46 VALENTYN’S ACCOUNT OF MALACCA. 
will never find in any work, written about Malacca or about 
those Kings, anything resembling our account, or any account 
worth mentioning, and this for the simple reason, that we have 
had the opportunity of drawing everything from the personal 
writings and historical notices made by the Kings of Malacca 
itself, which have never been seen by any previous authors or 
which could not be read or understood by them, and we hope 
that we have written something which will meet with the at- 
tention of observing and learned men, since we have had a 
great deal of trouble in digging up this from the dust of an- 
tiquity with much scrutiny and caution; but at the same time 
it has never tired us, as we were convinced, that this account 
would be agreeable to posterity and would acquaint it with 
many things of which it had never heard nor read of. “To com- 
plete my account I have attached the list of the Kings of 
Malacca. 
