298 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
camphora of Borneo, and pepper from Achin, in 
Sumatra. To Cirion, a port of Pegu, come ships 
from Mecca, with woollen cloths, scarlets, velvets, 
opium, and such like. There are in Pegu eight 
brokers, whom they call Tareghe, (Thare-gyi,) 
which are bound to sell your gooda at the price 
which they be worth, and you give them for their 
labour two in the hundred, and they be bound to 
make your debt good ; because you sell your mer¬ 
chandizes on their word. If the broker pay you 
not at his day, you may take him home, and 
keep him in your house, which is a great shame 
for him. And if he pay you not presently, you 
may take his wife and children, and his slaves, and 
bind them at your door, and set them in the sun; 
for this is the law of the country. Their current 
money in these parts is a kind of brass, which 
they call ganza, wherewith you may buy gold, sil¬ 
ver, rubies, musk, and all other things. The gold 
and silver is merchandize, and is worth, sometimes 
more, sometimes less, as other wares be. This 
brazen money doth go by a weight, which they 
call a biza, (the viss, or paiktha ;) and, commonly, 
this biza, after our account, is worth about half- 
a-crown, or somewhat less. The merchandize 
which be in Pegu, are gold, silver, rubies, sap¬ 
phires, spinells, musk, benjamin or frankincense, 
long pepper, tin, lead, copper, lacker whereof they 
make hard wax, rice and wine made of rice, and 
some sugar.” 
