Sima

“ From the preceding the reader will have already drawn for himself the conclusion that the rocks of the sima group, which we only know as eruptive rocks in the sialic continental blocks where they appear as foreign bodies, have their own place beneath these blocks, and form at the same time the floor of the ocean. Basalt has all the necessary properties for the material of the ocean floors. In particular its specific gravity is in harmony with the thickness of the continental blocks, calculated by other means. ”

“ The surface of the earth also offers numerous other indications that the essence of vulcanicity is to be sought in a passive extrusion of the inclusions of sima from the sial crust. This is best shown by the island festoons. On account of the curvature, compression must occur on the concave inner side; and tension on the convex outer margin. Actually, the geological structure is strikingly uniform: the inner side always bears a chain of volcanoes; the outer shows no vulcanicity, but strong fissures and faults. ”

“ The occurrence of this disturbance of gravity can be represented in somewhat the following way. The observer on the land, who inland has obtained normal values, obtains a maximum at the coast, because he approaches the heavy sima of the ocean-floor, which lies obliquely beneath him. To be sure, this excess of gravity should be counterbalanced by the fact that the uppermost 4 km. are replaced by the less dense sea-water.
Fig. 37.—Disturbance of gravity on the margin of a continent, after Helmert. ”

“ It appears as if only the old ocean-floor is in a position to form deeps, because its cooling and hardening extend down to a greater depth. Perhaps they may be considered as marginal rifts, one side of which is formed of the sial of the festoons, and the other of the sima of the deep-sea floor. The profile of this area, shown in Fig. 26, in reality very flat, need not lead one astray, for naturally it is strongly levelled down by gravity. ”

“ Scandinavia is still rising about 1 m. in a century, although 10,000 years have passed since the maximum temperature, when the ice was removed. W. Köppen has recently made it seem probable that the area depressed by the burden of ice is surrounded by a zone with slight opposite vertical movement, and explains this by the lateral squeezing out of the sima beneath the depressed block. [2] All this naturally presupposes viscosity.
Not only do the vertical movements for the restoration of isostasy, but also the horizontal movements of the continents, positively demand that the earth be viscous. ”

“ If you will take down the family atlas and turn to the map of Southern Asia you will see that Siam, with an area about equivalent to that of Spain, occupies the uncomfortable and precarious position of a fat walnut clinched firmly between the jaws of a nut-cracker, the jaws being formed by British Burmah and French Indo-China. And for the past thirty years those jaws have been slowly but remorselessly closing. Until 1893 the eastern frontier of Siam was separated from the China Sea by the narrow strip of Annam, at one point barely thirty miles in width, which was under French protection. ”

“ Far as the history of Siam is recorded in the traditions of the race, it has been the custom to perform a strange ceremony, intended to impress the common people with awe for the ruler. Even now the King of Siam, he who sends the silver tree to China in token of subjection, still adheres to it, and on the day when the waters of the Meinam have reached their highest point he sends a royal barge down the swollen waters manned by a hundred bonzes, who command the turbid stream to rise no higher. ”

“ The King of Siam that died lately was about 59 years of Age; the Character that is given of him in all the printed Relations of the French is very advantageous: They say he was, without Contradiction, the greatest Prince that ever Reign'd in Siam. He was of stature somewhat under the middle size, but strait and well shap'd. He had an engaging Air, a sweet and obliging Carriage, especially to Strangers. He was active and brisk, an Enemy of Idleness and Laziness, which seems to be so natural to the Eastern Princes, and is accounted by them as the Noblest Prerogative of their Crown. ”

“ The king of Siam, who takes amongst his other titles that of Paecan Salsu, i.e.—Sacred Member of God—has this to boast of, that, next to the Mogul, he can deduce his descent from more kings than any other in the Indies. He is absolute, his privy councillors, called mandarins, being chosen and deposed barely at his pleasure. When he appears in public it is done with so much pomp and magnificence as is scarce to be imagined, which draws such a veneration to his person from the common people, that, even in the streets as he passes by, they give him godlike titles and worship. ”

“ Sympathy for Belgium and the popular aversion to Teutonic methods had left no doubt as to the duty of Siam. The motive of Siam had a curious fitness, though there was a certain quaintness in her expression of a desire to make, “the world safe for democracy.”
The native name of Siam is Muang-Thai, which means the Kingdom of the Free. Siam is about as large as France, and has a population of about eight millions. Its people, who are of many shades of yellowish-brown, have descended into this corner of Asia from the highlands north of Burma and east of Tibet. ”

“ They give the name of Simo to this tree or stake, and it becomes their tutelar deity; they respect and fear it so much, that, to prevent any one from going to a particular spot, it is only necessary to set up a Simo before it. ”

“ Hitherto all the views I had seen in Siam had been limited in extent, but here the beauty of the country is exhibited in all its splendor. Beneath my feet was a rich and velvety carpet of brilliant and varied colors; an immense tract of forest, amid which the fields of rice and the unwooded spots appeared like little streaks of green; [Pg 141] beyond, the ground, rising gradually, swells into hills of different elevations; farther still to the north and east, in the form of a semicircle, is the mountain-chain of Phrabat and that of the kingdom of Muang-Lôm ”

“ His Majesty the late King of Siam, a man of remarkable character and history, was probably, while he lived, the best-informed authority on all matters relating to the history of his kingdom. Fortunately, being a man of scholarly habits and literary tastes, he has left on record a concise and readable historical sketch, from which we cannot do better than to make large quotations, supplementing it when necessary with details gathered from other sources. The narrative begins with the foundation of the royal city, Ayuthia, of which an account has already been given on a previous page. ”

“ And one of these invading tribes, the Angles, gave its name to a part of our island, which is to this day known as England—that is, Angle-land, the land of the Angles.
Now, in the same way, the people who live in Siam at the present time are the descendants of invaders who swept into the country and drove the original inhabitants into the hills. No one is quite certain where the Siamese actually came from, but it is likely that their home was upon the mountain-slopes of Tibet. Their ancestors were a wild and vigorous race who tattooed themselves. ”

“ Siam is unique in that she possesses two of the most abominable things, and yet the most delicious, if we believe what we hear, and they are the durian, a large fruit found only on this peninsula, and 'kapick,' which I hope is not found anywhere outside of Siam.
"There is no regularity about their meals, and they do not wait for one another, but eat when they get [Pg 243] hungry. In the higher families the men always eat first and by themselves, and the wives and children and dogs take what is left. ”

“ A year ago I was in Siam, and the king told me he meant to take the railway to Kong Khai. It will be the best thing for the salvation of his country, and there is no Englishman present who does not wish to see Siam strong, independent, and wealthy, and capable of holding its own. For my own part, I shall never cease to feel the greatest and warmest interest in that singularly attractive country, and my own opinion is, that it is the duty of every British Government to see that the integrity of that country is not wiped out, and that its vitality is maintained. ”

“ They walk at a prodigious rate, and seem afraid of being seen. When the Simo or his disciples meet a stranger in the wood, they ask him for the watchword of the order; if the answer is correct, the stranger is admitted amongst them ”

“ The red and gold doorway was opened wide, and all the people prostrated themselves, resting their foreheads upon the earth.
The King of Siam appeared.
He was borne by four porters in a pavilion of gold, in which he sat with crossed legs. His robe was covered with jewels, and scattered blinding rays. Before him walked young boys dressed in crimson, who waved great bunches of feathers attached to long sticks; others carried silver basins out of which came clouds of perfumed smoke. ”

“ They, and the life which goes on within, have been admirably described by Shway Yoe, in his book 'The Burman,' one of the completest pictures which has ever been drawn of any people; and the monastery life of Siam is almost identical. As the monotonous but almost weird chant of the monks floated out across the stream at sunset, we used to tie up for the night beneath: often it would go far on into the night; and then long before day the great gong would begin its clanging, and once more the chant rise among the mists, and for us another day's poling would commence. ”

“ Other Letters do further add, That Monsieur des Farges had before his departure from Bancock, deliver'd up into the hands of the present King of Siam, the Unfortunate Widow of Monsieur Constance, upon a fancy that the Jesuits had put into his head; That the being a Christian, and extreamly beloved by the King's Son, will marry him, and contribute her endeavours to make him a Christian; with which plausible Imaginations those good Fathers flatter themselves, and hope once more to be re-established in that Kingdom with no less Advantages of Power, Credit and Fortune than they had before. ”

“ If he falls ill, the king's own leech prescribes for him, and the chief priests repair daily to his palace to pray for his safe deliverance, and sprinkle him with consecrated waters and anoint him with consecrated oils. Should he die, all Siam is bereaved, and the nation, as one man, goes into mourning for him. But his body is not burned; only his brains and heart are thought worthy of that last and highest honor. The carcass, shrouded in fine white linen, and laid on a bier, is carried down the river with much wailing and many mournful dirges, to be thrown into the Gulf of Siam. ”

“ When they carry their gift to the Simo, they are obliged to turn their backs to him, and put their hands over their eyes; he receives the offering, pronounces a long prayer, and picks up a little earth, which he throws at them in token of absolution. ”

“ Even still, although hemmed in on one side by the British possessions, on the other by the French protectorate of Camboja, Siam comprises beyond the Menam Valley a considerable part of the Malay Peninsula, and draws tribute from numerous people in the Mekong and Salwen basins. But this State, with an area about half as large again as that of France, has a population probably less than 6,000,000. ... The inhabitants of Siam, whether Shans, Laos, or Siamese proper, belong all alike to the same Thai stock, which is also represented by numerous tribes in Assam, Manipur, and China. ”

“ You cannot listen to travellers like Lord Lamington and Mr. Curzon (and when Mr. Warington Smyth comes back we shall listen to him) without finding out that there is a great deal both of material and what we may call moral progress in that distant country. Let me say one word as regards his Majesty the King of Siam, on whose character and personality so much depends. For many years past the king has been known as a man of wide interests, of a very high order of intelligence, and of an unusual charm of manner. ”

“ A man in Siam who embraces Christianity, expects to cut himself off from everything which has hitherto been near and dear to him. They have the most profound reverence for the King, and cannot understand how the United States can get along without one. A nobleman not long since asked a missionary in good faith, if the United States would not soon be far enough advanced to have a King, like England and France. The missionary replied, that from present indications England and France would soon be far enough advanced to do without one.
The Siamese are also wonderfully addicted to custom. ”

“ In some respects the most conspicuous name in the history of the civilization of Siam will always be that of the king under whose enlightened and liberal administration of government the kingdom was thrown open to foreign intercourse, and the commerce, the science, and even the religion of the western world accepted if not invited. ”

“ They all gazed with interest upon the City by the Lake with its high buildings, and hurrying, scurrying people. The cloud above floated slowly along displaying different parts of the city and its surrounding parks and suburbs.
“Now, let us see Siam and find out what my brother is doing,” said the Prince, and immediately Chicago with its hustle and bustle faded from view and in its place stood the beautiful white palace of Siam. ”

“ A freight carrier crossing the stream that separates Burma from Siam.
The day was not yet done when we came in sight of the first clearing in Siam. We were met at the edge of the jungle by a Siamese with ape-like countenance, who led us to the hut of the village head man.
Picture to yourself a very fat, important-looking brown man, with a face like an Alaskan totem-pole and the general appearance of a wild man in a circus, a skin the color of a door-mat that has been in use for many years, dressed in a castoff dish-cloth, and you have an exact image of the ruler of this Siamese village. ”