Jackatra, neither of whom I had before heard of. I used every means to
get them, but could not, unless I had been at great charges. Some of
them belonged to great men among the Javans, and had taken refuge in
their houses, so that we could not get at them: Yet some of their
masters offered to sell them, on which we higgled for their price as one
would do for an ox or calf, but they held them so dear that I could not
deal with them. I offered as much for each as would have bought a slave
in their stead; but they were fit instruments for their purpose, being
practised in all manner of villainy, so that they would not part with
them, except for large sums; for all the Javans and Chinese, from the
highest to the lowest, are thorough-paced villains, without one spark of
grace. Were it not for the sabander and admiral, and one or two more,
who are natives of _Clyn_, there would be no living for Christians among
them, without a fort, or a strong house all of brick or stone. We did
not torture _Boyhoy_, because he had confessed, but crissed him.

Among the other instruments of the devil on earth in Bantam, there was a
kinsman of the king, named _Pangram Mandelicko_, who kept one of the
incendiaries of our house under his protection. He came one day to our
house to buy cloth, when I desired him to deliver up this fellow into
our hands, telling him how good it would be for the country to root out
all such villains. "Tell them so," said he, "who have the government in
their hands, or care for the good of the country, for I do not." On
another time, wanting me to give him credit for cloth to the value of
six or seven hundred pieces of eight, because I refused to trust him, he
went away very angry, saying at the gate, it was a pity our house was
not again set on fire.

The regent or protector gave us all the houses and ground that joined
our inclosure, and had belonged to the incendiaries that undermined our
house, but made us pay enormously dear for the property. We bought also
from a _Pangram_, or gentleman, a house which came so near the door of
our pepper warehouse as to be very troublesome to us, so that now we had
a spacious yard.

The 9th September, the regent made proclamation, that no Chinese should
weigh pepper to the English and Hollanders; which proclamation was
procured by the Hollanders, for they told us themselves that day at
dinner, that the protector owed them 10,000 sacks of pepper; but I said
to them that it w