CHAPTER 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—Unhealthiness 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
