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hut secretly made a plan to rob Chêng Ho also; he was defeated, taken 

 prisoner, brought before the Emperor and decapitated in the marketplace at 

 the capital. 



In the 9th month of the year 1408 he went again to Ceylon, where 

 the king A-liet-k'u-nai-r (*) enticed him into the interior of his country and 

 then wanted to extort gold and silks from him, whilst he sent soldiers to 

 attack his fleet; when Chêng Ho saw that the troops of tliis robber 

 Were gone, few being left in the neighbourhood, he attacked him at 

 once with the two thousand men he had with him and captured his palace, 

 whereupon the king was made a prisoner, together with his wife, his children 

 and his ministers. As soon as those who had gone to attack the ships heard 

 of this, they hastened back in order to rescue their king, but Chêng Ho's 

 army completely defeated them. In the 6th month of the year 1411 he 

 brought the king a prisoner to the capital, but the Emperor did not decap- 

 itate him and gave him permission to return to his country. 



At the same time the land of the Giau-chi (Northern Cochin-China) 

 was subclued and made a Chinese province; on account of this the different 

 countries were still more afraid and the number of envoys became daily 

 greater. 



In the llth month of the year 1412 Chêng Ho and his companions 

 were again ordered to go as envoys to Sumatra (the northern part of the 

 island), where they found that a pretcnded son of the king had killed that 

 prince and put himself on the throne; being angry that he got no share of 

 Chêng Ho's presents, he collected soldiers and attacked the Chinese army, 

 but he was beaten and pursued as far as Lambri ( 2 ), where he was taken 

 prisoner with his wife and children. In the 7th month of the year 1415 he 

 came back at the court, the Emperor was much pleased and rewarded the 

 generals and soldiers according to their rank. 



In the winter of the year 1416 Malacca, Calicut and se venteen other 

 countries sent envoys to court to carry tribute; when they left, Chêng Ho 

 was ordered to go with them, in order to bring presents to their princes and 

 chiefs. In the 7th month of the year 1419 he came back. 



In the spring of the year 1421 he went again and came back the 

 next year in the 8th month. 



In the lst month of the year 1424, the Chief of Kukang (Palem- 



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