Travels in India (Tavernier) 152.1
Travels in India (Ball) 152.1
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- English
152.1.1
Having freed myself of an affair which had been raised so inconveniently for me, I forthwith formed a resolution to visit the King of Bantam, having often heard that he was very fond of men of our nation; this it is easy for me to acknowledge on account of the good treatment which I received from him. As soon as one passes beyond the Kingdoms which yield obedience to the Great Mogul, the language which is called Malay is, among Orientals, what the Latin language is in Europe. On the voyage which I made to India in the year 1638 I took with me one of my brothers who was my junior, and who had a special talent for foreign languages. He required but five or six months in order to learn one, and he spoke eight of them perfectly well. Moreover he was well made in person and was considered brave, of which he gave many proofs. Having one day fought a duel at Batavia with an infantry captain, over whom he obtained considerable advantage, General Vandime, who liked men of spirit, and the principals of the council, who had much esteem for him, permitted the matter to pass in silence, and as a mark of the affection with which they regarded him they gave him permission to equip a vessel on his own private account and to trade in such goods as he pleased, with the exception of spices. Accordingly my brother bought a vessel of fourteen guns, with which he made many voyages.
152.1.2
The first was to Siam, where he made a sufficiently large profit, but he lost 5000 or 6000 écus of it to the King, who invited him to gamble with him and five of the principal nobles of his court, being much pleased at meeting a European who spoke the Malay language so well. It cannot be doubted that the profits are great in this kind of trade, since those who advance the money to traders, on loan, obtain for it cent per cent. But it is also true that they risk much, because if the vessel is lost the money is lost to them also, and this is called “the great speculation.” He also made some voyages to the King of Macassar, but they did not yield so much profit as those to the Kingdoms of Siam, Tonquin, and Cochinchina.
152.1.3
Having, then, resolved to go to Bantam, and not knowing the Malayan language, I took with me my brother, who was then at Batavia. It was necessary for me to have the permission of the General, according to custom, and he refused because he was not on good terms with the King of Bantam. But two hours afterwards M. Caron, who was at that time Director-General, sent to me to say that I might leave on my voyage for Bantam in all safety, as soon as I wished. Accordingly I set out with my brother in a small barque which we hired to carry us to Bantam, where, on arrival, our first visit was to the English President, who gave us a grand reception, and desired that we should not take other quarters but stay with him. He had still about fifty pots of Mantua wine with which he desired to regale us. This wine is not exported in glass bottles, in which it goes bad, but in earthen pots, in which it always keeps good. On the following morning my brother went to the King’s palace, where he was well known and welcome, in order to ascertain when his majesty would be able to receive us. But as soon as the King knew that he was there, he would not allow him to return to fetch me, but ordered a messenger to be sent to seek me, and tell me that if I had any rare jewels I should please him by bringing them.
152.1.4
When the King’s people came to conduct me to the palace, not seeing my brother with them, I was on the point of refusing to follow them, and I recalled before my eyes the manner in which the King of Achin had treated M. Renaud, who had left Nantes with his brother on the vessels which M. de Montmorency sent to India. I shall record the history of it in a few words, and this short digression will possibly not be displeasing to the reader. A French Company of Commerce was established for India, whither it sent four vessels, three large and one small one of eight guns, upon which among others the two brothers Renaud, who entered the service of the Company, embarked. Their journey was the shortest and the most fortunate of any ever heard of, as they arrived before Bantam in less than four months. The King received them with great joy, and in eight or ten days’ time he gave them as much pepper as they asked for, and at a very fair price, they having received it at more than 20 per cent cheaper than the Dutch do.
152.1.5
But as our Frenchmen had not come for pepper only, but wished also to obtain information as to the trade in cloves, nutmegs, and mace, they sent the smaller vessel with the greater part of their money to Macassar, where the King’s stores are generally full, as I have elsewhere said, the Dutch, with all their skill, not being able to prevent the people of this island trading with the other islands where the spices grow, this annoys them much, since they desire to compel [the trade of] all other nations to pass through their hands. Our Frenchmen having obtained their cargo of pepper so quickly at Bantam, had not patience to await the return of the small vessel which they had sent to Macassar, and, in order to amuse themselves, decided to go to Batavia, that town not being more than 14 leagues distant from Bantam. When the wind is favourable one can go there in a single tide, and they reached the roads at 8 o’clock in the morning. As soon as they had cast anchor the General of the French fleet sent to pay his compliments to the General of Batavia, who did not fail to reply to this civility by asking the General to come on shore that he might entertain him. He sent at the same time to those who remained in the vessel a quantity of refreshments, and especially Spanish and Rhine wine, with instructions to those who carried it to make them drink well in order to intoxicate them.
152.1.6
This order was so well followed that it was easy for the Dutch afterwards to set fire to the vessels according to the orders which they had received, and as, from the saloon of the fort where the General of Batavia receives strangers, all the roads are visible, one of the Indian Councillors who was at the table, seeing the flame, cried out saying that he believed the French vessels were on fire. The General of Batavia appeared to be much astonished, and the French General, who rightly concluded how it had come about, looking unmoved at the company : “ But that,” said he, “ need not prevent us from continuing to drink — those who have lighted the fire shall pay for it.” But he did not remember then that time was worth money, and the Dutch did not pay for a quarter of the damage. The French vessels were all burnt and the crews were saved on the frigates which were despatched for them in haste. The General of Batavia made the men liberal offers, which they refused, and they returned to Bantam to await their small vessel. When it arrived they could find no better plan than to sell their goods and the vessel itself to the English, and the money was divided among all according to the rank of each. The English offered them a passage to Europe, but the General and some of the principal officers alone accepted it. The greater part of the French remained in India and took service with the Portuguese, with whom there was some advantage to be gained at that time.
152.1.7
The Dutch did not ill-treat the French, alone, after this fashion, as they did a still more serious injury to the English. The English were the first to realise that the voyage to Japan from Surat, Masulipatam, and other places, was too dangerous to attempt in one stretch, without having some place in which to rest when the winds were contrary. They found it desirable to build a fort in the island of Formosa; and this has spared the loss of many vessels, in addition to the great profit which it brought them. The Dutch being jealous that the English should have seized so good a position as that, being the sole place in all the island where vessels could lie in safety, and as they were unable to take it by force, decided on treachery to accomplish their design. They sent two of their vessels, upon which they put their best soldiers, who feigned to have been very badly injured by a storm, making their vessels appear dismasted and broken in many directions, and all the soldiers pretending sickness. The English, touched by this misery, which was only a sham, invited the chief officers to come on shore in order to refresh themselves; this invitation they immediately accepted, ordering as many of their people as possible to leave the vessel, under pretext that they were ill, and could be treated better on shore than on board.
152.1.8
While the principal officers were at table with the English, who had civilly invited them to dinner, and where, to accomplish their object, they took with them more persons than politeness permitted, and, in order to make more come on shore they ordered them to bring from the vessels, from time to time, many kinds of wine, and those who brought them had the word to remain there, of which the English, who were not on their defence, took no notice. The Dutch, seeing that they had drunk well, and that it was time to execute their design, started a quarrel with the English chief; and drawing their arms which they had concealed, threw themselves upon the English garrison, whom they murdered without meeting with much resistance. It was thus they made themselves masters of the fort, which they possessed till they were driven from it by the Chinese. I could tell of many other treacheries by the Dutch, but it is time to return to that which followed the burning of the French vessels in the Batavia roads.