Volume XLII, Doc. No. 1 The King of Chūzan, Country of Ryukyu, in reference to matters of shipping, [now makes this known]. According to the statement presented by the Prime Minister, [Kai] Ki, in the ninth month of the third year of Hsüan-te [1428], the following had been reported by Chief Envoy Shutarū and others of this country. They were ready to board a seagoing ship with a cargo of porcelain and other products, wanting to proceed to Chiu-kang [Palembang] to do trade, but they feared that difficulties would arise. Because they had no certifying document, they were indeed afraid of the inconvenience of investigation and obstruction by officials along the way. They reported this matter and requested the enforcement of the practice [of issuing certificates for envoys]. Upon receipt of this information, accordingly, the Royal Court has now issued a certificate stamped with a seal bearing half each of the character I and the number 77, to be received and borne by those concerned in proceeding on their mission.(1) In the event of investigation by guards at landings and by coastal patrol officers in the course of the voyage, it is requested that the mission be released and that no obstacles which might cause it delay and inconvenience be put in its way. Let this certificate be given to the envoys. It is now stated: [Blank] Hsüan-te 3/9/24 [November 1, 1428] Certificate (1) It will be recalled that this same mission was the one scheduled to go to Siam as well. See Note 8 in Vol. XL, Doc. No. 6 above. It appears certain, however, that the mission headed by Shutarū went to Palembang toward the end of 1428 or sometime during the early months of 1429, and that it came back to Ryukyu in the summer of 1429, without going to Siam.