The three of us discussed the purpose of the strange wooden stakes. Mr. Gonzalez believed that this was a special kind of idol worship by the Australians. It was a sacrificial facility for them and had religious connotations.
.But Mr. Trini said that he could not see the religious meaning in it, because it was not an idol, and there was no act of respect by Australians for it. Personally, I think Mr. Trini's statement was reasonable.
We didn’t see anyone paying respect or worship to these wooden piles along the way, and there were no similar signs: no one made offerings, burned incense or offered sacrifices to the wooden piles.
The distance from Bopu to Bairen is very close. We estimated that we only passed one league. Then we entered the scope of Bairen City. Later we found out that we had never entered Bairen City - the so-called Bairen City was
No one can enter or exit the Australian castle except themselves and the indigenous cronies who serve them. But outside Bairen City, a large city was built around the Australian castle. They called it the East Gate.
Market. Because it is located to the east of Bairen City. It is said that when the Australians first arrived in Lingao, they traded with the local aborigines here. Within a few years, this originally simple market developed into
a prosperous town
The East Gate Market itself is not defended by city walls, but there are towers guarding the entrances and exits of the road. Such towers are very common here. They are not only found in Bopu, but also on both sides of the road. The Australians seem to use them as a main defense
Facilities. Towers are generally square, with the bottom made of thick stone strips and the tower body made of burnt bricks. Some are very simple and made of staggered wood or bamboo. Towers generally have two to three floors.
.The facilities in some towers can be called small fortresses. There are trenches surrounding the towers, as well as walls, often with cannons on the top. The Australians have placed guards in the towers to form a strict lookout warning system. Obviously the Australians
He is very anxious about his existence in the local area and is always on guard against attacks.
Our carriage entered Dongmen City and entered the main street of Dongmen City, which runs from east to west. The street is wide and flat, wide enough for twelve fully armed cavalry to walk abreast. There are many shops on both sides of the street, displaying
There are all kinds of dazzling products. The shops have two floors and three floors. They are very compact. The street scene here reminds me of the business district of The Hague or Amsterdam. Australian houses are not similar to Chinese buildings, but more similar to European houses.
. But they are more frugal and practical, and they use space to an astonishing degree. How to squeeze the maximum space out of a limited area is the only aesthetic standard for their buildings. And what surprises us most is that in every building we
The houses I saw were all roofed with tiles, and every house, no matter how big or small, had windows inlaid with large pieces of glass.
On both sides of the main street, there are many horizontal small streets. Whether it is the main street or the branch road, there are not many pedestrians on the street. All streets are paved with the black sandstone used to pave the main road, and they are as flat and smooth as the main road.
.The streets are surprisingly clean - no matter in the East or the West, except in the Netherlands, I have never seen such a clean city. There is no garbage, no sewage, and no massacre of people and livestock.
On both sides of the street, there are separate stone sidewalks with coconut tree saplings planted on the sidewalk. Australians seem to love coconut trees very much and plant this useful plant everywhere. Here we see similar wooden piles on the road.
But this time we easily identified its purpose - it was obviously a street lamp. The iron lamp head and glass cover confirmed our idea. It is said that every night, someone will light the street lamp. The street lamp is lit at night to provide lighting.
, obviously able to provide sufficient safety for shops and pedestrians. However, their use of such a costly approach seems to prove the view that Australians "act extravagantly".
Our carriage stopped in front of a large, handsome red-brick house. It was a square house with a sloping roof and German shingles. The windows were as high and narrow as any I had ever seen.
Among all the high-altitude Australian houses, it is closest to the aesthetics of European houses. According to the accompanying officials, this is a business house, specially designed to receive foreign visitors. Foreign businessmen can also choose to stay here.
Excellent food and room supplies.
We got off the carriage under the leadership of the accompanying officials. Australians do not pay attention to pomp and ceremony at all. Except for a few accompanying officials and guards, there were no extra people, and there were no gorgeous guards of honor. We were simply led to
Inside the business building. We were then taken to a small waiting room.
Before entering the hall, our attachés and translators were left in the waiting hall. I objected to this to the leading official: because we would not be able to communicate in this way. But the other party answered me in German: "You don't need that."
Translator who only speaks Cantonese.”
His German is a bit strange, but it is the most accurate German I have heard in all of Asia except for Germans. His accent seems to be from northern Germany.
But then, no matter how much I tried to talk to him, he kept silent until we were taken into the hall and received.
The hall is not large in size, but it is gorgeously decorated. There is a chandelier with exquisite glass hanging from the ceiling - but we found that the glass lampshade seemed to be completely closed, and there was no trace of candles on it. Maybe this was just
It is a kind of decoration. There is a luxurious Chinese-style screen standing in the center of the hall. It is larger than the Chinese screens we have seen in India and Persia. There are large paper paintings on the walls, depicting mountains and rivers.
Rivers and flowers. The colors are bright. The sizes of these paintings are very large, and some almost completely cover the entire wall. Mr. Trini believes that these paintings have obvious European techniques, including the use of light, composition and perspective. I think of you
The pamphlet given to me mentioned that Portuguese missionaries were active in Lingao, which was probably the work of some monks.
The floor of the hall was covered with luxurious Persian carpets, and there were many Chinese-style chairs and coffee tables neatly arranged in a semicircle in front of the screen. An Australian high official greeted us in front of the screen.
This Australian official is the so-called "Executive Member" - similar in status to our host. The accompanying official reminded us: This is one of the nine most distinguished senators in the entire Australian Senate. In trade
Have full authority over matters.
This executive committee member is very young. Because Australians don’t have beards at all, it is difficult for us to tell their specific age. But I estimate that he is not more than thirty years old. Perhaps a person of this age is in such a high position through hereditary inheritance.
He came. His clothes were very simple, no different from all the Australian officials we saw along the way. If our accompanying officials did not introduce him, we would not be able to recognize such a big man on the street.
Your Excellency, I have read many travel notes on China written by travelers and missionaries during the voyage. Each of them mentioned that Chinese officials are fond of luxurious and spectacular scenes, and a large number of entourages and ceremonial guards are a must for every official.
Facilities, but here in Australia, we don’t see Australians having such a hobby at all. As an executive committee member, he has neither a guard of honor nor many officials and guards. He received us in the most simple manner. This
It made me think of our motherland - Australians are similar to us in many aspects.
The executive asked us to sit down on chairs in front of the screen. He then apologized through the accompanying officer because there were no local people who understood our language. If High German could not be used as the language of the meeting, he asked us if we could use French or English.
Spanish or Latin. I mean High German is a very convenient language for us.
Before the meeting began, I handed over to the Executive Committee a letter from the Batavia East India Council to the Australian Senate to prove our identity. I also presented them with a list of gifts. The other party expressed their gratitude.
.Subsequently, we started relevant conversations on trade issues.
The Australians are very interested in all the goods we ship. They are willing to buy all the goods we ship. They are also willing to conduct further negotiations on expanding trade. I seized this opportunity to express my objections to the customs tax rate. Your Excellency
You must have seen in my previous report that although they levy very low tax rates or even tax exemptions on most imported products, they impose heavy taxes on the company's main export commodity in the East Indies, spices. I disagree with this.
, requiring us to reach a unified tax rate with them, that is, in addition to duty-free goods, all goods we bring into Lingao for sale will be subject to a 1% tariff regardless of type. At the same time, our goods are allowed to be sold freely in Lingao instead of completely
Buying by Australians. In other words, allowing goods to be on the market as they happen, rather than forcing transactions according to their prices - I think this condition is inappropriate.
The other party objected to this. He believed that the one percent tariff was too low. Moreover, he completely rejected the concept of unified tariffs and proposed that tariffs must be levied according to the different conditions of each commodity. However, he agreed to adjust the tariffs on spices.
Granted us tariff privileges on the import of spices. As for the guaranteed purchase policy, he also allowed us to sell freely according to market prices without being affected by this policy. Although in the end he failed to make the other party reach the condition of a one percent unified tariff,
I think it is a considerable progress to be able to make the other party accept these two points. Then I tried to reduce the tariff of the company's export goods to an appropriate tax rate.