176J.
November.
V. ■—y l ^
told that he was at his country houfe, about four miles
diftant from the town. I met however with an officer, called
a fhebander, who is a kind o f matter of the ceremonies, and
he acquainted me, that if I chofe to go to the Governor
immediately, rather than wait for his. coming to town, he
would attend m e ; I accepted his offer, and we fet out together
in his chariot. The Governor received me with great
politenefs, and told me, that I might either take a houfe in
any part o f the city that I Ihould like, f or be provided with
lodgings at the hotel. This hotel is a licenfed lodging-
houfe, the only one in the place, and kept by a Frenchman,
an artful fellow, who is put in by the Governor himfelf. It
has indeed more the appearance o f a palace than a houfe o f
entertainment, being the moft magnificent building in Batavia
; nor would a fmall edifice anfwer the purpofe, for as
there is a penalty of five hundred dollars upon any perfon in.
the city who fhall fuffer a ftranger to fleep a fingle night at
his houfe, the ftrangers who make it their refidence are never
few : all the houfes indeed have a ftately appearance on the'
outfide, and are elegantly fitted up within, and we were told:
that the Chinefe, o f whom there are great numbers at this
place, were the archite&s. The city is large, and the ftreets
well laid out, but they have greatly the appearance of thofe
in the cities of Holland, for a canal runs through moft of
them, with a row of trees planted on each fide:, this is convenient
for the merchants, who have every thing brought
up to their own doors by water, but it probabl-y contributes-
to the unhealthinefs of the p lace; the canal, indeed, as the-
city is built in a fwamp, might be neceffary as a drain, but
the trees, though they have a pieafant appearance, mufti
certainly prevent the noxious vapours that are. perpetually
arifing, from being difperfed, by obftrudting, the circulation,
of the air.
The
The number of people here is incredible, and they are of 1765-
almoft every nation in the world, Dutch, Portuguefe, Chi-
nefe, Perfians, Moors, Malays, Javanefe, and many others:
the Chinefe, however, have a large town to themfelves,
without the walls, and carry on a confiderable trade, for
they have annually ten or twelve large junks from China ;
and to thefe the opulence of the Dutch at Batavia is in a
great meafure owing. The beef here is bad, and the mutton
fcarce, but the poultry and fifh are excellent and in great
plenty. Here are alfo the greateft variety and abundance of
the fineft fruit in the world, but the mufqhitos, centipieds,
fcorpions, and other noxious vermin, which are innumerable,
prevent all enjoyment, and even reft, as well by
night as by day. The roads, fo r many miles about the city,
are as good as any in England: they are very broad, and by
the fide of them runs a canal, fhaded by tall trees, which is;
navigable for veffels o f a very large fize : on the other fide-
o f the canal are gardens, o f a very pieafant appearance, and.
country houfes o f the citizens, where they fpend as much o f
their time as poffible, the fituation being lefs unwholefome-
than the c ity ; and there are fo few of them who do not keep-
a carriage,, that it is almoft a difgracetobe feen on foot.
At this, place I continued from the 28th o f November to the Dec-niter,
roth o f December, when, having procured what refrefh- l a ments
I could for my people, and taken on board a fufficient
quantity of rice and arrack, to ferve for the reft o f the
voyage, I weighed anchor and made fail. The fort 1‘aluted
me with eleven guns, and the Dutch Commodore with thirteen,.
which I returned;, we were faluted alfo by the Englifh
fhip We worked down to Prince’s Ifland, in the Streight o f
Sunda, and came to an anchor there oh the 14th. In this Fndaj
paflage, the boats came off to us from the Java ffiore, and
fupplied us with turtle in fuch plenty, that neither o f the
ffiipsf