Page 266 - A History of Siam

A HISTORT OF SIAM
250
a vast number, variously estimated from 30,000 to
200,000.
A amount of such as and
great treasure, gold jewels,
was found in the also of arms and
palace, quantities
ammunition. Of the latter the best and most
only
curious cannon and guns were taken away to Burma.
The remainder were or thrown into the river.
destroyed
Thus fell four hundred and seventeen
Ayut'ia, years
after its foundation by King Rama T'ibodi I. In 1568
the fell in the
city through treachery, 1767 through
and of those in A new
inefficiency corruption power.
be but the old was
Ayut'ia may to-day seen, Ayut'ia
never rebuilt. It is still a mass of ruins, over which
the like a as
tropical jungle spreads green mantle, though
to hide the handiwork of the Burmese from the of
sight
Heaven.
Among other irreplaceable treasures, almost all the
written records of the Kingdom were burnt, and for many
it seemed as all certain trace of the
years though history
of Siam had vanished. But later were destined
Kings
to collect and piece together the scattered fragments,
until, little by little, some account of the story of the
old was written down, full of and
capital gaps errors,
yet still retaining some semblance of the truth.