After This Victory The King Of Siam Marched Against The Queen Of
_Guibem_, Who Had Allowed The Enemy To Pass Through Her Country; And
Entering The City Of _Fumbacar_ Spared Neither Age Nor Sex.
Being
besieged in her capital of _Guirar_, the queen agreed to pay an yearly
tribute of 60,000 ducats, and gave her son as an hostage.
After this the
king of Siam advanced to the city of _Taysiram_, to which place he
thought the king of Chiammay had fled, destroying every thing in his
course with fire and sword, only sparing the women; but winter coming on
he returned to Siam.
On his return to his court of _Odiaa_ or _Odiaz_, he was poisoned by his
queen, then big with child by one of her servants; but before he died he
caused his eldest son, then young, to be declared king. He left 30,000
ducats to the Portuguese then in his service, and gave orders that they
should pay no duties in any of his ports for three years. The adulterous
queen, being near the time of her delivery, poisoned her lawful son,
married her servant, and caused him to be proclaimed king. But in a
short time they were both slain at a feast by the King of _Cambodia_ and
_Oya Pansilaco_.
There being no lawful heir to the kingdom of Siam, _Pretiel_ a religious
_Talagrepo_, bastard brother to him who was poisoned, was raised to the
throne by common consent in the beginning of the year 1549. Seeing the
affairs of Siam in confusion, the king of the Birmans, who was likewise
king of Pegu, resolved to conquer that kingdom. For this purpose he
raised an army of 800,000 men, of which 40,000 were horse, and 60,000
armed with muskets, 1000 being Portuguese. He had 20,000 elephants, 1000
cannon drawn by oxen and _abadias_[26], and 1000 ammunition waggons
drawn by buffaloes. The Portuguese troops in his service, were commanded
by Diego Suarez de Mello, commonly called the Gallego, who went out to
India in 1538. In 1542 this man became a pirate in the neighbourhood of
Mozambique. In 1547 he was at the relief of Malacca: And now in 1549,
being in the service of the king of the Birmans, was worth four millions
in jewels and other valuables, had a pension of 200,000 ducats yearly,
was stiled the king's brother, and was supreme governor of the kingdom
and general in chief of the army. With this prodigious army the king of
the Birmans, after one repulse, took the fort of _Tapuram_ by assault,
which was defended by 2000 Siamese, all of whom he put to the sword in
revenge for the loss of 3000 of his own men in the two assaults. In the
prosecution of his march, the city of Juvopisam surrendered, after which
he set down before the city of Odiaa the capital of Siam. Diego Suarez
the commander in chief gave a general assault on the city, in which he
was repulsed with the loss of 10,000 men:
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 29 of 441
Words from 14627 to 15142
of 230997
