306 
VOYAGE OF THE POTOMAC. 
[March, 
almost every other species of gambling, and do not hesitate to 
risk their last possession on a single bet ; being often driven by 
their losses to acts of desperation and horror. Gambling-houses 
are licensed by the Dutch, from Vi^hich they derive considerable 
revenue ; thus tolerating these nurseries of vice, and then sitting 
in judgment, and punishing with torture the victims of crime 
and guilt. The Malays have their quarter of the town allotted to 
them in the same manner as the Chinese, and are subject to the 
immediate authority of their respective captains. 
The Macassars, originally from the Island of Celebes, where 
the Dutch have a considerable settlement called Fort Rotterdam, 
are another class in the city of Batavia, amounting to more than 
two thousand of both sexes. Their countenance&, particularly 
those of the females, more nearly resemble the Tartar features 
than any other. The intercourse of these islanders with the na- 
tives of Java /^seems to have been ancient and frequent ; and they 
are represented as active and enterprising traders. 
The Buggis, or Bugges, are from part of the same island, and 
their number in Batavia is supposed to be about equal to that of 
the Macassars. They are represented as a treacherous, quarrel- 
some, and revengeful race ; the same may be said of the Macas- 
sars, whom they in many respects resemble. Their valour has 
been often tested, and the reputation which they hold in the east 
is a parallel to that which the Swiss formerly held in Europe ; on 
which account the Dutch formerly enlisted many of them into 
their army. 
The Arabs are not numerous in Batavia— perhaps not over five 
hundred; and there are numbers of them also in Palembang, or 
Balambuan, at the eastern extremity of the island, on the Strait 
of Bali. They are generally engaged in the coasting trade, and 
are represented as by no means deficient in commercial intelli- 
gence. 
There are also here about two hundred and fifty Sumhdwas, 
from an island of that name on the east of Java, the third from 
Bali ; about the same number of Mandharese, from the district 
of Mandar, in the Island of Celebes ; perhaps one hundred Am- 
bonese and Bandas, from Amboyna and Banda; and a few Ti- 
morese and Biitanese, from the Island of Timor, &c. The num- 
ber of Moors in Batavia is not supposed to exceed one hundred 
