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268 SIAM.
the Greek soon became the favourite, and, in effect,
the prime minister of the sovereign.
Such was the state of things when, in 1685, a
French embassy, attended by six Jesuits and a body
of French soldiers, arrived at Bankok, the capital, to
convert the king of Siam to the Christian faith, and
lay the foundations of a Gallic-Indian empire. With
the view of carrying into effect his ulterior designs,
Phalcon had opened a trade with France; and under
the pretext of protecting the navigation of the Gulf of
Siam against the Dutch, he procured the introduction
of a French garrison into the strong ports of Bankok
and Mergui. He secured the warm support of the
Jesuits by renouncing the Protestant for the Popish
faith ; and so great was the ascendency he had ob-
tained over the mind of Chaw Naraya, that, at his in-
stigation, more than three hundred nobles were put to
death, to clear the way for his ambitious plans. By
these atrocious measures, Phalcon could not fail to
render himself the object of universal hatred to the
Siamese, who saw with indignation their seminaries
filled with foreign teachers, and their cities with European
troops. A dangerousnllness which attacked the
king at Lou-oo, his favourite hunting-seat, to the
north of Yuthia, enabled them to mature their plans
for ridding themselves of the foreigners. At the head
of the conspiracy was a foster brother of Chaw Naraya's,
named Oc-pra Pecherachas, or Pitrachas; an indivi-
dual whose professed zeal for the national faith se-
cured the attachment of all the talapoins or priests,
and he is said to have been at the same time highly
popular. Phalcon, having received intelligence of his
designs, immediately sent orders to the French commander
at Bankok to advance with a strong detachment
to Lou-oo ; but, on reaching Yuthia, through