30 CHIEF OFFICERS OF A COMPANY book ii
theless,
there is an abundance of cattle in the jungles, with which the country
is covered, so that a buffalo or a cow does not cost more than 2
piastres.1 The English and Dutch use these cattle to feed
their people, in order to save the provision of their vessels during
their sojourn at Suwall.
It is well to remark that experience has shown that the flesh of buffaloes2 often causes dysentery, which is considered most injurious to crews, but cow beef never gives rise to it.
The
Raja who rules the country bears the title of Governor for life ; and
this is the ease with nearly all the Rajas in the Empire of the Mogul,
who were the nobles of the Provinces where their descendants only have
the title of Governors.3 He treats the Portuguese well,
because their position as neighbours brings him in money by the sale of
his corn, rice, and vegetables, and for the same, reason he treats the
French still better.
After
the establishment of such a position, which should be the principal
basis of the trade of the Company, there is nothing more important than
to select two men, marked by their wisdom, rectitude, and intelligence
in trade, and there should be no regard for economy in their
allowances. These two men are intended to serve the Company, one in the
position of Commandant or Commander, as the Dutch entitle them, with a
council of a certain number of persons for his assistance ; the other
for the office of broker or merchant, who should be a native of the
country, an idolater and not a Musalman, because all the workmen with
whom he will have to do are idolaters. Good manners and probity are
above all things necessary in order to acquire confidence at first
among these people. It is well to secure like qualities in the private
brokers, who are under the direction of the Broker-General,
1 i. e. about 9s.
2
Both the flesh and milk of buffaloes are at times, if not always,
considered unwholesome (Fryer, i. 296). At the present day buffalo beef
is thought, and rightly, to be coarse, unpalatable, and liable to breed
maggots; it is eaten by none but the lowest classes of the population.
3
Bernier (p. 210 f.) accurately describes the relations of the Rajas or
Chiefs to the Imperial Government. From the context, Tavernier seems to
refer to the numerous petty Chiefs of Gujarat and Kathiawar.
