Memorandum of the chiefs of the civilian yacht Den Arent (The Eagle) about the city of Aceh in 1689

FROM : DAILY JOURNALS OF BATAVIA CASTLE,  2 NOVEMBER 1689 [BEGINNING WITH FOL. 807-]

Translation

At that time the civilian yacht Den Arent (the Eagle) arrived here from Aceh via Malacca, whose commanders have made a written report of what are the local characteristics of the city of Aceh and of the local sea coasts and trade as these are enclosed here.’

Memorandum of the commanders of the yacht The Eagle [about] what they found in the city of Aceh and of all its characteristics, as well as the sea, coasts and trade which they found there:

The [site of the] city of Aceh is very open. Because it lies on the river there, it is entirely exposed and on its landward side [are] mountains, therefore its strength lies in the diversity of the people. There are also no fortifications as in the mouth of the river, about halfway up, on the left hand side but one high knoll has been thrown up but not surrounded by palisades or palings, is but a simple earthen mound on which are mounted two or three iron 1 to 2 pounders [cannons], set not on carriages but directly on earth ramparts in the Malay fashion.

Turning now to the buildings in the city, all the houses stand on posts some 10 to 12 feet above the ground underneath which the merchants make their warehouses from bamboo, but still invariably two to  three and a half feet above soil level, because the water there is high, standing  two to  three feet high on land, and all are roofed with atap (palm fronds) and pegged together with planks and struts.

The city has one great street which from its beginning or entrance leads straight to the palace of the kings, before which is a large market, however, strangers are not welcome at court [folio 808]. Therefore it can only be viewed from afar and seems to be a large house, constructed in the aforesaid fashion surrounded by a palisade fence, which is entered through the main gateway, at which stand several iron cannon from which salutes are fired every evening at sunset.

Furthermore, around his house, whether he lives there or only comes there [to trade], whether it is his property or only rented, every merchant also erects a bamboo fence with muskets, even small pieces of ordnance. He leaves them in place, [so as] to be well guarded against rogues and thieves who thrive at the dead of night and on whom every man has the right to shoot in the foot should they break in. Hence everyone who has the authority to keep weapons in his house, is free to place these around his house or its yard, and guard his property well, which means that the city is large and widely spread out.

The principal merchants, both Moors and Armenians, Persians and others, live in this great street. From the entrance to the city to the court, the said street is certainly a mile long and it has another 2 or 3 cross streets. There is also a road along the river which comes from the mountains.

This river stretches [from the mountains] in a south south-easterly direction to its mouth, but it is impossible to reach that area directly because right in front of the river lies a large sandbank which is always exposed. The water flowing down the river runs right up against the sandbank. But the hard westerly winds and the current move it eastwards, so that the aforesaid large sandbank is created at the entrance to the river and the channel which runs due east along the coast, in which at high tide one can expect around  eight to  nine feet of water and at low tide no more than four feet [folio 809], so that with fully rigged ships one has to be sure to sail either in or out at high tide. Hence in the months May, June, July and August, one has to enter this channel from the east. Nevertheless if the wind there has dropped two or three days and the current in the river surges down, suddenly another channel appears in which the water scours through the sandbank  three  to  four feet deep, and it is possible to sail in and out through it with various small craft. But as soon as the wind changes about, there is a chance that this channel will close up again. But one can enter and depart again via the eastern shore, in the months mentioned above when the winds are westerly again, but in the time that the winds blow from the east, especially in November, December, January and February, another channel is again scoured out to the west of the river and the other channels once again fill in. On the other hand, in the months when the wind is variable, the channel washes out straight through the sandbank. It is impossible to enter there with any ships, but this can be done with sloops or craft with a draught of no more than  eight feet.

At a guess, this town lies half a mile from the sea strait, and in that distance nothing can be found except the toll or weighing house at the mouth of the river alongside the aforesaid raised mound which, as was said earlier, is placed in the middle of the fairway.

As concerns its naval power, they have no large ships, at least not that I have seen, because as there is no King and all its prauws and galleys have fallen into disrepair, and if one of her orang kaya (notables) or the shabandar (harbour master) goes down the river, he always comes on a long large vessel built in the fashion of a ghurap on which are some small cannon, followed by various large canoes carrying around 200 men [folio 810], most of them armed with Malay blowpipes, lances, seepmessen (scimitars affixed to wooden handles), assegais, followed on land by  five to  six elephants and some militia, who reach them by a path through the woods which leads to the shore. Otherwise one never hears of any other ships or vessels, besides those which come here to trade.

Its government consists of four great orang kaya and eight of that ilk of lesser rank. They divide the rule of that great area among themselves. Of the four greatest, there is always one who grants (permission) to trade, and they meet twice a week in the queen’s court. Indeed which as has already been said that it will not admit anybody unless he has brought a generous gift for the queen, when they do allow a person inside to greet the queen, not that he can actually see her for the gift is received by the Eunuchs and taken to her, as indeed are any requests which one might be inclined to make. These great orang kaya are usually present there to take care of all these matters in the name of the queen so that everything is done by them, and the queen is queen only in name.

However, more inland is one of her holy men, who according to them is said to number 20,000 [men] among his followers, and as soon as dissension arises among the orang kaya, he settles it, and they all obey him, even though this said man holds no government office, and they regard him as a  pope or one of their saints.

The principal goods which are brought here consist mainly of rice, Guinea cloths and all sorts of painted cloths from the [Coromandel] Coast, but the bulk is blue cloth, and these are traded on to Malay places [folio 811]. Some pepper is also brought from Pulau Lada (Penang) and Kedah and other places, as are slaves.

Moreover, Batavian vessels carry thither all sorts of Chinese wares and poor quality gold thread as well as iron, copper bowls, Cambodian resin (shellac), but not in any great quantity;  as well as a large quantity of rice from Pegu, Martaban jars (large earthenware pots) and Pegu resin, dried fish, and from Bengal comes more rice as well as butter, light-weight silk cloths (armosijnen) and various other coarser textiles, which are bought up again here by Malay and Johor vessels and taken elsewhere to be traded. The English bring in Spanish money and this is purchased by the Malays and transported to other places.

The prices differ depending on whether much or little is brought, because sometimes the rice costs 30, 40, 50 to 60 rix-dollars per cargo and the Guinea cloth sometimes fetches 60, 70, 80, 90, yea even 100 rix-dollars per corgie (a bundle of twenty cloths). Demand is greatest for the blue cloths and [it] often raises a good price. For example, the sukertons (Coromandel cloth) of five cloths, of which a corgie is sold at 50, 60, 70, 80 to 90 rix-dollars, this year have fetched 25 rix-dollars more per corgie than they usually do. Both the Javanese and Malay sorts of painted (batiked) cloth sell mostly for the Batavia price, so that in these the Batavia price comes closest to the Acehnese. There slave boys are sold for 50, 60 to 65 rix-dollars, but the girls are sold 10 to 15 rix-dollars dearer, once they are mature. A bhaar or  three picul of pepper there fetches 20, 22, 23, 24 to 25 rix-dollars. A picul of Chinese wares like copper bowls fetches 40, 45, 50 to 60 rix-dollars [folio 812]. Gold thread from Canton or Macau costs 30, 36 to 40 rix-dollars per chest, but when brought in large quantities, it is difficult to get rid of it. Iron in the form of hoops and bolts as well as other trinkets sells there per picul at between  seven and  eight rix-dollars and iron staves for 10 to 11 rix-dollars. A picul of Cambodian shellac brings in 40, 45, 50 to 55 rix-dollars, whether much or little is brought. Pegu shellac fetches 30, 35, 40 to 42 rix-dollars. A corgie of lightweight silk cloths sometimes raises 90, 95 to 100 rix-dollars, even going as high as 120 rix-dollars if they are few in number. Bengal butter sells for 20, 18 to 16 rix-dollars per pot. I am not very familiar with the prices of the other cloths and Chinese wares, nor of the price of the allegoedong or cotton.

The principal [commodity] for sale here is gold, with the exception of the pepper which is transported here as mentioned earlier, of which the English purchase as much as they can lay their hands on, and the Malay, Johorese and other vessels which come to Aceh from the places round about buy up the cloths brought in from abroad. Quantities of gold are available at all times. Its price fluctuates, to wit the Acehnese bonkaal of 118 to 119 condrijns fetches 20, 21, 22, 23 to 24 rix-dollars, therefore it sometimes differs by 10 to 12 to 16 per cent. The money referred to consists of minted coins, namely mazen, which have been struck there bearing the name of the Queen, in some Moorish (Arabic) letters, the characters with which trade is carried on there, and as a result and to prevent it from being exported, it is counterfeited, and consequently no sound money is in circulation, one [maes] [folio 813] to the value of a quarter rix-dollar. Spanish gold [coins] are actually not usual currency, because the [Spanish currency] the English bring there, is being bought up by the Malays and transported elsewhere.

The winds here between the months April and October they ordinarily blow from the Southwest to the Northwest, however, from May to June the westerly winds are at their strongest, as also sometimes are with sea and land winds. However, in the months September, October and November, it teems with rain and the easterly winds begin to blow again.

The two heads of the harbour Aceh, on both the outer and the inner coast, lie respectively east and west of each other and the Aceh roads are located in the middle so that here a bight has been formed of a good three-quarters of a mile wide, offering a very good anchorage where one can lie protected from the W.S.W, the S. and the S.E. winds, but with a N.W. to N.E. wind the roads lie exposed. Between these two aforesaid headlands are no streams other than a small one which rises north of the city, at that part of the city where the Dutch trading-post was formerly located. This stream is only of use for fishing boats to sail in and out.

In the north-eastern part of this roads, about  two to  two-and-a-half from the city lies a reef stretching due east and due west and it comes closest to the middle of the fairway between the land and Pulau Way. It is completely [composed of barren] rocks, but is no bigger than the island of Hoorn and can be sailed around either on either its inner or the outer side, although between is best [folio 814] taking soundings all the while, in this way one will draw a good depth of  six, seven, eight, nine, ten, to 12 fathoms, but one should not venture farther from the shore than 12 fathoms because at night casting more than 12 fathoms one could run aground on the reef, as around it, [the sea bed] is too steep.

However, during the day there is no need to worry about this as it is always above water, and at the coast there is good clear anchorage of  six, eight and  nine fathoms as far as about a  half mile offshore. Skirting this aforesaid reef either on the outside or to the north, one comes upon much deeper water at 20, 40, 60 and 80 fathoms. And because the currents in the months above flow very hard in a north-easterly direction, if the wind is becalmed one could easily be cast adrift and labour hard in this situation to sail back. If one should happen to approach here from the south or from Malacca and, having passed Diamond Point, one should keep close to the shore and sail with the land wind because here one meets the west wind, and everywhere here the shore is clear and clean therefore within a cannon shot one can draw 12 to 14 fathoms and at rather more than half a mile from the shore there is no longer any anchorage.

Between Diamond Head and Aceh head are various streams and rivers. The distance here is actually 20 miles longer than that shown on the compass chart. Coming from the outer coast, two courses are available: once through the islands called the Surat Gap, which is a short overfall, although in the middle of the fairway there are two rocks on which one sees the waves breaking. But the other [course] to the east of these islands is broad and clear, but not in the aforesaid months to either of the roads if there is a stiff westerly breeze. Coming in to anchor in the Aceh Roads to the west of the sandbank [folio 815] at  six to  seven fathoms there is good anchorage, a long cannon shot from the shore.

Concerning some reflections about which nation they hold in the highest respect, they claim themselves that they think very highly of the Hollanders which prompts them to ask why the latter do not come here more frequently to trade. The shahbandar has told me in person that his country is open to all merchants but, because the English tried to convince him that as soon as the Honourable Company has set foot on land, it will make itself the master, for this reason they are apprehensive, but all I can say is from the welcome that I have witnessed with my own eyes that they favour the Hollanders above the English. But above all they [privilege] the Moors who come there to trade.

The English come there in light yachts of 80, 90, 100 to 150 lasten, built here in the Indies but rigged in the European fashion. The Moors also come in small yachts of 100 to 150 lasten. From Koda Kweda (Kota Kedah) come large ghuraps, gontings and from the Malay ports also come ghuraps, wangkangs, gontings and other craft which sail right into the river and trade on its banks.

Memorandum from the Commander of the Yacht Den Arend (the Eagle) about What Transpired in the Aceh Roads, as follows.

Arriving in the roads on 1 June [1689], we found four English and  four Moorish ships already there, of which two English vessels were come from Pegu loaded with rice, Martaban jars, shellac and some Pegu gemstones, and the other two of the same were from Madras and carried some slaves but [folio 816] for the main part blue cloth and cotton. Two Moorish ships were laden with rice, Martaban jars, shellac and some Pegu gemstones, the other two had come from Kedah and carried rice. There were also  two sloops (chialoupen) from Tenasserim, as well as an English one having on board the remaining English who had been evicted from that land by the regents, and a Dutchman named Joost de Jong. [Her cargo] was rice and some dried fish.

On 20^th of this month a smallish English yacht, around 80 lasten, arrived here from Madras loaded with rice and slaves and some bales of cotton and cloth. On the same date  two Chinese sloops and  two junks arrived from Batavia carrying rice and an assortment small goods.

On 22^nd of this month an English ship of 90 lasten arrived here from Madras, her cargo being some slaves, 14 to 16 bales of cloth. On her were two Hollanders, one as skipper and the other as first mate. She will leave here bound for Pegu, where she is to undergo alterations, after which she will return to the Coast. Various craft arrive here daily from nearby places, namely: Pedri (Pidië), Deli and Peda and other diverse small places, carrying rice, husked and polished.

On the 24^th an English ship arrived here from Tranquebar,[1] laden with rice and slaves. There were also two Chinese vessels from Batavia carrying rice and various small goods.

On 30^th of this month an English ship arrived from Madras, but she set sail again the same day, desiring to go to China, reporting that 5 ships had already sailed for China and  two other were still in Madras, waiting to follow [folio 817].

On 4July an English ship arrived from Madras, her weight about 70 lasten, loaded with some slaves and some cloths and cotton, besides pots of butter.

The 19^th of this month a Danish ship came in, her weight about 90 lasten, outward-bound from Tranquebar with rice and some Moorish merchants with cloths and some slaves.

On 25^th of this month an English ship of some 70 lasten arrived from Madras and Portonovo laden with rice and slaves.

On the 30^th a Moorish ship came in from the Maldives, with a load of dried fish.

On 5^th August an English ship of 70 lasten arrived, her cargo rice and slaves.

On 10^th of the same month the English ship with two Dutchmen on board sailed for Pegu.

On 24^th of this month I made ready to set sail back to Batavia. Five English ships were also lying ready to depart, namely  three to the Coromandel Coast and  two to Pegu.

Trade which Could Be Done in Aceh

Rice, although this can fluctuate affected by the local harvest and also because much is already brought here on native ships from such places as Kedah and Deli and ships from the Coast as well as from Pegu and Tenasserim, which means that at one time of the year the rice is much more expensive than at another time, indeed the price can differ as much as by half. December and January are the best months of the year to sell rice, not to mention cloths and other wares, as at that time most of the ships have left and the people from the mountains come down in great numbers to buy up what they need. Furthermore, one could also help the people [to obtain] butter and light red silk as the sailings of the English and Moors from Bengal to Aceh is at a standstill. Because [folio 818] so little blue cloth is brought in, it is possible to get a reasonable price for it, as well as some chests of rosewater for the Moors as sailings to Surat are also stopped.

In the evening, the Company pencalang, the Steenbrasem, appeared here with a letter directly from the commander-in-chief, Louis de Keyser, and  council dated  first of this month, noting therein among other matters that the local King [of Bantam] had ordered four of his most trusted key lurahs and their servants to voyage to Sillebaer or Bengkulu on the yacht the Grijpvogel and that we had added a European soldier to their company, to help them with interpreting and other matters.