special features. But we then took a steam launch and
proceeded some miles farther in order to visit the ruins of the old
palace and the elephants' kraal. Skirting in and out, we saw about three
miles of houseboats on sampans. This was a most interesting spectacle,
all kinds of traffic being carried on, some space aboard being reserved
for the family. There were boats for the sale of flowers and vegetables,
others for household commodities, and some had crockery and glass and
baskets. We then visited two temples. The ruins cover an immense space
of ground and are a fine field for archaeologists, but we had no means of
classifying them and our guide was not scientific. Many of the most
interesting relics are surrounded by a dense jungle which makes them
difficult of access, but one receives a certain impression of the
ancient grandeur of the place.

Tradition states that the custom of wearing the hair short by Siamese
women dates from the days when Ayuthia was a capital. It is said that
during one of the political invasions by the Burmans most of the men
were absent in the harvest fields. The women accordingly cut their hair,
took bows and arrows and spears, and manned the city walls. The Burmans,
thinking they were men, were astonished at finding such a strong
garrison and retired, much discomfited. It is also said that the women
then adopted the same dress as the men, the panung, a garment something
like the sarong but drawn up in the middle, front and back. The cutting
of the hair and the peculiar garb make it difficult to tell the Siamese
women from the men. The style is distinctive with the women, as all of
the surrounding people--the Burmans, Laos, and Malays--wear the sarong.

A walk of ten minutes from Wang Chang brought us to the famous
elephants' kraal, or enclosure, into which the elephants are driven to
be captured and tamed. This is a massive structure of teak logs, with a
kind of V-shaped passage leading to it. When a hunt is to occur, the
places frequented by the elephants are noted weeks beforehand, and they
are gradually surrounded by some hundreds of men mounted upon trained
elephants and also afoot, the elephants being gradually driven towards
the entrance of the kraal. Within, there is an exciting scene, as the
ponderous, awkward animals find themselves pressed onwards _en masse_
through the massive gate into the enclosure. Once inside, they are
dexterously captured by long leg ropes, whilst their st