Chap. IL to the EAST-INDIES. 729 
Men to Bantam or Jacatra , in queft of the Hope , provid- would needs fpeak with them, tlio 5 he difTuaded him. 
ed he returned in twenty Days, The Articles of Agree- The Butch Captain acquainted him, that Bantam was 
ment were drawn up in Writing, and lodged in the Hands blocked up, fo that no Ships of any Nation could get in ; 
of Pedro, the Englijh Interpreter; and both he and the Ma- that the Hope , which was then at Jacatra , had been in 
Her of the Praw defired that his Voyage might be concealed great Diftrefs upon that Coaft, there being only four or 
from the Governor and Inhabitants of Pi cow. The Go- five Men on Board, till a Butch Veffel reinforced her 4 .and 
vernor having fent me a Buffalo and feme Fruit, I went to 
return him Thanks, and, by Virtue of fome Prefents I made 
him, obtained Leave to hire a Houfe, in which I lodged 
forty- three fick Men, with three Surgeons, a Prieft, and three 
more to attend on them. In the mean time, I had feveral 
Prefents made me of Fruit and young Kids, particularly 
from the Governor of Priaman , who preffed me earneftly 
to make him a Vifit : I returned him Thanks, together 
with fome Prefents, and a Pro mile to wait upon him the 
firft Opportunity. 
The 8th an Achen Galliot arriving, affured me that no 
Trench Ship had touched at Achen *, upon which I con- 
cluded that our Confort muff, of neceffity, be either 
at Bantam or Jacatra . The 10th there arrived three Gal- 
lies, belonging to the King of Achen, with an Elephant 
and three hundred Men in each of them ; and the Inhabi- 
tants of Pi cow acquainted me, that they expedited a fur- 
ther Re-inforcement of Elephants and Men, in order to 
carry on a War againft a Prince that had revolted again ft 
the King of Achen . Upon this News, confidering I had 
fifty Men at Bicow, and fifty more at the Eland, with 
the Water-Cafks, befides eight or ten that were always out 
with the Skiff •, fo that I had but few Men left on Board, 
thoftat the fame time, I ufed to have eighty or a hundred of 
the Natives on Board, fome by way of Vifit, and others 
fo fell their Eggs, Fruit, Pullets, Fifh, and other Provi- 
fionS. Upon thefe Confiderations I nailed down the 
Hatches, and run a Rail between the great Mail and the 
Fore-Maft, which was fortified by two great Padereroes 
mounted on Wheels, and five more upon the Bittacle, to- 
gether with a Guard upon the Deck, and two Mufke- 
teers, with as many Halberdiers Handing at a Door in the 
' laid Rail, which I never fuffered to be opened but when 
I received a Vifitant into my Cabbin *, fo that two hundred 
Men upon the Deck could do us no Injury, while our Men 
were upon their Guard. 
The 13th I went afhore, and found my Men recover- 
ing by degrees ; being to wait upon the Governor to afk 
Leave to ftay fifteen Days longer, he granted my Re- 
queft, but withal entreated me to go to Achen , and obtain 
a Licence of the King for erecting a French Fadtory, 
which would be infinitely more acceptable to the Inhabi- 
tants than that of any other Nation. He likewife advifed 
me not to be jealous of the Inhabitants, or fear any In- 
jury from them, which it feemed I did, fince I had made 
a Fortification in my Ship, and mounted more Guns than 
before. 
I made anfwer, that my coming fo carelefly afhore, 
and leaving fifty fick Perfons in their Hands, was a fuffi- 
cient Evidence of the Confidence I put in the Natives j 
that the Defign of the Barrier in my Ship, was only to 
keep out thofe I did not know from running into my Ca- 
bin, that fo I might be capable of diftinguifhing an Oran- 
kay, or a noted Gentleman, from a Fifherman * and that 
I had not mounted fo many Pieces of Cannon, if I had 
not heard that two Butch Ships were expected here, of 
whom I had Reafon to be jealous. Upon this, he told me, 
that I had a great deal more Reafon to miftruft the Butch 
than them, and that, if I pleafed, he would forbid the Na- 
tives to go on Board of me : But 1 affured him, they fhould 
be at all times very welcome, and that I did not at all 
miftruft them. After- that, I vifited the Captains of the 
three Gallies, who affured me a-frefh, that there had no 
French Ships come lately to Achen. 
23. The nineteenth the King of Bicopoh eldeft Son vi- 
fited me on Board, with a great Retinue, and I gave him 
the beft Reception I could. That Night the Praw I had 
fent to Bantam returned in eleven Days, and the Mafter 
made the following Reports. Four Days after they had 
put to Sea, they arrived at the Port of Surabaya , which 
Ires on the Coaft of Sumatra , in 4° S. Lat. there being a 
Butch Ship in the Road. M, Ifaac , the Man whom I 
had fent on Board the Praw, in queft of the Vice-Admiral, 
Numb. 49, 
that the Streights of Sonda were infefted with the Java 
Praws and Garacaus , they having, from the King of Ban- 
tam, a Sum of Money for every Head they kill’d, of 
what Nation foever. 
Upon this Advice, M. Ifaac thought it not iafe to go 
further in a Praw, but took the Opportunity of a Veffel, 
the Mafter of which promifed to land him in Jacatra in 
feven or eight Days. The Mafter of the Praw brought 
alfo a Letter from M. Ifaac concerning, the foregoing Ac- 
count. This News vexed me more than the former, for 
I had pofitively ordered Ifaac not to flop for any Ship, 
but to go ftraiton. After mature Consideration, we re- 
folved not to go to Bantam, where our Ship and Cargos 
might be in Danger, in a Time of War-, befides, that 
we fhould be obliged to fpend January and February in 
going thither, and managing the Traffick of the Place, 
and March would be too late a Seafon for returning along 
this Coaft to Achen. At the fame Time we difpatched 
the Advice-Boat with a Reinforcement of twenty Men for 
Jacatra , in order to affift and fupply Captain Grave , 
whom we ordered to return to France, if he could get his 
Lading at Bantam, or if he fail’d of it there, to return 
forthwith to Achen , where he would find us. 
Bicow lies in twenty Minutes S. Lat. The inland Coun- 
try is very high, but towards the Shore it Fills very low, 
being covered with Woods, and watered with feveral little 
Rivers, which render it marfhy. It is chequered, with feveral 
pleafant Meadows, well ftored with Buffaloes and Oxen, 
which may be purchafed for four or five Rials a-piece. It 
affords Plenty of Rice, Cattle, Poultry, Ducks, and fe- 
ver $1 forts of Fruits, fuch as Durions, Ananas, Potatoes, 
Mango, s, Pomegranates, Oranges, Citrons, Water-mel- 
lons, Cucumbers* &c. The Riches of the Country con-. 
fiit in 1 ..per, which it produces plentifully, and which 
is much more efteemed than that of Bantam as for other 
Rarities, Drugs and Manufactures, it affords none. The 
City of Bicow is but a pitiful Place ; it lies about half a 
League from the Sea-fide, upon the Shore, oppofite to 
the little Eland where the Ships ride * there are fome Hou- 
fes, but both the City and Suburbs do not contain eight 
hundred Houfes, which are built of Reeds, and are nei- 
ther ftrong nor convenient : However, the Country is ve- 
ry populous, efpeciaily at the Foot of the Mountains, 
where the Pepper grows. 
The Kihg of Bicow is fubjeel to the King of Achen , 
who puts in a new Governor every three Years, without 
whom the King of Bicow cannot do any thing of Impor- 
tance. So the Foreigners have more Bufinefs with the 
Governor than with the King nay, the very Inhabi- 
tants pay more Refpedt to him, calling him Bangaran Fi- 
ma. The Inhabitants of the City are Malayans, and no 
other Language is fpoken all along that Coaft. The in- 
land Parts are poffeffed by the Natives, who difown the 
King of Achen s Authority, having a peculiar Language 
and King of their own. Thefe are Idolaters, and eat hu- 
mane Flefh. They have rich gold Mines, but do not 
know how to manage them, for they only gather the Gold 
out of fome little Ditches, which- are not very deep, and out 
of the Caverns made by Floods. This Gold they exchange 
with the Duichj or the Inhabitants near the Shore, for 
Pepper, Salt, Iron, Cotton* Cloth dyed red, and Surat 
Pearl, which they efteem mightily *, but among the Ma- 
layans Gold is as dear as in France, and in Achen it is 
dearer. 
Thefe Malayans are all of them very fuperftitious Mo- 
hammedans, but withal, great Robbers, infomuch that 
the People are not fafe in their Houfes in the Night-time, 
and far lefs in the Fields. They are of an olive Colour. 
Their Women are all kept up, and not fuffered to appear 
in the Streets. From July to October the Air is very un- 
healthy, being attended with Fevers that feldom admit of 
a Cure % infomuch that if it were not for their Pepper, 
no body would venture to come near them. They gather 
8 Z Pepper 
