States-General
having had notice of it, considered it very singuÂlar that the
gentlemen of the Company had assumed authority to coin money without
permission, and forbade the Company to continue to do so. They
condemned them likewise to a large fine, and ordered a careful search
to be made for all these reales, in order to give an equal number of
good ones to those who had received the bad ones. On this voyage to
Batavia, when in the island of Ceylon, I sold some jewels to a lady of
Pointe de Galle, who paid me with these reales. When I was leaving, an
officer of the Company came on board to ask if I had not received some
of these reales, and added that if I had he would give me good ones,
piece for piece, without my losing anything ; this he did forthwith.
CHAPTER XXV
Concerning the Dutch War with the Emperor of Java.1
Before leaving
the English President, with whom I dined the day I left Bantam, he
discussed with me the reasons why the General of Batavia and his
Council had refused me a passage to Surat or the coast of Bengal, where
they often send vessels. The President, to compensate me for this
refusal, kindly offered me a passage to England ; for the season was
then past for returning to India. Attracted by his offer, I accepted it
without ceremony ; and he told me he would be much gratified at having
my company, because he himself intended to go home, as the period of
his service had expired. But the vessels, English or Dutch, could not
leave for Europe for more than three months ; and I thought I should do
best to pass that time at Batavia, where I might be able to buy
something to make my money yield a profit during the voyage.
Accordingly, I took leave of the President till the time when the
vessels should sail; and he presented me with a large cask of English
beer to take with me to Batavia, where he said I should find scarcely
any, because the General had made it contraband, knowing that it had
come to the English Company. ' But if he does us only this 1 La lave in the original.
