ed, and in the building the Siamese priests and
worshippers were assembled, with Tickery on the one side, and the Kandy
or guardian priests on the other side, with the Governor and the
Recorder in the centre.

After making all due offerings to the tooth of the great Buddha, the
Siamese head priest, who had brought a golden jar filled with otto of
roses, desired to have a small piece of cotton with some of the otto
rubbed on the tooth, and then passed into the golden jar, thereby to
consecrate the whole of the contents. To this process the Kandy priests
objected, as being a liberty too great to be extended to foreigners. The
Siamese priests, however, persisted in their request; and the Governor
and Recorder, not knowing the cause of the altercation, asked Tickery to
explain. Tickery, who had fairly espoused the cause of the Siamese,
though knowing that in their request they had exceeded all precedent,
resolved quietly to gratify their wish; so, in answer to the Governor's
interrogatory, he took from the hands of the Siamese head priest a small
piece of cotton and the golden jar of the volatile oil. "This is what
they want, your Honour: they want to take this small piece of cotton,
so--; and having dipped it in this oil, so--, they wish to rub it on the
sacred tooth, so--; and having done this, to return it to the golden
jar, so; thereby, your Honour, to consecrate the whole of the contents
of the golden jar."

All the words of Tickery were accompanied by the corresponding action,
and of course the desired ceremony had been performed in affording
explanation. The whole thing was the work of a moment, and the Governor
and Recorder did not know how to interfere in time, though they knew
also that such a proceeding was against all precedent. The Kandy priests
were quite taken aback, while the Siamese priests, having obtained their
desired object, took from Tickery Banda's hands the now consecrated
golden jar with every demonstration of fervent gratitude. The Kandy
priests were, however, loud in their indignation, and subsequently the
Governor, patting Tickery on the back, said, "You have indeed settled
the question, and it is a pity you were not born in the precincts of St.
James', for you would have made a splendid political agent."

The next morning Tickery received a douceur of 1,000 rupees from the
Siamese priests, and has ever since been held in the highest esteem and
respect by the King of Siam and his Buddhist pries