and intendant of the custom-house sent for me, and demanded to know why I did not land my goods, and pay the duties like the rest; on which I said that I was a stranger, only new to the country, and observing so much disorder among the Portuguese, I was afraid to lose my goods, which I was determined not to bring on shore, unless the governor would promise me in the king’s name that no harm should come to me or my goods, whatever might happen to the Portuguese, with whom I had taken no part in the late tumult.  As what I said seemed reasonable, the governor sent for the Bargits, who are the councillors of the city, who engaged, in the name of the king, that neither I nor my goods should meet with any injury, and of which they made a notarial entry or memorandum.  I then sent for my goods, and paid the customs, which is ten per centum of the value at that port; and for my greater security I hired a house for myself and my goods, directly facing the house of the governor.

In the sequel, the captain of the Portuguese and all the merchants of that nation, were driven out of the city, in which I remained, along with twenty-one poor men, who were officers in the ship I came in from Malacca.  The Gentiles had determined on being revenged of the Portuguese for their insolence, but had delayed till all the goods were landed from our ship; and the very next night there arrived four thousand soldiers from Pegu, with some war elephants.  Before these made any stir in the city, the governor issued orders to all the Portuguese, in case of hearing any noise or clamour in the city, not to stir from their houses on pain of death.  About four hours after sunset, I heard a prodigious noise and tumult of men and elephants, who were bursting open the doors of the Portuguese warehouses, and overturning their houses of wood and straw, in which tumult some of the Portuguese were wounded, and one of them slain.  Many of those who had before boasted of their courage, now fled on board some small vessels in the harbour, some of them fleeing naked from their beds.  That night the Peguers carried all the goods belonging to the Portuguese from the suburbs into the city, and many of the Portuguese were likewise arrested.  After this, the Portuguese who had fled to the ships resumed courage, and, landing in a body, set fire to the houses in the suburbs, and as these were entirely composed of boards covered with straw, and the wind blew fresh at the time, the entire suburbs were speedily consumed, and half of the city had like to have been destroyed.  After this exploit, the Portuguese had no hopes of recovering any part of their goods, which might amount to the value of 16,000 ducats, all of which they might assuredly have got back if they had not set the town on fire.