146 
COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TKAVEL 
even in existence. It was only in 1619 that this latter 
city was established on the ruins of the Javanese town 
of Jacatra by the Dutch general Koen, but it was not 
long in supplanting its rival, and the capital is now of 
considerable extent, although its population, which, by 
the census of 1886, was 100,485, is inferior to that of 
Surabaya. Various misfortunes have hampered its growth. 
In 1699 the terrific eruption of Mount Salak swept away 
its houses and gardens, choked its streams with mud, and 
rendered it so unhealthy from malaria that it is said that 
over a million people perished between 1730 and 1752. 
Until lately the shoaling of its roadstead has still further 
interfered with its prosperity. At the time of its founda¬ 
tion Batavia consisted of a citadel built at the mouth of 
the little river Liwong, and a small town to the south of 
it, situated in the bend of the stream and protected by a 
fosse and a wall of fortifications upon its eastern side. 
The streets were intersected by canals after the Dutch 
fashion, and these combined with the walls to aggravate 
the natural unhealthiness of the site,—a fact that was 
recognised early in the present century by Marshal Daen- 
dels, at that time Governor. Under his administration 
the mass of suburbs, of which Weltevreden is the nucleus, 
was first commenced about two miles to the south of 
the city, and in a few years the latter was deserted by 
Europeans for the new town. 
There is little either of interest or beauty in the first 
view of Batavia usually obtained by the traveller. His 
vessel anchors a mile and a half or more from the shore, 
the flatness of which is its most noticeable feature. The 
river, as in many of the Java ports, has been canalised, 
and here the canal extends not only to its mouth, but is 
built out seaward for nearly three-quarters of a mile. 
Up this the traveller rows for some distance, past many 
