Book I. 
694 r The HIS TO RT of the 
Subje&lon. But notwithstanding their Policy in this re- 
fped, and that they ftill remained Mailers of Diu \ yet the 
Indian Princes in the Neighbourhood trade freely with all 
Europeans , and Surat, which they took fo much Pains to 
deftroy in 1520, is now in as flouriflung a Condition as 
ever, and the Portugueze are almoft the only Nation that 
are not benefited by its Traffick. On this Coaft they were 
poffeffed of feveral ftrong Places down to Goa ; of thefe 
Daman is ftill in their Hands, and is a Place of pretty good 
Trade. Ba$aim is lately fallen into the Hands of the In- 
dians. Bombay they yielded to the Englijh on the Mar- 
riage of Queen Catherine with King Charles II. and has 
continued in our Hands ever fince. From Goa to Cape 
Comorin they had alfo very confiderable Settlements, of 
moft of which they have been difpoffefled by the Dutch , 
who in the Year 1663, becoming Matter or Cranganor , 
Cochin and Coulan , foon after deprived them of Cananor , 
which was the firft Place they had fettled at •, and thus we 
fee the State of their Power greatly reduced on the Coaft of 
Malabar. Doubling this famous Cape, and proceeding 
along the Coaft of Coromandel we meet firft with the Port 
and Fortrels of Nagap at an, which, when the Portugueze 
came firft into the Indies , was no more than a Village •, but 
they confidering the Importance of the Place, fortified it 
with great Care, and rendered it in every refpedb very 
confiderable. But after the Dutch had deprived them of 
the Ifland of Ceylon , they did not long let them reft here, 
but by the Affiftance of an Indian Prince, befieged and be- 
came Matters of that Place in 1658. 
From thence all along the Coaft, quite up to Bengal the 
Portugueze have loft all Power ; and as for Settlements they 
had none of any great Confequence to lofe, having in the 
Time of their greateft Power contented themfelves with a 
fmall Eftablifhment at Meliapour , or St. Thomas , reftrain- 
ing all the reft of the Coaft by their Squadrons, which were 
continually cruizing in the Bay of Bengal. On the oppo- 
ftte Side of the Gulph the Portugueze had once very great 
Power in the Kingdom of Pegu, in confequence of their 
affifting the Monarch of that Country againft the King of 
Siam , who had invaded his Territories, and would very 
probably have made him his Tributary, if a Body of Por- 
tugueze had not come to his Affiftance, by whom he was 
enabled not only to defend himfelf effectually againft his 
Enemy, but even to purfue him into his own Country. 
It is very eafy to difcern what mighty Advantages might 
have accrued to the Portugueze from this favourable Turn, 
if they had known how to improve it ; but we learn from 
a late Author, that what might have turned fo much to 
their Benefit, proved, by their own ill Management, the 
Caufe of their Ruin, and that in a very fhort Space of 
Time. The King of Pegu , it feems, was fo fenfible of the 
Service they had done him, in driving the King of Siam 
out of his Country, that in pure Gratitude, he made 
one Senlior Thomas Pereyra, who commanded the Portu- 
gueze in the War, Generaliffimo of all his Forces, which 
Preferment made the Portugueze fo infolent, that in a few 
Years they became intolerable to all Ranks and Degrees of 
Perfons in Pegu. Both Kings grew tired of W ar, but both 
were too proud to make Advances towards Peace, fo that 
for many Years they had Skirmiihes with fmall Parties, 
tho’ not fet Battles ; and where-ever the Portugueze Arms 
went, they had Victory to accompany them. The King 
of Pegu , to have his Forces nearer the Borders of Siam, 
fettled his Court at Martavan, and kept the Portugueze 
near him, to be ready upon all Occafions, either to repel 
or affault the Siam Forces, as Opportunity ferved ; and 
Thomas Pereyra was the great Favourite at Court : He had 
his Elephants of State, and a Guard of his own Country- 
men to attend him. ■ 
One Day, as he was coming from Court in State, on a 
iarge Elephant, towards his own Palace, he happened to 
hear Mufick in a Burgher’s Houfe, whole Daughter being 
a very beautiful Virgin, had been married that Morning 
to a young Man of that Neighbourhood. The General 
Went to the Houfe, wifhed them Joy, and defired to 
fee the Bride. The Parents took the General’s Vifit for a 
great Honour done them, and brought their Daughter to 
his Elephant’s Side. He being fmitten with her Beauty, 
ordered his Guard to feize her, and carry her to his Houle, 
His Orders were but too readily obeyed, and the poor 
Bridegroom, not able to bear his Lofs, cut his own 
Throat; and the difconfolate Parents rent their Cloaths, 
and went crying through the Streets towards the King’s 
Palace, imploring their Countrymen to avenge them on 
the infolent Portugueze , the common Oppreffors of their 
Country, Crowds of People came from all Parts of the 
City to hear and fee the Tragedy; their Numbers grew 
fo great, that the Streets were hardly large enough for 
them, and their Noife fo loud, that it reached the King’s 
Ears, who fent to know the Caufe of their Uproar. The 
Meffenger returning, acquainted the King with what had 
been tranfaCled, and he, to appeafe the Tumult, fent them 
Word, that he would punifh the Criminal, and accord- 
ingly fent for his General : But he made an Excufe, that 
he was fo much out of Order, that he could not wait on 
his Majdfty till he was better; which Anfwer fo provoked 
the King, that he ordered the whole Nation to take up Arms, 
and to make a general Maffiacre of the Portugueze , where- 
foever they fhould be found, in City or Country. The 
King’s Orders were put in Execution fo lpeediiy, that in a 
few Hours all the Portugueze were flaughtered, and the 
guilty Criminal was taken alive, and made faft by the 
Heels to an Elephant’s Feet, which dragged him thro’ 
the Streets till there was no Skin nor Flefti left to cover 
his Bones ; which Spectacle appeafed the enraged Popu- 
lace. There were only three Portugueze faved, who were 
accidentally in the Suburbs, next the River, who hid 
themfelves, till Night favoured their Efcape in a fmall 
Boat, in which they coafted along the Shore, feeding on 
what the Woods and Rocks afforded them, and at length 
arrived at Malacca , to give an Account of this melancholy 
Tranfadlion. 
The Kingdom, or as fome called it, the Empire of 
Siam, lies next to Pegu , and is a Country of vaft Extent, 
the Monarch of which was too powerful for the Portugueze 
to think of making any great Conqueft in his Dominions, 
and therefore they chofe to live with him upon good 
Terms, for the fake of the vaft Trade carried on in his 
Dominions, which are extreamly well fituated for Com- 
merce, having on one Side the Kingdoms of Laos, Cam- 
boy a, and Cochinchina , and on the other, the Countries 
bordering on the Gulph of Bengal. Befides, there annually 
reforted thither a Fleet of Merchant Ships from China , la- 
den with all the rich Goods of that Empire. They con- 
tinued to hold a fair Correfpondence with this Monarch, 
and his Subjects, as long as their Power fubfifted in the 
Indies ; but by Degrees, the Dutch have in a great Mea- 
fure excluded them from their Influence here, iince 1630, 
when they eredled their Factory here, and have fmee 
wrought themfelves fo effedtually into the Confidence of 
this Prince, that he has granted them an exclufive Privi- 
ledge of purchafing all the Tin in his Dominions, which 
is a Branch of Commerce of prodigious Importance ; yet 
the Portugueze are not wholly ejedled, though their 
Trade is much fallen from what it was 5 . There are feve- 
ral fmall Principalities on the Ifthmus, before one comes 
to the Country of Malacca, which were all of them for- 
merly under the Power of the Portugueze , as appears by 
? This City of Diu Hands in the Latitude of 21 0 zo' f and is by many fuppofed to be the Barigaza of the Ancents. _ It Hands upon an Iflarjd about 
* League in Length, and not a third Part of a League in Breadth : The Country about tt abounds with all the Neceffafs of Life, and the City ttfelf 
as well built, and as well fortified, as any In th eW It is very famous for the : Siege : it Mamed m ,; 3 8 of whrch we have before given feme 
Account. At prefer, t it is in a worth Condition than formerly, both with regard to Wealth and Strength , but .0 ballance tins m fome meafure, tt » 
" “tb 'the P,„u g u ra are bed refpeSed in thofe Countries where they had no Fortress which (hews, that where the % 
firm— had not dlablilhed their Power? the European were under no Neceffity of budding Forts, but might have canned on them Commerce a 
well without them. There are a great Number of PcMguia, or rather Defcendants of fettled in this Country where they live but 
poorly, and are treated with great Indignity, both by the Natives, and by other Europeans, which can be attributed to .nothing but them having 
Led So long in the b,di„, as to have loft all Spirit, and to become as degeuerate as the S.ameJ, themfelves, who are as effeminate a Peopie as any 
la the Indies . 
