24 



Travels in India. 



Part II. 



pay you in Roupies coin'd fome fifteen or twenty years ago, and upward ; where- 

 by you will lofe four in the hundred. For they will have one fourth, or at leaft 

 one eighth per Cent, allow'd for thofe that were coin'd but two years before : So 

 that the poor people that cannot read the year wherein the Roupies were coined, 

 are fubjecl: to be cheated ; for they will always abate a Pecha or half a Pecha upon 

 a Roupie, or three or fourCori's upon a Pecha. 



As for counterfeit Silver, there is very little among them. If you receive one 

 falfe Roupie in a Bagg from any particular perfon, 'tis better to cut it to pieces, 

 and lofe it, than to fpeak of it ; for if it mould come to be known, there might 

 be danger in it. For you are commanded by the Kings Law to return the Bagg 

 where you received it ; and to return it from one to another, till you can find out 

 the Counterfeiter ; who, if he be apprehended, is only fentenc'd to lofe his hand. 

 If the Counterfeiter cannot be found, and that it be thought that he who paid 

 the Money is not guilty, he is acquitted upon fome fmall amercement. This brings 

 great profit to the Changers. For when there is any Su mm of Money received 

 or paid, the Merchants caufe him to look it over, and for their pains, they have 

 one fixteenth of a Roupie in the hundred. 



As for the Money which is paid out of the Sarqttbt 3 or King's Exchequer, there 

 is never any found that is counterfeit : For all the Money that is carried in thither, 

 is exactly view'd by the King's Bankers : The Great Lords have alfo their par- 

 ticular Bankers. Before they put up the Money into the Treafury, they throw 

 it into a great Charcoal-fire, and when the Roupies are red-hot, they quench the 

 fire, by throwing water upon it ; and then take out the Money. If there be any 

 Piece that is white, or that has the leaft mark of Alloy, it is prefently cut in 

 pieces. As often as thefè Roupies are carried into the Treafury, they mark the 

 Pieces with a Puncheon, which makes an hole, but not quite through ; and there 

 are fome Pieces that have fèven or eight holes made in that manner, to fhew that 

 they have been fo many times in the Exchequer. They are all put, a thoufànd 

 Pieces together, in a bagg, feaî'd with the Seal of the great Treafurer ; and 

 the number of years fùperfcrib'd, fince they were coin'd. And here you are to 

 take notice, whence the Treafurers profit arifes, as well that of the King's Trea- 

 furer, as that of the particular Treafurers of the Great Lords of the Kingdom. 

 When there is any bargain made, they agree for new Roupies coin'd the fame 

 year: but when they come to receive the payment, the Treafurers will make it 

 in old Roupies, wherein there is a lofs of fix per Cent. So that if they will have 

 new Silver, the Merchants muft compound with the Treafurer. In my fift Voy- 

 age, I went to vifit Cha-Efl-K:in according to my promife, to let him have the 

 firft fight of what I brought along with me. So that as foon as I arrived at Su- 

 ratt, I fènt him word ; and received his Orders to meet him at Choupart, a City 

 in the Province of Decan, to which he had laid Siege. Coming to him, in a lit- 

 tle time, and a few words, I fold him the greateft part of what I had brought along 

 with me out of Europe : And he told me that he expected every day, that Money 

 fhould be fent him from Suratt to pay the Army, and to pay me alfo at the fame 

 time for what he had bought of me. I could not imagin however, that fo great a 

 Prince as he, that commanded fo great an Army, had not ftore of Money by himj 

 but rather conjectur'd, that he had an intention to make me fome abatement, up- 

 on thofe Pieces which he would put upon me in payment, as he had ferv'd me be- 

 fore. It fell out, as I farefaw. But for Provifions for my felf, my Men, and my 

 Horfes, he took fuch order, that there was great plenty brought me, night and 

 morning, and for the moft part he fènt for me my felf, to his own Table. Ten or 

 twelve days thus paft away, and not a word of the Money that I expected : So 

 that being refolv'd to take my leave of him, I went to his Tent. He appeared to 

 be fomewhat furpriz'd, and looking upon me with a frowning-brow j wherefore 

 will you be gone, fàid he, before you are paid? or who d'you think, fhall pay 

 you afterwards,if you go away before you receive your Money? Upon thefe words, 

 with a countenance as ftern as his, my King, replied I, will fee me paid, for his 

 goodneft is fuch, that he caufès all his Subjects to be paid, that have not received 

 fàtisfaction for fuch Goods as they fell in forreign Countries. And what courfè 

 will he take, anfwer'd he in a great choler : with two or three ftout Men of War, 

 ftjd I, which he will fend either to the Port of Suratt, or toward the Coafts to 



wait 



