Situation 
of the King- 
dom of Pera. 
Tin-Mimes. 
High Moun- 
tains and 
frightful 
Wildernesses. 
Concerning 
the Kingdom 
of Queda. 
Nature and 
Condition of 
the Natives. 
Procure 
water and 
firewood for 
the Bengal 
Voyage. 
Fishing off 
the Island of 
-Dinding. 
The au- 
thors’s ad- 
venture on 
the Island of 
Dinding. 
THE DUTCH IN PERAK. risa f 
We find this Land of Perack or Pera to be under the rule of 
the reigning Queen of Achin; the State and River lie in 4° 30! 
on the mainland of Malacka, and thence comes abundance of Tin 
of which a great deal is collected and washed out of the sand and 
earth by the flowing waters in the Rivers. 
The Country is favoured with Tin Mines, but everywhere in 
the Interior it is covered with very high Mountains, thick Forests 
and frightful Wildernesses and there are many Rhinoceroses, 
wild Hlephants, Buffaloes, Tigers, Crocodiles, Serpents; and 
many other monsters are to be found. 
Further to the North lies in 6° 30' the Kingdom of Queda 
which, like Pera, was formerly a place with a pretty good Popu- 
lation, and a good Trade to which merchants from Bengal, 
Arakan, Pegu, Martaban, Coromandel, Malacka and other places 
used to come in numbers for Commerce. They have, however, 
suffered many misfortunes, miseries and disasters in the war 
with the Achinese until at last they have been brought under 
the subjection of the latter. 
The Countries of Pera and Queda should be reasonably fruit- 
ful, but they abound, for the most part, with very high Moun- 
tains, Forests, Wildernesses and Morasses where the wild beasts 
come in contact with the Natives, and labour is dreaded so that 
no one will take in hand the cultivation of the many beautiful 
and well-situated Plains and Valleys. Nevertheless these 
Countries still produce fine Pepper to exchange for Coromandel’s 
Muslinsand Rice. These Natives, like many other Hast-Indians, 
are accustomed to support themselves in a simple manner with 
a moderate amount of food and clothing. 
Having reached the neighbourhood of the Watering-place on 
the inner side of the Island Dinding above-mentioned, we 
immediately sent a good party of sailors to the Coast of Pera 
opposite to procure firewood for our further Voyage to Bengal. 
The others went to Poelo Dinding to fetch fresh water from 
one of the principal Rivers of the Island, and we, not to be idle, 
went also on shore with a line of 80 fathoms and brought up 
fish out of the Gulfs and Bays of the Island Dinding, going on 
board in the evening with a good haul of all sorts of well- 
flavoured delicate fish. 
In the same way, on the next day, the 30th November, our 
people still being engaged in fetching water and firewood, we 
roamed all about and visited all parts of the Island Dinding, 
taking at last a good haul; we remained on shore all night with 
our Sub-Merchant ABRAHAM DE WIJs and others in the same 
way inclined, and there we enjoyed our catch. Our people had 
pitched a capital tent in the shady wood not far from the Beach 
and there we took our repast together and were jovial, taking 
thought only for the present. Here on a dark night, on an 
uninhabited Island, in the frightful Forest and vast Wilderness 
where there were many Serpents and other monsters, we found 
so much pleasure that for this once we managed to forget all the 
weary wanderings of the voyage to Bengal, drinking after sup- 
per to the health of ourselves and our friends (even those who 
were not drinkers), every-one taking a little glass one with 
another : we kindled a good fire to keep off wild Beastsand passed 
the rest of the night in many pleasant discourses and tales. 
