JAN. 1771 DESCRIPTION OF PRINCE'S ISLAND 421 



but, altogether, I believe, they came to about a halfpenny or 

 three farthings a pound. They were of the green kind, but 

 not fat nor well flavoured in any degree, as they are in most 

 other parts. This I believe is in great measure owing to the 

 people keeping them, sometimes for a very long time, in crawls 

 of brackish water, where they have no kind of food given to 

 them. Fowls are tolerably cheap, a dozen large ones sold 

 when we were there for a Spanish dollar, which is 5d. 

 apiece. They have also plenty of monkeys and small deer 

 (Moschus pygmceus), the largest of which are not quite so big 

 as a new fallen lamb, and another kind of deer, called by 

 them munchack, about the size of a sheep. The monkeys 

 were about half a dollar (2s. 6d.), the small deer 2d. ; the 

 larger, of which they brought down only two, a rupee, or 2s. 

 Fish they have of various kinds, and we always found 

 them tolerably cheap. Vegetables they have : cocoanuts 

 a dollar for 100, if you choose them, or 130 if you take 

 them as they come, plantains in plenty, some water melons, 

 pine-apples, jaccas (jack fruit), pumpkins ; also rice, chiefly of 

 the mountain sort which grows on dry land, yams, and 

 several other vegetables : all which are sold reasonably enough. 



The inhabitants are Javans, whose Eadja is subject to 

 the Sultan of Bantam, from whom they receive orders, and 

 to whom they possibly pay a tribute, but of that I am not 

 certain. Their customs, I believe, are very much like those 

 of the Indians about Batavia, only they seem much more 

 jealous of their women, so much so that I never saw one 

 during the whole time of our stay, unless she was running away 

 at full speed to hide herself in the woods. Their religion is 

 Mahometanism, but I believe they have not a mosque upon 

 the island : they were, however, very strict in the observance 

 of their fast (the same as the Ramadan of the Turks), during 

 which we happened to come. Not one would touch victuals 

 until sunset, or even chew their betel ; but half an hour 

 before that time all went home to cook the kettle, nor would 

 they stay for any time but in the hope of extraordinary profit. 



The food was nearly the same as the Batavian Indians, 

 adding only to it the nuts of the palm Cycas circinalis, with 



