He Was Well Skilled In The
Malay Language, In Which He Explained To Me What Was Said By The King,
In Japanese.
The women were at first somewhat bashful, but the king
desired them to be frolicsome.
They sung several songs, and played on
certain instruments, one of which resembled our lute, being bellied like
it, but longer in the neck, and fretted like ours, but had only four gut
strings. They fingered with their left hands, as is done with us, and
very nimbly; but they struck the strings with a piece of ivory held in
the right hand, as we are in use to play with a quill on the citern.
They seemed to delight much in their music, beating time with their
hands, and both playing and singing by book, prickt on lines and spaces
much like our own. I feasted them, and gave them several English
commodities, and after two hours stay, they returned on shore. At this
interview I requested the king to let us have a house in the town, which
he readily granted, taking two of my merchants ashore with him, to whom
he pointed out three or four houses, desiring them to make their choice,
paying the owners as we could agree.
On the 13th I went ashore, attended by the merchants and principal
officers, and delivered our presents to the king, to the value of about
L140, which he received with great satisfaction, feasting me and my
whole company with several kinds of powdered wild-fowl and fruits.
He called for a standing cup, which was one of the presents, and ordering
it to be filled with their country wine, which is distilled from rice,
and as strong as brandy, he told me he would drink it all off to the
health of the king of England, which he did, though it held about a pint
and a half, in which he was followed by myself and all his nobles. As
only myself and the Cape merchant sat in the same room with the king,
all the rest of my company being in another room, he commanded his
secretary to go and see that they all pledged the health. The king and
his nobles sat at meat cross-legged, on mats, after the fashion of the
Turks, the mats being richly edged with cloths of gold, velvet, sattin,
or damask. The 14th and 15th were spent in giving presents; and on the
16th I agreed with Audassee, captain of the Chinese quarter, for
his house, paying ninety-five dollars for the monsoon of six months; he to
put it into repair, and to furnish all the rooms conveniently with mats,
according to the fashion of the country, and we to keep it in repair,
with leave to alter as we thought fit.
This day our ship was so pestered with numbers of people coming on
board, that I had to send to the king for a guardian to clear them out,
many things being stolen, though I more suspected my own people than the
natives.
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