Travels in India (Tavernier) 151.3
Travels in India (Ball) 151.3
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- English
151.3.1
baladines present in large numbers at this repast, in order to amuse the company with their dances and their graceful attitudes, for there was money to be earned, as they know that the commanders pay them well, and that it is not with them as with the Khán, who generally considers he has paid liberally when he gives them supper. “On the following day those who were in charge of these baladines (for each troupe had an old woman as guardian and directress, whom the baladines call their mother) came to pay their respects to M. Constant, who showed himself so liberal toward them that there was not one who asked for anything from the guests — this is very contrary to their usual custom. Some of those who had slept there, and had passed all the night in making these women dance, were much surprised, on leaving in the morning, at not being compelled to put their hands in their purses, and took occasion to extol the generosity of the Commander who had so liberally paid for all. Throughout the night the signals which were on the terrace of the lodge were fired, and at each health a dozen were fired to warn the vessels to make a salute.
151.3.2
“Two hours before sunrise the Khán rose from the place where he had seated himself on arrival, which was where they had drunk and eaten, and his officers bore him away, observing that the wine began to heat him. As soon as he had left, a part of the company returned to eat and drink and the others to see the baladines dance, and the debauch lasted till ten o’clock in the morning. Each one, when leaving, remarked to another, ‘It must be admitted that this new Commander is honourable, and does all things with a good grace.’
151.3.3
“When M. Constant,” I continued to these gentlemen of the Council, “arrived at Gombroon, and had to go to the dwelling of the Khán, the finest horses in the Company’s stable were brought to him. That which was for the Commander had rich brocaded trappings, but as the bridle was only of silver he appeared to be surprised at it, and asked why there was not a golden bridle on his horse, considering that he was not inferior to the other commanders who had preceded him at Gombroon. They told him that, by order of the Company, the Commander Vanderlin had sent the two golden bridles which were at Gombroon to Batavia, the gold of one of which weighed 600, and of the other 450 ducats, and that it had been ordered that, for the future, no commander should use one of gold on his horse, but must content himself with one of silver. As I saw that this annoyed M. Constant, I told him privately that it would be easy for him to have a golden bridle on his horse without the Company being able to reproach him. That he had only to send to the Khán the present which he had to make him on behalf of the Company on a little more liberal scale than had the other commanders, his predecessors, and he should see that he would soon have a golden bridle. M. Constant believed me, and made a very handsome present to the Khán.
151.3.4
“These presents consist generally of all kinds of spices, porcelain, Japanese cabinets, Dutch cloths, and other things of that kind. But the best part of the present was a ring of diamonds for which he had paid me 1500 écus and 1000 ducats of gold with which the King caused a golden bridle to be made, which he sent as a present to the Commander; it weighed but 643 ducats of gold, the balance having remained in the Khan's purse. It is the custom in Persia, when a stranger makes a present to a great person, that he gives another in return, but certainly when one makes one to a King he does not ever receive in return nearly the value of that which he has given. The Khán was altogether amazed with so magnificent a present, and although, according to custom, he should have sent his, on the following day, which is usually a valuable horse, and sometimes two, he waited for five or six days, because it required that time to make the bridle. As soon as it was finished the Khán sent two fine horses to the Commander, one with the bridle of gold, and the other with a bridle of silver, the saddles being of the Turkish pattern with brocade of gold and silver. Out of politeness it was necessary that the Commander when mounting his horse had the golden bridle put on, and thus the Company was not able to say anything.”
151.3.5
This was the account which I gave to the Council of Batavia of what I had seen at Gombroon in reference to M. Constant, and it should be remarked, before going further, that all the presents which the kings and great nobles make to the commanders and the other principal officers of the Company ought to be handed over, when they go to Batavia, to the charge of the General of the Council as property belonging to the Company, but they are sometimes allowed to retain them.
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After having spoken in this way to these gentlemen of the Council of Batavia, and having told them ingenuously what M. Constant had done during the first days after his arrival at Gombroon, they wished to know what had happened subsequently, and told me that they had already been sufficiently informed of what I had just told them, but wished that I should let them know what trade M. Constant had done. It was then I began to speak to them in a different way, and told them I was not dependent on them and was not their spy. That if they wished to know so much they should have ascertained it when he was at Batavia, or they might write to him in Holland, and would be able by that means to satisfy themselves. The President, who saw that I mocked them, rose from his place to talk with some of the councillors, and then told me that they would give me four days to reflect on my reply to the Council, both in reference to the trade which I had done with M. Constant, and that which I knew of his having done with other persons. Upon this I retired, without replying, and went to dine with one of the councillors without speaking further of the matter. The four days having expired, I waited for them to send for me, but they delayed eight days longer, after which they sent an officer, who told me that the President would expect me at the Council at 11 o’clock.
151.3.7
Having entered the chamber, the Avocat Fiscal delivered a long discourse, referring to my refusal to reply to the questions which had been given me in writing, and as for himself he required that I should be placed in gesselm, i.e. under arrest, until I had replied. I replied to that “that I was not the least astonished at what he said, and that I believed the gentlemen of the Council would think more than once before they carried it into execution; that if he wished me to reply to what he asked, it was necessary to convey it to me in a language which I understood, and not in Dutch.” He replied to this “that he had often heard me speak Dutch,” to which I responded “that in truth I did know something of the language, but did not know enough to enable me to read and understand chicanery.” As I perceived that he was offended by the use of the word chicanery, I said to him again in a firmer tone than before, “that I was not in receipt of wages from the Company, and that I had not been appointed to observe the conduct and actions of M. Constant.” The Council at length ordered the Fiscal to give me his questions in French; this he did, and fixed the period for replying at eight days. I laughed at all these questions, being well assured that I was able to put an end to the proceedings whenever I pleased. I deferred replying for another eight days beyond the eight which they had given me;
151.3.8
but seeing that the Council began to be annoyed, I thought that it was time to put an end to the affair. As soon as the Fiscal had given me his questions in French, I communicated them to M. Potre, the ablest counsel in Batavia, who told me that, not being employed by the Company, I was not obliged to reply to any of these articles, nevertheless, being desirous of putting an end to the affair, I went to the President’s house shortly after sunrise, and he came to receive me in his sleeping garment, “preferring,” he said, “to come to me in that condition rather than make me wait while he dressed.” The reply which I made to this compliment was “that since he wished me absolutely to tell him all that I knew of M. Constant, I would conceal nothing that had come to my knowledge, even were it to the disadvantage of the General himself and many members of the Council, and of you yourself who urge me to speak,” I added, after he had made his guard withdraw, and he and I remained alone. I told him, then, that “when leaving Surat to go to the diamond mine, M. Constant entrusted me with 44,000 rupees, asking me to expend it on diamonds, and especially on large stones, that my services would be well rewarded, and that as this sum belonged to the General he would be glad to have an opportunity of obliging him. Moreover, that the General himself had purchased from M.
151.3.9
Constant, when he visited Batavia, all the parcels I had sold him while he was the second in authority at the factory of Surat. They were all stones which I had had cut, their value being more than 40,000 écus. As for the pearls which the said M. Constant had bought for the General during the time he was at Hormuz, I did not exactly know the value, but I so far knew that they included two pear-shaped pearls which cost 170 tomans. That I had also received somewhat considerable sums to invest for M. Carles Renal, M. Caim, and some others, and that he himself could not have forgotten that when M. Constant left Batavia to go to be Commander in Persia, he entrusted to him 36,000 rupees, “asking him to give it to some of his friends to invest it in a parcel of diamonds. That the said M. Constant expected to find me at Surat in order to place this sum in my hands, but as I had left for Hormuz some days previously on an English vessel, he thought to find me there, where he would place the sum in my hands, supposing that during the same season I should return to India, and to the diamond mine. And in order to make you see,” I further said to the President, “how M. Constant was devoted to your interest, he purchased with the greater part of your money goods of Sironj and Burhanpur, and as soon as he arrived at Gombroon he was offered 30 per cent profit on them.
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It is true, I added, that to calculate it at the rate which the other merchants have to pay it would only amount to 5 per cent, but he made all pass as if on the account of the Company, which neither pays the freight of the vessel nor the customs at Gombroon, these two items amounting, in the case of the merchants, to 25 per cent. That when the vessel which had carried him, returned to Batavia, although the goods were not sold, he did not omit to write to you that he had refused 30 per cent profit in the hope of receiving more. That, however, three vessels arrived at Gombroon laden with the same kinds of goods, so that he had difficulty in getting for them what they had cost in India; this compelled him to give those which he had bought for you at the current price. That, nevertheless, M. Constant had been so generous that he never asked anything from you, but that he had told me in private that he had lost more than 15 per cent by the transaction.”
151.3.11
Having given all this detail to the President, he appeared to be very much alarmed, and besought me to make no noise about it, in which he did wisely, for I could have named others, all the addresses of the chiefs of the Company having come to my knowledge, and the principal part of the large sums which they had invested in diamonds having passed through my hands. Observing then that the President did not wish to hear more, I took leave of him and went to tell my counsel all that had passed. His dwelling being near that of the President, I observed that the latter went to the fort, apparently to see the General. Between 11 o’clock and noon I was about to go the Town Hall to know what the Avocat Fiscal would say to me, because I knew that the President had gone there when leaving the fort, and that they had conversed together. But I met him half way, and approaching me with a laughing face he asked me where I was going. I replied that I was going to the Town Hall to reply to some of his questions. “I beg you,” he replied quickly, “let us leave that affair to go and have dinner together. I was presented yesterday with two cases, one of French wine and the other of Rhine wine, we shall see which is the best. All I ask from you is a word written with your own hand, that you have nothing belonging to M. Constant.” This I gave very willingly, and in this way the whole process came to an end.