Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/166

* SIAM. 128 SIAMESE TWINS. mixture with the Khmei-s. Kiiis, Hindus, and Mahiys. Physically they are above the average in stature, with very brachycephalic skulls, olive complexions, ])roniinent cheek-bones, lozenge- shaped faces, and short, tiat noses. Their hair is dark. Although polygj'ny and concubinage are permitted by custom, the mass of the Siamese are practically monogamous, with few divorces. There is no caste. The Siamese language is the •monosyllabic, tonic type,' characteristic of the more or less cultured nations of Farther India, The Siamese are generally Buddhists of the orthodox or southern school. The priests have hitherto had complete charge of education. The Malays are Mohammedans. The missionaries are either French Roman Catholics or American Protestants, and their efforts have not met as yet with any very hopeful results. The educational facilities are quite Imperfect, but are in proc- ess of being radically modernized. In Bangkok the Government maintains and aids in maintain- ing many schools, among them a normal institu- tion, several vernacular schools, a training school, and a home school with English instructors for the sons and another for the daughters of the titled families. History. The fabulous history of Siam goes back to the fifth century B.C. An attempt is made to show the descent of the King from Gautama Buddha, and of the people from his immediate disciples. The traditions abound in tales of Buddhist miracles and of supernatural interventions. Authentic history begins in the middle of the fourteenth century A.D. Long be- fore, there were many immigrations from the north, with shifting dynasties, frequent wars, and uncertain fortunes. It is not known when Buddhism became the religion of the people. In the middle of the fourteenth century the King, who is known posthumously as Phra Rama Thi- boda, built Ayuthia on the site of an ancient town and made it the capital. He extended the Siamese power southward into the Malay Penin- sula and eastward into Cambodia. For two hun- dred years peace and prosperity prevailed. Ayu- thia became a large and rich city. In the middle of the sixteenth century it was captured by an army from Pegu and thenceforth for more than two hundred years there were wars of varying fortunes with Burma. Pegu, and Cambodia. In the seventeenth century a considerable intercourse with Europe. China, and .Japan was carried on. In 1750 the Burmese captured Ayuthia and after a long struggle conquered the whole country (1767). They introduced a king of their own, and upon the withdrawal of their army anarchy ensued. A Chinaman, the leader of a band of freebooters, seized Bangkok, and, to the joy of the people, expelled the Burmese. He proclaimed himself King, as P'ya Tak. He extended his power southward and eastward, but was assas- sinated in 1782 by one of his generals. Yaut Fa, who established the present dynasty, the ruling monarch being fifth in descent from him. In 1820 intercourse with the West was renewed, and in 1825 a treaty was made with the United States, and soon after similar treaties with other nations. In 1855 Great Britain made the treaty which is the basis of the present relations. It establi-shed extraterritoriality, and put trade on a secure footing. The French protectorate over Cochin-China delivered Siam from its ancient enemies to the east of the Mekong, Cambodia having been previously reduced to the position of a dependency. But France desired access to China by means of the river sjstem of the jienin- sula, and it presently found a pretext for armed aggression. It accused Siam of encroaching on the territory of Anam. A skirmish ensued and France sent its licet to Bangkok (1893). where it dictated terms of peace. Cambodia and all the territory east of the Mekong were to be inde- pendent of Siam and under French protection; a belt extending for a distance of 25 kilometers west of the Mekong was to be netitralized and certain valuable privileges in trade were to be- long to the French. Since that time the French 'sphere of intiuence' has been extended still far- ther west, and were it not for Great Britain, doubtless France in time would absorb the king- dom. It remains a 'bufl'er State,' with its future dependent upon powerful and mutually jealous neighbors. Bibliography. Bastian, Die Tiilker des ost- lichen Asien, vol. iii. (Leipzig, 18G7) ; McDonald, f^iam: Its (rovernments, Manners, Customs, etc. (Philadelphia, 1871): Vincent, Land of the White Elephant (New York, 1874) ; Reclus, Nouvelle giographie vniveiselle, vol. viii., L'Inde et I'Indo-Chine (Paris, 1883); Bock. Temples and Elephantsi (London, 1884) ; Colqnhoun, Among the Shans (ib.. 1885) ; De Rosny, Ethnog- raphie du Siam (Paris, 1885); Colt, Siam, or the Heart of Farther India (New York, 1886) ; Ch^villard. Siam et les Siamois (Paris, 1889) ; Fournereau, Les rtiines Khmeres (ib.. 18'.10); id., Le Siam ancien (ib., 1895) ; Anderson, Eng- lish Intercourse with Siam iti the Seventeenth Century (London, 1890); Grindrod, Siam: A Oeographical Summar/i (ib.. 1892) ; Smyth, Fire Years in Siam (ib., 1898) : Young, The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe (ib., 1898) ; ' Hesse-Wartegg, Siam. das Reich des weissen Elefanten (I^eipzig. 1899) ; McCarthy, Surveying and Exploring in Siam (London, 1000) ; Campliell. Siam in the Twentieth Centuri/ (ib.. 1902) ; Pavie, In4o-Chine (Paris, 1898-1902). SIAM, Gulf of. An arm of the Pacific Ocean, boimded on the west by the Malay Penin- sula, on the north by Siam, and on the northeast by Cambodia and Cochin-China (Map: Siam. D 5). It is 235 miles wide at its entrance, and extends inland in a northwesterly direction a distance of 470 miles. Four rivers, navigalde for a considerable distance, the chief of which is the Menam, fall into the gulf. SIAMAWG (Malay .9j"<jnm?i(7). The largest of the gibbons (q.v. ). distinguished from the others by the circumstance that the second and third toes of the foot are joined together as far as the last joint in the male, and to the middle joint in the female: hence the technical name. Tlylo- hates syndoctylus. It stands three feet high, and is glossy black except for a whitish beard. The hair is comparatively long, and, unlike other gibbons, grows upward from the wrist toward the elbow. Its home is Siimatra. where it dwells in troops in the forests, swinging through the tree tops with amazing agility. ' It is niimerous and frequently captured, but does not endure captivity well. SIAMESE TWINS (1811-74). A name given to two youths. Eng and Chang, born of Chinese parents in Siam, having their bodies united by a band of flesh, stretching from the