Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/31

 In another report dated, August 7, 1672, the factors further dilate upon their troubles: "Two voyages were made up to the city Catchao, first to procure the prince's chop to land goods and second to make prices of our goods they took from us for the King's use, which was all we hoped to gain by; but they made us such prices as the Company would lose by, except the cloth stuff and guns; and would have forced upon us silk at 40 p.c. dearer than might be procured abroad.&hellip;It would be of ill consequence to the Company's affairs to allow such an imposition, they at their own rates abating ours and raising their own goods; and measuring our cloth by a false measure contrary to custom, which is barely the Dutch ell to which they added nearly a 20th part. They are the most deceitful, craving and thievish people that ever we came among. But we are encouraged to hope that the King will hear our complaints and remedy all these things for us at his return." On the 12th of August the Zant dropped down the river and left on her return voyage. Afterwards Gyfford occupied himself in establishing the factory at Hien. In letters to Bantam and the Court, Gyfford, James and Waite, the factors, enumerated the goods that were likely to be most profitable. They concluded; "'Tis not convenient to send much goods hither. Principally send what pieces of eight you can; for the life of this trade is money, and unless the most part of the Company's stock sent hither be in money this factory cannot yield profit."

"It had been far better to have seen a trade opened northward, before we engaged in this expense, as we declared at Bantam."

"It is difficult to recover money from the prince; yet he must not be denied more goods whenever he sends for them; we understand the King pays well, but his son conceives it sufficient that he intends to do the same when he succeeds to the throne.&hellip;The usual way with the mandarins is to take goods agreeing to pay at the same time and in the same manner as the King; so that being interested, they prevent us paying him so well as he is disposed to do. He this year gave order to pay us in Plate; but the mandarins refused to obey and would pay us only in bad silk at a high price. The Dutch upon a like abuse being unable to get their petition presented to the King, brought their trumpet to the King's gate and obtained immediate access and redress. If your Honours continue here it must be upon such hazardous terms as we have related; and you cannot blame your servants who are in reality no better than slaves."

"It is the policy of the King to repress trade lest the people grow rich and rebel; of which he is very fearful by reason of the great population of the kingdom. He also receives four-fifths of the profits of the land and is very rich in gold and silver. The people if they have anything bury it and are afraid of making any unusual appearance in their houses or apparel lest they should be thought to have money; therefore it is impossible to induce them to wear anything but what they are accustomed to; neither would the King permit it, for all are habited alike according to their rank, in the distinction of which they are very exact, for not only a different title but also a different language is used according to the rank of the person addressed.&hellip;The Dutch have been settled in Tonquin forty years—for the first four years they suffered great affronts; but they bore all and in all things endeavoured to oblige the King and still continue to do so on account of the great profit they make on silk in Japan. The Dutch bring very little goods except for presents, and small quantities of such gruff goods as the King will not meddle with; their chief profit is on what they buy. Rich curiosities, instruments, or materials of war, never escape the King. Indeed, he takes whatever he fancies at his own rates. The Dutch take care to supply him with things of this description, but only with such as turn to profit;&hellip;We must do the same and forbear to furnish him with lead, for which he has only allowed one-fourth the cost and charges."

The factors experienced great difficulty in securing payment for the goods they sold, but in the end by sheer pertinacity they obtained some sort of an adjustment. Despite the discouraging results achieved, the Court in 1676–77 sent out another ship to trade in Tonkin. It was received in much the same manner as the Zant had been four years previously. The factors' old friend, Ung-ja-Thay, was early on the scene making himself pleasant in his peculiar way. He first of all wanted to beach the ship in order to inspect the cargo, but on receiving a solatium of 110 dollars he agreed "to let the ship alone and to proceed no further in his ruinous intent." The usual presents were made to the King, but His Majesty proved fastidious and returned some of them as not to his liking. The incident led to the despatch of a letter to the Bantam authorities advising them how to proceed in future in this important matter. "We would request you," says the communication, "to write them (the King and his son) letters in China characters and English or Portuguese sewed up in a piece of China gold stuff, and sealed each apart; and insert (specify?) your present to them in your letter, which must not be toys, but substantial things; as great guns, broad cloth, serges, large pieces rough amber—the deeper coloured the better, or large pieces of well-polished coral. The present of the Dutch to the King this year was four pieces of cloth, two sacker guns, a corge of fine cloth, and a chest of rosewater. So in proportion you may order your presents there, and get them up handsomely as those of the Dutch are." That these instructions were not superfluous was shown a few months after the letter was written. About that time the factors were endeavouring to obtain the grant of a site for a factory and, in order to secure his goodwill, had made a present of amber to the King's eldest son. The prince, not finding the tint of the amber exactly to his taste, returned the presents without ceremony. He took care to let it be known that the only amber which would please him must be "as red as fire." Soon after this incident a mysterious message from the King reached the ship, demanding the attendance of the commander, the gunner, and the carpenter. The trio went wonderingly, and on arrival at the palace found that His Majesty wanted to show them a great gun which his subjects had cast to fit some shot which the Company's ships had brought out. The weapon was duly inspected and discreetly commended. But it seemed that the King had not summoned them merely to survey and admire his subjects' handiwork. Clever as the Tonkinese were they had not been able to devise a contrivance for moving the gun, so the Englishmen were commanded to manufacture a crane for the purpose, on the lines of contrivances used on their vessels. The direction was obeyed and the crane duly supplied. "Yet," as the factors plaintively remark in one of their reports, "we had not so much as thanks though a man was ordered to oversee the work and did nothing else for near three months together." The King, in fact, took all that he could get and gave little in return. His subjects faithfully copied his example, in many cases indeed improving upon it. Under the strain of an intolerable situation the Company's agents became very despondent. Writing to Bantam about a month after the delivery of the crane they say: "As to the state of the Company's affairs here we know not what to advise, having to do with an unreasonable and untruthful people; for the more we endeavour to oblige them the greater disappointments we find from them." Notwithstanding the discouraging conditions, the negotiations for a site for a factory were continued until August, 1678, when, by dint of bribery, a licence was obtained from the King for the establishment of a factory on a site below the Dutch factory. The plot of ground given, the agent reported, "is not so large as we desire, but need hath no law." The consideration for the site was a brass and an iron gun and shot. The former was returned as defective, and the Tonkinese "would not hear anything alledged [sic] in proof of the goodness of the gun, for having once refused it, no replications avail, though they see the gun fired a hundred times." Apparently this allegation of the defectiveness of the gun was only a subterfuge to cover a repudiation of the bargain that had been come to. At all events, in October of the same year the report was made to Bantam that the King would not grant the ground this year "being his climacterical [sic] year, wherein he is so ceremoniously observant, that no kind of public affairs has been commenced." The affair of the site dragged on for some years, until after the death of the King. A grant was ultimately made by his successor and a regular establishment formed subordinate to Bantam, until the factory was captured by the Dutch when the control was vested in Surat.

At the station a certain amount of trade was done under restrictions peculiar to the place. One custom which proved very irksome and expensive was for the great men of the country to repair at odd times to the factory for purposes of entertainment. They did not wait for an invitation, but with their women folk dropped in just when the fancy took them. Gratuities had to be given to the women for the exercise of their vocal powers, and there were other charges which had to be defrayed out of the Company's exchequer. We have an account of one of these entertainments in the following entry in the factor's journal under date October 18, 1694: "The Duch Ung came to ye factory a little after noone, bringing with him abundance of women, his mother and severall of his wives; and presently after he had drank a cupp of Tea came about 20 Bandigaes of Tonqueen fashioned victualls of his own, he treating with them all ye factory and his own people. A little before night wee presented our entertainment likewise. He ate not himself, but ye women and his attendants all participated. They danced and sung all ye afternoone, and ye evening at their departure wee gave them 20,000 cassies." The factory lingered on for some little time after this episode, and then in consequence of heavy defalcations on the part of the leading factor and the general unprofitableness of the business the establishment was withdrawn.

All the time that the Company was carrying through this costly experiment in Tonkin it was endeavouring by other means to extend its trade in the China seas. The capture of Amoy by the King of Formosa in 1675