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 ward, touch and cleanse and beautify all their surroundings.

—The reader will doubtless notice that my description is of Siamese life among the lower classes, not among those who have come in contact with missionaries and been improved somewhat, nor those of the higher classes in Bangkok—the princes and nobles, whose old-time home-life was neater and more orderly than that here described. These, through the influence of foreigners coming to Siam and visits to foreign lands, have raised themselves in the scale of living, and have foreign houses filled with foreign furniture and conveniences, order sumptuous meals from foreign bakeries, and have them placed upon their tables and served in modern style. I do not consider that true Siamese housekeeping.