Chap. II. to 
the EAST-INDIES. 
conduced me home by Water, and affured me he never 
faw the King fhew fo much Refpect to any Stranger, ef- 
pecially in fuffering his Women to dance before me ; for, 
during the Entertainment, the whole Company fhut their 
Eyes, it being a capital Crime to look upon the King’s 
Women, though, indeed, I looked upon them very ear- 
neftly all the while, prefuming that they were not brought 
thither to make me fhut my Eyes. This Prince told me 
he had above a hundred Bahars of Gold, i. e. 1 8,000,000 
ofLivres, befides his Silver, Jewels, and other Preafures, 
but then he keeps it clofe, and has no Occalion to fpend it. 
Befides, the Royal Treafure has been handed down from 
Father to Son ; for Achen was never pillaged or facked 
by any Nation, and the King often boafts that he fears no 
Prince but the Grand Seignior, who, according to antient 
Prophecy, handed down by Tradition, fhall, one Day, 
conquer that Place. 
On the nineteenth of February an Orankay and two 
Sabandars came aboard in the King’s Name, to demand 
two Swords that I had, one of which I had promifed him. 
Before they boarded me, they were in fome Danger in 
the Mouth of the River, where there lies a very danger- 
ous Bar, efpecially towards the Evening, when the Sea- 
Breezes break the Water upon it. I gave them both my 
Swords, but withal, prayed them to acquaint his Majefty, 
that I had no more ; and it being an unwonted thing in 
France to go Abroad without a Sword, I hoped he would 
let me have one of them again. Next Day he returned 
one of them, with a Prefent of a Dagger made after the 
Fafhion of the Country. He who brought it faid, the 
King liked the one mightily, becaufe it did not bow when 
they offered to bend it, and that' if this had not bowed, I 
had never feen it again. After that I went affiore, and 
addreffed the King, that he would pleafe to order fome of 
his Officers to make fome Overtures about the Price of 
his Pepper, to the Merchants that were with me. He 
gave me no Anfwer to that Point, but afked me what 
fort of a Ship the Hope was, that I had fent to Bantam , 
and what the Cargo might amount to. I anfwered him 
as near as I could ; upon which he affured me, ffie was ta- 
ken by the Butch , and that in a fhort Time I lhould 
have certain Intelligence of it. 
He told me withhl, that while I continued in his Road, 
he would fecure me from receiving any Injury at their 
Hands, the Butch and Englijh Factory being worth more 
than my Ship •, but that without the Road he would not 
intereft himfelf in the Quarrel. It feems the King had 
mentioned the taking of the Hope at my firft Audience, but 
the Sabandar did not make me underftand it; and indeed, 
I was at a great Lofs both in that and many other things, 
becaufe I could not make ufe of an Interpreter of my own, 
for without a particular Licence from the King it is not 
to be done. Befides, no Interpreter is fond of appearing 
before the King, for if he makes but the leaft Trip in his 
Difcourfe, or fays any thing that the King does not like, 
tho* ordered to fpeak it, he is in Danger of being cut to 
Pieces. 
An Inftance of this we have in one Pedro Lorenzo , a 
Native of Achen, and defcended of a very good Family, 
who being Interpreter for the Butch , and having fpoke 
fomething by their Orders that difpleafed the King, was 
ordered by his Majefty to be cut in two alive, and the 
Orders had certainly been put in Execution, if the Englijh 
had not interceded very earneffly by their Prayers and 
Prefents on his Behalf. All this while I could do nothing 
in the Pepper Concern, for no body durft fell a Grain till 
the King had fold his, and it was not proper for me to 
prefs the King much upon it, becaufe he was out of Hu- 
mour with fome of his Grandees, having put three of 
them to Death for appropriating to their own Ufe fome 
Jewels they had met with in the late Conqueft of Pera , 
and condemned the Serjeant-Major for retaining fome 
Booty in the War with Fjueda, who with much Interceffi- 
©n got off for 1200 Rials. Whenever the King was in 
thefe Humours, no body durft fpeak to him, upon any 
Subject, and the People of that Country imagine, that he 
is more lubjeft to them about New Moon, than any other 
Time. 
N OMB. L„ 
27. On the feventh of March , about an Hour before 
Sun-riftng, we had a great Earthquake at Full Moon, 
which the Natives faid, was predicted about four or five 
Days before by the Cady, or Biffiop of Achen , whom they 
believe to be the wifeftof Men. I ain informed, there are 
commonly three or four Earthquakes in this Place every 
Year. On the ninth I waited upon the King with fome 
Prefents, in order to obtain Leave to buy up Pepper from 
private Perfons, which he would not allow till his own 
was fold off, which he always kept up half as dear again as 
the other. The next Time I waited upon him I found 
him at a Cock-fighting, and laying very high Wagers 
with his Orankays, Upon my Entrance, he prefented me 
with a Dagger, which had about five or fix Livres of Gold 
about the Handle ; but I . found him fo intent upon his 
Bets, that it was not proper to mention my Affair at that 
Time. I could not but take Notice of one Inftance of 
the King’s Avarice, and his Readinefs to facrifice all things 
to his covetous Temper. It was this; One of the Com- 
pany pitched upon a middle-fized Cock, offering to bet 
upon his Head againft any Other of what Size foever. 
Upon which an Orankay, that had fome of the King’s 
Cocks in keeping, prefented a very large Cock, and up- 
on this the King betted very high ; but the little Cock 
beat the great one, and fo the King loft his Money. Be- 
ing fretted by the Lofs, he afked the Orankay, how it 
came to pafs, that the little Cock had more Strength than 
the great one ? The Orankay anfwering with all poffible 
Humility, that he could not conceive how it was, the 
King replied, he could conceive it very eafily, that it pro- 
ceeded from the Cock’s being ill fed, and that he had gi- 
ven the Cock’s Rice to his Whores, or elfe eat it himfelf. 
This faid, he ordered his Right-hand to be cut off, which 
was immediately put in Execution. 
Next Day the Sabandar came to my Ploufe, and ac- 
quainted me, that the King afked for his Pepper 64 Rials 
the Bahar : I told him, I could not buy it at that Rate. 
Then he afked me what I was willing to give. I an- 
fwered, I could not pretend to fet a Price upon the King’s 
Goods, but would gladly treat with his Subjects, if his 
Majefty would give me Leave. Upon which he let me 
know, that could not be granted till the King had fold 
his. At that Time the King kept up his Pepper at 64 Ri- 
als, the private People would have fold it for eight Taels 
in Gold. The common Value of a Tael is four Rials* 
but ft nee we arrived in this Place, the gold rofe, and the 
Rials fell ; whereas we ufed to have fixteen Mas for four 
Rials, now we cannot have above fourteen. This Altera- 
tion is occaftoned by the King’s engrofling all the Gold in 
his own Hands, coining lead Money to circulate among 
the People, who put it off at any Rate for Gold. Befides* 
Rials would have no Circulation in that City, were it not 
for thofe of Surat, and Mujilipatan , who fupply this Place 
with Commodities, that they cannot be without, and ex- 
port nothing but Rials, upon which they gain conftdera- 
bly. Now there being no Surat Ship there, at this Time, 
to take off’ the Rials, their Value funk apace, which was 
an infinite Lofs to me, who had nothing elfe but Rials, at 
a Time when the Butch and Englijh had Gold enough in 
their Hands. To return to the Sabandar : He told me af- 
ter all, that the King, out of his particular Affection to 
me, would perhaps let me have his Pepper at the fame 
Price that the Butch had offered, viz. forty-eight Rials 
the Bahar. I replied, that the King had given leveral 
Inftances of his Affection to me, that I would take Care 
to report to the King of France the Refpe<ft that his Ma- 
jefty of Achen had ffiewn to his Letters, and that the 
Obligation I lay under to the King of Achen , would be 
much ftrengthened, if he would allow me to /take in my La- 
ding at Ticow , fince I could not do it at Achen, where the 
Pepper was fo very dear, unlefs I had a Mind to return to 
France with half my Lading. 
Then the Sabandar afked me, what Prefent I would 
make to the King for that Favour, and what I would give 
him for procuring of it ? I told him, I would conftder of 
the Matter, and acquaint him with my Refolutions that 
Night. Having communicated the Motion to our Mer- 
chants, it was unanimoufly agreed, that would be 
9 A a 
