town
in their gardens. During these twenty days M. Cant, one of the
Councillors of India, died, and was buried with great honour. A company
of infantry attended and bore a large standard, upon which were the
arms of the deceased, although when he first came to India he held the
lowest office in the vessel. A stick, to the end of which spurs were
attached, was borne behind, though, to say the truth, I do not believe
he had ever mounted a horse save to go for exercise outside the town.
One of the captains carried his sword, another his helmet, and his body
was borne by eight military officers. The son-in-law of the deceased
followed with the General; after whom walked the gentlemen of the
Council; a number of people followed from the fort and town. The four
corners of the pall with which the bier was covered were carried by
four captains, and all these honours were rendered to him in
consideration of the good services which the Company had received from
him—as the General and members of the Council proclaimed ; but the
people used very different language, and complained bitterly of the
great injustice he had done, both to sailors and soldiers. Having
passed these twenty days at Batavia, I resolved to carry back the
dagger to the King of Bantam, without having looked for the diamonds or
other stones, for if I had remained years I should not have found any
suitable for these bezels. My brother accompanied me again, and I took
with me some jewels which the King had not yet seen. On our arrival at
Bantam we intended to go first to visit the English President, but,
before we had done so, one of the King's officers came to us, and told
us that he had been instructed that we should be lodged in one of the
King's houses in the town. These houses are made of bamboos, which are,
as I have elsewhere said, hollow canes, and though they are as hard as
iron, nevertheless split like our osiers, and it is of them that the
Indians make nearly everything. We had not spent more than half an hour
in this house when the King sent us some pateches,1 which are very sweet watermelons, and red as scarlet inside. There were also mangoes,
1 More properly pateca, a water-melon, CitrvMus vulgaris (Schrader). The name is from the Arabic al-bittikh. (Yule, Hobwn-Jobaon, 684 f.)
