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-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
the South and South-East Wind that reigns there constantly in that Season But we came to know afterward that it was Mony when we saw exacter Charts at Batavia which placed that Isle just in ten Degrees eleven Minutes South Latitude The Treasurer General show'd us that the first Day we went ashoar when we acquainted him with the Danger we had been in he called an old Pilot who shew'd us in a great Chart that Isle placed exactly as we found it The Signs of being near the Land of Mony are three sorts of Birds which the Sea-men call Boobies Frigats and Tropick Birds or Straw in Tails according to the French. The first suffer themselves to be catcht with the Hand when in the Fore-part of the Night they come and perch upon the Yards of the Ship and the Last have Feathers in the Tail about twenty inches long which one would take for Straws seeing them at a distance and that 's the reason the French call them by that Name In all that long Passage we saw nothing remarkable unless it were some Porposes pretty different from those we formerly spoke of as to Bigness Shape and Colour for they are bigger and whiter by one half and have the Snout shorter and almost round as you may see by the Figure of them in the following Map of the Road of Bantam Seeing they are fairer than the others and that many took them at first for the Dorado's we thought they were the Fish known to the Antients by the Name of Dolphins We caught no Fish from the Time we put out from the Cape the Seas being too rough for Fishing We saw Grampusses which are like little Whales and some others bigger that spouted the Water up in the Air above fifteen or sixteen foot high by what we could judge at the distance we saw them at A VOYAGE TO SIAM The Third BOOK The Voyage from the Isle of Java to the Kingdom of Siam AVgust 5. We Discovered a great Coast of Land and standing in with it Arrival at the Isle of Java found it to be the Isle of Java when we thought our selves to be far from it This made us observe that that Island lies much more to the West A considerable mistake in the Hydrographical and Geographical Charts and by consequent is nearer by threescore Leagues to the Cape of Good-hope than it is marked in the Geographical Maps Therefore it was that we came in with the Land above threescore Leagues farther up than the most Western point of that Isle which we lookt for An error to be imputed to the Charts and not to the inability of the Pilots who all along Sailed very exactly and always kept reckoning that we should make the Land the same day that we saw it both at the Isle of Java and the Cape of Good-hope as we have already observed The sight of these Lands seemed somewhat rare to us they are covered with Trees of a most lovely verdure which yield a pleasant smell to the Ships that Sail along the Coast at two or three Leagues distance We Coasted along that Isle with so good a wind that in a day and a halfs time we made the sixty Leagues which we had run too far to the East and Monday evening the sixth of August were got to the entry into the Streight of the Sound which is made by the Isles of Java and Sumatra But what surprised us more and was a sign of Gods particular Providence upon our Voyage the same evening that we saw the entry into the Streight of the Sound we made the Maligne which was separated from us by the bad weather I mentioned June 24. in the night time and which we had never seen since Though my Lord Ambassador and several others took it to be the Frigat yet we could not be sure of that because it was already late and the weather dark We were not certain it was she till eight days after in the Road of Bantam where we joyned her again The Pilots who were aboard of her having made the Streight in good time put into it and having a fair wind came to the place of Anchoring But it being usual to shoot the Streight of the Sound betwixt the Princes Isle and Sumatra keeping as near as may be to the Princes Isle which we could not make plainly because of the night we were forced to tack and stand off to Sea all the night long So that since we could not make the best of the fair weather which then we had which would have easily carried us beyond the Princes Isle we fell too low and spent the rest of the week in the Streight which is not above thirty Leagues in length strugling and beating against the Currents and contrary winds One of our Pilots assured us that the Sun of the East of which he was aboard in an East-India Voyage was three full weeks stopped there and could not get to Bantam but as she was towed with Boats. We entred then the Streight of the Sound three days after we made the Land of Java but the Princes Island lying at the mouth of the streight betwixt Java and Sumatra and dividing it into two we entred by the more Northern Passage which is the larger and safer betwixt the Princes Isle and Sumatra We made many Tacks to double the Isle of Cacatoua so called because of the white Parrots that are upon that Isle which incessantly repeat that name we did I say all that lay in our power to double the Isle or Cacatoüa which lyes pretty near to Sumatra that so we might stand in with the Land of Java but all our attempts were unsuccessful because the wind was too weak and Currents too strong in the middle of the Channel That which causes the Currents is because the water that for several Months has been forced into the Streights by the South and South-west-winds which reign commonly from the Month of March to September set our again impetuously during the other six Months of the year being bent back by the East and North East winds We had the wind so cross and the Currents so contrary that it was thought best to keep as close in as we could by the Shore of the Princes Isle Breezes rise on Sumatra at certain hours of the day by the help of some Breezes that came from Sumatra and which for some hours interrupted the great heats and dead calms that are common in that season in the Streights of the Sound By the help of those little Breezes we were in hopes by little and little to come up with the Land of Java but it behoved us first to double the Princes Isle which is pretty big and lies in the mouth of the Streight After all the view which we had of the Land and of several small Islands all decked in verdure comforted us a little for the time which we lost in that Streight The danger the Ship was in in the
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
Streight Nay we were like to have been stranded one night upon the Princes Isle as we endeavoured to bear close in with it We had not observed that the Tide which was not perceived in the middle of the Streight was pretty strong near Land and seeing we resolved to rake along very near the Shore because the Coast is safe and that within a Pistol-shot of Land there is no ground to be found that night we fetcht aboard into the Island that we might recover what the Currents and Tide had made us lose the day before Hardly were we got out of the strength of the Currents when the Officer that was upon the Watch and the Seamen who were upon the Deck took notice that the Ship ran apace towards Land. They had only time to tack about and stand off which was done so much in the nick that when the Ship was about and the Sails trimmed one might easily have thrown a stone on Shore from the Poup of our Ship. If Ships could come to an Anchor in the Streight they would not be exposed to that danger but no ground being to be found in it at least off of the Princes Isle we were forced to keep continually under Sail and when it was a Calm to keep at large amongst the Currents which made us lose sometimes in less than three hours what with small Breezes we had got in four before Thus we spent several days in passing that Island where we had leizure enough to make tryal of the extraordinary heats of that Climate and to consider Sumatra which appeared to us always covered with a black thick mist and in the evening with continual flashes of Lightning Extraordinary Thunder and Lightning at Java and Sumatra Thunder is very common there and amongst others we had one Clap so hard and smart that many took it for a Canon-shot and some dabb'd down their heads as if it had been to avoid the Bullet At length a good Breeze did our work for us made us double the Isle and carried us upon the Coast of Java When we were got in with that Land we advanced by little and little dropping an Anchor so soon as the wind left us In the mean time vast numbers of the Javaners Canoes which they call Praux came on Board of us every minute The Javaners came on Board in their little Boats. These Boats are made of one entire piece of Timber hollowed and some of them are so little that with much ado can they hold their Man sitting We were altogether astonished to see these poor People venture out so many Leagues at Sea in such brittle Boats wherewith they danced upon the Waves and advanced with incredible swiftness to bring us fresh Provisions And because these Praux Sail in a quite different manner from other Canoes I thought fit to give you the figure of one under Sail in the Road of Bantam The Javaners are well shaped and strong they seem to be sprightly and resolute but the extraordinary heat of the Climate obliges them to go almost naked They who live in the middle of the Isle are Idolaters and the rest who inhabit the Coasts are Mahometans all Superstitious to excess When they came on Board we offered them Bread Wine and Brandy but there was not one of them that would take any thing saying that it was their fasting time and that their Law prohibited the drinking of Wine Notwithstanding all this they are bold Robbers and Thieves I saw one of them openly in the day time carry off a Seamans shirt which he had fastned to a line and held it by one end It was to no purpose for him to cry out and make a noise For the Javaner who held it only in one hand and row'd with the other was too strong for him and carried it clearly away The whole Nation are not subject to this Vice and there are some of them very faithful One of them coming on Board of us to sell some small refreshments he seemed to be so honest that some Gentlemen of the Ambassadors retinue who could not go ashore to buy some things they stood in need of trusted him with their Money He promised to bring them what they desired against the time they had prefixt This Javaner was so true to his word that the Ambassador having ordered to set Sail before the appointed hour he nevertheless got into his Praux with his Provisions and made so much hast that he came up with the Ship and gave an account of his Commission and brokeage even to the last farthing We did not come to sight of the Road of Bantam before the fifteenth of August The Road of Bantam the Assumption day of our Lady as we had arrived at the Cape on the Ascention day of our Lord. This is one of the fairest and most commodious Roads in the World. It is about eight or nine Leagues in circumference The Land on all sides is but low and yet there is always very smooth water in it The Town of Bantam which is pretty big lyes at the middle of the Bâ—y and the houses of it are all of Wood. Towards the middle of the Road there is a small Fort â—here the King lives and where the Dutch since they became Masters of it keep a good Garrison till they have time to build a strong Fort which is already pretty well advanced Bantam was heretofore a Town of Trade especially for Pepper where all the Europeans entertained great Commerce But for these two or three years that it is fallen into the hands of the Dutch in the manner we shall hereafter relate none are suffered to come to it and all the Trade is removed to Batavia Hear you have the view of it as it appeared to us after we came to an Anchor At first we designed to go to Batavia to take in fresh Provisions but the season being already far spent we were afraid we might lose the Mousson that is to say the proper time tor Sayling to Siam Besides the passage from Bantam to Batavia tho not above fourteen or fifteen Leagues in length being very difficult because of Islands Banks â—nd Rocks on all hands it was thought convenient to stop in the Road of Bantam that we might lose no time and get more speedy relief for our sick Men who for most part were in a sad condition And therefore my Lord Ambassador resolved next Morning to send to Bantam to him who commanded in the Fort for the Dutch and to demand permission of him to take in fresh Provisions and put our sick Men on Shore That is the Sovereign remedy for that distemper which the French call the Land-Evil and which to speak properly is nothing else but a corruption of the Blood caused by bad Food and salt Victuals This evil begins commonly in the Gums which at first grow very red then black and at last entirely rot so that to prevent the Corruption from spreading farther
so hot in the day time that they were glad to go take the fresh Air in the Evening We went first into a great Hall where they preach every Sunday until the Church be finished that was begun to be built without the Fort. On both sides of that Hall there are pretty handsome Apartments they had us in to that which was on the Left-hand where we were received by Monsieur Vanderstel and whither presently after the Heer Van Rheeden came to see us He is a Man of Quality about fifty years of age Handsome Civil Wise and Learned and who thinks and speaks well on all Subjects we were extreamly surprised to meet with so much Politeness at the Cape of Good-hope and much more at the Civilities and many Testimonies of Friendship which we received at that first Interview Father Fontenay whose Interpreter I was at that time in Portuguese finding so lucky Dispositions for our Design told the Commissary General that there were six Jesuits of us who were bound for the Indies and China that not being at all accustomed to the Fatigues of Sea we stood in need of taking a little Air on Land that we might be recruited after so long a Voyage that we durst not do so before we knew their Minds whether they would be contented with it or not The Commissary General did not suffer me to interpret all that Father Fontenay had said to him but presently interrupting me You 'l do us the greatest pleasure imaginable Fathers said he in Portuguese to come and refresh your selves at Land we will contribute all that lies in our Power to your Refreshment and Recovery This Answer was so favourable that we went a little farther we told him that being ashoar The Jesuits are extreamly well received by the Dutch. we should be glad to employ our selves for the publick Good and then to communicate to him our Observations thereby to acknowledge in some manner the Civilities that he had shown us that we had brought with us from France several Mathematical Instruments amongst which there were some very proper for finding out the true Longitude of Countries through which one passed without any need of the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon we explained to him the new way of observing by the Satellites of Jupiter of which the Learned Monsieur Cassini hath made so good Tables I added that thereby we would render a very considerable Service to their Pilots by giving them the certain Longitude of the Cape of Good-hope which they only guessed at by their reckoning a very doubtful way that many times deceive them and that very considerably too He told us that we would thereby oblige him and that seeing we had a mind to labour in that Discovery he offered us a Place every way proper for observing At the same time he ordered a Summer-house that is in the Companies Garden to be made ready for us to lodge in so long as the Ambassador should continue in the Road. The Civilities of Monsieur Van Rheeden We made answer that the Civility which he shew'd us should not rest there and that we hoped my Lord Ambassador would have the Goodness to thank him and take it as a Kindness done partly to himself Then we shew'd him our Patents for being the Kings Mathematicians You encrease my Joy Fathers replied the Commissary in letting me see that I comply with the Will and Orders of so great a King for whom I shall entertain a profound Respect so long as I live However I am not vexed that you did not speak to me of that before I obliged you to accept of a Lodging which I offer you freely and with all my heart They brought us Tea as it is the Custom amongst the People of the East-Indies and after a pretty long Conference about indifferent Matters we took leave of these Gentlemen and withdrew The Commander followed us to conduct us to the Apartment that was offered us in the Companies great Garden We were mightily surprised to find one of the loveliest and most curious Gardens that ever I saw The Description of a lovely Garden which the Dutch East-India Company have on the Cape of Good-hope in a Country that looks to be one of the most dismal and barren Places in the World. It lies above the Habitations betwixt the Town and the table-Table-Land and on the side of the Fort from which it is but about two hundred Paces distant It is fourteen hundred and eleven common Paces in length and two hundred thirty five in breadth The Beauty of it consists not as in France in Compartments Beds of Flowers nor Water-works They might have them if the East-India Company would be at the Charges of it for a Brook of running Water falling from the Hill runs through the Garden But there you have Walks reaching out of sight planted with Limon-Trees Pomegranate-Trees and Orange-Trees which are covered from the Wind by high and thick Hedges of a kind of Laurel which they call Speck always green and pretty like to the Filaria By the Disposition of the Walks this Garden is divided into several indifferent big Squares some of which are full of Fruit-Trees and amongst them besides Apple-trees Pear-Trees Quince-Trees Apricot-Trees and other excellent Fruits of Europe you have also Ananas Banana-Trees and several others that bear the rarest Fruits to be found in the several parts of the World which have been transported thither where they are most carefully cultivated and lookt after The other Squares are sow'd with Roots Pulse and Herbs and some with the most esteemed Flowers of Europe and others that we know not which are of a singular good Smell and Beauty The East-India Company to whom it belongs as we have already said have caused it to be made that they may always have in that Place a kind of Magazine of all sorts of Refreshments for their Ships that go too or come from the Indies which never fail to touch at the Cape of Good-hope All Dutch Ships are ordered to touch at the Cape of Good-hope The Ships that come from the Indies arrive there in the beginning of March either alone or several together in company and there they stay for the Fleet of Europe which comes in the Month of April By that means they have the News whether or not they be in Wars and set out all together that by the great number and strength of their Ships they may be in a Condition not to fear what hurt Pirats or their Enemies can do them There is a great Pile of Building built at the Entry into the Garden where the Companies Slaves live to the Number as it is said of five hundred of whom part are employed in cultivating the Garden and the rest in other necessary Work. About the middle of the Wall on that side which looks to the Fort there is a little Banqueting-House where no body lives the lower Story of it consists of a Porch open to
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