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SIAM. 291
eastern province of Chantibond, acquired from Cam-
bodia, is supposed to contain nearly a million ; but
others reckon it under half that number.
Before we take leave of the capital, we shall gather
up a few additional scattered notices relating to the
national customs and physical character.
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.
MR. FINLAYSON describes the Siamese physio-
gnomy as characterised by a remarkably large face,
the forehead very broad, prominent on each side, and
the hairy scalp descending unusually low, so as to
cover in some the whole of the temples ; the cheekbones
are large, wide, and prominent; but the most
remarkable peculiarity is the extraordinary size of the
back part of the lower jaw, which has almost the effect,
on a careless inspection, of a swelling of the parotid
gland. A similar appearance is often observable in Malays.
The eyes are small and oblique; the mouth is
large ; the lips thick ; the beard scanty ; the hair thick,
coarse, lank, and uniformly black, and both sexes wear
it cut so short behind, as only to reach the tops of the
ears, but leave a short tuft on the head, which they
comb backward. The people generally go naked
from the waist upwards, sometimes throwing a piece
of cloth over the shoulders. The younger women
fasten a short piece of cloth round the chest, leaving
the shoulders and arms bare. From the loins to the
knee, they wrap round them a piece of coloured cloth,
generally blue, over which the better sort wear a piece
of Chinese crape, or a shawl. Both the head and the
feet are generally bare. Those who use papouches, or
slippers, invariably lay them aside on entering their
dwellings, and never wear them in the presence of