There Was At This Time In Bantam Three
Houses Of The Hollanders, All Upon Separate Accounts, Which All Bought
Up As Much Pepper As They Could Get.
The 5th March, the regent sent again to borrow 1000 pieces of eight in
the name of the king; and I was forced to lend him 500, lest he might
have quarrelled with me, which would have given much pleasure to the
Hollanders.
In this country, when a Javan of any note is to be put to
death, although there is a public executioner, yet the nearest of kin
to the criminal is generally allowed to execute the office, which is
considered as a great favour. The 14th March, Thomas Tudd, who had been
left here as chief factor for Banda, departed this life, having been
long sick; so that of seven factors left here for Bantam and Banda, two
only were in life, besides several others of our men having died; we
being now only ten men living and one boy.
A great junk from China came in on the 22d of April, which was thought
to have been cast away, being so late, as they usually come in during
February and March. In consequence of her very late coming, cashes
kept all this year at a very cheap rate, which was a great hindrance to
our trade, as when cashes are cheap, and pieces of eight consequently
dear, we could not sell any of our prize goods at half the value we did
at our first arrival. Besides this, the Chinese sent all the ryals they
could get this year to China; for which reason we were obliged to give
them credit, or must have lost the principal time of the year for making
sales. The Hollanders had purchased all the pepper, except what was in
our hands, and what belonged to the sabander, who would not sell at any
reasonable price. Our goods now began to be old, and many of their
colours to fade; for the warehouses are so hot and moist, that they will
spoil any kind of cloth that is long in them, though we take never so
much pains in airing and turning them.
Sec. 4. Treacherous Underminings, and other Occurrences.
A Chinaman turned Javan was our next neighbour, who kept a
victualling-house or tavern, and brewed arack, a hot drink used in these
parts instead of wine. He had two outhouses, in one of which his guests
were in use to sit, and the other was his brewhouse, which joined the
pales on the south side of our house. He now commenced a new trade, and
became an engineer, having leagued with eight other villains to set our
house on fire and plunder our goods. These nine ruffians dug a well in
the brewhouse, from the bottom of which they wrought a mine quite under
the foundation of our house, and then upwards to our warehouse; but on
coming to the planked floor of the warehouse, they were at a stand how
to get through, being afraid to cut them, as they always heard some of
us walking over them night and day. They had gone wrong to work; for if
they had continued their mine only to our next adjoining wareroom, they
would have found 30,000 pieces of eight buried in jars for fear of fire;
beside that room was not boarded. After waiting two months in vain for
an opportunity to cut the boards, one of them, who was a smith, proposed
to work through our planks by means of fire. Accordingly, about ten at
night of the 28th May, 1604, they put a candle to the planks, through
which they presently burnt a round hole. When the fire got through, it
immediately communicated to the mats of our bales, which began to burn
and spread. All the while we knew nothing of the matter, by reason of
the closeness of the warehouse, all the windows being plastered up for
fear of fire over-head.
After the first watch was out, one of which I had been, the second watch
smelt a strong funk of fire, as it was by that time much increased,
but they could not find out where it was after searching every corner.
One of them remembered a rat-hole behind his trunk, whence he could
plainly perceive the smoke steaming out, on which he came immediately to
me, and told me our cloth warehouse was on fire. Going down immediately,
and opening the doors of the warehouse, we were almost suffocated by the
smoke, which was so thick we could not perceive whence it came. We had
at this time two jars of gunpowder in this warehouse, which made us
greatly fear being blown up: But, laying aside fear, we pulled every
thing away that lay upon these jars, and got them out to our back-yard,
the jars being already very hot. We now searched boldly for the fire,
and at last found it. At length, by the aid of some Chinese merchants
and others, we cleared the room of above fifty packs of goods, sixteen
of which were on fire.
We wondered how this fire had come, suspecting the Portuguese had hired
some Malays to do it: But a Chinese bricklayer, who wrought at the Dutch
house, told a Hollander next morning, who had been long in the country,
that it was done by the Chinese brewer and his accomplices, who were now
fled, and if we looked well in the room we should find how it had been
done. The Dutchman told this to an English surgeon, desiring him to come
and tell us, while he, the Dutchman, being perfect in the native
language, would go and enquire after the incendiaries. The surgeon came
to me, and desired to see the room which had been on fire; on going into
which with a candle, he presently discovered a little round hole, burnt
quite through one of the planks of the floor, and putting down a long
stick, we could feel no bottom.
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