Page 42 - A History of Siam

CHAPTER II

SIAM BEFORE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF TAI DOMINION

WE have seen in the the Tai in their
preceding chapter
original home, Nanchao. We have seen them migrating
southwards, driven forth by the pressure of the Chinese.
What manner of was Siam in the of those
country days
Tai settlers ?
early
The first inhabitants of Siam, long before the dawn of
must have been much the same as the
history, very
cave-dwellers of Their old flint tools and
Europe.
weapons are constantly being dug up. These are just
like those made man the world.
by primitive throughout
We can form no clear mental of the makers of
picture
these flint weapons.
Later on, Siam was inhabited by two races, whose
descendants may still be seen. In the south dwelt a
of or Indo-
curly-headed, prognathous race, Negrito
nesian A few of now known as Sakais, are
type. these,
still to be found wandering, naked and squalid, in the
forests of the Malay Peninsula. For centuries past

they have been looked upon by their more cultured
Siamese and Malay successors as mere animals. Sir
Hugh Clifford, in graphic language, has described
the annual Sakai hunt held by a former Sultan of
Pahang.
A strain of Sakai blood is to be found
probably among
the Siamese inhabitants of the Malay Peninsula. Curly
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