74 ^ The E XP E D IT ION 
every Year, -for* having large hereditary Countries, he 
parcels them out among his Subjects to be maiiured, ob- 
liging them to furnifh him with a certain Quantity of 
Rice every Year, whether the Crop be. good or bad, and 
he calculates the Product of his Land fo very nicely, that 
the Farmers cannot be idle if they maintain themfelves, 
and pay the King, who never bates them a Grain. The 
Rice he puts into his Magazines, and keeps it up till the lat- 
ter End of Autumn, at which Time it fetches a double 
Price, and drains ail the poor People of their Money ; if 
it be a plentiful Year in Achen , he fends it to fame neigh- 
bouring Country where Rice is fcarce. 
He has vaft Herds of Cattle kept by his Slaves. His 
Elephants coft him nothing, for he gives them no Rice, 
only the Trunks of Banana Trees, which being cut, a 
Sprout comes up next Year that bears Fruit. As for his 
Cocks, they coft him nothing, for the Orankays take 
more Care of them than their own Children. He is at no 
Charge for his own or his Womens Cloaths, for one cer- 
tain Day of the Year, all that have any Offices, or Places 
in Achen , are obliged to make him a Prefent of one or 
more Garments, according to the Incomes of their Places, 
or elfe of Stuffs for cloathing the Women, and every one 
ftrives to out-do another in the Magnificence of his Pre- 
fent, in order either to procure a better Place, or to fe- 
cure what he has. If he does not like the Garments, or 
Stuffs, he returns them back, and the Officer that gave 
them is fure to be turned out of his Poft, unlefs he 
quickly accommodates the Matter by a large Sum of Mo- 
ney ; or if he be a Man of Riches, he (hall be charged 
with fome Male-Adminiftration in his Office, and perhaps 
put to Death. 
He caufes a great many Houfes to be built of rough 
Stone, which coft him but very little, tho’ they would be 
very chargeable to another, becaufe he has Inch large 
Numbers of Slaves. Tho’ thefe Houfes are reckoned in- 
imitable in that Country, yet they are infinitely fihort of 
what we have in Europe. His Slaves indeed have a better 
Life than, any Slaves I know, for he does not chain them, 
unlefs they endeavour to efcape, or to rebel againft their 
Mafters ; and out of eight Days he allows them four to work 
at what Work they will for their own Livelihood ; and 
thus the King pays nothing for their Maintenance. He 
employs them moftly in cutting of Wood, making of 
Mortar, labouring in the Quarries and Buildings. There are 
three or four Overfeers of their Work, who are maintain- 
ed by the Slaves; for thofe who underftand any Trade 
may live very handfomely, and be excufed from working 
for the King, for Five-pence a Day, which is received by 
Commiffaries appointed for that Purpofe, and goes to- 
wards the Maintenance of the Overfeers, the buying of 
Iron, and all other Materials. 
The King gives the Model of his Building himfelf, and 
very often, if a Window, or a Door, or any fuch thing be 
not exactly to his Fancy, down goes the Houfe, and ano- 
ther muft be built in its Place. He appoints them a cer- 
tain Time in which the Work muft be finifhed, which is 
commonly but very fhort ; for in the fix Months that I 
was at Achen , I faw more Buildings reared up and pulled 
down again, than I could have imagined to have been 
done in two Years. Thefe Slaves may redeem themfelves, 
but their Ranfom riles according to their Quality, The 
King is Heir to all his Subjects that die without Male If- 
fue, and if they leave any Daughters then unmarried, he 
puts them into the Caftle, which occafions his Women to 
be fo numerous. In that Country, Daughters have no Ti- 
tles to any Heritage ; and not only the People of Achen , 
but even all the Mohammedans are fo loath to part with 
their Money, and fo buoyed up with the Hopes of having 
male Children by one of their many Wives, that they fel- 
dom or never give any thing to their Sons-in-Law in 
their Life-time, and after their Death they cannot have it ; 
nay, even in their Life-time, if the King’s Spies obferve 
them, it may do them more Injury than Good. 
The royal Trealury is likewife confiderably enlarged by 
the forfeited Eftates of thofe whom he puts to Death eve- 
ry Day ; for to prevent their alienating their Eftates, or 
Goods, he takes them at a Surprizal, and has their Wives 
Children, Slaves, Cattle, Money, and all forts of Move- 
of Commodore Beaulieu Book I. 
ables lodged in the Caftle before they know their Sen- 
tence. While I was there, I faw the Jewels, Gold, Sil- 
ver, and all the moveable Goods belonging to his Mo- 
ther, brought in upon the fame Occafion. °The Perfons 
he thus puts to Death, are commonly the Orankays, or 
great Lords, and that for one of thefe two Reafons, viz. 
eithei their Reputation and Intereft among the People or 
their Riches ; the former giving him Occafion of Jealou- 
ly, and the latter awakening his covetous and avaricious 
Temper. 
The King is Heir to all Foreigners that die within his 
Territories ; for as foon as a Foreigner fickens, the Kino-’s 
Officers prefently take Poffeffion of his Houfe, and upon 
his Death, remove his Effects to the Caftle, and veryV- 
ten ^his Servants, Friends, and Slaves, are put upon the 
Rack, to difeover where his Gold, Silver, and Jewels are, 
or where any thing is due to him ; but the Englifh and 
Butch having'Fadlories here, are exempted from this Law 
as we were, while we ftaid there, by the King’s Conceff 
fion. The King has another bad Cuftom of appropriating 
to his own Ufe all the Men and Goods of all Ships that 
fuffer Shipwreck upon his Coaft. No Foreigner can enter 
the Caftle without making a Prefent to the King ; it is 
true I went without any, being allowed the Quality 
and Priviledge of a principal Orankay, but at the fame 
i imc I nevei could have Audience upon my own Af- 
fairs but when I ufhered it in with a Prefent ; nay, if ei- 
ther Foreigner or Native put in any Requeft to the* Kino-, 
the former is not heard, and the latter is punifhed ; and 
after all, the Requeft will not be granted, unlefs the Pre- 
lent be liked ; for I have feen the Dutch and Englifh Pre- 
fers frequently returned, and in that Cafe they were ob- 
liged to make more valuable Gifts, fuch as would pleafe 
the King, before they obtained their Defire. No Fo- 
reigner can enter the King’s Chamber without the Chappe 
for which he pays a Rial to the Officers that bear it. 
When a Ship comes into the Road of Achen , none of 
their Crew muft go alhore til J the Chappe comes, and till 
the Duty of that be paid, which amounts to fifty or fixty 
Rials, according to the Bignefs of the Ship, and upon 
their Departure from the Road, they are obliged to pay 
about hail as much. The Moors pay nothing upon the 
Export of Goods, but upon the Import the Duty is very 
heavy ; for they pay io per Cent, in Gold upon the Entry 
of all Goods which are apprailed by the Officers of the 
Alfandeque , and commonly over-rated 50 per Cent. The 
Butch and Englifh pay as much, but then they pay it in 
the Commodity itfelf, and not in Gold. But the greateft 
Damp upon the Trade in that Place is, that the King engrol- 
fes it all into his own Hands ; for what Commoditieshe buys, 
he muft have them under a Market Price, and what he fells 
riles to 50 per Cent, above it ; lb that if he continues to 
carry on his Commerce at this Rate, the Butch and En- 
glifh will be obliged to abandon this Place, and it is with 
that View, as I take it, that he does it ; for at prefent, he 
is very jealous of their Strength. From what has been 
faid, we may fafely infer, that the King of Achen is infi- 
nitely rich, eipecially if we confider, that over and above 
the before-mentioned Articles, he had an opulent Exchequer 
left him by his Father. 
44. To underftand how this prefent King of Achen 
came to the Crown, we mult know, that before the Reign 
of his Grandfather, the Orankays being never opprefled 
by their Kings, nor pillaged by other Nations, were very 
rich in Lands and Houfes, befides Gold and Silver, and 
gave a licentious Range to their infolent and proud Tem- 
pers. In thofe Days the City was fix times greater than 
it is now, and fo crowded with People, that one. could 
fcarce pafs along the Streets. No City in India had fo 
flourifhing a Trade. The Alfandeque required no Cuftoms 
but that of the Chappe ; Merchants might unload and 
load again in 15 Days-time. 
The Orankays lived in large ftately Houfes, with' Can- 
non at their Gates, and great Numbers of Slaves, both 
to ferve and guard them. They had magnificent Gar- 
ments, and pompous Retinues, and were much refpedied 
by the People. This Grandeur and Authority of the 
Orankays not only Jeffened the King’s Authority, but 
was often fatal to his Perfon, infomuch that it was a 
great 
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