19 ' 
V O Y A G E/S of 
with his own Daughters. The Governor-General at Ba- 
tavia admonifhed him often upon this Subject, reprefent- 
ifig to him, that fuch a Courfe of Life was utterly unbe- 
coming a Prince, and was what no Law or Religion could 
tolerate. To this the King anfwered/ that, he knew of no 
Laws that could bind him, who gave Laws to others* and 
was therefore hirhfelf above them. He once demanded 
of the Governor-General an European Womans promifmg 
to make her his Wife’; which was refufed him *, however, a 
Pi'flure was fent him of an European Lady at full Length. 
He profeffed himlelf of the Religion of his Country, 
that is to fay-, a Mohammedan , to which Law his Subjects 
are, generally fpeaking, great Bigots and therefore hated 
him extremely on account of his loofe Behaviour. It was 
not only in point of Women that he abfced in fo vile a 
Way, but his Conduct throughout was fo mean, fo bale, 
and fo unbecoming a Prince, that., knowing how much he 
'Was .defpifed and abhorred; he kept always in his Fort, 
trufting his Safety intirely to his Guards and Fortifications : 
Yet, in the midft of thefe, he met With the juft Reward of 
his Crimes, that is to fay, a fudden Death ; but whether 
Violent or not, our Author has not thought fit to explain. 
He fays, that the Country of Bantam is Very fertile, 
abounding with Cattle, Rice, and Fruits ; and adds farther, 
that, in the Heart of the Country, there are frequently 
found precious Stones of great Value, of which, however, 
the Butch rarely get Poffefiion, the People fearing, that 
this may tempt them to extend their Conquefts, by which 
they are but too 'much oppreffed already. 
The fecohd of the Chiefs refides at Padanh f on the Coaft 
of Sumatra , othsrwife called the Gold Coaft : This Chief 
has his Courici! and Fifcal like the reft ; and it is ufually 
confide’red as a very profitable, as Well as honourable. Em- 
ployment. Sumatra is a Very large fine Hand, which is 
feparated from the Continent of Afia by the Streights of 
Malacca , and is juftly efteemed one of the richeft and no- 
bleft Countries in all the Indies. The have a Factory 
at Pullambam , which lies about eight Leagues from the 
Sea, on the Banks of a very large River, which empties 
itfelf into the Sea by four different Chanel's. The great 
Trade carried on there is that of Pepper, which the Eaft 
India Company would monopolize in the fame manner they 
do Cloves, Cinnamon, and Nutitiegs ; in order to which, 
they are at a very great Expence for keeping feveral armed 
Barks, cruifing at the Mouth of this River, to prevent 
what they are pleafed to call Smuggling. It muff: be 
allowed, that they have made a Contradl with the King, 
to take off all the Pepper in his Dominions, at the Rate 
of ten Pieces of Eight for a Bahaar, or 400 Pounds, which 
is a very fair Price : They have, however, a having Claufe 
in their Contradt, by which it is provided, that half the 
Purchace of the Pepper Ihall be taken in Cloth, at fuch a 
Rate, as greatly reduces the Value of their Cargoes ; and 
it is for this Reafon, that the Butch are fo much afraid of 
Smuggling : Yet, in fpite of all their armed Barks, it is a 
thing notorioufly known, that, for a thoufand Florins to 
his Majefty of Pullambam , and as much to the Butch 
Chief, a Cargo of a thoufand Bahaars of Pepper may be 
carried off the Hand without any great Trouble. 
The Country is mountainous, which is not looked upon 
as a great Inconveniency, fince almoft all thefe Hills are 
known to abound with Gold, Silver, Lead, and other 
Metals ; and the Company is poiTeffed of fome Mines of 
Gold, which are very rich, and great Care taken both to 
fecure and conceal the Profits that are made of them. 
There are likewife great Quantities of Gold-duft found in 
all the Rivers and Rivulets of this Country, efpeciaily du- 
ring the Time that the Weft Monfoon reigns, becaufe then 
the Torrents roll from the Mountains with great Rapidity. 
Here is abundance of Copper, of which they make good 
Guns •, feveral forts of precious Stones, and a Mountain 
of burning Brimftone, which continually blows out Flames 
like Mount Gib el in Sicily ; ftis faid here is alfo a Foum 
tain of Balm : It abounds with Spices and Silks *, but the 
Air is not very wholfome, efpeciaily for Strangers, becaufe 
there are fo many Rivers, Standing-Waters, and thick Fo- 
refts in it. There is no Wheat, or any other fort of Corn, 
that grows in Europe • but there is Plenty of Rice, Mil- 
let, and Fruits, which afford good and fufffcient Nourifh- 
ment for tip Inhabitants. It produces likewife abundance of 
Honey, Bfes-wax, Ginger, Camphire, Caffta Peeper, fW 
white Sancjers, and efpeciaily Cotton, of which the Inha- 
bitants make their Garments. 
This ifjand is of very great Extent, according to the 
beft Accounts, upwards of 400 Leagues in Circumference. 
The greatell and molt powerful Monarch in the Hand is 
the King of Achem , or, as it is written in the Indies , At- 
' cheen . It was formerly governed always by a Woman ; 
and Queen Elizabeth , of England , entertained a clofe Cor- 
refpondehce with the Queen of Achem , who was living in 
her Time. It is not above forty Years fince the Govern- 
ment fell into the Hands of a Man •, and feveral Attempts 
have been made fince to reftore the old Conftitution, under 
which the People were much happier than any of their 
Neighbours. It is, to this Day, a free Port, to which 
Englijh , Butch , PortUguefe , Chinefe , and, in fhort, all the 
Nations of Europe and Afia, trade with Safety, The Goods 
which are brought thither are rich Brocades, Silks of all 
forts, Mullins of all forts. Raw Silk, Filh, Butter, Oil, 
and Ammunition, for which they are paid chiefly in Gold, 
the great Commodity of the Country, and remarkably 
fine. 
There is no Country in the Indies , where, during the 
Weftern Monfoons, the Rains fall with greater Violence, 
or are attended with more terrible Storms of Thunder, 
Lightning, and Earthquakes, than in Sumatra ; but the 
People, being ufed to them, are not much alarmed, but 
bear them patiently, and are fcldom heard to complain of 
the Climate. Thefe People are, generally fpeaking, Mo- 
hammedans , and are very expert in making all forts of Gold 
Plate with very few Tools, and yet with fuch inimitable 
Dexterity, that whatever is of their Workmanfhip, fells ac 
a very great Rate throughout all the Indies. The Company 
fends every Year a great Number of Slaves to work in their 
Gold-mines. The Kings, in that Part of the Country, are 
very rarely upon good Terms with the Butch', and our 
Author tells us, that, when he was in the Indies , one of 
thofe Princes, who was ftyled King of the Mountains, be- 
caufe he was Mailer of moft of the Countries where the 
Mines lay, quarrelled with the Company, and drew all his 
Subjects out of their Service. The principal Places, where 
Gold is found by the Natives of the Country, are Triou and 
Manincabo. The Method they take in coming at it is this : 
They dig, at the Bottom of the Mountains, Ditches, where 
the Water being flopped when rolling down the Sides of 
the Mountains in the Winter, they, in the Summer, draw 
it off' , and, by wafhing the Mud which remains at the Bot- 
tom, obtain from thence confiderable Quantities of Gold- 
duft. It is generally believed amongft fuch as are beft ac- 
quainted with the Commerce of the Indies , that this Hand 
furnifhes annually 5000 Pound-weight of this precious Me- 
tal ; yet very little, if any, of this Gold is ever brought to 
Europe , the Eaft India Company employing it in other 
Places, where Gold is valuable, and where they call purchafes 
other Commodities, which turn in Europe to a better Ac- 
count* 
There is a Projedl with refpebt to this Ifland, which has 
long employed the Thoughts of the Company *, and that 
is, procuring Ships to be built here, for which, it is cer- 
tain, there are great Conveniences, fince the Wood of this 
Hand is fo firm and durable, that Ships of it would laft forty 
or fifty Years ; whereas thofe that come from Europe are, 
generally fpeaking, worn out in twelve or thirteen. Befides 
Padang and Pallambam before-mentioned, the Butch have 
a ftrong Fort, and great Factory, at J amble , and another 
at Slack which laft Place is exceffively unwholfome, occa- 
fioned by a very odd Accident *. It Hands on the great River 
Andraghira , into which, at a certain Seafon of the Year, 
there come vaft Quantities of Shads of a very large Size, 
one-third of which is owing to their Roes, which are ac- 
counted a great Delicacy ; and therefore, after taking thefe 
out, the reft of the Fifh is thrown away ; and, lying in 
great Heaps, corrupt, and exhale peftilcntial Vapours, that 
infedl the Air. The Perfons therefore that are fent to 
Slack, are much of the fame Stamp with thofe that are fent 
to Banda, that is to fay. Men of abandoned Characters, and 
defperate Fortunes. 
On 
