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95 C H A P T E R VII How I went to the kingdom of Siam, accompanying an embassy that the captain of Melaka sent in the name of Your Majesty. What happened to us before we reached the port of the said kingdom in the year 1595 After I had returned to Melaka from Johor it so happened that the king of Siam captured the kingdom and the city of Cambodia, where there was a Christian community, and many Portuguese, and Franciscan, Augustinian and Dominican monasteries and clergymen. All of them were captured and taken to Siam along with all the finest things in that kingdom. Amongst the Dominican friars, there was one who was called Friar Jorge de Mota, an astute but appalling man, who managed to become friends with a personal servant of the king who was called Phra Choduk. By means of the gifts he gave him, he convinced the king to send him to Melaka with letters for the captain so as to negotiate a peace agreement with the Portuguese. Friar Jorge arrived with the letters in Melaka, he handed them over to Francisco de Silva de Meneses and he informed him about the state  Ms. fol. 321 verso–24 verso.  This is a reference to Lovek which was attacked by King Naresuan (Phra Naret) of Siam in 1593.  Ms. moço privado del Rey.  Ms. Prachidech. AA erroneously reads the name here and subsequently as a corruption of Phra Naret (King Naresuan of Siam). Most likely Phra Choduk or possibly also Okya Phrasadet. See also the glossary (Prachidec). 07-08 MJdC.indd 95 10/18/13 10:58:41 AM The Memoirs and Memorials of Jacques de Coutre 96 of the Portuguese in Siam. Then, in order to get him to do his bidding, he sought to tempt him by appealing to his greed and mentioned that in Siam textiles were worth a lot of money, and that there were many rubies, sapphires and many other precious stones and riches that the king had captured in Cambodia and in the wars with Pegu, in such large quantities that they were sold in chupos —which are weights that are similar to half a celamin used in Siam to measure rice, vegetables and other provisions. To corroborate his words he showed him some ruby rings, which, according to him, he had bought very cheaply and were worth a lot of money, all of which I knew was a lie. As soon as Captain Francisco de Silva [de Meneses] heard this infor­ mation he decided to send Friar [Jorge] and an ambassador [Manuel Pereira de Abreu] to King [Naresuan] of Siam to agree on a peace settlement and to free the Christians who were being held captive in that kingdom, and also ordered that he purchase those precious stones that the friar had said were so cheap and to make the most of that occasion. Very few people wished to go to Siam, since the king has a reputation of a tyrant, fickle and deceitful—and none of those who went there were not motivated by greed. The captain chose one of his retainers to go there as an ambassador, along with a factor [Simão Peres] and nine Portuguese to accompany the embassy. At this stage he called me and asked me to accompany that embassy, and at the same time to buy some rubies and sapphires there on his behalf. I refused and excused myself as much as I could; [however] it proved impossible not to go. In the end the captain made an agreement with me in order to make me more comfortable with the idea, in the presence of Friar Jorge. We set sail from the port in a junk that belonged to the said captain—a junk is a baxel that are used by the natives of the South, and some of them are very large, [they can even be] a thousand toneladas or more; the sails are made of palm leaves—on 8 May 1595. Apart from the sailors and officials who were Chinese, the people  The Taungoo Dynasty Kingdom. See also the list of place names (Taungoo Dynasty Kingdom, Pegu).  See the glossary (chupo).  Ms. selemin. See the glossary (celamine).  Ms. los naturales del sur. See the list of place names (Sur).  A unit to measure the cargo capacity of a ship. About 793–920 metric tons or more. See also the glossary (tonelada). 07-08 MJdC.indd 96...

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