come up with us sooner several others were to have embarked with us but the Season already far spent suffered us not to stay for them so that we put under Sail. Departure from the Bar of Siam And parted from the Bar of Siam with a good Wind the two and twentieth of December The Lord Constance had sent us on board all sorts of fresh Provisions in so great abundance that we were fain to pray him to send no more and even to leave some of them We came to Bantam the Tenth of January after we had run aground in the Streight of Banca through the Fault of the Dutch Pilot whom we took in at Batavia No Body can well tell what whimsy made him cast Anchor which put us in danger of being cast away for had not the Ground been so owzy as it was the Anchor we dropt would have bulged the Ship that ran foul of it and it was some trouble to get her off A Dutch Ship that came after had more Wit than to follow us and so was not stranded as we were So soon as we came to an Anchor before Bantam the Ambassador sent M. de Cibois Lieutenant of the Ship to make a Complement to the Governor not doubting but that he would come off with better Grace than he did the time before and the rather that he was not ignorant of the Civilities that the General of Batavia had shewn the Ambassador but we were mistaken Monsieur Cibois could not speak to the Governor who they said was sick and bid the Governor of the Fort tell him that they would send on board fresh Provisions This Promise amounted to no more but the sending of two or three Bullocks with an Excuse that there was no more to be had In the Evening came a Man who pretended to be sent from the Governor and demanded Money for the Bullocks which it was thought the Governor had presented to my Lord Ambassador That Messenger was used as he deserved and had an Answer given him to carry to the Governor sutable to such a clownish and uncivil Behaviour So next day we made Sail towards the Cape of Good-hope We had the best Luck imaginable in passing the Streight of the Sound which is a very difficult Passage to shoot because of contrary Winds that commonly reign there in that Season But God was graciously pleased to send us most excellent Weather which in a few Hours put us out of all Danger We had a more particular Instance of his Divine Providence three days after Our Pilots had a mind to keep thirty or forty Leagues to the Southward of the Isle Mony and thought they had steered their Course accordingly when about break of day Monsieur de Vaudâ—â—court made Land at three or four Leagues distance from us we had certainly run foul of it had it blown a little fresher in the Night-time This Land is so low that it is not to be known but by the Breaks We were obliged to bear away to the Leeward and leave it to the South contrary to our first Design During the whole Voyage we had as fair Weather as Heart could wish untill we were off of the Isle of Bourbon February the Thirteenth where we met with one of the most violent Gusts of Wind that the old Officers as they said had ever seen It lasted three days and having carried away the Frigats main Sail separated her from us much about the same place that we lost her when we were outward bound and we had no more sight of her till that Day we came to an Anchor at the Cape of Good-Hope whither she had got two Days before us News from an English Ship outward bound March the Tenth we made a Sail bound towards the Indies As we drew nearer we knew her to be an English Ship by her Colours My Lord Ambassador being willing to hear News from Europe sent Monsieur Cibois and his Secretary who spoke very good English to the Captain They brought back word that that Ship had been five Months out of England and that she was bound streight for Tunquin without touching any where that all was quiet in Europe that the King of England had defeated the Rebels and made the Duke of Monmouth who commanded them Prisoner who was shortly after beheaded that many of his Followers had suffered Death and other tasted of his Britannick Majesties Mercy These were very acceptable News to us and especially when they told us that the English Ship had made the Cape the Day before about seven Leagues off We then found that we were much nearer it than we imagined and next day casting out the Lead we found our selves about seven a Clock in the Morning upon the Bank of the Needles in ninety Fadom Water and about Noon we made the Cape of the Needles The Wind was then fair and we made the best use of it all Night long so that next day we made the Cape of Good-Hope about eight Leagues off About three in the Afternoon we came to the Mouth of the Bay but the Wind blowing too high for putting in we came to an Anchor betwixt Isle Robin and the main Land near the Frigat The Day following March the Thirteenth the Wind being abated we came to an Anchor in the Bay amongst seven great Dutch Ships that made up the East-India Fleet that was to return to Europe so soon as three or four Ships more which they daily expected were come to the Cape The Ambassador sent a Compliment to the Governour of the Fort who received it as kindly as the time before when we past that way We saluted the Fort with seven Guns and they returned us Gun for Gun. Whilst we were taking in Water and providing other necessary Provisions I went to pay a Visit to the Governour who had asked News of the six Jesuits whom he had seen the Year before He made me many Offers of Services offering me a Friends House if I would stay ashoar because the Observatory which was pulled down to be built again with greater Magnificence was not yet finished Being informed that I was to return to the Indies with several other Jesuits he added very obligingly that all should be ready against our Arrival and invited me and all my Companions before hand to come and refresh our selves there After all these Civilities he made me a Present of four lovely Tygers Skins and of a little tame Beast which he had taken in his last Expedition by the Hair and Size of it it resembles a Squirril and had much the Shape of one when he gave it me he told me it was the implacable Enemy of Serpents and was at cruel Wars with them It was then Vintage time which was very far advanced we eat of the Grapes of Africa that are plentiful and have a rare good Taste The White-wine is very delicate and if the Dutch knew as well how to cultivate Vines as to make Colonies and
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-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
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
sharpness of his Wit he hath discovered the erroneousness of the Religion of his Ancestors And he does not believe an annihilated God according to the Popular opinion or as some of their Doctors say a God who weary of governing the Heavens plunges himself to repose and for ever buries himself in the forgetfulness of what passes in the world nor a thousand other Superstitions preached by the Talapoins who are the Preachers and Priests of the Kingdom On the contrary he believes that God is Eternal that his Providence continually governs the World and disposes of all things To the same immortal God he often makes his Prayers and implores his assistance with most profound Reverence at least twice a Day for two hours time in the Morning after he is up and at Night before he goes to rest The Pope having sent him two Pictures one of our Saviour and the other of the Blessed Virgin he hath a singular veneration for them and as a sign thereof hath placed them in a very high place of his Chamber far above him and never speaks of them but with honour and respect The Embassy which the King sent to him if it hath not determined him to embrace Christianity hath at least made him reflect and consider As he has an extraordinary esteem for the wisdom of the most Christian King so when the Lord Constance explained to him the sole reason that moved that great Monarch to send the Ambassador to him he seemed affected therewith and it is known that he hath many times reflected thereupon since These are considerations that should excite those who may read these momoires to pray to God for the Conversion of that Prince which would be attended with the Conversion of an innumerable multitude of People and which without doubt would gain to our holy Law the neighbouring Princes who admire the conduct and parts of the King of Siam There lye great obligations upon us to that Monarch for all the marks of esteem and good will wherewith he was pleaased to honour us and we are glad we have the occasion of publishing the same from the time that the Lord Constance made him sensible of our ways and the prospects that put us upon acting that Prince favoured us upon all occasions notwithstanding the bad impressions that some endeavoured to give him of Jesuits The Lord Constance omitted not to set off to him to the best advantage the extraordinary goodness that the King of France hath for our company and that 's the thing that contributed most to make us merit his favours It is an Example of great influence upon the mind of the King of Siam and so indeed he hath by obliging cares intimated to us that he will imitate it and hath often assured us of his Royal protection and that we should never fail of a safe refuge in his Kingdom We began to make observations at Louvo So soon as we arrived at Louvo we begun to make observations and especially such as might be needful to us for observing exactly the Ecclipse of the Moon which was to happen on the Eleventh of December We could not till then make use of our Instruments for these operations because all the while we were at Siam the City and Country about were so overflown that we had no place to fix them upon Nay and the house too where we lodged being only of Wood the least motion made it so shake that our Pendulums and Quadrants were thereby wholy disordered December the sixth and seventh we observed by the Astronomical Ring of Mr. Butterfield Observation about the variation of the Needle that the variation of the Needle was two degrees twenty Minutes towards the West This observation was constantly alike during those two days The ninth of the same Month by the heights taken of the same border of the Sun Morning and Evening the true hour of Noon by the Pendulum with Seconds was 12 h. 5. 3. The variation of the Needle by the Parallatick Engine of the Sieur Chapotot was observed One time 16. min. only Another 31. min. Another 35. min. Another 38. min. Towards the West That variation was found by taking several times Morning and Evening the height of the Sun and every time observing the Azimuth the Needle still continuing upon the Line of the South and North. In the last Audience that his Majesty gave the Ambassador The King of Siam observes with the Jesuits an Ecclipse of the Moon in his Palace he told him that he would take it well that we made the observation of the first Ecclipse in his presence Some days after he commanded the Lord Constance to acquaint us with the honour he intended to put upon us For that effect they pitched upon a Royal house called Thlee-Poussonne a short League from Louvo Eastwards not far from the Forrest where the King was a hunting of Elephants The Lord Constance carried us to view the place two days before the Ecclipse that 's to say the ninth of December A more convenient place could not have been chosen we saw the Heavens on all hands and had room enough to place our Instruments Having put all things in order we came back to Louvo Next day December the tenth by the Elevations of the same border of the Sun taken in the Morning betwixt nine and ten a Clock and in the Evening betwixt two and three the true hour of Noon by the same Pendulum with Seconds was 12. h. 2. 31. The variation of the Needle by the Parallatick Engine One time 28 min. Another 33 min. Another 21 min. Towards the West In the sequel we shall examine whether or no the Needle of the Astronomical Ring decline too much towards the West as it is very probable for if so then something is to be deducted from the variation of the Cape of good Hope which we found to be Eleven degrees and a half towards the West and the Pilots with their Compasses only nine degrees The King of Siam invites the Ambassador to an Elephant hunting The same day the King invited my Lord Ambassador to come and see the Illuminations that were made for the hunting of Elephants It was his Majesties pleasure that we also should be there and did us the honour about four in the Afternoon to send us six Elephants with the Barcalon Lieutenant to be our guide We sent to Thlee-poussonne our Telescope and a spiral Pendulum that went very right and was set by the Sun. For we were to observe the Ecclipse there according to the Orders The Kings method of the hunting was in the manner that I am now about to relate About fourty six or fourty seven thousand men had surrounded and made an inclosure in the Woods and upon the Mountains of a long square A description of that hunting whereof the two great sides might very well be ten Leagues a piece and the other two each three Leagues All that vast extent was bordred by two
that it might live His wish was granted him in consideration of his great merits for at this very present the same half Fish is still alive in the Lake It would be too tedious here to relate all their other raveries we shall only take notice that building upon an infinite number of Prodigies of this Nature in disputing with us they challenge us to show some Miracles in confirmation of the Doctrine we Preach They brag to us of certain Brass and Stone-statues which they believe were heretofore Men and by a divine Virtue rendered inanimate They have also as they say many ancient Works made by the hand of Angels In conclusion all the Effects which we attribute to Magic they take to be so many amazing wonders and they are proud that they alone have the art to do them There are certain Talapoins amongst them who have embraced a State of life called Vipisana Nothing can be more Austere they observe perpetual silence always appli'd to the Contemplation of Divine things and they have the Reputation of being great Saints The Siamese believe that they continually converse with Angels that what is most admirable in nature is always present to their mind and that their Eyes pierce even into the most hidden Mines where they clearly see Gold Silver all Metals and all sorts of Precious Stones As to manners and the way of living a Christian cannot enjoyn any thing more perfect than what their Religion prescribes to them It commands them to do good and not only prohibits them bad actions but also every sinful desire thought and intention And that makes them say that their Law is impracticable or at least very hard to be kept as it ought to be and indeed they think that they shall all go to Hell. The Law of the Siamese contains ten very severe Precepts Their whole Law is comprehended in ten Commandments as ours is but it is much severer for besides that with them neither necessity nor any other Circumstance excuses a Man that sins many things which among Christians are only of perfection and Council pass with them for indispensable Precepts The use of all intoxicating Liquors are forbidden to them They are not so much as permitted to taste Wine whatsoever need they may be in or whatsoever occasion may press them and they are extreamly scandalized when they see Christian Priests drink of it They cannot without a sin kill any living Creature nay it is a Crime to go a Hunting to strike a Beast and to do it hurt any manner of way The reason they give for that is that Beasts having life as well we are sensible of pain as well as we and since we are not willing that any body should hurt us it is not reasonable that we should hurt them Nay they accuse us of ingratitude because we put to death innocent Creatures who have rendred us so many Services For that reason they are obliged to practise Charity not only towards Men but towards Beasts also and to assist them in their necessities They have so great a respect to their Scriptures that they dare not trust them in our hands no nor explain their Law to us lest that exposing it to our dirision we might be guilty of some irreverence and the sin of that be imputed to them They often upbraid us with the way we carry holy Images and read the holy Scriptures as being not respectful enough After all the Talapoins who are their Priests Monks and Doctors are looked upon as the true followers of God. They have little Commerce with the World never salute a Lay-man no not the King. And that 's the reason why it offends the Siamese to see the European Priests use familiarity with Seculars The Talapoins go every Morning a begging and the opinion People have of their Virtue makes every one give them somewhat And indeed the most essential part of Morality which they Preach is that to be saved men must erect or repair Pagods and above all things assist the Talapoins The Lay-men have eight principal Commandments which consist 1. In adoring God his Word and those who imitate his Virtues 2. Not to steal 3. Not to drink Wine nor any Liquor that intoxicates 4. Not to lye nor to deceive any body 5. Not to kill Men nor Beasts 6. Not to commit Adultery 7. To fast on Holy-days 8. Not to labour on those days These are the Duties which the Priests explain to the People and instruct them in in their Sermons The Monasteries of the Talapoins are so many Seminaries where Youth are bred Thither are all Children of Quality sent as soon as they are capable of instruction and whilst they continue there they are made to lead a very austere life They are called Nén and have their particular Rules and Precepts which consists in wearing a yellow Garment and having their Head and Eye-brows shaved twice a Month the fourteenth and twenty ninth of the Moon to fast those two days and also three other Holy-days which happen the fifteenth twenty third and last day of the Moon to eat only twice a day in the Morning and at Noon without permission to take a bit of Food more till next day to have no Commerce with any Woman never to sing a Song nor to hear those that do sing not to play upon any Instruments to avoid public Shows and Rejoycings not to use Perfumes not to love Money which they are not so much as to touch far less to hoard it up not to take pleasure in the taste of what they eat and to divert their thought from that which is the reason that several of them mingle somewhat with what is given them to render it less agreable In fine to honour their Priests to give them the hand and to sit always below them The Talapoins lead a more austere life for besides that they have all the obligations of Lay-man and of the youth whom they breed they have over and above more than sixscore rules proper to their station whereof these are the chief To go twice every day to the Temple Morning and Evening to say their Prayers to be wholy covered never to touch Women not to speak to them hand to hand nay and not to look upon them when they meet them in the streets to walk with great modesty looking downwards and not turning the head to carry always a Fan and to cover their face with it to hinder their eyes from wandering never to consent to any ill thought not to dress their own Victuals but to take such food as is given them to live on Alms which they beg about the Town but not to enter into houses neither to wait at doors longer than an Ox is a drinking to teach the Law to their Disciples and to the People to mortify themselves and do penance a whole year part whereof consists in staying abroad fifteen days in the Month of February exposed to the Dew of Heaven in the
the Garden and the Fort with two little Halls on each side over that there is a Pavilion open every way betwixt two Tarasses paved with Brick and railed about the one looking towards the North and the other to the South This Pavilion seemed to be purposely made for our Design For on the one side we discovered the North the View whereof was absolutely necessary to us because it is the South in relation to that Country Whil'st they were a preparing that Pavilion which with the Dutch I shall call our Observatory we went on Board to give the Ambassador and our Fathers an Account of all that had past Next day the Commissary and Commander sent us on Board all sorts of Refreshments The Ambassador and Commissary General inter-change many Civilities The Officer who was ordered to make that Present to the Ambassador in their Behalf told us that these Gentlemen had also sent us a Boat to carry us and our Instruments ashoar Having in the Night time prepared these which we thought we might stand in need or we put them into the Boat and so went to the Observatory the second of June in the Year one thousand six hundred and eighty five A Pendulum Clock with Seconds We began to make our Observations made by Monsieur Thuret at Paris being set at to Hour as near the true Hour as we could guess not having as yet corrected the Clock we began the following Observations The first Satelles appeared in the Evening at eleven and three Minutes of the Clock not as yet corrected distant from Jupiter somewhat less than the Diameter of the same Jupiter By the Telescope we saw two parallel Bands or Streaks upon the Body of Jupiter the one larger towards the Southern Border and the other narrower towards the Northern The first Satelles began to touch the Border of Jupiter at 11 a Clock 37 M. 30 S. at eleven a Clock 58 M. 5 S. the Satelles was no more to be seen These Observations were made with an Excellent Telescope twelve foot long of the late Monsieur le Bas the Hours are still of the Pendulum not rectified We constantly observed Jupiter untill two of the Clock five Minutes after Midnight at what time he was hid behind the Lyon Mountain which limited our Sight towards the West so that we could not that day see the Emersion of the first Satelles The third of June 1685. For rectifying the Hour of the Clock Heights before Noon Hours of the Clock Deg. Min. Ser. Hour Min. Ser. 20 16 0 9 35 38 22 56 20 9 34 47 24 11 0 10 4 50 24 39 55 10 8 48 Heights after Noon Hours of the Clock Deg. Min. Ser. Hour Min. Ser. A dubious Observation 24 39 55 0 The Observation fail'd 24 11 0 2 50 19 22 56 20 2 57 40 0 26 0 3 16 38 These Elevations were taken with a Quadrant of ninety Degrees of eighteen Inches the Radius made by Mr. Butterfield at Paris It is to be observed that these Heights of the Sun were not of the same Border in the Morning we took the Height of the Superior Border and in the Evening of the Inferior only which is to be taken notice of For the Variation of the Needle By Mr. Butterfield's equinoxial Dial which carries a great compass under the Meridian the Variation of the Needle was found to be eleven Degrees and a half North-west Having no particular Observations to make in the Evening we considered several fixed Stars with the Telescope twelve foot long The foot of the Crozier marked in Bayer is a double Star that is to say Several Observations concerning the Southern Stars consisting of two bright Stars distant one from another about their own Diameter only much like to the most Northern of the Twins not to speak of a third much less which is also to be seen but farther from these two Under the Croziers there are several Places of the Milky Way which seem to be filled if you look through the Telescope with an infinite number of Stars The two Clouds which are near the South Pole appear not to be a croud of Stars like the Praesepe Cancri nor yet a duskish Light as the cloudy part of Andromeda nothing hardly is to be seen there with great Glasses though without a Glass one may see them very white especially the great Cloud No Constellation in the Heavens looks so lovely as those of the Centaur and Ship. There are no fair Stars near the Pole but a great many little ones Bayer and other Books that speak of them omit a great many and most of these they set down appear not in the Heavens in the same Scituation The Fourth of June 1685. For rectifying the Hour of the Clock Heights before Noon Hours of the Clock D. M. S. H. M. S. 22 23 0 9 50 47 23 31 50 10 0 32 24 37 30 10 9 18½ 25 53 20 10 20 29 Heights after Noon Hours of the Clock D. M. S. H. M. S. 25 53 20 2 32 33 24 37 30 2 43 38 23 31 50 2 52 47 22 23 0 3 1 38½ The Horizontal Thread of the Telescope was not exactly parallel to the Horizon we always endeavoured to supply that in the Certifications of the Clock by making the Border of the Sun pass by the same Place of the Thread or as near as could be to it You are always to mind that they are the Heights of different Borders of the Sun in the Morning of the Superior Border and in the Evening of the Inferior Monday after Dinner we went to the Fort to see the Gentlemen and communicate to them the Observations which we had already made and acquaint them with that we were to make that Evening according to which alone one might regulate the true Longitude of the Cape Upon our return all these Gentlemen would needs go along with us to be Spectators of that Observation An Interview betwixt the Ambassador and Commissary General We were together upon the Terrass taken up in showing them our Instruments which seemed very pretty and curious to them when we perceived my Lord Ambassador who having come incognito the Day before to walk in the Garden found it so pleasant that he returned again next day to divert himself there with most part of the Officers of both Ships and the Gentlemen of his Retinue The Ambassador and Commissary had mutually enterchanged many Civilities from the very day of our Arrival and no day past without sending one another Presents The Heer Van Rheeden perceiving him went immediately down from the Terrass where he was observing with us and after two or three turns meeting the Ambassador as by chance they entertained one another to their mutual satisfaction When the Ambassador was gone The Emersion of the first Satelles of Jupiter observed the Commissary with the Heer 's St. Martin Vanderste and Bocheros stayed with us in the Observatory till
and our Sails Hereby it is apparent enough that the less Ships stand away to the Southward the better it is and that if they met with westerly Winds at the height of the Cape they should steer their Course without giving themselves the trouble of running into more Latitude because of the Winter Season and the Accidents I have been speaking of which without Caution and Circumspection are not to be avoided It is not the same in coming back as we found it in our Passage off of the Isle Maurice and I heard also a Dutch Pilot whom we took in at Batavia to carry us to Siam tell my Lord Ambassador so He said that in the Summer-time which we took to return again to the Cape Necessary Remarks for those who are bound to the Indies from the Cape the best way was to stand away Southward to the thirty fifth or thirty sixth Degree of Latitude for avoiding some furious Gusts of wind which happen commonly near the Isles Maurice and Medagascar that these Gusts are like Hurricanes which endanger the best Ships That was a very discreet Warning and two violent Storms that we met with in those very same Parts as I shall relate in its proper place convinced us of the Truth of it I have already observed that we were put in vain Hopes that being past the Line we should find at the height of six or seven Degrees South Latitude fair Winds to carry us to the Cape of Good-hope We were no less deceived after we had doubled the Cape in our Expectation of the Westerly Winds that were so confidently promised us if we stood off to the thirty sixth or thirty seventh Degree South We followed these Instructions but we found that what the Heer Van Rheeden said was true when he assured us that their Pilots had observed within these four or five years that the Seasons and Winds were extreamly altered and that there was no trusting to past Experience but to sail with all circumspection Seeing our Pilots steered their Course according to the Instructions that were given them in France they bore away South to the thirty seventh Degree of Latitude and farther that they might preserve the West Winds but there we lost them for having met with them upon our setting out from the Cape they failed us at the thirty fourth Degree Nay they began to be both so contrary and so high that we never met with so rough a Sea as we had then nothing but Mountains and Abysses and the Waves broke against the Ship with so much violence that they made almost as great a Noise as a Canon Shot so that had not she been a strong Ship and had the Weather lasted many days longer she would have been in great danger of springing Leaks and of being foundered The Waves ran so high and broke so violently that they went clear over our Stern and poured in several Tuns of Water at a time betwixt Decks which was very uneasy and tiresome to the Ships Company After six or seven days Prayers made for obtaining of fair Weather these Winds did indeed abate a little but then they became contrary This obliged us to have our recourse to the Holy Virgin to whom the whole Ships Company vowed a Novenary or a nine days Devotion to pray her that she would obtain a fair Wind for us because having made little or no way for near a Fortnight we were afraid of being forced to put into the Coast of Malabar or the Isle of Ceilon or at least to come too late to Batavia for making the Voyage of Siam that year We had the more cause to dread that Delay Sickness amongst the Ships Company for that we began to have a great many sick on board not only because of the bad Weather but also of bad Victuals which now began to be spoilt We had at least sixty sick at a time from the Cape to Batavia most of them of Scurvies a Distemper which rotted their Legs their Mouth and made their Teeth drop out We had then a fair Occasion to assist those poor Wretches in the Work of their Salvation We did all we could to administer to them Spiritual Comfort in their Troubles by teaching them to make a good use of them It was easie to make them resolve to resign themselves to the Will of God The Patience and Piety of the Sea-men in the violent Pains they endured especially when they were dressed the Chirurgeons being obliged to scarifie their Gums even to the Palate of their Mouth and then make them wash their Mouth with Vinegar or Brandy to stop the Putrefaction and hinder a Gangreen We were sometimes surprised to see in what tranquility they were amidst their Pains how indifferent as to Health or Sickness Life or Death desiring nothing in this World but that God's Will might be fulfilled They shew'd so much Earnestness to hear Mass and to Communicate that getting their Mess-mates to carry them up upon the Deck you might see them faint away and yet return satisfied though far sicker than before they had performed their Devotion Doubtless this was a great Comfort to us which was much encreased by the Conversion of two poor Sea-men Calvinists who were shipped without the Ambassadors knowledge Had it been known that they were Hereticks they would never have been suffered to make their Voyage but Divine Providence made use of the Curiosity they had of going to Siam to bring them into the way of Salvation They had much ado to resolve upon it but at length being gained and instructed by one of our Fathers they publickly renounced the Errors of Calvin Father Fontenay having made a short Exhortation to them to confirm them in the Resolution of living and dying good Catholicks received their Abjuration the third Sunday after Whit-Sunday They were afterwards farther instructed to prepare them for their first Communion which sometime after they performed with much Piety and since that time both of them have lived very exemplarily in the Ship. We began then our Novenary the seventh of July and next day our Prayers were heard God grants fair Weather at the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin There arose so favourable a Wind that we made fifty Leagues in less than four and twenty Hours after that we saw Weeds and Foul in greater number than usually for we had not failed of having their Company all the way from the Cape to Batavia It was thought they came from the Isle of St. Paul of Amsterdam which is towards the thirty sixth Degree of South Latitude and the eighty ninth of Longitude Having run near a thousand Leagues Eastward we steered away our Course Northward that we might make the Isle of Java which lies within six Degrees of the Line Southward Nay for some time we had a fresh fair Gale but July the Fifteenth it began to slacken so much that we hardly made any Way at all The Seventeenth of the same
the rotten Flesh must every day be cut off from about the Teeth which easily drop out if Remedies be not used This corruption gets also into the Legs and Thighs which swell and become livid A Remedy for the Land-Evil There is no curing of those that are ill of it but by putting them on Shore and giving them wholesome Food Some Chyrurgeons bury them up to the neck in Sand for several days others bath them in fresh water and many times these Remedies have succeeded The Chevalier de Fourbin is sent to the Governor of Bantam Before we came to an Anchor in the Road of Bantam the Chevalier de Fourbin was by Orders from the Ambassador gone to the Town to pay a visit to the Governor but he had no sooner passed a little Island behind which we lay at Anchor than he saw the Frigat also at Anchor on the other side of that Island within three Leagues of Bantam He found the Maligne and reâ—urned on Board with the Lieutenant of the Frigat and steered streight towards her Those who were on Board the Maligne were overjoyed at his coming they being more concerned for us than we were for them because the Oseau being a far better Sailer than their Frigat they thought we had been already a great way beyond Bantam But they having met with fairer winds than we did in the course they had steered they had been already four or five days in the Road and heard no news of us The Chevalier de Fourbin was informed of Monsieur de Joyeux Captain of the Maligne and of Monsieur de Tertre his Lieutenant The bad reception those of the Maligne met before our Arrival at Bantam in what manner the Governor of Bantam received their Complement They told him that they could not have Audience of the King tho they had long waited for it and were put in hopes by the Dutch of obtaining it that they could not so much as speak to the Governor of their Nation whom they have setled there nor have leave to buy fresh Provisions The Lieutenant of the Fort made known to Mr. de Tertre in the name of the King of Bantam and of the Governor who was sick that the Kings Affairs did not permit his Majesty to suffer Strangers to come ashore that his Throne was not yet well fixed that his People repining at the present Government longed for some Change that they were ready every minute to rise upon the first appearance of any Succours which they were made to expect from England and that so the French ought not to take it ill that that Prince was upon his Guard and that the Dutch who were only concerned as his Allies and Friends and who served only as Auxiliary Forces should receive and obey his Orders The French Officer being netled at that answer and thinking that he saw to the bottom of such an uncivil procedure replyed that it would be thought very strange that the Dutch who in Europe make profession of keeping and entertaining Peace and good Intelligence so carefully with the French would not grant them in the Indies that which is not refused but to declared Enemies that certainly the King his Master would tâ—ke it extremely ill that they should use his Ships so and that in short it was well enough known that they could do any thing at Bantam that the King of whose Authority they made a pretext to cloak their refusal was wholly at their disposal nay and guarded by their Soldiers too To these words the Dutch Lieutenant made answer that it would be in vain for him to endeavour to remove out of Mr. de Tertre's mind the disadvantagious suspicions wherewith he saw him prejudiced against those of his Nation that the French would be undeceived if they would go to Batavia where the Dutch were the Masters and where they would be made sensible of the respect those people had for the King and of their esteem for the French Nation It was to no purpose for Monsieur de Tertre to complain for that was all the answer he had so was obliged to return on Board again Mutual Presents of the Governor of Bantam and the Captain of the Frigat Next day the Governor of Bantam sent to Monsieur de Joyeux a great deal of fresh Provisions of the Fowl Herbs and fruits of the Country and Monsieur de Joyeux returned the Civility by a Present which he made him of many Curiosities of France Some days after a Pangran came on Board of the Frigat that is the name they give to the Lords of Court attended by four Halbadiers of the Natives He bid his Interpreter tell the Captain that he came from the King his Master to tell the French that that Prince was surprised to see them still at Anchor in his Road that they should weigh with all expedition and be gone from his Ports and Lands Monsieur de Joyeux answered very fiercely and bid them tell the Pangran that he knew not what it was to obey any but the King of France his Master and that his answer to the King of Bantam was that he would not be gone till he thought fit and that they durst not send a Ship to fight him as they had threatned With that the King of Bantams Envoy withdrew without any other complement It was easily believed that the Dutch Officers who were in the Fort The Governors Suspition of the French. made all those Engines play and that they used the Kings Authority to drive the French away from the Town For the Governor not knowing the reasons which had obliged the King to send two Men of War into the Indies could not think that it was only to carry an Ambassador to the King of Siam as he was told On the contrary the more pains was taken to convince him of it the more ground he imagined he had to suspect that they were part of the Squadron which the Kings of England and France sent to be revenged of the Insolencies that both Nations had lately suffered when the Dutch raised the Siege of Bantam The Rumor that was spread abroad amongst the Islanders that for a long time they had been Arming in England upon that design encreased his suspicions and he was easily perswaded that that Ship at Anchor and another bigger which was seen off in the Streight of the Sound would soon be followed by the whole Fleet. To all this it is to be added that the Javaners were furiously incensed to see the young Prince upon the Throne the Dutch Masters of Bantam The Javaners are mad to see Sultan Agoum their old King in Prison and their old King kept close Prisoner It did indeed surprise us to hear these people speak with so much liberty threatning to put the Dutch to the Sword and Dethrone the King Regnant if they had Forces to assist them This news made the Chevalieur de Fourbin resolve to put back again
Countrey when he was young and by consequence but little instructed in the Catholic Religion wherein he was bred it was no hard matter for the English to make him embrace the Protestant Religion which seemed to him to differ little from his own But having had since some Conferences with Father Thomas and Father Maldonat of our Company for whom he still retains a kind Friendship and being convinced in his own Judgment of the bad way he had been put into after full instruction he left it and abjured his Heresie to Father Thomas Since that time he hath led a very regular and edifying Life and by his Example and Credit contributes much to the establishment of the Catholic Faith as will appear by the Sequel of this History So soon as the King of Siam was informed by his Minister of the Honour the King of France did him by the splendid Embassy he sent to him and was told that the Ambassador was arrived at the Mouth of the River he was over-joyed and publickly expressed it to all his Court. He called his Council and ordered upon pain of his-Displeasure that care should be immediatly taken to receive the Ambassador well that they should shew him all the Honour that he who represented the person of a great Prince deserved and that they should not stand upon the Ceremonies and Customs that were observed in the reception of other Ambassadors At the same time he named two of the chief Lords of his Court the one first Gentleman of his Bed-Ch amber and the other chief Captain of his Guards to go as far as the Bar to congratulate late in 〈…〉 his happy Arrival and to tell him that 〈…〉 â—xpected the Day of his Audience aâ—◠〈…〉 hours after the Lord Constance 〈◊〉 one of his â—â—â—retâ—ries to complement his Excellence and 〈…〉 him with all sorts of Refreshments 〈…〉 Retinue and both his Ships Compâ—â—â—eâ— Thâ— Governor of Bancok had alrâ—â—dy 〈…〉 like before so that in a trice we had 〈…〉 Since it was his Majesti◠〈…〉 That the Ambassador should 〈…〉 Reception the Lord 〈…〉 on his part also to do him the 〈…〉 â—ody before him had ever received 〈…〉 only that he might perform his Master 〈…〉 but also that he might testifie the profâ—â—nd â—â—spect which he had always entertained for 〈◊〉 King of France He went in person to the Town oâ— Siam to pitch upon the Lodgings where my Lord Ambassador was to be accommodated and by his Orders diverse Appartments were built hard by for lodging his Gentlemen and all his Retinue He caused the Balons of State to be made ready which were to bring the Ambassador and those which were to follow him because in the Month of September as it was then the River of Siam is much out and all the Countrey about overflow'd He gave Orders that at every five Leagues distance neat Houses should be forthwith built on the River side and very sumptuously furnished and that as far as Tabangue an hours journey from Siam where my Lord Ambassador was to stay till all things were ready for his Reception In the mean time the Bishop of Metellopolis Vicar Apostolic of a great part of the Indies came on board and the Abbot of Lyonne with him They were received with all the Marks of Esteem and Respect that were due to the Dignity of the one and the Quality of the other The Ambassador and Bishop after Mass shut up themselves together and had a long Conference upon the Subject of the Embassie Though we had had the Honour to kiss the Bishop's Hands when he came on board yet our Father Superior judged it convenient that we should again all six together go and pay our most humble Respects to him This Prelate who is a person of a very sweet and good Nature received us with all testimonies of Joy and Affection Nay he offered us his Seminary to live in so long as we should be at Siam telling us that the House of the Company was too small to accommodate us all And we rendered him our hearty Thanks for his Goodness At that time the two great Mandarins whom the King of Siam sent to his Excellence came on board of us in a Galley They were introduced into the Ambassador's Cabin that was spred with a Foot-Carpet Being come in they sate down upon the Carpet and then the Elder of the two asked my Lord Ambassador in the Name of the King his Master News of the King of France and of all the Royal Family and congratulated his happy Arrival He added according to the Visions of the Metempsychosis wherewith most of the Orientals are infatuated that he well knew his Excellence had heretofore been employed in great Affairs and that it was above a thousand years since he came to Siam to renew the Friendship of the Kings who at that time governed the two Kingdoms of France and Siam The Ambassador having very civilly answered their Complements added with a Smile that he did not remember he had ever been charged with so important a Negotiation and that this was the first Voyage he had ever made to Siam After a short stay they took leave assuring the Ambassador that the King was impatient to see him and that he had ordered the luckiest day of the Year to be pitched upon for his Reception They were served with Tea and Sweet Meats and one of them who was a very handsom man and of a pleasant aspect drank Wine but the other would not so much as taste it So they went into their Galley again where they wrote down all they had seen and heard in this Congress Towards the Evening our Father Superior would have me go before with Father Visdelou and Father Bouvet to take order about our Affairs There offered a very fair occasion by the return of the Bishop and Abbot of Lyonne who were to part next day and who offered us their Balons The Ambassador commanded the Chevalier de Fourbin and the Chevalier du Fay to wait upon the Bishop and Abbot who went into the Chaloop where we had the honour to accompany them because their Balons were not strong enough to come on board Pretty late in the Evening we got to the mouth of the River at that place it is but a short League over half a League further up it is not a quarter of a League over and a little higher it is not at the broadest place above an hundred and threescore paces or thereabouts over It has a very fair pretty deep Channel The Bar is a Bank of Owze lying in the mouth of it where there is not above thirteen foot water when the Tides are at the highest There is nothing more charming than the sight of that River the Banks on both sides being covered over with Trees always green and beyond them there being nothing but vast Plains reaching out of sight covered with Rice It was Night when we put ashoar at a little Lodging where the Balons
00 12 00 The doubtful Begin of the Ecl. 00 15 08 The certain Beginning 00 19 00 Riccioli 00 19 45 The Beginning of Grimaldi 00 21 34 The End of Grimaldi 00 22 36 Kepler 00 29 32 Gassendi 00 32 36 Heraclides 00 36 40  Hou Min. Sec The Beginning of Capricorn 00 37 10 The Middle of Capricorn 00 39 00 The Beginning of Plato 03 48 25 The Middle of Plato 00 49 05 The End of Plato 00 49 24 Menelaus 00 58 45 St. Denis 00 59 49 Plinius 04 02 11 Promontorium acutum 00 07 40 The Beginning of Mare Chrysium 00 14 30 The Middle of Mare Chrysium 00 17 45 The End of Mare Chrysium 00 19 18 The total Immersion 00 22 45 The King puts several Questions of Astronomy to the Jesuits The King expressed a particular Satisfaction seeing all the Spots of the Moon in the Telescope and especially perceiving that the Type or Map that was made at the Observatory of Paris agreed so well with it He put several Questions to us during the Eclipse as for instance Why did the Moon appear revers'd in the Telescope Why was the part of the Moon eclipsed still to be seen What a Clock was it at Paris For what could Observations made by concert in remote Countries be useful c. Whilst we satisfied all his Questions one of the chief Officers of his House brought us upon a large Silver Bason six Cassocks and as many Cloaks of flowred Sattin wherewith the King presented us in a most obliging manner He had a mind to look in a Telescope twelve foot long which Father Fontenay made use of and we presently carried it to him He suffered us to rise and stand in his Presence and would look in the Telescope after us for we must needs set it to its Point when we presented it to him They who know what Reverence and Respect the Kings of Siam expect from those who are in their Presence have spoken of that Favour to us as of a very rare thing His Majesty would then know which of the Fathers was to return to France and being told that it was I he told me very obligingly that seeing he was sending Ambassadors to France who were not well acquainted with the Customs and Manners of Europe he trusted much to the good Counsels that I should give them and especially the good Offices that I would render them by means of our Friends that he had ordered them to demand of the King of France twelve Mathematicians of our Society and for that end to address themselves to Father de la Chaize that he might second their Demand in short that he made no doubt but that I would also in particular do what lay in my power in managing of that Affair At the same time the Lord High Chamberlain in his Majesty's Presence presented me with two lovely Crucifixes in a large Gold Bason The Christ was of Masse Gold the Cross of Tambag which is made of a mixture of seven parts of Gold and three parts more of a Metal as precious as Gold it self the Foot was of Silver His Maiesty told me that the biggest was designed for Father la Chaize the King's Confessor whose Merit and Fidelity in the Service of his Master he knew by the Character that the Lord Constance had given of him Then he fell a praising the Zeal and Disinterestedness of his own Minister whom he always called our Brother telling us that he had received most signal Services from him on all occasions that ever presented After that his Majesty commanded me to tell the Father Confessor when in his Name I presented him that Crucifix that he could not render him more acceptable Service nor more useful to his State than in obtaining for him twelve Mathematicians from the King that I might assure them that before their Arrival there would be an Observatory a House and a Church for them at Louvo as well as at Siam At the same time he enjoyned the Lord Constance to get them forthwith built and with assistance of the Fathers to chuse Places for them in the two Towns I have been speaking of As for the other Crucifix I freely give it you said he with a most gracious Look that it may serve you for a faithful Companion during all your Voyage Let me hear News from you as oft as you can and above all things endeavour to return back again with the first opportunity I beseech Divine Providence that takes care of the Conduct of the Universe to give you a prosperous Voyage At length having recommended to my Care what he then had enjoyned me and what he was told by others from him he again wished me a speedy Return and so went away expressing the pleasure and satisfaction that he had received during the two hours that he had done us the Honour to be present at our Observations No body was near his Person all the while he was with us but the Lord Constance the Lord Chamberlain and a Gentleman of his Bed-chamber So many Favours to which it behoved us to answer upon the Spot hindred us from observing the immersion of several Spots After the King was gone the Lord Constance staid alone with us and having well remarked the Circle of the Shadow and Mare Chrysium in the Telescope he observed together with us the rest of the Phases until the total immersion From thence we returned to the House of the Lord Constance where we expected the emersion of the Moon which appeared above a quarter of an hour before Sun-rising that is to say at six a-clock and six minutes the beginning of the Emersion was at 6. h. 1. m. 11. sec or rather at 6. h. 9. m. and to that Observation it was concluded we must hold It is true the Vapors of the Horizon hindred us a little The Moon was still to be seen near the Horizon at 6. h. 22 m. 0 sec but soon after she set and the Sun rose The Pendulum was set at One a clock after Noon and from Three a-clock in the Afternoon the day before had lost but three Minutes and three Seconds The Hours set down in the Observation are according to the clock not rectified Thus the hours of Noon by the great Pendulum observed the Ninth and Tenth of December 1685. and the loss of the little one in respect of the great according to which it was set the Tenth of March at Three a-clock in the Afternoon shew that the little Pendulum at 4. h. 22. m. 45. Sec. after Midnight next day went too slow by a Minute and that the true Hour was 4. h. 23 m. 45. Sec. I have communicated these Observations to the Members of the Academy Royal of Sciences and it was found that the total immersion having been observed the Eleventh of that instant  Hou Min. Sec. At Louvo 04 23 45 At Paris by Mr. Cassini 09 49 30 The Difference of Merid. 06 34 15 At 6. h.
our Crucified Saviour which plainly represents the punishment of Thevathat So when we would explain to them the Articles of our Faith they take us always up short saying that they do not need our Instructions and that they know already better than we do what we have a mind to tell them But it is time to return to Sommonokhodom whose Story we have interrupted he had run over the World declaring to Mankind good and evil and teaching them the true Religion which he himself wrought that he might leave it to Posterity He had even gained several Disciples who in the condition of Priests were to make a particular Profession of imitating him in wearing a habit like to his and in observing the Rules that he gave them when at length he attained to the fourscore and second year of his age which was also the Age of that Monster which heretofore he killed as we have already said One day as he sate in the middle of his Disciples teaching them he saw the same Monster in shape of a Pig running with incredible Fury and he made no doubt but that it had a design to be revenged Knowing then that the time of his departure out of the World drew nigh he foretold it to his Disciples and shortly after having eaten a piece of the Pig which he had seen he was taken with a violent Cholic which killed him His Soul ascended to the eight Heaven Wherein consists the Annihilation of the Siamese God. which is properly Paradise called Nyruppaam it is no more subject to miseries and pain but there enjoys perfect bliss For that reason it will never be born again and that is the thing they call being annihilated For by that term they understand not the total destruction of a thing reduced to nothing but their meaning is that one appears no more upon Earth tho he live in Heaven His body was burnt and his bones as they say have been preserved to this present One part of them are in the Kingdom of Pegu and the other in Siam They attribute a wonderful Virtue to these bones and they affirm that they shine with a Divine splendor Before he died he ordered his Picture to be drawn after his Death for fear Men might by little and little suffer his Person to wear out of their remembrance and at long run forget him for good and all He would have the same honours rendred to him in that Image which were due to his Divinity He left also the print of one of his feet in three different places in the Kingdom of Siam the Kingdom of Pegu and the Isle of Ceilan People go thither in Pilgrimage from all parts and yearly honour these prints with singular Devotion The Siamese with great reverence preserve the hair and picture of their God. The Siamese pretend also that they have part of Sommonokhodom's hair which he had cut off after he became God The other part was by Angels carried up into Heaven It is their custom to upbraid us that we have not respect enough for holy Images for Sacred Books and for the Priests The Truth is no People can have greater Veneration for those things than they have By a precept of their Law they are commanded to honour them but it is not enough for them to respect the Priests and the Divine Scriptures the Vestments of the one and the Characters of the other wherein their Law is written is to them also an object of Religious Worship Nay they think it a most laudable action and excellent virtue to do good to the Talapoins and that their Cloaths and the Beads which they receive from them have the power to cure Diseases They imagine also that in their Books there is a divine virtue and that if one understood it and knew how to use the words of them he might work great wonders And therefore of the three ways of working Miracles the first is to understand aright how to make use of the word of God the second to be instructed in the Doctrine of the Anchorites and the third is the assistance of Devils This last however they condemn but they mightily approve of the two former boasting that they alone know these admirable secrets For the proof of their Religion they reckon up several Fables False Oracles whereby the Siamese Authorise their Religion which pass amongst them for so many authentic Miracles And these are some of the chief of them 1. In the Kingdom of Pegu where the Relicks of Sommonokhodom are kept his bones partly changed into several Metals and partly in their natural state shines with an extraordinary brightness 2. In the same Kingdom there is a little Isle in the middle of a River wherein there is a Temple of their God this little Isle let the waters be never so high even when the highest places are overflowed remains dry They add that the Presents which are offered to God by casting them into the River according to the Custom of that Countrey run along with the Stream until arriving at the Isle they stop there and will go no farther 3. In Storms at Sea when Seamen are in danger of being cast away they throw a Ring into the Sea with an intention to offer it to the Temple of the Isle and all of a sudden the Sea becomes calm and the Ship is out of danger 4. Upon the Borders of the Kingdom of Pegu there is a little hill where they have a Tradition that God went often A vast multitude of People go thither yearly in Pilgrimage and tho the top of it be very narrow yet it holds all that come upon it and is never full of Pilgrims 5. They also say that on the top of that little hill there is a great Treasure of Gold Silver and other precious things which these Pilgrims offer to God when they come there They tell how an Army of Chinese having one day carried away that Treasure was next day wholly destroyed and the Riches carried back by Angels to the place where it was before 6. Tho the top of the little hill be altogether exposed to the Weather and heat of the Sun yet there is always a shade upon it that even at noon guards the people from the excessive heats which they would suffer there without that 7. In the Town of Sokhotai there is an Idol all of Gold they pretend that that is a Mirculous Statue and that if when Rain is wanting it be carried into the Fields as usually it is immediately Rain falls in great abundance 8. In another Town which is called Campeng there is as they say a Lake wherein to this day there is to be seen a living Fish which hath but the half of its Body and the manner how that Prodigy was wrought is remarkable Heretofore a Holy Man lived in that Town who having a broiled Fish presented before him he ate but one half of it and threw the other into the Lake desiring
Month in the Night-time we re-passed the Tropick of Capricorn and from that day forward we sailed as near as we could upon a Wind until we came in sight of the Isle of Java For we were afraid of falling too much to the Northward A Caution not to be neglected in that course and by consequence to the Leeward of the Streight of the Sound which would have mightily perplexed us because the Trade-winds and Currents that are in those Parts not suffering us to enter it we would have been obliged to put into the Isle of Ceilon or Sumatra Therefore we desired Winds that might suffer us to bear away more to the East to the end we might come up with the Land of Java However perceiving that the contrary Winds still continued on Wednesday the five and twentieth of July we held Counsel to determine whether or not we should bear away still North-east that we might pass betwixt the Isles of Cocos and the Trial or if we should go and make New-Holland Two of our Pilots were of this last Opinion trusting to particular Instructions that set off the Course so and they alledged that the Winds changed not and that if we went and made these Lands they would be fair for us for entering into the Streight of the Sound The other three were against it because of the Dangers that are to be met with along that Coast and the many Shipwracks that happen there besides they made it appear that it was very difficult to pass betwixt the Trial and the Land The Trial are three pretty low Islands and that so it was better to make up to the Isle of Java They said that in a short time the Winds would change or that at worst we might put in to Sumatra that this Course though irksome enough was nevertheless safe and that it was better to resolve upon it than to run the risk of being cast away This last advice was followed and it proved to be the best as may be seen in the Sequel The truth is the Winds became no fairer afterwards than they had been before but seeing the Isles of Java was not so far from us as our Pilots relying upon their Carts imagined in a short time we found our selves a good deal higher than the Streight of the Sound and we entered it as you shall hear We would not trust to the Experience and good advice of Monsieur de St. Martin who assured us that the Isle of Java was ill placed in the common Maps and that it was about an hundred Leagues nearer the Cape and much more to the Leeward than was believed We hold on that course then steering North East in hopes of a fairer Wind The Wâ—â—â—ing contrâ—â— we be took our selves to Prayers again but seeing after long Sailing the wind changed not we vowed another Novenary which we began with fresh Zeal and Devotion About me half of the Shiâ— Company were dangerously dark and 〈◊〉 were so feeble and spent that they cold â—â—t work the Ship. The Sea-men of St. Malo show a particular Devotion The Seamen who beâ—â—ed â—o St. Malo resolved to give sâ—ne Token of their Devotion towards St. Saviour â—heir Patâ—â—n They sent two or three of their Number to one of our Fathers to pray him that he would assist them in their good Desires and prescribe to them what was to be done for rendring their Vow acceptable to their Holy Patron This Custom they have amongst them which they inviolably observe that when they are in any Danger at Sea they promise to St. Saviour to go and visit his Church in Linnen that 's to say in their Shirt to communicate there and to have a solemn Mass sung They had already agreed among themselves to make this Vow many of their Townsmen who were sick of the Scurvey put that Thought into their Minds and egg'd on to the Performance of it When they had proposed their Design they were told that they must begin by Confession and Communicating that so they might be in a Condition to have their Prayers heard They prepared themselves accordingly during the rest of the Week and on Sunday all of them confessed and communicated When they had done so the Father to whom they had applied themselves went up upon-the Fore-castle and having made them to kneel published aloud the Promise which they made to God if by the Intercession of St. Saviour they obtained a fair Wind and a happy Return into their own Country Providence without doubt is in all places wonderful but I dare be bold to say and I have often found it by Experience that it shows it self in a particular manner at Sea. We had never begged fair Weather with greater Confidence and we never thought we stood more in need of it during all our Voyage Nevertheless God would not hear our Prayers and we were astoâ—â—â—d to find our selves already at the end of our Mâ—â—enary without any the least sign of the change of Weather Gods special Protection of our Ship. But we were soon happily undeceived and we found that after all our Vowâ— and Prayers we must resign our selves to the Providence of God. For had our Prayers been heard and had God granted us the Wind which we so earnestly begged on the Twelfth of August in the Night-time we had infallibly run foul of a little low Island and been in great danger of being cast away We did not make that Isle before next Morning at break of Day when we had already past almost one half of it being no more but about two Leagues off on 't So that if that Night we had had a fair Wind to carry us streight North-East as our Pilots thought best for us we could not have avoided being lost because that Isle lies almost in the tenth Degree of Latitude for some time we took it to be the Isle of Cocos which we thought we had already past and the rather because it is marked in the Sea-charts to lye in the twelfth Degree of South Latitude We could not imagine that it should be the Isle of Mony the most Southern The Perplexity we were in before we came to the Isle of Java and most Eastern of the two Isles which lye near the Coast of Java either because Mony is set down in the common Charts to be in eight Degrees of Latitude or else because we did not all that Day nor next see the other little Isle which is very near to it And so our sick Men who were in very great number having turned out to see Land were much dejected when they found it was not that which they expected but they had far sadder Hearts when they came to understand that we did not know where we were In this Doubt we took the surest Course and steered away East for fear of falling to the Leeward of the Streight of the Sound into which it would have been difficult to enter by reason of