Section 50 Clerk's Report (2)

They first sealed the ship's powder magazine - a long strip of paper with words and numbers written in ink pen, which was tightly attached to the door, and if it was to be opened, the note had to be destroyed. This kind of note seems to have legal significance, because our Chinese sailors say that the note is stamped with some kind of seal that symbolizes authority.

What struck me most curiously was that they signed the closure date in Arabic numerals, which is incomprehensible, and that they were using the era of the birth of the Lord Jesus, and that they were obviously not ordinary Asian barbarians.

This method of seizure was also used when they placed all our weapons, from swords to arquebuses, in the arsenal and sealed them. For the cannons on the "Magdeburg", they nailed the fire doors with a special wooden stopper.

The Australians didn't take away our sail lines. Coupled with the fact that their seizure was entirely symbolic, and compared to the fact that they had to take away all our weapons and gunpowder, and dismantle the sail cables, it was clear that the Australians were very confident in their own force.

The Australians then sprinkled a potion in large quantities everywhere but the cargo hold - not wine or vinegar, but a cloudy white sè. We knew right away where the strange smell on their bodies came from, officially this rǔ white sè potion. It got our whole ship wet. Filled with a pungent smell. Some people feel dizzy and dizzy after smelling it. We all had to run to the deck to avoid the smell of poison.

After confirming that everything had been done according to their requirements, the officers boarded the ship again and issued us the necessary documents. According to this document, we can send people to buy various necessities at the dock during the berth period. The customs officer informed us of the local tariff rules and handed us a booklet listing the tariffs for all imported and exported goods in Lingao. Such an open approach is an eye-opener.

This is the most complete customs tariff I have ever seen, with a specific tax rate for every item imported and exported. The tax rate on most commodities is not high, and I have to say here that the tax rate on spices is on the high side of the goods we ship, and the Australians actually levy an import tax of 24% - obviously Australians do not like this commodity very much, the tax rate on logs, grain, linen and woolen is very low, and the grain and logs are even duty-free.

The customs officer asked me if I was ready to sell all the goods on board at Lingao. I said, "That's why I came to Lingao." I have no objection to the subsequent unloading of the cargo on the "Magdeburg", which will be temporarily stored in a dedicated warehouse at the dock until the deal is completed, pending the conclusion of the deal.

The scene of unloading the goods is very spectacular! Your Excellency, everyone present said that it was a scene they would never forget in their lives. I have already said earlier that they use cranes to load and unload goods, as we did in The Hague and Amsterdam. But their huge cranes are so nimble and powerful that we can all see it. Although these cranes appear to be just frames made of iron beams and wooden columns. It's very robust to operate.

You may remember the cranes used on the docks in places like Amsterdam, which are as huge as a building, but the lifting capacity is pitifully small. The three strong men in the squirrel cage ran with all their might to drive the goods that the crane could lift, and the Australians easily did it using mysterious fire machines, lifting the goods ten times or even twenty times the weight at a time.

Australians use several special devices to improve the efficiency of dispatching. A kind of huge fishing net, a package of goods: rice and spices are put into dozens of bags and then lifted by a crane. The other is a huge pallet - they call it a pallet, which appears to be an iron frame with thick wooden planks on top. Logs, woollen fabrics, linen and other boxes of goods are placed on such plates and then lifted, and in order to prevent the goods from falling down due to collisions during the lifting process, a large net is tied to them each time.

I don't admit that this device, although very simple and easy to see at a glance, is meaningless to us, because we don't have a crane capable of lifting this weight.

The third device is the most bizarre. I don't know how to describe it to you. There is a kind of "rail" on the stone trestle, which resembles a ladder that falls on the ground. It's nothing more than iron. The Australians use a series of vehicles on it. The wheels of the vehicles were fastened to iron bars - they could only roll along them. This is said to allow the car to carry heavy loads. Most of the cars are flatbed trucks with no shelter on all sides. Many of the goods lifted from the ship were placed directly on the truck, and the full train was pulled away.

Here I have to say that the most astonishing thing happened - these vehicles used neither horses nor human power, and they walked up on their own accord after a shrill horn. There was a great deal of debate among us about what drove the train, and it seemed to us that the train was at least ten thousand pounds, and that even horses had to use a lot of horses. Several soldiers and sailors swore that they had seen the devil pushing the cart behind - I doubt that. I think the Australians have mastered a certain mysterious liliang, which should be the same as the liliang that drives the crane, a kind of firepower machine.

After unloading, the customs officer gave us a list of goods. At the same time, he reminded us that all incoming goods must first be purchased by Australians after paying import duties, and then we can be allowed to sell them freely. There is no value in buying in Australia, and we cannot make any transactions with the local Aborigines.

Another tax that Australians lean on us is the berthing tax - and we have to talk about their weights and measures. They use a unit of length called the meter. The Australians use a formula to calculate the "tonnage" of the ship based on the length and width of our vessel. This is about a unit of weight or volume for Australians, and berthing tax is charged on a per tonne basis.

All in all: Australian customs is the most haode customs I've ever seen. We are quick and do not extort fees from us that are customary in all ports.

Here I would like to mention their officials, who are difficult to distinguish from ordinary people in terms of clothing. They have the same short hair and wear the same blue sè, black sè, and ben sè costumes. The outfit is short and tight, somewhat similar to our fencing tops. The clothes were split in the middle and fastened to each other with buttons. There are usually four pockets on the jacket - this is the biggest difference between them and ordinary people. According to their rules, this is a treatment that only officials can enjoy.

I don't know what the two pockets in front of the xiōng do in detail, because the upper pockets are almost just a piece of cloth fixed to the front xiōng. Officials were completely decorated except for the pen they used to insert it. They were all obeyed and respected by the people. He is commonly referred to as a "cadre", just as we call a "gentleman" in our language.

The officials were very frugal, they did not wear silk or wool, but cotton or linen. There was no gold or silver thread or embroidery on the garment, and the buttons were wooden. Let its officials dress like the lowest people, the Australian government's idea is really not understandable.

During the quarantine period, we stayed idle on the ship. The Australians sold us plenty of fresh food: all kinds of fruits, vegetables, fish, but meat, eggs, and milk were never supplied, and the soldiers and sailors complained about it - we only had salted meat on board, and everyone wanted fresh meat. We asked the Australian officials to buy some pigs and cattle, but they said they could not meet our needs, and after my repeated requests, they offered us some chickens and geese - all slaughtered.

Australians, like the Chinese, seem to be very lacking in meat. But even when sailing off the coast of China, you can buy pigs, chickens, and sometimes cattle if you take out the Spanish rial. During the quarantine on the Lingao ship, we couldn't buy a pig no matter how much we paid. There was a lot of dissatisfaction with this. Luckily, they are able to serve chickens and geese once a week.

The Australians were plentiful in terms of liquor, serving rum in large quantities enough for sailors and soldiers to bathe in, as well as a sweet and sour beer, which was hardly a liquor, but was loved by everyone because of its rich foam and cool taste - what the Australians called "kvas". They put kvasss in pot-bellied glass bottles, plugged them with wooden stoppers, sealed them with wire and wax, soaked them in seawater and then took them out to drink, which was a refreshing drink.

Following your instructions, Gonzalez, Leib? The two Tryini men observe the condition of the port on a daily basis. The port they call "Bopu" is not very large, but because the strait facing it is very narrow, there are many anchorages suitable for mooring ships. Thus it can accommodate enough ships. We saw the battery at the end of the stone trestle - as the pamphlet you gave us says. The battery is so tall that it's more of a hill than a battery. But we can't tell whether there is a cannon mounted on it, and whether the cannon can reach the distance mentioned in the pamphlet - it is a forbidden area, and you can't approach it without special documents. Gonzalez was skeptical that there was a cannon on it. He believed that the position of the fort was too deep inland, and fired from above, and the shells had to fly more than a mile in a straight line to the sea. It's hard to imagine a cannon capable of firing so far. IO@。