So Terrified Were We On Account
Of Fire, That Though, When We Went To Sleep After Our Watches Were
Expired,
Our men often sounded their drum at our ears without awakening
us, if the word fire had been spoken, however
Softly, we would all
instantly run from our chambers; so that I was forced to warn them not
to talk of fire in the night without urgent occasion. I do not mention
these things to discourage others from going hereafter to Bantam: for we
were then strangers, but have now many friends there, and the country is
under much better regulation, and will more and more improve in
government as the young king grows older. In three months time, the town
on the east side of the river was five times burnt down; but, God be
praised, the wind always favoured us; and although the Javans often set
it on fire near us, it pleased God still to preserve us, as there was
little wind, and the fire was put out before it got our length.
Sec. 3. Differences between the Hollanders, styling themselves English,
and the Javans, and of other memorable Things.
About this time there was again a great outcast between the Hollanders
and the natives, owing to the rude behaviour of the former, and many of
them were stabbed in the evenings. The common people did not then
distinguish between us and the Hollanders, calling both of us English,
because the Hollanders had usurped our name on first coming here for
trade, in which they did us much wrong, as we used often to hear the
people in the streets railing against the English, when they actually
meant the Hollanders; so that, fearing some of our men might be stabbed
instead of them, we endeavoured to fall upon some plan to make ourselves
be distinguished from them. And as the 17th of November drew nigh, which
we still held as the coronation-day of queen Elizabeth, knowing no
better, we dressed ourselves in new silk garments, and made us scarfs
and hat-bands of red and white taffeta, the colours of our country, and
a banner of St George, being white with a red cross in the middle. We,
the factors, distinguished ourselves from our men, by edging our scarfs
with a deep gold fringe.
When the day arrived, we set up our banner on the top of our house, and,
with our drum and fire-arms, marched up and down the yard of our house;
being but fourteen in number, we could only cast ourselves in rings and
esses in single file, and so plied our shot. Hearing our firing, the
sabander, and some others of the chief people of the land, came to see
us, and enquired the cause of our rejoicing; when we told them that our
queen was crowned on that day forty-seven years ago, for which reason
all Englishmen, in whatever country they might then happen to be, were
in use to shew their joy on that day.
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