In February and March every year, there come to Bantam three or four junks from China, richly laden with raw silk, and wrought silks of various stuffs, China cashes, porcelain, cotton cloth, and other things. The prices of these are as follow: Raw silk of Lanking [Nankin] which is the best, 190 dollars the pekul; raw silk of Canton, which is coarser, 80 dollars the pekul; taffeta in bolts, 120 yards in the piece, 46 dollars the corge, or 20 pieces; velvets of all colours, 13 yards the piece, for 12 dollars; Damasks of all colours, 12 yards the piece, at 6 dollars; white sattins, in pieces of 12 yards, 8 dollars each; Burgones, of 10 yards long the piece, 45 dollars the corge; sleeve silk, the best made colours, 3 dollars the cattee; the best musk, 22 dollars the cattee; the best sewing gold thread, 15 knots, and every knot 30 threads, one dollar; velvet hangings with gold embroidery, 18 dollars; upon sattins, 14 dollars; white curtain stuffs, 9 yards the piece, 50 dollars the corge; flat white damask, 9 yards the piece, 4 dollars each; white sugar, very dry, 3-1/2 dollars the pekul; very dry sugar-candy, 5 dollars the pekul; very fine broad porcelain basons, 2 dollars the piece; coarse calico cloths, white or brown, 15 dollars the corge. They bring likewise coarse porcelain, drugs, and various other commodities; but as these are not suitable to our country, I omit to mention them, but the following may be enumerated: Very good and white benjamins, from 30 to 35 dollars the pekul; alum, from China, as good as English, 2-1/2 dollars the pekul. Coromandel cloths are a principal commodity here, and those most vendible are goobares; pintadoes or chintz, of four or five colours; fine tappies from St Thomas; ballachos; Java girdles, otherwise called caine-goolong; calico lawns; book calicos; and white calicos made up in rolls.[147] A goobar is double, and contains 12 yards, or 6 hastaes single; coarse and fine ballachos contain from 32 to 34 hastaes, but the finest are always longest. In general, all sorts of cotton cloths that are broad and of good length are here in good request.
[Footnote 147: Probably turbans.--E.]
The king's custom, called chuckey, is 8 bags on the 100, rating pepper always at 4 dollars the sack, whatever be its price. Billa-billian is another custom of this port, by which every ship that arrives here, whatever be its lading, as cloth or the like, must in the first place give notice to the king of all the sorts and quantities of commodities, with their several prices, before landing any of them; upon which the king sends his officers to look at the goods, who take for him such goods as he inclines, at half the prices affixed to them, or somewhat more, as can be agreed upon: Thus, if the cloths be rated at 20 dollars per corge, the king will only give 15 or 16 dollars at the most. Instead of this, the Hollanders have been in use to pay to the king 700 or 800 dollars at once for the freedom of a ship's loading, to clear them of this troublesome billa-billian. By the custom of the country, this duty upon 6000 sacks of pepper is fixed at 666 dollars, if you purchase and load the pepper from the merchants; or otherwise to purchase so many thousand sacks of pepper from the king, paying him half or three quarters of a dollar more than the current price at the time. Even if you have provided a loading beforehand, you must pay this exaction before you can be permitted to load. Rooba-rooba is the duty of anchorage, and is 500 dollars upon 6000 sacks. The sabander's duty is 250 dollars on 6000 sacks. The weighers have one dollar on every 100 sacks; and the jerotoolies, or weighers belonging to the customhouse, have a similar duty of one dollar the 100 sacks.
Jortan is a place to the eastwards of Jackatra, called likewise Sourabaya, which produces plenty of provisions, together with cotton wool, and yarn ready spun. There come to this place many junks from Jauby, laden with pepper, and several small proas belonging to this place trade with Banda; so that some mace and nutmegs are to be had here.
Macasser is an island not far from Celebes, having abundance of bezoar stones, which are there to be had at reasonable rates. It has plenty of rice and other provisions; and as it has some junks which trade with Banda, nutmegs and mace are likewise to be procured there, but in no great quantity.
Balee, or Bally, is an island to the eastward of Macasser, standing in 8° 30' S. latitude.[148] It produces great abundance of rice, cotton-yarn, slaves, and coarse white cloth, which is in great request at Bantam. The commodities for sale there, are the smallest sort of blue and white beads, iron, and coarse porcelain.
[Footnote 148: Instead of the eastwards, Bally is W.S.W. of Macasser, in long. 115° E. and lat. 8° 30' S. while Macasser is in about the lat. of 5° 15' S. and in 120° E. long.--E.]
Timor is an island to the eastwards of Bally, in the latitude of 10° 40'. This island produces great quantities of Chindanna, called by us white saunders, of which the largest logs are accounted the best, and which sells at Bantam for 20 dollars the pekul, at the season when the junks are here. Wax likewise is brought from thence in large cakes, worth at Bantam 18, 19, 20, and even 30 dollars the pekul, according to quantity and demand. Great frauds are practised with this article, so that it requires great attention in the purchaser, and the cakes ought to be broken, to see that nothing be mixed with it. The commodities carried there for sale are chopping knives, small bugles, porcelain, coloured taffetas, but not blacks, Chinese frying-pans,[149] Chinese bells, and thin silver plates beaten out quite flat, and thin like a wafer, about the breadth of a hand. There is much profit made in this trade, as the Chinese have sometimes given four for one to our men who had adventured with them.
[Footnote 149: Perhaps, as stated in conjunction with bells, gongs are here meant, which are not unlike frying-pans.--E.]
Banda is in the latitude of 5° S. and affords great store of mace and nutmegs, together with oil of two sorts. It has no king, being ruled by a sabander, who unites with the sabanders of Nero, Lentore, Puloway, Pulorin, and Labatacca, islands near adjoining. These islands were all formerly under the dominion of the King of Ternate, but now govern themselves. In these islands they have three harvests of mace and nutmegs every year; in the months of July, October, and February; but the gathering in July is the greatest, and is called the arepootee monsoon. Their manner of dealing is this: A small bahar is ten cattees of mace, and 100 of nutmegs; a great bahar being 100 cattees of mace, and 1000 of nutmegs. The cattee is five libs. 13-1/2[150] ounces English, and the prices are variable. The commodities in request at these islands are, Coromandel cloth, cheremallay, sarrasses, chintzes or pintadoes of five colours, fine ballachos, black girdles, chellyes, white calicos, red or stammel broad-cloths, gold in coin, such as English rose-nobles and Dutch ducats and dollars. But gold is so much preferred, that you may have as much for the value of 70 dollars in gold as would cost 90 dollars in silver. Fine china basons without rims are likewise in request, together with damasks of light gay colours, taffetas, velvets, china-boxes, gilded counters, gold chains, gilt silver cups, bright and damasked head-pieces, fire-arms, but not many sword blades, which must be brandt and backed to the point. Likewise Cambaya cloths, black and red calicos, calico lawns, and rice, which last is a good commodity to carry there.