forded variety,
the men and women nearly alike, for, as stated in the description in
connection with Ayuthia, the women have short hair and wear the panung
precisely like the men.

The guides in Siam are not very competent, and could give us only
ordinary information, so there was little for us to do but to speculate
on certain points.

[Illustration: _Tower of Royal Palace at Ban-Pa-In_]

There are several interesting towns which are within a few hours'
railway communication with Bangkok, but we could only read of them, as
none of them had hotels or even rest houses for the convenience of
tourists. This state of things will be remedied as soon as it is
realized that the outside world is interested in this far-away kingdom,
the first tourist party having visited Siam only two years ago. We were
hampered before reaching this country by the lack of a guide-book (as we
had been in Java), Murray's enlightening knowledge having extended only
through India, Burma, and Ceylon; but after our arrival in Bangkok we
found some local guide-books, from which we learned of the towns alluded
to.

Petchaburi seemed one of the most interesting on account of the
wonderful caves and temples, a description of which I will give in
brief, in order to prove that Siam, like the other countries previously
visited, has unusual attractions along these lines. The railway to
Petchaburi was opened in 1902, and the journey takes five and a half
hours from Bangkok. It is an old historic town of much importance and
the centre of a very populous district. It is picturesquely situated on
both banks of the stream, curving seaward at the foot of some wooded
hills. One of the hills is crowned with the royal palace and another
with a handsome temple. The palace is a magnificent edifice and commands
wide views on all sides, the sea being clearly seen from the
observatory. The hill on which is situated the temple, and its
companion, are known as Kow Wang.

Descending a well-constructed, if somewhat precipitous, staircase for
what must be fully a hundred feet, we find ourselves in a cave from
which a very spacious archway leads into a huge vaulted chamber. The
first impression is one of acute astonishment, by no means lessened,
even after one becomes accustomed to the dim light inside. By rough
calculation the cave is about two hundred yards long by one hundred
wide. The floor is paved throughout with tiles, and at every turn there
is an image of Buddha.