as good as English, 2-1/2 dollars the pekul.  Coromandel cloths are a principal commodity here, and those most vendible are goobares; pintadoes or chintz, of four or five colours; fine tappies from St Thomas; ballachos; Java girdles, otherwise called caine-goolong; calico lawns; book calicos; and white calicos made up in rolls.[147] A goobar is double, and contains 12 yards, or 6 hastaes single; coarse and fine ballachos contain from 32 to 34 hastaes, but the finest are always longest.  In general, all sorts of cotton cloths that are broad and of good length are here in good request.

[Footnote 147:  Probably turbans.—­E.]

The king’s custom, called chuckey, is 8 bags on the 100, rating pepper always at 4 dollars the sack, whatever be its price. Billa-billian is another custom of this port, by which every ship that arrives here, whatever be its lading, as cloth or the like, must in the first place give notice to the king of all the sorts and quantities of commodities, with their several prices, before landing any of them; upon which the king sends his officers to look at the goods, who take for him such goods as he inclines, at half the prices affixed to them, or somewhat more, as can be agreed upon:  Thus, if the cloths be rated at 20 dollars per corge, the king will only give 15 or 16 dollars at the most.  Instead of this, the Hollanders have been in use to pay to the king 700 or 800 dollars at once for the freedom of a ship’s loading, to clear them of this troublesome billa-billian.  By the custom of the country, this duty upon 6000 sacks of pepper is fixed at 666 dollars, if you purchase and load the pepper from the merchants; or otherwise to purchase so many thousand sacks of pepper from the king, paying him half or three quarters of a dollar more than the current price at the time.  Even if you have provided a loading beforehand, you must pay this exaction before you can be permitted to load. Rooba-rooba is the duty of anchorage, and is 500 dollars upon 6000 sacks.  The sabander’s duty is 250 dollars on 6000 sacks.  The weighers have one dollar on every 100 sacks; and the jerotoolies, or weighers belonging to the customhouse, have a similar duty of one dollar the 100 sacks.

Jortan is a place to the eastwards of Jackatra, called likewise Sourabaya, which produces plenty of provisions, together with cotton wool, and yarn ready spun.  There come to this place many junks from Jauby, laden with pepper, and several small proas belonging to this place trade with Banda; so that some mace and nutmegs are to be had here.

Macasser is an island not far from Celebes, having abundance of bezoar stones, which are there to be had at reasonable rates.  It has plenty of rice and other provisions; and as it has some junks which trade with Banda, nutmegs and mace are likewise to be procured there, but in no great quantity.