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Chapter 50 Businessman’s Report 2
On the ship, they first sealed the gunpowder magazine on the ship - they used a long strip of paper with words and numbers written on it in ink and stuck it tightly to the door. If they wanted to open it, they had to destroy the paper. This note seems to have had legal significance, for our Chinese sailors say it was stamped with some kind of seal of authority.
The most strange thing to me is that they used Arabic numerals when signing the closing date - this is really puzzling, and they used the era of the birth of the Lord Jesus. Obviously they are not ordinary Asian barbarians.
This method of seizure was also used when they put all our weapons, from swords to matchlocks, into the arsenal and sealed them. For the cannons on the "Magdeburg", they used a special wooden plug to nail the fire door.
The Australians did not take away our rigging. In addition, their seizure is completely symbolic. Compared with the people who want to collect all our weapons and gunpowder and dismantle the sails and cables, it is obvious that the Australians are very confident in their own force.
The Australians then sprinkled a large amount of a potion in all places except the cargo hold-it was not wine or vinegar, but a turbid white potion. We immediately knew where the strange smell on their bodies came from, it was this milky white potion. It made our whole ship wet. Full of pungent smell. Some people feel dizzy and dizzy after smelling it. We all had to run out on deck to escape the odor.
After confirming that everything had been done according to their requirements, the officials boarded the vessel again and issued us the necessary documents. According to this document, we can send people to purchase various daily necessities at the designated locations on the pier during the berth. The customs official informed us of the local tax rules and handed us a booklet listing the tax rates for all imported and exported goods in Lingao. Such a convenient and public approach is eye-opening.
This is the most complete customs tariff I have ever seen. Every imported and exported commodity has a specific tax rate. The tax rate on most goods is not high. Here I have to say that among the goods we shipped, the tax rate on spices is on the high side. The Australians actually imposed an import tax of 24 - obviously Australians don't like this product very much. Logs, Tax rates on grain, linen and woolen goods were extremely low, and grain and logs were even tax-free.
The customs officer asked me if I planned to sell all the goods on board in Lingao. I said: It is for this reason that I came to Lingao. They then unloaded the cargo from the "Magdeburg" - the cargo will be temporarily stored in a dedicated warehouse at the dock until the transaction is completed - I have no objection to this.
The scene of unloading the goods was very spectacular. Everyone present said that this was an unforgettable scene in their lives. As I said before, they use cranes to load and unload cargo, just like we do in The Hague and Amsterdam. But their huge cranes were so flexible and powerful that we were all fascinated. Although these cranes look like frames made of iron beams and wooden columns. But it works very solidly.
You must still remember the cranes used on docks in Amsterdam and other places. They are as huge as a building, but their lifting capacity is pitifully small. The three strong men in the squirrel cage ran with all their strength to drive the crane to lift the cargo. The Australians used mysterious firepower machines to easily lift the cargo. The cargo lifted at one time was ten or even twenty times the weight.
Australians use several special devices to improve the efficiency of transportation. It is similar to a huge fishing net, with dozens of packages of rice and spices put into the net bags, and then lifted by a crane. The other is a huge pallet - they call it a pallet, which seems to be an iron frame covered with thick wooden boards. Logs, woolen cloth, linen and other boxes of goods are placed on this kind of tray before being lifted. In order to prevent the goods from falling due to collision during the lifting process, a large net is tied to the top each time.
I have to admit that although this device is very simple and self-explanatory, it is meaningless to us because we do not have a crane capable of lifting such a weight.
The third device is the weirdest. I don't know how to describe it to you. There is a "track" on the stone trestle, which looks like a ladder lying on the ground. It's just made of iron. The Australians use a series of vehicles on it. The wheels of the vehicle were fixed to iron bars - they could only roll along them. It is said that this allows the car to carry heavy cargo. Most of the cars are flatbeds with no cover on all sides. A lot of the goods lifted from the ship are placed directly on the car, and when they are full, they are pulled away.
Here, I have to say that the most amazing thing happened - these vehicles did not use horses or manpower. They started walking automatically after making a sharp horn sound. There was a great deal of debate among us as to what exactly drove the train; it seemed to us that the train must have weighed at least tens of thousands of pounds, and that even horses would have had to employ many horses. Several soldiers and sailors swore they saw the devil pushing the cart behind - I doubt it. I think the Australians have mastered a certain mysterious power. This power should be the same as the power that drives the crane. It is a firepower machine.
After the unloading was completed, the customs officer gave us a list of goods. At the same time, he reminded us: after paying import duties, all incoming goods must first be purchased by Australians before we can be allowed to sell them freely. In Australia people have no purchase value and we cannot conduct any transactions with the local Aboriginal people.
Another tax that the Australians impose on us is the parking tax - here we have to talk about their weights and measures. They use a unit of length called the meter. Australians use a formula to calculate the "tonnage" of our ships based on their length and width. This is approximately an Australian unit of weight or volume, and parking tax is charged per ton.
Overall: Australian customs is the best I have ever seen. The service was prompt and we were not extorted from the fees which are customary in all ports.
Here I want to mention their officials. It is difficult to distinguish Australian officials from ordinary people in terms of clothing. They have the same short hair and wear the same blue, black and ecru clothing. This kind of clothing is short and tight, somewhat similar to our fencing tops. The clothes are open in the middle and fastened to each other with buttons. There are usually four pockets on the coat - this is the biggest difference between them and ordinary people. According to their regulations, this is a treatment that only officials can enjoy.
I don't know what the two chest pockets do exactly, since the top pocket is pretty much just a piece of fabric fixed to the front placket. The officials are entirely decorative except for holding a pen. They are all obeyed and respected by the people. They are generally called "cadres", just like "gentlemen" in our language.
The clothes of the officials are very frugal. They do not wear silk or woolen clothes, but cotton or linen clothes. There is no gold or silver thread or embroidery decoration on the clothes, and the buttons are made of wood. We cannot understand the Australian government's idea of letting its officials dress the same as the lowest common people.
We've been hanging out on the boat during quarantine. The Australians sold us a lot of fresh food: a variety of fruits, vegetables, and fish, but they never supplied meat, eggs, and milk. The soldiers and sailors complained about this - we only had bacon on the ship, and everyone Hope to have fresh meat. For this reason, we asked the Australian officials who came to inspect to buy some pigs and cattle, but the other party said they could not meet our needs. After my repeated requests, they provided us with some chickens and geese - all slaughtered. Understand,
Australians seem to be very lacking in meat, just like the Chinese. But even sailing along the coast of China, you can buy pigs, chickens, and sometimes cattle as long as you take out Spanish reals. During the quarantine period on the Lingao ship, we could not buy a pig no matter how much we paid. Everyone was very dissatisfied with this. Fortunately they can also serve chicken and geese once a week.
The Australians are very rich in the supply of alcohol. They supply rum in large quantities, enough for sailors and soldiers to bathe in it, and they also supply a sweet and sour beer, which is hardly a drink. It is a kind of wine, but because of its rich foam and refreshing taste, everyone loves to drink it - Australians call it "Kvass". They put kvass in pot-bellied glass bottles, plugged them with wooden stoppers, and sealed them with wire and wax. They soaked them in sea water and then took them out to drink to make a refreshing drink.
Following your instructions, Messrs. Gonzalez, Lebutrini and I are observing the situation in the port every day. The port they call "Bopu" is not very large, but because it faces a very narrow strait, there are many anchorages suitable for berthing ships. Therefore, it can accommodate enough ships. We saw the fort at the end of the stone trestle - just as the brochure you gave us said. This fort is very tall, more like a hill than a fort. But we can't tell whether there are cannons installed on it, and whether the cannons can shoot to the distance mentioned in the brochure - it's a restricted area, and you can't get close without special documents. Gonzalez was skeptical that there was a cannon on it. He believed that the location of the fort was too far inland. If the cannons were fired from above, the cannonballs would fly more than a league in a straight line to the sea. It's hard to imagine a cannon capable of shooting so far. ,.
