In This Country, When A Javan Of Any Note Is To Be Put To
Death, Although There Is A Public Executioner, Yet The Nearest Of Kin
To The Criminal Is Generally Allowed To Execute The Office, Which Is
Considered As A Great Favour.
The 14th March, Thomas Tudd, who had been
left here as chief factor for Banda, departed this life, having
Been
long sick; so that of seven factors left here for Bantam and Banda, two
only were in life, besides several others of our men having died; we
being now only ten men living and one boy.
A great junk from China came in on the 22d of April, which was thought
to have been cast away, being so late, as they usually come in during
February and March. In consequence of her very late coming, cashes
kept all this year at a very cheap rate, which was a great hindrance to
our trade, as when cashes are cheap, and pieces of eight consequently
dear, we could not sell any of our prize goods at half the value we did
at our first arrival. Besides this, the Chinese sent all the ryals they
could get this year to China; for which reason we were obliged to give
them credit, or must have lost the principal time of the year for making
sales. The Hollanders had purchased all the pepper, except what was in
our hands, and what belonged to the sabander, who would not sell at any
reasonable price. Our goods now began to be old, and many of their
colours to fade; for the warehouses are so hot and moist, that they will
spoil any kind of cloth that is long in them, though we take never so
much pains in airing and turning them.
Sec. 4. Treacherous Underminings, and other Occurrences.
A Chinaman turned Javan was our next neighbour, who kept a
victualling-house or tavern, and brewed arack, a hot drink used in these
parts instead of wine. He had two outhouses, in one of which his guests
were in use to sit, and the other was his brewhouse, which joined the
pales on the south side of our house. He now commenced a new trade, and
became an engineer, having leagued with eight other villains to set our
house on fire and plunder our goods. These nine ruffians dug a well in
the brewhouse, from the bottom of which they wrought a mine quite under
the foundation of our house, and then upwards to our warehouse; but on
coming to the planked floor of the warehouse, they were at a stand how
to get through, being afraid to cut them, as they always heard some of
us walking over them night and day. They had gone wrong to work; for if
they had continued their mine only to our next adjoining wareroom, they
would have found 30,000 pieces of eight buried in jars for fear of fire;
beside that room was not boarded.
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