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100 C H A P T E R VIII In which the story continues until the point when the embassy arrived; the reception the embassy received Then, once we were anchored off the coast of Siam, after the friar had received this news, he no longer wished to enter the [Chao Phraya River] and neither did the ambassador; for both of them were of the same opinion, which was to go to Cochinchina. I and the other companions got together as one group and spoke with a unanimous voice, telling the friar and the ambassador that, after having come to Siam with that embassy, we had to enter the river and not to sail to any other land. Finally we entered the river. We then arrived at the first tabanque —a city on the river where all vessels that entered the river had to register—which was governed by a mandarin, who, when we dropped anchor, came to the junk to register us and our weapons, so as to inform the king, since this was the custom in that land. The following day I went with the friar—who always took me with him because the others did not wish to be on the forefront if any incidents were to occur—to the governor to request permission for  Ms. fol. 25 recto–27 verso.  Ms. lit. but.  Ms. Cochin China. See the list of place names (Cochinchina).  Toll station; toll house. This is most probably at Bang Chao Phraya located at the Chao Phraya River estuary. See also the glossary (tabanque).  Ms. ciudad. Probably present-day Samut Prakan.  An advisor or functionary. See also the glossary (mandarin). 07-08 MJdC.indd 100 10/18/13 10:58:42 AM 101 Jacques de Coutre’s Life in Southeast Asia: Chapter VIII the two of us to go to the city of Ayutthaya, the court of the king of Siam, which was situated 40 leguas upriver from there, to describe to the king how our junk and ambassador had come to be there. At this point the governor gave us a cap —this is how they call passports—with which we set out upriver in a small, light sloop.10 There was a lot of security on the river; and warships that did not allow any vessel to pass through, no matter how small, without registering first. We reached the city of Ayutthaya after seven days to the great joy of the Portuguese who were there. They confirmed the news that we had heard in the city of Ligor. We did not find the king, who had gone to hunt elephants. We then went to speak to the governor of Ayutthaya—he was called Okya Wang.11 After we had briefed him of how our junk and ambassador were at the first tabanque, he told us that the king had gone to hunt elephants and that he would return soon. The friar replied that we would like to go to where the king was. He gave us permission, with which we set out aboard a light perahu.12 This was a very long vessel made from a single trunk of wood with 30 oars on each side, which they call pangaios.13 It was beautifully covered with a canopy and we sailed off accompanied by 30 Portuguese who were being held captive there. We sailed upriver for more than four days until we came across two Franciscan friars—one of whom was Castilian, he was called Friar Pedro Ortiz; the other friar [was called] Gregorio da Cruz, he was a Portuguese who had been the vicar of Cambodia—and a Castilian renegade commonly known as Miguel de Pina. They told us that the king had returned to the city. Upon hearing this news we returned with them. The king had heard the news that we had arrived with an ambassador; he immediately summoned Friar [Jorge] and myself. Then, before we entered the palace, Okya Wang,14 one of his private staff, gave each of us some flowers made of gold and silver, mixed with other natural  Ms. here and subsequently: Odia. A note in the left hand margin reads: “Odia, la corte de Sian” (Ayutthaya, the court of Siam).  About 220–50 kilometres. See also the glossary (legua).  Ms. thara. See the glossary (cop). 10 Ms. chalupilla. 11 Ms. hoya avan. See the glossary (Oya Avan). 12 Ms. paro. See the glossary (perahu). 13 Ms. pangayos. A type of longboat or galley...

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