l i e u t e n a n t c o o k ’s v o y a g e
iyjo. fome preparation altogether unknown to us, in confequencc
” ece”bcr', of which it will keep eight and forty hours, though other-
wife it would fpoil in twelve: in this Hate it has an agreeable
fweetnefs, and will not intoxicate. In the other two Hates it
has undergone a fermentation, and received an infufion of
certain herbs and roots, by which it lofes its fweetnefs, and
acquires a tafle very auftere and difagreeable. In one of thefe
Hates it is called Tuac eras, and in the other Tuac cuning, but
the fpecific difference I do not know; in both, however, it
intoxicates very powerfully. A liquor called Tuac is alfo
made from the cocoa-nut tree, but this is ufed chiefly to put
into the arrack, for in that which is good it is an eflential
ingredient.
CHAP.
C H A P . XII.
Some Account o f the Inhabitants of Batavia, and the adjacent
Country, their Manners, Cufioms, and Manner
o f Life.
TVHE town of Batavia, although, as I have already ob-
ferved, it is the capital of the Dutch dominions in India,
is fo far from being peopled with Dutchmen, that not one
fifth part, even of the European inhabitants of the town, and
its environs, are natives of Holland, or of Dutch extraction:
the greater part are Portuguefe, and befides Europeans, there
are Indians of various nations, and Chinefe, befides a great
number of negro Haves. In the troops, there are natives of
almofl every country in Europe, but the Germans are more
than all the refl put together; there are fome Englilh and
French, but the Dutch, though other Europeans are permitted
to get money here, keep all the power in their own
hands, and confequently poflefs all public employments. No
man, of whatever nation, can come hither to-fettle, in any
other character than that of a foldier in the Company’s fer-
vice, in which, before they are accepted, they mufl covenant
to remain five years. As foon however as this form has
been complied with, they are allowed, upon application to
the council, to abfent themfelves from their corps, and enter
immediately into any branch of trade, which their money
or credit will enable them to carry on ; and by this means it
is that all the white inhabitants of the place are foldiers.
Women, however, of all nations, are permitted to fettle
here, without coming under any reflri&ions; .yet we were
Vol, III. X x told