258 FRAUDS BY DUTCH OFFICIALS book iii
in
silence, for every one of these Commanders has his patron at Batavia,
to whom he sends valuable presents yearly, besides which there is not
one of these gentlemen of the Council who has not done the same
himself. Moreover, if anyone who is cognizant of a wrong done by a
Commander to the Company reports it to the General, he is certain never
to be appointed to any factory, and sooner or later an opportunity is
found for removing him from the office he holds, and he is sent as a
soldier to some island to end his life miserably.
As
for the trade which these Commanders do on their own account, there is
no one who knows more about it than the poor sailors, who are sometimes
very badly treated by the Commanders themselves, or the officers of the
vessels who when they go on shore report to the chief of the factory
that so and so has so many bales of goods on his private account. Most
frequently the chief of the factory, who knows his part, sends to
advise the person to whom the goods belong to have them removed, and to
arrange to have them carried on shore by night. In order to give him
time to discharge all, the informer is so well supplied with drink that
he is drunk for a day or two, and when all has been removed the
Commander goes to the vessel to make an examination, well assured that
he will find nothing. Then the poor sailor or soldier, for the
falsehood which they force him to believe he has told, is severely
punished, his wages are confiscated, and in most cases he is sent for
three or four years to work on the galley dispatched for a cargo of
stones. There are, then, some of these Commanders who have defrauded
the Company, and have returned to Holland with great booty, 400,000 or
500,000 livres1 worth of diamonds, pearls, ambergris, and
other goods which occupy but small space. For if all is not well
concealed, and if the Company is able to discover it, it is lost, and
their wages are confiscated. But they have wonderful ways for escaping,
even when they have bulky goods, like calicoes and other things which
occupy much space, for all cannot go to the places where diamonds are
to be purchased, and moreover they more frequently experience 1 £30,000 to £37,500.
