Diplomatic Representatives.

1. OF PERSIA IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Envoy and Minister.-Prince Nazem Malcom Khan, accredited April 1, 1873. · Secretary.—Mirza Mikael Khan.

2. OF GREAT BRITAIN IN PERSIA.

Envoy, Minister, and Consul-General.-Sir Ronald Ferguson Thomson, K.C.M.G.; appointed Envoy, Minister, and Consul-General, June 27, 1879. Secretary.-W. J. Dickson.

Oriental Secretary.-G. F. B. Jenner.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The money, weights, and measures of Persia, and the British equivalents, are:

MONEY.

In the year 1872 the first Persian mint was established at Saltanet Abed, near Teheran. The mint issues gold pieces of 2 tomans, 1 toman, and -toman, and silver pieces of one and two kerans.

Besides the weights and measures here enumerated there exist a great variety of local standards. In foreign commerce, Russian weights and measures are largely used.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Persia. 1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Report, by Mr. Ronald F. Thomson, British Secretary of Legation, on the population, revenue, military force, and trade of Persia, dated Teheran, April 20, 1868; in 'Reports of H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' No. IV. 1868.

8.

Report by Mr. Baring on the Opium Trade and Cultivation, 1881, in 'Reports of H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' Part I. And by Mr. Dickson on the Trade of Persia, in Part VI. London, 1882.

Report by Mr. Dickson on the trade of Persia, in 'Reports of H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy.' London, 1884.

Report by Mr. Consul-General Jones on the trade and commerce of Tabreez and the industries of Persia, dated Tabreez, March 31, 1874; in 'Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' Part I. 1875. 8. London, 1875.

Eastern Persia: an Account of the Journeys of the Persian Boundary Commission, 1870-72. 2 vols. 8. 1876.

Reports by Lieut.-Col. Ross and Major S. B. Miles, Political Agents, and of Mr. Consul Churchill, on the Trade and Industry of Persia, dated 1875; in Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' Part I. 1876. 8. London, 1876.

Report by Mr. Consul Churchill on the trade and commerce of the Province of Ghilan, dated Resht, December 31, 1878; in Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' Part II. 1879. 8. London, 1879.

Report by Mr. Consul Ross on the Trade of the Persian Gulf, 1880, in Part II.; and by Mr. Consul Lovett on the province of Asterabad; and Mr. Consul-General Abbott on the province of Azerbijan, 1881-82; in Part XIII. of Reports of H.M.'s Consuls.' London, 1882.

Report by Consul-General Ross on the trade and commerce of the Persian Gulf in 1882; in 'Reports of H.M.'s Consuls.' Part XI. 1883, and for 1883 in Part X. 1884.

Trade of Persia with Great Britain; in 'Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom in the year 1883.' Imp. 4. London, 1884.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Andersen (T. S.), My Wanderings in Persia. 8. London, 1880.

Blaramberg (General), Statistical Survey of Persia, made in the years 1837-40. (In Russian.) 8. St. Petersburg, 1853.

·Brugsch (Dr. Heinr.), Reise der k. preussischen Gesandtschaft nach Persien, 1860 und 1861. 2 vols. 8. Leipzig, 1864.

Eastwick (E. B.), Journal of a Diplomate's Three Years' Residence in Persia. 2 vols. 8. London, 1864.

Floyer (E. A.), Unexplored Baluchistan. London. 1882.

Keane (A. H.) and Temple (Sir R.), Asia. London, 1882.

Macgregor (Col. C. M.), Narrative of a Journey through the Province of Khorassan and the North-West Frontier of Afghanistan in 1875. 2 vols. London, 1879.

Markham (Clements R.), A General Sketch of the History of Persia. 8. London, 1874.

Marsh (Capt. Hippisley Cunliffe), A Ride through Islam: being a Journey through Persia and Afghanistan to India. 8. London, 1877.

Molon (Ch. de), De la Perse: Etudes sur la Géographie, le Commerce, la Politique, l'Industrie, l'Administration, &c. 8. Versailles, 1875.

Mounsey (Augustus), A Journey through the Caucasus and the Interior of Persia. 8. London, 1872.

Piggot (John), Persia: Ancient and Modern. 8. London, 1875, Polak (Dr. Jak. Ed.), Persien. Das Land und seine Bewohner. graphische Schilderungen. 2 vols. 8. Leipzig, 1865.

Ethno

Sheil (Lady), Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia. 8. London, 1856. Stack (E.), Six Months in Persia. 2 vols. London, 1882.

Thielmann (Baron), Travels in the Caucasus, Persia, and Turkey in Asia. 2 vols. 8. London, 1876.

Thomson (J.) La Perse: sa population, ses revenus, son armée, son commerce. Avec notes par N. de Khanikof. In Bulletin de la Société de

géographie.' Juillet, 1869. 8. Paris, 1869.

Ussher (John), Journey from London to Persepolis, including Wanderings in Daghestan, Georgia, Armenia, Kurdistan, Mesopotamia, and Persia. 8. London, 1866.

Watson (Robert Grant), A History of Persia, from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the year 1858. 8. London, 1873.

SIAM.

(SAYAM, OR THAI.)

Reigning King.

Chulalonkorn I. (Somdech Phra Paramindr Maha), born 21st September, 1853; the eldest son of the late King Maha Mongkut and of Queen Rambhey Bhumarabhiromya; succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, October 1, 1868.

Children of the King.

I. Prince Somdech Chowfa Maha Vajirunhis, heir apparent, born June 23, 1878.

II. Princess Sudha Dibaratna, born 1877.
III. Princess Sri Vilailaxna, born July 1878.
IV. Princess Bahurat Manimaiy, born 1879.

Brothers of the King.

I. Somdech Chowfa Chaturant Rasmi, born January 14, 1857. II. Somdech Chowfa Bhanurangse Swangwongse, born January 13, 1860.

III. Krom Mun Naresr Varariddhi, born May 7, 1855.
IV. Krom Mun Bijit Prijakor, born October 29, 1855.

V. Krom Mun Atisara Udomatej, born March 15, 1856.

VI. Krom Mun Bhudhares Thamringsakdi, born March 16, 1856. VII. Krom Mun Prachaks Silapagor, born April, 1856. VIII. Krom Mun Devawongse Varoprakar, born November 30, 1858.

There are other five brothers.

The royal dignity is nominally hereditary, but does not descend always from the father to the eldest son, each sovereign being invested with the privilege of appointing his own successor.

Government, Revenue, and Army.

According to the law of May 8, 1874, the legislative power is exercised by the king in conjunction with a Council of Ministers (Senabodi), who have charge of the departments of the War and Marine, Foreign Affairs, Justice, Agriculture, the Royal House, and Finance. The Council of State consist of the ministers, 10 to 20 members appointed by the king, and 6 princes of the royal house. Each of the 41 provinces is administered by a governor; while there are several tributary districts administered by their own princes.

The prevailing religion is Buddhism. In recent years the results

of Western civilisation have to some extent been introduced. Some few young Siamese have been sent to schools in England, Germany, and France.

The king's revenue may be estimated at about 2,000,0007. a year, of which sum the land tax produces 287.0007.; tax on fruit trees, 65,000l.; spirits, 100,000l.; opium, 120.0007.; gambling, 100,000/.; customs, 120,000l.; tin-mines, 90,0007.; edible birds. nests, 27,000l.; fisheries, 27,0007. All the taxes, with the exception of the customs duties, are farmed. There is no public debt, and paper money has not been introduced. The expenditure is stated to keep within the receipts.

There is a small standing army, and a general armament of the people, in the form of a militia. Every male inhabitant, from the age of 21 upwards, is obliged to serve the State for three months a year. The following individuals are, however, exempted :—Members of the priesthood, the Chinese settlers, who pay a commutation tax, slaves, public functionaries, the fathers of three sons liable to service, and those who purchase exemption by a fine of from six to eight ticals a month, or by furnishing a slave or some other person not subject to the conscription, as a substitute. It is stated that the Government possesses upwards of 80,000 stand of arms, besides a considerable stock of cannon. The army is to some extent officered by Europeans.

The fleet of war consists of four steam corvettes and twelve gunboats, officered by Europeans, chiefly Englishmen. The organisation of the navy is modelled on that of Great Britain.

Population and Trade.

The limits of the kingdom of Siam have varied much at different periods of its history; and even now, with the exception of the Western frontier, the lines of demarcation cannot be exactly traced, most of the border lands being occupied by tribes more or less independent. As nearly as can be calculated, the country extends, at present, from the 4th to the 21st degree of north latitude, and from the 96th to the 106th degree of east longitude, being a total area of about 250,000 square miles. The numbers of the population are still more imperfectly known than the extent of territory, and the difficulty of any correct result is the greater on account of the Oriental custom of numbering only the men. The latest foreign estimates give the population of the kingdom as follows, in round numbers:-2,000,000 Siamese; 1,000,000 Chinese; 2,000,000 Laotians; 1,000,000 Malays; total about 6,000,000. Kedah, Patani, Kelautan and Tringganu in the Malay Peninsula acknowledge her superiority, as do the Lao (Shan States) of Luang Reabang, Chiengmai, Lakhou, Lampunchai, Nan and Phre.

The Siamese dominions are divided into 41 provinces. The native historians distinguish two natural divisions of the country, called Muang-Nua, the region of the north, and Muang-Tai, the southern region. Previous to the fifteenth century, the former was the more populous part of the country, but since the establishment of Bangkok as capital-with from 400,000 to 600,000 inhabitants—the south has taken the lead in population. Siam is called by its inhabitants Thaï, or Muang Thaï, which means 'free,' or 'the kingdom of the free. The word Siam-quite unknown to the natives-is perhaps Malay, from sajam, 'the brown race.'

There is comparatively little trade and industry in the country, mainly owing to the state of serfdom in which the population is kept by the feudal owners of the land. Throughout the whole of Siam, the natives are liable to forced labour for a certain period of the year, varying from one to three months, in consequence of which the land, rich in many parts, is badly cultivated. Probably not more than one-twentieth of the available land is under cultivation. Domestic slavery is in partial process of abolition. Nearly the whole of the trade is in the hands of foreigners, and in recent years many Chinese, not subject like the natives to forced labour, have settled in the country. The foreign trade of Siam centres in Bangkok, the capital. The value of the total exports from Bangkok in 1883 was about 1,705,1317., the staple article of export being rice to Hong Kong and Singapore. The minor exports embraced a great variety of articles, chief among them hides, sesame, pepper, sapan-wood, spices, ivory, cattle, horns, and teak. The total imports into Bangkok, in the year 1883, were of the value of 956,7147., the imports comprising mainly textile goods, hardware, and opium.

At the end of 1883, the mercantile navy of Siam numbered 44 sailing vessels and 1 steamer, of an. aggregate burthen of 16,000 tons. In 1883, 384 vessels of 185,612 tons cleared the port of Bangkok, of which 199 of 119,587 tons were British.

The direct commercial intercourse of Siam with the United Kingdom is inconsiderable, and of a very fluctuating character. In the five years 1879 to 1883 the value of the exports from Siam to Great Britain, and of imports of British produce into Siam, was as follows: