d by law; but I was unprepared for a statement that showed a
daughter in a royal household to be such a nonentity as the above
implied.

When I visited the market, I saw an unlimited number of fruits as well
as vegetables; cocoanuts, plantains, bananas, durians, pineapples,
bread-fruit, jack-fruit, dates, almonds, pomaloes, mangoes (fifty
varieties), mangosteens, custard apples, limes, oranges, tamarinds,
figs, and papayas, all are to be found here in their proper season. I
did not even know the names of some, but never again do I hope to see
such a display.

There were fewer flowers than I had been led to expect, but the flora of
Siam is said to be particularly rich in unusual varieties of orchids,
which are found flourishing abundantly even in the jungles, and a visit
would well repay a collector. A person can find a rich field in Siam
along many lines of investigation.

We left Bangkok in the afternoon on the steamer _Nuen-tung_ for a five
days' return trip to Singapore. I have already alluded to the "sand bar"
which is an obstacle to navigation; hence it is that the heavy freight
vessels anchor fifty miles distant at Koh-si-Chang, but I learned later
that this obstacle could have been removed by dredging, had not the
authorities declined to take any action, as the "bar" furnished a safe
means of defence should war ever occur.

We saw various pagodas as we advanced; the most noted example was in the
village of Pakman. As viewed through masses of foliage, it reminded us
of the trip on the Irrawaddy River in Burma. A cargo of rice was taken
on at Koh-si-Chang, and we did not leave there until eleven, the day
following. A group of islands similarly called was a feature of the
trip. It was cooler when we entered the Gulf of Siam, and the China
Sea was favorably smooth. The conditions of the steamer were unchanged,
but they had grown familiar to us, and even the cockroaches no longer
intimidated me.

[Illustration: _The collier quay at Singapore_]

* * * * *

SINGAPORE: We arrived at Singapore early in the morning, and for a third
time viewed the shores; on this trip we went to the Raffles Hotel for a
brief sojourn. The place is airy, capacious, and semi-Oriental, and
reminded us of Colombo, as did the temperature, for although but two
degrees from the equator, the air was like June at home, and without any
of the chill in the evening that we sometimes experience; so it was a
great