the water so greedily to snap it that many times they will take thirty or forty of them in an hours time with two or three lines only We met not with so many Bonitoes as Sailers commonly do because perhaps the number of flying-Flying-fish was not then so great in those Seas However we saw many shoals of them rise up in the Air eight or ten foot high and fly fifty or sixty paces before they fell again into the water to moisten their wings and recruit their strength to avoid the Bonitoes which many times catch them at their fall or leap out of the water and take them upon wing They meet with certain Birds of prey also that fall upon them when they rise out of the Water to escape from the Bonitoes One of these Fish being hotly pursued one day leaped into our Ship and struck against one of our Mates heads Tho' I had seen of them before yet I took pleasure to consider it it was of the shape colour and bigness of a Herring the back somewhat thicker and the fore-part of the head round like the Pocket-fish with wings much like to those of Bats These are the sorts of fish that we saw most about the Line We had had the Sun apeek that is to say just over head the nine and twentieth day of March towards the third Degree of the North-Latitude The weather being very clear that day we had the pleasure to observe that at noon the Masts and every thing else in the Ship made no shadow After that we were becalmed for seven or eight days and we made the remaining threescore and ten Leagues to the Line only by short gusts of wind which Clouds and Tempests brought with them After all we heard none of those great Thunder-claps thereabouts wherewith they threatned us so much in France but we saw much Lightning in the night time and so frequently that the Sky and Sea seemed to be all on a fire Seeing we were not very much incommoded by the heats and calms in those climates we had but very few sick Men on board and in all our passage from Brest to the Cape of Good-hope we lost but one Man nay and he too came on Board tho' no body knew of it with a Bloody-flux upon him whereof he died It was certainly our duty to give God great thanks for the good weather he was pleased to send us about the Line Gods particular Protection of all that were in the ship for had we been stopped by the calms so long as many times Ships are weather-bound there all our water Bread and Victuals would soon have been spoiled and have occasioned many Distempers that must needs have carried off many of our Men as it happened this year to a Dutch Ship. This Vessel put out from Europe above two Months before us and nevertheless they found us at an Anchor before Batavia where we were informed that the Ships Company had been so incommoded with calms about the Line for six whole weeks time that most part of them falling sick thirty seven of about forty eight that were aboard died among whom were the Captain and two chief Mates so that the surviving eleven not being able to Sail the Ship to the Port whither they were bound were obliged to put in to the Isle of Sumatra and to look for Men there to carry them to the Road of Batavia where we saw them come in Apil 7. passed the Equinoctial Line Our Victuals and Water were not spoiled nor did we hardly suffer any thing by bad weather nor calms and the heats of the torrid Zone appeared not to us to be much greater than the heats that are felt in France about Midsomer Thus without any incommodity we passed the Line the seventh of April being Saturday with an easie North-west-wind about the three hundred and fifty eighth Degree of Longitude It being already late the solemn Ceremonies which Seamen never fail to perform upon that occasion was put off till next morning after Mass It is an invention devised by the Masters Mates and other Officers of Ships to get a little Money to buy fresh Provisions with for themselves and company to which they give but very improperly the name of Baptism The Ambassador would have no Ceremonies acted that did any ways allude to sacred things Every one gave what he thought fit and the rest came off for some buckets full of water which were thrown upon their Bodies but it being very hot there they were not much the worse for it From the time we past the Line till we came to the Tropick of Capricorn we had bad winds and sometimes none at all for we were becalmed about the twentieth degree of South-Latitude where we suffered the scorching heats of the torrid Zone until the thirtieth of April that we past the Tropick After that we had for most part changeable winds and so easie that a small Boat might have followed us without any danger It is true that under the Zone we met two or three times with those boisterous Gusts which the Portuguese call Travadas or Troadas because they are always accompanied with Thunder and Lightning What Trovadas and the fire of S. Helm are but seeing we had them a stern of us they did us but little harm and made us run a good way on head During one of these Travadas there appeared at two several times upon the Masts Yards and Guns of our Ship some of those little Fires of a Piramidal figure which the Portuguese call the fire of St. Telme and not St. Helme Some Seamen look upon them as the Soul of the Saint of that name whom then they invoke with all their might joyned hands and many other marks of respect Nay there are some of them who take them for a certain sign that the Storm will soon be over without doing them any damage These are the very same fires which heretofore the Pagans Adored under the name of Castor and Pollux and It is strange that that Superstition should be introduced also amongst Christians March 12. about Noon we discovered one of those Phenomena called a weather-gall or Ox Eye because of its Figure They are lookt upon commonly at Sea as certain forerunners of a Storm It is a great round Cloud opposite to the Sun and distant from him eighty or ninety Degrees and upon it the Sun paints the colours of the Rainbow but very lively They appear perhaps to have so great a lustre and brightness because that weather-gall is environed on all sides with thick and dark Clouds However it be I dare say that I never found any thing falser than the Prognosticks of that apparition I formerly saw one of them when I was near the Continent of America but which was followed as this was with fair and serene weather that lasted several days Several Phenomena's observed during the Voyage Since we are speaking of Phenomena's or Apparitions I must not here forget
hot as those of a Pig. Nor did they make any more doubâ— but that they breathed when they saw that it had Lungs as fit for respiration as the Lungs of Animals that live out of the Water are And indeed Nature having given it no Gills like other Fish but only two holes on the two sides of the head to let in the Air that undoubtedly is the reason why these Fish ever now and then raise the head and sometimes the whole body above the Water and that they always swim against the wind Hence also it is that when Seamen see the Porposses move any way during a Calm they fail not to say that they will have the wind from that corner which they swim towards Whatever presentment they may have we sometimes luckily found the Seamens predictions to be true Porposses devour one another I have been often told nay and have observed in a Voyage that I made to America that when one of these Fish is mortally wounded and has strength enough to struggle it self off of the Harping-Iron the rest follow it by the tract its blood makes which it sheds in abundance and never leave it till it be dead that so they may devour it I was confirmed in that opinion for one day a Porposs which had been struck kept so great a strugling that it wrought the Harping-Iron out of its belly and escaped out of our hands At that time there were many more about the Ship but so soon as this which had been wounded fled for it all the rest disappeared and there was not one more to be seen all that day Now we are upon Fishing I must here speak of what sport we had that way and of the fish we saw which are not so well known in Europe I will begin with the Shark A description of the Shark because it is a fish often seen and most easily taken We have sometimes taken six of them in one day This fish is a kind of Sea Dog which hath a very large and flat head the mouth very low because of the lower Jaw which lies a great way under the upper so that when it would bite it is forced to lie upon one side and sometimes upon the back Those we took were about four foot long and very thick a little below the head the skin of it is a kind of chagrine that hath a very rough grain with six openings on each side which are shut by means of a kind of very thin skin that stands it instead of Gills It is certainly the most voracious Animal living tho' it hath been struck with the Hook three or four times and the mouth of it be all bloody yet still it returns again with the same greediness untill it be taken or hath carried away the bait Now if it chance to seize a Man he is gone it never quits its hold and therefore it is say some that the Sea-men call it Shark The cause of that extraordinary greediness is the greatness of its Liver it consists of two lappets drawing round at the end being a foot and a half long and four fingers bâ—ood but not at all thick besides it hath but one 〈◊〉 and that a very short one too and almost streight We found one with a piece of Board in its belly four fingers broad and a foot and a half long It hath no Lungs and the heart of it is placed in a concavity made by the concourse of two bones near the head It hath three rows of teeth of which some do bend some are strait and others of different Figures nay it hath also a row of triangular teeth which are very thin and terminate like a Saw. There are three concavities in the head of it one on each side which contain a white substance that hath some consistence it afterwards grows hard and is called the Sharks stone our Chirugeons attribute great virtues to it and I take their word The third concavity that is in the middle of the head holds the brain which is much about the bigness of a pullets egg The substance thereof appeared to us to be very watrish and it was with much ado that we could distinguish the callous body from the medullary It hath a very little Cerebel and betwixt the Brain and the Cerebel a very soft Glandule which bears upon two other smaller ones Sucking-Fish called by the Seamen Pilot-fish The Shark is always attended by several small Fish that make its Retinue and which adhere so inseparably to him that they will chuse rather to be taken with him than to abandon him They are called his Pilot-fish because it is pretended that they serve him for Guides to lead him to those places where they discover any prey It is a vulgar error to imagine that these fish perform that good office to him without any interest they only stick so close to him because of the food they find there For besides that they make the best of the reversions of his prey they stick close to his skin by means of a cartalaginous little skin of an oval Figure which they have upon the head and which is straked and armed with a great many fibres wherewith belike they attract some juice and that 's the reason why some call them sucking fish When they have a mind to swim off they must keep without reach of his teeth otherwise they would fare no better than other fish do I have seen some Sharks attempt to catch them and it was well for the sucking fish that they got as soon as possibly they could to their usual Sanctuary When they are pulled up with the Shark it is no easie matter to separate them if they be put upon a Table they will stick to it as they do to the Sea-Dog and in that scituation which is natural to them the under-side of their Gills and their Belly is upwards There are two kinds of them some white which are much of the shape of a Rochet-fish and others blackish that are very small of these last chiefly I speak We found also a great many Bonitoes thereabouts which are the implacable enemies of the Flying-fish whom they continually pursue The Bonitos pursues the Flying-fish It is the best sort of Fish that we took in all our Voyage they are about the bigness of our largest Carps but much thicker have no scales but the skin a little silvered and the back marked with long obscure and gold-like streaks We also took Albacores so called by the Portuguese because of their whitish colour They are a kind of Bonitoe but three times bigger than the others the fish colour and taste are much the same Seeing both of them are great lovers of the flying-flying-fish the Sea-men make a thing like a flying-flying-fish which they fasten to the end of a Line to catch them with They make that Figure dance upon the surface of the water before the Bonitoes and Albacores which leap out of
a pretty rare one which we observed betwixt the Line and Tropick of Capricorn and which seems to be difficult to be explained It was one of those great whirl-winds which the Seamen call Spouts or water dragons They are like to long Tubes or Cylinders made of thick Vapours which with one end touch the Clouds and with the other the Sea that seems to boil all round it Much after this manner are these Dragons formed The manner how Spouts are formed At first you see a great thick Cloud from which a part breaks off and this separated part being driven by an impetuous wind insensibly changes its shape and takes the figure of a long pillar which descends as low as the Surface of the Sea continuing so much the longer in the Air as the violence of the Wind retains it there or as the lower parts of it support those that are above So when that long spout of water comes to be cut by the Yards or Masts of the Ship entring into it when one cannot avoid the same or the motion of the wind comes to be interrupted by rarifying the neighbouring air with Canon or Musquet-shot the water being then no longer supported falls in prodigious quantity and immediately all the Dragon is dispersed Which are dangerous to be met with They do all they can at Sea to avoid them it being dangerous to meet them in their way not only because of the water which falls into the Ship but also by reason of the sudden violence and extraordinary weight of the whirlwind that blows it which is able to unmast the greatest Ships and even put them in danger of being lost Though at a distance these spouts seem to be pretty small and like to pillars of six or seven foot diameter they are nevertheless of far greater extent I saw two or three of them near the Berlingues in Portugal within a Pistol-shot of me and they seemed to me to be above an hundred foot in circumference We observed besides other Phenomenas not much different from these last Spouts of another kind they are called Siphons because of their long Figure pretty like in shape to some Pumps They appear about Sun-rising and Sun-setting towards the same place where the Sun then is They are long and thick Clouds environed with other clear and transparent ones and fall not but in process of time are all confounded together and by little and little scattered whereas the Dragons are impetuously driven last a long while and are always accompanied with rain and whirlwinds which make the Sea to boil and cover it with froth The Rainbows of the Moon in those places have far more lively colours then those that are seen in France Extraordinary Rain-bows to be seen at Sea But the Sun forms rare ones upon the drops of Sea-water which are driven by the wind like a very small Rain or like fine dust when two waves beating against one another break When one looks down upon these Iris's from a high place they seem to be reversed and sometimes it happens that a Cloud passing over it and being ready to dissolve into Rain another Rainbow is formed the extremities whereof seem to be continued with the extremities of the reversed Iris and so makes a Circle of Rain-bow almost entire Phenomena that are to be seen in the water of the Sea. The Sea hath its Phenomena as well as the Air fires many times appear upon it especially betwixt the Tropicks We have seen it sometimes in the night-time covered all over with sparks when it is a little high and the water breaks with a topping Sea we observed also a great light a-stern of the Ship especially if she made quick way for then the wake or tract of the Ship appeared like a River of Light and if any thing were thrown into the Sea it glittered and shone all over I think the cause of that light need no where else to be searched for but in the very nature of the Sea-water it self which being full of Salt Nitre and more particularly of that water whereof the Chimists make the chief part of their Phosphorus which being agitated is immediately inflamed and appears Luminous ought also by the same reason to sparkle when it is put into motion So small a matter is enough to make fire come out of sea-Sea-water that handling a Line or small Rope that hath been steeped in it one will force out an infinite number of sparks like to the light of Glow-worms that is to say lively and blewish Lights that come out of the Sea in the night time It is not only when the Sea is in agitation that these glancings are to be seen we saw of them near the Line in a dead Calm after Sun-set they seemed to us to be like a vast number of small flashes of faint Lightning coming out of the Sea and immediately after disappearing The cause of that we attributed to the heat of the Sun who having in a manner impregnated and filled the Sea in the day time with an infinite number of igneous and luminous spirits these spirits uniting together in the evening that they might get out of the violent state whereunto they were forced by the Sun endeavoured in his absence to regain their liberty and formed those little flashes as they made their escape by the favour of the night Besides these transient glances of a minutes continuance we saw others also during Câ—â—â—s which might be called permanent because they are not dispersed as the former were There are of them of different sizes and shapes round and oval above a foot and a half diameter which passed along the Ships side and were kept in view above two hundred paces by what one could guess in seeing them pass nine or ten paces from the Ships side They were thought to be â—nly slime or some unctuous substance which by some natural cause or other unknown to us might be formed in the Sea. Some would needs have had them to be Fish asleep and these glitter naturally It is true that twice in the Morning we had seen above twenty such glittering things following one another in a strait line and shaped like our Pikes nay many who had been much at Sea took them to be real fish but one cannot be positive as to that Let us now pursue our Course again An Engish Ship made off at Sea. the tenth of May in the morning we made a small English Ship which hailed and spoke to the Malâ—gne that was nearer it than we she was returning from the Isles of America and going to take in Slaves at Madagascar They did what they could to keep up with us but the wind being good and we carrying much Sail the same day we lost sight of her May 17. We were got into the 33 d. Degree of South Latitude and the 19th of Longitude according to our Mates reckoning There we began to see Fowl of various shapes
and weeds with great greenish Rushes ten or twelve foot long which they call Trunks because their stalk which grows and tapers insensibly to the top where it ends in leaves of the same colour represents pretty well the shape of an Elephants Trunk The Sea-weeds are a kind of herb inclining to green not unlike to Hay whereof the sprigs are very long and interwoven one within another Some think that these weeds come from the bottom of the Sea being by the Waves forced from thence and raised to the surface of the water Others will have them to grow in the water because they see them far out at Sea and they cannot believe that the Sea can be so agitated as to carry its waves to the bottom and so beat off the weeds from thence Besides that they are found in so great plenty upon the surface of the Sea that it looks like a great Meadow Lastly others maintain and that is the Opinion which seems to me most plausible and consonant to truth that these weeds come from the neighbouring Coasts from whence the waves force them so that they are carried put into the open Sea but not very far from Land either by the Tydes Currents or the prevailing winds Upon that perswasion it was that Christopher Columbus so famous for his Discoveries in America seeing one night the Sea about his Ship all covered over with these weeds encouraged his Men who thought themselves lost taking those weeds for Flats and promised to make them suddenly see Land which accordingly he did two days after These extraordinary Birds Marks to know the nearness of the Cape of good hope Trunks and Weeds are the surest signs of ones approaching the Cape This shows that Men have intimations of it at a pretty good distance seeing the first time that we saw of them we were in the ninteenth degree of Longitude and the thirty third of South Latitude that is to say that we were near three hundred Leagues from the Cape of Good Hope They said that if instead of keeping along the Coast of Africa as we did we had stood out to Sea to the West-ward we had met with those Signs farther off at Sea. This made me judge that the Currents that carry them along with them run stronger towards the West than North. We found the same things two days after we set out from the Cape of Good Hope steering away East South-East but in far greater quantity That continued all the third day though we had a good wind and made a great deal of way The days following we saw the same Birds in a greater number Divers Birds to be seen at Sea in approaching to the Cape of Good Hope which forsook us not till we were got a great way beyond the Cape Some of them were black on the back and white on the belly the back of their wings being speckled with those two colours much like to a chequer and therefore the French call them Damiers they are somewhat bigger than a Pigeon There are others bigger than these blackish above and all white below except the tip of their wings which appears to be of a Velveted-black and therefore the Portuguese call them Mangas de veludo Velvet sleeves After these we saw Flocks of others somewhat less than the former The Portuguese call them Boralhos because they are of an Ash-coloured-grey I shall not speak of certain big Fowls which because of their whiteness may be called Sea-Swans nor of the Ravens and Rooks which are to be found in these places nor yet of a kind of Birds which they call Boobies because they are so little upon their guards that they suffer themselves to be taken with the hand The North-wind blowing much stronger on the twenty eighth we were obliged to lye under a Main Course for fear of running ashore which we did not think to be far off Indeed next day about noon a Sea-man that was aloft to look out with all his force cried Land Land and presently came down to ask of my Lord Ambassador the reward which he had promised to him who should first make Land. He confidently affirmed that he had made it before in the Morning not daring to say so because he was not very sure of it but that at present it was past all doubt Nevertheless hardly any body could discern the Mountain which he show'd and it was a long while before they would believe him But at length three or four hours after we easily saw the Mountains of the Cape of Good Hope which might be fifteen or twenty Leagues a head of us Next day the one and twentieth the day of our Lords Ascension after we had said our usual Prayers and sung Mass to thank God for the good success of our Voyage we viewed the Land with our Glasses and saw it distinctly not being above three Leagues off How Barbarous and Barren soever it seemed to be to us it was nevertheless a delightful sight for Men who had seen no Land from the Canary Islands which we sailed by the thirteenth of March. A VOYAGE TO SIAM The Second BOOK The Voyage from the Cape of Good-Hope to the Isle of Java THE Cape of Good-Hope as those that come from Europe make it is a long Ridge of Mountains reaching from North to South and ending in a Point in the Sea. The first two which we made at ten Leagues distance from that Point are the Mountains of the Table and of the Lyon. We made the Table Land first and it is called by that Name because the Top of it is very flat and much resembles a Table The Lyon-Land or Mountain is so called because it hath a great deal of the Shape of a Lyon couchant upon the Belly Though it run farther out into the Sea than the other yet we did not see it till after at a distance it would seem that they were but one single Mountain and indeed they are not very remote At the Foot of these Mountains a great Bay of an Oval Figure runs up towards the East two or three Leagues within Land it is almost two Leagues over at the Mouth and about nine in compass On the South side towards the Mountains it is all a safe Coast every where else it is dangerous near Shoar The Commissary General of the East India Company of whom we have much to say in the Sequel told us one day that he was many times afraid seeing us stand in so near to Shoar upon the Tacks we made insomuch that he was thinking to fire a Gun with a Bullet to give us warning by that Signal that we should keep off and wait for a fairer Wind. Towards the Middle of this Bay the Dutch have built a Pentagone Fort below the Table-land which covers it to the South and behind the Lyon-Mountain that secures it to the West a League from Land or thereabouts In entering the Bay you leave a pretty low Island on the
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
the Commander himself too that they had seen ten thousand of them together in a Plain which they found in a Wood. There are not so many Lyons nor Tygers as Stags but yet there is a great many of them and I can easily believe it because of the vast number of those Beasts skins wherein they Trade at the Cape They keep not so close to the Woods but that they come sometimes to places inhabited where they set upon any thing they meet and even upon Men themselves There happened an instance of this while we were there and the Commissary-General told us it Two Men walking at a distance from their habitations perceived a Tyger one fired at it and missed if upon which it made a spring at him and brought him to the ground the other seeing in what extreme danger his Comrade was fired at the Tyger and wounded his Friend in the thigh The Tyger in the mean time having received no hurt left his prey and made after this Man the first getting up again came in in the nick of time and killed the Tyger They say that this Beast hath such an instinct that amongst an hundred Men it will single out him that fired at it and leave all the rest A month before the like accident almost happened of a Lyon who tore to pieces a Man and his Servant pretty near the habitations and was afterwards killed himself At the Cape we took a great may excellent Fish Several sorts of Fish at the Cape Amongst others Mullets and of those fish which in France they call Dorades or Gilt-heads and are far different from the Dolphin which is much bigger and better deserves that name because of its yellowish colour and golden specks that make it pass for one of the loveliest Fish that swims in the Sea. We took also great numbers of Soals and some Cramp-fish The Cramp-fish is an ugly Fish and very soft which hath the virtue when they fish for it to cause a numness in the hand and arm We saw many Sea-Wolves there which seem to be well enough named There are Pinguins there also These are water-foul without wings and are constantly almost in the water being truly amphibious In the year 1681. the Heer Vanderstel setled a new Colony consisting of fourscore and two Families nine or ten Leagues farther up in the Country and called it by the name of Hollenbok Some affirm that there are Gold Mines on the Cape Golden Mines on the Cape They shewed us Stones found there which seemed to confirm that opinion for they are ponderous and with a Microscope one may discover on all sides small particles that look like gold But the most curious thing we found on the Cape was an exact Map of the places about newly discovered by a Hollander with a Latin relation of the Nations that inhabit them Both were given us by a Man of Credit who hath set down nothing but what himself was an eye-witness of the translation of it follows The South point of Africa is no less remote from Europe A Translation of a Latin relation of the Places about the Cape than the manner of its Inhabitants are different from ours For these People are ignorant of the Creation of the World the Redemption of Mankind and the Mystery of the most Holy Trinity However they adore a God but the knowledge they have of him is very confused In honour of him they kill Cows and Sheep and Offer Him the Flesh and Milk in Sacrifice as a token of their gratitude towards that Deity who grants them as they believe sometimes Rain and sometimes fair weather according as they stand in need of it they expect no other life after this Notwithstanding that they have still some good qualities which should hinder us from despising them for they have more Charity and Fidelity one toward another then is to be found commonly amongst Christians Adultery and Theft are with them capital Crimes always punished by Death Tho every Man has the liberty to take as many Wives as he is able to maintain yet none of them not of the richer sort is to be found with more than three These People are divided into several Nations The Manners of the Inhabitants of the Cape who have all the same way of living Their ordinary Food is Milk and the flesh of the Cattle which they keep in great quantity Every one of these Nations have their Head or Captain whom they obey that Office is Hereditary and goes from Father to Son. The Right Succession belongs to the Eldest and that they may retain the Authority and Respect they are the only Heirs of their Fathers the younger having no other inheritance but the obligation of serving their Elders Their Cloaths are no more but plain Sheep-skins with the wool prepared with Cows dung and a certain Grease that renders them insupportable both to the eye and smell The first Nation in the Language of the Country is called Songuas The Europeans call those People Hotentots perhaps because they have always that word in their mouth when they meet Strangers Seeing they are nimble strong bold and more expert than others in handling their Arms which are the Javelin and Arrows they go and serve other Nations as Soldiers Their Arms and so there is not one Nation who besides their own Natives have not also Songuas in their Militia Their Food In their own Country they live in deep Caves and sometimes in Houses as others do They live much by Hunting at which they are very dextrous they kill Elephants Rhinocerosses Elks Stags Antelopes wild Goats and several other Beasts of which there is a prodigious quantity on the Cape they gather also at certain times the Honey which the Bees make in hollow Trees and Rocks I will make a little digression from this relation Their blindness as to matters of Religion that I may give an account of what we our selves have seen of those people or what we learned of them from very sure hands The Hotentots being perswaded that there is no other life after this labour as little and take as much case as they can in this World. To hear them talk even when they are serving the Dutch for a little Bread Their Opinion as to their own way of living and that of Strangers Tobacco or Brandy they look upon them as slaves who labour the Land of their Country and as People of no Courage who shut themselves up within Houses and Forts to secure them from their Enemies whilst their people Encamp securely in the open Fields without stooping so low as to labour Land. By that way of living they pretend to demonstrate that they are Masters of the Earth and the happiest People of the World because they alone live in liberty and repose wherein they place their felicity Whilst we were in the Companies Garden a leading Man amongst them seeing how civilly we were used by the chief of
the South and South-East Wind that reigns there constantly in that Season But we came to know afterward that it was Mony when we saw exacter Charts at Batavia which placed that Isle just in ten Degrees eleven Minutes South Latitude The Treasurer General show'd us that the first Day we went ashoar when we acquainted him with the Danger we had been in he called an old Pilot who shew'd us in a great Chart that Isle placed exactly as we found it The Signs of being near the Land of Mony are three sorts of Birds which the Sea-men call Boobies Frigats and Tropick Birds or Straw in Tails according to the French. The first suffer themselves to be catcht with the Hand when in the Fore-part of the Night they come and perch upon the Yards of the Ship and the Last have Feathers in the Tail about twenty inches long which one would take for Straws seeing them at a distance and that 's the reason the French call them by that Name In all that long Passage we saw nothing remarkable unless it were some Porposes pretty different from those we formerly spoke of as to Bigness Shape and Colour for they are bigger and whiter by one half and have the Snout shorter and almost round as you may see by the Figure of them in the following Map of the Road of Bantam Seeing they are fairer than the others and that many took them at first for the Dorado's we thought they were the Fish known to the Antients by the Name of Dolphins We caught no Fish from the Time we put out from the Cape the Seas being too rough for Fishing We saw Grampusses which are like little Whales and some others bigger that spouted the Water up in the Air above fifteen or sixteen foot high by what we could judge at the distance we saw them at A VOYAGE TO SIAM The Third BOOK The Voyage from the Isle of Java to the Kingdom of Siam AVgust 5. We Discovered a great Coast of Land and standing in with it Arrival at the Isle of Java found it to be the Isle of Java when we thought our selves to be far from it This made us observe that that Island lies much more to the West A considerable mistake in the Hydrographical and Geographical Charts and by consequent is nearer by threescore Leagues to the Cape of Good-hope than it is marked in the Geographical Maps Therefore it was that we came in with the Land above threescore Leagues farther up than the most Western point of that Isle which we lookt for An error to be imputed to the Charts and not to the inability of the Pilots who all along Sailed very exactly and always kept reckoning that we should make the Land the same day that we saw it both at the Isle of Java and the Cape of Good-hope as we have already observed The sight of these Lands seemed somewhat rare to us they are covered with Trees of a most lovely verdure which yield a pleasant smell to the Ships that Sail along the Coast at two or three Leagues distance We Coasted along that Isle with so good a wind that in a day and a halfs time we made the sixty Leagues which we had run too far to the East and Monday evening the sixth of August were got to the entry into the Streight of the Sound which is made by the Isles of Java and Sumatra But what surprised us more and was a sign of Gods particular Providence upon our Voyage the same evening that we saw the entry into the Streight of the Sound we made the Maligne which was separated from us by the bad weather I mentioned June 24. in the night time and which we had never seen since Though my Lord Ambassador and several others took it to be the Frigat yet we could not be sure of that because it was already late and the weather dark We were not certain it was she till eight days after in the Road of Bantam where we joyned her again The Pilots who were aboard of her having made the Streight in good time put into it and having a fair wind came to the place of Anchoring But it being usual to shoot the Streight of the Sound betwixt the Princes Isle and Sumatra keeping as near as may be to the Princes Isle which we could not make plainly because of the night we were forced to tack and stand off to Sea all the night long So that since we could not make the best of the fair weather which then we had which would have easily carried us beyond the Princes Isle we fell too low and spent the rest of the week in the Streight which is not above thirty Leagues in length strugling and beating against the Currents and contrary winds One of our Pilots assured us that the Sun of the East of which he was aboard in an East-India Voyage was three full weeks stopped there and could not get to Bantam but as she was towed with Boats. We entred then the Streight of the Sound three days after we made the Land of Java but the Princes Island lying at the mouth of the streight betwixt Java and Sumatra and dividing it into two we entred by the more Northern Passage which is the larger and safer betwixt the Princes Isle and Sumatra We made many Tacks to double the Isle of Cacatoua so called because of the white Parrots that are upon that Isle which incessantly repeat that name we did I say all that lay in our power to double the Isle or Cacatoüa which lyes pretty near to Sumatra that so we might stand in with the Land of Java but all our attempts were unsuccessful because the wind was too weak and Currents too strong in the middle of the Channel That which causes the Currents is because the water that for several Months has been forced into the Streights by the South and South-west-winds which reign commonly from the Month of March to September set our again impetuously during the other six Months of the year being bent back by the East and North East winds We had the wind so cross and the Currents so contrary that it was thought best to keep as close in as we could by the Shore of the Princes Isle Breezes rise on Sumatra at certain hours of the day by the help of some Breezes that came from Sumatra and which for some hours interrupted the great heats and dead calms that are common in that season in the Streights of the Sound By the help of those little Breezes we were in hopes by little and little to come up with the Land of Java but it behoved us first to double the Princes Isle which is pretty big and lies in the mouth of the Streight After all the view which we had of the Land and of several small Islands all decked in verdure comforted us a little for the time which we lost in that Streight The danger the Ship was in in the
Water and the ends bend and are crooked and rise very high most part of these Balons have the Figure of Sea Horses Dragons and other sorts of Animals Nothing but the Poop and Prow are gilt the rest hardly appearing above Water some of them are beautified with several Figures made of pieces of Mother of Pearl wherewith they are inâ—aid After that the King had said his Prayers at the Pagod and there made his Presents he went to one of his Palaces hard by and in the Evening returned to the Town according to his custom upon his Return he took pleasure to make a Match at Rowing and proposed a Reward to those that should get first to the Palace from whence he set out in the Morning all the Afternoon was spent in drawing up the Balons into Squadrons and to match one against another Whilst matters were thus ordering the Ambassador came to see the Show He was conducted by the Lord Constance who also invited us and sent us a Balon to carry us along with him The King would needs be one of the Antagonists but seeing his Balon was manned with more Rowers and those all choice Men he quickly got the better on 't and victoriously entred the Town long before the rest We placed our selves near the Ambassador that we might see the King. As he passed along by our Balon we saw him very near and he looked upon us in such a manner as made us conclude that the Lord Constance had already spoken of us to him It was pleasant to see with what rapidity these Balons every way proper for cleaving the Water mounted up the River in emulation one of another and none of the Rowers in the space of three Leagues took so much as one Minutes rest They shouted either for joy or grief according as they gained or lost the advantage All the City and People about came running to see this Show They drew up in their Balons by the shoar as in two Lines which reached three Leagues off of the City so that having seen and considered that confluence of people that went down and came up the River we judged that there could not be less than about twenty thousand Balons and above two hundred thousand souls the other French reckoned a great many more and confidently averred that there were above six hundred thousand souls of them When the King past by upon the River all the windows and doors of the Houses were shut and the Port holes of the Ships too All commanded to go out that so no body might be in a higer place than the King. The King's Progress from Siam to Louvo Eight days after the King with the Princess and all his Wives went abroad again in a Progress to Louvo This is a Town fifteen or twenty Leagues to the Northward of Siam where he â—pends nine or ten Months of the year because â—e is more at liberty there and is not obliged to be shut up as he is at Siam that he may keep his Subjects in Obedience and Respect The Lord Constance who having seen our Parents for being the most Christian King's Mathematicians was resolved to procure us a private Audience at Louvo would have us go thither with our Instruments and intimated to us that the King was desirous to entertain us at Court until we should embark for Macao He sent us two great Balons for our Baggage and another of four and twenty Oars to carry us We parted the fifteenth of November about One of the Clock in the Afternoon and went in the Retinue of my Lord Ambassador About two Leagues from the Town upon a vast Plain covered with Water The Funeral of a great Talapoin and reaching out of sight we met with a new Spectacle and that was the Obsequies of a famous Talapoin chief of the Religion of the Peguins His Body was laid in a Coffin of Aromatic Wood. The Coffin was mounted upon a Funeral Pile round which were four great Pillars of gilt Wood which carried an high Pyramid of several Stories This kind of burning Chappel was accompanied with several little pretty high and square Towers made of Wood and covered with Pastboard very rudely painted with a great many Paper Figures All this was surrounded with an Enclosure built square upon which several other Towers were placed at competent distances Four of them were as high as the Pyramid in the middle and stood in the four Corners and on each side of that great Square there were two other Towers less than the former They were all full of Fire-works and we saw many flying Fuzes come out of them The four great Towers placed at the four Corners of the great Square were joyned together by little Wooden Houses painted with several antic Figures of Dragons Apes Devils with horns on their heads c. Betwixt these Hovels there were at competent distances certain Openings contrived in form of a Portal to let Balons in and out The Telapoins of Pegu to a vast number in their Balons took up almost the whole space that was betwixt the Funeral Pile and the great square Enclosure They all looked with a grave and modest Countenance now and then singing and sometimes keeping profound Silence An infinite number of People Men and Women indifferently came after them and assisted at this Funeral Pomp. So new and unexpected a Scene made my Lord Ambassador stop for some time and us with him that we might view the Ceremonies of that stately Funeral However we saw nothing but mimical Dances and certain ridiculous Farces acted by the Peguins and Siamese under Sheds of Bambous that were open on all hands They acted the postures of Men possest with hideous Masks upon their Faces Seeing this Funeral Pomp was to last till Night and that we had four or five Leagues to go before we could come to the place of Lodging we saw only the beginning of it and some Fire-Works The Honours of this Nature given to the Dead amongst the Siamese makes them strongly addicted to their Religion The Talapoins who are very interested Doctors teach that the more Expence is made in the Obsequies of a dead man the more advantageously his Soul is lodged in the Body of some Prince or some other considerable Animal In that Belief the Siamese many times undo themselves by making magnificent Funerals We came in very good time to the House where we were to lie it was in all things like to those little Palaces which were erected for my Lord Ambassador upon the River It may be said of this Countrey that there cannot be a more pleasant Prospect than it affords When we were upon the Canal cut through the Fields to shorten the Way from Siam to Louvo we saw Plains reaching out of sight full of Rice and when we entred into the River the green Trees and Villages wherewith it was bordered refreshed our sight with an agreeable variety Before we left that place the Ambassador had a mind
conveigh themselves thither with that surprizing agility they are endowed with As to the men of the other three Parts of the World they have a Countenance much different from ours for the Inhabitants of the first have a square Face of the second a round and of the third a triangular Whatsoever diversity of Faces there may be amongst the Inhabitants of those three several Parts of the World yet in every particular part they look so like one another that it would be hard to tell who is who if men had not another way to distinguish those with whom they live The different Inclinations that People have for different persons is the Standard of discrimination Thus a Father distinguishes his Son from his Wife and Friend because he finds the Love he has for his Son to be quite different from that which he has for his Wife or his Friend There is this difference besides betwixt the three other Parts and ours that all good things abound in those without any mixture of evil and that what things they eat takes what relish one pleases by virtue of a certain Tree which they invoke when at any time they are in need Hence it is that no Charity nor Virtue can be practised there And because there is no occasion of meriting there men cannot acquire Sanctity nor receive any punishment which makes them earnestly desire to be born again in the Part which we inhabit where many occasions of well-doing are to be found They obtain that favour when they beg it by the Merits of God who hath run over all those places though they be inaccessible to us The System of the Siamese In the middle of the four Parts of the World there is an exceeding high Mountain called in Siamese Ppukhan Pprasamen It rests upon three precious Stones very little ones its true but strong and solid enough to support it Round this Mountain the Sun and Moon continually turn and by the daily revolution of those two Luminaries Day and Night are made This great Mountain is environed by three Rows of lesser Hills of which there is one all of Gold. The great Mountain is inaccessible because the Water that surrounds it is not navigable As for the Mountain of Gold a fearful Gulf renders the approach to it most difficult It is true a rich man heretofore got to it but it was with extream danger of being lost in that Abyss whither all the Waters come and muster and from whence afterward they gush out to make the Sea and Rivers The whole Mass of Earth hath underneath it a vast extent of Waters which support it as the Sea bears up a Ship. These inferior Waters have a communication with those that are upon the Earth by means of the Gulf I have been speaking of An impetuous Wind holds the Waters under the Earth suspended and this Wind which exists of it self and has no cause blowing from all eternity with incredible violence drives them continually back and hinders them falling When the time is come that the God of the Siamese hath foretold that he shall cease to reign then the Fire of Heaven falling upon the Earth shall reduce into Ashes every thing that comes in its way and the Earth being so purified shall be restored again to its former state But you must know what is to go before this universal Renovation They say that heretofore when God was still living upon Earth men had the stature of Giants enjoyed perfect Health during several Ages were ignorant of nothing and above all being instructed in the obligations of the Law led a pure and innocent life and were religious Observers of their Promises In process of time they lost all these Advantages and at long run they 'l become so weak and little that hardly will they be a foot high In that state their Life will be very short and nevertheless they 'l grow up in wickedness until at length in the last times they 'l give themselves over to the most ignominious Crimes Then they shall have no more Law nor Scriptures but being buried in most profound Ignorance shall forget the very Name of Virtue And that makes them say that the end of the World draws nigh because there is nothing now but corruption in it and so little Sincerity and Faithfulness amongst men that they seem to be arrived at the highest pitch of wickedness Moreover these great Changes shall be observed in Beasts as well as men and they shall degenerate by little and little Nay they have already lost the use of Speech which whilst God lived upon the Earth was granted them through his Merits Prodigies which the Siamese expect before the birth of a new God. They gave liberty to Beasts thinking them capable of good and evil and worthy of punishment and reward In the three last Ages six new Suns shall successively appear and every one of them shall enlighten the World for the space of fifty years These six new Luminaries shall by degrees dry up the Sea kill the Trees and Animals and even consume Mankind After all these Prodigies a Fire which they call Phai Balatran descending from Heaven shall burn the Earth the Heights thereof shall be made plain by it and no more Inequalities will remain therein Then the Earth covered over with dust and ashes shall be purified by the blast of a boisterous Wind which shall carry off these Remains of the Worlds Conflagration and after that it shall breath out so sweat a Smell as shall draw a Female Angel down from Heaven that will eat of this purified Earth She is to pay dear for that Pleasure for to expiate it she shall be obliged to live here below and never be able to ascend to Heaven again This Intelligence shall by the Piece she hath eaten conceive twelve Sons and as many Daughters who will re-people the World. The Men that spring from them shall be ignorant blockish not knowing one another at first and after they shall come to know one another they shall be ignorant of the Law and not come to the knowledg of it till after a long space of time which they call Cap. To explain the duration of that time they suppose a deep Well twenty fathom square if there be a grain of Mustard-seâ—d yearly thrown into this well the time that is required to fill it up is that which they call Cap. This space of Time being expired a God shall be born again who shall scatter the darkness of the Ignorance wherein they were by teaching them the true Religion discovering to them the Virtues that are to be practised and the Vices to be shunned and instructing them in all Sciences He will give them Scriptures that shall explain these things and the holy Law that for a long time had been blotted out of the Minds of Men shall be of new again graven in them by the Cares and Merits of that Deity This is the only Employment which
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