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An.1687
The Seamen of Champa.
The 24th day we went into the Bay of Siam: This is a large deep Bay, of which and of this Kingdom I shall at present speak but little, because I design a more particular account of all this Coast, to wit, of Tunquin, Cochinchina, Siam, Champa, Cambodia, and Malacca, making all the most Easterly part of the Continent of Asia, lying South of China ; but to do it in the course of this Voy- age, would too much swell this Volume ; and I shall chuse therefore to give a separate relation of what I know or have learnt of them, together with the Neighbouring parts of Sumatra, Java, &c. where I have spent some time.
We run down into the Bay of Siam, till we came to the Islands that our Pulo Condore Pilot told us of, which lye about the middle of the Bay ; but as good a Pilot as he was he run us aground ; yet we had no damage. Captain Read went ashore at these Islands, where he found a small Town of Fishermen, but they had no Fish to sell, and fo we returned empty.
We had yet fair weather and very little wind ; so that being often becalmed, we were till the 13th day of May before we got to Pulo Uby again. There we found two small Veffels at an anchor on the East side : They were laden with Rice and Laquer, which is used in Japaning of Cabinets. One of these come from Champa, bound to the Town of Malacca, which belongs to the Dutch, who took it from the Portuguese : and this shews that they have a Trade with Champa. This was a very pretty neat Veffel, her bottom very clean and curiously coated, she had about 40 men all armed with Cortans, or broad Swords, Lances, and some Guns, that went with a swivel upon their Gun- nals. They were of the Idolaters, Natives of Cham- pa, and some of the briskest, most sociable, with- out fearfulness or shyness, and the most neat and dexterous