216 ARRIVAL IN JAVA. [1696. 



the Bar of Batavia, without meeting with any thing extra- 

 ordinary in our Passage. 



As the Governor of the Isle Maurice had put us under 

 Arrest in his Island, we were kept the same till we came 

 to Batavia. At our Landing we were put in Prison, 

 and we continu'd there till the next day, the 16th of 

 JDecciiiber. 



The Council of State of the -Indies^ assembled that day, 

 and we were carry'd before them. We presented our Peti- 

 tion, in which we set forth amply all the Injustice had been 

 done us at Isle Maurice ; and their Lordships having at first 

 conceiv'd the Justice of our Cause, they restor'd us our 

 Liberty, of which we had been depriv'd for so long a time, 

 and lodg'd us in the Saphir, which is one of the Bastions 



1 " The chief government of Batavia, and of all the possessions of the 

 Dutch East- India Company in Asia, is vested in the Council of India, 

 with the Governor-General at their head. This Council consisted (in 

 1763, when Admiral Stavorinus was there) of, besides the Director- 

 General, five ordinary counsellors, including the Governor of the Cape 

 of Good Hope, nine extraordinary counsellors and two secretaries. This 

 Council determined affaii'S of every kind, those which related to the ad- 

 ministration of justice alone excepted (vide ante., pp. 192, 193). Yet, in 

 civil matters an appeal could be made from the sentence of the Council 

 of Justice to the Council of India. The authority of the Governor- 

 General, however, was almost unbounded ; and, although obliged to 

 give cognizance to the Council, and to consult them on some matters, 

 he possessed the most arbitrary and independent power of all ; for 

 there were few members of the Council who were not in need of his 

 good offices, in some instance or the other ; for example, in order to 

 obtain lucrative employment for their relatives or favourites ; and if 

 this was not sufficient to make them obey the nod of the Governor, he 

 was not destitute of the means of tormenting them, in every way, under 

 various pretences, nay, of sending them prisoners to Europe." {Op. cit., 

 vol. i, pp. 276-78.) 



The Governor-General at Batavia, when Leguat and his unfortunate 

 companions were confined there, was Willem van Outhoorn, whose life 

 and portrait are given by Francois Valentyn in his noble folios ; the 

 likeness is evidently taken from the painting iu the hall where the 

 Council assembled. 



