POPULATION OF SINGAPORE.
The population, on the first of January, 1833, was ascertained to amount to twenty thousand nine hundred and seventy-eight persons. Of these, fifteen thousand one hundred and eighty-one were males, andonlyfive thousand nine hundred and ninety-sevenfemales. This motley group are made up of—one hundred and nineteen Europeans; ninety Indo British; three hundred native Christians; thirty-five Armenians; two Jews; ninety-six Arabs; seven thousand one hundred and thirty-one Malays; eight thousand five hundred and seventeen Chinese; one thousand eight hundred and nineteen natives of Coromandel; five hundred and five Hindoos; six hundred and forty-five Javanese; one thousand nine hundred and twenty-six Bugis, Balanese, &c.; thirty-seven Caffrees; two Parsees. The country and plantations contain seven thousand three hundred and sixty-two; the islands, which form a dependancy, of which there are about fifty, contain one thousand and seventy-two; total, eight thousand four hundred and thirty-four: which leave for the town of Singapore, twelve thousand five hundred and forty-four, exclusive of the military and convicts, which amount to about one thousand.
Singapore is merely a mart for the exchange of merchandise for the products of Europe, India, and China, the Indian Archipelago, and of the neighbouring states—the imports from one part forming the exports to another. The total value ofimports, for the years 1831 and 1832, was seventeen millions, eight hundred and nine thousand nine hundred and forty-eight sicca rupees; and the exports, fifteen millions, fifty-one thousand five hundred and seventy-three. Of this amount, nearly one eighth, or about nine hundred thousand dollars in value, was conducted by native vessels. The fixed exchange of sicca rupees, is two hundred and ten and a half for one hundred Spanish dollars. The currency is the Spanish dollar divided into cents. The common weight is the pecul, of one hundred and thirty-three and a third pounds, avoirdupois, divided into one hundred catties. The English gross hundred is also used, as well as the neat hundred. Salt, rice, and coarse, or unpearled sago, by the koyan, of about forty peculs.
In the harbour, there may be frequently seen vessels from England, France, Holland, and other parts of Europe; from the Brazils, Cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, New South Wales; from Arabia, and various parts of British and Portuguese India; from Siam, the Malay peninsula, Camboja, and various ports in Cochin-China, from the gulf of Siam to the gulf of Tonquin, (Tung-king;) from Macao, and various parts of the provinces of Canton and Tokien, the former being called the “Red-headed Junks,” and the latter the “Green-headed,” owing to their being distinguished in this manner by being painted with these colours; from Manila, Dutch and native craft from Java, Banca, and Bulembang; and by Malay craft only, from the river Campar, and other eastern ports in Sumatra. But the most important branch of the trade with the Indian islanders, is that conducted by theBugisof Wajo, a state of the Celebes.
The Bugis write and speak a different language from either of the other tribes of the Celebes, either of Macassar, Mandar, or Kaili. They have a code of civil and criminal law, referring to a state of government and society, of a patriarchal character; and they have also a code of maritime laws, dated in the year 1087, of the Hejera, (Hegira,) from which I have made some extracts. Wajo is situated nearly in the centre of the Celebes, and the Bugis live on the northern banks of an extensive lake, about twenty-four miles in breadth. The outlet of the lake is a river, which falls into the bay of Boni, and is navigable for boats of twenty tons. This people are the sole native carriers of the Archipelago, possessing an industry and enterprise far beyond the generality of the Malayan tribes. They carry on an extensive trade with all the ports in the Celebes; to Bonivati; to the eastern and western coasts of Borneo; to the islands of Lombok, Bali, Sumbawa, Flores, Sandal Wood, Ceram, Timor, the Arrows, New Guinea, &c. These bring gold-dust, bird’s-nests, tortoise-shell, camphor, paddy, bichos do mar, rattans, pepper, shark’s-fins, fish-maws, agar-agar, (sea-weed,) garro-wood, mats, pamore, iron, striped and Tartan cotton cloths, oil, tallow, mother-of-pearl, shells, &c., &c. Their cargoes are valuable, and vary from ten to forty thousand dollars. They take, in return, opium, British and Indian piece-goods, fire-arms, powder, Siamese iron-pans, &c.; Chinese coarse earthenware, &c., &c.
MARITIME LAWS.
Maritime laws were established (as stated in a pamphlet publishedin the year 1832) by Matorvei Father Gapa, (a practitioner in law,) at Macassar, in the Hejera 1087, on Monday, the seventeenth day of Moharain. The firstfivesections relate to the rate of freight and passage-money, to and from various places, and explaining a mode of trade, existing to the present day, in the east. A person having goods, either natural produce or manufactured, puts his articles on board a prahū, going to any place where he can find a market: these goods pay a per centage freight, as laid down by the law, and the passage-money is included in that charge; and during the voyage, he takes part in rowing or sailing the prahū, &c., &c.
Thesixthtreats on the freight of money. If the amount is one hundred and ten real, or less, it pays no freight; but if it exceeds that sum, it pays one half the charge on goods to the same place. The people of the prow (prahū) are not allowed to land if the master does not receive the full freight; and further, they must assist in bailing the water out and fastening the boat: nor are they to be freed from their charge till she is laid up for the season. The seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth sections, treat on a mode of shares in trade and shipping, viz.:—Seventh: if the owner of the prahū send a man in charge of her, or if he let her to any one in the season, and furnish the turobatu and turomudi, together with crew, and arms and stores sufficient, and the boat should be damaged or lost, through the neglect of the crew, &c., in that case they must make good the damages, or loss of the boat: the shares of the turobatu and turomudi, and the expenses of the prahū, being first paid. Eighth: if the person who sails the prahū, also furnish the turomudi, turobatu, the crew and arms, then the owner and the captain go equal shares, after the turomudi, turobatu, and the expenses of the outfit, are adjusted.
Ninth: if the owner of the prahū gives her in charge to a captain and the latter provide turomudi, turobatu and the crew, then the profit is divided into three equal shares; two are taken by the owner of the prahū, and one by the captain or person who charters her for the trip; but previous to the division of the profits, the shares of turomudi, turobatu and expenses of the prahū are always paid.
Tenth: if the owner of the prahū furnish the turomudi, and the captain provide the turobatu, and both go equal shares in the expenses of the crew, arms, and outfit, &c., in that case the profits are divided into two equal shares, between the owner and the captain, after the turomudi, turobatu, and expenses of the prahū are paid. If the persons who sail the prahū furnish the turomudi, turobatu and crew, arms, &c., then the profits are divided into three shares: two shares go to the person who navigates her, and one to the owner. The turomudi, turobatu and expenses of the prahū being first paid; if there be a previous contract or agreement between the owner and the navigator, in that case, the law takes no cognizance in the matter: if not, the law directs as stated above.[†]
The eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth sections regulating the amount of passage money, have, no doubt been framed principally, if not exclusively, in consideration of the practice of carrying slaves to distant parts for sale, since women are included, who otherwise never travel by water. The fourteenth and last section, lays down the principle of a court of native admiralty law, but the latter part is vague, as well as arbitrary; it is as follows: the captain is king while at sea, and his will is absolute law, from which there is no appeal; but if the turomudi, turobatu and the whole crew unite without one dissentient voice, they can overrule the will of the captain. The turomudi and turobatu hold the rank of prime ministers while on board the prahū. If any matter of difference arise between the crew, the captain, and turomudi, and turobatu, shall sit in council, and give judgment in the case; and if they should pass the sentence of death it must be executed; nor can any judgment given at sea be disannulled after the prahū is returned to port. If an affray or murder should take place among the crew, and the king’s son be involved, or if a freeman should kill a king’s son, in either case the captain is not held responsible on his arrival into port, by virtue of the power delegated to him by the king.
We sailed from Singapore at midnight, on the eleventh of May, intending to pass through the straits of Rhio, and to touch at the Dutch port of that name in the island of Bintang. This port is the resort of American vessels; being excluded from Singapore, they are obliged to carry on their trade by means of coasting craft,between the two ports, which causes an additional expense of about two and a half per centum. The wind being contrary from the southern quarter, and the strait very narrow, we were compelled to pass again through the straits of Singapore, between the Malay peninsula and Pedra Branca (white rock) into the China sea. The current being at times strongly against us, and the wind very light between S. W. and S. S. E., the ship was frequently brought to anchor in the China sea, which we found generally very smooth. On the eighteenth, we saw Pulo Toty—on the day following, the “Gooning” mountains on Banca. On the twenty-second, we anchored near the woody island of Gaspar, and sent a boat on shore, but not an inhabitant was discovered, it being only an occasional place of resort for pirates. On the twenty-fourth, we anchored in the straits of Gaspar, between the islands of Leat and Banca, and remained there till the thirtieth, the wind being from the southward, and contrary, and the current setting to the northward, from half a knot to three miles per hour; it being rather feeble between eight and ten, in the morning, and strongest towards midnight.
ARRIVAL AT BATAVIA.
On the evening we anchored in the straits, we discovered twenty-one piratical proas off the north end of Pulo Leat, and fourteen off the southern point; rockets were thrown up by vessels stationed midway between the squadrons, during the night. The ship being in readiness for action, it is probable they discovered lights from the battle-lanterns on the gun-deck, during the night, for in the morning only a few scattered vessels were to be seen. We were at length released from this unpleasant strait, which has shipwrecked so many lives, either by being drowned, or else murdered by the savages which infest them, by a fine leading breeze, passed safely into the Java sea, through the great group called the “Thousand Islands,” and anchored on the fifth of June in the unhealthy roadstead of Batavia, where at length we found the United States’ schooner Boxer, Lieut. Comdt. Shields, at anchor awaiting our arrival. Having received a very hospitable invitation from Mr. Forrestice, an American merchant, of the first respectability, to reside with him at “Fancy Farm,” his beautiful country-seat, three miles from the city, I accepted his kind offer and remained there for nearly two months. According to history, the Portuguese first visited Java in 1511, an ambassador having been sent there from Malacca. The Dutch arrived in 1596, settling first at Bantam, butthey afterward removed to Jacatia and in 1618 it was seized by them, and all the inhabitants put to the sword who did not seek safety in flight; the walls of the ancient city were razed to the ground, the town burnt, and nothing remained but the name. On this spot was the present city of Batavia founded. The island, with the exception of five years, from 1811 to 1816, when it was in the possession of the British, has been held by no European nation, but the Dutch. The island of Java, called generally by the natives Jawa, is in a straight line to its extreme points six hundred and sixty-six statute miles: and in breadth, from fifty-six to one hundred and thirteen.
The origin of its name remains still in great uncertainty. The northern coast is low, and generally swampy and unhealthy. The southern coast, on the contrary, consists of a series of perpendicular rocks, but, generally speaking, it is low and swampy; in some places suddenly rising into hills, as about Angier. The largest mountains have an elevation of from five to twelve thousand feet—they plainly show their volcanic origin. The western part is called the Sunda country; and the eastern the Javan, or the country of the true Javanese. They occupy nearly equal parts; different languages are spoken in the two districts, mixed a good deal with Malay, which is almost wholly spoken on the seacoast. Java, like most mountainous countries, is extremely well watered; but the size of the island precludes the possibility of there being any large rivers. The rain commences with the westerly winds, in October, is at its height in December and January, gradually subsides in March or April, and is succeeded by easterly winds and fair weather.
During the rainy season, the whole of the extensive swamp, on which Batavia stands, is completely submerged, and the roads to the city are then nearly impassable; this is the season when reptiles abound, and moschetoes and insects bear sovereign sway. This is not the most unhealthy part of the year; but when the rains are subsiding, and expose an immense surface covered with vegetable matter, in a state of putridity, fevers, dysenteries, &c., &c., are then uplifted by every breeze, and borne on every wind.
The principal harbour of the island is Surabaya, which is formed by the approaching extremities of the eastern part of Java, and theisland of Madura. The second river in size, in Java, empties itself into the sea at this place. The next in importance, is Batavia; the roadstead is sheltered by several islands, in the outer part of the bay.
The population of Java and Madura, in 1815, amounted to four millions, six hundred and fifteen thousand, two hundred and seventy, of which ninety-four thousand four hundred and forty-one were Chinese; and the island of Madura contained two hundred and eighteen thousand, six hundred and seventy-nine. The population of the principal capitals was estimated as follows:—Batavia and its extensive suburbs have a circumference of about twenty-four miles, and contain about three hundred and fifteen thousand souls; Semarang, is calculated at twenty thousand; and Surabaya, at twenty-five thousand.
TABLES OF EXPORTS.
I herewith present a comparative statement of exports from Java, during ten years, according to the report of the customs:—
[†]Coffee.Pepper.Indigo.Arak.Hides.Piculs.Piculs.Pounds.Leag.Ticals.1823285,000,0003,000,000----60537,000,0001824242,000,0003,000,000----46858,000,0001825278,000,0008,000,0006,000,00017545,000,0001826340,000,0004,000,0009,000,00043375,000,0001827400,000,0004,000,0008,000,00046460,000,0001828416,000,0008,000,00023,000,00053447,000,0001829282,000,0006,000,00046,000,000140044,000,0001830389,000,0006,000,00022,000,000190030,000,0001831300,000,0006,000,00043,000,000150063,000,0001832314,000,0007,000,000168,000,000200082,000,000
Mace.Nutmegs.Cloves.Sugar.Tin.Piculs.Piculs.Piculs.Piculs.Piculs.18234281341172653,000,00012,000,000182415003327175047,000,00030,000,00018257353471193016,000,0009,000,0001826556223754220,000,00014,000,00018271085600077732,000,00016,000,00018286001650183226,000,00020,000,09018291801160243177,000,00024,000,00018301771300803109,000,00021,000,000183174525501531120,000,00030,000,000183294938505144246,000,00040,000,000
Rice.Rattans.Tortsi.Koy.Piculs.Piculs.18234,000,0005,000,0002618243,000,0002,000,0004718258,000,0004,000,0002218266,000,0004,000,00028182710,000,00015,000,00019182816,000,00031,000,00037182915,000,00030,000,00083183015,000,0005,000,00043183110,000,0005,000,00095183223,000,00014,000,000141
Java exports, besides the articles named, camphire from Sumatra and the Celebes. Edible bird’s-nests, beeswax, gold dust, precious stones, saltpetre, teak and other timber, and cabinet woods, tobacco, stic-lac, brass, European, India and China goods; tin, from Banka, &c.; benzoin, bichos do mar, rattans, die-woods from Borneo and Sumatra, sandal and other fine woods, pungent oils, horses, Bali clothes, elephants’ teeth, Japan, copper, leather, areca-nuts, cubebs, boots, shoes, &c.
Imports during 1831.Imports during 1832.Merchandise13,500,00012,000,000Specie1,100,000900,00014,600,00012,900,000
Exports during 1831.Exports during 1832.Produce14,100,00021,100,000Specie600,000950,00014,700,00022,050,000
Passing the straits of Sunda, not touching at Angier, there arrived at Batavia, in one year, ending the first of July, 1833, twenty-nine American vessels, containing eleven thousand one hundred and thirty-eight tons; and touched at Angier, eighty-twoAmerican vessels, containing twenty-seven thousand one hundred and thirty-nine tons; of these, twenty-four went to Batavia, the remainder to Canton, Manila, &c., &c.
JAVA.
To show the importance, in part, of American commerce, trading to the eastward of the cape of Good Hope, I herewith subjoin the following statement of arrivals at two ports in Java. It appears, by the custom-house returns, that there arrived at Batavia, in one year, ending the first of July, 1833, twenty-nine American vessels, amounting to eleven thousand one hundred and thirty-eight tons; and that eighty-two American vessels, having a tonnage of twenty-seven thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine tons, touched at Angier during one year, ending the first of June of the same year. This latter statement does not show all the vessels that passed through the straits of Sunda, and from the China and Java seas. If to this statement is added, the great and valuable conveyance to Sumatra, the bay of Bengal, &c., who will say it does not deserve the fostering and protecting hand of the government of the United States?
With the exception of two vessels, sent out on a special mission, the Peacock and Boxer, to Asia, &c., the visit of the Potomac to Qualah Battu, to punish an act of piracy and murder; with the hurried return of one or two vessels from the western coast of South America, which barely touch at Manila or Java for refreshments, this most valuable part of our commerce has been extremely neglected.
EMBASSY TO THE EAST.
We have also a valuable whale-fishery on the coast of Japan; and accounts often reach us of American vessels being cast on shore, on the islands and reefs in the vast Indian Archipelago, the crew being either murdered or made slaves, until a ransom is paid for them, unless they are relieved by some humane merchantman or foreign man-of-war: there is not a single armed vessel of the United States to relieve or protect them. Our vast commerce to the eastward of the cape of Good Hope, most assuredly, should not be so overlooked, and left unprotected; at least, it deserves an occasional visit from our vessels of war, to Madagascar and the Comoro islands; the ports in east Africa, as far as Zanzibar and Mombos; to Mocha, in the Red sea, and the western coasts of India. They should also visit, once in two or three months, the native trading ports in Sumatra, and proceed as far as the westerncoast of Japan, and among the islands of the Indian Archipelago, showing their flag, and conciliating, by every possible means, the natives they may meet, by giving them suitable presents occasionally, which would cost but a small sum. These visits ought to be paid once or twice during each and every subsequent year.
The totally unprotected state of our commerce, from the cape of Good Hope to Japan, deserves theimmediateandconstantprotection and attention of the American government. The silkworm has never succeeded well, owing to the want of common information or gross negligence; therefore the chief material of Javan clothing is cotton. The favourite cloth made in the country is called batik, of which they make their sarongs, or loose clothes, which extend from the waist nearly to the ankles. If it is intended to ornament the cloth with one or more patterns, it is first steeped in cunjee, or rice-water, to prevent the colours from running; it is then dried and calendered; hot wax is then distributed over it, from a vessel, running through a small tube; the pattern is then formed by being traced, or etched over with a pointed stick. Every part which is intended to be white, is left covered with wax. It is then dipped once or more in the die, or else the die is placed on with a pencil. If two or more colours are intended, every part of the ground, excepting the new figure, is covered with wax, and so on till the whole figure is finished: the wax is then melted off in hot water. The figures have a velvet appearance, the edges of the different colours lessening in brightness. The only permanent colours are blue and scarlet, or red. They stamp palempores, or coverlids, with carved wooden blocks.
The English imitation cottons, readily fading, have been brought into disrepute. The kris, or kreese, is universally worn; and the value and beauty of the weapon, are a test of the rank or wealth of the wearer. In full dress, two are frequently worn, and sometimes even four: it seems to be an indispensable part of their dress. It is an instrument more suitable for assassination than for war.
Neither the nutmeg, clove, nor cinnamon, is indigenous; those which have been cultivated, are found to have thriven very well. But it does not comport with the views of the government to extend the cultivation of spices in Java: it is even in contemplation to destroy the rice plantations on Sumatra, in the neighbourhood ofBencoolen. The vine was extensively cultivated in some of the eastern provinces; but the growth of it was discouraged by the government, as it interfered, at that time, with the Dutch possessions at the cape of Good Hope. The soap-tree, of which the kernel is used in washing; the cotton-tree, the wax and caoutchouc, or the tree which yields the gum-elastic, and the bamboo and rattan, are common. The cocoa-nut, and gomuti-palms, are also very abundant, &c., &c.
FRUITS OF JAVA.
No region of the earth, says Marsden, can boast an equal abundance and variety of indigenous fruits as Java; but the Mangusteen bears the pre-eminence among Indian fruits, and, in the opinion of most foreigners, is superior to the cherrapayer of Lima, or any other known fruit; it suits the greatest diversity of tastes: is mildly acid, of a most delicate flavour, by no means luscious or cloying to the appetite; the shape is globular, the rind about a fourth of an inch in thickness, and it is as large as a good-sized apple; the shell is of a deep crimson or rather purple and quite brittle; disrobing it of its purple coat, there is displayed to view a snow-white pulp, distributed in three or four cloves; they are soft, very juicy, and occasionally touched with imperial purple, a colour once thought worthy of royalty only, and had it been known in ancient days, it would have been called the royal fruit; within this truly delicate pulp lies the seed. But in the opinion of the natives andmanyforeigners who have long resided in the East, thedurianhas the highest rank: the odour is peculiarly offensive tomostforeigners, savouring of roasted onions: it has the appearance of bread-fruit, but the spires of the husk are larger: it is of a spherical shape, generally, and the size of a man’s head, some being larger; when ripe they are yellow, and crack like a ripe melon, at the stalk end: they are generally split into quarters, each one having several small cells, that enclose the fruit, which is covered with a pellicle or skin, and encloses a stone covered also with a skin; these are roasted and eaten, and partake of the flavour of chestnuts; the fruit is the size of a small egg, white as milk but sometimes tinged with yellow, and as soft as cream; it can only be eaten when at maturity; it grows on the body or greater branches of the tree, is the product only of the Indian islands, and does not grow in Siam or Cochin-China; it is always more expensive than any other fruit. I do not deem it necessary to name any other fruits, excepting thewild raspberry, which grows in the mountains, and the fruits named in the account of Buitenzorg.
Of esculent vegetables which contribute to the food and sustenance of man, rice is the most important, of which it is said there are upward of a hundred varieties. Maize or Indian corn ranks next. They cultivate also wheat, the sweet and the American or European potato, the yam or ubi, and pulse in a great variety; the bread-fruit also, and most of the vegetables of colder climates, the seed being imported continually from the cape of Good Hope.
Neither milk, nor any preparation from it, is prized by the natives; salted eggs are an important article of food: they are covered with equal parts of salt and ashes, or salt and brick-dust, made into a thick paste: it preserves them for many months.
The chewing of areca-nut, as well as siri or betel-leaf, tobacco and gambir, is common to all classes. Every person who is able owns a siri-box, more or less valuable; opium is exceedingly coveted by them, and is both chewed and smoked; added to these is the disgusting practice of holding tobacco between the lips, and at one corner of the mouth, the saliva from it staining the lips, and running over the chin; they use, also, arrack, and an intoxicating liquor made from the gomuti palm.
There are no metals or precious stones, but there are many minerals.
They possess a fine breed of horses, strong, fleet, and well made, of about thirteen hands high—also the ox, buffalo, goats, some sheep, and the hog. Of wild beasts, there are several species of tiger, cat, the jackall, wild dog, rhinoceros or wild Javan ox, the wild hog and the stag, the rib-faced and axis deer, the weasel, squirrel, and a variety of monkeys. The turkey, goose, duck, fowls; also, two kinds of parrots: the peacock, falcon, carrion-crow, and the owl. The number of birds of distinct species are said not much to exceed two hundred.
BATAVIA—BURYING-GROUNDS—SERVANTS’ WAGES—ACADEMY OF ARTS—DEPARTURE FROM BATAVIA—ARRIVAL AT ANGIER—DEPARTURE FROM ANGIER—RED SEA—ARRIVAL AT MOCHA—TURKIE BEN AL MAS—PALACE OF MOCHA—CURRENCY AT MOCHA—TRANSPARENT STONE—COLOUR OF THE RED SEA.
BATAVIA—BURYING-GROUNDS—SERVANTS’ WAGES—ACADEMY OF ARTS—DEPARTURE FROM BATAVIA—ARRIVAL AT ANGIER—DEPARTURE FROM ANGIER—RED SEA—ARRIVAL AT MOCHA—TURKIE BEN AL MAS—PALACE OF MOCHA—CURRENCY AT MOCHA—TRANSPARENT STONE—COLOUR OF THE RED SEA.
BATAVIA.
I now proceed to give some account of Batavia, &c. Although this city is situated in the midst of low, marshy ground, abounding in rice-swamps, and considered as the most unhealthy spot in the world, yet it is, nevertheless, a great commercial place, and is much frequented by vessels bound to or from the China sea, Hindostan, Sumatra, Singapore, &c., &c.; and it is the only place in the world which has any trade to Japan, with the exception of China. It is most conveniently situated to obtain commercial information, and for refreshments. Before Singapore was made a free port, it was the principal mart for the country trade of the East Indies. Subsequently it has much diminished, and the very valuable trade with the Bugis, or natives of the Celebes, and other islanders of the Indian Archipelago, has been entirely diverted to Singapore, where the traders can always obtain a ready sale for their cargoes, and receive, in return, European, India, and Chinese goods, at more moderate prices, without having to pay any duties, or be subject to those inconvenient restrictions, which are so annoying in Dutch ports.
The immense ware-houses, running from street to street, situated on the great canal and river, leading into the bay, which were once burdened with merchandise, are now scantily filled, or nearly empty; and there are but few places so large as Batavia, in the present day, which show less signs of an active commerce, less bustle on the quays, or exhibit a greater degree of dulness, and want of bustle in the streets. This is owing, in part, to the belligerent attitude of Holland and Belgium; the alarming war with the Sumatrans; the establishment of a free port by the British; but more particularly, to the narrow-contracted views of the government, in regard to commerce. The Dutch government wish to drive all foreign commerce from their ports in Netherlands’ India, with the exception of the native traders of the Indian isles; and to extend, if it be possible, their unjust and iniquitous system of monopolies, and of forced cultivation, upon the natives, which have so often driven them to despair and revolt, causing whole districts, containing many thousands, to abandon their lands and their homes, and fly to the fastnesses of the mountains, or to what are called the native provinces—preferring a very precarious mode of living, to being made the worst of slaves to the worst of masters, by being forced to cultivate coffee, and then to sell it for about half its fair market value, to the Dutch company, leaving them, in fact, no means of support.
Old Batavia is but the shadow of what it was in former days. It was once called the “Queen of the East;” her merchants were “princes of the earth,” in point of wealth, and lived in a style of magnificence, which far surpassed every other to the eastward of the cape of Good Hope, with the exception, in more modern days, of Calcutta. A traveller, visiting Batavia at the present day, inquires for the splendid palaces, noble avenues of trees, and neat canals, with the gay pleasure-boats, which used to be seen sporting on their surface, accompanied with music, and graced with numberless enchanting females. He then visits the most fashionable streets of former days, and a truly painful sight is presented at every step: of choked canals covered with slime, and green stagnant pools, a resort of frogs and snakes, and other reptiles. The noble avenues of trees, which led to splendid habitations, and the heavy, massive gateways, are still seen; but the houses are either crumbling in the dust, or else a miserable palm-leaf hovel encumbers the space they once ornamented. But the gay inhabitants, who once gave life and animation to these fair scenes, where are they? Alas! fled with “the years beyond the flood.” Their bodies lie mouldering, not only in the tens of thousands, or even the hundreds of thousands, but in the millions of graves which occupy, for many miles in extent, the city and its suburbs.
They present a most painful and humiliating spectacle to everybeholder, whose feelings are not wholly callous to so sad a scene. The tenantable houses which remain, are occupied by a squalid and sickly race of Chinese, Malays and Bugis, who are generally very poor, and live upon the scantiest substance, beingunableto remove to a better country, away from the pestiferous air which destroys their health, occasioned by deleterious swamps, stagnant pools, and the miasma which is constantly generating from the decomposition of vegetable matter.
It may be thought that I have given an exaggerated statement of the frightful mortality whichhasprevailed, and frequentlydoesprevail at Batavia—which clothes the ground with graves, and encumbers it with monuments; but the returns of the Dutch records, according to Raynal, give the deaths ofeighty-seventhousand sailors and soldiers, in the hospitals, from 1714 to 1776; and upward of one million of inhabitants, in the very short space of twenty-two years, from 1730 to 1752, which can no longer leave any doubts as to its perfect correctness.
Since the walls of the city were demolished by the British, and a great number of filthy and useless canals have been filled up, the general opinion is, (and more particularly within the last half dozen years,) that the old town is rather less sickly than formerly; however, no new houses are being erected within the city proper, but are extending altogether beyond the old barrier, in a southerly and easterly direction towards the country, from two to five miles, where it has been found much more healthy.
Stately avenues of trees line the roads, and the few canals remaining are kept more clean than formerly. The modern houses are airy and spacious, generally of one story in height, and surrounded generally, with very wide piazzas. The avenues leading to the houses are kept neatly gravelled; and the grounds are adorned with trees, shrubs, and flowers: showing a correct taste which seems (to make use of a mercantile phrase) to have been imported from England, for it is quite at variance with the general style of laying out Dutch pleasure-grounds. In fact, there is an air of neatness and comfort displayed, which serves to divert the mind from dwelling too much on the fact, that you are living in the midst of this store-house of disease, where you are constantly warned by the inhabitants to keep away from every partial draft of air, for if the perspiration is checked, a fever or diarrhœa, or morefatal dysentery will ensue; and you are again warned, if the sea-breeze should set inearly, before the sun has had time to absorb the exhalations, the malaria of the marshes, to keep within your room with closed doors. The night air is also highly deleterious, and the fervid rays of a noonday sun not less fatal, so that no person who is able fails to keep a carriage. Constant and profuse perspiration soon impairs the digestive organs, loss of appetite follows and debility ensues: mental and bodily exertion becomes painful, and the health is soon impaired.
These are afewamong themany, manydrawbacks of an unhealthy tropical climate; yet every climate is to be found in Java, from the most unhealthy to the most salubrious, from swamps teeming with exhalations in the highest degree noxious, to the pure mountain-breeze, which brings health on its wings, and is redolent with the sweets wafted from a thousand fragrant flowers.
The merchants go to the city about nine, take tiffin at their counting-houses at twelve, return to the country about four, and dine between six and seven. As soon as the lights appear on the table, it is the signal for the sport of myriads of moschetoes and midges. Boots are then indispensable, unless the feet and ankles are otherwise well covered; when the knife and fork do not claim the attention, your hands are industriously employed in driving off these eternal pests from the exposed parts of the body.
The hospitality of the English, Scotch, and Americans, is proverbial, and they live upon the most amicable terms; there is none of that petty jealousy, and bad feeling, which is seen to exist among rival houses, in many other places.
The custom-house stands on the brink of the great canal, which leads into the bay, and where it once terminated, it probably extends now three quarters of a mile beyond it, to the barrier or break-water, which has lately been erected at its entrance; it is extremely shallow, suitable only for very small craft, and as it is constantly filling up by accumulations of filth from the city, and by mud and sand thrown in by the sea-breeze, it is probable it will within a few years, extend as far again into the bay. As a baneful monopolizing spirit seems to pervade this government in almost every particular, even the poor fishermen are not exempt, who labour continually in a broiling sun, or a deluge of rain, following their vocation far at sea. Their fish are sold at public auction at two o’clockevery afternoon, so that the government may take their share of the “fishes” which fall to their lot; the “loaves” are obtained from the poor cultivators of the soil. The retailers, mostly Chinese, buy and hawk them about in baskets every where, at a very considerably advanced price.
The criminals repairing and extending the canal, may be hourly seen in the water, among caymans or huge alligators, and are said never to have been molested by them, but in one instance, while a white man is certain to be seized at once. If the alligator show a decided preference for the whites, the buffaloes throughout India show a very strong aversion to them, and either attack them or run from them in dismay; yet the smallest Indian boy has them under complete control.
The buffaloes, on the great western prairies in the United States, show the same aversion to the whites, or probably to all hunters, and, whenever they see them, they fly in great terror; the hunters, therefore, always go to leeward of the herd.
BURYING-GROUNDS.
The Chinese burying-grounds occupy a vast extent of land in the suburbs; I may say, with truth, of many miles. Near one of them is an old temple, in which are deposited, probably, fifteen or twenty idols, principally made of granite, dug up at various times, on the island. They are said to be of Javanese origin, but they must have been brought thither by Bramins in bygone days. The Chinese worship them, as they do every thing else that bears the remotest appearance to “the human face divine,” or any of the hideous images representing the demon of mischief—any thing, but the one, great, invisible Being. The public archives are kept in the extensive building, called the palace, at Weltevoredem.
The governor does not occupy this building, when in town, but a much smaller one, on the street of which the “Genootschap,” or academy of arts and sciences occupies one part, in the building kept for public parties, called the “Harmonic.”
The palace is a noble building, and kept in good order. In the audience hall are about forty pictures, of the Dutch governor-generals of Netherlands’ India. Some of them are dressed in very quaint costume, and if their countenances are faithfully represented, I must say, no man would willingly change faces with the greater part of them. There are a few, however, of noble andmanly features, who have nothing savouring of the “thumbscrew” in their countenances.Generally, the paintings are bad—some four or five are very valuable. A full-length portrait of his present majesty is placed at the head of the room.
The wages paid to servants have nearly doubled within a few years; the present rate is from six to twelve guilders (equal to two dollars, forty cents, or four dollars, eighty cents) per month, out of which they furnish their provisions in part, which consist principally of rice, it being a very cheap article in Java. Considering that each servant attends to but one piece of duty—that one bujong attends to the cutting of grass only, for two horses, which occupies but a small part of the day, and that the larger portion of the time of the almost innumerable servants is spent in idleness, labour is excessively high, compared with that of any other country, even the dearest parts of the United States. The house-servants, with few exceptions, are Malays, who speak no English.
The Genootschap, or Academy of Arts and Sciences, has a small library of a few hundred volumes. With the exception of a model of a bridge, a Javanese lion, some half dozen miniature models of Japanese houses, warlike instruments, a few coins, and a few common shells, there is nothing worth naming.
Our kind Batavian friends accompanied us on board, and on the twenty-second of July we sailed for Angier, where we arrived the following day. During our stay the thermometer ranged in the roadstead from 83° to 89°, and the barometer between 29.75 to 29.95. There were only five days on which it rained, and then only light showers. There were some cases of dysentery, diarrhœa, and fevers, but there were no deaths among the crew. There were about two cases of dysentery to one of fever.
Toward midnight, on the twenty-eighth of July, as the moon was gently sinking behind the mountains which overlook the campong of Angier, a light land-breeze suddenly sprung up. Orders were immediately given to weigh anchor. The shrill whistle of the boatswain and his two mates, followed by their deep grum voices, calling all hands, “roused many a heavy sleeper, unwillingly from his hammock,” wishing the boatswain, and his call together, in Davy Jones’s locker. We were under way in a few minutes, in company with the Boxer, proceeding through the straits of Sunda, having once more launched into the Indian ocean.The lofty peak, of Crokatoa, the mountainous island of Tamarind, and the lesser islands of Thwart, the Way, the Button, and the Cap, with part of the coast of Sumatra, were distinctly visible. Before losing sight of Prince’s island, the wind came from the southward and eastward, accompanied with fine weather, which continued to waft us rapidly over the rolling billows to the westward, till the sixteenth of August, having run our westing down mostly between the latitude of 10° 11″ to secure strong breezes; being then in latitude about 2° south and 52″ east longitude, the wind veered to the southwest, but without any diminution of strength, or any alteration of the fine weather we had previously enjoyed. It continued until the evening of the twentieth, when we descried, first, the most easterly land on the continent of Africa, cape Orfui, otherwise called, by the Arabs, Ras Hafoon; then the mountains lying to the northward of this cape, called Gebel Jordafoon; and then cape Guardafui, or the cape of burials; the northeast extremity of Africa, and the southernmost cape of the gulf of Arabia. The land appeared like the outline of a well-defined cloud, high in the heavens. The next morning, we doubled close round this bold promontory, which was so formidable in ancient times to the timid Arabian mariner.