_Of the City of Siam_.
Siam was the imperial seat of the kingdom of that name and a great city,
till the year 1567, when it was taken by the king of Pegu, who came by
land with a prodigious army of 1,400,000 men, marching for four months,
and besieged Siam for twenty-two mouths, during which he lost a vast
number of men, and at lost won the city. I happened to be in the city of
Pegu about six months after his departure on this expedition, and saw
the governors left by him in the command of Pegu send off 500,000 men,
to supply the places of those who were slain in this siege. Yet after
all he would not have won the place unless for treachery, in consequence
of which one of the gates was left open, through which he forced his way
with great trouble into the city. When the king of Siam found that he
was betrayed and that his enemy had gained possession of the city, he
poisoned himself. His wives and children, and all his nobles that were
not slain during the siege, were carried captives to Pegu. I was there
at the return of the king in triumph from this conquest, and his entry
into Pegu was a goodly sight, especially the vast number of elephants
laden with gold, silver, and jewels, and carrying the noblemen and women
who were made captives at Siam.
To return to my voyage. I departed from Malacca in a great ship bound
for St Thome on the coast of Coromandel, and as at that time the captain
of Malacca had intelligence that the king of Acheen meant to come
against Malacca with a great fleet and army, he refused to allow any
ships to depart. On this account we departed from Malacca under night
without having made any provision of water; and being upwards of 400
persons on board, we proposed to have gone to a certain island for
water, but by contrary winds we were unable to accomplish this, and were
driven about by the tempests for forty-two days, the mountains of
_Zerzerline_ near the kingdom of _Orissa_, 500 miles beyond St Thome,
being the first land we got sight of. So we came to Orissa with many
sick, and had lost a great number for want of water. The sick generally
died in four days illness. For the space of a year after, my throat
continued sore and hoarse, and I could never satisfy my insatiable
thirst. I judged the reason of this hoarseness to be from the continual
use of sippets dipped in vinegar and oil, on which I sustained my life
for many days. We had no scarcity of bread or wine; but the wines of
that country are so hot that they cannot be drank without water, or they
produce death. When we began to want water, I saw certain Moors who were
officers in the ship who sold a small dish of water for a ducat, and I
have afterwards seen a _bar_ of pepper, which is two quintals and a
half, offered for a small measure, and it could not be had even at that
price. I verily believe I must have died, together with my slave, whom I
had bought at a high price, had I not sold him for half his value, that
I might save his drink to supply my own urgent wants, and save my own
life.