Children viz. one Son of twenty years old and a Daughter who had not yet seen ten Her extream Youth saved her life but the Son lost it the same day and after the same manner as his Sister did What torments soever he was made to suffer he protested his Sister and he were innocent of the Crimes that were imposed upon 'em and he was not very sorry to die Life being insupportable to him since he saw himself fallen from the State that he was born to but he had a regret that the Tyrant survived him Sect. X. WE have already said that the King of Siam is one of the richest and more powerful Monarchs of the East but we have not yet seen the Titles which he gives himself As the manner thereof is singular I imagine the Reader would take it as an obligation to be shewn two Copies which fell into my Hands while I was at Siam thro the intermission of one of the Great Lords of the Country to whom I testified my desire that he would leave them with me As the Phrase of that Tongue is something barbarous I have caused them to be Translated according to the genius of ours Alliance written in Letters of Gold wherein shines the Divine Splendour and which is the most excellent of all those that are in the World which comprehends the Sublimest Sciences and which is alone capable of rendering Men happy It is the best and surest in Heaven and above and below the Earth All the Words thereof are Royal they are soft and delicious but Almighty and Energical The Renown that is spread thereof thorow all the Earth produces there the same effect which the sighs of the Dead raised to life would produce when done by an all-Divine Vertue and purged from their corruption as well spiritual as corporal All Persons too constituted in Dignity as well amongst the Nobility and Clergy as the Commonalty do never see 'em without feeling a certain joy which no other thing can cause Thus there is nothing in the Universe which is comparable to 'em no more than to the Source from whence they issue as being a Monarch most Illustrious most Invincible most Powerful and most High and Crowned with an Hundred and one Crowns of Gold all adorned with nine sorts of Precious Stones being the greatest the purest and the most Divine Master of Immortal Souls the most Holy who sees all things and the Sovereign Emperour who holds under the shadow of his Wings the Great the Rich and the most incomparable Kingdom of Siam the Splendour of the fine and famous City of India whose Gates and Passages are inhabited by an infinity of People and which is without Contradiction the Capital of the Universe the only Throne worthy of the greatest of Kings to which is subdued the goodliest and the most fruitful of all Countries which the Sun gives light to who is a greater Lord than the Gods and whose Palace is only of fine Gold and Precious Stones the divine Master of the Heaps of Gold of the White Red and round Tail Elephants which three Animals are the Sovereign God of Nine sorts of Gods the Divine Lord in whose hand is the Victorious Sword who resembles the God of Armies with Arms all of Fire and the most Noble and most Excellent of all Kings The Second was much of the same force and is as follows The most High Paducco Dyrisultaan nelmonam Welgahu Nelmochadin magiviitha Jouhen der Eateten lillaula fulan the King of Kings who causes the Waters to ebb and flow the Monarch who is as a God as a Sun in the highest point of its Elevation as bright as the Moon in its greatest Lustre the Elect of God for to be esteemed as much as the Star of the North whose Extraction is altogether Royal as being the Issue of the Great Alexander and whose Wit is all-perfect all-seeing and all-penetrating like to a Globe always rowling and so made as to measure the Abysses of the Sea a King who has adorned the Tombs of all the decayed Saints who is as just as God and of so vast a power that all the World may hide it self under the Shadow of his Wings a King who holds from the Hand of God a number of Mines of Gold who has caused Pagods all of Gold and Copper to be built who sets upon a Throne that is only of Gold and precious Stones the King of the White Elephant who is King of all the other Elephants and before whom several Millions of other Elephants are obliged to prostrate themselves a King whose Eyes are so sparkling as the Morning Star under whom are Elephants with four Teeth red Elephants purple coloured Elephants and of several other colours as likewise of an Elephant Buytenaque for which the Almighty God has made him a Present of several sorts of embroidered Houses in great numbers and all beset with Precious Stones a number of other Elephants exercised in War whose Harnaces are Shot proof others whose Teeth are armed with Steel and their Harnace of Brass a King who has Horses without number shod with Iron whose Houses are likewise of Gold and all beset with Stones besides an infinite number of others which are proper for War A King who is above all the Emperours Monarchs Princes and Potentates of the Universe from East to West who raises to Honour and to Dignities those who have the Wit to get into his good Opinion and who on the contrary causes those to be burnt alive who revolt from him A King as powerful as God and in whom resides the power of doing all that God has done and created By these proud Titles the King of Siam pretends to insinuate into His Subjects that he is as great as God and more than all the Powers which reign upon Earth and to confirm it he makes 'em believe that he stops the Course of the Waters which he goes to work to after this manner The River of Siam being one of the Branches of the Ganges which Increases and Decreases regularly in certain Seasons of the Year its Increase and Decrease is likewise limited When it begins to diminish which happens in the Month of November the King takes that time to make one of his publick Appearances whereof we have spoken to which he is attended by all his Court and shews himself on that Occasion with all the Riches and Splendour imaginable His Galley is all shining with Gold and Precious Stones he is therein seated upon a Golden Throne covered with a Canopy set with Diamonds he is attended by two Hundred Galleys of a prodigious length each having two Hundred Rowers and being for the most part painted and gilt About six Leagues from the City the King and Arch-Priest enter alone into a little Barge wherein the latter after having uttered some Prayers upon a Sabre of Gold presents it to the King who strikes the River three times with it and commands it by His Divine Authority to
much larger than ours He had four legitimate Wives Six Sons and Two Daughters besides Natural Children a great number by Concubines which he kept in several Apartments His Bed was raised at some distance from the Ground built like an Altar of Great Stones whereon lay a Quilt and certain Pillows of Satin filled with raw Silk The chief Commerce they have at Tuban consists in Pepper which they carry to the Isle of Bady where they truck it for Cloth and Stuffes of Cotton and Silk which afterwards they bring to Banda Toanate and the Philippins and other parts to truck for Cloves Mace and Nutmegs The Inhabitants for the greatest part live only on Fish They wear no other Garments than a Linnen Cloth about the Loyns only Persons of the First Quality have sometimes Hangselines of Chamelet which reach but to their Knees They are by this Habit distinguished from others Persons and by their Trains of Slaves without whom they never come abroad They delight much in Horses and to have their Saddles exceeding Rich which are made like our great Saddles only their Trappings studded with Gold and Silver striving to appear well Mounted at Assemblies and to shew the King their Horsemanship and the dexterity of their Horses The Inhabitants that live in the inner part of the Isle of Java are Pagans and the greatest part Pythagoreans believing a Transmigration of the Soul for which reason they eat neither Fish nor Flesh Towards the South part of the Isle there are tho but few Mahometans who observe the Turkish Religion in all things sending for Priests to Mecca They observe two great Festivals the greater of the two begins the 5 th of August and at the beginning of this fasting Lent it is the Slaves renew their Submission to their Masters with Ceremonies extraordinary for they take them by the Feet and rub 'em upwards to the Knees then closing their Hands they rub the Head Face and Neck and then unclose them again Lent being ended they celebrate their Easter entertaining their Children and all their Domestics with a Dinner There is scarce a Man in Bantam who hath not three or four Wives and some have ten or twelve besides Concubines who wait on their Wives especially when they go abroad they make no difference between legitimate and natural Children a Father hath not power to sell his Child though he had it by a Slave Children go stark naked only the Girls cover their Privities with a thin Plate of Gold and Silver they marry at the AGe of Eight Nine or Ten Years not only to prevent the Disorders which in this hot Climate were inevitable but because the King is Heir to all who dying leave their Children under Age whom he makes his Slaves as he doth the Widdows and Family of the deceased The Dowry which Persons of Quality give with their Daughters consists in Slaves of both Sexes and in a sum of Coxas which is very considerable among them when it amounts to three hundred thousand tho it be but much about twenty two Crowns and a half of our Money The Women appear with great Decency at the Marriage of their Relations tho they use no great Ceremony One may know the day by certain Poles which are stuck in the Houses of the Bride and Bridegroom with Tassels of red and white Cotton Dinner ended they bring a Horse to the Bridegroom whereon he rides about the Town till Evening expecting the Slaves he is to have in Marriage who come commonly loaden with Presents None but the nearest Kindred sup with them and see the new Married Couple abed Women of the first Rank are kept in such restraint that their own Sons are not suffered to come into their Chambers and when they go abroad which is very seldom all give place and respect to them even the King himself does it nor dares any Man speak to a Married Woman without the leave of her Husband Women of Quality are known from others only by their Train for all are dressed after the same Fashion wearing a Petticoat of Cotton or Silk which comes from the Breast to the mid-leg Stockings they have none and go all bare headed tying up their Hair together on the Crown of their Head but when they come to Weddings or other Publick Assemblies they wear a Coronet of Gold and have Coronets and Bracelets on their Fingers and about their Arms. They are so much addicted to Cleanliness that there passes not a day but they bath themselves three or four times They never do their natural Necessities nor receive their Benevolences from their Husbands but they go up to the neck in Water to cleanse themselves they do no work at all which is no wonder since the Husbands themselves having employed two or three Hours about their Merchandize all the day after do nothing but chew Bettele amongst their Wives who are very sollicitous by all the little Kindnesses imaginable to court their Loves washing and rubbing 'em till they are stirred up to Voluptuousness The Magistrate of the Town of Bantam sits in Judicature in the Court of Pacebam from four or five in the evening until it be night The Plaintiff and Defendant appear both in Person and plead their own Cause One only Punishment is used for Criminals that is they tie them to a Post and stab them to death with a Ponyard Strangers have this privilege that giving satisfaction to the party complaining they may redeem themselves from death except they have murdered in cold bloud or upon advantage The Kings Council meets upon Affairs of State under a broad spread Tree by Moon light where sometime there comes near five Hundred Persons who part not till the Moon goes down When the Council is risen they go to Bed and there ly till Dinner Afterwards the Counsellors of State give audience to all who have ought to propose to the Council When the King comes there in Person he sits in the midst of them or else with the four Principal Ministers of State and propounds the point wherein he requireth their advice or causes the Governour of the Town to propound it To a Council of War they call the three Hundred Captrins Commanders of the Troops the Armies consist of which are raised in the Town it self They have a particular course for quenching Fire which happecs but too often among 'em for the Women have this office imposed upon them while the Men stand in Arms to defend 'em in the mean time from Pillage Persons of Quality when they go to Court or through the Town they have carried before them a Lance and a Sword sheathed in a black Velvet Scabbard and by these Ensigns oblige all the Street to make way for them and retiring back to sit on their Heels till these Grandees are past Their ordinary wear is of Stuff wrought with Silk and they wear Turbants of a fine Bengalian Cloth Some amongst them wear Mandillions of Velvet black or crimson and
mentioned Apes and it is observable that where there are a great number of these Animals there are very few Crows for assoon as they have built their Nests and laid their Eggs the Apes get upon the Trees and throw their Eggs to the ground I do not know whether it be to see if they can fly or no. As I was one day travelling along the Road in a Coach attended with a great many we saw a vast number of Monkeys Males and Females and many of the Females holding young ones in their Arms Having a desire to shoot at one I took a Harquebuss and kill'd a Female Monkey who lay stretched out upon the Boughs letting her little one â—all to the ground But immediately all the Monkeys that were upon the Trees to the number of sixty came down in a great fury to have leap'd into our Coach where they would soon have strangled us had we not prevented them by closing the Shutters and had we not had a great number of Men who with much ado kept them off yet they pursued our Coach above a League and were stout lusty Monkeys In several parts of this Country there are particular Hospitals for these Creatures On the ways there are commonly Copses of Bamboos growing very high some of these are so thick that it is impossible for a Man to get into 'em but they are pestered with prodigious numbers of Apes Those that breed in the Copses upon one side of the way are enemies to them that are bred on the other side so that they dare not cross from one side to the other but they are in danger of being immediately strangled Here the Travellers have good sport by setting the Apes together by the ears which is done after this manner In several parts of the Road there is Rice to be sold and they that would see the sport cause five or six Baskets of Rice to be set in the Road some forty or fifty paces the one from the other and close by every Basket they lay five or six Botoons about two foot long and two inches about then they retire and hide themselves presently they shall see the Apes on both sides of the way descend from the tops of the Bamboos and advance towards the Baskets which are full of Rice They are about half an hour shewing their Teeth at one another before they come near the Baskets sometimes they advance then retreat again being Ioath to encounter At length the Female Baboons who are more eager and couragious than the Males especially they that have young ones which they carry in their Arms as Women do their Children venture to approach the Baskets and as they are about to put in their hands to eat the Males on the other side advance to hinder ' em Immediately the other Party comes forward and thus the feud being kindled on both sides they take up the Battoons that lie by the Baskets and thrash one another in good earnest The weakest are constrained to fly into the Woods with their Pates broken and their Limbs maimed while the Masters of the Field glut themselves with Rice and the joys of Victory tho it may be when their Bellies are full they will suffer some of the Female Party to come along with ' em As for the Elephants I happened to see two that were lately taken Each of them was placed between two Tame ones Round about the wild Elephants stood six Men with every one a Half Pike in their Hands and a lighted Torch fastened at the end of a Pike who talkt to the Beasts giving them Meat and crying out in their Language Take eat it The food which they gave 'em was a little Bottle of Hay some pieces of brown Sugar and Rice boiled in Water with some few Corns of Pepper If the wild Elephants refused to do as they were bidden the Men made Signs to the Tame Elephant to beat 'em which they did banging the Refractory Elephant upon the Head and Forehead with their Trunks and if he offered to make any stir or resistance the other Elephant thwack'd him most unmercifully on the other side so that the poor Elephant not knowing what to do was constrained to learn obedience Being thus fallen into the Story of Elephants I will add some other Observations which I have made upon the nature of these Creatures Though the Elephant never meddles with the Female after he is once taken yet he is sometimes seized with a kind of lustful Rage One day that the King was Hunting upon an Elephant with one of his Sons that sate by him to fan him the Elephant became so furious by reason of his Lust that the Governour who was by no means able to master or rule him declared to the King that to allay the fury of the Elephant who would doubtless bruise him to pieces among the Trees there was no way but for one of the three to forfeit his Life and that he would willingly sacrifice his for the safety of the King and the Prince his Son only he desir'd His Majesty to take care of the three small Children which he must leave behind him Having so said he threw himself under the Elephants Feet who had no sooner taken him in his Trunk and squeez'd him to pieces with his feet but he grew quiet and peaceable as before The King as an acknowledgment of so signal a deliverance gave to the poor Widow 200000 Roopies and highly advanc'd every one of his Sons that had so generously laid down his life for the safety of the Father of his Country I observed also that tho the Elephants skin be very hard whilst he is alive yet when he is dead the skin is just like melted Glew There are several Parks that are empaled with nothing but Elephants Teeth the least of which Parks is above a League about In some places they Hunt the Elephants and eat the Flesh but they are obliged to give the Tushes of every one they kill to the Lord of the place When they intend to take their Elephants they make a long Lane clos'd in on both sides so as the Elephant can run neither to the right nor to the left This Lane is broad at the first but grows narrower and narrower till there is no more Room left at the further end than for the Female Elephant to lie down which must be one that is desirous of the Male at the same time Tho she be tame yet she is bound with good Ropes and Cords and by her Cries will call the Male who presently runs through the Lane towards her Now when the Elephant comes where the Lane grows narrow they that lie hid for that purpose immediately barricado up the Lane behind and when he comes near the Female then is another barricado set up that stops him from going any further When he is thus between the Barricadoes they so entangle his Legs and Trunk with Ropes and Cords that he is soon taken having no
what remains of the body of my Daughter The King waiting their answer one amongst 'em said That His Majesty had too much understanding to doubt what he saw How replied the King all in a fury I have but too much reason not to doubt any longer of a suspicion I have had a hundred times my Daughter was poisoned In finishing those words he gave order they should secure all the Women who had serv'd the Defunct and that not one should be excepted The days following new suspicions were formed upon which a number of innocent People were imprisoned for what tortures soever they made them suffer there was not one but disavowed the Crime In the mean while the Kings fury daily augmented all those that were accused made appear they were not culpable but the Cruelties did not diminish and when the Court was dreined and the King no longer found any one upon whom to discharge his Anger he sent upon divers pretexts for the greatest Men of the Kingdom and their Wives whom he caused to be put in Prison as soon as they arrived at Court When he had 'em in his power he caused several holes to be digged round the City about twenty Foot square wherein great Fires were kindled guarded by Souldiers who took care to hinder 'em from going out And thither he sent the Prisoners loaded with Chains to the end he might draw from 'em by force what Threatnings and Promises had not been able to make 'em confess When they were at the place of Punishment it was begun with making 'em enter into a Tub of hot water for to soften their skin and render it more susceptible of the impression of the Fire After which they scraped the Soles of their Feet with Irons as sharp as Knives then carried 'em before Judges who examined 'em concerning the pretended business of poysoning those who continued obstinate to deny that they were culpable of it were forced to walk bare footed upon burning Coals and if it was found afterwards that the Fire had penetrated 'em it was a convicting proof they were guilty of the fact whereof they had bin accused An Errour which in all times has been entertained among the Pagans who made use of Fire for the trying of Criminals Witness the Roman Vestals who only proved their Chastity by grasping a burning Iron without burning ' emselves As for the Siamites we speak of they whom the heat of the Fire caused to fall into a Swoun and who had not Strength enough to get out of ' emselves perished there miferably no body daring to to help 'em for fear of running the same danger Those who escaped it were tyed to a Post from whence an Elephant instructed in that manner of Death tore 'em with his Trunk cast 'em into the Air from whence they fell again upon his Teeth and after several Tosses he trod 'em under Foot and made their Guts come out which were afterwards cast into the River Besides this hard punishment there was one that was no less to be feared which was to be Interred all alive unto the Chin upon the High-way of the City with obligation to Passengers to spit upon 'em and prohibition to give 'em ease in any manner and even to advance their Deaths which was the favour those miserable Wretches demanded with most Ardency Amongst other Punishments there was this very remarkable and which is also very frequently executed upon notorious Malefactors The Criminal is bound so streight about with a Napkin that a Man may grasp him with his Hands and then is pricked with Engines as sharp as Needles not only make the bloud gush out but force the Patient to hold in his breath Which taking the opportunity of on a sudden they cut him through the middle and clapping immediately the upper part of his body upon a flaming hot piece of Brass through the cauterization of which he remains a considerable time alive in far greater torments than can be imagined These cruel Executions lasted for above four Moneths during which they took the Lives away of an incredible Multitude One day in less than four or five Hours I my self saw above fifty put to death People imagined that would have been the last day of the Massacres because some Moneths passed afterwards without putting any body to death but they were quickly disabused As the Nobility that were terrified began to take Heart and return to Court the Executions were renewed and so many Heads fell at length that the flower of the most Apparent whom the King thought ill intentioned to His Person and Children perished upon the Pretext of having had a Hand in this Sham-business of Poysoning or of having been privy to it To have seen those Cruelties and so visible an Injustice it was much to be wondered there was no Rising and indeed there has been such for less considerable Reasons but the King had provided against that by keeping on foot a great number of Forces with which he had filled his best Towns in appearance for to send 'em against the Chinezes but indeed to bridle those whom he distrusted while he made sure of the others And further His Hatred did only extend to the Great Men whose Fall the People did joyfully see by reason of their Insolence and the ill Treatments they received from ' em On the 28 of February they carried three Hundred Persons who had served the Defunct Lady to go thro the Fire but whether it was only a Fire of Straw or painted it is said to have spared those three Hundred Domesticks who by those means were absolved and released some days after one of the deceased Kings Daughters was impeached she was one of the youngest of his Children who was suspected of the Crime then in Examination because it had been observed that she laughed when all the others wept at the Obsequies of the Princess They were fortified in this Suspicion by the Remembrance of the frequent complaints she had made of the King by reason he had not Consideration enough for her and His Slights were the cause that she was no longer treated as a Kings Daughter wherein she was in no wise inferiour to His other Children who were the Delight and Admiration of the Court. Tho these Conjectures were but Half Proofs yet they were made use of for the bringing her to a Tryal or rather she was condemned contrary to all forms of Justice for without hearing her reasons they caused her to pass thro the Fire with almost all her Attendants but as they had only a design upon her a Rumour was spread abroad that it had hurt no body but her wherefore they loaded her with Chains of Gold in an obscure place with prohibition to whomsoever it was to see and speak with her Nothing was now expected but the Hour of that Princesses Death when People learn'd that the King being moved with Compassion desired nothing more than to save her provided she could justifie her self of
Mistress by Conjuring the Devil into one of her Maids They are very curious and ambitious in setting forth their Funerals Thus briefly The Friends assemble in their best Array to the Fire the Women of his Acquaintance go forth in White Raiment with party colour'd Veils on their Heads and their Maids attending theiâ— Chief Women are carried in Beds oâ— Litters of Cedar After 'em follow thâ— Men in sumptuons Habitâ— Next comeâ— the Chief Bonzius of his Sect in his Poâ—tificalibus carried in a costly Bed attended with three other Bonzii in theiâ— Linnen Vestments Then one in Ash-coloured Garments for that is also â— mourning colour with a long Torch lighted sheweth the Gorps the way to the Fire followed by two Hundred Bonzii singing to the Deity which thâ— dead had chiefly observed Others beaâ— on the Bason till they come at the Fire Others carry Paper Baskets full of painted Flowers which they shake out by the way as a token that his Soul is gonâ— to Paradise Eight Bonzii draw Banners on the ground in which is written theiâ— Idols name Ten Lanterns with the same Inscription are carried with Lightâ— burning Two follow with Torcheâ— unlighted wherewith afterward they kindle the Fire Many come after iâ— Ash-coloured Habits with three Squarâ— Caps on their Heads with the name also of their Devil therein written which Name another beareth written in a Table with large Letters of Gold After all these did you think you had lost him comes the Corps sitting in a Bed in white borne by four Men his Hands joyned in a praying Gesture His Children are next the Eldest carrying a Torch to kindle the Fire Lastly comes the Multitudes with strange sort of Caps After an hours hallowing their Holies by all this multitude and three times compassing about the inclosed square place in which besides Tables for Viands the Fire is made the Chief Bonzii in an unknown Language mumbleth over an Hymn and lighting a Torch doth thrice brandish it about his Head thereby signifying the Soul is without beginning aud without end and then casts it away Two of his Children take it up and after a triple Ceremony the Body being laid thereon kindle therewith the Wood On which they hurl costly Woods and Oyl and so burn the Carcass to ashes Which done the Children making Incense adore their Father as now assumed to the Heavenly Society and richly reward the Bonzii Next day they return and put the Reliques of this Corps Ashes and Bones into a guilded Vessel which is hanged in the House there to receive the like exequies and afterwards with no less Ceremony buried every Seventh Day and Seventh Month and Seventh Year his Children renewing their Devotions The poorer spend herein two or three Hundred the rich as many Thousand Ducats In the Obits of great Persons the Lords and Men of Rank assemble ' emselves and are called every Man by Name to do honour to the Image of the Deceased with Incense as in Sacrifices After so much wickedness of the Men I think it will be time for us to leave Japan Our Trade being at an end at Nanguesaque we departed from thence for Batavia on the 30 th of December and arrived at the Fort Zelandia on the 9 th of January After some stay there being a Ship that was going for Siam I was commanded to go thither and we arrived there on the 22d of the same Month. The Sieur van Muyden Commander for the East-India Company in the Countoir of that Country caused 8 Elephants to be embarked on board us for Batavia whither he himself went with us Eight days after our Arrival the Fleet departed for Holland whither I had leave to return As we had a good Wind we in a short time passed the Streight of Sunda and two Months after our departure from Batavia we came in sight of Sancta Helena where having cast Anchor we reposed for fifteen days During the abode we made there we killed a great many wild Boars Goats and Deer which that Island is full of We took by fishing a prodigious quantity of Fish which being salted and dried in the Wind sâ—rves commonly the Ships crew the rest of the Voyage We likewise found there Pome-citrons and a certain Purgative Sorrel which without being disagreeable produces the same effect with Sene. After having thus refreshed our selves we pursued our Course whose end being as happy as the beginning we went and cast Anchor at Gouri on the first of September where I finished my Voyage FINIS Books Lately Printed and Sold by Henry Rhodes 1682. THE History of the Glorious Life Reign and Death of the Illustrious Queen Elizabeth By S. Clark Price bound 1 s. The History of the Victorious Life Reign and Death of King Henry VIII with the Life of King Edward VI. Price Bound 1 s. Pastime Royal Or The Gallantries of the French Court A new Novel Price Bound 1 s. Female Prince Or Frederick of Sicily A new Novel Price Bound 1 s. Round-Heads Or The Good old-Old-Cause A Play By Mrs. A. Behn City Heiress Or Sir Timothy Treatal A Play by Mrs. A Behn With all sorts of New Plays In the Press and almost Printed Madamoiselle de Scuderys Conversations Infamous Diseases among the Siamites and for woh they are ignominiously treated