L I EUT ENANT C O p K ’s V O YA GE 3 - 4
1770. parts of lava, and the other iflands of which the Dutch have
December. r -
v___j got pofleffion in thefe feas. Of one of thefe-fingular forts, or
fortified houfes, we fhouId! have procured a drawing, if our
.Gentlemen had not been confined by fickneft almoft all. the
time they were upon the ifland.
If the Dutch fortifications here are- not formidable in
themfelves, they become fo by their fituation; for they arc
among moraffes where the roads, which are nothing more
than a bank thrown up between a canal and a ditch, may
eafily be deftroyed, and confequently the approach o f heavy
artillery either totally prevented or greatly retarded: for if
would be exceedingly difficult, if not impoffible, to tranfport
them in boats,, as they all muller every night under the
guns of the caftle, a fituation from which it would be impoffible
for an enemy to take them. Befides, in this country,
delay is death; fo that whatever retards an enemy, will de-
ftroy him. In lefs than a week, we were fenfible of the un-
healthinefs of the climate; and in lefs than a- month half
the Ihip’s company were unable to do their duty. We
were told, that of a hundred foldiers who arrive here from
Europe, it was a rare thing for fifty to furvive the firft year ;
that of thofe fifty, half would-then be in the hofpital, and
not ten of the reft in perfect health: poffibly this account
may be exaggerated; hut the pale and feeble wretches
whom we faw crawling about with a mufquet,,. which they
were fcarcely.able to carry, inclined us to believe that it was
true. Every white inhabitant of. the town indeed is a foldiers
the younger are conftantly muttered, and thofe who have
ferved five years are liable to be called out when , their affiftr
ance is thought to be neceffary; but as neither of them are
ever exercifed, or do any kind of duty, much cannot be exr
pefted from them. The Pórtuguefc, indeed, are in general
good.
R O U N D T H E WORLD. 335'
good markfmen, becaufe they employ themfelves much in fLfSffljlljL
fhooting wild hogs and deer: neither the Mardykers nor the .— y—
Chinefe know the ufe of fire-arms-; but as-they are fa id to
be brave, they might do much execution with their own
weapons,, fwords, lances, and daggers- The Mardykers are.
Indians o f all nations, who are descended from- free ancef-
tors,- or have themfelves been made free.
But if it is difficult to attack Batavia, by land, it is utterly
impoffible to attack it by Tea: for the water is fo fliallow,.
that it wilLfcarcely admit a-longboat-to come: within cannon*
fhot of the walls,-except in a narrow channel, called the
river, that, is walled on both fides-by ftrong.piers, and runs-
about half a mile into the harbour. At the other- end, it terminates
under the fire of the ftrongeft part of the caftle ; and
here its communication with the canals that interfe£t the
town is cut off by a large wooden- boom,, which is fhut-
every night at fix o’clock, and upon no pretence opened till
the next morning- The harbour of Batavia is accounted the
fineft in India, and to all appearance with good reafon; it is:
large enough to contain any number, o f fhipsy and the
ground is fo good that one anchor will hold till the cable
decays : it never admits any fea that is tfoublefome, and its
only inconvenience is the fhoal water .between the road and'
the river. When the fea breeze .blows frcfli, it makes a cockling
fea that is dangerous to boats: our lojigboat once ftruck
two or three times as fhe was attempting to come out, and
regained the river’s mouth with fome difficulty, A Dutch
boat, laden with fails and rigging for one of the Indiamen-
was entirely loft.
Round the harbour; on the outfide, lie many iflands, which
the Dutch have taken pofleffion of, and apply to different:
ufes,, To one of them, called Edam, they tranfport all European's