CUSTOMS OF THE DUTCH 9 



they harbour rather more mosquitoes and other insects 

 than is pleasant. In strange contrast with the scrupulous 

 cleanliness of the houses and the tidiness of the streets, 

 you will see in Batavia a state of things which it is hard 

 to reconcile with the usual commonsense of the Dutch. 

 Through the middle of the town runs a canalised river 

 of red muddy water, partly sewer and partly bathing 

 place and so on of the natives, and in it are washed all 

 the clothes of the population, both native and European. 

 Your clothes return to you white enough, but you put 

 them on with certain qualms when you remember whence 

 they came. The town has an excellent supply of pure 

 water, and it is astonishing that the authorities do not 

 put an end to this most insanitary practice. 



Dutch people in the East Indies have modified their 

 habits, especially in the matter of clothing, to suit the 

 requirements of the climate, and while they have to some 

 extent sacrificed elegance to comfort, their costume is 

 at all events more rational than that of many English- 

 men in the East, who cling too affectionately to the 

 fashions of Europe and often wear too much clothing. 

 The men, who do the greater part of the day's w^ork 

 between seven in the morning and one o'clock, wear a 

 plain white suit of cotton or linen. The afternoon is 

 spent in taking a siesta and at about five o'clock they go 

 to their clubs or other amusements in the same sort of 

 attire as in the morning. The ladies, except in the 

 larger towns where European dress is the custom, appear 

 in public during the greater part of the day in a curiously 

 simple costume. The upper part of the body is clothed 

 in a short white cotton jacket, below which the coloured 



