President and Council at Fort. St. George
E/3/104 1729
Orders and instructions to James Naish, Edmund Godfrey, Richard Nicholson, George Arbuthnot, Richard Lewes, William, Lane, and John Raber, Council for China 21 of Nov, 1729
pp. 253-60
Similar instructions (see e.g 258) on porcelain packing etc
No order list!
President and council at Fort. St. George
pp. 62-63
List of Goods to be Provided on the Coast of Chromoandell for the Ships going out in year 1729, see excel, p. 273
Orders and observation
Chintz Moorees, the cloth is but very poor and thin, and most old Patterns and dull coloured grounds, and the white grounds are not well cleared, these defects must be mended, and send what good new Patterns you can.
Such great variety of Numbers in the Vizagapatam cloth breeds a great deal of confusion, wherefore we would have pitch on two or three good sorts, and keep to them only, taking musters of them, and sending one half of them to us, and keep the other for your future guidance, the whitening them at the Fort we find and advantage, the Ingeram Cloth remains very thin, notwithstanding all we have heretofore said.
Blue longcloth good cloth and colour but mildew stained,
p273
Confusion about numbers and marking of goods, for buyers and warehouse keepers.
Signed, 28 nov. 1729
President and council of Bengal
pp. 274-
List of goods to be provided in the Bay of Bengall for the ships going out in the year 1729, pp. 276-278, see excel file
Orders and Observations
Reservations about raw silk order
Complaints about what was brought home in the year 1727 when gov. Dean was present, not good, defects, little care, no reforms, same problems every year. Abuses, Indians imposing grossly, stupid negligence, inconsistency, dearness of cotton not a good excuse for why the workmanship is bad, should be the other way around,
p. 278
On orders that were not met, or fabric too long, and more duty had to be paid, ill made cloth, “even in the Orua Cloth of eight and nine rupees, some of which are (as one would expect curious silky goods( yet in many of the bales two pieces in five are so much worse than the rest, as sadly lessens the price, such Bales would otherwise sell for at our candle.”
“And in the inferior sort some of them are so very thin and raw, that the Makers endeavour in vain to conceal the defects by filling up the vacancies with an immoderate quantity of conjee, which makes them feel and look s harsh & ruff as defeats the design for which it was intended, and the lowest goods of the common breath are so very course, uneven and frayey as get them very ill reputation.
But the worst abuse of all is in the SerryCosaes which have mostly sold of late years about eighteenth or nineteenth shillings and some Bales by the Mountague bought of Rumbudderchowdree were so good as to sell up to twenty one and twenty two shillings, but on the contrary those now received by the Walpole are so very bad, that though put up at fourteenth shillings out of which the charges are bout ten shillings, few lots of them would see at a bare advance wherefore we return you fie pieces to show you their ill qualities.
The quality of the cloth is so very bad that the best thing can be said for those who took them is, that the never looked on them, and what confirms us in the opinion is that they are a yard shorter and some pieces 2 nails other 3 Nails narrower than that sort used to be.
Complains about length and breath of MaldaCossaes and the Tanjeeb, etc, more examples particularly the Dacca, very bad, inspection in India not well handled, also referring to something called the French sort
p 279
“Ginghams, Photaes, Peniascoes and many of the cotton Romalls are very course and nasty dead colours.”
Singed 28th of November 1729
To our President and Council of Fort St. George
London 23 of Jan 1729
pp. 316-
Thirdly Touching Investments proper for Europe
Instruction 19
Good reason for not buying Fine Bettellees
Instruction 20
Ingeram Cloth, not good enough
p. 318
Instruction 25
Good you send musteres of cloths that were desired for Anjengo
p. 319
Our Governour and Council of Bengall
London 23 of Jan 1729
p. 333 ff
Thirdly Touching our investment of goods proper for Europe
Instructions 19-21
Alarmed, mischief, gross negligence, servant control, bad raw silk send 1727, goods from Dacca bad,
Instruction 23
You tell us you sent Mr John Bonket to Jugdea to provide Baftaes, those of that sort which we received from you proved good and proper for our market, and will turn to account, provided you can procure them at the same price with as small expense, if you can as you propose get some of yard and half wide to imitate humhums we believe they will answer if they are well made.
Instruction 24
Samples of two pieces of every “White goods” to be sent to Bombay to see if they can “imitate any of them on their Coast.”
p. 334
Last batch of raw silk was good
p. 335
To our governor and council of Bombay 27th of Febr. 1729
p. 349 ff
Thirdly touching Investments proper for Europe
Instruction 27
“In reply to your Par per Duke of Cumberland under this head, we must acquaint your, that we are still so overloaded with coloured goods, that we cannot admit of any more than the small sortment ordered in this years list of investments, and for such of them as can be made at Bombay and Gallyan on as good Terms as elsewhere, we would always give your won settlements the preference.
Instruction 28
There having been a large demand for white Callicoes of late here, those last received from you have answered pretty well whereby we are encouraged (as you will see by the remarks annexed to the list of Investment) to recommended to you to get as many as you can procure on reasonable Terms, well made and well whitened...”
Last batch not well withened though,
p. 353
List of goods to be provided at Bombay for the ships Prince William and Leithiullier going out in the year 1729/30 pp. 365-66 see excel file
Starts with a intro and differently organised than the previous
The Anjengo goods received this year were very defective in goodness in comparison of the Muster sent us by the Hannover, being very thin and raw made, but as we suppose you yet have the fellows to those musters, we recommend you strictly to view that the cloth be answerable and in such case to provide:
See also this comment in the list:
“Memorandum all the cloth of fourteenth yards and a half or fifteen yards should be made full sixteen yards. And farther you are to observe the white goods lately come home were very carelessly packed and not sufficiently guarded with cotton nor wrapper. Wherefore for the future, let every Bale of white and brown cloth have a whole piece for wrapper of the same sort and well cottoned between the said piece of cloth and the gunny. Besides, we observe many of them to have brown spots, some of which were rotten, so that we apprehend they must have received damage before packed which you are to take strict care to avoid.”