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73Journal of the Siam Society 90.1 & 2 (2003)

Michael Smithies

Accounts of the Makassar Revolt, 1686

TIntroduction

he Makassar plot, first revealed aboutAugust 1686, and their revolt in Septem-

ber, appeared to take Siam by surprise.Hitherto the cosmopolitan capital of Ayutthayahad accommodated numerous different“nations” living in their own “camps” orquarters, with little apparent friction. TheMakassarese were to be the exception.

The Makassarese, which we shall call, likecontemporaries in Ayutthaya, Makassars, camefrom South Sulawesi (Celebes) and constitutedthe Sultanate of Gowa, with its capital atMakassar (later Ujung Pandang). They were amajor military force which the Dutch in theVOC, in their attempt to establish a monopolyin spices in the Moluccas and control over theJava Sea, took more seriously than their enemies,including the Bugis of Bone. Conflicts betweenthe VOC and Gowa were continual from 1615.The VOC attacked Gowa in 1660 and forcedSultan Hasanuddin (r.1653-69) to accept peace.But skirmishes continued and in 1666 theGovernor-General Maetsuycker sent twenty-oneships and 600 European troops, as well asAmbonese and Bugis militias, to attack

Makassar. Fighting lasted nearly a year, andSpeelman, the Dutch commander (and latergovernor-general), forced Hasanuddin to sign theTreaty of Bungaya in November 1667, but hesoon resumed his attacks; a second campaignlasting until June 1669 ended in his completedefeat. The Makassar fort was taken over by theDutch and renamed Rotterdam. The Bugisleader, the Arung (king) of Bone, Palakka,(d.1696) then became the most powerful localruler in South Sulawesi, and instituted authori-tarian rule which led to large numbers ofMakasssars, as well as some Bugis, fleeingSulawesi to seek new homes (Ricklefs 1981:61-63). Some of the Makassars, apparentlyunder the leadership of a son of Hasanuddin,came to Siam and sought permission to settlethere. King Narai granted them land next to theMalay quarter, on the grounds of proximity toco-religionists.

The Makassar revolt was seen by historiansof the period as the first aberration (the secondbeing the Mergui massacre of the Englishin 1687) in the smooth flow of the latter partof the reign of King Narai between the well-

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Journal of the Siam Society 90.1 & 2 (2002)

documented embassies of Chaumont in 1685 andLa Loubère and Céberet in 1687 and the crisisof the May 1688 coup d’état (considered bythe French as a “revolution”). Contemporaryaccounts exist of the revolt, most notably thatof Samuel White, the shahbandar or harbour-master of Mergui, given in photocopy as anappendix to this article, from the originalbroadsheet published in London in July 1687;this was published in extenso in Anderson(1890: 290-296). White, an old confrère ofPhaulkon, virtually a licensed pirate operatingfrom Mergui, was apparently in Ayutthaya inSeptember 1686 when he wrote his letter dated“Sept. 20. 1686” (Julian calendar, which wouldbe 30 September Gregorian) to his brotherGeorge in London. Forbin’s account of hishandling of the captain and crew of a Makassarship in Bangkok at one stage of the revolt is wellknown.1 Much less well known is the accountby the engineer La Mare, which is found in LivreIII (pp.96-128) of Guy Tachard, Second Voyagedu Père Tachard et des Jésuites envoyez par leRoy au Royaume de Siam..., Paris, Horthemels,1689. Curiously Hutchinson (1966: 52, n.2) saysof this: “Doubtless an account by Père deFontaney published in Vol.II of Tachard (1689);97-128”, but Hutchinson seems to have read itsuperficially, since only a short addendum is byFontaney, and the account appears in Bk III, notBk II.

La Mare’s account2

“[96] During the time we were there [inBatavia], many false rumours circulated, whichalarmed many people. The French who wentinto the town were told that it was too late tosend help to the King of Siam;3 that this princehad made peace with the Dutch Company;4 thattroops had been sent to him, and that the Frenchwould certainly not be well received. This newswas confirmed by the testimony of two Siamesemandarins who were in Batavia, who were saidto be envoys extraordinary of the king theirmaster; that in addition to the troops which hadalready been sent in several vessels, there were

still two store-ships in the roads ready to set sail tobring these envoys back with soldiers and horses.

“[97] This news seemed all the moretrustworthy, according to some, since a revoltof the Makassars had occurred in Siam whichcaused much comment, and which woulddoubtless have had dire consequences if the Kingof Siam and his chief minister5 had not broughta rapid resolution to the matter. We wereinformed with much assurance about all thesematters, and such details were provided, that iswas difficult not to give due credence to them.However, I was quite sure that they were onlyrumours, but it was quite difficult for me todisabuse some people. To do so more effectively,I wished to speak to the mandarins whose[words] had been cited, but they, far fromconfirming what was bruited about in Batavia,told me things completely to the contrary,assuring me that Monsieur Constance was bet-ter established than ever in the king’s favour,and for proof of that, this prince had sent him aparasol and a silver chair which is the ultimatefavour this monarch has for honouring those helikes. These same mandarins added that theyhad received letters on a vessel which hadrecently arrived from Siam, [informing them]that the Makassars had all been expelled, butthey were not told of the reason nor how thishad come about. I think that since I havementioned here this important matter, I shouldinform the reader what happened. Here is theaccount in all its length, as [98] written downby a French engineer, named M. de La Mare,6

who was there, where he had carried out hisduties admirably.7 Some details have been addedwhich were learnt from those on the spot.

“In order fully to understand, he says, all thatI am about to relate concerning the revolt of theMakassars, it is necessary to know that a fewyears back the Dutch conquered the King ofMakassar,8 whose kingdom was located on theCelebes, one of the Moluccan islands. The princeof whom we are speaking, one of the sons ofthis king, followed by many of his nation,escaped from the hands of his enemies, and cameto the King of Siam to seek asylum, to build

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houses for himself and his followers, and thisplace was subsequently called the Makassarcamp,9 in the manner of speaking of thiscountry. This camp was situated partly on thebank of the great river called the Menam,10 andpartly on a small stream called the Cachon11

which enters the main river at this point. Theywere specifically allocated this location becauseof the proximity of the camp of the Malays, whohave the same religion as them, being Moham-medans, and there were already some mosquesbuilt there; nothing was overlooked to give themall kinds of favours and consolation for themisfortune which [99] they had suffered. Butthis prince soon forgot what he owed to hisbenefactor.

“He devised five years ago a plot against theKing of Siam, to kill him, and place on the thronethe younger brother of the same king.12 Theconspiracy was fortunately discovered, thegenerous monarch pardoned not only his brother,but even the Makassar prince and all his accom-plices. This excess of generosity should haveproduced eternal regret in the soul of thisungrateful man; but far from repenting of hiscrime, he entered four months ago into anotherplot, encouraged by the princes of Champa13

who had taken refuge in this court like himself,and who had resolved to crown the youngerof His Majesty’s brothers, and offer him theturban, or death. They had, it was said, resolvedthat they would leave him on the throne but ashort time, and that afterwards they wouldrequire him to abdicate, to be replaced by oneof them who garnered the most support. Theywould also propose to all the Christians,Gentiles, and pagans in the kingdom to adopttheir religion, or die. It is also important to knowthat these princes of Champa are three brothers,sons of the late King of Champa, who soughtrefuge here on the advent of their elder brotherto the crown, fearful of being [100] badly treated.Of these three brothers, one was a King ofSiam’s palace officer, who was not party to theplot, and the two others lived as privateindividuals. It was the youngest who began theconspiracy, the account of which follows.

“The young prince of Champa, havingresolved to unseat the King of Siam, conferredwith a Malay captain who also came fromChampa, a man of courage, intelligence andeducation, and outlined his plan. This captainjoined his faction, and it was he, with one oftheir priests, who conducted the whole business.This is how he went about things. He proclaimedin the Malay camp and that of the Makassarsthat he had seen appear in the sky a sign whichthreatened them with very great misfortune, orpromised them very considerable advantages;that every time he had seen it something extraor-dinary had occurred to those of their faith; thattherefore one had to pray to the Prophet that thisaugury would be to their advantage, but also tobe on their guard. After filling the people withterror without declaring his plan, he took themall to one side in turn, and little by little revealedhis proposals to the extent that he observed theywere willing to be part of them, so that, exceptfor three hundred Malays, he had them all joinhis faction within three months, helped [101]14

only by one of their priests, as we have alreadysaid.

“After having brought matters to this state,he called together the three chiefs to agree aboutwhat should be done with the three hundredMalays whom he had found far from agreeingto his proposals. They decided that when theywere ready for action, they would have themcome to the meeting place without sayinganything about what was to happen, and therethey would declare the affair, being convincedthat they would not hesitate to submit to theirproposals when they saw that all their compa-triots were already partisans to them. They alsoresolved to go in the first instance to free all theprisoners and all the galley slaves to be found inthe city, and bring them over to their faction,which they were sure both [groups] would dowith much joy. They decided also on pillagingthe palace in order to give courage to theirpartisans. They resolved furthermore that theday their plot would be carried out would be the15th August, at eleven at night. The two Champrinces seeing the hour draw nigh, wrote a letter

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to their brother who was attending the king inLouvo,15 in which they informed him of theirplan, and advised him to escape as quickly aspossible. They ordered the man who took theletter only to deliver it the same day at eight inthe evening, so that if he wished to join the plot[102] he had the time to escape from the king’shands.

“His sudden flight made the [Cham] princesuspicious that something unusual was aboutto occur, and he was sufficiently prudent notto open the letter. He took it to my LordConstance,16 who had it opened and interpretedby a Malay mandarin. As soon as the reading ofthe letter was over, this minister ran to warn theking of what was occurring in the capital, whowithout undue concern immediately gave all thenecessary orders to thwart the plans of theseditious persons. He had a detachment of threethousand men of his guard go to defend thepalace in [the city of] Siam. He sent the Cheva-lier de Forbin17 to Bangkok, for fear that theplotters might seize the stronghold. He had therest of his guards, numbering five thousand men,placed in his palace and nearby, and had troopsset up on the roads leading to the gates and onthe town ramparts; in short he omitted nothingthat a wise man would do to ensure the safety ofhis state.18

“However, as the hour designated by theplotters had come, everyone was prepared. Itwas on a slip of land, which separates the tworivers [103] beside the Makassar camp that thethree hundred Malays were assembled, armed,on the orders of the Makassar prince, withoutknowing what was expected of them, but never-theless seeing that so many people wereassembled thinking that treason was in the air.They spoke to the prince who had caused themto gather and asked him whither he wished tolead them. He avoided telling them, but onbeing pressed [for a reply] he declared himself.They all said to this prince in a single voice thatthey would not be part of this action, that theydid not wish to move from there, and that theywould prefer to die rather than betray the Kingof Siam, who had received them with kindness

in his realm, and had assisted them considerablysince they were there. These reasons causedother Malays to hesitate, who already had someremorse at their action, which made themdeclare that they too did not wish to advance.After this everyone began to take flight, andescape in whatever way he could. The Moham-medan priest, about whom we have spoken, wascertain that some of these people would go andreveal the conspiracy, and that their plot hadfailed. He decided therefore to go himself toreveal the plot to the governor of the town,in order to obtain his pardon, which he didimmediately.

“As soon as the governor received thisinformation [104] he had the priest madeprisoner. He called together the few people inthe palace, sometimes in one place, sometimesin another, so that the enemy would realize thattheir treason had been discovered, and that therewere in the palace sufficient troops to defend it.Indeed this considerable bustle caused thespies to think that there was a large number ofsoldiers there. They immediately advised thethree princes,19 who notwithstanding thedesertion of some of their men, were until thenready to march with the rest to carry out theirplan. This news so alarmed them that they allreturned to their homes, to devise a way ofextricating themselves from this untowardsituation. They were still more disconcerted thefollowing morning when they learnt that threethousand guardsmen had arrived in the palace,and that all the inhabitants of the town wereunder arms and positioned on the ramparts.

“After taking these measures, the king, onlearning that the enemy would not attemptanything further, and had withdrawn to its camp,sent my Lord Constance to [the city of] Siam, totry and reason with them, and discover all thedetails and circumstances of the conspiracy. Theminister perfectly well succeeded in his journey.He required the captain who had elaborated theplot to hand himself over to him in the hope heheld out [105] of obtaining the king’s pardon,and it was from him that he learnt all that wehave just detailed; to which he added that he had

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resolved to make himself king, and to destroythe three princes. M. Constance only stayed twodays in [the city of] Siam, and on leaving toreturn to the king [in Lopburi] he had itproclaimed that all the conspirators had to gowithin four days at the latest to confess theirmisdeeds and denounce their accomplices, onwhich the king would forgive them, and would[allow them to] return to their property and theirfamilies; but that if they delayed longer, theywould all be severely chastised. All the Malayswent together to seek the king’s pardon, andobtained it. Only the Makassars were unable toconcede this submission, and were resolved todie.

“Their prince was several times summonedby the king to come and give account of hisconduct, but he consistently refused to do so,excusing himself on account of not having takenpart, he said, in the conspiracy; it was indeedtrue that he had been greatly urged to do so, buthe had always resisted such powerful solicita-tions brought to bear on him. If he had com-mitted any fault, it was not to have revealed theauthors of such a pernicious design. But [heconsidered] his position as prince and that of afriend were sufficient to exonerate him [106]from performing the role of a spy, and betrayingfriends who had confided in him a secret of suchimportance. Such an unreasonable reply decidedthe king on resorting to force of arms to bringhim to reason. The character of this nation wassufficiently well known to appreciate thatthey were not people to let themselves be takenwithout resistance, so preparations to bring themto heel were required. It seems that thesepreparations filled them with courage rather thanintimidating them, and an event which occurredin Bangkok soon after, before they wereattacked, made them still more proud.

“A galley from the Celebes, and whichbrought from the King of Makassar a present ofsome silver and some slaves to the prince whowas his relative, was on the point of leavingwhen the conspiracy broke out. The captain,having witnessed the little likelihood of thesuccess of that enterprise, in which he was

involved, thought he ought to assure his safetyby withdrawing. He asked for, according to thecustom of the country, the permission to leavethe kingdom with a tara, that is to say a laissez-passer, to remove his trade goods. He wasimmediately given it. But at the same time asecret order was sent to the Chevalier de Forbinto arrest him with all his men at the point wherethere was the chain which had been strung acrossthe river at Bangkok throughout [107] thesetroubles. It was hoped to obtain more detailsfrom them about the conspiracy, concerningwhich they were not thought to be completelyinnocent. They arrived there on 27 August.20

Immediately the Chevalier de Forbin sent for thecaptain to have him come into the fortress andinform him of the number of people beingtransported in his galley. This compliment some-what surprised the Makassar captain, who wason his guard against attacks. He did not think itwas prudent to go and place himself betweenfour walls at a time when he began to realizethat his safety consisted in flight. He raised athousand difficulties to avoid this, going as faras saying he could not go there, without beingfollowed by all his men with their arms.

“After protracted discussions, in order betterto conceal the trap being laid for him, he wasallowed into the fortress with eight of his men,with no other arms than their kris. The kris is asmall dagger a foot and a half long, with a flatblade, most often with wavy sides. It can betwo fingers thick below the hilt; from there itdiminishes in size to end in a rather sharp point.Some kris have poisoned blades. This is effectedin two ways; either the poison is applied eachtime one wishes to use it, or else [108] thepoison is mixed in the tempering when it isbeing fired, so that the substance fully penetratesit; these last blades, so it is said, cost up to athousand écus. It is true that they take a consid-erable time to make these types of daggers. Theyobserve certain superstitious moments fortempering them; they strike a certain number ofblows on particular days of the month to forgeit; they interrupt their work for weeks at a time,and they spend in this way on different occa-

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sions a whole year to make this masterpieceof their diabolic art. The makers of charmsobserve less ceremonial in the fabrication of theirfigurines. This poison is so subtle in summer,that it is enough for the kris to make a slightscratch, and draw a drop of blood, for it toreach the heart very soon. The only remedy,according to everyone, is to eat very quicklyone’s own excrement. Furthermore, a braveMalay and his kris are inseparable. To hand itover is for them a terrible affront, and to draw itand not to kill anyone a sign of cowardice. Whenthey have once taken their opium, which makesthem half mad, they throw themselves onto pikesand swords without fearing death, crying“Mecca, Mecca”21 and rarely miss their man.Let us now return to our tale.

“[109] The captain with his escort come onshore, to reach the citadel, after saying goodbyeto the rest of his comrades, and declaring to themthat if he were asked for his kris, he would runamok; to which they all replied that if thathappened they would follow his example, anddie to avenge him. Immediately after he entered,he was taken to a kind of hall built on one of thebastions of the stronghold, where he was orderedto bring his men to be counted. The plan of theChevalier de Forbin was to have them enter theouter part of the citadel, having them followedin a line by a company of soldiers ordered forthis task, to surround them on all sides, and sorequire them to hand over their arms. Thecaptain replied coldly that he had fifty men, andwithout so much ado they could trust his word,but as they insisted in this matter, and as he sawhe was obliged to obey, it had to be. He sent offtwo of his men, to go and warn the others.

“The Chevalier de Forbin took this opportu-nity to assemble a large number of pikemen andmusketeers, who were guarding the entrance tothe hall which was open on all sides for thispurpose. Then the Makassar realized, but toolate, the dangerous position he was in. Heseemed to be distracted, and in the attitude of a[110] man determining some important plan.Sweat poured in large drops from his face.However the Chevalier de Forbin sent an officer

to ask for his kris, in the name of the king. Thecaptain’s only reply was to thrust it in hisstomach, and have him fall dead at his feet. Theblow was so violent that he broke three of hisribs. Two of the men of the Siamese captainattempted to fulfil their duty and seize theMakassar, but two blows of the kris deliveredhim from his two enemies one after the other,and after having floored a fourth, he came in afury to throw himself on the pikemen. But as itwas impossible to break their ranks, afterhaving tried a few blows, he jumped with threeof his men through a window in the hall, andthrew himself into an embrasure22 of thebastion, to jump down from the top to thebottom. As this leap nevertheless appeareddangerous to them, some volleys of musket shotwere needed to make them follow this example.A second volley was fired as they fell. Therewere still some who had enough strength to raisethemselves and run with faltering steps to thesoldiers who were posted nearby, but it was easyto finish them off.

“The Sieur de Beauregard, a French captain,seeing that the Makassar captain, although hitby several bullets, still had some life remaining,forbade his sergeant to kill him, and approach-ing [111] him, attempted to remove his kris.He took the sheath instead of the handle, whichthis nearly dead man felt, and still had enoughstrength to draw it and slit his stomach. It has tobe conceded that the wounds inflicted by thisdagger are horrible, and they give when strikinga particular movement to the arm which makesan opening [in the skin] as large as the biggesthalberds are capable of.

“The Chevalier de Forbin, on seeing theresolution of these men and considering whatthe others would be capable of, was obliged totake very different measures from those takenhitherto. He had his garrison, numbering somethree or four hundred men, come out and linedup in battle order outside the stronghold. Hepositioned the men in such a way that theMakassars would be hemmed in. During thistime the Makassars, who had come ashore,alerted to what had occurred by the musket

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volleys they had heard, demanded the restitu-tion of their captain. The Chevalier de Forbinuttered fine words to gain time and put himselfin position to seize them or else kill them. Theyfor their part prepared to sell their lives verydearly. They wound lengths of cloth whichcovered their shoulders around their arms to actas bucklers. Everything appeared perfectly wellprepared, when an English captain23 left hisposition, and advanced [112] with some soldiers,sending word to the Chevalier de Forbin that hewas going to bring him this rabble trussed upfrom head to foot, but unfortunately leaving asmall ditch to his rear. The Makassars con-sidered this position favourable to attack, movedto action, and having come under a volley andsome blows from the pikes which killed a few,cut him to pieces with their kris together withhis men. Some had more than twelve wounds.The rest of the garrison was so frightened bythis first charge of the Makassars that, notwaiting for a second one, everyone took to flight,and the stronghold was cleared in an instant.The Chevalier de Forbin might well shout, it wasimpossible to rally them; he was obliged towithdraw himself, and ran a considerable riskof being killed.24

“If they had known how to profit by theiradvantage, they could have made themselvesmasters of the fortress, given the fear whichprevailed; but one can say that if these peoplehave the strength of lions, they also have theirbrutality. They do not reason, they are happyjust to kill everything in front of them, takingno account of age or sex, and they went to seekrefuge in the forest, where leeches, mosquitoes,hunger and a hundred other miseries were so ableto weaken them in twelve or thirteen days thatthey only had sufficient strength to die [113] withtheir arms in their hands, and to kill a furtherfive or six men who came to dispatch them.A young Makassar of ten or twelve years, whohad withdrawn into a temple of Idols25 with someof his comrades, made two sorties with his krisin his hand, and killed two men by himself.Some, whose wounds make them incapable offighting, were taken alive. One of them, while

dying, said: “Alas, I have only killed two, letme kill seven more, and I shall be content.”26

Others prayed that they be killed as quickly aspossible, to rejoin their companions whom theywished to follow. But God, who from the worstof situations draws the greatest benefactions, hadselected three of this unfortunate troop forHeaven. They became Christians, and werebaptized by the Gentlemen Missionaries27 whowere then in Bangkok. Two in particular seemedto convert in good faith, in which one cannotindeed sufficiently admire the profundity of thejudgments of God, who in this way causeseverything to cooperate in the salvation of theelect. A fourth, however, urged to renounceMohammedanism, brusquely asked: “Will I beforgiven if I become a Christian?” As he wastold no, but that was a reason in itself for him tothink of assuring his next life, since he saw hewas about to forfeit his present one, he said, withunparalleled impiety, “What does it matter, if Iam [114] with God or with the Devil, if I am todie?” Here the words of the Bible are shown tobe true: “One shall be taken, and one forsaken.”We relate all these details to demonstrate thenature of this nation which doubtless had a fundof natural bravery; and if the barbaric customsin which its people were raised and the lackof discipline did not cause this courage todegenerate into brutal ferocity, it would be heldto be among the most valiant nations in theworld.28

“While this action was taking place inBangkok, the king attempted every means notto be obliged to undertake a similar one in [thecity of] Siam. We are witness that he did notfail to do everything to bring the unfortunateMakassar prince to the path of reason, notwishing to be obliged to spill royal blood. Butit seems that this prince had plotted againsthimself. The very recent pardon which theothers had obtained ought to have made himhope for the same treatment for himself andhis followers, if he wished like them to givehimself up to the king’s clemency, and on theother hand the justice which had been meted outin Bangkok to fifty of his countrymen ought to

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have opened his eyes and shown him hisinevitable demise and that of all the Makassars.Nevertheless this prince, blinded by his misfor-tune, never wished to submit to going [115] inperson to seek pardon of the king, whateversolicitation this monarch sought through themandarin of his quarter named Ok-phra Chula;this mandarin had always accompanied theFrench ambassador29 during his stay in thekingdom. This Ok-phra Chula, having informedthis prince that he wished to speak to him, theprince replied that he dared not enter the citybecause of the disturbances there, but requestedthe Ok-phra to remove from the city, and hewould go and speak with him. The Ok-phra left,following the minister’s orders, and went tohouse close by the Makassar camp, and therethe prince came to see him.

“At first the Ok-phra reproached him for histreason. He replied that it was true that he wasextremely guilty, but requested him to intercedeon his behalf with the king. The mandarin toldhim that he would have to go in person to seekthe remission of his crime. His Majesty did notwish him to die, but only for him to repent andsignal his obedience, and he could then expectmuch of his king’s bounty. The prince repliedthat he could not agree to do this, and thenwithdrew. Ok-phra Chula reported this to theminister, and the minister to the king. Thisdisobedience incensed His Siamese Majesty,who still did not wish to eliminate a prince andall his nationals without being forced to do soby every possible [116] reason, and gave ordersto Ok-phra Chula to try and bring him [toreason] by gentle means. Ok-phra Chula wentto seek him out a second time, to give him tounderstand that the king still was well-inten-tioned in his regard, but this prince gave out thathe was ill, and could not go. The mandarin senthim doctors, who reported that he was not sick,and was not in the least way indisposed.Ok-phra Chula informed the king, who decidedon the death of this stubborn individual, or tohave him obey. To this end he detached fivethousand four hundred men from his guard, inorder to frighten him with this [large] number,

hoping that fear would bring about what gentlepersuasion had failed to do. His SiameseMajesty gave this order to his chief minister asthe most worthy of all his subjects and the mostcapable of executing his desires.30

“Everything was put in hand to carry theseout, and the morning of the day having beendecided on, the 24th September [1686], havingarrived31, my Lord Constance embarked theprevious evening in a barge, taking with himCaptain Udall,32 commanding a vessel of theKing of England which was at the bar of Siam,and several Englishmen who were in theservice of the King of Siam, a missionary, andanother individual. He went to take on the wayall the troops which were waiting on other bargesand some small galleys near a horseshoe bendin the city of Siam opposite the Makassar camp.He inspected them all, and [117] then assignedeach to his post, sending all the Englishmen,except Mr Udall, on two of the king’s shipsarmed for war a half a league33 below theMakassar camp, and remained there until an hourafter midnight to visit all the positions, afterwhich we34 also went on board the said vesselsabout four in the morning. We then set off tocarry out the plan, which was to start at half anhour after four by a given signal, which wouldbe made on the other side of the water.

“My Lord Constance again inspected all thepositions on coming upstream, and gave orderson all sides. The order to attack was thatOk-luang Mahamontri, captain-general of theRoyal Guard, who had fifteen hundred men inhis detachment, was to cut them off at the rearof their camp, making a dense mass of all hismen from the banks of the main river to a streamsome five fathoms wide, which was immediatelyat the end of the camp.35 On the upper part wasa pond behind the camp, which stretched fromthe main river to just two fathoms before thestream, so that the Makassars could not fightthem except in this stretch of two fathoms whichcreated a kind of raised path; but [the captain]had orders to form a barricade of stakes at thispoint. Ok-phra Chula was to position himselfon the other side of the stream, and line it with a

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thousand men, and in the two rivers, there were[118] twenty-two small galleys, and sixty bargesfull of people to skirmish with them, and athousand men on the strip of land opposite theircamp.

“The signal being given at half-past four inthe morning, as had been arranged, Ok-luangMahamontri suddenly set off, followed byfourteen of his slaves, without giving orders tohis troops to follow him, nor taking the positionhe had been ordered to. He walked aheadwithout knowing if he was followed, and wentstraight along the raised path until reaching theMakassar houses, where he stopped, calling outquietly “Ok-phra Chula.” One of the Makassarsin the darkness, which prevented him fromseeing him, replied in Siamese: “What do youwant?” This mandarin thought that he wasindeed Ok-phra Chula, and moved closer to him,asking him: “Where are you?” “Here,” repliedthe Makassar, at the same time coming out ofhis ambush, followed by twenty-five or thirtyothers. They killed this mandarin and seven ofhis slaves; the others escaped in the darkness.After they had conducted this attack, some ofthe Makassars went to the other side of thestream before Ok-phra Chula had secured it.

“At five thirty, Mr Coates,36 an Englishmanand captain of a King of Siam’s vessel, attackedthem from the side of the river at the furthestpoint of their camp. He had several fireballslaunched to burn down their houses, had acontinual musket discharge, and obliged themto withdraw to the upper part [119] of their camp.This captain, on observing this, went on land,followed by ten or twelve Englishmen, and aFrench officer, and [some Makassars] advancedtowards Mr Coates and the French officer, whoseeing other Makassars run up, and themselvesabandoned by their men, extricated themselves,and jumped into the river. Mr Coates receiveda blow on his head, and died, and the Frenchofficer escaped by swimming away.

“After this attack, all the Makassarsabandoned their camp, which was already half-burnt, and reached the upper part of the smallstream in order to cross over to the Portuguese

camp, and wreak their vengeance on theChristians [there]. It was at that moment thatMonsieur Véret, head of the godown of theFrench Royal [Indies] Company, arrived in alongboat and a barge in which were all theFrenchmen in the city, numbering about twenty.Monsieur Constance, well aware of what theMakassars intended to do to the Christians, andbeing in a lighter barge than the others, advancedvery swiftly to the enemy side, followed by thebarge of Monsieur Véret and twelve or fifteenother Siamese barges, to prevent them fromundertaking their plan, and to cross the riverhalf a league above their camp. Seeing the [120]enemies [there], he ordered the Siamese to goashore and attack them.

“However, as it was extremely important toengage them as soon as possible, to prevent themfrom fulfilling their intentions, this minister wenton shore and advanced straight towards them,followed by eight Frenchmen, two Englishmen,two Siamese mandarins, and a Japanese soldier.The longboat had not yet arrived, because itcould not follow the [lighter] barges.

“There was at this point a large open space,to the side of which was a grove of bamboos;these are a kind of large hollow reed, abouttwenty-five or thirty feet high, and as thick asone’s leg; houses made of these bamboos in thefashion of the country were found intermingledwith each other at a distance of two hundred andfifty paces from the water’s edge. There wasalso a very thick hedge of these same bambooswith two openings, to arrive at the plain wherethe enemy was.

“When the Siamese had passed through thishedge, and were in the plain, they began to fireon the enemy. Two Makassars died, afterhaving killed a Siamese, and the otherswithdrew to behind the bamboos. In this retreat,as a woman was embracing her husband, shewas killed with a blow from the kris.37 Inretreating in this fashion, they split up to the leftand the right [121] in order subsequently tosurround the Siamese; and to inflame themselvesfurther, they took their opium, which is a kindof brown gum, which makes them instantly mad,

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and removes any other thought from them or anyother desire except to kill and be killed. Andthis is what is called amok in their language. Assoon as they had taken their concoction, theythrew themselves at the Siamese with their headslowered.

“The minister was preparing to fight them,although they numbered more than sixty, whensuddenly between thirty and forty others cutacross on both sides, to take the Siamese fromthe rear. This movement obliged us to make aprecipitous withdrawal, and jump into thewater to return to the barges, which were alreadysetting off for open water. Of the twelvepersons going with Monsieur Constance on land,five were killed, namely Mr Udall, the captainof the King of England’s vessel [the Herbert]38,stabbed five times, and who died on the terrain,the Sieur de Rouen,39 a French merchantwounded on the sides and the face, who died inthe water on re-embarking, the Sieur Milon, aFrench clerk wounded in the back, who alsodied in the water, and two other Frenchmen, atrumpeter of the King of Siam, and another, afarrier, each of whom sustained ten to twelveblows and [also] died on the terrain. Thissetback did not surprise the minister; he went asecond time [122] on shore, followed byseveral Frenchmen, coming both from the bargeand the longboat which had just arrived, andseveral Englishmen who had joined the fray.There were many Makassars killed in thesecond attack, but they neither killed norwounded anyone.

“The minister, seeing that there was no wayof overcoming these people, except by over-whelming force, detached four hundred mencommanded by Ok-phra Jumbarat, to go abovethat spot to fight them, if they sought to passthat way, and at the same time disembarked nearthe stream, taking three thousand men with him,entered the flooded plain at this point, andmarched towards his enemies; all the French-men and Englishmen accompanied him. Whenwe were in the plain, we saw from afar theenemy, who were desperately attacking the fourhundred men who had gone to the upper part,

and who vigorously fought off their fury, andobliged them to withdraw to the shelter of thehouses and the bamboos, pushing them ever tothe upper part of the river. These musketeers[123] fired continuously, and gave no ground,whatever effort these furious assailants did toprovoke them. Thus the Siamese, who had sopoorly performed at the beginning, did wondersin the end. Some time after, this minister hadtwo thousand two hundred men advance in acrescent; they had remained with him in the plainto link up with the four hundred in the upperpart. They advanced as far as the bamboohedges, carrying in front of them small very thinhurdles, which they fixed with stakes as theyadvanced towards the enemy; this was useful tostop the path of these madmen when they runamok.

“Monsieur Constance also had the rest of thearmed barges advance to keep ever close to theenemy, to prevent them from swimming to theother side of the small stream, so that, seeingthemselves attacked on all sides, they began tobe afraid and to separate, to try and save theirskins as best they could. Most withdrew indisorder into the houses, two in one house, threein another; some hid among the bamboos, andtwenty-two took refuge into a mosque. Thehouses in which they were thought to be hidingwere set on fire; most waited until the house hadhalf burnt down before leaving, and then theyleft running [124] amok, throwing themselvesinto the most dense group of soldiers, lance anddagger in their hands, fighting until they droppeddead. Not one of those who withdrew into thehouses or the bamboo grove did not die in thismanner. The prince himself who had hiddenbehind a house, and who was wounded with amusket shot in his right shoulder, came out withhis lance in his hand, and ran straight towardsMonsieur Constance, who opposed his lance athim. The prince saw this, stopped, and seemedto wish to direct his lance at him, but at the sametime he threw himself on an English captain, whowas a little to his left. A Frenchman close toMonsieur Constance fired a musket at him, andkilled him. Finally all the Makassars were killed

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or taken. The twenty-two who had withdrawninto the mosque gave themselves up withoutfighting. Thirty-three others were taken, allcovered in wounds. One of the sons of theprince, aged about twelve years, came to givehimself up of his own accord. He was shownthe body of his father, which he recognized,saying he was the cause of the loss of his nation,but he was very sorry to see him in such acondition, greatly blaming those who had killedhim. Monsieur Constance ordered a Christianfrom Constantinople, in the King of Siam’sservice,40 to look after him. [125] He wassubsequently taken to France with one of hisbrothers.41

“Only forty-two bodies were found; theothers had been drowned in the river. Most ofthem had corselets consisting of strips of metallinked together at the ends, in diminishing size,which allowed them much ease of movement.Not one had firearms, and they do not know howto use them. What makes them so redoubtablethroughout the Orient is this fury which opiuminstantly inspires in them, making them veryagile and insensible of wounds, in addition tothe marvellous skill they have in thrusting lancesand assegais,42 as well as using the sabreand the kris. This last weapon is the mostdangerous of all those they employ. Most of thesekris are made of poisoned steel, so that there isno remedy when one is wounded by them;furthermore they give such sweeping blows withthese weapons that they can splice a man in two,and almost never [physically] hit anyone, butjust kill them on the spot. Some also had longblowpipes from which they blew poisoned dartsinserted in small pieces of wood. Some Siamesewere wounded by them, and died three hourslater. Several strips of paper and writing werefound [126] on those who were dead; thesecontributed perhaps still more in making them bold.

“Only ten Siamese were killed in this wholeaffair, and those wounded had been hit by thedarts from the blowpipes, and who died shortlyafter, as I have just said. So the Siamese onlylost seventeen men at the time of this action,including the seven Europeans. The attack lasted

from half-past four in the morning to four in theafternoon. All the mandarins performed theyduties very well, going to all the most danger-ous spots with their sabres in their hands, andcarrying out with exemplary promptitude all theminister’s orders.43 Finally everything beingaccomplished, Monsieur Constance gave theorder to cut all the heads of the dead, and toexhibit them in their camp. He then left the sceneto go and give an account to the king of whathad occurred. His Majesty showed himselfentirely satisfied with his conduct, while givinga gentle reprimand for having exposed himselfto such danger, and ordered him to thank on hisbehalf the Frenchmen and Englishmen who hadshared in his perils.44

“I should add to this account, to show thesteadfastness of the Makassars, what Fr deFontaney45 wrote about the punishment thatfour of them suffered [127]; they had been theking’s soldiers, and had deserted the very daythe uprising started. This caused the king todesire to make a notable example of them.I attempted, said this Father, to defer the agonyof these unfortunates, to see if I could notinspire them to become Christians, imaginingthat such people who had already suffered muchwould be the more willing to listen to a doctrinewhich teaches the means of being ever content,because they had been tortured to a terribleextent, raining them with blows from sticks,inserting pegs under their nails, crushing theirfingers, branding their arms, and squeezing theirtemples between two boards. Monsieur LeClerc,46 who knows their language, did all hecould to win them over to Jesus Christ, but to noavail. So we were obliged to abandon them totheir punishment. They were tied up with theirhands and feet bound, their bodies naked, in sofar as the modesty of these [Oriental] people whoare very particular is able to permit this; andafter having put them in this state, a tiger wasset upon them. It only smelt all four of them,one after the other, and then looking around theenclosure, which was about fifteen feet high, itmade a great effort to jump over the fence andescape. It was midday, and it had [128] not yet

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touched the criminals, although they had beenexposed there since seven in the morning. Atthis, the executioners became impatient, andwithdrew the tiger to fasten tightly these poorcreatures to thick stakes. This posture wasenough to excite the anger of the tiger, who killedthree before nightfall, and in the night the fourth.The executioners restrained this cruel animalwith two chains strung between two sides of theenclosure, and pulled it, whether it wished it orno, towards the criminals. What was extraordi-nary, was that one never heard them complain,or even sigh. One saw his foot eaten by thetiger, without even moving it, another withoututtering a cry, had all the bones in his armscrushed. A third allowed it to lick the bloodwhich flowed from his face, without avertinghis eyes and without flinching. Only one movedat his post, in order to avoid seeing and meetingthis incensed beast, but he finally died with thesame fortitude as the others.47”

Edward Udall’s account

Another text of some importance detailingthe Makassar revolt is cited by Anderson (1890,287-9). This is by Edward Udall, brother ofCaptain Henry Udall of the Herbert, who losthis life in the affair. Edward wrote his accountto another brother with erratic spelling andnon-existent punctuation, and as it is less wellknown that Samuel White’s version, and has notto our knowledge been reprinted since 1890, itis reproduced here.48

“The Muccossoes of which there is a greatmany of them about Siam a month before wecame Rebelled but had the worst of it andhundred there heads set upon poales and fearingthey might Rise againe there Going the 13 ofSept about 30 or 40 of them to ye Pallice Andsent ye King word they came to treat with himhe sent to them to deliver up their Cresses [kris]and armes and they should be admitte theyReturned ye King this answer yt it was not thereway to treate unarmed for they knew ye King ofSiam very well and had those sent out to discorsethem tell there King they ware like a great tree

yt could not be removed but where it stood mustfall and yt if there King had anything to say tothem he might come to them for they knewwhere they livd this hapned in ye afternoone theLord Phalken and Rest of ye Lords had orderfor making all things Ready to Rewen thereCamp ye next morning which they beleavedmight containe about 70 persons which theyfound after they had destroyed them to be so...to ye performance of it ware sent att ye lest 15thousand Siamers towards ye evening word wasbrought me Brother was going with his Honourto Bankoak to se yt ye Castell was secured forfear ye Muccossoes should attempt to Rise thistale was not Quite told me before another cameand told me he was goeing with his honour toye Pallice, a third by that he had well don comesand tells me He was only goeing with hislord ship to order ye men of war to be in goodReadiness in case if any thing should happenand to se that they ware well provided thatthey might not be surprised I was sattisfied notmistrusting any thing in ye lest about 6 a clockBrother sent for me I was at a Genl house Justgoing to suppe but would not tarrey butpromissed if could would come to them againewhen came to his Honours they ware all gonand Mr. Basspoole49 His Honor Secretarey toldme my Brother left word with him to bid mekeepe our Dores securely fast and load all ourgunns for it was likely to be a troublesome nightand yt he was gon aboard ye men of warr toaccompany his honours I then inquired what wasye matter which Mr. Basspoole told me and thatthey ware gon to destroy them and In that nightthey fenst them all Round with bambooes thatthey could make no isscape but in ye morningwhen they went about there desine nothingwould searve brother and one or two more butthey would goe a shoare for they ware vropiansand thouse dogg If they saw [?] them but landwould Runn from them although they wareperswaided to ye contrary and told they wareDesperate Villings and would Runn to yemussells of there gunns and Crease them yet thisadvice could not disswaid them a shoare theywould goe and ware no sooner landed but Mr.

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Alvie that was one savd when the pinnis wascast a way was Immediately creast Capt Coatsone of the King of Siams men of Warr Captaineswas nockt in to ye water and Drowned andBrother with some more being landed in a placehalf a mile from them was Immediately kild hiswounds being searcht (at ye Dutch Factoreywhere he was buried) by the Dutch Doctor whofound on ye left side of the heve the bones broakwith great contusion and ye utmost parts yemussells of ye neck wounded about the Righteare ye fleshy part at ye back side of the Rightvpper arme cutt off the left Os Humeri above yeabouemost Epiphisys broak by two bullets thebrest pearced in between ye third and fourth Ribbon ye right side and Issuing on ye left sidebetween the 2 and 3 Ribb Hirted by 2 spattsaboue ye Os Sternon the muscils of ye bellyabout ye place where ye stomach lies pearcedthrough and through and ye back with 8 severallwounds whereof one did penitrait aboue yesecond vertebra of ye Raine. this is an Exackcoppey of ye paper ye Dutch doctor gave meand word for word write after him.”

Edward Udall may be a poor speller andunaware of punctuation, but gives an accurateidea of the wounds inflicted by the Makassars.

Davenport, Martin, and Gervaise

Davenport, White’s unwilling secretary, addsa detail, quoted by Anderson,50 which othersources do not give: Phaulkon narrowly escapedbeing killed in the attack on the Makassar camp,and would have died had not “a strong blackCafer [Kaffir] flung him into the river and swamwith him to the boat” he was to escape in.

Yet another variant on the account of theMakassar revolt is found in François Martin’sMémoires, vol. II51. Martin, the director of theFrench outpost at Pondichéry, was not aneye-witness, but was informed by letters fromthe French factory in Ayutthaya of events thereand was able to supplement his informationfrom Forbin, who unexpectedly appeared inPondichéry on the French Company vessel theSaint-Louis at the beginning of 1687:

“It happened at this time that a body ofMakassars, who were established in Siam[Ayutthaya] and had their quarter there,conspired in a plot, according to what was said,to kill the king and put in his place one of hisbrothers or a prince of their nation who hadescaped with them from Makassaer where he ranthe risk of losing his life following revolutionswhich had occurred in those islands. The plotwas discovered before it could take place;Mr. Constance [Phaulkon], who was then in astrong position, took on the task of destroyingthis group. He assembled Siamese and nativeChristians [of Portuguese descent], joined bytwelve or fifteen Frenchmen as well as someEnglish under Captain... [there were twocaptains, the sea captain Udall and the militarycaptain Coates]; this body of men advancedover the water to the Makassar quarter. Thesepersons, who numbered at most two hundred,warned of the attack on them, were prepared forit. Not every precaution was taken after goingon shore before attacking them, the attackersthrew themselves on them without takingaccount of order or rank; the Makasssars, withtypical determination and resolution, swoopeddown on this body of men and sent them off inrout, with Mr Constance running the risk oflosing his life and being obliged to withdraw.Four Frenchmen were killed: Sieur de Rouen, aprivate merchant who had been in Siam two orthree years; a Company clerk; and two others.The English captain [both Udall and Coates died]fell fully armed into the river where he drowned;two other Englishmen died there. The Makassarsforesaw at once that the attack would be renewedand that no quarter would be given; it is saidthat some killed their mothers and their childrenwhile awaiting the second attack.

“Mr Constance, having escaped this predica-ment, took better precautions. They returned tothe attack, the prince was killed there, two ofhis sons were made prisoner. The older of whom,fourteen years old, only gave himself up afterseeing his father lifeless and his body coveredwith wounds. Some Makassars were killed,others escaped into the woods, and were given

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chase. Some perished there, their arms in theirhands. Fifty took to a boat to save themselves...”The account follows of the boat being interceptedby Forbin in Bangkok and the subsequentslaughter of the Siamese.

The Company vessel the Coche arrived inPondichéry on 4 January 1687 with furtherletters from Phaulkon: “The two sons of theMakassar prince killed in Siam [Ayutthaya]in the uprising were on board the Coche.Mr Constance wrote that they should be sent toFrance; it was feared that by leaving them inSiam they might become over time leaders of agroup to avenge the death of their father.”52

Phaulkon’s method of disposing of unwantedpersons in Siam was somewhat cavalier; hepushed the responsibility for the two Makassarprincelings onto Martin and the French.

One person, the French missionary NicholasGervaise, one might have expected to saysomething about the Makassars, since he waspresent in Ayutthaya during the revolt, escortedback to France the two sons of the Makassarprince and even published a history of thekingdom of Makassar (Description Historiquedu Royaume de Macaçar, 1688), says virtuallynothing about the affair of 1686. He contentshimself with writing: “The Moors, who also [inaddition to the Dutch] carry on a substantial tradein the country, are scarcely less to be feared.If Monsieur Constance, the first minister of state,had not discovered their conspiracy and if hehad not been crafty enough to prevent it beingcarried out, it would have been the end of theking and the kingdom of Siam. These wretcheswould undoubtedly have made themselvesmasters of this kingdom, and, as they are themost fervently religious of all Muslims, it iscertain that they would not have allowed thepractice of any other religion throughout thelength and breadth of the land...”53 One assumesto the subject to have been too much of a hotpotato to warrant, in Gervaise’s view, furtherdiscussion at this time.

The French Missionaries’ account

However, Gervaise’s reticence is compen-sated by the fairly short official record of theMakassar revolt which appears in the Journalde la Mission.54 No date for the event is given.It is here quoted, in translation, in full:

“There occurred here a plot which coulddoubtless have had untoward consequences if ithas not been discovered by extreme goodfortune. Here is what we have been able to learnof it.

“About eight months ago a Makassar, whowas second in charge in his camp, decided torevolt against the King of Siam. He claimedhaving seen in the skies an extraordinary sign,seven stars in the form of a crescent and anotherstar between the two extremities of the crescent.‘I have only seen this sign,’ he said, ‘three timesin my life. The other two times, terrible revolu-tions occurred in the realm. This time what couldthis foretell? Could it not be that some misfor-tune might overcome the religion of Muhammadwhich we observe? Could it be that some greatgood fortune would fall to its followers? But ifour religion were attacked, would we notwillingly defend it at the cost of our blood andour lives?’

“Having sounded out with this discourse theopinions of his compatriots, and prepared themto undertake anything, he won them over oneafter the other, and had them agree to revoltagainst the king. He also won over the prince inhis camp, and a few Siamese mandarins. Theyresolved to attack the palace, to pillage itstreasury, to free all the prisoners, who are verynumerous and ready to undertake a boldenterprise, to kill the king, and place on thethrone his brother, to have him embrace theirreligion, and to kill all those who did not alsowish to embrace it. They only waited for themoment to carry out these plans. But two or threehours before the time they had arranged for theplot to go into effect, a mandarin, who was partof the plot, either because he was horrified athis perfidy, or else because he feared it wouldnot succeed, came to warn the governor of

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the city [Ayutthaya], who assembled withexceptional diligence his soldiers which heposted in the palace and in several other parts ofthe city. At the same time, the king learnt atLouvo [Lopburi] all that was being hatchedagainst him, and had assembled a large numberof soldiers who watched over his palace day andnight. A few days later, Mr Constance camedown to [the city of] Siam. As there was talk ofseizing the head of this plot, their leader proudlysaid he would die rather than submit himself,and that if he were attacked, he would defendhimself with courage. Mr Constance went totell him to come to him, assuring him that no illwould befall him. With this assurance heallowed his hands to be tied and a rope to beplaced round his neck, and went to find MrConstance in this condition. He was at onceassured that he would not be harmed, providedhe told the truth, and then he was freed and takento Louvo. They kept their promise, and heconfessed what we have related of the plot.

“At the same time as he gave himself up,another Makassar captain, who was also invitedto surrender, would hear nothing of it. He saidthat if they wished, he would withdraw from thekingdom. Mr Constance granted his permissionfor him to embark with fifty other Makassars;but he immediately sent an order to Mr Forbinto close the chain [across the river] at Bangkokand to arrest them by ruse when they asked forthe chain to be removed. Mr Forbin had hismen ready for this; the captain came to the fortwith eight companions to speak with him, hediscussed matters with him very correctly for atime, but when he asked them to hand overtheir kris, which is a kind of dagger which theyalways carry at their belts, they unsheathed themon the spot, taking no account of the number ofsoldiers surrounding them. They hacked a pathbetween them and jumped down from thecrenellations of the fort, after killing four of fivepersons. The soldiers who were posted outsidethe fort ran up to them and attacked them; theother [Makassars], who had remained on boardthe galley, threw themselves on the soldierswhich Mr de Forbin had posted on all sides.

They killed twenty of them, put the rest to flight,notwithstanding their number and the exampleand the exhortations of Mr de Forbin, who foughton this occasion with great courage andpresence of mind. They killed women andchildren, and all those they met in their path,and then withdrew into the forest. Mr de Forbinfollowed them there, and after hunting for themsome days, finally found them and eliminatedthem.

“However, there were still insurgents in theMakassar camp [in Ayutthaya], their prince heldfirm, and it was to be feared that they wouldcause some havoc. Mr Constance, accompaniedby Mr de La Marre [sic], a French engineer,had them invested by Siamese soldiers; theEnglishman Mr Coche [Coates] threw grenadesinto their camp, but they outran him, and killedhim. Mr Constance fired on them, but a Siamesemandarin failed to bring up his troops to theposition he had been ordered to seize, and theMakassars, after killing this mandarin and sevenof his slaves, fled into their camp through thispoorly defended position, and crossing an armof the river, they moved into another camp [that]of the Malays. Mr Constance, with someEnglishmen and Frenchmen in the service of theKing of Siam, disembarked from his barge.At that moment, the captain of the Frenchgodown [Véret] who hearing the noise of themangonels and muskets had gone on board hisboat with several Frenchmen, both from thegodown and from the Saint-Louis,55 came up towhere Mr Constance was; seeing him on landthey all immediately went to join him. Theywere on the point of being surrounded by somethirty Makassars who came up in front of them,with many others on either side. Seeing that theMakassars were surrounding them on all sides,they tried to withdraw to their barge. TwoFrenchmen wanted to hold fast, after killingseveral Makassars, but were themselves killedwith several blows from the krisses and lances.Two other Frenchmen, wishing to return to theirbarge, were drowned; two Englishmen alsodied then. The captain of the French godownhesitated and a Makassar was preparing

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preparing a terrible blow from a lance, whenMr de Beaumont, captain of the Saint-Louis,killed this Makassar with a shot from hismusket and quickly held out an oar for thecaptain, thus twice saving his life. NumerousSiamese soldiers were brought up to thisposition where the Makassars were enclosed.They retreated into a nearby temple; they wereforced from this place, and finally they wereexterminated.

“Indeed, I do not know any people in theworld as bold as these Makassars. When theyhave taken opium and they are amok56 which isthe term they use to say they must act likemadmen, there are no perils they will not face;the number of their adversaries does not frightenthem in the least, any more than the deathof their companions. Though wounded andblood-stained, they fight to their last breath; theyare nimble and can jump on a man from a greatdistance. They die happy provided they havekilled. Their visual appearance is frightful.Sometimes after having been struck by a mortalblow, they rise up again and use the remainingthread of their life to kill their enemy. They fightwith their krisses which they vow never toseparate from, and with lances and spears whichthey manipulate with considerable address andstrength. They also have small needles whichthey blow from blowpipes; their tips arecovered with a poison which knows virtually noremedy. Seen among them were childrenfighting with a furor which belied their age; thehorrible cries were heard of the women whowere burnt alive in their houses; one was seenfollowing a Makassar in his flight, and he turnedround and delivered a blow from his kris whichkilled her. Several charms were mentionedwhich they use to make themselves invulnerableand to deflect the effects of firearms, but theywere to no avail on this occasion.”

Discussion

One can divide the episodes of the revolt intonine phases, and compare above all the recordof La Mare (LM) with that of Samuel White

(SW), the French Missionaries (ME), and addthe accounts of François Martin (FM), Claudede Forbin (CF), and Francis Davenport (FD).

A. Origins of the Makassars in AyutthayaLM: A son of the King of Makassar escaped

the Dutch and sought permission with hisfollowers to settle in Ayutthaya; this was granted.

SW and ME: No mention of the origins ofthe Makassars in Ayutthaya.

FM: The Makassar prince was the risk oflosing his life after the revolutions in the Celebes.

CF: A prince of Makassar with about 300followers, fleeing Dutch oppression, tookrefuge in Siam.

B. The hatching of the Makassar plotLM: The Makassar prince “five years ago”

(in 1682?) devised a plot to kill the King of Siamand place the king’s younger brother on thethrone, who would in turn abdicate and bereplaced by a Makassar or a Champa prince. TheMalay and Makassar camps were told to be alert.The plot was to be carried out on 15 August(Gregorian).

SW and ME: The Makassars conspired toseize the palace and kill the king.

FM: The Makassars conspired to kill the kingand replace him with one of his brothers or aprince of their nation.

CF: The Makassar prince conspired with theprinces of Cambodia, Malaya, and Champa tokill Narai and share power.

C. Phaulkon alerted to the plot and coun-termeasures taken

LM: A brother of two conspiring Champrinces, working in the Lopburi palace, tookunopened a suspiciously-delivered letter toPhaulkon giving details of the plot. Phaulkoninformed Narai who took precautionary measures.3,000 palace guards were assembled in Ayutthaya.Forbin was sent to Bangkok. 5,000 palace guardswere put on alert in Lopburi. A Muslim cleric,seeing all lost, decides to reveal the plot.

SW: “the faintheartedness of some few of theConspirators [gave] vent to the Plot” some six

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hours before it was to be carried out. Narai sentPhaulkon to the palace in Ayutthaya.

ME: The governor of Ayutthaya is alerted tothe plot by a mandarin who was part of it, andtakes countrermeasures.

D. The Malays back out of the plotLM: 300 Malays did not agree to the plot

before it was revealed, but were assembled bythe Makassars. They fled, and the Makassarswithdrew into their camp. The Malays soughtthe king’s pardon and obtained it. The Makassarsrefused to seek it.

SW: Some 200 Malays, after the discoveryof the plot, surrendered, some were put to death.

ME: No mention of the Malays.

E. Attempts to bring the Makassars toreason

LM: The Makassar prince was summoned byNarai to account for himself. He refused to go,pleading illness at one point. Ok-phra Chulawas used as an intermediary.

SW: Narai offered pardon if the Makassarslaid down their arms. The Makassars refused topart with their arms and the prince withdrew intohis camp.

ME: Phaulkon parleys with the Makassarchief who refuses to hand himself over. Finallyhe agreed to have his hands tied and a rope placedaround his neck (this seems highly unlikely,from what one knows of the Makassars), andappeared before Phaulkon untied. He was takento Lopburi where he disclosed details of the plot.

F. The Makassar galley stopped at BangkokLM: The Makassar galley arrived from

Ayutthaya at Bangkok on 27 August (Gregorian)and was on the point of leaving when theconspiracy broke; the captain was involved in itand decided to leave before the attack on theMakassar camp. The details then follow CF.Beauregard was incapacitated. In the end allthe Makassars were killed.

SW: Some 50 Makassars pretended to beignorant of the plot and left in their vessel forBangkok, where they were detained by Forbin;

this was before the attack on the Makassar campin Ayutthaya. In Bangkok, they refused todisarm and a bloodbath followed. Captain Hues(Hughes?) killed, one Minchin narrowlyescaped. Three days later 40 Malay vessels werefound sailing off the Bar of Siam.

FM: The galley left Ayutthaya after theattack on the Makassar camp, but otherwiseagrees with Forbin in his summary account; allthe Makassars being eventually killed. There isno mention of Siamese losses, which Forbingives as considerable.

CF: As one would expect, Forbin gives veryfull details of the whole affair at Bangkok,including Beauregard’s brush with death. 366,mostly Siamese, died for 17 Makassars on thefirst day alone.

ME: At the same time as the Makassar chiefin Ayutthaya was parleying, another Makassarcaptain, not wishing to cede, offered to leavethe kingdom. Phaulkon gave orders for the chainat Bangkok to be placed across the river andhis boat stopped. The rest follows the otheraccounts.

G. The attack on the Makassar camp (Julian14 Sep, Gregorian 24 Sep)

LM: 5,400 men assembled for the attack on24 September (Gregorian). Captain Udall,newly arrived on the Herbert, was co-opted.Ok-luang Mahamontri with 1,500 men sent toattack in first wave. Ok-phra Chula with 1,000men to cut off any Makassar retreat. Sixty bargesand 22 galleys were assembled, with 1,000 menfacing the Makassar camp. The signal forattack given at 4.30 am; in the dark in theconfusion Ok-luang Mahamontri killed. At5.30 am Mr Coates, captain of a vessel of theKing of Siam attacked from the river; Coateswas hit on the head and died. The Makassarsthen abandoned their camp. The French factorVéret brought some 20 Frenchmen to joinbattle. Phaulkon was preparing to fight but theMakassars turning about-face forced a with-drawal. Six Europeans killed in all (Udall,Coates, de Rouen, the clerk Milon, and a Frenchtrumpeter and a farrier; Alvey of the Herbert

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is not mentioned). Ok-phra Jumbarat wasdispatched with 400 men, Phaulkon attackedwith 2,200 more. Houses in the camp wereset on fire. Fifty-five Makassars were takenprisoner, the rest killed; 42 bodies were found.Only 17 Siamese were lost in all; 10 in theattack, the rest from poised blowpipes soonafterwards. The attack ended at 4 pm.

SW: 100 Makassars with their princedefended their camp. Phaulkon and 60 Europe-ans blocked the river and surrounded the campwith about 200 galleys and barges. This tookplace on Tuesday 14 September (Julian). Alveyof the Herbert killed. Coates retreated from thecamp and died from the weight of his armourand arms. Udall advanced too soon and waskilled. Phaulkon had followed the impatientUdall, was forced to retreat, and hang on to theside of his boat, four Frenchmen were killed,including de Rouen. At 10 am more Siamesetroops arrived, and the total was then 7-8,000.About 3 pm the fight ended, and no quarter wasgiven.

FD: 60 Englishmen, 7,000 “Siamers”, and“some French” took part in the attack; fourFrench died (including de Rouen) as well asUdall and Coates. Phaulkon only saved afterthe first failed attack by a “strong black Kaffir”.Alvey is not mentioned by name but oneunnamed “gentleman that came out of England”with Udall also died.

FM: 200 Makassars were ready for theattack, Phaulkon was obliged to withdraw atfirst; four Frenchmen were killed. Phaulkonreturned to the attack and succeeded.

EU: Mentions “Alvie” of the Herbert killed(more precisely, he was “Creasd”, i.e. krissed).

CF: Forbin says the attack in Ayutthaya tookplace after the capture of the Makassar galley,and was in two stages. The first took place twomonths before the second, when Phaulkonassembled more than 20,000 men under thecommand of 40 Europeans, French, English,and Dutch; 17 Europeans and more than 1,000Siamese were killed, and Phaulkon himselfnearly died, saved by a slave. After furtherparleys came the second attack two months later,

when bamboos studded with nails were hidden inthe water to obstruct the passage of the Makassars,who “were shot dead standing.” All died.

ME: This account largely follows the othertexts. Beaumont is named as the captain of theSaint-Louis and saving Véret. This version endslike Tachard with a comment on the nature,appearance, and weapons of the Makassars.

H. The death of the Makassar prince, son(s)taken in custody

LM: The prince was wounded but tried to killPhaulkon. A Frenchman standing close by shothim dead. One of the prince’s sons aged about12 was shown his father’s body. Phaulkonordered “a Christian from Constantinople” tolook after him. Afterwards he was taken toFrance with one of his brothers.

SW: The prince was killed by a captain inPhaulkon’s lifeguard. The prince’s son, a boyof about 12 years, fell to Phaulkon’s feet andwas taken to Narai unbound. No other son ismentioned.

FM: The prince was killed, two of his sonswere taken prisoner, the elder of whom, 14 yearsold, only gave himself up on seeing his father’scorpse. No details of Makassars or Siamese deadare given. Phaulkon ordered Martin to send theprince’s sons to France on the Coche.

CF: Only the prince’s two sons were savedin Ayutthaya; they were taken to Lopburi andafterwards sent to France with Father Tachard.

ME: No mention of the fate of the Makassarchiefs.

I. Punishments administered to survivinginsurrectionaries.

LM: (in fact Fontaney at this juncture) FourMakassar soldiers were tortured, and eatenalive by tigers. The punishments of others arenot detailed.

SW: The day after the attack “what Men andWomen remained (for many of the latter wereburnt in their Houses with their Children) weretaken prisoner by the Siammers.”

ME: No mention of punishments; all theMakassars were “exterminated”.

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One should note in passing that Phaulkonshowed singular courage on this occasion; hehad many faults, and many critics, but could notbe accused of pusillanimity in this affair. Indeed,King Narai was right to reproach him for beingover-bold and exposing himself to danger.

The different accounts are inevitably contra-dictory in details, but it does appear, Forbinnotwithstanding (and he was not witness toevents in Ayutthaya), that losses on the Siameseside in Ayutthaya, not Bangkok, were surpris-ingly light, and that only 7 Europeans support-ing the Siamese died (3 English, 4 French).The chief subject of dispute is the nature of theattack on the Makassar camp in two parts.It seems highly unlikely to have been as long astwo months apart, as Forbin would have it; thatwould have given the Makassars too much timeto prepare their defence.57 The attack seemsmuch more likely to have taken place on oneday, as La Mare has it, and in two phases: thefirst 4.30 am to 10 am, then some time after 10am to 3-4 pm. La Mare has a three month periodof expecting untoward events. The date givenfor the carrying out of the plot by La Mare is 15August. This is not improbable if the assaulton the Makassar quarter took place on 24September.

Conclusion

From the accounts cited, it can be seen thatnot only is La Mare’s account longer, as recorded(and perhaps touched up) by Tachard, it is alsofar more detailed. It may, on that account, bemore accurate. It gives some names of severalSiamese officials taking part in events. TheMissionary account proves that La Mare wasin Ayutthaya at the time of the revolt, andapparently played a valorous part in the event.White seems to have been present in Ayutthaya,though sick, to give an account of himself toPhaulkon (Hutchinson 1940: 140-2), who wasless than pleased with his activities in the Bayof Bengal, though the shahbandar should havebeen at post in Mergui.

Logic requires that the attack on the Makassarcamp in Ayutthaya (containing some 200-300persons) took place on one day, as La Mare hasit, and from the accounts we have apparently intwo phases, the first being somewhat uncoordi-nated, and the second better prepared anddisciplined. There was clearly an intervalbetween the discovery of the Makassar plotand the attack on the Makassar camp; sinceattempts were made to bring the Makassarprince to fealty, the interval could have been aslong as five to six weeks, but two months seems,even by Siamese standards, excessively long.

Alain Forest (1998, I 372) was to write:Although Phaulkon appears as the victorover the [Makassar] “conspiracy”,although one could reassure oneself byattributing its strength to the exceptionalcourage of a fanatical race drugged byopium, although order was subsequentlyre-established in the kingdom, the sudden-ness and violence of the event gave rise toanxiety as foreshadowing what could oneday occur on a much larger scale. Amongthe missionaries, for example, in particu-lar in the bishop [Laneau], the Makassarrevolt gave rise to dark forebodings: it wasthe first indication of a period of “crisis”.

Bèze (1968: 52,58) who arrived in Siamin September 1687, simply sees the “uprisingof the Makassars” as part of Phetracha’sstrategy of turning the king against his twohalf-brothers. Le Blanc (1692, I 29-30), whoarrived at the same time as de Bèze, onlymentions the Makassars in passing: “HisMajesty took advantage of the occasion [ofthrowing to the tigers a Malay who late January1688 declared to the king that the French andPhaulkon were plotting against him] to burn alivethose who remained of the Makassars from thelast conspiracy; the execution took place in Siam[Ayutthaya] in the very camp of the Malays toinspire terror in those who might have similarintentions.” He also mentions that both Narai’sbrothers were implicated in the “unfortunate plotof the Makassars” (1692, I 19-20).

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The revolt was certainly more important thanthe two Jesuits appear to maintain: it was theonly uprising recorded in Ayutthaya during KingNarai’s reign, and a more unfortunate outcomewas only averted more by good luck than judge-ment. Phaulkon fought bravely, and nearly losthis life; the losses among the Siamese and theforeigners who fought with him in Ayutthayawere surprisingly light, especially when oneconsiders the slaughter that took place instopping the Makassar galley in Bangkok. TheRoyal Chronicles alas pass over the revolt insilence. La Mare’s detailed account is there-fore all the more valuable.

References

Anderson, John. English Intercourse with Siamin the Seventeenth Century, London, KeganPaul, 1890.

Collis, Maurice. Siamese White, London, Faberand Faber, 1936.

Deslandes-Boureau, André-François. Histoirede M. Constance, Premier Ministre du Roide Siam, Amsterdam, Duchesne, 1756.

Forbin, Claude de. The Siamese Memoirs ofCount Claude de Forbin 1685-1688, intro-duced and edited by Michael Smithies,Chiangmai, Silkworm Books, 1996.

Forest, Alain. Les missionnnaires français auTonkin et au Siam, XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles,Livre I: Histoires de Siam, Paris, L’Harmat-tan, 1998.

Gervaise, Nicholas. The Natural and PoliticalHistory of the Kingdom of Siam, translatedand edited by John Villiers, Bangkok, WhiteLotus, 1989.

Hamilton, Alexander. A Scottish Sea Captain inSoutheast Asia 1689-1723, edited by MichaelSmithies, Chiangmai, Silkworm Books,1997.

Hutchinson, E.W. Adventurers in Siam in theSeventeenth Century, London, Royal AsiaticSociety, 1940.

Hutchinson, E.W. 1688 Revolution in Siam: TheMemoir of Father de Bèze, S.J., Hong Kong,Hong Kong University Press, 1968.

Launay, Adrien, Histoire de la Mission de Siam1662-1811. Documents, vol. I. Paris, Téqui,1920.

Le Blanc, Marcel. Histoire de la Révolution duRoiaume de Siam arrivée en l’année 1688,Lyon, H. Molin, 1692, 2 vols.

Martin, François. Mémoires, 3 vols, Paris,Société de l’Histoire des Colonies Françaises,1932-34.

Ricklefs, M.C. A History of Modern Indonesia,London, Macmillan, 1981.

Smithies, Michael. A Resounding Failure:Martin and the French in Siam 1672-1693,Chiangmai, Silkworm Books, 1998.

Tachard, Guy. Second Voyage du Père Tachardet des Jésuites envoyez par le Roy auRoyaume de Siam, contenant diversesremarques d’Histoire, de Physique, deGéographie, et d’Astronomie, Paris, D.Horthemels, 1689.

Appendix

A letter from Mr Samuel White to his Brotherin London Dated in Siam, Sept. 20. 1686,Giving a full Account of the Late Rebellionmade by the People of Macasser, Inhabitingin that Country, which ended with the Deathof all the Rebells, who were totally Destroy’dby the Kings Forces, Assisted by some Euro-peans, of several Nations, amongst whomCapt. Henry Udall, and some others of ourCountrymen most unhappily lost their Lives.

[photocopy]15,487 words (including notes)

Note

1 See Forbin, ed. Smithies, 1996, 97-119.2 Hitherto untranslated, and not to our

knowledge reproduced since 1689.3 Narai, reigned 1656-1688.4 The VOC, the Dutch United East India

Company.5 Phaulkon, “Mr Constance” to the French,

a Greek adventurer who rose to high officetowards the end of King Narai’s reign. He wasnot chief minister, and held no official position,

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but, without the title, occupied the functions ofphra khlang, minister of foreign affairs and trade.

6 La Mare (sometimes Lamarre) had gone toSiam with the Chaumont-Choisy embassy in1685. Like Forbin, he was asked to stay on byKing Narai, and given charge of drawing upplans for the defences of various towns in thecountry. Though not a trained engineer, he wasa gifted amateur, and seems to have done hiswork competently.

7 It seems highly unlikely that Tachard couldhave acquired this information in Batavia; hemust have obtained it in Siam from La Mareafter his arrival in September 1687.

8 Speelman, seeking to gain control of thespice trade, attacked Makassar in 1666, and itsking, Hassanudin, after four months of fighting,was forced to submit in 1667 under the Treatyof Bongaya (Bongias). The forts were dis-mantled, the Dutch were granted a monopoly oftrade, all Europeans except the Dutch wereexpelled, and the king had to pay a hugeindemnity.

9 Ayutthaya had a number of foreignquarters, known as camps, notably the Portu-guese, Malay, and Cochin-Chinese.

10 The Chao Phya River.11 Unidentified.12 In fact a half-brother, Chao Fa Noi. The

story which follows has to be treated withcaution. Bèze (Hutchinson, 1968: 53) says ofChao Fa Apithot, the elder, not the youngerhalf-brother: “for one reason or another he wasaccused of treasonable intelligence with theMalays against the King’s Person and thereafterkept in strict confinement within the Palace.”No date is given for this.

13 The once-important kingdom of Champawas in terminal decline, squeezed out ofexistence by the advancing Vietnamese; manyChams had abandoned Hinduism and adoptedIslam out of desperation.

14 The page is actually marked “111” in thefirst edition to appear of Tachard’s SecondVoyage...

15 Lopburi, where King Narai resided inpreference to Ayutthaya.

16 “Seigneur Constance”, as Tachard was toinsist during the La Loubère-Céberet missionthat Phaulkon should be styled.

17 Spelt “Fourbin” by Tachard. Forbin, likeLa Mare, had been retained in Siam on thedeparture of the 1685 embassy, and madegovernor of Bangkok and its fort.

18 It would seem possible that all this mightbe ordered by Phaulkon, but the text is clear thatit was the king who so ordered.

19 Two Chams and one Makassar.20 Gregorian calendar, followed at this

juncture by France, Italy, Spain, Portugal,Prussia, the Catholic German states, Switzerland,Holland, Flanders, Poland and Hungary, and in1686 ten days in advance of the Julian calendar,still followed by the Protestant German andNetherland states (until 1700) as well as by GreatBritain and its colonies (until 1753, by when theJulian calendar was eleven days in arrears).

21 Moca, Moca in Tachard.22 A small opening in a parapet of a fortified

building.23 Hues (Hughes?) according to Samuel

White’s letter of 20 September 1688 to hisbrother George.

24 Forbin himself gives a similar account ofthe attacks of the Makassars in Bangkok in hismemoirs; see The Siamese Memoirs of CountClaude de Forbin 1685-1688, ed. Smithies,1996, .97-119. Forbin gives no dates for hisencounter with the Makassars, which is notsurprising, since his memoirs were firstpublished only in 1729, forty-three years afterthe events he describes at this juncture.

25 A Buddhist wat.26 Nine being a magic number throughout the

Indies.27 Priests of the Missions Etrangères, the

French Foreign Missions, in Ayutthaya.28 This section on the deathbed conversions

of four Makassars may be in part an intrusion ofTachard, one of the sections he indicated beforebeginning his quotation from La Mare where“some details” had been added. But Forbinwrites of two deathbed conversions in Bangkok,and one refusal to apostatize, having a Maskassar

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say “If I am to die, what matters it whetherI stay with God or the devil?” Perhaps Forbin,published in 1729 (1996: 115) is quoting fromTachard’s published text of 1689.

29 The Chevalier de Chaumont on his missionto Siam in 1685.

30 This puff for Phaulkon is almost certainlyan addition of Tachard, wishing to place “theminister” in the most favourable light for hisreaders.

31 Samuel White’s letter to his brotherrelating the whole affair is dated 20 September1686; it would appear that the difference betweenthe Julian (followed by England) and Gregorian(followed by France) calendars (England beingten days behind France) accounts in part for thediscrepancy. White gives 14 September for thefinal attack, which is indeed ten days earlier thanthat giver by La Mare/Tachard.

32 Spelt Yjoudal by Tachard; White givesUdall.

33 About 2 km.34 This would seem to be La Mare speaking.35 Probably the Cachon, previously men-

tioned.36 So spelt by White. Tachard has Cotse.37 The implication is that the Makassars were

giving no quarter, not even to their own kin.38 Captain Henry Udall arrived with the

Herbert at the mouth of the Chao Phya on 23August 1686 bearing a letter from James II toPhaulkon thanking him for presents sent to theEnglish court in 1684.

39 Forbin has a great deal to say about the Sieurde Rouen (spelt Roüan by Tachard), in hisMémoires. Phaulkon had put him in prison fornot selling him a cargo of sandalwood he had atthe price Phaulkon offered him; Véret, theFrench factor, had complained to the king;Phaulkon sought the aid of Forbin, who informedthe king that as Rouen was a Protestant, he wasno longer a Frenchman. Finally Rouen wasreleased and the matter patched up; sufficientlyfor Rouen to die in support of Phaulkon and KingNarai.

40 One is constantly surprised at the cosmo-politan nature of the court of King Narai.

41 They were put on a French East IndiesCompany vessel, the Coche, shortly after, andtravelled to Pondichéry, thence to France. Véretwarned the directors of the company that theyshould not allowed to approach His Majesty forfear of their killing him. They were, though,baptised at Versailles on 3 February 1688 andwere taken into the navy. The elder committedsuicide by stabbing himself. The younger wassaid to have “the colour, looks, and manners ofan uncouth black. Never had the Jesuits madesuch a poor purchase than in bringing to Francethese two Makassar princes. They were a shameto humanity.” A-F. Delandes-Boureau, Histoirede M. Constance...(1756: 29-30)

42 Iron-tipped spears of hardwood.43 One suspects this is an insertion from

Tachard. Most of the French military had a pooropinion of Siamese ability in the battlefield (con-firmed by the action of Ok-luang Mahamontriat the beginning of this affair), but Tachard waslater, in 1687, to agree with Phaulkon to havingmixed Siamese and French troops in theBangkok fort, to the fury of the French envoys-extraordinary La Loubère and Céberet.

44 La Mare’s account apparently ends here.45 Fr de Fontaney was the leader of the six

Jesuits (including Tachard) who had set off forChina via Siam in 1685. He was not able,because of lack of transport and then shipwreck,finally to leave Siam until June 1687, arrivingin Peking in February 1688.

46 Unidentified; he does not figure among theFrench missionaries operating in Siam in theperiod 1680-1689.

47 Fontaney is most likely to have written thisaccount soon after returning from his shipwreckoff Cambodia mid-September 1686 and beforehis departure for China in June 1687. Tacharddid not arrive on his second journey to Siam until26 September 1687, and must have acquiredFontenay’s written account between then and hisfinal departure for China on 3 January 1688.

48 Anderson gives the source as India OfficeRecords O.C. 5574.

49 Joseph Bashpool is named by AlexanderHamilton (1727, 1997 166) as Phaulkon’s

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English secretary.50 Anderson 1890: 289; his source his

Davenport’s Historical Abstract, 14 (IndiaOffice EIC Charters and Pamphlets, MssEur.D.300).

51 François Martin, Mémories, 3 vols, 1932-34, in M. Smithies, A Resounding Failure:Martin and the French in Siam 1672-1693, 1998,42-44, 48.

52 Martin, II, 460.53 Gervaise, ed. Villiers, 1989: 62-3.

54 Archives des Missions Etrangères, vol.879,p.520, cited by Adrien Launay, Histoire de laMission de Siam 1662-1811 (Paris, Tequi, 1920),Documents, vol.1, pp.193-195.

55 Belonging to the French Indies Company.56 Lamoc is the spelling used in the text.57 I have elsewhere (Forbin 1996: 98 n.1)

too literally interpreted Forbin to have the firstattack in Ayutthaya taking place in July. Onexamination of La Mare’s and other texts thisseems unlikely.

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Appendix

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