47 



before Malacca with a fleet of forty a. d. uu: Keg- 

 five junks and an army of fifteen 

 thciUHand men but, after havinjj besieged it for 

 ibree months, was compelled to abandon her ob- 

 ject- With an indomitable spirit the king of 

 Achin. made a sixth attack upon a. d. ibts* Hcf. 

 Malacca with a larger force than he 

 had ever before assembled for the purpose ; but, 

 when on the eve of taking the tawn, which was 

 defended by no more than one hundred and fifty 

 men, was suddenly panic struck and retired from 

 before the place. The Portuguese have a Po- 

 pish legend to the effect that the Virgin Mary 

 appeared in the clouds and terrified the Achinese, 

 This year the kingof Achin made a. d, iwi. Htg, 

 another unsuccessful attack upon ***** 

 Malacca, which was his final effort, a. d. isas. H*g. 

 as three years afterwards he, his 

 queen, and several of the principal nobility were 

 murdered by the Commander in Chief, and the 

 grandson of Mansur Shah, generally styled SuU 

 tan Bujang, or the lad, nominally succeeded him ; 

 although his reign was very brief, a, ism. Heg. 

 being subsequently murdered by 

 the same individual, who now usurped the throne. 



We have no further account of Malacca for 

 tw^enty-seven years, during which period two 

 other European powers, destmed to play a con- 

 spicuous part in the politics of the Archipelago 

 had obtained a footing there, and a wider field 

 was consequently opened for the historian. At 

 this period Iskandar Mudah, who had ascended 

 the throne after hrm in 1610, led an a.d. ws. Hc«. 

 expedition agamst Malacca which 



