A

MARCHSEPTEMRER 1989
VoL 26, Nos.

FLPTH INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR

ON
INDO-PORTUGUESE HISTORY
COCHIN--1

ISSUE 49

Organ of the
//ERAS INSTITUTE
OF
INDIAN HISTORY AND CULTURE
 Heras Institute
St. Xavier's Calk
Bombay 400 001

EMBASSIES AND SURROGATES:

CASE-STUDY OF A MALACCA EMBASSY TO SIAM DI 1593

by TEarome R. DE SOUZA

DESPITE run AvAiuttiturv of published matinial on. Portuguese

diplomatic activities in the East thanks to the work done by scholars
like Biker' and Pissurlencar, 2 we are yet to come across more than
a few satislactory and eomprehen,siw studies on the subjmt.
comparable to j. Wills' Embassies & illusions.* The service done
by the missionaries of the Padroado as diplomatic agents of the
Portuguese is an important aspect of the theme that needs to be
studied at length. Very recently Ms. (Dr.) M.A. Lima Cruz
has whetted. our appetite with an excellent little piece on "Exiles
and renegades in early sixteenth century Portuguese India"' which
needs to be followed ilp.. Dr. K.S. Mathew gave us in 1981 an edited
account of Gujarat left by a Portuguese agent named Diogo de
Mesinita Pimentel lAre ha e yet to see someone \--emoting into
the tracks of the Portugue that went "native" in the Port
Estado da India, thereby helping us to complement the study of the
foreign relations of the. Portuguese Estado da India.
What is attempted here is to utilise an isnpubli.she4 manascript-
account left by Jacques de Couttre, a Flemish jewel-trader who
came to India as a soldier in September 1592 and spent nearly
three decades in the Estado da India, before he was arrested by the
Goa Inquisition and sent to Lisbon in 1623. He spent the closing
years of the 16th century in South East Asia and was able to satisfy

1. j.f.j_ Biktr, Cdia4A. aft bs.ax6s- e - ' - pe,m- e EFtattft da

Prw.az fz Qua or Re:75 SCIAMVS CAM quern tem miafietv
ZULC parks da Asia e Africa
Oriental desak prim ' cipis eta corasmisia ole7 ofiln eTe ira, 14 vols., Lisboa,
2. P.S.S. Pissurlenear„ Agentes da DiPloanocia Pop-tapir= India Hinders, 114

Aftedereme.s, judeaa e PiXTMS, Bastora, 1952_

3_ T -E,Rfkt§Ti.,s Eflasivas, Harvard University Press, 1984.
4. M.A. Lima Cruz, "Exilts and renegades in early sixteenth mnitmy
Portircluz,v'. Lsdia"„ 4.--mas. Sats-aman The Ir4fires Economic mtel Social History
Review, XXIII, a. 3, July-Srepteauber 1386, pp- 249-262.
5. GI— rise/co Remo A, Giatrate, ed_ S.C. Ifm-at Marlow, M.S.
University of Baroda, Department of I-11story series No. 7, 1981, pp. xxi+94.
 40 TEOTONIO DE SOUZA Indica 49

/xis desbe to see places by combining the roles of a saldado, jewel-

trader and member of a few embassies of the Portuguese Mala.ccan
authorities to the neighbouring, kingdoms. Couttre's, account
was utilised by me while writing my Medieval Goa in 19740 and
-more recently G.D. Winius has given us an account of Coutue's
jewel-trading activities in Inrlia . 7 The account remains unused
for the information it contains on the Portuguese diplomatic and
business contacts with some South East Asian countries around the
time the Dutch arrived to contest the Malacca-based Portuguese
control over that region. In this paper 1 shall draw upon Couttre's
account of his participation in the embassy sem by the Portuguese
captain of Malacca, D. Francisco de Silva de Menezes, to Siam in
1595 to throw light on the functioning of embassies. While
interestirT information specific to the region is obtained, the case
was by no mearts unique as far as diplomatic dissimulation was
concerned_
Foreign Policy Objectives
No student of foreign relations of a country can do a satisfactory
job without taking into account the policy- objectives of the foreig,n
relations of the country concerned at any parvicular tinte. In
the case of the Portuguese Estado da India its foreign relations need
to be seen as a continuity of the motivations and objectives that
guided the maritime adven.ture of the Portuguese in the East.
To repeat what we all know too well, these were "spices and
Christians'''. Economic motives were definitely the: first priority
of the Portuguese b011igt:OiSi C. that had enginee.red the entire
,

programme of discoveries. It could not have got the poorer

sections involved in this "national" adventure without appealing
to their religiosity and crusading spirit that had already been
awakened during the earlier centuries that had led to national
independence. That is how the spices and zeal for souls got mixed
up into one single entei ise.8
If Afonso de Albuquerque knew what his mission was, he
must have known what he was writing to his king in 1514: "I
Sec your business and factories cow-oiled by courtiers.. I wish

6. Teotonio R. de Souza, Mairoal Goa, New Delhi, 1979.

7. G.D., riui, jewel Trading in Purtugnin:c Iron:: in the XVI & XVII
Centuries", ladica, vol. 25, n. 1, March pp. 15-34.
8. "reotonio R. de Souza, "Spiritual Conquist of - the East: A critique of the
Church Historiography of Portuguese Asia", Indian ausraft Llistery Review, June
1985, pp. 10-24; A. Strgio, Fasaios, Lisboa, 1980, pp. 255-273.
 EMBASSIES AND SURROGATES 41

that your highness should keep close to merchants with intelligence

and in the know of things, and your highness will have more
woaitkr India than in Portugal'," He continues elsewhere: "Al/
the wealth of India will be lost because the crown has factors and
factory clerks who do not know to count teit rials correctly, nor do
they /mow what business means.' /t is difficult to believe that the
Portuguese were so fast learners that few decades later St. Fran.cis
Xavier and the viceroy D. Joao de Castro could already begin
complaining bitterly about the official "chatinagem" that they
saw as the beginning of the end of the empire." As Prof. Boxer
has stated, "everyone from viceroy to cabin-boy traded only or on
the side."" If the great Albuquerque cannot be accused of the
financial scandals of his immediate and more distant successors,
the shipwreck of Flor de la Mar with all the treasure pillaged 'in.
Malacca has been an.alysecl by a recent historiaweritic of the
Portuguese empire as symptomatic of national greed and he
proceeds to condemn Afonso de Albuquerque as the most damnable
character of Portuguese history ("o mais nefasta de toda a hictória
pdtria")." Prof. ifkrinius has surveyed and studied at length in his
The Black Legend of Portuguese India the literature on the Portuguese
skills to steal from the State exchequer during the first two centuries
of the empire."
A passing glance at the texts of foreign policy statements or
treaties published in the works edited by Biker and Pissurlencar,
or in the relevant documentation that remains unpublished,"
make s is &ear that trade and commerce were the paramount
concern. Foreign relations were aimed at gaining fresh grounds
or maintaining the existing markets or terms of trade and commerce.
Choice of Diplomatic Envoys
The Portuguese administration was almost a monopoly of the

9. Codas de Aironso de Alburperque, 1, ed. Bulhäo Pato, Lisboa, 1884, p. 274,

404-5.
10. G.D. Wrnius, The BLIsak Logerd ra Pariagiev I.? is, New Delhi, 1985,
r g

pp. 58-62.
11. alt. Boxer, Fraerizro Vitira Figwi,149, S'Gravr....11.1.4.,
- le, 1967, pp. 50-51.
12. A. Setrgio, Burins, VIII, Lisboa, 1974, 152-5.
I L G.11. Winius, op.
I& The manuscript volumes of Goa Historical Archives entitled Livros de
Fazes (4 vols.) were published by Cunha Riva.ra serially in the Boletios do Goner:so
do Estado do Indio (1873-1875). Six M. vellums of Reis Viziokos in the :WM
archives have been indexed in the Bolotha da Fihnoteta UltramoYina Portuguesa,
Lisboa, 1959-70.
 42 TEOTONIO DE SOUZA Indica 49

military-fidafgo class. Noble origin was the most important

criterion. The merit was not the primary qualification. h has
been described as a "mania for fidalguia" — the conviction that
only gentlemen of "blood a el coat-armour" were fit to exercise
high command, whether by land or by 5ea. 15 Nobili ty was
certainly a prime criterion in the appointment of the ambassadors
and envoys. However, in the context and circumstances of the
Estado da India the Portuguese foreign relations had to utilise
different channels. The missionaries were the prime agents in
this respect and we have umpteen cases of the diplomatic ground-
work for the Portuguese being done by the missionaries in. the
Estado da India. The Jesuits at the Mughul court or at the court of
the Cllainese emperors could rightly be called permanent resident
envoys of the Portuguese, even though some Jesuits of other than
Portuguese nationality and forming part of those missions ten.ded
at times to put the interests of the universal Church before the
national interests of the Portuguese or of the Portuguese patiroado.16
Even though the official amixiasailors inay have been drawn
from among competent or incompetent *largos, these had to fall
back on. the assistance of resident missionaries or of businessmen
with influence in the official circles of i he country to which an
embassy was sent. In a place like Malacca, however, there were
not at any time under the Portuguese more than about twenty
officials appointed by thr CrOWLI., and little distinction was made
between merchants and government officials, since everylxidy —
officials, soldiers and even clergy — was associated with trade in
one way or another.17

15_ c.R . Boxer ., Poropese 1121fill ã titz Mi4-Sezmtrea1t, Qatar, Delhi, 1980, p, 6.
16. HAG (Hist ' °rim! Archives of Goa)7 MöoNE.5. /h. 105-11. Governor
D. Rodrigo sIa Costa writes to the CTOW1.1 071 24.1,1690 that the nen-Portuguese
Jesuits in China are paid by the Portuguese Crown only to harm the .Padroado
Irs7 .1tts and to work in favour of other Euroixa4 countries. Cf. also the Diraio
eto r Conde de Linkares, U, Lisboa, 1943, pp. 264-5 wherein the Count of Linhares
complains about the Jesuit Paulo Reirnao, who had been acting as an intermediary-
.
b7_7tween the Vioroy and President William Methwold oF the Surat-ba 7exl English
East India Company. When Fr. Paulo Reirnio prepared the draft. for the Goa
Accord tit' 1635, -the Count of Liuhaves considened ittr .-op avonrable to the English,
and records in his diary that he had "hila grande briga" (a big fight) with the
a
Father, who he says was English or Duch descent. Bor, Promise* Krim de
Figueiredo, pp. 34, 73-76: Contains reference to the Itaiinvi Jesuit Martino Martini
in China (1643-50, 1658-61).
17. J. Villiers, ”The Estario da India in Southeast Asia", The First Portuguese
Evinr„ ed. Malyn Newitt, Exeter, 1986, p. 49.
 EMBASSIES AND SURROGATES . 43

Prof. Boxer's study of Francisco Vieira de Figueireclo, a

Portuguese merthant-adventurer in South Rast Asia (1624-1667),
amply illustrates the key diplomatic role played by him in
safeguarding the Portuguese trade and commerce in the Lesser
Sunda islands after the loss of Malacca." Prof. Boxer has also
given us an account of Lope Sarmento de Carvallto who also
combined business and diplomacy in Macao and Japan during
the first quarter of the lith century." While there is abundant
information for a study of the diplomatic role of the missionaries,
the role of merchants remains .more elusive. That is where an
account like the one of Couttre gains added importance. The
reliability of his information can be checked to some extent against
some of the other contem.porary documentation. Thus, for
instance, Couttre's references to quite a few details regarding
persons and events can be easily counter-checked, and them is no
reason to suspect most of his other details. However, we may
not apply this rule without exception. For example, Couttre
refers to his good connections with the Dutch attacking Malacca,
even though for some of his indiscretions the Dutch scuttled his
vessel with all his wealth aboard in Patane where he encountered
both Van Neck and Heemskerk." He has nothing to say about
his contacts with the Dutch in India, particularly in Bijapur.
There are reasons to believe that this information has been left
out. This is suggested by the Portuguese archivist-chronicler
A.n tnni Bocarro, who describes our jewel-trader without mentioning
his name, and how the Portuguese ambassador Antonio Monteiro
Corte Real in Bijapur tried to frustrate his mediation in favour of
the Dutch therc by utilising the counter-influence of a Portuguese
merchant ; Vicente Ribeiro, resident and influential in the Add
Shahi court. 21 Couttre refers to the Portuguese Ambassador by
name and as his friend, and also to Vicente Ribeiro and to
Savanascan (Shah Nawaz Khan) in the court of Adil Shah as his
enemy. 22 Ccnittre was arrested and kept in Ponda fort for over six
months, but for reasons that have no mention of the Dutch or his
involvement with them" Couttre and his brother in Goa were
8. „*.ciL, Boxx,r, p.
19. GR. Boxzr, Davider r , feites de Leib e "natio Sarre:Ma ekCaroaLrw, Macau, 1940.
20. Biblioteca Naciona,1 de Madrid (=ENNA): Ms. 2780 (Vida de Jaques
de Coutre), 9. 68-68v.
21. Autonio Bocarro, Decada 13, ed. Rodrigo J. de Lima Feiner, Lisboa,
1876, pp. 305-6.
22. &NM: Ms. 2780, II. 175-7, 181.
23. Ibid., fl. 216 fr.
44 TEOTONIO DE SOUZA hidica 49

arre:stml on grounds of dealing with the Dutch awl deported to

Portugal' Incidentally, the deportation of Jacques de Couttre
and his brother seems to have been caused by their "new-Christian"
rivals in the profitable diamond-trade in Goa. There is little
research work done so far to fleshen out the skeleton information
av-aillable on the various important financiers and merchants in
the Estado de't India_ Besides the powerful group of "cristans novas"
who domirt;ated in dae busitm>s world of the Estado di India, many
arnon.g the native "agentes da diplomacia", who functioned as
"Lingua de Estado", were also merchants.

Background of Luso-Siamese Relations

Sketchy and sporadic informa.tion about early Luso-Siamese
relations is available in the correspondence of Mono de Albuqurque
(1510-1514), in The Stuna Oriental cif Tcane Pires (1515), in Duarte
Barbosa's A Description of East Africa and Malabar in the beginning
of . the Sixteenth Century (1516); in the mid-16th century Lendas da
India of Gaspar Correia, Decadas d.a. Asia of João de Barros, Chronica
of Damião Gois, and Peregrinafao of the famous merchant-traveller
Fernio Mendes Pinto (1540-45). At the . time of the Portuguese
conquest of Malacca. Siam was engaged in a military campaign
against Malacca that had been defaulting on its payment of
customary tribute to Siam. The Portuguese in Malacca. main-
tained friendly contacts with Sians from the time Afonso de
Albuquerque sent an ambassador, Antonio de Miranda de Azevedo,
bearing gifts for the king of Siam and with instructions to draw up
a trade agreement with Siara. 25 The Dominicans had begun
missionary work in Siam since 1566 from their base in Malacca.
The Christians and missionaries in Siam had to face intermittent
persecutions provoked by the local Muslims, and late r by the
intrigues of the Dutch and the English. After a treaty in 1616
the king of Siam had even engaged Portuguese guards for the royal
establishment in Ayitthia, where the soldiers married local women
and founded a Portuguese settlement, which the missionaries and
-
merchants of Macao did much to develop after the fall of Malanca..N

24_ kid-, f 225. Areiriro Relafia de Ctlo (1501- 1640), cd. j.I. 47 Abranches
Garcia, Nova Goa, 1872, p. 316.
25. A. da Silva Rs-..gD, "A Short Survty of Luso-Siatnew Rchtiotts 11-cdn
1511 to Modern Time", Thailand and Portugal: 470 Tears of FriendshiP, Lisboa,
1982, pp. 7-25; joao de Barros, Decodas., H, Lisboa, 1174, p. 20.
26. Montalto jeans, Historic Macao, 2nd cd., Macao, 1926, p. 80; Silva
Rego, efi cit p. 10.
 RMBASSIES AND SLJRROCATES 45

TiJI tb fall of Malacca to the Dutch thc Luso.Suuncsc

relations were rcgulated from Malacca, whose captain was ofteii
also the captain of the 'armada do sul" (=the southerii fleet) in
charge ef patrolliug thc straits and the navigation itt South China
sea. The captain of Malacca could sell trading voyages to
Coromaruli1 coast, Bcngal, Bunna, Siam, Suuda, 1'iinor and
Bornco. While the captaiTts of all Portuguese farts had a bad
reputalion for pressurising local merchants and thereby discouragrng
them from frequenting the Portuguese ports, the captains of
Malacca scsn to &.ve been even more notorious itt thic rcspect as
testified by too frequent documentary relèrences to their abuses.
Besides many other irtstructions, thc terms of devassas" or
"residencia" (jiulcial inquiry) into thefr functiottin, there was
generallv a dausc requiring iuformation aztd thrca&ening witit
severe piutishment any involvement of the Malacca captains m
the iliegat irade with Mani1a.
Thc ernba.siec scflt to diffeTent oouniries were na always
of the sarne importance and the Iocal captaius often sent their own
personal euvoys to their neighbouring cbieftaim'. Thcy bad to
usually repori the decision to Goa. but it was uuderstood that the
difficulties of comxnutucations required fiexibility itt situations of
urgency. As a rule the foreign pohcy decisions were &aken itt
Goa and rncnto" or izitriç&' to g&ude the crnbaies were
issued by the vicerov. But t for instance, when the eity of Macao
deeided to send an ernbassy to the cxnperor of hitta itt 1678 taking
a ilon from East Africa as a gift, the city issued its own structions
which were drawn in the name af the crown. A year later the
authorities itt Goa wrote praisingthe efforts of tbe city and asking
to be inforrncd abour the inatructions issued to tJw ambassador.

27. Vilfrrs, fs. ci, p.

53.
23. Bd,tim da Fibst€oi, No. 1, pp. 23131, 245, 265,268; N. 2, p. 414, 457
C.R. Boxer Por1u,,w Ciqtsest and Cominerw in S,aL6mi Aa, 15(11-1750, Lodou
(\T jm.wn RipnnL, 1985, 111, pp. 123-6, ifeis io the "tyrannoa behaviour of
the pta of M2hrea 4o 10 mopoliie all th traiir fiw theu owu
profit". Cf. L.A. Noonan, "The Potugu m Malacca", Sindia, No. 23, 1968,
p. 61: "n'aling from th gomm1no coi1j appcass to have been a Porhigu
paatime, 1r.it crwtty and injusticie to onc's neighboma and dependaails waz not".
In thc lice oI abundant cidnct to the eonirary, the author aotuaris unntical
oo many other eounts m thia brief study, meluding his enthustastic drlënce o(

29. HAG: M 512 Q1r$ P.'to r Ahu, No. 44, & 36v-37: WierrraJ
order appointing thfi&z1a Manuel de Saldanha as anthaasador to Uthia. The
captain and oht in Macao art 1xaod o ticat him iu such This was in
46 TEOTONIO DE SOUZA Indica 49

Against this background we can now proceed to consider the

details of the embassy sent by Francisco de Silva de Menezes,
captain of Malacca to Siam in 1595. Couttre was included in
this embassy, but he had already been a good friend of the captain
from the throe he arrived in Malacca and was inuoduced to the
captain by Sequin Marthiella, an old Venetian, who seems to have
been a resident "business man a ger" of Malacca fort captains.
Within six months the captain had sent Couare to Pahang with an
embassy under Martin Teixeira in 1594. Couttres main mission
was to purchase diamonds and "bazar" stones for the captain.xl
Embassy to Siam. in 1595
Couttre's account of this embassy and his observations in
Siam are covered in seven e l i a ptnn of the First Book (its. 21v 53).
An embassy had arrived from Siam in Malacca after Siam had
captured the kin.gdom of Cambodia m and taken captive many
Uiriss ians and Portuguese, including religious of different Orders,
such as Franciscans. Augusdnians and Dominicans. One
Dominican friar named. Fr. Jorge de Mota., whom Couttre describes
as "astute y terrible", had succeeded in bribing an influential
courtier and getting himself sent as an envoy of the king of Siam to
the captain of Malacca to open negotiations for the release of the
prisoners. Couttre says that the unscrupulous friar dangled
ViSi0115 of cut-rate diamonds, rubies and sapphires in Siam before
the captain of Malacca in exchange for textiles and foodstuffs.
Silva Menezes was eager to combine a mivdon of mercy with the
opportunity to enrich himself. Not many were keen to join this
embassy, owing to the reputation of the king of Siam for tyranny
and inconsistency, but there were some who were too ambitious
to resist an opportunity of making some gain. Couttre avers that
he himself was initially very reluctant to go when the captain asked
him to accompany the embassy, which was to consist of a favourite

1667. However, in 1679 the authorities in Macao had &dried to send their own
ambassador &tato Pereira. de Faria to Cbina in the n a me of the crown- The city
of Macao paid the costs of the embassy and also of an exnearive gift of a live lion
imported from Mozambique. The administration of Goa praised the initiative of
Macao city and approved dretiort. Cy_ HAG t --- 1264, C.orresper.dmia de
Afanat„ No. 1, fls. 30v-31; Wills, 60. cit., pp. 127-144.
30. IINM: Ms. 2780, lls. 9v ff.
31. Ibid., 11. 18 refers to an uprising in Cambodia and the intervention of
Spanish troops from Fhilippinesat the request of the local prince who was murdered
by the rebels in the MealltirM. Apparently Ole king of &arra came into picture at
that stage.
 EMBASSIES AND SURROGATES 47

of the captain as ambassador, a factor, and nine other Portuguese.

Couttre agreed to jom the embassy when the captain conceded
some of his demaadis
The embassy left in a ill= (a vessel described as of nearly a
thousand tonres burthert, and wi th sails made of palm leaves) on
the 8th May, 1595. The crew was all Chinese, and the friar Jorge
Was not just accompanying the embassy but had taken full control
of it. Couttre expresses his resentment that everyone bad to
dance to his tune.
After a trying voyage through the straits in which the junk
scraped a submerged rock and Couttre's watering party was
ambushed by some pirates (whom he calls bayus berneas) on a
lonely island, the expedition reached Patane and thereafter Lugor,
where the captain of a junk coming from Siam reported that the
Christian captives had the freedom of the city, where they were
being kept, and were going about aimed, often killing one another
without interference from the king; in fact some Japanese Chris-
tians had killed a Dominican friar and had sought refuge in a
Capuchin-run church in vain. They were murdered by the
Portuguese at the foot of the altar.
The last leg of the voyage to Siam was completed only after
an attack on their junk by corsairs, whom Couttre falls Was, and
whom they repelled successfully with musket fire.
On entering Siam river -neither the ambassador nor the friar
were keen to disembark, but both were keen to divert the vessel
and go to Cochin-China (an old European designation for Vietnam,
particularly South Vietnam). The rtaistance of all the others
in their company forced them to change their mind and followup
the purpose of the mission. They had to register their names and
all their goods and armament at the cheekpost manned by a
mandarin. After that the friar and C.-Inure obtained a passport
(thara) to proceed upriver till Odia (Ayuthia), about 40 leagues
away, to meet thc king and inform him about the arrival of the
ambassador. They observed many guardavessels and strict vigil
all along their route. They reached Ayuthia after seven days
of journey.
In the city they were warmly welcomed by the Portuguese,
who confirmed the news they had been given at 1.11g0r. They did
not find the king at his capital, because he was on an elephant-
39 . Aid, Bs. 21v- 24v.
 48 TEOTONIO DE SOUZA Iridica 49
hunting expedition. They were given permission to go till where
the king was in a pangsw of thirty oars on each side and with a roof.
They were also allowed to be accompanied by thii ty Portuguese
who hat' been captives. Obviously they were meant to man the
vessel_ But before they could reach. thur they got the news that
the king was already on his way back to the capital. They turned
back and returned to Ayuthia. The king was already informed
about the embassy. He gave them an audience, but as required by
custom they were given some flowers of gold and silver mixed with
natural flowers (called moguris in India) with which to approach
the royal presence. The friar Mota then had a wivate audience
with the king and diavuaded the king from inviting Cout eae to join in,
on grounds that he had something very confidential to convey to
the Jr eg. The friar took with hint as iatea-preters two Ans brothers,
sons of a Flemish married in Macao. The two brothers were
married. in Cambodia and were treated as princes in recognition
of the sea-vines rendered by their father. Now they were captives
in Siam, but were treated better than all other captives.
The friar told the king that he had come with an ambassador
who was a relative of the king of Portugal and that he was sent
to provide aaaiatance to the king of Siam in his wars with Pegu,
because he was skillful in matters of war and had conquered the
whole ial and of Ceylon. He also told the king that the king of
Portugal had sent two hundred Portuguese for his service. Couttre
reports that the king was so pleased with the news that he
immediately ordered arrangements for a solemn welcome for the
ambassador. The friar, the superintendent of rev-enuc (parabaci)
and the general of the tivers (oyasimintoy) were put in charm of
working out the details of the reception to be accorded to the
ambassador. The friar would have the final say in the arrange-
ments, and he was sent away with a gift of eighty eatis of silver coins
(each cad weighed four mamas or 32 ounces) and many brocades
of gold and silk in 18 trays carried by 18 bearers.33
The friar and the ambassador then got to gether wi th _mandarins
to translate into Siamese language the text of the patent in Portuguese.
They claimed that the original was written in. Malay and was in a
sealed golden container, whichhad to be offered to the king unopen-
ed. For the purpose of translation several mandarins, and the entire
team of the Portuguese embassy, and the friar met in a big hall of
royal palace. The friar had sought the assistance of a Portuguese

33. kid., Ets. 25-27v.

 EMBASSIES AND SURROGATES 49

renegade called Miguel de Pieta to act as his interpreter from Malay

to Siamese. The friar knew Malay and was dictat ing as text of
the patera whatever he liked, so much so that he described the whole
party accompanying the ambassador as slaves " (paylvan). The
inandarina w ere then happily asking those present their names to be
noted down. The friar's text of the patent greeted the king of Siam
and Cambodia in the name of the king of Portugal, and declared
that he was sending his relative Manuel Pereira d'Abreu whith ten
othexs and some armament and gifts, etc. Most of these statements
were untrue, and the patent in a gold cont a iner was of the captain
of Malacca, requesting the king of Siam to relaase the captives and
listing, thc gifts that were sent. Couttre and some others present
had uaderstood the gist of the friar's trickeries, but were chilled
with horror and feared that a protest would cost them their lives.
The king was delighted and on the day fixed for welcoming
the ambassador officially he scut rich presents to the ambassador
and the friar. The embassy corta.ge moved towards the royal
palace, a league and half away, accompanied by a thousand men
of muskets, another thousand bowmen, another thousand lancers,
and then another thousand swordsmen.. All moved in two parallel
columns. .They had only their loins covered and their bodies
painted with many designs. The two Hans brothers were seated
on elephants with the containers of the rale and false embassy
paeans on their hearhe Th ay were surrounded by three lumdred
trumpeters and drummers. Then followed the ten Portuguese
carrying the various gifts brought by the ambassador. The friar
on a palan.qaire and to his left the ambassador on a horse, brought
UP the rear with the rest of the Portuguese and the Christian
captives.
The cortége moved in complete silence_ No one spoke a word,
and only thr trumpets and drums made a deafrning noise. All
the houses along the way had their doors and windows shut and
no one could be seen outdoors. No barking of a dog was to be
heard tender penalty of death to the dog and its own.e.r. On arrival
in the palace premises the embassy party had to cross three large
patios, each an arquebus shot long and little less wide, lined by
thousands of armed retainers sitting on their haunches. The
Portuguese accompanying the embassy had to move wi th their
heads lowered and arms crossed over shoulders.
The king was sitting en a golden throne on a raised square
platform; about two hundred paces wide and long. The throne
was like a roofed bedstead. It had glass panes, and the king
50 - TEOTONIO DE SOI.IZA Indica 49

was communicating with the guests through small window and

was barely visible. There were five stops before reaching the royal
throne. The distance between the stops was of thirty paces. At
each stop a pal t of the patent was read and transmitted orally
from person to person till it was conveyed to the king. When
the entire message was e.onveyed the king sent gold boxes (Worth
about 2,000 escudos each) with betel and accompaniments for the
friar and the ambassador ; and baskets (worth about 30 escudos
each) with similar contents to the other Portuguese accompanying
the embassy. The king then asked the ambassador how many
men he had used to conquer Ceylon. He said in reply that hc had
500 Portuguese. and 3,000 Indians with him. - The King then.
presented more expensive gifts to the ambassador and the friar."
After closing the reception cammorty the king left the audience
place very solemnly behind his guards. The king was dressed
also with only a loin-cloth, but on his head he was wearing some-
thing likee a mitre, but gold platei and stud.dcd with precious
stones. He was seated on an elephant and had two golden hooks
in hands for controlling the artimal. In front of him moved the
ambassador and friar and the rest o/ the Portuguese with their
i
hands joined over their left shoulder. Belan d him was his brother
on another elephant with his hands on his bent head_ Around
him were the trumpeters and the drummers. The party moved
so very quickly that Couttre reports having a brush with the teeth
of the royal elephant behind him.
The king- was convinced of the genuineness of the embessy
and sought to respond with an embassy of his own to the king
of Portugal. He decided to send the friar with two grandees of
his kingdom. These were sons of a royal concubine. She was
most onhappy about this and was praying te her gods and consulting
priests with expensive offerings to seek a change in the royal plans
for her sons.
The king gave the friar a big junk for the journey. Couttre
describes the junk bigger than a carraek of the Portuguese carreira.
It could take 30,000 quintals of cargo. The king gave him also
10,000 quintals of saparn (similar to Brazil wood which is used for
making dyes), 400 quintals of white ntengui, large quantity of alum
(pedra unte) and several other goods of the country. He also invited
the friar and the ambassador to choose from a box of rubies the
best one for the king of Portugal. Couttre says that even though

34. Ibid., lb. 27v-32v.

 EMBASSIES AND SURROGATES 51

he was not pmsent at the time, he held it in his hands, and thought
it. worth 60,000 escudos. The king was also sanding a sapphire
which weighed 300 carats and would be worth 8,000 escudos.
The king had them both put in two ornaments with many rough
diamonds of eight carats each fitted into them. Couttre values
both the pieces of ornament at 150,060 escudos..
As the date for the departure of the embassy neared., thc friar
called his Portuguese friends and favourites, and chose ten from
among them to go with him. The others approached Couttre and
Simon Peres (the factor of the captain of Malacca) expressing their
fears and the tortures the y could expect once the king discovered
that he had been a victim of deceit.
Couure and Peres approached one of the Ans (Hans) brothers
and paid him four MarCOS of silver to serve as their interpreter
before the mother of the two ambassadors-designate. The lady
of the court gave them an interview and they disclosed to her -ail
the falsities worked out by the friar in connection with the Portuguese
embassy. To ensure the veracity of their version she could ask
the king to check the original Malay text in the seakd golden
container. They also requested her to te-m:_ her good services to
obtain royal permission and a junk to return to Malacca and report
what had happened to the captain of Malacca. She felt that her
prayers were being answered and served them sweets adfruits and
sent them away with the promise of attending to their request.
The ling was furious when he was told about the ruse and
ordered immediately that the junk and goods given to the friar
should be seized. He also summoned .Couttre's party to his
presence. But whOr they WCTC on their way to the royal palace
with gifts, some fifteen hoodlums sent by the friar and his fellow
emissary from Malacca asvailed them. Simon Peres got badly
hurt in this assault. The king came to know of this incident and
repeated his invitation to see him. Couttre, Antonio Hats, and
Peres met him with gifts. The king was mnated on a golden throne
about three metres high and there. were tIvo tigers -tied with chains
nearby. The visitors were made to sit it front and below the
throne on a mat. At one stage the tigers were released and Couttre
says that one came ft-iglu-fully dose to him Wore the king ordered
them to be taken away. The king then listened to them and
granted their request to leave for Malacca with all the Portuguese
they rtnght want to take along, including a Capuchin friar,
Gregorio da Cruz, whom the king greatly respected.
52 TEOTONIO DE SOUZA Indica 49

A good junk was given to them and they got together the
group that would leave. They included be-side:---, Couttre and
Peres, Fr. Gregorio da Cruz, Luis de Freitas (captain of voyage
to Tenasserim) and several other Christians. However, as they
were being registered by the immigration official, there arrived
Friar Mona, the ambassador and their friends. They told the
government official that the junk should not be allowed to leave
for Malacca, because Freitas had stolen the king's idols (which was
true). Itt the meantime they got to the junk and sought to scuttle
it and a big fight ensued between the contending parties of the
Portuguese. The government official left the place with a small
vessel to report the matter to the king. Strangely the king heard
the news and went off hunting elephants once more. But he
ordered that his factor and oyasimiaboy, his general of the rivers,
and twelve chief mandarirts, who had been responsible for the
translation of the embassy patent should be killed. Rmnours were
also afloat that the Christians who were the cause of all this would
bc fried to death
The rumours had scared Friar Mota to such an extent that
he came to meet Couttre, crying like a child and pleading that
he be allowed to join his party leaving for Malacca. However,
he insisted that neither the Capuchin nor Freitas should go with
a
them. As Couttre would not hear such a deal, the friar and the
ambassador planned to escape on their own. The group of Canittre
acquired three boats and started moving upriver, pretending they
were looking for king's camp to ask his leave. Actually they had
taken a native pilot who knew a river that could lead them to the
high sea. There they planned to hijack a bigger vessel and make
their escape. However, they were intercepted by royal guards
one night. The royal officers accepted the Portuguese alibi that
they were on their way to obtain the king's leave, but they were
informed about Friar Mota's party that had been captured while
,attempting to esca.pc.
They reached the king's hunting camp after a journey of seven
days upriver. There were 20,000 men and 3,000 river vessels.
The Portuguese were told that it would not be possible to meet the
king there. They then decided to watch the hunting operations.
The king had chmen only twenty elephants from among many
caught. The others were let free. The king then moved away.
One of the vessels had a gilded cubicle for him, and in some other

35. Ibid., fis. 33-37v.

 EMBASSIES AND SURROGATES 53

well-equipped vessels travelled his women, courtiers and guards_

The king stopped at the city called Repery. From there he went
to Sapampur, where he had a collection of over three thousand
elephants. They were looked after by cmweras, who had their
little houses on tree-tops as protection against tigers. Fires were
lit at night to keep the tigers at bay. The place was also infested
by the so-called elephant flies that could bite through the clothes,
and they made it impossible to sleep at night. Couttre's party
had to wait there for 25 days, and aM they could do was to submit
their petition to the king in writing_ The Mr...g had replied that
their request would be granted on his return to Ayuthia. And
true to his word, on anival there he gave them a new junk and
named his ambassadots to the captain of Malacca. He also gave
leave to the Portuguese ambassador to go with them. The friar
and marty other Portuguese had to remam behind as captives.
Couttre's party finally left Siam after eight troublesome months
Couttre's party stopped at Cambodia on the way_ In the
city they met a Castillian and a Portuguese called Diego Veloso,
who still had his wife captive in &inn He himself had been
sent by the king of Siam in an embassy to Manila, but instead
of returnMg wi..h the answer he had gone to Cochin-China in
company of the said Castillian Bias Roils. From Cochin-China
they had crossed overland into Laos, where lived a son of the king
of Cambodia married to a princess of Laos. They instigated the
king of Lacis to send a big fleet to conquer the kingdom of Ca mbodia
to which he had right_ The king followed their advice and sent
the prince as general. Diogo Veloso and Blas Ruis were appointed
gov ernors of the fleet. On arriv-al in Cambodia they found a rebel
Laxcemanc who had captured. power. Seeing the big fleet he
feigned obedience. In the city of Cambodia there were several
other Portuguese who had escaped from a junk that the king of
Siam had sena to Manila and in which was travelling a Capuchin
friar Pedro Ortis (Gouttre had met this friar during his first trip
to the hunting camp of the king of Siam). These Portuguese
approached Couttre's junk and gave the news of the place and
disclosed tileir plans to kill Laxcernatw. They wanted that
Couttre should speak to the captain of Malacca on their behalf
and convey their request for- religious to ad minister sacraments
to the Portuguese living in Cambodia, and also for some Portuguese
to help them carry out their plans.

36.. Ibid., Hs. 37v-4I.

54 TEOTONIO DE SOUZA ladica 49

On return to Malacca Comae found that the captain

Francisco de Silva de Menezes had gone to Goa and he had been
replaced by Martim Afonso de Melo. The captain responded
immediately to the requests he conveyed and sent some Augustinian
friars and rnf.rty Portuguese. These went and joined hands with
Blas Ruis and others who were planning to kill Laxcema.ne.
However, he suspected their intentions and killed all the Portuguese
and the friars without sparing ahy or them. The prince escaped
and went back to his father-in-law, the king of Laos.
The ambassadors of Siam and the Portuguese ambassador
Manuel Pereira d'Abreu had already arrived in MaLacca before
Couttre. Manuel Pereira was returning rich and had won over
the new captain with the gift of the gold box which the king of
Siam had given him. No one was ta l kihg- any more of the problems
he had created in Siam. Couttre got him to pay back with some
reluctance some money that he had lent him. He pretended to
be friendly, but had not forgiven Couttre the blows that he had
struck during a skirmish in Siam. He refused the offer of a' ducl,
but started conspiring with the captain, who also bore grudge against
Couture over some woman. They planned an assault by sending
sorneoric to purchase an emerald from Comtre. (It belonged to the
Jesuit Bishop of Japan, who had been present at the martyrdom
of many there. The Jesuits had asked him to sell it). Pretending
that he wanted to consult a friend, he took Couttre with him.
On the way he was assaulted by others who had been waiting.
He was hit with a sword on the head, but Couture hiad time to
draw h is sword and scare away his assailants after injuring one
seriously. He says that Manuel Pereira an.d the captain were
watching the situation from the roof of the fort.
Ten days after the assault Manuel Pereira and his men went
back to Siam. When he wanted to return and could no t ge t the king's
permission to do so, his rnert joined han.ds with a Castillian frigate
that was there at the time and fought with the Siamese guard-
vessels. There were many casualties on either side. Friar Mota
was returning with him, and he was wounded in the conffict. Both
died of exhaustion and illness soon after their return to Malacca.
A few days later there was a big fire in the -suburbs of the city of
Malacca where Couttre lived. He lost his house with all the stock
of nungui and all other goods he had. Goutore calls it the climax
of his shfferings in Siam."

37. Bid., fls. 41-44.

 EmEAssrEs AND SURROGATES 55

Some other observations about Si , In

Couttre devotes two chapters to some of his observations during
his eight months in Ayuthia. He had lost no opportunity to
observe life and customs there. He gives lengthy descriptions of
the city location, temple architecture and sculptures, barbarities
of Siamese justice, a funeral of the king's favourite elephant, the
annual intimidation of the capital and surrounding lands, the
kieg's retreat during this season to higher grotmd, the common
practice of men wearing up to four "buncholes" (small bells of gold,
silver or copper) in their penis and women wearing skirts with a
long cut in front."
In his description of the temples of Ayuthia, Couttre refers to
huge bronze statues brought there by the king of Siam from
Cambodia. He says that they were discovered 51$1) some forty years
earlier in. a ruined city called "Anguor.
In his description of some practices of justice or "barbarities"
in Siam, Couttee desaibes among other cases now some men
condemned to death were closeted with wild buffaloes till only
one of them survived and was set free. One old lady and many
young girls were fried to death after their eye-balls and finger-nails
were pulled out. Apparently the old Lady had obtained the key
of a royal safe from queen's room through those girls assisting the
queen and had taken away 150 ntarros of gold_ On an another
occasion-a young lady was stripped naked and closeted with a dog.
After much provocation the dog bit the woman twice on her breasts_
Then sonar tigers were let into the enclosure and she was reduced
to pieces that were Later hung ir. a public place. She was punished
for adultery reported to the king by her htisbanden
Couttie also desc-ribes the currency of Siam: the silver coins
resembled arquebus bullets. They had the royal seal on them
representing an elephant. A Tical of silven- was equivalent to seven
and half rials. Mazes were equal to one and half rial. Shells
(buzios) were used as small currency. But the best c-urrency in
Siam was cloth pieces:"

38. lb. 44-48u. Couttie could gather that this practice was introduced
by a queen of Pegu to counter increasing frequency of homosexuality ("pecado
nclando").
39. Ibid., Hs_ 46-44ri.
40. ibid., fls. 49 50v.
4 1 . I6iI., ft. 53,