At noon on the 22d, we were in latitude 11 deg. 10' S., longitude 240 deg. 38' W. In the evening of the 23d, we found the variation of the needle to be 2 deg. 44' W.; as soon as we got clear of the islands we had constantly a swell from the southward, which I imagined was not caused by a wind blowing from that quarter, but by the sea being so determined by the position of the coast of New Holland.

At noon on the 26th, being in latitude 10 deg. 47' S., longitude 249 deg. 52' W., we found the variation to be 3 deg. 10' W., and our situation to be twenty-five miles to the northward of the log; for which I know not how to account. At noon on the 27th, our latitude by observation was 10 deg. 51' S., which was agreeable to the log; and our longitude was 252 deg. 11' W. We steered N.W. all day on the 28th, in order to make the land of Java; and at noon on the 29th, our latitude by observation was 9 deg. 31' S., longitude 254 deg. 10' W.; and in the morning of the 30th, I took into my possession the log-book and journals, at least all I could find, of the officers, petty officers, and seamen, and enjoined them secrecy with respect to where they had been.

At seven in the evening, being in the latitude of Java Head, and not seeing any land, I concluded that we were too far to the westward: I therefore hauled up E.N.E. having before steered N. by E. In the night, we had thunder and lightning; and about twelve o'clock, by the light of the flashes, we saw the land bearing east. I then tacked and stood to the S.W. till four o'clock in the morning of the 1st of October; and at six, Java Head, or the west end of Java, bore S.E. by E., distant five leagues: Soon after we saw Prince's Island, bearing E. 1/2 S.; and at ten, the island of Cracatoa, bearing N.E. Cracatoa is a remarkably high-peaked island, and at noon it bore N. 40 E. distant seven leagues.

I must now observe that, during our run from Savu, I allowed twenty minutes a-day for the westerly current, which I concluded must run strong at this time, especially off the coast of Java, and I found that this allowance was just equivalent to the effect of the current upon the ship.[112]

[Footnote 112: This is a single but not an inconsiderable instance of Cook's skill, in the important art of navigation.—E.]

At four o'clock in the morning of the 2d, we fetched close in with the coast of Java, in fifteen fathom; we then stood along the coast, and early in the forenoon, I sent the boat ashore to try if she could procure some fruit for Tupia, who was very ill, and some grass for the buffaloes that were still alive. In an hour or two she returned with four cocoa-nuts, and a small bunch of plantains, which had been purchased for a shilling, and some herbage for the cattle, which the Indians not only gave us, but assisted our people to cut. The country looked like one continued wood, and had a very pleasant appearance.

About eleven o'clock, we saw two Dutch ships lying off Anger Point, and I sent Mr Hicks on board of one of them to enquire news of our country, from which we had been absent so long. In the mean time it fell calm, and about noon I anchored in eighteen fathom with a muddy bottom.[113] When Mr Hicks returned, he reported that the ships were Dutch East Indiamen from Batavia, one of which was bound to Ceylon, and the other to the coast of Malabar; and that there was also a flyboat or packet, which was said to be stationed here to carry letters from the Dutch ships that came hither to Batavia, but which I rather think was appointed to examine all ships that pass the Streight: From these ships we heard, with great pleasure, that the Swallow had been at Batavia about two years before.[114]

[Footnote 113: Mr Barrow advises that vessels should touch at Anger or Angeire Point, for refreshments. He says it is vastly better than stopping near North Island, on the Sumatra side, as the stores are much superior, and the station is very healthy.—E.]

[Footnote 114: This is related in the preceding volume.—E.]

At seven o'clock a breeze sprung up at S.S.W., with which having weighed, we stood to the N.E. between Thwart-the-way-Island and the Cap, sounding from eighteen to twenty-eight fathom: We had but little wind all night, and having a strong current against us, we got no further by eight in the morning than Bantam Point. At this time the wind came to the N.E., and obliged us to anchor in two-and-twenty fathom, at about the distance of two miles from the shore; the point bore N.E. by E., distant one league, and here we found a strong current setting to the N.W. In the morning we had seen the Dutch packet standing after us, but when the wind shifted to the N.E. she bore away.[115]

[Footnote 115: There is considerable difficulty at certain seasons, in working up this strait. Thus it is not unusual for a vessel going at a wrong time, to be six weeks in accomplishing a distance, which at another time may be gone over in twelve hours. This, however, is when the Great Channel, as it is called, is attempted at a wrong season. The Secured Passage or Bahonden, viz. betwixt Java and Prince's Island, is more generally navigated, except by vessels coming from Bengal, Surat, &c. which cannot reach the windward shore of Java against the south-east monsoon. Those which take the Secured Passage soon get into anchoring depth off the Java shore, which is one of its greatest advantages,—E.]

At six o'clock in the evening, the wind having obliged us to continue at anchor, one of the country boats came along side of us, on board of which was the master of the packet. He seemed to have two motives for his visit, one to take an account of the ship, and the other to sell us refreshments; for in the boat were turtle, fowls, ducks, parrots, paroquets, rice-birds, monkies, and other articles, which they held at a very high price, and brought to a bad market, for our Savu stock was not yet expended: However, I gave a Spanish dollar for a small turtle, which weighed about six-and-thirty pounds: I gave also a dollar for ten large fowls, and afterwards bought fifteen more at the same price; for a dollar we might also have bought two monkies, or a whole cage of rice-birds. The master of the sloop brought with him two books, in one of which he desired that any of our officers would write down the name of the ship and its commander, with that of the place from which she sailed, and of the port to which she was bound, with such other particulars relating to themselves, as they might think proper, for the information of any of our friends that should come after us: And in the other he entered the names of the ship and the commander himself, in order to transmit them, to the governor and council of the Indies. We perceived that in the first book many ships, particularly Portuguese, had made entries of the same kind with that for which it was presented to us. Mr Hicks, however, having written the name of the ship, only added "from Europe." He took notice of this, but said, that he was satisfied with any thing we thought fit to write, it being intended merely for the information of those who should enquire after us from motives of friendship.

Having made several attempts to sail with a wind that would not stem the current, and as often come to an anchor, a proa came along-side of us in the morning of the 5th, in which was a Dutch officer, who sent me down a printed paper in English, duplicates of which he had in other languages, particularly in French and Dutch, all regularly signed, in the name of the governor and council of the Indies, by their secretary: It contained nine questions, very ill expressed, in the following terms:

"1. To what nation the ship belongs, and its name? "2. If it comes from Europe, or any other place? "3. From what place it lastly departed from? "4. Whereunto designed to go? "5. What and how many ships of the Dutch Company by departure from the last shore there layed, and their names? "6. If one or more of these ships in company with this, is departed for this or any other place? "7. If during the voyage any particularities is happened or seen? "8. If not any ships in sea, or the Streights of Sunda, have seen or hailed in, and which? "9. If any other news worth of attention, at the place from whence the ship lastly departed, or during the voyage, is happened?

BATAVIA, in the Castle. "By order of the Governor-General and the Counsellors of India, J. BRANDER BUNGL, Sec."

Of these questions I answered only the first and the fourth; which when the officer saw, he said answers to the rest were of no consequence: Yet he immediately added, that he must send that very paper away to Batavia, and that it would be there the next day at noon. I have particularly related this incident, because I have been credibly informed that it is but of late years that the Dutch have taken upon them to examine the ships that pass through this Streight.[116]

[Footnote 116: The Dutch East-India Company claimed the absolute sovereignty of the Straits of Sunda, as possessing the kingdom of Bantam, on the shore of Java, and having conquered the land of Lampon and other provinces on the opposite side.—E.]

At ten o'clock the same morning, we weighed, with a light breeze at S.W.; but did little more than stem the current, and about two o'clock anchored again under Bantam Point, where we lay till nine; a light breeze then springing up at S.E. we weighed and stood to the eastward till ten o'clock the next morning, when the current obliged us again to anchor in twenty-two fathom, Pulababi bearing E. by S. 1/2 S. distant between three and four miles. Having alternately weighed and anchored several times, till four in the afternoon of the 7th, we then stood to the eastward, with a very faint breeze at N.E. and passed Wapen Island, and the first island to the eastward of it; when the wind dying away, we were carried by the current between the first and second of the islands that lie to the eastward of Wapen Island, where we were obliged to anchor in thirty fathom, being very near a ledge of rocks that run out from one of the islands. At two the next morning we weighed with the land-wind at south, and stood out clear of the shoal; but before noon were obliged to come-to again in twenty-eight fathom, near a small island among those that are called the Thousand Islands, which we did not find laid down in any chart. Pulo Pare at this time bore E.N.E. distance between six and seven miles.

Mr Banks and Dr Solander went ashore upon the island, which they found not to be more than five hundred yards long, and one hundred broad; yet there was a house upon it, and a small plantation, where among other things was the Palma Christi, from which the caster-oil is made in the West Indies:[117] they made a small addition to their collection of plants, and shot a bat, whose wings when extended measured three feet from point to point: They shot also four plovers, which exactly resembled the golden plover of England. Soon after they returned, a small Indian boat came along-side with two Malays on board, who brought three turtles, some dried fish, and a few pumpkins: We bought the turtle, which altogether weighed a hundred and forty-six pounds, for a dollar, and considering that we had lately paid the Dutchman a dollar for one that weighed only six-and-thirty pounds, we thought we had a good bargain. The seller appeared equally satisfied, and we then treated with him for his pumpkins, for which he was very unwilling to take any money but a dollar; we said that a whole dollar was greatly too much; to which he readily assented, but desired that we would cut one and give him a part: At last, however, a fine shining Portuguese petack tempted him, and for that he sold us his whole stock of pumpkins, being in number twenty-six. At parting, he made signs that we should not tell at Batavia that any boat had been aboard us.

[Footnote 117: The Ricinus Communis: The oil is obtained from the seeds, either by expression or decoction.—E.]

We were not able to weather Polo Pare this day, but getting the land-wind at south about ten o'clock at night, we weighed and stood to the E.S.E. all night. At ten in the morning, we anchored again, to wait for the sea-breeze; and at noon it sprung up at N.N.E. with which we stood in for Batavia road, where at four o'clock in the afternoon we came to an anchor.

We found here the Harcourt Indiaman from England, two English private traders of that country, thirteen sail of large Dutch ships, and a considerable number of small vessels.

A boat came immediately on board from a ship which had a broad pendant flying, and the officer who commanded having enquired who we were, and whence we came, immediately returned with such answers as we thought fit to give him: Both he and his people were pale as spectres a sad presage of our sufferings in so unhealthy a country; but our people, who, except Tupia, were all rosy and plump seemed to think themselves so seasoned by various-climates that nothing could hurt them.[118] In the mean time, I sent a lieutenant ashore to acquaint the governor of our arrival and to make an excuse for our not saluting; for as I could salute with only three guns, except the swivels, which I was of opinion would not be heard, I thought it was better to let it alone. As soon as the boat was dispatched, the carpenter delivered me an account of the defects of the ship, of which the following is a copy:

"The defects of his Majesty's bark Endeavour, "Lieutenant James Cook Commander.

"The ship very leaky, as she makes from twelve to six inches water an hour, occasioned by her main keel being wounded in many places, and the scarfs of her stern being very open: The false keel gone beyond the midships from forward, and perhaps farther, as I had no opportunity of seeing for the water; when hauled ashore for repairing: Wounded on the larboard side under the main channel, where I imagine the greatest leak is, but could not come at it for the water: One pump on the larboard side useless; the others decayed within an inch and a half of the bore. Otherwise masts, yards, boats, and hull, in pretty good condition."

As it was the universal opinion that the ship could not safely proceed to Europe without an examination of her bottom, I determined to apply for leave to heave her down at this place; and as I understood that it would be necessary to make this application in writing, I drew up a request, and the next morning, having got it translated into Dutch, we all went ashore.



[Footnote 118: It is of some consequence to remember the circumstance of the crew's good health on arriving at Batavia. So far the precautions used for their welfare had been found very efficacious.—E.]

We repaired immediately to the house of Mr Leith, the only Englishman of any credit who was resident at this place; he received us with great politeness, and engaged us to dinner: To this gentleman we applied for instructions how to provide ourselves with lodgings and necessaries while we should stay ashore, and he told us that there was a hotel, or kind of inn, kept by the order of government, where all merchants and strangers were obliged to reside, paying half per cent, upon the value of their goods for warehouse room, which the master of the house was obliged to provide; but that as we came in a king's ship, we should be at liberty to live where we pleased, upon asking the governor's permission, which would be granted of course. He said that it would be cheaper for us to take a house in the town, and bring our own servants ashore, if we had any body upon whom we could depend to buy in our provisions; but as this was not the case, having no person among us who could speak the Malay language, our gentlemen determined to go to the hotel. At the hotel, therefore, beds were immediately hired, and word was sent that we should sleep there at night.

At five o'clock in the afternoon I was introduced to the governor-general, who received me very courteously; he told me that I should have every thing I wanted, and that in the morning my request should be laid before the council, which I was desired to attend.

About nine o'clock we had a dreadful storm of thunder, lightning, and rain, during which the main-mast of one of the Dutch East Indiamen was split, and carried away by the deck; the main-top-mast and top-gallant-mast were shivered to pieces; she had an iron spindle at the main-top-mast-head, which probably directed the stroke. This ship lay not more than the distance of two cables' length from ours, and in all probability we should have shared the same fate, but for the electrical chain which we had but just got up, and which conducted the lightning over the side of the ship; but though we escaped the lightning, the explosion shook us like an earthquake, the chain at the same time appearing like a line of fire: A centinel was in the action of charging his piece, and the shock forced the musket out of his hand, and broke the rammer-rod. Upon this occasion I cannot but earnestly recommend chains of the same kind to every ship, whatever be her destination, and I hope that the fate of the Dutchman will be a warning to all who shall read this narrative, against having an iron spindle at the mast-head.[119]

[Footnote 119: Thunder storms are particularly frequent in this climate, especially about the ends of the monsoons, at which times scarcely an evening passes without one. But in general, it has been remarked, they are not productive of much mischief; the reason, perhaps, why the Indiaman was not furnished in the manner recommended. The Dutch are scarcely to be charged with want of foresight, or with inattention to their interests. Nevertheless, the advice here given is worthy of attention, as well to them as to others.—E.]

The next morning I attended at the council-chamber, and was told that I should have every thing I wanted. In the mean time, the gentlemen ashore agreed with the keeper of the hotel for their lodging and board, at the rate of two rix-dollars, or nine shillings sterling a-day for each; and as there were five of them, and they would probably have many visitors from the ship, he agreed to keep them a separate table, upon condition that they should pay one rix-dollar for the dinner of every stranger, and another for his supper and bed, if he should sleep ashore. Under this stipulation they were to be furnished with tea, coffee, punch, pipes and tobacco, for themselves and their friends, as much as they could consume; they were also to pay half a rupee, or one shilling and three-pence a-day for each of their servants.[120]

[Footnote 120: Captain Bligh, who got to Batavia in 1739, speaks very indifferently of the hotel there. "One of the greatest difficulties," says he, "that strangers have to encounter, is their being obliged to live at the hotel. This hotel was formerly two houses, which, by doors of communication, have been made one. It is in the middle of a range of buildings more calculated for a cold country than for such a climate as Batavia. There is no free circulation of air, and what is equally bad, it is always very dirty; and there is great want of attendance. What they call cleaning the house, is another nuisance; for they never use any water to cool it or lay the dust, but sweep daily with brooms, in such a manner, that those in the house are almost suffocated by a cloud of dust." His officers, he tells us, complained of the tradesmen imposing on them as to the price of goods, in consequence of which he spoke to the sabander, who gave redress. He himself was obliged; on account of his health, to have a house in the country.—E.]

They soon learnt that these rates were more than double the common charges of board and lodging in the town, and their table, though it had the appearance of magnificence, was wretchedly served. Their dinner consisted of one course of fifteen dishes, and their supper of one course of thirteen, but nine or ten of them consisted of bad poultry, variously dressed, and often served up the second, third, and even the fourth time: The same duck having appeared more than once roasted, found his way again to the table as a fricasee, and a fourth time in the form of forced meat. It was not long, however, before they learnt that this treatment was only by way of essay, and that it was the invariable custom of the house to supply all strangers, at their first coming, with such fare as could be procured for the least money, and consequently would produce the most gain: That if either through indolence or good nature they were content, it was continued for the benefit of the host, but that if they complained, it was gradually amended till they were satisfied, which sometimes happened before they had the worth of their money. After this discovery, they remonstrated, and their fare became better; however, after a few days, Mr Banks hired a little house, the next door on the left hand to the hotel, for himself and his party, for which he paid after the rate of ten rix-dollars, or two pounds five shillings sterling a-month; but here they were very far from having either the convenience or the privacy which they expected; no person was permitted to sleep in this private house occasionally, as a guest to the person who hired it, under a penalty, but almost every Dutchman that went by ran in without any ceremony, to ask what they sold, there having been very seldom any private persons at Batavia who had not something to sell. Every body here hires a carriage, and Mr Banks hired two. They are open chaises, made to hold two people, and driven by a man sitting on a coach-box; for each of these he paid two rix-dollars a-day.

As soon as he was settled in his new habitation, he sent for Tupia, who, till now, had continued on board upon account of his illness, which was of the bilious kind, and for which he had obstinately refused to take any medicine. He soon came ashore, with his boy Tayeto, and though while he was on board, and after he came into the boat, he was exceedingly listless and dejected, he no sooner entered the town than he seemed to be animated with a new soul. The houses, carriages, streets, people, and a multiplicity of other objects, all new, which rushed upon him at once, produced an effect like the sudden and secret power that is imagined of fascination. Tayeto expressed his wonder and delight with still less restraint, and danced along the street in a kind of extasy, examining every object with a restless and eager curiosity, which was every moment excited and gratified. One of the first things that Tupia remarked, was the various dresses of the passing multitude, concerning which he made many enquiries; and when he was told that in this place, where people of many different nations were assembled, every one wore the habit of his country, he desired that he might conform to the custom, and appear in that of Otaheite. South-Sea cloth was therefore sent for from the ship, and he equipped himself with great expedition and dexterity. The people who had seen Otouron, the Indian, who had been brought hither by M. Bougainville, enquired whether Tupia was not the same person: From these enquiries, we learnt who it was that we had supposed to be Spaniards, from the accounts that had been given of two ships by the islanders.[121]

[Footnote 121: Should our limits allow it, an abstract of Bougainville's voyage will be given as an appendix, in which mention will be made of the Indian here alluded to.—E.]

In the mean time, I procured an order to the superintendant of the Island of Onrust, where the ship was to be repaired, to receive her there; and sent by one of the ships that sailed for Holland, an account of our arrival here, to Mr Stephens, the secretary to the Admiralty.

The expences that would be incurred by repairing and refitting the ship, rendered it necessary for me to take up money in this place, which I imagined might be done without difficulty, but I found myself mistaken; for after the most diligent enquiry, I could not find any private person that had ability and inclination to advance the sum that I wanted. In this difficulty I applied to the governor himself, by a written request, in consequence of which, the shebander had orders to supply me with what money I should require, out of the Company's treasury.

On the 18th, as soon as it was light, having by several accidents and mistakes suffered a delay of many days, I took up the anchor, and ran down to Onrust: A few days afterwards we went alongside of the wharf, on Cooper's Island, which lies close to Onrust, in order to take out our stores.

By this time, having been here only three days, we began to feel the fatal effects of the climate and situation. Tupia, after the flow of spirits which the novelties of the place produced upon his first landing, sank on a sadden, and grew every day worse and worse. Tayeto was seized with an inflammation upon his lungs, Mr Banks's two servants became very ill, and himself and Dr Solander were attacked by fevers; in a few days, almost every person both on board and ashore were sick; affected, no doubt, by the low swampy situation of the place, and the numberless dirty canals which intersect the town in all directions. On the 26th, I set up the tent for the reception of the ship's company, of whom there was but a small number able to do duty. Poor Tupia, of whose life we now began to despair, and who till this time had continued ashore with Mr Banks, desired to be removed to the ship, where, he said, he should breathe a freer air than among the numerous houses which obstructed it ashore: On board the ship, however, he could not go, for she was unrigged, and preparing to be laid down at the careening-place; but on the 28th, Mr Banks went with him to Cooper's Island, or, as it is called here, Kuypor, where she lay, and as he seemed pleased with the spot, a tent was there pitched for him: At this place both the sea-breeze and the land-breeze blew directly over him, and he expressed great satisfaction in his situation. Mr Banks, whose humanity kept him two days with this poor Indian, returned to the town on the 30th, and the fits of his intermittent, which was now become a regular tertian, were so violent as to deprive him of his senses while they lasted, and leave him so weak that he was scarcely able to crawl down stairs: At this time, Dr Solander's disorder also increased, and Mr Monkhouse, the surgeon, was confined to his bed.

On the 5th of November, after many delays in consequence of the Dutch ships coming alongside the wharfs to load pepper, the ship was laid down, and the same day, Mr Monkhouse, our surgeon, a sensible skilful man, fell the first sacrifice to this fatal country, a loss which was greatly aggravated by our situation. Dr Solander was just able to attend his funeral, but Mr Banks was confined to his bed. Our distress was now very great, and the prospect before us discouraging in the highest degree: Our danger was not such as we could surmount by any efforts of our own; courage, skill, and diligence were all equally ineffectual, and death was every day making advances upon us, where we could neither resist nor fly. Malay servants were hired to attend the sick, but they had so little sense either of duty or humanity, that they could not be kept within call, and the patient was frequently obliged to get out of bed to seek them.[122] On the 9th, we lost our poor Indian boy, Tayeto, and Tupia was so much affected, that it was doubted whether he would survive till the next day.

[Footnote 122: The Malays are not indebted to the representations of any author who has ever been at the pains to paint their character. What every body says, is at least likely to be true; and if so, they are a compound of every thing that is terrific in the rudest of the species, and of every thing that is odious in human nature, when corrupted to the extreme. Desperadoes in courage, and gluttons in revenge, they have also the low cunning and the treacherous plausibility with all the licentious propensities of the most designing and profligate of mankind. Their advancement in the arts which render life comfortable, and sometimes, too, embellish even vice, cannot in any measure redeem them into favourable estimation. They are in most points inferior (perhaps in every respect, save navigation,) to all the nations that inhabit the vast peninsula of Eastern India.—E.]

In the mean time, the bottom of the ship being examined, was found to be in a worse condition than we apprehended: The false keel was all gone to within twenty feet of the stern-post; the main keel was considerably injured in many places; and a great quantity of the sheathing was torn off, and several planks were much damaged; two of them, and the half of a third, under the main channel near the keel, were, for the length of six feet, so worn, that they were not above an eighth part of an inch thick, and here the worms had made their way quite into the timbers; yet in this condition she had sailed many hundred leagues, where navigation is as dangerous as in any part of the world: How much misery did we escape by being ignorant that so considerable a part of the bottom of the vessel was thinner than the sole of a shoe, and that every life on board depended upon so slight and fragile a barrier between us and the unfathomable ocean! It seemed, however, that we had been preserved only to perish here; Mr Banks and Dr Solander were so bad that the physician declared they had no chance for recovery but by removing into the country; a house was therefore hired for them at the distance of about two miles from the town, which belonged to the master of the hotel, who engaged to furnish them with provisions, and the use of slaves. As they had already experienced their want of influence over slaves that had other masters, and the unfeeling inattention of these fellows to the sick, they bought each of them a Malay woman, which removed both the causes of their being so ill served; the women were their own property, and the tenderness of the sex, even here, made them good nurses.[123] While these preparations were making, they received an account of the death of Tupia, who sunk at once after the loss of the boy, whom he loved with the tenderness of a parent.[124]

[Footnote 123: Dr Hawkesworth seems to have forgotten here the superiority of a simple diet over the tribe of nurses; it would seem, too, as if nature did not possess in this climate any considerable skill in surgery or medicine.—E.]

[Footnote 124: Tupia merited some eulogium; and it is singular that Dr Hawkesworth did not bestow it. This, however, has been done by Mr Forster, in his account of Cook's second voyage.—E.]

By the 14th, the bottom of the ship was thoroughly repaired, and very much to my satisfaction: It would, indeed, be injustice to the officers and workmen of this yard, not to declare, that, in my opinion, there is not a marine yard in the world where a ship can be laid down with more convenience, safety, and dispatch, nor repaired with more diligence and skill. At this place they heave down by two masts, a method which we do not now practise; it is, however, unquestionably more safe and expeditious to heave down with two masts than one, and he must have a good share of bigotry to old customs, and an equal want of common sense, who will not allow this, after seeing with what facility the Dutch heave down their largest ships at this place.

Mr Banks and Dr Solander recovered slowly at their country-house, which was not only open to the sea breeze, but situated upon a running stream, which greatly contributed to the circulation of the air: But I was now taken ill myself; Mr Sporing, and a seaman who had attended Mr Banks, were also seized with intermittents; and, indeed, there were not more than ten of the whole ship's company that were able to do duty.

We proceeded however in rigging the ship, and getting water and stores aboard: The water we were obliged to procure from Batavia, at the rate of six shillings and eight-pence a leager, or one hundred and fifty gallons.

About the 26th, the westerly monsoon set in, which generally blows here in the night from the S.W., and in the day from the N.W. or N. For some nights before this, we had very heavy rain, with much thunder; and in the night between the 25th and 26th, such rain as we had seldom seen, for near four hours without intermission. Mr Banks's house admitted the water in every part like a sieve, and it ran through the lower rooms in a stream that would have turned a mill: He was by this time sufficiently recovered to go out, and upon his entering Batavia the next morning, he was much surprised to see the bedding every where hung out to dry.

The wet season was now set in, though we had some intervals of fair weather.[125] The frogs in the ditches, which croak ten times loader than any frogs in Europe, gave notice of rain by an incessant noise that was almost intolerable, and the gnats and musquitos, which had been very troublesome even during the dry weather, were now become innumerable, swarming from every plash of water like bees from a hive; they did not, however, much incommode us in the day, and the stings, however troublesome at first, never continued to itch above half an hour, so that none of us felt in the day the effects of the wounds they had received in the night.

[Footnote 125: They reckon two seasons or monsoons in this climate. The east, or good one, begins about the end of April, and continues till about the beginning of October. During this, the trade-winds usually blow from the south-east and east-south-east, and there is fine weather, with a clear sky. The west, or bad monsoon, begins about the end of November, or commencement of December, and continues till towards the end of February, during which the winds are mostly from the west. This is the most unhealthy season. It has been remarked, but not explained, that the periods of the monsoons are not so regular as they once were, so that neither their beginning nor end can be so confidently depended on. The months not included in either of the monsoons are called shifting-months.—E.]

On the 8th of December, the ship being perfectly refitted, and having taken in most of her water and stores, and received the sick on board, we ran up to Batavia Road, and anchored in four fathom and a half of water.[126]

[Footnote 126: Batavia Road is reckoned one of the best in the world for size, safety, and goodness of anchorage. It is open indeed from the north-west to east north-east and east; nevertheless, ships lie quite secure in it, as there are several islands on that side which break the force of the waves. There is no occasion for mooring stern and stern in it.—E.]

From this time, to the 24th, we were employed in getting on board the remainder of our water and provisions, with some new pumps, and in several other operations that were necessary to fit the ship for the sea, all which would have been effected much sooner, if sickness and death had not disabled or carried off a great number of our men.

While we lay here, the Earl of Elgin, Captain Cook, a ship belonging to the English East India Company, came to anchor in the road. She was bound from Madras to China, but having lost her passage, put in here to wait for the next season. The Phoenix, Captain Black, an English country ship, from Bencoolen, also came to an anchor at this place.

In the afternoon of Christmas-eve, the 24th, I took leave of the governor, and several of the principal gentlemen of the place, with whom I had formed connexions, and from whom I received every possible civility and assistance; but in the mean time an accident happened which might have produced disagreeable consequences. A seaman had run away from one of the Dutch ships in the road, and entered on board of mine: The captain had applied to the governor to reclaim him as a subject of Holland, and an order for that purpose was procured: This order was brought to me soon after I returned from my last visit, and I said, that if the man appeared to be a Dutchman, he should certainly be delivered up. Mr Hicks commanded on board, and I gave the Dutch officer an order to him to deliver the man up under that condition. I slept myself this night on shore, and in the morning the captain of the Dutch commodore came and told me that he had carried my order on board, but that the officer had refused to deliver up the man, alleging not only that he was not a Dutchman, but that he was a subject of Great Britain, born in Ireland; I replied, that the officer had perfectly executed my orders, and that if the man was an English subject, it could not be expected that I should deliver him up. The captain then said, that he was just come from the governor to demand the man of me in his name, as a subject of Denmark, alleging that he stood in the ship's books as born at Elsineur. The claim of this man as a subject of Holland being now given up, I observed to the captain that there appeared to be some mistake in the general's message, for that he would certainly never demand a Danish seaman from me who had committed no other crime than preferring the service of the English to that of the Dutch. I added, however, to convince him of my sincere desire to avoid disputes, that if the man was a Dane, he should be delivered up as a courtesy, though he could not be demanded as a right; but that if I found he was an English subject, I would keep him at all events. Upon these terms we parted, and soon after I received a letter from Mr Hicks, containing indubitable proof that the seaman in question was a subject of his Britannic majesty. This letter I immediately carried to the shebander, with a request that it might be shewn to the governor, and that his excellency might at the same time be told I would not upon any terms part with the man. This had the desired effect, and I heard no more of the affair.[127]

[Footnote 127: Whatever may be thought of the advantage of such policy, it is certain that Cook acted here in the full spirit of a British officer and minister. Every reader must be aware how materially the same determination on the part of our government has tended to embroil us with the Americans, betwixt whom and us, the question of fact, as to country, is often much more difficult of solution than it can well be where any other people oppose our claims.—E.]

In the evening I went on board, accompanied by Mr Banks, and the rest of the gentlemen who had constantly resided on shore, and who, though better, were not yet perfectly recovered.

At six in the morning of the 26th, we weighed and set sail, with a light breeze at S.W. The Elgin Indiaman saluted us with three cheers and thirteen guns, and the garrison with fourteen; both which, with the help of our swivels, we returned, and soon after the sea-breeze set in at N. by W. which obliged us to anchor just without the ships in the road.

At this time the number of sick on board amounted to forty, and the rest of the ship's company were in a very feeble condition. Every individual had been sick except the sail-maker, an old man between seventy and eighty years of age; and it is very remarkable, that this old man, during our stay at this place, was constantly drunk every day:[128] We had buried seven, the surgeon, three seamen, Mr Green's servant, Tupia, and Tayeto, his boy. All but Tupia fell a sacrifice to the unwholesome, stagnant, putrid air of the country, and he who, from his birth, had been used to subsist chiefly upon vegetable food, particularly ripe fruit, soon contracted all the disorders that are incident to a sea life, and would probably have sunk under them before we could have completed our voyage, if we had not been obliged to go to Batavia to refit.

[Footnote 128: Cases similar to this are of constant occurrence, and are familiarly known to medical men who have a principle to account for it. The continual operation of exciting causes so as to produce a certain degree of action of the system, will prevent, as well as remedy, diseases of debility. The plague has been kept off by a like treatment on the same principle, and so has the ague, an intermitting fever so formidable in some countries. Giving over or abating of this stimulating treatment, however, if other circumstances remain the same, will, of course, render the person as obnoxious as ever to attack, or rather more so. It is evident that at times this cure is as bad as the disease; for scarcely any state of health is more deplorably fatal than constant drunkenness.—E.]

SECTION XXXVIII.

Some Account of Batavia, and the adjacent Country; with their Fruits, Flowers, and other Productions.

Batavia, the capital of the Dutch dominions in India, and generally supposed to have no equal among all the possessions of the Europeans in Asia, is situated on the north side of the island of Java, in a low fenny plain, where several small rivers, which take their rise in the mountains called Blaeuwen Berg, about forty miles up the country, empty themselves into the sea, and where the coast forms a large bay, called the Bay of Batavia, at the distance of about eight leagues from the streight of Sunda. It lies in latitude 6 deg. 10' S., and longitude 106 deg. 50' E. from the meridian of Greenwich, as appears from astronomical observations made upon the spot, by the Rev. Mr Mohr, who has built an elegant observatory, which is as well furnished with instruments as most in Europe.[129]

[Footnote 129: Batavia, called by some writers, the Queen of the East, on account of its wealth and the beauty of its buildings, is situate very near the sea, in a fertile plain, watered by the river Jaccatra, which divides the town. The sea-shore is on the north of the city; and on the south the land rises with a very gentle slope to the mountains, which are about fifteen leagues inland. One of these is of great height, and is called the Blue Mountain. The early history of this city is given in the tenth volume of the Modern Universal History, to which the reader is referred for information which it would perhaps be tedious to detail in this place. Batavia, the reader will easily imagine, has been much impaired by the calamities of her European parent; but, indeed, for some considerable time before they commenced, she had very materially declined in consequence and power.—E.]

The Dutch seem to have pitched upon this spot for the convenience of water-carriage, and in that it is indeed a second Holland, and superior to every other place in the world. There are very few streets that have not a canal of considerable breadth running through them, or rather stagnating in them, and continued for several miles in almost every direction beyond the town, which is also intersected by five or six rivers, some of which are navigable thirty or forty miles up the country.[130] As the houses are large, and the streets wide, it takes up a much greater extent, in proportion to the number of houses it contains, than any city in Europe. Valentyn, who wrote an account of it about the year 1726, says, that in his time there were, within the walls, 1242 Dutch houses, and 1200 Chinese; and without the walls, 1066 Dutch, and 1240 Chinese, besides 12 arrack houses, making in all 4760: But this account appeared to us to be greatly exaggerated, especially with respect to the number of houses within the walls.

[Footnote 130: The river Jaccatra, as has been mentioned, runs through the city, viz. from south to north, and having three bridges, one near the castle, at the lower end, another at the upper end, and the third about the centre of the town. It is from 160 to 180 feet broad, within the city, and is fortified, though indifferently, at its mouth, which, however, is of less importance, as a continually increasing bar renders access to the city by it impracticable for large vessels.—E.]

The streets are spacious and handsome, and the banks of the canals are planted with rows of trees, that make a very pleasing appearance; but the trees concur with the canals to make the situation unwholesome.[131] The stagnant canals in the dry season exhale an intolerable stench, and the trees impede the course of the air, by which, in some degree, the putrid effluvia would be dissipated. In the wet season the inconvenience is equal, for then these reservoirs of corrupted water overflow their banks in the lower part of the town, especially in the neighbourhood of the hotel, and fill the lower stories of the houses, where they leave behind them an inconceivable quantity of slime and filth: Yet these canals are sometimes cleaned; but the cleaning them is so managed as to become as great a nuisance as the foulness of the water; for the black mud that is taken from the bottom is suffered to lie upon the banks, that is, in the middle of the street, till it has acquired a sufficient degree of hardness to be made the lading of a boat, and carried away. As this mud consists chiefly of human ordure, which is regularly thrown into the canals every morning, there not being a necessary-house in the whole town, it poisons the air while it is drying, to a considerable extent. Even the running streams become nuisances in their turn, by the nastiness or negligence of the people; for every now and then a dead hog, or a dead horse, is stranded upon the shallow parts, and it being the business of no particular person to remove the nuisance, it is negligently left to time and accident. While we were here, a dead buffalo lay upon the shoal of a river that ran through one of the principal streets, above a week, and at last was carried away by a flood.[132]

[Footnote 131: Some of the streets are paved, but they consist of a hard clay which allows of being made plain and smooth; and within the city there are stone foot paths along their sides.—E.]

[Footnote 132: Five roads lead from the city into the country, all of which are finely planted with trees, and have very agreeable gardens on both sides. These roads run along the course of the rivulets or canals which form so remarkable a feature in the history and appearance of this city. The environs of Batavia have always been highly commended for their beauty and the fertility of the soil; the consequence, no doubt, of the extraordinary care taken to have them well watered—E.]

The houses are in general well adapted to the climate; they consist of one very large room, or hall, on the ground floor, with a door at each end, both which generally stand open: At one end a room is taken off by a partition, where the master of the house transacts his business; and in the middle, between each end, there is a court, which gives light to the hall, and at the same time increases the draught of air. From one corner of the hall the stairs go up to the floor above, where also the rooms are spacious and airy. In the alcove, which is formed by the court, the family dine; and at other times it is occupied by the female slaves, who are not allowed to sit down any where else.[133]

[Footnote 133: The houses are mostly built of brick, stuccoed without, and with sash-windows, so as to have a light agreeable appearance. The plan of their internal construction is much the same in the whole. On one side of a narrow passage into which you enter from the street, you have a parlour, and a little farther on, a large long room, lighted from an inner court, as is mentioned in the text. The rooms in general are badly furnished, and are floored with dark-red stones. The upper rooms are laid out like the under ones; Few of the private houses have gardens.—E.]

The public buildings are most of them old, heavy, and ungraceful; but the new church is not inelegant; it is built with a dome, that is seen from a great distance at sea, and though the outside has rather a heavy appearance, the inside forms a very fine room: It is furnished with an organ of a proper size, being very large, and is most magnificently illuminated by chandeliers.[134]

[Footnote 134: There are several churches for the reformed religion, and service is performed in the Dutch, Portuguese, and Malay languages. The description in the text is believed to apply to the Lutheran church, erected during the government of Baron Van Imhof.—E.]

The town is enclosed by a stone wall of a moderate height; but the whole of it is old, and many parts are much out of repair. This wall itself is surrounded by a river, which in some places is fifty, and in some a hundred yards wide: The stream is rapid, but the water is shallow. The wall is also lined within by a canal, which in different parts is of different breadths; so that, in passing either out or in through the gates, it is necessary to cross two draw-bridges; and there is no access for idle people or strangers to walk upon the ramparts, which seem to be but ill provided with guns.[135]

[Footnote 135: The wall is built of coral rock, and part of it, according to Sir Geo. Staunton's account, of lava of a dark-blue colour, and firm hard texture. It has twenty two bastions mounted with artillery, and is surrounded by a broad moat, generally well filled with water. There are five gates to the city; two on the south, the New Gate, and the Diast Gate; one on the north, the Square Gate; Rotterdam Gate on the east; and the Utrecht Gate on the west—E.]

In the north-east corner of the town stands the castle or citadel, the walls of which are both higher and thicker than those of the town, especially near the landing-place, where there is depth of water only for boats, which it completely commands, with several large guns, that make a very good appearance.

Within this castle are apartments for the governor-general, and all the council of India, to which they are enjoined to repair in case of a siege. Here are also large storehouses where great quantities of the Company's goods are kept, especially those that are brought from Europe, and where almost all their writers transact their business. In this place also are laid up a great number of cannon, whether to mount upon the walls or furnish shipping, we could not learn; and the Company is said to be well supplied with powder, which is dispersed in various magazines, that if some should be destroyed by lightning, which in this place is very frequent, the rest may escape.[136]

[Footnote 136: The castle is a square fortress, having four bastions connected by curtains, surrounded by a ditch. The walls are about twenty-four feet high, and built also of coral rock. Besides the houses, &c. mentioned in the text and near to what is called the Iron Magazine, is the grass plot where criminals are executed: It is a square space, artificially elevated, and furnished with gallows, &c. Close adjoining, and fronting it, is a small building where the magistrates, according to the Dutch custom, attend during the execution.—E.]

Besides the fortifications of the town, numerous forts are dispersed about the country to the distance of twenty or thirty miles; these seem to have been intended merely to keep the natives in awe, and indeed they are fit for nothing else. For the same purpose a kind of houses, each of which mounts about eight guns, are placed in such situations as command the navigation of three or four canals, and consequently the roads upon their banks: Some of these are in the town itself, and it was from one of these that all the best houses belonging to the Chinese were levelled with the ground in the Chinese rebellion of 1740.[137] These defences are scattered over all parts of Java, and the other islands of which the Dutch have got possession in these seas. Of one of these singular forts, or fortified houses, we should have procured a drawing, if our gentlemen had not been confined by sickness almost all the time they were upon the island.

[Footnote 137: One of the most shocking transactions ever recorded, is here alluded to. It has been often described, for it horrified all Europe, and excited most general disgust at the very name of Dutchmen. They, however, endeavoured to make the affair look as decent as possible, and when forced to abandon every other claim to favourable interpretation, used at last the tyrant's plea, necessity. Rebellion must be punished, it is admitted; a thousand reasons are in readiness to justify the punishment of it. But, alas! in this case many hundreds were punished who had never been in rebellion, never thought of it, never knew it, were incapable of it. The vengeful spirit of their "High Mightinesses" in Batavia, was glutted to the throat. Butchery could not do her work more thoroughly. Not a drop of blood was left in Chinese veins to circulate disaffection, or boil in the agony of despairing hate. Extermination smiled in the gloom of Death,—merciful in this at least, that she suffered not a heart to remain to curse her triumph. See Modern Universal History, vol. xiv. ch. 7. Our limits will not permit the dreadful recital.—E.]

If the Dutch fortifications here are not formidable in themselves, they become so by their situation; for they are among morasses where the roads, which are nothing more than a bank thrown up between a canal and a ditch, may easily be destroyed, and consequently the approach of heavy artillery either totally prevented or greatly retarded: For it would be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to transport them in boats, as they all muster every night under the guns of the castle, a situation from which it would be impossible for an enemy to take them. Besides, in this country, delay is death; so that whatever retards an enemy, will destroy him. In less than a week we were sensible of the unhealthiness of the climate; and in less than a month half the ship's company were unable to do their duty. We were told, that of a hundred soldiers who arrive here from Europe, it was a rare thing for fifty to survive the first year; that of those fifty, half would then be in the hospital, and not ten of the rest in perfect health: Possibly this account may be exaggerated; but the pale and feeble wretches whom we saw crawling about with a musket, which they were scarcely able to carry, inclined us to believe that it was true.[138] Every white inhabitant of the town indeed is a soldier; the younger are constantly mustered, and those who have served five years are liable to be called out when their assistance is thought to be necessary; but as neither of them are ever exercised, or do any kind of duty, much cannot be expected from them. The Portuguese, indeed, are in general good marksmen, because they employ themselves much in shooting wild-hogs and deer: Neither the Mardykers nor the Chinese know the use of fire-arms; but as they are said to be brave, they might do much execution with their own weapons, swords, lances, and daggers. The Mardykers are Indians of all nations, who are descended from free ancestors, or have themselves been made free.

[Footnote 138: Mr Barrow does not give a more favourable report. According to him, no less than three out of five of the new settlers at this place die in the first year of their residence; and he learned from the registers of the military hospital, that though the establishment of troops never exceeded 1500 men, and sometimes was not half this number, yet during sixty-two years the annual deaths amounted to 1258! Of those Europeans who have in some degree got accustomed to the place, he says that rather more than ten in a hundred die yearly; and that scarcely any live beyond the middle stage of life. The natives, as might be expected, suffer less, but even they are exposed to frequent visits of the old enemy. In Mr B.'s opinion, the climate is not so injurious as the circumstances of the situation, and the pernicious, though convenient, prevalency of canals, aided, he admits, by the bad habits of the people.—E.]

But if it is difficult to attack Batavia by land, it is utterly impossible to attack it by sea: For the water is so shallow, that it will scarcely admit a long-boat to come within cannon-shot of the walls, except in a narrow channel, called the river, that is walled on both sides by strong piers, and runs about half a mile into the harbour. At the other end, it terminates under the fire of the strongest part of the castle; and here its communication with the canals that intersect the town is cut off by a large wooden boom, which is shut every night at six o'clock, and upon no pretence opened till the next morning.[139] The harbour of Batavia is accounted the finest in India, and, to all appearance, with good reason; it is large enough to contain any number of ships, and the ground is so good that one anchor will hold till the cable decays: It never admits any sea that is troublesome, and its only inconvenience is the shoal water between the road and the river. When the sea-breeze blows fresh, it makes a cockling sea that is dangerous to boats: Our long-boat once struck two or three times as she was attempting to come out, and regained the river's mouth with some difficulty. A Dutch boat, laden with sails and rigging for one of the Indiamen, was entirely lost.

[Footnote 139: The reader need not be reminded of the facility with which Batavia was lately taken by our gallant countrymen. The accounts of that successful expedition may be advantageously compared with what is here given. This, however, they must do who are interested in the subject. The introduction of it here would be very irrelevant—E.]

Round the harbour, on the outside, lie many islands, which the Dutch have taken possession of, and apply to different uses.[140] To one of them, called Edam, they transport all Europeans who have been guilty of crimes that are not worthy of death: Some are sentenced to remain there ninety-nine years, some forty, some twenty, some less, down to five, in proportion to their offence; and during their banishment, they are employed as slaves in making ropes, and other drudgery.[141] In another island, called Purmerent, they have an hospital, where people are said to recover much faster than at Batavia.[142] In a third, called Kuyper, they have warehouses belonging to the Company, chiefly for rice, and other merchandise of small value; and here the foreign ships, that are to be laid down at Onrnst, another of these islands, which with Kuyper has been mentioned before, discharge their cargoes at wharfs which are very convenient for the purpose.[143] Here the guns, sails, and other stores of the Falmouth, a man-of-war which was condemned at this place when she was returning from Manilla, were deposited, and the ship herself remained in the harbour, with only the warrant officers on board, for many years. Remittances were regularly made them from home; but no notice was ever taken of the many memorials they sent, desiring to be recalled. Happily for them, the Dutch thought fit, about six months before our arrival, to sell the vessel and all her stores, by public auction, and send the officers home in their own ships. At Onrust, they repair all their own shipping, and keep a large quantity of naval stores.

[Footnote 140: There are fifteen islands in all, but only four of them are used by the Company; and of these, Onrust is the chief. This is about three leagues north-west from the city, and is fortified, as commanding the channel. It is very small, but there are several warehouses and other buildings on it.—E.]

[Footnote 141: Edam is three leagues north-north-east from the city. It abounds in wood, and is remarkable for a large tree of the fig kind, which is an object of high veneration among the superstitious Javanese.—E.]

[Footnote 142: Purmerent is to the eastward of Onrust, and is half as large again as that island. It is planted with trees. The hospital on it is maintained by the voluntary alms of both the natives and Europeans.—E.]

[Footnote 143: Kuyper, or Cooper's Isle, is considerably less than Onrust, and lies very near it. Several large tamarind trees yield it an agreeable shade. It has two pier-heads at its south side, where ships take in and discharge their freight.—E.]

The country round Batavia is for some miles a continued range of country houses and gardens. Many of the gardens are very large, and by some strange fatality, all are planted with trees almost as thick as they can stand; so that the country derives no advantage from its being cleared of the wood that originally covered it, except the fruit of that which has been planted in its room. These impenetrable forests stand in a dead flat, which extends some miles beyond them, and is intersected in many directions by rivers, and more still by canals, which are navigable for small vessels. Nor is this the worst, for the fence of every field and garden is a ditch; and interspersed among the cultivated ground there are many filthy fens, bogs, and morasses, as well fresh as salt.

It is not strange that the inhabitants of such a country should be familiar with disease and death: Preventative medicines are taken almost as regularly as food; and every body expects the returns of sickness, as we do the seasons of the year. We did not see a single face in Batavia that indicated perfect health, for there is not the least tint of colour in the cheeks either of man or woman: The women indeed are toast delicately fair; but with the appearance of disease there never can be perfect beauty. People talk of death with as much indifference as they do in a camp; and when an acquaintance is said to be dead, the common reply is, "Well, he owed me nothing;" or, "I must get my money of his executors."[144]

[Footnote 144: Those parts of the city are said to be most healthy which are farthest off from the sea; and the reason given for the difference is, that a great deal of mud, filth, blubber, &c. is thrown up by the tide close to the other parts, and soon putrifying from the extreme beat, adds materially to the influence of the generally operating nuisances. But it seems pretty plain that the difference can be but small, as the contaminated air must rapidly defuse itself throughout the neighbourhood. Admitting it, however, to be appreciable, the inference is very obvious as to what ought to be done for the bettering of Batavia, considered as a receptacle of human beings, and not as a putrid ditch from which gold is to be raked at the certain expense of life.—E.]

To this description of the environs of Batavia there are but two exceptions. The governor's country house is situated upon a rising ground; but its ascent is so inconsiderable, that it is known to be above the common level only by the canals being left behind, and the appearance of a few bad hedges: His excellency, however, who is a native of this place, has, with some trouble and expence, contrived to inclose his own garden with a ditch; such is the influence of habit both upon the taste and the understanding. A famous market also, called Passar Tanabank, is held upon an eminency that rises perpendicularly about thirty feet above the plain; and except these situations, the ground, for an extent of between thirty and forty miles round Batavia, is exactly parallel to the horizon. At the distance of about forty miles inland, there are hills of a considerable height, where, as we were informed, the air is healthy, and comparatively cool. Here the vegetables of Europe flourish in great perfection, particularly strawberries, which, can but ill bear heat, and the inhabitants are vigorous and ruddy. Upon these hills some of the principal people have country houses, which they visit once a-year; and one was begun for the governor, upon the plan of Blenheim, the famous seat of the Duke of Marlborough in Oxfordshire, but it has never been finished. To these hills also people are sent by the physicians for the recovery of their health, and the effects of the air are said to be almost miraculous: The patient grows well in a short time, but constantly relapses soon after his return to Batavia.[145]

[Footnote 145: On approaching the mountains towards the southern parts of the island, the heat of the air gradually diminishes, till at last, especially in the morning and evening, it is absolutely cold, and cannot be endured without the aid of such clothing as is used in winter in other countries. How materially the proper use of such a change of climate may operate to the restoration of health, can be easily imagined by any one who has felt the different effects of deleterious heat and invigorating cold. The island of Jamaica presents something very similar to what is now related of the different climates in the vicinity of Batavia.—E.]

But the same situation and circumstances which render Batavia and the country round it unwholesome, render it the best gardener's ground in the world. The soil is fruitful beyond imagination, and the conveniences and luxuries of life that it produces are almost without number.

Rice, which is well known to be the corn of these countries, and to serve the inhabitants instead of bread, grows in great plenty; and I must here observe, that in the hilly parts of Java, and in many of the eastern islands, a species of this grain is planted, which in the western parts of India is entirely unknown. It is called by the natives Paddy Gunung, or Mountain Rice: This, contrary to the other sort, which must be under water three parts in four of the time of its growth, is planted upon the sides of hills where no water but rain can come: It is however planted at the beginning of the rainy season, and reaped in the beginning of the dry. How far this kind of rice might be useful in our West-Indian islands, where no bread corn is grown, it may perhaps be worth while to enquire.[146]

[Footnote 146: The island of Java produces rice, which is the principal food of millions, in such quantities, as to have obtained the title of the granary of the East. Nearly three thousand cwt., it is said, were furnished by it in the year 1767, for the use of Batavia, Ceylon, and Banda. It is sown in low ground generally, and after it has got a little above the ground, is transplanted in small bundles, in rows, each bundle having about six plants. The waters of the rivulets, &c. are then allowed to flow on it till the stalk has attained due strength, when the land is drained. When ripe, the fields of rice have an appearance like wheat and barley. It is cut down by a small knife, about a foot under the ear. In place of being threshed, the seed is separated from the husk by stamping with wooden blocks.—E.]

Indian corn, or maize, is also produced here, which the inhabitants gather when young, and toast in the ear. Here is also a great variety of kidney-beans, and lentiles which they call Cadjang, and which make a considerable part of the food of the common people; besides millet, yams both wet and dry, sweet potatoes, and European potatoes, which are very good, but not cultivated in great plenty. In the gardens, there are cabbages, lettuces, cucumbers, radishes, the white radishes of China, which boil almost as well as a turnip; carrots, parsley, celery, pigeon peas, the egg plant, which, broiled and eaten with pepper and salt, is very delicious; a kind of greens resembling spinnage; onions, very small, but excellent; and asparagus: Besides some European plants of a strong smell, particularly sage, hysop, and rue. Sugar is also produced here in immense quantities; very great crops of the finest and largest canes that can be imagined are produced with very little care, and yield a much larger proportion of sugar than the canes in the West Indies. White sugar is sold here at two-pence half-penny a pound; and the molasses makes the arrack, of which, as of rum, it is the chief ingredient; a small quantity of rice, and some cocoa-nut wine, being added, chiefly, I suppose, to give it flavour. A small quantity of indigo is also produced here, not as an article of trade, but merely for home consumption.[147]

[Footnote 147: Pepper, sugar, and coffee, are produced in very considerable quantities, especially the first, which has been reckoned one of the chief commodities of the place. As to sugar, one may have some notion of the quantity yielded, by a circumstance noticed by Stavorinus in his account. He says that thirteen millions of pounds were manufactured, in 1765, in the province of Jaccatra alone. Much of it used to be sent to the west of India, and a considerable part found its way to Europe before the derangement, or rather annihilation of the Dutch trade, by the effects of the revolutionary wars.—E.]

But the most abundant article of vegetable luxury here, is the fruit; of which there is no less than six-and-thirty different kinds, and I shall give a very brief account of each.

1. The pine-apple; Bromelia Ananas. This fruit, which is here called Nanas, grows very large, and in such plenty that they may sometimes be bought at the first hand for a farthing a-piece; and at the common fruit-shops we got three of them for two-pence half-penny. They are very juicy and well flavoured; but we all agreed that we had eaten as good from a hot-house in England: They are however so luxuriant in their growth that most of them have two or three crowns, and a great number of suckers from the bottom of the fruit; of these Mr Banks once counted nine, and they are so forward that very often while they still adhered to the parent plant they shot out their fruit, which, by the time the large one became ripe, were of no inconsiderable size. We several times saw three upon one apple, and were told that a plant once produced a cluster of nine, besides the principal: This indeed was considered as so great a curiosity, that it was preserved in sugar, and sent to the Prince of Orange.

2. Sweet oranges. These are very good, but while we were here, sold for six-pence a piece.

3. Pumplemoeses, which in the West Indies are called Shaddocks. These were well flavoured, but not juicy; their want of juice, however, was an accidental effect of the season.

4. Lemons. These were very scarce; but the want of them was amply compensated by the plenty of limes.

5. Limes. These were excellent, and to be bought at about twelve-pence a hundred. We saw only two or three Seville oranges, which were almost all rind; and there are many sorts, both of oranges and lemons, which I shall not particularly mention, because they are neither esteemed by Europeans nor the natives themselves.

6. Mangos. This fruit during our stay was so infested with maggots, which bred in the inside of them, that scarcely one in three was eatable; and the best of them were much inferior to those of Brazil: They are generally compared by Europeans to a melting peach, which indeed they resemble in softness and sweetness, but certainly fall much short in flavour. The climate here, we were told, is too hot and damp for them; but there are as many sorts of them as there are of apples in England, and some are much superior to others. One sort, which is called Mangha Cowani, has so strong a smell that a European can scarcely bear one in the room. These, however, the natives are fond of. The three sorts which are generally preferred, are the Mangha Doodool, the Mangha Santock, and the Mangha Gure.

7. Bananas. Of these also there are innumerable sorts, but three only are good; the Pissang Mas, the Pissang Radja, and the Pissang Ambou: All these have a pleasant vinous taste, and the rest are useful in different ways; some are fried in batter, and others are boiled and eaten as bread. There is one which deserves the particular notice of the botanist, because, contrary to the nature of its tribe, it is full of seeds, and is therefore called Pissang Batu, or Pissang Bidjie; it his however no excellence to recommend it to the taste, but the Malays use it as a remedy for the flux.

8. Grapes. These are not in great perfection, but they are very dear; for we could not buy a moderate bunch for less than a shilling or eighteen-pence.

9. Tamarinds. These are in great plenty, and very cheap: The people, however, do not put them up in the manner practised by the West Indians, but cure them with salt, by which means they become a black mass, so disagreeable to the sight and taste, that few Europeans chuse to meddle with them.

10. Water melons. These are in great plenty, and very good.

11. Pumpkins. These are beyond comparison the most useful fruit that can be carried to sea; for they will keep without any care several months, and with sugar and lemon-juice, make a pye that can scarcely be distinguished from one made of the best of apples; and with pepper and salt, they are a substitute for turnips, not to be despised.

12 Papaws. This fruit when it is ripe is full of seeds, and almost without flavour; but if when it is green it is pared, and the core taken out, it is better than the best turnip.

13. Guava. This fruit is much commended by the inhabitants of our islands in the West Indies, who probably have a better sort than we met with here, where the smell of them was so disagreeably strong that it made some of us sick; those who tasted them said, that the flavour was equally rank.

14. Sweet sop. The Annona Squammosa of Linnaeus. This is also a West-Indian fruit: It consists only of a mass of large kernels, from which a small proportion of pulp may be sucked, which is very sweet, but has little flavour.

15. Custard apple. The Annona Reticulata of Linnaeus. The quality of this fruit is well expressed by its English name, which it acquired in the West Indies; for it is as like a custard, and a good one too, as can be imagined.

16. The cashew apple. This is seldom eaten on account of its astringency. The nut that grows upon the top of it is well known in Europe.

17. The cocoa-nut. This is also well known in Europe: There are several sorts, but the best of those we found here is called Calappi Edjou, and is easily known by the redness of the flesh between the skin and the shell.

18. Mangostan. The Garcinia Mangostana of Linnaeus. This fruit, which is peculiar to the East Indies, is about the size of the crab apple, and of a deep red-wine colour: On the top of it is the figure of five or six small triangles joined in a circle, and at the bottom several hollow green leaves, which are remains of the blossom. When they are to be eaten, the skin, or rather flesh, must be taken off, under which are found six or seven white kernels, placed in a circular order, and the pulp with which these are enveloped, is the fruit, than which nothing can be more delicious: It is a happy mixture of the tart and the sweet, which is no less wholesome than pleasant; and with the sweet orange, this fruit is allowed in any quantity to those who are afflicted with fevers, either of the putrid or inflammatory kind.

19. The jamboo. The Eugenia Mallaccensis of Linnaeus. This fruit is of a deep red colour, and an oval shape; the largest, which are always the best, are not bigger than a small apple; they are pleasant and cooling, though they have not much flavour.

20. The jambu-eyer. A species of the Eugenia of Linnaeus. Of this fruit there are two sorts of a similar shape, resembling a bell, but differing in colour; one being red, the other white. They somewhat exceed a large cherry in size, and in taste have neither flavour nor even sweetness, containing nothing but a watery juice, slightly acidulated; yet their coolness recommends them in this hot country.

21. Jambu-eyer mauwar. The Eugenia Jambos of Linnaeus. This is more grateful to the smell than the taste: In taste it resembles the conserve of roses, and in smell the fresh scent of those flowers.

22. The pomegranate. This is the same fruit that is known by the same name all over Europe.

23. Durion. A fruit that in shape resembles a small melon, but the skin is covered with sharp conical spines, whence its name; for dure, in the Malay language, signifies prickle. When it is ripe, it divides longitudinally into seven or eight compartments, each of which contains six or seven nuts, not quite so large as chesnuts, which are covered with a substance that in colour and consistence very much resembles thick cream: This is the part that is eaten, and the natives are fond of it to excess. To Europeans it is generally disagreeable at first; for in taste it somewhat resembles a mixture of cream, sugar, and onions; and in the smell, the onions predominate.

24. Nanca. This fruit, which in some parts of India is called Jakes, has, like the Durion, a smell very disagreeable to strangers, and somewhat resembling that of mellow apples mixed with garlic: The flavour is not more adapted to the general taste. In some countries that are favourable to it, it is said to grow to an immense size. Rumphius relates, that it is sometimes so large that a man cannot easily lift it; and we were told by a Malay, that at Madura it is sometimes so large as not to be carried but by the united efforts of two men. At Batavia, however, they never exceed the size of a large melon, which in shape they very much resemble: They are covered with angular prickles, like the shootings of some crystals, which however are not hard enough to wound those who handle them.

25. Champada. This differs from the Nanca in little except size, it not being so big. .

26. Rambutan. This is a fruit little known to Europeans. In appearance it very much resembles a chesnut with the husk on, and like that, is covered with small points, which are soft, and of a deep red colour: Under this skin is the fruit, and within the fruit a stone; the eatable part thereof is small in quantity, but its acid is perhaps more agreeable than any other in the whole vegetable kingdom.

27. Jambolan. This, in size and appearance, is not unlike a damascene; but in taste is still more astringent, and therefore less agreeable.

28. The Boa Bidarra, or Rhamnus Jujuba of Linnaeus. This is a round yellow fruit, about the size of a gooseberry; its flavour is like that of an apple, but it has the astringency of a crab.

29. Nam nam. The Cynometra Cauliflora of Linnaeus. This fruit in shape somewhat resembles a kidney; it is about three inches long, and the outside is very rough: It is seldom eaten raw, but fried with batter it makes a good fritter.

30, 31. The Catappa, or Terminalia Catappa; and the Canare, the Canarium Commune of Linnaeus, are both nuts, with kernels somewhat resembling an almond; but the difficulty of breaking the shell is so great, that they are no where publicly sold. Those which we tasted were gathered for curiosity by Mr Banks from the tree upon which they grew.

32. The Madja, or Limoni of Linnaeus, contains, under a hard brittle shell, a lightly acid pulp, which cannot be eaten without sugar; and with it, is not generally thought pleasant.

33. Suntul. The Trichilia of Linnaeus. This is the worst of all the fruits that I shall particularly mention: In size and shape it resembles the Madja, and within a thick skin contains kernels like those of the Mangostan, the taste of which is both acid and astringent, and so disagreeable, that we were surprised to see it exposed upon the fruit-stalls.

34, 35, 36. The Blimbing, or Averrhoa Belimbi; the Blimbing Besse, or Averrhoa Carambola; and the Cherrema, or Averrhoa Acida of Linnaeus, are three species of one genus; and though they differ in shape, are nearly of the same taste. The Blimbing Besse is the sweetest: the other two are so austerely acid, that they cannot be used without dressing; they make, however, excellent pickles and sour sauce.

37. The Salack, or Calamus Rotang Zalacca of Linnaeus. This is the fruit of a prickly bush; it is about as big as a walnut, and covered with scales, like those of a lizard: Below the scales are two or three yellow kernels, in flavour somewhat resembling a strawberry.

Besides these, the island of Java, and particularly the country round Batavia, produces many kinds of fruit which were not in season during our stay: We were also told that apples, strawberries, and many other fruits from Europe, had been planted up in the mountains, and flourished there in great luxuriance. We saw several fruits preserved in sugar, that we did not see recent from the tree, one of which is called Kimkit, and another Boa Atap: And here are several others which are eaten only by the natives, particularly the Kellor, the Guilindina, the Moringa, and the Soccum. The Soccum is of the same kind with the breadfruit in the South-Sea islands, but so much inferior, that if it had not been for the similitude in the outward appearance both of the fruit and the tree, we should not have referred it to that class. These and some others do not merit to be particularly mentioned.

The quantity of fruit that is consumed at Batavia is incredible; but that which is publicly exposed to sale is generally over-ripe. A stranger, however, may get good fruit in a street called Passar Pissang, which lies north from the great church, and very near it. This street is inhabited by none but Chinese fruit-sellers, who are supplied from the gardens of gentlemen in the neighbourhood of the town with such as is fresh, and excellent in its kind, for which, however, they must be paid more than four times the market price.

The town in general is supplied from a considerable distance, where great quantities of land are cultivated merely for the production of fruit. The country people, to whom these lands belong, meet the people of the town at two great markets; one on Monday, called Passar Sineeu, and the other on Saturday, called Passar Tanabank. These fairs are held at places considerably distant from each other, for the convenience of different districts; neither of them, however, are more than five miles distant from Batavia. At these fairs, the best fruit may be bought at the cheapest rate, and the sight of them to a European is very entertaining. The quantity of fruit is astonishing; forty or fifty cart-loads of the finest pine-apples, packed as carelessly as turnips in England, are common, and other fruit in the same profusion. The days, however, on which these markets are held are ill contrived; the time between Saturday and Monday is too short, and that between Monday and Saturday too long: Great part of what is bought on Monday is always much the worse for keeping before a new stock can be bought, either by the retailer or consumer; so that for several days in every week there is no good fruit in the hands of any people but the Chinese in Passar Pissang.

The inhabitants of this part of India practise a luxury which seems to be but little attended to in other countries; they are continually burning aromatic woods and resins, and scatter odours round them in a profusion of flowers, possibly as an antidote to the noisome effluvia of their ditches and canals. Of sweet-smelling flowers they have a great variety, altogether unknown in Europe, the chief of which I shall briefly describe.

1. The Champacka, or Michelia Champacca. This grows upon a tree as large as an apple-tree, and consists of fifteen long narrow petala, which give it the appearance of being double, though in reality it is not so: Its colour is yellow, and much deeper than that of a jonquil, to which it has some resemblance in smell.

2. The Cananga, or Uvaria Cananga, is a green flower, not at all resembling the blossom of any tree or plant in Europe: It has indeed more the appearance of a bunch of leaves than a flower; its scent is agreeable, but altogether peculiar to itself.

3. The Mulatti, or Nyctanthes Sambac. This is well known in English hot-houses by the name of Arabian jessamine: It grows here in the greatest profusion, and its fragrance, like that of all other Indian flowers, though exquisitely pleasing, has not that overpowering strength which distinguishes some of the same sorts in Europe.

4, 5. The Combang Caracnassi, and Combang Tonquin, Percularia Glabro. These are small flowers, of the dog's-bane kind, very much resembling each other in shape and smell, highly fragrant, but very different from every product of an English garden.

6. The Bonga Tanjong, or Mimusops Elengi of Linnaeus. This flower is shaped like a star of seven or eight rays, and is about half an inch in diameter: It is of a yellowish colour, and has an agreeable smell.

Besides these, there is the Sundal Malam, or Polianthes Tuberosa. This flower, being the same with our own tuberose, can have no place among those that are unknown in Europe; but I mention it for its Malay name, which signifies "Intriguer of the night," and is not inelegantly conceived. The heat of this climate is so great, that few flowers exhale their sweets in the day; and this in particular, from its total want of scent at that time, and the modesty of its colour, which is white, seems negligent of attracting admirers, but as soon as night comes on, it diffuses its fragrance, and at once compels the attention, and excites the complacency, of all who approach it.