A FLOATING CITY.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume V, Issue 111, 24 March 1853, Page 4

A FLOATING CITY.

By the time that we were fairly under weigh. and l working towards the anchorage, the whole city of Bangkok, consisling of a long. doable, and in some parts treble, row of iit ilfv anil lavlcl'ii'.ly-paiiiii'il wooden cabin;, iinaling on thick banibe.o rails, ami li:i'..e.l lo each oilier, 111 parcels of .six or •s.-vcii I.om-ps, liy cliains. (wliirli cliaiii'-i weie r.i>leneil In liiipc poles drivi'll into llic lieilol' 111: 1 ri'ii'i ), rose like a inatfic (liclnrc lo onr liiiiri:'.;.,' jj:v/.c. Junks of I 500 tons wen' lvin£ close alongside .'hi se lioaliii^'cabins, so close dial llu v cualil converse willi each olli' !• w'ali llic :A! eal>sl (Utility; ami one ves.-.c!. a : v i !!!;:i:csc dial was workint; lackv.itii'n up llic liver, approached so e!ii-e lo lii" !i.i:ecs llial, in aliunl. s.':c ciiiiii' fonl willi. ami carrieil away willi her, hui." a-i!a/cn ol these lloaiinji ilomicilcs. tide was riiniiiii;; down rapidly, and, so j scon as liic lirig ili i-ulaiiyled lterscil, away ; we!-.! ilii'M'hoii- cs.M a sicaincr's pan 1 , amidsi j 1 he vocilVnai; hooliiu-s ami s!ioulii!;;s of, their lenanls; ami, helbi'e ninny inintiles ' liad < lapsed, lit<*y had disappeared round . the corner ol' llic river, and where slrandcd , oa thcopposile shore; lini ihey suslaincdno ijrc.it itijiii-y, lor, with 1110 simple diricrciu e \ lliat their dislod;jnieiit was iuvolniilary, this v.":is aiier ail ))o!hin;,' bill the melh.al adopted Itv tiuvnaiives tkeni'dvcs, wh'-n dojirous ol ciia'.i'.'.iivj the po-.ilion of Iheir shops. II the air of llic " l'lccl-slrccl" of tfiaui docs not ce v,i;h Mrs. Vow-chow-fow and her children,- or they wi<h lo o'ltaiu a more aristocratic foolim; by iieing domiciled higher up iia.l iiciirei - lo tin: king's palace, ilirii all tla-v have lo do is to wait till llic tide serves, ami", lon ia- from iheir tmiorini;s, float -cully tip to'.vards the spot they wish to occupy. On sT.i'h occiisious the men arcarined willi lon;i hauibiio poles, lo keep their houses from coming in contact with any ol the many vessc!., that are :U iinchor in llic river; aad i.-verv soul 011 board every ship and every one williin hail, halloo and scream lo each other in a most appalling manner, leading a .siriiii;;!'!' 10 imagine thai the interests ol the state 11111st be al slake, ami dependent entirely 011 1 he s:i!i' navigation of Hint one small Heating hnase. liaugkok, the modern capital of and I lie. seat of the Siamese ( iovernliient, w;n computed, al the period ol my residence there, to consist of seventy thousand lloaflng houses or shops; and each shop, taking one with another, lo contain live individuals, including men, women, and children; making the popul.itioii amount to r.Ml,oilO souls of which number 70,000 arc Chinese, 50,000 Hurihcsc, 50,000 Arabs mn! Indians; the remainder, or about 510,000 being Sia-iiese. This was the best census v.e could lake, mid 1 believe it to lie nearly accurate, 'rim situation is exceedingly picluresipie. 1 was told thai, when llie Siarclimpiished llic nncienl capital of Yu'.hia, and first established Iho throne al il:ui:;kok, the houses were Imill upon the banks of the river itself; but the freipicnl recurrence of the cholera induced one of the king:, to insist upon the inhabitants living • upon the water, on ihe supposition thai their ; dwellings would be more cleanly, and cou- : e.pieiit'.v Ihe inmates less subjected to Ihe baiiel'al eli'eels of thai scourge of the Kast. This is a remarkable fact, that an uneducated, n:iv, !iiici\ili/cd barbarian, should have euterraii!.' ! sm b notions as lo the conduciveue.s of clean!ilte.s to heiillll illlll vigour; but, alas! so slothful are Ihe people, so IVs.'i!l'n"v in-'i'.Verc.il lo their o\mi intercsls amil'oalth, thai, a'fhough with very slight' r\ertie,n Iheir eaiiiii.-or llnatiir: Imn-e-niighi

In- scrubbed :\ml scoured out every morning, l!i:'v arc seldom even so iniirli iis swept. There i> another and a vanlatry Id whirl) ill's system lias exposal the illliabilants; il is this: calllc, doss, cms, nay. even sometimes liiiinaii bodies, thai have In en cast into or been drowned ill (lie river higher up 011 llie Yulhi.i side, are perpetually h* i;:L; swept i'owii bylhe 1 iinvnt. and g( King cnlaiigic ! I'.ih'erneallt the house amidst the hauiii. 11 or poles thai moor them; I In* inmate: as well as neighbours are assailed W illi |:e .;ilenlial odours, which llicy have no possible means of ridding themselves ol; and Ihey have 110 allernative lull to abide patiently lill lime and ti !e can y away this nuisance, being subjected in the interval lo a lecal miasma <p;iel sullirienl lo hrccd (jphtis in a mal : ;;naiil form. Another inconvnieiice is, liiat these houses, being so lit' lc elevated ahove Iho water's edge, arc ncee-i-ariiy damp and humid, and consc(j"cntiy rheumatic levels are extremely pre\::!en! during the monsoons. At•>//<■'.< />•'- in Sinn).

No landscape was ever more lieaulil'nl than thai which greeted my eyes this morning— donhly beautiful for the long desert .journey, and the dreary qnaraiiliia>. The little hill osi which slands fla/a, waved in penile and graceful undulations, hearing pomegranate, and orange, and dale tree, iniuiosos, aud acacias in its swell, and anion;.; I hem wound quiet lanes hedged by prickly pear and aloe, (iraiu wavK'tl softly from tlie di- lance, ami out of (lie luxurious green iwe the minaret of (iaza, will) groups of low houses clnsleiir.i;' around il. (ia/a was called the capital of ['alestiue, and ill the ruins of white marble sometimes found Ihcre, il is liar I lo see any ihinji else ihan llie remains of the lem|:!e which Samson destroyed. Our road led liy a cemetery of domed toiuhs. II was hare and desolate, like a ruined town. Then, passim; ahmg a spacioiisavcnue, shaded with lives, we emerged upon a sea of "rain, it was darkened al iutcnals hy venerable, si'r:ij;:ry olives, and rocking through il upon MacWhiiier tin; author's camel;, f saw, beyond, a Mist rcai li of bate, given laud, pll t!y grain, partly was!e. Far away upon the easlern horizon—a misty blue rampart s-tretrlivd a range of hills, the liiotiulaitis ol .lui'ea. 'Coward thcwesi lliegreenshrank away ii 11<. low, nielaia holy saiidmomids, and so crept lo the sea. The landscape was so fresh and fair, that 1 could have situ;' with the meadow-larks lliat darted, singing in I ho sun. I!ul il was so lonely, anil mournful, thai the sou;; would have been too sad for a bird's singing. Far as I could see, before and around me, there vras no town, 110 sign of vigorous life. It was akin lo the sublime soliludi! of llie Itoiilau Cainpagua, if to its present desolation you add tin.' nodding grain of its earlier cultivation. In outline, and exteni", atid lute, the hills were not unlike the Isibiue or Volseian mountains, seen front Itome. Passing this tract upon a grassy palh, we crossed a bell of low hills, and descended into a series of basins, or dry lake-like reaches of arable laud. There were infrequent proves of olives, whose silvery, sere foliage, and rough, gnarled trunks, did not disturb the universal sadness by any gaiety of form or feeling. All day the blue lino of llm .liidean hills waved along the horizon, pointing the way to Jerusalem. Patches of grain sang in ilie low wind, (iraiu makes the landscape live, thrilling it with soft motion. (Irass or turf is like lining, but grain like long silken hair. Presently we were in the midst of ploughing. Hundreds of acres of ploughed laud stretched beyond sight, and Ihc general agricultural ariivily was strange lo see. The plough was the same thai Joseph and .Mary saw when llicy fled along this laud lo Kgypt, and the teams of camels and donkeys harnessed together, and lIIn tin bailed husbandmen in llow ing garments, would have dismayed our most anliipiatcd callle-show. The H'uiuttrcr in Syria.