A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 07Kerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 07
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
In Pegu there are eight brokers licenced by the king, named _tareghe_,
who are bound to sell all the merchandise which comes there at the
current prices; and if the merchants are willing to sell their goods at
these rates they sell them out of hand, the brokers having _two per
centum_ for their trouble, and for which they are bound to make good all
debts incurred for the goods sold by them, and often the merchant does
not know to whom his goods are sold. The merchants may indeed sell their
own goods if they will; but in that case the broker is equally intitled
to his two per centum, and the merchant must run his own risk of
recovering his money. This however seldom happens, as the wife,
children, and slaves of the debtor are all liable in payment. When the
agreed time of payment arrives, if the debt is not cleared, the creditor
may seize the person of the debtor and carry him home to his house, and
if not immediately satisfied, he may take the wife, children, and slaves
of the debtor and sell them. The current money through all Pegu is made
of _ganza_, which is a composition of copper and lead, and which every
one may stamp at his pleasure, as they pass by weight; yet are they
sometimes falsified by putting in too much lead, on which occasions no
one will receive them in payment. As there is no other money current,
you may purchase gold, silver, rubies, musk, and all other things with
this money. Gold and silver, like other commodities, vary in their
price, being sometimes cheaper and sometimes dearer. This _ganza_ money
is reckoned by _byzas_, each _byza_ being 100 _ganzas_, and is worth
about half a ducat of our money, more or less according as gold is cheap
or dear.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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