Before me:
_Jhoan de Cuellar_
_Testimony_: Then, on this said day, the oath was received, regarding
the aforesaid, in due legal form from Diego Belosso, at present in
this city, who swore in the name of God and by the sign of the cross,
under which charge he promised to tell the truth. Being questioned
regarding the matter, this witness said that he knows it must have
been ten years ago that a junk belonging to Don Jhoan de la Gama was
lost on La Barela, which is an island lying near Chanpan, where there
were many Portuguese Christians and those of other nations, and a
cleric who was going in the said junk from Macan to Malaca. The said
people disembarked, where this same king of Chanpan captured them
all, distributed them as slaves, and otherwise ill-treated them,
even forcing them to carry timber. Captain Roque de Melo sent an
embassy to the said king of Chanpan, asking him to return the people
whom he was holding in captivity for ransom, or in any other way. The
king ransomed some, but refused to ransom others, so that more than
half of them remained there. He also said that those who went to that
country were forced into slavery. This witness knows all of this to
be true, because he was at Malaca at the time. He also heard it said
that the king who was then reigning had ordered the execution of his
own father. Being in Canboja about six years ago, this witness heard
that a junk which was on the way to Canboja from Çian ran aground
at Chanpan in a storm, where, in like manner, all the Portuguese and
others who were aboard were captured and robbed of their merchandise;
but that their junk was resold to them, and the crew ransomed. This
witness also knows that a Portuguese, whom the king of Canboja,
according to his custom, had made a nobleman of his kingdom, was,
while aboard a trading-vessel, struck by a storm so that he put
in at Chanpan, where the king of Chanpan ordered his execution,
because he knew that he was a nobleman in Canboja. The others who
were with him he made captives. This deponent, while in Canboja, saw
some of the Portuguese who were captured in Don Jhoan de la Gama's
junk, which was lost there. They were deprived of all their toes by
order of the said king of Chanpan, because they had once escaped,
but were caught again. About ten years ago, while this witness was
at Malaca, he learned that a vessel coming from Canboja to Malaca,
laden with munitions and supplies for the fortress at Malaca, went
ashore near Chanpan, and many Christians, who were on the vessel,
were captured. The king of Jor [Johore] being at war with Malaca about
five years ago, the said king of Chanpan sent him aid, and otherwise
assisted him considerably; so that with the assistance which the
said king of Chanpan lent him, they put many Portuguese and other
Christians to death. Captain Francisco de Villegas being at Chanpan,
with a ship and some men, the king made them embark upon his own
ships to rob and plunder with him. They went to Canboja, where they
captured a large number of people, because when the latter saw bands
of Portuguese coming, they thought that they were friends. The king
is an obstacle to both trade and general commerce, for quite commonly
he is wont to coast with his fleet, along Cochinchina and Canboja,
doing considerable damage to the merchants going from Canboja and
Çian to trade, to Malaca and other neighboring places--as Patan and
China, for instance--without sparing anyone whom he meets. The said
king of Chanpan is guilty every year of murdering many of the people
of his own land, to possess himself of their bile, in order to bathe
in it. The latter the witness has heard from people who were captives
there, and who saw him commit these and many other abominations. He
has also heard it said that when any noble or chief dies, the king
orders some women to be burnt alive, with terrible cruelty, with the
body of the deceased; for, according to their religion, the dead are
burnt. Lastly it was about a year ago, when Gregorio de Vargas and
his companion Blas Ruiz escaped from Chanpan to Canboja; they said
that their ship had been stolen from them in Chanpan, with all their
property aboard it. Their captors even ordered no food to be given to
them. Considering all the above, it is the opinion of this witness,
that it will be a great service to God and his Majesty, to attack
the said king of Chanpan, and put a stop to so great abominations and
tyrannies as he ordinarily practices, since he is in the path of all
the vessels going to those coasts--where he has seized a large quantity
of artillery and arms from those lost there. All that he has said,
this witness has heard from persons who had been captives there, and
he affirms it to be true and the extent of his knowledge, according
to the oath which he has sworn. He has no other information. His age
is thirty-four.