Balee, or Bally, is an island to the eastward of Macasser, standing in 8 deg. 30’ S. latitude.[148] It produces great abundance of rice, cotton-yarn, slaves, and coarse white cloth, which is in great request at Bantam.  The commodities for sale there, are the smallest sort of blue and white beads, iron, and coarse porcelain.

[Footnote 148:  Instead of the eastwards, Bally is W.S.W. of Macasser, in long. 115 deg.  E. and lat. 8 deg. 30’ S. while Macasser is in about the lat. of 5 deg. 15’ S. and in 120 deg.  E. long.—­E.]

Timor is an island to the eastwards of Bally, in the latitude of 10 deg. 40’.  This island produces great quantities of Chindanna, called by us white saunders, of which the largest logs are accounted the best, and which sells at Bantam for 20 dollars the pekul, at the season when the junks are here.  Wax likewise is brought from thence in large cakes, worth at Bantam 18, 19, 20, and even 30 dollars the pekul, according to quantity and demand.  Great frauds are practised with this article, so that it requires great attention in the purchaser, and the cakes ought to be broken, to see that nothing be mixed with it.  The commodities carried there for sale are chopping knives, small bugles, porcelain, coloured taffetas, but not blacks, Chinese frying-pans,[149] Chinese bells, and thin silver plates beaten out quite flat, and thin like a wafer, about the breadth of a hand.  There is much profit made in this trade, as the Chinese have sometimes given four for one to our men who had adventured with them.

[Footnote 149:  Perhaps, as stated in conjunction with bells, gongs are here meant, which are not unlike frying-pans.—­E.]

Banda is in the latitude of 5 deg.  S. and affords great store of mace and nutmegs, together with oil of two sorts.  It has no king, being ruled by a sabander, who unites with the sabanders of Nero, Lentore, Puloway, Pulorin, and Labatacca, islands near adjoining.  These islands were all formerly under the dominion of the King of Ternate, but now govern themselves.  In these islands they have three harvests of mace and nutmegs every year; in the months of July, October, and February; but the gathering in July is the greatest, and is called the arepootee monsoon.  Their manner of dealing is this:  A small bahar is ten cattees of mace, and 100 of nutmegs; a great bahar being 100 cattees of mace, and 1000 of nutmegs.  The cattee is five libs. 13-1/2[150] ounces English, and the prices are variable.  The commodities in request at these islands are, Coromandel cloth, cheremallay, sarrasses, chintzes or pintadoes of five colours, fine ballachos, black girdles, chellyes, white calicos, red or stammel broad-cloths, gold in coin, such as English rose-nobles and Dutch ducats and dollars.  But gold is so much preferred, that you may have as much for the value of 70 dollars in gold as would cost 90 dollars in silver.  Fine