Page:Pearl of Asia (Child JT, 1892).pdf/114

Rh steps, is the reception room, of His Majesty, one side of which is supported with massive columns and filled with statuary, bronzes, vases, one pair from Bavaria of massive size; also, a chair manufactured from elephant's tusks carved most artistically, the ceiling magnificently frescoed and the walls decorated with life-sized portraits of the kings of Siam and leading men of the Kingdom. Passing through this room you enter a smaller one, the private reception chamber of the King, which is most royally furnished, as is the entire palace, with furniture made expressly for this building in Paris. This room seems to be the receptacle of the many works of art and objects of interest presented to the reigning dynasty, also portraits of the late Queen, the Crown Prince, the Emperor Frederick of Germany and other distinguished personages, an alabaster bust of the present Queen of Italy and a number of magnificently bound albums filled with photographs of notables, one filled exclusively with Americans, embracing General and Mrs. Grant, President Cleveland and wife, Mr. Bayard and others. On the right of the anti-chamber is a corridor leading to the private apartments of the building, while nearly facing the entrance is the door of the grand audience hall or throne room (Pra-ma-ha-pra-sot), a magnificent apartment, containing no furniture, as no one is supposed to sit in the presence of the King while he is standing, the floor covered with a lovely Persian carpet; an immense chandelier is suspended from the ceiling, the walls ornamented with pictures and arms of all kinds. Facing the entrance at the extreme end is a dais surrounded with four steps surmounted with the pagoda-shaped umbrella (sa-wekra-chat), an insignia of