14 April 1777: Officials reported that they had petitioned for 100,000 lb of tamarind on 7 March and promised to fulfill all further demands as quickly and promptly as possible. They wanted to give satisfaction to the High and Mighty Lords, just as they had done in the previous year.
They explained they would have given new proof of this if they had received ships earlier to load the products that were already collected and stored in warehouses. The success of future deliveries depended mainly on the crops and the timely arrival of contingents. Everything looked favorable so far, especially the rice crop which was growing well.
However, they warned that no certain calculations could be made before the harvest, because even when the grain was ripening, strong drought could make it wither, heavy rains and strong winds could knock it down, or mice and other vermin could destroy it.
This had led them to ask in their submission of 24 December whether the High and Mighty Lords, given the rich harvest of the previous year and the current abundance of rice, wanted the company to purchase rice above the contingents for the ships, as had been done in recent years. Since the supply in Batavia was also quite large and this was not considered necessary by the High and Mighty Lords, no purchase would be made and no other rice would be shipped except what was actually stored in warehouses and what would come in from future contingents.
At the first opportunity by ship, 30 koyangs of table rice that were stored in Tagal for widowed ladies (the late His Highness van der Parra, the honorable and strict Lord Councilor extraordinary Radermacher, and the second secretary Goedbloet) would also be included.
The provision of heavy timber as required would be most difficult, but everything possible was being done that could be demanded from the native population. They hoped to satisfy this requirement to some extent. Orders had been renewed and care would be taken that the timber shipped would fully correspond with the length and thickness specified in the invoice.
Regarding the large quantity of timber brought to Batavia by private individuals in the previous year according to the notes sent, they had already answered in their submission of 14 February and referred to that answer. They asked permission to now offer a report on the inspection of salt to the High and Mighty Lords.


National Archives / Archives South Holland, archive number 1.04.02, Inventaris van het archief van de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC), 1602-1795 (1811), inventory number 3497, Heren Zeventien en kamer Amsterdam, INGEKOMEN STUKKEN UIT INDIË, Overgekomen brieven en papieren, Overgekomen brieven en papieren uit Indië aan de Heren XVII en de kamer Amsterdam, Overgekomen brieven en papieren uit Indië aan de Heren XVII en de kamer Amsterdam, 1778. Zevenentwintigste boek: Batavia's ingekomen brievenboek, deel VII: Java's Oostkust
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