the Comete had broken through the line of Siamese defences at a cost of fifteen Siamese and two French lives. A short time later the ships passed the Phi Seua fortress at Paknam. By this time night had fallen and after "five minutes' desultory firing of the wildest kind" the gunboats passed unhindered. Warington-Smyth reports that a civilian woman in Paknam was struck and killed by a stray bullet from this skirmish. Aftermath The following morning, Jean Baptiste Says crew was still aboard their grounded vessel so the Siamese sent a boat and captured the steamer. They then attempted to sink her, but failed. The prisoners were treated badly according to French reports but again this is refuted by Warington Smyth. A day later, the French gunboat Forfait arrived at Paknam and sent a boatload of sailors to recapture the mail steamer, but when they boarded the Siamese defenders repelled their attack. Captain Borey had anchored off the French Embassy in Bangkok around 22:00 on July 13. His ships' guns were targeted on the royal palace to put pressure on the Siamese to resolve multiple territorial disputes that had arisen with France. By attempting to prevent the French from entering the Chao Phraya River, the Siamese had inadvertently contravened the 1856 Franco-Siamese Treaty, but the French already blasted through any pretext for rational discussion at high propulsion. The French gunboats, together with Pavie, departed Bangkok on July 24 prior to the French imposing a blockade of the river from July 29 until August 3. In France, many were calling for a protectorate to be imposed upon Siam. But the events of July 13, followed by the blockade, which harmed British interests far more than French (British trade accounted for 93% of Siam exports), alarmed the British, who put pressure on both the Siamese and French governments to reach a negotiated settlement. The final agreement gave the French control of substantial territories east of the Mekong river, territory that today forms most of Laos. Furthermore, a 25 km-wide military-exclusion zone was established on the right bank of the Mekong and around Battambang and Siem Reap, weakening Siamese control of these territories, and the French were given temporary control of the port of Chanthaburi). Finally, the Siamese were forced to pay three million French francs indemnity to the French. The final agreement was signed on October 3, 1893. Gallery See also Cochinchina