CHAPTEE XVII 



DESCRIPTION OF BATAVIA 



Situation Number of houses Streets Canals Houses Public buildings- 

 Fortifications Castle Forts within the city Soldiers Harbour 

 Islands and uses to which they are put Dutch fleet Country round 

 Batavia Thunderstorms Marshes 'Unheal thin ess of the climate 

 Fruitfulness of the soil Cattle, sheep, etc. "Wild animals Fish Birds 

 Rice Mountain rice Vegetables Fruits : detailed description, 

 supply and consumption Palm -wine Odoriferous flowers Spices 

 Population and nationalities Trade Cheating Portuguese Slaves 

 Punishment of slaves Javans Habits and customs Native attention to 

 the hair and teeth Running amoc Native superstitions Crocodiles as 

 twin brothers to men Chinese: their habits, mode of living and 

 burial Government Officials Justice Taxation Money. 



BATAVIA, the capital of the Dutch dominions in India, and 

 generally esteemed to be by much the finest town in the 

 possession of Europeans in these parts, is situated in a low 

 fenny plain, where several small rivers, which take their 

 rise in mountains called Blaen Berg, about forty miles inland, 

 empty themselves into the sea. The Dutch (always true to 

 their commercial interests) seemed to have pitched upon this 

 situation entirely for the convenience of water-carriage, which 

 indeed few. if any, towns in Europe enjoy in a higher degree. 

 Few streets in the town are without canals of considerable 

 breadth, running through or rather stagnating in them. 

 These canals are continued for several miles round the town, 

 and with five or six rivers, some of which are navigable 

 thirty or forty or more miles inland, make the carriage of 

 every species of produce inconceivably cheap. 



It is very difficult to judge of the size of the town : the 

 size of the houses, in general large, and the breadth of the 



