Having Refreshed Ourselves Here With Good
Air, Fresh Victuals, And Water, The General Left Orders For The Susan To
Complete Her Loading In All Speed, Which Wanted Only A Few Hundred
Bahars Of Pepper, And Then To Proceed Direct For England.
Leaving the Susan at Priaman, we left that place with the Dragon and
Hector on the 4th December, directing our course for Bantam in Java.
Entering the straits of Sunda, the 15th December, we came to anchor
under an island three leagues from Bantam, called Pulo Pansa.
Next
morning we got into the road of Bantam, and fired a great peal of
ordnance from our two ships, the like of which had never been heard in
that place before. Next morning, the general sent Captain John Middleton
on shore with a message for the king, to say that he, the general, was
sent by the Queen of England with a letter and message for his majesty,
and required his majesty's licence and safe conduct to come on shore to
deliver them. The king sent back word that he was glad of his arrival,
sending a nobleman along with Captain Middleton to welcome the general,
and accompany him on shore. Taking about sixteen attendants, the
general went on shore with this nobleman to the court, where he found
the king, being a boy of ten or eleven years of age, sitting in a round
house, surrounded in some decent state by sixteen or eighteen of his
nobles. The general made his obeisance after the custom of the country,
and was welcomed very kindly by the young king. After some conference
about his message, he delivered the queen's letter into the king's
hands, and made him a present of plate and some other things, which the
king received with a smiling countenance, and referred the general for
farther conference to one of his nobles, who was protector or regent of
the kingdom in his minority.
After a conference of an hour and a half; the regent in the king's name
received the general and all his company under the king's protection,
with perfect freedom to come on land, to buy and sell without
molestation, assuring him of as great security as in his own country, to
all which the other nobles gave their consent and assurance. There
passed many discourses upon other topics at this conference, which I
omit troubling the reader with for the sake of brevity; my purpose being
to shew the effect of this first settlement of trade in the East Indies,
rather than to be tediously particular. After this kind welcome and
satisfactory conference, the general took his leave of the king and
nobles, and immediately gave orders for providing houses, of which he
had the king's authority to make choice to his liking. Within two days,
the merchants brought their goods ashore, and began to make sales; but
one of the nobles came to the general, saying, that it was the custom of
the place, for the king to buy and provide himself before the subjects
could purchase any thing. The general readily consented to this
arrangement, being informed that the king would give a reasonable price
and make punctual payment.
When the king was served, the merchants went on with their sales, and in
a few weeks sold more goods than would have sufficed to purchase loading
for both ships, yet we only brought away from thence 276 bags of pepper,
each containing sixty-two pounds. Each bag cost at first rate 5-1/2
ryals of eight, of 4s. 6d. being L1:4:9 per bag, or something less than
5d. a pound. This was, however, besides duty of anchorage and custom to
the king. By agreement with the Sabander or governor of the
city,[116] the general paid as anchorage duty for the two ships, 1500
ryals of eight; and one ryal of eight as custom for each bag of pepper.
We traded here very peaceably, though the Javans are reckoned the
greatest thieves in the world: But; after having received one or two
abuses, the general had authority from the king to put to death whoever
was found about his house in the night, and after four or five were thus
slain, we lived in reasonable peace and quiet, yet had continually to
keep strict watch all night.
[Footnote 116: This officer, as his title implies, which ought to be
written Shah-bander, is lord of the port or harbour. - E.]
We went on with our trade, so that by the 10th February, 1603, our ships
were fully laden and ready to depart. In the mean time, Mr John
Middleton, captain of the Hector, fell sick on board his ship in the
road. For, from the very first of our voyage, the general made it an
invariable rule, if he were ashore, that the vice-admiral must be on
board, and vice versa, that both might not be at one time from their
charge. Hearing of his sickness, the general went aboard to visit him,
and found him much weaker than he himself felt or suspected, which
experience in these hot climates had taught our general to know; for,
although Captain Middleton was then walking about the deck, he died
about two o'clock next morning.
The general now proceeded to put every thing in order for our speedy
departure, and appointed a pinnace of about 40 tons, which we had, to be
laden with commodities, putting into her twelve mariners with certain
merchants, whom he sent to the Moluccas, to trade there and settle a
factory, against the arrival of the next ships from England. He likewise
left eight men and three factors in Bantam, Mr William Starkie being
head factor; whom he appointed to sell such commodities as were left,
and to provide loading for the next ships. Every thing being arranged,
the general went to court to take his leave of the king, from whom he
received a letter for Queen Elizabeth, with a present of some fine
bezoar stones.
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