CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY DS 577.A54 *" ""'™™"i' "-"rary ^"^IIWliiMirai;?,Si,.fflf,!!„SM.in the sev 3 1924 021 573 260 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924021573260 TRUBNER'S ORIENTAL SERIES. ENGLISH INTEECOURSE SI AM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTUEY. JOHN ANDERSON, M.D. LL.D. Edin., F.R.S. ADTHOK OP " MANDALAY TO MOMIEN," ETC. WITH MAP. LONDON: KEGAN PAUL, TEENCH, TEUBNEE, & CO., Lt" 1890. [All rights reserved.] ASH w 1^76 lol BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. EDINBURGH AND LONDON PKEFACE. This hitherto unwritten chapter in the history of British enterprise in the East owes its origin to the following circumstances. Seven years ago, I found myself in the pleasant town of Mergui, a seaport on the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal. I had gone thither at the request of the Trustees of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, to bring together materials to illustrate in the museum some of the features of the marine fauna of the Bay of Bengal, a department of animal life then all but unrepresented in the collections contained in that institution. On my return to this country from India in the be- ginning of 1885, the collections made in the Mergui Archipelago were brought to England to be placed in the hands of men competent to work out efficiently the various animal groups represented in them. My first idea was that the results of the labours of those employed in this work should be published by the Trustees of the Indian Museum, aided, if possible, by a grant from the Government of India. To add to the interest of this contemplated report, I proposed to myself to preface it with a short account of the history of the district in which my labours had lain. My appeals for scientific assistance to work out the collections met with a willing and speedy response in every instance, and I am consequently under a deep debt of gratitude to all those who aided me, and I have else- where attempted, although very imperfectly, to express my vi preface: obligations to them for their labours. However, after the various groups of animals represented in the collections had been distributed among my colleagues, and I had re- ceived some of their reports, I observed that the work was assuming piroportions I had not anticipated, and found that its publication would be a much more costly undertaking than I had originally contemplated. This also proved to be the case as regards my own researches into the history of Mergui, which grew as the inquiry advanced. In order to fulfil the understanding I had entered into with those scientific men who had so willingly given me their assistance, viz., that their reports should be published with as little delay as possible, the duty was laid upon me to arrange, on my own responsibility, for the early publica- tion of their labours. The action taken by me in this respect was attended with complete success, as my appeal to the Council of the Linnsean Society of London to publish the scientific results of the expedition to Mergui in their Journal met with a cordial response from that body, on the coiidition that they received a small grant-in-aid towards the cost of publication. At that time I was under the impression that one volume of the Journal of the Linnsean Society would have sufficed for the purpose, but as the work advanced, it was found that a second volume would be needed, and this was granted by the Council on the same terms as the first. Having thus had to give up my original idea that the Trustees should publish the report, and having collected a mass of materials bearing on the history of Tenasserim, including Mergui, which could not be published by the Linnsean Society, I resolved to publish my researches separately, and I was encouraged to do so by Dr. Eost ; and I now make public this chapter in the history of English intercourse with Siam, a kingdom of which the province of Tenasserim formed a part in the seventeenth century. I am duly sensible of its many imperfections, PREFACE. vii but as it brings to light facts hitherto generally unknown regarding the keen interest taken by our countrymen in the trade of Siam during that period, I venture to place them on record, and hope that my labours may be leniently judged. By far the greater part of this narrative is founded upon original documents preserved in the India Officer, and I am deeply indebted to Mr. Frederick Charles Danvers, the registrar and superintendent of these Eecords, for per- mission to examine the rich historical treasures under his immediate keeping. I have also to tender my thanks to Sir George Birdwood and to Mr. C. E. D. Black for afford- ing me facilities for their examination that tended greatly to lighten my labours. My acknowledgments are like- wise due to Dr. Eost for valuable counsel on several occasions. The book itself speaks more tellingly than I can do of the immense assistance I have received from the erudite labours of that distinguished scholar, Colonel Sir Henry Yule, whose name will be found quoted throughout the work, either singly or associated with that of his lamented colleague, Arthur Coke Burnell. The names of others who have assisted me will be found mentioned in the pages of the work, and I take this opportunity' to thank them individually for their aid. In looking back on the seventeenth century, in the beginning of which our countrymen first appeared in the East in any numbers, and turning our eyes to the map of Southern Asia as it now exists, what a wondrous revolu- tion has befallen that part of the globe since then. It is about a quarter of a century less than 300 years since Encrlish merchants first set foot in Southern Asia. Then they owned no more than the warehouses in the seaports and towns in which they were permitted to sell their goods, and their presence, in a map of that period, would be represented by small red dots, mere pin-points, scattered at wide intervals along the seaboard of India, Burma, viii PREFACE. Siam, and some of the islands of Oceania. But in a map of to-day, we find the British Empire in the East extending from the frontiers of China and Siam westwards to those of Afghanistan and Baluchistan, and from the Hii^alaya in undisturbed sway southwards to the waves of the Indian Ocean — a mighty empire, nearly 2000 miles in extent from east to west, and 1700 miles from north to south. An unbiassed history of how this vast responsibility^ of government has gradually come to rest upon our nation has yet to be written. In view of the wonderful changes that have befallen many sovereignties in the East since the seventeenth century, the circumstance that Siam has remained but little affected by them is a noteworthy fact. But now that that kingdom is in contact, both to the east and to the west, with European powers, the conditions of her past have become considerably altered, and no more forcible illustration of this can be adduced than the Commission that is shortly to assemble on her western frontier to settle certain questions affecting the limits of our jurisdiction in that region, arising out of our recent conquests in Burma. 71 Haebington Gakdens, London, November 1889. CONTENTS. Introductory Chapter ... . . 1-45 CHAPTER I. Opening of trade with Siam — The ship Glohe sails for Siam — Glohe at Patani— fffoSe in the Menam — Japanese at Patani and Ayuthia — ^Attempt to trade with Xieng-mai — Return of the Ghle to Patani — The Globe and the James at Masulipatam — The James and the Darling at Patani — The James at Bang- kok — Opening of trade between Siam and Japan — Factories at Patani and Ayuthia — The Solomon at Patani — Letter from the King of Siam to James I. — The Sea Adventure sails from Japan to Siam — English assist in deepening the Menam — • " A trading venture to Champa — Dutch gossip about the English — William Eaton on the trade of Siam — Trade of Xieng-mai and Luang-Prabau — State of the factories at Ayuthia and Patani — Sea Adventwe at the Liu-kiu Islands — English and trade of Masulipatam and Tenasserim — War between the Dutch and English — Naval figh t at Patani — Dutch attack En glish factory in Japan- fflverbearing co^ {^^t of the Dutc^— Peace between the Dutch and English — Englisnmen aiL-LiigDr- — The Jsumes^RoydLsL Pat.ani — Tradp pf Manan— MJInpflish nnt-aHampd tn Ipavq Siam — Edward Iionge / puf to deathji^Eactories at Ayuthia and Patani closed — Council of Batavia on the trade of Siam — Kevolution at Ayuthia — English interlopers at Ayuthia and Patani — Fac- tors at Camboja escape to Ayuthia 46-89 CHAPTER II. Trade re-opened with Ayuthia — The Hopewell in the Menam — John South on the trade of Siam — Thomas Cotes recalled from Ayuthia — His letter — Trade between the Coromandel Coast and Ayuthia — The Madras MerchaM sails ioxBafigkok -—Siam fa ctory plnnprl "ifjq" "WnrtS t. Georg &i^Hostility ("between the Dutch and the SiamSse^Proposal to close the X CONTENTS. PAGE factory at Ayuthia— Treaty between the Siamese and the Dutch— Proposals to re-open trade with Siam— Mutiny at Fort St. George— William Acworth at Ayuthia— Mr. Dearing dies at Ayuthia— Acworth imprisoned— English prestige at stake— Sir Edward Winter's servant sent to Ayuthia— Ruin of the factory at Ayuthia— Nicholas Waite at Ayuthia^ Bombay ships invited to Siam 90 - 1 1 1 CHAPTEE III. The ship Return at Japan, at Macao and Lampacao, at Bangkok — License to trade granted to the factors of the Return — The Tarra of the Phra-klang ^ Letters from factors of the Return — George White, the interloper — Factors and their difficulties — Second license to trade granted — Letter to Bantam factory — Ayuthia placed under Surat — Slaves for the factory — Japanese employed in the factory — Spurious Bornean diamonds— A letter to the King of Siam — The tin trade of Siam — Stagnation of trade — Be-opening of trade with Patani— An inspector sent to Ayuthia from Bantam — The rj/ware sent from Bantam to Bangkok . . . 1 12-140 CHAPTEE IV. Mr. Richard Burneby arrives in the Tywan at Bangkok — His re- port on the factory at Ayuthia — His reception by the Phra- klang— The trade of Siam — The trade of Patani— The trade of Gamboja — A house for the factory a necessity — Theft of a sloop — Letter to the King of Siam— Ralph Lambton at Ayuthia — Samuel White arrives at Ayuthia — Letter to the Phra-klang — Order to close the factory — Demand for the rent of the factory - house — George White leaves Siam — George Gosfright and Thomas Ivatt arrive at the capital — The history of Constant Phaulkon, chief merchant to the King — His character — Chief Minister of Siam— Gos- fright's impeachment of Burneby— Temptations to private trade — Burneby's departure from and return to Ayuthia — .Factors' petition to the Phra-klang — Destruction of the factory by fire— Burneby's protest against Potts — Phra- klang's letter to Sir John Child — Various accounts of the origin of the fire — Measures against interlopers . . 141-181 CHAPTER V. Strangh and Tale mission — Strangh's interview with Burneby — Native opinion on origin of the fire — Strangh on interlopers —Interview with the Phra-klang— Letter of Charles II. to CONTENTS. xi PAGE the Emperor of Japan — Cremation of the Phra-klang — A conference at the factory — The factors consult Phaulkon — One of Samuel Potts' hectors — Potts put in the stocks — Strangh proceeds to Louvo— ;The King of Siam and the ( ^ws — Burneby and White in~'Siamese service — Strangh rebuked by Phaulkon — Strangh attempts to leave Louvo — Strangh's indictment of Phaulkon — Strangh, Potts, and Yale leave Siam — Factory closed — Crouch's opinion of Phaulkon — A quarrel about nails — Crouch and Thomas imprisoned — Crouch and the seductions of Ayutbia^Eurneby and White go to Tenasserim — Factory to be re-opened — Overtures for renewal of trade — Robert Harbin and his colleagues arrive at Bangkok 182-223 CHAPTER VI. Dawn of French trade in the East — First French missionaries to Siam — Bishop de B&ythe's journey to Siam — His journey from Tenasserim to Ayuthia — His reception by the Portu- guese — Persecuted by the Portuguese — Bishops of Metello- polis and HeUopolis proceed to Siam — A priest as an engineer — Bishop of Heliopolis sent to Rome — Ambassadors from Golconda and Acheen — Romish seminary established at Ayuthia — Return of the Bishop of Heliopolis — His recep- tion by the King — The Bishop departs for Tonquin — Im- prisoned at Manilla — Death of Bishop de B^rythe — The Bishop of Heliopolis returns to Siam — An embassy to France — Chevalier de Chaumont's embassy arrives at Ayuthid — Conc ession s to Siamese converts- ^The King and the Frenc h jffiSiionaries — Phaulkon's power and position — Siamese ' mandarins and the French — Persian ambassador to Siam — The Persian ambassador's debts-< ^e King of Siam and) £hammedanisnr-~^. 224-252 CHAPTEE YII. Royal monopolies— Samuel White at Mergui— S. White and the East India Company — War between Siam and Golconda— Hostnities at MadapoUam— Captain Coates at MadapoUam— Ships seized at Mergui — Francis Davenport's history — His Historical Abstract- The Brothers Demarcora— S. White and his prisoners of war — Elihu Yale and jewels for the King of Siam — Captain Coates returns to Mergui— Don de Heredia returns to Mergui — White summoned to Louvo — White goes to Louvo 253-281 CONTENTS. CHAPTEE VIII. PAGE White sick at Louvo — Phaulkon's opinion of White — The Macas- sar conspiracy at Ayuthia — Edward Udall's account of the insurrection — Samuel White's description of the insurrec- tion — Europeans at Ayuthia — Captain Lake at Bangkok — ■ Imprisoned — The termination of the Harbiu-Gyff ord mission ■ — A letter from White to Phaulkon — Siamese commission for Tenasserim — White and his party return to Mergui . 282-307 CHAPTER IX. Siamese war with Golconda — White's consideration of the Com- pany — Elihu Yale and the jewel affair — English designs on Mergui — East India Company meditate hostilities against Siam — White's ships captured — Fate of the Satisfaction — Mission to Persia from Siam— White and his difficulties- White and his relations to Governor Burueby — Capture of the Hevenge—Vfai with Siam declared— An expedition sent against Mergui— Recall of the English at Mergui— Damages demanded by the Company— Letter to the King of Siam— Instructions given to Captain Weltden— George White's opinion of the war— Elihu Yale on the war . 308-334 CHAPTER X. The Cm-tana arrives off Mergui— Captain Weltden lands at Mer- gui p- Declaration of war at Mergui — A truce concluded —The ship Sesolutio-n— 'White and the defences of Mergui— W^lt jen seizes t h e Resolu tion— Begmniag of the insurrection - ^assacre of B^^ ^e^— Escape of Weltden and White— . Richard iJurueby-ffiiBdli-White in the Resolution off Pulicat —The Pearl sent from Madras to Mergui— The royal letter —Hodges' account of the massacre— King of Siam declares war against the East India Company— Troubles at Porto Novo— Revolution at Siam . . ,^c ^^^ CHAPTER XI. French embassy of 1687-Landing of French troops at Bangkok -Decoration of Phaulkon by Louis XIV.-Elihu Yale enter- tains the Count de Forbin-Pfere Tachard and Siamese mandarins in Europe-Conspiracy of the mandarins at Ayuthia-Revolution at Ayuthia-Tragic end of Phaulkon -Siamese treachery to the French-French besieged at Bangkok-Death of the King-French attacked at Mergui CONTENTS. xiii PAGE — Adventures of Debriian — The French troops leave Siam — Hodges at Ayuthia and his departure — A Dutch contract with the Siamese — Pfere Taohard lands at Mergui — Elihu Yale's overtures to the new King — His proposals regarding Siam — The Company and interlopers — George White again in the East — Piracy in the Indian Seas — Destruction of Ayuthia — Bangkok becomes the capital of Siam . . 364-390 APPENDICES. A. Mk. Leal's Teavbls in Siam, 391-402 B. Burning op a Wizabd at Bombay, 1671 . . 403 C. Factoey op Calb Vblha oe Old KAyal . . 404-406 D. Mum-Bbbh 407-420 E. Rbpoet on the Teade op Siam, weittbn in 1678 421-428 F. Samuel White's Petition to the House op Commons 429-445 G. Notes on Elihu Yale, Govbenoe op Madeas . 445-456 Index . . . 457-503 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SUM SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. INTEODUCTIOK On the nth May, 1824, the Burmese seaport of Eangoon was attacked and occupied by the British troops under Sir Archibald Campbell. As the season advance'd, and the country became inundated by the flooded rivers and heavy rains, it was found impracticable to engage in any active operations in the direction of Ava. A part of the force at his command was, therefore, dispatched by Sir A. Campbell, by sea, to reduce the maritime provinces of Burma, and the districts of Tavoy and Tenasserim were selected to be attacked. In selecting Tenasserim and its port, Mergui, as desirable acquisitions for Britain, the commander of the army of invasion was unwittingly carrying out a continuity of action, on the part of his nation, for, during the latter part of the seventeenth cen- tury, King James the Second and his Government, insti- gated by the East India Company, had yearned after Mergui, and had even attempted, but unsuccessfully, to capture that seaport, where it had been their intention, if they had triumphed, to erect a fort to command the navigation and commerce of the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal, and the overland route to Siam. This, how- ever, in 1824, had all been forgotten; but the national aspiration of 1687 was gratified in- 1824, as Mergui, on 2 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. being summoned, on the 6th October, to surrender uncon- ditionally, fell in an hour's time before the gallant assault of the British troops, supported by the guns of the cruisers of the Honourable East India Company.^ Two years later, the war, which had been forced upon Great Britain by the arrogance and hostility of the Bur- mese in the region of Assam, was brought to a close by the treaty of Yandabo, concluded between the King of Burma and the Honourable East India Company on the 24th February, 1826. By this treaty his Burman Majesty under- took to abstain from all future interference with the prin- cipality of Assam and its dependencies, and ceded to the British Government Arakan, and " the conquered provinces of Yeh, Tavoy, and Mergiii and Tenasserim," their islands and dependencies.^ The tract of country then acquired by Britain was 540 miles long, and extended from the junction of the Thoung- gyeng with the Salwin, in lat. 17° 57' N., to the extremity of the peninsula of the Pack-chan, in 10° N. Its breadth varied from seventy-five to fifteen miles, according as the sea-coast approached or receded from the range of mountains defining the eastern boundary of British terri- tory and extending throughout the entire length of the province. The rivers on the eastern side of this chain of mountains flow into the Gulf of Siam, those on its western flank into the Bay of Bengal.^ These districts, now collectively known as the Province of Tenasserim, have had a very checkered history, being sometimes subject to the sway of Burma and Pegu, and at other periods to that of Siam. According to the native history of Taungu, King Narabadislthu,* one of 1 Documents Illustrative of the = Wilson, i.e., Documents, p 209 Burmese War, with an Introductory » Calcutta Review, vol viii 18^7' Sketch of the Events of the War, p. 73. > '*i> and an Appendix. Compiled and * Burma, its People and National edited by Horace Hayman Wilson, Products, by the Rev. F. Mason Esq. Calcutta : Erora the Govern- Rangoon, London, and New York' irient Gazette Press, by G. H. i860, p. 46. ' Huttmann, 1827. INTRODUCTION. 3 the famous figures in the early history of Burma, and who reigned from 11 67 to 1204, ruled from the borders of China to the mouth of the Tenasserim river — a defini- tion of his sovereignty now descriptive of the Burmese possessions of Great Britain. There would appear to be some foundation for his claim to Tenasserim, as a pagoda situated on Zediwon hill,^ about eleven miles inland from Mergui, is said to have been built by him when he visited this remote province of his kingdom, near the end of his reign. Towards the close of the thirteenth century, Siam had established its influence over Tenasserim and Tavoy, and even as far north as Martaban, as the second Shan king of that principality, on ascending the throne of his brother War^ru, the first of this Shan dynasty of the Pegu king- dom, had to solicit a recognition of his title from the king of Siam.2 His successor, the third king, although mar- ried to a daughter of the king of Siam, took possession of Tavoy and Tenasserim ; but during the reign of the fourth monarch, about 1325-30, the provinces of Tavoy and Tenasserim were recovered by Siam. In 1373, the Siamese are said to have founded the town of Tenasserim, and seven years later to have built the pagoda of Wot- tsheng,^ still standing on the ruins of Old Tenasserim. This sacred edifice has been enabled to withstand the onslaught of five centuries by the ever-recurring repara- tive efforts, the good work of pious Buddhists. We have now to turn to the Siamese history, which, however, unfortunately has neither the fulness nor credi- bility of the historical documents of Burma, owing to the circumstance that the State Records of the country perished in the flames that consumed the capital in 1767.* What now exists of Siamese history consists of two sec- 1 British Burma Gazetteer, 2 vols., ^ British Burma Gazetteer, vol. ii. 1S79, 1880, vol. ii. p. 403. p. 402. . . 2 History of Burma, &o., by * E. M. Satow, Transactions Asia- Lieut. -General Sir Arthur Phayre. tio Society, Japan, vol. xiii., 1885, ' London, 1883, p. 66. p. 181. 4 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. tions, the PhSngsd-va-daTirMuang-nbi and the Phongsd- m-d'an-Muang-Thai," composed by the great-uncle of the present King from fragments preserved in monasteries, and from traditions surviving among the priests." ^ The first part of this history is full of fables and myths,^ vyhilst the second, known officially as the PMngsd-va- dan-Rachha, gives an account of the Siamese kings, drawn up in the way already indicated, commencing with the foundation of the capital, Ayuthia, which it assigns to the year 1350-51.* As has been previously stated, the provinces of Tenas- serim and Tavoy were recovered by Siam, between 1325 and 1330, and when Phra Eama Thibodi of the Thai-nbi, or Little Thai, founded his new capital Ayuthia, they formed, according to Siamese history, an integral part of the kingdom of Siam, which then embraced Moulmein and Martaban.* If any subjection, however, to Siam existed on the part of these two states, it was in all pro- bability not more a than feeble tributary fealty ; and it has been recorded by Joao de Barros,^ that Siamese rule, in the beginning of the sixteenth century, did not extend farther north than Tavoy. The province or state of Tenasserim, to the south of Tavoy, seems to have been held by the Siamese, without ^ Joseph Haas, .Journal North. 1877, P- 213. Mr. Oust says, "An Branch of Royal Asiatic Society, inscription exists in the ruins of the New Series, vol. xiv., 1879, p. 35. old capital of Ayuthia, dated 1284 B. M. Satow, Transactions Asiatic a.d." This may possibly be the in- Society Japan, vol. xiii., 1885, p. 181. scription that was found at Sakkothai ^ Description du Eoyaume Thai and described by Bowring {I. c, pp. ou Siam, par Mgr. Pallegoix, torn. ii. 278, 279), and which, according to Paris, 1884, p. 58. Bastian (Journ. As. Soo. Bengal, vol. ^ Journal of an Embassy to the xxxiv. pt. i. p. 30), is now preserved Court of Siam and Cochin-China, in the palace at Bangkok. Yule by John Crawford, F.K.S. 2 vols. {I. c, p. 259) says the date of this in- London, 1830, vol. ii. p. 141. The scription is almost certainly 1292-93, Kingdom and People of Siam, by and he quotes Gamier ("Voyage d'Ex- Sir John Bowring, F.E.S. 2 vols, ploration en Indo-Chine, torn. i. pp. London, 1857, vol. i. p. 43. Colonel 136-137) in support of the altera- H. Yule, The Book of Ser Marco tion of the date. Polo. 2 vols., 2nd edit., 1875, * Pallegoix, I. c, p. 75. vol. ii. p. 259. R. N. Gust, Pro- = Terceira Decada da Asia, Lisboa ceedings Asiatic Society of Bengal, (1563), Li v. iii. folio 65. INTRODUCTION. ; any intermissioii worthy of note, np to 1765, when it was reduced by the Burmese,^ who retained possession of it until it was ceded to Britain by the treaty of Yandabo. Tenasserim, the chief town of this province, had main- tained a reputation for trade among European nations from the early part of the seventeenth century; but, in 1760, it was pillaged by Alaunghpra, and further devas- tated, in 1765, while its downfall was sealed by the destruction of Ayuthia, in 1767, and by the attainment once more by the Burmese of supremacy along the eastern sea-board of the Bay of Bengal, as far south as the mouths of the Tenasserim river. In its fall it brought commer- cial ruin on its seaport, Mergui. The importance of Tenasserim and Mergui, prior to the Burman conquest of the province, depended on the circumstance that the town of Tenasserim was the start- ing-point, on the western sea-coast of Siam, of an overland route to the capital, Ayuthia, and a port also at which vessels of light draught occasionally ^ discharged their cargoes, and thus avoided the long and dangerous voyage to the capital round the extremity of the peninsula ; while larger vessels resorted to the safe and commodious harbour of Mergui, whence their cargoes from the Eed Sea, the Coromandel Coast, and Bengal were transmitted in boats to Tenasserim, and thence overland to Ayuthia. Tavernier,^ in his account of the kingdom of Siam, says that " the shortest and nearest way for the Europeans to go to this Kingdom, is 'to go to Ispahan, from Ispahan to Ormus, from Ormus to Surat, from Surat to Golconda, from Golconda to Maslipatan, there to embark for Denoic- ' Phayre's History of Burma, pp. pt. ii., 1838, p. 702) says, " The large r84-190. Tenasserim river is accessible there 2 "The old capital of the pro- (village of Tenasserim) to vessels of vince may be approached by vessels 100 tons burthen." of 130 tons burthen."— Calcutta ' The Six Voyages of John Bap- Government Gazette, March 2, tiste Tavernier, &c., I'inished in 1826, quoted bv H. H. Wilson, the year 1670; made English by loc. cit., App., 'p. Iviii. Heifer J. P. I vol. folio. London, 1678, (Journ. As. Soc, of Bengal, vol. vii. Book iii. p. 189. 6 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. serin, -whicli is one of the Ports belonging to tlie Kingdom of Siam. From Denouserin to the Capital City, which is also call'd Siam, is thirty-five days' journey,^ part by "Water, part by Land, by Waggon, or upon Elephants. The way, whether by Land or Water, is very troublesome ; for by Land you must be always upon your guard for fear of Tigers and Lions ; by Water, by reason of the many falls of the Eiver, they are forc'd to hoise up their Boats with Engines." The difficulties of the routey however, were not such as to deter travellers from frequently using it, as in the six- teenth century it was traversed by Portuguese and Siamese ambassadors or envoys, and, in the seventeenth century, by an ambassador of Louis XIV. of Prance, by envoys from Goa to the court of Siam, by ambassadors from Shah Sulai- man of Persia, and the kings of Golconda, by Prench and Portuguese missionaries and Jesuits, and by the servants of the East India Company, who used the route for the transmission of their Indian correspondence, directing their letters " vid Tenassaree." The travellers' route lay up the river as far as the town of Tenasserim, and beyond this still farther by boat to a place called Jelinga,^ the lalinque of the map drawn up by M. Cassini (a member of that distinguished family of astronomers who for four generations filled the office of Director of the Observatory at Paris), for the illustration of the Prench ambassador's account of Siam,^ and the Jalinguer of Crawford's map.* At Jelinga the land journey of this route began, and could be performed either by doolies, carts, or on elephants. 1 The distance is here over-esti- " " To the Right Honourable the mated, as the journey generally Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses took ten to twelve days. Assembled in Parliament. The An- 3 A New Historical Relation of swer of the East India Company to the Kingdom of Siam, by M. De two Printed Papers of Mr. Samuel La Loubfere, Envoy Extraordinary White, One Entituled Bis Case ■ The from the French King to the other, A True Accompt of the' Pas- King of Siam, m the years 1687 sa° Sir Charles Bernard, seq.) has it Mevgi. Pinto (Peri- , V ;V '■°'' '^'''"'^^ '^"'^ '""SI- grinacoes, 1614, p. 170) Merauim tude of Mergm. These are shown Van Schouten calls it Merov (A De' "", .,^ i''!?^' f -"'^ Sl'^^'' 9®°^ soription of the Government, &o., of entitled "Preliminary Chart of the Siam,London, 1663,^124); andVan Eastern Frontier Series, Seasons Vliet (Besch;. van het Kon"nIvk 1877-78 and 1879-82," and giving Siam, &c., p. 40, Leiden, i6^^^!l Trigonometrical Survey of India m name for it is Merguy, I. c, p 8 The that district. The station at which Englishmen residing at the 'place the above positions were taken was called it Mergen (The Answer of the live Pagoda Hill, Mergui, 112 the East India Company, &c ) feet above the harbour. while in a book written alou? he INTRODUCTION. 15 name is Mant,^ and its Burmese Myut^ or Myat? pro- nounced Beit ; * but if it has a Malay name, which it pro- bably has, it has apparently not been recorded. In the document ^ in which the constitution of the Tenasserim Commission of 1686 is detailed, an Opra is mentioned as the lowest member but one of the commis- sion, its most subordinate official being the Olvang Cho- moung. The first of these offices was held by an English- man, Eichard Burneby, and his title was Opra Marrat, or more correctly 0;pra Marit, i.e., governor of Mergui. In those days there were six orders of cities in Siam,^ and those of a lesser grade than cities entitled to Ocyas were governed by Opras ; and from independent evidence exist- ing in the Eecords of the India Office, it is known that Eichard Burneby, in 1684-87, held a high appointment at Mergui under the Siamese Government, and what that appointment was, and the Siamese name of Mergui, are thus learned directly from the document in question, which was translated into English, either at Ayuthia, or at Mergui itself. The foregoing names of this town may possibly have had a Talaing origin, the European form Mergui being a corruption of Marlt, with the addition of the Burmese word gyi, meaning great, an affix that frequently occurs in Burmese names of places. There is a curious fact connected with Marlt and Tanao, viz., that the two combined form Marifanau, the Malay name of Martaban, according to Crawford.^ The Siamese claim to have possessed Martaban at different periods. It same time it appears as Morgen ?. c, p. I ; Yule-Eurnell Glossary, (A Full and True Relation of the p. 434. Great and Wonderful Revolution * The Answer of the East India that happened lately in the King- Company, &c. dom of Siam, London, 1690). ^ De La Loubfere, I. c, p. 79. 1 Pallegoix's Dictionary, p. 430, ' Dictionary of Malay, pt. i. vol. ^ Captain Lloyd, Journ. As. Soc. ii. p. 1 14. In his Descriptive Diet. Beng., vol. vii. pt. i. p. 1037. of the Indian Islands, &c., 1856, p. 3 Captain J. Butler's Gazetteer 429, he says, the Malays call Marta- of the Mergui District, 18S4, p. r. ban Muritanau. * Horsburgh, I. c, p. 38 ; Butler, i6 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. is known by them at present as Mo-ta-ma} and to the Takings as Mu-ta-Tiian. On an inscribed stone at the pagoda of Koung Mhoo daw, or Yaza ma-netsoola, near Ava, ^ Mouttama or Martaban is mentioned as part of the king- dom of Yamaniya, a section of the Burmese empire at that _ period, 1636-50 A.n.^ It would thus appear as if not only the Malay, but also the Siamese, Taking, and Bur- mese names for Martaban were compounds of the native names of Mergui and Tenasserim. The capital of Siam throughout more than four centu- ries was Ayuthia, situated on an island in the river Me- nam, or " mother of the waters," about sixty miles from the sea, and in lat. 14° 26' N". and long. 100° 40' E. In the valuable work of the Heratee Abdur-razzak ^ en- titled ." TJie Eising of the two fortunate Planets (Jupiter and Venus) and the Junction of the two Seas," it is stated that traders from Shahr-i-nao frequented the port of Ormuz in the Persian Gulf in the early part of the fifteenth century. In the Malay Annals * a great Eaja is mentioned as hav- ing reigned in Shaher-al-nawi, a term which, in another part of the Annals, is said to have been the name by 1 Pallegoix's Diet., p. 446. continued by Prof. John Dowson, " A Narrative of the Mission sent M.R.A.S., vol. iv. p. 89 et seq. In by the Governor-General of India to this translation there is an entirely the Court of Ava in 1855, by Capt. diflEerent rendering given to this Henry Yule, London, 1858. Ap- particular word in Abdur-razzak's pendix B., p. 351. Extracted from text, but Colonel Yule considers the MS. Journal of Major H. Bur- that M. Quatrem^re's rendering ney, Resident at Ava, that aocom- ShaJir-i-nao or "New City" in the panied a letter dated Sept. 11, 1830, "Notices et Extraits" is preferable preserved in the Eoreign Office, to Sir H. M. Elliot's " the ninety Calcutta. cities." Dowson, I. c. , p. 514. 2 Notices et Extraits des Manu- * Malay Annals, translated from scrits de la Bibliothfeque du Roi et the Malay Language by the late autres Bibliothfeques, Publife par Dr. John Leyden, with an Intro- rinst. Roy. de France, faisant suite ductiou by Sir Thomas Stamford aux Not. et Ext. lus au Comity Raffles, F.R.S., London, 1821, p. 73, ^tabli dans I'Acad. des. Inscrip. et where it occurs as Shaher al nam, Bel. Let., t. xiv., Paris, 1843 ; also, and at p. 121 as Sdieri mam, and it The History of India as told is stated to have had "all the re- by its own Historians, by Sir gions under the wind dependent H. M. Elliot, K.C.B., edited and on it." INTRODUCTION, 17 which Siam was known in ancient times. Colonel Yule ^ has directed attention to Mr. Braddell's ^ suggestion that the name Sheher-al-nawi " refers to the distinction spoken of by La Loubere between the Thai-Tai, an older people of the race, and the Thai-JVbi, the people known to us as Siamese." He, however, considers this less probable than that Shahr-i-nao simply referred to Siam and its capital Ayuthia. He explains ^ the origin of the term thus : — " We have still a city of Siam, Zophahun, anciently a capital, and the name of which appears to be a Sanskrit or Pali form, Nava-fura, meaning the same as Shahr-i- nao (New City) ; and this indeed may have given rise to the latter name." He also points out that this designation of Ayuthia, the capital of Siam, appears among the early navigators of the sixteenth century in the modified forms Sarnau, Sornau, and Xarnauz. Kfempf er * relates that the capital immediately preced- ing Ayuthia stood on the site now occupied by Bangkok. For some reason or other, the latter site was abandoned, and a new city, Ayuthia, was built farther up the river. To it therefore the term Shahr-i-nao, " New City," might be aptly applied. In the lips of Europeans it became modified, as we have seen, to Sarnau, &c. ; but Western nations also knew the capital as Siao, Sion, Siam, Sian, and Ciama, all seemingly derived from Siyam, the Malay name of the country, and further modified, for some un- known reason, to Anseam and Asion.^ The term Ayuthia,^ according to Tachard,'' is an abbre- viation of the Siamese name of the capital, Crung si ayu- 1 Yule-Burnell Glossary, p. 601. by J. G. Scheuchzer, F.R.S. Lon- ^ Journal Ind. Archipelago, vol. v. don, 1727, 2 vols. vol. i. p. 27. p_ 45^. * Yule-Burnell Glossary, pp. 631- '3 The Book of Ser Marco Polo, 632. 2nd edit., 1875, vol. ii. p. 260. ^ Forthemanyhigh-soundingterms Yule-Burnell Glossary, p. 601. applied by the Siamese to theircapital * The History of Japan, &o., &c., in the beginning of the seventeenth together vrith a Description of the century, see Satow, '» Trans. As. Soo. Kingdom of Siam, written in High of Japan, vol. xiii., 1885, p. .'S'- Dutch by BngelbertusKaempfer,M.D. ' Voyage de Siam. Pans, 1686, Translated from his original MS. p. '365. B i8 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. tha ya, Grung si'^ signifying the excellent town.^ During the present century the name of the city has also been applied to the kingdom. Thus in the treaty concluded at Bangkok, by Captain Burney, on behalf of the British Government, in 1826, the king is spoken of as he who dwells over every head in the city of the sacred and great kingdom of Si-a-yoo-tha-ya.^ Ayuthia, or in the language of the country, Aj-HtUhaja,^ is the Siamese rendering of the Sanscrit Adjodhya, the name of the Hindu city of Eama.^ It has been very vari- ously modified by foreign nations.^ Tenasserim was first visited by a European about fifty years before a sea-way to the Asiatic continent from Europe, round the south of Africa, had been discovered. ^ According to Pallegoix (Diet. Lang. Tliai, p. 364), KrUng is the capital town. The affix si is the same as the terminal si in Tamaosi. ^ Documents Illustrative o£ the Burmese War. Wilson. Appendix, p. Ixxvii. ' In the work, Nouvelle Geogra- phie Univ., par Elis^e Reclus, t. viii. (1883), p. 831, it is said, "Siam ou Ayuthia {Hi-Ayo Thaya), d^sign^e maintenant sous le nom de Kroung- Jcao" Written according to Palle- goix, it would be Kr&ng the capital, JCao, ancient. * Pallegoix's Diet., p. 7. ^ Journal of an Embassy to the Courts of Siam and Cochin-China, by John Crawford, F. R. S. London, 1830, 2 vols., vol. ii. p. 139. De- scriptive Diet, of the Indian Islands and Adjacent Places, by John Craw- ford, P.R.S., 1856, p. 393. ^ The following are some of the principal modifications : — Vdid. — Commentaries do Grande Dalbuquerque, p. 396. Undid. — Barros, Decad. iii. Liv. ii. ( 1 553), folio 3S. lludia. — Maffeus, Joannes Petrus, e Soc. lesv. Historiarum Indicarijm, libri xvi. Elorentia, p. 130, E. India. — Pigafetta, (1522), Magel- lan's rirst Voyage Bound the World, Hak. Soc, 1874, p. 156. Judea. — Calendar of State Papers, Colonial East Indies, 1617-1621, par. 86. Diary of Richard Cocks. Hak. Soc, vol. i. {1882), p. 372. Judia. — Nevens Een Treur-bly- eynde Ongheluck, des Oost-Ind. Comp. Dienaers in't yaer 1636 ; wedervaren, in 't Conincklijcke Hof van Siam, in de Stadt Judia, onder de directie van den E. Jeremias Van Vliet. (Published as part of "Onge- luckige Voyagie van't Schip Batavia Nae de Ost-Indien : " known as Pel- saert's Voyage, 1628-29. Amster- dam, 1647.) Beschryving van het Koningryk Siam, Van Vliet. Lei- den, 1692, p. 13. Jnthia. — Relation de 1' Ambassade de M. le Chevalier de Chaumont h, la Cour du Roi de Siam. Paris, 1687, p. 61. Pallegoix, Description du Royaume Thai ou Siam, t. ii. Paris, 1854, t. i. p. 54 et seq. Odiaa. — Pinto, I. c, folio 232. Odia. — Pigafetta, Primo vol. delle Navig. et Viag. Ramusio (1550), p. 396. Barros, Decad. ii. Liv. vi., fol. 80. L'daya. — Malay Annals, p. 15. INTRODUCTION. 19 For centuries prior to tliat great event, the trade of India " was supposed to have elevated feeble states into great ones ; and to have constituted an enviable part in the fortune of the most opulent and powerfiil : to have contributed largely to support the Grecian monarchies both in Syria and Egypt ; to have retarded the downfall of Constantinople; and to have raised the small and obscure republic of Venice to the rank and influence of the most potent kingdoms." ^ It was Nicolo di Conti, a native of the last-mentioned state, who seems to have been the first European to visit the province of Tenasserim. About four hundred and fifty years ago he returned to his native land,, after having wandered for twenty-five years over the East. Many a strange adventure had been his, and, on one occasion, it was only by abjuring his religion that he saved the lives of his wife and children. To this painful incident in his career we are indebted for the record of his travels. On returning to Italy, about the year 1444, his denial of the Christian faith so troubled his conscience, that he applied to Pope Eugenius the Fourth for absolution. The penance enjoined on Di Conti by his Holiness was that he should faithfully relate his travels to his secretary, Poggius.^ On going back to India from a voyage to the island of Sumatra, he proceeded to Thenasserim (Tenasserim), where he arrived after a stormy voyage of sixteen days. He describes the town as situated at the mouth of a river of the same name. From the position thus assigned to Tenas- serim, it is evident that the seaport at which his vessel called was not Tenasserim, but Mergui ; for the former is 1 Mill's Hist, of India (Wilson's Joanne Oliva Khodigino vulgata. ed.), vol. i. 1840, p. 4. Paris, 1723. Ramusio, Delle Navig. ^ Poggii Bracoiolini Florentini etViag. Primo vol. etterzaed. 1563, Historise de Varietate I'ortunse, p. 339. Purchas his Pilgrims, vol. Libri quatuor. ex MS. Codice v. (1626), p. 40S rf aeg. Die Kennt- Bibliothecse Ottobonianse nunc pri- niss Indiens im fiinfzehnten Jahr- mum editi, et notis illustrati a Do- hunderte von Dr. Friedrich Kunst- minico Georgio Acoedunt ejusd. manns. Munohen, 1863, p. 40. Poggii EpistolEE Ivii., qus' nun- India' in the Fifteenth Century, quam antea prodierunt. Omnia Hakluyt Soc, 1857. 20 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. situated thirty-seven miles up the river to the south-east of the latter, and is not at the mouth of the river. It was, however, pointed out two hundred years ago,i_that occasionally Mergui was erroneously called Tenasserim, a mistake into which Nicolo di Conti fell. In his time, the route across the peninsula to the opposite coast on the Gulf of Siam doubtless existed ; and as Tenasserim was the western terminus of that route, the subordinate sea. port might well pass by the name of the larger and more important town, the designation of which was that also of the district and of the river. Nicolo di Conti, on his visit to Mergui, was so struck by the number of elephants, that he especially mentions them as one of the features of the country. Two hundred years ago, these animals were so numerous in the province of Tenasserim that they were largely exported to the coast of Coromandel and to Bengal, as is learned from records in the India Office.^ Conti also mentions sappan-wood (Cmsalpinia sappan) as one of the products of the country. 1 Histoire Naturelle et Politique and Tunohin abounds in elephants, du Eoyaume de Siam, &c. Nioholas of which the Siamese particularly Gervaise. Paris, 1688, p. 14. make a great trade, carrying them ^ The following notices of ships by land to the opposite coast and with elephants ^irriving at the port port of Tenazarin, belonging to the of Masulipatam, from Tenasserim king of Siam, near the Gulf of alone, are taken from the Diary and Bengala, where merchants buy to Consultation Book of that factory : — transport them by sea into the domi- nions of Mahometan princes." April 25, 1680.-A ship with elephants. jj-^t only elephants, but also horses ^av ■!, 1680. — A ship with 16 elephants. j. jf a 1 -r t^t j_ Aiirilai, ,68i.-A ship with 13 elephante. were exported from Acheen. InNotes Feb. 21, 1682.— A ship with 15 elephants, and Extracts from the Government Feb. 22, 1682 —A ship with 15 elephants. Records in Fort St. George (167O-' Feb. 22, 1682.— A ship with II elephants. ,£CT^ T^f ii ■r. r. «».».,». „ «„„v,„ April 20, 1682.-A ship with 6 elephants. "°°l). P*- "• P- ?. among a number April 22, 1682.— A ship with 4 elephants, of horses bought at 1 ort St. George Marchi684.— Twoshipswith46elephants. in 1679 occurs "one Atehein " at April 1684. -A ship with 12 elephants. 20 pagodas, but "one old Turky " April 1684.— A ship with 20 elephants. .. „ j mt 1 ■ ^ r cost 40 pagodas. The king of But according to Gemelli Careri Acheen used to be described in (Giro del Mondo, t. iii. pp. 358-359, official documents as " a king upon and Churchill's Voyages, vol. iv. p. whom God has bestowed . . . many 284), Tenasserim was a great mart thousand horses for war; the choicest for elephants at the end of the stone-horses of Arabia, Turky, Catti, seventeenth century. He went from and Balacki." Beschr. der Ost-Ind. Goa to Malacca in 1695. He says, Kusten Malabar und Coromandel, "All the country of Malacca, .Cam- &c., P. Baldseus, Amsterdam, 1672, baya, Siam, Ciampii,^ Cocincinna, p. 23. INTRODUCTION. 21 So recently as 1835 a considerable trade in sappan-wood was carried on by native boats between Mergui and Dacca ; but in an official return of the exports from Mergui for 1883-84, no mention is made of this wood. Mcolo di Conti's visit to Mergui took place between 1425 and 1430. The next mention of Tenasserim occurs in the travels of Abdur-razzak,^ known as the Samarkandi, from his long residence in that city, but a native of Herat, born in 141 3, and who was selected by Shah Eok, in 1442, to proceed on an important mission to the king or Eaja of Vijayanagar. In his description of the seaport of Ormuz, at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, Tendseri (Tenasserim) is mentioned by name as one of the countries, among many, the in- habitants of which were to be seen at that once famous entrepot of commerce. In 1497, Vasco da Gama's great exploit had been accom- plished. He had rounded the Cape of Good Hope, an event which, in its far-reaching consequences, was destined to revolutionise the political, commercial, and social history of every Asiatic nation. After its accomplishment, the seas washing the shores of the coast of Asia and of its islands became the highway of fleets of merchantmen armed for defence, and not unfrequently for offence, all eagerly press- in" forward in search of the wealth of the Orient, and in quest of suitable localities in which to dispose of their coods and to serve as centres of trade. Vasco da Gama's voyages brought back some information about Tenasserim, and, -according to a contemporaneous manuscript preserved in the Public Library at Oporto,^ " Tena(jar was peopled by Christians, and the king was also a Christian ; " and it continues, " In this land is much brassyll, which makes a fine vermilion, as good as the grain, and it costs here three cruzados a bahar, whilst in Quayro (Cairo) it costs sixty ; ^ Notices et Extniifcs des MSS. da Boa Esperanca fez Dom Vasco de la Biblioth. du «-oi, &o. Paris, Da Gama, em 1497. Porto, 1838. 1843, p. 429. (Segundo um Manuscripto ooetaneo ■ ^ Roterio Da Viagem Que em existante ne Bibliotheca Publioa Descobrimento da India Pelb Cabo Portuense, &c.)i p. no. 23 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. also there is here aloes- wood, but not much." ^ It is highly improbable that Tenasserim was so Christian as to entitle it to be described as "peopled by Christians," but it is possible that the Christianity then existing on the coast of Coromandel may, to a certain extent, have made its influence felt at Mergui in those early times, when the traffic between the two coasts was at its height. It may, however, have been that the Portuguese, recognising a simi- larity between the Buddhist ritual and that of the Eomish Church, concluded that the inhabitants were Christians. Eagle-wood, or wood-aloes, at the present time is ob- tained by the Malay and Chinese merchants at Mergui from the islands of the Archipelago, where it is collected by the Selungs,^ who barter it for their pressing wants, chiefly rice, salt, and cloth. The Portuguese Government, in 1 501, in consequence of the chance discovery of Brazil by Cabral in the previous year, dispatched from Lisbon an expedition to discover a western passage to the Spice Islands, variously known as Melcha, Malacca, Malaccha.^ The Plorentine, Amerigo Vespucci, regarding whose veracity very different opinions have been held by those who have investigated his claims to have made four voyages of discovery, entered the ser- vice of Dom Manuel of Portugal, and took part in this new expedition to the " Land of Parrots " (Brazil), and probably accompanied it in some subordinate capacity. It sailed in ' Yule-Barnell Glossary, pp. 695, honeyaiidwax,andfortheiiestof the 696. bee, Trigona IcBviceps. They belong ^ The Selungs are a timid people to the Malay race, but differ from inhabiting the Archipelago. They the typical Malay ; and Dr. Eost iu- are sea-gypsies, living in their boats forms me that a vocabulary of tha during the north-east monsoon, and language shows that it is a distinct in little huts perched on stakes in Malayan language, and not a dialect, the sandy bays, during the south- General Horace A. Browne also in- west monsoon. Each family possesses forms me that it has not been per- a boat, and generally more than one ceptibly influenced by contact with dog for hunting the wild pig. While the Burmese-speaking population of not engaged collecting the products the adjoining coast, of the sea, and preparing them for the ^ Narrative and Critical History Chinese traderswho visit the islands, of America. 2 vols. London, 1886. the Selungs devote their time to By Justin Winsor. Vol. ii. p. 150. searching the forests in quest of INTRODUCTION. 23 the first instance to the Cape de Verde Islands, and while there it met with Cabral's vessels on their return voyage from the coast of Malabar. The information Vespucci col- lected from them, while at Cape de Verde Islands, he com- municated to Lorenzo di Pier Trancisco dei Medici in a letter dated the Sth June, 1501.^ In this letter he men- tions some places with which the Portuguese traded, and among them Tanaser. In the discovery of the way to India round the Cape of Good Hope, the Venetian Eepublic saw a distinct danger to its maritime supremacy ; and in order that it might know what was being done by the Portuguese in their voyages to the East, and benefit by their experience, Leonarda Da Ca' Masser^ was sent to Lisbon for two years, where he lived at the peril of his life, to observe and accurately record what might be of use to the Eepublic. His account begins with Vasco da Gama's voyage round the Cape, in 1497, the ninth and last voyage enumerated being that of Tristan de Acunha, who left Portugal in 1 506. Among the places of trade in the East enumerated under his account of the ninth voyage was Tenasserim. He says,^ " At Tenazar grows all the verzi (brazil), and it costs I J ducats the baar, equal to four kantars. This place, though on the coast, is on the mainland. The king is a Gentile ; and thence come pepper, cinnamon, cloves, mace, nutmeg, galanga, camphor that is eaten, and camphor that is not eaten. . . . This is indeed the first mart for spices in India."* Towards the end of 1502, Ludovico de Varthema, a native of Bologna, set out on his travels to the East. After 1 In the Storia di Milione, pre- Masser alia Serenissima Republioa facing the II Milione di Marco Polo di Venezia sopra il Oommeroio dei by Conte Geo. Batt. Baldelli Boni. Portoghesi nell' India dopo la sco- 2 vols. Firenze, 1827, p. Ivii., foot- perta del Capo di Buona Speranza." note : Amerigo Vespucci, son oar- Archivo Storioo Italiano, Append., aotfere, ses Merits (....) sa vie et tomo ii. Krenze, 1845, pp. 7-51. ses navigations, &c.. par F. A. de * Ibid., p. 28. Varnhagen, Lima, 1865, p. 78. * Yule's Glossary, p. 696. ^ Kelazione di Leonardo da Oa' 24 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. an absence of nearly eight years he returned to Italy, and published his itinerary at Eome.^ In it he professed to have visited Tenasserim, which he describes as " Tarnas- sari,^ situated near to the sea ; " and " it is a level place and well watered, and has a good port, that is a river on the side towards the north." Tenasserim, as already said, lies about thirty-seven miles'inland from Mergui, i.e., from the sea ; and Mason ^ in his " Burma " describes its position as folloVrs: — "Forty miles through a labyrinth of thickly wooded islets, that seem fresh from the womb of unculti- vated nature, the voyageur comes suddenly at the head of the delta to a crescent of precipitous mountains, skirted by the river at its base, and on the crest of a low ridge of hills on the opposite shore, which lies across the bend like an arrow on the bow, are seen the dilapidated battlements of the old city of Tenasserim." Captain R. Lloyd, writing in 1838,* says that at Zediwon, about eleven miles east from Mergui,^ " the features of the country begin to change from a low mangrove land to one of moderate elevation," but beyond this, in the direction of Tenasserim, "the country becomes mountainous to the very edge of the river," but, here and there, there are spots of level ground occupied by small villages. He describes the town as situated where the river divides into two branches, the Great and Little Tenasserim, opposite to the point of con- fluence and on the left bank of the latter." And in the " Gazetteer of Burma " ^ it is said to stand on a rock, " and upon the sides and lower slopes of an irregular hill about 200 feet high, the surrounding country being a mass of small hills covered with dense forest." One of these so- ^ Itinerario de Ludouioo Var- India, folio Ixvi-lxx. thema Bolognese nello Egypto, nella ^ i^g/.^ ^^f. ^ p_ ^_ Surria, nella Arabia deserta & felioe, ^ Journ. As, Soc, vol. vii. pt. ii. nella Persia, nella India, & nella (1838), p. 1028. Ethopia. La fede, el riuere, & cos- » Preliminary Chart of the Eron- tumi de tutte le prefate Prouinoie tier Series. Great Trigonometrical con Gratia & Priuilegio infra notato. , Survey of India, Season 1877-78 4to. Stampato in Koma, m.d.x. and 1879-S2. 2 Varthema, Libro tertio della " Vol ii. p. 707. INTRODUCTION. 23 called hills, however, is a mountain 2414 feet high.^ Var- thema's description of the position of Tarnassari, therefore, in no way agrees with the site of the old city. According to him, Tarnassari had a good port, that is a river on the side towards the north, the town heing situated near to the sea, and on the left bank of the stream, whereas the present Tenasserim is thirty-seven miles from the sea, and the river flows from the north. If we suppose that he used the term Tarnassari in the same sense in which Ger- vaise ^ says it has been occasionally used, and as Nicolo di Conti used it, and meant the seaport Mergui, his descrip- tion of the city as a level place, with a river on its side towards the north, is equally inapplicable. Mergui is built on and around a small hill 112 feet high, and is situated on the right bank of one of the mouths of the Tenasserim river, and faces the sea. The surrounding country, moreover, is undulating and hilly, and an island about 300 to 400 feet high faces the town, about half-a- mile distant from it, and forms the western side of the harbour of Mergui; and about five miles in a north- easterly direction, with intervening hilly ground, is the wooded eminence of Sandawut, 719 feet high, and eight miles from the town to the east is Natlaingtaung, 887 feet in height, while still farther on, sixteen miles, is the Minthantaung, 1053 feet high.^ I dwell on these facts as in Dr. Badger's edition of Varthema's work * these discre- pancies between Varthema's Tarnassari and the situations of Tenasserim and Mergui are not referred to, doubtless because Dr. Badger had no practical knowledge of the locality. However, as I have visited Mergui, and have gone up the Tenasserim river for some distance, although 1 In the Preliminary Oliart of the = Histoire Naturelle et Politique G. T. S. Eastern Series, 1879-82, du Royaume de Siam. Paris, 1688, the bearings of this peak (Tenas- pp. 14-15- serim Peak, No. 2) from Mergui are ? Preliminary Chart, 6. T. S. of lat. 12° 2' 58" and long. 99°" I' 6", India, Season 1879-82. , which is practically the position as- * Travels of Varthema, Hak. Soc. signed to the village of Tenasserim by 1863. McCarthy in his map of Siam. 26 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. not as far as the town of that name, I am in a position to state that Varthema's description of Tarnassari is in no way applicable to Mergui, and from the evidence I have adduced of travellers who have visited Tenasserim town, it is apparent that it does not apply to it. But apart from these considerations, there are many other details in his description of Tenasserim which conclusively prove that Varthema never visited the place, and that, as Colonel Yule has said, " this adventurer's account of Tenasserim is an imposture." i Duarte Fernandez, who was sent in 15 ii, from Malacca by Alfonso d' Albuquerque as an ambassador to the king of Siam, sailed direct to the city of Hudid? and accord- ing to Galvano,^ returned accompanied by a Siamese am- bassador, and "passed ouer land towards the west unto the citie of Tanagerim, standing upon the sea on the other side in 12 degrees, where they imbarked themselues in two ships, and sailed along the coast unto the citie of Malacca." This was, in all likelihood, the first occasion on which the route from Tenasserim to Ayuthia was traversed by a European. Antonio de Miranda de Azevedo, the second envoy sent by D'Albuquerque to Ayuthia, had as his companion Manuel Frageso, who went to report to D'Albuquerque on all matters, " merchandise, dresses, and customs of the land, and of the latitudes of the harbours." They pro- ceeded in the first instance by sea to Taranque, and thence by land with horses and draught-oxen to the city of Siao, and on their return they reported that the peninsula was very narrow " on that side where the Chinese make their navigation," * and that from thence it was only ten days' journey to the coast of Tenasserim, Trang, and Tavoy. ' "5^"!® ■ BurneU Glossary, p. of D'Albuquerque, Hak. Soc, 1880, °9D- vol. iii. pp. 152-155. Oorrea, "Lendas da India,"- in 3 Discoveries of the World, Hak- the Coll. de Monumentos Ineditos, t. luyt Soo., 1862, p. 112. il pt. i Lisboa, i86o, pp. 262-263. « Commentarios, p. 399. Com- Commentarios do Grande Afonso mentaries of D'Albuquerque, Hak. d'Alboquerque, 396. Commentaries Soc, vol iii pp. 156-159. INTRODUCTION. 27 ' Crawford 1 enumerates three routes across the moun- tains of the Malayan peninsula. The first, from Quedda to Singora or Songkla; the second, from Trang to Ligor or Lakon ; and the third, from Pun-pin, opposite to Junk-Ceylon or Salang, to Xaija.^ The Taranque to which the Portuguese ambassador proceeded was the Trang of this second route, situated on the coast between the islands of Lantar and Telibon.^ There was also a fourth route from Quedda to Patani, in use by the representatives of the Dutch East India Company at the latter place, at the beginning of the seventeenth century. The routes across the peninsula at Tenasserim are not mentioned by Crawford. With regard to the statement, " on that side where the Chinese make their navigation," Groevenevldt * relates that there is an account in the history of the Liang dynasty (S02-556) of a place called Tun-sun, on the western side of the narrowest part of the Malay peninsula, that Was the terminus of a trade route across it from the east, and along which the commerce of India and China was carried in those days, to escape the journey round the peninsula. According to this Chinese account, the town was famous for a wine made from a tree. This was doubtless the liquor made from Nipa fruciicans, for which Tenasserim and Mergui were famous, and which Teixeira ^ said exceeded all other in goodness. ^ Embassy to Siam, vol. ii. p. 1 54. proceed to Ligor itself, but received ^ In a footnote to Harris's Jour- the envoys of the chief of Ligor at ney from Ligor to Bangkok, it is Trang. The chief village at that mentioned that " much trade and time was Khoan Tani, and from it intercourse pass through the Bandon Ligor could be reached in seven Kiver, and thence by means of ele- stages. Tigers abounded on the phants between Ch'haiya and Phoon- route. Journ. As . Soc. Beng., vol. ga, a town situated on the Bay of vii. pt. ii., 1838, p. 588. Bengal, on the continent to the ^ Verhandl. van het Bataviaasch north of Junk-Ceylon ; the tin and Genootschap van Kunsten en We- other produce of which islands, tensohappen, i877,Deel.xxxix.p.ii9. whenever required, are conveyed by * Kelaoiones P. P. T. de los Eeyes this route to Bankok " (p. 8). de Persia, de los Eeyes de Harmuz, ^ Captain James Low, who went y de un Viage dende la India Ori- in 1824 on a political mission to the ental hasta Italia por terra. Ea Eaja of Ligor in Siam, did not Amberes, 1610, t. i. p. 17. 28 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Harris ^ mentions that the Siamese call the portion of the main mountain range of the peninsula to the east of Mergui, Samroiyot, or the " three {sam) hundred (roi) peaks {jot)," a name which appears in Pallegoix's map as Samroijbt? At Kiu, where these mountains approach the sea, there are a number of rocky islands, mentioned by Ksempfer as Samajotn, and at this point of the coast, which reminded him of Sweden, a pass crosses the mountains to Tenasserim, and apparently at a low alti- tude.^ At the base of these mountains, on the Gulf of Siam, there is a village also called Samroijbt, where a vessel, in which Harris was, stopped to take in water. To this village, or to Kiu, all junks bound to China or Cochin-Ghina steer, in order to take in good water before they strike due east across the Gulf of Siam. As the distance from Bangkok to Kiu is only about 140 miles, and as the junks were not in a condition to proceed on their voyages to the east, until they had taken in w-ater from the mountain-streams of Samroijbt, they may be said to have begun their navigation from that point. Another of D'Albuquerque's envoys, Euy Nunez Da Cunha, who had been sent on an embassy to Pegu, sailed from Malacca in a junk, and among one of the cities at which the vessel called was Tenasserim.* A Florentine, Giovanni di Niccola, called Da Empoli, a worthy and famous merchant and a man of many virtues, visited the Straits of Malacca, in 15 11, and, while ashore at Pedir, whither he had been sent by Alfonso D'Albu- querque, at the danger of his life, he learned from the in- habitants that ships of Tanazzar traded with that port ; and again in 1514, that Tanazzari and Sarnau^ (Ayuthia) ' l?P-f\ , , -rr ., . ■ ' ^°"- °f Voyages and Travels In a footnote to Hams s journey, (Thomas Osborne). London, 174c by the unknown editor, these moun- vol. ii. p. 378. Galvano's Dis- tams are said to be the Pensels of coveries of the World Hak Soo Portuguese maps. 1862, p. 114 3 In M'Carthy's map, a pass 750 = " Lettera di Giovanni da Em- feet^ high IS indicated at the above poll a Leonardo suo Padre intomo locality. al Viaggio da lui fatto » Malacca, INTRODUCTION. 29 produced all the finest benzoin, storax, and lac better than that of Martaman ^ (Martaban). In 15 16 Duarte Coelho ^ was sent to Ayuthia with letters and presents from the governor of Malacca to the king of Siam, in the hope that, by a new alliance with Siam, Malacca might be repeopled, and the trading profits of the Mohammedans ruined. He was well received at Ayuthia, and after the letter and presents had been presented, the alliance that had been concluded with D'Albuquerquo some years before was renewed ; and as evidence of this, Coelho, with the sanction of the king, erected a wooden crucifix in a prominent place in the city, with the arms of Portugal carved, or painted on it. The next traveller to mention Tenasserim, among the more prominent describers of the place, was Duarte Bar- bosa,^ a cousin of Magellan's. He spent some years at the beginning of the sixteenth century in Eastern seas. He mentions that in his time ships of the enterpris- ing merchants of Tenasserim were to be seen at Cape Guardafui and at Eavel, and that the merchants of Bengal sent large junks to that port. He says, "from the kingdom of Peigu as far as a city which has a seaport, and is named Tanasery, there are a hundred leagues. In this city there are many Moorish and Gentile mer- chants, who deal in all sorts of goods, and own ships with which they navigate to Bengal, Malaca, and other parts. In the inland parts of this kingdom there grows much good benjuy, which is a resin of trees which the Moors call luban javi,* and it is of two kinds, that is to say, one which does not smell except in the fire, and the e frammenti di Altere Letters del Ind. Orient, et Occid., par P. J. P. Medesimo aggiuntavi La Vita di esso Maffei. Paris, 1665, p. 273. Giovanni soritta Da Girolamo da ^ Kamusio, Primo Vol. 1550, p. Empolisuozio." Arch. Storico. Ital. 317. Livro Duarte Barbosa, No. Append, t. iii. Tirenze, 1846, p. vii. col. de Noticias, &c. t. 11. gQ_ Description of the Coasts of East i Jbid., p. 54. Africa and Malabar, by Duarte Bar- ' DeBarros, Decad. iii., Liv. ii., bosa, Hak. Sec, 1866, p. 188. folio 35-36. Hist. Ind. Orient. * Luban-javi, i.e., Java Frankin- Arthus., 1608, p. 253. Hist, des cense, Yule-BurneU Glossary, p. 6^.* 30 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. other of much scent, of which the genuine storax is made in the Levant, before extracting from it the oil, which in the Levant is extracted from it. And many ships of Moors and from other parts congregate at this port of Tanasary, and bring them copper, quicksilver, vermilion, scarlet cloth, silks, coloured velvets from Mekkah, saffron, coral wrought and in strings,^ rose-water from Mekkah in little bottles of tinned copper, and it is sold by weight with the bottle ; opium, Cambay stuffs, and all these goods fetch a high price at this place." He also records that the town of Eavel in Surat traded with Tenasserim in all sorts of spices, drugs, silks, musk, benzoin, and porcelain. In the " Sommario de Eegni, Citta et Popoli Orientale," it is stated by Eamusio ^ that the Siamese on the Tena- 9arim side traded with Pacem, Pedir, Quedda, Pegu, Bengal, and Gujarat. The province was governed by a viceroy, who was perpetual captain or hereditary governor, lord of many peoples, and of a country abounding in all kinds of provisions, a reputation which Mergui long enjoyed, and still has. Faria y Sousa ^ relates that when Don Stefano da Gama, son of Vasco da Gama, was governor of Goa, a fleet of three Portuguese ships, manned by eighty men, weijt in search of an island of gold supposed to exist on the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal, a fable which, so far as Euro- pean nations were concerned, may have arisen from Nicolo di Conti's statement that Andamania (the Andaman Islands) meant the Island of Gold.* Sailing to the fabulous island, the report regarding which it is quite possible they may have used as a blind to the ^ This was doubtless red coral, another Antipathes found in the which is much prized in the East ; Red Sea is used for Mahommedan but a coral of the genus Antipathes, rosaries. yielding the black coral, abounds ^ Eamusio, primo vol., 1550,0 361 in the Mergui Archipelago, and is 3 The Portuguese Asia, 3 vols.' exported from Mergui to Rangoon, 1695. V°L "• P- 29. ' &c., where it is used to make Bud- * This myth expired very slowly, *lhist rosaries, in the same way that and existed down to the end of the- INTRODUCTION. 31 real object of their expedition, the crews of the three ships were bo sooner in Tenasserim waters, which until recent years had long been a favourite resort of pirates, owing to the hiding-places afforded by the numerous islands, threw off the mask and became a scourge to the commerce of the entire coast, finding the gold of which they were in quest in the holds of the vessels they plundered, and in the pockets of the crews they fre- quently massacred. These were doubtless the pirates of whom Pinto heard, in January, 1545, on his way to Martaban, and who had then four well-rigged foists with which they had so effectually stopped all trade, that the custom-houses at Tenasserim, Mergui, and other ports, became so impoverished that representations were made to the king of Siam to put a stop to the intolerable mischief.^ In a Turkish work on navigation in the Indian Seas, written in Arabic by Sidi-ali Kapudan (captain of the fleet of Sultan Sulaiman, the legislator of the Eed Sea), who was cast ashore in India in a severe storm. Tanas- sari is frequently mentioned in descriptions of the mon- soons.2 Cesare dei Fedrici,^ the Venetian traveller, to whom the seventeenth century. Dr. Oareri's melli Careri says he had been told on (Giro del Monde, t. iii. p. zgo) notice high authority, had led the Dutch to of it is among the last, but he gives appropriate the Nicobars towards the English the credit of having the end of the seventeenth cen- originated it, but when, he does not tury. say. The story related by him was ^ Pinto, op. cit., fol. 173-174. that an English ship having been ^ Journ. As. Soo. Bengal, vol. iii. driven to take shelter from a storm, (1834), p. 545, vol. v. (1836), p. 441, not in the Andamans, but in the vol. viii. pt. ii. (1839), P- ^23 ; Nicobars, to the south of them, a translated by Joseph von Hammer, native, who had taken some fresh Baron Purgestall. See also Gdogra- water on board the ship, spilt some phie d'Abulfdda, par MM. Rei- on the anchor, the iron of which was naud et Stanislas Guyard, z tomes, turned into gold wherever the water Paris, 1848-83, p. olxvi.; also Journ. had touched it. The crew, after they China Branch Royal As. Soc, vol. had learned from the -native that the xx. p. 33. water came from a well in the island, ' Viaggio di M. Oesare de i Eed- killed him ! This report of the gold- rioi nell' India Orientale, et oltra producing quality of the water, Ge- I'lndia : Nelqualesi contengono cose 32 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. kingdom of Siam and its capital were known as Sion, mentions that on one of his voyages between Malacca and Pegu (1568), he was told by the pilot of the vessel that they were not far from a city called Tenasari, in the king- dom of Pegu, and Fedrici says that at the time they were sailing among many islands and uninhabited rocks. The city or town, he states, was known to some of his Portuguese fellow-travellers, and he goes on to say, "This citie of right belongeth to the kingdom of Sion, which is situate on a great river's side, which commeth out of the kingdom of Sion, and where this river runneth into the sea there is a village called Mergi, in whose harbour every yeere there lode some ships with verzina, nipa, and beniamin, a few cloves, nutmegs, and maces, which come from the coast of Sion, but the greatest merchandise there is verzin and nypa, which is an excellent wine." Twenty-seven men from the vessel he was in, along with himself, left in a boat to visit Mergui; but they lost their way, and after pulling along the coast for eight days, among, countries uninhabited and desert islands, during which they subsisted on a little rice which one of the men had taken with him and on 144 turtle-eggs, they met, on the ninth day, with some fishermen in the Gulf of Tavoy.i They safely reached the town of that name, where they expected to find their ship, but it had not arrived. They went in search of it, and found that it had encoun- tered opposing winds, and that the people they had left on board had been in serious straits for want of water diletteuoli de i riti et de i costumi the 25 March 1588, out of ItaKan, de quel paesi, Bt insieme si desoriue- by T. H. London, 1588. HakluvTs no le spetiarie droghe, gioie, e Voyages, vol. ii. 1599) RaSo perle, che d' essi si cauano. Con vol.iii 1606 &c •"■amusio, alouniauertimentivtUissimiaquelli, i Tavoy, Tavky, or Tavai is a netia J^/^Th7v'"™ '"'t'^'- ^°'^^ "^^^ having' a wide di^tribu' netia 1587. The Voyage and Trau- tion in Polynesia, as islands of this aile of .M. Caesar Trederick, Mer- name occur in New 7pnl,„H ! 1 chantof Venice, into theEastlndies, the Haw^Uan grfup ! R LogTn the Indies and beyond the Indies. Journ. Ind. ^ch-.'^io., vol if p . . . Written at sea in the Hercules 481, footnote. ^' 01 JjondoD, comming from Turkie . 'INTRODUCTION. 33 and food, as Fedrici and his party had carried off the only boat. In the " Lusiads " of Camoens, written between i S 53-69, Tenasserim is mentioned as part of Siam.^ Linschoten,^ who resided at Goa from September 1583 until the end of 1 588, in his account of the lands of Arakan, Pegu, and Siam, describes the town of Martaban as the beginning of Siam. He compares the conformation of the Malay peninsula to an arm, which in the broadest place is from the one coast unto the other fifty miles, and in some places ten miles, " that is, where the towne of Tanas- sarien lyeth." He then touches on its political history, and gives a more detailed account of the position of Tenas- serim as follows : — " From Martavan ^ coasting the shore southwardes (are) 60. myles, and then 30. myles Southeast and by East: Betweene two Islandes the coast runneth inwards like a bow, wherein lyeth the town of Tanassarien, under 11. degrees from this Towne as (I) said before, are but 10. miles over by lande to the other side of the Coast : . . . The Portingalles have great traffique unto this towne of Tanassarien, and thether commeth great (store of) mer^andise out of Pegu and Sian, for it is like a staple. Likewise there is much Wine brought thether, which is made of Cocus or Indian Nuttes,* and is called Nype de Tanassaria, that is Aqua-composita of Tanassaria, for that it is distilled water that proceedeth from the Indian nuts. and of it selfe hath the strength and vertue that our Aqua- composita hath, and is there called Nype : Although they still Nype in divers places of India, specially in Goa, yet is this of Tanassaria more esteemed, and it is better, which is carried into all places (of India) in great pottes of Mar- tavan:^ The women of India are very desirous thereof, ^ Oa Lusiadas. Englished by ' Ibid., p. 103. Burton (1880), vol. ii. p. 404, canto * Not the cocoa-nut, but Nipa X. stanza 125. fructicans, as is well-known. ' The Voyage of John Huyghen ^ Yule says (Yule-Burnell Glos- van Linschoten to the East Indies, sary, p. 428), "This name was given 2 vols. Hak. Soc, 1885, vol. i. p. loi. to vessels of a peculiar pottery, of C 34 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. althoTigh for modesties sake before men they will not drinke^it, but secretly (by themselves) they doe make good cheare (and gossoppe) therewith. Tanassaria is a kingdom of it selfe, and in time past under the subiection of Sian." According to Linschoten, the eastern sea-board of the Bay of Bengal had lying along it " Aracan, Pegu, and Sian " and the inhabitants are described as " in forme, manner, and visage, much like those of China, onely one difference they have, (which is) that they are somewhat whiter than the Bengalon, and somewhat browner then the men of China;" and he adds, "The pictures of the Peguan is to be s^ene by the figures of the Indians, among Saint Thomas Christians." In his description of the coast of Coromandel and the kingdom of Narsingha he says that " from these coastes (Coromandel, &c.) they use great trafique into Bengala, Pegu, Sian, and Malacca, that is to say, to the opposite coast of the bay." In reading the description of Linschoten, one is aston- ished at the accuracy of his information, and at the clear conception he had formed of the general characteristics of countries he had never visited. He must have very care- fully sifted the various accounts accessible to him, and exercised a painstaking selection in those communicated to him by the travellers, native and Portuguese, he met at Goa. He speaks of deriving his information not only " by the daily trafficking of the Portingalles out of India,' but also from the Peguans themselves, "whereof many dwell in India, some of them being Christians." From the way in which Linschoten speaks of the narrowness of the peninsula at Tenasserim, in connection with the trade of Siam, and his statement that great store of merchandise reached Tenasserim from Siam, it would appear that the route across the peninsula was, in his time, very large size, and glazed, which from Martaban. They were some- were famous all over the East for times called Pegu jars." many centuries, and were imported INTRODUCTION. 35 one of considerable importance in the commerce of the East. Shortly after Linschoten arrived at Goa (1584), the English merchants John Newbury and Ealph Pitch, with their two companions, were conducted into that factory as prisoners of the Portuguese. Ealph Pitch did not visit Tenasserim, but, in 1587, he sailed from Pegu to Malacca, and mentions that he passed by many parts of Pegu . . . and the islands of Tenaseri.^ Abul Pazl 'Allami, in discussing the wages of marines, among other matters relating to the Admiralty of Akbar, mentions incidentally that Nakhudas at DanahsaH (Tenas- serim) got half as much again as they received at Cambay ; and he has still a further reference to it, as he mentions it along with Acheen as one of the principal sources of ' U'd, or the so-called wood-aloes.^ In the narrative of the first voyage of Sir James Lancaster, by Edmund Barker, his lieutenant, it is recorded that when the ships were lying at Ceylon, in December, 1592, they were doing so to await the arrival of some fleets of merchantmen among which were Portuguese ships from Tenasserim, a locality described as " a great bale to the southward of Martabam, in the kingdom of Siam." These ships of Tenasserim are stated to have carried, among other commodities, rice and nipa wine to serve the carraks^ that usually departed from Cochin for Portugal by the middle of January.* ^ Hakluyt Collection of Voyages, lungs asserted produced wood-aloes, vol. ii., 1599, p. 262. Purohas his I submitted them to my friend Dr. Pilgrims, vol. ii., 1625, pp. 1730- George King, Superintendent of the 1744. Pinkerton's Voyages, vol. Royal Botanic Gardens, Calcutta, ix. (1811), p. 422. who pronounced them to be Aquil- ^ Ain-i-Akbari, vol. i. p. 281. laria agaUocha, Roxburghe. The Por the most recent information wood sold in the Mergui bazaar is bearing onthespeoiesoftreesyielding obtained from the Archipelago. the substance called wood-aloes, see ' A carrack, " a kind of vessel of Dr. Geo. Watt's Diet, of the Econo- burden from the Middle Ages down mic Products of India, vol. i. (1885) to the end of the seventeenth cen- pp. 279-281. tury." Yule-Burnell Glossary, p. I brought back with me, from the 126. MerguiArchipelago, some herbarium * The first Voyage made to East specimens of the tree which the Se- India by Master James Lancasfxr, 36 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Master John Davis/ of Arctic fame, and who " thereby a mighty sea immortalised his name," set out from Middel- burg, in the Netherlands, on the 15th March, 1598, and returned thither in 1600. In his narrative and journal of his voyage he records that on the i8th October 1599,^ " wee shaped our course for the Citie of Tanasserin, for it is a place of great trade ; the five and twentieth we anchored among the Islands in the bay. . . . Being here we were very much crossed with bad winds, so that wee could not recover the Citie, f oi; it standeth twentie leagues within the Bay." By the end of the sixteenth century, Siam (Ayuthia) and Tenasserim had become known in England to mer- chants generally, as we find them mentioned in Foulke Grevil's report ^ on the memorial submitted to Queen Elizabeth, in 1600, stating the reasons why English mer- chants might trade with the East Indies, especially to such rich kingdoms and dominions as were not subject to the king of Spain and Portugal. In the beginning of the seventeenth century, the English were well known in the seas of the Malayan peninsula,* and were making their power felt among the native states. Their counsel was sought by some: as an illustration of this may be cited the action of the Sultan of Acheen in consulting Sir Thomas Lancaster, while he was at that port, in 1602, regarding an embassy that had arrived from now Knight, for the Merchants of ing date 1652, and professing to be London, Anno 1600, with foure tall a narrative of the settlements sus- Shippes, (to wit), the Dragon, the tained by the Dutch, it is said that Hector, the Ascension, and Susan, the latter, by the aid of Captain and a Victualler called the Ouest. Davis, in 1595 discovered Sumatra Purchas his Pilgrims, vol. i., 1625, and Java, and settled a factory at lib. iii. pp. 147-164, Voyages of Bantam ; and the English did so Sir James Lancaster, Kt., to the at the same time, the Dutch on East Indies, Hak, Soc, Clements one side and the English on the B. Markham, 1877, pp. 15-16. other. ^ The Voyages and Works of John " Davis' Voyages, &c., p. 154. Davis the Navigator, edited by Cap- ^ Calendar of State Papers, Colo- tain A, H. Markham, Hak, Soc, nial East Indies, 1513-1616 (1862), 1878. p. 105. In a document preserved in the * Calendar of State Papers, C. Public Record Office, London, bear- E. I., par, 314, 328, &o. INTRODUCTION'. 37 the king of Siam.^ Others, to whom their courage had become known, occasionally appealed to them for assistance when pressed by their enemies the Portuguese, whose power had already begun to wane. In 1604, the state of Johore, which has ever cultivated friendly relations with- this country, was in great difficulties, as the capital was be- sieged by the governor or captain of Malacca, Dom Andr4 Furtado de Mendoqa.^ The Sultan appealed for assistance to the English, who dispatched two ships, which " relieved it and sent Purtado's armament to the devil; so that in all these parts they would," it is said, have given the English " their property and their very souls, if they could." 3 The Jesuits, on the other hand, were making every effort in their power to win souls from the devil, and were not permitting any ground to remain fallow, if it offered the slightest prospect of a harvest to their faith. Being thus always on the outlook for new pastures, Siam was not forgotten; and, in 1606, the first Portuguese Jesuit Father, Balthazar de Sequeira, visited the country. He was selected to proceed to Siam, as he was a man of virtue and prudence, well advanced in years, and with experience gained in Pegu, whither he had been sent in the end of the sixteenth century by Nicholas Pimenta, visitor of the Jesuits in India. He went, as a pioneer, to survey the field and to find out all that might be of use to the Order, the manners and customs of the inhabitants, and what likelihood there was of their receiving the Word of Ood. He set out on this mission from St. Thomas, in the year 1606, and proceeded by sea to Tenasserim. He then journeyed overland to the capital, " partly by goodly Eivers, partly over cragged and rough Hills and Porrests, stored 1 FirstVoyage made to East India Soc, June (1885), p. 129. byMaster James Lancaster, Purchas, Dom Andri^ I'urtado de Mendosa vol. i., 1625. The Voyages of Sir was appointed captain of Malacca James Lancaster, Kt., Hak. Soc, about 1603. 1877, p. 87. ^ Calendar State Papers, C. E. L, " Journ. Straits Branch Koy. As. 338. 38 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. with Ehinocerots, Elephants, and Tigers (one of which tare in pieces one of the company before his eyes), unto Odia."i la the following year (1607), an embassy was sent from the king of Siam to the Portuguese viceroy at Goa, to lodge a complaint against some Portuguese resident in Pegu. The three ambassadors did not set sail from Ayuthia, but first crossed the peninsula to Tenasserim,^ where they embarked, as had been done by the Portuguese envoy nearly a century before. In the same year the Siamese had resolved to send an embassy to the Dutch, and, in a letter written at Bantam by Gabriel Towerson, on the 1 6th December of that year, it is stated that sixteen men of Siam had arrived there on an embassy to the king of Holland, but it is added that " the admiral (Matelief) gave them very little countenance, being angry with the merchant that brought theifi ; doubtful whether he will take them to Holland or send them back again." * "We learii, however, elsewhere * that Admiral Matelief did receive the ambassadors, and that they went to Hol- land with him in his ship L'Orange, which left Bantam oa the 28th January, 1608, and arrived at its destina- tion on the 2nd September of that year. On the nth of the same month, the ambassadors were received in audi- ence at the Hague, when they presented a number of valuable gifts to Prince Maurice.* The Dutchman, Captain John Saris, to whom the East India Company intrusted the settlement (161 3) of their first factory in Japan, resided in Bantam from October 1605, to October 1609. He was familiar with Tenasseriifl, and, in a report ^ written by him, he described it as a port 1 Pierre du Jarrie, Thesaurus ^ jj ^ q jg Renneville, Recueil Rerum Indicarum, 1615, pp. 432- dea Voyages, tome v. (1725), p. 155. 436. Hist, des Choses plus Memor- ^ Calendar State Papers, C. E. I., ables advenves tant ez Indes Orien- 1513-1616, p. 163. tales, &o., Bovrdeaus, (1614), tome * Reo. des Voyages, &c., t. vi. iii. pp. 887-891. Purohas his Pil- (1725), p. 206. grims, vol. ii. (1625), p. 1744 ; ibid., = Rec.desVoyages,&c.,t.vi.p.243. vol. V. (1626), p. 491. 6 Purchas, vol. i. lib. iv. p. 392. INTRODUCTION. 39 of call for the Guzerat junks on their way to Siam (Ayu- thia), the first port they touched at being the Maldive Islands, where, among other productions of the sea, they doubtless obtained cowries. He also mentioned the land journey between Tenasserim and Ayuthia, and that it could be accomplished in twenty days, which, however, is ten days in excess of the time generally required. At Tenasserim, he said, there were always five to six fathoms of water, a statement which proves that by Ten- asserim probably Mergui was meant, for that depth of water is certainly not always to be found at the former place.i Towards the end of the first decade of the seventeenth century, a prince of the Taungu dynasty sat on the throne of Burma. Great success had attended his arms, as he had crushed the power of the Portuguese in Pegu, and rendered Martaban tributary to him by 1614-15. He then con- tinued his conquering course to Tavoy which he reduced to subjection, and, elated with his success, he attempted to gain possession of Tenasserim,^ which his forces under the command of his brother attacked both by land and sea. They were, however, successfully resisted by the Siamese, aided by four galliots, manned by forty Por- tuguese and seventy slaves, commanded by Christopher Eebello, an outlaw from Cochin.^ Faria y Sousa says that the king of Siam, to whom Tenasserim belonged, was so pleased with the conduct of the Portuguese, that he highly honoured them, and gave them permission to build a fort in any part of his kingdom they might 1 Tenasserim river is subject to back may be accomplished in two the influence of the tides, which at tides. Mergui have a rise and fall of '' Phayre, Hist, of Burma, p. 131. eighteen feet. At the village of ' Decada xiii. da Hist, da India. Tenasserim there is a rise and fall composta por Antonio Bocarro. Pub. of only eight feet, but the influence de ord. da CI. de Sc. Moraes, Pol. of the tides is felt so Uttle beyond e Bellas-Lettras da Acad. Real das that point that it is of small ser- Sc. de Lisboa, e sob a dir. de Bod. vice to boat traffic. The distance Jos^ de Lima Pelmer. Pt. 1. p. 185, from Mergui to Tenasserim and 1876. 40 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. choose to select/ — an offer, however, -which they did not accept. William Methold,^ who was entertained as a servant of the East India Company on the 25th September, 161 5, and subsequently appointed principal on the Coromandel Coast after having served some time at Bantam, was ap- parently the first to realise the importance of the trade of Siam, and of the overland route from Mergui to Ayuthia, to merchants on the Coromandel coast. He had himself carried on trade with Tenasserim, and had therefore a practical knowledge of the subject. In 1619, he wrote as follows : " Tanassery lyeth next to Pegu, a small kingdom,, and tributary to Syam, from which place this is but the port, and that only to the inhabitants of this gulf (Bengal), for we find a way with our shipping into the river of Syam." He also mentions that " the merchants of Golconda traf- fiqued with their ships ordinarily with Mocha, to Acheen in Sumatra, to Arakan,* Pegu, and Tannassery, returning the following April, and that the ships generally left in September. To Tannassery they carried red cotton yarne, red, white Beethyles,^ paintings of several sorts, befitting that countries wear, and landing them at Tannassery, carry them from thence to Siam, 14 days journey overland, from whence, by the like conveyance, they bring all sorts of China commodities, as Porcelain, Satins, Damasks, Lan- keens,* Silk, Lignum Aloes, Beniaimin of Cambodia and 1 The Portuguese in Asia, or the sary, p. 68), " Betteela, Beatelle, Hist, of the Disc, and Conq. of India &o., s; The name of a kind of muslin by the Portuguese, &c. 3 vols This seems to be a Sp. and Port, London, 1695. Translated into -word, beatilla or beatillia, ior ' a, yeii,' English by John Stevens. Vol. iii. derived, according to Cobarruvias, P- 197- _ from "certain leatas, v/ho invented ^ Relations of the Kingdom of and used the like." £eata is a re- Golohonda, and other Neighbouring ligieuse." Nations within the Gulf of Bengala ^ This term is a corruption of Arreocan, Pegu, Tannassery, &c., iVanicen, which in the (Yule-Burnell and the English Trade in these Glossary, p. 471) is defined as a cot- Parts, by Master William Methold. ton stuff, originally imported from Purchas, vol. v. (1826), pp. 993- China, and named from the city of 1007. Nanking. 2 Yule says (Yule-Burnell Glos- INTRODUCTION. 41 great store of tin, and a -wood die withal called sappan Wood, the same as we call Brazil." Phillip Baldseus, minister of the word of God in Ceylon, has also put on record some details regarding the trade of Tenasserim during his day, about the middle of the" seventeenth century. He says, " From hence (Puli- cat) to Arracan, Pegu, and Tanassery, you pay eight or ten fer cent, for freight of pepper, sandalwood, stuffs, steel, and iron, and make your returns in gold, rubies • of Ava, gummi-lacca, long white-pepper, lead, &c. Betwixt Tanassery and Occeda (Quedda) towards Malacca, are the harbours of Tanangar (Trang), Sencaza, and Perach (Perak), opposite to Acliem, whither they trade with vast profit, and bring back abundance of tin, a commodity which is in much request with the Moors, wherewith they tin their copper vessels." ^ As an illustration of the high reputation of Tenasserim as a place of trade in the seventeenth century, the Spaniard Dominick Fernandez Navarette (1647-73) records that he was informed at Masulipatam by the captain of the vessel in which he sailed from Malacca, that the voyage having been unprofitable, he intended to make amends for the great expense he had been at by a voyage to Tenasery, or some other place.^ The town was thus so well known in those days, that it began to be described in geographical works ^ of the period as a town of India beyond the Ganges, and one of the chief towns in the kingdom of Siam, and in the mouth of the Gangetic gulf, in the middle, between Siam to the north and Junk-Ceylon to the south. Mandelslo,* in the fourth decade of the seventeenth 1 Beschr. der Ost-Ind. Kunsten, the Ambassadors sent by ]?rederick, &c., p. 154. Churohill's Collection Duke of Holstein. . . . whereto are of Voyages and Travels, vol. iii. added the travels of J. A. de Man- (1704), p. 588. delslo. Begun in the year 1638, and ^ Ibid., vol. i. p. 309. finished in 1640, &o., &c. Written 2 Terrarius' Lexicon Geo. (1670), originally by A. Olearius, Secretary p. 396, ludia sea etiam Odiaa. totheEmbassy. Faithfully rendered * The Voyages and Travels of into English by John Davies of Kid- 42 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. century, mentions Tenasserim and Mergui among the principal places in the kingdom of Siam, and Tenasserim as a town in which the Portuguese carried on a great trade. He describes the king of Siam as engaging in trade, and as having for that purpose his factors stationed at Pegu, Auva (Ava), Jangoma (Xeing-mai), Langsiaugh (Luang Praban), and on the coast of Coromandel, but principally in China. After the middle of the seventeenth century, the narrow neck of land between Mergui and the Gulf of Siam, was the highway to Ayuthia from the east, as was pointed out by Tavernier in the passage already quoted from that author. Being the shortest route from India to the capital of Siam, it was traversed by ambassadors, mis- sionaries, and servants of the East India Company, who sent their letters from Ayuthia to India via Tenasaree. But after Tenasserim was conquered by the Burmese, in 1767, this once well-known and often-used route waa abandoned and forgotten ty European nations.^ This rapid sketch of what was known about Tenasserim by these old travellers and writers is evidence that the place was formerly of considerable importance. When the English, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, resolved to open up commercial relations with Siam, neither Mergui nor Tenasserim was selected, but the_^prt of Patani, situated on the eastern side of the welly. London, 1662, pp. 122, 130. Tenasserim, and there found a path In Mouhot's Travels it is stated leading into Siam, and met several (vol. i. p. 56) by the editor that people going and returnipg. The Mandelslo visited the capital of pass along which the path led did Siam in IS37' '^'^^ date and the not attain any great elevation (not statement are obviously erroneous, more than 650 feet above the sea), as Mandelslo did not go farther to but the hills on either si(Je were the east than Ceylon, where, in 1639, considerably higher (2000 feet, with he probably gained his facts regard- points 3000). Dr. Oldham's ac- ing Siam. count was published by the Govern- ^ The late Dr. Thomas Oldham, ment of India, in 1856, and has been director of the Geological Survey reprinted in a collection of Geolo- of India, marched across the boun- gical papers onBurma issued at Kan- dary between the British and goon, in 18S2. Siamese possessions to the east of INTRODUCTION. 43 Malayan peninsula. It was a small state, then as now tributary to Siam, and was bounded on the north by the Siamese province of Singora or Songkla, to the west by Qtiedda, to the south by Kalantan, and to the east by the Gulf of Siam^'The tribute, however, was insignificant, as it consisted only of a flower of gold sent once a year, ac- companied by some silk stuffs and " scaret," the latter being scarlet-bound cloth.^ In all the old voyages, and in the Eecords of the East India Company, the capital was usually spoken of as Patani, or with the terminal syllable slightly modified; but from Pallegoix ^ we learn that it was known in his day as Tani, a term recently used by some travellers * and geographers.* The origin of the name Patani is given in a somewhat childish story in the Malay Chronicle,^ in which it is said that news having reached Siam that Patani was a very fine country, a son of the king of Siam determined to conquer it, and add it to the dominions of his father. He invaded it with a large army, killed the reigning Eaja in single combat, and reduced all the in- hiabitants to subjection. His astrologers were then com- manded to select a suitable site for a city, which they did, fixing on a place by the seashore where a fisher- man resided, who had a son called Tani. The king approved of the site, and ordered that the name of the city should be called after the fisherman, who went by the name of " the father of Tani," or, in other words, Pa Tani! In the beginning of the sixteenth century,^ it was a great place of trade, and later on we read of its being resorted to by ships from Surat, Goa, and the Coromandel 1 Mandelslo's Travels, p. 134. Series, March :888, pp. 117- - Diet. Ling. Thai., p. 780.. 121. ' On the Patani. By W.Cameron. ^ Malay Annals, Z. u., pp. 320- Journ. Straits Branch, Royal As. 321. . ,, „ , x- ^ Soc, June 1883, pp. 120, 142. ^ Pigafetta, in Magellan s first ■" J M'Carthy, Proc. Roy. Geo. voyage, Hak. Soc, 1874, heard o£ Soc vol X. No. 3, New Monthly the fame of Patani at Tunor, p. 155. 44:. ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Coast, and by junks from Japan and China. It was while on his way to Patani that that distinguished seaman John Davis, whose name is perpetuated in Davis Straits, lost his life, on the 27th December, 1605, in a fight with some Japanese pirates.^ Patani had a reputation as a port in which fresh pro- visions were always to be had, and Mandelslo says that the inhabitants " had for every moneth several Fruits, and Hens that lay twice a day, by reason whereof the Country abounds in all sorts of provisions for the belly, as Pace, Bif, Goat, Geese, Ducts, Hens, Capons, Peacocks, Deer, Hares, Gunnies, Fowl and Venison, and especially in Fruits, whereof they have above a hundred several sorts." ^ The Portuguese, however, were the first to o^en up trade with Patani, as their intercourse with it began in 1517,* soon after Duarte Coelho's mission to the capital of Siam. It was visited on a number of occasions by Pinto, who, in 1538, found three hundred Portuguese in the port.* The Dutch settled at Patani ten years before the English, their factory being established in 1602,* the year the Dutch East India Company received its first charter. Their factory was burned by the Japanese three years after their arrival, but this did not deter them from re- maining, and for many years they were the chief traders, carrying on a vigorous commerce with Bantam. Owing to a variety of causes, the trade of Patani, towards the middle of the seventeenth century, fell off, and the port was abandoned by European merchants in favour of the capital of Siam, Malacca, and Batavia.® ^ Voyages of John Davis the zag in Oost-India, Deel. iii. (1865), Navigator, p. 181. p. 397. 2 Mandelslo, I. c, p. 134. * A New Account of the East ' Portuguese Asia, vol. i. pp. 222- Indies, by Alex. Hamilton. London, 223. l744-> vol. ii. p. 157. At the present ■* Peregrinaooes, fol. 35. day it carries on a small trade with '' Historia Indi« Orientalis, &o. Bangkok, Singapore, and the neigh- M. Gotardo Arthus. Colonic Agrip- bouring states, the exports being pinse (1608), p. 337. De Jonge, De " tin, lead, gutta, salt fish, tiles, and Opkomst van het Nederlandsoh Ge- earthenware.", Cameron, I. 0. INTRODUCTION. 45 The first French missionaries to Siam entered the coun- try by Mergui and Tenasserim in 1662,^ and thirteen years afterwards, the ambassador of Louis the Fourteenth ap- proached the capital in pomp by the Menam river. A vigorous effort, extending over a quarter of a century, was made by the French to convert the kingdom to Chris- tianity and to establish French supremacy, but their ambi- tious projects ended in disaster. ^ Pallegoix, Descr. Roy. Thai ou Siam, t. ii. p. 103. ( 46 ) CHAPTEE I. ORIGIN OF TRADE WITH SI AM. When Captain "William Keeling visited Bantam in 1608, he met there' an ambassador from the king of Siam.i He asked this dignitary to dinner, and learned from him some facts regarding the commerce and products of Siam. He ■was told by the ambassador that " a thousand Clothes red, would vent in his Countrey in two dayes, and great quan- titie yeerely ; they clothing their Elephants and Horses therewith." Gold, he was informed, was abundant, and of so good quality as to bQ worth three times its weight in silver, and that precious stones occurred in great quan- tities and were cheap. He was also assured by his guest that the king would account it a great happiness " to have commerce with so great a king as his Majestie of England, with whom," the diplomatic ambassador understood, " the king of Holland was not comparable." Captain William Keeling returned to England, on the 1 0th May, 16 10, and on his arrival doubtless reported to his masters, the Honourable East India Company, the glowing accounts of the ambassador. But, two years before this, their attention had probably been attracted to Siam by the arrival of the Siamese ambassadors at the court of Prince Maurice, the governor of the United Provinces of Holland and Zealand. 1 A lournall of the third Voyage sent, and in them the number sof to the East India, set out by the three hundred and ten persons, Company of the Merchants, trading or thereabouts : written by Captain in those parts : in which Voyage Wm. Keeling, Chiefe Commander were imployed three Ships, viz., the thereof. Purchas his Pilgrims, vol. Dragon, the Hector, and the Con- i., 1625, p. 195. THE SHIP 'GLOBE' SAILS FOR SI AM. 47 These were apparently the circumstances that deter- mined the Directors of the East India Company, in 1610, to make the opening up of commercial relations with Siam one of the most important objects of the seventh voyage. Accordingly, the ship Globe} commanded by Captain An- • thony Hippon, and having on board Peter (Williamson) Floris, 'Adam Denton, Thomas Essington, and Lucas Antheuniss as merchants, set sail from the " Downs " on the 5th February, 161 1, and after a prosperous voyage, arrived off the island of Ceylon, in the following August. In the same year, the Company decided to trade with Japan, and a letter announcing their intention to do so was written to "William Adams, then resident in Japan, and was intrusted to the officers of the Globe, who were to see it forwarded from Bantam. In the following April, the ships of the eighth voyage, the Clove, Thomas, and Hector, under the command of John Saris, and bearing a letter from King James the Krst to the Emperor of Japan, left the shores of England for the far East. From Bantam, where the Clove arrived in October, 1612, it sailed on the 14th January, 1613, fo^' Japan, and reached the port of Hirado on the 12 th June, 16 1 3. The course of the ship destined for Siam has now to be followed. From Ceylon the Globe went to Pulicat, where the Dutch had established a factory two years before.^ After a nar- row escape in landing through the surf, in which Floris and another (Eobert Browne) were nearly drowned, they received a friendly welcome from the native Shahbandar, who provided them with a house ; but the Dutch president opposing their efforts to trade, they betook themselves to their ship, and proceeded to Pettipolli, where the 1 The senenth Voyage ; made in chas his Pilgrims, vol. i., 1625, pp. the Globe into East-India, set out 314-319. vnder the Command of Captaine = De Jonge's De Opkomst van Anthony Hippon, obserued and het Nederlandsoh Gezag in Oost- written by Nathaniel Marten, Mas- Indie, D. iii., 1865, p. 399. ters Mate in the said Shippe. Pur- 48 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM: Dutch had been even longer established than at Pulicat.^ Here again they were well received by the natives, but not remaining any time, sailed to Masulipatam, where the Dutch had also been before them, and where they met with an equally good reception. Eobert Browne, after his narrow escape at Pulicat, died at Masulipatam, on the 8th September, 1612.^ The Glole next sailed for Bantam, where George Chauncey, one of their number, was left to dispose of some goods, and it then continued on its course to the kingdom of Siam. The first port in that kingdom to which it went was Patani, a small state, under its native queen or prince, but tributary to the supreme Government at Ayuthia. What now remains of this state is under the governor of the neighbouring state of Singora,* which in the early part of the seventeenth century could not compare with Patani in importance as a place of trade. The Globe anchored in the harbour of Patani on the 23nd June, 1612.* The factors met with an "honourable reception by the queen and country people, but with some disgust and distaste from the Dutch," ^ who had been there since 1602 ; and a few days after their arrival they went ashore in great state,^ taking with them a present, and also a letter from James the Pirst laid on a gold basin. The factors, notwithstanding their good reception, expe- rienced much difficulty in obtaining permission to build a fire-proof warehouse, but they were at last permitted to do so, a piece of ground sixty yards long and forty broad having been given to them, on which they erected a house, " eight fathome long and foure broad." ^ They had, how- ever, to pay an unreasonable sum for it, but agreed to the terms imposed " in hope of future benefit." Sickness much afflicted them, " as if the plague had beene in our ship," } 1 De Jongej op. cit., p. 399. • C. S. P. C. E. I., 771. » C. S. P. C. E. I., 1513-1616, 5 c. S. P. C. E. I., I.e., 771. 5^?\,,^ , ° Purchas, vol. i. lib. iii. 320. 3 M'Carthy, I. c, 121. 7 Purchas, op. cit., 321. THE ' GLOBE ' AT PA TAN I. 49 and, on the 9th July, their "good shepherd, that wise and -worthy gentleman," ^ Captain Anthony Hippon, was stricken and died, and Thomas Essington was appointed in his place. Thieves also broke in at night, and stole money out of Essington's box, even although fifteen per- sons were sleeping in the house, a lamp burning, ' and a great black Dogge keeping watch in the yard,' circum- stances which led Floris to suspect that the robbers were among themselves.^ Adam Denton, one of the factors, relates,^ that shortly after the arrival of the Glohe at Patani, he left Mr. Floris on the ship and went to Siam (Ayuthia) in a " goudon " they had built. This circumstance, however, is not mentioned in the Extracts from Eloris' Journal, although it comes out incidentally in them that some of the factors had gone to Ayuthia before the Olohe had left Patani for the capital, as eight days after the ship's departure, and seven days before it had reached its destination, Eloris, who had re- mained behind at Patani, records that he received letters from Master Essington and Master Lucas (Antheuniss) at Ayuthia, so that Denton had been accompanied by these two factors ; and it appears from his letter * that two other Englishmen went with him, viz., Thomas Samuel and Thomas Driver. These five, then, were the first Englishmen to visit the capital of Siam ; and Adam Denton mentions * that from the roadstead of Siam he and his companions journeyed "up the river some twenty miles to a town called Bancope (Bangkok), where they were well received ; and farther 100 miles to the city (of Siam) where the king and people furnished them with everything they required, and a stone house, three stories high, contrary to the opinion of the Dutch." The Globe followed Denton and his companions on the 1 C. S. p. C. E. I., 771. Purchas his Pilgrims, vol. i., i^S, ^ Extracts of Peter Williamson pp. 319-328. Ploris his lournall, for the seuenth ^ C. S. P. C. E. I., 771. "Voyage, (in which he went Cape Mer- ■* lUd. chant), translated out of Dutch: = Ihid. D so ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. ist August,^ and arrived in the "Eoad of Syam" on the 15 th August, 16 1 2, and cast anchor in three fathoms at high water, but this dangerous position was soon changed for a better, in deeper water. Information of the ship's arrival was at once forwarded to the city, but as soon as the tidings had reached "Mancoek" (Bangkok), the native Shahbandar of that port went down professedly to receive King James's letter, but chiefly with an eye to a personal present. The factors were received in audience by the king on 17th September,^ when King James's letter was doubtless delivered. The arrival of a letter froni so little known a monarch as the king of England was a great event in Siamese history, and one which gratified the king. At the audience each factor received a little golden cup and a small piece of clothing,^ a custom which, in important interviews, used to be followed at the court of Mandalay during the reign of the deposed Thebaw and his predeces- sors. They received permission to trade in his kingdom, and consequently took possession of the house assigned to them, and which lay close to the Dutch factory ; but in their first efforts to dispose of their goods, they were much embarrassed by the covetousness and corruption of the mandarins, and by the wars which afflicted the country, and which had caused the markets at Ayuthia to be sur- feited with goods. The news of the cordial reception of these Englishmen by the king of Siam was carried to Acheen by an ambas- sador to that Court from his Siamese Majesty, and it doubtless created no little stir in that capital as well. Captain Best records * that while at Acheen he was visited by the Ambassador on the 19th April, 1613, who with ; Purohas, I. c, p. 321. der (accompanied with the lames 3 Mw' ^' ^^'" """^ Solomon, but those for other YOirf., p. 321 Voyages): Written by Master Tho- A lournall of the tenth Voy- mas Best, chiefe Commander there- age to the East-India, with two of. Purchas his Pilgrims, vol i ehippes, the Dragon, and Mosian- 1625, pp. 456-466. THE ■ GLOBE' IN THE MEN AM. 51 evident pleasure communicated to him the fact that his sovereign had received in audience three Englishmen who had visited Ayuthia, and had entertained them in a kingly fashion, as he had been overjoyed at the receipt of a letter from the king of England. And a few days later the ambassador dined with Captain Best, " but sent his owne cookes to dresse his vittualles, and brought his drink with him, being water in great flagons of sillver." 1 Shortly before their departure from the roadstead of Siam, the delta of the Menam "the mother of waters," appears to have been visited by a cyclone on the 26th October, 1612. Eloris relates that on that day " arose such stormes, that old folkes had not there scene the like, renting vp trees by the roots, and blowing downe the Kings monu- ment, which hee had erected to his Father. The ship hardly escaped by the diligence of Master Skinner and Samuel Huyts, casting out' a third anchor, being driuen, notwith- standing her two anchors, from sixe fathome to foure, and not passing an English mile from the land. Master Skin- ner was beaten from the anchor-stocke, but ,very strangely recouered. Eiue men were drowned; one after the rest, whom they supposed deuoured of a Whale, which they saw soone after they had scene him. This storme lasted foure or fine houres, and then followed a smooth sea, as if there had been no tempest. A tempest yet continued aboord the ship, by reason, as was reported, of the reasonlesse masterly Master, who was therefore apprehended, and Skinner placed in his roome, whereby that weather also calmed." 2 The factors were back again at Patani on the nth November, having left Lucas Antheuniss at Ayuthia, and on the following day they recorded a resolution to winter there.^ The state of Patani was governed by a queen, who was ^ Voy. of Sir J. Lancaster, Hak. Patani, destroying many houses and Soc, p. 250. a great number of animals. 2 Purchas, I. c, p. 322. In the ^ C. S. P. 0. E. I., 621 Purchas November and December of 1613 I, c, p. 323. there were serious inundations at 52 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. invariably elected from the same family ,i and always old and beyond child-bearing, so that there might be no induce- ment to marry. The reigning queen,^ to the eyes of the English, was a comely old woman, " threescore yeeres of age, tall and full of Maiestie ; in all the Indies we had scene few like her." Floris has given an account of an entertainment that took place on the occasion of the queen leaving her palace, after a seclusion of seven years, " to hunt wilde Buffes and BuUes." 3 Twelve women and children danced before the queen, and after she had commanded the " Gentilitie " to do the same, or to make a show of so doing, which they did amidst much laughter, the English and Dutch were called upon to trip the light fantastic toe, a performance which they went through to the delight of her Majesty. On this occasion she passed between the English ships, and was saluted "by some Peeces" from the Glohe, and by " Musket-shot on shoare." * Lucas Antheuniss having reported to Floris that he had sold more than half the quantity of goods intrusted to him, and that the king himself had been a large pur- chaser, more goods were sent by the Glohe to the capital, in March 1613.^ Ploris had also begun to extend his trading operations, so as to include Japan, but to facilitate this he had to borrow money from the queen at six per cent., and one per cent, to her treasurer. Like the princes of Indo-Malaya generally in those days, she was the head of the commerce of her small principality, a position which the last king of Burma also occupied, holding many monopolies. 1 De La Loubfere, New Hist. Rel., Woon ot that district, a handBome 1687-88. London, 1693, p. 82. Burmese woman of about thirty, full 2 Purohas, I. c, p. 323. of spirit, and fond of sport, using both ' In coming down the Irawadi the gun and the spear. from the first expedition to Western * Ploris' Journal. Purchas, vol. Yunnan, 1868-69, I stopped for a i. p. 323. night with my companion Robert ' C. S. P. C. E. I., 771. Tloris, Gordon at Yenangyoung, and had Purchas, vol. i. p. 323. an interview with the first wife of the JAPANESE AT PATANI AND AYUTHIA. 53 At Ayuthia, Ploris doubtless learned of the intimate relations that had existed for years between the Govern- ments of Siam and Japan, and of the letters and embassies that had passed between them, the most recent of these incidents having been the letter which the Shogun lye- yasu had addressed to the king of Siam asking for muskets, and incense known as eagle-wood.^ Moreover, at the capital and at Patani, they met- many Japanese, as the seas of the eastern side of the Malayan peninsula, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, were much frequented by that people.^ Their intrepidity as seamen and their reputation for courage had been thoroughly established ; fidelity also had proved to be one of their virtues, and had led to their being employed as a very considerable element in the bodyguard of his Siamese majesty. Moreov.er, the beauty of the art produc- tions of their country, imported into Siam, and the life of the Japanese as seen in their camp at Ayuthia and on board their junks, must have greatly impressed the minds and imaginations of these English merchants in Siam, and awakened in them a strong desire to open up a trade with a people so interesting and highly cultured. One of Floris's first efforts, therefore, was to develop a trade with Japan, whither the Clove under John Saris had gone to settle a factory, as he had learned that Patani and Hirado were sister ports, between which the Japanese had pro- secuted, for an indefinite period, a vigorous trade. No trafiic between these two seaports seems to have been carried on by the Siamese themselves, for if any of their junks ventured to brave the storms and typhoons of the intervening seas, they were either manned by Japanese or Chinese. Lucas Antheuniss, who was the moving spirit at Ayu- 1 Trans. As. Soe. Japan, vol. Japan and Siam in the seventeenth xiii. (1885), pp. 139-210. This is a century, by E. M. Satow, recently reference to a most interesting ac- British Minister at Bangkok, count of the intercourse between ' Ibid., p. 140. 54 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. thia, does not state that any restrictions had been laid on the English merchants there as to entering the city, but certain rules did exist regarding the privilege to trade, as Denton has recorded ^ that when the factors first went to the capital, they learned that the crews of two Japanese junks, then in the river, had traded by force, having en- tered the city walls without a license. The result was that eight of their number were killed in one day, whereas if they had first procured the necessary Tarra or license, all would have been well. The English factors had seemingly been favoured with a license of the widest scope, as Lucas Antheuniss, shortly after his arrival, set himself to open up a trade with the country to the north of the capital. He dispatched thither his assistants Thomas Samuel and Thomas Driver. The new field of English enterprise was " Zangomaye " ^ (Xiengmai), which, probably unkno-s^^n to Antheuniss, had been visited by the English merchant Ealph Fitch ^ a quarter of a century before, and by Pinto in 1548, who states* that from Ayuthia he accompanied the king of Siam and his army for the invasion of " Chiammay." The two new explorers of Xiengmai, or Zimm^, as the Burmese call it, were instructed to discover the trade of that country by the sale of certain goods. An attempt was made in 1836-37 by Captain Macleod (afterwards major-general) to open up trade with Xieng- mai, but under very altered conditions in the political relations of the surrounding countries; for by that time the once Siamese province of Tenasserim, after having re- mained a Burmese possession for nearly a century, at last came under the rule of Great Britain. The project, in 1836-37, was not to obtain the trade of Xiengmai for Siam, but for the British seaport of Moulmein, the capital of the province. It, however, proved a signal failure. Of recent = S' a' 5' 9,' S' I' ''7'- * Voyages and Adventures of F. 1 » C. S. P. C. E. I., 756, 771. M. P., done into English by ^. a. Purohas, vol. ii. p. 1740. tfent. Loudon, 1663, p. 269. RETURN OF THE 'GLOBE' TO PATANI. 55 years, attention has again been directed to Xiengmai, as it lies more or less in the routes of various proposed railways that have been suggested as a means of opening up the trade of China, and of directing it to the ports of either Kangoon or Moulmein. Such projects have ostensibly for their purpose the diversion of the trade of China past Bangkok. Those, therefore, interested in the commercial prosperity of Siam have had a survey made for a projected railway from Bangkok to Xiengmai. The necessity for the presence of a British Vice-Consul at Xiengmai, within the last few years, is further evidence that the place is slowly, but surely, increasing in importance. But to return to our narrative. The factors, who had gone to Ayuthia in March, re- turned in the Glohe to Patani on the 23rd Septenaber, 1613,^ again leaving Antheuniss in charge of the factory. This reinforcement of the Patani factory enabled the English to muster in such force as to be the means of pre- venting an attack on their quarters, by the Javan slaves of two chiefs, then in revolt, and who had burned the whole town with the exception of a few houses. These intrepid Englishmen advanced against the rebels, who, becoming aware of their numbers, fled into the country, and thus the English established a reputation for bravery, and earned the name of " Defenders of strangers." ^ On the 27th September 1613,^ Captain Essington drew up a resolution declaring his intention to sail that day for Bantam, and to leave Floris behind at Patani with Denton, as he alleged the former had allowed some dis- orders to occur; whereas Antheuniss has recorded that " Essington had overthrown all hopes of trade at Patani, if the patience of Floris and the mediation of friends had not prevented it." * The foregoing resolution was not carried out until the 22nd October, 1613, when the ship sailed for Masulipatam, 1 0. S. P. 0. E. I., 771. ' C- s. P. C. B. I., 655. 2 Floris, Purohas, vol. i. p. 324. " C. S. P. C. E. I., 771. 56 .ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. but with Floris and Denton on board,^ the three servants of the Company left behind at Patani being William Ebert, Eobert Littlewood,^ and Ealph Cooper, whose spirits were cheered, the day before their companions' departure by the arrival of the " vnhoped-for Hope from lohor." * The Globe reached Masulipatam on the 19th December, 161 3,* where it found the ship James at anchor, this vessel having arrived on the 21st June, 161 3 to settle a factory at PettipoUi.® The factors of the James, however, were in great trouble, as the governors and natives had behaved very badly to them,^ but their chief ills were those of their own making. They had quarrelled among themselves, and so bitterly, that the captain of the ship held "house by himself, the merchants another by themselves." The former, how- ever, appears to have been master of the situation, as he had put two of the merchants, Eichard Cobbe and John Gour- ney, in the bilboes or stocks, so that Adam Denton, who was transferred to the James '' on the arrival of the Glole from Patani, complained to the directors ^ that the merchants were being " made servants and slaves to the captains." ^ In the 0. S. P. C. E. I. (1513- 620, in which Geo. Chauncy's name 1616), there is a letter (Par. 743) is so associated with the captain from Peter Williamson Floris dated and factors of the James as to lead Masulipatam, July 10, 1614, in which at first sight to the supposition, it is said that he and Geo. Chauncy that he was one of them, but farther "arrived at Masulipatam from Pa- on in the letter it is stated that he tani in the /ames;" but in the account had been left behind at Bantam by of the voyage of the James, written the Globe. by the master of the ship, John Davy - C. S. P. C. E. I., 771. (Purchas, vol. i. lib. iii. pp. 440- 3 Purchas, I. c, p. 324. ' 444), and from what is known to * Purchas, vol. i. p. 325, 0. S. P. have been the movements of the C. E.' I., 771. Captain Essington ships G2o6e and James, the foregoing died at Masulipatam on the 17th statement in the letter 743 should May 1614. C. S. P. C. E. I., 737 be interpreted thus : Geo. Chauncy 743. ' ' '' J ' of the Glole went to Masulipatam « The ninth Voyage of the /ndiam from Bantam in the James; Peter Companie to the East Indies in the Williamson Floris went to Masuli- James, whereof was Captain M. patam from Patani in his own ship, Edmvnd Marlowe of BristoU and the Globe. The difficulty of under- the Master John Davy, who wrote standing the statement arises from this lournall. Purchas, vol. i. lib. tlie circumstance that the two men iv. pp. 440-444. signed the letter. Another some- « C. S. P. C. E. I. 756 771. what similar instance to this, among ' S P C EI '771' 877' others, occurs in C. S. P. 0. E. I., 8 o_ g_ p q £ I., 771. SHIPS 'JAMES' AND 'DARLING' AT PAT AN I. 57 Floris remained with the Globe at Masulipatam, -whereas the James set sail for Bantam and Patani on the 7th February. After leaving Bantam on the loth June, 1614, the James fell in with the ship Darling, also bound for Patani, and the two ships anchored together in that harbour on the 30th June, 1614.^ On the arrival of the ships, the factors of the James had a dispute ^ with the native officials (Oran Kayes ^) regard- ing the presents they were to receive ; but their own troubles were the most difficult to bear, as the ship was under the command of a man, Captain Marlowe, who " governed at sea with much brawling and little justice, and ashore with much greatness without skill, consuming much more money than was necessary." * This tyrannical com- mander had endeavoured to displace John Gourney, and by presents from the Company's purse had obtained his own goods customs free,^ and vras " one of the first which doth trade publickly contrary to yo' wo" order." He is also spoken of as that " troublesome captain of the James," who doth disquiet both house and fleet ; " could better temporise with John Davis (the master of the James ^) in his drink, than with this insatiable captain in his best wits."' He is also described as giving himself up to rioting and extreme drunkenness, whereby he had caused " much disgrace to the English nation, the master (John, Davis) being an apt scholar to imitate those loose and lewd courses."^ The character borne by another of the Company's servants, Eobert Larkin, captain of the Darling, cannot 1 John Davy, Purchas, vol. i. p. founded with his namesake John 444. C. S. P. C. E. I., 756, 759, Davis of Sandridge. The history of 760, 771, &o. the two men has, however, been suo- 2 C. S. P. C. E. I., 759. cinctly given by Captain Markham * Orantay, a person of distinction, in his intreduction to his edition of a chief or noble. Yule, op. cit., p. the Voyages and Works of John 492. Davis the Navigator, Hakluyt Soc, i C. S. P. C. B. I., 758. 1880. 6 C. S. P. C. E. I., 771. ' ' C. S. P. C. E. I.,p. 366. 6 This was Captain John Davis » C. S. P. C. E. I., 1016. of Limehouse, who was so often con- 5 8 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. -t but have been, prejudicial to^tbe Company's affairs, as he along with some others, on the same ship, had been already denounced ^ " for purloining the Company's goods, deceiving private men, insolent behaviour, and vanity in wearing buckles of gold in their girdles," and for suddenly having become rich at the expense of their masters. Among their minor troubles at Patani, Denton mentions the want of books, paper, and ink, the Chinese paper which they had to use having been eaten by the " kaka- roches" (cockroaches).^ At Patani, the goods of the James were transferred to the JDarling, which sailed for Bangkok on the 30th July, 1614,^ with John Gourney, William Sheppard, and Thomas Brockedon, merchants of the ninth voyage, accompanied by Eobert Larkin and his assistant, Benjamin Farie,* and probably within fifteen days arrived at the capital of Siam. After all the efforts and expense which the Com- pany had incurred to establish trade at Patani, Adam Denton, who was in charge of that factory, wrote towards the end of 16 14 to the East India Company, that "all the trade abroad was dead through the troubles and wars," and that war "was feared in Patani with the Acheenders ; " ^ but that if troubles came, the Company's goods would be sent away, a course which the Dutch also intended to adopt. He did not consider Patani worth keeping, except for the sale of cloth, but Gourney held that it "yielded very good sorts of paintings and woven wares fit for Java and the Moluccas."^ Robert Larkin was also so disappointed with the trade of Patani, that he was on the outlook for other and more suitable marts, and had heard of Segora (Singora or Songkla), to the north-east of Patani, as enjoying a high reputation for trade, and as being a second Jakatra (Batavia).'^ It had, moreover, the reputation of being a safe harbour, as John Davis of the 1 C. S. P. 0. E. I., p. 305. 5 0. s. p. 0. E. I., 771. = C. S. P. C. E. I., p. 326. 6 0. S. P. C. E. I., 7=6. ' C. S. P. C. E. I., 771. 7 C. S. P. C. E. I. 749, ' ♦ C. S. P. C E. I., 771 • '^^ OPENING OF TRADE BETWEEN SIAM AND JAPAN. 59 James relates that before he left Patani in October, 1614, he took his vessel to Singora to have it repaired, and that the harbour was "a very good place vnder two Islands, fast by the Maine." ^ In after years the servants of the Company tried to open up a trade with Singora, but the Dutch prevented their doing so, as they held that they had concluded a contract with the king, by which the pepper trade was to be entirely theirs. Japan, however, was the country which promised to be the richest field for the Company's trading efforts, and, towards the end of 16 14, the factors at Hirado and Ayuthia had arrived at an understanding regarding the development of this field of enterprise. A junk was purchased in Japan, and named the Sea Adventure ; ^ William Adams, the first Englishman to land in the country,^ being appointed its captain.* Eichard Wickham,^ or " Segnieur Eichard," as he was called by ^ Purohas, vol. i. p. 444. 2 0. S. P. C. E. I., 805, 8o6.1 ^ He arrived in Japan in April 1600. * C. S. P. C. E. I., 673. " Richard Wiokham left England in the ship Union, in 1608. The ves- sel was accompanied by the Ascen- sion, and the two sailed in company to the Cape, where they parted com- pany in a storm on September 20, 1 60S. The Union made for St. Augus- tin, a bay on the southern part of the west coast of Madagascar, where it remained twenty daj's. HereKichard Wickham, Richard Kenn, purser, and another man were treacherously captured by the Portuguese, and, at the time, those on board the ship did not know whether or not they had been killed. Richard Wickham, however, was carried prisoner to Goa, where he met Tranoois Pyrard, also a prisoner with the Portuguese. The two were a long time in prison together, so that Pyrard hsd doubt- less many opportunities of judging of the character of the man, whose noble bearing seems to have im- pressed him so much. Wickham told him that his cousin, who had been captured with him, had been slain in cold blood by the Portu- guese. They left Goa together about the same time, probably in 1609, and were sent to Portugal. C. S. P. C. E. I., 639. Purchas, vol. i. p. 233. The Voyage of Franijois Pyrard of Laval to the East Indies, &c. Hak. Soc. , vol. ii. pt. i., 1888, pp. 264-265. The Ascension afterwards pro- ceeded towards Surat, near which port it foundered on September 2, 1609. This is recorded inthe following work, reproduced in the "Harleian Collection of Voyages," 1 745, vol. ii. Its title is " A true and almost Incredible Report of an Englishman, that (being cast away in the good ship called Assension, in Cambaya, the farthest part of the East Indies) Trauelled by Land. . . . With a Discovery of a Great Emperor called the Great MogoU, a Prince not till now known to our English Nation," by Captain Robert Coverte. It was " printed by N. 0. for Thomas 6o ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. rran9ois Pyrard, who describes him as '•' a man of proud and noble bearing like a captain," was deputed to goias a merchant to Ayuthia, along with Edward or Edmond Sayer. A passport to "William Adams under the name of " Anjin" or pilot, by which designation he was known to the Japanese, was doubtless issued by the Shogun lyeyasu, and Satow^ mentions that a document of this nature, in the name of Anjin, and dated 1614, is still preserved in the records of the Japanese Government. As Eichard Cocks, the chief of the English factory in Japan, had at this time no certain information regarding the movements of the Company's servants in the kingdom of Siam, he instructed Eichard Wickham, if John Gourney was not at Ayuthia, to send his letters to Captain Jourdain at Bantam.2 And he was told to bring back as his cargo brazil, a red wood, deer-skins, raw silk, china stuffs, &c. A present was sent to the king of Siam, and a jar of white biscuit ^ to Adam Denton and William Ebrett. The junk set sail from the road of Cochi* on the 17th December, 1614, but by the 23rd of that month it had anchored to the south-west of the island of Oxima (Oshima), one of the Liu-kiu group of islands, having sprung a leak in the severe weather it encountered in these few days. The vessel, however, had been scarcely seaworthy, as the leak had been noticed by Wickham before he started, but his fears had been-quieted by Cocks' assurance that, from what he knew of Captain Adams, he would not venture his life " in desperate sort." ^ The governor of Oshima car- ried the letter from Wickham to Cocks, in which these facts are recorded, but before leaving he had promised the Englishmen all the friendship the place afforded. He, Archer, and are to be sold at his said that the vessel sailed from the Shop in Popes-head Place, near the road of Cochin. This should be Royall Exchange. 1614." the road of Coehi or Cochie, not 1 Trans. Asiat. Soo. of Japan, vol. Cochin. It is mentioned by Cooks, xiii., 1885, p. 141. who deftribes it as the "Bay = C. S. P. C. E. I, 806. Cochi in Pirando." 3 C. S. P. C. E. I., 805. 5 0. S. P. C. E. I., 814. ^ C. S. P. C. E. I., 844. It is - ' ''■ - FACTORIES AT PATANI AND AYVTHIA. 6i however, recommended them to go to ISTafa, the -chief har- bour of Okinawa-shima, the main island of the group, as the king resided there. Cocks mentions in his diary that the junk returned to Hirado on the i ith June, 1615, "having lost her voyage for Syam this yeare." The factors and sailors, took back with them to Japan some examples of the products of the islands, the most impor- tant among which were ambergris and potatoes.^ Cocks planted the latter in his garden, for which he paid five shillings per annum, and mentions " that pottatos brought from Liquea " were " a thing not yet planted in Japan." In another voyage of the Sea Adventure, in which the junk had again to take refuge in these islands, Mr. Eaton, one of his colleagues, brought back " 500 small potata rootes " to Cocks, which he planted in his garden.^ The next notice of the Siam factors is dated the 20th April, 1615,8 when they held a court at Ayuthia, giving instructions to Thomas Brockedon to proceed to Patani to join Adam Denton, "for better performance of the increased business of the ninth voyage." * On the following day,* they held another court about " buildings to be divided," and from the recorded proceed- ings we learn that Lucas Antheuniss and Peter William- son Floris, the merchants of the seventh voyage, had pro- vided " good and sufficient houses at Patani and Siam, at heavy charges and extraordinary expense for presents, to preserve the goods from fire, thieves, and other accidents ; and having regard to the trade from Masulipatam and 1 Diary, vol. i. p. 7. These were don probably proceeded to Patani probably the sweet potatoe Oon/vol- in the Darling. This vessel proved vulus batatas, but in Cooks' time to be so unseaworthy that it was they seem to have been a rarity in laid up. at Patani in June 1615, Japan, as Richard Wickham, on and could not be repaired. The visiting Oyen Dono, " carid hym master of the vessel, however, was a dish of pottatos." Cocks' Diary, reported to have intended to run vol. i. p. 5. away with it 'to the Portuguese ; but 2 Cocks' Diary, vol.i. p. II, vol. ii. this being prevented, he went him-. p_ cq_ self and joined them. Purchas, vol. ^ 6. S. P. C. E. I., 971. i- lib. iv. p. 533. * C. S. P. C. E. I., 971. Brocke- = C. S, P. G. E. I., 973; 62 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Coromandel," they now called upon John Gourns}', the principal of the ninth voyage, to contribute half of these charges, and if he declined to do so, Lucas Antheuniss declared he would sell the house for the benefit of the seventh voyage. His object was to close the accounts of the seventh voyage, and we consequently find him also addressing a letter to the long-absent Thomas Samuel at Xieng-mai, instructing him on his return to Ayuthia to deliver over to John Gourney whatever goods he might have, and he was further told that he had been found "very exceeding negligent," and was directed to "clear and purge" himself to whomsoever he found chief at, Siam.^ He appears to have returned some goods to Antheuniss, who had also been sending goods to Gamboja. Samuel,^ however, never saw Ayuthia again, as he was carried off from Xieng-mai* to Pegu when the former town fell, in 1615, before the conquering Maha Dhamma Eaja, and at Pegu he died ; * but what became of his com- panion, Thomas Driver, is seemingly unknown. On the 2 1st July, 161 5, the Solomon^ was dispatched from Bantam with instructions to proceed to Masulipatam, but to touch at Patani, and to take in goods and money, with either John Gourney or Lucas Antheuniss.® On board this vessel were George Chauncey, Ealph Preston, Humphrey Elkington, Timothy Mallory, Richard Pitt, and George Savage.' On the arrival of the Solomon a numbef of consultations were held to decide who were to be left behind in charge of the two factories. At their last meet- ing at Patani, held on the 9th October, 1615,8 at which Lucas Antheuniss, Humphrey Elkington, Adam Denton, Timothy Mallory, Hugh Bennett, Eobert Larkin, William o S- ^-J- ?■• \l-' ?°'S- , ' Purohas, I. c, p. 1006. Phayre's - Purchas his Pilgrims, vol. v. p. History of Burma, p. 132, footnote '°°%- ■ . .. . .u ' C- S. P. C. E. I. (1S13-1616), ■* Xieng-mai was restored to the 1022 and 1023. Siamese, so report said, in 1617. ^ yjjy jq^t 0. s. P. c. E. I., 1617-21. 7 /ji^;; ,023.' 8 /4,y.^ 1026. LETTER FROMTHE KING OF SIAM TO JAMES I. 63 Sheppard, Thomas Brockedon, Benjamin Farie, and Ealph Preston were present, it was resolved that Benjamin Farie should be made chief of the factory at Ayuthia,^ with George Savage and Eichard Pitt as his assistants, and that Eobert Larkin should be chief at Patani, with John Browne as second. These arrangements having been made, the Solomon sailed for Masulipatam on the 27th October,- Lucas Antheuniss having been intrusted with a letter from his Siamese Majesty to the king of England. In the meantime, the Osiander, commanded by Captain Ealph Coppindall, had arrived at Hirado on the 4th Sep- tember, 1615.^ On the 5th December Coppindall wrote to the chief factor of the East India Company in Siam (Ayuthia) a letter which was to be forwarded by Captain Adams, who, along with Edmund Sayer, was again to sail in the Sea Adventure to the kingdom of Siam.* Erom this letter it becomes evident that the experience of the Company's servants of the trade of Patani, in so far as it related to Japan, had not been satisfactory, as Coppindall speaks of selling the Company's business at Patani, and substituting for it a junk laden from Ayuthia with wood (sappan) and hides to meet English ships appointed to sail for Hirado. He had fotind that what little profits were made on goods received in Japan from Bantam and Patani were "eaten up by great presents and charges" exacted by Japanese officials, even although no customs^ were paid. On the other hand, he believed " that next to the hope of profit to be made in Hirado by trade with China, if it can be obtained, is the trade of Siam (Ayuthia), which is like to be of great help to mitigate the great 1 Benjamin Farie entered the ser- = C. S. P. C. E. I., 1091. vice of the Company on Jan. 11,1610. ^ C. S. P. C. E. I., 1064. Cooks' (C. S. P., 477, 479). In Aug. 1613 he Diary, vol. i. p. 50. was at Macassar, and in May of the * This is the voyage described by following year at Succadana, where Satow. Trans, As. Soc. Japan, 1 885, he joined the Darling, having been p. 141. appointed to go to Siam. IIM. 733. 64 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. charge of continuing" the Japan factory.^ Eaton ^ also, who was well qualified to give an opinion, recommended Sir Thomas Smythe that ' a ship of five or six hundred tons should go every year to Patani, and there lade for Siam, .... as it was better for the Company to have their goods brought from Siam and Patani in English shipping than in these scurvy junks.' Eichard Cocks,^ a little later, also condemned the junk-trafEc, that had been originally begun on the recommendation of John Saris, and expressed his opinion that the advantages that had been expected from the trade between Siam and Japan had not been realised. His project was that Japan, which appears to have been rich in silver, should furnish all the Company's factories in the Indies with the precious metal, and by this means he believed the Company's expectation of trade with Japan would be realised; and in this chimerical project, which came to nothing, he had the support of the Directors. But the Court even went further than their factor, and hoped that the Japan factory would not only do what was proposed, but that it would be able also to send a surplus of silver to England.* At this time silver was being shipped from Ayuthia to Hirado.* When the Sea Adventure was ready for sea. Cocks re- cords that " Betyms in the mornyng the kyng sent to envite us to supper, because he understood our junck was ready to departe towards Syam." The entertainment was good, but he, Cocks, found " the drynking was overmuch."^ Adam Denton's complaint that the paper in the Siam factories had been eaten up by cockroaches seems to have reached Cocks, because he put 500 sheets of Japan paper on board the Sea Adventure, but at the same time was not unniindful of the creature comforts of the factors, as he sent them what appears to have been a liberal 1 C. S. P. C. 15. I, 1063. ■> C. S. p. C. E. I., 1617-21, 27c ^ 8: Y-p" Y'K ^i, ,6:7- n." ^- '■ '■ ^- '■ <'''3-i^-). '• I- ' " Cocks' Diary, vol. i. p. 87. ' THE ENGLISH ASSIST IN DEEPENING THE MEN AM. 65 supply of " bisket " in jars, and a gift from himself of one jar each to Gourney, Sharpe, and Denton.^ The junk sailed on the 7fch December, 161 5, from Cochi near the harbour of Hirado,^ and in one month it had probably arrived in the Menam. When it reached that factory, Adams and Sayer found the Company represented by Benjamin Farie and his assistants, George Savage, Eichard Pitt, and John John- son,* and at Patani by Eobert Larldn and John Browne. John Gourney, who had been erroneously reported dead, had left Siam, in the early part of the year, in a junk for Bantam.* Eobert Larkin died on the 12th or 13th May, 161 6, " his body was put in the ground " the next day.^ The Sea Adventure returned to Japan in company with the Advice, which had been driven into the Menam by stress of weather, and both vessels arrived at Hirado in July, 1616,^ where they found the ship Thomas J But before the junk had left for Japan, the factors had held a meeting to discuss the course of action they should follow with regard to a novel order that had been recently issued by the king. Edmund Sayer, the merchant of the Sea Adventure, was present at the meeting, at which it was announced that the king had issued an express order to ^ all his people and the strangers of other nations trading in his country, that every one dwelling at the water-side should, at his own cost, dig the river a fathom deep oppo- site to where he resided. As all were interested in this im- provement, the factors decided to comply with the order.^ The merchants at Ayuthia met with a serious loss to- wards the end of 1616, as Benjamin Farie died in August or 1 Loe. cit, p. 87. Diary, vol. li. p. 48, between Bantam 2 Loc. cit., p. 88. and Masulipatam. 3 C. S. P. 0. E. I., mo. * C. S. P. C. E. I., in8, 1170. * C. S. P. 0. E. I., 1094. Gourney « C. S. P. C. E. I., 1165. Cooks' died at Masulipatam in the begin- Diary, vol. i. p. 155. ning of 1617, C. S. P. C. E. I., ' C. S. P. C. E. I., H78. 1617-31, 52; but according to Cocks' » C. S. P. C. E. I., mo. 66 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. September/ after eating a hearty breakfast, having hardly time, it is added, to make a bequest in favour of his woman and child. The Dutch supposed that he had been poisoned by the Portuguese. In the early part of 1617, an ambassador from the kingdom of ' Chiampa ' (Champa) arrived at the Siamese court.^ The presence of so responsible an official was taken advantage of by the English merchants to learn something about the trade of his native land. They were so favourably impressed with the facts gleaned from him, that they sent a small pinnace, on the 20th March, 1617,^ with a cargo of goods suitable to the Champa market, under the charge of Peter Hall and John Ferrers. All the sailors of this ship of the Company's were Japanese, hired at Ayuthia and Bangkok.* The factors, on arriving at their destination, were well received by the king, who granted them permission to trade freely in all parts of his kingdom without paying duties, in the first instance, but on the understanding that they were to be paid on any future visits. They were, however, afterwards warned by Richard Cocks of Japan that it was not safe to send goods in small boats to Champa, as the Portuguese had sent out many frigates,' doubtless from Macao, " to scour the coast and to spoil the trade." ^ After a short experience of Champa, or Tsianpu, as they also called it, the factors reported that its chief products were camboja (gamboge), benjamin (benzoin), lignum aloes (eagle-wood), and other commodities.^ These efforts to procure trade in no way relieved the factors at Ayuthia, whose chief difficulty, in 161 7, seems to have been the Dutch, who, they complained, had en- 1 C, S. P. C. E. I., 1521-1616, 2 C. S. P. C. E. I., 86. The letter 1 1 70. Jbid., 1617-1621,86,89,221. mentioning this is headed "Judea A John Fary, probably a brother of in Siam." Benjamin, served the Company for ^ q g_ p_ q ]<;_ j^ gig_ nine years, 1612-21, in their fac- ■• C. S. P. C. E. I., 221. tnries at Siam and Camboja. C. S. ^ C. S. P. C. E. I., 226. P. C. E. I., pp. 476 and 494. « 0. S. P. C. e'. i'., p. 107, , DUTCH GOSSIP ABOUT THE ENGLISH. 67 deavoured "by all possible means to -wrong and hurt them by their vigorous scorpion tongues." ^ Their gossip regarding Pitt had travelled, by the beginning of 161 8, even so far as Japan, where it reached the ears of Eichard Cocks, who records ^ that a Hollander, Matias, the captain of a junk from Siam, told him " that Mr. Pittes (Pitt) the Englishman envited one James Peterson, thenglish umper, to a banket at Syam, and after, upon what occation he knew not, fell out with hym, and went with iij Japons to bynd him and take hym prisoner. But Peterson laid soe about hym that he kild ij of the Japons and made Pittes and the other to run away. This Peterson ^ is in greate favor with the king of Syam, and therefor I marvell Mr. Pittes would take this cours ; but Mr. Mattias saieth it was doone in drink;" which is highly probable, as he was spoken of by one of the Company's servants "as a lewd and idle fellow." * While Pitt was wasting his time and energies in dissi- pation, the Dutch were improving their position, and on the 12th June, 161 7, they concluded a contract with the king of Siam's ministers regulating the sale of deer-skins, one of the chief exports to Japan. The Sea, Adventure was at this time at Bangkok, on its second voyage, having left the Bay of Cochi, three leagues from the harbour of Hirado, on the 21st December, 1616,^ and arrived at its destination in twenty-eight days. The junk was to carry back sappan-wood, to obtain which, how- ever, the factors had much trouble and vexation, and had to give many bribes to procure a small quantity. Their energies, however, were misspent in procuring sappan-wood, as Cocks afterwards told them that he esteemed " lead and ^ C. S. p. 0. E. I., 89. ' vice." He had therefore sent to ^ Cocks' Diary, vol. ii. p. 50. him a small present, and also one to 3 This man is mentioned in the the Japan ompra. (John Peterson, C. S. P. C. E. I., 1617-21, 226, as C. S. P. 0. E. I., 320, is another Peterson, in a letter from Richard person.) Cooks, who says, " The English * C. S. P. C. E. I., 846. umpra, as they call him, is a man ^ Cocks' Diary, vol. i., p. 221. who may do the Company good ser- 68 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. skins a better commodity than wood.''^ The factors at Siam, in exchange for the sappan-wood and the rest of the cargo, wished a return from Japan in a coin, a specimen of which "William Eaton was to take back with him to show to Cocks, who was told that if he could send coin of the same description, it would tend very much to their employers' profit, " provided it be kept secret." ^ Cocks' reply to this request was that he could not accede to it, as it was unlawful in Japan to stamp any coin, but that it was permissible to melt silver into bars.^ The Sea Adventure left Bangkok for Japan on the 27th May, 1617, with a cargo of 9000 skins; but instead of arriving at the end of the journey in twenty-eight days, as it had done in going south, the junk took nearly three months and a half to reach Hirado, as it did not anchor there until September, 161 7.* It was a disastrous voyage as thirty-four of the crew died at sea, and on the arrival of the junk in Japanese waters, all who remained were sick and not able to do anything, save twelve, who brought the junk into Fushima, destitute of cables and anchors, with scarce a sail left, and indeed little better than a wreck.^ The mariners of this tempest-tossed ship were Japanese, brave at sea, but apparently mutinous while in harbour. William Eaton, the courageous and self-reliant captain of the junk, sent an encouraging account of the trade of Ayuthia to Sir Thomas Smythe.® He was of opinion that "great store of Indian cloth and other cloths from the coast of Coromandel may be sold at Siani (Ayuthia) to great profit, especially if the trade of Jangama '' (Xieng- '■ C. S. p. C. E. I., 161 7-21, 226. coined in Holland, and imported by 2 C. S. P. C. B. I., 86. the Dutch East India Company at ^ C. S. P. C. E. I., 226. By seven shillings the crown." Hist, of l6go the exportation of "silver Japan, vol. i. p. 42. plate" from Japan to Siam must * Cocks' Diary, vol. i. p. 317. have practically ceased, as Ksmpfer " C. S. P. C. B. I., 221. relates that on his visit to Ayuthia "> C. S. P. C. E. I., 221. in that year "all the silver money ' In July 1618 a report reached of Siam was coined from Dutch Jakatra that a peace had been con- crowns, which were for this purpose eluded in November 1617 between TRADE OF XIENG-MAI AND LUANG-PRABAN. 69 mai) be once opened, which it is thought will be next year. The returns from thence are gold, rubies, and other precious stones, also benjamin and sealing-wax, commo- dities in great request on the coast of Coromandel, besides deer-skins, which are very cheap there." The trade of the factory at Ayuthia seemed also likely to be benefited from another quarter, as while Eaton was there, the merchants of the country of Lan John (Luang- Praban) arrived at the ' city of Judea ' with " great store, of merchandise."^ This, among other causes, contri- buted to the prosperity of the Company's affairs in Siam at this period, notwithstanding the unworthy character of some of their servants. The latter were so well con- tented with their trading transactions, that they expressed the hope that all the Company's factories might make as good sales as they had ; ^ and even the directors themselves, who were at no time easily pleased, recorded their satisfac- tion * with the accounts they had received of " two houses built for the Company; one very fair at Sia (?) Siam, which is as great a city as London, .... the other at Patani." On the 12th August, 1617,* John Johnson died at ,Ayuthia, and Kichard Pitt, who was assisted by Thomas Winterborne, a seafaring man/ was struck with a " miser- able sickness," and, in a letter to John Browne at Patani, Pitt laments a fall in the price of hides, and draws a piti- ful account of the factory, with neither money nor goods, " which is a shame for a place like Siam," and, moreover, he had " no encouragement or hope of supply for this year ; " * a very different picture from that which he had drawn in his letter of the previous May.' Some of the Company's servants, however, had a strong the Kings of Siam and Ava, and ^ C. S. P. C. B. I., 221. that Xiengmai and other places ^ C. S. P. C. B. I., 89. which had been conquered by Ava ' C. S. P. C. B. I., 406. were to be ceded to Siam ; but ' C. S. P. C. B. I., 140. when Eaton wrote, December 1617, ^ 0. S. P. C. E. I., 221. he savs Xiengmai was under the king ^ C. S. P. C. E. I., 140. ^ ot^egM. ' C. S. P. C. E. I., 89. , 70 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. belief in Siam as a place of trade, and, in the beginning of 1618, George Ball, the president at Bantam, wrote to the directors that Coromandel cloth to the value of 50,000 rials could annually be sold at Ayuthia; and that the country yielded deer-skins and sappan-wood for Japan, and gold and rubies to great profit; and that .if the country were at peace, it might yet yield a far greater trade,^ and that, moreover, there was abundance of silks.^ The English at Ayuthia, during this year (161 8), seem to have been in high favour with the king of Siam, as Pitt inforijaed Cocks that if he wished to build a junk at Ayuthia as large as the Hollanders', it could be done, provided two English carpenters were sent, as the king would furnish the Company's servants at Ayuthia with two hundred men to cut timber or perform any other service for the English.^ At Patani, however, the Company's affairs were in a much less prosperous state, and the factory, it was said, at the time yielded little, " and in respect of great charges, taxations, and other unkind usage imposed upon stran- gers," began to be forsaken.* It was then under the charge of John Browne, William Polhill or Paulhill, and Edward Gillman ; but by the middle of the year the last was left • alone, his two companions having died.* William Eaton at Japan, nothing daunted by his last disastrous voyage from Siam, prepared to set sail once more for that country. He carried with him a letter * to the factor at Ayuthi^, in which Cocks recommended to them the " Japan omp'ra " as a man who would help them to keep the mutinous Japanese sailors in order. It would thus appear that the East India Company, as in after years, was in the habit of employing Japanese in their ser- vice. The ompra himself was a Japanese, as has been 1 C. s. P. C. E. I., p. 107. » c. s. P. c. E. I., 245. = C. S. P. 0. E. I., 275. » C. S. p. C. E. I., 846. 3 0. S. p. C. E. I., 349. 6 C. S. P. C. E. I., 226. THE 'SEA ADVENTURE' AT LIU-KIU ISLANDS. 71 pointed out by Satow,^ and, moreover, a man who after- wards played a somewhat important part in the revolution at Ayuthia in 1629. On the first day of the year 1618, the junk was ready to sail, but Cocks had much trouble with the Japanese sailors about carrying passengers along with them, nine of. whom were found secreted in their cabins and turned ashore. Cocks went on board at midnight, " and carid 20 loves bread, a veneson pastie, a peece resting beefe, and a bottell Spanish wyne," and on the following morning the Sea Adventure sailed ^ in company with some other junks,^ but in five days was driven to seek shelter -in the port of Tomari, owing to westerly winds and a high sea.* Eaton again attempted to proceed on the voyage, but was driven back again to Tomari, where some Portuguese on their way to Camboja quarrelled with him because he passed them " without puting affe his hat (he being bound to doe no more to' them than they to hym) ; so that from wordes they fell to blowes, but the Portingalles were well beaten and driven abord." After the junk succeeded in leaving Tomari, it was forced to make for the Liu-kiu Islands, having doubtless encountered a typhoon, as a number of junks then at sea had been driven back to Nagasaki, one having met with no less .than three such storms.^ The Sea Adven- ture having been thus delayed, lost the monsoon for Siam, and did not reach Bangkok until December, 1618." Eaton on his arrival found the factory in charge of Edward Longe,^ George Savage, William Barrett, Eichard Pitt, and some other Englishmen. Pitt was intrusted with the work of looking out for skins and sappan-wood -for the return voyage, but the Sea Adventure was so 1 Trans. As. Soc. Japan, vol. xiii. ^ Cocks' Diary, vol. ii. pp. 1-2. p. 186. They were merely the offi- ' C. S. P. C. B. I., 817. cial heads of the settlers belonging * Cocks' Diary, vol. ii. p. 12. to their nations. An ompra was, in * Ibid., vol. ii. p. 36. fact, a sort of consul with limited ° 0. S. P. 0. E. I., 817. powers. ' C. S. P. 0. B. I., 817. 72 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. damaged that it had to be sold ^ and another junk bought in its stead. But the English and Dutch seem to have found power- ful trading competitors in the Japanese themselves, as Cocks records that what in his opinion " cheefly spoUeth the Japon trade is a company of ruch usurers whoe have gotten all the trade of Japon into their owne handes. . . . And these fellowes are nott content to have aU at their owne disposing above, but they com downe to Firando and ISTangasaque, where they joyne together in seting out of junckes for Syam, Cochin China, Tonkin, Camboja, or any other place where they understand that good is to be donne, and soe furnish Japon with all sortes of comodeties which any other stranger can bring, and then stand upon their puntos, offering others what they list them selves, knowing no man will buy it but them selves or such as they please to joyne in company with them, nether that any stranger can be suffered to transport it into any other parte of Japon. Which maketh me altogether aweary of Japon." ^ Before noticing the events which happened at Patani in 1619, it may be mentioned that the newly purchased junk for the Japan trade left Ayuthia for Hirado on the 9th June, 1619, and arrived at its destination in two months.^ The English at Masulipatam were anxious to trade with Tenasserim, but were afraid of letting their intention to do so be known until the Moors' ships from that port had sailed, as the Dutch were at this time seizing the junks of the Moors* and the ships of the English and Portuguese, and were the bitter enemies of English trade, making every effort to dispossess the English of many places in the East Indies, and unjustly seizing their ships, and keeping their men prisoners in irons. The conduct, however, of our countrymen was not blameless, and the 1 0. S. P. C. E. I., 817. 3 c. S. P. C. E. I., 817. " Cocks' Diary, vol. ii. pp. 310. * C. S. P. C. E. I., 502, WAR BETWEEN THE DUTCH AND ENGLISH. 7;^ Dutchj on their part, bitterly complained of the long-con- tinued acts of injustice committed by the English. This ill-feeling was so virulent, that war was soon de- clared between the two nations. The English called a Council together at Bantam, towards the close of the year 161 8, at which Sir Thomas Dale, commander of the fleet, seems to have been present, and on this occasion they re- solved, on account of the " insolencys of the Dutch," and the great losses the Company had sustained by the taking of five of their ships by the Dutch, and the killing of many of their men, and keeping the rest as slaves in the Moluccas, to make war against them for satisfaction of their losses.^ No time was allowed to elapse in putting this decision into execution, for on the Sth December the Black Lion,^ a richly laden ship, with rice, pepper, and other commodi- ties from Patani, being descried, was at once captured by four English ships, which were sent against it. This was the beginning of a fierce but short struggle between the Dutch and English. Some Dutch vessels were cap- tured, and the Dutch fleet was driven away, it was sup- posed to the Moluccas, and some ships to Patani. After the skirmishing was over, the English fleet retired to the coast of Coromandel;^ but prior to this, all the goods and merchants at Bantam were removed,* but men were left in charge of the Company's house. In April 16 19, John Jourdain, president of the English factories, returned from the coast of Coromandel, with the two ships the Hound and the Sampson to " new establish, both with men and means, the almost decayed factories " of Jambi, Patani, Siam, and Succadana.^ Among those who accompanied him were Adam Denton, George Mus- champe, and Eichard Welden. They arrived at Patani in June 1619, to find the factory disorganised by "the base 1 c. s. P. c. E. I., 609. = 0. s. p. c. E. I., p. 246. = C. S..P. C. E. I., 500, sii, 547, " C. S. P. C. E. I., 609. 601, 609, 734, 883. > C. S. P. C. E. I., 775. 763- 74 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. and idle carriage " of Edward Gillman,^ who had claimed to be chief ^ after the untimely deaths of William Paulhill and John Browne. Adam Denton went to the factory ^ with the goods they had brought, and resided there while the ship lay at anchor in the harbour. John Jourdain's movements had, how- ever, been carefully observed by the Dutch, who no sooner knew that he was at Patani, with only two ships, than they sent Henrick Johnson in pursuit of him with three well- appointed men-of-war, manned by 800 men.* On the 17th July, 1619,^ this strong naval division sailed into the harbour of Patani, and, taking up its position, at once attacked the two English vessels. The surprise, how- ever, had not been so sudden but that the president might have set sail ^ and engaged them at sea, where his chances of success might have been greater ; but he disdained to appear to run before his enemy, as his so doing might have damaged, in the opinion of the natives, the reputa- tion his nation had established for courage. He deter- mined, therefore, to fight them in full view of the town, and accordingly never moved from his anchor while they bore down upon him, — conduct which one of Jourdain's contemporaries said deserved " favourable censure," a ver- dict which every admirer of courage will accept. After a " five glasses fight," ' " their noble president," says Marmaduke Steventon, who fought on board the Hound, " was slain in parley " with the Dutch commander, "receiving his death wound, with a musket, under the heart." 8 A more detailed account of how Jourdain met his death was afterwards given by Thomas Hackwell, master of the Sam^pson, in his examination before the East India 1 C. S. P. 0. E. I., 846. Gillman 820, &c., Purcbas, vol. i. (1625), was sent prisoner to England in p. 693. 1621. 5 c. s. p, 0. B. I., 842. t 2 C. S. P. C. E. I., 597. 6 C. S. P. C. E. I., 878. ' 0. S. P. C. E. I., 846. 7 C. S. P. C. E. I., 877. • * 0. S. p. C. E. I., I, 763, 814, 8 c. S. P. C. E. I., 846 and 948. NAVAL FIGHT AT PATANI. 75 Company on 2Sth January, 162 1. It is prefaced by the statement that the two ships had been ' set upon by three ships of the Netherlands with might and mayne/ and that " after fine houres fight, eleuen of the men of the Samson were slaine out-right, and fine and thirtie men of the same ship were wounded, maymed, and dismembered. Captain lordan was Captaine of the Samson, and did hang vp a flagge of Truce, and withall sent Thomas Hackwell .... to the Netlierlanders to parlee about a peace." While Hackwell was so engaged, Jourdain, not suspecting any violence from the Dutch while the negotiations were going on, showed himself on board the Sampson before the main- mast upon the gratings, and the Dutch "espying him, most treacherously and cruelly shot at hini with a Musket, and shot him in the bodie neere the heart, of which wound hee dyed within halfe an houre after." ^ The death of this brave commander ended the contest, and the two ships were seized by the Dutch, the body of their heroic commander being doubtless committed to the same sea that, not many years before, had closed over another of England's great seamen, John Davis, the Arctic navigator. Many men from the two ships were taken on board the Dutch admiral's ship, the Angel, where the wounded were treated most barbarously. Men who had been "much burnt with Gunpowder, and wounded with splinters, and thereby suffered miserable torment," were " most vnchris- tianly and inhumanly caused and forced ... to put their legges downe through the gratings," when they were seized and " tyed to the Capsten Barres, insomuch " that (their) " legges were so swelled by reason of the extraordi- nary hard tying of them, that the Carpenter," when a man was temporarily permitted freedom for a few minutes, had always to be " fetched to make bigger the holes .... to get out their legges againe." ^ 1 Purchas his Pilgrims, vol. i. ^ Ibid. p. 693. 76 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. * Those who did not die under this inhuman treatment were afterwards turned ashore naked, but the masters and carpenters, and other chief men were reserved by the Dutch to be made useful to them, and for' their " triumph aud glory." ^ In the petition of Eobert Hackwell, of the Sampson,^ presented to the East India Company, and preserved in the Public Eecord Office, London, it is stated that he was kept a prisoner by the Dutch about eight months, and the great part of that time in irons, " in which posture they carried him up and downe, from one place to another, and exposing him to the views of the severall natives where they came, as a trophie of their victoryes over the English." Marmaduke Steventon, who was on board the Hownd, writes : * " Eight in the Hound with three great Holland ships. Gourden (Gordon, master of the Hound) as valiant a proper fellow as ever put foot in a ship, notwith- standing his misfortune, when after five glasses fight, their noble president (John Jourdain) was slain. ... In the Sampson, Boulten, merchant, was killed with ten others ; Muschamp had his right leg shot, and after dis- membred,* with some thirty more wounded. The Hound fired through the wilfulness or negligence of Domingo the Portugal, ' but the truth was never known,' and sixteen killed and wounded. So that on 17th July, 1619, was my forced loss both of estate, accounts, friends, and every- thing which might provide any hope of good ; these merci- less Elemings left him but two shilKngs (?) in aU the world ; as for his books, he begged for them almost upon his knees ; was put in irons, and carried from ship to ship, 1 C. S. p. C. E. I., 846 and 948. and Purchas speaks of him under ' In a document (G. S. P. C. E. I., that name, par. 842), giving a list of the men ' C. S. P. C. E. I., 877. released by the Dutch at the * He afterwards petitioned the conclusion of peace, Thomas, and Company, desiring compensation not Robert, Hackwell is mentioned from the Dutch, for the loss of hia as master - mate of the Sampson, leg. C. S. P. C. E. I., p. 498. DUTCH ATTACK ENGLISH FACTORY IN JAPAN. 77 until his liberty was obtained by the Duke of Sernara, ■who commanded his release, in spite of the Dutch com- mander's denial." Some other seamen captured in the Sampson and Round -were carried prisoners by the Dutch to Japan. Their advent there has been recorded by Cocks.'- After de- scribing the arrival of some ships, he says on the loth March, 16 19 (1620), "And last of all came an other greate shipp from Pattania, called the Angell, being the admerall of 3 shipps, which came together and sent of purpose to take the Samson and Hownd, two other English shipps, wherein Capt. Jno. Jourden, the presedent, came cheefe comander; they Hollanders coming upon them on a sudden as they road at an ancor in the roade of Pattania, nott dowbting any such matter, where they took both the said shipps, after tlie death of Capt. Jourden and others. Out of which ship Angell Mr. Wm. Gourden (Gordon) and Michell Payne escaped ashore, by the assis- tance of Mr. Wm. Adames ; otherwais they hadd byn sent captives (as the Dutch terme it) .to the Molucas. Mi'. J. Gourden was master of the Hownd, and Michell Payne carpenter of the Samson. As also a Welchman named Hugh "Williams escaped from them, and came to the English howse the morrow after. By which 3 men, as also by an open letter which I receved from Mr. Adam Denton from Pattania in the Duch shipp Angell, we understand of the proceadinges of the Hollanders against our Nation." The chagrin of the Dutch at the escape of their prisoners soon manifested itself in open hostility, bringing serious troubles on the English factory, which they finally attacked three times in one day, but were fortunately repulsed by the English, aided by some Japanese. So enraged were they at their want of success, that they offered a reward of fifty rials to any one who would kill Cocks, as he had rightly refused to deliver up his countrymen.^ ' Loa. cit., vol. ii. pp. 304-305. 78 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. Probably all tbis misfortune would bave been avoided bad Sir Tbomas Dale remained in tbe Straits of Sunda, after he bad driven tbe Dutch ships to tbe Moluccas, instead of having gone to tbe coast of Coromandel. By de- parting to the Indian coast he gave a respite to the Dutch, in which they " grew so proud and strong that none is so fit to deal with them as devils ; " besides, it is said, " their insolency bad been resisted, their ships taken, coming as they came one by one;" and, moreover, tbe Dutch could not have dispatched ships to Patani to attack the Hound and tbe Sampson} Another officer, however, attributed tbe Company's disaster at tbis time to the dissensions and " crossings "" between Sir Tbomas Dale and Captain Jour- dain, through their striving for superiority .^ Tbe Dutch, after their victory over tbe English at Patani, we are told, were proud, and having the odds of numbers ashore, " did draw their swords upon our people in the street" of Patani, and threatened to burn their houses.^ The queen undertook tbe protection of tbe English against tbe Dutch, but.sbe exacted a large quantity of goods from the Company for so doing. Some of the goods so obtained by tbe queen were presented by her to Jonas Viney, nephew of Captain Jourdain, and to Henry Eosdick ; but Denton seized them, and the Company after- wards approved of his action, as the Court had formerly ordered that all "returns of gifts for presents to any heathen prince " should be for tbe use of tbe Company.* Eichard Welden had been permitted to take ashore at Patani, probably from tbe Hound or Sampson, " a sum of 1 500 ryals, but played away looo in dice." ^ Gambling at this period seems to bave been in high favour with some of tbe Company's servants, and to bave been widespread, as at Ispahan, in the following year, a rule was passed that if any one was discovered gambling in that factory 1 C. S. P. C. E. I., 761. 3 c. S. p. C. E. I., 1140. 2 C. S. p. C. E. I., 908. 4 C. S. P. C. E. I. 1 140. " C. S.P. C. E. I, 1138. PEACE BETWEEN DUTCH AND ENGLISH. 79 all monies so made were to be forfeited and given to the poor, and the offenders were to be dismissed from the Company's table,^ which meant that they were not con- sidered fit associates for reputable men. This vice, how- ever, was not the only foible of those days, as is amply proved by references to lewdness, nameless diseases, drun- kenness, and bastard children, now and again cropping up in the correspondence of the Company's servants. Morality may have had a lower standard in those days than it has now, but, apart from any such consideration, the isolation of these Englishmen in their exile, their surroundings so different from those encompassing their lives in an English home, and the novel temptations to which they were ex- posed, lead charity to be merciful in judging them. George Muschampe had so far recovered, from the loss of his leg in the fight with the Dutch ships, that he was able to leave Patani by the 9th October, 1619, in company with Richard Welden and Edward G-illman, and seventy- two men belonging to the Sampson and Hound. This large company set sail in three prows ^ to inform the fleet of the president's , death and of the loss of the ships, but John Jourdain, the late president's nephew, "William Webb, and John Earie remained behind with Adam Denton. They first went to Jambi, where they left Welden and 44 men,^ and then proceeded on their way to Bantam, but were surprised by the Dutch fleet and carried prisoners to Jakatra.* The Bull, which arrived at Bantam on the 14th March, 1620,8 was hailed with unspeakable joy by all,* as it came as a messenger of peace, announcing that the Dutch and English had once more become reconciled. Had it not come, and had their fleets met at sea, "there had never been such a day amongst Christians," ^ so deadly was ' C. S. P. 0. E. I., 871. men are said to have been left at "■' C. S. P. C. E. I., 846. Jambi. 3 C. S. P. C. E. I., 877. = C. S. P. C. E. I., 948. < C. S. P. C. E. I., 846, 851. In « 0. a P. C. E. I., 878. the latter account only twenty-five '' C. S. P. C. E. I., 842. So ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. the enmity then prevailing between the two nations. But with the advent of Captain Adams of the Bull with the olive branch of peace their passions were willingly quelled, and as a testimony of their gratitude and happiness on so auspicious an event, the English and Dutch generals " feasted each other that day," while the tidings of peace were " proclaimed aboard every ship alt the mainmast, with great joy and content to every man on both sides." ^ But in the general rejoicing the poor prisoners of war were not forgotten, as, after certain agreements had been drawn up, fifty-one Englishmen were released from their miserable captivity,' and the captured ships were re- stored. No more appropriate messenger than the liberated Samp- son could have been selected to carry the good news to Patani, which this vessel did. ^ A sense of security having followed the proclamation of peace, William Webb went to Ligor in May, 1620,* to which place Adam Denton had proceeded before the news of the cessation of hostilities had reached Patani. The object of visiting Ligor was to ascertain whether a trade could not be opened up with the Chinese resident there. These people must have been very numerous to have given rise to such an intention, and were probably not less so than their countrymen at Patani, who, during Sprinckel's tenure of the chiefship of the Dutch factory at that port (161 6), far surpassed in numbers the native population of the country.^ The Chinese, however, apparently re- jected these offers of trade, doubtless wishing to keep all they could to themselves, and the mission was conse- quently a failure. Denton, on his return, asked to be relieved and to be per- mitted to go to England, his time having expired.^ Younf^ 1 C. S. P. C. E. I., 934. 6 After Denton returned to Eng- = C. S. P. C. E. I., 842. land in the James Royal, Sept. iq 3 C. S. P. C. E. I, 851. ,621 (C. S. P. C. E. I., 814), Thomas ' 0. S. p. C. E. I., 851. Jones, who had accompanied him " Reo. de Voyages, t. iii. p. 256. home in the same vessel, deposed on THE 'JAMES ROYAL' AT PATANI. 8i John Jourdain was therefore appointed chief at Patani, with William Webb as his second. In 1620, the Company's ships were calling at Patani to take in "rack" (arrack) and other provisions, and depositing supplies,! -while the captains of other ships were instructed to ply to and fro to surprise the Portuguese, until the English ships sailed to Japan to meet the Manilla fleet. No less than five English and four Dutch ships were to sail from Jakatra to Patani towards the end of May, 1620,^ "and so run along the coast of China for Japan, there to victual, and then to the Philippines, and so for the Moluccas." The James Royal, bound for Japan, was one of these ships ; and Captain Pring, the commander, relates ^ that when he went ashore at Patani, to the English factory, he found Adam Denton and Eichard Welden, who had lately come from Jambi in a prow with certain men of the Sampson, then lying in Patani harbour, this vessel having been restored to the English. He says, " At my comming to the English house, I acquainted Master Denton with the cause of my comming, which was, for Eacke and fresh Victuals, whereof wee stood in great need ; whereupon he presently gave order, to lay out for all things necessarie ; that within six dayes we were fur- nished with sixteene Buts of Eack and Eack-apee, whereof three Buts of Eack-apee, we had from the Butch; which cuKtesie they did us to hasten our dispatch : Beeves, Goats, and Hennes, we had here in plentiful manner. Here also we bought Dammar and Oyle for the trimming of our ships, because I understood it was very deere in Japan." oathtotheDirectorsof theEastlndia - C. S. P. 0. E. I., 843. Company (C. S. P. C. E. I., 11 34) ^ The Second Voyage of Captain that " Denton is a proper merchant, Pring into the East Indies, or a and had done the Company good Relation of the fifth Voyage for the service, and himself good ; his princi- loynt Stocke, &c., consistmg of the pal getting was by good) husbandry Ships James BoyaU, Anne Itoyall, in fitting shirts for mariners, which the Gift, the BuU, and the Bee. yielded him good profit." All under the command of Martin 1 C. S. P. C. E. I., 883. Pring. Purohas, vol. 1. p. 64S. F 82 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. One of these ships, the Unicorn, was " cast away on the coast of China,^ in a most wild hurricane ever felt ; " but aU were saved, and a chest of money, with which they hought two junks to take them to Jakatra ; but one of them "went to Amacou (Macao) of their own accord," but the other arrived at Patani with fifty Englishmen.^ The junk which had gone to Macao, it was supposed, had been captured by the Portuguese, which was very probably its fate, after the treatment the Portuguese had been led to expect by the plying to and fro of the English ships with the intention of seizing their vessels. The accounts conveyed to Patani by these shipwrecked Englishmen of the trade of Macao must have been painted in glowing colours, as it was reported to be a place where the English might settle with great profit. Eichard Cocks,' of Japan, suggested, in the following year, that the fleet " might with little danger, take and sack " the place, as the " King of China " had not allowed the Portuguese to fortify the town, which, if captured by the English, would rain Portuguese trade in these parts of the world. Towards the end of 1620, although the factory at Patani had been visited by the Clove * and by the James Royal, with John Earie* on board, the factors, John Jourdain and William Webb, were complaining of the want of a better supply of goods for trading purposes, and stated that unless this could be ensured, they were uncertain whether the factory could be kept on.^ They had for some time ^ been expressing their dissatisfaction with the conduct of Edward Longe at Ayuthia, who had been reported to be " drunk every day " in the company of the Dutch. And again, 31st January, 1621,* John Jourdain marvelled "that there should be so many complaints of him, , . . not only from the Company's servants, but from the blacks, . . . 1 0. S. P. C. E. I., 829, 939, 947, 6 c. S. P. C. E. I., 917, 1 143. 1014. « C. S. P. C. E. I., 921. 2 C. S. P. 0. E. I., 917. 7 C. S. P. C. E. I., 851. > C. S. P. C. E. I., p. 461. 8 C. S. P. C. E. I., 968. * C. S. p. C. E. I., 883. FACTORY AT PATANI TO BE CLOSED. 83 ■which is a great shame for our nation." Longe was there- fore advised to carry himself in a better fashion towards the people, and to agree better with his own officers. He was also suspected of the dishonesty of paying less than he charged the Company for freight, which, if so, he was told,. " would reap unto himself great disgrace." ^ His relations with the Dutch were also of the very worst kind, as John Dodde, the second factor, had been seized and imprisoned by them, seemingly in retaliation for Longe's action in having kept as prisoners in the English house a Chinaman and two Japanese, whom the Dutch had attempted to rescue.^ Longe wrote to John Jourdain, at Patani, complaining of the " vile carriage of one New- rode, chief factor for the Netherlands Company," while the latter denounced John Dodde as worthy of death.* As time passed, the condition of the factories did not improve, and, in 1 621, the Company's servants at Patani were in a worse state than the factors at Ayuthia; for " they owed a great deal more than they had money in the house to pay for," and could not expect any relief.* The Mxchange sca^L- Peppercorn visited Patani in May, 1621,^ and brought the news that it was intended to dis- solve the factory and to settle in some other place ; and John Jourdain added in one of his letters to Longe,? " it had been well done if it had been dissolved long ago." The Peppercorn was to proceed to Japan from Patani, so that the isolation of the factors at Hirado from all com-* munication with Siam, occasioned by the war between the Dutch and English, in 161 8— 19, was now to be removed. But although Patani and Ayuthia were at no great dis- tance from each other, the factors at these two towns held but little intercourse, as the dispatch of letters between them depended solely on the chance visits of passing ships, Dutch or English. 1 G. S. P. C. E. I., 968. ° C. S. P. C. E. I., 1007, 1012, =" C. S. P. C. B. I., 1074. 1013. » C. S. P. C. E. I., 1099. » C. S. P. 0. E. I., 1013. ' C. S. P. C. E. I., 1051. 84 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. In the Consultation Book kept at Batavia, dated 22nd March, 1622, it is stated that the Council had long since resolved to remove the unprofitable factories at Patani and Siam ; ^ and President Eichard Fursland, writing from Batavia to the Company, on the 27th August, 1622,^ in- formed the Directors that he had sent the Fortune with a small cargo to Ayuthia. The factors there were to sell the goods, and then depart in the Fortune, having first taken leave of the king, and delivered over their house until their return. The Fortune, on its way back, was to remove the factors at Patani. Moreover, orders at this time had also been issued for the removal of the factory in Japan.^ The Fortune, however, was not successful in its mis- sion, as the king of Siam was very unwilling to allow the English to depart until he had received an answer to the letter he had sent by Lucas Antheuniss to " his brother the king of England." The Fortune returned to Batavia with two of the king's gentlemen, carrying a letter from the king and a present. The king desired to continue the league of friendship, and to offer any privileges the English might demand in any part of his country. The Council at Batavia recommended the Company to procure the king's answer to the Siam letters, and to send some gift ; and if the Company wished them to continue the trade with Siam, they could afterwards send factors thither.* They recommended that the following presents should be sent from England, as likely to be most acceptable to the king, viz., " some curious picture of men and women ; a picture of the people and habits of all countries ; and a picture of all wild beasts, which a fair map may suffi- ciently express ; a curious perspective glass, fair and good ; a fair and neat case of pistols; an EngUsh watch; six '■ Consultations at Batavia, dated ' C. S. P. C. E. I., p. 128 &o. March 22, 1622. India OfiBce. * C. S P. C E l' p 110' 0. S. P. C. E. I„ 1622-24, p. 62. • • ■• !-■ EDWARD LONGE PUT TO DEATH. 85 yards of fiue scarlet ; scarlet baize so mucli as will cover his olifant (elephant), which may be some fifteen yards, with any other novelties of no great value." Jourdain, at Patani, had run himself so far into debt for China wares, contrary to commission, that he could not leave the place, and the factors at Batavia consequently expected " to find a bad reckoning of all business passed there by him, he being given over to his pleasure." ^ The Bee^ was sent to carry back the king of Siam's ambassadors, and to bring away all the Company's ser- vants " and remains " from the two factories, and to take " Japan plate " to Patani to pay the debt due to the queen, the cause of Jourdain's detention. It was also resolved to send Japan silver to Siam, and a present to the king of such rarities as might be procured, and to give the two ambassadors goods to the value of Es.200, and to send to the Oyhar Kalong a present of Es.20, and to the king's secretary goods to the value of Es.30 ! In the end of 1623, the Company were informed that the factories of Ayuthia and Patani had been dissolved,^ and that Edward Longe was daily expected at Bantam; but farther on in the same letter it is stated that the Dutch had persuaded the great men to put him to death, and fears were also expressed regarding the safety of the Bee, which had been sent to bring him away ; * and this is the last notice I have found of this ship. This was a memorable year in the history of the East India Company, as it was the year in which their servants were brutally massacred at Amboyna, and in which the factory at Hirado was closed. The Dutch East India Company's servants appear also to have left the country about the same time as the English, as John Coen states in his instructions to his successor, drawn up, on the ist January, 1623,^ that their servants 1 C. S. P. 0. E. I., III. = 0. s. P. 0. E. I., p. 205. 2 Consultations Batavia, dated " 0. S. P. 0. E. I, p. 251. March 22, 1622, in India Office. = C. S. P. C. E. I., p. 99. 86 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. had already been removed from " Battani (Patani), Sangora, and Siam" (Ayuthia); so that the Dutch re- ferred to in the foregoing letter were probably some strag- glers left behind, like Longe himself ; but John Jourdain had gone back to Batavia by December 1624, as his name appears as " returned" in a list of all the factors and mer- chants in the Indies under the command of the President at Batavia. At a General Court of the East India Company, held on the 23rd December 1625,^ the Governor moved that a letter should be procured from his majesty, Charles I., to the king of Siam, and also to the kings of Bantam and Maccassar ; and at a meeting held a month later, it was . resolved to employ Eichard Steele ^ to carry them. He accepted the mission, but as he never went beyond Jakatra, he was recalled towards the end of 1627.* It is recorded that a carpenter had been sent out from England, to the king of Siam, in 1625 ;* but when, in the following year, the President and Council at Batavia ex- tolled Siam as a place that afforded " many precious drugs, deer- skins, varnish, and lead for Japan, also tin at a low rate, and abundance of victual at lower prices than can be imagined,"^ the Court resolved not to be allured to send their factors there, and recorded the opinion that it was a place of little or no use, and was not to be continued.* The Dutch, however, held a different view, and did not remain long absent, as a revolution that happened at Ayuthia, in 1629,^ on the death of King Phra Chao 1 C. S. P. 0. E. I., 1625-29, p. 126. 3 c. s. P. c. E. I., p. 408. 2 C. S. p. C. E. I., p. 141. This * C. S. P. C. E. I., p. 152. appears to be the man who was sent ' C. S. P. C. E. I., p. 154. in 1615-16 on a mission from Aj- ^ C. S. P. C. E. I., p. 263. mere, the place of the Great Mogul, ' In the work entitled " Relation to Ispahan (Purchas, toI. i lib. de la Province du lapon, ecrite en iiii, p. 519 ; see also C. S. P. C. Portugais par le Pfere Erahcois Car- E. I. (1513-1616), 846, 849), and dim de la Comp. de lesvs, Pro- who had a grand project for water- cureur de cette Prouince, Tradvitte works at Ahmedabad in 1618. C. et reueue en Erancois, Paris, 1646," S. P. C. E. I. (1617-21), p. 120; it is said the king'died on the 13th 266, 269. December 1629, p. 177. Crawford REVOLUTION AT AYUTHIA. 87 Soug-Tham, who had reigned from 1602, was witnessed by Joost Schouten,^ who was at that time head of their factory at the capital. Oloangh Thamtray-locq, governor of Tenasserim, a very old man, of great consideration, lost his head for the part he had taken in this outbreak. It seems to have been all over by 1629, as in that year the usurper of the throne, Phra-Ghao PraSathong, was crowned at Ayuthia. Satow has brought together the facts connected with this revolution, having gathered them from Japanese, Siamese, and Dutch sources, and has shown in his valuable contribution to the history of Siam, already quoted in this work, the part the Japanese in Siam, under the leadership of their compatriot, and ompra, Yamada Jizayemon Nagamasa,^ took in the eleva- tion of the usurper to the throne. In 1632-33, the Portuguese were at war with Siam,* and, in the latter year, they blockaded 'the mouth of the Tenasserim river. The beginning of this feud dated from 1624, when a yacht belonging to the Dutch was seized by the Portuguese in the Menam river. This hostile act, in a port considered to be open to all strangers, was brought to the notice of the king of Siam, and hence a grave misunderstanding arose between him and the Portuguese,* which the Dutch did all in their power to intensify ; and it became so bitter, that the Portuguese proceeded to capture the king's ships at sea, the latter retaliating by seizing Portuguese vessels in the Menam, the crews of which were imprisoned. After two years' states that in 1627 a revolution oc- work, published at Singapore Go- curred in Siam, by which a new vernment Printing Office, 1886. dynasty was placed on the throne. " See also Captain J. M. James's Journal of an Embassy to Siam, translation of the Kai-gai-I-den, by vol. ii. p. 142. " Sait6 Masakane. Trans. Asiat. Soc. 1 A true Description of the Mighty of Japan, vol. vii. pp. 191-204 Kingdoms of Japan and Siam, &o. (1879). London, 1663. 8vo. For a Biblio- 3 Besohryving van het Koninsryk graphyof Siam by Satow, see No. 17 Siam, &c., Beschreven door d'Heer of the Straits Branch of, the Royal Jeremias Van Vliet, 1692, p. 49. Asiatic Society, and, as a separate * Van Vliet, oj>. cit. 88 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. confinement they were liberated, on the arrival of an embassy, which ultimately proved to be fictitious. This led to further reprisals, and to the capture of Portuguese ships at the ports of Ligor and Tenasserim,^ in retaliation for which the Portuguese, as has been said, bloc^ded the mouth of the Tenasserim river to prevent Siamese junks entering it. The blockade, however, was raised by the advent at Mergui, overland from the capital, of eight Japa- nese on elephants, commanding a body of Siamese troops disguised as Japanese warriors. Each elephant carried two guns ; and when this masked army came in sight of the Portuguese ships, the Japanese opened a furious can- nonade, which would have speedily sunk them had they not prudently retired.^ Although occasional English interlopers may have gone to Ayuthia and Patani after these factories had been with- drawn, it would appear that the Company's goods were not sent there, except under special permission, as in a letter written at Bantam, on the 17th October, 1634, some person unnamed is reprimanded for having trusted Francisco Pinto to Siam, without the Company's orders, with ten rials of goods, not saleable at Ayuthia. In a list of the merchants employed at Bantam and subordinate factories, dated September 1643, no mention is made of Ayuthia or Patani ; neither do they occur in a list dated 29th December, 1645, nor in another for 1650. A factory had been established at Camboja in 1654, and, in the beginning of the next year, the factors there, viz., Quarles Browne, Thomas Greenway, Henry Hogg, and Francis Callander, reported to Bantam ^ that " Siam goes ^ Fr. Carons, und Jod. Schou- had been left behind, and had been ten, Wahrhaftigen Beschreibungen captured and promised their freedom zweyer maohtigen Konigreiche, if they r^elled the Portuguese. Jappan und Siam, 1663, pp. 323- This ingenious ruse, if true, was of 324. their designing. ' Satow, I. c, pp. 195-197. The =• Letter from the Factors at Cam- Japanese were temporarily expelled boja to Bantam, dated 17th January from Ayuthia in 1633, but these 1655. India Office Records, 0. C, eight warriors were pilgrims who 2443. FACTORS AT CAMBOJA ESCAPE TO AYUTHIA. 89 much beyond this place both for largeness and cheape- ness " of certain goods, and that report " gives that place to bee a Gallant place for tradeing, for hee that brings any champored commodities thether dyes without remidy, as Beju, A^ula (Benjamin and Wood aloes), &c., other com- modityes in great quantityes p'cureable as Elephants teeth, Hydes of all sortes, &c., for Japan and China, Wax, and none of those northern places for trade gives such Justice as they, only this inconvenience, noe comeing to sight the King, his honnour to our remaineing house there (although only 2 of the Comp*' slaves lives or lived in itt) shewes the English is not yett out of his memory, for at all great feasts of ye Dutch when they trim up their house, hee will have ours also soe in the same nature, and yearely hath it repaired, this wee have from the Dutch them- selves." Siam (Ayuthia) appears in a list^ of the factories in which boo'ks had been kept from 1658, but the factory at the capital was not again settled until 1662. In 1659, Camboja had been invaded by the Cochin-Chinese, and the English and Dutch factories plundered, but the factors escaped, having bribed their jailors.^ They contrived to hire a junk, and in it they sought refuge in Ayuthia, where they were received with great courtesy by the king, who fed and clothed them. 1 Ind. Off. Rec. O. C, 2726. ^ Letter from Bantam dated August 13, 1659. India OflSce Eecords. ( 9° ) CHAPTEE 11. TRADE RE-OPENED WITH AYUTHIA. The fugitive factors from Camboja, on their departure from Ayuthia, in 1659, carried away with them a pleasant impression of the capital of Siam, and of the generosity of the king." On their arrival at Batavia, Mr. Eawlins, one of their number, delivered to the Council a message from his Siamese majesty desiring the reopening of commercial relations between himself and the East India Company .^ The attention of the authorities at Surat was directed, about this time, doubtless by the Council at Batavia, to the importance of Ayuthia as a place of trade. They accordingly took steps to reopen communications with the merchant king, and selected the ship Hopewell to pro- ceed to the Menam under the command of Eichard Blad- well,^ the merchandise in the vessel being placed under the charge of their factors, John South, Thomas Cotes,* and William Andrews. The vessel sailed from Surat in the end of 1660,* or the ^ Ba,ntaia letter, 13th Aug., 1659. cillor at Bombay in 1669, and second ^ In the list of meroliants em- Councillor, in 167 1, with Phillip ployed at Bantam and subordinate Gyfford as first. He is described as factories, September 1643, a Bichard " a civil man of good abilities," of Bladwell appears as the last of six " sober life and conversation, and persons mentioned as on the ship Wil- very able to serve," &c., and " ex- liam. In another Bantam list, dated perienced as well to the southwards December 29, 1645, Richard Blad- as the northwards." Gyfford and well is the eighth out of thirty em- he, however, had their full share of pIoy& of the Company, and is entered the superstitions of the times, as they as assistant to the warehouse-keeper ; condemned a man at Bombay, in but in a list for 1650, his name 1671, to be burned as a wizard. See does not occur. Appendix B. ^ Thomas Cotes was third Couu- * Surat Consultations 1661. THE 'HOPEWELL' IN THE MEN AM. 91 beginning of 1661, and on the ist September ^ of the latter year John South wrote to John Lambton at Surat that they had been troubled with a " bad sayle and an unexperienced pilott," and had in consequence not reached Banda until the loth April, 1661. After remaining there about ten days, and passing by Batavia, South records, " our Worp*"- Bladwell would goe to see y" towne," where they spent some days. Bladwell is spoken of as having "carryed himselfe all y° voyage in such a scornefuU high of pride that divele himselfe could not doe more." Owing to this visit to Batavia, and the slowness of their progress, they had to abandon their intention to visit Japan, and they accordingly altered their course, on ist May, and made directly for Siam ; but their headstrong captain took his ship " such a way," South believed, " never ship went before." By the beginning of June, they got over the har of Siam, and after sending up to the city, "it being 100 miles up," the king, it is stated, " gladly forgave them the old debt under hand and seale," and so they " returned into y^ old factory howse againe ; but Bladwell ^ made us stinke in y" nostrills of all nations ; and all y' greate men sweare he is rotten at harte, hopinge next yeare, when factory is seatled, he may not continew here." South re- solved to remain at Ayuthia that year, and afterwards to return to Surat, for a month or two, and then "backe againe heather," which, he observes, would be " as tedious as an Europe voyage." He informed his correspondent that he had " sent a considerable estate again for Macaw from hence, meetings with a good friend here, w""^ will be here again in February next ; . . . since o'' beinge here 1 On a part of this letter is written, of Alexander Davison, and placed " The .... Coppie I sent you the in irons on board the Convertine, p™o October, via Tenassare, by a and afterwards sent as a prisoner to good friend." Ind. Off. Keo. 0. C. London. Another of his aliases was 2895. Agga Mohamed. He engaged with 2 This man, on his return in the Cotes at Siam in private trade, and Hopewell to Surat, escaped from jus- more extensively on his own account, tiee to Bussora ; but on his return after the return of the Hopewell to thence, iu the end of 1662, he was Surat ; for this reason he was made seized at Kajapore, under the alias a prisoner. 92 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. I S saile of Duch have bin here, and weekly goe and come, and now are arrived from Macassa 5 galles, and from Jehor and Acheene 3 vessells. . . . 'tis absolutely the best Scale I have bin at in India." So impressed was South with the importance of Siam as a place of trade, and of the money that could be made there, that he sug- gested to Lambton^ at Surat that he should get one of his brothers made second at Siam, and recommended him to send his brother Eichard, as being " a notable plodder and quicke, and very fitt for " such a place as Siam. The Dutch chief at Siam he described as " a notable fox ^ of twenty years' standing ; " and Eichard Lambton he recom- mended to bring his wife with him, as the place was peace- able, and " the Duch havinge wife and children and store of women in his house." Besides there were 300 to 400 families of Portugals, with their wives and children. " Mr. Cotes," he wrote, "now stayes here as a pawne," and that he (South) would rather reside in Siam than in any other place in India, but that there will be trouble at the begin- ning, and the old factory would have to be changed, and a new house buUt in a more convenient place. The foregoing account of the voyage of the Hopewell ^ was ^ During the above period there Cassa, a slight white Sallu, from i to 5 were three brothers of the name of m"'?!^''^!!^*'' ^t^°®' ^ t•a^h■^ a 11 T UA i o i • T T- Tf 1- MuUmulI, another sort of White Sallu. Jjarabton at burat, viz. John, Kich- Sabriam, a very fine white Sallu, 5 or 6 ard, and Ralph, and, as their mother hands broad. is spoken of as Lady Lambton, they •^"''^' '""'' hTa3.d stripes ; the middle were probably conLcted with th^ Ttlir ro^fr^pfe^p.'ieTol: ^^ '^='=^' family of the Earls of Durham. In Berry, a sort of thinn Taffatie, yellow the Court Minutes for the 9th Sep- colour best acceptable, tember, 1664, it is recorded that Lougees of aU sorts very vendible at this T , T y ^ ._ J (■ = ^ . port, those longers of which Richard Lady Lambton requested " y= Court Bladwell hath a muster by him. to renew their orders to Sir George Brampore is probably Berham- Oxinden concerning her sonnes at pore, which was famous for its silk Suratt, m their next missive thither, manufactures. Cassa, in the Diet, and that she might have the favour Univ. de Commerce, &e., par J. of putting a letter mto y= Com- Savary de Bruslons, 4 vols., Copen- pany's packquett." hagen, 1759, is classed as a cot- - This was probably Van Vliet. ton cloth from Bengal. Buchanan » The factors sent to Surat m the Hamilton, in his description of HopeweU the following list of " goods Pumeah in the " History, Antiqui- vendible " at Ayuthia :— ties, Ac, of Eastern India " (edited Brampore Sattin, white, of 5 hands broad, by M. Martin), 1 838, vol. iii. p. 327, THOMAS COTES RECALLED FROM AYUTHIA. 93 sent to Surat in the vessel itself, which sailed from Bangkok a few days after' the letter was written, leaving John South and Thomas Cotes to manage the Company's affairs. Thomas Cotes also corresponded with the Council at Surat. His first letter has not been found among the records at the India Of&ce, but the President's and Coun- cil's reply to it exists, and in it they express their regret at his " necessitated stay " at Ayuthia, " which they heartily wished had been 6therwise." He was informed, now that the Hopewell had returned to Surat, that the voyage had been a loss to the Company, and that they had but little encouragement to repeat the experiment ; and as they had no intention to do so until they had orders from the Court of Directors, he was instructed to return to Bantam in a Dutch ship, of which there were many coming and going between that port and Ayuthia. Before taking his depar- ture he was to secure a house and any debts due, and was to inform the " vissiers " that the Honourable Company had been advised of the king's favour, and that their answer would be communicated to him. On his arrival at Bantam, he was fully to inform the Company's servants there of the trade, " that it may be settled to their content." ^ Cotes, in his letter of 2nd December 1662, informed the President at Surat of the goods adapted to the Ayuthia market,^ and then proceeded to say, " The money left in my mentions hhasa as a beautiful white 1 This letter was signed by Mat- calioo made in that district. It is thew Andrews, the President, and probably derived from the Arabic by John Lambton, member of Coun- hMss, signifying special, particular, oil. Matthew Andrews was deposed royal. Atlas, " an obsolete word for from the Presidentship, in 1662, and satin, from the Arabic atlas, still dismissed the service for infringe- nsedi'n German " (Yule-Biirnell, I. c, ment of his bond of ;^lo,ooo. John p. 29) ; see also Savary's Diet. Univ., Lambton, who brought the charges &o., vol. i. p. 259. 1 Berry, this pro- against him, died soon afterwards, bably refers to the " draps de Berry," a thick woollen cloth called after the = ^^^'^t^, ^^"^ * ^ French province {previous to I789),in jj^^j Bji-ania^ not very course. which it was manufactured (Univ. Red S'alue, fine, and some wi' Gold ?;f Z^ S'^.w^"'^ .°TT°%,^7 ChTnts Aohma ; y ground red. MalachyPostlethwayt, 2vols., 1774, g^j^^^ g^^ ^j^ite or broune open- vol.j., article" Berry "). Longees,see weaved a good quantity. Loonglee, Yule-Burnell Gloss., p. 396. Lungees, strip* white and blew, and 94 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. hands to defray my charges is neare expended, heing at greater charges y? I did expect, y* I shall be forc'd to take up of y! King what money I shall have occasion for. I have most earnestly desired to leave to goe upon a Dutch shipp for Malacca, and from thence to Surat, yf King would not grant my request till such time as I have ord? from Sur?, he being very desirous y? y! English should come and reside here.^ It was unknowne to y* King y* wee were abus'd here last yeare, y' if ord° comes t'is pro- bable wee may call y' Vizier to ace' he being now put out of his place, and a very civill man in his roome. If your wor"? shall think it fitting to settle a factory here most businesse may be effected w*|'out any of y? king's Viziers. In Decembf next I doe expect yo^ Ifes from Tenacere (Tenasserim), and shall accordingly follow yof ord?, but in case If^ doe not come to hand I shall indeavour all possible meanes to get away. I am all alone, and live a disconsolate life here, w°? makes me weary of myself to be out of imploymen?, I hope yo^ worP have taken some ord? for my inlargem?, for had Mr. Bladwell been true to me, I had never staid here. Mr. South hath been here ever since yf shipps Ropewells departure' for Surat, and is now going on a Dutch ship to Battivia. Padre Mason arriv'd here in Ma"!' last from Macoe (Macao), and was intended for Bantam, but God disposed of him othe^ wise, for on Michaelmasse broad' y« more in request. Oavary classes Birams (Bevramwe, Long cloths and most sorts of doth Byrame, or Byrampaut, according to from ye coast of Bengali the Yule-Burnell Glossary) among Calevelo factory would famish y» iUo r.nf4-„„ .t a "'""""'J^ »""""S place Trery well w"" open weaved rjj . °°™" ^'"^=> ^^^ ^f Yule says, salues, coloured chints for Inngees, their exact character is unknown, and some other sorts. For a short note on the obscure fac- Stript cloth as Niccanees but made tnrrr Iiot-o rr^^-^^t-i i ^l i. i ^ i of all cotton and sevru colours, an * 7 l^^re mentioned as that of CaJe- ell broad, or very near. '^^'S'' ««« Appendix C. T, j^ I f. I jt, -j-j.^"" '^"^"^ *™™ Surat to the Baft, bafla, or taffetas is derived Company, dated 26th March 1667 (according to Yule-Burnell, Glos- after Cotes had returned to India it sary) from the Persian bafta, woven, is stated that he had been sent 'as "a kind of cahco made especially second to Siam, and had been de- at Baroch. Sayary (Diet. Univ. tained there by the king's earnest de Commerce, t. 1. p. 294), says an- importunity. THE 'MADRAS MERCHANT' SAILS FOR BANGKOK. 95 day he depted yf life. In August last I reced a letter from y! factory of Macassar, -w"?^ I have here enclosed a copy. T^ King of Syam expects those puttolaes to be made according to those patternes Mr. Bladwell carried to Sur', if not to be procured those patterns to be returned." The first attempt made by the factors of the East India Company to establish a regular trade between the Coroman- del Coast and Ayuthia took place in 1663, when a ship was sent to the capital of Siam. The necessity of some such step as this had doubtless been brought home to them by the energy displayed by the Dutch.^ On the 19th of March of that year, the Madras Merchant, Cobham Doves, commander, with Eobert Bearing as chief merchant, was sent to Bangkok;^ but the ship did not arrive at its destination until the year was nearly gone. The factor at Masulipatam was instructed to inform Mr. Cotes, by way of Tenasserim, that the ship had been sent, and that he was to return in it ; and as he was a servant of the Surat factory, his presence at Ayuthia would be no longer necessary, because the president and council at Surat had resolved not to continue to trade with Siam. As the vessel sailed away from Madras on this first venture ^ In a Memorandum ot 1664 pre- Rice for Metchlipatam, many sorts served in the Public Record Office, of clothing are sent into Pegu, a London, and entitled "The Trade Port in y* Bay which returnes of India as 'tis now maninadged by Rubies and readie money, the coine the English Company of Merchants or currant money of the place, allsoe tradeing in some parts of it, is very Martanans Jarres." But in a re- invallid in comparison of what is port signed by Van Dam on behalf droue by our neighbour nation the ot the Directors of the Dutch East Dutch," it is said: "The trade on India Company, and written on the the coast of Chormandel is drove 22nd October of the same year as out of the Bay of Bangala upon the the foregoing report, it is said, on same course (by the Dutch), pro- the other hand, that the trade of fitably furnishing them with Rice, Tenacerim, and also of Gwdiansa- Butter, and Sugar, with other com- Zaraj' (Junk-Ceylon), was then of little modities there not attainable ; as importance. Thevenot's Relations alsoe, Bangala employes many ves- de Divers Voyages Curieux,&c., Vol. sailes to the Maldivas and Cape ii. Art. 3. Paris, 1696. Commerin for a shell called Chaunke, ' Letter from Fort George to and to the former for Couries, both Surat, 2d April 1663. there currant money, sending only 96 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. to Ayuthia, the Council's anxiety was not so much for the preservation of the good ship from the danger of tem- pests, but that " God would send her safe delivery out of the Dutch's clutches," if they should happen to have war with that nation. A few months later, the Bantam authorities were also contemplating opening up a trade with Ayuthia, and to embrace at the same time the commerce of Camboja, Tonquin, and Macao. The Court of Directors, however, favourably impressed with the news which had reached them of the reception of the Hopewell, and guided by the experience gained in that trading venture, informed the authorities at Madras that they considered the goods of the Coromandel Coast as most proper for the Siam markets. The Siam trade was then placed under Fort St. George. The authorities there, who had some time before been called upon by the Court to report on th^ trade of the country, wrote to the Directors on the loth December, 1663, in the following terms : — The Moors supply Siam with goods, which they send " vid Tennassarre, but they carry them 40, dayes by land, and pay severall customes, and are at about 50 p*"- and charges more then y? goods y^ goe by shipping, soe y^ if wee used y': Trade, wee shall quickly beate yf out ; The Dutch, it is true lade many shipps from thence, but y° most of them carry provisions for Malacca and Batavia, the rest are imployed w"' Tynn, Elephants Teeth, Lead and Sapan Wood, There is allsoe brought unto the place by shipping all sorts of South-Sea com"-. Silks, Gold and pes. of §■ Sug', Dopp, Tuttanague, Amber-Greece, Muske, Agula, Beniamen &c. The times of their Arrivall are viz'-, in November and X*""- y« Jappan ships in Jan" y* Tunkeen ships in Fieb"" and Ma'ch y** Cochin, China, Maccau, and Maneella ships ; when Mr. Blad- well was theire, there was 15 sayle of Dutch shipps, besides their Jappan fleete which always as they returne HOSTILITY BETWEEN DUTCH AND SIAMESE. 97 south there for provisions and give newes. This is as a rela- tion of the Trade of Syam as at p'°' wee are ahle to give." ^ The Eecords in the India -Of&ee do not now appear to contain any documents relating to the coj^dition of the Company's affairs at Ayuthia on the arrival of the Madras Merchant, beyond a letter from Mr. Bearing, written shortly after the vessel anchored in the roadstead of Bangkok. The ship had remained only for a short time in the Menam river, as it had returned to Fort St. George by the middle of the year, 1664, Mr. Eobert Bearing having been left behind at Ayuthia. Thomas Cotes, and pro- bably John South, returned in the ship, in accordance with their instructions. At the time Mr. Bearing's letter was written we learn from it that the Butch lay at the " bar of Siam," and had commenced hostilities against the king. Thomas Cotes also carried back similar news to the President and Council at Surat, who seemed to believe that the enmity of the Butch to the Siamese had been prompted by jealousy of the success of the English Company at Ayuthia, as the Butch were not credited with " kindness to any prince " who encouraged any other nation but themselves. The causes which led up to this war are now difficult to ascertain. The Butch had given out at Batavia that they were not only at war with Siam, but also with Acheen, and that they had entered into an agreement with the king of Java not to permit Portuguese ships to trade with Siam. The authorities of the East India Company at Port St. George being at this period intent on cultivating amicable rela- tions with the king of Siam, and at the same time not wishing to offend the Butch, applied to Sir George Oxinden for instructions as to how they were to act under the cir- cumstances, seeing they had not received any official inti- mation from the Butch of their having declared war against 1 Ind. Off. Eec. 0. 0. 2983. 98 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Siam ; but what resulted from their appeal to Sir George cannot be traced. The Dutch were acting in. a very high-handed manner. An incident that occurred in April, 1664, illustrates this. A ship belonging to the king of Siam, laden with elephants, arrived in Madras Eoads, and there landed the huge ani- mals, notwithstanding the difficulties and dangers arising from the heavy surf. When the Dutch governor of Puli- cat became aware of this, he sent in a protest to the Presi- dent and Council at Fort St. George, declaring that their having allowed the elephants to be landed at Madras was a contravention of the agreement between the two com- panies, as the Dutch were then at war with Siam. As the ship and its cargo were consigned, not to the English, but to the king of Golconda, and as it carried a Dutch pass, the protest was held to be invalid. That the Siamese were resenting the hostile attitude of the Dutch was reported at Pulicat by a ship from Tenas- serim piloted by a Dutchman, who with two or three of his countrymen had escaped imprisonment at Tenasserim by the intervention of some Portuguese. The authorities at Masulipatam were, in May, 1664, corresponding with Fort St. George regarding the removal of the Company's effects from Ayuthia. They preferred to bring them away overland by Tenasserim ; but the Madras people, while they had not resolved to undertake the settling of the factory, suggested that a decision should be postponed until August, when the Masulipatam officials would be able to say how many ships were likely to sail from Tenasserim ; and it would appear from the Memo- randum on the Trade of India, in 1664, already referred to, that a considerable traffic at this period also existed be- tween Bengal and Tenasserim, as it is recorded that a quantity of cloth found its way thither in "junks of some bignesse full laden," and that the goods were sent " from thence by rivers to Syam 8 dayes way." The resolution of the Madras authorities not to remove TREATY BETWEEN SIAMESE AND DUTCH. 99 the factory at once irritated the Dutch, who informed the factors at Masulipatam that they did not intend " to trans- port any person or goods of theirs to Siam,. or to hold any correspondence with the king of Siam," an intimation implying that they expected the East India Company to follow their example.. The President and Council at Port St. George replied "that no pretence whatever would hinder them from trading to any port or places where they had factories, although the Dutch might he at war with the Governments of those countries." This decided expression of their policy on the part of the East India Company, and the dread the Dutch had that, if the English persevered with their factory,, they might lose their hold on the trade of Siam, of which they had been masters for many years, doubtless contributed to bring about the peace concluded between Holland and Siam, on the 22nd August, 1664. By this treaty the Siamese undertook to punish all who interfered with the Dutch in their mercantile transac- tions, and accorded them permission to trade throughout their kingdom on payment of the established duties. In order to secure the trade of Japan, the Dutch introduced into the treaty a clause by which the king bound him- self not to employ " Chinaes " in the navigation of his ships to that country.^ The Siamese of the banks of the Menam were not seamen enough to hazard their lives and ships on the dangerous voyage to "the land of the rising sun ; " the intercourse, therefore, between the two countries was carried on by Chinese and Japanese. By this section of the treaty the Dutch therefore virtually secured to themselves the Siamese share of the Japanese trade. By another stipulation of the treaty they also obtained the monopoly of the purchase of hides,^ as it was 1 Letter from Bantam to Surat, ^ jj, ti^se days immense numbers dated 8th May, 1 666, signed by Wil- of buffaloes and deer were destroyed, liam Tumour, James Browne, Robert both in Siam and Cambodia, for the Hopper, and Hamon Gibbon. 0. C. sake of their skins, which were ex- 3172. ' ported chiefly to Japan. Probably loo ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. agreed that they should have the exclusive right of buying them from the king. By another provision of this one-sided treaty, the king undertook to supply the Dutch annually with 10,000 pecul of sappan-wood. There was, however, a still more remarkable clause than any of those already indicated, and this was one which gave immoral Dutchmen, who had an affection for their ill-begotten offspring, " liberty to carry their bastards " to the capital of Siam ; ^ a very doubtful privilege so far as the Siamese were concerned. After this treaty had been concluded, the Council at Bantam wrote to the Directors in London^ as follows: ".We understand that if the king of Syam by our king shall be protected from the Dutch we shaU have the Trade of his countrey, and see doubtless will the king of Camboja the handsome animal, Schomburgh's deer, C. canibojensis, formed a con- siderable percentage of the victims, which may probably account for its rarity at the present time. And I would here enter a protest against the indiscriminate slaughter to which O. ddi has been, and is still, subjected on the plains behind Moulmein, where it is being slowly but surely exterminated. At Camboja the Dutch employed some of the principal native mer- chants to obtain the skins of the buffaloes and deer, giving to each a quantity of cloth representing a cer- tain value in hides, to be supplied to them by a certain time. To procure the hides the merchants adopted the following course : — " They with this cloth intrust many hundreds of poore men (w? have not Rice to eat for the time of hunting without they be trusted), these about July, when the country of Camboja is all overflowed with the ffreshes that falls from the high land of Champ's being to the westward of it and the high land of Syam to the northward goes'down the Kiver to the plaenes, where in- finites of wild Bufieloes are who feeding for this tyme of the yeare, of that that growes in the water, in 2odayestyme their hoofes falloffthat when they come out of the water they can scarce stand then with their lances and poysoned Arrows they kill them for their hides and homes their hides they dry, and when they have got the quantity they conditioned for, bring them up, to one of the fewer, their Trustee, for their Deere when the waters is hight they fly to those high places the water overflowes not, and are soe numerous the countrey people with their doggs, kill multitudes of them ; for their skins, dry them and allso when they have their quan- tity bring them up."- — Letter from Bantam to the Cowpany^ London, dated December 31, 1664. 0. C. 3041/2. ^ Letter from Bantam dated 8th May, 1666. 2 Letter dated 31st, December, 1664. O. C. 3041/2. PROPOSALS TO REOPEN TRADE WITH JAPAN. loi as also PuUimbam and Benjar for the way now of the Dutch is by their great fleets soe to terrifie most kings in these seas, that they for f eare not for love makes this con- tract." From this it would appear that the treaty of 1664 was exacted at the cannon's mouth. The Company's servants at Bantam, to whom doubtless the trading exploits of Cocks, Adams, and Eaton were well known, resolved to make an effort to reopen the trade with Japan by Siam and Camboja, and they con- sequently wrote to the Directors in the last-qiioted letter to the following effect : — " Two shipps for a tryall will be sufficient the one about 4 the other two hundred tunns, they must bee buHt very strong (for the seas to the Eastward of Macaw will try the honesty of the carpinter), and keepe a good wind to weather the many shoulds and islands which destroys many A Dutch shipp. The tyme you have pitched upon the beginning of September, is soone enough to saile out of the Downes, for then by the blessing of God she may in Efeb. arrive in Bantam, at which place if you please to inorder their takeing in their proportion of Pepper they have tyme enough to doe it before the westerly winds come in, except you will have them beat it — against the monthzoone to Jamby in case the Europe shipps have carried away your pepper (but before you resolve to send please give us notice that pepper may be pro- vided) soe that if as before, you have not a ffactory settled either at Syam or Camboja, or both, a yeare before to provide against your shipps comeing, you may bee frustrated in your getting any comodityes for doubtless they will be bought up at Syam. . . . The Dutch sends shipps yearly to both places and brings comodityes to Batavia. " In 1661 at the desire of S'. Tho. Cambrelan (Chamber- lain), then Deputie your agent did present him, with a breife relation of Camboja, and its trade as allso the Trade of Syam, the trade of Japan and Chyna, and the depen- I02 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. dance the Trade of Camboja and Syam hath on the other two especially Japan- .(Signed) QtjarlIis Browne. Philip TbaVors. Tho. Stevenson. Thos. Hareinston. James Beownb." In 1664-65, Sir Edward Winter, President at Fort St. George, was superseded,i and Mr. Foxcroft appointed in his stead ; but he took the law in his own hands, and cast Mr. Foxcroft into prison, on what afterwards proved to be a false charge of sedition, and kept him there for three years. This, however, was not accomplished without resort to physical foyce, in which Mr. Foxcroft, his son, and Mr. Sambrooke were wounded, and Mr. Dawes killed.^ This disgraceful mutiny Sir Edward Winter had brought about in his own interests, and apparently to give him time to realise the proceeds of his various private adven- 1 In a letter from I"ort St. George, traveller in the middle of the seven- dated December 5, 1664, to the teenth century. Honourable Company, it is men- Since this incident happened, tioned that a Mr. Buckridge had Colonel Yule's second volume of proposed to send the George and the Diary of William Hedges has Martha to Tenasserim, but that the appeared, and in it (p. cccliv. ) Council had opposed it. From Sir there is reproduced an " Extract of George Birdwood's Report on the Commission and Instructions sent Old Records in the India Office we to Mr. Nicholas Buckridge at the learn (p. 38) that this vessel was Fort," dated i6th December 1663. commissioned by the Company on Colonel Yule states that this " docu- the nth July, 1662, and that the ment orders Mr. Buckridge to in- ship was commanded by Captain quire into certain reports of abuses Bgmont. In October, 1888, while alleged to have been committed by walking along Little Russell Street, Sir Edward Winter in his agency Bloomsbury, from the British Mu- at Fort St. George, and thus throws seum, my eye caught sight of an some light on the motives of his old MS. in a shop-window, bearing extraordinary coup d'itat." This is the signature of Mr. Oxinden (after- doubtless the Mr. Buckridge who wards Sir George Oxinden, Presi- was interested in the George and dent of Surat), Councillor at Fort Martha, and whose papers I found St. George. I went in and asked in Bloomsbury, two centuries and a to see the MS., and found it to be quarter after the coup d'itat at Fort a collection of documents in English St. George. There are frequent and Oriental languages, the property notices of Mr. Buckridge in the Court of Mr. Buckridge, who was described minutes, extending over many years. in pencil, on the MS., as a great ^ See Hedges' Diary, vol. ii, p. colxxviii. WILLIAM ACWORTH AT AYUTHIA. 103 tures in trade. From a letter written from Fort St. George to Surat by Mr. George Foxcroft immediately- after his release from imprisonment, it appears that Sir Edward Winter and some others had been interested in the Siam adventure of the Madras Merchant, and that they had sent Mr. Francis Nelthrop to Siam to look after their affairs. The following letters explain the incidents connected with these events and the fate of Dearincr.i The first, from William Ac worth, dated Siam, 23rd October 1666,^ and addressed to the Eight Worsp. Sir Geo. Oxinden, at Surat, explains how the writer happened to be at Ayuthia and what he suffered. It says : — " After presentation of our respects to your Worp? this sure conveyance of a friend of mine, obliged mee to render to your Worsp the transaction since my unfortunate re- solution for theis partes, being in february i66| bound for Achein in Mr. Jarseys * Euby rfotwithstanding newes of a Dutch warr, resolved the haszard of being a prisoner in Batavia rather then continue amongst those unhappie differences at the Coast ; endeavouring a voydance of them, have since encountred a Labrinth of troubles as your Wors" may perceive here after ; " The 1 5 of March with a vessayle of S"' Edward Win- ters, in whom was one Jn° Stanford arrived together at Tanasare, bee inordered by S'' Edw"? Winter to receive his parte of the Madras Merchants Cargoe, after the Governour deteyning of us two months there till the time of the Raines pretending Kings goods must goe first ; wee embarked in small boats, eight dayes passage up the Eiver thence to take Carts, being forced to pich our owne tents of Bamboos and ' In the beginning of 1666, the lately come over from those parts, authorities at Port St. George were whether true or false, cannot tell, not aware that Bearing was dead, but makes many dubious of his in- as in a letter, dated the 9th Jauu- tentions to come hither." ary, the President and Council wrote ^ Ind. Off. Rec. 0. C. 3197. to the Company that they had ^ This is the William Jearsey of " great expectations of Mr. Robert whom Colonel Yule has given a Bearing returning from Syara," but short notice. Diary of William that " the various reports of several Hedges, vol. ii. p. exoix. 104 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Kejans, in a small Village called Jallenga, where all Travel- lers overland takes carts from Tanasare to Syam. " By reason of the Kings goods here, deteyned one month and half in the Eaines, and lying not above a foot from the moyst ground, gave all of us such feavers and fluxes being eight of us in Company, did not thinke half of us should live to Syam, it pleased God all of us arrived in July following safe, there wee found Mr. Bearing in per- fect health, in short time after three of them ended their dayes. Mr. Deering falling sick dispatches Mr. Stanford with a considerable quantity of Goods and Money, takeing all the Goods he bought at unreasonable rates, nay 600 Cattees or thirty thousand pf f of the King at 2 p. c. p. month interest consign'd it soUy to Sf Edward which will adde fewell to the fire; Mr. Stanford no sooner in pos- session, but presently repaires to Tanassarre, leaving Mr. Deering disparately ill, and me upon recovery, not 9 dayes after to my great griefe departs Mr. Deering, leaving mee unknowne to thequalitie of the people, or insight of their conditions, which since have sadly Experienced, now patience must cure my misfortunes ; the King issueth out his Chopp to take charge of the factorye, sorely agf my will, being alone forced to obey with ; few dayes after in presence of the Portug^'!' Padrees, which were chief of noate in theise parts, took a view of his papers can find not any will which much troubled mee ; found abundance of Debtors near twenty, five thousand P? | I veryly be- lieve these debts allmost broke his heart, thinking of no other remidie, took use this money of the King to discount those debts. " Sy I demanding theis Debts, fores't mee to complaine to the Justice of the Countrey, nothing will they doe upon fair meanes, notwithstanding bills under their owne hands, denye their debts swearing one for another, I meane Portuguzes if may believe report this ; two years have bin upwards of a Thousand maintained p. Mr. Deering lending them money, have made several petitions to the Bercalong, nothint^ but ACWORTH IMPRISONED. 105 faire promises, nay a great many not able to pay, the interest runns high, all I advised Mr. Jearsy in March last, without the debts recovered not halfe enough to satisfye the King. " In Aprill arrives heer one John Seale from Tanasare S^ Edw*:' servant thinking to gett more for ST Edwards Acco^ and enordered to take charge of the Factory, which should have been gladly surrendered upon sufiB- cieht order upon a short time after his arrivall hapned a Df of Mr. Deerings, one Jn? de Silva de Gama p. name, a Portuguese owed more a thousand pieces of |, was mur- dered in his chamber, the Portuguese very privatly gives information to the Bercalong,^ that it was done by one of my people and by my order this young man whom they accused was my linguister, thinking thereby to have swallowed up what was in the factorye ; nay tould the Bercalong that by reason of our Kings marriage they could have taken charge of the factory, having complayned severall times and noe justice, being told the King had great respect for our Nation, in the factorye discharged severall Armes, which the King heard, having a petition readie to deliver for what reason did fire gunns, which the Berca- long well knew, least should come to trouble takes Councell, and when asked by the King for what fired those gunns, said I had killed a Portuguess, and would have done the like by him, without shewing the least cause for it, for this so enraged endeavours together with portuguess to take away my Life ; being sent for to come to him, not mistrusting of his devised intentment with a petition, no sooner entered his Court yard but seised on by Cap* Burre de Pino, accompanied with 12 Portugueses, and more 300 Siams (some of them Mr. Deerings D?) lay- ing all of them violent hands on mee, as if would have destroyed mee that moment, demanding for what; said, for killing a man, well knowing my inocencie, not at the ^ In Siamese, PKra-Uang, a strictly, snperintendent of trade, treasurer, who discharged the func- Satow, I. t., p. 176, footnote. tions of foreign minister, or more io6 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. least disdaunted, asked for my Accusars, one and all my Accusars using base language, much contented ; 'within a short time comes the Bercalong, after one hours dis- coursed, and Councell taken, I call'd, asked who fir'd the gunns, answer'd my selfe and servants, and for what reason deleiver'd my petition, which was accepted, this done I desired to know if hee had enordered me to be so affronted, or charged me with the death of the man, or because I was alone, and that, that afront to mee was nothing but representing our whole Nation being alone, here after must have sattisfaction, not answering anything, was dismist, after he sent a great Officer with loo men, to carry me to prison, which indeed was cruell, if it had been a haynous Mallafactor to bee thought of, could not have done more, find severall prissons served on me very cruell, the young man my company keeper presently after my committing to prison, sent for, cruell torments serv'd on him, asking whether he would confess that by my order he kild the man, none accusing but a Coffree his owne servant, whom that blood thirsty Portuguess had hired, as afterwards was confessed, this done and no con- fession, was tendered Tigers to be devoured alive, then to the Ellephants, then to be spitted alive. It pleased God he resolved for the truth to dye, or to pass whatever afSiction served on him, knowing his Inocencie, the young man not above i8 years of Age, was cruelly marterized beyond relation, nay God is just, the chiefe accuser standing by seing those cruell torments served on him, it pleased God so to afflict him that he narrowly escaped life, this done, a poor Cooly served w* in that factory had all his Bones broken, sharp pinns runn under his nayles of his fingers and toes, he will never recover it, his fingers rotting off, all would not doe, af t"^ 1 2 dayes imprisoment released mee, Mr. Seale, S'' Edward Winters expecting to end his dayes ; and about 2 days after my returne home the 10 July Mr. Seale dieth ; At my releasing was sent for by the Ber- calong, being ashamed of his Actions, cryes pecavie, feeds me ENGLISH PRESTIGE AT STAKE. 107 ■with sweet words, said the King was angry for firing the Armes in the factory, and that I was imprisoned for nothing else, your Wors? judge the devellishnes of the people could not obteine their wicked intent, would feed mee with many complements, hut if one day not satisfaction for this unjust action, t'will bee ashame for the English to have trade here, the whole country cry shame of this base Act, as the bearer hereof will informe you : only for firing a fowling peece or two, for to demand justice, never being advised by any, that should not discharge or cleanse our Armes (on our own ground) with only powder. " In September last arrived Mr. Tho. Goodyer, Purser of a small vessell of Mr. Jearsies, was taken in Aprill last by the Dutch, and carried to Batavia, he escaping in a Prow to Bamtam from thence hither, tells mee that Mr. Browne and his wife are dead, Mr. Turner succeeding. The Dutch report our Eiver to be blockt upp, a great plague in England, and that our Fleet could not come out, this is usuall to them. "There came but 2 ships hither this yeare, tho one went for Jappan, and the other came to lade Eice for Batavia, they have within a few days lost a shipp upon this Coast, which came from Mallacca, this King will much rejoice theire downfall, as well as the Eest of y"' Southerne Kings, Macasser hath warr with them. " S^ if the Trade of China should be open as it is thought, this place might be considerable, otherwise of no vallew, or unless Elliphants sell well at the Coast, then from thence to Tanassare very profitable. If your WorsP intend a shipp for this place, or Tanasare, please to take advice of the bearer here of, Zacharias Arichocke a Armenian, whom I am very confident will fully relate to your WorsP all transactions of theis parts. Craving pardon for my large- ness herein, subscribe | Your Wors? humble servant to com"!. William Acwoeth. " Stam, 23 Oct. 1666." io8: ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. After the death of Mr. Dearing, Sir Edward Winter sent another of his servants, called Francis Brough,^ with in- structions to bring back Mr. Nelthrop, and with " the help of some Portingalls his confederates," he was to seize him and bring him in irons to Madras, along with whatever he could find of his and Mr. Bearing's property. " Accordingly they did seize upon him at Syam (Ayuthia), and in an unhuman manner haled him through y^ woode to Ten- assare, and there imbarked him, laden w'> irons, into a Juncke bound from thence to St. Thomas." Mr. Fox- croft adds, "I had given orders to yt ffrench padries at y^ arrivall of yt Juncke, to endeavour his rescue, and send him w'? gard to Metchlepatam (it being in y^ tyme of our . . . imprisonm') y ' might to him give an account of yt business he sent him about, in his voyage yf way he was in irons made a companion w* y° Elephants w"? came upon y? Juncke at the arrivall of the Juncke at St. Thomas, Mr. Nelthrop by y? favour of an officer on board w"?* he had purchased, found means to leape over- board in to y* sea, and soe got into a Catamaran, and safe a shore, and from thence went for Metchlepatam." In a letter from Mr. Foxcroft and his Council to the Surat authorities, dated April 15, 1669, it appears that Mr. Dearing was poisoned " by a black servant, he trusted as a scrivener in his business." This man possessed him- self of the factory, and all that it and Mr. Dearing had, and so raised himself "from a poore fellow not worth a favour to a great estate, and after dyed also himself." Then his brother and the Portuguese stepped in, " and made such havocke, that it was much to be doubted y' y^ will be a totall loss of w? soever Mr. Dearing had of his owne and other mens in his hands." The brother of the black servant had also become in debt to the king for a large sum at interest, and as the latter would doubt- 1 Brough was resident at Masuli- White, merchant, with dishonestly patam in 1670, and while there, in retaining his money, and other strong 167S, he was accused by George terms were applied to him. RUIN OP THE FACTORY AT AYUTHIA. 109 less recompense himself by laying hold on what he could, and as he had made general adventures to several places, they had little expectation of making anything from the Siam adventure, unless the Surat authorities were pre- pared to make Sir Edward Winter disgorge some of the wealth he had derived from it. A few days later (22nd April, 1669), some letters from Siam, addressed to Sir Edward Winter, or whoever was then in the Government, were received at Fort St. George. These letters attributed the ruin of the factory at Ayuthia to Andrew de Souza and Prancis Brough, 'who is ruled by him and in feare of him, and that the said Souza, and an English pylate have made havoc of what was of value in y^ ffactory, and seem to imploy that all y^ ruyn to y° ffactory came by y^ neglect and abuse of Gabriel Eorrer and his brother after his decease. Of what truth or importance this information may be, and whatever to make of them, or of that letter you had from the Barcalon so called shall be considered before the departure of Mr. Lock's vessel to Siam, which we understand is bound thither, and shall very speedily send you the copy of their letters received, to have your sense and judgment concerning them, and advise what is fittest to be done in your case, and whether what may concern the Company's interest there may or require the sending over some of your servants about it.' The lamentable condition into which the factory at Ayuthia fell after Mr. Bearing's death was the cause of the Company's interests in Siam remaining in abeyance for a year or two. In 1672, the chief Governor and Council of the United Netherlands Company at Batavia wrote to their Directors in Holland that they had had no further advices from Siam since the return of their yacht the Farrett, and that they had thereupon resolved to send no goods to their factory until they had received some fresh information. They had been driven to adopt this course of action owing to some no ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. misunderstanding they had with the Siamese, and also to their having captured the king's ship the Philip and Ann on its way from Bombay to Bangkok. This dispute had affected adversely, not only Siamese trade, but that of the Dutch as well. Towards the middle of 1673, however, hostilities seem to have ceased, as it is recorded that the Dutch at Gombroon, who had been "much disgusted for want of their usual shipping," ^ hailed the arrival at that port of a vessel flying the colours of the king of Siam,^ who for long had been a recognised and extensive trader with the Persian Gulf. Towards the end of 1673, or in the beginning of 1674, Ayuthia was visited by Mr. Nicholas Waite,^ who for- warded to the President at Bombay a favourable report on the trade of Siam. He had apparently gone to Ayuthia from Bombay on a voyage, also to embrace Macao, and undertaken chiefly as a private adventure, but the autho- rities at Bombay seem not to have been aware that the factory at Ayuthia was closed. However, when they learned the fact from Nicholas Waite, who had " pretended great gain to himself and others" by the voyage, they wrote to the Court in London:* "we shall forbear all 1 Letter from Gombroon to Yule is of the opinion that these Surat, 19th April 1673. references by the Pitts to Oliver 2 Letter from Bantam dated 23rd Cromwell, and to Waite's father, February 1674/5. point to his being a son of Colonel * Nicholas Waite ultimately rose T. Waite, or Wayte, one of the pre- to be President of the New (or tended judges at the mock trial of English) East India Company (Yule Charles I., and one of those who in Diary of Sir Wm. Hedges, vol. ii. signed and sealed the sentence of p. cxxxix. ). Thomas Pitt, Governor death pronounced on that unhappy of Madras, and grandfather of the king. The Lives of the English famous first Earl of Chatham, wrote Regicides, &c. London, 2 vols, to Waite in 1700 as follows : — " I 1798, vol. ii. p. 310. See also The perceive you would use your fellow- Indictment, Arraignment, Tryal, subjects as some did in Oliver's day, and Judgement, at large, of Twenty- f or which afterwards they justly and nine Regicides, the Murtherers of severely suffered" (Hedges' Diary, his Most Sacred Majesty King vol. iii. p. Ii.) ; and Pitt's cousin at Charles I. of Glorious Memory, &c. Madras also wrote to Waite, "We London, 1714. shall Conclude with the observation * Letter from Bombay to the that none but the Son of Such a Honble. Coy., August 20 1674. Father" {ibid., p. Ivii.). Colonel BOMBAY SHIPS INVITED TO SI AM. iii private trade without your permission, and attend your orders for such shipping as you shall empower us to send from hence, though it would be no loss to you to permit your servants and freemen of Bombay to open a trade to those places at their own adventures." The king of Siam was also exercised at the loss he was sustaining by reason of the impaired trade between his capital and India, and had consequently caused his " Upera, or king's chief merchant," to write to the President at Bombay, inviting him to send ships from Bombay and Surat to Siam, and asking him to grant a general pass for his own ships, that they might not be molested by any of the English shipping; a request which reveals how unsafe his interests were on the high seas, when his ships had the misfortune to encounter any of the unprincipled English captains of those days, some of whom were little better than pirates. The king's aspirations, after a renewal of trade with England, were answered, at the. end of 1674, by the arrival of a ship which had had an eventful voyage in the seas of Formosa, Japan, and China. ( 112 ) CHAPTEE III. THE SHIP 'RETURN' AT JAPAN. The ships Return and Experiment were sent out to the East from England, in 1671. From Bantam, they sailed direct to the island of Formosa, and, in July, 1672,^ both vessels were lying in the roadstead of Tywan. From this . island, the two ships were to have proceeded to Japan, but this intention was abandoned, so far as the JExperiment was concerned, as that vessel set sail for England, on the 19th November, 1672. The Beturn, after a prolonged stay at Tywan, departed for Japan, and arrived at Nagasaki on the 29th June, 1673.^ The factors, however, had only been about one week in that port, when in sailed the Experiment, carrying the Dutch flag, and manned by Dutch- men, a circumstance recorded in their Diary in the follow- ing words : " To our great grief and discontent we saw our companion a prisoner, God knows what they have done with the ship's company, but to our apprehension she was no ways damnified, so that the parting from us in the time of peace, we judge her to have been surprized, the truth God knows," who they hoped would keep them out of the hands of the Hollanders.^ The factors of the Betwrn were not permitted by the Emperor of Japan to settle a factory in his dominions ; and so much was their presence disliked, that they were com- manded, doubtless at the instigation of the Dutch, to leave 1 Abstract from the Tywan Diary ' Ind. Off. Rec, Java, vol. iv. and Consultations, 1672, India Of. ' Kaempfer's Japan, vol. i., Second Rec, Java, vol. iv. App., p. 8. THB 'RETURN' AT MACAO. 113 the port, which they did, in August, 1673, a fact recorded in a minute drawn up on board the Return, in lat. 31" N. In this document it is also said that the English were then at war with the Dutch, who were " very potent in these seas." The vessel sailed for Macao, and arrived there in September ; and it appears, that while it was at that port, news had reached the agent at Bantam that it was to sail for Siam, and, in the beginning of 1674, he believed that it was already there. By that time peace had been con- cluded with the Dutch, and the agent hoped that the good tidings would have reached the factors of the Retwrn, over- land by Tenasserim. The hardships undergone by the ship's company had been such that, at the enci of 1673, four or five men had died, whUst others had become enfeebled by dysentery, Mr. Simon Delboe and Mr. John Eobinson being " troubled with a flux." ^ From Macao the factors wrote, on the 2nd December, 1673,2 to the authorities at Bombay, complaining of the " inconveniences " to which they had been put by the Portuguese of that place, and we learn from one of their letters, written from either Ayuthia or Bangkok, on the 13th Feb^, 1675, that they must have been detained at Macao a considerable time. From Macao, the vessel sailed to Lampacao,* where, after a short stay, they were enabled to dispose of all their " pepper and a little cloth, &c., in truck for such China comodityes " as they judged "most for the profit and advantage" Towards the end of November, 1674, the merchants were ready to depart from Lampacao, and they accordingly issued an order to Captain Atkins to set sail for " Ben- coke in the river of Syam." The ship left Lampacao on the 28th November, and encountered a strong north- ^ Letter from Bantam, 2 let Janu- the " liimpaoao " islands and Canton ary i67*/5. river ; and in a map he places 2 Ind. Off. Rec. O.O., 3902. " Limpacao " in the position of the ' Alexander Hamilton says the island of Hong - Kong. Op. cit., province of Quansi had 80 leagues vol. ii. p. 216. of sea-coast, and was bounded by 114 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. easterly gale, before -which it ran to the south end of the island of Aynam (Hainan), It passed Cape Anerrella on the 2nd December, and on the following day it was off the south end of the " parrasells " (Paracels), and, on the 5 th, they sighted Pulo Ubi, but winds and currents being against them, the ship did not anchor near the " Barr of Siam" until the i8th December. , On the arrival of the ship, Messrs. Simon Delboe,'' Hamon Gibbon,^ Benjamin Sanger,^ Pytche Nedham,* and William Eamsden ^ went up the river to Indica (Ayuthia) in the pinnace. When they reached the capital, they were gladdened with the news that peace had been concluded with the Dutch. They were well received by the king, but they made a very bad beginning, in their intercourse with him, as one of their first acts was to borrow a large sum of money (10,000 dollars) to enable them to obtain a cargo for their ship, which it was absolutely necessary should be dispatched at once, if they were to take advantage of the monsoon.* This debt to the king largely contributed to the ruin that ultimately befell the Company's affairs in Siam. ^ Mr. Simon Delboe had come out assistants to the factors, and was from England with the iJetora. sent out from England, in 1671 ■ ^ Mr. Hamon Gibbon, or Hamond (Court's letter to Bantam of 21st Gibbon, was at Bantam, in May, September, 167 1 ). In this document 1666, and, two years later, wag third it is said : " Mr. Fitz Heedham at in the Agency. In November, 1671, 20I, whoe though he hath not readi- he was at Gombroon, and return- ness of speech, yet will be very ser- ing to Bantam, joined the Return on viceable in writing in the accompt- the arrival of this vessel at that ing house, and hath some skill in port. lirabring and clock worke, therefore 2 Mr. Benjamin Sanger appears we designe him for Japan to take to have been one of the factors sent care of our clocks and works." out in thereto™. Inthe Court Book, = William Ramsden was also one of the 4th November, 1675, he is of the factors of the Return. erroneously spoken of as Benjamin In the vessel were also Richard Banker, and on that date was ap- "Jennings, Samuel Potts, George pointed chief at Tonquin, an appoint- Chown, William Tyrril, and An- ment, however, which he never took thony St. Leger, and seemingly John up. Robson and John Keppell. * Mr. Eytohe Nedham or Fitz « Bantam Consultations, 20th July Needham was also one of the 1676, Java, vol. vi. THE •^RETURN' AT BANGKOK: 115 The pinnace was sent back to the ship with the news of the peace, and with a Dutch pilot to take the vessel up to Bangkok, and on 2nd January, 1675, it anchored " near the castel of Bancoke." After remaining in his ship about a month, Captain Atkins proceeded to Ayuthia, under orders from his chief, Mr. Delboe, to arrange for the departure of the vessel for Surat, as the "season was getting late." When he went ashore at Bangkok, on the 3rd February, he learned the sad tidings that poor enfeebled Simon Delboe had died at Ayuthia, on the 31st January, doubtless worn out by his long illness. He was succeeded by Mr. Hamon Gib- bon. William Eamsden was made second factor, and Benjamin Sanger third ; Eichard Jennings and Samuel Potts having been appointed writers. When Captain Atkins reached Ayuthia, he found that Messrs. Gibbon, Sanger, and Nedham, had gone to Louvo ^ with great presents to the king, but Eamsden had been too unwell to leave the capital. Captain Atkins had therefore to return to his ship ; but as some of the sailors he had brought in the pinnace refused to go back with him, having been encouraged by some of the factors to remain behind, he had to engage " blacks " to take him down the river. The factors were so gratified with their reception at Ayuthia and Louvo, that they resolved to remain at the factory 2 and to dispatch the ship to Surat, "as there were few goods in Siam that would turn to good account ^ Louvo, Livo, or Levo waa at this small kingdom. It is the'LSpMiuri period the residence of the kings of of the Siamese, a Sanskrit or Pali Siam, during nine or ten months of rendering (Yule-BurneU Glossary, p. the year, and was also their hunting- 601) of Nava-pura, meaning new seat. This city, according to Palle- city {vide antea, p. 17). The fore- goix (t. i. p. 95), who calls it Nopha- going contracted terms applied to it buri, claimed a much higher anti- by European nations in the seven- quity than Ayuthia, as it was said teenth century, thus simply meant to have been founded in 600 A.D., "new." being at that time the capital of a ' Ind. Off. Rec. 0. C, 4085. 116 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. at Banta." They issued an order, on the 13th February, to Captain Atkins to set sail for that port, and, a few days later, they went down the river to clear the ship, which departed on the 24th of the month, carrying with it a list of articles the king wished to obtain from the Com- pany. Some of the transactions they had had with his majesty and his ministers thfey communicated to the authorities at Surat, in a letter dated the. 13th February, 1675, in which they say, " As yet we have not any posi- tive orders for our being here, but are so far engaged that at present we cannot come off; " this hindrance to their departure being doubtless their debt to the king, regarding which they were diplomatically silent, although they afterwards confessed to it. They were well pleased with their success in having obtained from the king a Tarra, or license to trade, and of this they informed the President and Council at Surat in the same letter. They said that they had " found the king to be so far our friend, as to afford us such respect and privileges as he grants to any, and so far as we can learn, willing to condescend to anything that might encourage us to stay, yof Hon? will see by the enclosed Tarra, which Mr. Delboe asked, and the king granted, and we question not but ,had more been desired the grant had been enlarged, yet those that understood the lingoa say that by virtue of what we already have, we may do as much and go as far as any." The following were the terms of this document : ^ — " The Taeea of the Baekalong, Second Person in y? CiVILL G0V%T TO THE KiNG OF SlAM. "He hath granted to Mr. Hamon Gibbon chiefe be- cause he hath desired to request y? King for y? errecting a ffactory for to buy & sell in this Kingome of Syam 1 Ind. Off. Reo. 0. C, 4085. THE 'TARRA' OF THE PHRA-KLANG. 117 y^ y? King would grant yf ffavour, of a Tarra; for his security to buy Tynn, Lead, Tutenage, Coppr, Elephants teeth, Einoceros homes, & all othf comoditys wf serve for Merchandize, & y^ he would order y* . . . let or hinder him when he please to imbar?. . . . And that he would ordF j\ thy should not take any customes or Dutyes as they doen't of y? Dutch. " The King hath granted to yf English chiefe to buy, & sell in this Kingdome of Syam, to buy Tynn, Lead, Tutenage, CoppF, Elephants teeth, & all other sorts of comoditys y? are not p'hibited. The King hath com- manded that there bee no let. And if they please to buy Elephants teeth, Eenociros homes, he requires to request a Tarra to buy according to custome. " Another point. If the English please to ask a Tarra, for the dispatch of Ship for the lading of goods, ffor the sending a board ship in yf mouth of yf barr. That yf send to ask a Tarra, for dispatch every tyme, as yf Dutch. " And yf English chiefe if he please to buy Tynn, Lead, Tutenage & Coppf or any such comoditys w* are not phibited, he doth not ordf any to hindf. " And if yf English chiefe shall ask a Tarra to buy Elephants teeth, Einoceros homes, he send to buy ac- cording to y* Tarra w°? he hath obtained. " This Tarra was dated, Saterday this' month the 7th of of y! wane of yf Moon, in yf yeare 167I.'' The Return did not proceed to Surat by Bantam, as in the "Consultations at Bantam," for 1675, it is recorded that the authorities there had ha,d no letters from the factors at Ayuthia. In November, however, of the same year, their expectations of gaining some news regarding the Company's affairs at the capital of Siam were aroused by the arrival at Batavia of one or more Englishmen, in the employment of their Honble. masters. As these men had not at once communicated with them, they were placed ii8 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. in doubt whether they had been sent by Mr. Gibbon, or whether they had run away from their employment. They suspected, however, that they were " John Eobson and John Keppell, who were designed for Japan ; " and in this they proved to be correct, as it is stated in a letter from the factors in Siam, written in the beginning of January, 1676, that John Eobson had been sent by them to Bantam, in the previous October, with a letter to the agent dated the 8th of that month, informing him that the Return had gone to Siam from Japan, and that they were then, for the time being, settled at Ayuthia. After John Eobson's departure for Bantam, the fac- tors at Ayuthia also resolved to send one of their assist- ants to Fort St. George, and another to Bantam, to explain to the authorities at these two places the condition of the Company's affairs at the capital of Siam. They had, how- ever, no person qualified to pilot the vessel they intended to send, and they are consequently found recording the following minute, on the 22nd November, 1675 : "Being, after many disappointments left at Siam with a con- siderable estate of the Hon*?* Compf, and disabled to give such an account thereof as we ought to the Council at Bantam, for want of an able and sufficient pilot, we applied ourselves to Mexxa an Armenian merchant, who came hither this year from Surat on the ship ' Content ' with three Englishmen, to spare us out of them for our Hon''!' Masters, but finding him obstinate to our reason- able desire, we resolved, with one consent, by virtue of his Majesties charter granted to our Hon*"!* Employers, and the estate of their affairs requiring us so to do, to demand and detain Mr. Sam' Lifool, Master Mate of said Armenian, to be sent for Bantam by first opportunity. (Signed) Hamon Gibbon. Wm. Ramsden. Benj"- Sanger. Fytchb Nedham." LETTER FROM FACTORS OF THE 'RETURN.' 119 Mr. Fytche Nedham was selected to proceed to Port St. George, the Company, at this time, being represented at Ayuthia by Hamond Gibbon, William Eamsden, Ben- jamin Sanger, Eichard Jennings, Samuel Potts, George Chown, William Tyrril, and Anthony St. Leger, " well ' ' skilled in chyrurgery."^ The following letter, written on the 7th December, 167s, to the President and Council at Port St. George, was entrusted to Nedham^ to deliver. It was signed by Hamond Gibbon, William Eamsden, and Benjamin Sanger. It says : " Though we had not the honour to receive from you, yet we have assumed the boldness for to give unto you the trouble of a lyne, w°? we hope as it hath found conveyance, may finde acceptance, we should gladly have courted yof correspondence in another Port. But what disapointments we mett with there are too notorious to be mentioned, after the multiplyed crosses of a lost voyage. It pleased the AUmightie to bring us to Syam where our Chiefe found so much encoridgment for to settle, that he was easily persuaded to proceed no farther, and so as he lefts us we remaine engaged to make, the best (as they say) of a bad markett. " This king is very desirous to have us stay, as is clearly to bee seen both by what we have in grant and what in promise, we have allready granted whatsoever we have requested, and the word of a king that we shall have more in case of our abode, we hope since we could not carry Syam to Japan, we may have Japan brought to Syam, but as we finde by experience, wee shall hereafter speake. For a more particular account of our many moneths voyage, wee humbly refer your Worsp. to the Bearer hereof Mr. Pytche Nedham, whose earnest desire to be under your commands hath prevailed for a passage to the coast. How troublesome the want of business is to an Ingenious 1 He had been selected by the Court = j-or a, short notice of Fytohe of Directors, on the 7th Feb. 1671, Nedham see "Diary of William asafit person "to serve the Company Hedges," vol. ii. pp. cclvii.-cclviii. as a surgeon." Court Minutes. 120 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. minde, wee need not speake, when we send you an in- stance, who he is we need not speake, for you who know the man.. " We are glad to heare of your good health by Mr. Georg: "White, had wee rec"? it from your own hand, it would have been as well acceptf , but in hopes the next oppertunity will favour us w*? what we wanted by. this, we shall add no more, but the assurance that we are," &c. But before proceeding any farther with this narrative, it is necessary to pause, and say a few words on George White, mentioned in this letter. He was a noted inter- loper, throughout the greater part of his career in the East; and, in a letter from the Court to Bengal, dated 3rd January, 1693-4, it is said that since the passing of their new charters they had agreed with the principal inter- lopers concerned in the two interloping ships then abroad, on which Captain Pitt and George White were super- cargoes. As the principals had written the like value into their new stock, the Court hoped this would be an end of all their long quarrels and contentions.^ Before he went to Siam, his name occurs in the Masulipatam Eecords, of 1670, as a merchant on Mr. Jearsay's ship Consent, then sailing between Karwar and Gombroon, and again, in 1672, in the same capacity on the ship Dispatch, bound for Gom- broon with a cargo of sugar and piece-goods. That he was not a permanent servant of the Company is proved by the fact that his name occurs in Mr. Mohun's^ Diary, in " a list of Englishmen in those parts as are not in the service of the Honble. Company," and in which he is described as a merchant. He appears to have visited the capital of Siam, ' The substance of the quotation is illustrious of English statesmen and taken from William Hedges' Diary, parliamentary orators, William, first vol. iii. p. xxiii. in which Sir Henry Earl of Chatham. A portrait of Yule has collected a mass of most ThomasPitt, George White's fellow- interesting material bearing on the interloper, adorns the pages of Sir history of Captain Thos. Pitt, who Henry Yule's second volume, afterwards became Governor of Fort " A short history of this servant St. George, and was known as Dia- of the E. I. C, will be found in mond Pitt. He was the grandfather, vol. ii., Diary of William Hedges, as already stated, of one of the moat pp, colvi.-colvii. GEORGE WHITE THE INTERLOPER. i2i for the first time, in 1675, and in the succeeding year he was joined by his wife, according to an entry in the Madras Diary for the 20th May, 1676, as follows : — " A new vessel of 75 or 80 tons, built at MadapoUam, and sold by Mr. Cholmely to Sir Wm. Langhorne, Agent, with some others of his Council, sailed hence for Fort St. George, and in a short time for Syam, Mr. Thomas Lucas, supercargo, Mr. Whitehead, Commander, Mrs. White, the wife of George White, Com- mander." Mrs. White arrived safely in Ayuthia, as her husband wrote to his correspondent, Mr. W. Ayloffe, at Masulipatam, on the 6th November, 1676, that his wife "humbly tenders her sincere and due thanks for Mr. Ayloffes kindness to her." The letter was addressed " via Tenasseree." George White took a very active interest in the trade of the Bast, and, in after years, he was one of the East India Company's most inveterate enemies, opposing with a splendid energy the nefarious principle upheld by the Directors, that they had, by law, the monopoly of the East India trade, and that any outsider, who dared to take a share of it, without their sanction was an interloper, and liable to have his goods, and even his life, confiscated. In 169 1, he published^ a valuable contribution on the trade of the East, and on the management of the East India Company ; and so highly was this work esteemed at the time, that it was translated at once into Dutch, at Amsterdam ; nor was it a purely ephemeral brochure, as it ,was republished in London, nearly a century afterwards. ' His brother Samuel played an important part, for a few short years, in the history of Mergui, but he only reached the East, in 1675. But to return to our narrative. Notwithstanding their debt to the king, the factors at Ayuthia were very hopeful that the trade of Siam would prove remunerative to the ' An Account of the Trade of the ing that Trade to the honour and East Indies, together with the state advantage of the Nation. London, of the present Company, and the best 1691. 4to. method for establishing and manag- 122 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Company. They accordingly wrote to the Directors in London, on December 22, 1675, vid Surat, reminding them that they had written to them by the Return of the civil reception beyond expectation they had had from the king. This letter was also doubtless intrusted to Fytche Nedham to carry as far as Fort St. George. It says : " The king hath bin much abused by private traders, but his carriage towards us being yof Hon" servants is as if the other had not bin w? acc^ yoFHon^ have had of this place wee know not but this wee believe that had it bin as wee have seen you would have as much esteemed this place for trade as others this year came hither from Surratt 4 large ships from the coast 2. . . . " The king by the return desired severall p'ticulars to be sent him from England an acco' whereof wee hope you have reed, by this Conveyance to Bantam he sends severll samples to bee made in CrisstoU desires velvitt of severall colours, m'af- purple Scarlett Sky Crimson black green blew, red of each i p^" Such, according to the factors, was this king's honour, and such his bounty, that he repaid with interest what they had given him on their arrival : but they continue, — "His manderines expect their ffees and the trade will bear it tis this j\ gives credit and success to others and if wee remaine it must be done or nothing yf Dutch as well as others are unwilling wee should settle and if money could buy us out wee should not want a markett, but wee hope soe fair a proffer being made, yoT Hon? will not refuse it w*^ out good reason Yf king hath given us the Liberty of a free trade as desired p. Mr. Delboe and since whose decease a pticular Interest to Chaia and Champone Tattung and Pompin places from whence they bring good quantity of Tinn y? none shall medle w';'' the trade but w*;" the fforfeitures of w? Tinn they shall be found to have. . . . The Surratt men desired little but Tinn, and if this ffac- tory were well stored w';'' money to buy it up at the best seasons it might as well turne to yo' Hon? advantage as to FACTORS' LETTER TO FORT ST. GEORGE. 123 othe". wee speake w*'' submission but wee veryly believe that the well managm' of this affair will double the benefit of a Japon trade how to order us yof Hon" need no direction it troubles us to see others doe soe much and wee so little because of hands are bound the Dutch have here a noble ffactory the Government laudable and their trade intire, may wee imitate wherein they are deserving and yof Hon^ shall have the creditt as well as the advan- tage the place for of present residence is unfitt for trade but the king hath giving leave to choose of ground and promised to furnish us w* materialls to ■ erect a ffactory wee can but thanke him for his kindness till further order w°> the sooner wee receive the better wee have had some difference w'"" his merchants about y? measure of the cloth (?) y? king requireing the English y? and Mr. Delboe makeing the price by the Dutch ell." But they complied with the king's desire. "Att of first comeing, for the speedy dispatch of the ship this king was pleased to give us credit for 40 cattees of silver 300 Bahh of Tinn 1000 pecV of Sappan wood the two latter were sent to Surratt yf former soe soon dis- bursed in ship and house expence that wee were forced to runn up 40 catt? more in debt to supply the charge of the ffactory w? we had of the king in money and goods amo*:' to 398 catt? 1 5 taile accounting 20 taile to the catt : and the catt: to be 50 Eff (and something bettf) w^ he had reed: from us in goods out of the Godowne amo';' to 215 catt? 8 Tec'? a mass as from Bantam yof Hon? will receive advice wee should be very glad to hear and to keepe a good credit. T? king proffers that if yf Honf will supply him w^** silver whereof hee finds a decay he will repay them in Tinn att a cheaper rate then he offers to any, and more- over of those places he had already granted be not large enough for yof Hon"? to improve yf stock you shall but ask for more and you have it Charges here after a settlemf will be but small especially if wee consider yf be the trade never great there is no custome nor house-rent to 124 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. be p? and if we build no mony for the ground on yf greatest charge will be the first settling in house-keep- ing and petty expenses -wf in a little time will be incon- siderable. A small remembrance from' his Ma*f* to this King would add much to yof HonT- credit. His Mat'f picture very acceptable and the dress pleasing concerning w';'' this King Askt many pretty questions as unacquainted wf those Europe clothing by the return he desired severall hatts of severall sorts and colours as now hee desires of the Dutch in small matters, where he finds compliance his custom is to gratiffie w'> greater benefitts he desires likewise yoT Hn? to supply him Ingineers G-unn"? Eefin"? Goldsmiths &c., as p returne two of each, he hath a kindness for all English but a pticular kindness for yof Hn^' which makes him soe desirous to have us settle, may the direction of the highest be yo" his blessing crowne yof affaires togeather w*"* yof undertakeing and endeavours off E? Hon*'!^ Yof Honf most humble and obedient Serv^ Hamon Gibbon. Wm. Eamsdbn. Benjamin Sanger.'' The following translation of the second license to trade, granted to them by the king accompanied this letter : — " The Tarra w°^ ye Barcalons by Order of the. King of Siam granted to the Hon¥° English East India Compt November y? 6' Anno Dom 1675. " This Tarra is giveing of the Burcalon to Mr. Hamon Gibbon Capt. of the English Compa* resident in the king- dome of Siam to be kept whereas the English Cap* de- sired of Opera Sinourat y' He would request the King for leave to buy Tinn in Champone^ Chaia & Pompin ^ Cbampone or Xtimphon is on the same side, nearly opposite to the the eastern coast of the Malay Pen- island of S^mai, Samuie, or Carnam. insula, opposite to Fslkchan on the Pompin or Phtin-phin is situated on westemeide, andis theChoom-pawu a small island at the bead of the of M'Carthy's map. Chaia, Chiya, X^ija bay. Chaya, or more correctly X&ija, is on TRADING LICENCE GRANTED. 125 (besides the King's revenue) according to the price y^ the people trade w*/* one another for ■ ever not to suffer any- Merchant to buy, as the Dutch buy in Legord. "And the king did the favour to grant to Mr. Hamon Gibbon, Cap^ of the English Compf, to buy Tinn in Chaia Champone and Tattang^ and Pompin for ever according to the price that the people trade one w*^ another he suffers noe Merchant to buy and he commands to sell to the Cap' of the English Compf according to the common price, as the king's favour hath granted for to buy. " This Tarra -was giveing to be keept Sunday Novr ye first of the New Moon." The following order was issued to the Governor of Xiimphon : — " Whereas the opera Sinurat reverently receiveing the Kings Order saith that Mr. Hamon Gibbon Cap? of the English Comp? who came to reside in this Kingdome of Siam desired to request the Kings favor for to buy Tinn in Champone Chaia Tattung and Pompine besides the Kings revenue according to the peoples price as they trade one w'^ another y' he would not suffe' noe Merchant to buy as the Dutch buy in Legore. " And the King did the favour to grant unto (for ever) Mr. Hamon Gibbon Cap^ of the English Compf in Siam to buy Tinn in Champone Chaia Tattung Pompine besides the King's revenue according to the price that the people trade w^"* one a nother for ever and he suffers noe Mer- chants to buy as the Dutch buy in Legore. " And he commands the Governf to give Notice to his Deputy and all other officers, and he commands that Notice be giveing to all the people of Champone not to suffer Tinn besides the Kings revenue to bee sold to any Merchant and he commands that it be sold to the Engf Cap? for the price the people trade one w'? another according to the Kings favour, y? he hath granted to the Eng? Cap? for to buy. 1 Tattang or Tattung is probably the small island in Xaija Bay, to the west of the island of SSlmai. 126 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. " This pappe^ comes Sonday Novembf yf i*> of the moone. The other Three Tarra! to Chaia Tattung and Pompine were in the same tearms w'"' this directed to the pticular Governor of each place." Fytche Nedham also carried another letter, written twelve days before the letter to the Directors, and ad- dressed to the President at Surat, informing him of the iHtention of the factors to send, forthwith, to the Agent- General at Bantam, a statement of the condition of the factory at Ayuthia. They, however, experienced con- siderable difficulty in finding a suitable vessel to carry their messenger to Bantam, as the rates asked were un- reasonable. They were, therefore, at last compelled to let the king of Siam understand that for want of a vessel they could not serve him as they desired, and upon hear- ing this, he supplied them with a junk of his own, on which Mr. Sanger set out on his mission probably in February or March, as he does not seem to have arrived at Bantam, until the beginning of April, 1676. He carried the following letter to the Agent-General at Bantam, dated Siam, January 10, 1676. In it they first extol the king's kindness, and then proceed to say how willing he was " to court them to a right understanding," and then add " his deeds as well as words may wittness w? the Barcalon gave us in promise the King since hath impowr? us to possess viz'- Chaia and Champone and as being willing to doe more then he would promise of his owne pleasure for to encourage a settlemf, he added Tat- tung and Pompin places of no small importances there were not wanting who would have prevented what the king had done had their Intent prospered but his favour is such that it is not to bee bribed and his promise prince Like that wee shall but aske and have Such large en- couragement made us for of M"; Service, think of a more fitt then a Dutch conveyance to send you of advices whereupon we sought for a vessell but could gett none unless at such rates as might be termed unreasonable LETTER TO BANTAM FACTORY. 127 wee therefore gave his Ma'f to understand y^ for want of a vessel wee could not serve him as wee desired by give- ing the Hon'^'^ Compf soe speedy an aeco? (as he might expect) of his respects and kindness upon this he ordered us a Jounke of his owne y? Hon¥= Compf to he att no greater charge then to pay the English, and to find the Siamef w*^ fish and rice .... the whole command of s? vessell being left to 0] owne people as well as the kings merchandize wee thought fitt to accept the proffer and to dispatch her accordingly;" and as they thought " a p'sonall informacon " would be acceptable to the Bantam authorities, they sent Mr. Sanger to give them aU particulars. They add, they had been left by Mr. Delboe, and could not have done otherwise than they had done, since his decease, " though it hath not be answer- able to 0^ desire." When they remembered the decay of the Japan trade, they could not but bless the Pro- vidence that had brought them to Siam, where they hoped, when but once settled, to see Siam surpassing the advan- tages of a Japan factory. The principal thing wanted in Siam was silver, which if the Company sent they would ■undoubtedly find by it a considerable benefit. Mr. Sanger, on his arrival at Bantam, delivered this letter to the Agent and Council, and the translation of the Tarras which the factors had obtained from the Phra- hlang. The Council met on the 27th April, when they passed the following resolution^ on the letter, and on the documents that accompanied it : — " Mr. Hamon Gibbon &e. ffact! at Syam, haing advised us p. their letter bearing date , rec* p. Mr. Benjamin Sangar who is lately arrived here that great advantages will accrue to ouf Hon^'' Masters by y? continuance of a ifactory there, and yf great desire yf king of Syam hath y^ ouF Hon¥« Masters should trade in his countrey and y? for ouT encouragement he hath already granted two advantageous Tarraes or Ir'es Patents for yf Tinn ' Bantam Consultations, 27th April, 1676, Java, vol. vi. 128 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. trade promising further advantages therein if desired wee yf Agent and Councell having seriously debated about yf promises, and considering yf withdrawing of a ffactory be it from ever soe meane a place, discredits ouf HonV° Masters, and ecclipseth their trade in these parts, while ouf .... neighbf yf Dutch, enemies in trade rejoyceth thereat and doe alwayes make use of ouf dishonf to there own advantage as alsoe considering y' y^ trade at Syam may be as advantagious to ouf Hon''*^ Mast"? as it is to private tradf from yf Coast of Surat who send yearly 4 or 5 ships there. Wee therefore think it convenient to continue yf factory till further ord^ from our Hon''!^ Mastf and for as much as there is noe goodes at Bantam proppf fof Syam, and yf y! Presidf and Council of Suratt hath already reef a cargoe from Syam upon ship Ee- turne amounting to upwards of |4i,ooo, wee doe there- fore resigne yf factory of Syam to be under the juris- diction of Suratt, of which p. first opportunity we intend to advise yf Presidf and Councell there to whom we refer the Chief and ffact^ at Syam to make their Japan acco*. " Whereas we heare Mr. Hamon Gibbon hath invitations from his friends to go fo^ England w'=!' if he doth imbrace wee advise him to go by way of Suratt. " And whereas Mr. Eamsden hath sent his acco¥ hith? yf which upon perusall wee find to be soe imperfect as yf they are intelligible, wee doe therefore enordf yf aforesf Wm. Eamsden to Suratt to make up his acco*f= there and in interim yf there remaine for yf keeping of yf factory Mr. Benja. Sangar, Mr. Charles Gould, Eichf Jennings, and Samm'^ Potts, who will be chiefly employed in the disposing of what is remaining of y? cargo taken by them out of yf Eeturne, untUl such times as they receive furthf ord? from ouf Hon'')' Mast^ or from yt Presidf and Councl' at Suratt." Eight days after this decision had been arrived at, they wrote as follows : — AYUTHIA PLACED UNDER SURAT. 129 "Bantam, May j^f 5'* 1676. " To the Hon''!' &c. Councill, our very lo : friends. " Mr. Benj^ Sangar being lately arrived from Syam, has brought us several Tarraes or letters patents from y' king, ■m'f invests 0^ Hon*!° Masters with severall gainfull privi- ledges for buying of Tinn at y^ best hand, upon y^ con- sideration of w* we have thought it not best to desolve the ffactory, according to oT first intentions — but to keep it on foot, expecting of Hon''!' M^ approbation thereof, but because yt comodities proper for sale at Syam are procure- able at Surrat, and not from this place here, we conclude to resigne yf jurisdiction of that ffactory to yf Presidency of Surrat, purposing to acquaint our Hon''!' M":' therewith p. first oppertunity, yof s'lves haveing allready reef p. ship Eeturne from thence a cargoe amounting to upwards of 41,000 E. |. . . . "After yf death of Mr. Simon Delboe, Mr. Hamon Gibbon came successively to be chiefe of the Ffactory in Syam, assisted w'> Mr. Wm. Eamsden second, Mr. Benjf Sangar thrf, Eichard Jennings and Sam'J Potts, writers but we are informd by of last year Irs out of England that Mr. Hamon Gibbons his ffriends have sent for him home, w* if he resolved to goe, we have permitted him to take his passage from Syam to Surrat but we have absolutely enorderd Mr. Wm. Eamsden to goe to Surrat, and to carry w'!" him his books and acc'^ in yf ffactory to ace' w"f yof Hon''f &c. there, those books w'^ he sent hither, by yf s'f Mr. Eamsden not being to us intelligible, and then there will remaine in y' factory Mr. Benj* Sangar, and Mr. Charles Gold, whom we have lately entertained w'!* a Jap- ponees servant." From a consultation, held on the ist June, 1676, it appears that letters had been recently received from the Court of Directors, by the ship Formosa, appointing Mr. Benjamin Sanger chief at Tonquin. The Council, however, considered that this could not be done without prejudice I30 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. to the Company's affairs at Siam, and they consequently resolved to send Sanger as chief factor to Ayuthia, and to recall Mr. Gibbon to Bantam, The next meeting, at which the Council discussed the affairs at Siam, was not held until the 20th July, 1676. On that occasion they resolved to call on Mr. Sanger to submit to them "a calculation of the benefit that might accrue to the Company by virtue of the king's Tarra and Tin trade." They also very properly determined to take steps to wipe out the debt due to the king, which, free of interest, amounted to ^10,000. The following is the course they intended to adopt, recorded in their own words : — " Wee have taken it into ouf serious considerations and think it just and Hon*!* foF y* disengaging of y' debt to make up a cargoe of goodes out of ouf Cloath Godowne to y! amo^ of 5, or 6000 ^ of | & ^ of | in Specie 5000 : all which we hope will be a meanes to attract future fav? from y? king of Syam, alsoe for y! putting of good quan- tities of woollen manufactories, and fo' y? better settling ouf selves in his Esteem we think convenient y* out of y° cargoe now sent w'? Mr. Sangar upon y° Junck and Gorup there be a Presf taken out fof y! King Upra Simeratt ^ and Barcalong, w"!^ we leave to yf discretion of ouf chief & facf? there, & whereas Mr. Hamon Gibbon & Mr. Wm. Eamsden are to come away, we have agreed y^ Mr. Charles Gould who is to serve y^ Comp^ at Syam be entertained in y! quality of a ffactor at £20 p. Ann., advising him to write to his friends in England to give a Security to y^ Hon*")' Comp^ for his fidelity and we doe alsoe promise to make in his behalf in our next Genn^ Ire to ouf HonVf Employ^ and being informed p Mr. Sangar of y^ great want of some one to serve fof y^ cleaning of y^ house at Syam and othf servile businesses, y^ Siammf being avers to such work, we have concluded to buy two slaves for y' purpose, if to be procured. ' ■■ This in modern Siamese is P\ra and Sina mat, meaning mandarins or courtiers. Pallegoix, Diet., pp. 578 and 731. SLAVES FOR THE FACTORY. 131 In view of his approaching departure, Sanger had drawn up a short memorandum on the management of the fac- tory, and had indicating to the Council certain details regarding which he desired the definite instructions of the Council This document was as follows : — " Memorand. concerning Syam ffactory. " If possible to clear y^ King's debt, and to satisf '? him by lettf y*. I have given yoF Worp? an ace*' of his Eespects to yt Hon''|° Co™?* To rememb':° him w'? a present — as likewise y^. Barcalon and Upra Sinourat ; who have been ready to assist us upon all occasion, pticularly in yf pro- curing y® Tarras for y! Tin trade. " If we shall desire anything more of him then w* he hath allready granted, w^ we? shall do° as to Chaia &c°., whith^ wee shall freight or buy a vessell to send thith' to take an ace" of affairs there. If the Japan^ I advised yo^ Worp. of should be taken into y° Compf service. {In red ink the following' occurs ;) Mr and Mr. Joyce desire to be rememb^'f as to wages. " What wf shall doe with such Engshmen as run away from y^ ships they come upon, and live so debauched y' they are a shame to their country. " A slave or two for y^ keeping y! house clean, w'^? y^ Siani'f will not doe. " If possible some bales of white long cloth, course chints, or such coast goods as may sell for money to defray house expenses, there being little hopes of selling Eng'^ manu- factures but in tr*?^ " Wheth^^ we may trust any oth^y mercW then yf king. 1 " In case we send to Chaia, we shall want money to buy or freight a vessell." ^ It was considered proper that the junk, selected to carry Messrs. Sanger and Gould, should have a name, and hence it was known as the William,. The Gorup, accompanying 1 Ind. Off. Kec. 0. C, 4076. 132 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. it, was of about 60 tons burthen, and was navigated by Eichard Joyce, a midshipman who had recently arrived at Bantam in the Formosa, and whose salary, while so en- gaged, was to be eight rupees a month, with an additional five rupees for his food, the latter allowance to cease on his arrival at Ayuthia. A lascar was placed in charge of the native crew of the Gorup, and his remuneration was five rupees a month with his rice, but the factors were told that, if they could find cheaper labour, they were not bound to keep him. Every precaution having thus been taken by the Bantam authorities for the success of the mission, the William and the Gorup set sail for the Menam, probably in the last days of July, 1676, carrying a letter from the agent to his " very loving friends Mr. Hammon Gibbon &c.," dated 22nd July 1676, and another to the king of Siam. From the former letter it appears that the factory at Ayuthia, which, however, is always spoken of in the cor- respondence in the India Ofiice as the Siam factory, " stood indebted to ye king of Siam for tinne laden in ye Eeturne, about 300 or 400 cattf." The authorities at Bantam expected that the Company would reap consider- able benefit in consequence of the Tarra or "patent of indulgence " which the king had granted to them for the tin trade at Xaija, Xiimphon, Tattang, and Phiin-phin to the exclusion of all other traders, and the factors were instructed to report to the Company whether their ex- pectations were well founded. They sanctioned the employment of the Japanese men- tioned in the memorandum concerning the Siam Factory, in the following terms : — " Wee understand there is a JaponF resid' in yf Citty of Siam named John Gruby who by reason of yf Eeport of his ability truth fidelity and willingness to serve yf Comp? wee think it very con- venien* y' hee should bee employed in yf Comp? Service — w"? wee leave unto y° to entertaine him at as reasonable termes as vo can.'' SPURIOUS BORNEAN DIAMONDS. 133 The factors were again informed that the authorities at Bantam had recommended that the Siam factory should be put under Surat, " by Eeason of yf recipcallnesse of y'. Marchandize to and from y? place." A few other extracts from this letter seem of sufficient interest to warrant their introduction here. - Thus — " Amongst yf Court goods in yf Invoyce herewith sent yo will find one bale of Comitters sent yo for a tri^l finding them here to bee a looseing Com ; by Eeason of yf various new fasshions in these parts." " Wee rec"? yo^ sev'^ moulds w''^ yf King of Siam desires to bee made in christiall glass w* Agent Dacres being bound home p. next shipping will take yf care to have y^ provided, as also yf European velvets ye King orders to have bought amongst sev'' of yf things mentioned in yf Inv° are some intended for y° to make presents to yf King, to Europe Surrat, and to yf Barcalon. Wee under- stand that aboute 8 or 10 years since yf King of Sucra- dana sending some counterfitt moulds of Great diamons unto yf King of Siam was thereby enticed to send a prow unto yf King Sucradana, for procureing yf Diamonds demonstrated by yf s* counterfitt "mould, as soon as y^ vessell arr^ there yf Sucardanians dispoled them of y". cargo killed yf Noquoda and to this day keepeth his men as slaves yf son of yf said Noquoda named Lelup hath fallen into some of oT hands w"? wee have now sent upon yf Jounk y* hee may be restored to y! king, w"?* wee are told by yf Siam Manderine will be acceptable unto him, and there is a vessell more of Sucradana y' is returning about amo' hence by whome wee will use 0^ endeav^ to procure more of yf King of Siams men y' were surprized at Succradana aforesaid. " Wee must acknowledge 0^ selves beholding to yf King of Siam for sending us y^ Junck and 30 Siam Sylers to come hither or else wee had great perplexity how to have hard from y°. untill yf next monzoone and it happened 134 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. well y? hee did not supply us w*> money to lade rice upon her for that hath turned to loss." In a postscript it is added that the New Agent who had arrived at Bantam since the letter was written would contribute " what in him lyes yf promoting and settlement of a factory in Siam whose Kings hath soe much obliged yo and seems soe solicitors of a commerce w'!* yf Honno*':* Compf but before wee proceed to f aire tis absolutely neces- sary y* wee have yf Comp* directions therein." The letter to the king was as follows : — " To yf Illustrious Magnanimous Potent High & Mighty King of Siam. "To^ most excelent Ma'j', " Haveing pleased to give yf Comp* servants soe favour- able a reseption assisting them w*? such convenience, as they found nessesary to Implore from you is a thing y* must not only by us resident here at Bantam but our Masters yf Honno''^' English East India Compf, bee greate- full accepted and as oppertunity presents, bee in p: re- quisted w* ohligeth us from time to time to procure such Marchandize convenient as yf shall bee pleased at all times in yf way of Marchandize to Intermate to us by Mr. Benj. Sanger — Yo^ Master was pleased to send some moulds of fancis to be made in Christall, vi% shall By yf first oppertunity be sent for England to be affected ac- cordingly as also those velvets Groons red &f CouUers the Greatest encoriragem' to induce yf Comp* to continue a factory in yo' Ma''f' Kingdome will bee y! hopes of vending of large quantities of' broad cloth, &f English manufactores, and wee make it our request that y^ yf send us yearely a List of what sortes yo' Ma'|' desires to have y^ wee may provide them accordingly. "Wee had Good hopes y' before this o' shipps from England would have arrived here, y' wee might have had by them some carrities fitting to present yo' Maj*'^ but A LETTER TO THE KING OF SJAM. 135 fearing wee should endanger ye loss of y. monzoone we have ben forced to send away this Junk before our Europe shipps are come, bee pleased therefore in y? meane time to accept of these small thing now sent p Mr. Sangar, wee have here met w'? one Lelup who is y! sonn of one of yo^ Ma*^?' Noq? formerly sent to Succradana and there destained wf wee have now returned unto yof, hopeing it may be accepta''?^ to yof Ma*i^ wee hope by yf next yeare to gitt som more of them men, w"!" wee shall accordingly present unto yof Ma*'?. " Wee humbly beg y! continuiance of yo^ Ma"." favour to 0' people in yo^ territories, and are obliged to pray for yo^ Ma".f^ long life health and prosperity and shall ever remaine yo^ Ma*'f' " most humble and faithfull servan* "Henry Dacres. "Bantam, 22nd Jnly 1676." Benjamin Sanger and Charles Gould having set sail in the William, the Agent and Council wrote, on July 30, 1676, to the Hon''!^ &c. Council at Surat, pointing out the advantages which Siam offered for the sale of woollen goods and for the purchase of tin. They informed the Council that they had .been assured by Mr. Sanger, "y' y! King and Kingdome of Siam will take as great quantities of broad cloath and other woollen manufactories of ouf Nations (and y* he hath it y^ season of y^ yeare), a constant and amicable tread to Japon, w"!' is more y^ y": Holland? can pretend." On account of the restrictions laid by the Japanese on the Dutch trade, the Bantam authorities believed that they would shortly declare war with Japan, and they considered that if this happened there could be no greater " invitation to y? Comp^ to settle a ffactory in Syam y? y! consumption of ou^ woollen manu- factories w"!" for ought wee know in time may arise to bee very greate for what Syam and y! kingdome will not vend 136 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. y\ King with greate advantage by his owne shipps may send to Japon." They also stated to the Council that in the account of the trade of Siam submitted to them by Mr. Sanger, he had informed them that tin occurred in " vast quantity " (in Siam), and of finer quality than the Tin of England, and that the king's price was "^ % S^ P ^^^^ o^ 3 I*ec" in bartT of goods wf is possible w'!" ready money may bee pchased at or about 4S ^ p Bah^ and it is soe much y° better if it can bee soe reduced w'? goods in bartf." Mr. Sanger and his companions arrived safely at Ayuthia, but the hope the factors there had held out to the Council at Bantam, that since they " could not carry Syam to Japan, they might have Japan brought to Syam," was doomed not to be realised ; and a minute drawn up at Bantam on the 6th July, 1677,^ records that they were then despairing that the Ayuthia factory would bring them the trade of " the land of the rising sun." They, how- ever, did everything in their power to advance the factory, and accordingly sent the ship Unity ^ to Bangkok on the 1 8th July, 1677. Captain Croft, the commander of the ship, on reaching his destination, found all the Company's servants in health, and, taking on board a cargo of copper, and Tutenage,^ sailed for Fort St. George. As the factory was now under Surat, vessels from that port began to visit the Menam more frequently than hitherto, two ships at least having arrived there in 1677, viz., the Welcome, and the Fortune. On the latter vessel was Ealph Lambton, brother of Eichard Lambton, one of the Com- pany's Servants at Surat, where their brother John had died. Notwithstanding the arrival of goods from India, ' Bantam, General Letter, July 6, ing to Reid's edition of M'Culloch's 1677. Conam. Diet., 1869, p. 1490) is the '' The Unity was the vessel in commercial name given to the zinc which that able traveller, Dr. John or spelter of China, but improperly Fryer, went to India in 1672. In applied, as the article tutenag to Orme's Hist. Fragments, p. 213, which the Portuguese gave the name, the captain is called Craft, not Croft, was the gong metal of the Chinese, 2 TuUnage, or Tutenague (accord- an alloy of copper and tin. STAGNATION OF TRADE. 137 and the visit of the Unity, the factors were complain- ing at this time that they were stinted in their supplies from Bantam. They were also troubled by a quarrel that had arisen between Ealph Lambton ^ and a Mr. John Tyler regarding certain gambling debts and other claims which they made mutually on each other, and which the factors could not clear up, and which evoked from them the remark, " in these parts we have all judges, but no justice." A misunderstanding had also arisen between the autho- rities at Surat and the Minister of Foreign Affairs at Ayuthia regarding some tin that had been lost at Junk- Ceylon, so that their troubles were increasing. The Surat merchants at Ayuthia seem to have given the factors a very favourable account of the state of the Com- pany's affairs in the Western Presidency of India, as on the strength of their reports the factors had written to the President and Council, on the 3rd December, 1677, congra- tulating them on their success in trade; but their letter in reply tells a very different tale. This was the sub- stance of their answer : — ' We received yours of the 3 December from Syam, wherein you seemed to be advised of an increase of trade with us, & a high flourishing of the Hon'':' Comp* affairs in these parts, which we cannot but a little admire at, there being so little cause for either, noe time since our nations first settlement here having been more drye and less productive, for not only in Surat but in all other sub- ordinate factories, soe few of our Europe goods vend, & at such meane prices (through the general warrs have longe continued in theire severall places where our factorys are settled) that wee are put to great difficulties to get them off of our hands, and more to procure such commodities each place formerly afforded for our Europe investments, so that the Honb'f Comp? have great reason to order the reducing their affairs to less expense and narrower coni- 1 He had returned to Surat from Siam, March 25, 1678. Letter from Surat to Siam, April 16, 1678. 138 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. pass, and therefore cannot but comend your prudence in not leaving your present residence, especially we having reef noe orders from the Honf* Comp* to . lycense your repair hither & where we have already more of their ser- vants than we are well able to dispose off.' Towards the end of the first half of the year, 1678, the king informed the factors that it was his intention to bestow on them the same privileges as were accorded to the factors at Fort St. George, and to give them the monopoly of the pepper trade of PatanL They willingly accepted those fresh concessions, and at once resolved to send Samuel Potts in a mervah, doubtless specially named for the occasion the Patani Merchant, and commanded by Captain Barkin, to take possession of Patani and to reside there, until further orders. The vessel was laden with rice, to be invested in pepper for Ayuthia. Some time elapsed, however, before the arrangements for this new extension of trade were completed, and in the meanwhile Benjamin Sanger died on the 3rd Sep- tember.^ Potts and Eichard Jennings, on board the Patani Mer- chant, first went to Ligor,^ where they arrived, on the 22nd August, and going ashore, delivered the Phra-klang's letter to the Governor, who informed them that it was the Phra- klang's pleasure that they should sell their cargo of rice to him. As they could not agree about the price, the letter goes on to say, they sailed to Patani and delivered to the Governor the Phra-klang's letter, who kindly re- ceived them, but in consequence of war could give them no encouragement to settle there, but promised, that as soon as all troubles were over, he would assist them ac- cording to the Phra-klang's letter. A plan of Patani was sent to Mr. Gibbon, The yearly growth of pepper at Patani amounted to 1500 or 2000 pecul, besides great 1 In a letter from George White ^ Letter dated y" 1 8th September, to William Ayloffe, merchant at 1678. Ind. Off. Kec. D. T>. 10, where Masulipatam, it is said that Sanger other letters from Potts are to be died in August. found. AN INSPECTOR SENT FROM BANTAM. 139 quantities brought from other places, which might be pur- chased, in barter, at ^ 12 p. Bahar. They made the Gover- nor a small present, which he gladly accepted, but, being disappointed of their hopes, they sailed to Singora. The king of that place desired them to settle in his town, promising them his protection, and to accommodate them with a house at his own charge wherever they should think most convenient, and also to make Singora a free port, so that in a short time, all foreign commodities, they believed, would be had there at as reasonable rates as at Patani, greal duties being imposed on all goods brought to the latter port. The Patani Merchant took in a cargo of rattans for Siam, and then sailed for Ayuthia. Captain Croft, on his return to Bantam, gave the Agent and Council a most dispiriting account of the manner in which the Company's affairs at Ayuthia were being managed by the factors, and on 24th July, 1678, the Council recorded the following minute : " hearing of sev" great enormities acted in that place w"!" are not commendable nor safe in y? Hon*!* Companys affaires, as at large de- clared to us by Capt° Cruffe, and more pticulerly did appear by a copy of a Ire to yf Honb\? Comp^ and a protest from M^ Potts we propose sending a proper person to in- spect these affaires and to give us an accomp^ thereof whose power shall be equivolent to y^ urgency of y^ occa- sion we esteem it to be absolutely necessary and soe have pitched upon Mr. Eich'i Burneby to proceed upon y! Tywan in ord^ thereunto understanding y'^ injury Mr. Pots sustaines by not being imployed in any quality in yt Comp^' Service although a man capable and deserving have thought inconvenient to ord^ and appoint him to be one of the Council and least there should be a want of persons to manage yf Comp^ affaires, have agreed to send to writers to their assistance. "And whereas Mr. Tho? Copping minest, hath requested to go for Syam we have considered and y^ rather by reason of the differences among them being a person by whose 140 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. prudent and ■wholesome advice those difference might be palleated." From a letter written later on/ some information is gleaned regarding the conduct of the factors at Ayuthia. Messrs. Gibbon and Sanger were charged with the very irregular action of " taking up money in y° Compa'; name and lending it for their own accof," and it adds, " The king deteynes ye Compaq, effects for sattisfaction. By their scandelous living, that ffactory is fallen in great decay. W'l'' has occasioned their backwardness in sending their acco'f and their extravagf rating y° Coppf for w°!' cause they ha™ sent Mr. Burnaby to inspect and take an ace*." The king they described as one of the most generous princes in all Asia, and encourager of trade, and that his capital consumed more English manufactures than any other. The ship being now ready for sea, the Agent and Council thought fit to present Mr. Burneby with a chest of wine for the entertainment of visitors, but many a headache probably followed the factor's hospitality, as we find the Council had written to the Court that the wine they had received from their Hon''!^ Masters had been found to be very bad, and in consequence they appealed to them to be more liberal in the quality rather than in the quantity of the wine they sent to them. However, it is but just to add that the liquors supplied to the Council were not always to be condemned, as in the following year, before the Court could have acted on their touching appeal, their servants at Bantam wrote to them, saying, " The Wine, Beere, Mumm,^ Butter and Cheese sent proves very good." The Tywan set sail from Bantam for the Menam on the 14th August, 1678. ' General letter from Bantam to the Court, dated 27th August and 5th September, 1678. - See Appendix D. ( MI ) CHAPTER IV. THE 'TYWAN' AT BANGKOK. The Tywan, under the command of Captain Cubitt, with Mr. Burneby, the Rev. Mr. Copping/ Mr. John Turner, and Mr. Thomas Hellowes, arrived at Bangkok on the 1 2th September, 1678. George White, who was in the capital at the time, wrote ^ to his correspondent, Mr. Ayloffe at Masulipatam, announ- cing the arrival of the frigate. He speaks of Mr. Burneby as a "very worthy gentleman, whose favour he had the happiness to enjoy," and who had been received "with abundance of satisfaction and content." The inspector had, therefore, made a very favourable impression on landing. His first act on doing so was to demand the keys of the Company's Godown^ and to make an inventory of the goods ^ In the Court Minutes for 29th late Minister at Bantam " (it is ex- December, 1675, the election of Mr. tremely unlikely that there were Thomas Copping, curate of Wansted, two chaplains of the name of Cop- to be chaplain at Bantam is recorded, ping at Bantam), " it is ordered y| it his salary to be £f,o per annum, and be referred to y! Comt™ for private £20 were to be allowed him to pro- trade to exaien what Indulgence was vide provisions for the voyage. After granted to Mr. Wynn and Mr. Port- he had been elected an inquiry into man y^ Comp'? Chaplains upon their his character was instituted by the return for England, and to afford Court, but the charges that had been the like privelege to Mr. Copping brought against him were disproved, with respect to the musk and other and he proceeded to Bantam. The goods by him brought home on yt material as well as the spiritual Sipio." things of this life occupied his atten- ^ It is difficult to read some parts tion when abroad, as in the Court of this letter, as it has been pasted Book for 23rd February, 1682, the over with tissue paper on one side following entry occurs : — " On read- to preserve it. ing ye petition of Mr. John Copping, * A storehouse. 142 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. found on the premises. He reported to the Agent at Bantam 1 that the contents were considerable, but that the Honourable Company's estate and affairs were in a most lamentable condition, and that there were no books and no method.^ Ralph Lambton, however, afterwards claimed a large part of the goods in the Godown, asserting that they were goods belonging to him, which, with the per- mission of Benjamin Sanger, he had placed there for safety and for sale after his departure. Joseph Bashpoole, an Englishman, then in Ayuthia, gave Burneby a different version of how Lambton's goods happened to be in the Godown. His story was that on Ealph Lambton's arrival in Siam, in the Fortune, he found the ship Welcome there before him, with a large cargo of the same kind of goods as he had brought, and thinking that he would have a better market for the goods after the Surat ship was gone, he placed them under Sanger's care to be sold when the market improved. Lambton, not having sold his goods, had no money to buy a cargo wherewith to load his ship, and he accordingly applied to Sanger to assist him, who procured for him fifty bahar of tin from the king, while by the sale of the Company's cloth Sanger also obtained for Lambton, who was trading under a license from the Company,^ a considerable quantity of copper and tutenage. Richard Lambton had been sent to Ayuthia with a cargo, in the beginning of 1678, carrying a letter from his brother Ealph, asking Sanger to assist him. He accordingly had also been allowed to place his goods in th,e Company's Godown. The result was, Ealph alleged, that Burneby had seized property of the Lambtons amounting to ^7000.* Another claimant likewise appeared in the person of Cap- tain Barkin, who had navigated the Patani Merchant, as he 1 Letter dated 28th October, 1678. 3rd March, 1680, and dated 24th ^ Letter from Fort St. George to December, 1679 and 20th October Mr. Rule at Surat, dated 4th Janu- 1679. ary, 1679. * Surat Record ; Consultation ' Consultation Book of Fort St. Book, 6th January to 29th Decem- George. Letters from Siam, received ber, 1679. BURNEBY'S RECEPTION BY THE PHRA-KLANG. 143 asserted that when he agreed to navigate the vessel to Patani for the Company, he had placed 1 100 ticals of ready- cash in Mr. Sanger's custody. Burneby, however, on the advice of Gibbon, declined to listen to these claims, until he had received the orders of the Company, as Sanger had only kept loose papers, by which means Gibbon had been kept in ignorance of what had been going on. Gibbon, moreover, asserted that Eamsden, who had been deputed to Jambi.^ had deserted his post at that place, and had -clandestinely returned in the Bantam Cutchell to Ayuthia, and on his arrival had assumed the of&ce of second factor, and seized some of Sanger's papers. These facts illustrate how utterly disorganised the factory was on Burneby's arrival, and how arduous a task he had to fulfil. His difficulties, besides, were still further increased at this time by the death of John Kent, probably one of the writers who accompanied him as an assistant from Bantam. Eichard Burneby himself, however, was also soon destined to suc- cumb to the influences that then reigned supreme at the capital. In the General Transactions at Siam, preserved in the India Office,^ there is an account of Burneby's reception by the Phra-klang on the 30th September^ 167 8. It is as follows : " Mr Burneby having Audience given him by the Barcalong of Syam, delivered his Highness Agent Parkers Irs for y^ King and to himselfe, and by an address in writ- ing returns thanks for his Favours in y^ loanes they had supplyed y^ Company withall, w"? he is ready to pay when any one shall be appointed to adjust acco*? and hopes his Highness wold assist in recovering y^ Compa? Debts if if there shall be occasion," then follows a sentence which 1 That Ramsden had clandestinely the shame of his deeds led him to left Jambi was attested to by Henry commit suicide, as it is recorded Burton at Ayuthia; and when he that "he shot himself with a pistol." was afterwards taxed at Bantam General Letter from Bantam, 28th with having done so, and with hav- July, 1679. ing committed several irregularities, ^ Java, vol. vii. 144 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. was the beginning of many troubles in Siam. It was this, that the Company desired that all those who had deserted their employment, and were in the king's service as gun- ners, might be discharged, and that if his Majesty had occasion for gunners or artists, and would acquaint the Agent, they would be supplied. The gifts- Burneby brought were accepted, and, on the 30th October, the presents from the king and Phra-klang in return for those given to them were received, and consisted of tin, Japan scriptores, &c., the Phra-klang's present to the Company being a Japan gown. In Burneby's letter it is stated that the Tywan was to be dispatched with copper, tin, tutenage, and sappan-wood, and that he hoped to give the Bantam authorities an account " of the coynes curr* in y^ country." Gold at the time was very scarce, as the Dutch had bought up ' great quantities. The king was delighted with the curiosities presented to him, and Burneby promised to send to Bantam a list of what further curiosities his Majesty desired, and also the titles of the King and Phra- klang, and an account of the Dutch trade with Siam. He was of opinion that Ayuthia would shortly be a place of great importance to the Company, and would take large quantities of Europe, Coast, and Surat goods. He then degcribes how "he must go to Levo, where yt Accomp^ w'> yl King will be made up, and all other desires in his Paper to y! Barcalong will be granted to his owne expectation." Sanger, he states, had received from the king 1 50 Bahar of tin and nearly 200 cattees of silver, and that the king lent him a sloop of his own, which " in her voyage to Mocha spent her masts, lost all her Cables and Anchors, and y^ greatest part of her Cargo Damaged." He consequently feared that the Company would be great sufferers by this, the money having been taken on credit. He proceeds to inform them that the king had offered " Patany to yt Company, a Place for w"!" y? Dutch made large proffers to injoy, but y^ king would by no means TRADE OF PAT AN I. 145 grant it unto them, because he observes it to be the custom " y' where they gett footing, they endeavor to make a Con- quest ; but to y° Company Hee will freely give it, w"* y" same privileges as they have at Fort St. George. The Island is 12 miles long and 8 broad, and. can maintain e it selfe, and w*'' some Charge can be made very strong, it being already waled and moted about, but by reason of y^'late warrs some p' is gone to decay. It produces great quantities of Gold and Pepper, y' is esteemed y" best in India. Formerly it was y' only place of Trade, and mighc soon be made so againe were it under y^ English, w°'' is a thing much desired by y^ king and Barcalong &° Gran- dees." He then relates how Mr. Potts,i his subordinate, had been sent to take possession of Patani, " but finding it not reduced to its obedience. He went to Sengoore, the King of w* place showed him abundance of respect, and proffered great advantage if wee will but settle there, in which place may be procured 3000 pecull of Pepper yearly ready mill'd for 120 13 E^ p. Bahar." He also informed them that he intended to send a junk from Siam with rice, oil, and salt to Jambi, and thence to Bantam with 500 pecul of pepper. George White was recommended to the Company's ser- vice, "and a Person of his Experience and Knowledge being very needful," Mr. Burneby employed him as second till further orders.^ He advised that a new factory should be built which, he says, "y° King expects, having long ^ The Court Book for 24th May, February, 1681, the following entry 167 1 contains the following minute : occurs : — " It is ordered that a par- — " The peticon of Sam. Pots re- cell of musk brought home for acco' comended to y« Comp'' by the right of Mr. George White, Factor at honb'^ the Lord Berkeley, was now Syam, be detained in y= Warehouse read, praying employm' in their ser- untill his accompt with the Comp* be vice; Whereupon it was ordered advisced." And again, on the ist that it be taken into consideraeon March 1681, the following minute is as any opportunity offers." Sam. recorded: — "It is ordered y' it be Potts' sureties were " Sampson Potts referred to Mr. Morden and Mr. of Litchfield gent, and John Potts Sedgwick to exaine the charge ye of Westm' gent. " Court Book, 23rd Company has against Mr. Burnaby June, 1671. and Mr. George White factors, at 2 In the Court Minutes of 22nd Syam, and to report ye true state K 146 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. since appointed them ground," and has promised them timber, brick, and mortar. The house they then had was very much decayed. He also requested the Agent to " con- firm Jn" Bennett, an able Physitian and Chyrurgion," he had entertained at £3 5s. p month, "there, being great occasion for him." He also asked the Agent "to send (for security of y" Compa^ concernes) 6 Or 8 Souldiers and Armes, etc. The factory having been broken up three times " since his arrival there. He was very desirous that the " king might be accomodated with the Toyes writ for." The Dutch being highly commended there, for their readi- ness in obliging y' king, whilst our former factors are much complain'd ag' but y? things he brought w"* him, and y" promises made of more exact observance for y® future has in good part regained our Esteeme, therefore to supply him w* what he now desires would much engage him," and Mr. Burneby hoped " y"= amount of y" Cost will be in- vested as much to y° Compa^ benefit, as in any other Comodity they could send. The king hath severall times offer'd s or 600 Bahar of Tin' for y^ Compaq acco* w"" he desires y" Agent &c. directions in." Burneby in writing to Eobert Parker, the Agent at Bantam, forwarded an interesting report on the trade of Ayuthia, the author of which was probably George White.^ On the same day as the foregoing letter he also addressed the Directors in London, impressing on them the impor- tance of the trade of Patani, and pointing out the advan- tages of the trade with Singora, while at the same time he announced that peace had been concluded between Cam- boja and Cochin-China, and that the trade of the former country would be of great use to the Company. By the 28th November, the Tywan, carrying the foregoing correspondence, had been dispatched to Fort St. George thereof unto ye Court." He was tam to R. Burneby) and on the 30th appointed by the Bantam Council October, 1680, he wrote to K. Bur- to the Company's service at Ayuthia neby declaring himself free from as a temporary arrangement, on the their service. 26th March, 1679, (Letter from Ban- ' See Appendix E. A HOUSE FOR THE FACTORY A NECESSITY. 147 ■with a cargo of " Copper, Tynne, Tutanague, Sapanwood, and Tea," ^ but the tea was ultimately returned to Bantam, as no one had offered anything for it at Madras. From the letter which supplies these particulars it appears that a part of the cargo had been obtained by barter, and the remainder for ready money, and that the President and Council at Fort St. George were dissatisfied with the way in which Burneby had invoiced the goods. They say he had " invoiced the copper at three several prices, viz., at 12, 10, and at 8 tayle p. chest," which they believed repre- sented " the rates he had received in barter for other goods and bought for ready money." It was therefore difficult, they said, " to know the losse or gains upon it here ;" there- fore they presumed it would be " a more plaine way to charge it all at yf ready money price, for otherwise the gaines is made upon yf copper in the goods in which it is bartered, and soe in other goods received in Barter." Moreover, on the arrival of the ship, they failed to sell the tin and tutenage, as they had only received offers for less than what they had cost. On the 28th ISTovember, 1678, the factors at Ayuthia informed the authorities at Bantam that it was "An In- dispensable necessit'' " that a factory should be built at a cost of about 3000 dollars, and that it should have a guard of 6 to 8 soldiers, and they embraced the oppor- tunity to commend their steward, Thomas Hellowes, for his excellent management of their household arrange- ments. The king, they said, would contribute to build the factory, and, in view of this and other favours they might have to ask, they recommended the Bantam authorities not to grudge purchasing and sending to Ayuthia the objects the king had expressed a desire to have, as " the cost will be well employed." They were also requested to send an annual present to the king, as he would always make an equivalent return, and among the objects sug- 1 Letter from Fort St. George to The HonWe Tho' Rolt and to the Council at Surat, dated 6th January, 1678/9. 148 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. gested for his Majesty's use, " A Christall Branch," doubt- less a chandelier, a favourite ornament for the halls of Eastern princes even now, and " amorous representacons in wax-worke," -which would be highly esteemed. From another passage occurring in this letter it appears that Mr. Parker, the Agent at Bantam, had been guilty of a breach of court etiquette in addressing the king direct by letter, as he was told "not to write any more Lres direetlie to y' King, but to Barcalong." The Agent and Council at Bantam were also requested to instruct the captains of ships going to Siam that they should take their vessels up the river as far as the city, in order to save boat-hire, and that the tide, in the latter end of July, would carry them up all the way. And they were also informed that the ships would save ground- tackle by riding on rattan hawsers. The English name in those days was not unfrequently dishonoured at Ayuthia, and an anecdote recited in this letter portrays the desperate character of some of the rufiBans then frequenting the capital of Siam, and the tale of piracy recorded on 'the following page of this narrative illustrates the lawlessness of the time. George Lawrence, an Englishman, was accused of mur- dering three persons, and acknowledged having killed two. He, however, escaped " by breaking the prison ; " and as the people of Siam, we are told, "esteem it meritorious to succor a malefactor," he was for a time allowed his liberty, during which he insinuated himself into the Phra- klang's favour, to secure himself against justice, and was entertained as an engineer. He was, however, afterwards surrendered and sent to Bantam, where he again escaped. In the beginning of 1679, the President and Council at Bantam were beginning to complain that Mr. Burneby was "very short in his advices," an observation which, read in the light of the after history of the man, is of con- siderable import. On the 29th March, 1679, the Tywan was dispatched THEFT OF A SLOOP. 149 from Fort St. George ■with a cargo of calicoes for Ayu- thia, and arrived in the Menam probably towards the end of June. The letter^ in which Burneby was informed of this reached him overland from Tenasserim, being de- livered to him by Captain Wilcken "Wigbers, a Dane. This man had gone from Fort St. George to Tenasserim, in search of his sloop, which had been stolen from him at Pulicat, on a dark night when he was ashore, the thieves being his pilot and mate, both Dutchmen, and a crew of seven white men and some blacks. The sloop was laden with rich goods, jewels, and plate of considerable value, but on its arrival at Tenasserim the vessel was seized by the Siamese Governor, and the runaways and their ill-gotten riches were sent up to Ayuthia on suspicion ; and in a letter to Madame Mainwaring, at MadapoUam, it is said that it was credibly reported the men had been sent in irons. The President and Council at Fort St. George took up the captain's case warmly, as he had two years before placed a sum of money with the Company, and had taken bnis of exchange for it, intending to have gone home in one of their ships, or to have lived under the Honourable Company's Government at Madras, as he had all along done. They therefore requested Mr. Burneby to assist him, and the President of Fort St. George, Streynsham Master,^ wrote a letter to the king of Siam, and another to the " Barcalam," asking a similar favour. Here is the former : — ^ " To y^ King of Syam in y* Persian Language. " May it please your Majesty, " Besides the fame of the Justice and favour of your Glorious Court to all Strangers the experience of our 1 Tort St. George to Mr. Kiohard sham Master, Knt., and a likeness Burneby, Chiefe etc* Councell in of him : see Hedges' Uiary, vol. ii. Syam, dated 8th May 1679. pp. ccxxii-eclv. ' Fort St. George Records, J J. ^ In Book J. J. b. I, 11, p. 57. b. I. Vol. ii. pp. 57, 58. Colonel Ind. Of. Records, and at p. 58 is the Yule has given an interesting sketch letter to the Phra-klang. of the Indian career of Sir Streyu- ISO ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. Nation more particularly therein, hath emboldened me to recommend to your Majesty the business of Cap' Wilcken Wigbers, your assistance and kindness in such cases being soe agreeable with your ,Eoyall bounty, that I firmely beleeve he will obtaine it in the recovery of his owne soe unjustly and felloneously carryed from him, as I have in short given his Excellency the Uprah Oolong to under- stand, and yo'' Majesty will more largely know from him- selfe, soe shall not trouble your Majesty any farther then the addition of my prayers for your long life and happiness I remaine Your Majestys Most humble devoted servant, Stkbtnsham Master. "FoKT St. Geokge, ?/« 8«A May, 1679." Towards the end of the year 1678, Burneby had sent George Chown to Bantam ^ with letters and papers bear- ing on the unsettled condition of the factory, but his news were not wholly of a desponding character, as he was able to announce that the king of Siam had offered an island to the English, and also a fortification. The latter was pos- sibly Patani, although it was not mentioned by name. The king had been probably led to make this liberal concession out of purely interested motives, his object being to coun- teract the influence of the Dutch by playing the one nation off against the other, as in the next breath in which the Bantam Council record this concession they unwittingly explain its cause in this sigh, " These parts are weary of the Hollander's tyranny." ^ The Lambtons, whose goods had been seized by Burneby for the Company, were determined to make every effort in their power for their recovery, and accordingly, on the 24th March, 1679, Ealph Lamb ton ^ presented a petition to the Council at Surat, stating " that Mr. Eichard Burneby, 1 Bantam Consultations, 6th De- ^ BantamGeneral,27thMay, 1679. cember, 1678. General Letter to ' Surat Consultation Book, 24th Court of Directors, 27th May, 1679. March, 1679. RALPH LAM ETON AT AYUTHIA. 151 the chief of the Company's affairs in Siam, had seized his estate on pretence of some of his ( Ralph Lambton's) accounts being unsettled with him (Burneby), and he therefore prayed the Company's permission to voyage to Siam on some Surat junk." This was granted, but as a ship called the Surat Merchant was leaving Surat for Siam about that time, he went as a passenger on it, and arrived at Ayuthia on the 27th July, 1679. Burneby records this event, which made a stir in the capital, in the following words : — " Presently after his coming I had notice given me of his public raylinges against me amongst the Moores and country people, with threatening to submit complaints to the Barcalong of injuries he had received by unjust seizure of his goods the former year ; upon intimation of which his endeavours wrongfully to slander and abuse me," he adds, " I sent him the following friendly admonition." The letter here referred to is dated 6th August, 1679, and Burneby. called on Lambton " to deliver to him in writing whatever he had to object against him, and to desist from his infamous slanders," and enjoined him, in the name of the Honourable Company, to cease from any further ■ addresses to the Phra-klang, and from his threat to address the king. He charged him with damaging the credit of the Company, and of having " misappropriated the goods to accommodate his own private occasions." He doubted not but that the laws of his sovereign lord the king would justify him, and to them he humbly referred him- self, and protested against Lambton's irregular proceed- ings in applying to the Phra-klang for assistance, " whereby the Hon. Compa^ authority had been publicly contemned and slighted, and their esteem and credit amongst the Siamese been much impaired and prejudiced," and he declared that he held Lambton liable to make full satis- faction for all damages and detriment that might thereby accrue to the said Honourable Company, aud Pachard Burneby, their servant. Lambton's reply to this protest exists, and, in it, he 152 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. claimed from Burneby a balance of about 407 cattees, and reiterates his claim that the goods left by his brother Eichard in the Company's godown had been wrongfully seized for the Company by Burneby. He disregarded Burneby's warning not to address the Phra-klang, to whom he submitted two petitions. The Siamese minister very sensibly recommended the two disputants to submit the whole question to arbitration, by a tribunal of compe- tent judges, selected from the Dutch, Portuguese, and Moorish nations,^ but to this Burneby would not agree. The goods in dispute were accordingly sent to Surat, either on the Tywan or Surat Merchant, "both of which ships seem to have been at Bangkok at the time. The President and Council at Surat were to dispose of the goods, and to that Presidency were also sent the various papers bearing on the case, to enable the authorities to judge of its merits. The President was entreated to prevent Mr. Lambton re- turning to Siam, where " by his p^^esumptuous proceedings the Honble. Compa' authority had already been much undervalued." The factors also added that if Lambton was "permitted to profit therein it will not consist w*** their Honour and Interest to settle a factory in y" place." In 1679, Samuel White was at Ayuthia, having doubt- less gone there overland from Mergui, between which port and Masulipatam he had been acting as a pilot, in the service of the King of Siam, for two years. His brother George, who had been temporarily assisting Burneby in the management of the factory, took the precaution, along with Burneby, to ask the Council at Madras to sanction Samuel's continuing in the service of the king, as he had given great satisfaction to the Phra-klang " whose favour they said is of considerable import to our Honble. Master's concerns here." After the application had beeb sent off to the Council at Madras, he proceeded overland to Tenasserim to join his vessel. His employment seems to have been sanctioned, as he continued to act as pilot or captain of ^ Letter from Siam to Surat, dated 4th December, 1679. SA'MUEL white. 153 the king's ships until 1682. He was also a favourite with the natives at Masulipatam, as when a contradiction of a false report of his death by drowning, in the wreck of his ship, off the coast of Pegu, reached that port, it is recorded that it occasioned "great rejoicing in the town."^ As Samuel White was a leading figure in the events which happened at Mergui, in 1687, a brief summary may be given here of his own account of his Indian career.^ He says, "I went to India, anno 75, as mate on board the ship Zoyal Suhjed, Captain William Goodlad^ Commander, for the Uast India Company; and did with the knowledge and consent of the Governour of Fort St. George, and by leave of the foresaid Commander, remain in India, giving security to indemnifie the said Commander, from the penalty of One Hundred Pounds, he was lyable to pay for any Person so left behind him, which being accor- dingly exacted by the Company at the Ships return, was duly discharg'd by my Correspondent here. Mr. George White, my brother, did at this time reside in the kingdom 1 Masulipatam Diary and Consul- of his Case," is reproduced in an tation Book. Appendix (F.). It was replied to by ^ " The Case of Samuel White the East India Company in a peti- Hwmhly presented To the Honour- tion addressed to Parliament, enti- able, the Knights, Citizens and Bur- tied " The Answer of the East gesses, in Parliament assembled." India Company," &c. ; but for fur- No copy of this petition appears to ther details regarding this sub- exist in the India Office, and it was ject the reader is referred to only after a laborious search that Appendix E. a copy was fortunately discovered ^ In the Masulipatam Consulta- among a mass of miscellaneous tion Book for 1676 the following papers in the Public Record Office, passage occurs : — It was presented to the House of "Mf Samuel White who came a Commons on the i8th April, 1689. Passenger or a young Mate in y". S. White died, shortly after this Loyal Subject Cap! Goodlad Coman- petition was presented, and on 13th der (all y! women being appointed July 1689, his brother George, as his to y? Ship) He y' sd White courted administrator, presented another pe- M" Povey y' was sent for to Madras tition, in much the same terms, on be- to marry young M; Jearsy after she half of histwonieces,youngchildren, had lodg'd at M^ Jearsy 's house she and still another on the 14th May slyted y' young man and on a sud- 1690. (JonrnalsoftheHouseof Com- dain returned him his tokens and mons, 26th December 1688 to 26th went forth and was married by the October, 1693.) They wereallreferred Erench Padree M; Warner minister to a Committee for consideration. at y". Fort refused to do it." — Ind. His first petition, " The Statement Off. Rec. LL. a. 2. 154 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. of Syam, whither at his Invitation I remov'd, and voyag- ing soon after to Metchlepafam, it happened in the time of my being there, that the king of Syam's Agent applied himself to the Chief of the Companies Factory, for a Person well qualified to navigate ^ a Ship of the King's betwixt that place and the Port of Mergen : To which employ he was pleas'd to recommend me, and I continued therein about four years, being so happy to have my services well accepted by the said Kings Ministers, and by them so favourably represented to his Majesty, that he was gra- ciously pleased, to let me in a large measure partake of his Royal Bounty and favour." The factors at Ayuthia, in their letter recommending the authorities at Fort St. George to sanction Samuel White's employment by the Siamese Government, took the opportunity to instruct Sir Streynsham Master also as to the course to be followed in addressing his Siamese Majesty. He and his Council were accordingly tfold that it was contrary to the etiquette of the Court of Siam to address the king personally by letter. Sir Streynsham's letter was therefore returned to them, and they were told that if they wished to write to so august a person as his Majesty of Siam, they should address him through the Phra-klang. This rebuke was not uncalled, for, as the Company had shown a want of consideration of details of this kind in its communications with Siam, and had mani- fested an ignorance of court etiquette that had contrasted unfavourably with the politeness with which the king of Siam had been treated by other European nations. The unsatisfactory condition of the Company's affairs at Ayuthia, which were well known to the authorities at Bantam, made them hesitate to encourage their merchants in the belief that the factory would be permanently settled, but they continued to dispatch vessels with cargoes of considerable value. One of these ships was the Flying for : 1 In Mr. Mohun'a Diary (Madras) pears in the column headed "Pyl- r 1676, Samuel White's name ap- lots." LETTER TO THE PHRA-KLANG. 155 Hagk, which set sail for Bangkok from Bantam, on the icth September, 1679, with goods and specie, and the following letter to the Phra-klang from the agent.^ "The Eight WorpV Eobert Parker Esq* Ag? for ye* English nation resident in Bantam to y" most wise, generous, noble, valiant, and famous Prince Barcalong sendeth greeting — " As I already have, soe I ever shall attribute y* happy Progress, and success of oT Affaires to y* influence, and prudence of yO; conduct, and generosity, and shall for yf future direct my Addresses solely to yo"' Highness, since tis yoy advice not to trouble his glorious Maj'f whose thoughts, and cogitations, transend the spheare of all comon things, and yett out of his inherent goodness wont diminishing his greatness hee hath beene pleased to give such orders as may not only advance y" fame of his glory, but o'' p'ticuler concernes, and interest, whereof I have not been unmindfuU to make y' Hon*'* Comp* duely sensible, being confident they will manifest y* gratefuU esteeme of these high fav"? in all occasions his Maj*".* shall please to honor them w* his royall comands, and I am glad of y" opportunity y' has p'sented for testifying their Zeale to his service in y* provision of those goods, and curiosityes yo'' Highness recomended to o"" cheife, who tooke care to forward yf sev" directions to me, nor I was less diligent in dispeeding them for Europe by first Con- veyance and by next shipping I assuredly expect them in such exact conformity to y* Mast" as may give an accept- able Proofe y? all possible art and Industry have com- bined to administer to his glorious Maj'i* any yo^ Highness content and pleasure. "I have been very unhappily disappointed this yeare by y* unusuall detardance of yf Hon"'* Comp"^ Shipps from England w* was yf reason of my deferring thus long to dispatch this Shipp in expectation of Treasure to acomo- ^ Ind. OS. Eeo., DD. 10, letter dated loth September, 1679. IS6 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. date o"^ ffactories occasions, but being hether to frustrated, and y" season so farr elapsed, as renders y" obteineing her Voyage hazardous I am now necessitated to send her only w"* a cargoe of cloth intending by next conveyance fully to supply them w"* w' cash o' affaires may require. Our Cheife has acquainted me w' yo' Highness signified to him of his Maj"f' earnest desire y* we erect a convenient Edifice for y' residence of o' ffactors under his royall protec- tion w"** I have accordingly represented to y® Hon*'* Comp* further acquaenting them w*"* y' great hopes I have y' y° trade will answ'' their Expectations in y* expence of o' Europe Manufactories to a considerab'° amo' which his sereene Maj"^ benevolence, and yo' Highness pticuler and noble favor is y* highest motive to induce them to a settlemen' and endeede I did harbour great hopes y' by yo' Highness assistance might have obteined a most valuable encouragemen' we being assured of a yearely vent for a certaine quantity of o' cloath, but y" Letter wherew"" yo"' Highness was pleased to hon' me has not gratified my desire in y' p'ticuler rendering it rather very dubious, w* is a great disappointm' and I y* more admire att it, because of y* conveniences y' doe annually p'sent for advantagious dispose thereof att Jepan, where we are certainely informed 'tis a comodity very much esteemed, and desired and yoar Highness canot but believe it dos much discourage Mer- ch'^ from transporting their goods to y" remote parte of y' "World att such vast charges, and evident contingen"^ tiU they are invited by some visable assurance of proportion- ated recompence to their hazardous Adventures, w"*" moves me to offer it againe to yo' Highness serious consideration, humbly requesting yo' favourable assistance in relation to this important Affaire, wherein unless we suceeede we canot hope by any other pticuler trade to answ' those Ends vf'^ induce us to a settlement there. " "With all grateful esteeme of his Maj'''=' Princely gene- rosity, I humbly acknowledge y' noble signification of his Eoyall favour, w'='' was delivered to o' Cheife for y* Hon'"'' LETTER TO THE PHRA-KLANG. 157 Comp* and y' like due thankfulness I render to your Highness for yo'' kind p'sent being really ashamed to finde o"^ obligations thus multiplied, while y° unfortunate falure of o' ships from England att expected season renders me now altogether unprovided to acc[uitt my selfe by any acceptable gratification, w* I must therefore refer to next opportunity and in y" intrim humbly begg y* yo'' Highness will favour me in p'senting y° .... of his most glorious Maj''* y° small earnest of o'' grateful sentim*' w"'' 0' cheife will herew"' deliver, and according to yo"" accustomed benig- nity bee pleased to claime acceptance to w' I have tendred in testimony of o"^ p'culer Engagem*^ to ,yo'' Highness, and here as I am doubly obliged as well in respect to his Maj*'^' dignity as due regard to y' Hon'''* Comp'^ concernes must rep" sent to yo' highness. a suspition of a great Injury y' has beene offered to both by some fellonious interreptions for by y" acco" I have rec* from y' ffactory, I finde y* Mr. Syman Delboe at his arrivall from China afterwards Mr. Benj" Sangar att his returne from Bantam did humbly make a present to his Maj*'' in such European Earities as they were then provided w"" and Mr. Hamon 'Gibbon informes us y* Uperah Sinoratt did occasionally acq^uainte him and Mr. Benj" Sangar y* his Maj*'' was pleased to give a generous demonstration of his kinde acceptance thereof in ordering y' Hon"' Comp'' y« Eeturnes ' of : So : Baharr of Tinn, w"*" hee promised to deliver them, but they understanding from others y* his Maj"* according to his accustomed Magnificence had ordered , a larger quantity demurred receiving y' (the remaining seven lines are imperfect). (Signed) Kobert Paekie. "Bantam, September 10, 1679." The vessel arrived at its destination on the 29th Novem- ber, 1679.^ The ship, how;ever, was in a very bad condition, as on its reaching the Menam Eiver, the factors reported, on 1 Ind. Off. Kec, DD. 10, letter dated Siam, 4th March, 1679/80. 158 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. the 24tli December, 1679, that the ready money brought by the vessel would all be required for repairs. They expected to have been able to send the ship off to Madras by the end of January, 1680, but it appears that the repairs were not completed until the following October, by which time the Company's servants had arrived at the conclusion that the Flyii/ig Eagle had " been an unhappy and chargeable vessel." Towards the end of 1679,^ the Court of Directors resolved that the factory should be kept open, but on a more limited scale, and that only one servant was to be left in chafge of it, to recover debts and to look after the safety of the Com- pany's property.^ They had been led to this decision as the goods from Siam had sold in London at a loss. In the following year the authorities in the East were even more dissatisfied with it, and consequently determined to close it, and for this purpose the Tywan again anchored at Bangkok on the 27th September, 1680,* but on this occasion without any cargo, as the ship had been sent empty for the accommodation of what goods might be in the fac- tory, and which were to be taken away with the Com- pany's officials. This decision was communicated to the Phra-klano- in the following letter : — "From o"^ ffactory att Bantam, August 16, 1680. " To y" most wise, generous, valiant, noble, and famous Prince Barkalong sendeth greeting." After an introduction couched in nearly the same words as the letter of the previous year, Francis Bowyear, the Agent at Bantam, went on to say, "Wee have formerly acquainted yo"" Highnes y' ye cheife motive y' could invite y« Honb'" Comp» to settle a ffactory in his Maj*'''= dominions was a benificiall vend of o'' Europe Manufactories to a considerable amo' and ac- cordingly wee have repeated o'' humble request to yo' 1 Ind. Off. Kec, DD. 10, letter ' Letter from Siam to Fort St. dated loth September, 1679. George dated 19th October, 1680. ^ Bruce's Annals, vol. ii. p. 440. DEMAND OF RENT FOR THE FACTORY HOUSE. 159 Higliness y' by your mediation -wee might be secured thereof by a Contract w* his Maj"'=" ffactors for a certaine quantity annually but by ye answ' yo"^ Highness was pleased to give concerning this Affaire we finde these 0'' hopes altogeather frustrated, & by y° acco"' wee have since reBd from o"" ffacf' of these negotiations wee finde y* profitt doe not countervaile y" Charge w* has quite dis- couraged the Hon'''° Comp* from continueing a Comerce y' proves soe inconmodious to them wherefore they have enordered us to recall their Serv'.^ w"" their remaineins effects hither as wee now accordingly doe and because by 0^ last Letters from 0' ffactory wee are given to under- stand y there are sev" considerable debts belonging to y! Hon*'° Comp: still standing out wee humbly and earnestly address o' selves to yo' Highness for yo'' effectual assist- ance in y' recovery thereof, whereby o'' p'ticular obliga- tions will bee still further multiplied and wee shall bee more engaged to sellibrate yo' Highness deserved fame for your exact, and regular administrations of Justice." The factors declined to comply with this order to close the factory and depart, as they asserted that there were outstanding debts that could not be collected for six months to come.^ The Siamese officials being now aware that the Company would sooner or later remove their factory sent in a claim for rent, as the Company had not acted on the advice of their factors and built a house as had been done by the Dutch, but had been content to accept the use of one from the King. This demand seems to have taken the factoids by surprise, but there does not appear to have been any sufficient reason why it should have astonished them, as a similar demand had been made on George White during part of the previous year while he was acting factor. Por some reason or other, he refused to pay the rent claimed, and in consequence the Siamese officials went to Burneby and declared that it was only out of re- 1 Letter from Siam to Tort St. George, dated 19th October, i68c. i6o ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. spect for him that they did not resort to the extreme mea- sure of turning White out of the house he occupied " and make him pay in the middle of the Eow." Feeling then ran so high about this demand that Burneby fearing they might carry out their threat at once sent three English- men under arms to White's assistance, "in case the Caldwall should come against him," but White does not appear to have appreciated Burneby 's anxiety regarding his safety, as when the men arrived at his house he was astonished, and in- quired why they came in that fashion. Now that a similar difficulty had overtaken the factors as the representatives of the East India Company, they held a consultation on the loth October, 1680, as to what they should do under the circumstances, when they recorded the following minute: — " Whereas yt Kings OiBfic'? for receipt of y! rent of his houses .... have sundry times this last yeare made de- mands of rent for y? whole terme y° Hon*'' Comp^ Serv'? have resided in this ffactory att y' rate of Catt^ 6 : p. annum wee did att o^ last occasionall visitt to y^ Barkalon" acquainte him therew*? telling we had understood his Maj'!' was pleased to accomodate yf Hon*"?" Gomp* w'^ yt residencie rent free, to w'f hee answered us j\ it was farr beneath his Maj'l™ dignity to receive house rent neither did such little rnatt^ use to bee p'sented to his cogniscence, but y! Offic'f y\ had y^ office under their inspection had a custome amongst themselves to take a pecuniary acknow- ledgm^ of those who occupied his Maj'f' houses w* they imployed in defraying y« charges of repaire, and although t'was a business belowe his spheare yett because hee understood wee had beene att some considerable Expence on y? acco^ hee would move it to said offic? to make some abatem? of w? they formerly reed of others for said house : by w"*" his Courte Curtesy wee p'ceived y? rent must bee paid and haveing nothing more to urge against it y? could consist w**" yf creditt of y^ Hon"? Comp^ wee concluded referring it to his good pleasure concerning w""!' of Lingua now brings us notice y* yf offic" have ajusted y^ acco'' at GEORGE WHITE LEAVES SIAM.' i6i cat« 22; for y« whole arreares till this time, and they will come to receive it to-morrow wherefore since wee app'hend y! paym* unavoydable nor can we demurr thereto w'^out p'judice to o! Hon^^ Mast" reputation, wee judge it most advisable in all respect to give a ready complyance to their demands in discharge thereof." The rent was probably paid at once. ^ George White now determined to leave Siam, but he did not depart until the year 1681 was well advanced. He set sail in the month of October, as the arrival of him- self and his ship the Fhcenix at Masulipatam, on the 20th December, 168 1, is noted in the Consultation Book of that factory, in which it is also stated that he proceeded with the vessel to Madras. "When he arrived there, he must have at once applied for a pass to return to England, as one for himself and servant was granted before the year expired.! The ship Return, which had gone back to Surat from Bangkok, on the 7th December, 1675, was at Bantam in July,2 1680, and again in 1681, when it was sent to Bangkok with a cargo to the value of ^36,896. Mr. George Gosfright ^ was placed in charge of the Company's goods, accompanied by Mr. Thomas Ivatt.* The vessel sailed on the 9th August, and arrived at Amsterdam at the mouth of the Menam, on the ist September. They wrote to the Agent at Bantam on the i8th January, 1681/2, a letter in which it is stated that Gosfright "from y' ^ Consultation Book, Fort St. vise and regulate the Hon''!'' Comp'; George, 3d July to 29th Dec. 1681. affaires in this factory of Siam." ^ A document in the PublicRecord * In the Court Bools for the 24th OfiSce, London. ■ October, 1671, there is a minute re- ^ Mr. Geo. Gosfright's Journal cording the appointment of twenty (Ind. Off. Rec. D.D. vol. ii.), entitled writers, among whom were Elihu "Journall containing the Informa- Yale and Thomas Ivatt. The surt- tions and examinacons of severall ties of the latter were Thomas matters and all other occurrences Murthwait, citizen, haberdasher cf worthy of notice since George Gos- London, and William Bearblock, fright arrival here (Siam Anno 1881), citizen and mercer of London, and who came commissioned from y° his bond was for;^500. Court Book, Worp'f Agency at Bantam to super- 17th November, 1671. L i62 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Eivers mouth proceeded in y^ Pinnace for y^ City, but was soe obstructed in his passage by y" strength of j" freshes, badness of y° Boat and marrines, that y Barcalong hard of his being arrived and given notice thereof to j" factory before he could gett thither " on the 5th September, " where being landed w*"" all convenient expedicMi, caused y" Godownes to be examined, wherein he found wanting of w' there ought to have been by ballance of the books," a considerable quantity of copper and tin which Mr. Eurneby, he alleged, had embezzled, and of which he would not submit a true account. Immediately after his inspection of the " godown," he began to make arrangements to ship the copper and tin ^ found in it, but the Phra-klang interfered, and declined to permit him to do so until he had given a written obligation to repay to the king the money borrowed by Messrs. Gibbon and Sanger. Mr. Gibbon, who at this time wished to leave the kingdom, was not allowed to do so, as the king's debt was unpaid. Mr. Gosfright declined to sign any obligation, saying " he was sent only to supervise, ex- amine, and take y° true state of y* hon'''^ Comp^' affaires ; " but he assured his Highness the Phra-klang that the Company " would comply w* all his just demands." It seems, however, that the Company had some thoughts of repudiating the debt, as the following sentence" occurs : " neith"' durst wee absolutely to refuse it feareing to fall , into y^ same inconveniency and prejudice w* Mr. Burneby the proceeding year incountered w*"^;" which, if words mean anything, signify that Burneby had at first declined ■ to pay the debt. Gosfright and Ivatt, after a further inspection of the factory, accused Burneby of having carried on an exten- sive private trade with Japan and the Malayan coast, and with the Moors resident at Ayuthia, in which he suffered several losses, and adduced as ah instance of the latter the wreck of the sloop Mary, in which he had had half ' Letter dated 24th October, 1679 to Bantam, near Batavia. CON ST A NT P'HA ULKON. 1 63 an interest, and which was lost on the voyage to Andra- gera (Andragiri), on the coast of Sumatra, A considerable interest attaches to this small vessel, as Gosfright and Ivatt record that the master was Constant Phaulkon,^ a man who, in after years, rose to be the Chief Minister of Siam, corresponded with Louis XIV., who 1 wrote to him as his " loving friend," and sent rare pre- sents to King James II., to the value of £6000? Vol- taire ^ considered his elevation to this high dignity to be a proof of the superiority of Europeans to natives. Very varied are the accounts which have been pub- lished regarding Phaulkon's parentage, as he has been described as being of Greek, Genoese, and Venetian origin.* Wherever his parents may have come from originally, he was born in the village of Custode, in the island of Cephalonia, about the year 1650, and was the son. of a small innkeeper. He ran away from home in an English ship when he was ten years of age, and apparently remained in England until 1669 or 1670, when he went to the East as cabin-boy' in George 'White's vessel.^ White traded ^ He is frequently spoken of as de Forbin, M^moires du Comte de Fauloon, Falcon, Phalcon, or Phaul- Forbin. Amsterdam, 1730. i2mo.: cken ; but Kaempfer states that he A Relation of the Eevolution of signed himself Fhaulkon, which is Siam, 1745, Fol. : Beschryving van verified by more than one of his let- het Koningryk Siam. Van Vliet. ters preserved in the India Office. Leiden, Fred. Haaring, 1692, and His Christian name may have been which contains two other sections ; Constantine, but he signed himself ist. Verhaal der Staats-omkeringen, Constant. in Siam voorgevallen ;. 2nd. Het ^ A Full and True Relation of Leven en Daden van d'Heer Con- the Revolution in Siam. London, stantyn Phaulcon. Door A. v. H. 1690, p. viii. in't Nederduits Vertaald : A New ^ Si&cle de Louis XIV. Berlin, Account of the East Indies, by Alex- 1751, l2mo., p. 249; where he is ander Hamilton. London ed., 1744, spoken of as " phalk Constance." vol. ii. p. 170, et seq. * ConstiU Tachard, Voyage de ^ Pallegoix (lor, cit^ t. i. p. 95) Siam des Pferes Jesuites, &c. Paris, states that Phaulkon was raised to 1686, arid 1869. 4to. : A Full and thedignity of prime minister in 1658, True Relation of the Revolution in but {t. 11 p. 88), he says, on the Siam. London, 1690. 4to. : Pierre authority of native records, that he Joseph d'Orleans, Hist, de M. Con- did not arrive in Siam until the stance. Premier Ministre du Roy de following year (1659). Both of these Siam, Tours, i6go. i2mo ; another statements are inaccurate, edition, Paris, 1692. l2mo. . Comte M. Amede'e Gr^han in his work i64 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. for five years between the Coromandel Coast and the Persian Gulf, and during that period Phaulkon prohahly remained in his service, and, in 1675, accompanied him to Ayuthia, and assisted him in his trading operations, act- inw as White's factor, by which means he was enabled to save some money. Before "White left the capital, Phaulkon with his savings bought the Mary, and having, doubt- less, gained some nautical knowledge and experience in his voyagings with White, he took the command of the ship himself, but was driven back by bad weather, and was twice cast away at the mouth of the Menam. Nothing daunted, he put to sea once more, and was wrecked a third time,^ but managed to save 2000 crowns out of the wreck. It is narrated of him that on this occasion, when op- pressed with care and fatigue, he fell asleep on the shore one day, and dreamed that he saw a person full of majesty looking down on him, and with a smiling countenance uttering the words, " Eeturn, return from whence you came," words which made such an impression on his mind, that he did not rest thinking of them until he had re- solved to devote his 2000 crowns to the purchase of a ship to take him back to Siam. On the following day, while walking by the seaside, he saw a man approaching him all dripping wet, and with a sad countenance. This proved to be another castaway like himself, but no less a person than an ambassador of the king of Siam, who had been wrecked on his way back from Persia. As Phaulkon knew the Siamese tongue, he conversed with the stranger in his own language, and learning his misfortune, proposed that he should return with him to Siam in the vessel he in- "Le Boyaume de Siam, 4th edit.", ^ In the Voy. de Siam des Pferes 1878, p. 12, falls into a similar JeBuitesparP.Tachard,p. l89,andin error. the " PuU and True Relation of the In the King of Siam's brief history Kevolution in Siam," London, 1690, of his country, reprinted by Bowring 4to, it is said that this shipwreck was as Appendix to his " Siam," vol. ii. p. on the coast of Malabar ; but it ap- 341-363, it is said that the first fort pears much more probable that it built at Bangkok was erected by was the occasion on which the sloop Phaulkon in the year 1675, which Mary was lost on the coast of is also a mistake, probably for 1683. Sumatra. PHAULKON CHIEF MERCHANT TO THE KING. 165 tended to purchase, to which the ambassador gratefully- agreed. On their arrival at Ayuthia, the ambassador in- troduced Phaulkon to the Phra-klan g, and so highly ex- tolled his conduct, that that minister, on whom he had made a most favourable impression, took him into his em- ployment, and afterwards made him chief merchant to the king. This responsible officewas in a very short time tlie stepping-stone to the highest pinnacle of political power to which he raised himself by his force of charac- ter. While in this position he traded for himself as well as for the king, ignoring the selfish claims set up by the East India Company to the exclusive trade of the East, and in this he was encouraged by the teaching he had received from George White, their fierce enemy. The result was that he was denounced by the Coinpany as an upstart adventurer, and sneered at as having been the cabin-boy of White, an incident in his career to his credit, not to his dishonour. White's masterly knowledge of the trade of the East, and his enlightened views regarding the free prin- ciples on which it ought then to have been encouraged and conducted, had taken deep root in the receptive mind of the Greek. He performed the duties of chief merchant to the king so satisfactorily that on the death of the Phra-klang, in 1683, his Majesty wished tg raise him to the dignity of Minister of Foreign Affairs, but Phaulkon declined to accept the honour, as he was afraid that if he did so he would incur the jealousy and hatred of the Mandarins. In time, how- ever, he overcame his fears, and was elected to this rank, and was intrusted with the administration of the finances of the kingdom, and with the government of all the nor- thern provinces, including Tenasserim. While in this high position, he was spoken of by the East India Company as the " Grand Visier or chief Minister of the King of Siam." 1 1 The Answer of the East India Mr. Samuel White, &c. London Company to Two Printed Papers of 1688. i66 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. According to the East India Company ,i Phaulkon went out to India as steward's mate on one of their ships, and elsewhere we learn that the vessel was the Hofewell, and that Francis Davenport accompanied him, George White being either the captain or supercargo of the vessel. Yery diverse estimates have also been formed of Phaul- kon's character. By one author he is described as a loose, tricky, and deceitful man, with a smooth, ready, and fluent tongue, the cause of much mischief, and as a person who did not hesitate to gain his ends by dubious means. He, however, allowed that he was most ingenious at turn- ing himself to anything. A very different description of him from this has been given by the distinguished Ksempfer, who visited Ayuthia two years after Phaulkon's death, when all the jealousy of the success that had gathered round him in life was gone, and only the good of him re- mained." Ksempfer describes him as a man of great under- standing, of an agreeable aspect and an eloquent tongue, and that, although he had been brought up to no learning, having passed his yaunger days mostly at sea among dif- ferent nations, but particularly among the English, he had mastered a number of languages. ^That he was a man of singular ability and great force of character can- not be questioned, as, from the condition of a poor cabin- boy, and afterwards steward's mate of a trading ship, he raised himself to the premiership of a foreign nation, despite the jealousies and intrigues of an Oriental court. To have attained this high position he must have been endowed with great courage, seconded by a laudable ambi- tion and belief in his own powers. His administrative capacity, and his sagacity as a private trader, competing with and contending against the interests of two such powerful companies as the East India Company and the Netherlands East India Company, first brought him into notice, and the success that attended his undertakings, to 1 Answer of the East India Com- Daden Van Constantyn Phaulcon in pany, &e., p. 2. See also Leven eu Van Vliet's Besohr., &o. PHAULKON CHIEF MINISTER OF SI AM. 167 the disadvantage of these companies, was undoubtedly the cause of the cruel jealousy and hatred he subsequently experienced at the hands of those two corporations. Once in the service of the king, he became still more detested by them, and when the Compagnie FrauQaise appeared on the scene at Ayuthia, and Phaulkon had been won over to support French influence, the rancour of the East India Company and of the Dutch at first knew no bounds. There was no villany, in their opinion, of which he could not be capable. When he became " Grand Visier " or " chief Minister," the difficulty of his position increased, because the king being the chief merchant of his own kingdom, all sales and purchases had to be made through the royal factors, and as Phaulkon had to determine how the king's patronage should be distributed among the various nations represented at the capital, he became an object of detesta- tion to all who thought that their claims had not received from him the consideration they deserved. He had, moreover, formed for himself a distinct policy, and that was to obtain for France supremacy among the European powers represented in the kingdom. Hence also the further ill-will to himself which he aroused in the breasts of the English and Dutch. He had been gained upon to adopt this policy by the wiles of the Jesuits, and this was his weakness ; but the wisdom of his decision seemed to himself to be confirmed by the keen interest Louis XIV., another tool of the Order, took in the kingdom of Siam, and by the distinction with which his Majesty honoured the kincr of Siam in sending magnificent embassies and presents to his court ; an experience new to Siam in its intercourse with European powers. But to return to our narrative. Gosfright's Journal and letter extend to many pages of foolscap, and are largely taken up with a detailed statement of the charges brought against Eichard Burneby and Phaulkon. Un- doubtedly the most serious of these was that the former had failed to discharge the debt due to the king, which i68 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. had been incurred by Delboe, Sanger, and Gibbon, and ■which, without interest, had been estimated at ^10,000, ■while in addition to this the factors had incurred bad debts to the amount of ^12,000. Constant Phaulkon's name occurs as a recipient from Burneby of goods belonging to the Company on advantageous terms, to the Company's loss ; a favour which the inspector had also accorded to George White. Although the Company were at variance with White regarding his trading principles, they had had so great a faith in his integrity, that before he left Ayuthia, he had been requested by them to inquire into the " differences and harsh contentions which had continued for two years betwixt Mr. Lambton and Mr. Burneby, to the great detri- ment of the Company's affairs and discredit of our nation ; " and Gosfright- says. White would have used " his utmost endeavours, in an amicable way, to have settled the dis- pute," had not Burneby firmly refused to' take any further action in the matter. Gosfright's own belief in White's good faith seems to have been implicit, as he states in his report that he had accepted White's bond to make good to the Company any loss they might have sustained by means of any indiscreet conduct of his in having received goods from Burneby. Samuel Potts had been White's accuser, but Gosfright and Ivatt were of the opinion that the accusation was unfounded, and they were inclined to believe that it proceeded ffom malice. It is due to White's memory that these details should be recorded. Gosfright's impeachment of Burneby, however, did not end here, for he charged him with having turned Samuel Potts out of the factory in order that he might unmolested, and with more privacy, use the Company's estate for his own ends. A quarrel, however, between Burneby and Potts had existed for some months, but the latter only reported the matter to Bantam the very day that Gosfright and Ivatt wrote their letter of accusation against Burneby. Potts' story was that on the 4th June, 1679, "Burneby, ' TEMPTATIONS TO PRIVATE TRADE. 169 to satisfy his rage and malice, about the hour of nine or ten at night, took occasion to break open my chamber door, pretending right to a box belonging to an English- man's chUd, which by the consent of the mother &c. was delivered to my charge and tuition, having continued with me upwards of two months without any demands whatso- ever ; yet the said Burneby forcibly took said child from me, and commanded said John Spence and coolies, he assisting them, who dragged me out of the chamber and tied me up to a tree, with other gross abuses." These charges brought by Gosfright and Ivatt against Burneby were doubtless largely due to his having engaged in private trade, perhaps to an unjustifiable extent, at least to a degree new in their experience, for a certain amount of private trade was permitted to nearly all the Company's servants under due restrictions. Por some reason or other now difficult to make out, unless it was the fostering influence of royal patronage for regal ends, the capital of Siam in the seventeenth century afforded such facilities to private trade, that the servants of the Company one after another fell before the temptation, and apparently so pleasant was the experience, that in a num- ber of instances they severed their connection with the East India Company and took service under the king, in which capacity they were seemingly free to trade as they chose. An example of such a fall was Ivatt himself, who, like Burneby, ultimately succumbed to the influence. A good deal of the mud thrown at Kichard Burneby by Gosfright and Ivatt was prompted by the jealousy of success, because, bedaubed as he was, he did not afterwards hesitate to appear before the Agent and Council at Bantam, to whom he had been accused of these misdeeds, who, however, did not seize him as a swindler, which they doubtless would have done had he been such, but per- mitted him instead to return to Ayuthia to realise his trading adventures. In their letter the inspectors informed the Bantam ryo ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. authorities that nine ships had arrived that season from several ports of China, viz., four Chinese vessels from Canton, three Portuguese from Macao (two belonging to the temporal and one to the spiritual merchants), and two from Amoy belonging to the king of that place, coming chiefly for saltpetre for his service in the wars. One ship from Manilla had brought treasure in exchange for calicoes, and two ships had also arrived from Surat. The inspectors, however, were of the opinion that the trade had been so bad that there had been a distinct loss on the previous year, and one explanation of this was that so many ships had arrived at Tenasserim, that the market had been glutted by the very goods that had been imported to the factory, and which the factors were now prepared to sell at prime cost. Copper, moreover, could not be bartered for, but had to be bought for ready cash, as the king held the monopoly of the metal, which was the principal cargo of the Return, for the Indian coast. Tin, also a royal monopoly, could only be purchased from the king's factors at an advance of 25 per cent. Messrs. Gosfright and Ivatt's letter ^ ends with the dis- missal of Eichard Burneby from the Company's service at Ayuthia and in the confirmation of Samuel Potts in his appointment. In another document ^ it is . stated that G-osfright, before leaving Siam, which he did in the Return in February 1682, placed Samuel Potts and Thomas Ivatt in charge of the Company's affairs, but that he was not well satisfied with the arrangement, as he was afraid they would not agree together, " they both being observed to be of a fretful, peevish temper." The vessel arrived at Bantam in the betrinniniy of March, just as the Scipio Africanus was leaving for England. 1 Without date, but probably writ- papers ; also letter from Batavia ten in the end of 1681. to Directors, dated 23rd September, - Preserved in the Public Record 1682. Office among a lot of misceUaneous RICHARD BURNEBY RETURNS TO AYUTHIA. 171 Eichard Burneby, shortly after his displacement, went to Bantam, probably in the Beturn along with Gosfright, and was there when the English were expelled.^ His mis- management of the Company's affairs at Ayuthia had been reported to the Directors in London by the Agent and Council at Bantam, and orders had been sent out that the factory was only to be continued for a period,^ and that Burneby was not to be allowed to return to Siam ; but before these orders had reached Bantam, he had gone back by permission of the authorities there, as appears from the following letter preserved in the Public Eecord Office, London, dated Batavia, 23rd September 1682, and addressed to the Court in London. It says, " We observe yoy Hon7 order concerning Mr. Burneby, and had they arrived but two days sooner could have complyed there- with, h'' having th= day befor' th* East India Merch* im- port^'* set sail' upon a Dutch Ship for Syam, to w* con- discend^d, when could discover h.° had no effects h^r'', and that complained unless h'' return'd to Syam personally, to appear in th° recovery of his debts, they would becom* des- ' It has been stated by various English on the I2th' April, 1682, writers that the East India Com- and not oq the 30th August of that pany's servants were expelled from year. It says, "On the 12 (April Bantam on the 30th August, 1682. 1682) the English with their trum- Fide Bruoe's Annals, Hon'!" E. I. C. pet sounding left Bantam to em- London, 1810, vol. ii. p. 486 ; Yule barque upon their ships, leaving the in Sir Wm. Hedges' Diary, vol. i. Comp'^" Elagg flying upon their p. 250, footnote. This statement factory as usuall, and all y'. shoar seems to have been founded on the filled w'' the sorrowfull Inhabitants, fact that there is an entry under the shewing the greatest signs of grief at date 30th August, 1682, in the Con- their departure, and thus ended the sultation Book of Fort St. George, English trade and Possession o£ the in which the President and Council English Apartmen! at Bantam, built recorded that on the previous day at y'. sole charge of the Comp', and they had advices of the unhappy and being their freehold, w'; they had surprising news of Bantam being uninterruptedly enjoyed for above 70 given away to the Dutch by the years, and to w"!" place they traded young king, and that the Company's many years before, that since the . servants had to retire to Batavia. charter granted to y°" in Queen A document in the Public Record Eliz^" Office, London, conclusively proves ^ Letter from Batavia to London, that Bantam was vacated by the dated 23rd September, 1682. 172 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. perat", and h* should be incapacitated to satisfy your Hon""", w* carrying appearanc" of truth, though' it th' most probabl^ way to hav° yo'' Hon''' debt paid, but that h° may no ways prejudice yo' affairCj hav" given orders to yo' servants th''" not to entertain him in th° factory, and non can b° further acted in this business untill next monsoon, when shall indeavour to perform wha* yo"' Hon" have now recommended." Burneby was intrusted with a letter, dated 2nd Septem- ber, 1682, from the Agent and Council at Batavia to Mr. Potts, informing him that they were daily expecting a ship from London on its way to Ayuthia, with instruc- tions concerning the factory at the capital of Siam. The Court, in 168 1, had had it under their consideration whether they should continue the factory, as they had previously been dissatisfied with Burneby and George White, but they resolved to do so, and decided to send the ship Wel- fare with a cargo of English woollen manufactures to the value of ;^ 10,000.^ This was probably the vessel in which Burneby returned to Ayuthia, promising the Agent and Council of Batavia to do all in his power to recover the debts he had contracted, but Potts was informed by them that as Burneby had been dismissed from the Company's service, it was not convenient that he should reside in the factory. Shortly before his arrival, the recovery of the outstand- ing debts of the Company had occupied the attention of the factors, as these debts alone prevented them from at once abandoning Ayuthia as a worthless place of trade, notwithstanding the great reputation it had, in the opinion of some, as a good market for English manufactures. They had accordingly met and resolved to appeal to the Phra- klang to assist them to realize the' debts, and the follow- ing is the minute they recorded at the time. 1 Court Minutes, 1st March, 27th 13th July, 1682. In the Court Book Apri], and i6th September, 1681, and Burneby is called " Buruaby." FACTORS' PETITION TO THE PHRA-KLANG. 173 Consultation for petitioning his highness y° Barcalong for liberty to Embarque y° remaines of the Hon*^° Con- serns on board Miruah Adventure, and o^selves to proceed joynly for Banta. Wee having now used o'' most sedulous and faithfuU endeavours in sundry addresses and aplycations to his Highness the Barcalong in behalf of 0^ honourable Masters for recovery of those considerable Debts stang out, p'ticul7 Constant Phaulkon whoe is soe insolent and obstinet as not to bee y° least inclin'd to satisfie his obligacon, but by his bad example and great injustice of this place, encour- ages y^ Moors &c. to p'sume accordingly ; Therefore de- spairing of any furth'' resolv'd to petition his Highness y" Bercalonge y' if it bee his pleasure not to admitt justice on behalfe of y° Hon'"'^ Comp* by a forceable compultion for recovery of y° foremencon'd Debts, and allso satisfaction for y* dishonour done to 0' Nation by s* Constant Phaulkon, that wee have liberty to embarq y° Eem^ of y^ Hon*'° Comp*^ Estate and proceed w"" the same to o'' superiours for Bantam to rend'' an accompt, rather y" to continue long' to their furth' damage and dishonour. J Samuel Potts & Thomas Ivatt. Stam, 21st SepiemM 1682. This was followed by another Consultation on the loth October, 1682, in which they record that they had addressed themselves to the Phra-klang by " a most obsequious and humble petition for justice and assistance," but without success, and that they therefore resolved to fit up a small "merruah" to carry them and the Company's effects to Batavia, " unless in the meantime they were impeded by the arrival of a ship- of the Company's." The debts appear to have reached the large sum of ^67,000; but they were not the Company's only mis- fortune, for shortly after Burneby's arrival the buildings 174 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. of the factory lent to the Company by the king, and the goods contained in them, were utterly consumed by fire on the 6th of December, 1682. The dismissed inspector doubtless congratulated himself on his good fortune in having been interdicted the use of the factory as a resi- dence, as those occupying it at the time saved only the clothes on their backs. But although Burneby had the good fortune not to be in the factory, and so to have escaped the suspicion of arson that clung to some of its occupants, he was still a loser as he had some valuables stored in it, consisting of clothes and jewels. On the morning after the fire, he went with some of his men to try if he could recover some of his property, and being prevented doing so by Samuel Potts, he drew up the following protest, in which he ascribes the fire to the carelessness and debauchery of Potts and his companions, an opinion which, as will pre- sently appear, was apparently current at Ayuthia when Alexander Hamilton visited it, thirty-^even years after the catastrophe. Coppy Eichard Burneby's Protest on acco" of his p'teaded loss by the ffire in his 2 chests at y* ffactory. To Mr. Samuel Potts. On y° e"" Instant at night there happn'd a fire in y" Hon^'* Comp^ ffactory, not w^out suspition of most people to bee by y" carelessness and debauchery of those people protected by you ; who have no dependency of y° Hon*'' Comp*. On y' morn^ y' 7"^ Ditto I came to y* Factory desiring y' some might rake in y' ashes to see w' they could find belonging to mee. You reply'd y* I came to robb, and steal ; and what soe ever was in y° ashes was y' Hon'''* Comp^ and your owne; ordering s** fugitives to take armes, and who : soev' offered to come their to fire att them ; and threatening to beat my boy whom I left to look aft it. Then yo' irregular proceedings I hereby de- BURNEBTS PROTEST AGAINST POTTS. 175 clare hath render'd mee altogeth' incapeable of making y" least satisfaction to y* Hon" Comp* for w' Mr. Geo. Gos- fright hath lay'd to my charge. " I there fore doe protest against you Samuel Potts to hee lyable to satisfye for w' summe or summs' debts or demands y' Hon''^ Comp* shall or may have on mee or my security heirs or assignes ; Having in those Chests which you fraduently tooke and kept from mee sufficn' to have discharged all dem"^ ElCHARD BUBNEBT. Stam, DecemV' y^ S"', 1682, It is a noteworthy circumstance that Potts allowed some months to elapse before he communicated this catastrophe to the Agent and Council at Batavia, as the first news of the disaster did not reach them until the beginning of June. Writing afterwards to the Court of Directors/ they said : " In the beginning of June received a letter from Mr. Samuel Potts in Syam, bringing the unwelcome tid- ings of the destruction of your factorie there by a sudden eruption of fire in December last, at ten of the clock in the night, which in a moment consumed the house and all goods therein, saving no more than the clothes upon their backs, that no doubt your Hours, will be able to receive but little of all your concerns in that country ; how Mr. Potts and Mr. Ivatt have managed your affairs there, we shall not presume now to censure, leaving all to your greater judgment, for information whereof coppies of all papers rec'^ thence goes herewith." The news of the fire had, however, reached Surat on the 1 6th April, having been carried there by Ealph Lambton, who reported that the Company's property at Ayuthia had been completely destroyed. But before con- sidering the accounts that have been given of the origin of the fire, a short parting notice of Ealph Lambton and of some of his doings at the capital may be introduced 1 Letter from Batavia to the Court of Directors, dated 21st August, 1683. 176 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. here, as from this period he disappears from this narrative of English intercourse with Siam. After he had left Ayuthia his actions there had been investigated by the Siamese Government who charged him with certain very doubtful and irregular proceedings connected with the disposal of some tin that had been intrusted to him for sale, and likewise with having failed to return a ship they had lent to him for one of his voyages to Surat. His conduct in these transactions was brought to the notice of Sir John Child by the Phra-klang in a letter written by Phaulkon by order of that Minister of State. It is as follows : — Pyia Setermerat De Oha chat Amat Peyia Nuchitt-Pepeta Eatena Eaya cusaPipodi Periapia Pyia. Barcalong. Sendeth Geeeting. To the Hon"." John Child &c^ Council, Governour of Bombay President for the affaires of the Hon"* Encrlish East India Company in Surat, Persia &c. Mr. Ealph Lambton in y^ yeare 82 carried with him to Surat for Acco^' Clong Nye 11 00: Chests of Copper, and 358 Bah? two Pecul of tinn, all allowing him 7 p cent ffreight with order to dispose wherof for what yt market would presently afford, and after provision of what therein specified returne y! supra amo? in good Eup? but contrary to our expectation at Mr. Lambtons arrivall to this towne hee gives us an acco'^ to y! Godoune Keepers, that his time was soe short at Surat, that could not possibly comply with their orders given him, and that hee had left said effects in y'; hands of Mr. Geo : Bowcher undisposed. "Which seemed to be soe incredible that y^ Godoune Keepers would have forced him to a compliance by y? paym? of foresaid account, but some of his ffriends inter- ceding for him, and declaring it would bee his ruine, wee comanded him to appear before us, and inquiring of him with whom hee had left said effects gave use the same PHRA-KLANG'S LETTER TO SIR JOHN' CHILD. 177 acco*? as to the Godowne Keepers, and withall promised that by the helpe of his God he would make full returnes of produca of foresaid effects this yeare. Whereupon wee forbad the Godoune Keepers, further molesting him and moreover graunted him yl Loans of a shipp to bee alsoe returned us, supra, wherewith wee hoped hee would have complyed, but surpassing all beleife hee has failed us in every respect, as the bearer hereof Monsf De Landres Boreau will more p'ticularly inform you, whom wee have appointed, and given our Positive orders to recover from said Ealph Lambton all such debts, alsoe the recovery of the said shipe w"?* are due to this Crowne, and in regard hee is of your nation wee have given you this acco" that in case hee should faile of mak- ing due satisfaction to MonsT De Landre or his order, that you use your authority, soe that wee may not faile of meetting with a due complyance from him, wherby you will not only give us that satisfaction, as we hope will make you gratified to your Masters but will alsoe bee the meanes of the Eemove of a Scandall, w* will otherwise become generall to your nation, and as wee are still will- ing to maintaine a faire correspondence, we would willingly give you a small Insight of what will undoubtedly occurre in failure of soe reasonable a complyance, namely your Masters effects upon the place will lye open to the godowne- keepers for the Ballance of said acco*'- Hee usually ap- pearing before us, and associating himselfe with your cheife &c1 yf Company's Servants, who to all appearance never acted any thing without consulting with him, w"? gave him that credditt with us to intrust him with fore- . mentioned Amo?- Wee are very unwilling to suffer any thing that may prejudice your Masters interest, soe shall leave it to your most serious concideration.^ Given a',' our court a',* Levoe in yf Month May 1045, Pr of his High? yf Barcalong P; C. PHAULKON. 1 Ind. Off. Rec, GG., c. I. M 178 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. If this letter was a truthful statement of Ealph Lamb- ton's conduct, it certainly merited Sir John Child's imme- diate attention, but whether he received it ha^ not been mentioned. But to return to the burning of the factory ; two very different accounts of the origin of the fire have been recorded. The first, by Van Vliet,i says that George White had lent Phaulkon a considerable sum of money from the coffers of the Company, and that. White, who is spoken of as the English principal, which he never was, left the factory on his departure burdened with debt. From what has already been recorded in this narrative, it is evident that the author of this account was neither ac- quainted with the affairs of the East India Company at Ayuthia, nor with the origin of the debt. But his ex- planation of the circumstances that led up to the fire may be recorded here, as they are in such strong contrast to another account of them. He goes on to say that on White's departure, Potts called on Phaulkon to pay his debt, but the latter having been a very successful man, and having received from the king the honourable distinc- tion of Mandarin, under the title Acloecang ,Soeroe Saken^ had become very proud and arrogant to all foreigners, and especially towards the English, and to Mr. Potts in par- ticular, with whom he would have nothing to do on account of the debt. Potts having appealed in vain to the Phra- klang against Phaulkon, whom he detested, at last laid a petition in Siamese before the king, who ordered the Greek to settle his debt to the Company. Phaulkon borrowed . money from the superintendent of the Dutch Company to do so, and went with it to the house of the Opra Tsu- 1 Van Vliet, Het Leven en Daden f erred on Phaulkon by Phra Narai. van d'Heer Constantyn Phaulkon, Satow says this title is more cor- p. 3, et seq. reetly Chdophaya Vichajen, and that ' According to the king of Siam, to the present day it is the custom asquotedby Bowring in his "Siam," to confer honorific epithets upon vol. ii. pp. 345, the title of Chau- foreigners in the Siamese service. Phyd- Wichayentrtl-th^i-hodi was con- Trans. As. Soc. Japan, vol, xiii. p. 187. BURNING OF THE FACTORY. 179 duJc, in whose presence, and that of another Mandarin, he offered to pay Potts the money, but asked if peace was fully concluded between them. To this Potts replied that when the money was paid he might rely that there would be peace. On hearing this Phaulkon took up the money again, and gave it to his servant to carry away, and he immediately took it back to the Dutch factory and re- turned it to E. Aarnoud Fa, the superintendent, from whom he had borrowed it. After this he took good care that Potts shouid never again have access to the king. The author then continues, that Phaulkon suddenly hired some unscrupulous rogues to set fire to the English factory, and that the structure and its contents were reduced to ashes,^ so that all evidence against him was destroyed, and that he had hoped to include Potts, but that this part of his plot failed. This account breathes such a malicious hatred of Phaulkon, that it cannot be accepted as true. The second account by Alexander Hamilton ^ is almost the exact opposite of Van Vliet's. This author says that Potts, by his extravagant luxury, had rioted away a great part of the Company's goods and money. To cover his delinquencies, he explained that 500 chests of Japan copper which the Company had in specie at Ayuthia had been eaten up by white ants, which Hamilton ex- plains " are really Insects, that by a cold corroding liquid Quality, can do much Mischief to Cloth, Timber, or any other soft Body, that these Fluids can penetrate, but Copper is thought too hard a Morsel for them." Hamilton states that he saw " that Article in the Company's Accounts, as they were remitted from Siam to Bombay, and were in Mr. Vaux's Custody at Sural afterwards." This imposition 1 Copies of the correspondence designation, DD. Series, and bear in bearing on the burning of the Fac- writing the following title :—" Fac- tory buildings were preserved in vol. tory Syain Anno 1681/2, Coppy of xii. of the DD. series of Sir George Letters &c. Transactions Kelateing Birdwood's Report, but they have to Affaires of the Hon')" Compf." been recently separated .from the " A New Account of the East rest of that volume. They, however, Indies, vol. ii. p. 1 68. still retain Sir George's olassificatory i8o ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. of Potts', however, was not sufficient to do away -with his shortcomings, " so after supper one night, as they were merrUy carousing, the factory was set on fire, and that balanced all other accounts, Mr. Potts alleging that Siamese were the incendiaries." The king, on the other hand, offered to prove that Mr. Potts and his drunken com- panions had done it. On the 30th April, 1683,^ the Agent and Council at Batavia wrote to the factors complaining that they had not- heard from them since Burneby had left them. The isolation of the two factories seems to have been largely due to the circumstance that the traffic from Siam lay more in the direction of India than Java. The Court had become aware of this fact, and accordingly, in 1682,'' they resolved to remove the factory at Ayuthia from under the jurisdiction of Batavia, and to place it under Surat and the Government of Bombay. As this decision had been communicated to the Agent and Council at Batavia, in the early part of 1683, they informed Messrs. Potts and Ivatt of the change, and told them to expect the arrival of a ship from London direct. The incidents following the arrival of this ship will be narrated in the next chapter. The question of the private trade of the Company's servants, and of others outside the Company, had been long occupying the attention of the Directors, and, at the end of December, 1682, the Council of Surat began to take active steps against the abuses of their servants, and the trade of outsiders who were designated "inter- lopers," doing so on the strength of the powers granted to them under the royal proclamation. The authorities at Fort St. George followed the example of those at Surat, and, in July 1683, vigorous measures were adopted to seize all interlopers. It was resolved by the President and Council at Surat 1 Letter from Batavia to Messrs. Potts and Ivatt. ^ Letter from the Court, dated 20th October, 1682 MEASURES AGAINST INTERLOPERS. i8i that all vessels with Englishmen on board, arriving at any port where the Company had a factor, or that should be met at sea by any of their shipping, and could not show a pass from the President and Council, or chief of the port from whence they came, should be proceeded against as interlopers. It was also ordered that all persons, of what quality soever, were forbidden to deal in pepper, cardamom, or Cassia lignea, and all were warned that if any one " shall be found to buye or sell any of these Com- modityes, theire goods shall bee seized on for the Honble. Company and sent home." Passes for vessels were granted for one year at half a rupee a ton. But besides the presence of interlopers at Ayuthia, the factors there had to contend against "the envious de- signs of the Portuguese to impede their trade." The fac- tors themselves were also jealous of one another, and their petty squabbles were carried to such an extent, that the Bantam Council wrote to Batavia, on i6th February 1682/3, desiring that the debt at Ayuthia " might either be paid or some person sent thither to retrieve the Eng- lish honour." ( l82 ) CHAPTEE V. STRANGH AND YALE MISSION. The Mexico Merchant was the ship the factors at Ayuthia had been told to expect from England. It left Gravesend in December, 1682/ and arrived in the Menam Eiver on the ist September, 1683. It carried the two factors, Mr. "William Strangh and Mr. Thomas Yale,^ who were armed with full powers to investigate the Company's affairs, and to continue, or remove the factory, according as they thought fit. On the voyage, they were probably waited on by " a black servant, belonging to Mr. George White," who had been permitted to return to Ayuthia on the ship.^ Mr. Strangh left the ship at the bar of the river, and proceeded to Bangkok. He spent the first night of his 1 Court Minutes, 3rd November Lyell of London, merchant, his bond 1682. being for ;^iooo (Court Book, 23rd ^ In the Court Minutes for iSth October 1682). He was admitted to October, 1682, "It is ordered that the freedom of the Company 20th Mr. W™- Strangh be elected factor December, 1682. for India and to be chief of Syam in Thomas Yale was admitted into y"' absence of M'- Gosfright at y« the freedom of the Company by re- Salary of ;^50 per ann., and that demption, on the 26th May, 1682 Mr. Thomas Yale be settled fourth (Court Minutes). In various docu- of that factory at ye Salary of ^£'30 ments in the India Office he is spoken p. ann., and be obliged to continue of as the brother of Elihu Yale, on ye ship now bound thither to give afterwards President at Fort St. ye Comp'' an account of their affairs George. Elihu's elder brother was In that place, and of all proceedings David, and his younger brothers in the voyage at home." Theophilus and Thomas, but where William Strangh was recom- the latter and Elihu were born seems mended to the Company for employ- to be uncertain. ment,gth October, 1682 (Court Book), ' Court Minutes, 22nd November and his sureties were Francis Hunt, 1682. itizen and haberdasher, and James STRANGH'S INTERVIEW WITH BURNEBY. 183 journey at the Duteh house, and it was there the news of the destruction of the factory hy fire on the 6th December, 1682, reached him for the first time. The following day, 2nd September, 1683, he proceeded up the river, and, to quote from his own account, " about 4 at Night arrived Bancoak when was sent for to speake w* the Governour, who confirmed the burning of the Factorie, adding that most iff not all the Comp* goods, might have been saved, the people of the towne flocking to theire as- sistance, had they not been hindered by Mr. Potts." Next day he proceeded to the capital, and on his way he was met by Mr. Ivatt in the Dutch state boat, in which he completed the journey. Arrived at Ayuthia,^ he was introduced by Mr. Ivatt to " the house of one Mr. Constant Phaulckon, a great favourer of the Honbl" Company," and " principal merchant and favourite " of the king. He was kindly received by Phaulkon " with proffers of exceeding many services," and an intimation that having heard of his coming, a house which the king had provided was being prepared for him, " and would bee readie within a day 3 or 4." During his residence at Phaulkon's he met a number of Europeans, also partakers with himself of the Greek's hospitality, but only one of them, and that was Eichard Burneby, whom he had never seen before, wel- comed him. Phaulkon having noticed that Strangh did not know who Burneby was, asked him what he " had heard in England of one Mr. Burneby," to which he re- plied that Burneby might probably be then in England, and if so, he would certainly " be severely handled by the Honb'f Comp^ being accounted by them a wicked person." Burneby, who was present when the question was put, then and there stepped forward and offered to clear himself, as he asserted he had already done before ^ It cornea out incidentally in was called Judea. His Diary is a, Strangh's Diary preserved in the lengthy document, extending over India OflBce, that he was ignorant, many pages of foolscap, and teems on his arrival, of the name of the with minute details of his supposed capital of Siam, which he learned grievances. 184 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. the Council at Bantam, who had permitted him to return to Siam, and had given him his discharge from the Com- pany's service. The Phra-klang who had granted the Tarras- or trade licences to the Company, in 1675, died shortly before the arrival of the Mexico Merchant, and as the king had wished to elevate Phaulkon to this high position, it is evident that his influence in foreign affairs, at this time, must have been very great. Moreover, Phaulkon, on the death of the Phra-klang, having declined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was elevated immediately afterwards to the nobility of a Mandarin, as has been already men- tioned ; he was thus at the height of his power during the visit of these two Englishmen. The third day after his arrival, Strangh had an inter- view with the new Phra-klang, in which Phaulkon took a prominent part. The Minister accused Samuel Potts of having infringed the laws of the country, and informed Strangh that his predecessor had only desisted from pro- secuting Potts out of respect to the "ancient amiable correspondence" that had passed between him and the Company. The house that had been preparing for the reception of the commissioners was now finished, but was despised by Strangh as " a meere dogg-hole, more likely a prisson than a dwelling house." He was now joined by Thomas Yale, who arrived from the ship, bringing with him the presents sent by the Com- pany to the king, and the letters to the Phra-klang. He also carried with him a letter to the Emperor of Japan from Charles the Second, and which his Siamese Majesty was to be req[uested to forward to its destination, but although these Englishmen had come direct from London to the capital of his Siamese Majesty they had no royal letter for him. This stupid oversight, on the part of the gene- rally shrewd Court of Directors, was doubtless regarded by the king and his officials with marked disfavour, and ua- NATIVE OPINION ON ORIGIN OF THB FIRE. 185 doubtedly placed tlie commissioners at a great disadvan- tage in their intercourse with the Minister of Foreifn Affairs, who, in his relation with other Western nations, had always found his royal master treated with every con- sideration and respect, royal letters having been received from Portugal, Prance, and Holland. The commissioners then proceeded to investigate the cir- cumstances attending the .burning of the factory house, which had been lent to the Company by the king on the arrival of Mr. Delboe at Ayuthia, and which, the Phra- klang said, had been large enough for the reception of the Company's servants and effects, and in which " Mr. Delboe, Mr. Hammon Gibbon, and Mr. Eichard Burneby had lived free from all danger, and hazard, for the space of eleven years," bub in which " Mr. Potts could not live for a year without consuming it with fire to the ground.'' It is thus quite evident that native opinion suspected Samuel Potts as the incendiary, and, as has been already learned from his narrative, Alexander Hamilton, who, in 17 1 9, appears to have made inquiries on the spot as to the origin of the fire, upholds the native suspicion. Although Strangh does not record in his diary any very reliable opinion as to the origin of the fire, it will be learned from a letter he wrote to Phaulkon before his departure from Siam, and which is reproduced farther on in this work, that he insinuated that Phaulkon was implicated to a certain extent " although he could not charge him with matter of fact." In this letter, however, he ignores the circumstance that Samuel Potts was pre- sent-in the factory when the fire occurred, and makes the further insinuation that " little Ivatt " and Samuel Harris, who were also in the house at the time, " did not dis- cover " that Phaulkon was " the bellows of that flame." But having been treacherously seduced by him into the service of the king, Ivatt was made a lord, and Harris employed as a captain or factor. Potts, being hated by Phaulkon, got no preferment ; he was, therefore, jealoua 1 86 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. of Ivatfc, whom he reported to the Company at Surat; but the judgment of the President and Council on the dis- pute between these two servants was that Ivatt's error lay in residing with Phaulkon, which was the gravamen of Potts' indictment of the little Lord. This fiasco at an end, the commissioners then took up the accounts of the factory, and made an attempt to recover the outstanding debts. The books showed that the Company was in debt to the king, but neither Potts nor Ivatt could give them any satisfactory information on the subject. The commissioners had come out from England armed with an explosive, which Strangh, who was hardly the person to "retrieve the honour of the English nation," fired on the very first opportunity, quite regardless of the other and more weighty concerns intrusted to him. This bomb-shell was the Company's denunciation of interlopers. The occasion selected for communicating to the Siamese Government the views of the Company on the subject was the arrival at Bangkok from Surat of Captain Pines, an arch-interloper. Strangh's first course was to ask Phaulkon, in writing, whether his Majesty would counte- nance the interloper, and what formalities he (Strangh) should observe in addressing the Phra-klang for an order to debar the unfortunate interloper from any trade, and " that so effectually that no underhand dealing may be used." His indiscreet zeal also led him to insinuate that Phaulkon would be guilty of a misdeed if he trafficked with the interloper ; but he added that he hoped Phaulkon would sacrifice his interests for the good of the Company. This absurd demand brought Phaulkon to the factory in person, accompanied by Captain Pines. The Greek's reply is thus recorded by Strangh in his diary. He says, Phaulkon declared " that as the ho : Comp'" had soe much slighted Siam, threatning to dissolue this factory from tyme to tyme, and never truely settled ; Mr. Gosfright carrying of all the efi'ects of this place, and not knowing INTERVIEW WITH THE PHRA-KLANG. 187 ■what I would doe (this being a free port for all strangers to trafQck in, of what Nation soever). The King would take it very ill that I should propound such a thing ,to him And iff the King Should grant it, his subjects and other strangers would complain against mee afterwards, that by my means bee was chased away, w''?' I might bee perswadet the King would never doe, especially such a one, who w? his ready Cash, the best of all comodeties, outdares us. Soe that what arguments I could or did use, of the ho : comp? proffering a constant and great trade to come directly out of Europe hither yearly, from w* they could expect more advantage, then from this interlooper, whom may bee they should never see again, w|' what more in large I could invent, signifyed little to his own selfe in- terest in the case, that tould me plainly, except I could doe soe as they have done at Surratt and the Coast, to prevent the Interloopers buy up all the goods, vi'} he would buy, I could not prevent him, nor helpe myselfe. Hee having bought 4 ships cargoes of Coast & Surratt goods w* would stick close to him for a tyme, iff by this means hee did not quitt himselfe of some." The interview thus ended with but little satisfaction to Strangh. The subject of the Company's trade at Siam was dis- cussed, a few days later on, at an audience with the Phra- klang, to which Strangh was accompanied by Mr. Ivatt and Mr. Yale. On his arrival at the reception hall, the commissioner found Mr. G-ibbon there, and, seemingly to his annoyance, a number of Englishmen who had come uninvited by him, viz., Mr. Burneby, Captain Pines, Cap- tain Betts from Surat, Mr. Bashpoole, servant to Phaul- kon, and Mr. Berkely, servant to Mr. Gibbon. The letters brought by the commissioners were first delivered to the Phra-klang, Phaulkon sitting before the Minister, translating them into Siamese, and then address- ing Mr. Strangh in the name of the Phra-klang. The letter from Charles the Second to the Emperor of i88 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. Japan was next delivered, with the request that the Phra- klang would forward it to its destination, which, Mr.' Strangh was assured, would be done "in due tyme of shiping." The Minister, however, took occasion, through Phaulkon, to remind him that there was a strict prohibition- by the Emperor of Japan against all Christian nations trading with his country, with the exception of the Dutch, who had disowned Christianity. Under such circumstances the Minister was curious to know, in the event of the Emperor of Japan granting to the Company freedom of , trade, whether they would renounce Christianity, as the Dutch had done. Mr. Strangh replied that the Company would not renounce Christianity for the trade and gains of the whole Indies, an answer which elicited from the Phra-klang the remark that he had spoken well. The Japan letter being thus disposed of, the inter- view turned upon the character of the goods that had hitherto been generally imported into Siam by the Com- pany from Bantam, and which were condemned, as they were not so fresh as those brought direct from Europe. The Phra-klang, however, was not pleased with the goods that had come from Europe in the Mexico Merchant, as he asserted they were unsuited to the Siam market. Strangh's reply to this was that they had been selected at the request of the Company's servants " residet long in this place," who, he thought, " ought to know what is proper ; " but added, that if by their " unfaithfulnesse or neglect" the factors had wrongly advised the Directors on this occasion, it might " bee remedit for the furthur." He then proceeded to press the Phra-klang to find " out some means whereby not only a constant but great trade might bee created off all such English manufactories as other Europe goods " that might be most proper to Siam. To this request the Minister replied that Ayuthia and Siam were open and free for all merchant traders going or coming to sell and buy, but he regretted that the East India Company " could not find that incouragem^ in this . CREMATION OF THE PHRA-KLANG. 189 country, as other nations could find here in Siam ; " but as he was no merchant, he " could not tell how to remedie same, but would recommend this affaire to the King's merchants and goedoune keepers," and that they would be sent to treat with Strangh. The debts owing to the Company were then brought forward by Strangh, but the Phra-Maug emphatically refused to have anything to say to them, and mentioned that his predecessor had warned the Company's servants against trading with native merchants without his ap- proval, and that some of the debtors were dead, while others had " broake " or were " not worth anything." He promised, however, if Mr. Strangh could find out any that were " able to pay and not willing," they would be com- pelled to discharge their debts, while the bodies of those who were unable to pay would be delivered to him, and he might put them in prison. With this concession the interview closed. A few days afterwards all Ayuthia was en fite, as the body of the former Phra-klang, then lying in state, was burned, the King himself setting fire to the pile on the 29th September. On the ist October, 1683, Strangh wrote that " notwithstanding the Fray of Saturday's great bussiness (the cremation of the Phra-klang) not being over or settled," he sent the interpreter to summon all the debtors to appear before him, and while this was being done he occupied himself trying to dispose of the ship's cargo. Several brokers came to him saying they could find Portuguese merchants prepared to barter copper for his cloths, but that they were afraid to make any arrange- ment until they knew how much of the cargo Constant Phaulkon wanted for the king. Many attempts of this kind were made to sell the goods, but all proved unsuc- cessful, owing, it is said, to the underhand conduct of Phaulkon, who, while professing to be willing to give the commissioner every opportunity for so doing, was firm in Jiis resolve to keep the trade with the English in his own 190 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. hands, Strangh, however, was not very discreet in the way in which he conducted his negotiations with the Phra-klang and Phaulkon, and the course he took did not meet with the support of his colleague, Mr. Yale, who, he complains, was all for Phaulkon. This want of concord largely contributed to bring about the resolution they .ultimately arrived at to leave the place. As Samuel Potts had been suspended owing to the way he had been mixed up with the burning of the factory, and as Thomas Ivatt had all but severed his connection with the Company, the two Englishmen fresh from Europe, finding themselves alone and utterly ignorant of the place in all its aspects, trading and diplomatic, resolved to look out for assistance from among the Englishmen then resi- dent at the capital. We accordingly find the following minute recorded in Strangh's diary on the 15th October, and as it throws considerable light on their position, it is here quoted in its entirety. Strangh says, " Mr. Yale w' mee pitched upon Mr. Hammon Gibbon as an ould Standert in this place, and who had the report of everie bodie in toune of an honest man, against whom wee had hard uoe complaints of the ho : Comp?'. also that was well versed, and knew the whole course of trade in this country, though troubled w^ the impedim^ of hard hearing, was resolved to embrace him for our assistance, to advise w' us for the good and benefitt of the honb'f Comp'? Soe hee thought good, there being non in toune, that I could see amongst all the Eng') that stood really affected to the ho: Comp? afi"aires, soe as hee did seeme and had ex- pressed himselfe when did comune w? him about theire afifaire, and the trade of the Country. And this day was to speake to him about it, but that dined abroad w' Mr. Ph. and came in late at night." On the 17th October they held a consultation, in the minutes of which it is recorded that Mr. Hammon Gibbon accepted the proposal. They then at once held a con- ference laying before him the Company's instructions, A CONFERENCE AT THE FACTORY. 191 and demanding his advice on some points, the nature of which appears in the following resolutions. "As to the first. For absolutely dissolving of this Factorie according to the ho : Companies positive orders and instructions. It is considered, that this ship should then goe for Surratt dead freighted, w' most of the cargo, improper for that place. 2^^ Iff dissolved, now Bantam being lost the ho : Oomp'? would have noe save footing in thir South Seas (that w"*" the Dutch should gladly see :) and noe vent for our cloth or other Manufactories which may bee transported from hence to all parts in China and Japan. 3*'^, The King having a great love for our nation, and the ho: Companie, has bestowed Sev'? favors and grants of places upon the coasts of his territories (tho not accepted of) also lent the ho : Comp' Factors, mony, and goods, for dispatch of theire ships, w*out any interest w".'' the Dutch and French doe pay. Should as credibly en- formed, highly resent our leaving of this place and with- draw his favors and affection from us hereafter, If should bee resolved upon, to settle here anew. To the 2^ For our staying heere upon tryaU. Wee have this hope and probable asseurance next yeare to make our cloth, and other manufactories a speciall Comodity, and may bee at our owen rates. Since last yeare, there was by the China and Japan Juncks, great enquiry for cloth &c* all being burnt, and they could have non except any^from Bantam. " And for the trade of Japan. As the ho : comp'f has wisely considered a probable port, to introduce them in that trade (w*^*" iff this factory bee dissolved, all hoopes is lost, off ever coming into that trade :) v/"^ in respect of this Jong Emperour of Japans seeming inclination (: as is reported :), of granting to all Nations a Free trade in his Country, Iff were but followed closely, is thought may bee obtained. And then this port, since the losse of Bantam, might bee made a fitt place, ather for a head, or subordinate factorie, as they shall thinck fitt. Iff not that, there is a probable meanes, of contracting w* the Chineses 192 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. (: who trade to Japan :) for a considerable quantety of cloth and other Eng*? Manufactories, to bee taken off every yeares ather for ready money, Barter for readie Kopper, Tinn, Tutanagge, or other rareties from Japan. That ■w* the King of Siam -will not bee imposed upon, but as his occaissions bee, sever himselfe from all nations, trade- ing in his Kingdome, granting the ho : Comp'° free trans- portation of theirs cloth, or other manufactories, in his Juncks freight free, too and from Japan, w' full assurance, that his Merchants shall give a true and faithfuU acc^ of the very hight of that Marckett (: the Danger of the seas only excepted :) and is the same as iff their ships were sent thither directly from Engf or this place. And would saife the ho : Comp'f the charge of maintaining a factorie, w* the presents that must be given. All w* shall bee de- monstrated to the ho : Comp'f Not that wee will (: if not being in our instructions:) middle in that trade, untill theire aprobation. " Lastly : As to the debts standing out heere. Since the Barcalonga will not take upon him the recoverie, but leaves it to us to follow. Iff this factorie bee dissolved, will unavoidably bee lost. But iff upon this short tyme of tryall, wee take for discovery of the true state and con- dition of this trade as aforesf Wee can, by compulsion or otherwayes recover part, iff not all (: since accompted desperat :) and but soe much as will defray the charge of a small factorie, for the tyme wee ar to have our tryall in, would be an advantage and noe losse to the ho : Comp'f "The which carried on, w' all imaginable diUigence, extreame thrifft, and fidelitie, without any sinister or selfe interest. Wee hoope may give the ho : Comp'° content, as well in the true state and condition of this trade, as the frugaletie of our Expences. Our main scope being in this, what wee thought might bee the ho : Comp" interest only.* This record of their conference was signed by Strangh, Gibbon, and Yale, and in Strangh's Diary it is followed by his reflections on what had taken place. He says : — THE FACTORS CONSULT PHAULKON. 193 " These being the reasons alledged by the ould man, Mr. Gibbon, and aproved of by mee as a seeming advantage to the ho : Companie, soe a meanes might bee found, ather for Bartering of this our cargo, or otherwayes, this ship might not goe dead freighted for Sarratt. And thereupon •went w* Mr. Yale to advise w' Mr. Phaulckon (who as yett was unsuspected :) and to heare his Councill, it being the tyme of the Kings traversing op and doune in the country, and in the woods (: as reported :) that would not setle at Levoe this 5 or 6 dayes yett (the Barcalong being w' him and his whole court), non being left but Mr. Phaulckon. I tould him wee were come to take his advice, in our Masters affaire. Since his highnesse the Barcalong (: to whome wee were recomendit :) as well by him the First, as the last tyme wee were before him, did promise to order some of the Mandareens, or Kings Merch'^ to come and trade w' us about our Cargo, but has not. And that this was a meanes or els some privatt prohibition, that hindered Merch'? from coming nigh to trade w' us. There having been some, that would have bargained w* us, and has come nigh our prizes, but has tould us plainely, before the King was first served, or his Mandareens, they durst not bee seene or knowen; Nor would not accept of my Bearing of them harmelesse, or beleeve that the Barcalong had given free liberty to any one that pleased to buy or sell w* us. I tould him our tyme was spent, and I could see noe other remedie for us, then goe as wee came. W""" Mr. Ivatt having fore seene, had deserted the ho : Comp' service by tymes and noe sooner entered but deserted ; that for the future have embraced Mr. Gibbon for our assistant, to alloise w' us, &c? " Mr. Phaulckon tould us, it was true, the Barcalong did speake of sending the Kings Mc*"'" to treat w' us, but he is gone w' the King and left noe ord'' to any that hee knowes off ; Now wee can not help our selves wee come to him, wee should have done this at first, and our bussinesse had been done. I tould him as we had a letter N 194 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. from the ho : Comp'= to him, there in (: as hee has seene :) they recomend all theire affaire to him, and assisting of us, Could not ansr the not delivering of it, according to theire instructions, and that could been at first. I should gladly have seene the Barcalong. Would have transferred the Bussinesse to him to yi^ replyed its true, but that it ■would not have been soe well to have come from him, as from mee, hee had it once in his thoughts to have spoke of it to the Barcalong, but was overswayed by second thoughts. " The ho : Comp'° had done very ill, in not sending a letter from the King of Eng* to this King ^"^ would have been very acceptable, and furthered theire affaire mightely, having lately had an ambassador from the King of France,^ and letters from the Prince of Orange, but contrarie soe much shylted Syam that they had ordered us away ; w"*" the King would not resent well, and did assure us iff wee did, if iff ever after the Comp'° did intend to setle as now Bantam beeing lost hee did not see where they could doe better. It would cost them sauce, and not 20,oooP? would procure them such privUedges again. Nor those favors they had rec^ from the King in lending of them money and goods, &c°. and that wee had tould him about Merch*° not daring to buy, there was noe such thing, if any stop they only came to sifft us, and may bee iff they could run away and never pay for our goods. The tyme of selling our cloth was not yett come till the arrivall of the China and Japan juncks, when would goe off, and not before. And as for the contract w' the King, as formerly mentioned, was not to bee affected, there being many difficulties, and hazards in the Case, as iff such a contract should bee enected, and supose for lo or ^ pounds worth of cloth, &c. to bee delivered next yeare, for w* copper must bee provided against the next yeares arrivall of the Ships, that ' This doubtless refers to the arrival at Ayuthia, in July 1682, of the Bishop of Heliopolis with a letter and presents to the King of Siam from Louis XIV. Pallegoix, t. ii. p. 167. CONSULTATION WITH PHAULKON. 195 may not bee disapointid. Iff he ship by some causualety does not arrive, or lost, who should stand to the losse of the Kop"" lying upon the King's hands. And on the other hand, when the ship or ships did arrive and that ather the Japan Junks did, or did not arrive w' any Kop' (: as in some yeares it has hapened:) The Comp'" would be disapointed and pretend damages. Then he tould what might bee done in the trad of Japan by shiping 0' goods on the King's Juncks, &"• " And therefore tould us, it was his advice, we should dispatch the ship w' what wee had already (: as what we had from Mr. Potts :) and could procure for our readie mony w* what wee were to receave from the King in liew of our presents, w* hee s* would bee considerable, and stay the arrivall of the next ship, advising the ho : Comp'® and waite theire further order ; for was sure iff wee did goe. The President would next yeare send some to setle heere. " Prom them we- fell on discourse of Mr. Ivatt that did not doe well to desert the Coinp^ service, hee would speake to him of it ; wee had done well to embrace Mr. Gibbon and would advisemee not to adhere to Mr. Potts, who would ruin the Comp^ affaires wondering why I did not send him abroad, hee had waited all this while to see what satisfaction wee would make him by establishing an examplaire pnnishm' on him for what affronts and abuses done to him by his tongue and penn, w"'' he would still awaite, and iff did not gett any from us, swore would take satisfaction, and bore his tongue trew w' a hott Iron, w"'' after had tould what I had in his behalfe gave him my couneill to bee better desired=:and not to bee so re- vengeful!. " That day being the first of our taking his advice, as wee tould him wee would in this, soe hee would assist us, in getting the ship dispatched w' a good loading, in due tyme, w"'' hee promised, and bragged, hee never gave any advice yett to any bodie, but what hee would maintaine 196 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. and desarved thanks for. This night went to see the Dutch chieff." On the following day Strangh records that he " tould Mr. Potts have a care of himselfe, telling him what Mr. Phaulckon had threatened, w"'' Mr. Potts w' as much in- dignation on the otherside slighted ; Scarce a day passing w'out great contests, hott disputes, and invective speeches of Mr. Potts, about Mr. Phaulckon and him, and all his other transactions, to the noe little disturbance of the house, not regarding what I said, that made mee weary of my life and often prayed for Peace, but could not have it. Mr. Yale on the other side taking Mr. Potts his part, as to the threatenings of Mr. Phaulckon tould me hee would not see Mr. Potts soe runn-downe by Mr. Phaulckon, hee did not know how soon it might bee his turn that they might come to cutt his throat, as others ar threatened ; w* added more f ewell to the fire that there was noe enduring of itt." Strangh says Potts had bragged that he could call the whole town as a witness that he did not set fire to the " factory ; but this boast ultimately dwindled down to four men, "fellowes of noe repute; whome I had upon Mr. Potts request summoned to apeare and give in their evi- dence what they had to say, but did not apeare. One evening before Mr. Potts brought a fellow w' him very late, ~and after super called mee a side, and tould mee hee had some privacie, going w'hin apart, hee proved drunk and nott on word of sence to bee gott out of him, thought what hee would have said was to vindicate Mr. Potts his actions. Soe confidently, that hee averred to know the very secrets of the hon : ^^° Comp^ affaire, nothing hidden from him, nor the thoughts of Mr. Potts : This fellow was a Dutchman, a Goldsmith, a very idle fellow. " Having formerly upon Mr. Potts turbulent urgencie granted him my noates to summons in before us whom hee pleased. As there was severall persons, and noates given . him, amongst others, Mr. Potts tould mee of a Portuguesse gentleman that knew of the plott, and cduld not (: for ONE OF SAMUEL POTTS' HECTORS. 197 f eare of Phaulckon :) come nigh the f actorie, nather did hee understand English, he would wreite a noate in Portu- guesse in my name to come to the factorie, when should heare wonders from him. Hee writting this noate and interpreting it to mee, ia the sence that hee knowing where the steward was, that runn away by the light of the factorie would doe well to bring him w' himselfe, that might bee examined before mee. So that or the like pur- poses, w"** I asked him, iff had writt nothing els, averring there was nothing els lett my hand to it. When hee seemed pleased, and had rest soe for some hours, till about 7 or 8 o'clock at night. When all allone in the Chamber, there came word to mee, there was two men would speake w' mee I not mynding, before could ans'' they stood before mee, both of them Dutch men, one iff not both very drunk, who tould mee they came upon my desire, asking theire name, and upon what ace' they came at this onreasonable hour, tould mee, on Mr. Potts ace' they came before hee went out of the roome, Mr. Yale being then above (un- known to mee :) w' one Mr. GrifiSth and Mr. Berckly, upon whose appearance and Mr. Yales, thrusting him out of doores, I was ridd of that badd company, not w'out some shrewed suspition to bee of Mr. Potts hectors." As the days passed, and Strangh came more in contact with Phaulkon, and failed to secure his influence towards the promotion of the interests of his honourable masters in the way he wished, he began to hate him, and to attri- bute all his personal troubles, as well as those of the Com- pany, to the malice and enmity of the Greek. He there- fore charged Phaulkon with abusing the authority of the King, and with monopolising all the trade to himself, either out of some private grudge against the Company, or from avarice, and to get the Company's estate into his own hands and to manage it at his pleasure, as he alleged Phaulkon had done in Burneby's time, and recently in the case of the goods supplied to the Surat ships. On the other hand, Phaulkon's complaint was that the Com- 1 98 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. pany had been very fickle in their dealings with Siam as regards the permanency of a settlement, and that they had undervalued the place. /Until the English fol- lowed the tactics of the French and Dutch, Phaulkon held that they could not expect the same privileges as these nations, no more "than this, that, and the other," said Phaulkon, one day in an interview with Strangh, pointing to several persons present, and amongst the rest to Captain Pines, the interloper. The French were at this time in high favour, and were treated with every consideration. We read of a house having been erected at Louvo for their bishop, and to which the English had to resort stealthily, on one occasion, to con- sult with one another, as they had no privacy in the inn, where they were " all packed up close together ; " and of the French chief receiving a coat richly embroidered with gold, while the English received a much humbler garment. The English were likewise subjected later on to the indignity of one of their number, Mr. Potts, being put in the " Stocks and Congees, like unto that of the Pillory," by the order of Phaulkon, who hated him. The reason assigned for this harsh treatment was that Potts had been found at night outside Phaulkon's house for the purpose of " waylaying to murther him ; " the English story being that Potts had purchased a butt of beer from Francis Heath, who was living at Phaulkon's, for a chest of copper, and had gone at night to deliver the copper, and sending up a message to Captain Heath to come to him, he was observed by the night-watchman, and seized by Phaulkon's orders. About the beginning of November, 1683, the BeligM, one of the Company's ships, commanded by Captain Smith,^ arrived below Bangkok. This vessel had been bound for Canton,^ and had reached within forty leagues 1 See Hedges' Diary, vol. i. p. 121. Mohun, in the Recovery, on his arrival 2 At p. 1170! Hedges' Diary, vol. at BallasorfromAoheen and Malacca, i., it is mentioned that M'- Richard reported that he had met two of the STRANGH PROCEEDS TO LOUVO. 199- of Macao when it was driven out to sea, and had to make either for Tonquin or Bangkok. Winds and waves drove it to the latter port. The merchants on their arrival con- gratulated themselves that they'had not reached China, as they found on their arrival at Ayuthia that the Tartars at Canton were strictly forbidding all trade with foreigners, and were punishing by death all who had any such cor- respondence with barbarians, and were attacking all who adventured on their coasts. The Delight had on board Mr. Peter Crouch, Mr. John Thomas, Mr. Abraham Na- varro,! Chinese interpreter to the factors in the Delight, and Captain Smith's parson,^ The presence of these officers was taken advantage of by Strangh to obtain their advice as to whether the factory should be kept on or dissolved. In their first consultation they resolved to continue it, but on a second, after a further failure to barter their goods for copper, and Phaulkon having used threatening words regarding Lambton's debt to' the King, they resolved to close the factory, and to present a petition to the King exposing what Strangh considered to be the malignity of Phaulkon. Strangh accordingly began to make his arrangements to go to Louvo, where the king was at the time, but Thomas Yale declining to accompany him, he appealed to Mr. Crouch and to the Jew, Abraham Navarro, and he says he would have had to go alone had not these two men had more respect to the Company's interest and Company's ships in the " Streights," the Company." On the loth Deoem- and from the context, p. 122, we ber, 1689, he was appointed by Sir learn that one of these ships was the John Child along with Mr. Weldon Delight and the other the Smirnaote, to negotiate a peace with the Mogul. and that Hedges had been informed Bruce's Annals, vol. ii. p. 637. by their commanders "they were ^ At Ayuthia there was occasion- bound for China, to seeke out and ally a show of religion, as it is re- settle a Trade there where they could corded by Strangh that on Sunday find admittance," p. 117. prayer was held, when Mr. Rathband 1 In the Court Minutes for 3rd (captain of a ship called the George) November, 1682, it is recorded that made or read a sermon tending to "Mr. Abraham Navarra was now charity, and when he had finished elected into the Comp* service as it, he presented a petition from a an Interpreter, to go for China at poor Englishwoman for charity, the Salary of 50;^ a year, and was " which was then subscribed by every now admitted into the freedom of one, and by me 4 tayle or ^10." 200 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. pitied him, and resolved to go along with him. He how- ever adds, that it was only " on hard entreaty that he had gained Mr. Navarro, by reason of a report of Mr. Phaulkon spread abroad, that might' come to Navarro's ears of the Jewes." The report was this, that Phaulkon had had on one occasion " a serious discourse w? the King of Syam about the Christian Eeligion, of w^' hee (Phaulkon) bragged hee had almost persuadet the king to tourne Christian. By his zeale the King did show, at the passion and Death of our Saviour by the Jewes. That hee should have swoare, iff ever hee found a Jew in his country, hee would putt him to the same iff not worsse torments, w*" . Strangh says, " I confesse was reason enough for him to be affraid. Hee being a Jew. Yett notwithstanding upon my protesting to protect him, was overpersuadet to goe." On the 27th November they were at Louvo, and their proceedings from that day until their concluding interview with the Phra-klang will be best told by Strangh himself. He says, " In the morning wee hard the King was come early this morning from hunting of his Oliphants and was thought weary that would no goe abroad to-day. See wee all tooke a walke and when farr out of towne, found the King and all his traine ridding upon his Oliphant at a great distance from us, going home from viewing of those Oliphants hee had taken, that missed him but narrowly from giving him our petition." The " Moreman " in whose house they were putting up, and who was in great favour with the King, acquainted the Phra-klang of their arrival, and at night a messenger came to them to ascertain on what business they had come to Louvo. They, however, declined to inform him, but agreed to respond to the request he brought from the Minister that they should meet him next morning. The following is Strangh's account of this interview on the 28th November : — " About 8 a clock in the morning came Mr. Phaulckon to Levoe, and with him the Inter- louper Abeene, Mr. Burnaby, Mr. Ivatt, and Mr. White BURNEBY AND WHITE IN SIAMESE SERVICE. 201 (this was Samuel White), with one Captain Paxton at whose bussinesse I wondered at, since had non I knew of there, but was ordered to goe aboard and see all things ready for our coming, the more since I saw him only in his drawers and shirt. What the others businesse, was, I knew. Mr. White, Mr. Burnaby, and Mr. Ivatt was to be invested in Eobes and in their offices of Scabander (Shah- bandar^), Governour &c. of Tenassery Soe that except our Capt° came to fetch another coate, I could not imagine what hee came for : My admiration still more increasing, when was sent for to come to the Barcalongas, that I saw him sitting there, in comp'f w' Mr. White, who had nothing to do their nather more than 0' Captain, except it was to bee a Witnesse against mee for Phaulckon, in what passed. Mr. Phaulckon in his usuall seate, satt next to the Barca- long, that could whisper together. " Notwithstanding all that crew (: as was once of mynd to have desired Mr. Phaulckon to withdraw whilst I had delivered my message, but that considering the sturr hee would make at my bidding a Minister of State to absent, and that would bring in a new costom etf) I delivered my selfe to Franc Eobson, and hee to a New Lingoe I had taken on, in this Nature. " That upon his Highnesse Grant of Free Trade wl'out any hinderance or molestation as noe lesse Mr. Phaulckon perswassion and alluremt I was of the opinion to have stayed to try what possible could be done in the trade of this place, as for the recovery of those considerable Debts due to the honb'? Comp'f our Masters, in this place. Not- withstanding all the disincouragem^ I have mett v/*. from my first arrivall (: as often have aquainted yoT highnesse :) All w*!' tho it was tould mee that did proceed from Mr. ^ Shdh-landar, ivequentlj -wiitten master. This was the title of an ofiB- by old English travellers and others cer at native ports all over the Indian SKahbundei: According to Colonel seas, who was the chief authority- Sir H. Yule (Yule-Burnell Glossary), with whom foreign traders and ship- it is a Persian word meaning "lite- masters had to transact. ^ He was rally 'King of the Haven, ' Harbour- often head of the customs." 203 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Phaulckon, I could not beleeve, because hee gave mee, the same asscurauce as yo^ highnesse did, untill now that he has plainly discovered himself to bee the secret and hidden obstructer, not only of the former, but present trade of this country w? the honb'f Company ond'"' pretence of authoretie having lately contracted w^ some merch'? for a parcell of kop' in Barter, for other goods wf noe sooner arriving his notice but hee putts a stop too itt, w*? imprisoning of the Breaker, and scurrilous reflections on our Masters the honb'f Companie. Pretending an imbargo from the King ; w* iff had been, his Highnesse would have aquainted us therew? and never bidd us try the markett. Wherefore seeing soe great obstruction in our Trade I was now come to take my Leave ; desiring his highnesse tara for our de- parture, w' all the ho : Comp'f effects and servants. And as for the debts, since recomendit to his highnesse for recovery, and that wee could effect nothing in that affaire, I desired hee would please to give countinance to Mr. Hammon Gibbon, to come and mynd his highness in that affaire &c. " The Barcalong to this gave a short reply. " That as hee was much bussied heere above w' States matters of the king, sould not attend below, therefore had apointed Mr. Phaulckon to help and assist us as well as all other merch*^ Mr. Phaulckon thereupon taking the word out of his Mouth, and after whispering to themselfes ; w' a Sterne Countenance, and invective Speech, Carried the whole discourse in Enge ; thus : — " That I should know, before whom I was, and spoke too in this nature, a Prince of this country and should not father any such thing upon him, off Free Trade and the like, Since hee himselfe not many dayes since, and as hee thought the day before I made this bargain, had thould mee of an Embargo upon kopf for this yeare, and that for any thing els I had Libertie to Barter for, but not in Copf, Whereupon I going to interrupt him, and to tell him it was falce, hee bid mee stay, and heare what his highnesse STRANGH REBUKED BY PHAULKON. 203 had to say, before I interrupted him, has proceeded to tell mee, that by this Bargain Making, I had runne. my self e into a great primonarie, to contradict the kings order and Lawes, What I thought of my Selfe, and what Would become of mee, iff the king like other Indian Princes, should use the rigour of this Country Law against mee : But that his Great king and master was a most gracious king, and a Lover of Strangers. Iff had beene of his Natives I should have seene what had beene done too mee. His Highnesse was of the opinion, and had the good hoopes of mee at first, that the hontf^ Companies affaire might be better regulated, then has beene hithertoe, but was sory to see it inclined rather to worsse, and there- fore gave mee Free Libertie to depart, as I requested, my tara should bee readie w* in a day or two. And as for the debts standing out in this Country, my nominating Mr. Gibbon was well. Hee would affoord him all the assistance hee could. But should consider that they were all desperate, and that could not trouble his highnesse w' such a bussi- nesse not to be recovered." To this Strangh replied — "That what I have fathered on his Highnesse, was nothing but the Truth w"'^ ought (: though may not :) at aU. tymes to bee spoken before Kings, lett bee Princes. As for the Great Primonary and dreadful punishment, I have deserved, though favored I thanked him for his gracious- ness. Though must needs tell him, iff had gott his 400 chests of kop' I had not yett my full complim' according to the Tara for the Ship, wf I suposed to bee the Kings, or the Barcalongs tara, procured by himselfe. a sufficient warrant for mee, that I intended to ship soe much kop^ and was granted. Hee should have left it out of the Tara, and tould mee then if an imbargo : Iff any such were, it is after the grant of the genV tara, w"? I hoped the King would not recall. And that wt makes it more plaine and doubtfuU whither there bee any embargo, is that those China men has an especiall Tarra from the King himselfe 204 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. for selling of this kop! wf would not have been granted iff any imbargo had been ; Moreover the Qaeens kopf and they hir Mercht Could I or any bodie els, think hee durst oposse or stop same when had yof owen words that had nothing to doe or durst not midle w' them. As for his Zeale and Sorrow hee had for the ho : Comp*^ affaires as inclining rather to worsse then heeretof ore, hee has showen it by this, and in it his falce Zeale and Shams put upon them ; And bidd him consider w^ himself e, what the ho : Comp'° has to doe, to setle upon such termes as these, or how I could well ansT it to stay The greatest favor I now desired after all this, was that might have my dispatch. " To wf Mr. Phaulckon replyed somewhat milder. That the Tara I soe much stood upon, was for shiping of, of the kopf, I should have had a tara for buying as well as for shiping, they were two different things, and as for the China man hee should bee severely punished for telling^ a Lye that had a tara when had non. Our tara should bee readie w'in a day or two, only we must stay for the King and Barcalongas letter to the Comp'° w""" must bee altered. " Asking me iff I had any more to say ; The Barcalong was weary to sitt soe long. I tould him noe, Soe I could but have my dispatch, hee should soone bee ridd of our trouble, and after made our salam or obeysance, The Barca- long as iff raised from Sleepe, tould mee, hee must have all our Ironworcke, for w"} would give us other goods, ■vt'f I should promisse him, I tould him, hee might. Soe there- by noe further hinderance or delay may bee created. Hee tould mee the boats that brought doune our sroods might bring up the Ironworcke. For was onwilling Phaulckon should have them to his new house a building, and there- fore tould him they were for the most part on board. Yett upon his promisse that should bee dispatched, promissed hee should have them. " Soe parted for this tyme : Not w^out a very severe check at last to Mr. Abraham Navarro, for his former threatening as hee termed it (: though was no such thiog :), STRANGH ATTEMPTS TO LEAVE LOUVO. 205 That iff it were not for the Europe blood -wHn him, hee should not escape his reward in threatening so Great a King, as his Glorious master at present hee past it by." Strangh's Diary closes with this interview of the 28 th November, 1683. The pass which he had demanded was not granted to him for some time, but, on the 28th December, he wrote a letter from " Levoe " (Louvo) to Messrs. Gibbon and Yale, in which he says that he had got his " dispatches to go hence, only wait the ' Barcalongas ' letter to the Honb'= Comp. and our tara, which I am afraid out of spite will be detained, yet got that verbal grant to be shiping off what goods is in the house." He consequently issued orders for their immediate shipment, and that all should be in readiness for his coming down, and nothing wanting, " but to be gone," the factors were informed that the Merruha lay at "Amster- dam,'' the Dutch factory. The dilatoriness of the Siamese officials, in supplying him with the pass he asked for, so irritated Strangh that he attempted to leave Luovo without it. This comes out in a postscript to a letter written by Phaulkon, " December, Anno 1683," and which says: — " Since signeihg the foregoing, your chief Mr. Strangh has percisted in his former irregular courses in divers respects acting contrary to the statue lawes of the king- dom for the which he had certainly suffered condigne punishment had not the consideration of your being alto- gether unacquainted, and unconsenting to these his irregu- lar proceedings prevented, and on his coming to this place we were glad to hear he had so great regard to your orders in prosecuting hi§ voyage to Surrat, and only requested him to wait some few days for musters of curiosities his Maj''> designed thither, but contrary to all expectations said Mr. Strangh has attempted clandestinely to go with- out them, a poor recompense for the multiplied favours your nation has reef from us, however his dispatch is 2o6 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. seasonable to the place he is bound, ■whether we wish him and your affairs safe and prosperous passage, but advise that if your intentions are to have a future correspondence in these our parts, to make such a choice in the person you design for the management of your affairs as may be for your nation's credit and your interest. (Signed) P. order afosf p°f C. Phaulkon." The truth of Phaulckon's statement, that Strangh had attempted to leave clandestinely, is verified by the latter in a long letter he wrote to the Minister, and which is here reproduced in its entirety, as it contains a full account of his grievances, one of which was that he was kept under strict guard, after his futile effort to be gone without a pass. He was, however, permitted to leave Louvo immediately after he had received the verbal order mentioned in his letter quoted above, and, on the 2nd January, 1684, he was on board his ship the Mexico Merchant, then lying at " the Barr of Syam." Once more on his floating castle, he relieved his mind and indignation by firing off this broad- side : — " To M«- Constant Phaulckon, "From Wm. Strangh, dated from the Barr of Syam, 2 Jany. 1683/4. " I have two of your scurrilous false imputations of the 1 6th and 24 Deer, to answer with a little larger explana- tion of the brief though ample import of my first parenetics charge to you of the 2d Deer, was my sute with your impolite weake capacity jumbled through your sudden and surprizing elevation to a souv'ing Lordfew or a heathenish Grace, and that I may not bee allways imperious or like you a rayler shall insert some few p'tculs relating to my former charging you : to be the sole and only instrum? of all the Hon''!" Comp? former and present losses and suf- ferings in this place. STRANGH'S INDICTMENT OF PHAULKON. 207 " To begin with the first as the fireing of the Factory not without some cursed treachery (which heaven detect), though cannot charge you with matter of fact, yet cannot excuse your indirect clandestine practises set by so many cunning and crafty ingins, corrupting and treacherously seducing little Ivatt and Samj Harris to your practize and faction, with no less then Hono^° and great imploy's for their reward, the one a Lord forsooth, the other sent in your imploy for so far a voyage that are the only in the Factory when took fire, both honoured and imployed, might not discover the bellows of that flame. " Secondly your sowing and blowing the coals of hatred and dissention betwixt the two Factors, afforesf to that height that at last tooke hold of and consumed all the Hon''?" Comp° effects in this place to ashes, what formerly and long before that sad and fatal accident was designed, was ready to be transported off the place to Bantam, had not your false zeal towards the Hon*' Comp? interest and clandestinly informing the deceased Barcalong that Potts was running away with the Comp? effects, hindered his good intentions, and preferred this their great loss to serve your malitious ends. , " And above all this your insolency in heaping so many indignities upon them by imprisonment and putting in the Stocks and pillory their servants without controule making factory with other their disaffected servants and all this for your getting of Credit out of the JLo^]" Comp? God";' (when by your own confession not worth a gouree) for so considerable a sum as nigh (?) 400 catt° the space of 3 years without interest, an ingratitude that ought to be punished with the highest severity. You not satis- fying . . . with your accursed avarice without the utter extirpating the Hon*!" Comp"^ and English nation from trading in this kingdom. " Att my arrival for preventing my true knowledge and information not only how the Comp? affairs was carried on and ruined by you, but of the trade of this place, sent 208 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE, WITH SI AM. from a princip. of your self interest, fearing my approach would be prejudicial to your monopolized trade of this Kingdom, did send your .... ingin and creature Ivatt to congratulate my arrival so as to know all the Hon*?" Comp^ affairs on you, the only great Sultan Solyman of this nation who to meate your insatiable avarice protested so great kindness and service to the Compi amo^ to 1 5000^ ptended to be preferred by the Agent and Council at Bantam to the deceased Barcalong for procuring what they could not but you would and did undertake to procure the contract with the King and by for the taking of yearly Eno-lish manufactures to a considerable value, until such time you by yourself so termed foolish Barcalong to whom we were recommended did inform yourself of the Hon''''' Comp? design by their letter to the Barcalong as by your private letter from Mr. White your creature touching the discourse the Hon'''° Compt had with him about Mr. Potts writing and calling you Greek and powder mbnkey with no small reflections on the management of their affairs in those parts especially not being taken notice of by them, much less a pish cash ^ of 1 5000^ for you so turned the scale of your affection to their prejudice that notwith- standing all the fair promises and grant of free trade inferior to the Dutch and French without that Ceremony of an Ambassador from our King to this could bee no settlement. "You by the abused authority of your great Master and favoured of our nation not acquainted with your prancks and Tricks has not only privately but publickly, some on pain and forfeiture of life and goods, others with threatning and imprisonment forbidden and hindered all Merchants Brokers &c. so much as peepe or come near the Factory either to buy or sell with us as is evident to be proved, with your scurrilous reflections on the ^ PishoaBhor"Peschushintheold great man." — Yule-Burnell Glos- English Records is most generally sary, Supplement, used in the sense of a present to a STRANGH'S INDICTMENT OF PHAULKON. 209 Hon''!^ Compi of being broke and not worth a gouree that you may well say as you falsely and impudently do insist in yours that I have done nothing this 3 months but consider whether I would go or stay, neither of which I could effect, being by you intervened from either buying or selling ; kept as a close prisoner in the factory for above a month; on purpose to loose the monsoons that might not arrive in time with Capt. Pines to discourse the abuses and great injustice of him to you in the affair of Mr. Tyler, all our household servants and the cook and natives of the country chased from the Factory and imprisoned, myself guarded so closely and strictly that when only upon Tryall did attempt an escape after you had arrested the Hon''?^ Comp? effects in the place (which was not willing to leave behind me) was disgracefully brought back to the Factory with innumerable indignities and abuses more, which would make a volume, and shall leave to my superiors to judge and take notice of what to them or me committed (as you say) with whom I never had dealings for a farthing as to my own ptiend : but must needs say that as an Orrambarro ; am rather to be pitied than blamed for falling in amongst so many disaffected persons to their God and country and bless myself that I escaped so well, (though as my Fath! dogg which lost his tayle) more than now have in your possession would have fal'n to your share I'm sure of it, and tho as you say I have done with Siam yet hop the Hon^!^ Comp^ has not, I do believe it with you and therefore in the name and behalf of the Hon*?^ Comp'? do by these solemnly and in optima forma Protest against you Constant Phaulkon to be liable to answer and make satisfaction either in body or estate for all above mentioned damages and great losses &c. already mentioned or hereafter may accrue to the Hon^''= Comp? by your detaining of this the ship Mexico Merchant so long to the no less hazard, as danlage of loosing her Monsoon and the lives of those that go in her Your detaining of our second mate Mr. Ant"; Wil- o 2IO ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. liams 1 against his will and consent, -with all other losses damages and abuses by what name soever termed or dis- tinguished and not expresssed in this non excepted to the contrary notwithstanding, for them 'to seeke their full satisfaction in any place or part of the world excepted as they best can or may. William Stkangh." In writing a letter such as this to the man who was then supreme in the government of Siam, the Company's com- missioner, to say the very least, manifested how utterly unfitted he was to conduct the business that had been intrusted to him. He seems to have been lamentably deficient in prudence and tact, and also in courtesy, as it was a studied insult to address the Greek as Mr. Constant Phaulkon, when he was perfectly aware that he was a high Minister of State, and, as he himself allows, a Lord of the Empire of Siam. The Mexico Merchant, with the Company's goods on board, and with Messrs. Strangh, Potts, and Yale, set sail from the Menam a few days after this letter was written, thus closing the factory at Ayuthia. Mr. Peter Crouch of the Delight, in which ship he had sailed from England, on the 14th January, 1683, had written in October to the Presi- dent and Council at Surat regarding his voyage, and account- ing for his presence at Ayuthia, and stating his views on the condition of the factory. He says, " The Affaires of y' Hon'':' Company in this place, have for a long time bin much prejudiced, for want of good managem' by reason of private contentions, and animositys between their ser- vants, whereby the genV good and interest of the Honb'° Company hath bin neglected, if not otherwayes abused, and opportunity, given to those (who notwithstanding their pretences of kindness and respect to yf Hon*!' Company 1 In Harris's Coll. of Voyages and of this in Strangh's Diary. It is Travels, 1764, vol. i. p. 920, it is said probable that the A. Williams named that at this time Captain Williams in the above letter is the individual V7as made admiral of the king of mentioned by Harris. Siam's navy, but there is no mention CROUCH'S OPINION OF PHAULKON. 211 are their enemys), to undervalue and abuse y™, an instance whereof is Mr. Constant Phaulkons taking Mr. Potts (some few daies since) by violence as hee was about his business, and exposing him publicly in the Congoes, and Stocks to the derision and contempt of the natives, a thing soe greatly to the dishonour of our nation, and Hon"* Com- pany espetially when noe misdemeanf of Mr. Potts required itt but only the malice of y? p'son whose authority caused it to be done. . . . y° only cause of y^ ill success, and present disapointm* of y? Hon*!® Company, here, can bee attributed to bee sinister and selffe-interessed contrivances of Mr. Cons* Phaulkon, whose industry is imployed in blasting the Hon*!° Companys business, that soe hee may the better fflourish, and advance himself therby, as knowing y* whilst yt Hon*"!* Company have an established fiactory here, he can't bee soe absolute over the English private traders, nor soe well ingress their comodity's to himself, neither can hee soe well succour, nor imploy interlopers of whom hee is a great encouragf, as his eminent kindness to Abany declares, who having traversed most part of India had (were it not for his entertainmt here by Mr. Phaulken) returned home without a trade. " Wherefore Mr. Phalkon hath not stuck att violence or deceits or whatsoever might contribute to effect his designe &c. " This is the necessary that wee thought ourselves obliged by conveyance of Mexico Merchant to give your Hon? account of." The ship arrived at Karwar in May, 1684, and after wintering there, proceeded to Surat.^ On its arrival there, Sir John Child condemned the way in which Strangh had conducted his mission, and, more- over, he afterwards wrote to the King of Siam disap- proving of Strangh's behaviour, in having left Siam con- trary to his orders. He also blamed him to the Directors 1 Letter from Mr. Strangh to the Court, dated Carwar, nth May, 1684. It arrived at Surat, 24th October, 1684. Ind. Off. Keo., aa. 6. 212 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. in London ^ for not having accepted a cargo at Ayuthia when he might have had one to a considerable amount. Strangh had declined the goods that were offered, as he considered it would have been to the discredit of the Com- pany to have carried them. The most important witness against Strangh, however, was his own colleague, Thomas "Yale, who, when the ship arrived off Karwar, declined to sign a letter drawn up by Strangh,^ in which he ascribed their detention at Ayuthia and the failure of their mission " to the evil and wicked practices " of Phaulkon. Yale, having refused his signa- ture, wrote the following letter. He says, "To signe to yt foregoing part of this Genl* which only specifies the animositys, twixt the chief Mr. Strangh, and Mr. Phalkon or to affirme said Mr. Phalkon to bee yl Companys ware Diametrically opositt to my judgm' and the advices I have continually given Mr. Strangh, w* when it pleaseth God, wee arrive at Surratt, I shall endeavrf to give your HonV &c. CounciU satisfaction in y* affaire." The commissioner had reported to Sir John Child on his return that to all appearance Phaulkon "would not stand long," and that his behaviour towards merchants had been such " that none would adventure thither, and that many had complained of him." He was described to the Directors as being in "appearance a very naughty man ; " but the President and Council at Surat added, " if he continues in favour we shall write to him, and gain on him what we can for your interest." After the departure of the Mexico Merchant an incident occurred at Ayuthia that led to the imprisonment of two of the officers of the ship Delight, stiU lying in the Menam,^ waiting for the change of the monsoon, when it was to 1 Letter to Honbl. Company, dated in the shipp Delight, Captain John 29th November, 1684. Smith command' in y» service of the " To the President and Council at Hon'!" English East India Company, Surat, Carwar, 3rd May, 1684. Ind. and kept by thayre servant Peter Offi. Kec, GG. c. I, 20. Crouch. India Office Records, China, 3 A Journall of a Voyage to China vol. xvi. 1637-1 703. A QUARREL ABOUT NAILS. 213 sail for China. It arose out of the refusal on their part of a request that Phaulkon had made to them for some iron nails for the use of the King's factors. Alexander Hamilton^ records a somewhat similar episode as having happened, also in 1684, but in connection with the ship Carolina, which had been forced by bad weather to winter at Bang- kok. During the stay of the vessel, the King of Siam, requiring some stores for shipping, asked the English to let him have what he required from the Carolina; but although he offered to pay for what he wanted, his request was refused. Hamilton says this incident was long re- membered by the Company, and afterwards used as a pre- text for declaring war against Siam. As the presence in the Menam, in 1684, of a ship named the Carolina has not been established by a reference to the Eecords in the India Of&ce, it seems probable that the vessel was not the Carolina, but the Delight. The episode, however, was more serious than Hamilton seems to have been aware of, as he makes no mention of the imprisonment of the factors of the ship, which the Company afterwards resented, when it came to their knowledge, as an unjustifiable and high- handed proceeding — an insult to the English nation. The circumstances will be most graphically recorded by the reproduction of the correspondence that passed between Phaulkon and Peter Crouch, the merchant of the Delight. It begins with a letter from the former, dated Syam, ist February, 1684, in which he says that the King's factors "jointly desires y^ in time of theyr want you would be pleased to supply them w*? the undermentioned perticulers being for their stores," the goods they asked for being nine peculs of " Nayles." He then continues, " Time not per- mitting to make them, therefore, pray faile not to send them, it being well known y^ you have the perticulers to dispose on, appointing whom you think fitt to come up and receive the produce thereof in what you please, it will be esteemed as a kindness amongst them, and the supplie ' A New Account of the East Indies, vol. ii. 167. 214 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. of these small things I assure you -will bee a great obliga- tion to him who is yo'' loveing friend to serve you Jolm Crouch, Merchant on board C. Phaulkon. The Delight now Rideing at Amsterdam." To this request Peter Crouch and John Thomas, -who were then in Ayuthia, replied on the following day that they were very sorry they could not accede to it, excusing themselves on the ground, to quote their own words, " that this is not our consigned port, and therefore since wee have lost our monsoone, we shall by breakeing of bulke here contract to our Hon*?' Masters the damage of paying this shipps whoU demorage w°^ will be noe small charge, and therefore hope y* excuse in this thing will be added to all formf favours and kindenesses, for w"? wee shall re- turne o"^ hearty thanks and acknowledgments who are yo'' most hum*!" servants Peter Cboijch. To M'- Cons' Phaulkon, Johjj Thomas. In Syam." Phaulkon replied to this refusal the same day as fol- lows : — " Gentlemep, — I have perused your paper of the 2^ instant in answer to a request of, in the behalfe of his Majesties ffactors, and perceived your powerfull reasons in securing your Masters interest, in respect of the owners of the Ship demands in case of breakeing bulke to that I answer y? foresaid Gentlemen who are concerned in the shipp, have a great deale of reason to thanke heaven and his Majestie, the former for bringing theyr shipp safe to this harbour and the latter for protecting and securing theyr estate whilst in his Majesty's kingdom to whom all nations are highly obliged but yof Hon''l= Masters much more, for the many favours received of his Majesty, and really I am very sorry, y^ soe small a favour whilest paid for CROUCH AND THOMAS IMPRISONED. 215 should in recompence be denied him, but to putt an end to all disputes I will be plaine w'?' you. " That it is his Majesties positive commands that upon receipt of this you order the delivery of what nayles you have aboard yo' Shipp, w'J* all speede possible, paying you for them as you and the world shall judge fitt, and becaus you have given us in yo' paper to understand of yo^ un- willingness for aforesaid reasons, you are ordered and con- fined together w'!" the Purser of yoF shipp in this Cittie till yt Perticulars desired of you be delivered to his Maj''f ffactors. yo' loveing friend C. Phaulkon. To Mr. Peter Crouch and Mr. Jno. Thomas, ffactors for affaires of y" Hon'!' East India Comp' then Present." To prison they were accordingly taken, and from it they wrote the following letter, headed, " Clang Noy fFeb"- 4' i68f. "S', — It is the unhappiness of our present condition that one of two great inconveniences must be our choise, but yet soe great is the difference betwixt them, y* wee rather close w'? an unequall suffering then runn ourselves into the desert of a just one by doeing an unanswerable action. " If it is not y^ wee delight in trouble and contention, or y' wee are off a disobedient humour, but it is our mis- fortune not to be understood, or credited, it is becaus wee doe not a thing out of our power that wee are ceased and imprisoned, when the same authority may w'? as much reason and ease take the trifles about which is this great trouble as our persons. Neither of them can you comprise under any other denomination than restraint of this court whereby wee are forced to obey if our persons restrained or submitt of our Masters goods, but cannot think it excusable in us for releasement of our bodyes to deliver 2i6 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. theyr goods were it in o' power, for y^ must be by a volun- tary act of o"? and wee thanke God y\ feare doth not in the least cloud or byass our judgements. " Consider sir y* wee are in a Joale w'?out a bitt of bread or Eice or a place to lay our heads, and scarce water destitute of friends, w*)' an addition of generall displea- sure, w°? for want of being understood, wee are not able to moderate, arguments sufficient to make us comply w'? any thing y? is not of a worn tendency, such as this demand to w* wee cannot compile must submit to the effects of its displeasure. Yo'' hum'';° servV Peter Crouch. To M'- Constant Phaulkon John Thomas. In Syam." Under these trying circumstances the brave factors passed another day, but were at last brought to capitulate by the pangs of hunger. Their next letter, also dated from the Clang-Noy, 5'' ffeb. i68|-, says: — " S"", — Since wee perceive by Oloung Sibattibang y' it is yo'' unalterable resolution to have the nayles for -vi'f in order to obtaining our consent and order, wee have beene so long confined, w*?* the restraint of all manner of suste- nance for life, hitherto and strict prohibition of same till wee consent -to yo' demand a powerful way of subduing the will by starveing the body, w* effect on us wee are not able to resist and therefore for our releasement from this imprisonment and famine compile w'!* yo^ demands as you will see by the enclosed note to the Commander: Wee have left oT invoyce and bill of Lading aboard, and there- fore are at a losse for y? marks and numbers, not ever but waiting for the messenger for our releasement and rest. Yo' hum*"!* serv'? Peter Crouch. John Thomas. To M'' Constant Phaulkon In Syam." CROUCH AND THE SEDUCTIONS OF AYUTHIA. 217 Crouch's imprisomnent, however, did not lead him to shun the seductions of the capital and hetake himself to his ship, as we find a letter from John Thomas written to him on the 22nd February, in which Thomas says he could find him nowhere, and had not seen him for ten or twelve days. The explanation of Crouch's absence is afterwards given in the same letter, in which it is said, "noe busyness of our M"? detaining us here, since the Capt moreover requireth us aboard in order to speedy departure hence in w"? thing wee are absolutely subjected to his judgement, and since you can plead noe other reasons for this yor tarrying behind us but to gratifie yo^ own lusts and pleasure, though as well to the scandall of yo^ employ- ment, as to the manifest hindrance and disadvantage (as farr as in you lyeth) to our Hon*!' M^ affairs wherein you are imployed. I once more for all require you in the name of of Hon''!' Masters to repaire aboard otherways declare y? you are liable to answer for w*soever detri- menit may ensue by means of yo^ refusall in any wise w'soever." Crouch, however, turned the tables on Thomas, for, on the ist March, he wrote to him from on board the Belight at Amsterdam, ordering him to repair to the ship, which did not sail until the beginning of April. But before they left they wrote a letter on the 2tid April to Samuel Barron,^ merchant in Siam, thanking him for the civilities ^ This man was the author of an well acquainted with Tonqueene, account of Tonquin, entitled "A Ttwan, Japon, and China." His Description of the Kingdom of account of Tonquin was published Tonqueen, by S. Baron, a native in the sixth vol. of Churchill's Voy- thereof." According to Sir Henry ages (3rd edition, 1746) pp. 117- Yule (Hedges' Diary, vol. ii. p. 160. It is prefaced by a statement clxxxvii.) the following notice of of how he came to write it. He him occurs in the Court's letters : states that he had been desired by " We have entertained Mr. Samvell Sir John Hoskins and Mr. Robert Barron .... intended Second for Hooke (doubtless the experimental Japon, whoe informed us that he philosopher, and for a time Seore- was borne at Tonqueene, His Grand- tary to the Royal Society) to note father by the Father's side a Scotch- and correct the errors in Tavemier's man, His Father a Dutchman, And description of Tonquin ; but making his Mother of the race of the Portu- small progress therein, and tired galls ; hath bin in the Dutch service, with finding faults and noting mis- 2i8 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. they had received from him, and also sent to his care an open letter addressed " To the Hon^'j^ Comp! servants on board the next shipp for Europe" in Syam river, cautioning them "y? this may no more be surprised unwittingly," and another letter laying their case before the Portuguese ambassador " dessiring him to do the like to the King, for satisfaction or redress, and shall desire you to receive his replie w'? having informed y' you as the Hon*"'^' Compf servant are deputed thereto, and shall intrust you to act therein according to your own wisdome on our Hon":" Masters behalfe not doubting your utmost endeavours of promoting theyr interest : this s^ w*? the presentation your humble service to your selfe and Lady and w*!* all other friends in the necessary form. Yo'' ffriends and servants Peter Crouch. John Thomas." The Delight was ready to sail by the beginning of April, but its departure seems to have been delayed for a day or two awaiting the arrival of two or three passengers for China. Who these were is learned from a letter preserved takes, and thinking that he should William Gyfford, Esq., President of thereby give small satisfaction to Coast Cormandell, Bengali, &c., the curiosity of these worthy gentle- and Governor of Fort St. George; men, he was led by these consider*- and in a letter also prefacing his tions, together with an ambition to account of Tonquin, and addressed do the public acceptable service, to Gyfford, bearing the date Fort and to demonstrate his profound St. George, August 25, 1685, he respect to Sir John Hoskins and says that William GyfiEord was the Mr. Robert Hooke, to write the first Englishman to enter Tonquin, history of Tonquin. In a letter and to open a trade, and settle a fac- addressed to these two gentlemen tory for the Honourable Company, prefacing the work, he says he had We have thus a further verification requested them to remove or cancel of Sir Henry Yule's account of what in his account might be either William GyfEord. Hedge's Diary, against, or refleotingly spoken of vol. ii. p. clxxxv. Mons. Tavernier, since his inten- Barron afterwards left the Com- tion was to inform the reader of the pany's service, probably in 1685, as truth, and not to carp and find Sir Henry Yule {l.e., p. clxxxvii.) fault with others. This letter was quotes an extract from a letter from dated Fort St. George, 1685-6, the Court to Fort St. George, 9th when he was " on a voyage to June, 1686, in which he is spoken of China." The work is dedicated to as a "deserter." BURNEBY AND WHITE GO TO TENASSERIM. 2ig in the India Office,^ written by the Bishop of Metellopolis to the English Company at Siam, dated Syam ^^ M? 1684, asking for a passage to China for two or three of his clergy, a request which was granted, although the accom- modation in the ship was very limited. Mr. Eichard Burneby, governor of Mergui, and Mr. Samuel White, Shdhhandar of Mergui and Tenasserim, proceeded overland to their respective appointments with- out any loss of time, as by the 27th December, 1683 they were corresponding with the President and Council at Fort St. George, to whom they wrote that they had sent a person, who was in irons, on board Captain James Cooke's vessel, the Golden FJeece. He, however, escaped ashore, but being again captured, was confined in the fort, to be sent home on the Bochester, as that vessel wanted men. The King's Indian factor, the little Lord Ivatt, manifested equal alacrity with Burneby and White in entering upon the duties of his office. In July, 1684, he was at Madras, busy at work shipping goods for his Majesty of Siamj and as some of the King's property was destined in the first instance for Masulipatam, Ivatt applied to the Madras Council for permission to ship it in one of their vessels. The Council not only granted this request, but allowed all the goods to be carried free of freight; they having also made three months previously a reduction to the King of two per cent, on the sea-customs.^ A month later he asked the favour of a passage to Masulipatam for him- self and the king's servants. This was sanctioned, and to some of the black servants a small "Pishcash" was granted, which the Council was advised " would be well resented." A salute was also fired on the departure of the factor and his coadjutors. The President and Council at Madras, in obliging the King and his factor, and paying these honours to the ' Ind. Off. Kec, China, vol. xvi. to 26th January, 1685. Meeting ^ Diary and Consultation Book, 14th April, 1684. Fort St. George, iSth January, 1684, 220 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. latter, had been led to do so by interested motives, as in the Eecords of Fort St. George (14th March 1684) it is stated " the Council had a design to establish a factory at Siam." They were, however, not well acquainted with the recent condition of the factory, as, after the loss of Bantam, the factory at Ayuthia was practically under Surat, and continued so till 1685, when an order came from London, dated nth July, 1684, signifying the wish of the Company that the China trade and all the Southern Seas should be placed under the presidency of Fort St. George. Although the factory at Ayuthia had been so recently closed, the President and Council at Surat resolved early in 1685 to reopen it, and to send the ship Falcon to Siam, and they communicated their decision^ to the Court of Directors in London on the 21st April, 1685, in the follow- ing words : " To Siam the ship Falcon is bound, may sail hence the beginning next month at farthest, on her goes from stock bf your Honours, but will chiefly be Ip-den with freight goods," as they had none of Mr. Strangh's pride. Their design was, they said, " to settle there, which we have great hopes of, and is highly necessary, if only to prevent interlopers, who may there have any Indian com- modities for 25 per cent, more than cost here, and at the coast, &c. To settle at Siam goes Mr. Harbin, Mr. Dan" Gyfford,^ and Mr. Thomas Yale. The ship is ordered to be early back with us, to be dispatched hence in January for England." « Ayuthia at this time seems to have had an attraction to others besides the Company, as we find James Wheeler, who was in charge of their afiairs at PettipoUi, writing from 1 Fort St. George to Surat, 17th was succeeded by Blihu Yale, and November, 1685. Daniel, who went to Ayuthia. Their '' Mr. Daniel Gyfford was brother brother Philip, who had been deputy- o£ the President at Fort St. George, governor of Bombay, died in 1676. and was accompanied by his wife. ^ The Records in the India Office There were two brothers Gyfford in are very imperfect for the year 1685, tbe east at this time — William, the and indeed for the remaining years President of Fort St. George, who of the century. OVERTURES FOR RENEWAL OF TRADE. 221 Fort St. George to the Directors in London, on the 20th June, 1685, informing them that he had resigned their service, and invested his small fortune for Siam, -whither he was bound. He did not, however, remain lonf at Ayuthia, as he wrote to the Company, on the 5 th Decem- ber, 1685, that he was " speedily returning to Fort St. George, p. way of Tenassary." This revived interest on the Coromandel Coast in the trade of Siam is probably to be explained by the con- siderable traffic then existing between Masulipatam and Mergui, and by the presence at Madras, in the beginning of 1685, of the Persian ambassador to Siam, and by the news carried to Masulipatam by M. de Carpon that Louis XIV. had sent a magnificently appointed embassy to the King. But doubtless the greatest stimulus to trade was the arrival of the Siamese ambassador to the Pre- sident and Council of Port St. George, asking them to re-engage in the trade of the kingdom of his royal master, and offering them great privileges. Sir John Child, the President at Surat, sent his servants to Ayuthia armed with letters both to the King of Siam and to the "Barkalone." In his letter to his Highness " ye ' Barkalone ' Chiefe Minister of State to yf greate and Glorious King of Siam," &c., he expressed much concern at the unhappy misunderstanding between the " Barka- lone " and his people who had been lately at Ayuthia, and ' assured him that their behaviour and services had been in no way acceptable, more especially as they had left the port contrary to their orders. He now hoped that the new factors he was sending would behave themselves to his full content. Sir John in his letter, "To yf most Illustrious, renowned. Generous, and truely Glorious ever Good, greate, and mighty King of Siam," asked permis- sion to make a settlement as formerly at the city of Siam, "with the same privileges he then enjoyed, and with assurances of not being disturbed or abused in our persons pr estates from the actions of any Englishmen or ships 222 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. not in our service." In writing to the Company in Lon- don, the President and Council at Surat defended their action in re-establishing a factory at Ayuthia on the necessity that existed to put a stop to interlopers, an object which they held could only be attained by estab- lishing a settlement. Some defence of the measure was necessary, as it was in direct opposition to the Directors' positive orders, issued to them in 1683, that the factory should be dissolved. When the President and Council at Madras became aware of Sir John's proposed mission, they addressed a remonstrance to him, on the nth June, 1685, stating that they considered it most proper that they themselves should send a chief from Madras, and they had a powerful reason in support of this view of the question, as the King of Siam, since the action of Sir John Child had been taken, had sent an ambassador, as has already been stated, to treat for a settlement at Ayuthia, as Fort St. George would afford easier and more frequent opportunities of correspondence than Surat, and, moreover, the King of Siam looked to Tort St. George for assistance in the considerable trade he had with the Madras coast. They hoped, however, that as the Surat mission had gone, that it had been effec- tually settled, as the Ayuthia market was an important one for pepper and for the sale of European goods, and because it would lead to a trade with Japan and China, and would contribute to put an end to interlopers going ' that way. The Falcon, with Mr. Eobert Harbin and his colleagues, arrived at Bangkok apparently in September 1685, as his book of expenses at the capital began in that month. Little, however, has been recorded regarding any negotiations which these Englishmen may have entered into with the Siamese Government for the opening up of new trading relations, and this circumstance has only one explanation, viz., that, a few days either before or after they had reached the capital, two French men-of-war anchored in the river, EMBASSY FROM LOUIS XIV. 223 bringing an ambassador to the court of Siam from Louis ' XIV. In the pomp and glitter of this splendid embassy the humble English mission and its aims were unworthy of consideration. But before proceeding further with this account of English intercourse with Siam, it is necessary, in order to understand the events that subsequently occurred in that kingdom, to glance at the introduction of French influence into the country, which will, therefore, be the subject of the next chapter. ( 224 ) CHAPTEE VI. DAWN OF FRENCH' TRADE IN THE BAST. The first attempts of the French to open up trade with the East began in the year 1 503, when two small vessels set sail from Havre, but were never again heard of. An effort was made once more in 1538, and still another in 1548, but both were unsuccessful. The great profits, however, reaped by the Dutch in their trading transactions with the East Indies stimulated the Erench, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, to found a company to develop a trade with Sumatra, Java, Moluccas, and the East Indies generally, but it proved a failure. Another attempt was made in 1604, and in that year Henry IV.^ granted a charter to "La Compagnie Eoyale des Indes Orientales," giving to it the exclusive trade of the East for upwards of fifteen years ; but this company also came to nought. An effort to resuscitate it was made in 161 1, but without success. However, in 1615, two ships sailed for the East, but, although only one returned, the voyage had proved so remunerative that another fleet of three ships left the shores of France in October, 1619. One of these vessels was lost, but the others arrived at Havre in December, 1620, with a cargo to the value of ^^ 160,060. The rights of the original company having lapsed in 1642, Eichelieu granted a charter to a new company, but ^ In C. B. Norman's " Colonial nineteen years of age, and studying Trance, "• 1886, p. 75, it is stated for the Chnroh. He was not made that in 1604 Richelieu granted the Secretary of State to Louis XIII. charter under royal patent ; but in until November, 1616. that year Richelieu was then only FIRST FRENCH MISSIONARIES TO SIAM. 225 the efforts of this corporation did not extend beyond Madagascar, where they built a fort. Colbert, who had determined to uphold the dignity and high position attained by France among the nations of Europe, granted a charter in 1664 to a new company, also bearing the same name as the previous one, and in 1668 the French had established themselves at Surat. Siam, however, was still far beyond their range in trading — an employment in which they have not distinguished them- selves as pioneers. Their ecclesiastics, however, began to appear in force in the capital of Siam about sixty years after the arrival of the servants of the East India Company. This movement seems to have been the result of a visit to Europe of P^re Alexandre de Ehodes, who had long laboured in Tonquin, and who, during his return to his native land, so successfully advocated the claims of mis- sions, that no less than three bishops followed each other to the East in rapid succession. The first to depart on this self-sacrificing errand was Mgr. de la Mothe Lambert, Bishop of B^rythe,^ who, with his valet, was accompanied by M. de Bourges, the narrator of the Bishop's journey, and M. Deydier. They set out from Marseilles on the 27th November, 1660. The vessel touched at Malta and Cyprus, and then proceeded to Alexandretta, off which port it arrived on the nth January, 1661. Leaving the ship, they proceeded by Beilan and Antioch to Aleppo, where they halted on the ^ Additional MSS. British Mu- !Fran9ois, envoyez aux Royaumes de seuiu. Voiages de Monseig! L'Eues- la Chine, Cochinchine, Tonquin and que d'heliopolis ; section. — Suittedes Siam, par Messire Francois Pallu, voyages de Mgr. B^rythe et de ses Evesque d'Heliopolis, Paris, 1682. Missionaires. Relation des Missions des Evesques Relation du Voyage de Mgr. I'Eve- Prangois aux Royaumes de Siam, de que de Beryte, Vioaire Apostoliqne la Cochinchine, de Camboye, et du du Royaume de la Cochinchine, par Tonquin, &c., Divis^'e en Quatre M. de Bourges, Pr^tre, Missionaire Parties. Paris, 1684. Relation des Apostolique. Paris, 1666. The 3rd ' Missions et des Voyages des Eves- edit., Paris, 1683. contains, besides ques Vioaires Apostoliques, et de the foregoing, the following ac- leursEcolesiastiquesfe Annies 1672- count :— Relation Abrege'e des Mis- 1675. The same, 1676-1677. sions et des Voyages dea Evesques 226 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. 2ist of the same month, but left again on the 3rd February, in the company of a caravan for Bagdad. They then travelled to a place called Dert on the Euphrates, ap- parently between Ankah and Anah, and there crossed the river, on the 15th February. Their road then lay to Bagdad, which they reached on the 4th March ; but, as the gates were closed, they slept in the open under a clear moon on the banks ,of the Tigris. On the i6th of the same month they set out for Basra, and on the 30th entered that port. As the season was now too far ad- vanced, on account of the change of the monsoon, for them to leave for Surat, they resolved to proceed to Ispahan, and to wait there until the following October. When the time for their departure from Ispahan arrived, they left the city along with the East India Company's agent, and proceeded by Shiraz to Gombroon (Bandar' Abbas), in the Straits of Ormuz, where they arrived on the 30th October, and put up at the English factory. They then embarked with the agent on board an English vessel for Surat, and reached Siiali (Swally), the road- stead to the north of the mouth of the Tapti, and there disembarking, proceeded overland to Surat, a distance of four or five days' journey. They departed from Surat on the 21st January, 1662, and travelled overland for forty-one days to Masulipatam, which they entered on the 6th March. They then em- barked in a Moorish vessel for Tenasserim, on the 26th of the same month, and on the 28th April anchored in the harbour of Mergui. On arriving, the vessel was boarded by the custom-house officials, who drew up a report on the passengers and merchandise, and forwarded it to the governor at Tenasserim, who issued the passports, without which no passenger was allowed to land, and whatever other orders were necessary, deciding whether the pas- sengers and merchandise should be landed in small boats at Mergui, or be sent up to Tenasserim. The Bishop and his party proceeded in the ship to Tenasserim, where a JOURNEY FROM TENASSERIM TO AYUTHIA. 227 Portuguese priest,^ Jean Cordoza Gama, hearing of their arrival, on the 19th May, sent a small boat to take them off the vessel, and received them into his own house. On the following day their baggage was examined by the custom-house officials, who passed it all with the exception of a small chaplet of red-painted horn, which they mistook for coral. Having been previously supplied with passports, for each of which they had paid ten crowns, they left Tenasserim for " Joudia " (Ayuthia) on the 30th June, in three small dug-outs, each manned by three men, and covered "with palm-leaves as a protection from the rains and sun. For each boat they also paid ten crowns. The boats were to take them as far as Jelinga ; but the one in which the Bishop travelled was swamped in a rapid part of the river by a snag, and in this catastrophe they lost their passports, and one of their number had consequently to return to Tenasserim to get them replaced. This so delayed them that they did not reach Jelinga until the 6th July. M. de Bourges describes the country through which the Tenasserim river flowed as infested with tigers, crocodUes, and other carnivorous animals, to such an extent that they were forced to cook, eat, and sleep in their boats. Jelinga, says the historian of the voyage, is a village in a small fertile and pleasant valley. Here they re- mained for three weeks in huts which they built, em- ploying the time in repairing the losses of their shipwreck. They hired carts, and once more set out on their journey, on the 27th July. On the 3rd August, they came to the village of Menam, and leaving it, they made a descent for half a day to a pleasant country, and in six days arrived at Couir, a village of 200 houses surrounded by a wooden wall or stockade, and in ten days more they reached ^ According to Crawford, the Por- found their way into the kingdom, tuguese Viceroy sent a mission to Crawford's Embassy to Siam, vol. Siam in 1021, and in the same year ii. p. 142. Dominican and Franciscan monks 228 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. Pram, situated on a large river near the sea. They had still a journey of five marches before they reached Phiphri, a considerable town with brick walls, situated on a large river. They arrived there on the 13th August, and immediately afterwards erected an altar to the " Glorious Virgin " and said mass. On the following day they hired boats to take them to Ayuthia. They de- scended the river for one day to the sea, and then sailed along the coast for twenty-four hours, to the mouth of the Menam. 'They took five to six days to ascend the river to the capital, which they reached on the 22nd August, 1662. In their journey up the Menam, they suffered ex- tremely from "certaines petites mouches fort piquantes, qui paroissent aussi-tost que le soleil est couch^," ^ mos- quito-curtains being doubtless a luxury the travellers did not possess. On his arrival, the Bishop found two churches, one belonging to the Dominican fathers, and the other to the Jesuits.^ , He visited the chief of the Portuguese settlement, who received him with great politeness and many evidences of esteem and respect, and procured a house for him near to his own, and informed all the clergy and others of his arrival. After having gone forty days into retreat, Monsigneur de B^rythe commenced to frequent the Por- tuguese camp,^ in order to perfect himself in the language, but learned to his great disappointment that the Por- tuguese regarded him and his companions as impostors, shielding evil designs under the garb of religion. After explaining to the Grand Vicar of Goa, who happened to be at Ayuthia at the time, his relations to the Holy See, and the Vicar failing to overcome the prejudice that existed 1 Relation du Voyage de Mon- ' In those days, the quarters in seigneur De Beryte, Vftaire Aposto- and about the city in which the lique, &c., 1683, 3me ed., p. 96. various nationalities resided each 2 Kelation des Missions des Eves- by itself, were known as camps.^ ques Franjois aux Roy de Siam, &o. Paris, 1674, p. 4. PERSECUTED BY THE PORTUGUESE. 229 against him and his missionaries, he removed from the camp of the Portuguese, and took up his residence in the Dutch quarters, and applied himself to the study of Chinese and Cochin-Chinese, under two Christians of those nationalities. ■ Amidst the difficulties that beset him in his self-sacri- ficing mission, he was much consoled by the intercourse he held, through interpreters, with a number of Japanese Christians .occupying a camp of their own, and who had taken refuge in Siam in consequence of the fierce persecu- tion of Christianity in their own country.^ They were doubtless fugitives from the severe measures taken by the Shogun ly^mitsu (1623-50) to stamp out the Christian religion in Japan. Under these French missionaries, Christianity, originally introduced by the Portuguese, received a fresh impulse, and after one year's sojourn in Ayuthia, Mgr. de Bdrythe, accompanied by some of his assistants, departed for China in a vessel bound for Canton. They were, however, over- taken by a typhoon, and after a miraculous escape, having apparently been driven ashore, they had no alternative left them but to return by a toilsome overland journey to Ayuthia. On- his arrival, the Bishop, for his safety, and to instruct his friends the Cochin-Chinese, took up his residence in their quarters. As the Portuguese, however, continued to spread evil reports about the French priests, and even openly to insult them, the Cochin-Chinese menaced their slanderers, and threatened to burn their camp to avenge their friends, the French. The enmity of the Portuguese having become unbearable, Mgr. de B^rythe at last determined to send M. de Bourges as an envoy to the Holy Father to explain his position, and the attitude assumed by the Portuguese priests. The envoy started from Ayuthia on the 14th October, 1663,^ in a ship bound for Masulipatam, where he arrived on ' Pallegoix, op. cit, t. ii. p. 109. » Eelation du Voy. de Mgr. de Beryte, 1683, p. 151. 230 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. the 1 6th January, 1664, and afterwards continued his voyage by sea to London.^ The second Bishop to leave France for the East was Mgr. Cotolendy, Bishop of Metellopolis. He left Europe in 1661, and followed in the footsteps of Bishop de B^rythe, but travelled much quicker, as he arrived on the coast of the Bay of Bengal in seven or eight months.^ When M. de Bourges reached Masulipatam, among the first news that met him was the sad tidings of the death of this Bishop at Palacol,^ on the i6th August, 1662, in the thirty- first year of his age. The third bishop had also arrived in India, and left it for Siam before M. de Bourges made his second appearance at Masulipatam. This dignitary was Francis Pallu, Bishop of Heliopolis, who had left France on the 12th January, 1662. He also had followed much the same route as the two previous bishops, and when he arrived at Masulipatam, he likewise, according to M. de Bourges, had learned of the death of his brother bishop ; and becoming aware that he was buried at Palacol, he had, with the sanction of the Dutch, the body of the Bishop disinterred and laid in a church at Masulipatam, to await an opportunity of taking it to a Catholic town.* The Bishop of Heliopolis had long been anxiously expected, not only in Siam, but also in India, and in the Eecords of the English factory at Masulipatam, preserved in the India Office, there is a letter written in the year 1663 which says: "The Bishop, when he arrives, shall find the respect from us becoming his function, which we are obliged to honour, and the more of your recommen- dation to us, and shall not only affijrd him a letter, but forward him on his way to Siam." He was accom- panied by six missionaries and a country gentleman of great piety, called M. de Foissy de Chamesson, but four of 1 Op. cU., p. 160. 3 jiel. du Voy. de Mgr. de Beryte, ' Relation Abregde, &c., 16S2, &o., p. 153. p. 4. * Ibid. A PRIEST AS AN ENGINEER. 231 them died from the fatigues of the jouTney, only MM. Lanneau and Chamesson remaining in the suite of the Bishop, who, however, found M. Chevreuil at Surat, where he had been left behind by the Bishop of Metello- polis on account of sickness. With this feeble staff of three missionaries he left Masulipatam for Tenasserim, and crossing in the track of Mgr. de Berythe, reached Ayuthia on the 27th January, 1664. The attention of all the missionary priests at Ayuthia was not wholly absorbed in religious matters, as we read that Father Thomas, a Neapolitan by birth, made himself very useful to the Siamese, as by 1665 the "town and the King's palace " had been fortified by the erection of " very good Bullwarks, according to Art," designed by him, and erected, doubtless, under his direction and super- vision. As a recompense for his labours, the King gave him leave to live in the city, where he had a house and a little church, a privilege but rarely granted to a foreigner. After a short conference, they found that the capital of Siam was an admirable centre for missionary enterprise, and that for this reason, and its importance as a city, it was desirable that the Vicar- Apostolic for the country and town of Siam should be made chief, and should have the general direction of all the missions. They also arrived at the conclusion that it was desirable to establish a general seminary for learning the languages of the sur- rounding nations, Ayuthia offering exceptional advantages for so doing, as Asiatic nations were well represented in it, and, moreover, each had its own quarter allotted to it. In this seminary they professed to rear catechists, and to prepare for the priesthood those who were judged most worthy. These and other considerations, and many details of management arising out of them, were considered of so much importance, that it was resolved to send the Bishop of Heliopolis to Eome to lay their suggestions beifore his Holiness. Mgr. Pallu accordingly set out on 232 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. his long journey to Europe on the 17th January, 1665.^ As the first three weeks or so of his journey were by land to the Bay of Bengal, Mergui, in all likelihood, was the port at which he embarked for Masulipatam, where he arrived in less than a month from the day he sailed. He resided at Masulipatam for ten months, in the .expectation of finding a vessel that would take him direct to Europe ; but in vain, as not a single ship left the port, by reason of the war then existing between the English and the Dutch. Having only one alternative course to follow, he resolved once more to cross India, doubtless to Surat, and .embarking in a ship, he went to Congo, a port on the northern shore of the Persian Gulf, about loo miles west of Gombroon, and thence to Basra. He then proceeded to Mosul, Ufrah, and Alexandretta, and sailed from the latter town to Livorno, where he arrived on the 27th March, 1666.^ About the time of the departure of Mgr. Pallu, the French missionaries had their first interview with the King, Phra-narai, who ruled over Siam from 1657 until 1687. They, however, could only be admitted to the royal presence by undergoing the humiliating ordeal of divesting themselves of their shoes; and after they had entered the reception-hall, the Buddhist king asked them among other questions, whether they thought the religion they had come to preach was better than that professed by his subjects. This was a splendid opportunity for the Jesuits, who at once embraced it, as Heaven-sent, in order that they might explain to his Majesty the principal truths of Christianity ; and from this interview and onwards they strove for the conversion of the King. They next took advantage of the offers he had made to them, and askted for a piece of ground on which to build a house, whith was granted in a liberal spirit Here they erectedla chapel and ample accommodation for ' themselves, and enclosed a portion for a cemetery. The piece of ground 1 Relation Abreg^e, &c., p. 18. '^ Op. cit., p. 20. AMBASSADORS FROM GOLCONDA AND ACHEEN. 233 called in Portuguese fashion the camp, was named after St. Joseph, who was chosen as protector and patron of the mission. This was the first establishment of the kind made by French missionaries in the East Indies. In the year 1668, the joyful anticipations in which the French priests had been led to indulge of the possible coff^ version of the King to Christianity received a rude shock, when in this year the followers of another faith, viz., that of Mohammed, appeared on the scene, and solicited his Majesty to become a follower of the Prophet.^ The two Oriental states which advocated the claims of Mohamme- danism at the Siamese court were Acheen and Golconda, to both of which Siam was well known by its trade, and in the case of the latter, still more so, by the presence of the agent of the King, who represented his master's interest at the chief port. The Golconda envoy, having landed at Mergui, necessarily crossed from thence to Ayuthia. One of the Siamese ministers afterwards rallying him on the small extent of his master's dominions in comparison to those of the great King of Siam, the Indian ambassador repHed, "that it was true his master's dominions were small, but they were inhabited by human beings ; whereas the territories of his Siamese Majesty were for the most part peopled by monkeys." ^ The ambassadors from these two states were received with great magnificence, and in view of this, the French missionaries dreaded that the high estimation in which Mohammedans were held in Siam, their riches, and the public services they had rendered to the country, might all contribute to lead the King to accept that religion in preference to Christianity. In February, 1669, M. de Bourges returned to Siam from his mission to the. Pope, after a most adventurous voyage, accompanied by six other priests.^ By a new Bull, ^ Pallegoix, op. ctt,toiiieii. p. 136. Kel. des Missions, &c., Paris, ' Crawford's Embassy to Siam and 1674, pp. 19-24. Pallegoix, t. ii. Cochin-China, vol. ii. p. 225, 226. p. 136. 234 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. his Holiness Pope Clement IX. placed Siam and some neighbouring states under the jurisdiction of the head of the Church at Ayuthia, and conferred on them liberty to exercise- their functions and to establish missions in all the Indies, with the exception of the dependencies of Spain and Portugal/ thus unequivocally recognising French clerical supremacy in Siam, — a step which stirred the rulers of France to still more ambitious projects in their relations with that kingdom. M. Lanneau was after- wards (1674) consecrated Bishop of Metellopolis to exercise these responsible functions. In 1670, the seminary at Ayuthia was fully established, and was attended by about a hundred pupils, speaking diverse languages. Siamese youths were being prepared for orders, and a female community known as the "Votaries of the Cross " was established by Mgr. de B^rythe. The onslaught on the religion of Gaudama by the Church' of Eome was still more vigorously pursued, a mission being founded at Phitsilok, a densely populated town distant about sixty miles from the royal city. No means of gaining adherents to the Church of Eome were neglected. The sick and dying were visited, mori- bund infants were rescued, and in many instances kept in life, while those who were already in the grasp of death were baptized and enrolled among the redeemed. The efforts of these indefatigable votaries of the Church were carried even still further, as they visited the prisoners in the public gaols, immured in fetid and stifling cells. Such unsparing and unselfish zeal for the advancement of the Church, in an enervating tropical climate, soon told on the health of the missionaries, and three conse- quently broke down under the unwonted strain on their energies. Mgr. Heliopolis returned to Ayuthia on the 27th May, 1673, from his mission to the Pope and to Louis XIV., bringing with him letters and rich presents from these 1 Pallegoix, tome ii. p. 139. RETURN OF THE BISHOP OF HELIOPOLIS. 235 •exalted princes. His journey from the "West had been far from uneventful. He left France on nth April, 1670, accompanied by six missionaries and by three or four laymen, in three ships of the Eoyal French Company, and arrived at Surat on the 3rd September, 1671. After a residence there of nearly five months, the Bishop departed for Siam, on the 17th February, 1672, in a vessel of the French Company, and arrived at Bantam on the 30th April. The season being now, however, too far advanced to admit of the ship proceeding up the Gulf of Siam, he resolved to return to the Coromandel Coast, and finding a vessel belonging to the agent of the East India Company at Masulipatam, he embarked on it, on the 29th June, leav- ing behind him all the heavy baggage, including the rich presents from Louis XIV. to the King of Siam, under charge of some of the clergy he had brought from France. The captain of the vessel, by strong currents and unfavour- able weather, was driven to make for Balasor, which they reached after having been more than fifty days at sea. He remained in Bengal for six months, and sailed on the 8th March for Mergui in a ship belonging to the King of Siam, and arrived at that port on the 27th of the same month.^ On landing, the Bishop and his suite were greeted by a Portuguese priest, M. Perez, who had just arrived from the island of Junk-Ceylon, where he had been sent two years before on an evangelizing mission by Mgr. de B^rythe, who had now recalled him to aid the enfeebled ranks of the mission at the capital. The Bishop at Ayuthia had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Mgr. Heliopolis, and in October, 1672, had sent M. Vachet and a Tonquinese catechist to Mergui ,to await his advent and conduct him to Ayuthia. M. Vachet's services were very acceptable to Mgr. Heliopolis, as his party was now a considerable one, and included, besides his own suite, M. Perez and his servants, and two Frenchmen, who had recently arrived 1 Kel. des Missions, &c., Paris, i68z, p. 106. 236 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. from Masulipatam, seemingly destitute of everything except the clothes on their backs, and whose names he did not know, but one of whom was a very good surgeon. But his party or " family," as it is designated, also included a number of youthful members. These were six young Bengali children, doubtless waifs picked up by the humane Bishop during his residence at Balasor, and adopted by him as lambs for his fold. The party thus constituted numbered twenty persons, and when all their arrangements had been made, they set out on the overland journey on the 28th April, and arrived at Ayuthia on the 27th of the following month, as has already been stated. If the jour- ney were so difficult and hazardous as it has been painted in the account of Mgr. de B^rythe's journey, it seems unlikely that Mgr. Heliopolis, who had already twice tra- versed it, would have brought away these tender children from Bengal to expose them to its hardships and dangers. The reiterated use of this route by the clergy and others at this time, and in after years, renders it probable that the first picture drawn of its dangers, difficulties, and discom- forts, by the priests who traversed the peninsula in 1662, was overdrawn. On the arrival of Mgr. Heliopolis, the King wished to confer on him the honour of a public reception, but the dignitaries of the Church declined it, as the humiliating conditions of appearing in their stocking-soles and of pros- trating themselves before his Majesty were still to be enforced. Every argument was doubtless used to induce them to conform to the etiquette of the court, but they properly refused to do so, and their determination had its reward, as, in declining the interview, the King was denied the gratification of learning the contents of the letters that had been sent to him by his two distinguished correspond- ents, and his curiosity proving stronger than his respect for court etiquette, he at last acceded to their terms, which were that they should be received in the same manner in which ambassadors in Europe were presented RECEPTION BY THE KING. 237 to the monarclis to whom they were accredited. Thev were accordingly received by the King, on the i8th Octo- ber, 1673. The Bishops and those who accompanied them, to the amazement and no small disgust of the attendant mandarins, seated themselves in the audience hall, and instead of prostrating themselves, according to the ancient custom of the court, merely bowed, without rising, to the monarch as he entered. At this interview the historical letters from Pope Clement IX. and Louis XIV. were read ; 1 and a few days later, the Bishops were informed that the King intended to send ambassadors to Europe, and they were summoned to Louvo, the hunting- seat of the King, and conducted there in great state in a royal barge.^ The result of this reception was very gratifying to the Bishops, as the King gave them a further grant of land for their mission, and declared his intention to build a magnificent Christian church. In view of such bright prospects Mgr. Lanneau, Bishop of Metellopolis elect, took immediate steps to strengthen his already enfeebled staff of missionaries. M. de Foissy de Chamesson was sent to Europe to enlist more workers and to carry a letter from the King of Siam to Louis XIV. This layman left Ayuthia in the beginning of October, 1673, four months after the arrival of the Bishop of Heliopolis, and proceeded overland with two servants to Tenasserim, and thence to Mergui. He prolonged his stay at the latter town until the 15th March, 1674, when he embarked on a vessel belonging to the King of Siam for Masulipatam, where he arrived on the I Sth April, but unfortunately in a time of danger, as the King of Golconda was much irritated by the capture of St. Thom4 by the French, under M. de la Haye. His mission ended in India, for he was seized and carried to Golconda, where he was thrown into prison, ultimately to die, when released, from the barbarous treatment he had heroically endured during his confinement.^ '' Pallegoix, t. ii. pp. 149-152. = Rel. des Missions, &c., Paris, 1682, p. 121. ' Op. cit. pp. 192-212. 238 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Another priest, M. Bonchard, who had also been sent to Manilla on a similar recruiting errand, had no sooner put foot on that island than he had been seized by the Spaniards as a spy and imprisoned ; but being able to clear himself of the false charge, he was liberated, and returned to Ayuthia with one recruit. And about this time, also, the Church at the capital of Siam was strengthened by the return of M. de Chaudebois, who had gone for the restora- tion of his shattered health to the mineral waters of Eajapnr,! which had cured the dropsy from which he had suffered. He, however, did not return single-handed, but came back to hispost accompanied by a brother worker, a Jacobin priest who had gained much experience of mission- ary work in various parts of the kingdom. The indomit- able devotion and enthusiasm of these good men in the propagation of a faith in the truth of which they had a supreme belief cannot but excite the highest admiration of all sincere minds ; and, as a Eegent of Siam has said, " Siam has not been disciplined by English and French guns, like China, but the country has been opened by mis- sionaries ; " 2 in the first instance by the Portuguese and French, and in after years by the Protestant missions of America and England. In 1674, the French missionaries were put in possession of the land promised by the King, and on it they built a church and house, and constituted the place a parish, calling it the Immaculate Conception. The selection of this name for use in a country the iiihabitants of which believed in the miraculous birth of the founder of their own religion, has the semblance of having been the out- come of clerical diplomacy. As the King, at this time, had given his subjects perfect ' This was probably Eaxaburi, on pressed to go to Bangkok via Raxa- the left bank of the stream ■which buri, but he makes no mention of flows from the north and debouches mineral springs, at Meklong. Dr. Richardson, while » n gjg^^ ^^^ j^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ at Kamburi (Journ. As. Soo. Ben., American Missionaries." Philadel- vols. viii. and ix., 1839-40), was phia. THE BISHOP IMPRISONED AT MANILLA. 239 liberty to embrace Christianity, if tbey chose, the number of converts, we are told, largely increased. The presents, however, that had been left behind at Bantam by the Bishop of Heliopolis, having not yet arrived, the Vicars- Apostolic were afraid that if they did not soon reach Ayuthia, the King might be mercenary enough to relent of the favours he had shown to their Church, and withdraw the liberty he had granted his subjects. They therefore explained to the chief Minister of State that the presents had been delayed on account of the danger there would be in bringing them in a French ship. A junk was accordingly sent to fetch them ; but the Dutch, who had doubtless been aware of the presence of the treasures at Bantam, allowed the junk to leave the port, but afterwards captured it and all its wealth. The Vicars- Apostolic had, however, formed a wrong estimate of the King's character, as the non-arrival of the gifts from Louis XIV. does not appear to have led to any alteration in his conduct to- wards them, and their Church. The Bishop of Heliopolis himself departed from Ayuthia, to assist at Tonquin, towards the end of August, 1674, but his vessel was caught in a typhoon and driven on to the Philippine Islands. He was made a prisoner and confined at Manilla, where he so remained until the beginning of 1675, when he was sent to Spain; not, however, by his old route across India and Persia, or by the Cape of Good Hope, but in a vessel which sailed, on the ist June, 1675, away to the east, to the port of Acapulco, on the western coast of Mexico, where he arrived on the 17th January, 1676.^ After a detention there of more than three months, he was sent across Mexico to Vera Cruz, whence he em- barked in the fleet for Spain on the 29th June, and arrived in the Bay of Calais on the 21st ISTovember, 1676, and some time afterwards he proceeded to Paris. Another influx of missionaries into Siam took place in 1676, as in that year MM. Thomas, De Clergues, Geffard, ^ Relation des Missions et des Voyages des Evesques. Paris, 1682, p. 361. 240 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. and Le Noir, who had come overland to the Persian Gulf, and thence by sea to Surat, and afterwards to Masuli- patam, left the latter port for Mergui on the 17th AprO, and on the 13th of the following month arrived there, about one month after the return of Mgr. de B^rythe from a visit he had made to Cochin-China. These missionaries have placed on record their impressions of the route from Tenasserim to Ayuthia. They left the former town on the last day of May in boats for Zingale (Jelinga), and their account of the river is that they found it very rapid and dangerous by means of its depth and the number of small rocks in its bed. They took six days to go to Jelinga, and they describe the river as flowing through a dense forest, so infested with tigers and elephants that they could not leave their boats, which they had to anchor at night for safety in the middle of the stream. By day they were delighted with the number of pea-fowl and jungle-fowl that were to be seen, and were amused with the troops of monkeys that disported themselves among the trees overhanging the river. Arrived at Jelinga, they took bullock-carts for Phiphri, but when they had reached Couli (Kiu), they discarded them, as they found there a boat that was going to Siam. By the time they left Jelinga the rains had begun, and they consequently found the roads very bad in some places, and travelling in the carts very fatiguing ; but they say that, notwithstanding, the route between these two places was agreeable enough when the rain for the time being ceased, as the way lay through forests in which they were constantly meeting with many sppcies of birds quite new to them, and with deer and wild pigs. Tigers, elephants, and rhinoceroses so abounded that it was dangerous to wander aside from the road. From Klu they went direct by sea to Ayuthia, which they reached in four days. They, however, do not state how long they took to go from Jelinga to Kiu. In 1677, two other missionaries arrived in the company of M. Cherboneau, the first medical missionary to Siam, DEATH OF THE BISHOP DB BERYTHE. 241 and who was at once employed in a hospital established by the King ; but he was not to be allowed long to prac- tice the healing art in the service of the Church, as, after a short residence at Ayuthia, he was offered the governor- ship of the island of Junk-Ceylon, which, it is said, he only accepted when he was told that the King of Siam " absolutely required it." How far this appointment had been brought about by the influence of the Vicars-Apostolic is unknown, but, in the light of after events, it seems even more than probable that it had been made at their suggestion, and that this was the first active or overt step taken by them to forward French influence in the king- dom to the detriment of other nations, such as the Portu- guese, Dutch, and English, who had been in the country long before them, and who had materially contributed to promote its commercial prosperity. Being in no way an appointment connected with the Church, it can only be regarded as the beginning of the great effort made by the Jesuits, later on, to obtain for their nation supreme political supremacy over Siam, M. Cherboneau held the appoint- ment of Governor for three or four years, and was succeeded by another of his countrymen, M. BUli.^ The Church at Ayuthia was destined, in 1679, to suffer a very great loss, as the worthy Bishop de B&ythe died. His obsequies were attended by the leaders of the following nations, then represented at the capital, viz., French, Eng- lish, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, Armenians, and Moors, the Siamese themselves being present in great numbers. That French influence was to be confined to spiritual matters, was not to be expected from a nation under the guidance of two such master-minds and ambitious men as Louis XIV. and Colbert. Consequently there arrived at Ayuthia, in 1680, a vessel with a number of officers to establish a factory for the " Compagnie Eoyale." They were favourably received by the King, who, with his usual astuteness, saw in them an opportunity and means of ' De la Loubfere, p. 91. Q 243 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. making the Dutch, who were then a terror to him and to other native princes, more humble and tractable. He therefore favoured the establishment of the French fac- tory, and accorded to the Company great privileges. In the same year, a mandarin of the first and two of the second order were sent on an embassy to France accompanied by a numerous suite, bearing rich and rare presents, among which were elephants, young rhinoceroses, &c., and carrying a letter to the King of France, engraved on a sheet of gold, offering him the island of Singora; the object of the Siamese ruler being to counteract the power of the Dutch. The embassy had the services of M. Geaime, a French missionary, as interpreter, and it left Ayuthia on Christmas day, 1680.^ In a general letter from Bantam, dated 28th July, 1680, to the Court of Directors, London, it is stated that " an embassy was designed from the King of Siam to the French King ; " and, in a paper preserved in the Eecord Office, London, there is an allusion to an embassy from Siam to France, about this time — doubtless this very mission. It says : " A great shipp not long since came from Surat with Commissioner Buereau who is now ready to depart for Europe, with an embassie from y» King of Syam to y' French King, and consisting of three ambas- sadors, and 30 followers. In presents they have 2 ele- phants besides many curiosities and varieties." As this embassy was never again heard of, it must have gone to the bottoiii of the sea.^ In the beginning of July, 1682, the Bishop of Heliopolis, after his shipwreck, imprisonment, and wide-world expe- riences of travel, returned once more to the field of his labours. He came as the bearer of a letter from Louis XIV. to the King of Siam, and of rich presents for his Majesty, who was highly elated that so powerful a monarch as the ^ Pallegoix, op. eit, t. ii. 167. " were never heard of after they left " Bowring (Hist, of Siam, vol. i. Paknam ; " but the above-quoted p. 355) says that the ambassadors documents disprove this. AN EMBASSY TO FRANCE. 243 King of France should have again written to him. He gave orders, therefore, that the letter and gifts should be received at a special audience, and with the same state that had been accorded to the first letter, and the' arrange- ments for the reception seem to have been intrusted to Constant Phaulkon. "While the circumstances attending this audience were still fresh in the memory of the European residents at the capital, the two Englishmen, Messrs. Strangh and Yale, arrived in an English vessel, and took up their residence in Ayuthia. They, however, unlike the diplomatic French priest, arrived at the royal city empty-handed, with no letter and with no presents ; and, as if to emphasize the neglect of those who had sent them, they carried, as has been stated previously, a letter from King Charles II. to the Emperor of Japan, which his Siamese Majesty was to be asked to forward to its destination. Towards the end of 1683, the King of Siam, being aware that his first embassy had not reached France, determined to send another to Louis XIV. The two Englishmen were in Siam when this happened, and it was perhaps due to their influence that one of the ambassadors, when he reached Europe, proceeded to London, and it is said concluded, in 1684, a treaty with Charles 11.^ If a treaty was ever ratified, it has not as yet been found in London, although a diligent search has been made for it in those offices where such a document would likely be preserved. Two priests, MM. Vachet and Pascot, were appointed to accompany the ambassadors, and six Siamese youths were sent along with them to learn handicrafts. ' The embassy^ reached France safely, and was well ^ Alexander Hamilton's New Ac- Governor of Tort St. George. This count of the East Indies, vol. ii. p. latter treaty, he says, was detri- 181. HamUtou says that onithe mental to all British subjects but strength of the treaty mentioned to those who happened to be em- above, he went in 1 7 19 to trade at ployed by Collet. Ayuthia ; but on his arrival he found ^ Embassies were at this period that another treaty had been con- the order of the day at Ayuthia, eluded, the year before, by Collet, and, in the following year, the 244 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. received ; and so gratified was Louis XIV. with this new mission and with the results achieved by the Vicars in Ayuthia, that he resolved to send an ambassador to the King of Siam, and selected M. le Chevalier de Chaumont to represent him, with a numerous suite, in which the clerical and Jesuit elements were powerfully represented, five of the latter being destined for China. This embassy ^ sailed in two French vessels of war, Za Maline and rOiseau, in which M. Vachet and the Siamese mandarins who had accompanied him to Paris returned to Bangkok, where the embassy arrived on the 22nd September, 1685, having been received on their way up the river by the governor of that town, and by the governor of Phiphri.^ The reception which this embassy met with at the hands of the King of Siam, the interest he manifested in the Christian religion, his having placed a crucifix in his chamber, and the Christian tone of his speeches, led the French ecclesiastics to entertain lively hopes of his con- version, which Louis XIV. had instructed his ambassador if possible to bring about, and had provided for, as the ambassador was accompanied by M. I'Abb^ Choisy, who was to remain behind at the court of Siam until the baptism of the King, in the event of his conversion.* f The direct result of this embassy was the granting by Siamese sent three great and three ' Relation de I'Ambassade de younger mandarins in the quality of Mr. le Chevalier de Chaumont Si la ambassadors to the King of Portugal, Cour du Roy de Siam. Paris, 1686. in response to an embassy sent to Taohard's Voyage de Siam des Pferes Siam, in the person, it is said, of a Jesuites. Paris, i685. very celebrated ambassador. This " De la Lonbfere says (p. 88) the embassy first went to Goa, when, Menam "from its Mouth to the after a sojourn of eleven months, it Metropolis is divided into several proceeded on its way to Europe ; but small Governments. The first is the vessel ran aground in a storm at Pipeli (Phiphri), the second Prepa- the Cape of the Needles, near the dem, the third JBancock, the fourth Cape of Good Hope, on the 27th Tafaccaw, and the fifth Siom." When April, 1686. The embassy remained the first embassy from Louis XIV. four months at the Cape, and then re- went to Siam, it was met on its way turned to Ayuthia ma Batavia, where up the river by "the Governors of it remained six months, and arrived Bancok and Pipely " (Chaumont's at the capital in the month of June, Relation de I'Ambassade, p. 39). l687,atterhavingexperienoedBeveral ^ Tachard's Voyage de Siam, &c. eevere hardships. Paris, 1686, p. 23. CONCESSIONS TO SIAMESE CONVERTS. 245 the King of a number of harmless concessions to the Siamese converts, but to which the French ecclesiastics attached considerable importance; so much so, that in Pallegoix's account they are spoken of under the collec- tive name of a treaty. The terms of this document were ' ordered by the King to be published in all the towns of the kingdom. The various concessions granted were doubtless suggested by the French clergy, but the negotia- tions with the mandarins regarding them were intrusted to Constant Phaulkon, who brought to the cause of the Christians all the zeal and enthusiasm usually distin- guishing new converts, he having only recently abjured Protestantism, in May, 1682, in favoiir of the faith of Eorne.^ The King's duties at this time were not light, as he had discreetly to distribute his favours among the European nations frequenting his capital, giving audience to all. A French author records, "Les nations Angloise et Hollan- ■ doise ont eu aujourd'hui audiance du Eoi, qui leur a donn^ de belles vestes." ^ At this time incessant difficulties were cropping up be- tween the Siamese Government and the merchants of the various trading interests then represented at the capital, chiefly o wing to the nlonopolies held by the King. This could not but happen, as the King himself was regarded as the chief trader of the kingdom, the details of buying and selling being in the hands of his regularly insti- tuted agents. The keenest and most exacting traders at the capital were the Dutch, who at this time had widely, and apparently firmly, established themselves on the Malayan Peninsula, and had given their commercial relations a more extensive range than any of the other Powers, the English not excepted. They were, therefore, a thorn in the side of the King, as they had no scruples in exacting even from him, for their own benefit, terms highly detrimental to his monopolies. The English were 1 Journal ou Suite du Voyage de Siam, par L. D. C. (Choisy), 1688, p. 238. 246 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. perhaps almost as dangerous and troublesome as the Dutch, but the influence of the Portuguese had long before begun to wane. Neither the Dutch nor English nations were known to the then reigning King of Siam, except by their traders, whereas the French had been introduced to him, in the first instance, in the persons of highly-accomplished and well-bred gentlemen, who had arrived in his country filled with the most benign intentions, and with a desire to improve his people intellectually, morally, and physically — intentions that could not but at once enlist the sympathy and the ap- proval of so good a Buddhist as his Siamese Majesty. The presence in his city of these non-trading Frenchmen, wholly given up to religion, was to him a perfectly new experience, as hitherto the only attractions his capital, or indeed his kingdom, had possessed in the eyes of foreigners, were the supposed facilities it afforded of making money. The King was a thoughtful man, and, like not a few educated Buddhists, was also something of. a philosopher, and wisely tolerant in such a purely speculative subject as religion. This attitude, on the part of the King, was a con- dition of mind which the French ecclesiastics had never . anticipated to meet in the person of a monarch whom they regarded as a heathen, and their unpreparedness for it unfortunately led them into the error of mistaking it for a symptom of his conversion, whereas it was nothing more than a desire on his part to oblige and please the strangers, on a subject regarded by them as of the highest importance, but which he viewed from a different stand-point. Indeed, when the French ambassador pressed him to accept Chris- tianity, he expressed his astonishment that his esteemed friend the King of France should take so strong an interest in an affair which to him seemed to belong to God, and "which the Divine Being appears to have left entirely to our own discretion." i His religious temperament and philosophical mind were, therefore, attracted to these ' Bowring, op. cik, vol. ii. p. 99. PHAULKON'S POWER AND POSITION. 247 strangers, who came to teach his people a religiou so akin to Buddhism in many of its leading features, and a code of morality inculcating such maxims as this : " Cease from aU sin ; Get virtue ; Cleanse your heart." The attitude also taken up by the new convert, Con- stant Phaulkon, who exercised a considerable influence over the King, largely contributed to confirm the amicable relations his majesty had established with the Jesuits, and which were, if possible, further consolidated when his ambassadors returned from France and reported to him the greatness of that nation, and the magnificence and power of Louis XIV. The arrival of the ambassadors at his court, in two ships of war, and attended by a large suite, bearing presents and letters from the King of France, was a signal triumph for the Siamese Govern- ment, and must have been a subject of astonishment, not unmixed with envy, to the other European nations then represented at the capital of Siam, more especially to the Dutch, who by their imperious conduct had driven him into the arms of France, and also to the English, who, by their misunderstandings among themselves, and indecision as to the value of the trade of Ayuthia, had seriously im- paired their influence at the capital. This the English factors now began to realize, and in view of the departure of the French ambassador they wrote a letter to the Court on the 5th December, 1685,^ informing them that in their opinion the " Ffrench ambassadors design to drive away the other nacons." To defeat this design they asked the Court to send an ambassador, " as yf Ffrench have done," and since Constant Phaulkon " was sole governor and dis- poser of all affairs in the kingdom, and had declared him- self devoted to the Court's service," they desired that a title of honour might be conferred on him, and moreover 1 Ind. 0£E. Rec, A A 6. This it was received in London, "via letter was intrusted, in all pro- France," on the 23rd June, five days bability, to the care of some one after M. de Chaumont's arrival at on board the ambassador's ship, as Brest. 348 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. suggested tliat a small factory should be established at Tenasserim, as it " would be a scourge to Bengali." French influence, however, was supreme for the time being. '"'The Siamese mandarins seemed to have become infatuated with their newly-made friends, in whom they had such confidence that they even went the length of asking the ambassador to request the French King to send some of his troops to Siam for its defence against the Dutch, who had become masters of the Peninsula of Malacca, and whom they dreaded would invade their kingdom. This message was carried to France by M. le Chevalier de Chaumont, who left Siam on the 22nd December, 1685,^ accompanied by some new Siamese ambassadors, who were graciously received on the ist Sep- tember, 1686;^ and so gratified was Louis XIV. by this second embassy, and with the request it carried, that he caused a medal to be struck in commemoration of this auspicious event.^ Before the Chevalier de Chaumont had left Ayuthia, mother ambassador had made his appearance at that court, not aiming, however, at political supremacy for his King, but intent, as the Sultan of Acheen and the ruler of Gol- conda had been, about seventeen years before, on the conversion of his Siamese Majesty, to whom he brought, not the Bible, but the Koran. His master was the Shah of Persia. ^ Relation de I'Ambassade de Rex. Christianiss, ''and on the reverse Mr. le Chevalier de Chaumont a la we read " Fama. Virtutis. " On the Cour du Roi de Siam. 1686., p. obverse there is a profile of Louis 185. XIV., looking towards the right, ' Hist, de France, Louis XIV. clothed in the Roman toga, with an Henri Martin. 1878. tome xiv. p. R below, and, on the other side, the 29. Siamese ambassadors are represented * The medal was of copper, and before the King, who is seated on his had a radius of 73 millimetres, and a throne, with the following inscrip- weight of 1 72 grammes. A smaller tion below the scene : Oratores. one was also struck, having a radius Regis. Siam. (M.D.o.l;XXXVi.)Mauger. of 41 millimetres. The original of F. : Joseph Haas in North China the large medal is still preserved in Branch Roy. As. Soc, 1879. New Bangkok. On 'the obverse there is Ser., No. xiv. p. 63. the fallowing : "Ludovicus. Magnus. PERSIAN AMBASSADOR TO SIAM. 249 Ksempfer,^ who accompanied the Swedish envoy, M. Eabritius, to the court of Shah Sulaiman at Ispahan, met there, in 1684, an ambassador from the King of Siam, and other envoys from Poland, the Czar of Muscovy, and several Arabian and Tartarian princes. The Siamese ambassador. All Selim by name, de- ' manded from the Shah that he should send an ambassador to his royal master. This request was acceded to, and one was sent with a pomp never attending the embassies dispatched by the King of Siam to Oriental princes, as the diplomatic functions of his ambassadors were subordinated to their duties as trading agents to his Majesty. If any one of these seemingly high officials failed, on his return to court, to render a satisfactory account of his steward- ship, the ambassadorial soles were made to tingle unplea- santly under the rattan of the bastinado ; and such a fate was meted out to poor Ali Selim on his return from his wearisome wanderings, even although he appears to have been not unfaithful to his Koyal Master. Ali Selim, with the newly-appointed Persian ambassador, Ebraim Beague, lef t Ispahan in the beginning of 1685, and arrived at Masulipatam probably a month later. The news of the arrival of the Persian envoy was forwarded to the Prench ambassador at Ayuthia by the French missionary, M. du Carpon, who afterwards, with another clerical brother, proceeded to Mergui, and thence overland to the capital The East India Company's agent at Gombroon had written some time before to the President and Council at Surat to expect the Siamese and Persian ambassadors at their Presidency, a prospect, however, which Sir John Child and his Council did not look forward' to with plea- sure. They accordingly wrote a letter to the factor at Gombroon ; but by the time it was written the ambassadors were at Masulipatam. In it they said, " We could heartily wish not to be troubled with them;" but if they were not 1 Hiat. of Japan, vol. i. p. viii 2SO ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. going to embark on the ships which had been built at Surat for the King of Siam, and which they had heard the Dutch were preparing for them, and were to sail on the Barnar- disian, then the factor was told to make some arrange- ment with the ambassadors by which the Company would be gainers. From Masulipatam the ambassadors went to Madras, and the President and Council there took great credit to them- selves for having received them splendidly, and treated them with great civility. The Persian ambassador had a large retinue and mag- nificent presents for the King of Siam from the Sophi} including thirty-two horses; but when he arrived at Tenasserim, which he did in an English vessel, he was so impecunious that he had nothing to give to the captain, and on his landing had to borrow 600 crowns from the governor, who nevertheless received him with great honour. The unfortunate ambassador, forgetting the maxim that beggars should be no choosers, expressed his disgust with the Siamese food provided for him. His maitre-d'hdtel consequently took upon himself to reject all the viands presented for his master's use. This led his compagnon de voyage, Ali Selim, to remind the fastidious Persian, through the maitre-d'hdtel, that the food arrangements that had been made for him at Ispahan had not been so very excellent ; at which the maitre-d'hdtel got into a rage, and ordered his people to go to market and purchase all that was necessary. The governor then ordered the shop- keepers to supply the ambassador with what he wanted free of all cost ; but the market-women, fearing they would not be paid, deserted their stalls, and the haughty Persian had to beg for a pittance from the governor,^ who appears to have transmitted to Ayuthia an account of the ambas- sador's behaviour, where it was reported that he had " been guilty of a thousand impertinences." -^ ' Journ. ou Suite du Eoy. de Siam, par L. D. C, p. 195. '^ Ibid., pp. 242, 243. THE PERSIAN AMBASSADOR'S DEBTS. 251 The Persian ambassador's pecuniary embarrassments seem to have been so great that he was driven to borrow wherever he went ; and in passing through India, he had left debts behind him, besides the other obligations he had contracted on his voyage to Mergui. Of these he was reminded, on his way back to Persia in 1687, by Elihu Yale,^ President of Port St. George, in the following letter : — " To Ebraim Beagu The Persian Ambassador. Tort St. Geoege, 26 Augt. 1687. I reel your kind L'f from Acheen to the late Govern' the Honble W™ Gyiford Esq who being on his return to England the E. Honble Compy have conferr'd the Hon^ of this Governm* upon mee where I shall be always ready to doe yo^ great Master all the service in my power w"? I alsoe offer'd to yo^ friends Mahomed sen and Mahmed Jacke Beague paying them all the respects and assistance they desired by them. I rec* an unwellcome acco* of y' unkind entertainment at Syam, the Honour of yo'; magni- fficent King and his noble ambassy, and PresV deserved much better, and I hope our respects and service here was to his and yo^ Contentm' if any thing was diffident therein it was more our misfortune than fault endeavouring y? yo^ reception and entertainment should express our great esteem, and hon' wee had for yo' great monarch who I know is so good and just to lett us suffer for 0^ services to him w* if he doth not consider us in, wee are like to doe the King 'of Syam having not yett pay? us a cash of the seve" sums of people lent you and the Syam ambassad^ at Persia and here : nor for the services of oT shipps y* brought you and yo' concerns hither and carry? you and them all to Tenassay of w°? I hope and desire you will mind yof king off, and y] he will please to order the money to be pay? to ^ For a notice of this American-born Governor of Madras see appendix G. 252 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. 0? people according to the severall agreemV whereof you had coppys that we may be incouraged by all opportunitys to doe him the like services, and I hope and begg it may encrease his favour and kindness to y^ English Merch^ and affairs under the Kings Dominions and y? yof selfe and friend will promote and further it what you can, and w? favours are done them, shall be duly acknowledged by us and particularly represented to our King of England and his E? Hon*"?' Comp who will accept it as a great honf and kindness to y™ and always retain a gratefull sence thereof soe praying the Almighty to bless yof King w'? a long and prosperous and happy reign and yo' selfe to be always in his favour and I in yo! and y\ you will HonT me w^'' y" - . . . and commands by all opportunitys. Elihu Yale." As has been already said, the Persian ambassador had arrived with the Koran, in the hope that the King of Siam would accept Mohammedanism ; and when the Am- bassador of the Grand Monarque heard of this, he felt himself obliged to offer to his Majesty the Christian religion, beseeching his Majesty to embrace it. The King repudiated the idea of his accepting Mohammedanism, and said he wished with all his heart that the French ambassador were present to see how he would receive the Persian ambassador ; and he added, were he to choose a religion, it would certainly not be Mohammedanism.^ ^ Tachard, op. cit., p. 308. ( 253 ) CHAPTEE VII. ROYAL MONOPOLIES. The usurper Phra-chao Prasathong seems to have begun, shortly after he ascended the throne, in 1629, the system of royal monopolies,^ or at least to have accentuated it, to a degree previously unknown. This mistaken policy ap- pears to have contributed largely to drive the Indian merchants from the capital to Tenasserim and Mergui, where they had a free field for their trading operations, away from the supervision and oppression of the minions of the King. ' There, too, they could command by their own native craft the trade of the Coromandel Coast and of Bengal, at that time the most lucrative commerce of Siam. When Phaulkon came into power, he found the trade of these two ports, or rather conjoined ports, of Mergui and Tenasserim, almost exclusively in the hands of the ^ De la Loub^re, pp. 94, 338. Appendix, p. Ixxxi.), it is said The system of the King being " Agreeably to the past practice of the chief merchant of his kingdom the Siamese court, the King has remained in full force up to the time always been the principal merchant of Sir Stamford Raffles' mission, in his dominions ; but upon the ac- 1821-22. The Mission to Siam and cession to the throne of the present Hu^, the Capital of Coohin-China, (1827) King of Siam, he made a de- in the years 1821-22. Prom the claration, that he was determined not Journal of the late George Finlay- to be a King -merchant, and not to son. London, 1826, p. 166. But a maintain any monopolies, but to per- new policy was inaugurated in the mit a general free trade. The ex- reign of the next King. elusive sale of stioklao, sapan-wood, In the Calcutta Government Ga- aquila-wood, ivory, gamboge and zette, 8th and iSth March, 1827 pepper, which the late King of Siam (Documents illustrative of the Bur- monopolized, was abolished, and the mese War, compiled by Horace collection of the duties upon those Hayman Wilson, Calcutta, 1827, articles was farmed out." 254 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. so-called Moors, or natives of India. Being fully aware of its importancej he resolved to have a share of it for his master the King, and also for himself. In view of this, no more suitable man could have been selected for the office of Shahbandar of Mergni than Samuel White, who had traded for the King during a number of years between that seaport and the eastern coast of India, and who was " generally well beloved by the people of the country, and by the Europeans of several nations that were also in the King's service." The appointment, however, of an European was an in- novation of the most startling character to the Siamese and Indians, as one of their number had generally held the position of port-officer, and had profited by the rich harvest to be reaped from the commerce of the bay. But the installation of an Englishman to the governorship of a Siamese town was even a more alarming change of policy, as it had been the immemorial custom to appoint an Indian governor to Tenasserim and Mergui, when those offices were not bestowed on Siamese. Although in Mr. Strangh's letter it is said that Burneby was made governor of Tenasserim, which of course meant the town, as the head- ship of the province was an hereditary office, it is very doubtful whether he pver held office there, as the term Tenasserim seems in those days to have been applied indifferently to itself and to MerguL In the list of seven commissioners appointed for the administration of the two towns in 1686, already referred to,Eichard Burneby appears, as sixth, under the title of Opra MarU, which, as has been already seqn, unquestionably meant governor of Mergui. The East India Company, however, interpreted Phaul- kon's action in appointing Englishmen, who had previously renounced their service, to the two offices of Governor and Shahbandar as manifesting in the most unmistakable manner his hatred and detestation of their Corporation. They held that the Greek had induced these men and other Englishmen to enter the service of the Kino- of Siam SAMUEL WHITE AT MERGUI. 255 purely for the furtherance of his own ends, and that his custom was to promise them great rewards as well as great wages, and by " kind inveighling words " to corrupt the Company's servants, commanders, and seamen from their fidelity, duty, and service to the Company, in order " that he might hecome strong enough in European seamen and soldiers, with the aid of the French King, English Interlopers, English and Dutch fugitives," to gain his ob- ject, the destruction of the Company's trade. Samuel White, however, as has already been recorded, honourably paid to the Company the amount of his bond, forfeited by leaving their ship and remaining behind in the East. Moreover, when he was appointed to Mergui,^ he informed his friends in the Company's service at Fort St. George, Masulipatam, and Bengal of his elevation to the Shahbandarship, and humbly tendered to them "his best sei^ices to their commands in whatever might be useful to the publick or their private concerns," and he mentions that they were pleased to return him "their kind con- gratulations," and to give him " several occasions of serving them." One of the services rendered by him to the Com- pany may be here recorded in his own words. He says, " Nor was it long after my being rais'd to this Capacity (Shahbandar of Mergui, &c.) that there did present a suit- able opportunity to testifie my Zeal to the Companies Ser- vice ; for their Ship the Golden Fleece, in her return from Bengali to England, sprung a desperate Leake, in which distress the only near and commodious Port that presented to their relief was Mergen, whither in confidence of my friendly assistance they came, and found me as ready to grant, as they could be to request, all that my interest and influence there could afford them, in my giving them the use of my own Slaves for the more expeditious un- loading their Ship, securing their Goods in Warehouses ashore, and assisting the relading thereof without the least Charge, when the Ship was refitted to proceed on her 1 " The Case of Samuel White." Appendix F. 2;6 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Voyage, for which I also supplied them with whatever they wanted at the very same rates that the King himself paid, and wholly excused them from all the duties of the Port. But I need not particularize how fully I answered or rather exceeded their expectations in all things, or call any other Testimony for proof thereof than the report made here at home by Captain James Cook, the Comman- der, who was so sensible of my good deservings on this occasion, that he very earnestly solicited the Committee for some signification of their kind accepting those my considerable Services. But an overruling power amongst them, rendered this grateful motion ineffectual ; however, I am not less pleas'd that I had the good fortune to be instrumental in securing and forwarding so great a Con- cern as that was, which I understand did here produce no less than ;£■ 190,000." The accuracy of White's account of his services to the Company on this occasion is testified to by Francis Heath, who was at Mergui when White rescued the ship, and who records that the warehouses mentioned by White were built at his own cost for the reception of the goods of the Golden Fleece. The signal services rendered to the Company by White on this occasion were a very tangible proof of his good feeling towards them at this period of his career, and it was probably as a recognition of the assistance he had rendered to the Golden Fleece, in the end of 1683, that the autho- rities at Fort St. George came to his aid on the Coromandel Coast in the following year, when the ships belonging to the King of Siam were in need of men. The trading factors of his Siamese Majesty in Pegu and Golconda experienced, in 1683, certain slights or wrongs at the hands of the officials of these two nations, and their grievances having met with no redress, the Government of Siam resolved to exact satisfaction for the injuries its trade had sustained, and what these were is ascertained from the records in the India Office, where it WAR BETWEEN SIAM AND GOLCONDA. 257 is stated that, in 1685, Captain John Goates "of the King of Siam's navy " declared to the Councils at Masuli- patam and Madapollam that the war which had by that time broken out between the two nations was only due to injuries inflicted by Ali Beague, governor of Masuli- patam, on the King of Siam and his servants.^ In Samuel White's petition presented to Parliament^ in April, 1689, praying for the restitution of property belonging to him valued at ;^20,000', and which had been seized by the East India Company, he gives the following account of the war between Siam and Golconda. " It was now," he says, " the beginning of the year 84 when I re- ceived orders from the Oourt ofSyam, to fit out several Ships for prosecuting the War against the Kings of Golcondah and Pegio, as by the same Command I also did the succeeding year, in which expeditions I must own, we were very much befriended by the President and Council of Fort St. George, who supplied us with Ammunition and Naval Stores, and accommodated us with some English-men for these occasions, nor were they wanting to congratulate our successes, and make large proffers of their . readiness, to give us further assistance, as appears by their General Letters both to my Lord Phaulkon, and to my self : while on the other side, there was all possible care taken by the Kings special Command, that not the least injury or offence should be done to the Company, or any under their protection as was strictly enjoin'd in the Commission to every Commander." , The war had been begun in 1685 by the seizure by a Siamese man-of-war of a ship belonging to the King of Golconda, valued at 100,000 crowns. The vessel was taken into Mergui, and the news of its capture reached the capital about the same time that the tidings of the arrival of the Persian ambassador were communicated to the French embassy. ^ Consultation Books of Madapollam and Masulipatam, LL.A. 12 & 13. 2 Journals of the House of Commons, vol. x. R 258 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. Towards the end of the year, even more warlike pro- ceedings were commenced by the Siamese, and an account of them has been preserved, in the Consultation Book of the English factory at MadapoUam. It begins with the 2ist November 1685, and is as follows : — "This day about 12 of the clock at night Mr. Coates sent William Mallett &c. adharents by force of armes to enter on board, and take as prize a ship of his Majesty the King of Gallcondah called the Eedclove, and a ship of John Demarcora an Armenian, named the New Jerusalem^ both while lying at an ankar in Narsapore Eiver at the Town of Narsapore, 10 miles distance from the sea. " 22d. — This day about three of the Clock in the after- noon Capt. John Coates, and Don Joseph De Heredia &c. adharents, weighed ancar of John Demarcora's ship, and brought her up to Sanco Narsos Banksall,^ and upon weighing of s"? ankar fired severall shott which frightened the people of Narsapore, and MadapoUam out of ther habitations and both the Governours of Narsapore, and MadapoUan immediately repaired to the Factory, to Charles Fownes, and entreated him to send for the said Mr. Coates and to make up the business, and Mr. Coates promised to deliver said ships as soon as his owne is delivered to him into the which was then mending upon the shoare in Sancho Narsos yard. " 23. — This day Capt. Coates and Don Joseph De Heredia &c. adherents weighed ankar the ship of his Majesty the King of Gallcondah, and brought her from Narsapore river to Sancho Narsos Bansall, upon which the Govern^ of Narsapore, and MadapoUam sent for the Bramenee and Dubass, and tould them Mr. Coates being an Englishman and being entertained by the English at Eort St. George, and from thence comeing to MadapoUam, where he was allso entertained, and upon that respect they ' The Jerusalem had been lost ^ Banksall, or Bansall, a ware- some time before on the bar at Ma- house or the office of a harbour dapoUam. master. Yule-Burnell Glossary. HOSTILITIES AT MADAPOLLAM. 259 did demand satisfaction from the E^ Hon''!= English East India Oomp^ whereto the Bramenee and Dubass made an- swer, and tould them Mr. Goates were a servant to the King of Syam, and was no ways entertained by the E' Hon''l= Comp^ and that the Eight Hon''!= had a trade and Eactorys at Syam, and therefore they were entertained as strangers, and servants to the King of Syam, and that anyone of the Comp^' servants here knew anything of Mr. Coates, his orders or designes against them." The light in which the native governors of Narsapur and Madapollam regarded Coates' proceedings was just what might have been expected under the circumstances stated by them, and more especially when the action of the President and Council of Fort St. George in supplying Coates with Englishmen to man his ship, and providing him with ammunition and naval stores, is kept in view. That Englishmen were supplied to him is established be- yond all doubt, not only on the authority of Samuel White, but also by a letter from the President and Council themselves to the factors at Masulipatam. However, when the news reached them that Coates had seized John Demarcora's ship they immediately recalled all these Eng- lishmen, but whether they obeyed the summons is doubt- ful, for when Coates returned to Mergui, there were forty Europeans on board his ship. Their reason for recalling them was, probably, not that they had realized that they had compromised themselves in granting their services to Coates, but because John Demarcora was a rich Armenian whom they were anxious should settle at Fort St. George. On the 26th November, the Council at Madapollam wrote to Samuel Wales, the chief of that factory, who had gone on business to Masulipatam, that Don Joseph de Heredia, who declared he was a prisoner of Coates',^ ^ In Francis Davenport's account, the Coromandel Coast he went in published in "The Answer of the search of Don Joseph, and again East India Company, &c.," it is that he "inveigled Don Joseph stated that when Coates arrived on d'Heredia to side with him," p. 4. 26o ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. had claimed eight guns lying in the factory Godowns, hut that they had declined to deliver them, as they knew nothing about them. On this refusal the Don threw off the mask of prisoner and produced his commission from the King of Siam, and declared that if the guns were not made over to him he " would recover damages when he could." This threat so frightened the Council that they acceded to his demand, and delivered the guns. Coates also demanded that the chief and his two coun- cillors should become surety to him that the King of Gol- conda would satisfy the demands of the King of Siam. In the continued absence of Samuel Wales, his wife " Madame Wales " and the Doctor went on board Coates' ship to persuade him to moderation, but in vain. They, however, had the courage to refuse Coates' demand as fool- ish and unreasonable. The Council communicated to Wales the substance of Coates' demand, and on the 27th November he wrote to them that he declined to become security for the King of Golconda, as he was altogether ignorant of ■what the claims of the King of Siam were ; but warned them " that whatever damage was done to the subjects of the said King, would be required at the hands of the Madapollam Council." He denounced Coates' proceed- ings as piratical, saying that it would have^ become him " first to have made demands for his master the King of Siam upon the King of Golcondah, and upon refusal of the same, in a further manner to have proclaimed war, and then to have proceeded like a man-of-war, and not a pirate in a river, and so near an English factory." On the 27th November it is stated — " This day Benj'^ Worthy despatched a Gennerall (letter) to Metchlepatam of Mr. Coates his transactions. The Govern^ of Mada- pollam and John Demarcora came to Benj^ Worthy and desired him to send for Capt. Coates a shoare, but he refused to come." " 28. This day Cap? John Coats W"? Mallett, and Don Joseph and adhearences weighed ankar of both ships and in HOSTILITIES AT M ADA POLLA M. 261 their way sayling downe to the Barrs mouth fired severall Gunns shot and all into Narsapore, which God be thanked did no harms, and also Capt. Alexander Leslie embarqued on the Kings ship^ with his whole family," and went to Mergui. "This day the Governor of Ellore sent 100 Psons with fire armes to take Mr. Coates, and also Mahemed AUe Beague, Governor of Metchlepatam, sent 50 Eashboots.2 " 29. This day Cap? Coates and Don Joseph De Heredia weigh'd ankar of both ships and carried over the Barr into the Eoade of Narsapore, and there lay, and tooke all Boates that passed and burnt Mr. Freeman's Boates, and severall others after have taken out their lading of Eice." For these doings of Captain Coates, the governor of Ellore' again demanded satisfaction from the chiefs and Councils of Masulipatam and Madapollam, as Coates' pro- ceedings were imputed wholly to these factories and to Fort St. George. This led to a consultation with Coates being held at the bar's mouth on the 2nd December, in which Mr. Eobert Freeman, Samuel Wales, and the Coun- cils of Masulipatam and Madapollam took part. On this occasion Captain Coates informed the Company's servants that he and the Don " had commission from the King of Siam which justified their proceedings, and these were grounded thereupon, and that the injuries done by Alle Beague to the King of Siam and his servants were the sole occasion of the said commissions, and their actions com- mitted by virtue thereof, and as for John Demarcoras ship and Jewells they had taken, they said that he was particu- larly named in their commission as a Mandarin of Pegu, and an enemy to the King of Siam, and they were com- missioned to seize upon his ship, or vessels, person, or estate, wheresoever to be found." In the evening, the chiefs, the Councils, Captain Coates and John Demarcora went up ' This was one of the ships be- of the Hindi word Rajput, the name longing to John Demarcora seized of an Indian clan, whose hereditary by Coates (Davenport). profession was that of arms. ^ Eashloot. An old English form 262 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. from the bar's mouth to the factory, but Coates lay in his boat and would not go ashore until he had been invited by Mr. Freeman and Samuel Wales, and did not do so until Mr. Freeman went himself and invited him to go, to which he consented, but went attended by a number of armed men, for his security. After several hours had been spent apparently in a fruitless discussion, news reached the factory that the governor of EUore had sent a body of Eajputs to seize Coates, and that they were already in the town. He therefore immediately left the factory, and made for the bar in his boats. The governor of EUore now demanded from the Com- pany's servants the delivery of the ships seized by Coates, and threatened that unless they were given up a four- fold satisfaction would be taken for them, and they were informed that he had given orders to all his subordi- nate governors to stop all the Company's affairs through- out his jurisdiction until the Honourable Company made full satisfaction. Their difficulties increased, as on the following day news reached them from the Dutch chief and Council of Pulicat that Coates had seized five boats belonging to them, burnt one, and killed a man. Another consultation took place at the bar's mouth, but with no result, as Captain Coates resolutely declined to deliver up the ships, although Mr. Freeman and Samuel Wales offered their bonds of Pag^= 150,000 that the Don's ship and his vessels should be finished and put into the water in a few days, provided that the icing's and John Demarcora's ships were immediately surrendered. The chiefs and Councils thereupon resolved to protest against Captain Coates' action; and they delivered to him a written document claiming ;£'5oo,oao for damages done to the East India Company, and ;£'45,ooo in the name of the JSTetherlands Company for injuries sustained by the Dutch chief and Council of Pulicat. From this protest it appears that Captain Coates' vessel CAPTAIN COATES AT MADAPOLLAM. 263 ■was called the Prosperous, and that he was aided in the command by William Mallett and Don Joseph De Heredia, and that the crew was a motley one, of several nationalities — English, Dutch, French, Danes, Portuguese, and Siamese. Another consultation was held at which the governors of Narsapur and Madapollam were present, and at which Captain Coates told them that upon delivering to him the ships and boats belonging to the King of Siam, he would restore the ships he had taken and whatever belonged to them ; and on the following day orders were issued by the Governors that the work remaining to be done to the ships and boats should be completed. A further demand for the delivery of the captured vessels was made by the governor of Ellore, and at last, on the 1 2th December, Captain Coates delivered to John Demar- cora all his goods of value, jewels, and money, and the latter gave Coates a receipt for them, and promised to complete the ships and boats that were building ; but no arrange- ment was come to about the restitution of the King of Golconda's vessels; and as none had been made up to the 29th, the governor on the following day stopped the work on the ships and boats. On this happening, Captain Coates set fire to his old sloop the Prosperous, which was on the stocks being repaired, and immediately drew up his men in a body to go and seize upon the governor of Madapollam ; upon which the governor sent his brother to the factory to desire the chief and Council to go to Captain Coates and persuade him to adopt milder measures. When the chief and council were on their way to do this, they met Coates in the street with his soldiers, all armed, and marching to carry out his bold design, whereupon the chief " used many persuacions," but all in vain, even although Coates was told that the Company's officers would lose their lives, and that the Company's estate would be seized, if he did not behave more discreetly. He did not, how- ever, swerve from his purpose, and marched on to the Governor's house, but followed, it is said, by "Samuell 264 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Wales with all the E^ Hono*!^ Comp? and Ornamontoz." i When he arrived there, he was at last prevailed upon to enter with only two or three of his men ; and, after an hour's dispute with the Deputy-Governor, he departed, as this official promised him that the carpenter, smiths, and other workmen should finish what remained to be done to the ships of the King of Siaiii. The diary ends on the 31st December, 1685, and this is the last of the MadapoUam series preserved in the India Office ; but, from the letter book for 1686, some further particulars are gleaned regarding Coates' proceedings. It is there stated that in February of that year he sailed up the MadapoUam river to near the island opposite Narsdpur, a little below which the inhabitants had raised a fortiiica- tion of teak- wood, and planted several guns. On his ap- proaching they opened fire and he returned it, it is said the " bickerage held till the evening, having begun about 10 A.M." The fortification was set on fire, and its guns were captured with a loss of three or four of the natives. The Chief and Council at Masulipatam wrote a letter to the Don, doubtless protesting against his own and Captain Coates's proceedings, which threatened seriously to com- ' In the MadapoUam Consulta- tain. This may have been what was tions (30th December, 1685), it is intended by the use of the word simply said, "the R* Hone','" CompV " Ornamontoz," a mispelling of the and Ornamontoz," but from the Portuguese term Ornamentos, gene- statement preceding it that Samuel rally applied to the vestments and Wales, the chief of the factory, had other ornaments of a church or been appealed to by the native monastery, but here used in a new Governor to use his influence to put sense to designate the paraphernalia a stop to Coates' high-handed pro- of official state. According to the ceedings, it would appear that custom of the times, Samuel Wales Wales realised the invidious position possibly went on his mission pre- in which the Company were placed, ceded by the Company's trumpeter, owing to the circumstance that the and accompanied by a guard of belligerent was an Englishman. He soldiers in their best military attire, therefore resolved in making the and all in armour. Of course this appeal to give to it all the official is merely a suggestion. For the state and prominence he could com- meaning of Ornamentos, I am in- mand, in order to impress the natives debted to Colonel Sir. H. Yule, with the fact that the East India who referred me to Bluteau's great Company were in no way responsible Portuguese Dictionary, for the actions of the warlike Cap- HOSTILITIES AT MADAPOLLAM. 265 promise the East India Company. The letter having been sent to the factors at Madapollam, with a request that they should deliver it, they exercised a wise discretion and kept it back, until a favourable opportunity presented itself for making it over to the Don, as they realised that if they had been discovered delivering letters either to him or to Coates, such a course of action would have served only to intensify the suspicions of the native governor of Ellore, that the war had been instigated by the East India Company. Don Joseph, like Coates, was acting with a high hand, as he had seized a boat laden with salt belonging to some Madapollam merchants, had torn down the English colours from its stern, and demanded " how any boats durst wear any colour flying where the King of Siam's were bespread." On his way also down the river with Mallett he had burned Eameswaram, and part of Antravedi, and had fired the remainder of it, the flames at night appearing very great to the people in the Madapollam factory, who reported to their friends in Masulipatam that both Coates and the Don had declared that they would fire Narsapur and other villages, and destroy Sancho Narso's house. This edifice, the factors reported in their letter, " narrowly escaped the Don's fury (notwithstanding the Eight Honble. Company's seal was put on his godouns and house), his soldiers being ready with combustible matters upon word of command given to destroy the same, but was prevented by a message sent to Mr. Mallett " desiring him to hinder the " Don from putting to execution his ill design, which was effected partly by persuasion, and partly by force, carrying the Don in his boat with him down the river." They add, " We hear the Don intends once more to come up the river, and if he arrives at Sancho Narsos banksall, or any other place near the factory, your prementioned General to him shall be delivered." The Don gave out that after he had been once more up the river he would go to an- another Eameswaram to the northward of Madapollam^ 266 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. ■where there were several well-laden Purgoes^ and boats that had put in for shelter, and that when he had cap- tured them, he would make for Koringa. The people of Narsapur rebuilt their fortifications, and intended to send a message to Captain Coates informing him they were ready for him. After this a report reached Mada- poUam that Captain Coates was at Koringa, where he had captured and destroyed a vessel laden with rice, and that he had been wounded in the last engagement at IsTarsapur, and was dead. This, however, proved to be erroneous. By March 1686, the Jerusalem, one of the vessels seized by Coates, was now commanded by Alexander Leslie, a naval officer in the service of the King of Siam, and was cruising off the Alguada reef, in sight of Cape Negrais. While in that neighbourhood, Lesley captured a merchant ship called the Quedabux on its way from Syriam to Balasor, and belonging to a Bengali trader. There were two European passengers on this prize, which was carried into the port of Mergui, on the 13th March, 1686. Their names were respectively Francis Davenport and Carroon, the latter being a Frenchman. There can be no doubt that Francis Davenport is the man of this name mentioned by Sir William Hedges as a pilot on the Hiigli in 1680. He professed to have kept what he calls private Memoirs, in which he recorded the circumstances attending the capture of the Quedabux, and the events that took place at Mergui and at the capital during his residence in Siam, until the end of July 1687. ' This word occurs several times y« Sea beinge brought to anchor by in Hedges' Diary. Colonel S;r the sterne as theire vsual way is.' Henry Yule has favoured me with J. B., the author, gives a rough the following note on Purgoe. He drawing. It represents the Purgoe says, " Here is an account of the as a somewhat high-sterned lighter, Purgo taken from the MS. referred not very large, with five oar-pins a to in vol iii. Hedges' Diary, p. 183. side. I cannot identify it exactly ' A purgoe : These Vse for the with any kind of modern boat of most part between Hugly and Pyplo which I have found a representation (Pipli) and Ballasore : with these — it is perhaps most like the pulwar. boats they carry goods into y" Roads I think it must be an Orissa word ; on board English and Dutch &,".. but I have not been able to trace it Ships, they will live a longe time in in any dictionary, Uriya or Bengali." FRANCIS DAVENPORT'S HISTORY. 267 Before proceeding further with the narrative a short sketch may be given of Francis Davenport's history and character, as they are made known to us in a petition presented to Parliament in 1689 by the East India Com- pany. Like the two brothers Elihu and Thomas Yale, and their quasi kinsman Nathaniel Higginson,^ Davenport was an American, and apparently belonged to Boston, where a family of this name had settled about the third decade of the seventeenth century.^ His history begins with the time when he was employed at Boston by one Lee, his kinsman, as master of a ketch bound for Ealmouth harbour in the island of Antigua. While the owner lay sick in bed, Davenport contrived by lying and duplicity to sell the hetch, appropriate the proceeds of the sale, and to decamp to England, deserting his wife. Thence he proceeded to Tonquin in the ship Flying Eagle as quarter-master, and seems to have been engaged for the purpose of constructing a crane for the King, a work he performed so ingeniously and satis- factorily that his mechanical skill attracted the notice of the Company's servants. Whatever the ship may have been, Davenport states that he went out to the East in the same ship with Phaul- kon, who, from other sources, it appears, sailed to India with George White in the capacity of cabin-boy, but whether on his first or second visit to England does not appear. After constructing his crane at Tonquin, Davenport was appointed gunner to the ship Formosa, which arrived there in 1678. As the ship was going to Bantam, he was in- trusted with a number of commissions, both by English ■■ rranklin B. Dexter, vol. iii. of Pilgrim Republic, an Historical Re- Papers of the New Haven Colony, viewof the Colony of New Plymouth, Historical Soc, 1882, p. 238. by John Goodwin, Boston, 1888," 2 The History and Genealogy of p. 580, it is mentioned that a Captain the Davenport Family, by Amzi Davenport (possibly Francis' father) Benedict Davenport. New York, was killed by lightning, in 1665, in 1851 and 1876. 12°. In "The the castle at Boston. 268 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. and native merchants ; but when the vessel arrived at its destination, he decamped in the Johanna for England with all the money of his dupes. While in London he perpe- trated another fraud, doubtless to raise money to assist him in going once more to the East. On this occasion, he passed himself off to a friend as the heir of a fictitious Mr. Daven- port, who, he said, was very old, and intended to settle his fortune on him. This appeared in an advertisement, of which Davenport himself was the author, and having shown it to his friend, he advanced to him a sum of money. The next place he visited in India was the Hiigli, where he was employed by the Company in their ship the James, and there he married while his first wife ^ was still alive. As has been already said, he is mentioned in (Sir) William Hedges' diary ^ as a pilot, but leaving the Company's ser- vice, he was engaged in a similar capacity in a small sloop belonging to John Davies, an interloper. This vessel he lost at the mouth of the Hiigli through carelessness. On his return to Hiigli he was accused by some of the Company's servants with the murder of John ISTaylor, the supercargo of the sloop, but was acquitted from want of evidence, although there were strong reasons for believing him to be guilty. After this he went on the ship Hope- well to Syriam, and was shipwrecked. Eeturning to Bengal on the Quedabux, ^he was carried with the vessel into Mergui. Erancis Heath, who knew Davenport well, says that he was a dishonest and faithless fellow ; while Eobert Harbin describes him as a treacherous villain ; and George White stigmatises him as " a vile wretch, and one of the most notorious rogues in nature, and so esteemed by all honest men." Such being the reputed character of Erancis Daven- 1 Mr. F. B. Dexter, to whom I in Boston, about 1675. Ann (born wrote asking if he could throw any 1654), daughter of Dr. William light on Francis Davenport's rela- Snelling. But beyond this fact I tions, &c., kindly replied as follows : can learn nothine^ whatever.'* — " I find that a Francis Davenport, ^ Hakluyt Soc, 1888, vol. i. p. mariner, is known to have married 92. DAVENPORT'S 'HISTORICAL ABSTRACT.' 269 port, it is difficult to select and reject from his " Historical Abstract," which, however, when studied in connection with some other documents of the time still extant, is found not to be wholly devoid of truth, although many of his statements affecting Samuel White have been denounced as " false and scandalous lies." After a very careful con- sideration of the whole subject, only those parts of the " Historical Abstract " that may be regarded as approxi- mately correct will be utilized in this narrative. The letters which Davenport attributes to Phaulkon and to Samuel White bear internal evidence that they are not forgeries. They will therefore be accepted as true. Although Davenport has been denounced as an in- famous slanderer, it must not be supposed that White was without reproach. We get an insight into his cha- racter from one of Phaulkon's letters, which from its high tone could not have been forged by Davenport. In this letter White is spoken of as a man passionate in his expres- sions and gestures, and of not very temperate habits, but one whom Phaulkon at the same time, after mature deliberation, had considered worthy of the responsible position in which he had placed him, and, he adds, that he could not charge him with being a court parasite. On the day following their arrival at Mergui, Daven- port with several other passengers, and among them the Frenchman, M. Carroon,^ were taken ashore under a ' The similarity of this name as a Dutchman, who had been Carroon to Caron, the name of originally a superintendent in the the man who established the first Dutch Company, and had proved Fr^ch factory in India, viz., that himself a very capable person, ex- of Surat, in 1668, is so great, that perienced in the trade of the East. Davenport's friend was in all pro- He had resigned the service of the bability » son of the old servant Dutch Company, and through the of the French Company. In going aid of M. Foti, Ambassador of over some documents in the Public France, had entered the service of Record Office, London, I came the French Company, becoming a across an unsigned and undated naturalised Frenchman, his wife fragment, in French, saying 'that and family residing in Paris. He the writer would be grateful for any was sent by the French King as his information regarding the fate of M. ambassador to the Emperor of Caron, of whom the following par- China and Japan, and to Java, with tioulars are given. He is described a view to establish trade with these 270 ENGLISH -INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. strong guard to the Shahbandar's house, where Davenport met another Englishman, Mr. William How,i who was then acting as steward and cash-keeper to Samuel White. This man had been carried into Mergui on the "ship Mahmuddy, belonging to Meer Facqueer Deun of Met- chlepatam," and which had also been condemned as a prize some time before, and afterwards dispatched on a rovinc commission to the Coromandel Coast under the command of Captain Edward English. How's subsequent fate will be narrated farther on. On the day Davenport landed, he observed a ship cross ing the bar and anchoring in the port. It was laden with twenty-two elephants, and piloted by a Portuguese, who was taking the ship to HiigH. He and Carroon therefore asked permission of the Shahbandar to be allowed to leave by this ship, a request which was at first freely granted. Davenport tells us that when he and M. Carroon were putting off in a boat to go on board the ship, he was called back by Mr. White, who told him there were reasons why it was not convenient he should go by that vessel, and offered him employment in the service of the King of Siam. He was at first inclined to refuse the offer, but ultimately agreed to stay on at Mergui until the following August, at fifteen taels per month. After accepting White's offer he wrote to the owner of the Sopewell informing him of the loss of the ship, and while he was doing this, his box, &c., were brought ashore, and M. Carroon proceeded on his way to Bengal. places. He left Paris in 1665, and the sole survivor. This was in 1673, embarked at La Rochelle with three so it is possible that Davenport's of the French Company, and had companion was this son. apparently not been heard of since.' ^ This man appears to be the Wil- In Colonel Malleson's account of M. liam How mentioned on a number Carrou the founder of the first of occasions in Sir William Hedges' French settlement in India, it Diary, the last being on the 19th is stated that after his disgrace August, 1684. He was the first he returned to Europe, but was person who informed Sir William drowned, as the vessel, in which he Hedges of the conspiracy that ex- sailed was lost in entering the har- isted against him at HdgU. Vol. i„ bou^ of Lisbon, one of his sons being 1887, pp. 154-155. THE BROTHERS DEMARCORA. 271 On the following day, Davenport was installed by White as his secretary and accountant, and a writer was pro- mised to assist him in transcribing the papers and accounts in a better hand than he could write ; but Francis Heath, who was supercargo of one of Samuel White's ships while he was Shahbandar of Mergui, says Davenport acted as White's servant, and assisted him "in the multitude of business," and was of use to him as he was very quick with his pen. The war between Siam and Golconda continued ; and the Sanda Cruz, a vessel of 350 tons burthen, was captured about the time Davenport arrived in Mergui. It was the property of Joseph, the brother of John Demarcora. The prize was sent to Acheen with its cargo under charge of some men ; but as White was afraid they might .either be overpowered on the voyage or be persuaded to allow the vessel to escape at Acheen, he took the precaution to keep Joseph Demarcora and his son at Mergui as pledges for the return of the ship, promising at the same time to use his influence at Ayuthia for the restitution of the Sanda Cruz and its cargo to its owner. Joseph Demarcora being aware that Davenport had come out from England in the same ship with Constant Phaulkon, asked him to intercede for him with his old shipmate ; " which I," says Davenport " (not daring to deny any thing, within the compass of my power, to one whom I owed my Eedemp- tion from Slavery), accordingly writ." In his narrative he laments the misfortune of his benefactor, " who little deserved such usage as not only being no Subject of the King of Golcondah, but being the Eedeemer of many poor UnglisJi Men, and others, at his vast charge, out of Captivity in Pegu." But, as has been already seen, John Demarcora was a mandarin of Pegu, and was specially mentioned in Coates' commission; and from the influence which his brother Joseph appears to have had in that kingdom, it is probable that his ship was also seized under powers given to the commanders prosecuting the war on the shipping of 2/2 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Pegu. The following is Davenport's letter to Phaulkon pleading the cause of the humane Armenian : — "Meegbn, 24«A March, i68|.^ "Mt Loed, " The Signal Obligations I lye under to this Bearer, the Eedeemer of my self, and many other Poor Men out of Captivity, call for all the Evidences of my Gratitude, that any Opportunity can put into my Hands ; so that though long absence, and diversity of Fortunes may have drawn a Curtain betwixt Your Lordship and my self, and put me by all pretence to any Interest with You, from a former Priend- ship or Acquaintance in any matter that might immediately concern my self; yet in this particular Instance, when my best of Priends require it, I hope I may become Your successf uU Humble Petitioner ; That You wbuld vouchsafe him all the favour You can in his present Affair, and then I am sure he will find all the favour he desires, which is the restitution of his Ship and Estate, taken from him under pretence of His Majesties Authority ; and though I do not pretend to a Spirit of Prophesie, yet I dare be con- fident to af&rm, that Your Lordship, in doing that just and generous act will find more satisfaction, and reap more true Honour than can be expected from the Euine of so well-deserving an Honest, Man, as is Joseph d'Marcora, whose Condition I humbly recommend to Your Gracious Consideration. Your Lordships most Humble Servant, "Fbancis Davenpoet." He does not record the result of this appeal, but from what he relates some months afterwards, the Saneta Cruz was not restored to Joseph Demarcora, but was rechristened the St. George, and called' the King's ship, and was selected to proceed to Mocha. Another ship the Traga Raja, captured off the coast of ' This is evidently a misprint for i68J, as Davenport did not reach Mergui, as has been seen, until March, 1686. SAMUEL WHITE AND HIS PRISONERS OF WAR. 273 Pegu, ultimately proved to be the property of a native of Madras. It was carrying a number of Indian merchants, also inhabitants of that town who, after their release from imprisonment^at Mergui, presented a petition to the Presi- dent and Council at Fort St. George, on the 14th April, 1686, stating that they had embarked as passengers at Syriam, and that the vessel, shortly after it had left the port, had been seized by a man-of-war belonging to the King of Siam, and that the first to board their vessel was an Englishman, Captain Cropley of the Dorothy. They state, in their petition preserved in the India Office, and to which fifteen names are af&xed, that no sooner was their vessel boarded than their captors began to rob the ship. They were then transferred to Captain English's ship, the Revenge, and carried to Mergui, where they were put in prison, in a godown, and kept for eight days without eating or drinking, undergoing many hard- ships, until at last they were driven by hunger to make such a noise that their shouts reached the Shahbandar who sent for them, and told them that they must sign a paper declaring that he had done nothing to them and taken nothing from them ! They state that they were so oppressed with hunger and other troubles that they signed not only one, but two papers, as they were unable to undergo again what they had already suffered. They alleged that they had paid Samuel "White 3 117 pagodas to clear the ship and escape any further imprisonment, and also stated that White had taken 325 pagodas in gold and silver from the Ndkhuda or master of the ship, who had also been robbed of his earrings, and of a parcel containing rubies, musk and other valuables. As they claimed to be inhabitants of, and assistants in the Port of St. George, under the Honourable Company's flag, and as the Shahbandar was an Englishman, and the other robbers English, they prayed the Council to order that justice might be done them. On the day following the submission of this petition, the 274 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Council wrote a letter to White,i informing him that the merchants seized at Mergui were inhahitants of Madras, and that their property ought therefore to be restored to them, and that they would await his answer, which, if not satisfactory, they would then consider what course they would follow to repay these people for their losses. This letter was sent to Mergui by the King of Siam's ship the Revenge, which had arrived at Fort St. George towards the end of February, with letters from Samuel White to Mr. Eobert Freeman, the chief of Masulipatam, and with the bills of lading of three ships. From this it would appear that White acted as chief in all affairs affecting the trade of Mergui, and before this incident he had been recognised as such by the East India Company's authori- ties at Fort St. George and Masulipatam, for they were in constant correspondence with him. White, in his petition to the House of Commons, acknowledged that two con- siderable ships had been captured at Pegu and had been brought into Mergui; but he asserts that although they appeared to belong to inhabitants of Masulipatam, he dis- charged them on their producing English passports. It is noteworthy, however, that he makes no mention in it of this petition of the captive merchants of the Traga Raja, preserved in the Eecords of the East India Company. Mr. Thomas Yale, one of the members of the Harbin- Gyfford mission, arrived at Mergui overland from the capital on the i6ch March, 1686, accompanied by Mr. James Wheeler who had written to the Company that he intended to return to Madras by that route, and also by Mr. John Kiddall who was on his way to Madras to take his wife to Ayuthia. From Davenport's Historical Ab- stract we learn the fact that Elihu Yale, the brother of Thomas, had been purchasing jewels, at Phaulkon's re- quest, for the King of Siam, which is verified by a letter written by Elihu Yale on the 2nd of July, 1686-87, ^^ which he estimated the value of the jewels he had pur- Letter from the President and Council, Fort St. George, to Samuel White, isth April, 1686. CAPTAIN COATES RETURNS TO MERGUI. 275 chased at ?io,50O.^ The precious stones had doubtless been carried to Bangkok in the Falcon, and had been intrusted to the care of Thomas Yale to deliver to the Greek. The latter, however, when he saw them, considered that they were not worth the value that Elihu Yale had put upon them. He therefore resolved to have nothing to do with them, and it was this decision that led to Thomas Yale's journey to Mergui, as Davenport relates that when he arrived there he had the returned jewels in his custody. This seems to have been a disgraceful busi- ness, and was characterised by George White, in his peti- tion to Parliament, as treacherous dealing on the part of Elihu Yale. The facts connected with it were well known to Samuel White, and as Yale was afraid he might give evidence against him, Davenport, when he wrote his malicious attack on Samuel White, in revenge for hav- ing been publicly whipped and imprisoned at Mergui by White's order, found in Elihu Yale a willing confederate in blackening White's character. Desertions from the Company's service to that of the King of Siam seem to have been rife at this period, for among the papers intrusted to Harbin to be made over to the authorities at Madras was a list of the officers and men who had deserted at Bangkok, from the ship Dragon, commanded by Captain Fenn. The King of Siam had also his own troubles, as his servants on the Coromandel Coast had been pledging his credit without his sanction, which led Phaulkon to request the President and Council to make no advances to the King's factors unless at his special request. On the 20tli March, the Dorothy ^ sailed from Mergui with Thomas Yale, his companions and the jewels, and arrived at Madras on the 6th May. But a few days before ,its departure. Captain Coates re- turned to Mergui in his ship the Bohin with a crew of about forty Europeans full of the great deeds their commander ^ Oriental Repertory, -vol. ii. p. 189. ' " The name of this ship was afterwards changed to the "Mergui Frigate!' 276 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. had achieved in MadapoUam and Masulipatam. His recep- tion, however, by White, according to Davenport, was not so cordial as he had expected, and shortly after his arrival the Shahbandar taxed him with having been very indiscreet in his management of the King's affairs on the Coromandel Coalst, and told him that he would be required to go to Ayuthia to give an account of his acts to the King. Coates was indignant at this, and showed to Davenport his original commission from the King of Siam to prosecute the war, -the revocation of it, and White's private order encouraging him to continue it. The two came to high words, and Coates in a great passioti openly slighted the Shahbandar and Lord Phaulkon, and "privately ordering his chir- urgeon to bring him an ounce of opium, pretended in sight of them all to swallow a large pill, throwing away the remaining opium out of the window after he had shown it to Mr. White, and upbraided him with his ungenerous conduct, which had driven him to take that pill." White, supposing that he had poisoned himself, called in the two garrison surgeons, both Frenchmen, who declared that Coates had not taken poison, although his own surgeon asserted that he had given him the opium. They, however, administered antidotes, and by the follow- ing day he had recovered. After this episode Coates and White became reconciled, and the latter promised if Coates would go up to Ayuthia he would undertake that all his proceedings on the Coromandel Coast should meet with the approbation of the King. Coates accordingly proceeded by the overland route to the capital on the 22nd April, 1686. In the same month the ship Delight arrived at Mergui, with a cargo of cloth over 6000 pagodas in value, the joint property of S. White and of Thomas Lucas, one of the Company's councillors at Fort St. George, the two being owners also of the ship. From Mergui, the Delight went up to Tenasserim for the convenience of repacking the cargo into bales for transport to Ayuthia, under the DON DE HEREDIA RETURNS TO MERGUI. 277 care of. Mr. Francis Heath. Some Masulipatam goods were added, and also "twelve Pattararaes (boxes) of Ophium," ^ that had been consigned to Mr. White by Dr. Ealph Harwar^ of Bengal. The drug, however, shortly- after it reached Ayuthia, became a drug on the market, as the Macassars, its chief patrons, were all killed. It was, therefore returned to Mergui and sent to Malacca. The ship Agent from Bengal also arrived in April with a cargo of butter, oil, salt, dammer, cloth, and raw silk. On board the vessel was Mr. John Threder,* with whom "White had a share of this adventure along with Mr. John Tyler and Fytche Nedham. The latter had been dismissed the Company's service in 1681 for his flagrant encouragement of interlopers, and was at this time residing in Bengal, seemingly at Hiiglt* In April, also,Don Joseph De Heredia appeared at Mergui in a new ship of his own called the Sancta Rosa, of about 400 tons, having on board a number of French and Portu- guese soldiers whom he had persuaded to join the service of the King of Siam, and forty-five prisoners besides, whom he and Coates had captured in the paddy boats off the Coro- mandel Coast. Don De Heredia was in much the same position as Coates, whom he had aided and abetted in his exploits against the subjects of the King of Golconda. White therefore declined to audit his accounts, and in- sisted on his submitting them to the authorities at Ayuthia, so that he also set out by the overland route for the capital about a week after Coates' departure. ^ " The prohibition against the of Siam, the boat, and the whole of introduction of opium into the- do- the rest of the cargo or property of a minion of Siam, is of very ancient trader, discovered introducing opium, date, although, in some reigns, it have been seized and confiscated." — was not so rigidly maintained. . . . Calcutta Gov. Gazette, No. 33, 8th Turpin in his History of Siam, vol. i, to 15th March, 1827, quoted by H. page 262, says that opium, in Siam, H. Wilson, loc. cit., App. p. Ixxxvii.' was positively contraband, and that ^ This official was resident at ... the penalty of late years, has HUgU, and is mentioned on several been forfeiture of the opium, with a occasions by Sir Williajn Hedges in fineot eight times the weight in silver, his diary, vol. i. pp. 1 56, 165, and 167. for all opium found with any per- ^ For a notice of John Threder, see son, and sometimes, particularly at Hedges' Diary, vol. ii., p. cclxxxv. Queda, andin the southern provinces * Hedges' Diary, vol. 1., pp. 90, 91. 278 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Both Samuel White and his assistant, Davenport, had gone to Tenasserim to superintend the repacking of the cargo of the Delight, and while there the Shahbandar ordered that all the rents and penalties of the year should be made over to him. In mentioning this, Davenport explains that White was " never without his Emissaries and Spies, brib'd for that end, in every Family of Note in the Province; and when any of them are worth the fleecing, have committed any little pilfering tricks in their respective Employments, upon notice given to him, he presently aggravates the Crime to the Lord Phdulkon, who leaves it to the Shabander, to try and punish the fault at his own discretion, which in such Cases seldom fails of commanding a total Confiscation of the Delinquent's Estate, and sometimes they are told into the bargain, that it is a great favour in him, that besides, or contrary to the King's Order, he forbears the ransacking of all the Parties Eelations, though brancht out into several distinct Families ; that is to say, Fathers, Mothers, Brothers, Sisters, Uncles, Aunts, &c., and by this course he strikes so great an awe into them, that none of them have the courage to enquire into anything that be does, or presume to make their Complaints to Court, being fearful that his Interest there would crush them to pieces. Stock and Branch." De la Loubere^ says the confiscations were fixed by law, and some- times extended "to the Body, not only of the Person con- demn' d, but of his Children too," and that the governors had men to execute their orders ; and that on the frontier they arrogated to themselves " all the rights of sovereignty, and levied when they could extraordinary taxes on the people ; " so it would appear, from Davenport's account, that White had soon fallen into the ways of his predecessors in office. It is untrue, however, that no complaints were made to the court by those from whom White exacted the King's dues, as Francis Heath ^ has stated that complaints were 1 Op, eit., p. 83. '■^ In George White's Petition to Parliament Francis Heath is described as a London Merchant. WHITE SUMMONED TO LOUVO. 279 lodged against him for severity in enforcing them, but that he was entirely cleared, and that they had been made in revenge, possibly by those who had been able to pay, and could not bribe the Englishman. The men who brought the charges against the Shahbandar were fined, and corporal punishment was inflicted on several of them in the pre- sence of Francis Heath, and the principal ofifender was sentenced to death, but at White's intercession his life was spared. The following extract from Davenport's Historical Abstract giving his account of the proceedings of one month at Mergui will serve to illustrate the nature of some of the charges he brought against Samuel White : — "The height of business being now over, Mr. White dedicated this Month (May) to his divertisement and re- creation, and began with a design to sound round all the Islands near this Port, and take notice of all the Channels leading to it, for which end he took me with him in the Sloop Bobin, being attended by the small Sloop called the Mary, both which Captain Coats had built at MadapoUam; but when we came out to the Westward of the Islands, we soon found the Year was too far spent for such an un- dertaking. The Weather not permitting our stay abroad, he then resolved to stand in again amongst the Islands, and take the pleasure of Fishing, dispatching a Pinnace to Mergen to fetch-down the Fishermen and their Nets : When five or six dayes had past with this pleasant divertisement, an unlookt for and unwelcome summons for Mr. White, immediately to repair to the Court at Levo, dampt all our Jollity ; now was it become but good manners to conform our selves to his more] reserved and melancholly deport- ment, and Regis ad Exemplum, nothing but silence among us. To Mergen we return, where he begins to frame an Apology for his non-complyance with the Summons, alleadging not only his indisposition and want of Health, but the prejudice that would accrue to his Majesties Affairs, if he was forc'd by so sudden a removal to leave 28o ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. them in that unsetled posture they yet were in ; but two days afterwards, before he had dispatcht that Letter, comes another Pursuivant to call him up, and in two days more a third, with an Express, to hasten him up by night or day. Upon which, a Letter is despatcht to my Lord Phavlkon, of a quite different Tenor, to what was at first prepared, signifying his willingness to come up to Court to take new measures for the business of the ensuing Year, which the present state of Affairs rendered necessary ; and nothing but his late being abroad to survey the Frontiers had kept him so long from moving his Honour for liberty to come and kiss his Hand ; now all preparation is made for our Journey, the Souldiers and Seamen all paid off, and (which was a trick I had never heard of before) because Mr. White would not appear to be in the Kings Debt, he invented a Muster Eole of so many mens names (who for aught any man knows never were in rerum Naturae) as swept out of the Kings stock 135 Gattees, as clearly as if they had been lain on a Drum-head in the face of a Eegi- ment, and because it might be as troublesome to him to have any of the Kings Stores, as well as Cash in his hands, he resolves to make a Ballance of the Clongs Account, by reparting all the remains (the amount whereof fer Invoice was 276 Cattees) into separate charges, as already disbursed and distributed upon all the Kings Ships, and according the Kings Godouns were clean swept, and the Shabanders fiU'd: Thus was I ordered to close the Kings Books in Duplicates, from January i68| to ist of July next, he making the Kings stock at Mergen vanish in a moment : His publick Table now broke off: His Goods and Household Utensils all Inventoried ; and the keeping of his House recommended to Mr. Sows care, with private Letters and Instructions left for all the Com- manders of Ships belonging to the Port, that might be expected to arrive, during his absence. Now also is the difference and fewd, which for four Months together (be- cause the man had a mind to have shared stakes with Mr. WHITE GOES TO LOUVO. 281 White in the Prize profits) had been maintained between himself and Mr. Burnehy with great animosity on Mr. Whites part totally (at least seemingly) laid aside, and Mr. Burneby much courted by him, and pitcht upon to act as his Attorney, to receive and open all his Letters, and take into his possession at present his Plate, Jewels, and a small Box with Eubies." All the dishonesty attributed to White in this extract ■was afterwards denounced by a number of credible and respectable men as the malicious invention of Davenport. On the 20th of May, they began their journey to Ayuthia, but being met at Tenasserim by a fourth messenger, they proceeded in all haste to Jelinga. From the latter place Mr. White, Captain Leslie, and Francis Davenport took the shortest journey by land, the two former in doolies, and the latter on an elephant, while they left Mr. John Turner, White's writer, and Mr. Hare, with several of the Shahbandar's black servants to follow with the baggage in carts. At Pram they were met by two other " Bragos Pintados " ^ or pursuivants, to hurry White on, and they consequently embarked in boats, and went to the mouth of the Menam by sea. ' Taohard, op. cit., p. 230, says the Governor of the province were that the soldiers in the fourth court called by the Siamese Kenlai, or of the palace of the King of Siam, painted arms, and he mentions how and who also acted as oarsmen of this was done, viz., " they pink and the royal barge, were called in Por- mangle the arms and lay gunpowder tnguese BraQOS pintados, because on the wounds which paints their their arms were painted red ; and arms with a faded blue." In other De la Loubfce states, op. cit., p. 83, words, their arms were tatooed. that the rowers of the state boat of ( 282 ) CHAPTEE VIII. WHITE SICK AT LOUVO. White and his party arrived at Ayuthia on the evening of the 1st June; but before he had reached the capital he was stricken down with fever, contracted, in all likelihood, in the forest region he had crossed. The Shahbandar, however, had the courage and strength to continue his journey on the following day to Louvo, where the Court was, and there he took lodgings in a house opposite to Lord Phaulkon's. The fever, however, increased in se- verity, and he became " desperately sick almost past hopes of recovery;" so much so indeed, that Davenport, who had been left behind at Ayuthia, was sent for. His sickness, however, could not have been so serious as Davenport represents, as we learn from the Eecords in the India Office that he was corresponding with the authori- ties at Madras on the 19th June.^ Be this as it may, the tough Englishman recovered, but, venturing out too soon to see Phaulkon, a relapse followed. Davenport relates that White's patron showed him no attention, but that " the Lady Phaulkon would by Padry Pomaz, send him sometimes what she thought might be grateful to him, and proper for him." According to Davenport, White was under the impres- sion that he had been secretly maligned to Phaulkon, and this taking possession of his mind during the weakness of sickness, he caused his secretary to write a letter to the 1 Consultation Book, Fort St. George, 17th December, 1686. PHAULKON'S OPINION OF WHITE. 283 Minister, complaining of his Lordship's unwonted strange- ness to him, and protesting " his own innocency in all matters referring to his publick Administration of his great Master's affairs," and that " he could safely averr (and nothing troubled his Conscience now so much as that) that he had been always more Zealous for the Honour and Interest of his Master the King, then in his own Devotion towards his Creator, under whose afflicting Hand he now lay, perhaps for no one sin of a more hainous provocation ; " and he ended by saying that he hoped his Lordship would not " without just provocation, take delight in plucking down the Building which his own hand had raised." Phaulkon's reply to this letter was dignified and severe. He began — "July 10, 1686. " Eight Worshipful, " We know no reason you have to charge us with strangeness in our deportment towards you, when you consider or observe our general Carriage towards all other Persons, which we hope is not offensive to any man in particular. "The Jealousie you express of having private Enemies, who endeavour to estrange us from you, as 'tis on our part altogether Causeless ; so it not only argues you culpable of something, you would not have discovered, biit highly reflects upon us, as if we took pleasure in barkening to the malicious tattling and detraction of over busie men, to the prejudice of those we have thought worthy of so con- siderable a Trust, as we upon mature deliberation, thought good to confer upon you : Nay, Sir, we must be plain, and tell you, The Shdbander has no other Enemy, that we know of, than the Shahander, which your own hand will evidently make appear. " That you are now reduced so near the Grave is matter of trouble to us, and that you may not hasten yourself thither, let us, as your Friend, perswade you to Temper- ance. As to the Protestation you make of your Zeal for His Majesties Honour and Interest, give us leave to tell 284 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. you, that it is no miracle to see a man drive on his own Ambitious or Covetous designs, under a pretext of pro- moting his Kings Interest; though we do not desire to charge you with being a Court Parasite. The satisfaction you desire shall be granted you, so soon as you are in a condition to be Examined by our Secretary, who should long since have been sent to you, had we not understood your Indisposition, and be cautioned to be plain, fair, and moderate in your Answers, to what- ever Queries he proposes to you ; avoiding all Passionate Expressions or Gestures, which may do you much harm, but cannot avail anything to your advantage. " It will be no small pleasure to us, to find you as inno- cent as you pretend, nor shall we ever take delight to mine what our Hands have built up ; but if we perceive a Structure of our own raising begin to totter, and threaten our own mine with its fall, none can tax us with impru- dence, if we take it down in time. There is your own Metaphor retorted, and the needful in Answer to your Paper of yesterday's date, concluded with our hearty wishes for your recovery, as being Your friend, " Phatjikox." White, according to Davenport, seems to have also thought that Phaulkon had some intention of removing him from the Shahbandarship of Mergui and Tenasserim, and of placing those ports under the management of the Comte de Forbin, who had remained behind from Chau- mont's embassy, and had been appointed governor of Bangkok. From the Count's Memoirs, however, we learn that at this time he was living in dread of Phaulkon, who, he believed, was using every snare he could devise to compass his death ; but Forbin seems to have been a vain man and a slanderer.^ White's suspicions, if they ^ In the "Collections dea M^- is said: "On remarque en outre, moires relatifs k I'Hist. de France" avec peine, que Forbin s'attache (Petitot), 1829, t. Ixxiv. p. 247, it presque toujours k d^nigrer les ofifi- MACASSAR CONSPIRACY. 285 ever existed, were probably caused by the evident parti- ality Phaulkon had been manifesting for the French since his public renunciation, in 1682, of Protestantism, and his quite as public adherence to the doctrines of the Eoman Catholic faith. White had not been many weeks at Ayuthia when the Dorothy returned to Mergui with letters from the Presi- dent and Council of Port St. George to Harbin and Phaulkon. The former was instructed to close the factory and to leave Ayuthia, — a resolution at which the Council had arrived notwithstanding that Thomas Yale had advocated its being kept open. Although these letters have not been found in the Records in the India Office, their substance can be guessed at from the decisions of that period recorded in the Consultation Book of Fort St. George. Another letter,^ written shortly afterwards, relates what action the authori- ties at Madras intended to take after their officers were removed from Ayuthia. It was addressed to Sir John Child at Surat, who was then Director-General of all the settlements of the East India Company, and stated that the President and Council intended to make full use of iJie King's proclamation, which had reached them on the 2nd May, and to recall all the Englishmen in the service of the King of Siam, and to proceed against all interlopers. During White's stay at Ayuthia, some refugees from Macassar residing in the capital were discovered, towards the middle of July, to have entered into a conspiracy, with some disaffected persons of great authority, to set fire to the city and to seize the palace and the royal resi- dence at Louvo, and to murder the King and Phaulkon ciers avec lesqnels il a servi, sur- other author has remarked : " II tout lorsqu'il peut craindre que leur traite avec ind^cence plusieurs per- r^putation n'^gale ou ne aurpasse sonnes de m&ite." la sienne, et qu'il laisse rarement ' From the President and Council echapper I'occasion de se faire of Fort St. G-eorge' to Sir John valoir a leurs ddpens;" and in a, Child, dated 28th June, 1686. footnote it la mentioned that an- 286 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. and all the Europeans. The plot having been discovered^ every precaution was taken to prevent it, and it conse- quently collapsed. The suppression, however, was only temporary. The ship Herbert, Captain Henry Udall,^ arrived in the Bay of Siam on the 23rd August, 1686, with a letter from King James II. to Phaulkon,^ thanking him for the presents he had sent to the English Court in 1684-85, and with letters from George White to Phaulkon, and to his brother Samuel. On the arrival of the vessel. Captain Udall went up the river to the capital, and on the 26th August he wrote to his brother-in-law, Mr. Joseph Eea, on board the Herhert^ " that he might be compelled to go up to Lovoy (Louvo), forty miles above Siam (Ayuthia), where the King was." This letter was delivered by Captain English. A letter dated 15th September, 1686, written by George Petty at Ayuthia, is addressed not to Mr. but to Captain Eea, and we are not long left in doubt why plain Mr. Joseph Eea was now Captain of the Herbert, as Petty goes on to say that (Henry Udall) Captain Udall was yesterday morning killed by yf " Mocosses." * He requested Eea to go at once to Ayuthia, and informed him that " my Lord Eaulcon hath sent a Boat for you which lieth at y! Town jus4 over y! ' See Diary of William Hedges, ing, with the exception of six or vol. ii. p. cclxxxix, seven men who were in the pinnace. ^ In the Historical Abstract it is The hero of this splendid fight stated that Captain Udall's ship, against such odds was Captain the Herbert, had brought only du- Burton. Alex. Hamilton, I.e., vol. i. plioates of the royal letters, and p. 20 ; and C. R. Low's History of that the originals arrived later on in the Indian Navy, 1877, vol. i. p. 77. the same month, in a great junk of * Ind. Off. Kec. O.C., 5518, The the King's from Acheen, where they description of the Macassar insur- had been received from the Josiah, rection given by Pfere Tachard in which had brought them from Eng- his Second Voyage de Siam, p. 81 et land (p. 12). seq., was apparently drawn up from ' Ind. Off. Rec. O.O., 5516. The reports that reached him on his out- Herlert, oh its way to England in ward sojourn at Batavia. Betty's 1690-91, encountered three Erench statement that Captain Udall was ships (another account says six sail) killed on the 14th September, is at Johanna, one of the Comoro verified by Samuel White, whereas Islands between Madagascar and Tachard says (p. 116) it occurred on Mozambique, and, after an heroic the 24th September, defence, blew up, all on board perish- UDALL'S ACCOUNT OF THE INSURRECTION. 287 Barr, which is called yt Barrtown." He was asked to bring his pistols with him, and whatever arms he might think' necessary for his defence, in case there should be any Macassars in the river, and also as many men as possible, as they would be required to load rice in a boat that was to carry it down to the ship. He sent him 100 to 150 limes, which were extremely scarce, but the same day a further quantity was promised, and Eea was informed that " f owels " could be had at Louvo. He also promised rice, hogs, ducks, and dried and salted fish. Edward Udall, brother of Captain Henry Udall of the Herbert, wrote home to another brother an account of the Macassar insurrection of the 14th September, 1686.^ He says : — " The Muccossoes of which there is a great many of them about Siam a month before we came Eebelled but had the worst of it and hundreds there heads set upon poales and fearing they might Pdse againe there Going the 13 of Sept about 30 or 40 of them to y° Pallice And sent y! King word they came to treat with him he sent to them to deliver up their Cresses and armes and they should be admitte they Eeturned y! King this answer y' it was not there way to treate unarmed for they knew y^ King of Siam very well and bad those sent out to discorse them tell there King they ware like a great tree y* could not be removed but where it stood must fall and y' if there King had anything to say to them he might come to them for they knew where they livd this hapned in y^ afternoone the Lord Phalken and Eest of y? Lords had order for makeing all things Eeady to Eewen there Camp yt next morning which they beleaved might containe about 70 persons which they found after they had destroyed them to be so .... to yt performance of it ware sent att y! lest 15 thousand Siamers towards y! evening word was brought me Brother was going with his Honour to Bankoak to se y^ y^ Castell was secured for 1 Ind. Off. Rec, O.C, SS74- 288 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. fear y^ Muccossoes should attemp to Eise this tale was not Quite told me before another came and told me he was goeing with his honour to y^ Pallice, a third by that he had well don comes and tells me He was only goeing with his lord ship to order y^ men of war to be in a good Eeadiness in case if any thing should happen and to se that they ware well provided that they might not be sup- prised 1 was sattisfied not mistrusting any thing in y? lest about 6 a clock Brother sent for me I was at a Genj house Just going to suppe but would not tarrey but promissed if could would come to them againe when came to his Honours they ware all gon and Mr. Basspoole His Hono! Secretarey told me my Brother left word with him to bid me keepe our Doras securely fast and load all our gunns for it was likely to be a troublesome night and y' he was gon aboard y^ men of warr to accompany his honours I then inquired what was y^ matter which Mr. Basspoole told me and that they ware gon to destroy them and In that night they fenst them all Eound with bambooes that they could make no isscape but in y' morning when they went about there desine nothing would searve brother and one or two more but they would goe a shoare for they ware vropians and thouse dogg If they se them but land would Eunn from them although they ware perswaided to y? contrary and told they ware Desperate Villings and would Eunn to y? mussells of there gunns and Crease them yet this advice could not disswaid them a shoare they would goe and ware no sooner landed but Mr. Alvie that was one savd when the pinnis was cast a way was Immediately Creast Cap^ Coats one of the King of Siams men of Warr Captaines was nockt in to y^ water and Drowned and Brother with some more being landed in a place half a mile from them was Immediately kild his wounds being searcht (at y1 Dutch Factorey where he was buried) by the Dutch Doctor who found on y^ left side of the heve the bones broak with great contusion of yt utmost parts y? mussells of y! neck WHITE'S ACCOUNT OF THE INSURRECTION. 289 •wounded about the Eight eare y^ fleshy part at yl back side of the Eight vpper arme cutt off the left Os Humeri above y^ abouemost Epiphisys broak by two bullets the brest pearced in between y^ third and fourth Eibb on y! Eight side and Issuing on y! left side between yf 2 and 3 Eibb Hirted by 2 spatts aboue y° Os Sternon the muscils of y! belly about yt place where y^ stomach lies pearced through and through and y° back with 8 severall wounds whereof one did penitrait aboue yl second vertebra of y": Eaine. this is an Exack coppey of y^ paper y° Dutch doctor gave me and word for word writ after him." In Davenport's account it is stated that " Lord Phaulhon in Person, accompanied with about Sixty English, (amongst whom were Captain Udall, and another Gentleman, that came out of England with him) and about Seven Thousand Syammers with some French, began the fight with the Macassars : Captain Udall, the said Gentleman, Captain Coats, Mounsieur d'Roan, and three other French men were killed the first part of the Battle, but ere night, the Macassars were utterly destroyed. Men, Women, and Children." ^ Phaulkon himself had a very narrow escape, as it was reported some months afterwards to Sir John Child that he would, in all likelihood, have lost his life had not " a strong black Cafer flung him into the river and swam with him to the boat." The most complete and interesting account of this in- surrection is that which was written by Samuel White to his brother George in London.^ It was dated from Slam (Ayuthia) on the, 20th September 1686, and is described' as a letter " Giving a full Account of the Late Eebellion made of the people of Macasser, Inhabiting in that Country, which ended with the Death of all the Eebells, who were totally Destroyed by the Kings Forces, Assisted by some 1 Historical Abstract, p. 14. Service. A letter dated in Siam, ^ A copy is preserved in the Sep. 20, 1686, giving an account of British Museum, and is entered in the late rebellion by the Macasser the Book Catalogue thus— White People. London, 1687, fol. Press S. of the East India Company's Mark., 816, m. 23 {46). T 290 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Europeans, of several Nations, amongst whom Capf Henry Udall, and some others of our Countrymen most Unhappily- lost their Lives. It says : — " In the past Month, when his Majesty with the whole Court were retired to the Summer Pallace of the Levo ; the Macassers (who you know are Seated below the Portugueze Gamjp) Conspired to have burnt the City, Seized and Plundered the Pallace, Destroyed the King, and turned all Topsey-Turvy, had not the faint- heartedness of some few of the Conspirators given vent to the Plot, about six hours before the designed time of their beginning to put it in Execution, which discovery how late soever, came yet time enough to prevent the attempt for that time, the Vigilance of the Guards rendring it unfeazeable ; The king on notice hereof dispatcht the Lord Phaulkon (who is Lord President of his Privy CounceU) from Court, to the Pallace of Siam, to examine and take cognizance of the matter, on whose arrival there, a Party to the number of about Two hundred surrender'd them- selves to the Kings Mercy, and were sent up to Zevo, where some of them were notwithstanding found worthy of Death ; another Party to the number of fifty headed by a designing and daring fellow, whom they had made their Captain, pretended to be wholly ignorant of the Plot and with all earnestness, sued for Liberty to depart the King- dom, in a Vessel of their own which was in a readiness to transport them : To which, his Lordship, willing to have the Country ridd of such dangerous Male-Contents, by any way rather than by effusion of Blood, consented, and gave them a Tara to pass the Forts at Bankoke ; but after their Departure from hence, being Enformed the said Captain was not so Innocent of the Plot as he had pre- tended, and Jelous that such a Crew, Headed by such a Desperado, might do much Mischief by Lurking in the Bay, and Surprizing the small Vessels that daily pass to and fro, to the great prejudice of the Port ; He instantly dispatch'd an Express to the Chief Governour of the Garrison, one Monsieur Forhien, a Frenchman, and great WHITE'S NARRATIVE CONTINUED. 391 Favourite of his Lordships, to Ea-order him, tho' not to stop the Vessel, (yet if possible to be done without Blood- shed) to detain the said Macasser, Captain, Prisoner in the Fort. To this end Forhien, on the Landing of four or five of them, to shew their pass before he would permit the opening of the Chain, sent them on Board again, with an Invitation for their said Captain to come on shore, who accordingly did, accompany'd with six others, and (whether through Ignorance or Oversight) were all of them permitted to Enter the Fort, Armed with Creases, where Forhien treated them very Civilly with Tea, &c. for the space of half an hour ; but in the conclusion the Macassers offering to be gone, the French Governour, now too late, told the Captain he must Surrender his Arms, which he replyed, he would not hit with his Life ; whereupon Forhien Com- manding a Brazo Pintado, that stood by, to Disarm him, he immediately drew his Crease and ript up the poor Siammer, after whose Example the rest began their Muck,^ and fought very desperately untill they were all kiil'd upon the place, by the Sentrys and the help of Two Englishmen, at that time Prisoners in the Fort, having first slain several Siammers, and wounded a Young French Captain. "This first Brush being over, the Governour sent to Summon the rest of the Macassers on shore, having before- hand Ordered to be drawn up two Companies of Siam and Portugueze soldiers, (Headed by Caplain Minchin, and Captain Hues, lately come-in hither from Bombay) to receive them, whilest himself secured the Fort with a Third- Company; but they refusing to Obey his Summons, he sent to set Fire of their Vessel, which was accordingly done, and the Macassers then seeing themselves forc'd to the shoar, and thinking to distract the Souldiers from too ' Old travellers and writers used furiously and desperately at any amuco, wmoco, amok, &c., to run a one ; to make a serious onset or muck. According to Crawford, this charge in combat." For further in - expression was derived from the formation consult the Yule-BurneU Javanese om»i, "to tilt; to run Glossary, pp. 1 2-1 6. 292 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. strict an observance of them, immediately on their Landing set fire to several Houses, which gave them opportunity to rally their Forces, then amounting to Forty-three Persons armed only with Creases in open face of the Fort, where they undauntedly confronted the whole strength of the Garrison, which Captain Hues not able to bear, too rashly advanced against such desperate Fellows, and with six or seven Portugueses that follow'd him, met their Deaths on the point of the Enemies Creases, having first laid dead an equal number of Macassers, MincMn ^ also very narrowly escap'd with Life, being deserted by the un- experienced and Eaw Souldiers under him, the Fort in meantime not being able to ply their great Guns to do any Execution for fear of Killing their own men ; In this skirmish fell also about Twenty-six Siammers, all of them Creast : However at length the Macassers fl.ed, and being afterwards pursued and hunted from place to place, in Seaven or Eight days time they were all taken, and their fifty Heads staked upon poles at JBankoke, and it's not amiss their escape to Sea was so opportunely prevented, for three days after this happen'd, arriv'd some Englishmen from Mergin, who knew nothing of the matter, yet affirmed. That in the Offing of this Barr, they saw Forty Sayl of Mallay Vessels plying to Windward, whereas not one had gone out from hence, and therefore it's supposed they had been Cruising on the Coast, to expect this said Captain with an account of their Success on shoar, and that then the appointed time being expired and the time of English Shipping to arrive at hand doubtfuU of a Dis- covery of the Plot a-shoar, they were returning home- wards. A Third Party of these Macassers to the number of One Hundred or thereabouts, with their Prince at the Head of them, stood upon their Defence in their own 1 This was Captain William Min- p. 322) he is named W? Michin, and chin, who is frequently mentioned in as resident at Ayuthia in 1687, along Sir Wm. Hedges' Diary. Vol. i. p. with some other Englishmen who 113- were then ordered to return to In another document (vide infra Madras. WHITE'S NARRATIVE CONTINUED. 293 Camp, to -whom the King after his return hither from Zevo, was pleased to make a tender of Pardon, provided they would lay down their Arms, Tho' perhaps expecting by this his unlookt for Clemency, to arrive at the discovery of all such ill-affected Stammers, as possibly might have more then a finger in this Conspiracy, but this gracious offer of his Majesty had not the design'd effect ; for about the loth of this month, the said Prince attended by the whole Crew of desperate Votaries, all arm'd with Creases and Launces, went to the Palace Gate : whence he sent word to his Majesty, That in the sense of his late Error, and reliance on his Eoyal word, he was come to ask his Majesties Pardon, and promise a peaceable demeanour for the future ; and to that end desired admittance to throw himself at his Majesties Feet, To which he was answered. That the Posture he then was in, did not correspond to his pretences, but if he would at first surrender his Arms, and Command his Attendants to do the like, his Majesty would readily grant him liberty to come into his Presence, and confirm the JPardon he had already on that condition offered them ; whereupon the Prince peremptorily replied, he would never be guilty of so base a Submission as required the parting with their Arms ; adding that he was not unsensible of an approaching great Storm : But, says he, tell the King, I am like a great Tree, well Rooted, and shall be able to endure any ordinary Shock; hut if the Storm, comes so Violently on that I cannot longer stand it, he may be Assured my fall mil not be without the ruine of much under wood; and since I cannot be suffered to speak to the King with my Arms, if he has any further business with me, he knows where to find me at my own House. "All Presentment of these daring Expressions was seemingly smother'd, and it was thought most convenient to lull him into Security, by suffering him for that time to depart without taking any further notice of it; tho' aU possible Preparations were with great privacy made to 294 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. reduce him by Force. And according the Lord Phaulkon in Person, accompanied with Sixty Europeans, having first in the Night blockt up the small Eiver, and so sur- rounded the Macassers Camp with about two Hundred of the King's Galleys and Boats, that they could not possibly fly; on Tuesday the Fourteenth Instant at break of day gave Order for the Onsett, intending first to have fired down all the Houses before them, that so they might force their Skulking Enemies to an open Fight, who other- wise would have the opportunity of Murdering all that came near them, and yet keep themselves unseen : But alas ! the Eashness of some of the Chief Europeans hurried them on at once, to the breach of Orders and their own Death, and that without any damage to the Enemy ; For Captain Ooates, and by his Example and Command, several others Landed before the time on a small Spot of a dry point, where the Macassers, e're they could well look about , them, rushing out of the Houses dispatcht one Mr. Alvey, newly arriv'd in the Herbert, and forced the rest to take to the Water again, in which hasty Ketreat, Captain Goates with the weight of his own Armour and Arms lost his Life in the Water.^ the rest with much danger and diffi- culty recovering their Boats. This sad Prologue to the yet sadder Tragedy, a man would have thought warning enough for them to have proceeded afterwards with more discretion ; but being for the most part of them men of more Eesolution then Conduct, and unacquainted with the way of fighting with such an Enemy, and yet Emulous of shewing themselves every man more Valiant then his JsTeighbour: About three hours afterwards having by burning that part of the Camp, and hot plying of the G-uns out of the Gallies, put the Enemy to a Eetreat two ' In a letter from Fort St. George vol. ii. p. ccxc. In Tachard's to Surat, dated 20th December, 1686, "Second Voyage" it is said that it is said that Goates " aocidentally, " le sieur Cotse " having sprung into runn into a Boggy place, where (being the river to save himself, received a all in Armour), sunck down into it, blow on the head that killed him. and taken up dead." Hedges' Diary, Z. c.p. 119. WHITE'S NARRATIVE CONTINUED. 295 Miles higher up the small Eiver, Captain Se7iry Udall (who in Complement to his Lordship accompanied him to he only a Spectator) had not the Patience to continue any longer so: but (notwithstanding all his Lordships earnest disswasions from it) would needs leap ashore, where he had not been long, with several other Utiglish in his Company, e're a parcel of Macassers, in disguise of Stammers, by bawling a small Boat along the Shoal- water, got so near them, undiscerned to be Enemies, as to reach them with their Launces, at which time it un- luckily fell to Captain Udalls ^ Lot to lose his Life, the rest very difficulty escaping by Taking the Water, tho' those Macassers escapt not the small-shot from the Boats : Nor was his Lordship exempted from as Eminent Danger as any man that came off with Life : For Captain Udall's resolute going a-shore had drawn him thither also, being loth to leave the Company of one he so much respected ; but the Enemies Lances, (at which you know they are most expert) forced his Eetreat, being glad for some time to hang on the off-side of his Boats Stern for shelter. You will not, (tho' many others I believe will) wonder the Europeans small shot could prevent their doing so much mischief with only Lances and Creases, when you call to mind their desperateness, who are a sort of People that only value their Lives by the mischief they can do at their Deaths ; and regard no more to run up to the very Muzzle of a Blunderbuss, then an Englishman would to hold his hand against a Boys Pop-Gun. There fell also four Frenchmen, among whom Monsieur de Boan ^ was one : So that now at length other mens harder fates begun to make the rest more Circumspect ; and continuing to burn and lay all Levell before them, about Ten in the Forenoon arrived there a Eecruite of Stammers, (the whole number imployed by Land and "Water being no less than Seaven or Eight Thousand) with which they began to pick them off very briskly, I mean as fast as they could spy them ^ Tachard, op. cU. Tjoudal, p. 121 : ibid, sieur de Roiian, p. 121. 296 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. Sheltering in the Bamho's, Thickets, and other Bushes 'till at length the Prince himself was slain by the Captain of his Lordships Life-Guard, and about three a Clock the Pight ended ; the Siammers afterwards only continuing to hem- in that place, to prevent the escape of any that might remain alive and attempt it. There was no Quarter given to any Macassers in this days Tight, save only the Princes Son, a Boy of about Twelve Years, who after his Fathers fall came on undauntedly with his Lance presented at his Lordship ; but drawing within reach, and perceiving his Lordship ready in the like posture to entertain him with his Lance, his Heart failed him, so that he cast away his Weapons and threw himself at his Lordships Peet, who received him with all Courtesy, and brought him unbound to his Majesty. The next day what Men and Women re- mained, (for many of the latter were burnt in their Houses with their children) were taken Prisoners by the Siammers. And thus ends the Story of the Macassers with their Lives : But whether the Conspiracy, wherein they were concerned, will end with them, is very much to be doubted." Captain Tldall's body was recovered and buried,^ and his effects were sold ; and, in the India OfBce, there is a list of them, under their respective headings, with the names of many of the purchasers. The goods are men- tioned in the following order : — "Tobacco pipes, sold in chests: hats, sausses (sauces), '■ Captain Udall's body was carried toolc it up, and put it in that Pos- ashore and buried in a pretty deep ture, whilst they, by their Sorceries grave ; but Alexander Hamilton or incantations, interrogate it about records that but two days after, the future Events, and received Answers ship's people going ashore, found the through human Organs. The Mat- body unearthed, stripped of its wind- ter of Fact, I have heard often ing-sheet, and tied upright against a affirmed by several who were there tree. They reburied it under heavy at the Time and saw it, which stones ; but on going ashore the day made me inquire if any People in after, they again found it in the Siam used to inquire about future same position. They therefore sank Events after that Manner, and I was it in the river. " This strange Re- told that they did." — Hamilton's surreotion left Room for various New Account of the East Indies, Conjectures, but the most probable vol. ii. p. 193. seemed to be, that some Sorcerers MANY EUROPEANS AT AYUTHIA. 297 sherry, charrett, perriwHgs, rennish, silk stockens, JDeere, mumm, brandy, corkes, cases of sperits, sack, lace, sword blades, short swords, Plint ward, gunns, and shot, sweete meets, butter ; black cherry brandy : vinegar ; hamms ; oyle and cheese." Among the names of the purchasers of Captain Udall's goods, that of Lord Phaulkon, as Constance Falcon, occurs as the sole purchaser of the " Sausses," and as having bought " scharrett, rennish, beere, corkes, lace, and short swords." From the names mentioned in the bill of sale, it would appear that no less than eleven cap- tains of vessels, all of them with English names, were then at Ayuthia, some of them commanding ships of their own nation, while others were in the service of the King of Siam. Among other twenty-eight purchasers there are the names of three women, wives of Englishmen, viz., Mrs. Lucas, Mrs. Lowe, and Madame "Waring. The chiefs of the Dutch and of the French factories also bought some of the goods, and the Dutch Doctor, Frenchmen, and strangers are also mentioned.^ When to these are added the servants of the French, Dutch, and Portuguese factories, and the private traders of these and of other European nations, besides the assembly of priests and Jesuits, French and Portuguese, the European population of Ayuthia must have been considerable. The East India Company were represented by Messrs. Harbin and Gyfford, and by the Captains of their ships then present, among whom was Captain Lake of the Prudent Mary. This vessel had been sent to Bangkok by Sir John Child in order that her commander might look after the Company's interests. He, however, proved to be utterly unfitted for such a mission, as Harbin, who was corre- sponding with a Mr. George Cooke, one of his tenants at ' The following are the names ford,Harbin, Harris, Heath, Johnson, of Captains :— Clark, Coates, Fenn, Jnxen (Charles), Morrington, Petty, Howell, Lake, Laurence, Minchan, Pilkington, Robson (Franc), Smith Rea, EusseU, tTdaU, and WUliams. (Robert), Spence ( John), Treader, The others were— Messrs. Bass- Villiers, Wast, Wheadon, White poole, Bradford, Cross (George), (Samuel), Wortley, and Yard ; and Pisher, FothergUI, Prankling, Gjf- Mrs. Lucas, Lowe, and Waring. 398 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Sur,at, states that Lake had been boasting at Ayuthia of General Sir John Child's power, and also of his own,i and of the wars they intended to make, and of their deter- mination to seize all the English at Ayuthia and send them away in irons. This language, Harbin says, was in strong contrast to the letter from King James the Second to Phaulkon, which was " full of love and kindness," and asked his Majesty of Siam to continue his friendship ; and this being known to the English, Harbin wrote to his " dear Tennant," Oooke, that they laughed the Generall to scorn, and that if he should attempt to carry out his threats, he would " certainly come happer arse," a coarse figure of speech used to express the ignominious defeat that would attend Sir John's boastful menace. Lake also appears to have blurted out the ulterior object of his presence at Bangkok in the Prudent Mary, and what this was is learned from a letter written on the 14th Febru- ary, 1687, by the President and Council at Fort St. George to Sir John Child at Surat, after Captain Lake's deposi- tions, dated the 13 th IsTovember, 1686, had reached them. From this letter we glean that the Company had contem- plated reprisals against Siam, even before the factory at Ayuthia had been removed, and that their intentions to take such proceedings had been discovered to the Siamese by Captain Lake, contrary to his oath of secrecy, — a course ^ Ind. Off. Kec, O.C. 5527. and speak ill of me behind my back, When Captain Lake was at Hiigli saying that nothing is done as it in the Prudent Mary in 1683, his should be, and that he will putt the ship was flying the pennant of an Company in a way when he goes admiral, to which he was not en- home : and, I am told, in common titled. Sir, William Hedges records discourse speaks as near Treason this in his Diary, vol. i. p. 135, and as he can, not to be taken hold of also that he ordered him to take it by the hearers. He's a base, un- down, and that Captain Charles Hay- worthy fellow, and I hope 't will lye ward, commander of the Henry and in their power to lett him know it" WiUiam, then lying in the same He is also described by H-edges (vol. harbour, was to wear the flag of an i. p. go) as " a great favourer of y* admiral to which he was entitled, interlopers,'' and that he had heard Hedges says, " This Capt. Lake, him declare that " if he did not being a great dissenter, and an in- like y^ Company's employment this separable companion of Mr. Beard's, voyage (1683), he would turne Inter- has taken divers octiasions to affront loper yt next."^ CAPTAIN LAKE IMPRISONED. 299 of conduct which the President and Council alleged had led the Siamese to " put a stop to all the Company's par- ticular concerns." A proclamation was also issued by the Siamese Government that the English were henceforth to pay customs throughout the kingdom, the same as those paid by the Moors. Measures were also at once taken to render Captain Lake harmless, as a mandate went forth that he should be seized and imprisoned, and an order was given to confiscate the Company's estate. French influence being now in the ascendancy in Siam, Phaulkon selected the Count de Porbin, commander of the fort at Bangkok, to effect the seizure of Lake. The inci- dent is fully related in the Count's Memoirs,^ in which he states that he was ordered to apprehend an English captain who had recently arrived in a ship armed with forty cannon, and manned by a crew of ninety men. He does not mention the captain's name ; but as Lake was the only captain of an English man-of-war imprisoned at Ayuthia, in 1686, there can be no doubt he was the person whom Porbin was sent to seize. The Count re- lates that the reason given to him by Phaulkon for the captain's apprehension was that he had defrauded the King of a considerable quantity of goods ; but in the Eecords of the India Office, Lake's injudicious boastings are assigned as the cause of his imprisonment which the President and Council at Port St. George considered he richly deserved. Porbin professed to see in this order a trap laid for his own destruction, as he was commanded to board the English ship with only two men, and, then and there to seize the captain and carry him prisoner to Louvo. He, however, resolved to execute the order to the letter; but as he foresaw that it might possibly cost him his life, if he attempted it in an open-handed manner, he de- termined to accomplish it by what he calls a stratagem, ' M^moires du Comte de Forbin, Chef d'Escadre, Chevalier de I'Ordre Militaire de Saint Louis, Amsterdam, 1730, tome i., pp. 199-209. 30O ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. but what proved to be a despicable act of treachery, much akin to his treatment of the Macassars. Success attended his disgraceful scheme, and the unsuspecting Englishman was carried a prisoner to Louvo, where he was cast into prison, and was either murdered, or died "for want of necessary care and maintenance," under the jailorship of a " Eeputed Scot," Alexander Delgardno, a servant of the King. This reputed, and disreputable Scotchman, for not many years after this he was accused of the murder of one Joseph Harrison, is said, in another account,^ to have been " in the Service of the King of Siam (or of Paulcon, the Grand Favourite)," and to have made " Use of his arms in that Service (with some Others) for the Treacher- ous Seizing of Captain Lake." The President and Council at Fort St. George were informed of Captain Lake's death, not long after it had happened, and reported it to Sir John Child in a letter dated 8th March, 1686-7. Before closing this chapter, it is necessary to notice briefly the termination of the Harbin-Gyfford mission, the departure of which from Ayuthia brought to an end a factory which had long struggled on amidst incessantly recurring difficulties, due largely to the indiscretions of the Com- pany's servants and to their engaging in private trade to the neglect and confusion of the interests of their masters. Harbin, like so many of his predecessors, had apparently devoted much of his energies to private trade, as will be seen from the following passages taken from his letter to Mr. George Cooke, written shortly before his departure from Siam, and in which he says : — " It is not out of Dread of your Gene') (Sir John Child) y' I leave this place, and doe not come to Suratt for God knows my heart I have not wronged him in any discourse, more than saying he was a malitious man, w'ever else Prestwich his Chemeres hath reported, I declare before God is false, by my designe of going via Madaras is to save Mon- soone w* I cannot doe by Suratt, and time is pretious to me. ^ Hedges' Diary, vol. ii. p. ociv. A LETTER FROM HARBIN. 301 God has soe farr blest my endeav^ tere y' I hope to be worth on my arrival in England 5000 'f had I stayed here 3 yeares longer I had done my business, but it might happen as well to be cleare in time, and efifectually of y* Company's Service. Dear heart n'er stay in y\ cursed poor place, but come away for England as soon as you can possible, and .... you in 4 yeares at most a Com- pitent in one adventure w'!' me w* you shall understand by y^ first safe conveyance j1_ I can trust in, thank God I goe w'? a cheerfull heart to my Own Country, w'I'out y° least thought of any trouble y° Gene'!° proceedings will put me to .... I will trade to Japan as much and China as ever under y? protection which they will Court him to, to cut as out of y* S° Seas, and then y^ King will give Commissions to y® Danes of Trincumbarr, and abundance of Straglers of all nations in Mergee, w"?" will take every single shipp that they meet w'!' belonging to _ y^ English, and all y° English will dayly flock hither upon great incouragem'f, and not valine yt Gene''^ Order, or any written Proclamation. I am courted to stay here on very substantiall terms of creditt and advantage, but I rather chose to goe to England to satisfie my old relations, and be revenged on my old ffriend, .... I am just hurrying overland to Tannasseree, w* will be a quick and pleasant cutt of to Madarass, nor above 24 days or soe from whence you shall heare att large on every p'ticular on my embarquing for England. " Yo' affectionate ffriend Landlord and Servant "Robert Habbin." The arrival at Bangkok in September, 1686, of the ship Bitbi/ 1 from Masulipatam, consigned to Phaulkon, by Mr. Freeman, the chief of that factory, seems to indicate that the authorities . on the Coromandel Coast were under the impression that the factory would be closed by the time 1 Historical Abstract, p. 13. 302 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. the ship reached its destination. This, however, was not the case, as the factors did not depart for some time after the Bull/ entered the port. Davenport states that the arrival of this ship called forth the following letter from Samuel White : — " May it Please your Lordship, " The Duty I owe to my great Master, his Imperial Majesty lays me under an indispensable Obligation of Presenting to your Lordships consideration, whatsoever to me appears necessarily conducive to his Honour and Interest, and yet may perhaps in the croud of those momentous Affairs, which employ your Honours Thoughts, escape your notice ; which makes me presume to tender your Honour this Eemonstrance in Writing, that so it may lye by you for perusal at your more leasure hours. " That the disaffection of the English Company to this Place, and their disgusts against you in particular, are as great as they are unreasonable; your Honour may plainly discover, not only from the Account lately received, of their endeavours to your prejudice in the Court of England, but by their withdrawing their Factory hence, and Childs employing such a malapert fellow as Lake in the business, who has the impudence to affront his Majesty in his own Port ; nor can I but admire your Honours Lenity, in con- niving at it ; but yet I have to offer on behalf of the Com- pany, That it may not perhaps be so much their choice, as their misfortune, to have a parcel of Servants in India, who make it their study to put all Places in a flame, more than to consult the advantage of their Masters, of which number Yale and Freeman are the main Incendiaries on the Coast of Choromandel, that endeavour to supplant your Honour, and use all probable methods to effect your down- fall; as to the former, your Lordship has had sufficient demonstration of his malicious temper about the Jewel concern, by that Scurrilous Pamphlet^ sent you, which ^ Those interested in historical researches may yet perhaps be able to unearth a copy of this pamphlet among the Records at Madras. A LETTER FROM WHITE TO PHAULKON. 303 he was ashamed to sign ; and the latter, if thoroughly unravell'd, will not appear to fall a whit short of him in falseness or spleen : 'Tis to him his Majesty is beholden for a Protest against Captain Goats, &c., in the Companies behalf, for pretended dammages by his Majesties War with Golcondah, 'tis he that must be thanked for the re-delivery of the Treasure out of the Ship Jerusalem, and surrender of the Enemies Ship ; and not to descend to particulars ; 'tis to him his Majesty owes all the disappointment of his affair the last Year, upon the Coast ; and yet after all this, he can assume the confidence to consign his Ship and Cargoe to you, I hope your Honour will not give him and the World occasion to laugh at your easiness, but make him sensible that you see through his masque, and can resent the abuse, which in this very instance he would cunningly put upon your Lordship. "I would not have your Honour think, that I move this with an Eye to my own Eevenge, for I am perfectly recon- ciled to him, and have resolved on a speedy course, to remit him the Ballance of his Accompt ; but it is purely in due regard to his Majesties Honour, and your Lordships Eeputa- tion, that I humbly offer my Advice to detain the Ship Rubie and her Cargoe, until you see what the issue of these proceedings of the Company, and their hot-headed Servants, will be, which is the needful relating to this Subject, and is freely submitted to your 'Lordships better judgment, by My Lord, Your Lordships most Obliged, Devoted, and Humble Servant, " Samuel White." To this letter Davenport appends — " This aforegoing is a True Copy of the Original." Whether Phaulkon took any action on the strength of this letter has not been recorded, but the mention made 30+ ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. iu it of the jewels reveals the fact that his having returned, them to Elihu Yale had already given rise to a great deal of ill-feeling between the two principals in the transaction. When Harbin left Bangkok, which he did in the Dragon, Captain Anthony Fenn's ship, in November 1686, accom- panied by Mr. Hodges, the second factor at Tonquin, he carried some further correspondence relating to the sub- ject. The Dragon had arrived at Fort St. George by the ist January, 1687.1 Harbin on his arrival was requirpd to answer certain complaints made against him by Sir John Child and his Council, to which he replied in writing, but was reprimanded for some disrespectful repartees in his explanation. He then, according to his already ex- pressed intention, departed for England. At a meeting of the Council of Eort St. George, held on the 13th of the same month, Elihu Yale, then second councillor,^ submitted the letters about the jewels brought by Harbin from Phaulkon, and all the previous papers, affidavits, and correspondence bearing on the subject, which were read, and being found " to be agreeable to the import of the said letters," they were ordered to be sent to Eng- land by the first conveyance. "When the time for White's departure for Mergui ap- proached, he presented Phaulkon with " six large and fair Ruby Eings, two curious SapMres, a couple of Persian Horses, and silver Eurniture very Noble," and to her Ladyship he gave "two delicate Eubies, one Diamond Eing with five stones, and a striking Watch."" She in her turn presented him with "twenty pieces Eich Silks and several Curiosities of superfine China ware." If the Persian horses and noble silver furniture were not the 1 Fort St. George, Diary and Con- Honble. English East India Comp. Bultation, January i, 1687. in Eort St. George, Madrasupatam, 2 At the end of the Diary and according to their Degrees of the Consultation Book of Fort St. Rules," in which Elihu Yale is George, quoted above, and which entered as "Bookeeper (married), datesfrom2ndFebruary,i686,to3rd came out a writer, June 23, 1672, February, 1687, there is a "List of 2nd Councill. (present degree), pre- Persons in the Service of the Eight sent salary ;^ioo." SIAMESE COMMISSION FOR TENASSERIM. 305 creatures of Davenport's malicious imagination, the Shah- bandar of Mergui held lordly views of living, and must have had a princely purse. According to the Historical Abstract,^ White's presents to his patron and to Lady Phaulkon immediately pre- ceded the granting to him of certain proposals regarding the government of Tenasserim and Mergui, at which he had previously hinted in writing. Davenport's account of this transaction is as follows : — White drew up " sixty distinct Articles, which he pre- sented to the Lord Phaulkon for Approbation : Amongst the rest was, That no Europe Nation whatsoever (the French onely, if his Lordship saw good, excepted) should be exempted henceforward from paying the Customes of all Goods Imported, as all Indian Nations had been formerly us'd to do ; and desired that these sixty Articles might be the standing Eules of Government in his province of Tenassery, which his Lordship, that could now scarce deny Mr. White anything, Eatify'd by signing them with his own hand. Though the power therein granted the Shahander was in effect unlimited, and such as rendered the Governors both of Tenassery and Mergen, no better than Cyphers, and meerly Titular Officers, notwithstand- ing there was for Forms sake a Commission Issu'd out in English under the Lord Phaulkons Broad Seal and delivered into Mr. White's Custody, which nominated and constituted the Council, who were jointly to consult about all Affairs in that Province, whether relating to the Sea or Land, in times of War or Peace, and to resolve at least the Major part of them, on whatsoever was to be done, and though the Shahander Mr. White was the last mentioned in the said Commission, as being the lowest in Eank and Title, yet by Virtue of the aforesaid Articles, the rest of the Council were so ty'd up to his opinion in aE matters of moment, that in effect all the power was lodg'd in him, so that now the Government was become 3o6 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. meerly Arbitary, and his pleasure to be the measure of all their proceedings." The officers constituting the Commission or Council were the following : — Ocya Tannaw, Opra Ballat, Olveing Ineabat, Olvang Marine, Ocone Hurelay, Opra Marrat (Mr. Burneby), Olvang Chomoung (Mr. S. White).^ It has been already explained that the name or office of the hereditary governor of the province does not occur in the commission, which was, therefore, undoubtedly constituted only for the administration of the two towns, and not for the affiiirs of the province generally, as stated by Davenport. There is the testimony, however, of Prancis Heath that White, who had been invited by Phaulkon " to remain at Ayuthia with great emoluments and honours," but had declined to do so, returned to Mergui " with great re- spect and much larger commission than he ever had before." ■ Having thus amicably arranged all his affairs with Phaulkon, White left Ayuthia on the i6th October, 1686, on his return journey to Mergui, accompanied by Messrs. Heath, Leslie, and Davenport. The travellers on their way down the river met at Bangkok, on the i8th October, the ship Fhcenix from Madras, and learned from the captain, among other news, that the East India Company intended to establish a settlement at Negrais, with the sole object of " annoying Tenassery." ^ Some of the terms used for the of a province or city {ibid., Diet., p. names of the appointments seem to 84). De la Loubere (p. 83) says that be obsolete, such as Olveing Ineabat in maritime governments this official and Ocone Hurelay. The meanings sometimes took customs of the mer- of Ocya Tannaw and Opra Marrat chant ships, as the Kings of Siam have already been explained. Olvang had done all in their power to de- Narine is evidently Oc Louaiig or stroy the most potent Chao-Miiang, Oc Counne Narine of De la and' had substituted in their places Loubfere, and means he who com- triennial governors by coniinission mands those who have care of the (op. cit., p. 83). Samuel White may elephants. The designation of 01- have held one of these appointment-s, vang Chomoung, the appointment but his chief duties were these of held by Mr. Samuel^White, appears Shdhhandar or port officer, an ap- to be made up of Olan, signifying pointment in those days of as great "illustrious" (Pallegoix, Diet., p. importance in Siamese maritime 502) ; Chomoung, or more properly towns, as it was in the seaports of Chdo-Mitang, meaning the governor Malay states. WHITE AND HIS PARTY RETURN TO MERGUI. 307 I'rom Bangkok they went in three days by boat to Kiu, and from that village White, Heath, and Leslie posted away to Mergui in doolies, doubly manned, leaving Daven- port to follow with the treasure, and arrived at their destination on the 27th October, 1686, three days before Davenport. ( 3o8 ) CHAPTEE IX. SIAMESE WAR WITH GOLCONDA. A SHIP built in the dockyard of Mergui by command of Phaulkon was launched shortly after the Shahbandar's return, and christened the Resolution. Alexander Leslie, whose wife and family resided in the town, was appointed to the command of the vessel, and was instructed " to make the land on the coast of Gingerlee, in eighteen degrees North latitude," ^ to prosecute the war against the King of Golconda. Arrived there, he was to proceed to a port, Chiskercol by name, and there if possible to surprise the governor, or some of the most influential inhabitants, and carrying them on board his ship, he was to offer them their liberty on what terms he thought fit. After this had been accomplished, he was to visit the ports, rivers, harbours, creeks, and bays along the coast between Chiskercol and Madras, avoiding the places where the English and Dutch had factories, and to carry on still further acts of spoliation. He was, moreover, cautioned not to consent to any cessation of hostilities if it should be represented to him that the King of Golconda intended to send his ambassador to Siam ; but if this news should reach him, he was to issue a passport for the safe conveyance -of ^ Gingerlee or Gyngerlee is " the have been applied to it from its name by which the Telinga coast having produced }arge quantities of above Masulipatam is generally the oil of Sesamum indicum, the known in the records of the seven- trade name of which in these days teenth century." Yule in Hedges' was Gingeli, Gingelly, Gergelim, Diary, vol. ii. p. cclxxxiv. By Pfere &c. Consult Yule-Burnell Glos- Tachard it was called Gergelim. sary, art, Gingeli, It is possible that this name may WHITE'S CONSIDERATION OF 'THE COMPANY.' 309 the ambassador to Mergui, where he would be received " according to his quality." At the end of the north-east monsoon he was to proceed to Pondicherry to take on board any letters, packets, or goods that General F. Martin and M. Delandres might have for him, and then to return to Mergui. The part of this order enjoining on Captain Leslie to abstain from hostilities in those places where the English and Dutch had factories, was probably the result of White's influence at court, as Francis Heath states that the Shahbandar had sent a remonstrance to Phaulkon, in September, 1686, which he had seen, and in which he impressed on the Minister the importance of taking great eare in the management of the war, so that no injury might happen to the Company's affairs. He was also quite alive to the invidious position in which the East India Company was placed, by Englishmen being the leading spirits of the navy of the King of Siam, in the war against the King of Golconda, and he told Phaul- kon that the Company might take it amiss that English- men should be so employed, and he warned him that if the King of England recalled his subjects from the service of the King of Siam, not one Englishman would disobey the order of his " native sovereign." Mergui, being under an English governor and port- officer, was the haven to which many a disappointed Englishman, who had failed to better his fortune at Ayuthi^, betook himself when he found he had no chance of competing with the French, then in the . ascendant at the capital. Nathaniel Eussell, who arrived at Mergui at this time from Ayuthia, was one of these disappointed men. The only interest attached to him is that he was accom- panied by his " Lady," probably the first Englishwoman to cross the Malayan peninsula from Ayuthia to Mergui, as we have no information how Mesdames Lucas, Lowe, and Waring went to the capital. Just as the Besohdion was about to sail, news reached 310 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. Mergui that a mission, with letters and presents from the King of Siam and Phaulkon to Louis XIV., was on its way overland from Ayuthia. It arrived in a few days, " accompanied by the usual state of the country music ; " but as the French ship which was to have carried the presents to Pondicherry had sailed, they were placed on board the Besolution, and Captain Leslie was instructed to take them direct to Pondicherry, to hand them over to the authorities there, and while doing so to fire a salute of twenty-one guns. He set sail some time in December, accompanied by the Jerusalem, a vessel which had been given to Phaulkon by the King, and had been re-named the Saint John. It carried a cargo of sappan-wood be- longing to the Minister, and "AUome," (alum) the pro- perty of White, and was consigned to the French at Pondi- cherry. The Dorothy, under the command of Captain Cropley, was also dispatched shortly afterwards to co-operate with the Resolution, and to proceed to Saint Thomd, and on his arrival there he was to inform the President and Council at Madras that he had a message for them from the King. Davenport states that the message was to the following effect : that Cropley had been ordered by the King to repre- sent to them " the great abuses M. Elihu Yale had put upon him in the Jewel Affair, as also the affronts done him by the Companies Servants in his own Eoyal City, To certifie them of his Majesties kindness for sixty years past to the said Company, and that satisfaction being made by Mr. Yale, the Lord Treasurer would pay the Persian fraight, and release whatsoever he had hitherto detained of theirs, willing them, if they had any Griev- ances to complain of (though he knew of none) that they would send over two Gentlemen fully impowered to treat with his Majesties Ministers of State, and they might expect all the justice they could desire, but if they slighted this proposal, his Majesty, had no reason to Court their Friendship." ENGLISH DESIGNS ON MERGUI. 311 When the news of the arrival of the Besolution and the St. John off the coast of Madras reached Fort St. George, it was resolved 1 that, in pursuance of his Majesty's com- mission to the Company, and their order to the Council to use every endeavour ■" to reprize their losses," that the Rebecca and the Dragon should go in pursuit of the Siamese ships. Captain Fenn of the Dragon, however, declared that his ship, which had just returned from Bangkok, could not go, as the crew was mutinous and had refused to weigh anchor; while Captain Batten of the Rebecca wrote to the Council that he could not undertake so hazardous an exploit as to follow the two ships singly. The enterprise was therefore for the time abandoned. The rumour regarding the Company's proposed settle- ment at Negrais, which had been communicated to White, on his way down the Menam, by the captain of the Phcenix, doubtless referred to the expedition which had been fitted out in England, in 1685, to proceed to the Bay of Bengal. It consisted of ten ships, commanded by Cap- tain Nicholson, with the rank of Vice- Admiral. Its chief object was to be the seizure of Chittagong,^ but one of its subordinate aims was to retaliate on the King of Siam for losses the Company asserted they had suffered at his hands. The hostilities against him were to be continued until he should cede a station at Mergui,* at which a fort or settle- ment was to be established as a seat of trade, in case the fleet did not succeed in capturing Chittagong. As a report had also reached White from Madras that the Company intended to seize Negrais, and to appoint Thomas Yale, the brother of Elihu Yale, the future Presi- dent of Madras, to be governor, he at once determined, if possible, to forestall them and to seize the place for the King of Siam. He accordingly dispatched two sloops com- manded by Captain Cropley, along with twenty Lulongs or Siamese soldiers, and ample provisions and stores for twelve 1 Consultation Book of Fort St. George, 3rd .January, 1687. 2 Bruoe's Annals, vol. ii. p. 560. " Ibid., 572. 312 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. months. The commander of the soldiers to be left to hold the place, was instructed to run up his flag whenever he saw any ship appear, and in order that there might be no misunderstanding to whom the place belonged, he was provided with a placard or notice in Portuguese '^ declaring that the place belonged to the King of Siam. This expedition of White's was recalled in the following February, by Phaulkon's orders, and condemned by him as having endangered the peace of the kingdom. As time advanced, the relations between the Govern- ment of Siam and the President and Council at Fort St. George were very strained, owing chiefly to Coates' hostile proceedings at Masulipatam, which the Company alleged had very seriously injured their trade, which was now at a very low ebb, owing to a severe famine that had prevailed at Madras in the end of 1686 and beginning of 1687. So great indeed was the distress then existing, that Daven- port advised White to send a ship with rice for the relief of the garrison. A rumour that the East India Company were meditating hostilities against Siam appears to have reached Phaulkon even as early as November, 1686, and he seems to have suspected that they contemplated striking a blow at Mergui, and at the shipping issuing from that port, because in the following month he ordered White to store certain of the King's goods in the Clongs ^ at Tenasserim for safety, and to postpone sending out the ship which went annually to Mocha in the Eed Sea. White, however, considered that Phaulkon was needlessly alarmed, and although according to Davenport, he believed that Elihu Yale had malice enough to do whatever he could to the prejudice of the King and Phaulkon, he could not credit that he would be so rash as to break into open hostility without an order ^ When, in 1687, Captain Weltden destroyed some Siamese inscriptions surveyed Negrais, and took posses- and huts. Oriental Repertory, vol. sionof it,hoistiDgtheEnglishoolours, i., 1793, p. 103. and erecting an inscription of his ^ Probably a corruption of Hong proceedings on tin, he found and or Hang, a warehouse or factory. ■ WHITE'S SHIPS CAPTURED. 313 from England, -which could not reach Forfc Sfc. George until the next year. He therefore disregarded Phaulkon's warning, and dispatched, in January, three ships, two apparently on his own account, and one conjointly for himself and the King. One was sent to Mocha, another to Acheen, and a third to Pondicherry ; but he had the mis- fortune to lose them all, as they were seized by the Com- pany's men-of-war ; and it was the great pecuniary losses he sustained by the capture of these vessels that led him, on his return to England in 1688, to petition Parliament for the redress of his wrongs. The fate of these three vessels may be recorded at this stage of this narrative. The ship sent to Mocha was the Satisfaction, commanded by William Eand.^ The mer- chandise on board the vessel, valued by "White at ^^ 7800, and solemnly affirmed by him to belong sololy to himself, was placed under the charge of his assistant, Mr. William How, already mentioned in this history. There being now no factory at Ayuthia, and none at Mergui, where there never had been one, although it has been stated by more than one writer that the Company had a factory at the latter town, an error doubtless arising from the presence in it of Burneby and White, William How was furnished with a letter explaining that the owner of the cargo, Samuel White, being resident in the kingdom of Siam, and thus far removed from the Company's garrisons, had not been able to procure a pass from the Company for the protection of his ship the Satisfaction. The vessel sailed on the 6th January, and arrived safely at Mocha ^ on the 30th April, 1687. After the cargo had been discharged and made over to the care of William How on shore, the ship, while the goods were being sold at Mocha, was sent to a place about five leagues distant to take in a quantity of salt. ^ He is occasionally called Rann. ^ The facts regarding the capture of the vessel are taken from White's petition. 314 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. On the 2Sth May, Captain Jonathan Andrews, in the Charles the Second, arrived at Mocha " in the equipage of an Admiral of His Majesty's Fleet, wearing the Union Flagg at the Main Topmost head." On the arrival of the man-of-war the news was at once communicated to the captain by Mr. How, who wrote,^ " Some that have been a board the ship brings word ashore that there was noe warrs between the English and Syam," and conse- quently that the admiral could not interfere with the Satisfaction or her affairs. How communicated this report to Captain Eand, but doubted its reliability, so much so, that his advice to the captain was to have his ship pro- vided with wood, water, and provisions, and to get in the salt and what ballast he needed as fast as possible, and to have all his people on board. He also warned him that his belief was that those who were found ashore would be seized if they had not the Company's pass, and that it was his intention to join th^ Satisfaction in a few days. How's suspicions of the probable action of the admiral with regard to the Satisfaction and himself had been aroused by a letter ^ he had received signed "Your unknown," inwhich he was told "that our zealous GeneraU," Sir John Child, "is much offended with his Excellency at Syam, and breathes out nothing but destruc- tion against him and all that adhere to him, he is resolved to send the Charles, Cap. Andrew Commander to Mocha, but his designe is to seize on' all Englishmen, and what belongs to his Majesty of Syam. Be vigillant for your owne preservation and true to your trust and bee not wheedled either by the Company's Commander or any belonging to him. They will endeavour all the ways I imagine to betray you and your concerns (and shew you out the King's proclamation) But make leaden perfor- mances the best way is to keep at a distance and not to ' Letter dated Mooha, 26th May, Chiefe of the English on board the 1687. Ind, Off. Rec. King of Siam's shipps at Mocha, but " This letter was directed to the bore no date. Ind. Off. Rec. FATE OF THE 'SATISFACTION.' 31; goe out of the port till the Companys ship are gon: I desire this may be published among yourselves, But let not any belonging to the Companies have its coppy. Gentlemen I have not more to ad, but wish you all pros- perity and remain "YODE UNKNOWN." The warnings contained in this letter were of no avail, as Captain Andrews sent his barge ashore with several armed men and seized Mr. How, and Mr. Wortley, the purser of the Satisfaction, who were carried prisoners on board the Charles the Second. The admiral then went himself ashore with the "King's Flagg" carried before him, and fixed it on the house which How had been in- habiting, and in which the goods of the Satis/action were stored. He ne.xt sent two boats with armed men to find out where the Satisfaction was, and soon discovering the ship, they proceeded to seize it. In White's petition it is stated that "tho' there was not the least resistance made, by the use of Weapons, nor any other defence, save the mens shutting themselves into their close quarters, yet at the first entering of my Ship, they fired thirty or forty Pistols, and therewith mortally wounded the Master Mr. William Band, whom with the rest they carried Prisoner on board the Charles the Second, where after nine days languishing he dyed, and was used by Captain Andrews with that barbarous cruelty, that his earnest re-, quest of but having a friend admitted to speak with him a few hours before he expired was denied him." The vessel was taken to Bombay and confiscated, on the ground that it had not a Company's pass, the original charge against it that it belonged to the King of Siam having been withdrawn. The ship sent to Aclieen was the " Derrea Bowlet,"'^ commanded by Captain Nathaniel Eussell, the Engiish- ^ White's Petition and the Statement of his Case. 3i6 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. man who had gone to Mergui from Ayuthia with his lady, not having been able to find any employment at the capital. This ship, according to White, belonged to the King of Siam, and he had been ordered to load it with a variety of merchandise, and had received permission to send with it a considerable quantity of rice and liquor on his own account, which he consigned to his servant, William Mallett, he who had been associated with Coates in his warlike acts against the King of Gol- conda, and who accompanied the ship. White goes on to say that no sooner had Eussell and his companions " arrived at Fort, and began to dispose of the Cargo in April jSy, but Captain Consett came thither in the Berldey Castle, wearing his Majesties Colours, and took the said Ship, and tho my Factor did then manifest unto him my aforesaid Concern by Invoice and Orders, and made demand accordingly; yet would he not be pre- vailed with to restore the least part thereof, but violently seized on all, whereby I am damnified, the amount of 1838^. as besides my own Oath, I can prove by the Testi- mony of others." The third ship dispatched by White was the Mary. This vessel sailed to Pondicherry with a small cargo of copper, his own property, consigned to M. Delandres, son- in-law of the governor, Francois Martin ; but the real object of the vessel's voyage to the Coromandel Coast was to obtain news regarding the Eesolution and St. John, about which the Shahbandar was becoming anxious, as he had heard nothing about them since they had left. The Mary, however, was captured by Captain Batten shortly after it appeared off the coast of India, and property of White's to the value of ;f 400 was confiscated, and he states that when this was done war had not been declared by the Company against Siam. Another mission to Persia from the King of Siam was again on the tapis in January, 1687, and Phaulkon ordered' White to prepare a ship to carry " two of the King of Syams WHITE AND HIS DIFFICULTIES. 317 Colwans ^ to Gombroone," and that the vessel was to be supplied with a French pilot, and a pass from the French chief at Ayuthia. To this the Shahbandar replied that it was impossible to carry out the order, as he had neither men nor a ship to send, and further, that there was not one Frenchman in the service of the King of Siam capable to take any office in a ship, much less to be a pilot. A ship, however, which might have been employed on this voyage, if White had been inclined to assist in for- warding the King's messengers, arrived at Mergui on the 20th February. It was none other than Captain Cropely's vessel, the Dorothy, re-named the "Mergen Frigate." It brought news seemingly proving that Phaulkon's anticipa- tions of a rupture w^th the East India Company were- likely to be fulfilled. The report was that the Company intended ere long to make demands on the King of Siam for the damages they and the merchants under their pro- . tection had received from the rash and unwarrantable pro- ceedings of Lord Phaulkon, his Chief Minister of State, and that they were much disgusted also with White, for having been so active an instrument in the injuries they had received. It would appear that, shortly before this report reached White, he had been invited by Phaulkon to go to Ayuthia to live with him, and now that dangers seemed to be closing round him, he began to ask himself whether it would not be better to throw himself on the King's pro- tection before the arrival of an English ship. But then the insecurity attending residence at a native court suggested to his mind whether some other course of action for his own safety would not be possible. The following three lines of conduct occurred to him — first, to remain on at Mergui, and purchase his reconciliation with the Com- pany by betraying his trust and surrendering the port 1 This is probably the Caloangs vinoes upon Commissions, whether of De La Loubfere, cfBcials whom ordinary or extraordinary. Op. cit., the King usually sent into the Pro- p. 99. 3i8 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. to them ; second, to fortify the place and defend it against the Company ; or, third, so to arrange his affairs that he would not fall into the Company's clutches, and then proceed to Europe. About this time the highest personage in England was also contemplating the possibility of Burneby and White being brought to act as traitors to their master, the King of Siam, as King James the Second actually wrote to them himself, and suggested that they should betray their trust to the King of Siam, and hand Mergui over to the English ; but more of this anon. White in his difficulty was unable to consult with Governor Burneby, as they were at complete variance in all their aims in life. White was an energetic man, as we have seen, fond of trade, and evidently determined to amass money, but not very scrupulous in the means to which he resorted to attain this end. Burneby, on the other hand, seems to have given himself up in his old age to sloth, drinking, and immorality, if Davenport's account of White's estimate of him is to be accepted, viz., that he was " fit to converse with no body but his Crim. Catwcdl} and take delight in being the Town Pimp, and disposing of all the Whores to any body that wants one, or keeps company with a parcel of Sailors, that over a Bowl of Punch, will lye worshipping him up, till he thinks himself a Petty Prince among them, and in the meantime near minds the main chance, nay, he's so soft a fellow, as to let his own Servants cheat him to his face, and run away with the Perquisites of his Office ; for I my self have offered him Fifty Cattees a year, for that he never made Five Cattees of, since he came to the place, and to tell him a secret is the same thing, as to publish it about the Town with a Drum, or take a Woman into Council." The result of White's deliberations seem to have been that he resolved to proceed to Europe if any occasion should arise for his sudden departure from Mergui. ^ Cotwal or ICotwcU. a policeman. CAPTURE OF THE ' revenge: 319 In April, 1687, news reached Mergui that Captain Nicholson, admiral of the Company's fleet in the Bay of Bengal, had seized the Bevenge, belonging to the King of Siam. The capture of this vessel is recorded in an English newspaper 1 of the time, the information having been re- ceived, to use the parlance of the present day, from its war-correspondent in the Bay of Bengal. The letter is dated 24th November, 1686, and says, "The English had stopped a ship of war belonging to the King of Siam, which had gone into Balasor to be repaired. They had pressed and dissipated the ship's Company, consisting of about 70 Europeans, seizing the commander, Captain English, who was sent prisoner to Fort St. George to answer several misdemeanours he had committed." The mention of the commander's name identifies the captured vessel as the Bevenge. After it had been seized it was removed to Balasor, and used in May 1687, along with several small ships, to guard the island of Hijili, where the Company's servants and soldiers were then beleaguered, and to receive them if they should be driven out of their defences, but there it "grounded upon a Sand by the way, Oversett and Billedged, and the men had no sooner Left her than the Enemy on the other side possessed her." ^ About the same time as the news of the capture of the Revenge reached White at Mergui, he received letters from his friends at Fort St. George informing him that the Company had sent out positive orders that war was to be made on the King of Siam. All this information he at once communicated to Phaulkon and to the Privy Council at Ayuthia. In doing so, he stated that he believed this most undeserved rupture had 'been instigated by the malicious reports of enemies to their own country and to the affairs of Siam. He therefore recommended that a fitting person should be sent by the King of Siam to the King of England,^ to place before him a true account of 1 London Gazette, No. 2270, l8th August to 22d August, 16S7. 2 Diary of Sir William Hedges, vol. ii. p. Ixvii. ' The Case of Samuel White. 320 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. the affairs of the two nations, in order, if possible, to pre- vent a war. White states that he was selected to carry- out this mission, and that he received orders to proceed to England. As there was no ship of the King's in the port at that time suited for such a long voyage, he determined to take his own ship, the Besolution, and con- sequently, according to his instructions, he commenced to load the vessel with cargo and provisions, as he was to be in readiness to start so soon as he received a letter from the court, and the presents intended for the King of Eng- land and his Eoyal Consort, In Davenport's account there is no mention of this mission, but according to him, White was, as he says, loading the ships with his own effects, in order that he might be ready to escape at any time. This proceed- ing excited the curiosity and wonder of the natives, as it was quite unusual to load vessels in April, just before the south-west monsoon, when no vessel ever left for sea. The intention of the Company to effect reprisals on the vessels of the King of Siam and on those of his subjects, had not yet been officially communicated to the Siamese Government, but orders had been already given to the naval commanders to take and seize any of the Moors' ships from Bengal or Surat, or belonging to any of the Mogul's subjects, or any ships of the King of Siam, the reason assigned for this action being that these states had embarrassed the Eight Honourable Company's interests, and had inflicted on them many injuries. The commanders were also, in accordance with his Majesty's proclama- tion, to board any foreign vessel they met, to ascertain if any of his Majesty's subjects were on them, contrary to the proclamation forbidding any of his subjects to serve any foreign prince or state.^ All that were found were ^ This proclamation, which not employment under any foreign only forbade any of his Majesty's princes in the East, but also recalled (James II.) subjects from taking any who had done so was drawn up WAR WITH SIAM DECLARED. 321 " to be taken forth," and the captains of the ships on which they were discovered were to be forced to pay to them what- ever wages they might be entitled to. They were also by their commissions empowered to search private men-of-war or any suspicious ships, and if they found English goods, arms, or provisions on them, the possession of which could not be satisfactorily accounted for, all such vessels were to be taken to Fort St. George, to be proceeded against in the Admiralty Court. They had also stringent orders given them regarding the action they were to take againgt interlopers. If they met with any ships, whether they were "his Majesty's subjects or foreigners of this country," that had not an English pass from some of the Eight Honourable Company's presidents, agents, or chiefs, they were to seize them and take them to Madras Eoads. It was on the strength of this proclamation that the Satisfaction, Derrea Bowlet, and Mary were seized by the ships of the East India Company. Job Charnock in Bengal was informed by the authorities of Madras, in a letter dated i8th April, 1687, that they intended to send the frigate Curtana to Tenasserim, under the command of Captain Anthony Weltden,^ to clear that port of Siamese men-of-war, and to call all the English from thence. Owing to the action that immediately followed this letter, it is evident that the President and his Council at Fort St. George had neither received from Phaulkon any promise of compensation on account of Captain Coates' attack on Masulipatam and Madapollam, nor for the other injuries they complained of. They, therefore, resolved to repay themselves for their losses by declaring actual hos- tilities against Siam. The expedition that was to proceed to Tenasserim and at a Council held at Windsor on the '■' Hia name has frequently been nth July, 1686, and was referred misspelled Weldon, Welldon, Wall- to the Earl of Sunderland, Lord den, and Waldon. It is correctly President of the Council, and one of given in the text. H.M. principal Secretaries of State, to be prepared and published. 322 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. Mergui was actively prepared, and in view of its early departure the following documents were drawn up and handed to Captain Weltden of the Curtana, to be delivered by him on his arrival at Mergui. The first is their letter recalling the English in Siam : — " To M^ John Eichard Burnaby GouernoF and Mf Sam'/ White Shabandf att Morgen for the King of Syam, and to all other Englishmen his Ma'!° the King of Englands Subjects residing there and att Syam : " Whereas your Selves and many other his Maj"™ the King of England's Subjects are att present in the actuall Service of the King of Syam wee the Presid' and Councell of Fort S? Georg for affaires of the Kt Honr''!^ English East India Comp^ doe, by vertue of his Ma'i° the King of Englands Eoyall proclamation (w"?* wee have ordered to bee delivered you), and his E^ Hour*}* East India Compf orders recall you and every one of you from the service of the sf King of Syam and pticularly by name the persons here undermentioned viz., Att Mergen Eichard Burnaby ■Saml' White Edward Tutie Francis Davenport John Turner John Carter, Alexander Leslie, Edward Salter W? How Phineas Bruster Lamben Phillip: John Him- mens, George Alexander. John Grant. John Threder. John Croply. Thomas Higgs. John Carpenter Eichf Carr. Easson William Starck. Isaac . . . Thomas Taylor .... Goodwin. " Att Siam, Nathanie! Eussell Williams Smithies Jourden Wf Mallet. Pilkington Dellon. Ealph Lambton Verstcken naturalised Howell, Job Baskpool Cutburd Milbourn, Willson John ChappeU Franklin Kiddall Humphry Yar|d. Wf Michin^ Bland Jonathan Wainright. Bennet, Wf Bradford. Joseph Heme. Clarke. Nat. Eussell. Briwcs Edw* "And wee requer every of you to repaire aboard the ' Mrs. Thomas Minchin, who was allowed to go to Siam that year. I at Pondioherry in 1687, applied to suspect that this lady's husband was Fort St. George for leave to join her William Minchin, and that Mrs. husband in Siam, but was not per- Thomas was written by mistake, initted to do so, as no English were RECALL OF THE ENGLISH AT MBRGUL 323 Curtana Frigatt, Cap. An*? Welden Commandf, with ye Sing of Englands Commission (who we have sent for that purpose) and you are further to bee aiding and assist- ing to the sf Cap* f(5r the obtaining satisfaction of the King of Syam for the Injuries damages and losses the sf E? honT English East India Compf ourselves and the Inhabitants of this Ci?y of Madras sustain'd by Con- stant Eaulcon, Cheife minister of State to the s* Kins according to a Commission directed to him from his Ma*^^ the King of England vff requiers him to follow w? orders hee shall receive from us and our orders to him, to take satisfaction for the s? damages. If it be not done by fair : means and alsoe concerning you that hee should bring all of you away from yf King of Syams Country and service to reside here att Fort S' George, in the service of the E' honr''^ Comp* to bee subject to all their hono7 rules and orders till you shall bee disposed to goe for England and if you or any of you, the psons above mentioned, att the Fort of Mergin shall ref us to give obedi- ence to his si Maj':" of England Eoyall Proclamation and Commission, and these our lawfuU summons soe as not to leave ye s^ King of Syams service; and repaire aboard the Curtana Frigatt w'Mn 30 days after publication hereof and alsoe if you or any of you att Syam or y\ are att present gone upon Voyages doe not take • the first opportunity to leave the King of Syams Service and repair hither to Fort S? George, Wee doe make this our lawfuU protest (in the name of his Ma*|° the King of England and his E? Honble East India Comp?) against you and every or any of you his Ma*i° the King of Englands Subjects (that shall soe refuse) for contempt of his s*? Ma"f Eoyall proclamation, and the rules and orders of his sf E? honr^i^ East India Compf, as alsoe for all damages, losses detrem*? or inconveniences w? soev^ that his sf Ma*f the King of England or his E.' honr''!° East India Compt shall hereafter sustaine thereby for w"?* you are to bee prosecuted in his Ma*'f" courts of Judicature as Interlopers and Eebellious persons, staying 324 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. and Trading in India, contrary to his s? Ma*f Eoyall pro- clamation and his sf Et honr''^' Compf orders besides yot gaining his Maj'|^ high displeasure for the same dated in Fort S\ George this 25th day of April 1687 according to the computation of the Church of England. William GTFrOED. Elihu Yale. Thomas Lucas. John Nicks. John Grat. Thomas Wavell. Na. Higginson. John Cheney." The second document was addressed to Phaulkon, as follows : — "The Preside and Councell of Fort S? George (in the hehalfe of the E? honr''!^ English East India Comp^) their demands of the honr''!^ Constant FauUcon (Chiefe minister of State to his Ma'!° the King of Syam) for damages done the E? hour''''' Comp^ our selves their Serv*' and the Inhabi- tants of the Citty of Madrass und^ our protection and our declaration for reprisells till full satisfaction bee obtained viz. attgf The E| honrb'f Corap" demands in a paper a part . ;£24,366 : 14 p? a g'; in Pt 54,148 : 08 Pf or Persia bills money lent here and flint- warep 8,751 : 02 Ffor charges of sending sloop Thomas to Metchlep" w^ souldiers upon hir to secure the Rf honr"' Comp" concernes and our people from Injury by Mf Coates when hee made warr upon y" there 700 : — Ffor w? through Coates his hostillity att Metchlp" y" E' honr'!" Comp» was damaged for Interest of 53326 : 20 : 2 in goodes y? could not goe home by the Defence Jan'' 30'? 85 but were forced to ly by till the departure of the Kempthorne which was the 5')" Sber 86 besides other future accidents by the disappointment 4,264 DAMAGES DEMANDED BY THE COMPANY. 325 For freight of Elliphants from Tenassaree and of the Syam Embassdf from hence on ace? of the Owners of the ship Asiam- pourna 5200 p*w? Interest of 2,200 p? for 3 years and 3,000 p' for 2 years to this tymethe 25?'' of Aprill 87 . . 6,512 For wj our Pegu merchV was robd of 5 1 58 p* w' Interest for 2 years . . . 6,396 For severalL Englishmen's estates stopt . 20,000 For Curtana Frigatts demorage for 8 mV att 4I 5f p. diem sent to make these demands 2,266 103,038 In w' Joseph Denmarkan Inhabitant here demands for loss of his sMpps and goodes w* were noe lawful! prise hee being noe subject to the King of 60I- condah butt a merchf stranger and as before an Inhabitant of this place the pticulars of his demands are viz. His great ship with all her furniture . 10,000 The ladings of s? ship .... 6,000 Eubies they stole to y? valine of . . 9,000 His small ship they tooke att Narsapoor 5,000 For wf hee was robb'd of att Metchlep? and the money the Govern o' took from him about Coate his business . . . 10,000 40,000 all w* damages amounting to upwards of ;^65,ooo wee the Presid' and Councell of Fort S' George for the affaires of the £!■ Honr^'° East India Compf doe hereby declare that wee will by way of reprisalls make the E? honr*'.® Comp*. &cf full satisfaction upon his Ma"' the King of Syams shipps or the shipps of his subjects wherever wee can meet w'? them leaving the sf King to demand satis- faction of honr''J° Constant Faulcon (his cheife minister of State) for his ill managem? of the s"? King's affaires w* has given us this provocation and necessitates us to take this course for Justice w* has been often deneyed us at Syam and wee doe further declare that whttever we shall soe reprise ourselves of a true ace* thereof shall be kept to bee rendered to his s4 Ma'!'' the King of Syam whenever his Ma'|° shall please to impower any person to 326 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. come to acrf w'? us in behalfe of the E^ Honr"." East India Compf &f and that after wee have rece'? full satisfaction (for our present and future just demands) wee shall noe more molest any of his s'^ Ma^f Shipps, or the Shipps of his subjects dated in Port S\ George the 25'? of Aprill ,1687. (Signed again by the same persons as tie previous document.) The third document was the letter — • " To his Imperiall Ma*i» The King of Syam. " FoET ST Geobgb, y', 25? Aprill 1687. " May it please yo^ Ma'f "Wee presume to make these our hum'''^ addresses hopeing your Ma*f injoyes pfect health and all manner of prosperity, w* wee shall ever more rejoyce to heare that wee may att all Tymes particepate of your Ma*'™ favour and friendship : though some differences att present have most unhappyly fal'n out, w°> your Ma*f will more plainly understand by the contents of this Lie w* has caused the E^ honr*!' East India Company our E^ honr^l' Masters ; (w* much troubles us), to comand us to take any of your Ma"f° or subjects shipps or goodes by way of reprisal! (till full satisfaction bee made) on ace' of above 65000;£' Sterl. w"!* is upwards of rup? 500000 damage done them and their ServV and the inhabitants of y? place. An ace' whereof wee have ordered to bee remitted to the honr'':* Constant Eaulcon (your cheife Minister of State) and there- fore in obedience to their hour? Comands wee have now sent too shipps of warr to stop up your M"f^ Fort of Mergin and to secure all the shipps in said Port but not to make seizure till they knowe your Ma''P Pleasure whether your Ma"?' will make the E? hour''!' Comp? &c? satisfaction for sf damages for wfour Comand^ is order'd by us to awaite your Ma"f' leasure therein 60 dayes. for wee desier your Ma'l° to bee assured that wee should very unwillingly give your MaH° this Trouble but that wee have noe other LETTER TO THE KING OF SI AM. 327 way to informe your Ma*f of our agreveances in w' w' has passt and of the ill managem^ of yo[ Ma*'f affaires and who ever have been the occation of itt alone ought to suffer, for though wee beleive itf has never till now come to your Ma'f knowledge yet the E^ honr*"!^ Comp'? &^ have suffer'd many intoUerable injuries and great indig- nities and although the E' Honr*!' Comp'? and our selves have made many addresses to your Ma'|° to have the same remidied yet wee believe they were allways intercepted from your Ma"?' receiption since noe notice has been taken there of or Justice done us as formerly and till the E' Honr*!' Comp* and our selves may bee admitted to have an imediate adress to your Ma'i° by Lrs itt is impossible that there should ever bee a right understanding between us, w°? above all things wee most heartily desier being well satis- fied in your Ma"f goodness and generosity to all people, especially of your Ma*'f' good inclinations to our English nation in pticular w"!^ makes us extreamly sorry that there has been any ill InstrumV to impede our everlasting mutuall friendship and heartily wish that noe such may bee counte- nanced for the future, and soe wee pray the AUmighty to give your Ma'|° longe life w'?" encrease of your Dominions and all happiness in the world to come, being we are " Imperiall Ma'i= &c." (Signed as before.) The fourth and last document was the letter : — " To the Eaja Governor of Tenassaree. " FoBT Sr George 25 Ap', 1687. " Haveing heard much of your greate fame and pre- vailing Interest w'? his Ma'!' the King of Syam wee •have presumed to send to your care enclosed Lre to his Ma'i° not knoweing any other way of conveyance to him and there fore wee desier you to take greate care that itt may come directly to his Ma"f' receiption because wee would willingly have the great Injuries that the E' honr*!° 328 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Comp? and others und'; our protection have suffered come to his Ma*'f' knowlege wf hitherto has not, not ■w'/'standing the Et honr*")' Comp^ and our selves have severall Tymes made adresses to his Ma*!' to have them remidted : and therefore itt is that we are comanded hy the Et honr*?= East India Oomp^ our E^ honr*?° Masters to block up the Port of Mergin and give them and you this Trouble if you doe not comply w'? our Just demands in 60 day's Tyme •^'f when his Ma*l° comes to have a right understanding of the occation and provocation given : noe doubt but hee will give us all due satisfaction and prevent all misunder- standings betweene us for the future : and soe wishing you all happiness and prosperity we remaine " Your assured Loveing Friends and Serv'.° ^ (Signed as before.) On the 6th May, 1687, the Boyal James arrived at Madras from the west coast of Sumatra, with letters from the Court to Fort St. George, and from a minute of 9th May, 1687, in which these letters are mentioned, it would appear that the Court had placed the prosecution of the war with the King of Siam under Sir John Child at Surat, and had taken it entirely out of the hands of the President and Council at Madras. The latter, however, resolved to carry out their designs, for the following reasons, viz., that before the receipt of the Court's letters the Curtana had been ordered to proceed to Mergui, and everything had been prepared for its so doing : moreover, they thought it absolutely necessary for the Eight Hon. Com- pany's advantage that the vessel should proceed as in- tended; and besides the season did not admit of their consulting with Surat, which made them unwilling to lose any present advantages. The President and Council therefore adhered to their designs against the King of Siam, and against Mergui in particular, and accordingly ' lud. Off. Rec, JJ. b. 2. 2. INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN TO WELTDEN. 329 ordered Captain Weltden, on 31st May, to prepare to sail for Mergui, accompanied by the sloop James, and armed with the following instructions : — You are "to sett salye bending your course for the speediest attaining of the Port of Mergin, in the Kingdom of Syam, as neare as you can out of Comand of their Gunns, where when it shall please God to arrive you, you are first to secure all y? King of Syams or his serv'? or Subjects shipps in that Port for hostages for y' Present and alsoe not only to secure but to seize upon any of y? Mogull shipps or his Subjects (or any English ship that you shall find theire without an English pass, or contrary to his Ma''f° Proclamation), and then goe yourself e in your boat if you thinck convenient w'?" a white flag of Truce in her bow to yf Governed and Shaband^ of Mergin (who are two Englishmen, viz. M' Eichard Burnaby Governo' and M' Sam'? White Shaband'; who have itt in charge for the King of Syam) or lett some principall p'son if you goe not your selfe (and three or four of the Boates Crew (who are to be y' most understanding psons you have) and alsoe one of your Mates or Purser receive of you his Ma*'.™ Eoyal Proclamation (w"? we have herew'J* delivered you) and bee directed to publish and deliver y? same to y? Governed and Shaband^ of Mergin and to witness (at the bottome of the Proclamation) y? time of y? publication and delivery thereof to them ; takeing a coppie of the s* originall Proclamation and w* the witnesses have theron enpresst and the same alsoe to be witnessed to be a True coppie of y: sf Originall in print and then Charge them (in the name of his Ma*f of England King James the 2"^ and by Verture of s? Ma*'f° Eoyall Proclamation and Charter, to leave the King of Syam's Service and come aboard your ship for Fort S' George according to our order to them directed and for that purpose wee would also have you deliver yf the Declaration signed by us (given to you herew'!") publishing the same by sound of Trumpet or beat of Drum and charge them alsoe (as per contents of s4 330 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. papers that they cause all other his Ma*l° of England's Subjects in that place (whose names we have inserted in s? paper and all others that wee cant nominate to doe the same (upon their own perill), paying themselves and y"? (out of the King of Syams revenues that may bee in their possession) w'; ever shall bee due to them upon acct of their wages or Sallary and to deliver w? they have more of y? King of Syams in their Possession either money or goodes for sattisfaction of yf Kings debts to yf E? honr''?* Compt &ct and if the sf Governor or Sha- band^ or any of his sf Ma'.'f' Subjects shall reffuse to yeild obedience to his MaH^ Eoyall Proclamation a for: sf w^in 30 days wee have protested against y"? in the aforesf paper (the delivery of w^ Summons and protest and y? Tyme of Publication must bee witnested) and besides that you are to demand of them satisfaction for y? damages the E? honr*!' East India Comp^ our selves and the inhabitants of this citty of Madras susteined by Constant Eaulcon (Chiefe minister of State to yf King of Syam) as p. pticulars herew'? delivered you (including our declaration for reprisalls till we have full Satisfaction) w°^ is to bee given to them wee alsoe deliver you here w'> the Originall and coppie of our Lre to his Ma"* the King of Syam, w* coppie in Portuguez and Persian Language you are to cause to be published to the Syamers Governo? of Mergin and Tenassaree : and if they under- stand not These languages you must gett them Translated into the Syam language and then publish itt to the sf Governed and afterwards the Originall to the Syam Governor of Tenassaree called Eaja who you will find att Mergin to whome we alsoe wrote to send itt to his sf Ma':° the King of Syam, and whatever yourselfe or these psons you shall employe upon this message doe act in these pticulars let itt be put in writing (and your and their hands) and authentick coppies thereof bee brought us togeather w'!* the originalls, and Give a charge in writing to the afore"? Governo' and the Shabandf of Mergin, to INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN TO WELTDEN. 331 send all other (the prementioned papers to Constant Faulcon cheife minister of State to the King of Syam) that all the English residing att that place may quitt the King of Syam's Service and repaire hither by the first opportunity and that our damages (for •w"? we require satisfaction) may bee. knowne to his sf Ma'!° and himselfe, the delivery of all w* papers are alsoe to be ■witnessed, and if they make not full satisfaction to our demands with in one M?. before your prefixt Tyme of stay att Mergin bee expired (thereafter mentioned) then you must make prise of w? Shipps of the King of Syams or his Servants or Subjects you was att first only ordered to Secure. "Wee have herew* given you our Lre to M^ Samuel White Shabandy of Mergin w"? wee would have you deliver or cause to be delivered to him it tcont (besides w* wee write him about the buesiness Severall papers of complaints from our Pegu merch*?, inhabitants of this Citty for yt wrongs and robberies they sustined by King of Syams men of warr w* brought them into that Port and afterwards during the Tyme of their being there." ^ Captain Weltden was instructed either to remain at Mergui, or at one of the islands of the Archipelago, tUl the 20th October, until the south-west monsoon was past. His time during that period was to be occupied in seizing the ships of the King of Siam, expected to arrive at Mergui during the intervening period. One was looked for from Mocha, another from Acheen, besides two other ships, three of the four being known to be commanded by Englishmen. He had also stringent orders that if, anywhere on his voyage, he met with ships of the Mogul, or vessels from Bengal, Surat, the South Seas, Acheen, and other places, or the ships or vessels of any of the Mogul's subjects, he was to take and seize them, and bring them to Madras, to be lawfully condemned by the Judge of the Admiralty Court. His instructions also included the clauses relating to the search of French men-of-war, suspicious vessels, 1 Ind. Off. Rec, JJ., b. 2. 2. 332 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. and to vessels generally sailing without the Company's pass. The Curtana was a frigate which had left Portsmouth, June 1686, and had arrived at Madras on the 24th March, 1687. Her consort to Mergui was the sloop James, the master of which was Armiger Gosline. The former carried twenty-six soldiers and the latter fifteen. The sloop, which had been deficient in guns, had been supplied with' four small ones by the order of the President and Council. These two vessels set sail for Mergui on the 5th June 1687. While the authorities at Fort St. George were prepar- ing for the Mergui expedition. Sir John Child at Bombay was instructing his captains to wage war on all the Siam ships they might encounter at sea, and as the orders he gave to Captain Joseph Eaton of the London, before he started on his voyage to China, are doubtless characteristic of them as a whole, they may be quoted here. In his commission to this officer, dated Bombay Castle, 23rd May, 1687, it is said, " The Quedah Merchant . . . brings certaine newes that our friends in the Bay have taken a shipp of the King of Siams, so that the warr is made publick and you must therefor be the more.carefuU, by same shipp came some letters from Mr. Harbin that Discovers his naughty heart, in them that is worthy your knowledge is, that the King of Siam will trade to Japan and China under Dutch coUours, but do you not forbeare any of the King of Siams or his subjects shipps, Jounks, Vessells, or goods because of a Dutch Commission and CoUours and halfe a dozen Dutch- men's being on board them, but take such vessells to choose, for whatever may belong to the Dutch or any European on board any such vessell as you may so take, you may assure them that they shall have delivered to them all that they can prove theirs, and we will see it complyed withall." George White, while in England in 1687-91, vigor- ously opposed the high-handed pretensions of the East India Company to a monopoly of the trade of the East Indies, both in his petitions to Parliament on behalf of GEORGE WHITE'S OPINION OF THE WAR. 333 his brother, and in a pamphlet that he had drawn up at the request of several members of Parliament.^ In this work White strongly condemned the war, and de- nounced it as a " monstrous production," and so strongly did he feel its injustice, that he brought the subject before Parliament, exposing the pretended grounds on which it had been begun, and urging that there was not the least shadow of reason to extenuate it, much less to justify it. The only reason he could offer why it had ever been undertaken was the indignation of the Company against the obliging King of Siam, whose Minister Phaul- kon, at "White's suggestion, had made rich presents to the two late Kings, instead of to Wanstead and Whitehall.^ This petty jealousy may have had its own influence, as White supposed, but James II. himself took an active part in instigating the war, and in dishonourably urging its aims, as will become apparent as the narrative proceeds. Prance, as the King knew, was striving after supremacy in Siam, and also in the Bay of Bengal, if her projects at Ayuthia should prove successful. To anticipate and frustrate the ambitious projects of Louis XIV., the Company, whose interests were at stake, backed by the Government and by King James, determined to seize Mergui, then the gateway to Siam from India, and the great seaport for the trade of the Coromandel Coast. It ' Loc. cit., siqyra,/. n., p. 121. pleased" (Some Remarks upon the ^ White, in his allusion to Wan- Present State of the East India stead, hit at Sir Josiah Child, who Company's Siffairs, 1690.) He seems bought Wanstead Abbey in 1673, to have been unrelenting when not and went to "a prodigious cost in bribed. Sir Josiah Child died at planting walnut trees about his seate Wanstead, and a sumptuous monu- and making fish ponds, many miles meut was erected to his memory in in circuit, in Epping Eorest, in a the church. (Hist, and Antiquities barren spot, as oftentimes these sud- of Essex, vol. i., 1768, p. 30. The dainly monied men for the most part Environs of London, &c., by Rev. seate themselves." (Diary of John D. Lysons, vol. i., 1811, p. 720). Evelyn, Esq., r.R.S.,Wheatley'sed., In his reference to Whitehall, London, 1879, vol. ii. p. 402.) It George White had doubtless in view has been said of Sir Josiah Child the court parasites, who, having been that " By his great annual presents ignored by Fhaulkon in the matter he could command both at Court, of presents, had become irate and and in Westminster Hall what he malicious. 334 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. was to be fortified and made an English stronghold to face and dominate Pondicherry to the west. They had a willing and influential supporter at Fort St. George in Elihu Yale, who had never forgiven Phaulkon for returning to him the jewels which, at his request, he had purchased for the King of Siam, on the ground that their value had been over-estimated. President Gyfford and the other members of his Council seem to have been equally eager to prosecute this unjustifiable war. How it ended in the disaster it merited, will hereafter appear. ( 335 ) CHAPTEE X. THE 'CURTANA' ARRIVES OFF MERGVJ. On the afternoon of the 23rd June, 1687, the yawl of the Gurtana was pulling up towards Mergui harbour, under the charge of the second and third mates, Joseph Weld and Arthur Hoddy. This was a distinct infringement of the order, unless it had been subsequently modified, that Captain Weltden was to keep his vessel and all that belonged to it hidden away among the islands of the Archipelago until October. This course had, however, been forced upon him, as he had run his vessel too far to the east into shoal water, and not knowing his position, he had to send out to dis- cover where the port lay. Those in the boat, after having been twenty-four hours at sea, descrying a town, made for it, and discovered themselves at the very place their captain had been instructed to avoid. On their arrival within the bar, they saw a ship lying at anchor, and on boarding it, found it to be fully provisioned and ready for sea, and that it was named the Resolution. They were en- tertained with some refreshment after their long exposure ; . and their arrival having been observed from the town. Captain Leslie came on board with a message from the Shahbandar, Samuel White, asking them to go ashore and see him, as he was anxious to learn the news from England and Mocha, and to ascertain why they had come to Mergui. They did so, and were civilly received by Richard Burneby and White, whom they informed that their ship was the Gurtana, and that they had been sent by the captain, Anthony Weltden, to find out the harbour of Mergui, as 336 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. they were strangers, but that when the ship arrived, the captain himself would explain the object of his visit. They were then taken, as customary, before the "Duke of the Country," ^ and were afterwards conducted to Samuel White's house, where they remained for the night, and were treated with much courtesy. At supper White expressed his dissatisfaction at not knowing for what pur- pose the Curtana had come ; and his enemy Davenport alleges that the Shahbandar declared that he would " rather go quick to hell than go to Fort St. George to be under the lash of Elihu Yale ; and that for him to go to Fort St. George was just like a man's making a good voyage, and on his return homewards to fall into the hands of Ande- manners." ^ Joseph Weld, the second mate of the Curtana, attests the truth of Davenport's statement, that before leav- ing Mergui, on the following morning, he received a mes- sage from Samuel White to Captain Weltden, to the effect that if he " came in a friendly manner, no man should be more kindly treated or more honourably received than he should be in Mergen, but if he came in a hostile manner, he himself would come at the head of two or three thousand men to oppose him and defend the place, for he was the King of Siam's servant, and would serve him faithfully." White sent the officers away in his own barge, with a pilot to bring the Curtana into port, and on the following morning the ship anchored about two miles from the town, and a mile and a half within the bar. In the course of the day, Messrs. John Threder, John Grant, Hendrick 1 By "Duke of the Country " the this is probably due to the ferocity Chao-Muang, or hereditary gov with which they attacked all stran- ernor of the province, was doubtless gers who approached their shores, meant. The Portuguese translated and small blame to them, as their these and other native titles, accord- hostility is due to the treatment ing to their fancy, as Duke, Marquis, which they received from the Malav &c., and other European nations and Chinese traders who visited the adopted them. islands in search of Mehe-de-mer and ^ The natives of the Andaman edible birds' nests, and who, when Islands. — Colonel T. Cadell, V.C., opportunity offered, carried the na- Commissioner of the Islands, has tives off into slavery. " The Scottish recently said, " They have always Geographical Magazine for February had an ill name as cannibals, and 1889. WELTDEN LANDS AT MERGUI. 337 Barnes, and Francis Davenport put off in a native boat, and visited the Curtana, and had a long conversation with Captain Weltden on the quarter-deck, and shortly afterwards Don Joseph de. Heredia appeared in Mr. White's barge to take Captain Weltden ashore. The landing took place in the following order: first went Captain Weltden in White's barge, attended by John Far well, Lieutenant Benjamin Mason, and Mr. Joseph Olindo, the barge being doubtless commanded by Don Joseph de Heredia ; then followed the yawl of the Gurtana, steered by John Long, the carpenter, and carrying Mr. Grant and Francis Davenport, whilst Hendrick Barnes' country-boat ended the procession, carrying the captain's guard, consisting of " six Blunderbusses and six Fuze-men." As the barge, with the Union flag flying at its bow, left the vessel, a salute of eleven guns, " shotted with stones,'' was fired about three o'clock. The landing took place at Mr. White's wharf, where Captain Weltden was re- ceived by the Shahbandar and Mr. Burneby, and all the English, except some of Mr. White's servants. The ceremony of reading the King's proclamation took place in Mr. White's drawing-room, and when it was finished the English residents of Mergui unanimously expressed their willingness to obey it, and evinced their loyalty by crying aloud, " Amen," after Mr. Farwell had repeated the words " God save the King ; " and " to certifie their com- pliance with his Majestie's pleasure," those who could write signed a paper "expressing much satisfaction in Captain Weltden's arrival to carry them to Madras," while those who could not write made their marks. White records that when the royal command ordering him to leave Mergui and the service of the King of Siam was made known to him, he resolved to obey it with all dutiful submission. On the following day, the declaration of war against Siam was proclaimed to the English residents, who were informed that they were all from that moment to consider Y 338 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. themselves out of the service of the King of Siam, and that if anything was due to them, they were entitled to reimburse themselves from the King's coffers, and that they were to be in readiness to repair on board the Curtana. White protested that the King owed the men nothing, and that he was responsible for their salaries, and that as several of them held places of trust, it would be " most unreasonable that they should have such a latitude given them to play the rogue," and urged that he should be allowed to settle their claims; and to this arrangement Captain "Weltden ultimately agreed. "White then dismissed all the Englishmen in the service of the Eling, and informed them that he would pay whatever was due to them. Although an order had been issued by White that no one was to go on board the Giirtana without his sanction, the deceitful coward Davenport was found one night making his preparations to accompany Captain Weltden to his ship. He was accordingly ordered back by Mr. Burneby, and on his arrival at White's house, he was seized by Burneby's Lascars, his rapier taken from him, was manacled and carried off to the common gaol at Tenas- serim, where he remained for some days, until he was released on the intercession of Weltden. On the 28th June, according to Davenport, a " firm peace for sixty days," had been concluded pending the transmis- sion of the Company's letter to Ayuthia, and the arrival of the King's answer to it. On the day following, the ship James, the consort of the Curtana, arrived in Mergui harbour, and Armiger Gosline, her commander, was ordered to ride near the Besolution opposite Mr. White's house, to prevent the crew taking the vessel to the other side of Banda-makhon,! and to fire upon the Besolution if it offered ' The Banda-makhon o£ Daven- Survey of India from the work port is the island that forms the accomplished by them in the seasons western side of Mergui harbour. In 1877-78 and 1879-82, the island the preliminary chart of the Eastern bears no name ; but its two promi- IVontier Series, prepared by the nent points, Pauta and Patit, are officers of the Great Trigonometrical indicated, they having been used by THE SHIP 'RESOLUTION.' 339 to stir from its moorings or attempted to go up the river. The Resolution, however, was a formidable ship, armed with twenty-two guns, and, moreover, on the wharf, near Mr. White's house, there were no less than "eight or ten the Survey officers as stations for their observations. The island de- rives its name from the peak Pawta or Pataw. In the map of the northern part of the Mergui Archi- pelago published by James Hors- burgh, hydrographer to the Hon. East India Company, February i, 1S30, and corrected at the Admiralty up to June 187 1, this small island is called Madramacan ; bat I could find no native of Mergui vi/ho knew it by this name, as it is invariably called Pataw. Tovrards the nor- thern part of the eastern shore of the island there is, however, a locality which the inhabitants of the town of Mergui call Buddha-mahhan, and I am disposed to think that Madra- macan is a corruption of this word. It is said to have derived its name from the circumstance that a Ma- homedau saint called Buddhar Udin resided there. The legend about him is that he came fron^ the north by sea, and being attracted to the northern part of Pataw by its natural beauty, he built a hut on the banks of a small stream where it enters the sea, and where lies a huge boulder on which he meditated for forty days, receiving from God whatever he asked for in his prayers. The Mahomedans in consequence called the place Buddhar TJdin's makhan. It is a curious circumstance, however, that the place is reverenced alike by Buddhists and Mahomedans, and by the dhinese of Mergni. The Buddhists, after the custom of their religion, affix gold leaf to the boul- der, whereas the Chinese leave small squares of brown paper ornamented with a representation in gold leaf of their deity who patronises seafaring men. ColonelSir Ed ward Sladen informs me that the promontory at Akyab known as "the Point" is called by the Arakanese Buddha Malcan, after a Mahomedan saint, Buddha Aouliah, who chose it as a place of residence, and passed the greater part of his hermit life there. The place and its surroundings are re- garded as sacred by all creeds and classes of natives residing in Arakan. Buddhists, Mahomedans, and Hin- doos all come, and either worship or solicit intercession with the unseen powers as a, means of deliverance from evil, or success in any proposed worldly undertaking. " One of the large boulders on the ridge has been hewn out so as to represent a natural cave, which is said to have been the actual residence of Buddha Sahib ; " and Sir Edward mentions that on an immediately adjoining boulder there is a small Mahomedan mosque. On still another boulder, more sacred ttan the rest, a dome has been built, " because it contains a. footprint of Buddha, as well as an impression or indenture made by him when he knelt in prayer or went through other devotional ex- ercises." "Hindus," according to Sir Edward Sladen, ' ' are said to have been the first who discovered the saint's supernatural powers. He is by them supposed to exercise an influence over marine affairs and navigation ; " and in verification of this I have the authority of that accomplished Hindu, Babu Pratapa Chandra Ghosha, that Hindus, especially the women of Lower Ben- gal, on going on a pilgrimage by river or sea, generally drop a few coppers into the water as an offering to Buddha Udin, saying, Darya-Jca pdnck payse Buddhar, Buddhar I Is it likely that the Mahomedans have appropriated some legend about Buddha Gautama ? 340 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. guns laden, and the shot lying by, ready to clap into them.'' Great preparations were also begun for the defence of the river, and, according to Davenport, they veere made by the command of Samuel White, and were carried out under his supervision ; which is more than likely, as the Shahbandar was answerable for the safety of the port, and would have been culpably remiss in his duty had he not done so. He afterwards acknowledged to Weltden, that he was respon- sible for the construction of the defences. Had he dis- regarded the trust reposed in him, or had he attempted to play the traitor by leaving the port undefended, the Council of Tenasserim would certainly have prepared for the pro- tection of Mergui under the serious aspect which affairs had now assumed, war having been proclaimed, with a truce of only sixty ^ days granted to admit of an answer being received from the Siamese Government. The defences consisted of staking up the river and constructing great- cables, and the building of a platform on which fifteen big guns were placed, " whole and dimyculvering." ^ These works were ckrried on by day, and by night with dammer lights, torches for which Mergui has long been famous.* Captain Weltden, perceiving how rapidly the ' In the Historical Abstract it is a,ll the available deck space taken up stated that the truce was for sixty with dammer torches. The oil used days, but Captain Weltden records in their preparation is derived from that it was only for forty. one or more species of the genus X>ip- " A culverin nearly corresponded tei-ocarpui, huge forest trees yield- in construction and appearance to ing an oil of superior quality. The the guns of the present day. Many species of this genus are known to culverins were made of enormous the Burmese as Kanyeen. I was in- length, as the " idea was entertained formed at Mergui that the British by ancient artillerists — founded on Government levies a tax of Ils.5 per the relation which cannon were head on all permanently employed in erroneously supposed to bear to this trade, and of Rs.3 in those cases small arms — that the range increased in which the occupation is only oc- with the length of the piece." — Par- casionally resorted to. In 1880-81 rows Military Encydopadia, vol. i., 232 licenses had been granted, yield- 1885, p. 437. " Whole and dimycul- ing a revenue of Rs.1703. vering" would seem to mean that A working party generally con- small and large culverins were used, sists of four or five persons. Each 3 The steamer in which I went to party usually selects a spot where Mergui left that port for Penang with the trees are numerous and close WELTDEN SEIZES THE 'RESOLUTION.' 341 river was being stockaded, resolved to pull up the stakes and to cut the great cables in pieces as they lay on the shore, and to spike all the guns in both forts, and this too in a time of truce ; and he carried out his determination so far, and pulled up a great many of the stakes or piles. The position of the Resolution now occupied his attention, and as the ship lay under the command of the guns of the forts, he determined to seize the ship during White's absence at Tenasserim, where he had gone, accompanied by William Westbrook, the surgeon of the Curtana, and two other officers, Messrs. Freeman and Olindo. With a strong guard of soldiers, and the Union flag at the boat's bow, he started at nine o'clock a.m. on the 9th July to carry out the seizure of the vessel. When he arrived alongside, he armed himself with a pair of pistols, and ordering his men to do the same, he sprang on board, and called out, " I do seize this ship in the name of the King of England, to the use of the Honourable Company." He placed his second mate and boatswain in charge of the vessel, and ordered his own gunner to see all the guns together, conditions that are neces- wood is mixed with the oil. A leaf is sary in order to make their labour laid into a mould made from a split pay. The process for extracting the bamboo and the mixture poured into oil consists of cutting a hole into the it, and the remainder of the leaf is bole of the tree three or four feet turned down on to it. This is then above the ground, and making it removed from the mould and another more or less cup-shaped, so that it leaf is wound round the mass and receives the oil as it flows Qjit ; bound with fine strips or cords of and to stimulate the flow a fire is bamboo to give it firmness. It is lighted in the hole. A man can then allowed to dry in the sun until work forty] trees a day, but each it becomes solid, and the torches are tree is generally allowed a rest of tied up in bundles of twenty-five, four days, so as not to drain its They are highly inflammable, and resources dry ; but the process kills are never put below on the steamers a tree in four or five years. Each that carry them to Penang, and a man can collect about thirty-four plentiful supply of water is always pounds daily from forty trees, the kept on deck ready at hand, iu case value of this being about one rupee, they ignite. The working season lasts from four In 1880-81, 222,400 torches went to six months. The oil is largely to Rangoon, valued at 5832 rupees, used by fishermen and agriculturists and a, large number to Penang, to for lighting purposes, is also em- the value of 7971 rupees ; and 12,862 ployed in polishing wood, and mixed gallons of the oil were exported to with lime it is used for caulking Rangoon, representing 4931 rupee s. boats. For qaaking torches decayed 342 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. drawn, and loaded again with " round shot and pateridge," in case the forts should oppose the vessel heing taken away ; but meeting with no opposition, the Besolution was anchored the same eveningbetween the Curtanaand the eastern shore. The natives, on their part, continued to pour in great numbers into the town, numerous war-boats appeared on the river, a battery was erected in a wood commanding the Curtana, and looo bottles were filled with gunpowder to be used as shells. On Mr. White's return from Tenasserim, he was aston- ished, and at first indignant, that the Besolution should have been seized ; but Davenport asserts that he came to an understanding with Weltden, and that the two were stricter friends than ever ; and one of the charges brought against Captain Weltden by the Company was that he had been " corrupted by Mr. White's arts," although " he was true to his trust at his first arrival at Mergen."i The James was now moved to a new position, and anchored nearly in front of the lower fort, in order to awe it. On the 1 2th the war-boats had become so numerous, that the river in front of Mr. White's house was crowded with them. Captain Weltden, before going on board his ship at night, sent Lieutenant Mason to the Shahbandar to say that "those unaccustomary numbers of armed boats were no arguments of any friendly design." White replied that the boats only contained a few harmless feUows come to sell betel-nut, but that since Captain Weltden apprehended danger, he would go along with him on board his ship, and be his guard, which he accordingly did, " running down- stairs like one distracted, without hat, slippers, or any- thing but his nightgown and a pair of drawers." On arriving on board, we have the picture of White in the foregoing costume entertained by Weltden, with plentiful supplies of liquor, each toast as it was drunk ^ being ratified ' Answer of the East India Com- of the Company's captains, as in the pany. p. 4. Court Minutes there is a resolution, 2 This had been an old custom dated so far back as the isth Jan- IBEGINNING OF THE INSURRECTION. 343 by a salute, the guns being loaded either with bullets or stones. No less than sixty-four shots were fired before the carousal was at an end, and more would have followed had not the night been so wet. After such a revel the Shahbandar did not go ashore until the following afternoon, but the punch of the pre- vious evening seems to have molified him to a wonderful degree, as Weltden was able to announce that White was prepared to give up Don Joseph de Heredia's ship ; and that as the Don had no cargo for the vessel. White himself would load it with masts, yards, timbers, and planks, chiefly for Captain Weltden, and that he would also send down the Dorothy from Tenasserim as soon as it was rigged, to be under the command of the Gurtana's guns, and that he would deliver Joseph Demarcora's ship at Tenasserim to Captain Weltden, if he would send up some one to take it over. Suspicious rumours continued to fly about, and the number of armed boats in the harbour did not diminish, but Captain Weltden went ashore on the morning of the 14th July, 1687.^ Between nine and ten o'clock at night, those on board the Ourtana saw the flashing and heard the reports of a great number of small fire-arms, followed by the firing of the great guns of both forts, and afterwards by those of the hidden battery in the wood. The small fire- arms were apparently discharged near the Shahbandar's house, which was soon enveloped in flames, as was also the shipyard. They thought also that they observed a vessel on fire a little above the great battery, her masts standing out plainly in the middle of the flames, and two uary, i6io, against unnecessary ex- which included a number of the pense of powder, " shooting at drink- Company's servants, and some of his ing of healths, &c." It was thus favourites the interlopers, they made a. favourite accompaniment of all "great mirth and jollity by firing carousals, and it is recorded (Hedges' guns all the aftemoone." Diary, vol. i. pp. 137, 138) that at a 'In the Gazetteer of British Bur- dinner-party given by the unfortu- mah, vol. ii. p. 382, it is erroneously nate Captain Lake on board his ship said that this attack took place in the Prudent Mary at Balasore, and 1695. 344 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. loud reports led them to believe that the vessel had been blown up by the ignition of her magazines. Their conjec- tures as to what all this meant were not removed until midnight, when Captain Gosline of the James, with his mate, MuUins, and four others, came on board the Curtana with the horrifying intelligence that all the Englishmen in Mergui had been massacred by the natives, and that the James had been completely destroyed by the great guns from both forts, and that they themselves had escaped with great difficulty to the Curtana. Those on board the latter vessel supposed, very naturally, that Captain Weltden and all his guards ashore had fallen before the fury of the multitude ; so the officers held a council to determine what was to be done for the safety of the ship, which being within the bar, was at the mercy, it is said, of more than one hundred " Saldmandgilias" and fire-boats. At the council were Zachary StUgo, chief mate, Joseph Weld, second mate, Arthur Hoddy, third mate, William West- brook, surgeon, John Long, carpenter, Thomas Johnson, boatswain, and William Beck, gunner. They all with one consent resolved, for the safety of the ship, to drop down below the bar into deeper water, away from the sandbanks, and this precaution was not taken a minute too soon, for a raft of bamboos, all on fire, was seen coming down rapidly upon them with the strong ebb. So quick was its progress, that they had to cut the cables of their two anchors, and man the boats to keep ahead of the ship, and to tow it the right way. Captain Gosline, with some of his men, was sent to look after the Resolution, and brincr that vessel after the Curtana, but the officers of the latter, after crossing the bar, losing sight of the former vessel in the darkness of the night, rendered greater by a gust of wind and rain, concluded that the Resolution had not been able to cross the bar ; but when the Curtana had got into seven fathoms of water, those on board heard a gun fired from the Resolution, and answering it by another, immedi- ately anchored. Shortly afterwards Mr. John Harris came MASSACRE OF EUROPEANS. 345 on board the Curtana with the news that Captain Weltden and Mr. White had escaped the massacre, and were on hoard the Resoliition. The former was reported to have been wounded in the head, and had sent for the doctor, who went immediately to his assistance, but with a message from the ship's officers asking him if he could not return to his ship, to send them a line in writing to signify that he was alive, " for it was hard to 'think that all his guard should be cut off, and only himself escaped." On the following day the Curtana kept moving about in deep water below the bar, and in the afternoon Captain Weltden joined his ship, and at once ordered the vessel to stand up towards the Resolution, where it anchored, and Mr. White went on board, and held a consultation with Weltden regarding the propriety of sending a crew in the long-boat over the bar to recover the two anchors, and a topsail which had been left on shore on Pataw island. Some of the men declined to go on account of the great number of war-boats about, while others Were prepared to accompany the captain ; but in the evening, the dead body of Mr. Olindo, "driving by the ship's side miserably mangled, put a stop to the pursu- ing of that hazardous undertaking any further."^ On the next morning another proposal was made, viz., that the Captain and Mr. White should go in person with the crew, " double or trebled armed," round the back of the island of Pataw, to ascertain whether Mr. White's house was standing, and still held out against the natives, and if it were so, they were to fight their way through to the relief of the survivors. This proposition was considered hazardous and unreasonable, as Captain Gosline had stated that Mr. White's house had already been in flames before he left the James, and, moreover, not only the river, but the island of Pataw was thickly lined with boats, and the Dorothy and Roiin had been seized by the natives. How- ever, it was resolved to attempt it, and the boats were pre- paring, when the body of another Englishman was taken 346 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. up near the ship's side, more haclced and mangled than the first. This incident determined the Captain to abandon the enterprise, and letters were written in- Portuguese, Dutch, and English to the chief of the Council of Tenas- serim, containing a proposal for the redemption of any Englishmen still alive, and these letters were sent ashore in charge of two of Mr. White's Lascars, with a flag of truce. Nothing has been recorded as to the result of this attempt to save any Englishmen who might have escaped from the massacre. On the night of the tragedy, Captain Weltden had supped with White. Supper having been finished, and the guard having been ordered to proceed to the barge which was to take Weltden back to the Curtana, White accompanied his guest with some ceremony to the wharf where he was to embark, and, while the two were cour- teously taking leave, an infuriated mob of natives rushed out from the darkness, and Captain Weltden was felled to the ground by a tremendous blow on the head, but the force of the blow was broken by his "beaver hat." His assailant was made to bite the dust by Aires, the sturdy gunner of the Curtana. White escaped and rushed on board the barge, and ordered John CogshiU to push off the boat and make for the Dorothy. Although Captain Weltden had been stunned by the blow and left as dead, he recovered consciousness, and ran to the back of the Shahbandar's house, his escape being unobserved in the darkness, owing to the black clothes he wore. There he met a Mahommedan, who showed him the barge driving up along the shore with the flood, and rushing towards it through the mud, and being fortu- nately observed by the trumpeter, he was pulled in, and thus saved. The barge was then directed to the north end of Pataw, as they thought this would be the easiest and surest way of escape ; but as they noticed what ap- peared to be two great man-of-war boats on the outlook, they ran the barge into the bushes of a mangrove swamp. ESCAPE OF WELTDEN AND WHITE. 347 where they were hidden, and remained two or three hours, when, taking advantage of the obscurity caused by a gust of wind and rain, they pulled out again, and arrived safely on board the Resolution. The two ships left the mouth of the river on the i8th July, and made for the fine large bay on the eastern side of King Island, where they anchored, to await the arrival of the vessels White had sent to Acheen, as he was not yet aware that any of them had been captured by the East India Company's ships of war. Leaving this splen- didly wooded bay and its surrounding mountains, they took up a position to the east of Iron Island, to com- mand a better view of the northern entrance to Mergui harbour; but they were driven from their position by the natives, who had followed them up with the Dorothy, Phaulkon, Bobin, and James — for this sloop had not been destroyed, as was at first supposed — and with thirteen or fourteen boats ready to attack them. They were there- fore forced to leave this second anchorage, and to make for the seaward face of Iron Island, where they anchored between it and the island of Canaster. They remained in this neighbourhood for some days, still in the expecta- tion that the ships, in which White had a heavy stake, would soon come in sight, but as they did not appear, and as he wished to wait a few days longer for them, the Curtana sailed to Negrais. While there. Captain Weltden surveyed the place and hoisted the English flag.^ He then returned on the 2nd November to the north end of Tenasserim island, which had been fixed as a rendezvous for the two ships, but the Eesolution was nowhere to be found. However, on going ashore, he dis- covered a bottle containing a letter from White saying he had gone to Acheen. The Shahbandar knew he could quite safely leave such an object on any of the more westerly- islands of the Archipelago, as they were uninhabited, and only rarely visited by those sea-gypsies, the Selungs, 1 Oriental Repertory, vol. i. p. 103. 348 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. Captain Weltden hurried after him in the Curtana, and arrived in the harbour of Acheen on the loth November. There he wrote a letter to the President and Council at Fort St. G-eorge acquainting them of the massacre, and dispatched it by a ship sailing for that Presidency ; but it only arrived at Madras a few days before he did. A report of the disaster had, however, reached the President and Council at Fort St. George in December, and the substance of it they at once communicated to Sir John Child at Bombay.^ In their letter it is said that Weltden, " 14 days after his arrival at Merge, upon the Publishing y^ said Proclamation, all y^ English very loyally and unani- mously submitted thereto, and layd down their Commis- sions and employment from y? King of Syam, resolveing to repair thither (Fort St. George)." He then, according to his instructions, " sent letters up to y^ King of Syam, and made and kept a truce till 40 days for answer but after 14 days expiration y^ natives broak it makeing an Insur- rection and by night surpriz'd and assaulted y° English most inhumanly and treacherously masakering most of them ashoar to" a great number none of them escapeing that we yet hear of but Captn. Weltden and Mr. Samuel White." The President and Council also informed Sir John Child that the natives had taken the James, and destroyed all her men except the captain, who escaped on board the Curtana. Phaulkon, they said, "is much suspected to have been y° occasion of y". villany, and that he has continued it at Syam to the murdering of all y1 Englishmen they saye amount not to less than 200 souls the allmighty avert it, or revenge their innocent blood upon his head and y^ Place w"? has been fatall to many." If the facts given in this letter represent the sum and substance of the report to the authorities at Fort St. George, the omission of any reference to Weltden's acts in pulling up the stakes in the river and seizing the Hesolution, described in the account of his conduct after- ' Letter Book, Fort St. George, igth December, 1687, J.J. b. 2, 3. RICHARD BURNEBY KILLED. 349 ■wards published as an ofBcial paper at Fort St. George, on the 30th January, 168^, from information supplied by five of his own officers, was a very serious omission. In the official narrative of the events these two acts preceded the outbreak by the natives, so that the truce which Weltden had proposed, he himself was the first to break. After it had been so disgracefully brought to nought, the con- fidence of the Council of Tenasserim in the good faith of the English, must have received a rude shock, the anger of the populace must have been aroused, and doubtless more treachery anticipated. The entire evidence points to the conclusion that the massacre was solely due to an outburst of indignation at Weltden's rash proceedings and treachery in breaking the truce. The native Council, indignant at these insults,^ determined to crush the English, and consequently selected a time and occasion when this could be most effectually accomplished, and when it would place the offending cap- tain of the Curtana in their power. From the manner in which the attack was begun, it is evident that Captain Weltden had been singled out as the person to be first destroyed. When it was known to his guard that he had been attacked, they at once opened fire on the multitude, and doubtless, as the encounter was at close quarters, they wounded many, and probably killed not a few, which added fuel to the fire of the hatred of the populace; and the guards being soon overwhelmed and killed, bands of excited natives rushed about the town carrying the sword into the house of every Englishman in Mergui, not even sparing the easy-going governor, Eichard Burneby. Burneby was doubtless too much occupied with his own ease to know what was going on, whereas White must have been aware of the popular excitement that supervened on Weltden's pulling up the stakes and seizing the Besolution, ' Crawford says the massacre was lishmen in authority." Loc. cit., "to all appearance provoked by the vol. ii. p. 143. intemperance and arrogance of Eng- 350 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. but flattered himself that it would pass away, and that the people would remain quiet until the answer had arrived from Ayuthia. The fact of his accompanying Weltden in ceremony to his barge unattended by the guard, which had been sent in advance, is evidence that the Shahbandar did not expect any, attack that night, although he had appa- rently anticipated some outbreak sooner or later, as he had sent away the wives and children of Captain Cropely and Mr. Tutie to Tenasserim for safety. The circumstance that he took refuge in the boat when the attack was made shows that he well knew what his own fate would have been if he had remained on shore. If he had been the instigator of the outbreak, and had determined to defend Mergui against the attacks of his own countrymen, he was not the man to desert his post. The statement in the foregoing letter that a number of Englishmen had been massacred at Ayuthia, for by " Syam " the capital was meant, is entirely without foundation. But to return to the Curtana and Resolution. They sailed in company from Acheen to Madapollam, and then went in the direction of Madras ; but Weltden, who ' had declined to apprehend White, although some of his crew had urged him to do so and carry him to Madras, parted company with the Resolution, on the 24th December, and sailed alone to that port, but carrying the following letter ^ from White to the President : — "From on board y^ Kesolution, December 24'!", 1687. " Ef HONO^^^ AND Worthy S? " Yours to Mr. Eich? Bumeby and myself came safely to hand by yl Curtana and y? dismal fate since attend- ing us, has left me alone to answer it wherin I should have been more particular, could I recollect y! con- tents, y^ originall w*> all other of my papers, with other ^ Ind. OflE. Rec, J.J. c. 13. WHITE IN THE 'RESOLUTION' OFF PULICAT. 351 more momentary concerns being then lost ; y^ most ma- teriall as I remember in it was to demand us in his MEfj'f Our Eoyall Soveraign and y? E' Hono^^ East India Comp* names, from y° King of Siams service, -w*f v/f- and all other yo^ commands, how readily they were complyed w'? none can better informe you y" y* bearer Cap* Anthony Weltden, not only from our selves but all his Maj*? sub- jects under our commands since v/'f all y' has befell us Cap' Weltden will not be wanting to render you a faithfull ace* of ; whereto please to be referred. " Since our comeing from Mergen, haveing notice from Captain Weltden y* to secure such ships of yt King of Siams as was y" supposed to be come from Acheen, and gone to Mergen y° better to prevent his encountering y"? he resolved thither, and as I beleived my self obliged made him tender of my ship fpr y". Hon''!^ Comp'^' service as he should see good to appoint her, whereupon he was pleased to bono' me w'j' y^ copy of his Maj'f our Soveraigns Eoyall Comission annexed to such instructions as was concluded might prove most beneficial to his Hono''!'' Employers. "Some urgent occasions requiring my appearance at PoUicatt will detain me here some days, but not y' I intend w'? all possible speed to wayte on you at Madras, w° if in person or n' else I may be capable of doing y^ E' Hono*"!' Comp* any acceptable service. I shall not fail to embrace y° proposition as y° greatest bono' that can be conferred on " E^ Hono*!' and Worship S^ Yo^ most obed^ Servant, " Sam^.' White." White, however, did not proceed to Madras, but sailed away shortly afterwards. The authorities at Fort St. George^ accused Captain ' Letter from Tort St. George to Sir John Child, dated 17th January, 1688. J.J. b. 2, 3. 352 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Weltden and Mr. White to Sir John Child of great re- missness and neglect in the management of the Mergui affairs, which they said had been confirmed by some Frenchmen, doubtless the Count de Forbin and MM. C^bert and Ddandres of Pondicherry, who arrived off Madras in January, 1 688, from Mergui. The President and Council of Fort St. George were of opinion that White was conscious of some misdemeanour, as he had not brought his ship into Madras, but had " silently crept away to Pondicherry," where he remained, probably under French colours, until he had provisioned his ship, when he sailed for Europe or Bombay, but they hoped he would go to the latter port, when Sir John Child might call him to account The authorities at Madras, when they heard that White had gone off, sent a ship to follow him to Pondicherry or Portonova, to seize him and convey him to Fort St. George, to be examined by the Court of Admi- ralty; but White had lost no time at Pondicherry, and the very day the pursuing ship was to leave Madras news arrived that the Resolution had left Pondicherry; so the chase was abandoned and White reached England in safety. Before the President and Council at Fort St. George had become aware of the disaster a,t Mergui, the attitude of King James II. to the affairs at that port had deter- mined them to send another ship to Weltden's assist- ance, with additional soldiers and officers, "with 4000 Doll?, stores, ammunition, &c., sufficient to storm and maintain the place." Two officers were carefully selected for the task and to be in readiness to administer the government when Mergui should be invested. The two officials selected for this onerous mission were Mr. William Hodges and Mr. John Hill. The former had had great experience, as in 1682 he was second councillor at Bantam when the young King rebelled against his father and made the place over to the Dutch, was at Tonquin in 1682, and at Ayuthia in 1686, having returned to Fort St. George in THE 'PEARL' SENT FROM MADRAS. 353 the beginning of the following year in the Dragon, com- manded by Captain Anthony Penn. The Directors in London had brought prominently before the Council at Fort St. George the fact that the French had dispatched a powerful embassy to Ayuthia, accompanied by a considerable body of troops, and that the French were aiming at supremacy at Ayuthia and Mergui.^ So impressed was James the Second with the importance of counteracting French influence, or at least of modifying it, that he had apparently made up his mind to allow no consideration to stand in the way of securing Mergui to the crown of England. He had accord- ingly sent his "express letter" to Messrs. Burneby and White at Tenasserim, ordering them to return, or " deliver up that place to ye English." The frigate Pearl, Captain James Perriman, was selected as a suitable vessel for the purpose, and on the 29th August, 1687,^ the captain was ordered to repair immediately on board his ship, and to weigh anchor and sail for the port of Mergui, using all means for the most expeditious at- tainment of that port, the Eight Honourable Company's affairs greatly requiring it ; and their order continues thus : " Therefore you must touch at noe place in yo' way nor make any delayes but w' an absolute necessity and upon yo^ arrivall there, you are to follow the orders of the Wor- ship'? William Hodges Esq. &c* Council appointed by our Commission and Instructions, dated 22 Aug', 1687, who goes upon yo^ ship, to whom being Chief, you must give the Chair, and pay all Eespects to him, and Mr. John Hill third of our s*? Council alsoe Mr. John Burlue their Secretary allowing them the great Cabbing for their accom- modation w^ all other conveniencys yof ship affords and y' our souldiers and seamen want nothing convenient for them during the voyage, and y^ you keep a due Gdvernm^ aboard, in all thing both Eeligious Civill and Military 1 Letters from President and Council to Fort St. George, 29th Sept 1687, &o., Letter-book J.J. b. 2, 3. '' Ibid. Z 354 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. and that you husband the stores and ammunition w*?" all prudent frugallity keeping a daly and just accot of their expence, wee have alsoe put aboard you 6 slaves to whom you are to allow necessary provisions and cloths employ- ing them, on the service of the ship, w°? by yo^ care in a voyage will make them seamen and save the charge of Laskars and be certain to the ship soe wishing you a good voyage we date these pres*'." In a letter from the President and Council at Madras to Sir John Child, dated 29th September, 1687, it is stated that the Fearl left for Mergui on the 29th August " with his pres* Maj'f Koyall Proclamation, for the recalling his subjects from the King of Syams service," and that Mr. William Hodges and Mr. John Hill, &c., were " to prose- cute the E^ Hon''!^ Coyf orders in y^ affair ; '' and the Presi- dent and Council ventured to say that they hoped Mr. White, &c., " will understand, their alleigiance, duty, and interests better, and prevent the trouble of a dispute, by a ready, quiet surrender of the place, which is otherwise design'd for the French, and will certainly fall into their possession." The President and Council were aware that five French men-of-war and two thousand soldiers had gone to Siam for that purpose, but they hoped to be beforehand with them. " The only scruple will be from the want of his Maj*r Eoyall Lre of Command to M^ White and Burneby which they never dared to have dis- obeyed, and it 'twas an unhappy misfortune that it went upon the Bengal Merch^ a vessel which would arrive to late to admit of the letter being sent to Mergui that Monsoon." It was not until 13th April, 1688, that the arrival of this ship was reported, bringing the desired letter from his Majesty King James the Second to White and Burneby, nearly a year too late for the purpose for which it had been written. The President and Council of Fort St. George also wrote on the nth August, 1687, to Job Charnock and his Council at Bengal,^ that King James ' At this period Bengal was under Fort St. George. J.J. b. 2, 3. THE ROYAL LETTER. 355 the Second had " sent his Express Lre to Mr. White and Mr. Burneby at Tanassere to return or deliver up that place to y? English and we are now sending a ffriggatt to join w*> those sent in June last to summon our People thence or to take the place." They also wrote to White giving him " all the assurances of the reality of that Lre and its import," and sent to him attested copies of several clauses about which the Company had written to them, in the hope that their perusal would influence him to accede to the royal command, and that so their faithful and zealous endeavours would be crowned with success, and Sir John Child would be satisfied that they had not deserved the censure he had passed on them regarding their management of their affairs in Siam, " for God knows that this Council have been far from being obliged by Phaulkon."^ Twenty-four days after its departure from Madras, the frigate Pearl, with Messrs. Hodges and Hill on board, was lying off King Island, a large island to the west of Mergui. There, Captain Perriman espied two ships, and sailing towards them, he came within speaking distance of one which he noticed had an English " anticut " dyed red. He hailed it, and in reply was informed that the vessel be- longed to the King of Siam, and was commanded by Captain Cropley. He ordered the captain to come on hoard the Pearl, but in return received a flat refusal, and was told he might send his boat to him. This defiant answer, and the suspicious character of the colours the vessel was Hying, made Perriman suspect that he had fallen in with pirates, of whom he was aware there were several on the coast. He therefore, without further hesi- tation, put on all sail, and coming up with the ship, fired a broadside into her, which, however, was returned. After this his opponent tacked, and taking the other strange vessel in tow, the two made off in the direction of Mergui pursued by the Pearl. Perriman's ship, however, was soon out-distanced, and night coming on, he had no course left ^ Tort St. George Letter Book, J.J. b. 2, 3, 29th September, 1687. 3S6 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. but to drop his anchor and wait for the morning. At day- light he sailed for the harbour, and to his astonishment saw thirteen sail of men-of-war and galleys bearing down upon him. At this sight his courage abated, and hastily calling his officers together to consult as to what course he should adopt, and arriving at the conclusion that the galleys " must be rogues to yt King of Siam," it was resolved that a ilag of truce should be run up from the mast-head. Another reason assigned for so doing was the circumstance that their provisions were all " stinking " and their water almost spent, and that there was no other place near to which they could conveniently run for safety. The fleet of vessels was soon upon them, when Perriman again assumed the air of command, and ordered Captain Cropley to come on board his vessel, but with the same success as on the previous occasion. He then reconsidered his position, and as his. flag of truce was still flying, he had to succumb and to send a boat and some men to Cropley's ship, on reaching which they were all detained, but a boat was sent to him with an English pilot to take the Pearl into the harbour. Those on board the ship now learned for the first time that fifty Englishmen had been massacred in the rising, and that Burneby and Captain Leslie had been killed, but that Captain Weltden and Mr. White had narrowly escaped. The facts connected with the departure of the Gurtana and Besolution were also communicated to them, and they were told that a Frenchman, spoken of as the Eaja, now held Burneby's appointment, and that peace and quiet reigned in the town. The Pearl anchored in the Tenas- serim river on the 24th September, where the Expectation commanded by Captain Tyler, a French vessel, and two ships belonging to natives of India also lay at anchor.^ On the 4th October, Mr. Hodges and Mr. Hill set out for Ayuthia, apparently having been forced to do so by the Siamese and French officials at Mergui, for their commis- ' Letters received at Madras. A Letter from James Perriman, dated Mergen, 24th December, 1687. J.J. c. 13. HODGES' ACCOUNT OF THE MASSACRE. 357 sions never contemplated such a proceeding. Indeed, when this ne-^'s reached the'authorities at Madras they wrote to Sir John Child ^ that they knew not " upon what autho- rity or necessity," or for what end or design " they had gone to the capital," unless it were " to expose themselves &ct to the scorn and cruelty of the Treacherous Tirant Phaulcon but whether they are living or murdered or what become of their Friggat the Pearl, God knows." The Com- missioners, on reaching Ayuthia, found the second embassy from Louis XIV. at Louvo, and that the attention of the court was fully occupied with it, so that they did not expect to be listened to until the French ambassador had left. Their reception was at first decidedly inimical, as they were "severely confined and used," along with a hundred Englishmen, one report said; but they were soon released and well treated, the King promising to furnish Hodges with a ship for his transport, and to send ambassadors with him in the hope of bringing about a peace. Hodges wrote to Mr. John Littleton and Mr. John Style- man at Madras,^ that he had made the massacre at Mergui " his business upon the place," but he did not believe " much or anything, and did not know what to advise." The result of his inquiries was that most people agreed that thirty- three Englishmen and twenty Portuguese had been killed ; but Samuel White, who must have known the number of Englishmen who were in Mergui at the time of the massacre, says about sixty of his countrymen were slain. It was afterwards ascertained from the French that only three Englishmen, of all who had been at Mergui, had escaped, and that they were saved by some Dutchmen who hid them. The women and children, about ten in all, were untouched. The French at Mergui gave no assistance, and were charged with having been consenting 1 Letters from Madras. A Letter '^ Letter from Louvo, dated 12th dated 13th September, 1688. J.J. December, 1687. Fort St. George b. 2, 3. Diary and Consultations. J.J.a. r, 9. 358 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. spectators of the massacre ; but, when this grave indict- ment was made, the two nations, "France and England, were contending for Mergui, so that the feeling between the two peoples was anything but friendly, and this accu- sation was doubtless recorded when the animosity was at its height. While at Louvo, Phaulkon had promised to show Hodges a letter he had received before the tragedy occurred, signed by Cropley, Triggs, and two other Englishmen, in which he was told that Mr. White and Mr. Burneby intended to make their escape in a ship belonging to the former. On the strength of this letter Phaulkon issued orders to the Siamese governor at Mergui to prevent their leaving. Mr. White also had written to him that ten English ships were arriving with hostile intentions against Mergui, and that it would be impossible to defend the port. Orders had therefore been sent to Samuel White to "deface the place and go to Siam." Hodges had also learned that the seizure of White's ship, the Besolution, by Captain Weltden had aroused the Siamese governor's suspicions, and had led him to consult with some rascally Dutchmen, who appa- rently had counselled the massacre of White and Burneby — a conspiracy to which he was afraid Captain Cropley was privy. The massacre, Hodges had ascertained, had been carried out by a " parcell of people made drunk, and mad," and who therefore "proceeded without any other consideration, then the more they murder'd, the more would be their prof&t." In fact, it appears to have been a viuch on a large scale. The native governor was apprehended at the instance of the Siamese Government, and sent to Louvo, on the suspicion that he had connived at the massacre, which was afterwards confirmed by a French source; and Captain Cropley was also made a prisoner, and, when Hodges wrote, was in confinement at Louvo. Hodges had been told that when the governor was to be examined, his flesh was to be pinched dff with hot irons, and that one Dutchman and several natives HODGES' ACCOUNT CONTINUED. 359 had. also been seized, and were likewise in prison at Louvo. It was stated that the King was extremely grieved about the massacre, and was resolved that all who had had a part in it should be made to suffer. The President and Council of Fort St. George, after they had learned all the salient facts regarding the catastrophe, called aloud for vengeance, and were certain that^ "the King and Comp^ will never put up soe great and unheard of a villany as soe inhumanly to surprise and destroy our people in Cold Blood under the pretended security of a truce w* instead of excusing, the great and Base wretch impudently owns and vindicates the action ; " and they also add, "tis also well known twas done by his private ex- press order w'J'ought the King's Priviewe. The innocent blood of these men 80 strangled English cryes allowed for vengeance and we doubt not but Just Heaven and our masters will see it revenged." It is, however, conclusively shown, as already stated, on the evidence adduced by the Company themselves,^ that their own officers, and not the Siamese, were the first to break the truce. Moreover, the charges they laid at Phaulkon's door are not supported by the evidence col- lected by Hodges on the spot, apart altogether from the other considerations already passed under review. In estimating the value to be attached to the foregoing state- ments of the President and Council at Fort St. George, it should be borne in mind that they as a Council still re- tained a vivid recollection of the injuries their trade and prestige had suffered, from Captain Coates' hostile actions against the King of Golconda, in 1685, and of which they regarded Phaulkon as the moving spirit. In December 1687, shortly after the arrival of the second embassy from Louis XIV., the King of Siam ^ Letter from the President and Impartial Narrative of Captain An- Council of Tort St. George to Sir thony Weltden in his Management John Child, 13th September, 1688. of Affairs in his late Mergen Ex- ^ The Answer of the East India pedition, p. 5, para. 18 and 20. Company, Appendix E. True and 36o ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. issued a proclamation declaring war against the East India Company, the outcome of their hostilities at Mer- gui. It was, of course, to be a naval war, but to be care- fully confined to the seizing of ships belonging to the Company ; and in this line of action his Majesty was very consistent, as we learn from De la Loubke ^ that the King of Siam, in his maritime wars, " proposes to himself only some Eeprisals from some of his ISTeighbours, from whom he believes himself to have received some injury in Trade." So far from declaring war against the English nation generally, the proclamation contained a clause giving liberty to all English freemen to trade in Siam. Effect was given to the proclamation in the early part of 1688, when two men-of-war manned by Frenchmen were dispatched from Ayuthia to lie in wait and capture the English ships bound for China; while others were sent out from Tenasserim under French colours, with similar aims against the English trading-ships in the Bay of Bengal. In March of that year, the Council at Madras were informed that a ship supposed to belong to the King of Siam had been seen at Cuddalore, but the French Director at Pondicherry claimed it as French. On the 30th April, the English agent in Portonovo reported that a ship flying French colours had arrived there, and that a boat from the ship having made for the shore, two of the crew fled to the factory for protection, and offered their services to the English. They informed the agent that the ship had recently left Tenasserim, and that it belonged to the King of Siam, and was bound for Persia, and had several of the King's mandarins and servants on board, and that it was the intention of those on the ship to surprise the factory that night and to seize the Company's estate, and that the boat in which they had landed had brought arms for twenty men to execute the deed. The agent, thus fore- warned, at once seized the boat, and attempted also to take ^ Op. cit., p. 92. TROUBLES AT PORTONOVO. 361 the ship itself, but failed to do so, the ship's crew re- taliating by seizing a vessel belonging to the Company, and carrying it off to Pondicherry. The troubles of the agent and of his comrades at Porto- novo did not, however, end here, for the Siamese ship's company so stirred up the Mahratta Government, that they at once sent their troops to Hesiege the English factory and to cut off the water and provisions, so that the lives of the English and the Company's estate were in great danger. The Bengal Merchant, Dragon, and Bochesier were sent to their assistance and in pursuit of the Siamese ship, and of another that was expected at Pondicherry ; but on the 2nd May a report reached the agent that " the ship flying French colours was returning with great numbers of Prench and Siamese to assault the factory." This, fortunately, however, proved to be untrue, and, on the 4th May, news reached the agent that the Company's ship which had been seized and carried to Pondicherry had been restored, and that the differences between the two Governments had been settled. The Fearl remained at Mergui at first "upon truce, though not without apprehension of danger;" but the vessel appears to have been afterwards seized by the Siamese, in accordance with the King's proclamation of war, as it is recorded that Mr John Hill, who had returned to Mergui, informed the authorities at Madras, through an Englishman in the Prench service, that he had been released with the Pearl. This happened a short time before the great revolu- tion in which Phaulkon was killed, had broken out at Ayuthia, and which was doubtless a direct, but unlooked- for, result of the second embassy from Louis XIV. to the King of Siam. The events connected with the advent of this embassy will form the subject of the concluding chapter of this work ; but before proceeding to it, the further movements of the Pearl may be recorded. After leaving Mergui with Mr. Hill on board, the vessel was driven by contrary winds 362 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. to Malacca. Leaving that port, it sailed to Acheen, where Captain Perriman " quarrelled with a Siam sloop manned by Frenchmen, and forced her to cut and run ashore," ^ and took the captain prisoner — an act of hostility in a neutral port, so resented by the Queen of Acheen, that for >a short time she kept all the English in imprison- ment. ' The Fearl did not reach Fort St. George until nearly the 22nd December, 1688.^ It was the first to bring the news to India that a great revolution had taken place at the capital of Siam, that the King was dead and Constance Phaulkon beheaded, report said, because he had conspired to kill the King. Two days afterwards a French man-of-war arrived from Mergui, bringing a letter from Mr. John Threder confirm- ing the news received by the Pearl, and reporting another massacre at Mergui and at Ayuthia. The former town had been in the possession of the French, but towards the end of June, 1688, they were driven forth by the Siamese, and had to escape by sea, and in their flight to their ships thirteen men were killed; and this was the massacre to which Threder referred. No general massacre of Euro- peans took place at Ayuthia in the seventeenth century, but the French were attacked, and doubtless lost some men, and many Europeans were also imprisoned there in that year. Shortly after the arrival of the Pearl, Mr. John Hill and Captain James Perriman were called up before the Council on the 24th December, and were questioned regarding the discharge of their commission, where they had been, and how they had disposed of their time and concerns since their departure ; but as the subject was found to be too lengthy for discussion, they were ordered to submit a journal and diary of their voyage and affairs, with an ■■ Letter from Fort St. George to ° Minutes of the President and Sir John Child, 13th November, Council, Fort St. George, 22nd De- 1688. cember, 1688. REVOLUTION AT SI AM. 363 account of all new transactions and concerns of mo- ment.^ The news of the revolution at Siam, and of the death of the King and execution of Phaulkon, were transmitted to the Court of Directors by the first ship that sailed for England. ^ This document probably exists among the Records at Madras. ( 364 ) ^ CHAPTEE XL FRENCH EMBASSY OF 1687. Tub second embassy sent by Louis XIV. to Siam was organised on a more magnificent scale than the mission of 1685. Two envoys-extraordinary were sent, one, M. De la Lonb^re, to represent the King, and the other, M. C^bert, to~act^as envoy for the French East India Company. Father Tachard, historian of the first embassy, who had gone to Paris with the Siamese ambassadors, returned with them in the suite of M. De la Loubfere, who was also ac- companied by the Bishop of Eosalie. The Jesuits, now at the height of their ascendancy in France, under their obedient patron Louis XIV., were represented by twelve \ fathers. The dignity of this embassy was upheld by a body of 1400 armed men,i commanded by M. Des Farges, a field- marshal of France. It represented politics, commerce, and religion, backed and supported by a small army, a conception worthy of Louis and his Jesuits, but, notwith- standing, doomed to ignominious defeat. An embassy so constituted could not but attract the notice of our countrymen, who had been so deeply inte- rested in Siam long' before the French Company appeared at Ayuthia in 1680. "We consequently learn from a Lon- ' H. Martin, Histoire de France, zette, 1687, it is said several oom- t. xiv. p. 29; says a corps of troops panies of troops, was sent ; but in the London Ga- LANDING OF FRENCH TROOPS AT BANGKOK. 365 don source ^ that the embassy sailed from Brest on the 2nd March, 1687,^ in a squadron composed of three men- of-war and four other ships.^ This imposing squadron anchored in the road-stead of the Menam river on the 27th September, 1687.* As the troops had now been for over six months at sea, the first matter to occupy the attention of the ambassadors was their removal from the ships and the provision of suitable quarters for them on land. The forts at Bangkok, which had formerly been under the governorship of the Comte de Torbin and his successor M. Beauregard, were under the command of an old Portuguese captain when the embassy arrived, and were garrisoned by a few Portu- guese, Englisli, and French troops, but the mass of the soldiery were Siamese, who had been taught the French exercise of arms by the Count de Forbin, and afterwards by an Englishman who had learned it from the Count.* Forbin had left for Pondicherry, and M. Beauregard had been sent to Mergui after the massacre to pacify the Eng- lish and Siamese. It has been stated® that the troops had been sent in response to a request made by the King of Siam to Louis XIV. through his ambassadors ; but from all that has been written on this subject, it would appear that the idea was first broached by the Jesuits as a means of strengthening their position and that of their nation, and was eagerly adopted by Pliaiilkon for similar reasons, as he had now cast in his lot with Frauce. The King, however, seems to have been astonished and to have had his suspicions ' London Gazette, Paris oorre- 17th January, 1688, it is also said epondent's letter, No. 2223, iSth that there were only that num- Maroh, 1687. ber. ^ In the Second Voyage du Pfere * Second Voy. du P^re Tachard, Tachnrd, Paris, 1 689, p. 16, it is p. 143 ; New Hist. Relation of Siam, said the embassy weighed anchor on De la Loubfere, p. I. the 1st March. 1687. ' A New Historical Relation of 'In H. Martin's Histoire de theKingdomof Siam, London, 1693, Prance, t, xiv. p. 29, it is stated p. 91. that there were only nix, ahip.-i ; and * Pallegoix, op. cit., t. ii. p. 174. in a letter to Sir John Child dated 366 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. aroused by the arrival of so large a body of armed men, and at first emphatically declined to permit them to land ; and the diplomatic Phaulkon would not give his consent to their disembarkment until a treaty which he had drawn up, doubtless to calm the suspicions of the King, had been signed, but the provisions of which we do not know. It was, however, ultimately arranged by Phaulkon that they should land, and that they should garrison the forts at Bangkok on both sides of the river, and also Mergui, where atort was to be built by them. General Des Farges, who was accompanied by his two sons, both captains in the army, was appointed to the command of the troops at Bangkok. After the ambassadors and troops had landed, the letters and presents from the King of France were presented to his Majesty of Siam in public audience, and probably on the same occasion the honours Louis XIV. had sent to Phaulkon were conferred on him. From the Eecords of the India Office^ we learn that Phaulkon was made a Count of France and a Knight of the Order of St. Michael and St. Peter, and had bestowed on him many valuable gifts, accompanied by a letter from Louis XIV., who addressed him as his loving cousin and councillor.^ He at the same time received a number of presents from Pope Innocent XI. M. C^bert, the envoy representing the Compagnie Fran- Qaise, and his son, were the first members of the embassy to leave Ayuthia. Constant Phaulkon urged the envoy to delay his departure, as, in view of the disfavour with which the English and the Dutch were then regarded, no time could have been more auspicious for securing from the King for the Compagnie Franqaise a sound and lasting position at Ayuthia. M. Cebert, however, pled that he ' Letter from Fort St. George to Indies. Alex. Hamilton. Vol. ii. Sir John Child, dated 17th January, p. 172. Hamilton says, " The King 1688. of France complimented Mr. Falcon ^ A New Account of the East with the Order of Knighthood." ELIHU YALE ENTERTAINS FORBIN. 367 had been intrusted with another mission, which would not admit of further delay, as he had to proceed to the court of the Great Mogul to delfver a letter from Louis XIV. A private interview was accordingly arranged towards the end of November, when he and his son were received by the King, and a few days afterwards they departed on their journey to India. They first travelled overland to Mergui by boats, elephants, and palanquins, accompanied by a great retinue of mandarins. On arriv- ing there, they embarked in a ship belonging to the French Company, which had been sent over to meet them, and on which were M. Delandres of Pondicherry and the Count de Forbin, who had proceeded to the latter town from Ayuthia. The vessel went first to Madras, and when Elihu Yale heard, on the 14th January, 1688, that it was lying off the port, he and his Council sent the " Frendh padre " ^ to " salute those on board, and to inquire what news they brought.'' The padre reported that "the French King's ambassador to the King of Siam, also Mons. Delandres,^ were on board," but that 'they begged to be excused coming on shore, as their business required them to hasten on to Pondicherry, but they sent the Chevalier de Forbin to return their salute, inform them of the news from " Siam and Merge," and to deliver a letter from Captain Perriman of the Pearl, which was lying at the latter port at the time they were there. The Count de Forbin relates,^ that when he went ashore, Elihu Yale, whom he mentions as the English Director, carried him off to his house, where he gave the Count a great dinner, and that a salute was fired in his honour. The company drank to the health of the King of England and to Him of France, and to the two royal families, the cannon thundering out a salute as each of the toasts was given. Forbin mentions that Phaulkon was not spared ^ Letter from Fort St. George to ^ In Forbin's Memoir he is called Sir John Child, dated 17th January, Delande, tome i. p. 228. 1688. ' Op. cit., tome ii. p. 238. 368 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. during the repast, and as he describes his host, Elihu Yale, as Count Phaulkon's sworn enemy, we can well credit this. The ship afterwards sailed to Pondicherry, where M. C^bert, his son, and Forbin embarked for Brest, where they arrived in July, 1688, nothing more having been recorded about the letter the envoy was to deliver to the Great Mogul. M. De la Loubfere and the rest of the embassy left Bangkok on the 3rd January, 1688,^ with a letter from the King to Louis, and with three mandarins in charge of it, and a number of Siamese youths to be educated in France. He was also accompanied by Father Tachard, who went as envoy-extraordinary from the King of Siam to the King of France and to the Pope. The movements of Pfere Tachard, and of the mandarins who accompanied him, after they had arrived in Europe, were occasionally noticed in the newspapers of the day. A correspondent of one paper ^ wrote from Paris on the 1st February, 1689: — "The Sieurs Mandarins have had a private Audience of the King at Versailles. T. Tachard, a Jesuit, there presented his Majesty with a Letter from the King oiSpain (evidently a misprint for Siam), and Com- plemented him in the name of the Prince. The Mandarins at their entrance and going out, made the usual Salutations by prostrating themselves after the mode of their Countrey." And in another newspaper* it is said : — " Our letters from Faris of the 21st. Instant, give the following Account (viz.) that the Siamites Ambassadors had their first Audience, being conducted in the King's Coaches from Paris to Ver- sailles, to whome they kneeled down and prostrated them- selvs. Father Tachard a Jesuit, Interpreted their Speech and Letter of Credence, and informed his Majestie of the Multitude of Christians the Jesuits have made in Siam, their Lodging is at the Hottel of Extraordinary Ambassa- dors, in the Fauxbourg St. Germain." ' Op. cit., p. I. ^ The London Intelligence, No. lo, 1689. ' Harlem Currant, No. 2, for 14th Tebruary to 19th February, 16S9. CONSPIRACY OF THE MANDARINS: 369 The country appears to have remained perfectly quiet after the departure of the embassy, but when the time arrived for dispatching the French troops to garrison Mergui/ the suspicions of the mandarins as to the ulti- mate intentions of the French were excited. Four com- panies of troops were sent overland, under the command of Lieutenant or Major Debriian,^ who was aided by three captains, three lieutenants, and three ensigns. M. Beau- regard, the late governor of the Bangkok forts, was also sent, accompanied by P^re d'Espagnac. When the King of Siam fell ill, in May, 1688, at his royal palace at Louvo, the leading mandarins met secretly, unknown to the King or to Phaulkon, and intrusted the management of the affairs of the kingdom to Phra-Phet- Eaxa. This man had been originally a fruit-seller,* but by his abilities had raised himself to the high position ^ It has been stated by Hassel in the 14th vol. of Gaspari's " Yollstdn- diges Sandbuch der neuesten Erd- heschreibung," entitled " VolUtan- dige und neueste Erdbesch. der beiden Ostmd Halbmseln so wie der Vwder- imd Hmtermdischm Ins.," &o., Dr. G. Hassel, Weimar, 1822, p. 822, that King Islaijd, the largest island of the Mergui group, and therefore called by the Portuguese Ilha Grande, was made over to the French by the King of Siam for the establishment of a French colony, and for the prosecution of their trade ; but that they never took possession of it. Hassel gives Forrest's Voyage from Calcutta to the Mergui Archipelago, published in 1 792, and "Walter Hamilton's East India Gazetteer, 1S15, as his autho- rities for the information contained ia his article on the Mergui Archi- pelago, I.e., pp. 822-823, but I have not been able to find in these works any passage supporting Dr. Hassel'a statement that the island was ever made over to thte French by the Siamese Government, beyond For- rest's remark that "The French used to frequent King's Island near Mergui, and taught the natives how to build ships, not only there, but at Rangoon in Pegu." Forrest's visit to the islands was made in 1783- The French, however, did make use of the island, in some way, pro- bably as a place of rendezvous for the ships of war, and a recollection of their connection with it survives to the present day in the name of the large bay on its eastern side, which was spoken of to me at Mergui as " French Bay " by Captain John Butler, who was Deputy-Commis- sioner of the district when I visited the Archipelago in 1881-82. ^ The name of this officer is some- times written Bruham and Bruant, but Tachard uses the form adopted in the text. ^ Alex. Hamilton, I.e., vol. ii., London ed., p. 175, on whose autho- rity the above statement is made, derived his information regarding Phra-Phet-Kaxa from Mr. Bash- poole, who had held the office of private secretary to Phaulkon. 2 A 370 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. of generalissimo of the army, and had recently returned the crowned hero of the Cambojan and Cochin-China campaigns. This conspiracy brought about the revolution in Siam of 1688, which has been described by various authors, but by none more graphically and circumstantially than by the anonymous writer of that curious book published in 1690, entitled "A Full and True Eelation," &c.i This ■work does not appear to have been known to Crawford, Pallegoix, or Bowring. The King had chosen his adopted son, or son-in-law as he is sometimes called, to be his successor on the throne, but in doing so he had given great offence to the noble,s, as the youth was a Christian, under the sway of the Jesuits, and in their eyes a creature of the French.^ They were resolved to prevent his succession, and to accomplish this, they determined to strike a blow at French influence, and selected Phaulkon as their first victim. After his destructioa the King himself died, either a natural death or was treacherously killed,^ and then in quick succession his brothers, his adopted son or son-in-law, and his only daughter, the princess or wife of the latter, were murdered, but in no common fashion. These royal personages were first tied in sacks of the finest velvet, so that they might 1 The followiDg is the exact^title it under the FJiBNOB'DominaMoa. of this work : " A Full and True Being the substance of several letters Relation of the Great and Wonder- writ im Ootob. 1688 and Pebr. ful REVOLUTION That hapned 1689. From Siam, and the Coast of lately in the Kingdom of Siam, In Cokomandel, Never before publisht the East-Indies. Giving a particu- in any Language, and now translated lar Account of the Seizing and Death into English." of the Late King, and of the Setting " Kaempfer gives a somewhat dif- iip of a Nev? One. As also Of the fereut account of the origin of the putting to Death of the King's only revolution, and ascribes it chiefly to Daughter, His Adopted Son who Phaulkon'e action, who,,he says, had was a Christian, his two Brothers ; conspired against the rightful heir And of Monsieur Constance, his to the throne, with the object of great Minister of State, and Favourer placing the adopted son of the King, of the FRENCH. And Of the Ex- a Christian, on the throne, pulsion of all the Jesuits, Mission- ^ Letter from Madras to the Hon- ary Priests, Officers, and Soldiers of ourable East India Company, dated the FRENCH Nation out of that January, l68f. Kingdom, that endeavoured to bring TRAGIC END OF PHAULKON. 371 not be polluted by the touch of any vulgar hand, and then no ordinary "instrument of mortality" compassed their deaths, as their lives were clubbed out of them with great bars of the sweet smelling eagle-wood, each sack with its mangled burden being then cast into the Menam. Towards the end of 1688, the authorities at Fort St. George^ wrote to the Court of Directors in London that they had " lately rece? strange news of the Great Eevolu- tion at Siam, the late King, about May last, being seized with a tedious and mortal sickness at Levo. His General a Siamese, some time before his death, possessing himself of his Pallace and garrison privately sending, for Phaulkon in the Old Kings name to come to him in haste upon some pretended urgent business, who no sooner within the palace gate at Levo, but his guards were- surprized and himself confined a prisoner by the General,, and after some days severe usage and torture for the discovery of his estate 'fee., was igno-miniously brought out to public execution and beheaded aind his body cut to pieces, and the poor mangled Phaulkon scattered among the clawing vultures, and his great estate and family seized for the King's service." Before he met his doom, Phaulkon " took his Seal, two silver Crosses, a relic set in gold, which he wore on his breast, being a present from the R>pe, as also the Order of S' Michael, which was sent him by the King of France, and deliver'd them to a Mandarin, who stood by, desiring him to give them to his little Sbn,"^ who, when Kaempfer was there, went begging with his mother from door to door. These facts prove that the East India Company had been misinformed when they stated * that Phaulkon had sent the boy to Prance to be educated as a Papist. The wife of Phaulkon was a Japanese lady, the daughter of honourable parents. Christian refugees from Japan.* The ^ Letter from Madras to the , ^ Answer of the East India Com- Honourable Bast India Company, pany. London, dated January, i68f. ■* Pallegoii, op. cit., t. ii. p. 407. ^ Kaempfer, loc. cit., p. 21. 372 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Jesuits spoke in the highest terms of her bearing under her sufferings after the death of her husband ; and Alexander Hamilton, who saw her in 1719, when she was honoured with the superintendence of the King's confectionery, says she had gained the respect of the court and city by her prudence and humanity to natives and strangers. In view of her Christian character and kindly womanly nature, as evinced in her conduct to those around her, a story told by Ksempfer to her discredit had better be left untold. Phra-Phet-Eaxa, having disposed of all possible com- petitors to the throne, proceeded against the Christians as a body, imprisoning the French, English, and Portu- guese;^ but according to the foregoing letter in the India Office, the Dutch " remained so much in favour as made them suspected to be at least privy to the con- spiracy." i. The Prench officers who were at Louvo, hearing of the severe measures that had been taken with the Portu- guese, and especially with the English, among whom were Hodges and the members of his mission,^ resolved to escape from their semi-imprisonment to the French factory at Ayuthia; but they were intercepted on the way, and carried back to Louvo, suffering so great hardships on the road from the hands of their military captors, that one of their number died. At Louvo they were chained two and two together by the neck, and cast into prison, along with thfeir servants, and all the other Frenchmen resident at that town. Nothing of what had been taking place at Louvo was known to the French either at Bangkok or at Mergui ; but ^ The Portuguese, however, must the natives, whereas formerly they have lormed a very unimportant part had been the most powerful and of the European population of the influential merchants in the whole capital, as Van Vliet mentions that kingdom of Siam. in 1690 they were reduced to a few * Letter from Madras to theHon- miserable half-oastes, who were in- curable Company, dated January distinguishable by their colour from i6Sf . TREACHERY TO THE FRENCH. 373 as the French were too numerous and strong to be dealt with in a body, like the Portuguese and comparatively few English, the leading spirit of the revolution determined if possible by stratagem to induce the French commanders at Bangkok ^ and Mergui to vacate those forts and bring their troops either to Louvo or Ayuthia. He accordingly sent as messenger to General Des Farges, at Bangkok, one of the mandarins who had been to France, with a request that the General would come to Louvo to consult with the King on urgent business. Utterly unsuspicious of any deception on the part of his old friend the mandarin, now Phra-klang, Des Farges at once resolved to proceed to Louvo, and started by water on the 7th June, accompanied by his two sons and the Phra-klang. Certain scenes he witnessed on the way to Louvo, and the hurried manner in which the journey was made, and in which he was conducted to the palace without being first permitted to visit the Jesuits resident in that town, tended to excite his suspicions. Once in the palace or castle, he was visited by Phra-Phet-Eaxa, who proceeded to lay before him the object for which he had asked him to come to Louvo. But at first he explained to Des Farges that Phaulkon had been killed by order of the King, as he had mismanaged the duties with which he had been intrusted. This blow to the French cause, the news of which now reached M. Des Farges for the first time, of course confirmed his suspicions, and thus led him to exercise the greatest circumspection in what followed. Phra-Phet-Eaxa then stated that the King was at war with the Cochin-Chinese and the people of Laos, and that as they threatened to invade Siam, he wished all the French troops from Bangkok and Mergui to march against them to prevent the invasion of the kingdom. He had there- fore sent for M. Des Farges to request him to order up his ' The accounts given by D'OrleaBS tioulars, as does also Ksempfer's. and by the author of the " Full and The above account is taken chiefly True Relation" differ in many par- from the 'Tull and True Relation." 374 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. soldiers from Bangkok, and hadwritten to Major Debriian calling on him also to return to Louvo with his troops. M. des Farges saw plainly now that "these Proposals were nothing but a mere contrivance, and like so many Snares that they had laid to catch him ;" so he replied "That the King of France, his Master, had sent him to serve the King of Siam, and that he was now ready to obey his Commands : But that he thought it highly necessary to go himself in person to Bancock, to bring the Soldiers with him, in regard that the Officers that commanded in his Absence, would not quit the fortress upon a bare Letter." This seemed so reasonable, that he obtained leave to return to the fort, but he had to leave his two sons behind him as hostages for the performance of his promise. He had also before leaving to write a letter to Major Debriian, ordering him to return with his men to Louvo, but he "did so disguise his Hand and Stile, by chusing such extravagant Terms and unusual Expressions, as that Mon- sieur Bruham might know, in case the Letter came into his hands, there was some further Mystery in it, and that he was not to give Credit to it ; and by good Pro- vidence, it fell out just as he could have wished, the Letter being received and understood in the Sense it was designed." ^ M. Des Farges, on his return to Bangkok, drew all his men into the larger fort, and destroyed all the buildings outside by fire,* and spiked every gun he could not carry away from the deserted fort. Phra-Phet-Eaxa, finding that his designs were discovered by the French, sent a large body of Mahommedans, Chinese, and Malays to besiege the fort, " with orders to cut all their throats." The French believed that the Dutch ^ had assisted the Siamese against the French in the siege. The determined bravery, how- ever, of the two hundred* French soldiers in Bangkok ' A Full and True Relation, &o. Revolutions arrivdes h, Siam," p. 8, ^ Madras Letter, January l68f . it is stated that he had only two ' In Des Targes' "Relation des hundred troops with him. ' DEATH OP THE KING. 375 withstood a siege of two months, and repulsed every attack with great loss to the enemy. In order to try and bring about a capitulation, Phra-Phet-Eaxa ordered the Bishop of Metellopolis to be stripped and tied to a gibbet, with a halter about his neck, at the spot most exposed to the fire of the French cannon, and in view of his beleaguered countrymen. This method of treating prisoners seems to have been a favourite one with the Siamese in those days, as Ksempfer ^ relates that a Buddhist priest of Pegu who had plotted against them, in 1689, was dealt with much in the same way as this priest of Eome. While these deeds were being transacted, all the French in Ayuthia and at Louvo were treated with great severity and cast into prison, and the French Jesuits and missionary priests throughout the kingdom were seized and carried to Louvo, and their goods confiscated. The determined bravery of the little French garrison brought its reward, as, on tlie 25 th July, the Bishop of Metellopolis was freed from his gibbet and halter, and sent into the fort to negotiate a peace with M. Des Farges, and, shortly after this, the report was spread that the King was dead, but the day and manner of his death were unknown. Phra-Phet-Eaxa then left Louvo in great state, and was crowned King of Siam and Tenasserim ^ at the capital, in the beginning of August, 1688. In the Madras letter to the Company it is said that " had the Siamese General not anticipated him, Phaulkon would have seized the crown for the French King and himself the Plott wants only a few days for execution." * On the 30th September peace was' concluded, on the conditions that the French surrendered the forts at Bang- kok, and that all the troops with their officers should leave the kingdom, the Siamese undertaking to provide two ships for their transport to Pondichery, and to supply provisions 1 Hist, of Japan, vol. i. p. 24. and Trade of the ^ast and West ^ Hid., p. 23. Indies, by G. J. F. Kaynal, 1776, ' See also A Philosophical and 8vo, vol. i. p. 410.J Political History of the Settlement 376 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. for the voyage.^ On the conclusion of this treaty, all the French and English who had been made prisoners were liberated, and were brought together to Ayuthia; but in another account it is said that they were all liberated on the day after the coronation. The President and Council at Madras, in their letter to the Court, written in January i68|, gave the following account of the events that happened after Phaulkon's death ; they say — " Soon after his great patron the old King dyed and supposed by violence, as also his two brothers and Creada, who he intended successor to the Crown, but the General having despatched them all pro- claims himself King engaging all the forces to his interest, and soon after confines all the English and French at Levo and Siam, the Dutch remaining free and so much in favour as made them suspected to be at least privy to the conspiracy, the French say assisting against them in the siege of Bankoke which the French General Mons. Desf argie to the new Kings summons, he brought down 20,000 men against it, and after a few weeks dispute brought the French to surrender upon honourable conditions and to supply them with ships and provisions for their transport to Pulli- cherry. . . ." Shortly after the massacre of the English at Mergui, French influence became paramount and a Frenchman was appointed almost immediately to the high office of governor of the town, poor Eichard Burneby having been one of the victims of the outbreak. Nine months had hardly passed when it was still further consolidated, as in the month of March 1688 Major Debriian^ marched into the town at the head of a strong body of French troops and began the construction of a fort. The Siamese governor at first gave him every assistance in this work, supplying ' Pallegoix, op. cit, t. ii. p. 180. are described from information de- A Full and True Relation, &c., p. 17. rived chiefly from the Mdmoires du ^ In Modern Universal History, Comte de 'Forbin, Amsterdam, 1730, 2nd Div. vol. iii. pp. 398-399, I795> 12"., and Histoire General des Voy- M. Debriian's experiences at Mergui ages, t. xii.p.i75fise2., Hague, 1755. FRENCH ATTACKED AT MERGUI. 377 him with materials and men. The Frenchman, however, noticed, as the work progressed, that the natives, workmen and officials, did not pay to him the same deference as at first, and when he proceeded to carry out an order of the court at Ayuthia to dismantle a small fort occupied by a hody of disciplined Siamese soldiers led by another French- man, and situated on a low eminence commanded by the higher fort he was building, he found himself so vigorously opposed by the governor that he had to desist. He, how- ever, sent a messenger to Constant Phaulkon, lodging a complaint against the governor, but his messenger was arrested on the road. He now received hints from several quarters that a conspiracy was being formed against his countrymen. He therefore proceeded to take steps to secure his own safety and that of his men in case they were attacked in the new and incompleted fort, and with this object in view he seized two small ships, one of which was said to be an English vessel, and the other a frigate of twenty-six guns belonging to the King of Siam. These two vessels he brought alongside the fort, so that they might be easily accessible if he should be driven to vacate the place. The precaution was a wise one, as shortly after- wards, probably about the middle of June, the letter from Des Farges was delivered to him, calling on him to proceed with his men to Louvo, but the General had so suspiciously worded the letter, that Debriian, seeing it unsigned, at once concluded that something was wrong, and declined to com- ply with the order it contained. The Siamese, seeing his determination not to move, proceeded at once to attack him with a large body of men, but he held his position, and re- pulsed every assault. At last they threw up a small battery on a temple near the fort and partly commanding it, and at first their success was considerable ; but Debriian erected another small battery which effectually silenced it, and also knied the chief gunner, a Portuguese, so that the Siamese gave up all hope of being able to capture the fort except by starving out the garrison. A water-famine, however, was 378 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM.' the enemy that was to enter the fort and drive its brave defenders to seek refuge in the ships lying ready for them under the protection of its cannon. The well ran sud- denly dry, so there was no course left but to vacate the fort and retire to the ships. On the 24th June, their exit from the fort was conducted so regularly and orderly, that their besiegers were under tlie impression that they had issued forth with the purpose of attacking them ; and so impressed were they with the prowess of the French, that they retired before them, and left them a free passage to the sea. The glacis, however, of the fort was muddy, and some soldiers who brought up the rear slipped and fell on their comrades immediately in front of them, and a panic being thus created, the- men broke their ranks and rushed off to the ships. The Siamese were not slow to take advantage of this, and attacked them in great num- bers, and killed about thirteen men, others being drowned, whilst one was made a prisoner. Debriian with some of his officers and men withstood the onslaught of the enemy while the rest of his men were embarking. Once in the ships, they managed to escape with the vessels, although they were pursued by some Siamese war-boats. Their troubles, however, were not at an end; but before we follow them farther, the fate of a Frenchman com- manding some Siamese in another small fort has to be noticed. His name has not been revealed, but he kept a diary, which is published,^ and from it we learn that he was not attacked until the 2Sth June, when he was seized by his own troops and made a prisoner, and for four days together was fastened to a stake with iron chains round his body and on his hands and feet. On the 29th he was taken out to be shown his countrymen who had been killed during the heroic defence by M. Debriian. He saw about thirteen dead bodies lying about the glacis. He was afterwards subjected to torture by order of the mandarins command- 1 A Full and True Relation, &o., pp. 19-22. ADVENTURES OF DEBRUAN. 379 ing the army, to force him to declare that he had often heard Monsieur Debriian say, " That his being and com- manding at Morgen was altogether unknown to the King of Siam, and by the order of Monsieur Constance only, on purpose to make himself Master of the Countrey ; and that Monsieur de Bruham expected several Ships with Men, Arms, and Ammunition from France, to enable him to carry out that Design more effectually." The latter part of this charge was very much the same as that which had been brought against Samuel White. The unfortunate Frenchman, after enduring these tortures, was sent over- land to Ayuthia in chains with a French soldier, Picquard,. who had been made prisoner on the day of Debriian's escape. They left Mergui on the 7th July, and arrived at Ayuthia on the 17th of the same month, and on the 1 8th at Louvo. They were then sent along with some other French officers to Bangkok, where they were kept prisoners for a month, but were liberated on the conclusion of the peace. This Frenchman was again sent to Mergui on the 2nd October, accompanied by a mandarin, to find out any tidings about Monsieur Debriian. He arrived there on the 12th October, but could learn nothing regard- ing him. He therefore set sail on the ist November in a frigate belonging to the King of Siam, and visited the estuaries at Tavoy, Martaban, and Syriam, in search of Debriian, but failing to find him, and having to pass King Island, he went ashore at " Seroide, where by some cer- tain marks " he knew that M. Debriian had landed, as he found " some pieces of the French soldiers Cloaths, that seem'd to have been left there on purpose " to let it be known that they had been there. He returned to Mergui on the 12 th November, and finding a ship called Ze Cocq belonging to the French, he embarked in it on the 14th November, and went to Pondi- cberry, to await the arrival of General Des Farges and the expelled troops. In his escape, Debriian was accompanied by M. Beau- 38o ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. regard and by D'Espagnac, the Jesuit. After leaving Mergui they experienced severe storms, and a still greater misfor- tune befell them, as MM. Beauregard and D'Espagnac, on going ashore at one place for provisions, were seized by the natives and made slaves. Those who remained in this ship were afterwards driven on to a desert island, and reduced to the utmost extremity, but at the end of Sep- tember a French vessel put in and took them off.^ They then made for Bengal, but in the roadstead of Balasor they encountered fourteen English ships, and the vessel they were in was seized as belonging to the King of Siam. The ■ captured Frenchmen were first carried to Madras, but were afterwards liberated and sent to Pondicherry, which they reached on the 15th January, 1689. In the letter to the Court, already so often quoted, it is said that the President and Council at Madras had news that the French "fort at Mergee is also deserted where they lost many men in their escape aboard 2 ships in that river, whence they sailed for Bengali where Capt. Heath being informed that the ships belonged to the King of Siam, made prizes of them, intending to send them hither to be tried and adjudged at our Courts of Admiralty which Mons. Martin Director at PuUicherry highly resents in his several complaining letters which were duly answered, assuring him of a just and fair trial for them, and we doubt not but our proofs will fully satisfy them of their legal seizure, and the truth is we have great reason to complain of their injustice to your Hon: Coy. by their owning manning and protecting the King of Siams shipps and trade with frenchmen and their passes and colours, which has deceived us of many considerable prizes, but just Providence hath rewarded their false services, who were lately consenting spectators to the Siamers inhuman massacre of the English at Mergee, were soon after subjects of it them- selves." ^ The Modern Part of Univ. Hist., vol iii. pp. 39S-399, 1759. THE FRENCH TROOPS LEAVE SI AM. 381 General Des Farges and Hs troops, along -with thirty- five Englishmen, left Bangkok towards the end of Novem- ber, 1688, in three merchant ships and a French man- of-war, leaving behind him his two sons as hostages, and also the Bishop of MetellopoUs, who had been likewise detained, to answer by his head for the return of two of the ships and the crews, which had been lent by the King of Siam to carry the troops to Pondicherry. Des Farges, however, took the precaution to carry off two mandarins and the King's factor 1 as hostages, an act which was considered by the Siamese to have been a breach of good faith, which entailed very serious conse- quences to the French missionaries and laity who remained behind, as they were cast into prison and treated with great severity. In a letter in the India Of&ce, dated i6th January, 1689, and written on board the CcescCr, in Acheen Eoad, by Mr. Salwey and Mr. Abraham Navarro, it is stated that they had heard that a French man-of-war and three merchant ships, with all the French and thirty-six English- men from Siam, had sailed out of Malacca Eoad; and in the Eecords of Fort St. George, dated ist February, 1689, a Minute mentions the receipt by the President of a letter from the French General Monsieur " de Fargy," who had arrived at Pondicherry with four ships and 500 soldiers and saying that he had sent the English ashore. In this Minute it is said, "The French forces and interest is totally extirpated that country, none of them remaining except some few priests, who are cruelly condemned to miserable cabins and slavery, upon whose misfortunes the Dutch have greatly advanced themselves, and are now the sole Europe nation settled there, and have engrost the ^ Ksempfer relates that Mon- French, who took from him the proncena, a Siam merchant, aocora- goods that had been intrusted to panied his ship from Batavia to him by the King, and some of his Bangkok, and informed him that own, and had set him ashore at he had been the late King of Siam's Pulicat, where the governor received factor, and in the late revolution, him kindly, and sent him with hia He had been made a prisoner by the famUy to Batavia. Op. cit., p. 13. 382 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. chief trade of the place, excepting Mergee and Tanasserie which are under its native Government." ^ Mr. Hodges remained on at Ayuthia for some consi- derable time after Mr. Hill's departure and after the French had gone. He soon, however, found himself in difficulties, and in a sad condition for want of money; so much so, that he was compelled to draw " two bills of exchange " ^ on the authorities at Fort St. George, for the support of the lives of those that were with him. He embarked in the ship Buby, probably in April or May, 1689, with most of the English left behind at Ayuthia, and arrived at Acheea in the month of June. I'he ship then sailed to Balasor, where Mr. Hodges died.* . It was afterwards found that his long stay in Ayuthia had not been unattended with some good, as he carried with him overtures of peace ftom the new King of Siam, and an expression of his desire to settle all differences with the Honourable Company. Hodges' later treatment at Ayuthia by the Siamese authorities had been very friendly,* and the English had been freely permitted to depart. The Phra-klang had also assured Hodges that the English nation would be welcome to trade as of old, and that they should have all their former privileges and due encouragement.^ Immediately before or after the departure of General Des Earges, the Dutch, who had remained passive during the revolution, now that they had witnessed the destruc- tion of the French attempts to establish themselves in Siam, at once resumed their wonted activity in trade, and on the 14th November, 1688, concluded a contract with the King of Siam — in reality a renewal of an old contract dating as far back as the 12th June, 16 17. In this docu- ment the Dutch agreed to bury in oblivion some recent 1 Ind. Off. Rec, O.C. 5698. Sir John Child, dated January ^ Letters from Mr. Hodges dated 1 68|. 27th August and nth October, 1688. « Letter from Port St. George to ' Ind. Off. Rec, O.C, 5698. Court of Directors, dated 1st Te- * Letter from Fort St. George to bruary, 1690. A DUTCH CONTRACT WITH THE SIAMESE. 383 grievance they had against the Siamese when the offending parties were punished. The Dutch were to make compensa- tion and restoration of some shipping, &c., and they were to be allowed to trade in all the King's dominions on con- forming to the existing regulations. iEhey were also per- mitted to seize and confiscate Siamese junks navigated by Chinese or to " improper places," and to retain the ex- clusive trade in deer and cow skins. Any who had con- tracted debts with the Dutch were to be amenable only to the Dutch President and authorities. The King of Siam was to be supplied by them with from 7000 to 10,000 deer-skins when he wanted them. He was to send no embassy to the "Great Chan" unless the Dutch were at peace with him. The Siamese were permitted to trade freely to all places not at war with the Dutch, but the latter were not to be allowed to attack their enemies in the harbours of Siam. They were to have the monopoly of tin, and the two nations were to give mutual assistance to vessels in distress. In 1690, the French dispatched a fleet of six ships to the Bay of Bengal, on one of which was Pere Tachard and his secretary, and the mandarins who had accom- panied him to France. The fleet went first to Balasor, where finding a Moorish ship going to Mergui, the Siamese ambassadors embarked in it for their own country,^ but P^re Tachard remained on in the Dragon at Balasor. The other five ships, with General Des Farges on board, sailed to the coast of the Malayan peninsula, and appeared off Junk- Ceylon, where a message announcing his return and that the Siamese mandarins had been brought back, was sent over- land to the capital. No sooner did this news reach the King than he ordered all the French priests to be liberated from the imprisonment they had endured, and under the acute suffering of which, many of their number had died. ' Relation du Voy. et Retour des of this book was Mich. Pouchot Indes Orientales, 1693, pp. 232, Chantassin. 238 : according to Stuck the author 384 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. Ksempfer visited the French clergy shortly after they had regained their liberty. He found them "living cheer'fuUy in little houses built of bamboo reed " and his opinion of Monseigneur Louis, the Metropolitan Bishop, was that he was " a Gentleman of profound learning, and thoroughly versed in the religion of Siam and the Lan- guage of their holy books and priests." By his Christian doctrine and exemplary life the pious Bishop had " gain'd so much on the Hearts of his Keepers, as another Paul, that they venerated him as a holy Minister of God Almighty." 1 P^re Tachard, after he had departed from Balasor, went in the Dragon to Pondicherry, and thence to Mergui, where he landed towards the end of 1690. He brought with him a letter from the King of Prance to the King of Siam,. and numerous presents from the Pope to the un- fortunate Phaulkon and his wife. He at once wrote to the Phra-klang informing him that he had brought with him an order from the King of Prance to terminate all the difficulties that had arisen, and to renew the alliance between the two crowns. The news of these fresh overtures from Prance to Siam were quickly brought to the notice of the Company, as in the records of Port St. George there is an entry to the effect that the authorities there had heard that the Prench designed great things for Siam, Tenasserim, and Bengal. The new King of Siam, however, did not confine his attentions wholly to the Prench, as the President and Council wrote about the same time to Sir John Child that the new King of Siam was very anxious that the Company should return to trade in his capital; but they added, " he was not very ready or inclinable to pay their debt." This information, and the previous news they had heard regarding the intentions of the Prench, doubtless led the authorities at Fort St. George to take advantage of a ' Op. cit., p. 22. YALE'S OVERTURES TO THE NEW KING. 385 country-vessel going to Ayuthia, in June, 1690, to address the Phra-klang. This document was, however, only signed by the President, Elihu Yale.^ It begins by congratu- lating the King on his accession, and then at once pro- ceeds to say that " his great and virtuous character pro- mised no less than Justice also to the E' Hon. Comp. and English nation, by a due satisfaction for all the injuries and wrongs they had lately rec"? by means of that unhappy malicious instrument Constant Phaulkon, as also for the several sums and Debts due to us from the late King, on several accounts, as well for money lent his Ambassadors and Persia, and hire for their services and reputation of his people and nation as appears by the copies of their several obligations and accounts herewith sent you, which you may be fully informed in, by Hodjie Sellin the last Kings Ambassador, which I humbly entreat your Excel- lency to recommend effectually to His Majesty, and to receive the same from us, to be sent by this ship which will encourage to our sudden return and trade, and a cessation of all difficulties and hostility, and endeavour always to oblige and secure your friendship, but if these just desires are disregarded and denied us, we must of necessity have recourse to such ways and methods for the recovery of our rights as we are unwilling to, but I am well assured your justice and prudence will prevent any such new troubles, but rather study and contrive all ways to promote the good and honour of your King and country." As time went on, not only the Siamese began to wish for peace, but also the East India Company, as appears from a letter written from Surat to the Court on the 4th May, 1 69 1, in which it is said: "Sometime since we received certain advices from Madras, that the new King of Siam had treated several of our English ships with much civility and kindness, and was very desirous of a 1 The President was at this time at loggerheads with his Gonnoil. 2 B 386 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. peace with us. And your Hon? desiring the same in yours of ii February, and having no employ for your ship ' Benjamin,' ^ we have thought good to send her thither on freight. And shall now only sound the King's inclina- tions towards us without proceeding to any demands till we understand what he offers." The demand made by Elihu Yale on the Phra-klang of Siam met with a quick response from that official, as Yale wrote to the Directors in London on the 20th November, 1 69 1, that the Phra-klang had replied " that Phaulkon and White had wronged the King greatly and owed him much," and that as their estates had been carried to England, the Company should seize them for their satisfaction for what was due to them, as the " King had noe money of the others to discharge his debts with." The authorities of Surat added, " that if this course would not do, the only way to repay yourselves is by continuing the war against Siam, and by sending two small vessels, fitted and manned to Siam's river mouth, or some adjacent island to wait for the junks, there's little hopes of right otherwise, and if they should fail taking those junks, or other their vessels, which can ' Alexander Hamilton, in his Second or Third Hands ; for to my " New Account of the East Indies," certain Knowledge, there were none says that he saw the chaplain of the then at Surat or Bombay that could ship Benjamin, and that the ship furnish him with any tolerable Ac- went on a voyage to Acheen and counts of some Countries that he the Straits of Malacca, but that describes, particularly of the Growth the chaplain stayed at Bombay and Nature of Tea, and shews its Bush and Surat, "employed in his minis- very prettily among his Cuts ; which terial Duties, and in making his in- Accounts are not easily procured, genious Observations and Kemarks, even in China, much less at Bombay." which he publishedwhen he returned The author mentioned by White to England, for which he received a was F. Ovington, M.A., Chaplain greatApplause,andm«nyEncomiums to His Majesty, and also of the from some of his Reverend Brethren, ship Benjamin. His work is en- and a particular Compliment from titled "A Voyage to Suratt," &c., the Governors of the Church ; yet I but the title-page extends to nine- know that his greatest Travels were teen lines. It was published in in Maps, and the Knowledge he had 1696 ; but in the copy I have exa- of the Countries any Way remote mined I have not been able to find from the afore-mentioned Places was a,ny illustrations of the tea-plant, the Accounts he gathered from com- and in describing which he says, mon Report ; and, perhaps, those " It is very doubtful if the shrub Reports came successively to him by bears any flowers upon it ! " YALE'S PROPOSALS REGARDING SIAM. 387 hardly be avoyded, Your ships may soon after that season ' go to China to take in lading of Sugar, Allome, Tutenague, China root^ &c grief goods to bear the charge of the voyage, and this course to be yearly practised, till you are righted, and twill bring them the sooner to complyance, and to differ with them can be no prejudice to your Hon'^ Europe trade that country affording few or no goods proper for England, besides the late rebellions and revo- lutions has ruined the trade, their outrages and exactions frightening most from dealing with them. There is a late flying report, that the new King is cast off too, and a new rebel in his place, if so their divisions and confusion will make them and their ships the easier conquest, they are realy and justly greatly indebted to your Hon'? to several particular persons who would willingly contribut towards your Hon'? charge for the recovering your own and their debts, which we humbly refer to your Hon" considera- tion and orders therein." ' Elihu Yale's proposition that certain of the residents at Madras, in all probability of&cials of the Company, and himself doubtless one of their number, should be allowed to contribute to the prosecution of a war with Siam, is a revelation of how extensive must have been their private trading transactions with that kingdom. The Company's answer to this remarkable proposal has not been traced, but Yale's private trading exploits were considered so suspicious that he was not permitted to leave India until 1699. His brother Thomas,^ however, departed in 1694. The claims of the East India Company to the exclusive trade of the East were disallowed whe'n, in 1690, the House of Commons decided that all Englishmen had an equal right to trade in the Eastern seas, unless prohibited by Parliament, "Any merchant of London or Bristol ^ " A once famous drug, known as Radix Chinae and Tvier Chinae, being the tuber of various species of Smilax." — Yule-Burnell Glossary, p. 153. * Ibrt St. George Consultations, February, 1694. See App. G. 3B8 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SIAM. might now fit out a ship for Bengal or for China, without the least apprehension of being molested by the Admiralty or sued in the Courts of "Westminster. No wise man, how- ever, was disposed to stake a large sum on such a venture. For' the vote which protected him from annoyance here left him exposed to serious risks on the other side of the Cape of Good Hope." ^ George White, however, at once -took advantage of the new law and returned to India, but he soon experienced that what was law in England was treason at Fort St. George and Surat. From the Eecords of the former factory,^ it appears that the President and Council proceeded against one of their captains for the offence of his vessel having been seen in the company of the Hendy, an ' interloper ' of which "White was supercargo and who is described as one of the Company's most in- veterate enemies, and of having done so notwithstanding Sir John Child's positive orders against holding corre- spondence with such caitiffs. But shortly after "White had reached Surat in December, 1694, he learned, via Alexan- dretta and the Euphrates Valley, the overland route of those days, that his principals had disposed of the ship and its cargo to the East India Company ; so that when he appeared at Surat, and was threatened by the Com- pany's servants, he had to undergo the humiliation of explaining what had happened, and had to plead that he was a servant of the Company. This must have been a painful experience to "White, who had doubtless been congratulating himself on the not unimportant part he had played in bringing about the abolition of the Com- pany's monopoly of trade. Disappointed in his hopes, he soon departed to England, and apparently never again returned to India. Piracy in the Indian seas, from 1690 and onwards to the close of the century, was so rife, 'that "William Kidd, the " veteran mariner of New York," who knew all the ^ Macaulay's History of England, 1861, vol. v. chap, xxiii. pp. 60, 61. ^ Consultation Book, 1694, March 22, 3.3. a. 2, 3. , CONCLUSION. 389 resorts of the pirates, from the Cape of Good Hope to Malacca, was employed to suppress it; but, as is well known, instead of doing so, he became himself the most daring and cruel of pirates. A band of these pests had fortified themselves in the Nicobars,^ a position which gave them a command of the Straits of Malacca and of the trade to Pegu and Mergui. The pirates belonged to almost all the nationalities of Europe, but those who frequented the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal were largely n^ade up of Dutch. In the last few years of the seventeenth century, the mention of Siam in a public document is of rare occur- rence. The last notice that has been met with shows that in some quarters it was supposed that the French had not abandoned their aspirations to obtain a footing in Siam. In this document ^ it is said that a French ship that had arrived at Surat, was, according to a French Capuchin priest of Fort St. George, " designed for Mergui." Gover- nor Higginson, however, said that he gave no more heed to this report than to another that had reached him from Canton, that the French missionaries there had received a letter overland from France, in four months' time, acquaint- ing them that six French ships were going to Mergui to establish a factory there. His estimate of the amount of credence to be placed on these rumours proved correct. Before the seventeenth century closed, English ships now and again visited Ayuthia and Mergui. This was to be expected, after the news that had been brought back by Hodges regarding the desire of the new King to see the English once more trading with his kingdom.^ But the East India Company's experience of Siam, extending over the greater portion of a century, did not encourage ^ Letter from Messrs. Lloyd and India, Governor of Negapatam, &c., Reynolds, of the ship Dorrill, to Sir Coast of Choromandel, for the Right John Sayer, 1695-96. Honourable Netherlands East India 2 Letter from Governor Higgin- Company. 1 son to the Honourable Laurence ' Letter from Fort St. George to Pitt, Councillor-Extraordinary of Sir John Child, 20th January, 1689. 390 ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH SI AM. them to re-establish a factory at Ayuthia. Moreover, the country, from 1690 to 1/59, was the scene of almost incessantly recurring contests for the throne, revolution following revolution, to the destruction of trade and im- poverishment of the nation. In the latter year the king- dom of Siam received a crushing blow, as the Burmese Emperor Alaunghpr^ wrested from it the entire province of Tenasserim, with its commodious seaport of Mergui, to which the trade of the Coromandel Coast had flowed for many a century, and which had sent out during an equally protracted period fleets of merchantmen to Acheen, Bengal, Golconda, the Persian Gulf, and the Eed Sea. This disaster was soon to be succeeded by another, as, eight years after- wards, the time-honoured capital of Ayuthia, in which so many Englishmen had traded, lived, and died, was reduced to ashes by the second son of the conqueror of Tenasserim. The downfall of this city brought about the elevation of Bangkok to the dignity of the capital of Siam. APPEI^DIX. A. No. 31. — From the " Government Gazette" January 25 and February 8, 1 827.^ Journies in Siam. — We have been favoured with some notices of the Eastern Peninsula, to the south and east of our new possessions, which we propose offering to our readers as descriptive of a country, rarely, if ever visited by Europeans, until late events led to a more frequent communication between the British and Siamese authorities. In consequence of this improved intercourse, and particu- larly with reference to the exchange of prisoners, several journies were performed by land, in different directions, by two of the oflScers of the Mission, Mr. Harris, Sub- Assistant Surgeon, and the Interpreter, Mr. Leal, to whose notes we have been kindly permitted to have access. One of the first excursions, and which was performed by both the gentlemen we have named, proceeded from Ligor, a principality dependant upon Siam, and a town and seaport upon the eastern coast of the peninsula. Some account of this place may be found in Hamilton, who visited this quarter in 17 19, but his notice is very brief and defective. The French, when established at Siam, en- deavoured to have a plan taken of the, town, but were not permitted, and scarcely any notice of the place is found in ^ From the Appendix to " Docu- by Horace Hayman Wilson, Esq. ments Illustrative of the Burmese Calcutta : From the Government War, with an Introductory Sketch Gazette Press, by G. H. Hutt- of the Events of the War, and an mann, 1827. Appendix." Compiled and edited 392 APPENDIX. the work of La Loubere. The Dutch had a factory there from the beginning of the 17 th century to the middle of the last, the remains of which are still shown in some old brick foundations, where it is said to have stood. The town of Ligor is at a short distance from the bank of the Ta-yung, or Tha-wung river, at about two hours rowing from the mouth of the river : from the bank of the river to the town, the road is good, leading through an avenue of trees. Ligor is, in form, an oblong square : it is defended by walls, with ramparts, and a wet ditch, which, during the rains, communicates with the river. It con- tains about five thousand inhabitants, and appears to have been at one time much more populous, but it has suffered considerably within the last half century, having been twice taken, and many of its inhabitants having been carried off, first by Alompra, and secondly, by one of the generals of Minderagee, the last Burmese sovereign. According to the conscription rolls of this state, the males capable of bearing arms, are about twelve thousand. The Chief of Ligor is amongst the native princes to the eastward, who have shown a decided disposition to culti- vate a friendly footing with the English. He is, in some respects, dependant on Siam, but is absolute in his own government, and has great influence at Bangkok through his wife, who is the cousin of the King, and their daughter, who is one of the King of Siam's wives, and has lately borne his Majesty a son and heir. There are three or four commissioners sent to Ligor, by the Siamese court, but the Chief treats them with very little consideration, and they exercise, except on occasion of his absence, no authority whatever. He has in his hands, the power of life and death. The town of Ligor stands on a very extensive plain, which appears to reach to the great central range of moun- tains, and is covered with rice cultivation. There is a little pepper cultivated in the interior, and some iron ore collected ; but the tin mines are much neglected, and said to be exhausted. There appears to be no direct trade with China, Cochin-China, or other foreign ports. What little APPENDIX. 393 trade there is, is with Siam, and it is entirely engrossed by the Chief. There is not a single brick dwelling-house in the town, but a great many temples and pyramids of that material, and most of them in ruins. The Chief's house is of plank, with a tiled roof : it is situated within the fort, which consists of an old high wall, in a most dilapidated condition, and without a gun mounted in any part within or upon it. There is no difficulty in approaching or quitting the coast of Ligor, although, from the high swell and surf, during northerly winds, and the shoal, at the end of Tan- talam Island, the roadsted cannot be considered safe, during the height of the N.E. monsoon. The anchorage ground is of soft mud — there are three fathoms, at about two miles and a half from the mouth of the Tha-wang river, which is a little to the northward of the Ligor river — the two rivers join a short way inland, and the latter is little used. The jealousy of the Siamese court, precluded the possi- bility of taking advantage of a favourable opportunity of proceeding from Ligor to Bangkok entirely by land, but permitted the journey, as far as the village of Pathiu, situated in about latitude ii° lo'. From Ligor the firstday's journey, the i8th December, passed over extensive plains, watered by the Tha^wang river, to the village of Nam- Jin, or " cold water.'' The party accompanied the Raja of Ligor, whose suite consisted of between three and four hundred persons, with eighty elephants : temporary houses were erected for his accom- modation at every stage. The second day's march, pro- ceeded through thick jungles and occasional rice fields, to a place called Ban Hooa Thaphan, close to the seashore. The third day's route led over very bad roads to the village of Ban Clai, chiefly tenanted by Chinese, on the right bank of the Clai river, about three miles from its mouth — the river is about one hundred yards wide, opposite to the village, but it is much narrower at the mouth, being choaked with the sands gathered at the bar, against which the surf beats as violently as at Madras. The bed of the 394 APPENDIX. river, which runs between lofty banks, is sandy, and the water very clear — the village contains about one thousand persons. This place is the Clay of Horsburgh's charts. From Ban Clai to Ban Krang, the next day's journey, from half-past seven in the morning till six in the after- noon. The road lay chiefly through jungle, but several villages were passed, and a couple of small streams. The halting place .was situated at the foot of a hill, on a beauti- ful plain, through which flowed a fine clear stream called the Khlong Krang. On the following day, a march of equal duration, termi- nated at Hoon Nah : early in the afternoon, an extensive range of lofty mountains was visible on the left of the road. The next day's march was intersected by a number of small streams, and led through thick jungle, in which tigers are sometimes encountered. The following march terminated at the Siamese village of Ban Chekram, after crossing the river of the same name. The bamboos here are of enor- mous size, and the joints are used for domestic vessels, for holding water and other purposes. The journey for three days more, passed over the same kind of country, in which thick jungle, alternated with open plains, sometimes in cultivation, and small streams occasionally intersected the road. The evening of the third day brought the party to a broad and rapid river, the Tha- kham, near the mouth of which is situated the town of Phoou-phin, a place containing about 1200 Siamese in- habitants, under the authority of a Chinese ofB.cer. It is celebrated for its steel, of which the swordS of all the great officers of the court are manufactured. The Tha-kham is the northern boundary of the jurisdiction of the Raja of Ligor. A branch runs to the southward, to the town of Bandon, where it opens into the sea, and whence it is usually termed the Bandon river. The northern branch of the Tha-kham empties itself into the sea, at a place called Tha- thong, which bounds the Ligor territory on the sea coast : a number of small islands lie off the mouth of the Bandon river. The Tha-kham proceeds nearly across the peninsula, passing to Pennom, a town three days journey from Phoonga, APPENDIX. 395 on the western coast opposite to Junkceylon, the tin and other produce of which island, find their way hy this route to Bangkok. During the next two days, the road ran through exten- sive tracts of rice cultivation, to a village a short distance from Ohhaiya, one of the most considerable towns on the route. It is defended by a stockade, and contains about two thousand Siamese, besides a number of Chinese. It stands upon a broad stream, or probably an arm of the sea, and carries on a considerable trafiic, chiefly in grain : the inhabitants of the province are estimated at eighteen or nineteen thousand. On the second day after quitting Chhaiya, the road led to the sea shore, and continued for some distance along a smooth and firm beach, lined with Casuarina trees, and free from surf. The mouths of two small rivers were crossed on the second day. On the day following, the 8th January, the travellers proceeded inland, partially through jungle, to the right bank of a large river, the Lang Sewun, on the opposite side of which was a village, containing about six hundred inhabitants, chiefly Malays — the next two days offered little variety, several streams were crossed, and the second day's halt was at Suwi, a town containing about two thou- sand inhabitants, with a Siamese governor of the rank of Phra : the road was good, leading between paddy-fields. The same kind of road continued throughout the two suc- ceeding days to the town of Ch'hoomphon, on the right bank of a river so named, which pursues a very winding course, in a sandy bed, between lofty banks. The town is stockaded, and is said to contain eight thousand inhabitants. It was formerly the entrepot of a very valuable trade with the coast of Tenasserim, but subsequently to the subjuga- tion of Tenasserim by the Burmans, Ch'hoomphon has been little else than a military post, where a force was stationed to watch the proceedings of the Burmans, and make occa- casional kidnapping inroads into their territory. The governor of Ch'hoomphon, soon after Mergui and Tavai came into our possession, committed the usual predatory 396 APPENDIX. excesses ia their neighbourliood, and carried off many of the people captive, fourteen hundred of whom were re- covered by the late mission of Captain Burney. His pro- ceedings were so far from being avowed by the Court of Siam, that he was ordered up to the capital, and thrown into confinement, in which he died. . After crossing the Ch'hoomphon river, the next stage was a village named Bang-soon, and the following, at the head of a small river, named the Pathiu, near the mouth of which is a village of the same appellation, containing about two hundred Chinese and Siamese inhabitants, employed chiefly in fishing and manufacturing halachang. The cause we have above alluded to, here suspended the farther pro- secution of the journey by land, and the party embarking on board a large boat, arrived in four days in the Menam river, and reached Bangkok in the evening of the same day, the 31st of January. When the Court of Siam had consented to the release of the Burman prisoners, it was thought advisable to send them back in charge of some confidential person attached to the mission in order to secure their ready and safe return — accordingly, the first detachment, consisting of between five and six hundred persons, proceeded under the superintendence of Mr. Leal, the interpreter, who, on his journey to the Tenasserim coast, and in his return to Bangkok, by way of Martaban, had an opportunity of visit- ing the whole of the Siamese frontier, and making himself acquainted with the topography of a tract of country, almost new to European investigation. The party left Bangkok on the 13th February, 1826, in six junks. They sailed from the bar on the 23rd, and on the ist of March reached Banguarom, a place on the west coast of the Gulf of Siam, in about latitude 11° 50' ; from hence the route proceeded overland. The first day's march was, in the early part, over an indifferent road, but the greater part was good, with pools of water at different places ; the second was also over a good road, and terminated at a place, where it branched off in two different directions, the right leading to Bangtha- APPENDIX. 397 pan, the left to Mergui, and distinguished by two large trees, one on the Mergui road, marked with two large crosses, and the other on the Bangtha-phan road, with four. On the third day's march, the people suffered much in- convenience from want of water, not a drop of which was encountered. Early on the morning of the fourth, water was met with : the road here again divided into two, one leading to the E. the other S.S.E., the latter terminating abruptly, at a short distance, the former continuing to Mergui, and marked by a large stone. The fifth day's march, came early to the foot of the Kasoon mountain, along the skirts of which ran a small rivulet — the mountain was steep, and the ascent and descent occupied the greater part of a fatiguing day. By nine o'clock, on the morning of the following day, the party arrived at the boundary of the Burman and Siamese states, marked by three tamarind trees : the place is said to be called Sing-khon-tha-pe. In the afternoon, they halted at a pagoda, where the Burmese offered their adorations. The next day's march continued, throughout the day, along a good road to the banks of the Tenasserim river, where the party constructed seventy-five bamboo floats, for the purpose of completing the journey by water — according to impressions received on the spot, the river here was thought to be the main branch, but, according to the asser- tions of the more intelligent among the Burmans, it is but a branch of the Tenasserim river — the passage down the stream was very tardy, being much obstructed by trees in the river. On the afternoon of the third day, a fishing boat was seen and dispatched to Mergui; where the party arrived on the fifth day of their voyage, the 15th March, iaving lost four children and boys, on the journey. The party, allowing for the detention of three days at Banguarom, and of the greater portion of the fourth and eighth day's route, whilst engaged in ascertaining the direc- tion of the road, and constructing bamboo floats, was about sixteen days passing from the bar of the Meuam to Mergui, but their progress, was necessarily slow, owing to the number ■of women and children, and we understand, that the Kasoon 398 APPENDIX. hill might have been crossed at a more easy pass. There are two instances on record of the journey, between the old capital of Siam and Mergui, when the French occupied it, having been made in ten days, and on one of these occasions, the party consisted of prisoners in chains, escorted by a detachment of Siamese soldiers. The late King of Siam is said, about thirty-three years ago, to have constructed the military road from Banguarom towards Mergui, for the purpose of invading the Burmese territories : the road is described to admit elephants, and even wheel carriages. But in former times, there appears to have been a carriage road between the Gulf of Siam and Tenasserim, as, in a letter from the Bishop of Tabraca, from Siam, in 1 761, we find the following passage : " J'ai envoys M. Martin (a Merguy). II alia jusqu'a Piply, ou Ton a coutume de quitter las batteaux, et y attendit inutilement, les Charettes, pendant trois semaines." Piply is the Siamese Phriphri, a large town on the west coast of the G-ulf of Siam, in about lat. 13° 20', and once the capital of the Siamese empire. It is to be hoped, that our officers at Mergui will shortly be able to re-open and re-establish these old and almost forgotten roads into the rich kingdom of Siam, and thus revive the ancient and valuable commerce, which was conducted with Siam through this' channel, first by the Portuguese, anc( afterwards by the French. From Mergui, Mr. Leal proceeded to Tavai by sea, and was thence sent back by the Commissioner, with instructions to proceed to the Siamese station, on the other side of the peninsula, at Ch'hoomphon, to deliver a number of Siamese prisoners, and receive charge of the Burmese still detained there. He accordingly started from Mergui, on the 23rd March, with twelve Burman boats, and four others, contain- ing one hundred and nine Siamese prisoners, and reached the mouth of the Pak-cham river on the 25 th : he rowed up the river on the following day, and arrived at Pak-cham on the afternoon of the 26th. Mr. Leal describes the river as of considerable size. The exact site and proper name of this river are yet unknown, as the coast between it and Mergui has never been surveyed. The Pak-cham river APPENDIX. 399 is separated from the Choomphon river by a very small interval of level ground, and it is said that, during the spring tides, the two rivers often unite : the former is, throughout, broad and deep, and the latter flows in a sandy bed^-both are free from rocks. It seems, therefore, probable, that they might be formed into one with little or no difS- culty, and a short and direct communication would thus be formed across the peninsula, between the Bay of Bengal and the Gulf of Siam. From Pak-cham, Mr. Leal proceeded across the country to C'hoomphon, in the vicinity of which he arrived on the afternoon of the second day. Although accompanied by only thirty-eight Burmans, his appearance caused a considerable sensation. He was met, on starting, by three Siamese, sent to ascertain the object of his coming. At nighthe was joined by a chief, with about seven hundred followers, all armed, who left him after learning his destina- tion : on the following morning he was met by the deputy governor, with three thousand men, who requested him to halt till the afternoon, when a place would be prepared for his reception. Having acceded to this proposal, Mr. Leal suspended his journey till the hour agreed on, when he proceeded, and came to a iield, where he again met the deputy governor, with two other officers, and about eight thousand Siamese troops, armed in various ways, and variously habited in red, green, and white uniforms. They informed Mr. Leal that the governor was absent, but had been apprised of his arrival, and was expected immediately, till when they would attend to his wishes. They gave him a small hut to occupy without the city, but on the day following, announced that a place was ready for his accom- modation in C'hoomphon : a violent rain, however, having detained him till two o'clock, it was then announced, that the governor had arrived, and was ready to receive him. On being informed of the object of the mission, he stated that the Burman prisoners had been sent back, and inti- mated that some delay was likely to occur before a house in the town could be prepared for the reception of the messenger. The meaning of this being justly understood to be a reluctance to admit the party into C'hoomphon, 400 APPENDIX. Mr. Leal thought it unnecessary to delay his return, and set out for Pak-oham on the following day. He arrived there on the afternoon of the 31st, and reached Mergui, by water, on the 3rd of April. He found, that only fifty-nine of the Burman prisoners had arrived, but the rest, to the number of two hundred and thirty-seven, gradually re- turned, having been sent round a month's journey by way of Bangnarom, instead of the direct and easy route of a week or ten days from Pak-oham to Mergui. Having next set off for Martaban by sea, and arrived thereon the 21st April, Mr. Leal next departed from thence for Bangkok. He embarked in boats on the Uttaran river, on the 24th, accompanied by twenty Mons, or Peguers, and three Burmans. On the 25th, he arrived at Meuang Uttaran, and the river of Khlong Bangwilai, where he passed the night. On the 26th, he passed Khlong Peli, and on the 27th, halted at a place called Phra Mongue, after encountering some difficulties on the road. On the 28th, he reached Khlong Mykut, where teak grows in con- siderable quantities, and whence it is transported down the Uttaran to Martaban. On the 29th, at an early hour, the party reached Khlong Mysikleet, where they rested, having experienced much fatigue. On the 30th, after passing a portion of the riyer, very difiB.cult from rocks and shallows, they came to Mykesath, where the Siamese troops were posted, and where the navigation up the Uttaran ter- minates. From hence, they proceeded by land, on the ist May, starting at three in morning. At ten, they came to the place where there are three shapeless piles of stones, usually known as the three pagodas, the boundary between the Burman and Siamese territories in this direction, and denominated by the latter Phra-chaidi Sam-ong, and by the former Kioc-pie. The precise position of these land- marks has yet to be ascertained, as different observers have placed them at the distance of more than one degree of latitude, and nearly one in longitude ; the average seems to be about K 15" 6' and E. 99° 7'. In the afternoon of the same day, Mr. Leal reached Songola, a place containing one hundred and fifty persons, at the head of the Mekhlono- APPENDIX. 401 river, on the eastern bank ; a Siamese guard is sitiiated here, of about one hundred men, mostly natives of Pegu. On the following day, the 2nd May, the party, after a- very fatiguing journey, reached the fort of Loomchhang, occupied by a guard of Peguers. It is a place of some traffic, a number of boats being found here, large and small : the trade is carried on with the people of the plains in cotton, cloth, bees' wax, ivory, sapan-wood, honey, buffaloes' and deers' hides and horns, tigers' skins, carda- moms, &c. Threerivers meet here, one from Songola, the Mekhlong, one coming from the S.W., the Thadin-deng, and one, the Alantay, running from the north of east. Two boats were here procured, and the journey pro- ceeded down the Mekhlong river. Several floats and canoes going to Bangkok, were passed on the first day's progress : the navigation of the river was difficult and laborious. Early on the third day, the party arrived at Menam-noi, a place of some importance, where the Siamese, in the late war, constructed two forts, and stationed their army under the Maha Yotha, or " illustrious warrior " Eong-na-rong, corruptly denominated Eown Eown. The employment of this force, whilst cantoned here, was rather unmilitary, as the men were exercised chiefly in cultivating cotton, of which the finest description produced in Siam, grows about Menam-noi. They were also em* ployed in cutting sapan-wood and timber, for the state boats. There is no teak in this part of the country. At a short distance above Menam-noi, is the post of Chaiyok, which seems to be the Daraik of some maps, and from whence the land journey to Tavai commences. It leads over the mountains, and through thick forests, and is exceedingly laborious : the distance, however, is inconsiderable. Two sepoys of the 25 th Battalion Native Infantry, who volun- teered to convey the Envoy's dispatches from Bangkok, were eight days passing from Chaiyok to Tavai, and returning thence. After some little detention at Menam-noi, by the military authorities, Mr. Leal was suffered to proceed, and in the evening passed the post of Thatuko. On the following 2 C 402 APPENDIX. day, he passed a village called Sam-sing, where lay many vessels loading with sapan-wood. At noon he reached the military station of Danclai, and about three in the after- noon, Ban-chiom, at the junction of the Sissovat with the Mekhlong : the former comes from the north. The town is of some importance, containing about five thousand in- habitants, chiefly Peguers. He stopped in the evening at Pak-phrek, a still more considerable town, having a popu- lation of about eight thousand Siamese. It is sometimes also called Kan-boori : the former town of that name, which stood at the head of the Sissovat river, was destroyed by the Burmans, in their invasion of Siam in 1766. On the next day Mr. Leal, continuing his voyage, passed Eat-phri and Ban-chhang. An attempt was made to de- tain him at the former place, which he resolutely resisted, and forced his passage. Eat-phri has a population of about _ ten thousand. Ban-chhang, the Ban-xang of the Lettres Edifiantes, is said to contain a population of about four thousand, chiefly Chinese. On the 8th May, the party passed Mekhlong at the mouth of the river of the same name, having about thirteen thou- sand inhabitants, Siamese and Chinese, and being a place of considerable traffic. From hence, the route proceeded across the mouth of the Tha-chin river, which debouches into the sea at the same place as the Mekhlong : the intervening tract is inhabited by Peguers, principally, to the number of sixteen thousand persons. The upper part of the Tha-chin, as its name denotes, is occupied almost entirely by Chinese, who are engaged in the manufacture of sugar. Lakhon Chhaisa is the name of the principal place of this manufacture. At, or a little above the mouth of the Tha-chin, a small river or canal, the Khlong Menang Luang, connects that stream with Menam at Bangkok. Starting after midnight, with the flood tide, Mr. Leal reached the Menam about three o'clock, having thus crossed the Siamese frontier in three different places, and traversed a considerable portion of the peninsula, where no European had preceded him. APPENDIX. 403 B. BumiTig of a Wizard at Bomhay, 1671. They wrote to Surat as follows on 23rd April, 1671 : " There hath of late bin sev" persons secured for noted wizards, and sev" proofs brought in against them, to yt satisfaction of y! Justices, wee are very sencible it's a very difficult thing to try them, and therefore shall be very cautious in w? wee doe, but in case it be proved that they have bewitched any person to Death, either by confession or sufficient circumstances, wee desire to know how farr wee shall proceed, there was a man dyed on friday last, credibly reported to be bewitched to death, the person suspected being sent for by a Guard resisted, upon w"? they drew their swords, and did endeav' to wound him, but could not pereice his skin, but he was taken." And again they write on 3rd May 167 1 : " wee have sent your hon^ &c., coppie of yt Justices examination of witnesses against a noted wizard, and desire your order w? to doe therein, this person hath bin banished twice before, once in Capt. Garys ^ time and once in yt portugall time of Goverm^ and yet hath presumed to come on yt Island againe and bewitched to death foure persons, there are 4 more in prison on y! same acco'. ye country people brings in dayly their complaints of their losses and abuses reef by them." Again on the 29th May they wrote to Surat : " The wizard formerly wrote of hath a bag or teate on his arme, wee only expect an answere to those papers we sent of his examination, and then wee shall pro- ceed to his tryall." On the 14th June, 167 1, they say : "The wizard formerly wrote of was by a Jury of 12 men found guilty, both of witchcraft, and murder, there names are here in yt Mergent he would confesse nothing till sentence was read, and then acknowledged himselfe to be a wizard, and that there were sev? as guilty as himselfe, some of whom he named and they ' For a short account and notices of Mr. (or Captain) Gary, see Hedges' Diary, vol. ii. p. 174 et seq. 404 APPENDIX. are fled he died very obstinate, never shewing y1 least signe of feare, to y' last wee intended to have hanged him ; only it was generally advised that burning would be farr y" greatest terrour, as alsoe that a single wizard deserving hanging whereas he had now murthured 5 men in 6 mo', and had bin twice banished before for a wizard soe wee burnt him, there happened one thing very observable, that when he lay in yt midst of so great a fire one of his armes quite burnt off, yet notwithstanding his great knot of haire on his head and his clout betwixt his leggs was intire, though they per- fectly flamed above an houre togather." ^ C. Factory of Gale Velha or Old Kdyal. In the original correspondence preserved in the Eecords of the India Office, there is a list (O.C. No. 2726) of factories and places where books were kept since 1658. In this list there is a factory called CaiU Veale, which is evidently another rendering of Galevelo, mentioned at p. 94 of this work. Mr. Walter Travers was the agent in 1663, and on the 5th July of that year he wrote to the President and Council at Surat, dating his letter Alvatty.; In this letter he speaks of " Cale Velha as y! seate of our factorie,'' and says, "the pearle fishing this year proves very meane ; and will prove but a bad decoy to most of our pearle merchants ; y! profitt y? Dutch draw yearly thence ^ is diversly reported, y! paravas (whom in this matter wee most credit) say 8 C. Dollars they say not so much J this they levy by way of toll." In a letter from Fort St. George to Surat, dated 5 th Sep- tember, 1665, we learn that Travers died at his post, and was succeeded by Mr. Harrington. In this letter the factory is also called Gale Velha or Old Cale, Vellia being the Por- tuguese for old. In a letter from Mr. George Foxcroft, 1 Ind. Off. Reo., G.G. c. i. 10. ^ Ind. Off. Reo., 0.0. 2981 : possibly Alandulai. ' Their factory was at Tuticorin, about ten miles north of KsLyal. APPENDIX. 405 Governor of Fort St. George, to the Company, dated 26th September, 1665, it is Stated, " The Dutch have seized on yo' factory of Gale Velha, near Tutticoreen (w* is their factory) by force of Armes, carried all that was in y f factory and Mr. Harring- ton (who came thither after y? death of Mr. Travers) and stript, dealt unhumanly and barbarously w*? him, and carried him away in Irons, and what is further become of him we know not." Nearly three years later the President and Council at Madras became reconciled to the loss of Calevelha, as we find them writing to the Court in London on the 12th November, 1668, that the Dutch had secured it by the Articles of Peace, the factory having been captured by them in the time of war. From the circumstance that this factory was called Old Gale, it doubtless stood on the site of the Gail or Kail of Marco Polo and other old travellers, an important maritime city in mediaeval times, but the site of which had never been identified until Colonel (Sir) Henry Yule's erudite work on Marco Polo appeared in 1870. The locality is still known as Old KaU or Old KAyal. Yule has the following interesting note on this old city. He says, " Kail, now forgotten, was long a famous port on the coast of what is now the Tinnevelly district of the Madras Presidency. It is mentioned as a port of Ma'bar by our author's (Marco Polo) contemporary Eashid- uddin, though the name has been perverted by careless transcription into Bdwal and Kdhal (see Elliot, i. pp. 69, 72). It is also mistranscribed as Kdbil in Quatremere's publica- tion of AbdurrazzAk, who mentions it as " a place situated opposite to the island of Serendib, otherwise called Ceylon," and as being the extremity of what he was led to regard as Malabar (p. 19). It is mentioned as Cahila, the site of the pearl-fishery, by Nicolo Conti (p. 7). The Boteiro of Vasco da Gama notes it as Gaell, a state having a Mussulman king and a Christian (for which read Kdfir) people. Here were many pearls. Giovanni d'Empoli notices it (Gael) also for the pearl-fishery, as do Yarthema and Barbosa." ^ 1 Marco Polo, vol. ii. 2nd ed., city. Consult also Bishop Cald- 1874, pp. 358-359. The chapter well's History of the Tinnevelly Dis- treating of K^yal is illustrated by a triot, Madras, 1 88 1, map showing the position of the old 4o6 APPENDIX. Yule then quotes the Eev. Dr. Caldwell, who says, " The Cail of Marco Polo, commonly called in the neighbourhood Old Kdyal, and erroneously named Koil in the Ordinance Map of India, is situated on the Tamraparnt Kiver, about a mile and a half from its mouth. The Tamil word Myal means ' a backwater, a lagoon,' and the map shows the existence of a large number of these Myals or backwaters near the mouth of the river. Many of these kayals have now dried up more or less completely, and in several of them salt-pans have been established. The name of Kdyal was naturally given to a town erected on the margin of a hdyal; and this circumstance occasioned also the adoption of the name Punnei Kdyal, and served to give currency to the name of KAyalpattanam assumed by Sonagarpattanam, both these places being in the vicinity of kayals. " Kayal stood originally on or near the sea-beach, but it is now about a mile and a half inland, the sand carried down by the river having silted up the ancient harbour, and formed a waste sandy tract between the sea and the town. It has now shrunk into a petty village, inhabited partly by Mohammedans and partly by Eoman Catholic fishermen of the Parava caste, with a still smaller hamlet adjoining inhabited by Brahmans and Vellalars ; but unlikely as the place may now seem to have been identical with ' the great and noble city ' described by Marco Polo, its identity is established by the relics of its ancient greatness, which it still retains. Ruins of old fortifi- cations, temples, storehouses, wells and tanks, are found every- where along the coast for two or three miles north of the village of Kayal, and a mile and a half inland j the whole plain is covered with broken tiles and remnants of pottery, chiefly of China manufacture, and several mounds are apparent, in which, besides the shells of the pearl-oyster and broken pottery, mineral drugs (cinnabar, brimstone, &c.) such as are sold in the bazaars of seaport towns, and a few ancient coins have been found." ^ ' Yule, op. cit., p. 3S9-360. APPENDIX. 407 D. Mum-heer. Mum, mentioned at page 140, was, to use Sir Walter Scott's words, a kind of " fat ale," much in vogue in England and elsewhere during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It declined in popularity in the latter period, and still more so in the nineteenth century, when it has been almost entirely replaced by improved English beers, but so recently as 1856 it continued to be advertised for sale by some publicans in the metropolis. There is a tradition that it was first brewed by a Christopher Mumm, so long ago as 1492, and it has been suggested by some writers that the term mum applied to this beer may probably have arisen from the name of the brewer. But the old author, Stephen Skinner, looked for the derivation of it in the German mwmmeln = to mumble, or from mum, a sign of silence. So little, however, is known as to the origin of the term, that Mr. John Bickerdyke ^ has suggested another alternative, that the brewer himself may have obtained his name from the liquor he compounded. One of the earliest notices of this beer is found in a small unpaged tract,^ published in 1515, in which it is mentioned among other German drinks — " Momom sive momu Bruswigeu" ; but no information is given as to its composition. There is no positive evidence regarding the time when it was first introduced into England, but there is the negative evidence that it was not generally in use in this country before 1637, as in a small brochure^ published in that year, 1 The Curiosities of Ale and Beer, adorned with a representation of This is a recent work, but it bears nine animals seated drinking at, or no date. on a table, the name of each animal " De Generibus ebriosorum et . being indicated. ) ebrietate vitanda. Questio face- = Drinke and Welcome : ok the tiarum et vrbanitatis plena, 5 P"l- famocs histokie of the most part cherrimis optimonim soriptorun flos- of Drinks in use now in the onlis referta, in conclusioue Quod- Kingdomes of Great Britain and libeti Erphurdieusis. Anno christi. Ireland; with an especiall declara- M.D.xv. Circa autunale sequi- tion of the potency, vertue, and opera- noctiu scolastioo more explicata. tion of our English ale, &o., by M.DOCCCO.XTI. (The title-page is John Taylor, London, 1637. 4o8 APPENDIX. professing to describe most of the "Drinks in use in the Kingdomes of Great Britain and Ireland," there is no mention of mum. Previous to 1663, however, it had apparently been freely imported into Scotland, as an Act of the Scottish Parliament was passed in that year prohibiting its import, in order to encourage home manufacture. It had also doubtless well estab- lished itself in England, as mum-houses existed in London in 1664, and were frequented by such men as Samuel Pepys; and it could even be obtained at the refreshment bar of the House of Commons. At that period it was unquestionably brewed in this country, as in Records of 1665 it is spoken of as an "English Comoditie," which the East India Company then began, as an experiment, to export to the East. The first account printed in England giving the details of the composition and preparation of mum, was published in a small tract ^, in the year 1682, by which time it was pretty universally known ; as even the Americans, three years later, were contemplating the manufacture of it in their country, to supply the Barbadoes and other insular American markets. This tract professes to give the original receipt, as pre- served in the Archives of the Town-House of Brunswick, and it states that a copy of the receipt had been sent originally to General Monk. How long he was in possession of the receipt, and to whom he may have communicated its purport has not transpired, but he died in 1669. The following gives the constituent parts of mum, accord- ing to the receipt preserved at Brunswick : — " To make a Vessel of 63 Gallons, the Water must be first boyl'd to the Consumption of a third part, let it then be Brew'd, according to Art, with 7 Bushels of Wheat-Malt, one Bushel of Oat-Malt, and one Bushel of Ground Beans : and when it is Tun'd let not the Hogshead be too much fiU'd at ^ The Natural History of Cofifee, the Writings of the best Physicians Thee, Chocolate, and Tobacco, in and modern Travellers. Printed at four several Sections ; with a Tract London, for Christopher Wilkinson, of Elder and Juniper-Berries, shew- at the Black Boy, over against St. ing how useful they may be in our Dunstan's Church in Pleet-Street, Cofifee-Houses : And, also, the Way 1682. 4to. of making Mum, with some Remarks This tract is reprinted in the Har- upon that Liquor. Collected from leian Miscellany, vol. i. pp. 528-541. APPENDIX. 409 first ; when it begins to work put to it, of tiie inner Eind of the Firr three pounds-; of the tops of Firr and Birch, of each one pound; of Garduus Benedictus dried, three haudfuls; Flowers of Rosa Solis, two handfuls ; of Burnet, Betony, Mar- joram, Averts, Pennyroyal, Flowers of Elder, Wild Thyme, of each one handful and a half: Seeds of Cardamum bruised, three ounces ; Bayberries bruised one ounce ; put the seeds into the Vessel ; when the Liquor hath wrought awhile with the Herbs, and after they are added, let the Liquor work over the Vessel as little as may be ; fill it up at last, and wh6n it is stopped put into the Hogshead ten new laid Eggs, the Shells not cracked or broken ; stop all close, and drink it at two years old, if carried by Water it is better. " Dr. JSgidius Hoffman added Water Cresses, BrooMime, and Wild Parsley of each six handfuls, with six handfuls of Horse Rhadish rasped in every Hogshead ; it was observ'd that the Horse Rhadish made the Murn drink more quick than that which had none." The writer of the tract continues : — " By the variety of its malt, and by the ground beans, we may conclude, that Mum is a very hearty and strengthening liquor : some drink it much, because it has no hops, which they fancy do spoil our English ales and beers, ushering in infections : nay plagues amongst us : . . . . "As for eggs in the composition of Mum, they may con- tribute to prevent its growing sour : . . . . " Dr. "Willis prescribes Mum in several chronical distempers, as scurvies, dropsies, and some sort of consumption. The Germans, especially the inhabitants of Saxony, have so great a veneration for this liquor, that they fancy their bodies can never decay, or pine away, as long as they are lined and em- balmed with so powerful a preserver ; and, indeed, if we con- sider the frame and complexions of the Germans in general, they may appear to be living mummies. But to conclude all in a few words, if this drink, called ' Mum,' be exactly made according to the foregoing instructions, it must needs be a most excellent alterative medecine ; the ingredients of it being very rare and choice simples, there being scarce any one disease in nature against which some of them are not preva- 4IO APPENDIX. lent, as betony, marjoram, thyme, in diseases of the headr birch, burnet, water-cresses, brook-lime, horse-radish, in the most inveterate scurvies, gravels, coughs, consumptions, and all obstructions; avens and cardamum seeds for cold weak stomachs : carduus benedictus, and elder-flowers, in inter- mittent fevers : bay-berries and penny-royal, in distempers attributed to the womb. But it is to be feared that several of our Londoners are not so honest and curious as to prepare their Mum faithfully and truly ; if they do, they are so happy as to furnish and stock their country with one of the most useful liquors under the sun, it being so proper and effectual in several lingering distempers, where there is a depravation and weakness of the blood and bowels.'' The following extracts relating to mum are taken almost exclusively from English literature, but they probably do no more than conduct the reader across the threshold, as mum- beer seems to have been a favourite subject for the ballad- singers of the time when it was most popular. Thomas Eead wrote a ballad in its praise far on in the eighteenth century, as a poem on mum by that humorist is mentioned in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1740; but I have not been able ta trace it. Much information regarding this liquor will doubtless ba found in German and Dutch literature, as the latter people exported it to the East in the early part of the seventeenth century, probably earlier ; while the Germans were its first brewers and greatest consumers. 1650-69. Baldseus 1 in his description of the manner of the living of the Dutch in the East, says, " Some fill certain earthen vessels over night with water, and add to it 3 or 4 glasses of Spanish wine, which exposed together all night in the Dew turns white, and affords a pleasant liquor, but it is too cool, for which reason some put a certain quantity of Mum in the vessel. The Brunswick Mum is both more pleasant and ' Beschreibung der Ost-Indis- p. 180. ChurohiU's Coll. of Voy- chen Kusten Malabar und Coro- ages and Travels, vol. iii., 1704 mandel. Tol. Amsterdam, 1672, p. 579. ' ' APPENDIX. 411; ■wholesome here than in Europe : the worst is that it is exces- sive dear, a cask being sometimes sold at 40 to 100 Eix dollars." 1663. " Importation or inbringing of aquavitsB or strong waters, mum, beir, &c., prohibited, to encourage home manufacture." ^ 1664. "I went with Mr. Norbury near hand to the Place, a mum-house in Leadenhall, and there drank mum." ^ 1665. " The Court being moved that they would please to permit some English Mum to be sent on the Return to Suratt to make an experiment of, They were very ready to encourage soe ingeni- ous an undertaking of an English comoditie, and gave liberty to Mr. Christopher Boone to send 2 tunns, and Mr. Tho. Papillon to send 5 tonnes of English Mum if so much Tonnage can be spared, giveing 10/ per tonne to the poores Box." ^ 1667. " This Court being moved to permit some English Mumm to bee sent on y° ship London for Bantam, to make an Experi- ment of that comoditie, in regard the shipp hath tonnage to spare, The Court were pleased to give libertie to Mr. Chris- topher Boone and some other members of this Court to send 6 or 7 Tunnes of the said Mumm on the said shipp freight free."* i66g. "It was ordered that it be referred to y! Committee for Shipping to consider what proportion of Wyne, Beere, and Mum, is fit to be sent to yt Coast and Bay, and cause y'? same to be provided accordingly."^ ^ Scottish Acts of ParKament, 13 * Minutes of the Court of Direo- Car. II., 1633, vol. vii. p. 458. tors of the East India Company, * 3Diary and Correspondence of 12th July, 1667. Samuel Pepys, F.R.S., vol. ii. (1848), 5, Minutes of the Court of Direo- p. 322. tors, East India Company, 6th " Minutes of the Court of Direc- October, 1669. tors. East India Company, 4th January, 1665. 412 APPENDIX. 1669. "A certain quantity of bullion to be brought to the mint for each barrel of Mumbeir imported." ^ 1670. "Mr. Paige and Mr. Home are desired to provide the like proporion of wine and Mum for Surrat and Bombay, as was sent the last year." ^ 1670-71. An Act for the advancement of trade and encouragement of the tillage and manufacture of the Eealm makes it known that mum was brewed in England (1670-71), as it was enacted that it was lawful to export it from the place in which it was brewed by giving due notice to the Excise officers. It was taxed at the rate of one shilling the tun, but after exportation the owner was to receive one shilling the tun to repay the Excise. The same Act declares " That noe mum imported from Forreigne parts dureing the continuance of this Act, shall have any part of the Duty of Custome or Excise paid at the Importation thereof repaid on Exportation." ^ 1671. "The Compf servf in Persia* are much obliged to your hon" for yt plentiful Stores you were pleased to send us, but unfortunately o. Caske of Mum, when it came to hand was not neare halfe full." 1671. " Mum, Brunswick Mum, Teut. Mumm, Belg. Momme, Cerevisia qusedam generosa, nobis k Brwnswico, Germanse urbe, advecta; nesoio an ci Belg. Mommeln, Mompelen, Teut. Mummeln, Mutire, Mussitare, ut nos dicimus, drink that will make a Cat to speak/ vel contr^ a voce mum. Silentii indice (ie.), Cerevisia ade6 generosa ut brevi linguse usum adimat." ^ 1 Scottish Acts of Parliament. s Statutes of the Realm, vol. v. Act concerning Bullion. Vol. vii. p. 723. 22 & 23 Car. II., c. 13. P- 560. 4 Letter from John Child at Gom- '' Minutes of the Court of Direc- broon to Surat, 22nd April, 167 1. tors of the East India Company, » Etymologicon Lingu^ Angli- l8th January, 1670. can^. Stephana Skinner, M.D. London, 1671. APPENDIX. 413 1673. "A Duty of ;£2 : 8/ Scots per barrel imposed on Mum beer imported." ^ 1675/6. " Whether your honours sends out any wine or no it is all one to any one in the factory except the Agent himself and Mr. English, it stands us in a great part of our Sallery to buy a little wine and mum for to make us beer ■w*? to drink when we have occasion while that which is sent by your honours lyes spoyling in the Godowne, for at present there lyes seaven barrells of Mum in the factory turned to vinegar." ^ 1677. "The next Country joyning to Saxony, is the Prince of EainauUs, the Prince of Parmburghs, &c. These Countreys for Corn, as to Eye and Wheat, are so plentiful, that no part of Europe can go before them, there being much Corn to spare : . . . . From hence the Brunswick People fetch their Wheat they make their Mum of." Yarranton, from whom the foregoing quotation is made, advocated the introduction into England of granaries built on the same principle as those in Saxony, in which corn might be stored " safe and sweet .... until there shall be want and necessity for it to be delivered to the Poor," and he considered that granaries should be established in the four counties, Oxford, Warwick, Leicester, and Northampton- shire. Stratford-on-Avon he considered would be a very good place for the erection of granaries, and one of his reasons for advocating this was, to use his own words, that " There may as much Mum be made there, as at present is made at Bruns- wick: And there Mum may be made and sent into Ireland, West Indies, France, Spain, and into the Mediterranean ; And these Granaries will be thg occasion of getting away the Mum- Trade from Brunswick : . . . . " Observe, the Mum of Brunswick is made of Wheat, and the Wheat that it is made of is brought from the Granaries at ^ Scottish Acta of Parliament. Court of Directors, East India Corn- Car. II. (Vol. viii. pp. 211, 212). pany, dated loth January, i67|. 2 Letter from Bantam to the 414 APPENDIX. Magdenburg, and Shenibanh, and it grows in the vale of Parin hurg; when it comes to Brunswick it is Malted, and so made into Mum ; and when made, then sent by Land to the Eiver Elh, and so to Hamborough: and from thence disposed by Merchants unto all Parts : But the Mum of Brunswick is a Medicine and drinks very nauseous, and it is not there drink- able at all ; but that which makes it good, palitable, and strong, is its being long at Sea ; There it is forc'd into a fer- mentation, and that keeps it working, whereby it alters the very property of the Liquor ; and were it not sent to Sea, that Trade at Brunswick would not be worth anything ; and to convince you further of the reason of what I say, take this one thing, and that will convince you in the Truth of the rest. Our English Beer Brewed at London, and carried to Sea, and Landed at Hamborough, and so carried up the Elb, as far as Draisden, the Duke of Saxonies Court, and in those Parts, it is sold for Six-pence a Quart." ^ So enthusiastic was this writer in the advocacy of his proposed introduction of mum- brewing into Stratford-upon-Avon, that he goes on to speak of the town as 'New-Brunsv}ick. 1683. Houghton ^ says, " I once remember that Wheat being very Cheap, my Father caused a Steeping of it to be Malted^ and the Tradition is, that it yields more Liqour, and stronger, the quantity used considered, than Malt made of any other grain : and that the Liquor called Mum, much drunk and approved of late, is made of Malted Brunswick- Wheat with some few other ingredients " (vol. i. pp. 64-65). He also gives in vol. ii. pp. 93-94, " The Manner of making Mum, according to the Direction recorded in the Town-House of ' England's Improvement by Sea page of the first volume of this tract and Land to Out-do the Dutch with- bears the date 1681, it is clear from out Fighting to Pay Debts without the ^internal evidence of the book Moneys, To set at Work all the Poor itself that it could never have been of England with the Growth of our printed in that year, at least in its own Lands, by Andrew Yarranton, entirety, as the greater part of the Gent. London, 1677. volume is taken up with letters writ- 2 A Collection of Letters for the ten in 1682 and 1683. The second Improvement of Husbandry and volume is dated 1683, and it is pro- Trade, by John Houghton, E.R.S., bable that both were printed in that London, 1681. Although the title- or the following year. APPENDIX. 415 Brunswick," and adds, " William Eichardson, Merchant, tran- scribed it out of the Town-House of Brunswick." It is the same as the receipt already produced. He goes on to say : " Our English Brewers use not all these materials. They use Garda- mums, Ginger, and Sassafras, which serves instead of the Inner Bind of Firre, also Walnut Rinds, Madder, Red Sanders, and Enula Campana. And some make it only of Strong-leer, and Spruce-beer " (vol. ii. pp. 93-94). 1685. " Mum, cherry-wine, Langom, and Lemonad." ^ i6Ss. " I do not question but that we might make good strong £ound Beer, Ale and Mum that would keep well to Barbadoes. .... Great quantities of Beer, Ale, and Mum is sent yearly from London, and other places to Barbadoes, Jamaica, and other islands in America, where it sells to good advantage." ^ 1688. "Grant of an impost of 3/ Scots per Mint on Mum beer to pay the debts of Edinburgh." * 1688. " S' pray speake to Mr. Udall to be minde full to Dispose of my Chest of hock and my 2 brll mume and 4 Cases Sauces and allso Mr. Wharfes." * 1690-96. Additional imposts levied on mum beer. 1694. " An Act for granting to their Majesties severall Eates and Duties upon Tunnage of Shipps and Vessels, and upon Beere, ^ The Praise of York-shire Ale, ' Scottish Acts of Parliament. Wherein is enumerated several Sorts Car. II. 38. Vol. vii. 6036. of Drinks, with a Description of the * O.C. 5521. Ind. Off. Eec. Humors of most sorts of Drunkards, Letter written on board the ship &c., by G. M., Gent. YoEK, Printed Serbert, lying in the Menam river, by J. White, for Francis Hildyard, to Captain Udall at Ayuthia, dated at the Signe of the Bible in Stone- 23rd September, 1686. gate. 1685. ^ Scottish Acts of Parliament, ■^ Good Order Established in Penn- vol. ix. 2o65, 4600; vol. x. p. silvauia and New Jersey. By 31. Thomas Budd, 1685. 4i6 APPENDIX. Ale, and other Liquors for secureing certaine Eecompenses and Advantages in the said Act mentioned, to such Persons as shall voluntarily advance the siime of Fifteene hundred thousand pounds towards the carrying on the Warr against France." One of the provisions of this Act, among many others enacted as security for the advanced money, was that ' Every Barrell of Beere, Ale, or Mum imported from beyond the Seas, or from the islands of Guernsey or Jersey, and soe proportionally for a greater or lesser quantity, to be paid by the Importers before landing, over and above the Dutyes pay- able for the same. Three shillings.^ About 1700. "Mum, a kind of physical beer, made (originally) at Bruns^ wick, Germany, with husks of walnuts infused." 2 1701. "An Act for granting an Aid of His Majesty by laying Duties upon Malt, Mum, Cyder, and Perry, It was enacted : That every Barrell of Mum imported or made should pay the sum of 10/, and so proportionately for a greater or lesser quantity." 3 1708. " Let ev'ry Bough Bear frequent Vials, pregnant with the Dregs Of Moyle, or Mum, or Treacle's viscious juice." And again " See how the Belgae, Sedulous, and Stout, With Bowls of fat'ning Mum, or blissful cups Of Kernell-relished Fluids." * 1 Statutes of the Realm. 5 & 6 of about 1700, but with no author's Gul. & Mar., c. 20, vol. vi. p. name. ■*^.f -KT , ^ . * Statutes of the Realm. Gul. ^ Notes and Queries, 3rd Series, III., 0. 5, vol. vii. p. 740. vol. vii. p. loi. The above extract '' Cyder, a Poem, In Two Books 13 taken from an i8mo Dictionary by John Philips. London 1708 ' APPENDIX. 417 1714. In Praise of Brunswick Mum. By Ber. Miohel, Esq. Behold Pythagora's Cube, I think ' When lie invented, Mum was his Drink, So solid, sprightful, noble is this Liquor, It makes the Judgement firm, the Invention quicker. Let vulgar Wits drink Wine, Apollo come And fill my Budget ^ with Castalian Mum ; - That Grolden Tincture taken from the Face Of Ceres, when thou didst her first embrace ; Which makes thee youthful, whence I do conjecture That 'twas not Wine, but Mum that was thy Nectar. The pratling Cups of Bacchus are too weak. Mum commands silence, and can make us speak. Now for a Catch, begin Boy, and I'll follow And sing the counterpart to great Apollo, And first let's clear our voices with a Hum, And nothing sing but __,_ > lerri V Mum.^ cele 17 14. An Excellent New Ballad. Each verse of this ballad ends with a refrain in favour of Brunswick mum, and concludes with the following stanza : — " Now, now, true Protestants rejoice. Stand by your Laws and King, Now you've proclaim'd the Nation's choice, Let traitorous Rebels swing ; ' Shakespeare has "We have a lated from the original French of nay word: how to know one another. R. H. S., H. N. S., F. A., G. G., I come to her in white, and say A. M., M. P., and Messieurs Brins- 'Mum;' she cries 'Budget ;' and by den and Collier, the State Oculist, that we know one another. " Merry and Crooked Attorney, Li Prove- Wives of Windsor, act v. sc. 2. detori delli Curtisani. By a Lover ^ Political Merriment, or Truths of his Country. London, 17I4) P- Told to some Tune. Faithfully trans- 96. . 2 D 4,8 APPENDIX. Let Eoyal George, the Papist's scourge, To England quickly come : His Health till then, let honest Men, Drink all in Brunswick Mum." ^ 1715- Catch in Pkaise of Mum. There's an odd sort of liquor New come from Hamborough. 'Twill stick a whole wapentake Through and through : 'Tis yellow, and likewise As bitter as gall, And as strong as six horses, Coach and all. As I told you, 'twill make you As drunk as a drum : You'd fain know the name on't, But for that, my friend, mum.^ 1715- "A clamorous crowd is hushed with mugs of mum,_ Till all, tun'd equal, send a general hum." ^ 1716. "I have not forgot to drink your health here in mum, which I think very well deserves its reputation of being the best in the world." * 1717. "I went to bed" (he had been in the House of Commons from one at noon to twelve at night) "last night after tak- ing only a little broth : and all the day before a little tea and bread and butter, with two glasses of mum, and a piece of bread at the House of Commons." ^ ' Political Merriment, p. 3. tagu, dated Brunswick, November " Playford's Second Book of the 23, O.S. 1716; quoted in Notes Musical Companion. William Pear- and Queries, 4tli Series, vol. vii. p. son, 1715. Notes and Queries, 3rd 429. Series, vol. vii. p. 41. ^ Epistolary Correspondence o£ ' Pope's Dunciad, Book ii., 385. Sir Ricliard Steele. 2 vols. London, * Letter from Lady M. W. Mon- 1787, p. 215. The above passage APPENDIX. 419 1726. " These several years past he has never been used to drinlc any mum, w*? is his Majesty's own country liquor. This may well be deemed a mark of disaffection, because tho' he is at liberty to drink this or that liquor, yet why he should never touch Mum at all cannot reasonably be ascribed to any other cause than a downright aversion to the name of Brunswick." ^ 1738. "Mum is a sort of sweet malt liq' brewed with barley and hops and a small mixture of wheat; very thick scarce drinkable till purified at sea. It is transpoi;ted into other countries." ^ 1761. "The French pronounce it Mom and the English write Mum. It is suitable for the Indies, and the Dutch carry much, generally on loading their vessels, preferring it to the beer of Holland." ^ 1803. " Mr. Perry, editor of the Morning Chronicle, being indicted by the Attorney-General for an alleged political libel, con- ducted his own defence, made an able speech to the jury, and had a verdict of "Not guilty." Not long afterwards Cobbett was indicted for a seditious passage in his Register, and, prompted by the success of the Chronicle's editor, resolved to follow the same course. He did so, but failed ; being con- victed and sentenced to a heavy fine and imprisonment. Henry Erskine's observation on this was, that Gobbett tried to be Perry, when he should have been mum." * 1816. " Mr. Oldbuck, who, despising the modern slops of tea and occurs in a letter to " Dear Prue," ^ Notes and Queries, 3rd Series, his first wife, and a sentence farther vol. vii. p. loi. The above is an on his abstinence is explained, as he extract from an old MS. note- says, "Temperance and your com- book. pany, as agreeable as you can make ' Diet. Univ. de Commerce, par it, will make life tolerable, if not J. Savary, 1759-62, new ed., t. iii. easy, even with the gout" (p. 2i6.) p. 939. •^ Notes and Queries, 5th Series, * Quoted in Notes and Queries, vol. iii. p. 308. Reproduced from a 3rd Series, vol. vii. p. 41. scarce tract, dated 1 726. 42P APPENDIX. coffee, was sulDsfcantially regaling himself, more majorum, with cold roast-beef and a glass of a sort of beverage called mum, a species of fat ale, brewed from wheat and bitter herbs, of which the present generation only know the name by its occurrence in revenue Acts of Parliament, coupled with cider, perry, and other exciseable commodities." i 1822. " There was bluff old Sir Geoffry loved brandy and mum well, And to see a beer-glass turn'd over the thumb well ; But he fled like the wind, before Fairfax and Cromwell, Which nobody can deny." ^ 1851. " When I was young it (mum) used to be drunk in this country, and was, I am told, extensively exported to India, &c. Is it still manufactured t " ^ "Brunswick Mum is now advertised for sale by many publicans in the metropolis." * 1886. " Mum is by no means so extinct a. beverage in Germany. I used to drink it as a child, and even now, whenever I pass through Brunswick, I try to get at the railway station a glass of Braunschweiger Mumme for auld lang syne's sake. It tastes like stout, only with a sweetish liquorice flavour. Like most things, it does not seem so- good as it was fifty years ago. It is a feminine in German, die Mumme, and tradition says that it was first bi-ewed by Christian Mumme in Braunschweig, 1492.^ F. M. M." 1 The Antiquary, Sir Walter ' G. Creed, Notes and Queries, Scott, chap. xi. vol. iv., 1851, p. 177. 2 Veverrl of the Peak, vol. ii. p. * Ibid., Editor, p. 177. 287. 5 Times, 28th December, 1886. APPENDIX. ! 421 E. Report on the Trade of Siam written in 1678. The writer of this account of the trade of Siam (Ind. Off. Eec. O.C. 4696), which is in the same handwriting as 00. 4641, states that he had been recently admitted into the Oompany's service, and that he had been resident four years in Ayuthia. The only person answering to this description is George White. He was employed by the Company to assist Burneby, and this may possibly explain how both documents are in one handwriting. To y° Eight Worp'^ Robert Parker Esq^ A.g\ for y! Hon"!" English East India Comp'f Affaires &c. &c* Councill resid; att Bantam. No date. Eight Worp? and honoured S^ Yo' kindness in according y". humble tender of my Service to the Hon'!" Oomp"? by my admission into their Imploy has engaged me to dedicate my endeav"? to yt advance of their Interest, and I will faithfully, and dili- gently discharge that incumbent duty w'? yt best of my Capacity, where of till I can render some more acceptable testimony, I here present you w'? an Acco^ of y? Genl' trade of this Kingdome of Syam, hopeing it may bee of some vse in yo^ Consultations, relating to y! Hon"!" Comp"^' Affaires in this Place, being y\ reall truth of every p'ticuler according as my enquiries, and observations dureing my fowr yeares residence here has informed me. [The first subject he dealt with was the coinage of the country, and his account of it appears to have extended over two-thirds of a folio page; but it cannot be made out, as the document has been much damaged in this part ; indeed, all the five pages over which tl?e report extends 422 APPENDIX. have been much injured by damp or by fire in their lower halves, and have had to be strengthened by tissue-paper pasted over the writing of one of their surfaces.] Goodes of ye This Countrey abounds w*? divf very vsefuU and vallu- Countrey ^^ ^^^^ Comodityes of its native grow'!' y! Exportation whereof to sundry forraigne partes, mantaines a very considerable trade here, y! p'ticulare viz! Agulah Wood ; Areek ; Tynn ; Sapan ; Elephants ; Salt Peter ; Lead ; Elephants Teeth, all w''' are engrossed by yt King, and exposed to ^ale by his flfactf all others being strictly prohibited y! buying there from other handes, and I haVe seene seveere punishm'? in- flicted on some of y° Inhabitants for transgressing y' Com- mand, but fforrain";^ guilty of the same ffault have had their faylings favourably winked att. ^guia The Agulah wood of this countrey of y? Head sort '^°o^- called Agulah Bannah is esteemed Superior to any in y^ world, tis a rich pfume groweing in y? woodes neare yt Con- fines of Cambodiah, y? trade of it haveing beene sevl" yeares enjoyed by an eminent Persian pre titled Vphra Synnoratt who by y! Kings especiall Jgrace, and fav^ was admitted to this participation of y! Eoyall Manopoly, but some time before his late decease y1 Pattent was revoked, and tis now negotiated by his Maj''f= ffact'.' for his Acco? tis much vsed by y? Moores in Indostan Hydrobad and Bengali, but more in Turkey, and C Arabia, and p'ticularly great Quantityes are expended at y! Mahometans devocons in Medina, and Meccah. Y! Vphra vsed to sell it att different prices according to its goodness y". best at : i6 : Catt? p Pec! much Inferiour to wf I have knowne sold at Mocah in y^ Red Sea for fsoo p ffrassell w"? amo^ to neare ^1500 : p. Peel'. [A great part of the remainder of the page bearing on tin is wanting, while what remains is very obscure. Under Elephants follows a reference to ships at Tenasserim, and Arrack is the next subject of discourse.] Areek. Arreek or Betlenut growes in Plantacons betwixt this City Indicah and y". Riv^ mouth neare y^ towne of Bancoock where there is yearely gathered about 25000 Pec'? y". own"!' being strictly obliged to sell all to y^ King att : 6 : Mace p Pec w"" hee againe vends for : i : Taell p Pec! to y? Portu- APPENDIX. 423 guez of Macaw, and Chineses of Canton, from y/f two Fortes there yearely comes : 5 : or 6 : shipps, and sommans cheifely for this comodity, and there are allsoe some Merch'? inhabitants of this Place who vse y^ same trade. Sapan wood growes in great abundance in sundry Partes Sapan. of yt Kingdome tis exported to Jepan, and China being bought by y1 King of his People, who deliver att his Ware- houses for : 2 : Mace : i : ffuah p Pec| and vended againe by him for : 6 : Mace ordinarily, but an*} 77 : hee raised it to 2 Tecalls vpon notice that y? price was advanced in China, since when 'tis fallen againe to y° form^ rate of : 6 : Mace. The Salt Peter of this Countrey is excellent good, and sait Peter, well refined as ever I sawe, y". King allowes his People : 5. Tec! Pec" but from his hand tis' worth : 1 7 Tec"^ w"?' is his standard Price, and att y? rate considerable Quantityes are yearely bought by y! ffacf? of y° Kings of Amoy, and Cochin China for yf Service of those Princes in these p'petuall warrs w°> are betweene y? former and y° Tartar, and y° latter w*?' Tunqueene. Lead is not here in such great quantityes as Tynn is Lead. . , . (illegible) settled Price being : 10. Tecalls p PecuU. Elephants Teeth are found in yt Woodes by People . . . Biepbw who annually bring in about : 6 : or 700 : Pec"' who . . . by his ffact" att yf Eates following viz?. Teeth price a Pec. : i(5 : Taell D'? : 14 D'° : 12 D*° : 10 D'.° : 8 [The three lines following this are illegible.] The more vulgar Comodityes wherein all p'sons have Liberty to trade are viz? Iron : Eice : Jaggarah : Tymber : Salt : Cokernutt Oyle : Oheroon : 1 Eaw Hides : — ^ In A Collection of letters for and ps ic half is the quantity the Improvement of Husbandry stated to have been imported in and Trade, by John Houghton, one year. Chcrquoneesjs the only F.R.S., London, 1683, Cherquo- word I have been able to find at nees are mentioned among a list all resembling Cheroon, but the of articles imported to London, meaning of it I cannot ascertain. 424 APPENDIX. Iron. The Iron Mines are in yt N'jtherne partes of y^ King- dome about Succotai and Pnrselooke producing sufficient for yt Expence of y^ Countrey, and some is yearely exported to Manilah y! vsuall Price : 6 : in : 7 Tecalls p Pec'/. Eice. This Countrey is yt gen! Granary for jl adjacent partes equalling if not exceeding any parte of yt world in abund- ance of Kice, wherein y! neighbouring Malayan Coast is yearely supplyed as far as Malaccah, and when it happens to be scarce, and dear about Java as it did An° 76 : 77 : y? Dutch, and others transport sev" shipps ladeing thither, tis' sold here by a Measure called a Parrah whereof : 80 make a Quoyan, w"? weighs just : 30 : Pecj and y° ordinary sort is vsually worth : 10 : in 12 : Tecalls p Quoyan, but this yeare tis advanced to double as much and y! Exportacon strictly prohibited, because y? p'sent extraordinary invudacons ex- ceeding W; has beene knowne in y! memory of Man, has done great damage to y! Cropp vpon y! ground. Jaggarah / Jaggarah is made in great abundance att Purseloock Campem and Succotai very considerable quantityes being yearely transported to Jepan and some to Malacca : its vsuall Price : 2 Tecalls : 3 Mace p Pec!. 'j'ymber. This country is in all ... . fully stored w'." Tymber .... exported by y^ Dutch to Malacca .... [Eleven or twelve lines follow, but they are quite illegible.] Hides. Raw Hides of Buffolls, Cowes, Deere, and Anteloopes come in great Quantityes from yt inland Country, and are all bought up by y? Dutch who have a Pattent for the engrossing thereof. shippsy* The shipping y^ vse y^ forraign Partes y'^ frequent y^, Trade.'' Trade of this Port are from Canton, Macow, Amoy, Cochin China, Suratt, and Cormandell. Canton and The Comodities imported from Canton, and Macow are ' '"^'"' Rawe, and Wrought Silke, Quick silver, Tutenague, Por- cellaine, Wrought Copp, and Iron Panns called Jauches. Raw Silke. '^s^'^TQ Silke generally sells for about : 500 : Tecalls p. Pec* till y? more then ordinary Quantity y^ came this last yeare cheapened to : 450 : Tecalls, 'tis bought by y^ King, and China Merch'' for y! trade of Jepan, very little being ex- pended in this Kingdome, And to y° same* place y! wrought APPENDIX. 425 silkes, being Paunches, Sattins, Damaskes, and Lynns, are alsoe exported. Some Tutinague alsoe goes from hence to y' markett, TuUaague. but y^ greater vend for y* Comodity, togeather w'? y1 Quick Silver, and y° fine Porcellaine is att Suratt, Cormandell, and Bengali. Wrought Copper, being sev" Sorts of Potts, and Dyshes wrought for Domestick occasion as y° Jauclies alsoe for y! same jaSe^s" service are vsed here and exported to the Malayan coun- treys. Besides y° goodes of y° growth of y* place w"? these inTstm" shipps require, I have already intimated, they alsoe buy for canton i sev'' Comodityes exported from Partes, as Sandall f rom ^""^ ^^"^• Tymoor, Pepp, Camphire, and Birds Nests .... hither by yt Malayes in small Prowes, and som Callicoes of Suratt .... are likewise bought by y^ Chineses of Canton. . . . We have yearly : 2 : or 3 : Somahs from Amoy. . . . Trade of [the rest illegible]. "°^ "° The vessells from Cochin China belong to y! King of y' cochin Countery, comeing purposely for Salt Petre, and Lead, they '^'''"''■ bring chiefly Gold, with some Columbah wood a more costly p'fume^ wood then Agulah, much used in Jepan,"^ where it sells for : 3 : or 4 : times its weight in silver. The ships from Suratt, and Cormandell, bring cargoes of sev" sorts of Callicoes propp for yt vse of y ' Countrey and Ezportacon to Jepan, China, and Manillah, w*^? they barter for Tynn Copp., Tutinague, and Porcellaine, but greater Quantityes of Callicoes then come on these shipps directly to y! Port, are brought on this Kings and sev" Moores shipps from Bengali, and Metchlepatan to the Port of Tenassary, whence thy proceede Ouerland hether, and this consider- able Trade is att pTsent totally engrossed by y° Persians and Moores, who are now in Effect Mast" of y? parte of y1 Countrey as well as y? comerce, w*? they are bound to acknowledge to y° kindness of yt p mentioned Vphra Syn- noratt who for : 30 yeares togeather, y ' hee was of this Kings Cabinett Councell, made it his cheifest endeav' even to his own p'sonall prejudice to promote yt Intrest of his Coun- treymen, and those of y! Mahometan religion, wherein hee 426 APPENDIX. soe farr succeeded, that y! Collonies they have planted in those partes doe almost equall y? number of y! natives but far exceed them in wealth, and power. The Eajah or Gouern^ of Tenassary and and Towne of Mergee being Persians, and y! like at all yt eminent Townes along yt road hether Pibley, Prawn, Queel, &c^ and likewise at yt comand of y1 Kings shipps y' sail from Tanassary to Meccow and Bengali and his ffact^ y? reside in those partes to negotiate his Affaires who in order to gratify their ambi- tion are adorned wf y! title of Embassadors ... in this city ludicah here are many merchants. . . . [About ten lines follow, which are too obscure to be read.] Yearly send one or two Somahs to Jepan, and Canton, and sometimes to Amoy, but the King onely sends every yeare one to Manilah, those affaires both maritine and Mercantine are managed by Chyneses as well here, as abroad y! ffacl"? ware housekeep"? and Accomptants being all y* nacon whereof y? cheifest belonging to y° King is a p'son of great Quality intitled Vphrah Sivepott. The other vessells of this Port are most owned by Chy- neses except : 2 : or 3 : y^ belong to other Me^ch';^ The Sommahs for Jepan proceed on their voyage in y" month of June and return to January, yt goods of yt growth of this Place that they lade with are as before intimated, Sappan, Jaggarah, Cheroon, and Elephants teeth, and some Hides y? Chyneses doe alsoe procure in dispight of yt Dutch Comp^ Pattent, besides w"? they carry Quantityes of Callicoes of Suratt and Cormandell, and almost all o^ Europe manufactoryes y? vends here is ex- ported thither, y! Eeturnes they bring from thence, are Gold Copangs, Copp, and Porcellaine. The Price of Gold copangs here is betwixt : 13 :'and 14 : Tecalls p peice. Copp of them whose occasions necesitate an imediate sale to negotiate their Eeturnes, may att first arrivall bee bought for • 6 : Taell : i : Tecall p Pec! for Cash, but at y'? same time tis curr^ for : 8 : Taell in Barter,'as it alwayes rises alsoe to y\ price for Cash att this Season of y° yeare, when tis exported to Suratt and Cormandell, &c1 y! King vsed formerly to APPENDIX. 427 engross y1 great parte of this Comodity, and dispose of it in. Barter att : 12 : Taell p Pec" but 2 : years since Vphrah Syunoratt p'vailed w'? him to lower his Price to : 8 : Taells p Pecf granted a Gen! Liberty for buying thereof, and in recompence to himselfe to impose Custome of: 10 : p cent vpon all y? was imported. They now make great quantityes of Porcellaine in Jepan j^p^^ I have some ptical peeces comparable to any made in 'P"'^'=eUaine. China of late years generally tis not altogeather soe good and yt extraordinary abundance last yeare rendred it very cheape. The Kings Sommah y? voyages yearely to Minlah is laden ManUaii. .... of Suratt and Cormandell some raw, and wrought silkes of China .... Iron, and makes returns in Eyalls 'of Eight. [Next two lines illegible;] Here is noe Custome paid, on any goodes imported, or exported except y? : 10 : p cent lately imposed on Copp, but they have learned of y? Chynesis to exact a duty on y? measure of shipps v/"} is accordingly paid by all but y1 English and Dutch. The Dutch Comp* have had a trade here about : 70 : Dutch years, their residence is on y? Eiver side, where they have t°S^" a very credible, and comodius habitation y? number of y! Europeans in y ffactory being about : 25 : p'sons, whereof above half are Artificers, and Seamen, and thir cheife has alsoe a ffactory subordinate to him att another Port in this Kings Dominions called Legoor about one hundred leagues to y! S'wards. The trade of this Place has formerly beene of very great advantage to them, in y? considerable quantityes of Callicoes of Suratt, and Cormandell they have readily vended to great advance, and noe less in yt Cargoes of Tynn they were here provided w'. for Keturnes to those marketts, but both these curr'.' of Profitt have been obstructed, y° former declyning as y , Trade of yt Moores att Tenassary encreased, and Shipps from Suratt navigated directly hither, w"? has overcloyed this Countrey w'? all sortes of Callicoes, and lowred y° prices much under w'. their ord"? from Batavia 428 APPENDIX. limitt them to sell att, soe yf I am credibly informed the total amount of their yearely sales does not now counter- vail their charges. [More than seventeen lines follow, a great part of which is quite illegible.] Considerable Privileges for Advance of their trade, amongst w'? y? principal were y! intire Monopoly of y'' Tynn att Legoor, and liberty to buy it here of yt People att ; IS : Taell : 2 : Tec. p baharr w*? has made them very plentifull satisfaction for yt p'judice they susteyned by Ocha Pecheet, but yett this could not content their Avarice, for they have been sev? times endeavouring to encroch further, and make themselves masters of y1 whole Trade ; by p'swading y? King to lett all. his Tynn. likewise pass into their hands, once since my arrivall they made him an offer obliging themselves to take off y1 whole Quantity yt Countrey produced at : 16 : Taell p Baharr p'sent paymf in Cash or oneCattee p Baharr payable att a yeares time, and this Contract to dure for : 10 : yeares, but twas not accepted, and they were fortunate in his refusall, the Comodity being soe much fallen in its Price att Suratt &c^ y? they would have had noe good Cause to bragg of their bargaine, whereof they are soe sensible y? instead of design- ing to engross I have of late known them refuse sev\' parcells have beene proffered, and yt whole Quantity they now p'chase here, and att Legoor exceeds not : 800 : Baharrs, y? att Legoor att : 15 : Taell, but here twas always att y? p'mentioned Price of : 15 : Taell : 2 : Tecalls till the Present cheif brought it downe to yl Legoor Price alsoe, and talkes still of Cheapening it considerably both here, and there, wf indeed I thinke it imports him to endeav^ for y! dif- ference twixt : 15 : Taell p Bah here, and : 9 : Eupees p Maund att Suratt, or : 29 : Pagodas y? Candy att Metchlepa- tam (as are now y! currt Prices in those parts) will scarce defray y! charge of ffreight besides y\ consideracon y^ they buy all with ready cash, they constantly make great In- vestme^' in Eaw Hides w"!" is y^ most beneficial Eemaines of their former great trade here. . . . [the rest illegible in parts of the lines.]' APPENDIX. 429 F. The following is Samuel White's Petition to the House of Commons describing his grievances against the Company.^ THE CASE OP SAMUEL WHITE. Hurribly presented To the Honourable, the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses, in Parliament assembled. I went to India, anno 75. as Mate on board the Ship Loyal Subject, Captain William Goodlad Commander, for the East India Company ; and did with the knowledge and consent of the Governour of Fort S' George, and by leave of the foresaid Commander remain in India, giving security to indempnifie the said Commander, from the penalty of One Hundred Pounds, he was lyable to pay for any Person so left behind him, which being accordingly exacted by the Company at the Ships return, was duly discharg'd by my Correspondent here. Mr. George White my Brother, did at this time reside in the kingdom of Syam, whither at his Invitation I remov'd, and voyaging soon after to Metcldepatam, it happened in time of my being there, that the King of Syam's Agent applied himself to the Chief of the Companies Factory, for a Person well qualified to navigate a Ship of the Kings, betwixt that place, and the Port of Mergen : To which employ he was pleas'd to recommend me, and I continued therein about four years, being so happy to have my services so well accepted ' Record Office, Domestic, James Amhassadors to the States General of II., 1688. This undated printed the United Provinces." It would paper is in folio, and consists of four seem, therefore, that the two doou- pages. Tacked on to it is another ments formed part of a Parliamen- page, seemingly part of the same tary paper. But what has become publication, headed " Memorials," of White's account of the " Passages dated September 1688, "lately Pre- at Mergen " ? sented hy the French and English 430 APPENDIX. by the said Kincfs Ministers, and by them so favourably repre- sented to his Majesty/ that he was graciously pleased, to let me in a large measure partake of his lioyal Bounty and favour. In this Interim, Mr. Constant PhaulTcon, who sometime had his dependence on my Brothers friendship, was become very considerable in the Court of Syam ; as he has since by his great merit, rais'd himself to be the Prime Minister, having all Important Affairs of the Kingdom entirely under his Charge and Conduct ; and by his kind assistance, I was advanc'd to another employment, much more advantageous ; being made Shawhander of Tenassary and Mergen, whereby I was entrusted with the Collecting and managing all the Kings revenues in that Province, and was likewise Chief Commissioner for his Maritime Affairs, of which my preferment I delayed not to give notice to my friends in the Companies service at Fort S' George, Metchlepatam and Bengali, humbly tendering my best services to their Commands, in whatever I might be useful to the Publick or their private Concerns, and they were pleased to return me their kind Congratulations, and gave me several occasions of serving them. Nor was it long after my being rais'd to this Capacity, that there did present a suitable op- portunity to testifie my Zeal to the Companies Service ; for their Ship the Golden Fleece, on her return from Bengali to England; sprung a desperate Leake, in which distress the only near and commodious Port that presented to their relief was Mergen, whither in confidence of my friendly assistance they came, and found me as ready to grant, as they could be to request, all that my interest and influence there could afford them, in my giving them the use of my own Slaves for the more expeditious unlading their Ship, securing their Goods in Warehouses ashore, and assisting the reladin^ thereof without the least Charge, when the Ship was refitted to proceed on her Voyage, for which I also supplied them with whatever they wanted at the very same rate that the King himself paid, and wholly excused them from all the duties of the Port. But I need not particularize how fully I answer'd or rather exceeded their expectations in all things, or call any other Testimony for proof thereof, than the report made here at home by Captain James Cook the Commander, who was so APPENDIX. 431 sensible of my good deservings on this occasion, that he very earnestly solicited the Committee for some signification of their kind accepting those my considerable Services. But an over ruling power amongst them, rendered this grateful motion ineffectual; however I am not less pleas'd, that I had the good fortune to be instrumental in securing and forwarding so great a Concern as that was, which I understand did here produce no less than 190000I. It was now the beginning of the year 84. when I received orders from the Court of Syam, to fit out several Ships for prosecuting the War against the Icings of Golcondah and Pegu, as by the same Command I also did the succeeding year, in which expeditions I must own, we were very much befriended by the President and Council of Fort S? George, who supplied us with Ammunition and Naval Stores, and accommodated us with some Englisli-men for those occasions, nor were they wanting to congratulate our successes, and make large proffers of their readiness, to give us further assistance, as appears by their general Letters, both to my Lord Phaulkon, and my self; while on the other side, there was all possible care taken by the hings special Command, that not the least injury or offence should be done to the Company, or any under their protection, as was strictly enjoin'd in the Commission to every Com- mander; and^accordingly amongst many smaller Vessels, two Considerable Ships .that were taken at Pegu, and brought into Mergen, tho they appeared to belong to the Inhabitants of Mechlepatam, yet upon producing English Passports were with- out trouble discharged. In this good accord stood the Correspondence betwixt the King of Syam and our Company to all appearance, when in April 87. we were surpris'd with the strange News that Cap- tain Nicholson, Admiral of the Companies Fleet in Bengali, had there seized on a Ship of the king of Syams, called the Revenge, Commanded by Captain Edward English, who then came from Fort S' George, where he had been kindly received and supplied with Ammunition and Men for the Kings service, and these ill tidings were soon followed, by the like Intelli- gence, concerning a Sloop of the kings called the Mary, taken by Captain Battin, in the Bebecca, at the Port of Pondicherry, 432 APPENDIX. about which time, I also receiv'd Letters from my friends at Fort S? George, acquainting me that the Company had sent out positive orders, for making War upon the king of Syam : Of all which, I did (as my duty obliged me) immediately despatch advices to my Lm'd Phaulkon, and the Frivy Council, humbly Offering it as my opinion, that since we well knew this undeserved rupture must be occasioned by the malicious misreports of some, who were in that regard no less Enemies to their own Countries Honour, and welfare, than the affairs of Syam; and that against all the Eules of Justice, and Law of Nations, these acts of Hostility were committed, before any Cause assign'd, by making complaint, and demanding satis- faction. It would therefore be convenient, that his Majesty of Syam employ'd some fitting Person to the King of England, to give him a true account of these unkind usages, and endea- vour to renew and corroborate that Correspondence, which his Majesty of Syam had in so many instances manifested his intention, and desire to conserve with the English Nation. My Lord Phaullcon and the Council, made their applications to the King, concerning this motion of mine, who was pleas'd not only to approve thereof, but also to do me the Honour of nominating me, to serve him in that occasion ; and because there was then no Ship of the Kings in Poi-t, so proper for the Voyage, as this of my own, whereon I afterwards escap'd with my Life ; I had orders to fit her, and myself, with all expedition, and be in readiness to proceed upon receipt of Letters from Court; with considerable Presents to the King, and his Royal Consort, which were dispatching towards me, and had certainly come to hand in twenty days time, had not the sudden fatal change of things, after the arrival of Captain Weltden in the Curtana, not only prevented that design, but occasioned the Massacre of about 60 of my Country Men on that Place : I only by a Miracle of Mercy, being left to bring the sad account of that bloudy Tragedy, which I am ready to represent when this Honourable House shall be pleas'd to command it. And now I am come to that unhappy Period when those heavy Calamities began to fall upon me, which have brou Wheeler's Madras in Olden Time, vol. i. Madras, 1861. p 181 ^ Dexter, I.e., p. 247. ' f "J- APPENDIX. 451 with Mrs. de Paiba resulted ia the birth of a son, who was called Charles Yale, and who died at the Cape of Good Hope on the 23rd January, 1711-12, aged, it is said, twenty-two years, and there he was buried, and a monument, with a Latin epitaph in which he is called the only son of the former Governor of Madras, records his death, and that of his mother who came from India to the Gape to die and to be laid by the side of her only child.^ As is well known, Elihu Yale was not permitted by the authorities at Madras to leave the country for some years after he had given up the Presidentship. The following order occurs in the Records of Fort St. George on the 23rd July, 1694; — "The late President Yale having sent a note to us desiring an order to the Commander of the Sampson to receive him on board, and the judge declaring that there is already attached and secured goods of sufficient value to answer all actions that are now depending in this Court between him and the E' Hon''!'' Comp*, Its resolved that the said order be signed and sent him." This was succeeded by another order dated ist March, to the following effect : — "Receive on board Ship Sampson Elihu Yale Esq. late President with his necessaries as a Passenger for England affording the accommodation of the great cabbin he paying Eight pounds for sea Provisions." In the Court Minutes of the 2 ist October, 1696, the following entry occurs : — " The Governour this day acquainting the Court, That S' Stephen Evance, and others, were importuned, to move the Parliament, That Mr. Elihu Yale, late President at Fort S? George, might have leave, to come for England, It being alledged. That he was forcibly detained in the country, and not sufered to come home, It is ordered. That the Com- mittees, for writing of Letters, do peruse the Advices lately received from the Fort, touching this Affair ; And that in the meantime, those Gentlemen be acquainted, It is the Compf earnest desire, he should come home, and they are willing to joyn with them, in procuring a Privy Seal, to oblige him thereunto." Two months later some further Pennant's Tour in Wales, vol. i. p. 401, is quoted by Dexter as his authority for this statement. 452 ■ APPENDIX. progress was made towards granting an order, as on the i8th December it was recorded, "That it be referred to the Committee of Law Suits, to consider of a paper, now read, purporting an order, to be sent to Fort S? George, for permit- ting Mr. Elihu Yale, with his effects, to come to England, and to report their opinion, in writing, what directions is fit to be given by the Court in that behalf." The report by this Committee, was read on the 8th January, 1697. It begins by saying, "Whereas Sr. Stephen Evance, Mr. John Paige and Mr. Thomas Yale, have desired our leave, and permission. That our late President, Elihu Yale Esqr : may return for- England, having given security here, to answer, and make good, whatever demands. Wee shall, or may have, against him &c." They consequently ordered that he was to be per- mitted to do so either by land or sea, and that he was to have full liberty to embark on one of the Company's ships, provided he did so within the space of three years. They, moreover, accorded to him a privilege which had been granted to former Presidents, vis. , that he might bring with him five tons of the following goods : " Sacks of all sorts, Camphir, Myrrh, Rubies, Saphires, Bezoar Stones, Cornelian Eings, and Stones, Amber- grease, Aggats, Olibanum, Cotton Wool, Cordivants, and all sorts of Leather, drest or undrest Diamonds, all Stuffs made of Carmania Wool, Camells hair, or other hair, without any mixture of Silks or Cotton, or the Product of any living Insect, Orpment, Cassia Fistula, Civet, Cubebs, Cummin seeds, Assa Foetida, Sapis Lutia, Mirabolans, Sanguis Draconis, Nux- vomica, Oyl of Mace, Nutmegs, Cinnamon, and Cloves, Long Pepper, Salarmoniac, Screens, Cabinets, Senna, Spikenard, Tammarines, Wormseed, Sugar-Candy, Eice, Persia Carpets, Tortois, Shells, Opium, GalUngall, Combogium, Eubarb, all Sorts of China Wares, all sorts of lacquered Wares." Their next step was to draw up an order for transmission to Yale,i and to decide this the Committee of Law Suits were desired to peruse the draught that had been proposed, and to appoint a time when Sr. Stephen Evance, Mr. Paige, and Mr. Thomas Yale might attend the Committee to decide what form the order should assume. 2 This having been determined ' Court Minutes, 3rd Feb., 1697. = Ibid., 15th Feb., 1697. APPENDIX. 453 the bond given by Sr. Stephen Evance, Mr. John Paige, apd Mr. Thomas Yale was considered, and being approved,^ the order permitting him to return to England was sent to Madras. In a letter in the India OflEtce, written by the authorities at Fort St. George on the 22nd February, 169!, to the Worspl' Jn". Brabourne, Comodore &". Councill att Anjengo it is said, "The Martha arrived here from Bengali the 22? past. . . . Govern^ Yale and severall others are gone home upon her ; " and in another letter from the same factory dated 2nd May, 1699, it is stated that the late President Yale took his passage from Madras to England on the 20th February, 1699, on board the Martha. It has been stated ^ that Yale became Chairman of the East India Company, after he returned to London, but a search through the lists of governors, deputy-governors, and directors, or managers as they were sometimes called, of the Old and of the New Company, preserved in the India Office, has failed to lend any support to this statement. As I had seen it mentioned ^ that Elihu Yale was a Fellow of the Eoyal Society, I referred to the Minutes of the Society, and found that he was elected a Fellow in 1717. The ■ circumstances that led to this are the following : — At a meeting of the Council held on the 17th October, 17 17, the will of Dr. Thomas Paget was produced, bequeathing to the Society two houses in Coleman Street, which were let for ;^97, los. per annum, and three pictures — portraits of Gassen- dus, T. Hobbs, and Dr. Henry Moor. The President, Sir Isaac Newton, undertook to ask the executor, Mr. Elihu Yale, for the deeds of the estate. At a meeting held on the 31st of the same month, the President delivered to the Society two of the pictures bequeathed by Dr. Paget, which he had received from Yale. On the 21st December, Yale was proposed by Sir Hans Sloan as a candidate for a fellowship of the Society, and on the 30th of the same month he was duly ballotted for and elected. He, however, never signed the roll of Fellows. A century after his election to the Eoyal Society, Mr. Christie, founder of the famous house of Messrs. Christie, ' Court Minutes, 7th May, 1697. ' Biographical Diet. Wm. Allen, ' Ibid. Boston, 1857. 454 APPENDIX. Manson, & Woods, sold by auction, " at his great room, Pall Mall, on Thursday, 19th June, 1817," some efifects belonging to the late Barrington Pope Blachford, Esq. In the catalogue of the sale. Lot 7 is described as " The original diamond ring of Mary Queen of Scots upon which are engraved the_ arms of England Scotland and Ireland quartered, and of which the fol- lowing well-authenticated history was communicated by that correct and learned antiquary, the late Richard Gough, Esqr., as cited in a letter from Brooke, Esq. to Miss Martha Browne, which will be delivered to the purchaser. " That it descended from Mary to her grandchild Charles I. who gave it on the scaffold to Arch Bishop Juxon ^ for his son Charles II. who in his troubles pawned it in Holland for ;^300 where it was bought by Governor Yale and sold at his sale for ;^320 supposed for the Pretender. Afterwards it came into possession of the Earl Hay, Duke of Argyle & probably from him to Mr. Blachford. " This seal-ring appears to have furnished evidence that was fatal to Mary Queen of Scots." ' Mr. C. Drury E. Fortnum's researches seem to prove con- clusively that this signet-ring was not the signet of Mary Queen of Scots, but that it was the diamond signet-ring engraved by order of Charles I. in 1628-29, "^i^^ "o' Armes in a Dyamond with Ires of the name of 0^ deerest Consort the Queen," — in other words, the signet of Queen Henrietta Maria. There is another curious fact connected with this ring mentioned by Mr. Fortnum,' viz., that it was probably the diamond ring which Tavernier had in his possession in Persia.* The writ of error which has been mentioned in the foregoing notes arose in this way. Elihu Yale had become security for ;^4o,ooo on account of Sir Matthew Kirkwood, Knt., a Lon- don Goldsmith, who was employed as banker or cashier to Edward Pauncefort and John Charlton, the Eeceivers-General of all the funds derived from the Revenues of Excise, and also private banker to Pauncefort. Sir Matthew and his partner, Robert Jeukes, absconded, indebted to Mr. Pauncefort;^! o, 153, ' This was a myth, as at the = Archaeologia, vol. L. Pt. I, pp. time of Mary's death Archbishop 109-110. Juxon was barely live years old. ^ Archaeologia, vol. xlvii. p. 396. Fortnum, ArchBeologia, vol. xlvii. p. * Voyage en Turquie, torn. iii. 4to. 396. Paris, 1672-79. APPENDIX. 455 I OS. 8|d. Kirkwood's goods were seized into the King's hands, and a Scire Facias out of the Court of Exchequer was issued against Elihu Yale upon his bond of ;!^4o,ooo. It was against this that Katherine Yale, his widow, appealed to the House of Lords.'' ^ Appeals to the House of Lords, of Lords on the 4th day of Deceni- To be heard at the Bar of the House ber, 1721. London; Trutner & C? EWTEH SIAM ra century" rson. •fed /or oonxenifiTirf' ofrefer^ice Red, ^rvwn _ Rtrple _ SliiB Gles. 400 &00 .iB.boyo» Xondon; Trubner & C? XorwLon Sian/ards Seog ^ T-'stab! INDEX. Abany (Abeene), an interloper as- sisted by Phaulkon, 211 Abdnr-razzak, the Heratee, i5 and /. n, ; the Samarkandi, 2 1 ; men- tion of Tenasserim by, 21 Abeene, 200 ; see Abany Abul Pazl'Allami, on the Admiralty of Akbar, 35 ; mention of Tenas- serim by, 35 Acapulco, Bishop of Heliopolis at, 239 Acheen, elephants and horses ex- ported from, 20 /. n. ; titles of King of, 20 /. m. ; a source of wood-aloes, 35 ; Siamese ambas- sador at, 50 ; Dutch at war with, 97 ; Richard Mohun at, 198 /. «.; ambassador at Ayuthia from, 233; Sultan of, 248 ; Sancta Cruz sent to, 271; Mogul ships from, to be seized, 331 ; Samuel White goes to, 347 ; Capt. Weltden goes to, 348 ; White and Weltden leave, 550 ; Capt. Perriman at, 362 ; his hostility at, 362 ; Queen of, im- prisons the English, 362 ; Mr. Salwey at, 381; Abraham Navarro at, 381 ; Wm. Hodges at, 382 Acheenders threaten war with Pa- tani, 58 Achma, chintz, 93/. n. Ackworth, William, his letter to Sir George Oxinden, 103 ; goes to Acheen and thence to Tenas- serim with Mr. Stanford, 103 ; detained at Tenasserim, 103; pro- ceeds overland to Ayuthia, 103 ; detained at Jelinga, 104; arrives at the capital, 104; after Mr. Bearing's death ordered by the King to take charge of the factory, 104 ; fires guns in the factory, 105 ; falsely charged with mur- der, 105 ; seized and imprisoned, 106 ; his " company-keeper " sub- jected to torture and dies, 106 ; released, 106 Adoecang Soeroe SaJcen (class of mandarin), Constance Phaulkon made an, 178 Adams, William, resident in Japan, 47 ; appointed captain of Sea A dventure, 59 ; known as Anjin or pilot in Japan, 60 ; passport issued to, by ly^yasu, 60 ; at Ayuthia, 65 ; assists Englishmen to escape at Nagasaki, 77 ; trad- ing exploits of, 10 1 Capt., of the Bidl, 80 Adjodhya, Sanscrit name of Ayuthia, 18 Advice, the, driven to Bangkok, 65 ; arrives at Hirado, 65 Agent, the, at Mergui, 277 Agga Mahomed, an alias of R- Bladwell, 91 Agvla, 96 ; see Wood-aloes Aguldh, App. E., see Eagle-wood Ahmedabad, water works for, 8 1 /. m. Ain-i-Akbari, quoted, II /. n., 35 Akbar, Admiralty of, 35 Akyab, point at, 339/. n. 4S8 INDEX. Alaunghpr^, devastates Tenasserim, 5 ; invasion of Siam by, 8 ; cap- ture of Tenasserim province by, 390 Albuquerque, A. d', quoted, 1 1/. m.; sends ambassadors to Siam, 26 and /. n. ; sends envoy to Pegu, 28 ; his alliance with Siam, 29 Aleppo, Bishop Beryte at, 225 Alexander, George, at Mergui, 322 Alexandretta, Bishop Beryte at, 225 ; Bishop of Heliopolis at, 232 Alguada reef, the Jerusalem cap- tures the Quedahux at, 266 Ali Beague, governor of Masuli- patam, 257 ; attempts to capture Capt. John Coates, 261 Ali Selim, Siamese ambassador to Persia, 249 ; at Tenasserim with Persian ambassador, 250 Allome, 310; see Alum Altar to the Glorious Virgin, 228 Alum, 310, 387 Amaoou (Macao), 82 Amher-Greece, 96; see Ambergris Ambergi'is, 61, 96 Amboyna, massacre at, 85 Amorous representations in wax- work, 148 Amoy, trade of, see App. E. Amsterdam on the Menam, 161, 217 ; Dutch factory at, 20$ Amoco, 291 /. n. AmoJc, 291/. n. Amuco, 291 /. m. Amuk, 291/. n. Anah, Bishop B&ythe at, 226 Andamania (Andaman Islands), Island of Gold, 30 Andamana, 31 /. n.; Col. T. Cadell 0°' 336 /• ^• " Andemanners," 336 and/! n. Andragera (Andragiri), Phaulkon shipwrecked at, 163 Andrews, Capt. Jonathan, at Mocha, 314 ; seizes the Satisfaction, 315 Matthew, President at Surat, 93/-»- Andrews, William, factor, sent to Ayuthia, 90 Angel, the, Dutch Admiral's ship, treatment of English on, 75 ; carries English prisoners to Japan, 77 ; escape of prisoners, 77 Anjin or pilot, Japanese designation of William Adams, 60 ; in Japan- ese documents, 60 Ankah, Bishop B^rythe at, 226 Antheuniss, Lucas, merchant on the Glohe, 47 ; at Ayuthia, 49 ; winters . there, 51 ; opens trade with Xiengmai, 54 ; with Eloris pro- vides houses at Patani and Siam (Ayuthia), 61 ; sends goods to Camboja, 62 ; at Patani, 62 ; leaves Patani, carrying letter from King of Siam to King of England, 63, 84 Anticut, 355 Antigua, 267 Antioch, Bishop Beryte at, 225 AntipathfiS (black coral), 30/. n. Antravedi, burnt by Don Joseph De Heredia, 265 Aqua composita of Tanassaria, 33 Aqula, 89 ; see Eagle-wood Arabia, entire horses from, 20 f.n. Arakan, ceded to the British, 2 ; 33 ; trade to, 40 ; 339 /. n. Archipelago, Mergui, 335 ; inha- bited by Selungs, 347 Arichocke, Zaeharias, an Armenian, 107 Armenians at Ayuthia, 241 Arms, painted, 281 /. n.; tatooed, 281 /. n. Arrack, 81 ArreeTc, App. E. ; (Areca catechu) Arthus, G., quoted, 12 /. «., 44 f.n. Ascension, the, 59 /. n. Atkins, Capt., at Lampacao, 113 j proceeds to Ayuthia, 115 Atlas, 92 /. n. Auva, 42 ; see Ava Ava, peace between Siam and, 69 INDEX. 459 /. ».; factors of King of Siam at, 42 Aylofle, William, 121, 138/. »., 141 Ayuthia, the capital of Siam, 4, 17 ; founding of, 4 ; destroyed. Si 390 ; overland route from Tenas- serim to, S, 39, 40, 42 ; situation of, 16; called the new city, 17; site of previous capital, 17 ; mean- ing of name, 18 ; various read- ings of name, 18 /. n. ; became knovfn in England, 36 ; first Englishman at, 49, 51 ; markets at, 50 ; Japanese camp at, 53 ; Lucas Antheuniss at, 53 ; other Englishmen arrive at, 58 ; court of factors held at, 61 ; William Adams at, 65 ; returns to Japan, 65 ; Robert Larkin and Benjamin Earie die at, 65 ; Wm. Eaton at, 68 ; John Johnson dies at, 69 ; as a place of trade and its pro- ducts, 70, App. E. ; Wm. Eaton at, 71 ; goods suitable to market at, 92 /. 7s. ; Padre Mason dies at, 94; trade with Ayuthia contemplated at Bantam, 96 ; William Acworth at, 103 ; Mr. Bearing dies at, 104 ; Acworth imprisoned at, 106 ; Nicholas Waite at, 1 10 ; Simon Delboe dies at, 115 ; George White at, 120; Mrs. George White at, I2i ; Surat merchants at, 137 ; Benja- min Sanger dies at, 1 38 and /. «. ; Eichard Burneby, Kev. Mr. Cop- ping, John Turner, and Thomas Hellowes arrive at, 141 ; John Bennett, an able physician and surgeon, at, 146 ; report on the trade of, 146 ; a factory recom- mended to be built at, 147 ; an Englishman accused of a triple murder at, 148 ; thieves from Pulicat escape to, 149 ; Samuel White at, 152 ; George White leaves, i6l ; Constant Phaulkon at, 163 ; Compagnie Franjaise at, 167, 241 ; burning of the English factory lent by the King, 174 ; interlopers at, 180, 181, 186 ; free to all merchants, 188 ; a ftte at, 189 ; brokers at, 189 ; Potts put in the stocks and " con- gees " at, 198 ; Peter Crouch and John Thomas imprisoned at, 215 ; King of Siam wishes the English to settle at, 222 ; Bishop of B^rythe and missionaries arrive at, 228 ; two churches in, 228 ; Portuguese settlement at, 228 ; Grand Vicar of Goa at, 22S ; Dutch quarters at, 229 ; Japanese Christians at, 229 ; Portuguese introduce Christianity into, 229 ; Bishop of Heliopolis arrives at, 231 ; bulwarks of city designed by Father Thomas, 231 ; envoys from Aoheen and Golconda arrive at, 233 ; a Catholic seminary established at, 234 ; a female community established at, 234 ; Bishop de B&ythe dies at, 241 ; nations represented at, 241 ; an embassy from Louis XIV. arrives at, 244 ; Persian ambassador sent to, 249 ; Samuel White goes from Mergui to, 282 ; Capt. Henry TJdall arrives at, 286 ; Macassar insurrection at, 285, 286-296; Henry TJdall kiUed, assisting in suppressing Macassar rebellion, 286, 288 ; his wounds, 288; Capt. John Ooates, M. d'Roan, and three other French- men also killed, 289 ; ship cap- tains at, 297 and /. «.; English- women at, 297 ; Capt. Lake arrives at, 297 ; imprisoned and dies at, 300; Samuel White re- turns to Mergui, 306 ; all English- men recalled from, 322 ; Siamese men-of-war under French officers, 360 ; reported massacre of Euro- peans at, 362; French embassy arrives at, 364 Azevedo, Antonio de M. de, envoy to Ayuthia, 26 46o INDEX. Boar, 23 ; see Bahar Badger, Dr., 25 Baffetas, 94 /. n. ; see Baf ta Baft, 93 and 94 /. n. ; see Bafta Baf ta, 93 /. n., 94 /. n. Bagdad, Bishop of Berythe at, 226 Bahar, 23, 123 Bahh, 123; see Bahar Balacki, horses from, 20 /. n, Balasor, Kichard Mohun at, 198 /. n. ; Bishop of Heliopolis at, 236 ; purgoes used at, 266 /. n. ; Debruan and Beauregard made prisoners at, 380; death of Hodges at, 382 ; French fleet at, 383 Baldaeus, Philip, on Tenasserim trade, quoted, 41 Ball, George, President at Bantam, 70 Banooak, 183 ; see Bangkok Bancoke, castel of, 115; see Bang- kok Banda, 91 Banda-Makhon, Island of, 338 /. n, Bandon river, 27 /. n. Bangkok, 4 /. n., 8, 18, 67, 68, 95, no, 113,115, 141, 161,213,244 /. n., 27s, 298 ; (Bankoak), 287 ; (Bankoke), 292; 304, 306, 307, 311; 372, 373, 374 ; o" site of an older city, 1 7; first English at, 49; Gloie at, 50; railway projects at, 55 ; Japanese sailors at, 66 ; Bearing at, 97 ; Capt. Atkins at, 115; first fort at, said to have been erected by Phaulkon, 164 /. n. ; Strangh at, 182, 183; Capt. Pines, arch-interloper, at, 186; Capt. Smith at, 198; Harbin Mission arrives at, 222 ; forts at (Bau- , koke), 290 ; Oomte de Eorbin, , commander of fort at, 299 ; com- manded by a Portuguese, 365 ; arrival of Prenoh troops at, 365 ; landing of rrench troops at, 366 ; General Des ITarges appointed to command of troops at, 366 ; M. Beauregard, late governor of forts at, 369 ; forts attacked by Siamese, 374 ; Bishop of Metello- polis tied to a gibbet at, 375 ; freed from, 375 ; peace with French concluded at, 375 ; fort surrendered by Prench, 375 ; Dutch alleged to have assisted Siamese against Prench, 376 ; Prench officers prisoners at, 379 ; Des Parges and his troops leave, 381 Bangnarom, on west coast of the Gulf of Siam, 8 ; Tenasserim route terminating at, 8 Banket at Ayuthi'a, 67; see Banquet Bankoak, 2S7 ; see Bangkok Banksall, 258; meaning of, 258/. »., 265 Banquet at Ayuthia, 67 Bansall, see Banksall Bantam, 55, 57, 60, 63, 85, 86, 88, 93, 94, 112, 117, 123, 126, 130, 132. 136, 137, 139, 140, 143/- «•. 144, 168 ; 169, 170, 184, 267 ; trade withPatani, 44; Wm. Keeling at, 46 ; John Gourney at, 65 ; George Ball, President at, 70 ; Council of Englishmen at, 73 ; news of peace arrives at, 79 ; authorities con- template trade with Ayuthia, 96 ; Thomas Goodyear escapes to, 107 ; John Robson sent from Ayuthia to, 118; Sanger sent to, 126, 1 30 ; delivers letter and Tar- ras to Council at, 127 ; letter to Suratfrom, 129, 135 ; Sanger sent to Ayuthia, leaves with letter to the King of Siam, 132, 134; Henry Dacres, agent at, 135 ; Thomas Copping to be chaplain at, 139 and l4l/.m.;Burneby's report to agent at, 142 ; Ramsden com- mits suicide at, 143 /. n. ; Robert Parker, agent at, 146 ; George Lawrence sent from 'Ayuthia as prisoner to, 148 ; George Chown sent with letters to, 1 50 ; letter to Phra-klang from R. Parker, agentat,i55; letter to Phra-klang from Prancia Bowyear, agent INDEX. 461 at, 158; letter from Ayuthia to agents at, 161, 169; 170; Richard Burneby returns to, 171 ; expul- sion of English from, 171/. n.; S. Potts and Thomas Ivatt resolve to go to (Banta), 173 ; goods sent to Siam from, condemned, 188; Bishop of Heliopolis at, 235 ; presents from Louis XIV. for King of Siam left at, 239 ; letter regarding the French, 242 Bantam CutcheU, the, 143 Barbosa, Duarte, quoted, 11 /. n., 13, 14/. «. ; notices of Tenasserim, 29 and/, n. Baroalam, 149 ; see Phra-klang Baroalong, 145 ; see Phra-klang Barkalone, 221 ; see Phra-klang Barkalong, 1 20 ; see Phra-klang Barker, Edmund, 35 Barkin, Capt., of Patani Merchant, 138 ; claim on the Lambtons, 142 Barnardistan, the ship, 250 Barnes, Hendrick, at Mergui, 337 Baroch, calico made at, 94 /. n. Barrett, William, 7 1 Baifon, Samuel, the host of Peter Crouch and John Thomas at Ayuthia, 217 ; notices by Sir Henry Yule of, 218 /. n. ; his opinion of Tavernier, 217, 218/. n. Barros, Joao de, quoted, 4 and /. m., 11/. «., &c. Barrtown on the Menam, 2 87 Bars of silver, 68 Bashpoole or Basspoole, Joseph, at Ayuthia, 142, 297 /. n. ; servant of Pbaulkon, 187 ; secretary to Phaulkon, 288, 369 /. n. Basra, Bishop Beryte at, 226 ; Bishop of Heliopolis at, 232 Bastian, Dr., quoted, 4/. n. Batavia, 91, 103, 175 ; Council at, resolve to close factories at Patani and Siam, 84 ; John Jourdain, junior, at, 86 ; fugitive factors from Cambodja arrive at, 90 ; Dutch reports at, 97 ; Goodyear arried prisoner to, 1 07 ; resolu- tion of Dutch Company at, re- garding Siam, 109 ; English from Siam arrive at, 117; letter to Londonabout Burneby from, 171; East India Company's servants expelled from Bantam retire to, 171 /. «. ; letter to Samuel Potts from, 172 Battani, 85 ; see Patani Batten, Capt., of the Rebecca, 311 ; capture of the Mary by, 316 Beague, Ali, governor of Masuli- patam, 257 Ebriam, Persian ambassador, 249 ; letter to, from EliHu Yale, 251 Bearblock, William, citizen and mercer of London, 161 /. n. Beard, Mr., 298/. n. Beauregard, governor of the forts at Bangkok, 365 ; sent to Mergui, 369 ; escapes, 379 ; seized and made a slave, 380 Beaver hat. Captain Weltden's, 346 Beck, William, at Mergui, 344 Bee, the ship, 81 /. «. ; sent to Patani and Ayuthia, 85 ; dubiety regard- ing its fate, 85 Beef, 44 roasting, 7 1 Beer, 140, 297 Beethyles, 40 ; explanation of term, 40 /. n. Beeves, 81 Beit, Burmese name of Mergui, 1 5 Beju, 89 ; see Benjamin Benares, Siamese name of, 13 Bengal, 268, 270, 380; Mergui to be a scourge to, 248 ; Samuel White's friends at, 255 ; opium sent to Siam from, 277 ; Com- pany's order to seize Moors' ships from, 320 Bay of, 2,. 232 ; English ex- pedition to, 311 ; French striving for supremacy in, 333 ; Siamese ships sent against English vessels in, 360 ; French fleet sent to, 383 462 INDEX. Bengali children taken to Ayuthia, 236 Bengal Merchant, the ship, letter from James II. on board of, 354 ; sent to assistance of Portonova factory, 361 Beniainen, 96 ; see Benjamin Beniaimin, 32, 40 ; see Benjamin Benjamin, the ship, 386 Benjamin, 29, 30, 32 ; of Cambodja, 40, 66, 69, 96 Benjar, loi ; see Benjarmasin Benjarmasin, loi Benjuy, 29; see Benjamin Bennett, Hugh, at Patanl, 62 John, an able physician at Ayuthia, 146 Benzoin, 29, 30 ; see Benjamin Bercalong, 105 ; see Phra-klang Berckly, 197 ; see Berkley, Mr. Berkeley, Lord, recommends Samuel Potts to East India Company, 145/ «. Mr., servant to Hamon Gib- bon, 187 ; 197 Berkley Castle, the Berrea Bowlet captured by, 316 Bernard, Sir Charles, 14 /. n. Berry, 92 /. n., 93 /. m. Berythe, Bishop of, 225 /. »., 228/. »., 229 /. n., 231, 23s, 236; leaves France for Siam, 225 ; the jour- ney to Siam of, 225-228 ; Por- tuguese settlement at Ayuthia visited by, 228 ; enmity of Por- tuguese to, 228 ; appeal to the Vicar of Goa by, 228 ; resides in Dutch quarter, 229 ; consoled by intercourse with Japanese, 229 ; goes to China, 229 ; ship- wrecked, 229 ; return.s to Ayuthia, 229 ; resides in Cochin - China quarter, 229 ; sends M. de Bourges to the Pope, 229 ; the order of the "Votaries of the Cross '' established by, 234 ; death of, 241 ; obsequies of, 241 Bif, 44 ; see Beef Billi, M., French governor of Junk- Ceylon, 241 Birams, red, 93 /. n., 94/. n. Birds' nests, see App. E. Birdwood, Sir George, quoted, 102 f.n., 179/. n. Black Lion, a Dutch ship, captured by the English, 73 Bladwell, Richard, commander of the Hopewell, 90 and/, n. ; aliases of, 91 /. n. ; proceeds from Surat to Siam, 90, 94, 95 Bluteau, Portuguese Dictionary of, 264/. n. Bocarro, Antonio, quoted, 12. f.n., 39/ ». Bombay, Nicholas Waite goes to Ayuthia from, no; ship Satis- faction confiscated at, 315 and App. F, ; news of massacre at Mergui reaches, 348 Castle, 332 Bouchard, M., Komish priest, sent to Manilla, 238 Boni, Conte G. B. B., quoted, 11/ n. Boreau, see M. de Landres, 177 Boston, Francis Davenport at, 267 Boulten, Mr., merchant of Sampson, killed at Patani, 76 Bourges, M. de, narrator of journey of Bishop of Berythe, 225, 230 ; accompanies Bishop de Berythe to Siam, 225 ; Tenasserim route to Ayuthia described by, 227 ; sent on a mission to the Pope, 229 ; returns to Ayuthia, 233 Bowcher, George, 176 Bowring, Sir John, quoted, 4 /. «., 178/ n., 2^2/. n.; 370 Bowyear, Francis, agent at Ban- tam, 158 ; letter to Phra-klang from, 158 Brai^os Pintados, or pursuivant's meaning of term, 281 /. n., 291 BraddeU, Mr., on Shaher-el-Navi, 17 Bradford, Mr., at Ayuthia, 297 Bragos Pintados, 281 ; see Bra(os pintados INDEX. 463 Bramenee, the Compaii}''B, 259 Brandy, 297 black cherry, 297 Brazil, Amerigo Vespucci's voyage to, 22 Brazil, 23 ; see Sappan Braeo Pintado, 291 ; see Brofos pintados Brest, Trench embassy starts from, 365 ; M. C^bert and Comte de Forbin return to, 368 British Burma Gazetteer, 3 /. n., 10 f.n. Broad-cloth, English, 134 Brockenden, Thomas, merchant at Ayuthia, 58 ; proceeds to Patani, 61 ; at Patani, 63 Brokers at Ayuthia, 189 Brough, Prancis, servant to Sir Edward Winter, 108 ; sent to Ayuthia, 108 ; at Masniipatam, 108 /. n. Browne, James, at Bantam, 99 /. n.; death of, 107 John, appointed second at Patani, 63, 65 ; letter to, 69 ; dies at Patani, 70, 74 Robert, nearly drowned at Pnlicat, 47 ; dies at Masulipatam, 48 Quarles, factor at Cambodja, 88 Bruce's Annals, 158 ; quoted, 158 f.n., 171 f.n., 199/. «., 311/ ». Bruster, Phineas, at Mergui, 322 Buokeridge, Mr., papers belonging to, 102 /. n. ; appointed to report on Sir Edward Winter's actions, 102/. n. ; Sir H. Yule on, 102/. n. Buckles of gold in their girdles, 58 Buddha Aouliah, 339 /. n. Gautama, 339/. n. mokan, 339/ n. makhan, 339/. n. Udin, 339/. n. Buereau, Commissioner, 242 ; see De Landres BvU, the ship, the bearer of news of peace between the Dutch and English, 79, 80 Bull of Pope Clement IX., 233 Bulwarks at Ayuthia, designed by Father Thomas, 231 Burlue, John, secretary to Messrs. Hodges & Hill, 353 Burma, war with, i, 2 ; historical documents of, 3 ; trade monopo- lies held by King of, 52 Burmese name of Tenasserim, 12 ; affix ygi, 15 ; names of Marta- ban, 16 ; name of Xeingmai, 54 Burnaby, Mr., 140, 145 /. n. ; see Burneby Burneby, Richard, 146, 149, 180, 185, 197, 313 ; governor of Mer- gui, 15 ; appointed to inspect the factory at Ayuthia, 139; arrives at Ayuthia, 141 ; George White's opinion of, 141 ; inspects the Go- down, 141 ; his reception by the Phra-klang, 143; presents a letter and presents to the King, 143- 144 ; his opinion on the impor- tance of Ayuthia, 144 ; his report on Patani, 144; recommends George White for employment by Company, 145 ; recommends John Bennett as a physician, &c., 146 ; report on the trade of Siam, 146, App. 421 ; trade of Patani and Singora, 146 ; dissatisfaction with, J47, 148 ; sends George Chown to Bantam, 150; Lamb- ton's goods seized by, 150; chief at Siam, 151 ; Lambton's claims on, 152; Siamese officials and, 159; sends armed assistance to George White, 160; accused of private trade, 162 ; Gosf right's charges against, 167 ; Lambton's quarrel with, 1 68 ; quarrel be« tween Potts and, 168; its cause, 169 ; dismissed from the Com- pany's service, 1 70 ; goes to Ban- tam, 171; returns to Ayuthia, 172, 173 ; losses by burning of thefaotory, 174; Strangh's opinion 464 INDEX. of, 183 ; his defence, 183 ; pre- sent at Strangh's interview with the Phra-klang, 187; present at interview with the Phra-klang, 200 ; made governor of Tenas- serim, 201, 254 ; proceeds to Mergui, 219 ; feud between S. White and, 280 ; a member of new Tenasserim Commission, 306; Davenport on S. White's opinion of, 318 ; letter from the President and Council, Fort St. George, to, 322 ; recalled from service of the King of Siam, 322; royal pro- clamation to be delivered to, 329 ; Burneby's reception of officers of the frigate Ourtanaf 335, 337 ; makes F. Davenport a prisoner, 338 ; massacred at Mergui, 349, 35^1 376 > letter from King James the Seooud to, 353, 354, 355 ; a Frenchman succeeds Burneby, 3S6> 376 ; intended escape from Mergui, 358 Burney, Capt., 8 f. «. ; makes a treaty with Siam, 9, 18 Butler, Capt. John, quoted 15/. «., 369/.™. Butter, 140, 277, 297 Cabral, discovery of Brazil, 22 Cadell, Colonel T., on Andamanese, 336/. n. Ccesar, the ship, 381 Calais, Bay of. Bishop of Heliopolis arrives at, 239 Calcutta Government Gazette, 10 Review, quoted, 2 /. n. CaldwaU, 160 ; see Kotwal Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, East Indies, quoted, 18 /. n. et .. passiiji Cale Velha factory at, see App. C. Calevelo, 94 /. n. ; see Cale Velha Calico, 94 /. n. Callander, Francis, at Camboja, So " Callicoes of Surat," see App. E. Oaloaongs, Siamese officials, 317 f.n. CaliwaU, 318 ; see Kotwal Cambay stuffs, 30 Cambaya, see Camboja Camboja, Benjamin of, 40, 100, loi, 102 ; Dr. Careri on elephants In, 20 /. n. ; Antheuniss sends goods to, 62 ; Portuguese from, quarrel with Eaton, 71 > factory estab- lished at, 88 ; invasion of, by Co- chin-Chinese, 89; English factory at, plundered, 89 ; factors at, im- prisoned, 89 ; escape, 89 ; arrive at Ayuthia, 90; buffaloes and deer at Camboja, 99 /. n. ; collec- tion of hides, 100 /. ». ; peace concluded between Cochin-China and, 146 Camboja, 66 ;' see Gamboge Cambojan campaign, Phra-Phet- Kaxa and, 370 Cameron, WiUiam, on the Patani, 43 /. n. ; on trade of Patani, quoted 44 /. n. Camoens, quoted, 33 Campbell, Sir Archibald, attack and occupation of Rangoon by, i ; reduction of Tenasserim province ty, I Camphor eaten and not eaten, 23 ; see App. E. Canton, vessels from, arrive at Ayu- thia, 170 ; trade with foreigners at, forbidden by Tartars, 199; Mgr. de B^rythe sails for, 229; report regarding French mission- aries from, 389 Cape de Verde Islands, 23 of Good Hope, 388 ; Siamese embassy to Portugal at, 244/. n. ; Charles Yale dies at, App. G. 450 ; Mrs. de Paiba dies at, App. G., 450 Capons, at Patani, 44 Cardamoms, trade in forbidden, 181 Cardim, P^re Frangois, quoted, 86 f.n. Careri, Dr. Gio. Francesca Gemelli, INDEX. 465 12 f.n.; on the Nioobars as the Island of Gold, 3 1 /. n. Carolina, the ship, dispute regard- ing, at Ayuthia, 213 Carpenter, John, at Mergui, 322 Carpon, M., his news at Masulipa- patam about French embassy to Siam, 221 ; carries news to Ayu- thia about approach of Persian ambassador, 249 Caraks, 35 ; see Carrack Caron, M., founder of first French factory in India, 269 /. n. Carr, Richard, at Mergui, 322 Carrack, meaning of, 35 /. n. Carroon, M., a Frenchman, captured in the Quedabux, and taken to Mergui, 266 ; probably son of M. Caron, founder of French factory at Surat, 269 /. n. ; liberated and proceeds to Bengal, 270 Carter, John, at Mergui, 322 Cassa, 92 /. n. Cassia lignea, trade in, forbidden, 181 Cassini, M., Director of the Obser- vatory at Paris, 6 ; author of De La Loubere's map of Siam, 6 Cattees, 104" Catti, stone horses from, 20 /. n, CatwaU, 318 /. «. ; see Kotwal Cebert, M., envoy to Siam for French Fast India Co. , 364, 366 ; his interview with the King, 367 ; his letter from the Mogul, 367- 368 ; travels overland from Ayu- thia to Mergui, 352, 367 ; sails to Pondioherry, 367 ; embarks for Brest, 36S Cephalonia, island of ; birthplace of Constant Phaulkon, 163 Cervui eldi, 100/. n. Cerms cambojensis, 100 f.n. Ceylon, island of, Duarte Barbosa on, 13 ; Indian name of, 13 ; Franyois Pyrard of Laval, his account of, 13 ; Mr. Albert Gray on Indian name of, 13; ships from Tenasserim at, 35 Chaia, see Xaija Chaya, 124/ n. ; see Xaija Chamberlain (Cambrelan),SirThos., loi Chamesson, M. de Foissy de, ac- companied the Bishop of Helio- poiis to Ayuthia, 230, 231 ; sent to Europe with a letter to Louis XIV. from the King of Siam, 237; imprisoned and dies at Gol- conda, 237 Champa, products of, 66 Champone, 125 ; see Xilmphon Champored commodities, 89 Ohdo-phaya-Vichajen, a title con- ferred on Phaulkon, 178 Chao - Muang, governor of a pro- vince, 366/ n., 336 Chaplet, of red painted horn, confis- cated as coral, 227 Charles II., likeness of, suggested as a present to the King of Siam, 1 24 ; letter from, to the Emperor of Japan, 184, 187, 243 ; treaty with King of Siam, 243 and y. m. Charles the Second, the ship, at Mocha, 314, 315 Charnock, Job, in Bengal, 321 ; letter from President and Council of Fort St. George to, 354 Chatham, Earl of, 120/. n. Chaudebois, M. de, at Auythia, 238 Chaumont, M. le Chevalier de, an ambassador from Louis XIV. to the King of Siam, 244 and /. n. ; 247/. n., 248, 284 Chaunoey, George, left by the Glohe at Bantam, 48, 56 /) n,; on board the Solomon for Masulipatam, 62 Chau ' Phyd-Wicliayentrd- the- hodi, 178/. n.; see Chdo-phaya- Yiehajen Cheese, 140, 297 Cheney, John, councillor at Fort St. George, 324 Cherboneau, M., first medical mis- sionary to Siam, 240 ; appointed governor of Junk-Ceylon, 241 Cheroon, 423 f.n. ; see App. E. Cherquonees, 423 /. n, 2 G 466 INDEX. Cherry brandy, black, 297 Chevreuil, M., sick at Surat, 231 Chiammay, 54 ; see Xiengmai Chiarapa, 66 ; see Champa Child, Sir John, 199 /. »., 212 249, 297, 298, 300, 314, 348, 3SS> 365 /. «., 382 /. n. ; governor of Bombay and President of Eng- lish East India Company at Surat, 176 ; letter of Phaulkon, by order of the Phra-klang, to, 176-177 ; letters to the King of Siam from, 211, 221; to the Phra-klang from, 221; efforts to put a stop to inter- lopers, 222 ; letter from Madras to, the Director - General of all settlements of East India Com- pany, 285 ; c(jmplaints against Harbin by, and his Council, 304 ; prosecution of war with the King of Siam, 328 ; George White's allusions to, 333 /. n. ; S. White likely to be called to account by, 352 ; letters from President and Council at Madras (Port St. George) to, 354, 357, 365 /. n. ; 382/. n.; 384, 389/ «. China, commodities, 40 ; wax, 89 ; loi, 199, 213 ; passengers for, 218 ; ships bound for, to be cap- tured, 360 ; coast of, 81, 82 ; King of, 82 ; King of Siam a trader with, 42, 332 ; railways suggested for the opening up trade with, 55 ; trade, 27, 89, loi, 107, 191, 222, 387 ; order from London to place China trade under Port St. George, 220 ; sea of, ill; ports of, 170 ; junks, 194 ; the Delight sails from Siam for, 219; five French missionaries destined for, 244 ; root, 387 ; ware, 304 Chinaes, 99 ; see Chinese China, factors of the King of Siam at, 42 China root, Radix chinae and Tuber chinae, 387 and/, m. Chinese, navigation of, 26, 27 ; name of Tenasserim, 12, 27 ; traders at Ligor, 80; numerous at Patani, 80 ; Chinese (Chinaes) clause in Dutch treaty with Siam to prevent the employment of 99 Chiskercol, a port of Golconda, 308 Chittagong, order to English ships to capture, 311 Chiya, 124 /. n. ; see XSija Choisy, M. I'Abbd, accompanies Prench ambassador, in hopes of the conversion to Christianity of the King of Siam, 244 Cholmely, Mr., 121 Chopp, the King's, issued to Wm. Ackworth to take charge of the factory, 104 Chown, George, in the Return, I T4 /. ■«., 119; sent to Bantam by Burneby, 150 Christall, 134; see Crystal Christian, 133 ; see Crystal Chulai, 7 Churchill's Collection of Voyages and Travels, 41 /. n. Chyna, loi ; see China Chyrurgery, 1 19 ; see Surgery Chyrurgion, 146 ; see Surgeon Cinnamon, 23 Clang Noy, Crouch and Thomas imprisoned in, by Phaulkon, 215, 216 Clark, Capt., at Ayuthia during Maoasser rebellion, 297 /. n. Clarrett (claret), 297 Clement IX., Pope, places Siara under the jurisdiction of the heads of the Church at Ayuthia, 234 ; letter from, read at an in- terview given to French ambas- sadors by the King of Siam, 237 Clergues, M. de, missionary, arrives in Siam, 239 Cloath godowne, 130 ; see Cloth Clongs at Mergui, 280 ; at Tenas- serim, 312 ; probable origin of word, 3 1 2 /. n. Cloth, scarlet, 30 ; Indian, 68 ; Coromandel, 68 ; Godown, 130 ; INDEX. 467 imported from Bengal to Mergui, 277 Clove, the, 47 ; sent to settle a fac- tory at Japan, 53 ; at Fatani, 82 Cloves, 23, 32 Coates, Capt. John, an officer in the navy of the King of Siam, 257 ; war declared with Pegu and Gol- conda, 257 ; seizes ships, 257, 258 ; assisted by Don Jos. de Heredia, 258; supplied with Englishmen to man his ship, 259 ; his pro- ceedings denounced as piratical, 260; satisfaction demanded by the governor of EUore, 261 ; he justifies himself to the Council at Masulipatam, 261 ; declines to give up the captured ships, 262 ; chiefs and Councils (at Mada- poUam and Masulipatam) pro- test against him, and then de- mand for damages done to the East India Company, also to the Dutch, 262 ; his ship the Prosperous, 263 ; restores to John Dema^cora his goods, but declines to restore the King of Golconda's vessels, 263 ; he burns the Pros- perous, and goes to seize the governor of MadapoUam, 263 ; departs on the promise that the ships of the King of Siam were to be finished, 264; burns a fortification at Narssipnr, 264 ; erroneously reported wounded and dead, 266 ; his ship the Rohin at Mergui, 275 ; quarrel with Samuel White, pretends to take poison, and reconciliation, 276; goes to Ayuthia by overland route, 276 ; followed by De Heredia, 277, 279 ; in Macasser insurrection, knocked into the water and drowned, 288, 289 ; by the weight of his armour lost his life in the water, 294 and /. ». ; 297 /. n. Coats, Capt., see Capt. J. Coates Cobbe, Eichard, merchant, put in the stocks by Captain Marlowe, 56 Coohi, 60 and /. n. ; near Hirado, 65,67 Cochin-China, 72, 146, 225 / n., 370 ; trade of, see App. E. Cochin-Chinese, 89, 229 Cockroaches (kakaroches), 58, 64 Cocks, Richard, chief of English factory in Japan, 60, 61, 64, 66, 67, 68, 71, 72; suggestion to take and sack Macao, 82; loi ; Diary, quoted, 18/. n. et passim ; recom- mends a Japan ompra to the factors at Ayuthia, 70; Dutch plot to kill him, 77 Coco-nut oil, see App. E. Coelho, Duarte, envoy from the governor of Malacca to the King of Siam, 29 ; 44 Coen, John, Dutch East India Com- pany's factor at Amboyna, 85 Coffree, servant, 106 Coghill, M.P., D. H., 440/. n. Cogshill, John, 346 Coin, Japanese, 68 Cokernut oyle, App. E. ; see Coco-nut Colbert, minister of Louis XIV., grants a chatter to the Compagnie Koyale to trade in the East, 225 ; 241 Collet, a governor of Eort St. George, 243/. n. Columbak wood, App. E. Colwans, King of Siam's, 317 and /. n. ; see Ccdoangs Comitters, 133 Comoro Islands, 286 /. n. Compagnie Frangaise, 167 Royale des Indes Orientales, founding of (1664), 224; factory, established at Ayuthia, 241 Company, Dutch East India, 27 ; its charter, 44 ; 85 et passim English East India, resolves to trade with Siam, 47 ; at Patani, 44, 48 et seq, ; Tenasserim route to Ayuthia crossed by East India Company's servants, 42 Congo, a port on the Persian Gulf, 232 INDEX. Consent, the ship, 120 Oonsett, Captain, seizes ship Serra Dowlet, 315 Content, the ship, 1 18 Oonte, Nicolo di, quoted, \l f. n. et seq. ; native of Venice and first European to visit the province of Tenasserini, 19, 42 ; at Mergui, 20, 21 ; applies the term "Tarnas- sari " to Mergui, 25 ; statement that " Andamania " meant Island of Gold, 30 Oonvertine, the, 91/. n. Convolvulus batatas, 61 Cooke, James, captain of the Golden Fleeee, 219; his ship repaired at Mergui by order of Samuel White, 256 and App. F. Mr. George, one of Harbin's tenants at Surat, 297, 298 ; Har- bin's letters to, 298, 300 Cooper, Ralph, East India Com- pany's servant at Patani, 56 Copangs, gold, see App. E. Copper, 30, 117, 136 /: «., 140, 144, 147; Japan, 179, 195; barter of, 189, 192 ; tinned, 30 ; vessels, 41 ; wrought, see App. E. ; value of, at Ayuthia, App. E. Coppindall, Ralph, captain of the Osiander, 63 Copping, Rev. Thomas, 139 ; arrives at Ayuthia, 141 ; curate of Wan- sted, elected to be chaplain at Bantam, &c., 141 /. n. Coppr, see Copper Coral, wrought and in strings, 30 ; red and black, 30 /. n. ; red- painted horn chaplet confiscated as, 227 Corkes (corks), 297 Coromandel Coast, 256, 301, 316, 333) 390 ; Christianity on the, 22 ; great trafiic with Bengal, 34; importance to, of Mergui over- land route, 40 ; factors o£ the King of Siam at, 42 ; trade be- tween Masulipatam and, 62; great mart at Ayuthia for goods from, 69 ; English fleet retires to, 73 ; Samuel White trades with, 164; Indian merchants at Mer- gui trade with, 253; troubles of King of Siam with his servants on, 27s ; paddy-boats captured off, 277 cloths, 68, 70 Correa, Gasper, quoted, 11/. m., 26 Correspondent, war, of the London Gazette, 319 Paris, of the London Gazette, 36s Paris, of London Intdligenee, 368 Cotes, Thomas, factor, sent to Ayu- thia, 90 ; third Councillor at Bom- bay, ijof. m. ; bums a wizard, 90 /. n., see App. B. ; left at Ayu- thia, 93 ; corresponds with Surat, 93 ; ordered to return to Surat, 93, 95 ; his report about the Dutch to the Council at Surat, 97 Cotolendy, Mgr., Bishop of Metel- lopolis, 230, 231 Couil, see KIu Coidlers, 134 Coverte, Capt. R., quoted, 59/. n. Cowlaus, 317 ; see Caloangs Cowries, 39 Crawford, John, E.R.S., quoted, 4f.n. et passim; map by, 6 Crisstoll, 122 ; see Crystal Croft, Capt. (Craft, 136 /. n., or Cruflte, 139}, of the Unity, 136; returns to Bantam, 139 Cropley, Capt., of the Siam navy, 310, 3H, 317, 322, 350; naval engagement with the Pearl, 355, 356; suspected of being privy to the massacre at Mergui, 358 ; a prisoner at Luovo, 358 Mrs., at Mergui and Tenas- serim, 350 Cross (George), at Ayuthia, 297/. n. Crouch, Mr. Peter, goes to Siam in the Delight, 199 ; writes to Presi- dent and Council at Surat regard- INDEX. 469 ing his voyage, 210; 212 /. n. ; his opinion of Phaulkon, 211 ; quarrel about nails, 213 ; cor- respondence with Phaulkon, 214- 216 ; imprisoned, 215 ; departs in the Delight for China, 219 Cruffe, Capt., see Croft Crystal (cristoll), 122; glass, 133, 144 ; branch for the King, 148 Cubitt, Capt., of the Tywan, 141 Ciiddalore, 360 Cvlverin, 340/. n. Cunha, Ruy N. da, envoy to Pegu, 28 Cunnies, of Patani, 44 Curtana, the, commanded by Capt. Weltden, 321, 322 ; at Madras, 332 ; ordered to Mergui, 332 ; at Mergui at the time of the massacre, 335-347 Gust, K. N., quoted, 4/. m. Custode, in the island of Cephalonia, the birthplace of Constant Phaul- kon, 163 Custom-houses at Tenasserim, Mer- gui, &c., 31 Cutchell, Bantam, 143 Guy, 7 and /. n. ; see Klu Cyclone in the Menam delta, 5 1 Daooa, trade in sappan-wood with Mergui, 21 Dacres, Henry, agent at Bantam, . 133 ; his letter to the King of Siam, 134 Dale, Sir Thomas, commander of the fleet, present at the Council at Bantam, 73 ; the Company's disaster attributed to, 78 Damasks, 40 Dammer from Bengal, 277 lights, 340 ; see Torches oil, 81 Darling, the, 57, 58 Davenport, Francis, arrives in India in the ffopewell, 166; 259/. »., 270, 322 ; captured in the Queda- hux, 266; his history, an American, 267 ; his American marriage, 268 f. n.; a pilot on the Hugli, 268 ; opinions regarding, 268 ; his His- torical Abstract, 269 ; taken to Mergui, 270; employed by Samuel White, 271 ; his letter to Phaul- kon about Joseph Demarcora, 272 ; his account of S. White's proceedings, 279 ; accompanies White to Ayuthia, 28 1, 282 ; his account of the Macasser insurrec- tion, 289 ; his account of the Siamese Commission and White's status in it, 305 ; returns with White to Mergui, 307 ; his ac- count of the reception of the officers of the Curtana, 335-337 > attempts to go on board the Curtana at night, 338 ; seized and made prisoner by Burneby, 338 ; his account of Weltden's seizure of the Resolution, 341 ; his account of the circumstances that led to the massacre and the attack on the Curtana, 343-347 j escapes with White on the Cur- tana, 347 family, history, and genealogy of, by A. B. Davenport, 267 /. n. Davies, John, an interloper, 268 Davis, John, the Arctic mariner. Voyages and Works, Hak. Soc, quoted, 12/. n. etseq.; the Citie of Tenasserim, 36 ; said to have aided the Dutch to discover Sumatra and Java and to settle a factory at Bantam, 36 /. n. ; killed at sea, on his way to Patani, by Japanese pirates, 44, 75 John, master of the James, 57 and/, n. ; at Patani, 57, 59 Dawes, Mr., killed at Port St. George, 102 Dearing, Kobert, chief merchant, sent to Ayuthia, 95, 97 ; letter written off Bangkok by, 97 ; re- ported dead, 103 /. m. ; sudden sickness and death, 104 ; poisoned by a black servant, 108 Debriian, Lieut, or Major, sent in 470 INDEX. command of French troops to garrison Mergui, 369 and /. n. ; letter from Des.Farges to, 374; constructs a fort at Mergui, 376 ; attacked by Siamese, 377 ; escapes with his troops by sea, 378; disasters thereafter, 380 Debt to King of Siam, 114, 123, 130 et passim Deer at Patani, 44 skins, 68, 70 Defenders of strangers, title given to Englishmen at Patani, 55 Delandres, M., at Pondioherry, 177, 242, 316, 352, 367 Delboe, Mr. Simon, 113, 116, 122, 123, 127, 129 ; of the shipiJeiMra, goes to Ayuthia, 114 and f. n.; borrows 10,000 dollars from the King, 114, 168; he dies at Ayu- thia, 115; house for the use of the factory given by the King, 185 Delgardno, Alexander, a reputed Soot, 300 ; seizes Capt. Lake, 300 ; accused of murder, 300 /. n. Delight, the ship, arrives at Bangkok, 198, 199, 210, 212 and/. «., 213 ; at Amsterdam, 214, 217 ; arrives at Mergui and Tenasserim, 276. Dellon, Pilkington, at Ayuthia, 322 Demaroora, Joseph, brother of John, 271 ; redeemer of many poor Englishmen, 27 1 ; letter to Phaul- kon regarding, 272 ; 343 John, his ship seized by Coates, 258 ; a rich Armenian, 259 ; 260, 261, 262 ; goods and jewels re- stored to, 263 Denouserin, 6 ; see Tenasserim Denton, Adam, factor on the Globe, 47 ; proceeds to Ayuthia in a "goudon," 49, 54; at Patani, 55 ; complaints of, 58 ; pre- sents from R. Cocks to, 60, 64, 65 ; returns from the Coromandel Coast to Patani, 73, 74, 79, 81 ; letter from, to E,. Cooks at Japan, 77 ; action regarding gifts to Company's servants, 78 ; goes to Ligor, 80 ; goes to England, 80 ■ and/, n. Derrea Dowlet, the ship, sent to Acheen, 315; seized there by Captain Consett, 316, 321 Dert, on the Euphrates, 226 D'Espagnac, Pfere, goes to Mergui from Ayuthia, 369; escapes, made a slave, and liberated, 380 Dexter, Franklin, quoted, 267 /. n., 268 /. n., and App. G. Deydier, M., 225 Diamond Pitt, 120 /. n. ; see Capt. T. Pitt Diamonds, counterfeit, 133 Diamons, 133; sec Diamonds Dimyculvering, 340 ; see Culverin Dipterocarpus, genus of trees yield' ing oil, 340 /. n. Dispatch, the, George White mer- chant on, 120 Dodde, John, second factor at Ayu- thia, 83 ; imprisoned by Dutch, 83 ; denounced as worthy of death, 83 " Dogge, great black," 49 Domingo, a Portuguese, fires the Sound, 76 Dopp, 96 D'Orleans, P. J., 163 /. n., 373 /. n. Dorothy, the, or Mergui Frigate, 275 and/. »., 285, 310, 317, 343, 345, 346, 347 DorriU, the, 389 /. n. Doves, Cobham, commander of Madras Mercliant, 95, 97, 103 Dragon, the, at Bangkok, 275 ; leaves Bangkok, 304, 353 ; at Madras 311, 361 Dragon, a French ship, 383, 384 Drinking of healths, 343 /. »., 367 Driver, Thomas, at Ayuthia, 49 ; sent to Xiengmai, 54 ; fate un- known, 62 Drugs, 30 Drunkenness, 57 ; drinking over- much, 64 Ducats, 23 Ducks at Patani, 44 INDEX. 471 Dutch, the, at Patani, 44 ; prevent Englishmen opening trade with Singora, 59 ; " vigorous scorpion tongues " of, 67 ; Japanese com- pete for trade with, 72 ; struggle between English and, 73 ; pursue English ships to Patani, 74 ; at- taclc Sampson and Hound, 74 ; capture both vessels, 75 ; cruelty of, 75, 77 ; attack English factory at Japan, but repulsed, 77 > draw their swords on the English, 78 ; peace concluded with, 80 ; at war with Siam and Acheen, 97, 98 ; treaty with Siam, 99, 100 ; terrify kings, loi ; reports by, 107 ; dis- pute with Siam, 1 10 ; ship Expe- riment captured by, 112; "very potent in these seas," 113; peace with England, 113, 114; enemies of English trade, 128; readiness to oblige the King of Siam, 146 ; built a factory house at Ayuthia, 1 59 ; 183 ; renounce Christianity in Japan, 18S ; Erench begin to com- pete for trade with, 224; 230; war between English and, 232; Erench influence in Siam affecting, 241 ; 242 ; keen traders, 245 ; known to King of Siam only by these traders, 246 ; imperious conduct of, 247 ; masters of Peninsula of Malacca, 248 ; at Gombroon, 250 ; Bantam made over to, 352 ; Phra- Phet-Raxa's conspiracy and the, 372, 376, 382 ; Erench suspicions regarding the, at Mergui, 374 ; sole nation at Ayuthia, 381 ; new contract with the King, 382 Eagle-wood, collected by Selungs, 22, 40 ; 35, 89 ; the Shogun ly6- yasu and, 53 ; found in Champa, 66 ; found in Camboja, 89 ; brought to Ayuthia, 96 ; see App. E. Earthenware, 44/. n. East India Company, Denton's let- ters to, 58 ; in Siam, 225 ; Gom- broon agent travels with Bishop de B^rythe, 226 ; and Phaulkon, 254 ; Samuel White and, 257 ; Siam declares war against, 360 ; Siam desires peace with, 385 East Indies, 224 Eaton, Captain Joseph, of the Lon^ don, 332 Eaton, William, colleague of Cocks at Japan, at the Liukiu Islands, 61 ; recommends ships to be sent to Patani, 64 ; his account of the trade of Ayuthia, 68; sails from Japan for Ayuthia, 71, 1 01 Ebert, William, 56 ; see Bbrett Ebraim, Beague, 249, 25 1 ; seeBeague Ebrett, went in the Globe to Patani, 56, 60 Elephants, 38, 46, 107 ; exported from Tenasserim, 20/. «., from Acheen, 20/. ».; teeth of, 89, 96, 117, see App. B.; a companion of, 108 ; King of Siam hunting 200 ; Tenasserim route infested by, 240 Elkington, Humphrey, 62 Elliot, Sir H. M., quoted, II f.n., &c. Ellore, governor of, demands ships seized by Coates, 262, 263 ; sus- picions of, 265 Empoli, Da (Giovanni di Nicoola), quoted, 28 England, King of, and his subjects in Siam, 309 ; S. White recom- mends an envoy to, 319 ; ship seized in the name of the, 341 English, factors, passim ; Tarra to, liy et seq. ; engineers for King of Siam, 124; tin, 136; manufac- tures, 172; contribute to com- mercial prosperity of Siam, 241 ; known only to the King by these traders, 246 ; massacred at Mer- gui, 349, 359 ; imprisoned at Louvo, 376 Captain Edward, 270, 286; of Revenge, captured at Balasor, 319 Englishmen, Eirst, to visit the capi- tal of Siam, 49 ; wives of, at Ayuthia, 297, 309 472 INDEX. Englishwoman, poor, at Ayuthia, 199/. »., charity sermon for, and petition from, 199/. n, ; First, to cross the Malayan Peninsula, " 309 Essington, Thomas, a merchant sent oat in the Globe, 47, 49, 55 Eugenius IV., Pope, 19 Euphrates, 226 ; valley, 388 Europe, 225, 230, 236 European velvets, 133 Evelyn's Diary quoted, 333/. n. Expectation, the, 356 Experiment, the, captured by Dutch, 112; carried to Japan, U2 Ea, E. Aaknodd, superintendent of Dutch factory at Ayuthia, 179 Eabritius, Swedish envoy to Persia, 249 Falcon, the, sent to Siam, 220 ; arrives at Bangkok, 222, 275 Falmouth, in Antigua, 267 Fargie, Des, 376 ; see Farges des Farges, M. Des, field - marshal of France, arrives at Ayuthia, 364 ; comniander of French troops at Bangkok, 366 ; trap laid for, by Phra-klang, 373 ; discovered by, 374 ; letter to Debriian at Mer- g"i. 374, 377 5 returns to Bang- kok, 374; defends the forts against Siamese, 374, 375 ; peace con- cluded, 375 ; French to leave Siam, 375 ; depart from Siam, 380; carries off two mandarins, 381 ; returns with a fleet to the Siamese coast, 383 Farie, Benjamin, assistant-factor on Darling, 58 ; chief at factory of Ayuthia, 63 and /. n. ; death of, at Ayuthia, 65 or Fary, John, 66 /. n. ; at Patani, 79 ; on the James Royal, 82 Farrow's Military Encyolopsedia, quoted, 340/. n. Farwell, John, at Mergui, 337 Favre, Abb^ P., quoted, 13/.?!.. Fedrici, Cesare dei, quoted, 11/. n., 31 and /. M. Fenn, Capt. Anthony, of the Dragon, at Ayuthia, 275, 297 /. 11,. ; at Fort St. George, 304, 311, 353 Fernandez, Duarte, ambassador to Siam, 26 Ferrariue, quoted, 41 /. n. Ferrers, John, sent to Champa from Ayuthia, 66 Fitch, Ralph, quoted, II /. n., 35 ; first Englishman to visit Xieng- mai, 54 " Five-glasses fight," a, 74 Five-Pagoda Hill, Mergui, 14 /. n. Floris, Peter (Williamson), mer- chant on Globe, 47 ; at Pulicat, 47 ; escapes drowning, 47 ; at Pettipolli, 47 ; at Patani, 48 ; at Ayuthia, 50 ; account of a storm at, 51; returns to Patani, 51; account of reception by Queen of Patani, 52 ; trades with Japan, 52 ; patience of, 55 ; leaves for Masulipatam, 56 and /. n. ; at Masulipatam, 57 ; provides a ■ house at Patani ancSSiam, 61 Flying Eagle, the, sails to Bangkok from Bantam, 155 ; an unhappy and chargeable vessel, 158; Davenport quartermaster of, 267 Forbin, Comte de. Memoirs of, 163 /. n. ; his character, 284 and/, n.; a great favourite of Phaulkon, 290 ; in Macassar rebellion, 291 ; ordered by Phaulkon to appre- hend an English ship-captain, 299 ; at Madras, 352, 367 ; gover- nor of Bangkok forts, 365 ; leaves Mergui, 367 ; dines with Elihu Yale, 367 ; sails for Brest, 368 Formosa, seas of, in ; ship Return at, 112 Formosa, the ship, 129, 132 ; Daven- port gunner of, 267 Forrer, Gabriel, af Ayuthia, 109 ; the ruin of the factory ascribed to, 109 Forrest, Thomas, quoted, 369 /. ■«. INDEX. 473 Fort St. George, Siam trade under, 96 ; Madras Merchant at, 97 ; Dutch governor of Pulicat pro- tests to, 98 ; answer to Dutch of President and Council of, 99 ; Sir Edward Winter, Presi- dent at, 102 and /. n., 103 ; letters to, 109 ; an assistant from Ayuthia sent to, 118; Fytche Nedham sent to, 119 ; letter from Ayuthia factory to, 119 ; a vessel sails to Siam from, 121 ; Unity returns from Bangkok to, 136; the King accords factors at Patani the same privileges as those en- joyed by factors at, 138, 145 ; Tywan at Bangkok from, 141 ; leaves Bangkok for, 146 ; Presi- dent and Council dissatisfied with Burneby, 147 ; Tywan sails from, for Siam, 149; Samuel White remains in India with consent of President and Council of, 153 ; action against interlopers at, 1 80; propose to establish a factory at Siam, 220 ; Siam ambassador to, 221, 222; assistance to Samuel White from authorities at, 256, 257, 259 ; Ooates entertained by Englishmen at, 258; Capt. Coates' proceedings attributed to, 261 ; petition to authorities at, 273 ; letters about Capt. Lake from, 298 ; correspondence about jewels submitted to, 304 ; resolution of Council regarding hostile Siamese vessels, 311 ; relations strained between Siam and, 312; orders from England to make war on Siam received at, 319 ; captured vessels to be taken to, 321 ; letter from, to R. Burneby and Samuel White recalling English at Mer- gui and Ayuthia, 322 ; letter to Phaulkon claiming damages from King of Siam by, 324 ; letter to the King of Siam, 326 ; letter to the Raja governor of Teuas- serim from, 327 ; letter from the Court to, 328 ; the Curtana and Janies sail from, 332; Samuel White and, 336; his letter to, 350 ; Samuel White accused by ■ authorities at, 352 ; news of French embassy to Siam reaches, 353 ; letter from,, to Job Char- nock, 354 ; Mergui massacre and attitude of authorities at, 359 ; Pearl returns to, 362 ; letter from, to Directors, 371 ; letter from Des Farges received at, 381 ; bills of exchange from Ayuthia drawn, on, 382 ; reports regarding de- signs of French received at, 384, 389 ; action against an interloper at, 388 Portvne, the, at Ayuthia, 136, 142 Fosdick, Henry, at Patani, pre- sents received by, seized, 78 Fothergill, Mr., at Ayuthia, 297/.«. Foil, M., ambassador of France, 269 f.n. Foxcroft, Mr., imprisoned by Sir Edward Winter, 102 ; letter from, 103, 108 Fowls at Patani, 44 ; at Louvo, 287 Fownes, Charles, factor at Mada- poUam, 258 Frageso, Manuel, accompanies An- tonio de M. de Azevedo to Ayu- thia, 26 France, royal letters to the King of Siam from, 185 ; Jesuits in ascen- dancy in, 364 ; Phaulkon casts in his lot with, 365 ; renewal of alliance between Siam and, 384 King of , ambassador from, 194 and/. Ji., 244, 247, 357 ; letter to the King of Siam from, 242, 247; Siamese ambassadors to, 242, 248; strikesmedal inhonourof Siamese mission, 248 and /. n. Frankling, Mr. , at Ayuthia, 297 /. n. Freeman, Mr. Robert, at Nars^pur, 261, 262 ; chief of Masulipatam, 274 ; main incendiary on the coast of Coromandel, 302 Mr., at Mergui, 341 474 INDEX. French, first missionaries to Siam, 45 ; men-of-war at Siam, 222 ; influence, 223, 241, 370 ; dawn of trade in the East, 224 ; aims at supremacy in Ayuthia and Mergui, 353 ; account of Mergui massacre, 357 ; factory at Ayu- thia, 372 ; clergy at Ayuthia, 384 Fryer, Dr. John, 136/ n. Pursland, Richard, President at Batavia, 84 Furtado de Mendoga, Dom A., governor of Malacca, 37 Fushima, Sea Adventure at, 68 Galanga, 23 ; see Galena G-alena from Tenasserim, 23 Galvano, Antonio, quoted, 7 and /. «., 26 Oama, Jean Cordoza, Portuguese priest at Tenasserim, 227 Gama, Stephen da, his search for the island of gold, 30 Gama, Vasco da, rounds the Cape of Good Hope, 21 and/, n., 30 Gambling, among factors at Patani, 78 ; order against, at Ispahan, 78 ; at Ayuthia, 137 Gamboge (Camhoja), found in Champa, 65 Gamier, Francis, 4/. n. Gaudama, onslaught by Rome on religion of, 234 Gazetteer of British Burma, quoted, 3 /. «., &c. Geaime, M., French missionary and interpreter to first embassy from Siam, 242 Geese at Patani, 44 Geffard, M., French missionary, 239 George, the, at Ayuthia, 199/. n. Gibbon, Hammon, at Bantam, 99 /. n. ; in ship Return at Ayuthia, 114; and at Gombroon, mf.n.; succeeds Simon Delboe,llS; Tarra issued to, by the Phra - klang, 116; letters from, 118, 119,124; Tarra to, from the Phra-klang, 124-126; resolution on his letter, 127 ; invitation to go to England, 128, 129; ordered to leave Ayu- thia, 130 ; letter from Bantam to, 132; a plan of Patani by, 138; charges against, 140 ; charges against Ramsden by, 143 ; not permitted to leave Ayuthia, 162 ; debt incurred to the King, 168; house lent by King of Siam on arrival of, 185 ; present at Strangh's interview with the Phra - klang, 187 ; selected by Strangh to assist him, 190, 195 ; questions regarding factory sub- mitted to, 191 - 193 ; recom- mended to the Phra-klang, 202, 203 Gift, the, 81 /. n. Gillman, Edward, at Patani, 70; idle carriage of, 74; leaves Pa- tani, 79 Gingerlee, coast of, 308 /. n. Globe, the, sails from the "Downs," 47 ; at Pulicat, 47 ; at PettipoUi, 47 ; at Masulipatam, 48 ; at Ban- tam, 48 ; at Patani, 48 ; at the "Road of Syam," 50; returns to Patani, 5 r ; sails again for the Menam, 52 ; returns to Patani, 55 ; sails for Masulipatam, 56 Goa, Grand Vicar of, at Ayuthia, 228 Godown, a storehouse, 123, 141 and /. «., 162, 177, 260 Godoune, see Godown Golconda, merchants of, 40 ; am- bassador from, 233, 248 ; Siamese factors at, 256 ; maritime trade vrith Mergui, 390 King of, 98, 233 ; irritation of, at capture of St. Thom^ -237 ; war with Siam, 257, 258, 260, 271, 277, 308, 309, 316, 359 Gold, 41, 96; value of, at Ayuthia, 46 ; buckles of, in their girdles, 58 ; at Patani, 145 and App. E. Island of, 30, 31, and/, n. Golden Fleece, the, a prisoner escapes from, 219 ; at Mergui, having sprung a desperate leak, 255 ; INDEX. 475 saved by Samuel White, 255, 256, and App. F. Goldsmiths, English, wanted by King of Siam, 124 Goodlad, Capt. William, captain of the Loyal Subject, 153 and /. n., and App. E. Goods of the growth of Siam, App. E. Goodwin, Mr., at Mergui, 322 Goodyer, Mr. Thomas, purser of a vessel, 107 Gombroon (Bandar 'Abbas), Dutch at, no, 114 /. n. ; English fac- tory at, 226, 249 ; Siamese officials proceed to, 317 Gordon, William, master of the Hound, 76 ; carried prisoner to Japan and escapes there, 77 Gorup, the, 130, 131, 132 Gosfright, George, proceeds to Bang- kok in the ship Return, 161 and /. n. ; proceeds to the city and inspects the factory, 162 ; his mention of Constant Phaulkon, 163 ; his journal, i6l /. n., and 167; his faith in' George White, 168 ; charges against Burneby, 169; letter from, 170; leaves Siam, 170; 182/. TC.; and 186 Gosline, Armiger, master of the sloop James, sent to assist in taking Mergui, 332, 338 ; carries news of the massacre to the Curtana, 344 Oodoun, a vessel of some sort, 49 Gould, Charles, assistant-factor at Ayuthia, 128, 129, 130, 131 ; leaves Bantam for Ayuthia, 135 Gourden,Wm., 76; seeGordon,Wm. Goumey, John, of the James, at Masulipatam, put in the stocks, 56 ; Captain Davies tries to dis- place, 57 ; at Patani, 58 ; proceeds to Ayuthia, 62 ; leaves Siam, 65 Grand Vizier, Constant Phaulkon spoken of as, 165, 167 Grant, John, at Mergui, 322, 336, 337 Gravesend, Mexico Merchant sails from, 182 Gray, John, councillor at Eort St. George, 324 Great Mogul, letter from Louis XIV. to, 367, 368 Greenway, Thomas, factor at Cam- boja, 88 Gr^han, M. A., quoted, 163 /. n. Grevil, Eoulke, his report on trade with East Indies, 36 Griffith, Mr., at Ayuthia, 197 Groevenveldt, W. P., quoted, 27 and/. 71,. Groans, 134 Gruby, John, a Japanese at Ayuthia, entertained as a servant of the Company, 129, 132 Owmmi-lacca, 41 Gutta of Patani, 44 /. n. Guyard, Stanislas, quoted, 31 /. n. Gyfford, Daniel, goes to Ayuthia, 220 and /. n, ; at Ayuthia, 297 and /. n., 300 William, President, 218 /. ■«., 220/. «., 324, 334 Haas, Joseph, quoted, 4/. m., 248 Hackwell, Thomas (Robert?), mas- ter of the Sa/mipson, 74 ; his exa- mination by East India Company, 74-75 ; his petition, 76 and f. n. Hakluyt, his publications, Tf, m., &c. Hall, Peter, sent to Champa, 66 Hamilton, Alexander, quoted, 44 /. ■II.., 163 /. n., 174; his account of the burning of the Ayuthia factory, 179, 185; on the Caro- lina incident at Ayuthia, 213 ; on Charles II. 's treaty with Siam, 243/. n.; quoted, 286 /. n. ; on the resurrection of Captain Udall's body, 296 /. n.; on Phaulkon's knighthood, 366 /. «.; on Phra- Phefc-Raxa's history, 369 and/. n.; on Phaulkon's widow, 372 ; on the chaplain of the Benjamin, 386 f.n. 476 INDEX. Hamilton, Buchanan, quoted, 92 Hamilton, Walter, quoted, 369 /. n. Hammer, Baron Purgestall Joseph von, quoted, 31 /. n. Harbin, Robert, sent to Siam in the Falcon, 220 ; arrives at Bang- kok, 222 ; his opinion of Francis Davenport, 268 ; letters to, 285 ; at Ayuthia, 297 /. n. ; his corre- spondence, 297 ; his opinion of Captain Lake's threatening lan- guage, 298 ; leaves Bangkok in the Dragon, 304 ; reprimanded on his arrival at Surat, 304 ; proceeds to England, 304; his " naughty heart," 332; a London merchant, App. T. Harbin-Grifford mission, 274, 297; termination of, 300 Hares at Patani, 44 Harris's, Arthur, Overland Journey, quoted, 8/. n. Harris, John, at Mergui, 344 Harris, Samuel, at Ayuthia, em- ployed as a factor by the King, 185 ; present during the burning of the factory, 207 ; at Ayuthia, 297. Harrison, Joseph, supposed to have been murdered by Alexander Del- gardno, 300 Harwar, Dr. Ralph, of Bengal, opium consigned by, to Samuel White, 277 and/, n. Hassel, Dr. Gt., quoted, 369/. n. Hat^, various sorts asked for- by King of Siam, 124 Havre, French vessels leave, 224 Haye, M. de la, St. Thomd captured by, 237 Hayward, Capt. Charles, at Hiigli, 298/. 7!. Heath, Francis, a guest of Phaul- kon's, 198; sells beer to S. Potts, 198 ; his testimony to S. White's accuracy, 256 ; his opinion of F. Davenport, 268 ; a supercargo, 271 ; at Tenasserim town, un- lading Delight, 277 ; on White's administration at Mergui, 278 and /. n. ; at Ayuthia, 297 /. n. ; re- turns to Mergui, 307 ; a London merchant, App. F. Sector, the, 47 Hedges, Sir William, Diary of, quoted, 102 /. •«., 103 /. n., no /. «., 119/ n., 120/. m., 149/. n., 171/. n., 198/. n., 199/. n., 217 /. «., 218/. n., 266 and/, n., 268 /. n., 270 /. n., 277 /. n., 286 /. »., 292/. «., 294/ n., 298 /. n., 300 /■ n., 308 / »., 319 /. n., 343 f.n. Heliopolis, Bishop of, arrival at Ayuthia, 194/- n. ; departs from France for Siam, 230 ; arrives at Ayuthia, 231 ; departs from Rome overland to Mergui on a, mission to the Pope, 232 ; arrives at Livomo, 232 ; departs for Ayuthia with letters and presents for the King of Siam from the Pope and Louis XIV., 234 ; lands at Mergui and proceeds overland to the capital, 235 ; declines an audience with the King, 236 ; re- ceived by the King, 237 ; presents brought by the Bishop of, 239 ; goes to Tonquin, 239 ; made a prisoner at Manilla, 239 ; carried to Mexico, 239 ; arrives at the Bay of Calais, 239 ; returns to Ayuthia, 242 Hellowes, T., at Ayuthia, 141, 147 Bendy, the, an interloper, 388 Henry IV. (of France), 224 Senry and William, the, 298 /. n. Hens at Patani, that lay twice a day, 44 J 81 Herat, 21 Serhert, the, arrives in the Menam, 286 and /. n., 287 Heredia, Don Joseph de, his pro- ceedings at MadapoUam with Coates, 258, 261, 263 ; declares he is a prisoner of Coates, 259 ; arriyes at Mergui, 277 ; goes to INDEX. 477 Ayuthia, 277 ; liis ship to be given up to Weltder, 343 Heylyn, Peter, quoted, 12/. n. Hides, immense quantities, in Siam, 99 /. ». ; Dutch monopoly of, 99 ; how obtained, 100 /. n. ; see App. E. Higginson, Governor Nathaniel, an American, 267 ; a quasi-kinsman of E. Yale, 267 and /. 11,. ; Coun- cillor at Eort St. George, 324 ; governor of Madras, 389 and /. n. Higgs, Thomas, at Mergui, 322 Hijili, ship Revenge at, 319 Hill, John, sent to Mergui from Fort St. George, 352, 353, 354; arrives off King Island, 355 ; goes to Ayuthia, 356 ; returns to Mer- gui, 361 ; leaves Mergui, 361 ; goes to Acheen, 362 ; arrives at Fort St. George, 362 Himmens, John, at Mergui, 322 Hippon, Anthony, commander of the Globe, 47 ; death of, at Patani, 49 Hirado (Japan), Clove arrives at, 47 ; to settle a factory, 53 ; Sea Adventure returns to, 61 ; Osi- ander sxti-ves at, 63 ; silvershipped from Ayuthia to, 64 ; Sea Adven- ture sails from, for Siam, 65 ; Sea Adventure returns to, 68 ; factory closed at, 85 Hoddy, Arthur, third mate of the Curtana, 333, 344 Hodges, Mr. William, sent as ad- ministrator to Mergui, 352, 353, 354 ; arrives at King Island, 355 ; goes to Ayuthia, 356 ; imprisoned ^ti 357; 372 ; released, 357 ; his account of the Mergui massacre, 358, 359 ; leaves Siam in the Jiuby, 382 and /. n. ; dies at Balasor, 389 Hodjie, Sellin, ambassador from King of Siam, 385 Hogg, Henry, factor at Camboja, 88 Hogs at Louvo, 287 Holland, peace concluded between Siam and, 99 ; royal letters to the King of Siam from, 185 Hollanders, tyranny of, 150 Hooke, Robert, the experimental philosopher, 217/. «., 218/. n. Rope, the, arrives at Patani, 56 Hopewell, the, 166, 268, 270, App. F. ; sent from Surat to Bangkok, 90; arrives at, 91 ; reception of, 96 ; returns to Surat, 93 Hopper, Robert, at Bantam, 99 /. n. Horn chaplet, 227 Horsburgh, James, quoted, 12/. n. and 13 /. •«,, 15 /. «. and 339/ n. Horses exported from Acheen, 20 /. n. ; Arabia, Turkey, Catti, and Balacki, 20/. n. ; S, White's pre- sent to Lady Phaulkon of Persian, 304 Hoskins, Sir J., 217/. n. Sound, the, at Patani, 73 ; attacked by the Dutch, 74-78; captured, 75) 77 ; crew of, leave Patani, 79 House, a factory (at Ayuthia), free, 123 ; a necessity, 147 Houses, two built for the Company at Siam and Patani, 69 How, William, steward and cash- keeper to S. White at Mergui, 270, 280 and /. n. ; assistant to, 313 ; sails in the Satisfaction for Mecca, 313; proceedings at, 314 ; made a prisoner by Captain Andrews, 315 Howell, Oapt., at Ayuthia, 297/. n., 322 Sudia, 18 /. «., and Sudid, 18 f. n, and 26 Hues, Capt., at Ayuthia, 291 ; killed in the Macasser rebellion, 292 Htigli, F. Davenport at, 268 ; ship proceeding to, 270 ; Fytch Ned- ham at, 277 Hunt, Francis, 182/. n. Huyts, Samuel, of the Globe, 51 Ialinque, 6 ; see Jelinga Immaculate Conception, parish of, at Ayuthia, 238 478 INDEX. India, value of its trade, 19; Persian ambassador's debts iii, 251 ; trade of Mergui and Tenasserim in the hands of natives of, 253 ; Mergui the gateway to . Siam from, 333 Indian clottis, 68 • nuts, wine of, 33 seas, navigation in, 31 ; piracy in, 388 Indiea (Ayuthia), 114 Indo-Malaya, the princes of, chiefs of the commerce, 52 Infants, moribund, 234 Inscription, Sakkothai, 4 /. n. Interlopers, George White, 120; East India Company's action against, 121 ; royal proclamation against, 180; at Ayuthia, 181; Strangh's action against, 186; Phaulkon's reply regarding, 186- 187 ; Captain Pines, 198 ; factory at Ayuthia and, 222 ; Phaulkou and English, 255 ; action against, 285 ; John Davis, 268 ; Fytche Nedham, 277; naval comman- ders to seize, 321 ; Englishmen to. be prosecuted as, 323 ; Sir John Child's orders regarding, 388 Iron, 41, App. E. Iron Island, the Curtcma and Reso- lution off, 347 Ispahan, gambling at, 78 ; Bishop B^rythe at, 226 ; Kffimpfer and Fabritius at, 249; Siamese ambas- sador at, 250 India, see Ayuthia Ivatt, Thomas, proceeds in Meturn to Ayuthia, 161 and /. n. ; in- spects the factory, 162 ; charges against Burneby, 168-169 > ^ consultation with S. Potts, 173; William Strangh met in the Menam by, 183 ; in the factory when it was burned, 185 ; accom- panies Strangh to his audience with the Phra-klang, 187 ; inten- tion to sever his connection with the Company, 190 ; deserts from the Company, 193, 195; at an- other audience with the Phra- klang, 200; invested with robes of office, 201 ; Phaulkou charged with seducing " little," 207 ; made a " Lord," 185, 207 ; King's factor on Coromandel Coast, 219 ly^mitsu, the Shogun, persecutor of Christians in Japan, 229 ly^yasu, the Shogun, application to the King of Siam for muskets and eagle-wood, 53 > grants a passport to William Adams for his voyage to Siam, 60 Jakatka, Singora a second, 58 ; re- port at, regarding peace between Siam and Ava, 69 /. n. ; part of crews of the Sampson and Hound carried prisoners to, 79 ; Kichard Steele at, 86 Jalinguer, 6 ; see Jelinga. Jallenga, 104 ; see Jelinga. Jambi, decayed factory at, 73 ; crews of Sampson and Hound go to Jambi, 79 and /. n. ; Richard Welden arrived at Patani from, 81 ; Ramsden sent to, but deserts, 143 / n.; rice, oil, and salt ex- ported from A3-uthia to, 145 James I., King of England, letter from, to Emperor of Japan, 47 ; to Queen of Patani, 48 ; to King of Siam, 50 ; letter from King of Siam to, 63 James II., King of England, covets Mergui, I ; presents from Phaul- kon to, 163 ; letter to Phaulkon from, 286; his letters to Siam, character of, 298 ; letter to Bur- neby and White from, 318, 353, 354 ; dishonourable action of, 333 ; and affairs at Mergui, 352 James, Capt. J. M., 87/. n. James, the, at Masulipatam, 56 and /. n. ; sails for Bantam, 57 ; arrives at Patani, 57 ; goes to Singora, 59 the, (a second ship of the INDEX. 479 name), Francis Davenport in, 268 James, the sloop, consort of the Our- tcma, 329, 332 ; arrives at Mergui, 338 ; at Mergui, 342, 345 ; cap- tured by the Siamese, 347 Jangama, 68; seeXiengmai. Jangoma, 42 ; see Xiengmai Japan, first English factory in, 38 ; English trade with, 47, 52, 53, 59, 60, 63 ; potatoes from Liukiu Islands taken to, 61 ; paper sent to Siam, 64 ; an Ayuthia gossip reaches, 67 ; a return in coin for sappan - wood wanted from, 68 ; ompra, 70 ; rich usurers spoil trade of, 72 ; some of the seamen of the Sampson and Hound carried prisoners to, 77 ; English ship for, 81 ; Japan plate to be taken to Patani to pay debt to the queen, 8_5 ; Siam affords valuable products for, 86 ; Dutch trade of, 99 ; proposals to re- open trade with, loi ; depen- dence of trade of Siam on, I02 ; Return at Japan, 112, 118; not permitted to settle a factory, 112; to be brought to Siam, 119, 136 ; Siam to surpass, 127 ; war feared between the Dutch and, 135 ; Kichard Burneby trades with, 162 ; copper of, 179, 195 ; Em- peror of, 184 ; prohibition of Christianity by Emperor of, 188 ; junks for, 191 ; Chinese trade to, 191 ; Emperor of, inclines to free trade, 191 ; Siam trade with, 192; cloth sold at Ayuthia on the arrival of junks from, 194 ; Chris- tianity in, 229 Japanese, numerous, at Ayuthia, 53> 241 ; coin, 68; mariners, 68 ; John Gruby, a, 132 ; Phaulkon's wife, ■•>; 371 Japoner, 132 ; see Japanese Jarric, Pierre du, quoted, 12 f. n., 38/. ■«. Jauehes, iron pans.'App. E. Java, 58, 97, 180; Erench and trade of, 224 Javan slaves, revolt of, at Patani, 55 Jearsey, William, 103 and/. «., 105, 107, 153/ n. Jelinga, on the route between Mer- gui and Ayuthia, 6, 104, 227, 240, 281 Jennings, Kichard, in the Return at Ayuthia, 114/ n., 119, 128; ap- pointed a writer, 115, 129; goes to liigor, 138 " Jepan porcellaine," App. E. Jerusalem or St. John, the, a ship seized by Captain Coates, 266, 303) 3io> 3". 316 Jesuits, the, in Siam, 37 ; strive for the conversion of the King of Siam, 232 ; enter Siam in force, 364 Jewels, stolen, 149 ; Elihn Yale and the, 274, 275 Jewes, 200 ; see Jews. Jews, the King of Siam and the, 200 Johanna, the, E. Davenport leaves Bantam in, 268 John Lan, 69 ; see Luang Praban. Johnson, Henriok, Dutch admiral, 74 John, at Ayuthia in the fac- tory, 65 ; death of, 69 Thomas, boatswain of Cwrtana, at Mergui, 344 Johore besieged, 37 ; 56 Jones, Thomas, 80/. n, Jonge, De, quoted, 47 and /. n., he. Josiah, the, at Acheen, originals of royal letters in, 286 Joudia (Ayuthia), 227 Jourdain, Capt. John, President of the English factories, 73; his fight with the Dutch at Patani and death, 74-75, 77 John (nephew of Captain), at Patani, 80, 81, 82, 85, 86 Joyce, Richard, 131 ; goes to Ayu- thia, 132 Judea or JvMa (Ayuthia), iS f. n. Junk-Ceylon, 27, 41, 137; M.Perez 48o INDEX. at, 253 ; MM. Cherboneau and Billi, governors of, 24 1 ; Trench fleet arrives off, 383 Juthia, see Ayuthia Juxen, Charles, at Ayuthia, 297/". n. K^MPFEK, on the old capital of Siam, 17 and /. ■n. ; on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula, 28 ; on the silver money of Siam, 68 f.n.; quoted, H2, 163 ; on the character of Phaulkon, 166 ; at Ispahan, 249 ; account of Siam revolution by, 370 /. n. ; death of Phaulkon, 371 ; quoted, 373 and /. 71., 375, 381 ; visits the French clergy at, 384 Kalcaroches, 58 ; see Cockroaches Kalantan, 43 Kantars,' 23 Kanyeen, Burmese name of trees of the genus Sipterocarpus, 340 /. n. Kixwdr, 120, 211 f.n. ; Strangh and Yale off, 212 Keeling, Capt. W., at Bantam, 46 ; visited Siam ambassador, 46 Kerdai, or painted arms, 281 /. n. Kenn, Richard, 59 /. n. Kent, John, dies at Ayuthia, 143 Keppell, John, 114/. n. Ketch, 267 Khass, 93 /. n. Kidd, William, 388 Kiddall, John, proceeds from Ayu- thia to Mergui, 274 King, Dr. George, quoted, 35 /. n. King Island, 347, 355 ; French men-of-war at, 369 /. n. KIu, on Siamese coast, 7, 28, 307 Khoan Tani, in Ligor, 27 /. n. Kopper, 192 ; see Copper Koran, offered to King of Siam, 248, 252 Kotwal, a policeman, 318/. n. Koung Mhoo Daw, pagoda of, 16 Kraw, 8 Lao of Tenasserim, Ayuthia, and Martaban, 29 Lace, 297 Lake, Capt., of the Prmtent Mary, at Ayuthia, 297 and /. n. ; boast- ings of, 298 ; seized by Count de Forbin and carried to Louvo, 299 ; dies at Louvo under the jailorship of Alexander Delgar- dno, 300 and/, n.; a malapert fel- low, 302 ; a reminiscence of, 343 f.n. Lakon, 27 ; see Ligor Lambert, Mgr. de la Mothe, Bishop de Edrythe, see Berythe Lambton, John, at Surat, 91, 92 /. n. ; member of Council, 93 /. n. Lady, 92/ n. Ralph, at Ayuthia, 136 ; gam- bling debts of, 137; claim by, 142 ; petitions authorities at Su- rat, 150; quarrel with Burneby, 151, 168 ; proceeds to Surat, 175 ; Phaulkon on, 176-177; his debt to the King, 199 Richard, <)2f. n.; at Ayuthia, 142 Lampacao, the Return at, 113 Lancaster, Sir J'ames, 35 /. «., 36 and/ n., 37/ n. Langhorne, Sir William, agent, 121 Lankeen (Nankeen), 40 and/ n. Lanneau, M., French missionary, 231; afterwards Bishop of Metel- lopolis, 234, 237 Lautar, island of, 27 Laos, war with Cochin-Chinese and, 373 Larkin, Robert, captain of the Barliruj, 57 ; at Bangkok, 58 ; on the trade of Patani, 58 ; at Patani, 62 ; chief at Patani, 63 Lashars, 354 Lawrence, Capt, at Ayuthia, 297 f.n. George, accused of murder, 148 Lead, 41, 67, 96, 117, and App. E. Leal, Mr., Travels in Siam, 8 ; see App. A. Le Cooc[, the, at Mergui, 379 INDEX. 481 L. D. 0. (Ohoisy), quoted, 245 /. n., 250/. re. Lee, Mr., at Boston, U.S.A., 267 Lelup, a Ndkhuda, 133, 135 Le Noir, M., French missionary, 240 Leslie, Capt. Alexander; goes to Mergui with his family, 261 ; in the naval service of the King of Siam, 266 ; goes to Ayuthia, 281 ; again at Mergui, 306, 307, 322, 335 ; sent in Resolution to Gingerlee, 308 ; instructions to, 309, 310; killed at Mergui, 356 Levant, genuine storax from, 30 Levoe, see Luovo Leyden, Dr. J., quoted, 16 /. n. Liang dynasty, 27 Lifool, Samuel, master's-mate, at Ayuthia, 118 Ligor, 8, 9 ; Wm. Webb at, 80, 88 ; Samuel Potts and Richard Jen- nings at, 138 Ligrvum aloes, 40, 66 ; see Eagle- wood Limes, 287 Limpacao, 113/. m. ; see Lampacoa Linschoten, John. Huyghen van, quoted, 11/. n., 33 and /. n. ; accuracy of, 34 ; at Goa, 35 Littleton, John, at Madras, 357 Littlewood, Robert, at Patani, 56 Liu Kiu Islands, Sea Adventure at, 60,71 Livorno, Bishop of Heliopolis at, 232 Lloyd, Capt. R., quoted, 12 /. n., 15 /. n. ; on the features of the country at Mergui, 24 Lock, Mr., 109 Logan, J. R., 32/. n. London, Sia (Ayuthia) " as great a city as,y 69 London, the, goes to China, 332 Long, John, carpenter of the Cur- tana, at Mergui, 337, 344 Longe, Edward, factor at Ayuthia, 71; drunkenness of, 82; put to death at Ayuthia, 85 Longees, 92 /. n. and 93 /. n. ; see Loongh.ee Long white pepper, 41 Loonghee, 92 /. n. and 93 /. n. Lophaburi (Louvo), Col. Sir H. Yule on, 17, 115 Lord President of the Privy Coun- cil, Constant Phaulkon, 290 Loubfere, M. De la, quoted, 6, 7> Louis XIV., embassies from, 45, 221, 223, 357, 359, 361, 364 et seq. ; Phaulkon corresponds with, 163 ; interest in Siam of, 167 ; Mgr. Heliopolis' mission to, 234 ; presents to King of Siam from 234 ; 239 ; letters to King of Sian". from, 237, 242 ; Prench influenc and, 241, 247 ; letters and pre- sents from King of Siam to, 310 ; ambitious projects of, 333 Louis, M., metropolitan Bishop, at Ayuthia, 384 Lulongs, Siamese soldiers, 311 Luovo, factors of Return go to, 1 1 5 ; received at, 116; Burneby at, 144 ; the King goes to, 193 ; French Bishop's house at, 198 ; W. Strangh goes to, 199 ; Strangh attempts to leave, 205 ; not per- mitted, 206; Prench Bishops sum- moned to, 237; S. White called to, 279 ; at, 282 ; Macassars' plot to seize palace at, 285 ; provisions at, 287 ; Macassars surrender and sent to, 289 ;. at, 293 ; Capt. Lake ■ carried a prisoner to, 299, 300; dies at, 300 ; Hodges and Hill at, 357 and /. »., 358 ; Dutchmen imprisoned at, 359 ; King of Siam ill at, 369, 371 ; Hodges and Hill imprisoned at, 372 ; Marshal Des Farges summoned to, 373 ; letter to Major De Bruan ordering him to come to, 374, 377 ; severe treatment of French and English at, 375, 376 ; King dies at, 376 ; two Frenchmen from Mergui car- ried prisoners to, 379 2 H 483 INDEX. Low, C. E., quoted, 286/. n. — — ■ Capt. James, mission to Ligor, 27/. n. Lowe, Mrs., at Ayuthia, 297, 309 Loyal Subject, the, Samuel White mate on, 153 Luang, Praban, King of Siam's factors at, 42 Zubem javi, 29 ; see Benjamin Lucas, Thomas, supercargo, goes to Siam, 121; part - proprietor of cargo in Delight, 276 ; Councillor at Fort St. George, 276, 324 Mrs., at Ayuthia, 297, 309 "Lusiad" of Camoens, quoted, 33 Lyell, James, merchant in London, 182/ n. Lysons, Rev. D., quoted, 333 /. n. Macao, 66, 91, loi, no, 199; ship- wrecked seamen at, 82 ; Cocks' suggestion to take and sack, 82 ; Padre Mason arrives at Ayuthia from, 94 ; arrival at Ayuthia of ships from, 96; the Heturn at, 113; Portuguese temporal and spiritual merchants at, 170 Macaw, 91, loi ; see Macao. M'Carthy, J., map of Siam by, 7 Macassars, chief patrons of opium at Ayuthia, 277 ; refugees at Ayuthia, 285 ; conspiracy and insurrection of, 285-296 ; Count de Forbin's treatment, 299, 300 Macaulay, quoted, 388 Mace, 23, 32 Macleod, Capt. (Major - General), attempts to open up trade with Xiengmai, 54 M'Cullooh's Commercial Dictionary quoted, 136/. n. Madagascar, French at, 225 MadapoUam, 121, 149; Capt. John Coates' hostile proceedings at, 257-264, 321 ; ships built by Coates at, 279 ; the Curtana and Resolution at, 350 Madramacan, 339/. n. Madras, 108, 152, 158, 222, 274, 300, 310, 311, 354, 361, 385 ; tea unsaleable at, 147 ; George White ' in the Phoenix at, 161 ; Thomas Ivatt at, 219 ; Persian ambas- sador at, 221, 250; seizure of a vessel belonging to natives of, 273 ; Thomas Yale with the jewels from Phaulkon arrives at, 275 ; Phoenix at Ayuthia from, 306; famine at, 312; letter to Job Chamook from, 321 ; claim for damages done to inhabitants of city of, 324, 330, 331 ; Ecn/al James at, 328 ; Siam vessels to be captured and brought to, 331; the Curtana at, 332 ; Capt. Weltden *t) 337 ; Weltden's letter about massacre at Mergui reaches, 348; Samuel White's intention to go to, 350; not fulfilled, 352; the Pearl sails for Mergui from, 354 ; MM. C^bert, Delandres, and Forbin g;o to, 367 ; captured Frenchmen carried to, 380 ; the war with Siam and the residents in, 387 Madras Merchant, the, sent to Bang- kok, 95 ; at, 97 Madras Roads, 321 Magellan, Duarte Barbosa, cousin of, 29 Maha Dhamma Raja, Xiengmai taken by, 62 Malimuddy [Mahdnadi), the, seized off Mergui, 270 Mahratta Government, English fac- tory at Porto Novo besieged by, 361 Maingy, Mr., 9 Mainwaring, Madame, at Madapol- 1am, 149 Mattre d'kdtel of Persian ambassador at Mergui, 250 Malacca, 41, 198/ «., 389 ; Dutch, masters of Peninsula of, 248; opium from Mergui sent to, 277 Road, 381 Malayan Peninsula, routes across. INDEX. 483 26, 27, and App. A. ; Japanese in, 53 ; Dutch firmly established on, 24s Malay name of Teuasserim, 13 ; of Martaban, 15 Maldive Islands, 39 Maline, La, a French war -vessel at Bangkok, 244 Malleson, Colonel, quoted, 270 /. n. Malfett, William, with Coates at Madapollam, 258-265 ; sent from Mergnito Acheen, 316; at Ayu- thia, 322 Mallory, Timothy, sent to Patani, 62 Malta, Bishop de Bdrythe touches at, 225 Mandalay, 50 Mandarin, Phaulkon made a, 178 Mandarins, covetousness and corrup- tion of, 50 ; jealousy and hatred of, to 0. Phaulkon, 165 Mandelslo, J. A. de, quoted, 41 and /. n., 44 and /. n. Manilla, ship from, at Ayuthia, 170 ; Bishop of Heliopolis im- prisoned at, 239 ; goods from Ayuthia exported to, App. E. MarU, Siamese name of Mergui, 1 5 Marilamcm, Malayan name of Mar- taban, 15 Markham, Capt. A. H., quoted, 57 /• n. Marlowe, Capt., 57 Marsden, William, quoted, 13 Marseilles, Bishop de B^rythe leaves, 225 Martaban, Siamese authority in, 3 ; part of Siam, 4, 35 ; Malayan name of, 15 ; Siamese name of, 16; Talaing name of, 16 j ben- zoin, storax, and lac of, 29 ; Lin- sohoteu describes, 33 ; tributary to Burma, 16, 39 Martin, Fran9ois, governor of Pondicherry, 309, 316, 380 Henri, quoted, 248 /. n., 364 /• »•, 365 /■ "• Mary, the sloop, Constant Phaul- kou's ship, 162, 164; lost at Andragiri, 163 the, built at Madapollam, 279 ; captured by Captain Batten, 316, 321 Mason, Lieut. Benjamin, of the Curtand, 337, 342 Rev. P., quoted, 2, 24 Master, Sir Streynshara, letter to the King of Siam from, 149 and f.n. Masulipatam or Metchlepatam, ships with elephants at, 20 /. n. ; Globe sails to, 48, 55 ; arrives at, 56, 57 ; trade between Siam and, 61 ; Solomon sent to Masu- lipatam, 62, 63 ; trade between Tenasserim and, 72 ; proposals t'T) regarding removal of factory at Ayuthia, 98 ; the Dutch and the authorities at, 99 ; Mr. Nel- throp escapes from a junk at, 108 ; George White at, 120; his corre- spondent W. AylofEe at, 121, 138 /. n., 141 ; S. White, pilot be- tween Mergui and, 152 ; a favour- ite with the natives at, 153 ; agent of King of Siam at, 154 ; Thomas Ivatt ships goods of the King of Siam to, 219 ; goes to, 219 ; considerable trade between Mergui and, 221 ; Bishop de Bdrythe at, 226 ; M. de Bourges from Ayuthia arrives at, 229 ; Bishop of Heliopolis at, 230 ; departs from, 231 ; returns to, 232 ; destitute Frenchmen arrive at Mergui from, 236 ; M. Chames- son at, 237 ; MM. Thomas, De Clergues, Gefltard, and Le Noir arrive at, 239-240 ; Persian am- bassador at, 249; departs from, 250 ; S. White's friends at, 255 ; John Coates, declaration to the Council at, 257 ; his hostile pro- ceedings in the neighbourhood of, 258-266 ; Samuel White recog- nised as chief of the trade of Mergui by the authorities at, 274 ; 484 INDEX. the Huhy arrives at Ayuthia from, 301 ; hostile proceedings of Coates had injured trade at, 312 ; compensation resolved on, 321 Matelief, Dutch admiral, Siamese embassy received at Bantam by, 38 Maurice, Prince, Siamese embassy received by, 38 ; at the Court of, 46 ■ Medici, L. di P. T. dei, Amerigo ■ Vespucci's letter to, 23 Meer Facqueer Deun of Metchle- patam, proprietor of the ship " Mahmuddy," 270 Meguim, an old form of Mergui, 14 Menam, 7 et passim Mergui (Meguim, Mergi, Merguim, Mergy, Myrghy, Merguy, Mergen, and Morgen, 14/. ».). I ; capture of, by British, 2 ; Zediwon pagoda near, 3 ; the importance of, 5 ; route from, 7, 8 ; old raids on, 9 ; latitude and longitude of, 14 ; Nicolo di Conti at, 19, 20 ; eagle- wood obtained by merchants at, 22 ; features of country near to, 24 ; of country at, 25 ; Varthema's description of Tarnassari inappli- cable to, 26 ; custom-house at, 31 ; C. Fedrici on, 32 ; J. Saris and, 39 ; William Methold on over- land route from, 40 ; the highway to Ayuthia, 42 ; French mission- aries entered Siam from, 45 ; Japanese warriors at, 88 ; Samuel White and the history of, 121, 153 ; goes to Ayuthia from, 152 ; Shahbandar at, 219 ; returns to, 219 ; traffic between Masulipatam and, 221 ; Bishop of B&ythe at, 226 ; Bishop de Heliopolis goes from Ayuthia to, 232 ; returns by, 235 ; M. Chamesson proceeds from Ayuthia to, 237 ; MM. Thomas, De Clergues, Geffard, and Le Noir land at, 240 ; M. du Carpon goes to the capital from, 249 ; Persian ambassador's debts at, 251 ; royal monopolies drive Indian merchants from Ayuthia to, 253 ; S. White trades for the King between the coast of India and, 254; informs his friends of his appointment to, ^55 ; a Golconda vessel seized and carried to, 257 ; Coates at, 259 ; Alexander Lesley and his family at, 261 ; Francis Daven- port, with M. Carroon, taken pri- soner of war to, 266, 268, 269 ; Davenport engaged by S. White to remain at, 270 ; Indian mer- chants imprisoned at,273 ; Thomas Yale arrives from Ayuthia over- land from, 274, 27s ; the Delight arrives at, 276 ; goes up the river to Tenasserim from, 276 ; S. White at, 279, 281 ; White and the Shahbandarship of, 284 ; the Dorothy at, 285 ; Englishmen arrive at Bangkok from, 292 ; stragglers of all nations at, 301 ; White's proposal regarding the government of, 305 ; White pro- ceeds to, 307 ; and arrives at, 308 ; an ambassador from the King of Golconda to arrive at, 309 ; Alexander Russell and Mrs. Rus- sell arrive from Ayuthia over- land to, 309, 316 ; war to be de- clared against Siam until ithe cession of, 311, 312 ; the Dorothy or "Mergen Frigate" arrives at, 317 ; King James II.'s advice for the treacherous surrender of, 318 ; war news at, 319 ; letter recalling all Englishmen from, 322, 324 ; letter threatening the King of Siam with the blockade of, 326, 32S ; orders to Capt. Weltden on his expedition to, 329, 331 ; Curtana and James sail for, 332 ; French influence in Siam to be counteracted by seizure of, 333 ; Curtana arrives at, 335-336 ; Capt. Weltden lands at, 337 ; royal proclamation read in White's INDEX. 485 house in, 337 ; Englishmen sig- nify their willingness to leave, 337 ; the James arrives at, 338 ; the defences of the town put in order, 340 ; the after transactions and massacre at, 341-350 ; arrival of MM. Torbin, Cebert, and Delandres at Pondicherry from, 352 ; another ship to be sent with two Englishmen to admini- ster the government of, 352 ; the Pearl selected, and Messrs.Hodges and Hill sent to, 353 ; sails with another royal proclamation to, 354; arrives off, 355 ; encounter with Siamese ships in the entrance to the harbour of, 355 ; French and Siamese officials at, 356 ; Hodge's ■ account of the massacre at, 357, 358 ; Pearl seized by the Siamese, but afterwards released, 361 ; leaves, 361 ; Beauregard sent to pacify the Siamese and English ^tj 3^5 ; forts garrisoned by French, 366 ; M. C^bert's jour- ney from Ayuthia to, 366, 367!; four companies of French troops sent to, 369 and /. n. ; French influence supreme at, 376 ; Major Debriian at, 376 ; builds a new fort, 377 ; attacked by the Siamese and abandons the place, escaping in his ships, 378 ; two French prisoners sent to Ayuthia and Luovo from, 379 ; under its native governor, 382 ; Siamese ambas- sadors to France return to, 383 ; pirates and the trade of, 389 ; re- ports regarding French intentions on, 389 ; English ships again visit, 389 ; becomes a Burmese town, 390 Mergui Frigate or Dorothy, 275 /. 71.; at Mergui, 317 Merruah, 205 Mervah, a, 138 Metellopolis, Bishop of, 219; leaves France, 230 ; dies . at Palacol, 2^0; M. Lanneau, future Bishop of, 234, 237 ; tied to a gibbet in front of Bangkok forts, 375 ; as a hostage, 381 Methold, William, a servant of the East India Company, on the overland, route to Ayuthia, 40 and /. n, Mexico, Bishop of Heliopolis at, 239 Mexico Merchant, the, from Eng- land arrives in the Menam, 1S2 ; dissatisfaction with the goods brought by, 188 ; at the " Bar of Siam," 206 ; leaves the Menam, 210 Mexxa, an Armenian merchant, 118 Middelburg, John Davis sails from, 36 Milbourn, Mr., at Ayuthia, 322 Mill's History of India, quoted, 19 Minchin, Capt., at Ayuthia during the Maoasser rebellion, 291, 292 and/, v., 297, 322 Mrs., at Pondicherry, 322 f.n. Mineral waters of Rajapur, 238 Mines, iron, App. E., 424 Minister of Foreign Affairs at Ayu- thia, 137 Minthantaung, a hill near Mergui, 25 Miruah or Merruah, 173 Mocha, 331, 335; the St. Georgeiiom Mergui sent to, 272 ; vessels from Mergui sent annually to, 312; the - Satisfaction sent to, 313 ; seized at, 314-315 and App. F. Mogul, the, A. Navarro appointed to negotiate a peace with, 199 /. n.; ships of, 33 1 Mohun, Richard, diary of, 120, 154 /. «., 198/. n. Moluccas, 58, 73, 78, 224 Monopolies, royal, 253 Monproncena, a factor of the King of Siam, 381 /. n. Monthzoone, loi ; see Monsoon Monzoone, 300 ; see Monsoon Moors, trade with Siam, 96, 241 486 INDEX. Moreman, a (Moor-man), the host of Strangh at Louvo, 200 Morrington, Mr., at Ayuthia, 297 f.n. Mosquitoes, 228 Mosul, Bishop of Heliopolis at, 232 Mo-ta-ma, Siamese name of Marta- ban, 16 Moulds, counterfeit, of diamonds, 133, Moulraein, Siamese territory, 4; railway projects for, 54, 55 Mouttama or Martaban, 16 Muang, a city, 306 /. n. MuUins, Mr., mate of the James^ at Mergui, 344 MvU-mull, 92/ n. Mum, 140, 297, and App. D. Mumm, 297 ; see Mum Murthwait, Thomas, citizen haber- dasher of London, 161 /. ti. Muschampe, George, goes to Pa- tani, 73 ; right leg shot off, 76 ; leaves Patani, 79 Muscovy, the Czar of, ambassadors at the Court of, 249 Musk, 30, 95 ; Rev. Mr. Copping trades in, 141 ; G. White trades in, 145 Mu-ta-man, Talaing name of Mar- taban, 16 Myat or Myut, Burmese name of Mergui, 15 Naooda, 273 ; see Nftkhudas Nafa, in the Liu-kiu Islands, 61 Nagamasa, Yamada Jizayemon, Japanese ompra, 87 Nagasaki, Sea Adventure driven back to, 71 ; native usurers and trade of, 72 ; the Return at, 112 Nails, Peter Crouch a,nd John Thomas quarrel with Phaulkon about, 213-216 ; the two im- prisoned, 215 Ndkhudas shipmasters, wages of, at Tenasserim, 35 ; one killed at Sucoadana, 133 ; one a prisoner at Mergui, 273 Nangasaque, see Nagasaki NarabadisJthu, a famous King of Burma, 2-3 * Narsingha kingdom, traffic of, 34 Narsitpur, Capt. Goates' hostilities at, 258-266 Natlaingtaung, a hill near Mergui, 25 JVava-pura=Lophaburi='Liouvo, 17 Navarette, D. !P., a Spaniard, 41 Navarro, Abraham, Chinese inter- loper on the DdigM, 199 and/. «.; a Jew, 200 ; goes with Strangh to Louvo, 200 ; threatened by Phaulkon, 205 ; at Acheen, 381 ; appointed to negotiate a peace with the Mogul, 199 /. n. Nayles, see Nails Naylor, John, Pranois Davenport accused of the murder of, 268 Nedham, Pytche, of the Return, 114 and /. n. ; at Ayuthia, 114; goes to Louvo, 115; selected to go to Port St. George, 119 and /. n.; leaves Ayuthia, 126 Negapatam, 389 /. n. Negrais, Cape, merchant ship Queda- bux captured off, 266 ; intention of the East India Company to establish a settlement at, 306, 311 ; surveyed by Capt. Weltden, 312 /. m. ; Siamese huts and in- soriptians at, 312/. m. ; Curtana sails to, and English flag hoisted on. 347 Nelthrop, Prancis, sent to Siam, 103 ; dragged in irons through the woods to Mergui, 108 ; taken in a ship to Masulipatam, 108 ; bribes an officer and escapes in a catamaran, 108 Newbury, John, at Goa, 35 iVew) Jerusalem, the, captured by Coates on the Narsapur river, 258 New York, William Kidd, the veteran mariner of, 388 Niocola, Giovanni di, called Da Em- poli, quoted, 28 Nicholson, Capt., Vice -Admiral, INDEX. 487 ordered to seize- Chittagong, 311 ; captures the Revenge, 319 Nidbs, John, Councillor at Tort St. George, 324 Nioobars, the. Island of Gold, 3 1/. m. ; the headquarters o£ pirates, 389 Nipa, 32 Nipa fructicans, 27 Noquoda, 133 ; see N^khudas ' Norman, C. B., quoted, 224 Nutmegs from the coast of Siam, 23,32 Nuts, Indian, wine of, 33 ; water distilled from, 33 " Nype de Tcmassaria," 33 Oc Counne Narine, keeper of the elephants, 306 /. n. Oc Louang, 306 /. n. Ocone Hurelay, 306 /. n. Ocya, a title, 13 Ocya Tannaw, 13, 306 Odia, 7 /. «., 18 /. n., 38 Odiaa, iSf.n. Oil exported from Ayuthia to Jambi, 145. 297 Oil-trees, 340/. »., 341 /. n. Oiseau, V, French man-of-war, goes to Ayuthia, 244 Okinawa-shima, one of the Liu-kiu group of islands, 61 Olan, meaning of, 306 /. n. Olom Cliao Miiang, 306 /. n. Oldham, Dr. T., quoted, 42/. n. Old Kayal or Gale Velha, 94/. n. ; factory at, App. C. Olindo, Joseph, of the Curtcma, at Mergui, 337, 341 ; massacred at Mergui, 345 Oliphants, 200 ; see Elephants Oloangh Thamtray-locq, governor of Tenasserim, 87 Oloung Sibattibang, a Siamese, 2l6 Olvang Chomoung, 306 /. n. ; see Olan Chdo Aliiang Narine, see Oc Counne Narine Olvemg Incahat, an obsolete title, 306 /. n. Ompra, 70 ; meaning of, 7 1 /. «. Opera Sinourat, 124 Ophium 277 ; see Opium Opium imported to Mergui from Bengal, 277 ; Macassars chief patrons of, in Siam, 277 ; prohibi- tion against, 277 /. n. Oporto, manuscript in public library of, 21 Opra, governor of a city, 15 Marrat or Marit, governor of Mergui, 15, 254, 306 and/, n. TsuduTc, a mandarin, 178-179 Orange, Prince of, letters from, to the King of Siam, 194 Oran Kayes at Patani, quarrel with, 57 ; meaning of, 57 /. «. Orme, quoted, 136 Ormuz, traders from Ayuthia at, 16 ; from Tenasserim at, 21 ; Straits of, 226 Ornamentos or Ornamentoz, 264 ; probable meaning of, 264 /. n. Orranibarro, 209 Oshima, island of the Liu-kiu group, Sea Adventure at, 60 Osiander, the, at Hirado, 63 Ovington, P., chaplain of the Ben- jamin, 386 /. n. ; Alex. Hamil- ton's opinion of his writings, 386 Oxima, see Oshima Oxiuden, Sir George, 97, 102/. n. Oyhar KaZong, 85 Pack-ohan peninsula, 2 Paintings, taken from Golconda to Tenasserim, 40; Patau! yields very good sorts of, 58 Palacol, death of the Bishop of Metellopolis at, 230 Pallegoix, Mgr., quoted, 4 et passim Pallu, Mgr. Prancis, Bishop of Heliopolis, 230 ; at Masulipatam, 231 ; crosses from Mergui to Ayuthia, 231 ; arrives at Ayuthia, 231 ; sent to Rome, 231 ; goes to Masulipatam via Mergui, 232; crosses India to Surat, 232 ; pro- INDEX. ceeds to the Persian Gulf and up the Euphrates valley to Alexand- retta, 232 ; lands at Livorno, 232 ; returns to Ayuthia with letters and presents from the Pope and Louis XIV., 234 ; his journey, 235-236 ; received by the King, 237 ; departs for Tonquin, but driven to Manilla and imprisoned, 239 ; sent a prisoner to Europe via America, 239 ; returns to Ayuthia with a letter to the King of Siam from Louis XIV. and rich presents, 242 ; received at a special audience, 243 Pamphlet, scurrilous, attributed to Elihu Yale, 302 and /. n. Pans, iron, App. E. Paper, Japan, sent to Ayuthia, 64 Paracels Islands, 114 Paris, 239, 244 ; correspondent of London Gazette, 365 ; of London Intelligence, 368 Parker, Robert, agent at Bantam, 146 ; advice to, regarding letter to the King of Siam, 148 ; his letter to the Phra-klang, 155 Farrasells, 1 14 ; see Paracels Pan'ett, the, Dutch yacht, 109 " Parrots," the land of, 22 Pascot, M., French missionary, 243 Passports from Tenasserim, 227 Patane, 7 /. n. Patani, routes to, 27; its importance, 42-44 ; present state of, 44, 45 /. n. ; English arrive at, in the Olohe, and meet with a good re- ception, 48 ; land in state with a letter from James I., 48 ; build a iire-proof warehouse, 48 ; sick- ness, 48 ; death of Capt. Anthony Hippon at, 49 ; the Globe returns to, 51; state of, governed by a queen, 51 ; English dance before her at, 52 ; many Japanese at, 53 ; the English called " defenders of strangers " at, 55 ; the Glole sails from, 55 ; Company's servants left at, 56 ; the James and Dar- limg at, 57 ; dispute with Oran Kayes, 57 ; minor troubles at, c8 ; the Barling sails for Ayuthia,^ ; reports of war at, 58 ; E. Larkin disappointed with trade of, 58 ; James leaves, 59 ; the Solomon sent to, 62 ; Robert Larkin, chief at, 63 ; Solomon sails for Masu- lipatam, 63 ; Siam and Patani traffic, 64 ; death of Larkin, 65 ; Hound and Sampson sent to, and arrive at, 73 ; William Paulhill and John Browne die at, 74 ; Dutch ships attack Hov/nd and Sampson at, 74 ; John Jourdain killed and both ships captured by the Dutch, 74-77 ; pride of the Dutch at, 78 ; the Queen protects the English, 78 ; gambling at, 78 ; crews of the Mound and Sampson escape from, 79 ; nume- rous Chinese at, 80 ; John Jour- dain, junior, chief at, 81, 83 ; debts of the Company's servants at, 83 ; Exchange and Peppercorn at, 83 ; the unprofitable factory of, 84 ; the Fortune to call at, and remove the factors, 84 ; Jourdain in debt at, 85 ; the Bee sent to remove the factors, 85 ; factory closed, 85, 86 ; occasional visits of interlopers to, 88 ; monopoly of pepper trade at, to be given to English, 138; a plan of, 138; produces great quantities of gold and pepper, 145 ; Burneby on the trade of, 146 ; a fort offered by the King of Siam at, 150 Patani Mejxhant, the, sails to Pa- tani from Ligor, 138; navigated by Capt. Barkin, 142 Pataw, island near Mergui, 339/. n., 345 Patit, 338/ n. Pattararaes, 277 ; see Pitarrahs Paxton, Capt. of the Mexico Mer- chant, present at an interview with Phra-klang in his drawers and shirt, 201 INDEX. 489 Payne, Michell, his escape from the ^ngcU at Japan, 77 Piaoooks at Patani, 44 Pearl, the frigate, selected to go to capture Mergui, 353 ; arrives off Mergui, 355 ; encounters two Siamese men-of-war, 355 ; ar- rives in the harbour, 356 ; seized by the Siamese, but afterwards restored, 361 ; goes to Acheen, 362 ; arrives at Port St. George, 362 Pedir, Da Empoli at, 28 Pegu, Tenasserim sometimes subject to, 2 ; kingdom of, 29; 32; Portu- guese resident in, 38 ;■ factories of the King of Siam at, 42, 256 ; Thomas Samuel dies at, 62 ; wars between Golconda and, 257 ; John l)emarcora, a mandarin of, 261 ; wars between Siam and, 272 ; the Traga Raja captured off, 272 ; complaints of merchants of, 273, 331 ; pirates and the trade of, 389 Peguans, pictures of, 34 ; many Christians, 34 Peigu, see Pegu Penang, 14 Pepper, 23, 41, 73, loi, 138 ; yearly quantity grown at Patani, 138; its price, 139 ; best in India, and price, 145; trade in, forbidden, 181 Peranne, 7 ; Bce Pram Perez, M., a Portuguese priest at Mergui, 235 Perriman, Capt. James, commander of the Pearl, 353 ; stops a Siamese vessel off Mergui harbour, 355 ; shows a flag of truce, 356; anchors in Mergui harbour, 356; at Acheen meets a Siamese ship and cap- • tures the captain, 362 ; his arrival at Port St. George, 362 ; letter from, 367 Persia, 164, 176, 239, 360, 385; Shah of, sends envoy to convert Siam, 248, 249 ; mission of the King of Siam to, 316 Persian ambassador, complaints of maitre d'h6tel of, 250 ; troubles of, and letter to the envoy, 251 Persian Gulf, 16, 21, 232, 390 Perspective glass, 84 Peterson, James, the English ompra, 67 John, 67 /. n. Petition to the Phra-klang by Potts and Ivatt, 173 Pettipolli, 47, 56, 220 Petty, George, at Ayuthia, 286, 297 /. n. Phaulkon, Constant, 163 and /. «..; his origin, 163 and /. n. ; in the service of G. White, 163 ; wreck of his sloop the Mary, 164 ; his dream, 164 ; rescues an ambassa- dor, 164;, G. White's influence on, 165 ; Siamese Foreign Minister, 165 ; his character and influence, 166 ; attaches himself to France, 167; 16S; 173; letter from, 176- 177; loan to, 178; action with regard to his debt, 178-179 ; his Siamese title, 178/. n. ; William Strangh the guest of, 183 ; Strangh and, 186-187 ; charged with insincerity, l8g ; Thomas Yale all for, 190 ; factors consult, 193, 195; threatens Samuel Potts, 195, 196 ; charged by Strangh with abusing the royal authority, 197 ; puts Potts in the stocks,. 198 ; his serious discourse with the King about Christianity, 200 ; a Minister of State, 201 ; charged by Strangh with being .the secret enemy of the Company's trade, 202 ; speech by, at Strangh's interview with the Phra-klang, 202-203 ; postscript to a letter by, 205 - 206 ; Strangh's letter to, 206-210; a lord of the Em- pire of Siam, 210, 257 ; Crouch's opinion of, 211 ; Sir John Child's opinion on Phaulkon's position, 212, 355 ; imprisons Peter Crouch and John Thomas, 215 ; letters from Crouch and Thomas to, 214- 490 INDEX. 216; a convert to the Komish Church, 245 ; honours asked for, by English factors, 247 ; the trade of Mergui and Tenasserim. and, 253 ; appoints R Burneby and Samuel White to Tenas- serim and Mergui, 254, 255 j F. Dayenport a shipmate of, 267; Davenport's letter to,, 272 ; the King's factors in India and, 275 ; a letter from S. White to, 282 ; letter to Samuel White from, 283- 284 ; Count de Forbin and, 284 ; a letter from James II. to, 286 ; the Macassar rebellion and, 290, 294, 296, 297 ; orders Count de Forbin to seize Capt. Lake, 299 ; the "grand favourite," 300, 301 ; a letter from S. White to, 302 ; the jewels purchased by Elihu Yale and, 304; S. White's pre- sents to, 304 ; a new commission for Tenasserim issued by, 305 ; sends present and letters to Louis XIV., 310; the expedition sent by S. White to Negrais con- demned by, 312 ; dislike of Elihu Yale to, 312 ; S. White and, 313 ; the Company threatens war with Siam on account of unwarrantable proceedings of, 317; their de- mands on, 324, 326, 330; G. White's explanation of the Com- pany's indignation against, 333 ; Elihu Yale and, 334, 368 ; the Madras Council on, 357 ; on the massacre at Mergui, 358 ; the Company's charges against him unsupported by evidence, 359 ; news of his death, 362, 363 ; made by Louis XIV. a count of Eranoe and a knight, 366 ; a pon- spiraoy in palace atLouvo, 369 ; Phaulkon their first victim, 370 ; surprised and made a prisoner, 371 ; tortured and beheaded, 371 ; accounts of his death, 373 ; pre- sents from the Pope to, 384 ; Elihu Yale on, 385 Phaulkon, Lady, her kindness to S. White, 282 ; S. White's presents to, 304 ; her history and charac- ter, 371-372 Plmrma-si, Siamese name of Ben- ares, 13 Phayre, Sir Arthur, quoted, 3 f. n. Philip and Ann, the, a Siam ship captured by the Dutch, 1 10 Philippine Islands, Bishop of Helio- polis driven in a storm to, 239 Phillip, Lamben, at Mergui, 322 Phillips, George, quoted, 12 f. n. Phiphri, the overland route from Mergui to Ayuthia, 7 ; a con- siderable town ; 228 ; 240 ; a small government at the mouth of the Menam, 244 /. 7t. Phitsilok, a Catholic mission at, 234 Phcsnix, the, a ship of George White's, 161 ; at Bangkok, 306, 3" PhSngsd-va-dan-Hacliha, 4 PhSngsd-va-dan-Muany-nbi, 4 PhSngsd-va-dan-Muang-Thdi, 4 Phra-klang, 105; letter to the gover- nor of Ligor, 1 38 J to the governor of Patani, 138 ; presents to the Company, 144, 150; Ralph Lamb- ton threatens to complain to, 151; submits petitions to, 152; the intermediary in -approaching the King, 154 ; Robert Parker's letter to, 155-^57; I'ranois Bowyear's letter to, 158; and the debt to the King, 162 ; Potts and Ivatt's petition to the, 173 ; letter to Sir John Child from, 176; death of the Phra-klang, 184 ; a new, 1S4 ; accuses Potts of infringing the laws of the country, 184; Strangh's audience with the, 187 ; on the trade of Ayuthia, i88 ; burning of the deceased, 189; another audience with, 200 ; his speech, 202 ; a new, who had been to France, 373; Piire Tachard writes to, 384 ; Elihu Yale's letter to, 385 INDEX. 491 Phra-ChSo Prasathong, the usurper, crowned at Ayuthia, 87 ; royal monopolies of, 253 Phra-narai, King, duration of his reign, 232 Phra-Phet-Raxa, his humble origin, 369 ; generalissimo of the army, 370 ; leader of the revolution, 370 and y. n. ; imprisons all the Europeans except the Dutch, 372 ; attempts to entrap General Des Targes, 373-375 ; crowned King of Siam and Tenasserim, 375 Phra Rama ThlbSdi, founder of Ayuthia, 4 Phra Sena mat, mandarins or cour- tiers, 130, 131 Phtln-phin, interest in the tin trade of, given to the East India Com- pany, 122, 124, 125, 132 Physician, an able, at Ayuthia, 146 Physitian, 146 ; see Physician -Pictures, of the Peguans, 34 ; curi- ous, of men and women, 84 ; of people and habits of countries, 84; of wild beasts, 84 Piece-goods, a cargo of, 120 . Pigafetta, quoted, 43 /. n. Pilkington, Mr., at Ayuthia, 297' f.n. Pimento, Nicholas, visitor of the Jesuits, 37 Pines, Capt, an "arch-interloper," at Ayuthia, 186 ; at an interview with the Phra-klang, 1S7, 198,209 Pinkerton, quoted, 35 /. n. Pino, Capt. Burre de, seizes Ac- worth and carries him off to prison, 105 Pinto, quoted, 11 f. n. et passim Pipeli, 244 ; see Phiphri Pishcash, 208/. n., 219 Pistols, 84, 287 Pitt, Hon. Lawrence, 389 /. «. Richard, at Patani, 62 ; assis- tant at Ayuthia, 63, 65, 70, 71 ; gives a banquet, 67 ; tries with three Japanese to seize James Peterson, 67 ; sick, 69 Pittes, Mr., see Richard Pitt Pitts, Capt. (Thomas), Pitt, fellow- interloper of George White, 120 f.n. Plague in England, 107 Poggius, B., quoted, II f.n., 19 /. n. Poland, ambassador from, at court of Shah Sulaiman, 249 Pollicatt, 351 ; see Pulicat Pomaz, Padre, at Ayuthia, 282 Pompin, 112, 122, &c. ; see Phttn- phin Pondicherry, 309, 310, 313, 316; Mergui to dominate, 334 ; 352, 360, 365, 367, 368, 375, 379, 380, 381, 384 Pope Clement IX. and the Church in Siam, 234 Eugenius IV. and Nicolo di Conti, 19 Innocent XI., presents from, to Phaulkon, 366 Porcelain, 30 ; from Ayuthia, 40, App. E. Portonova, 352 ; designs of a Siamese vessel -at, 360 ; Mahratta hostility to factors at, 361 Portsmouth, Ourtana from, 332 Portugal, royal letters from, to the King of Siam, 185 ; 234 Portuguese, first European mer- chants at Patani, 44 ; 66 ; 72 ; temporal and spiritual merchants at Macao, 170; ambassador at Ayuthia, 218 ; mission to Siam, 227 /. n.; 241; 312; 346; im- prisoned at Ayuthia by Phra-Phet- Raxa, 372, 373 Potata rootes, see Potatoes Potatoes from the Liu Kiu Islands, 61 and/, n. Pottatos, see potatoes Potts, Samuel, 145 /. n. ; in the Return at Ayuthia, 114 f. n. ; a writer, I15 ; II9; 128 ; goes to Ligor and Patani, 138 ; appointed one of the Council at Ayuthia, 139 ; quarrel with Burneby, 168 ; placed with Thomas Ivatt in 492 INDEX. charge of factory, 170 ; instruc- tions to, regarding Burneby, \'J2 ; petitions the Phra-klang, 173; the factory burned, 174; ascribed to the carelessness and debauchery of, 174; a letter from, 175; his and Phaulkon's debt to the Com- pany, 178-179; ascribes the burn- ing of the factory to the Siamese, 180 ; charged by the King as the incendiary, 180; the governor of Bangkok and, 183 ; the Phra- klang's charge against, 185 ; sus- pended from his duties, 190 ; 195 ; 196 ; 197 ; put in the stocks, 198 ; 207 ; 208 ; leaves Ayuthia, 210 ; 2n I Povey, Mrs. (Mrs. S. White), 153 f.n. Pram, on the overland route from Mergui to Ayuthia, 7 et passim Precious stones, 46 and 69 Preston, Ralph, at Patani, 62, 63 Prestwich, 300 Pring, Capt., at Patani, 81 /. n. Prosperous, the, 263 Prudent Mary, the, Capt. Lake, commander, at Bangkok, 297, 298 /• «•> 343 /• »• Pulicat, Globe at, 47, 48, 98 ; sloop stolen at, 149 ; Coates' hostilities at, 462, 381 /. n. PuUicherry, see Pondicherry Pullimbam, see Palembang, loi Pun-pin, route from, to Xiija, 27 Purchas, his Pilgrims, 12 /. n. et passim Purgestall, Baron, quoted, 31 /. m. Purgoes, 266 ; meaning of, 266 /. 71. Pursuivants, Bragos pintados, 281 /. ■». Pyrard, Francois, of Laval, quoted, 12/. »., 13, 59/ n., 60 QuATEEMlSRE, M., quoted, 16 /. n. Queal, 7 ; see KKu Quedabux, the, captured, 266, 268 Quedda, route from, 27, 41, 43 Quicksilver, App. E. Racke, 81 ; see Arrack Racke-apee, 81 ; see Arrack Radix chincB, 387 /. n. Raffles, Sir T. S., 16/. n., 253/. n. Railways projected, 55 Rajapur, mineral waters of, 238 and/, n. Rajputs, 261 and/, n., 262 Rdmeswaram, burned by Capt. Coates, 265 Ramsden, William, factor on the Re- turn, 114 and /. n. ; second factor at Ayuthia, 115, 118; 119; 124; 129; ordered to Surat, 128, 130; commits suicide at Bantam, 143 f.n. Ramusio, G. B., quoted, II / m. et passim Rand, William, captain of the Satisfaction, at Mocha, 313, 314; mortally wounded and dies, 315, App. P., 435 Rangoon, capture of, I, 55 Rashboots, 261 ; see Rajputs Rath band, Capt., of the George, reads a sermon at Ayuthia on charity, 199/ n. Rattans, a cargo taken at Patani, 139 Ravel, merchants of Tenasserim at, 29 Raxaburi, 238 /. n. ; see Rajapur Raynal, G. J. F., quoted, 375 Rea, Joseph, of the Herbert, at Bangkok, 286, 287, 297 Rebecca, the, 311 Rebello, Christopher, an outlaw, 39 Reclus, E., quoted, 18 /. n. Recovery, the, 198/. w. Redclove, the, 258 Red Sea, Sidi-ali-Kapudan in, 31 ; ships from Mergui sent to, 390 Refiners, English, wanted by the King of Siam, 124 Regicides, English, no/, m. Reinaud, M., quoted, 31 Rennish (wine), 297 Renociros homes, 117; see Rhino- ceros INDEX. 493 Rent of factory at Ayuthia, claim for, 159 Resolution, the, a ship built at Mer- gui, 308, 309 ; arrival off Madras coast, 311, 316; the property of S. White, 320 ; at Mergui, 335, 338 ; formidably armed, 339, 341 ; seized by Capt. Weltden, 341, 342, 344, 345, 348, 358; Capt. Weltden escapes on board the, 347 ; leaves Mergui, 347, 356 ; sails to Acheen, 350 ; arrives off the Madras coast, 350; sails for England, 352 Return, the, leaves England, 112; at Tywan, 112; at Japan, 112; at Macao, 113; at Lampacao, 113; at Bangkok, 114; sails for Surat, 117; 118; 122; 128; 129 ; returns to Bangkok, 161 ; sails from Siam, 170, 171 Revenge, the, Capt. English, com- mander, at Mergui, 273 ; a ship belonging to the King of Siam, 319; captured by Capt. Nichol- son, 319 Rhinoceros, on the route from Mer- gui to Ayuthia, 38, 240; horns of, license to purchase, 117 Rhinocerots, see Rhinoceros Rhodes, Pfere Alexandre de, mis- sionary in Tonquin, 225 Rials, 70, 78 Rice, 32, 35 ; at Patani, 44, 73 ; 138 ; exported from Ayuthia to Jambi, 145 ; proposed export from Mergui to Madras, 312 ; App. E. Richardson, Dr., quoted, 238/. n. Richelieu, A. du P., Cardinal de, 224/. n. Rinoceros, see Rhinoceros Roan, M. de, see De Rovian Robin, the, a ship of Capt. Coates', 275, 279 ; seized by the Siamese, 345. 347 Robinson, John, of the Return, at Ayuthia, 113 Robson, Eranc, at Ayuthia, 201/. n. Robson, John, of the Return, at Ayuthia, 1 14 /. n. ; sent to Ban- tam, 118 Rochester, the, at Mergui, 219; at Madras, 361 Rome, Bishop of Heliopolis sent to, from Ayuthia, 231 ; Church of, 234; 24s Rosalie, Bishop of, proceeds to Ayu- thia, 364 Rose-water from Mecca, 30 Roiiau, M. de, killed in the Macas- sar rebellion, 289, 295 and /. n. Routes to Siamese capital, 5, 6-8, 26, 39, 46, 227-228, 231, 236, 281, 307, 309, 367, 369, 379, 383, App. A. Mergui to Siam, 10 /. n. and App. A. " Row," the, at Ayuthia, 160 Royal James, the, 32S Rubies, of Ava, 41, 69, 70 ; pre- sent of, by S. White to Lady Phaulkon, 304 Ruby, the, 103; at Bangkok, 301, 302, 303 ; sails with William Hodges, 382 Ruby rings, six, presented to Pfcaul- kon by S. White, 304 Rule, Mr., 142/. «. Russell, Capt. Nathaniel, at Ayu- thia, 297 /. n., 322 ; arrives at Ayuthia by land, 309 ; captain of the Derrea Dowlet, sent to Acheen, 315. 316 Mrs., travels from Ayuthia to Mergui, 309, 316 Ryals, see Rials Sabriam, a Sallu, 92 /. n. Sack, 297 Sailors, Japanese, 66 ; Siamese, 133 St. Thom(5, capture of, by the French, 237; 310 St. John, the (the Jerusalem), 310 St. George, the (the Santa Cruz), 272 St. Joseph, name of the Ei'ench camp at Ayuthia, 233 494 INDEX. St. Leger, Anthony, of the Return at Ayuthia, ii4/.».; a surgeon, 119 and/, n, St. Michael, order of, conferred on C. Phaulkon by the King of France, 371 Sakkothai, inscription from, 4 /. n. Scddmandgilias, 344 Sallu, 92 /. n. ; white, 92 /. n. ; red, 93/-«- Salt, from Ayuthia to Jambi, 145 ; Bengal to Mergui, 277 ; near Mocha, 314 ; App. B. Saltpetre, App. E. Salter, Edward, at Mergui, 322 Salutes, at drinking bouts, 343 ; order against, 343 /. n. Salwey, Mr., at Acheen Road, 381 Sal win, 2 Saraajotn, see Samroijftt Sambrook, Mr., 102 Sampson, the, goes to Patani, 73 ; attacked at Patani by the Dutch and captured, 74-78 ; restored, and carries the news of peace to Patani, 80 Samroijot, the mountain range of, 28 Samroiyot, see Sararoij6t Samuel, Thomas, at Ayuthia, 49 ; sent to Xiengmai, 54 ; carried from Xiengmai to Pegu and dies there, 62 Sancho, Narso, a native at Narsa- pur, 265 Sancta Cms, captured by the Siam- ese, 271 ; renamed the St. George, 272 Sancta Easa, the, De Heredia's ship, 277 Sandal-wood, 41 and App. E. Sandawut, a hill near Mi^rgui, 25 Sanger, Btinjamin, factor in the Return, at Ayuthia, 1 14 and /. n. ; third factor at, 115, iiS; II9; 124; sent to Bantam, 126, 127 ; at Ban- tam, 129, 130 ; to return to Ayu- thia, 130 ; his memorandum on Ayuthia factory, 131; leaves Ban- tam, 135 ; arrives at Ayuthia, 136 ; dies at Ayuthia, 138 and f.n.; 140; 142; 143; 157; 162; 168 Sappan-wood, 20, 21, 41 ; exported to Japan, 67, 68, 70, 71 ; 96 ; 123 ; 144;, 310; App. E. Sapphires, 304 Sa-ra-vva, route from Mergui to Ayu- thia, 10/. n. Saris, Capt. John, quoted, 12 f.n. ; on Tenasserim, 38-39 ; goes to Japan, 47, S3 ; ^4 Sarnau, corruption of Skahr-i-nao, 17 Satins, 40 Satisfaction, the, sent to Blocha, 313-315; seized, 321, App. r. Satow, E. M., quoted, 3 et passim Sauces, 298 Sausses, see Sauces Savage, George, at Patani, 62 ; to be assistant at Ayuthia, 63, 65 ; second at Ayuthia, 71 Sayer, Edward or Edmond, sent from Japan to Ayuthia, 60 ; sent again, 63, 65 ; on the trade of Ayuthia, 68 ; sets out for Slam, 70 ; quarrel with Portuguese at Tomari, 71; at the Liu-kiu isla'nds, 71 ; at Ayuthia, 71 • Sir John, 389 /. n. Sohouten, Joost van, quoted, 14 f.n., 87 Scipio, the, 141 /. n. Scipio Africanus, the, 170 Scriptores, Japanese, a present to the Company, 144 Sea Adventure, the junk purchased for Siam trade in Japan, 59, sails from, 60, returns to, 61 ; sails for Cuchi, 65 ; arrives in the Menam, 65 ; returns to Hirado, 65 ; leaves Hirado, 67 ; arrives at Bangkok, 67 ; leaves Bangkok, 68 J arrives at Hirado, 67 ; sails from Siam, 71 ; arrives at Bang- kok, 71 ; sold, 72 Sea-customs at Madras, reduced to King of Siam, 219 INDEX. 495 Seale, John, Sir Edward Hunter's Bervant, 105 ; goes overland to Ayuthia, 105 ; dies there, io5 Sealing-wax from Ayuthia, 69 S'ella (red), see Sallu Selungs, 22 /. «., 347 Sengoore (or Songkla), 145 Sequeira, Father Balthazar de, his journey from Tenasserim to Ayu- thia, 37 Sermon, a, towards charity, 199/. n. Sernara, Duke of, 77 Servant, black, to Mr. Bearing, 108 ; of George White, 182 Sesamum. indieum, 308 Shahbandar at Bangkok, 50 ; S. White made, of Mergui, 201 et passim; meaning of word, 201 f.n. Shaher-al-7Mwi, 17 Shahr-i-nao, 16, 17 Shah Eolc, 21 Sharpe, Mr., at Ayuthia, 65 Sheppard, William, goes to Ayuthia from Patani, 58 ; at Patani, 63 Sherry, 297 ShiUinga, y6 Ships, the Mary (Phaulkon's), 162, 164 ; the iSaneta Rosa, (Don J. de Heredia's) at Mergui, 277 Ships, English, in the Menam River :— the Globe, 47, 48, 49, 52. 55. 56, 57 ; the Barling, 58 ; the Sea Adventure, 65, 67, 68 ; the Adviee; 65 ; the Fortune, 84 ; the Hopewell, 90, 92, 93, 94, 96, 166, 268, 270 ; the Madras Mer- chant, 95, 97, 103 ; the Return, 112, 113, 118, 122, 161, 171 ; the WiMiam, 131, 13?, 135 ; the Unity, 136, 137 ; the Welcome, 136 ; the Fortune, 136, 142 ; the Tywan, 140, 141, 146, 148, 152, 158; the Surat Merchant, 151, 152, 210 ; the Flying Eagle, 154, 158, 267 ; the Phanix, 161, 306, 311; the Welfare, 172; theMexico Merchant, 182, 184, 188, 206,211, 212 ; the Delight, 198, 199, 210, 212, 213, 217, 218, 276; the Carolina, 213 ; the Falcon, 220, 222, 275 ; the Dragon, 275, 304, 311, 361 ; the Herbert, 286, 287 ; the Prudent Mary, 297, 298 Ships, English, at Patani : — the Clove, 82 ; the Hope, 56 ; the James, 57, 58, 59 ; the Darling, 57, 58 ; the Solomon, 62 ; the Hound, 73, 74, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80 ; the James Roy all, 81, 82 /. n.; the Exchange, 83 ; the Pepper Corn, 83 ; the Patani Merchant, 138, 139, 142 English, at Mergui : — the Delight, 276, 278; the Golden Fleece, 255, 256, and App. E. ; the Agent, 277 ; the Curtana, 322, 328, 332, 335, 336, 337, 338, 344, 345, 346, 347, 356; the James, 329, 344, 345, 347, 34S ; the Pearl, 352, 355, 356, 361 — — of the King of Siam at Mer- gui : — the Prosperous, 263 ; the Jerusalem or St. John, 266, 303, 310, 311, 316; the Quedahux, 266, 268 ; the Mahmuddy (Mahd- nadi), 270; the Saneta Cruz or St. George, 271, 272 ; the Traga Raja, 272, 274;. the Dorothy or Mergui Frigate, 273, 275, 285, 310, 317, 343, 345, 346; the Revenge, 273, 274, 319; the Robin, 27s, 279, 345, 347 ; the Mary, 279, 321 ; the Phaulkon, 347 Samuel White's, at Mergui : — the Resolution, 308, 309, 310, 316, 320, 335, 338, 341, 342, 345, 347, 348, 356; the Satisfaction, 313, 314, 315, 321 ; the Derrea Dow- iet, 315, 321 incidentally mentioned in the body of the work: — the Dragon, 36 /. n., 46/. n. ; the Hector, 36/. n.; 46 /. n. ; the Ascension, 36 /. n., 59/ «. ; the Susan, 36/. m. ; the Victualler, 36 /. n. ; the Quest, 36 /. n. ; the Consent, 46 /. n., 496 INDEX. 120 ; the Thomas, 47 ; the Hosi- cinder or Osiander, 50 /. «., 63 ; the Union, 59 /. n. ; the Black Lion (Dutch) 73 ; the Angell (Dutch), 75, 77 ; the BuU, 79, 81 /. m. ; the James MoyaU, 81 / n. ; the ji««e Royall, 81 /. m. ; the Gift, 81 /. TC. ; the £ec, 81 /. n., 85 ; the Unioorn, 82 ; the Parrett (Dutch), 109 ; the Experi- ment, 112; the Dispatch, 120; the Formosa, 132, 267 ; the Loyal Subj,eot, 153; the Scipio Afri- canus, 170; the Smirnaote, 199 /. m.; the Barnardistan, 250 ; the Johanna, 268 ; the James, 268 ; the Royal James, 328 ; the io»- ■ dO«, 322 ; the Bengal Merchant, 361 ; th& Rochester, 361 ; Z« Cocg (French), 379; the Ccesar, 3S1 ; the Dragon (i*reneh), 383, 384 ; the Bendy, 388 Shiraz, Bishop de B^rythe at, 226 Shogun, ly^yasu, issues passport to William Adams, 60 Sia ( Ayuthia) ' ' as great a city as London," 69 Siam, overland route from, i, 2, et passim; treaty, 9 and /. n.; routes to, 5, 6 ; capital of, 16 ; its position, 16; old names of, 17, 18; chief minister of (Phaulkon), 165 ; officials' titles in, 13, 15, 306 /.m. ; records and their names, 3, 4 ; revolution, 86, 363, 369 et seq. -. embassies to — from Acheen, 233 ; from France, 45, 221, 222, 224, 364 et seq. \ from Golconda, 233 ; from Persia, 221, 248, 249 ; from Portugal, 26, 29 : — embassies from, to Fort St. George, 221, 222 ; to France, 237, 242, 243 ; to Holland, 38, 46 ; to Java, 46 ; to Persia, 249 ; to Portugal, 38 : ■ — King of, marriage of, 105 ; requests of, 122, 123, 124 ; debt to, 114, 130, 131, 132, 168 J not to be addressed personally by letter, 148, 154; a concession by, 150; and Christianity, 200, 233, 244, 252 ; and the Persian ambassador, 252 ; Englishmen in service of, 254 ; death of (Phra- Narai), 375 ; trading overtures from, 389 : — letters to King of, from Louis XIV., 234, 237 ; the Pope, 237 ; the King of Eng- land, 50 ; Fort St. George, 149- 150, 326-327 ; Bantam factors, 134-13S ; Surat, 221 : — letters from King of, to France, 242, 368 ; England, 63; and the Dutch — war with, 97 ; peace concluded, 99- 100 ; English in Siam, I et passim; the French missionaries in, 45, 225 et seq.; Compaguie Royale, 241 ; French influence supreme, 248 ; treachery to French, 273 ; Goloonda and, war with, 257, 308; Japanese in, 53 et passim; treaties with, Charles IL, 243 and SiSo (Ayuthia), 26 Sidi-ali-Kapudan, see Kapudan, Sidi- ali Silk, raw, 277, App. E. Silks, 30, 40, 70, 96, 304 Silva de Gama, Jno. de, murdered at Ayuthia, 105 Silver, 46; flagons of, 51 ; exported from Ayuthia to Hirado, 64 ; bai-s of, 68; principal want of Siam, 127 Singora (Songkla), 27, 43, 48; a second Jakatra, 58 ; visited by Potts and Jennings, 139 Sion, name for Siam, 32 Skinner, Master, of the Cfldbe, 51 Skins, 71 ; of deer, one of the chief exports from Siam to Japan, 67, 68, 69, 70, 100 /. n. Sladen, Col. Sir Edward B., quoted, 339/- "• Slaves, Javan, revolt at Patani, 55 ; English kept as, by the Dutch, 73 ; Company's, 89 ; two, to be bought at Bantam for factory at Ayuthia, 130, 131 ; S. White's, 255 ; six, on board the Pearl, 354 INDEX. 497 Smvmaote, the, 199/. n. Smith, John, captain of the Delight, at Bangkok, 198 ; his parson, 199, 212 /. n. Robert, at Ayuthia, 297 /. n. Smithies, Williams, at Ayuthia, 322 Smythe, Sir Thomas, 64, 68 Solomon, the, arrives at Pataui, 62 ; leaves for Masulipatam, 63 Solyman, Sultan, 208 ; see Sulai- man, Shah Songkla, see Singora Sophi, presents from the, to the King of Siam, 250 Somau, see Samau Sousa, Faria y, quoted, 30, 39 South, John, goes to Ayuthia, 90 ; letter from, 91 ; goes to Batavia, 94; 97 Souza, Andrew de, factory at Ayu- thia ruined by, 109 Spain, 234, 239 Spanish wine, 71 Specie sent from Bangkok to Ban- tam, 155 Spenoe, John, at Ayuthia, 169, 297/. n. Sperits, see Spirits Spices, Tenasserim the first mart for, in India, 23, 30 Spirits, 297 Sprinckel, Dutch chief at Patani, 80 Stanford, John, arrives at Tenas- serim, 103 ; detained by the governor, 103 ; proceeds to Ayu- thia overland, 103 ; detained at Jelinga, 104 ; arrives at the capi- tal, 104 ; returns to Tenassprim, 104 Stanley, Lord, quoted, 14 Starck, William, at Mergui, 322 Steel, 41 Steele, Richard, sent the bearer of royal letters from England, 86 and/, n. Steven ton, Marmaduke, his account of the fight at Patani, 74, 76 Stilgo, Zachary, chief mate of the Ou/rtana, 344 Stockens, see Stockings Stockings, silk, 297 Storax of Tenasserim and Ayuthia, 29 • Strangh, William, 182/. «.; arrives at Bangkok, 183 ; goes to Ayu- thia, 183 ; hears of the burning of the factory, 183 ; introduced to the house of Constant Phaul- kon, 183 ; his residence there, 183 ; has an interview with the Phra-klang, 184; supplied with a house, 184; denounces interlopers, 186 ; Phaulkon's de- claration to, 186; another audi- ence with the Phra-klang, 187 ; his reply touching the English and Christianity, 188 ; selects Hamon Gibbon to assist in the factory, 190; consultation with, 190-192; consultation with Phaul- kon, 193-196 ; warns S. Potts to beware of Phaulkon, 196 ; one of Potts' hectors, 196-197; hatred of Phaulkon, 197 ; arranges to go to Louvo, 199 ; is accompanied by Navarro, the Jew, 200 ; arrives at Louvo, 200 ; another interview with the Phra-klang, 200-205 ; leaves Louvo on board bis ship, 206 ; his letter to Phaulkon, 206- 210; the Mexieo Merchant sets sail, 210; arrives at Surat, 211 ; his conduct at Ayuthia condernned by Sir John Child, 211 ; Thomas Yale and, 212 ; 220, 243, 254 Styleman, John, at Madras, 357 Suali (Swally), Bishop de B^rythe at, 226 Succadana or Sucradana, decayed factory of, 73 ; counterfeit moulds of diamonds, 133 Sugar, 96, 120, 387 Suicide of William Ramsden, 143 Sulaiman, Shah, 208, 328! Sumatra, 163, 224, 328 Sunda, Straits of, 78 Sunday, charity sermon on, 199 2 I 498 INDEX. Surat, communication reopened with Ayuthia, 90; 91 ; 92; 93; 94; '97 ; 103 ; King's merchant invites ships from, III ; 115 ; 116; 117 ; 126; 128; 129; Ayuthia under, 136; 137; 142; 161; 17s; 176; Ayuthia placed under, 180 ; et 'passim ' Surat Merchant, the, at Banglcok, 151. 152 Surgeon, a, at Ayuthia, 146 French garrison, at Mergui, 276 Sweete meets, see Sweetmeats Sweetmeats, 297 Sword-blades, 297 short, 297 Sylers, Siamese, see Sailors Taohabd, Pfere G., quoted, 7 /. n.; 17 ; 163/. n., 164/. «.; 286/. «., 294/. m., 295/. «., 308 /.«.., 364 /. n., 365 /. n., 368, 369, 383, 384 and /. n. Talaeoan, 244/. n. Tanahsrl, Malay name of Tenas- serim, 12 Tanang-sar% Burmese name of Tenasserim, 12 Tanaosi, Siamese name of Tenas- serim, 12 Twnasa/ri, Malay name of Tenas- serim, 12 Ta-na-ssu-le-sen, Chinese name of Tenasserim, 12 Ta^nen-tha-ri, Burmese name of Tenasserim, 12 Ta/nnav) (TEtnah), old Siamese name of Tenasserim, 12, 13 Tamnetlmiee, Burmese name of Ten- asserim, 12 Tapti, 226 Taranque (Trang), 26, 27 Tarra, a license to trade, 54 ; to Hamon Gibbon, 116-117, 124- 126, 127 Twrraes, see Tarra Tartars, at Canton, and trade, 199 Tartarian princes at Ispahan, 249 Tatooed arms, Brafos pintados, 281/. n. Taungu dynasty, 2, 39 Tavernier, quoted, 5, J2 /. n., 42 217/. n., 218/. n. Tavoy, I, 2, 3, 4, 9, 26, 32 and/, n., 39 Taylor, Thomas, at Mergui, 322 J Tea sent from Ayuthia to Madras, 147; 291; 386/. «. Teeth of elephants, see Elephants' teeth Teixeira, P. P., quoted, 27 Telibon, island of, 27 Tenanthari, Burmese name of Ten- asserim, 12 Tenasserim, reduced by Sir A. Campbell, I ; ceded to the British Government, 2 ; once a Burmese province, 3 ; recovered by Siam, 3, 4 ; conquered by AlaungphrS, 5 ; cause of its importance, 5 5 town of, route by, 6, 7 ; another route from, 8 ; name of, and various renderings, ijf.n. and 12 and /. n. ; Siamese name of, 12 ; Malay name of, 12; Burmese name of, 12; Chinese name of, 12; old rank of town of, 13 ; commission for government of, 15 ; Nicolo diOonti's visit to, 19, 20; Abdur- razzak on, 21 ; peopled by Chris- tians, 21; Amerigo Vespucci and, 23 ; L. Da Ca 'Masser on, 23 ; L. Varthema and, 23-26 ; D'Albu- qiierque's ambassadors and the overland route to Ayuthia from, 26 ; Tun-sun probably, 27 ; Da Empoli and, 28 ; Duarta Barbosa on, 29 ; Ramusio on trade of, 30 ; Portuguese pirates on coast of, 31 ; mention of, by Sidi-ali Kapu- dan, 31 ; C. dei Pedrici on, 31- 32 ; mention of, by Camoens, 33 ; Linschoten on, 33-34 ; men- tion of by E,. Pitch, 35 ; Abdul Pazl' AUami on, 35 ; Edmund Barker on, 35 ; John Davis on, 36 ; Poulke Grevil on, 36 ; B. de INDEX. 499 Sequeira at, 37 ; John Saris on trade of, 38-39 ; province at- tacked by Burmese, 39 ; Portu- guese at, 39; Wm. Methold on trade of, 40 ; P. Baldaeus on trade of, 41 ; D. P. Navarette's mention of, 41 ; a chief town in Siam, 41 ; East India Company's letters sent to Ayuthia by, 42 ; French missionaries enter Siam by, 45 ; a British province, 54 ; English at Masulipatam and trade of, 72 ; Siamese governor of, beheaded, 87 ; Japanese war- riors at, 88 ; letters via, 94, 95 ; goods at Ayuthia to be brought away by, 98 ; N elthrop dragged through the woods of, in irons, 108 ; overland route, notice of, 113, 149; S. White travels by overland route, 152 ; Phaulkon's jurisdiction embracing, 165; pros- perity of, and the trade of Ayu- thia, 170 ; Samuel White Shah- bander of, 219 ; James Wheeler and overland route, 221 ; Bishop B&ythe and his colleagues travel to Ayuthia by overland route vid, 227-228 ; Bishop of Helio- polis and his colleagues travel to Ayuthia from, 231, 235'-236 ; M. de P. de Chamesson travels from Ayuthia to, 237 ; four French missionaries travel to Ayuthia from, 241-242 ; English factory at, suggested, 248 ; Per- sian ambassador travels by over- land route to Ayuthia from, 250 ; India merchants at Ayuthia transfer their trading operations to, 253 ; Indian governors of, 254 ; the ship Delight unloading her cargo at, 276 ; S. White and his companions travel overland to Ayuthia from, 281 ; S. White and the Shahbandership of, 284 ; Robert Harbin proposes to travel from Ayuthia to, 301 ; S. White and the government of, 305 ; the " Clongs "at, 312 ; the Cur- tana frigate to be sent to, 321 ; letter to the Raja governor of 327 ; Siamese governor of, 330 ; Council of, 340, 341, 342, 343 • the Council of, and the English, 349 ; order of King James the Second to ;Burneby and White to deliver up to the English, 3S3. 355 ; the Pearl in the river of, 356 ; a Siamese embassy leaves, 360 ; Phra - Phet - Raxa crowned king of, 375 ; under a native government, 382 ; French designs in, 384 Tenasserim Peak, 1 1 and /. n. River, 14, 39/ n. (village), 10, II and/, n. Thai-noijor Little Thai, 4, 17 Thai Yai, an older people, 17 Thebaw, deposed King of Burma, 50 Thevenot, quoted, 95 /. n. Thien-Khwon, 10 f. n. Thomas, Father, a Neapolitan, de- signs " bullwarks " for the capital, 231 Thomas, John, on the DeligM at Ayuthia, 199 ; quarrels with Phaulkon, 213 ; letters from, to Phaulkon, 214-216 ; imprisoned, 215, 216 ; letter to S. Barron, 217 M., a French missionary, at Ayuthia, 239 Thomas, the, 47 ; at Japan, 65 Thoung-gyeng river, 2 Threder, John, at Mergui, 277 and /. ™., 297 /. m,, 322, 336, 362 Tigers on Mergui route, 38, 227, 240 Tiles, 44 /. 71. Timber, App. E. Tin, abundance of, 41, 44/. n. 96 license to purchase, 117, 122, 125 in vast quantity in Siam, 136' finer quality than English, 136 from the King, a present to the Company, 144 ; bartered for, 192 Tomari, Sea Adventure at, 71 Tonquin, opening up of trade with, Soo INDEX. 96; S. Barron's account of, 217 /. n. ; Tavernier's account of, 217, 218/. n. ; Pfere Alex, de Rhodes at, 225 ; Bishop of Heliopolis de- parts for, 239; Francis Davenport constructs a crane at, 267 ; Mr. William Hodges at, 352 Torches made at Mergui, 341 /. «. Towerson, Gabriel, at Bantam, 38 Toys or toyes for the King, 146 Traga Raja, the, captured off Mer- gui, 272, 274 Trang, 26, 27 Tranquebar (Trinoumbarr), Danes of, 301 Treader, 297/. n ; see Threder, John Treaty, of Yandabo, 2, 5 ; Captain Burney's, 9 /. n. ; between Dutch and Siamese, 99 ; with Charles II., 243 and /. n. ; with French and Siamese, 245 Triggs at Mergui, 358 Trigonometrical Survey of India, 14/ »., 24/.™., 25/. n. Tsa-raw route to Ayuthia, lo Tsianpu, 66 ; see Champa Tuber Chinee, 387 /. n. Tun-sun, terminus of atraderoute, 27 Turner, John, at Bangkok, 141 ; at Mergui, 322 Tumour, William, at Bantam, 99 /. n., 107 Turtle-eggs, 32 Tutenage or tutenague, 96 ; license to purchase, 117 ; 136 and/, n. ; 144, 192 Tutie, Edward, at Mergui, 322 Mrs., at Mergui and Tenas- serim, 350 Tuttanagge, 192; see Tutenage Tuttanague, 96 ; see Tutenage Tyler, Capt. John, gambling debts of, 137; 209; 277; at Mergui, 356 Tynn, see Tin Tyrril, William, 6n the Return at Ayuthia, 114/. m., 119 TTd, or wood-aloes, Aoheen prin- cipal source of, 35 TJdall, Edward, letter of, regarding the Macassar insurrection and his brother's death, 287 Capt. Henry, of the Heriert, conveys letter of James II. to Phaulkon, 286 and /. n. ; killed in insurrection, 289, 295 ; burial of, 296 and /. n. ; purchasers of his effects, 297 TJfrah, Bishop of Heliopolis at, 232 Upra Simeratt, 130 ; meaning of, 130/. ». Upra Sinourat, 131 ; see Phra S4na mdt TJprah Colong, 150 ; see PTira-klang Umpra, 67 /. n. ; see Ompra Unicorn, the, oast away on the coast of China, 82 Unity, the, at Bangkok, 136, 137 Vachkt, M., priest sent to Mergui to conduct the Bishop of Helio- polis to Ayuthia, 235 ; accom- panies Siamese embassy to Europe, 243 ; returns, 244 Varnhagen, F. A. de, quoted, 23 f.n. Varthema, Ludovico de, quoted, 1 1 /. n., 24/. !(., hia travels, 23, 24 ; discredited, 26 Vaux, Mr., at Surat, 179 Velvets, coloured, 30, 122 ; Mekkah, 30 ; European, 133, 134 " Veneson pastie," 7 1 Venice, 19 Venison at Patani, 44 Vera Cruz, Bishop of Heliopolis at, 239 Verde Islands, Cape de, 23 Versailles, Siamese mandarins re- ceived at, 368 Verstcken, at Ayuthia, 322 Veni, Verzim, Verzina, see Brazil- wood Vespucci, Amerigo, quoted. It/, n., 22, 23 Vicar- Apostolic of Siam, 231 Victuals, fresh, at Patani, 81 Vijayanagar, 21 INDEX. 501 Villiers, Capt. , at Ayuthia, 297/. n. Vinegar, 297 Viney, Jonas, at Patani, 78 "Visier, Grand, or chief minister of the King of Siam," Phaulkon, 165, 167 Vizier (vissiers) of King of Siain, 93. 94 Vliet, Van, quoted, 14 /. n. et pas- sim Voltaire, quoted, 163 and f. n. Votaries of the Cross, Order of, 234 Waitk, Colonel, the regicide, no f.n. Nicholas, at Ayuthia, no and /. n. Wales, Samuel, chief of factory at Madapollam, 259, 260 ; his troubles with Coates, 262-264 Madame, interviews Capt. Coates on his ship, 260 Walker, General, O.B., quoted, 14 f.n. Wanbtead (Abbey), seat of Sir John Child, 333 /. n. Warern, King of Pegu, 3 Wares, woven, 58 Waring, Madame, at Ayuthia, 297 and/, n., 309 Watch, English, as a present to the King, 84 striking, 304 Water distilled from Indian nuts, 33 Waterworks, Ahmedabad, 86 /. n. "^ Waters, mineral, of Rajapur, 238 Watt, Dr. George, Diet. Economic Products of India, 35 Wavell, Thomas, of the Council at Fort St. George, 324 Wax of Camboja, 89 sealing, 69 work, amorous representations in, for the King of Siam, 148 Webb, William, at Patani, 79 ; at Ligor, 80; at Patani, 81, 82 Welccme, the, in the Menam, 136 Weld, Joseph, second mate of the Ourtana,a,t Mergiii, 335, 336, 344 Welden, Richard, sent to Patani, 73 ; gambles there, 78 ; at Jambi, 79; at Patani, 81 Weldon, Mr., appointed to nego- tiate a peace with the Mogul, 199 /. n. Weltden, Capt. Anthony, of the Curtana, 321 ; various render- ings of his name, 321 /. n. ; sent to recall the English from Mer- gui, 321 ; his instructions, 331 ; arrives there, 335 ; lands and reads royal proclamation, 337 ; declares war against Siam, 337 ; seizes the ship Resolution, 341 ; a carousal on the Curtana, 343 ; goes ashore, 343 ; attacked at night, 346 ; felled, but saved by his beaver hat, 346 ; escapes on board the Resolution, 347 ; sails fromMergui, 347; goestoNegrais, 347 ; surveys it and hoists the English ilag, 347 and 312/. n. Westbrook, William, surgeon of the Curtana, 341, 344 Westminster, courts of, 388 Wheadon, Mr., at Ajrathia, 297/. n. Wheeler, James, at Ayuthia, 220 ; returns to Mergui overland, 274 White ants, 179 Whitehead, Capt., at Ayuthia, 121 Whitehall, 333 and/, n. White pepper, 41 White, George, 108 /. n. ; at Ayu- thia, 120; a noted interloper, 120 ; his history, 120 ; opposi- tion to the Bast India Company, 121 ; an author and authority on the trade of the East, 121, 138 /. «. ; his opinion of Richard Burneby, 141 ; recommended for employment to the Company, '■ 145 ; probable author of a report on the trade of Siam, App. E., 146 ; assisting in the factory, 152 ; invites his brother Samuel to Ayuthia, 153-154; demand for rent made on, 159 ; threats used against him, 160 ; determines to 502 INDEX. leave Siam, l6l ; once captain or supercargo of the HopeweU, 167 ; appointed to inquire into the Lambton-Burneby quarrel, 168 ; Court of Directors dissatisfied with, 172; time of his departure from Siam, 161 ; Van Vliet on, 178, 267 ; his opinion of I'. Davenport, 268 ; in England, opposing East India Company, 322 ; and petitioning Parliament, 333 and/. »., also App. P. White, Mrs. George, joins her hus- band at Ayuthia, 121, App. ¥. Samuel, 6 /. «., 12 /. «. ; brother of George, 121, 152; his history, 152-154, and App. E. ; recommended for employment to the Company, 154; at Louvo, invested by the Phra-klang with robes of Shahbandar of Mergui,' 201 ; Strangh's opinion of him, 208 ; proceeds to Mergui, 219 ; beloved by the peopIe,^ 254 ; ser- vices rendered to the Company at Mergui, 255-256; and the Sia- mese war with Golconda, 257 ; and imprisoned Indian mer- chants prisoners of war, 273, 274 ; Captain Coates and, 276, 277 ; Davenport on his administration, 278, 281 ; summoned to Ayuthia, 281; at Ayuthia, 282; his sus- picions regarding Phaulkon, 283 ; Phaulkon's letter to, 283-284 ; account of the Macassar insur- rection, 289-296, 297 ; his letter to Phaulkon, 302, 303 ; his pre- sents to Phaulkon and his lady, 304 ; new powers granted to, 305 ; leaves for Mergui, 306 ; arrives there, 307 ; his proceedings at Mergui, 308-313 ; fate of the ships sent out by, 313-316; opinion of Burneby, 318; chosen to go on a mission to England for the King of Siam, 320 ; makes his preparations, 320 ; letter of recall from Port St. George, 322 ; Shahbandar and governor of Mergui, 322, 329 ; royal procla- mation recalling the English read in the drawing-room of, 337 ; re- • solves to obey it, 337 ; dismisses all the Englishmen from the King's service, 338 ; goes to Tenasserim, 341 ; the Sesolution seized during his absence, 341 ; ominous signs by the natives of disaffection,' 342 ; escapes on board the Resolution, 345 ; leaves Mer- gui, 347 ; sails to Acheen, 347 ; off the Masulipatam coast, 350 ; reaches England, 352 ; King James II., express letter to, 353, 354. 355. App. E. White, Mrs. Samuel, 153/. n. Wickham, Richard, at Japan, 59 ; appointed merchant of the Sea Adventure, 59; Pyrard of Laval, his opinion of, 59 /. n. Wigbers, Wilcken, Capt., a Dane, his sloop stolen, 149 ; goes to Tenasserim in search of it, 149 WiUiam, the, dispatched from Ban- tam, with presents for the Ayu- thia factory, 131, 132 Williams, Hugh, a Welshman, a prisoner of the Dutch, 77 ; es- capes at Japan, 77 Ant?, second mate of the Mexico Merchant, detained at Ayuthia, 209, 210/. n. Capt., Admiral of the Siamese navy, 210/. n. Wilson, Horace Hayman, quoted, 2 /. «., 8/. n., 9/ «., 10/. n., 18/. n., 253/. m., and 277/. n. Wine, of Cocus or Indian nuts, 33 ; Spanish, 71 ; sent to factors at Ayuthia, 140 Wiusor, Justin, quoted, 22 / n. Winterborne, Thomas, a seafaring man at Ayuthia factory, 69 Winter, Sir Edward, president at Port St. George, superseded, 102 ; the mutiny at Madras and his private trade to Siam, 103 ; his INDEX. 503 servant dies at Aynthia, 106 ; sends another thither, 108 ; 109 Wizard burned at Bombay, App. B. Wood-aloes, 35, 89, see Eagle-wood Worthy, Benjf, at Madapollam, 260 Wortley, Mr. , at Ayuthia, 297 /. n. ; purser of the Satisfaction, 315 Wottsheng, pagoda at Tenasserim, 3 XaIJA, 27 ; tin trade of, granted to English, 122, 124 and /. ■«.., 125, 126, 131, 132 Xam, 7 Xarnauz (Ayuthia), 17 Xiengmai or Zimme, factor of King of Siam at, 42 ; Ralph Eitoh at, 54 ; Thomas Samuel and Thomas Driver at, 54; proposed railway to, 55 ; British Vioe-Consul at, 55 ; taken by Maha Dhamma Eaja, 62 ; Thomas Samuel car- ried off from, 62 Xtimphon, 8, 9 and /. n. 122 ; tin trade of, granted to English, 124 and/. •»., 125, 126, 132 Yale.Elihu, i6i /. «., 182 /. n. ; President of Eort St. George, 251 and /. n. ; letter to Persian ambassador, 251-252, 267; pur- chases jewels for the King of Siam, 274, 27s, 302, 304 and /. n., 310, 334 ; scurrilous pamph- let by, 302 ; the war with Siam and, 312, 324 ; Samuel White and, 336 ; Count de Forbin en- tertained by, 367 ; his letter to the Phra-klang, 385 and /. n. ; proposals by, regarding war with Siam, 387, App. G. Tale, Thomas, brother of Elihu, 182 and /. n. ; at Ayuthia, 182, 187, igo, 192, 193, 196-197 ; declines to accompany Strangh to Louvo, 199, 205 ; leaves Ayuthia, 210 ; differs from Strangh in his esti- mate of Phaulkon, 212 ; returns to Ayuthia, 220, 243, 267 ; goes to Mergui overland with the jewels, 274; proceeds to Madras, 275 ; re- ported appointment of, to Negrais, 311 ; returns to England, 387, App. G. ITamada Jizayemon Nagamasa, Japanese ompra, at Ayuthia, 87 Yamaniya, kingdom of, 16 Yandabo, treaty of, 2, 5 Yard, Mr., at Ayuthia, 297 /. ». Yaza ma-netsoola, pagoda of, and inscribed stone at, l6 Yeh, 2 Ylinarim (Ceylon), 14 Yule, Colonel Sir Henry, quoted, 4 /. n., 16 f. «., 17/. »., 26/. n. Burnell Glossary, 12/. «., 16 /. «., 17 /. »., 22 /. n., 23 /. n. 26 /. «., 29 /. »., 33 /. n., 35 / n., 40/. «., 57/. «., 93 /. n., 94/. «., 115 /. n., 201 /. «., 208 /. n., 258 /. n., 291 /. n., 308 /. »., 387 f.n. Hedges' Diary (Hak. Soc. ), quoted, 102 /. m., 103 /. n., Iio /. «., 119/. «., 120/. n., 149/. n., 171 /. «., 198 /. «., 199/ n., 217 /. n., 218 /. «., 266 /. «., 268, 319 343/ »■ Zansomate, 54 ; see Xiengmai Zediwon Hill, pagoda at, 3 Zimm^ 54 ; see Xiengmai Zingale, 240 ; see Jelinga PRINTED BY BALLANTVNE, HANSON AND CO. EDINBURGH AND LONDON.