Travels in India (Tavernier) 154.4

154.4

As soon as I saw the King in a condition to speak to me, I presented to him his dagger in the same condition as he had given it to me, and told him that Batavia was not a place where one could obtain precious stones, and when I did find some they wanted double their value for them. That this commission could not be fulfilled except by some one who went to Goa, and that I could have accomplished it when at Goa, or at Golconda, or, better still, at the diamond mine, where one meets with parcels of stones of all shapes and sizes, which one might cut with but little loss to suit the bezels. Upon this the old woman took the dagger and conveyed it into the harem, the King never having spoken to me of it since. I showed him subsequently what jewels I had brought, and I sold a parcel of them as advantageously as on the first journey. As the sun was setting, which is the time when the Muhammadans go to say their prayers, the King told us to return on the following day, and said that he would arrange for our payment being made. On arriving at our lodging we found one of the servants of the English President, who came to invite us to go to have supper with him, and taste some new liquors which had arrived from England on the Company’s account. For during the twenty days which we had been at Batavia two vessels had arrived, which had brought French and Spanish wine, and especially a large quantity of beer.