, who arrived at Alexandretta as I was leaving it for Europe. The whole of Siam abounds with rice and fruits, the principal of which are called mangues, durions, and mangoustans. The forests are full of deer, elephants, tigers, rhinoceros, and monkeys, and everywhere is to be seen an abundance of bamboos, which are large and very tall canes, hollow throughout, and as hard as iron.
At the ends of these canes you find nests, of the size of a man’s head, suspended ; they are made by ants from a fat earth which they carry up. There is but a small hole at the base of these nests, by which the ants enter, and in these nests each ant has his separate chamber, like honey bees. They build their nests on the canes, because if they made them on the ground, during the rainy season, which lasts four or five months, they would be exterminated, all the country being then inundated. One must take precautions after night-fall against snakes. There are there some snakes which are 22 feet long and have two heads, but the head at