CHAPTER XXIII
The Author goes to see the King of Bantam,1 and describes several adventures in connexion therewith.
Having freed
myself of an affair which had been raised so inconveniently for me, I
forthwith formed a resolution to visit the King of Bantam, having often
heard that he was very fond of men of our nation ; this I can confirm
on account of the good treatment which I received from him. As soon as
one passes beyond the Kingdoms which yield obedience to the Great
Mogul, the language which is called Malay is, among Orientals, what the
Latin language is in Europe.3 On the voyage I made to India in the year 1638 I took with me one of my brothers 3
who was my junior, and had a special talent for foreign languages. He
required but five or six months in order to learn one, and he spoke
eight of them perfectly well. Moreover he was well made in person and
was considered brave, of which he gave many proofs. One day he fought a
duel at Batavia with an infantry captain, over whom he obtained
considerable advantage, and General Vandime, who liked men of spirit,
and the principals of the Council, who had much esteem for him,
permitted the matter to pass in silence, and as a mark of the affection
with which they regarded him they gave him permission to equip a vessel
on his own private account and to trade in such goods as he pleased,
with the exception of spices. Accordingly my brother bought a vessel of
fourteen guns, with which he made many voyages. The first was to Siam,
where he made
1
In the native language, Bantan. It forms the western end of Java and
has an area of 2,568 geographical square miles. It is a mountainous
country of volcanic formation. An English station was established there
as early as 1603, but the Dutch ultimately proved the superior in this
region. It is now a Dutch Province, having been taken possession of in
1643. (Crawfurd, Dictionary, 38.) Ency. Brit., iii. 355 f. [But see Introd.]. The King of Bantam appears in English literature (Jonson, The Alchemist, ii. 1 ; Congreve, Love for Love ; Aphra Behn, The Court of the King of Bantam).
2 This is still the case, Malay being the lingua franca in these regions.
3 This was his brother Daniel (see Introduction, pp. xii and xvi).
