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CHAP. XXV
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ENGLISH BEER
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285
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injury,'
continued the President, ' the Company will not trouble itself, and
will not be the poorer because its beer remains unsold.' It is pot
really the case that if this prohibition of the Dutch General and his
Council had continued it would not have been injurious to the English,
for they make a considerable profit on beer, and it yields them a large
sum of money annually. I have said above that it is the principal
delight of the people of Batavia to see new drinks arrive, especially
English beer, and that which they call mom,1 which comes
from Brunswick. It is thought that they contribute to health ; and the
majority fear that they will not survive till the year's end if they do
not receive these supplies. Accordingly all the people murmured loudly
against the General and his Council; and even the publicans risked
buying beer from the English, the General shutting his eyes, and the
wives of the Councillors being very glad to drink it.
As
soon as I landed at Batavia one of the guards ran to the entry office
to give notice that I had arrived with a cask of beer ; however, I
landed it from the barque and placed it near the guard. The chief of
the office came to me and said that he could not give permission for
the cask to be carried to my lodging ; that I must be aware of the
order of Council; and that it would be best to reship it on the barque,
and send it back to Bantam. Seeing that there was no favour to be hoped
for, and as there are close to the guardhouse cannons, in position,
for the defence of the port, and an abundance of cannon balls, I took
one of these balls and with it stove in one end of the cask. That done,
I cried out to the soldiers and passers-by : ' Children, come and empty
this cask, and drink the health of the King of Prance, my sovereign
lord, and that of the Prince of Orange', after which I mentioned the
General and the members of the Council. As no one refused to drink, the
cask was already half emptied when an officer on the part of the
General came to tell me that I might carry my cask of beer to my
lodging. Immediately I replaced the end of the cask and had it carried
1 Mum, German Mumme, Brunswick beer, largely imported into England in the 17th and 18th centuries (New English Diet. s. v.)
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