after being tied up like a sausage was deposited in a golden urn
on the top of the mausoleum." He speaks of the state officers in
attendance by day and by night, and the dead king, from the golden urn
on the very summit of the altar, holding his court with the same pomp
and parade as during his life. A more affecting ceremony is the coming
at noon and eve of the crowds of beautiful women, not yet absolved
from their wifely vows, to converse with their loved and lamented
lord, and the depositing of letters and petitions in the great golden
basket at the foot of the mausoleum, with the confident expectation
that these loving missives will reach the deceased and be answered by
him. These royal catafalques are costly and magnificent, being covered
with plates of gold, while the silks and perfumes consumed with a
single body cost thousands of dollars.

M. de Beauvoir describes an interview with the king, surrounded by ten
of his offspring, including the seventy-second child. I well remember
the eldest son, the present supreme king, now in his twentieth year,
looking when five years old the exact counterpart of this one--his
graceful little figure, dimpled cheeks, eyes lustrous as diamonds, and
the glossy, raven hair, close shaven at the back, while the foretop
was coiled in a smooth knot, fastened with jeweled pins and twined
with fragrant flowers. The dress was very simple--only two garments of
silk or embroidered muslin--but the deficiency was more than made
up by jewelry, of which, in the form of chains, rings, anklets and
bracelets, he wore almost incredible quantities, while his golden
girdle was studded with costly diamonds.

[Illustration: SEVENTY-SECOND CHILD OF THE KING OF SIAM.]

[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE ROYAL HAREM.]

Polygamy prevails in its fullest extent in Siam, especially among
those of noble or royal lineage; and the higher the rank the larger
the number of wives, those of the supreme king amounting ordinarily to
five or six hundred. Of these, the "superior wife" holds the rank
of queen: she resides within the harem proper, where are the private
apartments of the king, and her children are always the legal heirs.
For the other wives or concubines, their children and attendants,
there is a whole circle of buildings, connected by balconies with the
palace royal. All these are handsomely fitted up, but what is called
"the harem" pre-eminently is more gorgeous than our dreams of fairy
palaces or enchan