Joseph Banks

“ A master may punish a slave as far as he thinks proper by stripes, but should death be the consequence he is calld to a very severe account, if the fact is provd very rarely escaping with life. There is however an officer in every quarter of the town, calld Marineu, who is a kind of constable; he attends to quell all riots, takes up all people guilty of crimes etc., but is more particularly used for the apprehending runaway slaves, and punishing them for that or any other crime for which their master thinks they deserve a greater punishment than he chuses to inflict. ”

“ But the produce of the Earth from whence they derive the greatest advantage is Sugar; of it they grow immense quantities and have vast crops with little care of the finest largest canes imaginable, which I am inclind to beleive contain in an equal quantity a far larger proportion of sugar than our West India ones. White sugar is sold here for about 21⁄2d a pound, besides which the Molasses makes their Arrack, in which, as in rum, it is the cheif ingredient, a small quantity of Rice only and some Cocoa nut wine being added, which I suppose gives it its particular flavour. ”

“ Justice is administerd here by a parcel of gentlemen of the law, who have ranks and dignities among themselves as in Europe. In civil matters I know nothing of their proceedings, but in criminal they are rather severe to the natives, and too Lenient to their countreymen, who whatever crime they have committed are always allowd to escape if they chuse it, and if brought to tryal very rarely punishd with death; while on the other hand, the Poor Indians are floggd, hangd, Broke upon the wheel, and even impald without mercy. ”

“ No sooner do they leave of work than they begin to game, either at Cards, dice or some one of the thousand games they have which are unknown to us in Europe; in this manner they spend their lives working and gaming, scarce allowing themselves time for the necessary refreshments of food and sleep; in short it is as extrordinary a sight to see a China man Idle, as it is to see a Dutchman or Indian at work.
In manners they are always civil or rather obsequious, in dress always neat and clean in a high degree, from the highest to the lowest. ”

“ Delays howsoever, from whatever cause they might happen, would be inevitably fatal: in less than a week we were sensible of the unhealthyness of the climate, and in a months time one half of the ships company were unable to perform their duty; but could a very small body of men get soon to the walls of Batavia bringing with them a few Battering cannon, the town must inevitably yeild on account of the weakness of its defence. ”

“ If the Dutch fortifications should be even quite as weak and difenceless as I [imagine,] they have nevertheless some advantages in their situation among morasses, where the roads, which are almost universaly a bank thrown up between a canal and a ditch, might easily be destroyd and consequently the bringing of heavy artillery very much retarded, unless they could be got upon some canal and a sufficient number of proper boats securd to transport them, of which there are plenty, but they all muster every night under the very guns of the Castle from whence it would be impossible to take them. ”

“ I have often wishd that one of our ladies could see a malay womans head dressd in this manner, with her wreath of flowers, commonly Arabian Jasmine, round that of hair, for in that method of dress there is certainly an Elegant simplicity and unafected shew of the beauties of nature, incomparably superior to any thing I have seen in the Labourd head dresses of my fair countrey women. ”

“ The fruits of the East Indies are in general so much cryd up by those who have eat of them, and so much prefer'd to our European ones, that I shall give a full list of all the sorts which were in Season during our stay, and afterwards my judgement of Each, which I must confess is not so much in their favour as that of the generality of Europeans after their return home, tho while here I did not find that they were more fond of them or spoke more in their praise when compard with European fruits than I did. ”

“ In the article of food no people can be more Abstemious than they are. Boild rice is of Rich as well as poor the principal part of the subsistence, this with a small proportion of fish, Buffaloe or fowl, and sometimes dryd fish and dry shrimps brought here from China, is the cheif of their food; every thing however must be highly seasond with Cayan pepper. They have also many pastry dishes made of Rice flower and other things I am totaly ignorant of, which are very pleasant, fruit also they eat much of especialy plantanes. ”

“ No one who has ever been in these countries can be ignorant of the practise here which is calld Amoc, which is, that an Indian intoxicated with opium rushes into the street with a drawn Dagger in his hand and kills every body he meets, especialy Europeans, till he himself is either killd or taken. ”

“ We were told that there were not in Batavia 20 women born in Europe, the rest of the white women, who were not very scarce, were born of white parents, possibly through three or four families, as many generations distant from their European mothers. These imitate the Indian in every particular: their dress except in form is the same, their hair is worn in the same manner, and they chew Betele as plentifully as any Indians, notwithstanding which I never saw a white man chew it during my whole stay. ”

“ Indeed a man need go no farther to study them than the China paper, the better sort of which represents their persons and such of their Customs, dresses etc. as I have seen most strikingly like, tho a little in the Caracatura stile; indeed some of the Plants which are common to China and Java, as Bamboe, are better figurd there than in the best botanical authors that I have seen. In Eating they are easily satisfied, not but that the richer have many savoury dishes; Rice however is the cheif food of the poorer with a little fish or flesh as they can afford it. ”

“ Here live none but Chinese, who sell fruit; they are in general supplied from Gentlemens gardens in the neighbourhood of the town, and consequently have the best and always fresh; for this excellence of their goods however they are well paid, for they will not take less for any kind than 3 or 4 times as much as the market price, nor did we ever grudge to give it as their fruit was always ten times better than any in the market. The cheif supplies of Batavia Come from a pretty considerable distance, where great quantities of land are cultivated merely for the sake of fruits ”

“ The streets are broad and hansome and the Banks of the canals in general planted with rows of trees; a stranger on his first arrival is very much struck with these, and often led to observe how much the heat of the climate must be temperd by the shade of the trees and coolness of the water. ”

“ Tamarinds are prodigiously common and as cheap; the people however either do not know how to put them up as the West Indians do, or do not practise it, but cure them with Salt, by which means they become a black mass so disagreable to the sight and taste that few Europeans chuse to meddle with them. ”

“ Fewer English are settled here than of any other nation, and next to them French: the Politick Dutch well knowing that the English and French being maritime powers must often have ships in the East Indies, and will demand and Obtain from them the subjects of their respective kings, will not enter either English or Frenchman into their service, unless they give in their place of natavity to be in some place out of their own countrey. ”

“ Their women, and in imitation of them the Dutch also, wear as much hair as ever they can nurse up on their heads, which by the use of oils etc. is incredibly great; it is universaly black, and they wear it in a kind of circular wreath upon the tops of their heads fastned there with a Bodkin, in a taste inexpressibly elegant. ”

“ Europeans commonly compare this fruit with a melting peach, to which in softness and sweetness it certainly aproaches, but in flavour as certainly falls much short of any that can be calld good. The Climate as I have been told here is too hot and Damp for them, and on the Coast of India they are much better. Here are as many sorts of them almost as of Apples in England, some much superior to others; some of the worse sorts are so bad that the natives themselves can hardly eat them when ripe, but use them as an acid when just full grown. ”

“ The Chinese carry on every manufacture of the place and sell the produce to the resident merchants, for indeed they dare not sell to any foreigner; consequently when a Ship comes in and bespeaks 100 Leggers off Arrack or any thing else, he has nothing to do but to send orders to his China man to deliver them on board such a ship; which done he brings the Master of the ships receipt for the goods to his Employer, who does nothing but receive money from the Stranger, and reserving his profit, pay the China man his demands. ”

“ Physicians also often send people here for the recovery of health lost in the low countrey and say that the effects of such a change of air is almost miraculous, working an instant change in favour of the patient, who during his stay there remains well, but no sooner returns to his necessary occupations at Batavia than his complaints return in just the same degree as they were in before his departure. ”

“ The lime that they use here is however slackd, by which means their teeth are not eat up in the same manner as the Savoo people, who use it unslackd; they mix with it also a substance calld Gambir which is brought from the Continent of India, and the better sort of women use with their chew many sorts of perfumes, as cardamoms etc. etc. to give the breath an agreable smell. Many also get a livelihood by fishing and carrying goods upon the water etc. etc.; some however there are who are very rich and live splendidly in their own way, which consists almost intirely in a number of Slaves. ”

“ Next come the Chinese, who in this place are very numerous but seem to be people of small substance. Many of them live within the walls and keep shops, some few of which are furnishd with a pretty rich shew of European as well as Chinese goods; but far the greatest number live in a Quarter by themselves without the walls calld Campon China. Besides these there are others scatterd every where about the Countrey, where they cultivate gardens, sow rice and sugar, or keep Cattle and buffaloes whose milk they bring daily to town. ”

“ Buffaloes are very plentifull, but the Dutch are so much prejudic'd against them that they will not at all eat their flesh nor even drink their milk, affirming that it causes fevers; the natives however and Chinese do both, and have no such opinion concerning them. Their sheep, which are of that sort whose ears hang down and have hair instead of wool, are most intolerably bad, lean, and tough to the last degree; they have however a few Cape sheep which are excellent, tho intolerably dear, we gave 2£/5s apeice for four which we bought for sea stock, the heavyest of which weighd only 45lb. ”

“ Nor are the inhabitants of the town and Campon China less industrious; you see among them Carpenters, Joiners, smiths, Taylors, Slipper Makers and dyers of Cottons, Embroiderers etc.; in short the general character of Industry given to them by all authors who have wrote upon them is well exemplified here, tho the more genteel parts of their customs cannot, on account of the want of rich and well born people be found among them; those China alone can shew, here nothing can be sought for but the native disposition of the lower Class of people. ”

“ The taxes paid by these people to the Company are very considerable, among which that commonly said to be paid for the liberty of wearing their hair is not inconsiderable; it is however no other than a kind of head money or Poll tax, for no Chinese can wear his hair who has ever been in China, it being a principle of their religion never to let their hair grow again when once it has been shavd off. ”

“ The town of Batavia, tho the Capital of the Duch Dominions in India, is so far from being peopled with Dutch men that I may safely affirm that of the Europeans inhabiting it and its neighbourhood not one fifth part are Dutchmen; besides these are Native, Portugese, Indians, and Chinese, the two last many times exceeding the Europeans in Number. Of Each of these I shall speak seperately, beginning with the Europeans, of which there were some especialy in the troops of almost every nation in Europe ”

“ Snipes however of 2 kinds, one exactly the same as those in Europe, and a kind of Thrushes are plentifully sold every day by the Portugese, who for I know not what reason seem to monopolize all the wild game.
Nor is the earth less fruitfull of vegetables than she is of animals. Rice, which every body knows is to the inhabitants of these countreys the Common corn which serves instead of Bread, is very plentifull. One kind of it is planted here and in many of the Eastern Islands which in the western parts of India is totaly unknown; it is calld by the Natives Paddy Gunang, that is mountain rice ”