Ally that was at the other end The wild Elephant which had followed them to that place stopping at the entry of the narrow pass all manner of ways were used to make engagement they made the females who were beyond the Alley cry some Siamese provoked him by clapping their hands and crying pat pat others pricked him with long sharp pâ—inted pâ—les and when they were pursued by him 〈…〉 â—ixâ— the Pillars and hid themselves 〈◊〉 thâ— Palâ—adoes which the Elephant could 〈…〉 â—gh at length having pursued 〈…〉 â—en he made at one single Man 〈…〉 of Fury The Man ru◠〈…〉 Elephant after him But 〈…〉 was taken for the Man having 〈…〉 let fall purposely too P◠〈…〉 other behind the Elephant 〈…〉 of his power to go forwards 〈…〉 himself he strugled prodigi◠〈…〉 â—errible cries They endeavoured 〈…〉 â—im bâ— throwing buckets full of wa◠〈…〉 Body rubbing him with leaves p◠〈…〉 upon hâ—s Ears and they brought 〈◊〉 â—phants both Males and Females to hi◠〈◊〉 caressed him with their Truncks In 〈…〉 time they â—stened Ropes under his b◠〈◊〉 to his hind-seen that so they might pull 〈◊〉 out from thence and they persisted in thrâ— water upon his Trunk and Body to câ— At length they brought to him one of â—se tame Elephants that are accustomed to inâ—ruct the new-comers An Officer was mounted upon him who made him go forwards and backwards to shew the wild Elephant that there was no danger and that he might come out So at length they opened the gate to him and he followed the other to the end of the Alley So soon as he was there they fastned an Elephant to each side of him another went before and pulled him by a rope into the way that they would have him take whilst a fourth made him go forwards by thumping him with his head behind until he came to a kind of manage where they tyed him to a great Pillar made for that purpose which turns like the Capstern of a Ship. They left him there till next day that he might spend his anger but whilst he tormented himself about that Pillar a Bramen that is to say one of the Indian Priests who are numerous in Siam cloathed in white and mounted on another Elephant drew nigh and turning gently about this which was tied sprinkled him with a certain water consecrated after their manner which he carried in a Vessel of Gold. They believe that that Ceremony makes the Elephant loose his natural fierceness and fits him for to serve the King. The day following he begins to go with the rest and in a fortnights time is fully tamed Amidst all those diversions the Ambassador was wholly taken up about the Subject of his Embassie which was the Conversion of the King but perceiving that he had no solid nor positive answer as to that he resolved to draw up a short memoir which he intended should be presented to the King by the Lord Constance He spoke of it to that Minister who in a long conference they had together disswaded him from pressing the King upon that point but the Ambassador very prudently still persisted in his opinion and prayed the Lord Constance to present that writing to his Majesty wherein he besought him to give him a positive answer that might be acceptable to the King his Master The Lord Constance having received the Memoir from the Ambassador went to the Palace in the Evening and there prostrating himself at the Kings feet made him a discourse full of that Asiatic Eloquence that was so much esteemed in ancient Greece Here you have a true translation of the very words he used SIR THE Ambassador of France hath put into my hands a Memoir which contains certain propositions whereof he is to give an account to the King his Master but before I read it to your Majesty The Harangue of the Lord Constance to the King of Siam suffer me Sir if you please to lay before you the principal motive that engaged the most Christian King to send you so solemn an Embassie That so wise a Prince your good Friend Sir knowing the greatness of your Soul and the generosity of your Majesties Royal heart by the Ambassadors and Magnificent Presents which you designed for him without other interest than that of desiâ—ng the Royal Vnity of a Prince so Glorious and so Renowned over the World and then perceiving that your Majesties Ministers had sent to the Ministers of his Kingdom two Mandarins with considerable Presents to congratulate the birth of the Grand-son of their great King worthy of a perpetual Pâ—sterity which maâ— eternally represent to France the Image of his admirable Virtues and secure the happiness of his People That great Monarch Sir being surprised by so disinterested a procedure resolved to answer thâ—se obliging cares and to do so devised a means worthy of himself and suitable to the dignity of your Majesty for to present you with Riches it is in your Kingdom Sir that Strangers come in search of Wealth To offer you his Forces He knew very well that your Majesty is dreaded by all your Neighbours and in a condition to punish them if they should offer to break the Peace which by their prayers they have obtained from you Could he have thought of bestowing Lands and Provinces upon the Sovereign of so many Kings and the Master of so great a number of Kingdoms as make almost the fourth part of Asia Neither could it enter into his thoughts to send hither his Subjects only upon the account of Trade because that would be a common Interest to his People and your Majesties Subjects So that it would have been hard for him to have hit upon the right course had he not reflected that he might offer to your Majesty somewhat infinitely more considerable and which was congruous to the Dignity of two so great Kings Having considered what it was that had raised him to that high pitch of Glory where at present he is seated what had made him take so many Towns subdue so many Provinces and gain so many Victories what to this present had made the happiness of his people and what had brought him from the extremities of the Earth so many Ambassadors of Kings and Princes who Court his Friendship what in fine had obliged your Majesty to prevent this incomparable Prince by so splendid an Embassie which you sent to him Having I say attentively considered all these great things that King so wise and prespicatious found that the God whom he adores was the sâ—le Author of them that his Divine Providence had so disposed them for him and that he owed them to the intercession of the holy Mother of the Saviour of the World under whose Protection he hath consecrated his Person and Kingdom to the true God. That 〈◊〉 and the extream desire he hath to communicate to your Majesty all thâ—se great advantages hath made him resolve to propose to you Sir the same means that have procured
him so much Glory and happiness and which are no other than the Knowledge and Worship of the true God which is only to be found in the Christian Religion He offers your Majesty then by his Ambassador adjuring you and your whole Kingdom to embrace and follow it That Prince Sir is more admirable still by his Wisdom Judgment and Prudence than by his Conquests and Victories Your Majesty knows his generosity and Royal Friendship you cannot make a better choice than to follow the wise Counsels of so great a King your good friend For my part Sir I never begg'd any thing of the great God for your Majesty but that Grace and I would be ready to lay down a thousand lives that I might obtain it of the Divine Bounty May it please your Majesty to consider that by that action you will Crown all the Great and Illustrious exploits of your Reign you will eternize your Memory and procure to your self immortal Honour and Glory in the next World. Ah Sir I adjure your Majesty not to send back the Embassador of so great a King with discontent he begs that in the name of the King his Master for establishing and rendring your Alliances and Royal Amities inviolable at least if your Majesty hath entertained any good thought or if you find the least inclination to embrace that Party that you would make it known It is the most acceptable news that he can carry to the King his Master Now if your Majesty hath resolved not to condescend to what I have had the honour to represent to you or that you cannot give a favourable answer to the Ambassador I beg of you to excuse me from carrying your Royal answer which cannot but be displeasing to the Great God whom I adore You ought not to think it strange that I speak to you in this manner whosoever is not faithful to his God cannot be so to his Prince and your Majesty ought not to do me the honour to suffer me in your Service if I entertained other Sentiments The King of Siam answers the Lord Constance The King heard the Discourse of the Lord Constance without interrupting him and having a little pondered with himself as one whose mind was taken up with great thoughts he answered him upon the spot in these terms FEAR not that I will force your Conscience But who hath made the King of France my good Friend believe that I entertained any such Sentiments Ah Sir who can doubt replied the Lord Constance but that your Majesty has those great thoughts when they consider the Protection you give to Missionaries the Churches you have caused to be built the Charity you give to the Fathers of China It is upon that Sir that the King of France grounds his perswasion that your Majesty had an inclination towards Christianity But when you told the Ambassador added the King the reasons that make me continue in the Religion of my Ancestors what answer had you from him The Ambassador of France replied the Lord Constance found your Reasons to be very weighty but seeing the propositions he made you in the name of the King his Master was sincere and disinterested and that that great Monarch had no other prospect but your Majesties good he did not think that any of the reasons which I told him ought to hinder him from obeying his Masters Commands especially when he understood that the Ambassador of Persia was arrived in the Kingdom of Siam and that he brought your Majesty the Alcoran to the end you might follow it In that view the Ambassador of France thought himself obliged to offer your Majesty the Christian Religion and to adjure you to embrace it Is it true answered the King that the Ambassador of Persia brings me the Alcoran It is so reported reply'd the Lord Constance To which the King forthwith made answer I wish with all my heart the Ambassador of France were here to see what Reception the Ambassador of Persia should have from me Certainly if I had no Religion at all I would never choose the Mahometan But to answer the Ambassador of France continued the King you shall tell him from me I think my self extreamly obliged to the King of France his Master finding in his Memoirs the marks of his most Christian Majesties Royal Friendship and since the honour that that great Prince hath done me is already made publick all over the East I cannot sufficiently acknowledge his Civility but that I am extreamly vexed that the King of France my good Friend should propose so difficult a thing unto me wherewith I am not in the least acquainted that I refer my self to the Wisdom of the most Christian King that he himself may judge of the importance and difficulty which occur in so nice a matter as the change of a Religion received and followed throughout my whole Kingdom without interruption during the pace of two thousand two hundred twenty nine years After all The Motives that keep the King of Siam firm in his Religion it is strange to me that the King of France my good Friend should so much concern himself in an Affair that relates to God wherein it would seem God does not at all interest himself but leaves it wholly to our Discretion For would not the true God that made Heaven and Earth and all things that are therein and hath given them so different natures and inclinations when he gave to Men like Bodies and Souls if he had pleased have also inspired into them the same sentiments for the Religion they ought to follow and for the Worship that was most acceptable to him and make all Nations live and die in the same Laws That Order amongst Men and that Vnity in Religion depending absolutely on Divine Providence who could as easily introduce it into the World as the diversity of Sects that in all times have been established in it ought not one to think that the true God takes as great pleasure to be honoured by different Worships and Ceremonies as to be Glorified by a prodigious number of Creatures that Praise him every one in their own way Would that Beauty and Variety which we admire in the order of Nature be less admirable in the supernatural Order or less beseeming the Wisdom of God However it be continued his Majesty since we know that God is the absolute Master of the World and that we are perswaded that nothing comes to pass contrary to his will I wholly resign my Person and Dominions into the Arms of the Divine Mercy and Providence and with all my heart obtest his eternal Wisdom to dispose thereof according to his good will and pleasure So that I most expresly command you to tell that Ambassador that I shall omit nothing that lies in my power to cherish the Royal friendship of the most Christian King and instead of complying with the means that he hath proposed to me I shall take such care during the time
THE VOYAGE of SIAM London Printed 1688. A RELATION OF THE VOYAGE TO SIAM Performed by SIX JESUITS Sent by the FRENCH KING to the INDIES and CHINA in the Year 1685. WITH THEIR ASTROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS and their REMARKS of Natural Philosophy Geography Hydrography and History Published in the Original by the express Orders of His most Christian Majesty And now made English and illustrated with SCULPTURES LONDON Printed by T. B. for J. Robinson and A. Churchil and are to be sold by S. Crouch at the Corner of Popes-Head Alley against the Royal-Exchange 1688. Licensed August the 30th 1687. Ro. L'Estranâ— A VOYAGE TO SIAM The First BOOK The Voyage from Brest to the Cape of Good-Hope SInce the time the King setled a Royal Academy at Paris for improving Arts and Sciences within his Kingdom the Members that compose it have not hit upon any means more proper for accomplishing that Design than the sending out of Learned Men to make Observations in foreign Countries whereby they might correct the Geographical Maps facilitate Navigation and raise Astronomy to its Perfection In that Prospect not a few of the Learnedst Men of that Illustrious Society were by his Majesties Orders sent into several Kingdoms Some went into Denmark others to England some were sent to the Isle of Cayana and other Isles of America Cape Verd nay and to the chief Ports and Coasts of the Kingdom whilst others in the Observatory at Home kept pace and entertained all necessary Correspondencies with them It was desired that an Occasion might offer of sending more Observators into several Parts of Europe to the Isle of Foroy where they have fixed the first Meridian the East-Indies and chiefly into China where it was known that Arts had flourished for these four thousand years where there are Books upon all Subjects and Libraries that may compare with the fairest in Europe from which the Kings Bibliothic might be enriched The Father parted from Macao December 5. 1681 in a Dutch Ship and arrived in Holland in October 1682. This Desire grew stronger in the chief Members of the Academy after they had conversed with Father Philip Couplet a Flemish Jesuit who upon his Return from China posted by Paris on his way to Rome whither he was sent about the Affairs of the Mission The Marquis de Louvoy Minister and Secretary of State who besides the Affairs of War and Oversight of the Kings Buildings was likewise charged with the Concerns of Arts and Sciences ordered in his Majesties Name the Members of the Royal Academy to draw up a Memoire of the most remarkable things they desired to be informed of from China to be given and recommended to Father Couplet who was to return thither the year following The Duke of Mayne favoured also the Design with a great Zeal for Religion and a Curiosity suitable to his Wit calculated for Knowledg and far above his years But the King surpassing all in Zeal for the Improvement of Arts and Sciences especially of such which in those Countries might most contribute to the Growth of Religion being affected with the Necessity of Missions was resolved to assist them with his Protection and Liberalities He was informed by Father Couplet that almost all the French Jesuits who above thirty years since went to China with Father Alexander of Rhodes were dead labouring in the Missions of that Kingdom that there were but a very few Missionaries remaining that the Emperour in the mean time continued to them his Protection and that in imitation of him the Vice-Roys and Governours of Provinces were also very kind to them and that in short there was a great want of Gospel-Labourers not only for cultivating the Christians who are already very numerous there but also for reaping the Fruit of the certain hopes which at present more than ever good men have of spreading the Faith in that vast Empire He had already gone so far as to assign a considerable Sum of Money for the French Jesuits who were to accompany Father Couplet and all the care was how they might be sent under his Majesties Authority when Divine Providence presented a most favourable occasion for it Hardly was Father Couplet departed for Rome when two Siam Mandarins with a Priest of the Foreign Missions setled in Siam named Monsieur le Vachet arrived in France They were sent by the Ministers of the King of Siam to learn News of the Embassie which the King their Master had sent to his Majesty with magnificent Presents on board a Ship belonging to the East-India Company called the Sun of the East which was reported to have been cast away His Majesty perceiving what Advances the King of Siam made in seeking his Friendship and that there was hopes besides he might turn Christian if there were an Ambassador sent to him resolved to do it and by the same way sends Jesuits into China which hath a great commerce with the Kingdom of Siam from whence it is not above five or six hundred Leagues disstant The King orders six Jesuits Mathematicians to be sent to China The King having thereupon declared his Intentions to the Marques de Louvoy and Father de la Chaize they forthwith demanded of our Superiors four Fathers at least that might be capable of labouring in consort with the Academy Royal in the Improvement of Arts and Sciences and at the same time employ themselves with the Missionaries of China in advancing the Christian Religion adding that they must needs be ready to depart within six weeks in the Ship that was to carry the French Ambassador to Siam It was no hard matter for our Superiours to find men that were willing to contribute to the furthering of that design Amongst many who offered themselves six were chosen who tho of different Provinces were happily at that time in the Jesuits College at Paris as if Divine Providence had only brought them together for obtaining a happiness which they earnestly longed for The Superiour named to be over them was Father Fontenay who for eight years past taught the Mathematics in that College The other five were Father Gerbillon Father l'Compte Father Visdelou Father Couvet and my self So soon as the thing was resolved upon The preparations for their departure we had private notice given us to prepare for our departure within two Months at farthest Next day we went together to Mount-Martre to thank God by the Mediation of the Holy Virgin and Holy Martyrs for the favour that was done us and to Offer our selves up to Jesus Christ more particularly in that place where St. Ignatius and his Companions made their first Vows and which is looked upon as the Cradle of the Society that from its birth hath devoted it self in a most particular manner to Foreign Missions That 's the reason that they who constitute it have ever since consecrated themselves to that duty by a solemn Vow so that every one thinking himself in particular destiny'd to it ought
East-India Company in Holland He presently sent for the Heer St. Martin Major General of Batavia declares him Chief of the Enterprise and having ordered him to muster together as many Forces as he could of the Garrison and Towns-People both Europeans and Indians he put them on Board twelve Ships which were then in the Road of Batavia So soon as the Heer St. Martin arrived before Bantam he made a Descent and found but little resistance Then without giving the Enemy time to take breath he marched streight to their Trenches and at the second Attack forced them to raise the Siege in disorder After this Victory the Sultan Agui commanded the Gates to be opened and received the Heer St. Martin with all his Forces into the Town Sultan Agui guarded by the Dutch. The Dutch finding themselves Masters of the Capital Town resolved to subdue the whole Kingdom and to make sure of the Persons of both Kings They set a good Guard of Dutch over Sultan Agui whom they had in their Hands under Pretext of doing him Honour and securing him from the Insults of his Enemies And so pursuing their Victory with Sword in Hand they took the Citadel of Tangran The old Sultan having fled to the Town of Carthiace they drove him from thence and cut to pieces the Garison consisting of 1600 Macassars the best Soldiers of all the Barbarians who after a vigorous Resistance were killed every Man of them in their Posts Then they took that poor Prince who was endeavouring to make his Escape and delivered him up Prisoner to his Son who to punish his Father for his Revolt would presently have put him to Death but the Dutch perswaded him not to embrew his handâ— in the Blood of him who had given him Life So that he thought it enough to shut him up in a very close Prison without allowing him the Company of his Wives Nevertheless he hath remitted his Severity as to this last point since he is become peaceable Possessor of the Kingdom Some days after the young King commanded the English and French to withdraw The English and French leave the Town by the King of Bantaâ—s Order under pretext of Jealousies he had of them and that he had been told they favoured the Party of the King his Father The French carried away their Effects and left Bantam but the English protested against the Dutch for the Violence they did them under the Cloak of the Kings Authority and leaving the Town left all their Effects in their Ware-houses This was the Matter that caused the great Difference that hath made so much Noise betwixt those two Nations and which was not determined when we came out of Europe After this Digression concerning the Revolution that hath hapned in the Isle of Java we must now pursue our Voyage again Saturday the Eighteenth of August betwixt five and six a Clock in the Evening we came to Anchor in the Road of Batavia amidst seventeen or eighteen huge Ships belonging to the Dutch East-India Company and a great number of Barks which we found there at Anchor This is a very fair and safe Road as may be seen by the Cut. The Civilities of the General of Batavia to the Ambassador My Lord Ambassador had dispatched the Night before the Chevalier de Fourbin to go Compliment the General of Batavia and to deliver them the Heer Van Rheeden's Letter He came on board again just as we were about to drop Anchor and told us that the General had granted all that was demanded of him He said we might take in fresh Water and Wood provide our selves of all sorts of Refreshments and set our Sick Men ashoar that the Dutch would give us a Pilot to carry us to Siam and that when we saluted the Fort they would return Gun for Gun a thing not hitherto done It is true the General made some difficulty as to this last Point saying that the Fort had never returned that Salute neither to the English Portuguese nor any other Nation whatsoever and that it was always thought enough to be Re-saluted by the Admiral Ship riding in the Road. But it being represented to him that there was a great deal of difference betwixt Kings Ships and other Ships and if the Fort had never as yet rendred a Salute it was because they had never seen any Kings Ships The General condescended and promised that in consideration of the King and of my Lord Ambassador he should for that time but not as a President order Gun for Gun to be given My Lord Ambassador was very well satisfied in the Sequel with the Civilities of the Heer Campiche for that is the Generals Name who very frequently sent the Chief of the Town to compliment him and almost daily presented him with all sorts of fresh Provisions for his Table and for both the Ships Companys When the Chevalier de Fourbin had thus given the Ambassador an account of his Voyage and assured him that the General would give his Excellence all the Marks of Respect and Esteem which were due to his Character The Jesuits land at Batavia to make Observations he added that the Jesuits would not be so well received in this Town as they had been at the Cape that the General of Batavia had put a Guard upon a Father of their Society lately come from Tunquin and that he had been confined to his House for having assisted Catholicks who applied themselves to him in their Spiritual Necessities Having considered a little what was best for us to do by the Advice of the Ambassador we took the same Course that we had done at the Cape of Good-hope which was to go visit the General Father Fontenay and I arrived at the Town about ten of the Clock in the Morning The good Reception they had from the Officers of the Dutch East-India Company The Officer who was upon Guard at the Gate carried us to the chief Treasurer who introduces Strangers to the General After the first Compliments we told him who we were and prayed him to present us to the General that we might pay him our Respects He promised us Audience of his Excellency for that 's the Title commonly given to the General of Batavia the very same day But seeing it was now but about ten of the Clock and that no Audience was given till towards the Evening we desired to know of him whether or not it would be taken ill if we went to see one of our Fathers who came from Tunquin and was in General Spelmans's Garden He told us that we might do what we pleased without Offence and that he would give us his Boat to carry us thither but that it must be after Dinner because it was already late and at the same time he urged us to eat with him Having thanked him for all his Civilities we went into his Boat with design to go see Father Fuciti in the place where they had lodged him
any Seamans appearing on Board That adventure occasioned various reasoning Those of most sense were of the opinion of the Ambassador and Monsieur de Vaudricourt who attributed it to a careless working of the Ship. The truth is if she had had any bad design she would not have failed to fire her Guns when she laid us on board and to have poured in a volley of small-shot amonst us We were informed at Siam by Hollanders that came from Batavia after us that it was one of their Ships coming from Palimbam and that all the Men on Board were drunk or asleep The wind was good The Streight of Banka difficult to be passed because of the want of Water and so that accident did not at all hinder us to pursue our Voyage It was not long before we got to the entry of the Streight of Banka which is made by an Isle so called and the Isle of Sumatra The Banks and Shelves that are at the entry of this Streight make it a difficult passage for those that are not acquainted with it We had a Dutch Pilot on Board and a very able Man who had several times before past that Streight and for all that tho we continually also heaved the Head our Ship stuck aground and so did the Frigat too But the Ground being owzy we were in no danger and having put out an Anchor at a distance in deeper water we weighed our selves off again without any prejudice The wind continuing fair in a short time we repassed the Line We felt it a great deal better in this place encompassed with Land then when we passed it the first time out at Sea before we came to the Cape Calms are not so much to be dreaded here because of winds that reign there and blow sometime from the Land and sometime from the Sea. The safest way of Sailing in those Calm Seas that are as smooth as a Mill-pond is to keep always along the Shoar in twelve fifteen or twenty Fathom water and never go out of sight of Land as we did observing this circumspection you have always the advantage of coming to an Anchor when you please which you will be forced to do very often because of the Currents that set in to Land and of certain strong gusts and flurries which commonly blow from the Isle of Sumatra Some days after we set out from Batavia we were all of a sudden surprised with one of those Flurries which put us into great fear because all our Sails were then abroad but the diligence that was used in taking of them in cleared us of the danger October 5. we began to make the Land of Asia and the first we made was the point of Malaca We all felt a secret Joy to see those places that had been watered with the sweat of St. Francis Xavier and to find our selves in these Seas so famous for his Voyages and Miracles We publicly and daily invoked the assistance of that great Saint after the Litanies of the Virgin on Board We then ranged along the Coasts of Johor Patane and Pahan whose Kings are Tributary to the King of Siam but the Dutch have all the Trade of these Kingdoms September 6. Monsieur de Vanderets D' Hebouville one of the Gentlemen of the Ambassadors Retinue died on Board the Frigat in the Flower of his Age. He was handsome Discreet and the eldest Son of a very Ancient and Rich Family in Normandy His Distemper was a Bloody-Flux common enough in the Indies especially to those who eat too much Fruit as this young Gentleman did during the five or six days that he was at Batavia We had notice of his Death by the Frigats handling their Colours at eight of the Clock in the Morning and in the Evening we came to know the time of his obsequies by means of five Guns slowly fired one after another Funerals at Sea are performed with like Ceremonie Having sung some Prayers they wrap up the Body in a Linnen Cloath tye a great shot to the Feet and upon a Plank to which it is made fast let it gently drop into the Sea. Next day all we that were Priests said a Mass on Board of our Ship for the rest of his Soul. At length September 22. we came in sight of the River of Siam and next day to an Anchor three Leagues from the Bar which is at the entry of it The sight of that Kingdom raised an incredible Joy in all of us after the dangers and fatigues of so tedious a Voyage There had been but little talk till then of the Conversion of the King of Siam which was the cause of the Embassie but at that time it was almost the subject of every discourse It was known to all that the King had publickly said to my Lord Ambassador that he was in hopes that by his prudent Conduct he would accompâ—ish that great work which was so far advanced We earne â—â—y begg'd it of God in our prayers and from our first coming on Board our Father Superiour had ordered every one of us to say a Mass weekly for that intention So soon as we were come to an Anchor the Ambassador dispatched the Chevalier de Fourbin and Monsieur Vachet with the news of his arrival to the King of Siam and his Ministers The first was to go no higher than Bancok which is the first place of the Kingdom upon the River ten Leaguâ—s from the mouth of it and the other was to take a Balon which is a Boat of that Countrey very light and make all hast to Siam The Governor of Bancok by Nation a Turk and of the Mahometan Religion being informed that the Ambassador of the King of France was in the Road prayed Monsieur Vachet to take his repose for the rest of that night and suffer him to send an express that he might give the Court speedy notice thereof The Governor of Bancoks Messenger arrived at Siam next day about noon The Lord Constance Minister of State was acquainted by a Letter which he had received that Morning from Coromandel that the most Christian King had named the Chevalier de Chaumont to be his Ambassador extraordinary at the Court of Siam and that he had set out from France ever since the Month of March with two Men of War. Seeing we are often to mention this Minister in the sequel of this relation and that he alone was deputed by the King his Master to treat about the Affairs of this Embassie it is proper we should make it known who he is The Lord Constance is properly called Constantin Phaulkon and so he writes his name He is a Grecian by Nation born in Cephalonia his Father being a noble Venetian the Son of the Governor of the Island and his Mother a Daughter of one of the Ancientest Families of the Country About the year 1660. when as yet he was but about twelve years of Age he had discretion enough to reflect upon the bad condition
of the Bishop of Metellopolis stayed for him Seeing the Countrey about within a days Journey of Siam is very low Land it is all overflowed for one half of the year The Rains which fall for several Months together swelling the River cause these great Inundations and that 's the thing which makes the Countrey so fertil were it not for that the Rice that grows only in Water and wherewith all the Fields are covered could not supply as it does all the Siamese and neighbouring Countries with Food This is another Convenience of these Inundations that one may go all about in a Balon even into the Fields which makes so great a number of Boats to be in all places that in the greatest part of the Kingdom there are more Balons than Men. There are some of them very big covered with Houses which serve to lodge whole Families and several of these being joyned together make a kind of floating Villages in those places where they chance to meet We continued going up the River all night long during which we saw a very pleasant sight and that was an infinite number of Fire-flies wherewith all the Trees upon the sides of the River were so covered over that they appeared like so many great Branches set thick with innumerable Lights which the reflection of the Water at that time as smooth as a Looking-glass infinitely multiplied Whilst we were taken up in viewing of them all of a sudden we were beset with a prodigious quantity of Musketo's or Maringoiiins These are a kind of very troublesom Gnats that sting through Peoples Cloaths and leave the Marks of it a long time behind them The Siamese who row'd our Balon though they were naked and tugg'd at the Oar made a better shift against them than we they gave themselves a flap with the hand every time they felt a Musketoe and struck so pat that they never missed them without losing one single stroak of their Oar for all that We found a great many Monkeys and Sapajous upon the River side which clambered up the Trees and went together in Troops But no pleaseanter sight can be seen than the vast numbers of Criel Herons that swarm upon the Trees at a distance one would take them for their Blossoms The White of the Birds mingling with the Green of the Trees makes the most lovely Land-skip imaginable The Criel Heron is a Fowl shaped like a common Heron but far less it is of a neat proportion of Body and has fair Feathers whiter than Snow It hath Tops or Tufts upon the Head Back and Belly wherein its chief Beauty consists and which render it extraordinary All the wild Birds have most lovely Feathers there are of them of several colours all yellow all red all blew all green and that in great numbers For the Siamese believing the Transmigration of Souls into other Bodies kill no Animals for fear as they say of driving out from thence the Souls of their Relations which may very well be lodged there We did not make a League of way without meeting with some Pagod that is to say a Temple of Idols It hath always by it a little Monastery of Talapoins who are the Priests and the Religious of the Countrey These Talapoins live in common and their Houses are so many Seminaries where the Children of Quality are bred So long as Children continue there they wear the habit of Telapoins which consists in two pieces of a kind of yellow Cotton Cloth whereof the one serves to cover them from the Girdle down to the Knees and the other they use sometimes as a Scarf putting it about their Shoulders like a Shoulder-Belt and sometimes they wrap it about them like a little Cloak They have their Heads and Eye-brows shaved as well as their Masters who are perswaded that it would be immodest and sinful to let them grow Their Blindness made us heartily pity them Having row'd on all night long about Ten of the Clock in the Morning we arrived at Bancok This is the most important Place of the Kingdom because it defends the Passage of the River with a Fort that is on the other side Both are well furnished with Brass Guns but ill fortified Monsieur de la Mare a French Engineer whom my Lord Ambassador left at Siam hath received Orders from the King to fortifie it regularly and to make a good place of it We saw the Governor of it in passing he is a tall very handsom man who received us with a great deal of Civility We went afterwards to dine with a French Artisan for there are no Inns in that Countrey That day we began to use Rice instead of Bread and to drink nothing but River-water The Rice being only boiled with Water is but an insipid kind of Food and we could hardly accustom our selve to it at first but within a Fortnights time we came to like it as well as Bread which is very scarce and dear there because the Wheat must be brought from Surrat or Japan Betwixt Bancock and Siam you meet with a great many Aldees or Villages that almost every where border the River These Villages are no more than a great many Huts or Hovels raised upon high Pillars because of the Inundation They are made of Bambous which is a Tree whose Timber is much used in that Countrey The Trunk and great Branches serve for making of Pillars and Joysts and the small Branches to makes the Walls and Roof Near the Villages are the Bazars or floating Market-places where the Siamese who go up or down the River find their Victuals ready drest that 's to say Fruit boyl'd Rice Rack which is a kind of Strong Water made of Rice and Lime and some Ragousts after the Siamese Mode which a French-man could not taste Next day the Third of October we came to Siam We thought the Bishop of Metellopolis had got before us and therefore went streight to the Seminary to pay him our dutiful Respects at home but he was not as yet arrived Whilst we stayed for him we said Mass to give God thanks for his Protection during all our Voyage which had been exactly seven Months long for we set out from Brest the Third of March and arrived at Siam the Third of October From thence we went to the House of Father Suarez the only Jesuit that was then at Siam Father Maldonat being gone for some time before to Macao from whence he was to return towards March following We passed by the French Factory and there saluted the Officers of the Company Then we were conducted to the Palace which was preparing for my Lord Ambassador where we met with the Lord Constance the first The Lord Constance receives the Jesuits with extraordinary goodness or to say better the only Minister of the Kingdom We knew before that he was a man of Merit and had a kindness for us but we had the experience of both far beyond our expectation In that first
upon a Hall which the Portuguese call Sala da presensa on the right as you entered it there was a half pace covered with a Persian Carpet a large Canopy of State of a Stuff made of Gold and Silk with a gilt Chair underneath and Crimson Velvet Cushions with Gold galloon Over against it there was a Cupboard covered with a Carpet of lovely China-work Cloath of Gold and in the middle of the Hall a long Table for threescore persons All these Appartments were neatly furnished and seeing the heats are excessive in that Country they were hung only with very fine Indian Tapestry and the Floors were covered with extraordinary fine Mats The Floor of the Ambassadors Chamber was covered with a large Persian Carpet and the rising with a very rich Stuff In all these Palaces of repose there were seven Officers of the Kings houshold of whom the first were Gentlemen of the Kings Bed-chamber and the seventh Captain of the Life-guards with some Soldiers who kept Guard day and night and went several Rounds about the House to prevent noise and disorder The first six and those whom they commanded took care that nothing was wanting to the Magnificence of the Table and Neatness of the Appartments As soon as the Ambassador stept ashore at Prepadem he was complemented by the Governor of Bancok and Piplis who had waited for him there since the day before After Dinner he Embarked again with the same Court and Attendance and went to Bancok Half a League from the Town two Olouans Mandarins of the third Order of whom the last was as it were General of the Galleys came in the Kings name to receive him and so to wait upon him to the Capital City It was five a Clock before he arrived at Bancok An English Ship lying at Anchor under the Fort saluted his Excellence with One and Twenty Guns and the Town that was over against it with One and Thirty As he went ashoar he was received by a great number of Mandarins drawn up in two ranks having the Governor of Bancok and Piplis at the head of them and he was conducted to the Lodging that had been prepared for him in the Town The streets through which he past were perfumed with Aquila which is a very precious wood and of a rare smell So soon as he was come into his Palace the Fort which had not as yet saluted him discharged aâ— its Artillary Next morning after Breakfast hiâ— Excellence was conducted back to his Balon with the same Ceremonies As he put off the Forâ— which was on the same side saluted him with One and Twenty Guns the other Fort fired Twenty Nine and the English Ships Twenty One and it was the Lord Constances Recommendation that made the Ship shew that civility to the Lord Ambassador The same Honours were performed to him in all places where he went ashoar and the King daily sent Mandarins of the chiefest quality to salute him on his part who being all ordered to stay with him till he came to a place called the Tabangue his Court and Attendance was thereby rendred very numerous A quarter of Leaguâ— from thence he found the Presidents of all thâ— Nations that are at Siam The English camâ— with Eight Balons and then the Chineses and Maureâ— When the Nations had made severally their Comâ—pliments they all together waited upon him tâ— his Lodging and then took leave The Goverâ—nors of places who had received him at the enâ—try into their Governments waited upon him also so far It is an Extraordinary honour anâ— had never before been rendered to any Ambassaâ—dor It was the King of Siam's pleasure that thâ— Ambassador of the King of France should be treatâ—ed with marks of distinction from all others anâ— even from those of the Emperor of China whâ— all over the East is reckoned the greatest Monarcâ— of the Universe The Ambassadors of the King of Cochinchinc How the King of Siam receives the Ambassadors of Neighbouring Princes â—â—quin Golconde Malayes and Laos are received 〈◊〉 a Court covered with a Carpet The great â—â—en of the Kingdom are prostrate in two Halls on â—â—e two sides and the other Mandarins of inferior â—uality are prostrate in the Court. The Ambassador is with all his retinue in another more remote Court where he waits till he be called to Audience by the Kings Order The King within the prefixed time with sound of Trumpets Drums and other musical Instruments that are used in the Courts of Eastern Princes appears at a kind of Tribune or Window raised six foot higher than the first Court. Then the chief Minister having demanded the Kings Orders sends for the Ambassador by an Officer of his Chamber of more or less quality according as he intends to honour the King his Master When the door of the Court is opened the Ambassador appears prostrate with the Interpreters of his Nation and the Gentleman who commonly serves on such occasions as Master of the Ceremonies All together perform before his Majesty the Zombaye which is a profound inclination of the body and then come creeping along upon hands and knees till they come to the middle of the Court then raising themselves thrice on their knees with their hand joyned upon their head they bow down and knock their forehead as often against the ground When that is done they advance creeping as before till they come to a pair of stairs betwixt the two Halls where the great Men are prostrate and there having made the Zombaye the Ambassador waits till the King do him the honour to speak to him Before he receives Audience he ought to send the Presents and Letter to the Minister who having fully examined them in Council causes them to be laid upon a Table betwixt the King and the Ambassador Betwixt that Table and the Ambassador there is still a Mandarin to receive the Kings Orders when it pleases his Majesty to send the Betle which at the end of the Audience he presents to the Ambassador At the Court of Siam there are Mandarins appointed to take care of the affairs of the several Nations To these private men apply themselves to have their Petitions presented to the King and to obtain Audience of him They wait upon the Ambassadors of the Kingdoms whose affairs concern their Province and therefore are called Mandarins of the Nations or Captains of the Port. In public Audiences these Mandarins are betwixt the Ambassador and chief Minister to carry the word from the one to the other The King speaks first and bids his Minister ask the Ambassador how long it is since he parted from the King his Master if he and all the Royal Family were in health when he left him the Ambassador makes what Answer he has to give by his Interpreter not immediately to the King but to the Captain of his Nation and this man repeats it to the Barcalon who tells it to the King. He is then questioned in the same manner as
to appear After the Chariot came the Ambassadors three Trumpeters on Horseback with their magnificent Liveries and the Ambassador seemed to be raised upon a Throne He was colathed in a rich flowered Silk of a Fire-colour embroydered with Gold that looked very splendid The Abbot de Choisi followed after in a Surplice and Camaâ—l carried in an open Chair Then marched the Gentlemen on Horse-back all glittering with Gold and Silver and followed by Pages Foot-men and a great many Menial Servants all very neatly cloathed The March was brought up by an incredible Multitude of People keeping profound silence The Palace of the King of Siam is of a vast Extent A Description of the Palace of the King of Siam but in the Architecture there is nothing that is regular nor like to our Building It consists of spacious Courts encompassed with Walls and containing some Piles of Building on one side are the Apartments of the Kings Officers and on the other a great number of Pavilions where the Elephants are There are a great many Pagods in it also both great and small which though irregular make still an Object pleasing enough to the Eye When we came to the first Gate of the Palace all alighted and my Lord Ambassador went and took the Letter out of the Triumphant Chariot and gave it to the Abbot de Choisi In this manner we entered into the first Court of the Palace where on one side were fifty Elephants of War harnessed with Gold and on the other two Regiments of Guards to the number of eight hundred Men drawn up in Batalia From thence we advanced into the second Court where were eight Elephants of War more and a Troop of threescore Mores on Horseback they were armed with Lances and had a very good Meen In the third Court were sixty Elephants with Harness richer than the first and two Regiments of Life-Guards that made two thousand Men under their Arms. Upon entering into the fourth Court which had one half the Pavement covered with Mats we found two hundred Souldiers who wore Sabres adorned with Gold and Tambag called by the Portugues Os Bracos Pintados because their Arms are painted Red. These Soldiers are the Rowers of the Kings Balon and as it were the Guards of the Channel In two Halls more forward there were five hundred Persians of the Kings Guard sitting on the Ground cross-legg'd because in the Kings Palace no Man is suffered to be upon his Legs unless he be going and all the Siam Soldiers were squatted upon the Tail holding their Arms betwixt their joyned Hands The fifth Court into which we entered was covered with fine Mats on which lay prostrate all the Mandarins of the third fourth and fifth Order and at a little distance those of the second Order were in the same Posture upon Persian Carpets Having passed amongst all the Mandarins and crossed so many Courts we came at length to the foot of a pair of Stairs where on the Right-hand were two Elephants covered all over with Gold and on the Left six Persian Horses part of whose Saddles and Stirrups were of massie Gold and their Harness set with Pearls Diamonds Rubies and Emeralds My Lord Ambassador stopt there and the Gentlemen going up to the Hall of Audience where the King was not come as yet sate down upon Persian Carpets over against the Throne at twenty Paces distance as it had been agreed upon A Description of the Throne of the King of Siam This Throne to speak properly is no more but a large Window raised seven or eight foot higher than the half Pace and answering to the middle of the Hall. On the Right and Left-Hand were two great Parassols of Cloth of Gold consisting of seven or eight Stories whose Staves were of beaten Gold and so high that they almost touched the Cieling The Bishop of Metellopolis the Abbot of Lyonne and Monsieur Vachet sate in the Hall in the same manner as the Gentlemen did near the Seat which was prepared for the Ambassador In that Hall the Princes Ministers and Mandarins of the first Order lay prostrate to the Right and Left according to their Rank and Quality There are three sorts of Princes at the Court of Siam the first are the Princes of the Blood Royal of Camboie and other Kingdoms that are Tributary to the King of Siam The second are the Princes of Laos Chiamay and Banca who have been taken in the Wars and some others that have voluntarily put themselves under the Kings Protection The third are those whom the King has raised to the Degree of Princes every one of them had before them great Cups of Gold and Silver which are the Badges of their Dignity and they lay prostrate with profound Silence expecting the coming of the King. Sometime after all were thus placed a great Noise of Trumpets Drums and many other Instruments was heard and then the Throne was opened and the King appeared sitting on it But he was to be seen only to the Girdle the rest being hid by the Front of the Window All the prostrate Mandarins rose up upon their Knees and having their Hands joyned over their Heads made profound Inclinations of Body and knocked their Foreheads against the Ground The King wore a Tiara all shining with precious Stones It is a long Cap ending in a Point like a Pyramid encompassed with three Rings of Gold at some distance from one another On his Fingers he wore a great many large Diamonds that cast a great Luster his Vest was Red on a Ground of Gold and over that he had a Gaze of Gold with Buttons of big Diamonds all these Ornaments together with a brisk Air full of Life and always smiling made him look with a great deal of Gracefulness and Majesty The Ambassador enters the Hall of Audience No sooner was the Ambassador advertised by the Noise of the Instruments that the King was come but he entred the Hall followed by the Abbot de Choisi and the Lord Constance Having advanced four Steps and looking upon the King as if that had been the first time he had perceived him he made a Bow to the Ground a second he made in the middle of the Hall and a third when he was come near to the Seat that was prepared for him The King answered every Bow he made by an Inclination of Body which he accompanied with a serene and smiling Countenance Then my Lord Ambassador began his Compliments in this manner and having uttered the first Words sate down and put on his Hat. SIR THe King my Master The Harangue of the French Ambassador to the King of Siam at present so famous in the World by His great Victories and the Peace be hath so often given His Enemies at the Head of His Armies hath commanded me to wait upon Your Majesty and to assure You of the particular Esteem He hath conceived for Your Person He knows Sir Your August Qualities the Wisdom
King of France his Letter into the Siam Language which being done it made a great impression on the mind of that Prince These are the terms wherein it was conceived MOST High most Excellent The French Kings Letter to the King of Siam and most Magnanimous Prince Our most Dear and Good Friend God augment Your Glory with a happy end I have learnt to My Trouble the loss of the Ambassadors which You sent to Vs in the Year 1681. and We have been informed by the Fathers Missionaries who are returned from Siam and by the Letters which Our Ministers have recived from him to whom You entrust the principal care of Your Affairs how earnestly You desire Our Royal Friendship To correspond therewith We have chosen the Chevalier de Chaumont for Our Ambassador to You who will inform You more particularly of Our Intentions as to every thing that may contribute to the setling of a solid and lasting Friendship betwixt us In the mean time we should be extreamly glad to find occasions of expressing to You the Gratitude wherewith we have learnt that you continue your Protection to the Bishops and other Apostolic Emissaries who labour to instruct your Subjects in the Christian Religion and the particular esteem we have for You makes us ardently desire that you would your self condescend to hear them and learn of them the true Maxims and Sacred Mysterys of so holy a Law wherein one has the Knowledg of the True God who alone can after a long and Glorious Reign over Your Subjects here make You eternally Happy hereafter We have entrusted Our Ambassador with some Presents of some of the most curious things of our Kingdom which he will present to You as a mark of our esteem and he will also tell You what it is We may desire for the benefit of the Trade of our Subjects Whereupon We pray God that He would augment Your Greatness with a most happy end Given at our Castle of Versailles the One and twentieth day of January 1685. Your most dear and good Friend COLBERT LOUIS The Ambassador Visits the Bishop of Metellopolis After the Ambassador had had Audience of the King he rendred his first Visit to the Bishop of Metellopolis at the Seminary This Prelate is Apostolical Vicar in the greatest part of the Indies submitted to Apostolical Vicars He has been labouring for a long time with much assiduity and zeal in the Conversion of the Siamese whose Language he hath carefully studied We received from him our approbations in writing and when he sent us them he signified to us that we might exercise our Functions in the Indies as well as in Europe He resides commonly at the Seminary ever since he hath been weakned by long Sickness It is one of the prettiest Houses in the whole Town or Countrey about Siam consisting of a large double house built after the French way and two Stories high where twenty people may be conveniently lodged The rooms are large and high some of them lying towards the Garden and the rest towards a Church which the King of Siam orders to be built hard by and is not as yet finished It will be very large and if they had been so careful at first as to have made a regular design of it it might have passed for a pretty Church even in Europe It is a Custom established at the Court of Siam The King of Siam sends a Present to the Ambassador to give a Vest to all who have the honour of being introduced into the Kings Presence and it is always brought to the Ambassadors at the end of the Audience when they present them the Betle The King being informed that the French made no use of Betle and that perhaps a Suit of Cloaths made at Siam would not fit them he would not have it given them at that time but some days after he sent his Excellence twenty pieces of a very rich Stuff with flowers of Gold and as much silk stuff for linings He made a like Present to the Gentlemen of his Retinue that they might make lighter Cloaths these are the Kings own words and so suffer with less inconvenience the great heats of a Climate to which they were not accustomed When the Ambassador received the Kings Present The Ambassador ordered Money to be thrown out at the Windows to those who brought him the Present he caused a great deal of Money to be thrown out at the Windows to the Servants of the Mandarins who brought it and to the People who were gathered together there in great Crouds This made much noise in the City of Siam and surprised all the People who had never before seen that kind of Magnificence There was no otheâ— talk for a long time but of that rich shower 〈◊〉 Gold and Silver which fell in the Court of thâ— Ambassador of France That piece of seasonablâ— liberality much encreased the esteem which thâ— Great Men and People had conceived of the Frencâ— Nation So soon as the Ambassador was setled in thâ— City of Siam the Lord Constance who lived before in the Field of the Japanese came to a fâ— House that he has near the Ambassadors Palace and lodged there Nay all the while that we werâ— at Siam he kept open Table for the French anâ— upon their account to all the other Nations Hâ— House was very well furnished and instead 〈◊〉 Tapistry which would be intolerable at Siam bâ—cause of the heat all round the Divan there was 〈◊〉 great Japan Skreen of a surprising height anâ— beauty He kept always two Tables for twelvâ— People apiece where all things were very delicaâ— and in very great plenty There we had all sorâ— of Wine Spanish Rhenish French Cephalâ—nian and Persian We were served in greâ— Silver Dishes and the Cupboard was furnishâ— with most lovely Gold and Silver Plate of Japâ— rarely well wrought with a great many laâ— Dishes of the same Metal and Workmanship Tht King of Siam sends his Presents to the Pagods with much Pomp. The Rumor that was then spread abroad thâ— the King was about to go in great State aâ— make a Present to his Pagod raised the curiosâ— of the French Gentlemen to be spectators of tâ— Pomp. One of the Mandarins who was alwaâ— in the House to prevent disorders and to toâ— heed that nothing were wanting took them â—oâ— place where they might conveniently see that sheâ— The Streets through which the King was to go were paled in with red Lattice breast-high and strewed with Flowers in several places The King came not abroad that day nevertheless his Present was carried to the Pagod with great Ceremony First came a Man upon an Elephant playing upon Timbrels with two Trumpeters on horseback before him several Mandarins on horseback also marching two and two came after and then a great number of Foot-Soldiers of those who are called painted Arms advanced in good order They were followed by fifteen Elephants of which
white Elephant which they design shall be the Successor of him that is in the Palace who as they say is near three hundred years old This little Elephant is somewhat bigger than an Ox hath many Mandarins in his Service and for his sake there is great respect shew'd to his Mother and Aunt that are kept with him The King of Camboy presented him to the King of Siam about two or three years since when he sent to demand assistance from him against one of his Subjects that had revolted and was supported by the King of Cochinchine A Description of Louvo The Town of Louvo stands most pleasantly and in a most wholsom Air the Compass of it is pretty large and it is become very populous since the King hath been pleased to live much there He designs to fortifie it and Monsieur de la Marre an able Engineer whom the Ambassador left at Siam hath already drawn the Plat of the Fortifications that are to be made to render it a strong and regular place It is seated upon a Height which discovers all the Countrey about is not commanded by any Place and on one side is washed by a great River that runs at the Foot of it It is true that River is not at all considerable but during the time of the Inundation But seeing the Inundation and Rains last seven or eight Months on that side which besides is very steep the Town cannot be besieged The other sides are 2either Marshes which may be easily overflowed or rising Grounds in form of an Amphitheater which are designed to be taken into the Town and which will serve for deep Ditches and terrassed Ramparts proof against all Artillery They 'l set about the Fortifications of Louvo as soon as Hancok is fortified which is a place of greater importance and as it were the Key of the Kingdom of Siam These Works will soon be compleated because an infinite number of Workmen will be employed and the Ground is easie to be cast up The King of Siâ—m gives a pâ—ivate Audience to the French Jesuits November the two and twentieth we had Notâ—ce sent us that the King would give us a private Audience the same day About Four of the Clock in the Afternoon the Lord Constance carried us to the Palace and made us pass three Courts where we saw several Mandarins lying prostrate on each side As we entred the inner Court we found a large Carpet where that Minister made us sit down We had no habit of Ceremony nor did they oblige us to be barefooted which was a great Work of distinction So soon as we were set down the King who was going abroad to see a Fight of Elephants wherewith he thought fit to entertain the Ambassador mounted his Elephant magnificently harnessed which waited for him at the Gate of his Apartment and having perceived us at ten or twelve steps distance from him he came up to us Our Father Superior had prepared a Complement to thank him for the honour he did us in admitting of us into his Presence as it had been concerted with the Lord Constance but that Minister perceiving the King in haste to be gone spoke for us The King eyeing us one after another attentively and with a smiling and gracious Countenance told us how being informed that the King of France had sent us all six into China upon a great Design he had desired to see us that he might tell us by word of mouth that if we stood in need of any thing in his Kingdom either for the Service of the King our Master or for our selves in particular we should address our selves to his Minister whom he had ordered to furnish us with all we wanted We had no time to make Answer to that Favour any otherwise than by humble Thanks and profound Inclinations We only let him know that we should acquaint the King our Master with the Obligations that he had put upon us The King went his way and having past through this Court into another amidst a Lane of Mandarins prostrate before him in great silence with their Foreheads against the ground he found at the first Gate of the Palace the chief of the Companies of the European Merchants bare-footed on their knees and leaning upon their elbows to whom he gave a short Audience The Lord Constance having told us that it would be fit we should write the Complement that was to be made to the King and then present it to his Majesty Father Fontenay who foresaw that that Circumspection would not be unnecessary because perhaps he might not have time to read it presented it to the King who ordered the Lord Constance to take it It was both in the Siam-Language and the French and conceived in these Terms SIR The Jesuits Harangue presented to the King. WE have left the greatest King that France ever had but have had the Happiness in coming hither to find again in your Majesty the Qualities of that Prince That Greatness of Soul which so generously inclines you to assist your Allies the Courage wherewith you repress your Enemies the Advantages you have lately got over them that extraordinary Submission of your Subjects that Magnificence wherein you shew your self to them these famous Embassies which you receive from the remotest Parts of the World that Protection you give to Strangers that particular Affection you express toward the Ministers of the Gospel that Goodness which you so bountifully make also appear towards us All these things Sir are convincing Arguments that you are a Magnanimous Victorious Politic and Equitable King and as Fame and the Acclamations of your Subjects publish it the greatest Prince that ever sway'd the Scepter of Siam The Sciences Sir that we make Profession of are esteemed all over Europe Our King does so encourage them that for their Vse he has erected stately Observatories and for their sake given his August Name to our Companies College where they are taught We have studied to improve them from our Youth upwards especially Astronomy which best agrees with our Inclinations because it raises our Minds to the frequent Contemplation of Heaven the Habitation of the Blessed and the Countrey we only aspire unto His most Christian Majesty knowing that it is our Profession to make use of Human Sciences that by means of them we may bring Men to the Knowledge and Love of the true God and being perswaded that the Mathematics have been our particular Study has chosen us to go to China in quality of Mathematicians So that it is a Charge laid upon us to joyn our Endeavors with those whom he keeps at home by himself in the improvement of Arts and Sciences For the more easie accomplishment of so great a Design our great Monarch hath given us Letters Patents which recommend us to all the Princes of the Earth in consideration whereof your Majesty heaps Honour upon us by admitting us into your Presence It is impossible for us
Audience the King was to treat the Ambassador with a Fight of Elephants and his Majesty had already commanded six to be made ready for us that we might follow him to the Field of Battle which was out of Town The Lord Constance gave us a Mandarin to be our Guide and as we came out of the Palace we found six Elephants with their gilt Chairs and very neat Cushions Every one got up on the Back of his own in this manner The Pastor for so they call the Man that sits on the Elephants Neck to govern him made the Elephant kneel who afterward lay half down on one side so that one could put his Foot upon one of his Fore-legs which he thrust out and then upon his Belly after that the Beast rising a little up again gave one time to sit down conveniently in the Chair which he carried on his Back one may also make use of a Ladder as some do to get upon the Elephants Back It is for the Convenience of Strangers who are not accustomed to Elephants that they put Chairs on their Backs The Natives of the Country whatsoever their Quality be unless it be the King ride on the Neck and conduct them themselves except when they go to War for then besides two Pastors who get up one upon the Neck and the other on the Rump the Mandarin armed with a Lance or a kind of Javelin sets on the Elephants Back as I my self have seen it at a Hunting of Elephants whether the Mandarins go armed as to a Battle I observed also that the King who was in a kind of Throne started up upon his Legs when the wild Elephants would have forced their way through on his side and got upon the Neck of his to stop them We followed the King then into a large Plain about an hundred Paces from the Town The King mounted on an Elephant had my Lord Ambassador on his Right-hand at fifteen or twenty steps distance the Lord Constance on his Left-hand and all round a great many Mandarins prostrate at the Feet of his Elephant out of respect We presently heard some Trumpets which make a very harsh and inarticulate Sound then the two Elephants which were to fight roared and made a most horrid Noise They were tied by the Hind-feet with great Ropes held by several Men that they might be drawn off in case the Shock proved too hard They let them approach in such a manner that their Teeth crossed and yet they could not hurt one another They say that sometimes they 'l encounter so fiercely that breaking one anothers Teeth by their Efforts the Splinters of them will fly about These fought but with little Violence they encountered but four or five times and then were parted and the Engagement was so short that it was thought the King had only appointed it that he might have occasion in a more agreeable manner to make a Present to Monsieur de Vaudricourt who had brought the two Siamese Mandarins and was to carry the Ambassadors to France for at the end of the Show his Majesty drew near him and with his own Hand gave him a Shable with a Handle of beaten Gold and a Tortoise-shell Scabbard adorned with five Plates of Gold with a great Filigrane gold Chain also to serve for a Shoulder-belt and a Vest of Cloth of Gold with Gold Buttons He told him that he put that Cimeter into his Hands that he might securely conduct his Ambassadors and therewith serve the King his Master against his Enemies The King of Siam never gives that kind of Shable but to his Generals of Armies when they are setting out upon a Warlike Expedition He made such another Present to Monsieur de Joyeux Captain of the Frigat but not so Magnificent Some days after the Lord Constance sent rich Presents to the Ambassador the Abbot de Choisi Monsieur de Vaudricourt Monsieur de Joyeux and to every one of the Gentlemen of the Ambassador's Retinue These were Japan Plate wrought Agats a great many fine China-dishes of all Sizes China-Night Gowns right Bezoar-Stones the Ginseng Root that is worth eight times its weight in Silver the odoriferous Wood of Aquila so much esteemed in the Indies and excellent Tea in great quantity These Presents seemed to be of so considerable a Value that for some time it was thought by many that they had been sent by the King. We spent most of the days we stayed at Louvo in Shows The Fight we just now mentioned was followed by another of Elephants against a Tygre we were obliged to be there as well as the rest and mounted on Elephants We made use of no other Beast to ride on that we might not scandalize the Talapoins who say that it is prohibited to them to ride on Horse-back About a quarter of a League from the Town they had raised a high Palissado of Bambous about an hundred Paces square Three Elephants appointed to fight the Tyger were got into the middle of the Lists They had a kind of large Breast-plate which covered their Head and part of their Trunk So soon as we were come out of a Lodge that was in a low place they brought a Tyger of a Shape and Colour which seemed strange to the French that were Spectators For besides that he was much taller grosser and more lumpish than those that we had seen in France his Skin was not spotted in that Fashion but instead of Spots scattered here and there without order it had long broad Streaks that encompassed it like Rings These Streaks beginning at the Back joyned under the Belly and continuing to the End of the Tail made thereupon white and black Rings which were set very thick and covered it all over The Head and Limbs of the Beast had nothing extraordinary save that they were longer and bigger than those of common Tygers though this was but a young Tyger and not yet come to his full Growth for the Lord Constance told us that there were some in the Kingdom three times bigger than that and that being a hunting one day with the King he saw one at a very near distance that was as big as a Mule. They have little ones in that Country also like those they bring from Africa to Europe and they shew'd us one of them at Louvo the same Day They did not let slip the Tyger that was to fight at first but held him tied by two Ropes so that not having liberty to shoot himself out the first Elephant that came near him gave him two or three Blows with his Trunk on the Back This Shock was so rude that it laid the Tyger for some time all along upon the Ground and without motion as if he had been dead Nevertheless so soon as he was untied though the first bout had quelled much of his Fury he made a terrible Cry and would have thrown himself upon the Elephants Trunk but the Elephant turning it cunningly inwards secured it by
that God grants me life that hereafter my Successors and Subjects shall on all occasions testifie as well as I the grateful acknowledgment and high esteem which they ought to have for the Royal Person of his most Christian Majesty and for all his Successors This was the answer of the King of Siam in the same terms that he delivered it to his Minister and as he gave it in writing to my Lord Ambassador The wit of that Prince sufficiently appears by that reasoning who without any knowledge of the Sciences of Europe hath alledged with so much force and perspicuity the most plausible reasons of the Pagan Philosophy against the only true Religion They who know the uprightness of that Prince cannot doubt but that he sincerely said what he thought and what seemed to him most rational The King having said so was silent for some time and then eyeing the Lord Constance The Lord Constance his Reply to the King of Siam's Objections about changing of Religion What do you think added he the Ambassador will answer to these Reasons which I command you to give him in writing I shall not fail Sir answered the Lord Constance to obey your Majesties Orders but I cannot tell what the Ambassador of France will answer to what you have now said to me which seems to be of very great weight and consequence Sure I am he must needs be surprised at the high wisdom and wonderful perspicuity that he 'll perceive thereby in your Majesty However I fancy he may answer that it is true all the Beings which God hath Created Glorifie him every one after its way but that there is this difference betwixt Man and Beasts that when God Created these be gave them different properties and particular instincts to know what is good for them and pursue it without any reflection to discern their evil and avoid it without any ratiocination So the Stag flies from the Lion and Tyger the first time he sees them the Chickens new hatched dread the Kite and flie under the wings of the Hen without any other instruction but what they have received from Nature But in the Creation of Man God hath endowed him with a Mind and Reason to distinguish the Good from the Evil and Divine Providence hath thought it fit that in pursuing and loving the good which is proper for him and avoiding the evil that is contrary to him with reference to his ultimate end which is to know and love God Man should from the Divine Bounty merit an eternal Reward The truth is it is as easie for Man to make use of his hands eyes and feet in the commission of evil as in doing of good if his prudence enlightned by the Wisdom of God directed him not to pursue the ways of real Grandeur which are not to be found but in the Christian Religion wherein Man finds the means of serving God as best pleases his Divine Goodness But all Men follow not so holy and so rational notices It is just so as with your Majesties Officers who are not all equally addicted to your Interests as you but too well know tho all of them call themselves your Subjects and account it an honour to be employed â—in your Service So all Men serve God it is true but in a very different manner Some like Beasts follow their Passions and irregular appetites and live in the Religion they have been brought up in without examining it But others perceiving so great a difference betwixt themselves and Beasts raise themselves above their senses and by means of their Reason which God fails not to enlighten endeavour to know their Creator and the true Worship which he would have men render unto him without any interest but that of pleasing him and to this sincere search of the truth God Almighty hath annexed Mans Salvation Hence it is that negligence in not being instructed and weakness in not following that we judge the best will render us guilty in the sight of God who is the Sovereign Judge of all Flesh This answer from a Man of no Studies who from ten years of age had been applied to Trade and Commerce wrought a great surprize in me when he did me the honour to acquaint me with it I confessed to him without any fear of flattery that a Divine consummated in the Study of Religion would have been hard put to it to have answered better The King was smitten with the discourse of the Lord Constance and if any knowing Man who is acceptable to him hath the happiness to insinuate into his favour and procure his esteem it is not to be dispaired but that he may be brought to know and embrace the Truth and if once he come to know it seeing he is the absolute Master of his People who adore him all the Nations who are under his Dominion will humbly follow his example The King of Siam who Reigns at present is about fifty five years of Age. A Character of the King of Siam He is without contradiction the greatest Prince that ever governed that State. He is somewhat under the middle Stature but streight and well shaped He hath an engaging Air a sweet and obliging carriage especially to Strangers And amongst them particularly to the French. He is active and brisk an enemy of idleness and laziness which seems to be so delightful to the Princes of the East and which they look upon as the greatest Prerogative of their Crown This Prince on the contrary is always either in the Woods a hunting of Elephants or in his Palace minding the Affairs of his Kingdom He is no lover of War because it ruins his People whom he tenderly loves but when his Subjects revolt or that neigbouring Princes offer him the least affront or transgress the bounds of the respect that 's due to him there is no King in the East that takes a more conspicuous revenge nor appears more passionate for glory Some great men of his Kingdom having rebelled and having been openly supported by the Forces of three Kings whose Territories environ the Kingdom of Siam He attacked those Princes so briskly that they were obliged to abandon the Rebels to his wrath He would know every thing and having a pregnant and piercing Wit he easily is Master of what he has a mind to learn. He is magnificent generous and as true a friend as can be imagined These are the great qualities which acquire him the difference of his Neighbours the fear of his Enemies the esteem and respect of his Subjects that 's nothing short of adoration He hath never been given to those vices which are so common to the Princes of the East nay he hath severely punished the most considerable Mandarins and principal Officers of the Crown for being too much addicted to their pleasures So that the most invincible obstacle to the Conversion of Idolatrous Princes is not to be found in him I mean the immoderate love of Women By the
there they come out and take the first word they hear spoken for the response of the Oracle which they have consulted It sometimes happens that to punish their criminal Curiosity God permits that the event confirms what they have learnt by this way Thus some of the Wives of the first Ambassadors that were sent to France or board the Sun of the East being anxious to know the Destiny of their Husbands whom they feared they should never see again made their Sacrifices in the Cave I mentioned and being afterwards come back again to the Town in the Evening they heard a Woman saying to her Slaves Shut the door they 'le return no more They took these words as a presage of the misfortune that happened in the Sequel and from that time bewailed the loss of their Husbands The respect they have for the King goes as far as adoration The Reverenâ—e the Siameâ—e have for their King. The posture wherein they are to be in his presence is a visible mark of it Nay even in the Council which sometimes lasts four hours the Ministers lye all the while prostrate before the King and if any of them chance to faint he dares not rise upon his knees nor sit up upon the ground though the Prince commâ—nd him so to do till a Curtain he drawn before â—is Throne When the King goes abroad all must withdraw and no body dares to be in his way but they who have express orders for it unless it be when he had a mind to show himself to his people on certain days of Ceremony Strangers also have Notice given them to keep within doors when the King is to go abroâ—d No man is suffered to come near the Palace whil'st he is there One day as I was returning from a Pagod with a Mandarin who had carried me thither in his Balon our Water-men going along with the Stream came a little too near the Walls of the Palace But they soon stood off again when they felt a shower of pease flying about their ears which the Sâ—uldiers upon the guard shot at them with Trunks to make them withdraw The King holds Council several times a day The King holds several Councils daily and that 's his greatest exercise None of his Counsellers dares be absent and if any of them chanced to have extraordinary business or to fall sick he ought before the hour of Council ask leave of the King to be absent Without that leave no hurry of business nor sickness will excuse him from incurring grievous punishments if he be able to go for the King never fails to send to know the reasons of his absence and the Officer whom the King sends has Orders to speak to the person himself The Kings Daughter hath her Court and Council The Princess the Kings only Daughter hath her Court and Council consisting of the Wives of the chief Mandarins She is witty and active and in the Government of the Provinces which the King hath given her shows a great deal of wisdom and moderation She is only served by Women and no Man ever saw her neither publicly nor privately When she goes abroad upon an Elephant she is shut up in a kind of Chair that hinders her from being seen The Kingdom of Siam descends not from Father to Son. In the Kingdom of Siam the Kings Brothers are preferred before his Children in the Succession to the Crown but it returns to these after the death of their Uncles The present King has two Brothers who live with him in the Palace he hath also according to the custom of the Orientals an adoptive Son who accompanies him in all places and who has peculiar honours rendered unto him The Religion of the Siamese is very odd and cannot be perfectly understood but by the Books that are written in the Balis Language which is the Learned Language and hardly understood by any except some of their Doctors Nor do these Books neither always agree amongst themselves This following account of their Religion is the most exact that possibly I could attain to The Siamese believe a God but they have not the same notion of him that we have What the Siamese believe of their God. By that word they understand a being perfect after their manner consisting of Spirit and Body whose property it is to assist-men That assistance consists in giving them a Law prescribing them the ways of living well teaching them the true Religion and the Sciences that are necessary unto them The perfections which they attribute unto him are all the moral virtues possessed by him in an eminent degree acquired by many acts and confirmed by a continual exercise in all the Bodies he hath past through He is free from passions and feels no motion that can alter his tranquillity but they affirm that before he arrived at that State he made so prodigious a change in his Body by struggling to overcome his Passions that his blood is become white He hath the Power to appear when he pleases and also to render himself invisible to the eyes of men and he hath such wonderful agility that in a moment he can be in any place of the world he pleases The knowledg of the God of the Siamese He knoweth all without having ever learnt any thing from men whose Doctor and Master he himself is and that universal knowledg is inherent in his state having possessed it from the instant that he was born God it consists not as our doeâ— in a train of consequences but in a clear simple and intuitive vision which all at once represents to him the Precepts of the Law Vices Virtues and the most hidden secrets of Nature things past present and come Heaven Earth Paradice Hell this Universe which we see and even what is done in the other Worlds which we know not He distinctly remembers all that hath ever befallen him from the first transmigration of his Soul even to the last His body is infinitely more radiant than the Sun it lights that which is most hidden and by the help of the light that it diffuses a man here below upon Earth might that I may make use of their expression see a grain of Mustard seed placed in the Highest Heavens Wherein consists his happiness The happiness of that God is not compleat but when he dies never to be born again for then he appears noâ— more upon the Earth nor is he any more subject to Misery They compare that death to a torch extinct or to a sleep that renders us insensible of the Evils of Life with this difference that when God dies he is exempted from them for ever whereas a man asleep is but free from them for a certain time This reign of every Deity lasts not eternally it is confined to a certain number of years that 's to say until the number of the elect who are to be sanctified by his Merits be accomplished after which he appears
met with 35 Spouts of another kind ibid. Extraordinary Rain-bows to be seen at Sea. 35 Phenomena that are to be seen in the water of the Sea. 36 Lights that come out of the Sea in the night time ibid. An English Ship made off at Sea. 37 Marks to know the nearness of the Cape of good hope 39 Divers Birds to be seen at Sea in approaching to the Cape of Good Hope ibid. The Second Book DAnger of being forced upon a Rock as the Ship was coming to Anchor 44 Our Ship came to an Anchor amidst four Holland Vessels 45 The Dutch send to know from whence our Ships 46 The Ambassador sent to complement the Governor of the Cape ibid. The Jesuits visit the Governor of the Cape 47 The Climate of the Cape of Good-hope is very temperate 48 The Jesuits are extreamly well received by the Dutch. 49 The Civilities of Monsieur Van Rheedâ—n 50 The Description of a lovely Garden which the Dutch East-India Company have on the Cape of Good hope 51 All Dutch Ships are ordered to touch at the Cape of Good-Hope 52 The Ambassador and Commission General interchange many Civilities 53 We began to make our Observations ibid. A dubious Observation 54 Several Observations concerning the Southern Stars 55 An Interview betwixt the Ambassador and Commissary General 57 The Emersion of the first Satelles of Jupiter observed ib. The difference of Meridians betwixt the Cape of Good-Hope and Paris 58 Advantages that may be drawn from the observations made at the Cape 59 The Governour sends several Presents to the Jesuits 60 Curious Fish brought from Japan ibid. We reimbarked in order to Sail. 61 What care was taken of the Catholics at the Cape ib. The Sentiments of the Catholicks on the Cape upon our arrival ib. The Jesuits are suspected of administring the Sacraments 62 The Dutch setling on the Cape 63 The different Animals that are to be found on the Cape 64 A prodigious Elephant 65 A property of the Rhinoceros ibid. Several sorts of Fish at the Cape 66 Golden Mines on the Cape 67 A Translation of a Latin relation of the Places about the Cape ibid. The Manners of the Inhabitants of the Cape 68 Their Arms. 69 Their Food ibid. Their blindness as to matters of Religion ibid. Their Opinion as to their own way of living and that of Strangers ibid. The Apparel of the Men and Women 70 Their Moral Virtues 71 The manner how they punish Crimes ibid. The knowledges they have of the Heavens and Natural things ibid. They are so accustomed to Liberty that they cannot live under the least constraint ibid. The Hunters live in the Woods and the Shepherds in Cottages A description of these Cottages 72 The Namaquas lives in Villages and are politer than the rest 73 Their Musick and Instruments ibid. Their way of Dancing ibid. The Strength Courage and Manners 74 The Ubiquas are given to Thieving ibid. The different Nations discovered by the Dutch. ibid. The Sea-cow ibid The Governor of the Cape made a Progress up into the Country 75 The danger he was in of losing his life ibid. Their Musick Instruments and Dancing 76 Their Apparel 77 The Misfortunes of those Idolatrous People and the small hopes there is of converting them 79 Our departure from the Cape of Good-Hope 80 Navigators ought to be always on their Guard about the thirty sixth Degree South Latitude 81 Necessary Remarks for those who are bound to the Indies from the Cape 82 Prayers made for the obtaining of fair Weather 83 Sickness amongst the Ships Company ibid. The Patience and Piety of the Sea-men 84 God grants fair Weather at the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin. 85 A Caution not to be neglected in that course ibid. The Trial are three pretty low Islands 86 The Wind being contrary we betook our selves to Prayers again 87 The Sea-men of St. Malo show a particular Devotion ibid. Gods special Protection of our Ship. 88 The Perplexity we were in before we came to the Isle of Java 89 The Third Book ARrival at the Isle of Java 91 A considerable mistake in the Hydrographical and Geographical Charts ibid. Breezes rise on Sumatra at certain hours of the day 94 The danger the Ship was in in the Streight ib. Extraordinary Thunder and Lightning at Java and Sumatra 95 The Javaners came on Board in their little Boats. ib. The Road of Bantam 97 A Remedy for the Land-Evil 98 The Chevalier de Fourbin is sent to the Governor of Bantam ib. He found the Maligne and returned on Board with the Lieutenant of the Frigat ib. The bad reception those of the Maligne met before our Arrival at Bantam 99 Mutual Presents of the Governor of Bantam and the Captain of the Frigat 100 The Governors Suspition of the French. 101 The Javeners are mad to see Sultan Agoum their old King in Prison ibid. The Chevalier de Fourbin is sent to Bantam 102 We weigh from the Road of Bantam and stand away for Batavia 103 Several Revolutions that have happened in the Kingdom of Bantam ibid. The King of Bantam having resigned the Crown to his Son attempts to resume it again ibid. The young Sultan besieged by his Father begs Assistance from the Dutch. 105 General Spelman sends a strong Assistance to Sultan Agui besieged ibid. Sultan Agui guarded by the Dutch. 106 The English and French leave the Town by the King of Bantams Order 107 The Civilities of the General of Batavia to the Ambassador 108 The Jesuits land at Batavia to make Observations 109 The good Reception they had from the Officers of the Dutch East-India Company ib. A Description of the Garden of the late General Spelman 110 The French Jesuits go to see Father Dominic Fucity 111 The good usage that the Fathers Missiononers of Tunquin met with at Batavia ibid. The Character of Father Fucity and his Apostolic Labours in several Kingdoms 112 The earnestness of the Catholics of Batavia to receive the Sacraments 113 The General of Batavia receives the Jesuits with much Civility and Goodness 115 The Catholic Religion is the only Religion prohibited at Batavia 119 The Description of Batavia 120 A Dutch Ship that ran foul of us 132 The Streight of Banka difficult to be passed because of the want of Water 131 The Lord Constance receives the Jesuits with extraordinary goodness 147 A Description of the Palace where the Ambassador lodged at Siam 148 The Lord Constance causes Appartments to be built for lodging the Jesuits at Siam ibid. The King of Siam sends a stately Balon to the Ambassador 149 The Fourth Book THe Ambassadour Embarks in the Balon of the King of Siam 151 A description of the Houses built on the Rivers side to receive him 152 How the King of Siam receives the Ambassadors of Neighbouring Princes 155 How the Ambassadors of Independant Kings are received at Siam 157 The King of Siam orders the Lord Constance to adjust with the Ambassador the Ceremonies of his Reception