Travels in India (Tavernier) 151.2.1

151.2.1

As for the trade which these commanders do on their own account, there is no one who knows better about it than the poor sailors, who being sometimes very badly treated by the commanders themselves, or the officers of the vessels, when they go on shore report to the chief of the factory that such an one has so many bales of goods on his private account. Most frequently the chief of the factory, who knows his part, sends to advise the person to whom the goods belong to have them removed, and to arrange to have them carried on shore by night. In order to give him time to discharge all, the informer is so well supplied with drink that he is drunk for one or two days, and when all has been removed the commander goes to the vessel to make an examination, well assured that he will find nothing. Then the poor sailor or soldier, for the falsehood which they force him to believe he has told, is severely punished, his wages are confiscated, and in most cases he is sent for three or four years to work on the galley which goes to load up with stones. There are, then, some of these commanders who have defrauded the Company, and have returned to Holland with great booty, having 400,000 or 500,000 livres' worth of diamonds, pearls, ambergris, and other goods which occupy but small space. For if all is not well concealed, and if the Company is able to discover it, it is lost for them, and their wages are confiscated.