Batavi

“ Batavia, April 14, Anno 1772.
You 'll find the story in any book: the chap was a half-caste Guy Fawkes who conspired to deliver Batavia to the King of Bantam, was caught, tried, and torn asunder by horses. I nosed about and went through a hole in a side wall: nothing in the compound but green mould, dried stalks, dead leaves, and blighted banana trees. The inside of the gate was blocked with five to eight feet of cement. The Dutch hate solidly. ”

“ In a similar manner, no surmise can be formed as to the character of Batavia social life before the charm has, at least in part, passed off, which its setting casts over the critical faculties. It moves in romance; it is surrounded by beauty; its conditions and circumstances are in themselves a source of delight. It would seem almost enough for a feast, in the cool of the evening, to sit under the verandah, marking on the gleaming marble floor half-reflections as in tranquil waters under a tranquil sky seen from afar ”

“ Batavia, called by some writers, the Queen of the East, on account of its wealth and the beauty of its buildings, is situate very near the sea, in a fertile plain, watered by the river Jaccatra, which divides the town. The sea-shore is on the north of the city; and on the south the land rises with a very gentle slope to the mountains, which are about fifteen leagues inland. ”

“ Owing to the distance intervening between each house, Batavia, although numbering only 70,000 inhabitants, apparently covers a larger area than Paris, and as the wealthy classes are concentrated in the upper quarters of the town, just as they are in the West End of London, it is there that one may see all that Batavia has to show of luxury, comfort, and elegance. ”

“ Batavia is the reunion of three separate towns: Weltewredeu, the new town, buried in luxuriant vegetation, with low-built white houses, surrounded by verandas, groves of palm and cocoa-nut, gives one the impression of a series of villas built in a large park; the Pettah, (old town) is an agglomeration of bamboo-huts forming narrow streets, inhabited by the natives, and separated from the European quarter by a cricket-ground; the so-called Chinese Town is inhabited only by Chinamen. ”

“ Batavia consumes a quantity of fruits hardly to be beleivd, the greatest part of which before they are sold are over ripe or otherwise bad, nor can a stranger easily get any that are good unless he goes to a street cald Passar Pissang, which lies North from the great church and very near it. ”

“ Such advantageous situations have enabled these two colonies to surmount all the obstacles which the oppressive genius of an exclusive company may have occasionally opposed to their growth: they have enabled Batavia to surmount the additional disadvantage, of perhaps the most unwholesome climate in the world. ”

“ There are few prettier places in the world than Batavia, and I have met with few handsomer girls than the distinguished-looking American by my side; but for all that I was not contented with my lot. I wanted to be back in the verandah at the hotel watching for Alie. ”

“ I forget where. Batavia, I think, was the name of the place; but I ain't sure, for it is an age since I heard from him."
"Your remembrance is correct, nevertheless, sir," responded the stranger. "It was in Batavia that he took up his residence, and in Batavia that he died, at an advanced age, an old bachelor, possessed of large wealth, as I have been given to understand; and I offer my congratulations to you, gentlemen, for the reason that you are his fortunate heirs to the extent of one hundred thousand dollars." ”

“ Batavia is the metropolis of the Dutch trade and settlements in India, and is well situated for the spice trade, which they have entirely in their own hands. There are seldom less than twenty sail of Dutch ships at Batavia, carrying from thirty to fifty and sixty guns each. Abraham van Ribeck was governor-general when we were there. His predecessor, as I was informed, had war with the natives of the island, who had like to have ruined the settlement ”

“ Be this as it will, Batavia is certainly a place that Europeans need not covet to go to; but if necessity obliges them, they will do well to make their stay as short as possible, otherwise they will soon feel the effects of the unwholesome air of Batavia, which, I firmly believe, is the Death of more Europeans than any other place upon the Globe of the same extent. ”

“ Notwithstanding the very great number of other Europeans the Duch are political enough to keep all or near all the Great posts, as Raads of India, Governors, etc. in their own hands: other nations may make fortunes here by trafick if they can, but not by employments. No man can come over here in any other character than that of a soldier in the Companies service, in which before they can be accepted they must agree to remain 5 years; as soon however as ever they arrive at Batavia, they by applying to the counsel [may?] ”

“ After the examination of the school has been finished, all the able-bodied men are called together before the rajah’s house, and the Resident explains to them this change, and what will be expected of them during the coming year. At present each village is obliged to furnish men at a certain price to carry the chair of every official and of every one who, like myself, has an order for such a privilege from the head government at Batavia. ”

“ My illness prevented me from gaining much knowledge of Batavia. Of their public buildings I saw nothing that gave me so much satisfaction as their country hospital for seamen. It is a large commodious and airy building about four miles from the town, close to the side of the river, or rather in the river: for the ground on which it stands has by labour been made an island of, and the sick are carried there in a boat: each ward is a separate dwelling and the different diseases are properly classed. ”

“ Once very much I respected Batavius. I said, 'He is a strict man of business; honourable, careful, and always apt to make a good bargain. He does not drink nor swear, and he is a firm member of the true Church. He will make my Joanna a good husband.' That was what I thought. Now I see that he is a very small, envious, greedy man; and like himself he quickly made thy sister. This is what I fear: if thou marry that soldier, either thou must grow like him, or else he will hate thee, and make thee miserable."
"Just eighteen I am. Let us not talk of husbands. ”

“ The Island of Java, sometimes called "Great," on account of Balie having once been called by the same name, is nearly five hundred miles in length, and a place of considerable importance in the commercial world; that part of it occupied by the Dutch, producing coffee, rice, and "straits produce." Batavia, the principal settlement, is a city of considerable importance, only about sixty miles by land from Anger, a communication being kept up by post between the two places. It is described as a very populous and beautiful city, but of a climate, at certain seasons, deadly to Europeans. ”

“ Modern Batavia had 111,763 inhabitants on December 31, 1894, less than a tenth of whom are Europeans, with 26,776 Chinese and 72,934 natives. While the eighteenth-century Stadhuis might have been brought from Holland entire, a steam tramway starts from its door and thence shrieks its way to the farthest suburb, the telephone “hellos” from center to suburb, and modern inventions make tropical living possible.
The Dutch do not welcome tourists, nor encourage one to visit their paradise of the Indies. ”

“ These houses are inhabited by the principal people of Batavia, where they pass most of their time, and those amongst them who have no inducement to return to Europe, and who enjoy their health, may spend their days very comfortably here. ”

“ The Baeto dramatises a mythical story of the origin of Batavia, and emphasises in the hero the "pietas," the courage, and the love of peace which Hooft would have to be the fundamental virtues of his people. This political motive lends his tragedies a warmth which is too often lacking to the Renaissance plays on classical subjects, but the interest and beauty appear in the poetry alone. Dramatically they have all the faults of their kind, but they contain fine descriptions, elevated speeches, and musical choruses. ”

“ The Batavians murmured that their destruction was inevitable, that one nation could not arrest the slavery which was destined for the whole world. How large a part of the human race were the Batavians? ”

“ The country around Batavia is extremely beautiful, and it may be said that nature and art seem to strive which shall have the greatest share in adorning it. The air is sweet and mild, the land extremely fertile, and the face of the country finely diversified with hills and vallies, all laid out in regular plantations, beautiful canals, and whatever can contribute to render the country pleasant and agreeable. ”

“ The Harbour of Batavia is generaly accounted the finest in India; and indeed it answers that character, being large enough to contain any number of ships, and having such good holding ground that no ships ever think of mooring but ride with one anchor, which always holds as long as the cable. How it is shelterd is dificult to say, the Islands without it being not by any means sufficient, but so it is that there never in it runs any sea to be at all troublesome to shipping. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The vicinity of Batavia affords the most beautiful drives; and hundreds of vehicles, from the handsome carriage and four of the Member of Council to the humble buggy of the merchant's clerk, may be seen every evening, from five till half-past six, that being the coolest and best time for taking out-of-door exercise. The roads are excellent, lined on both sides with trees, which keep them shaded and cool nearly all day. The scene is altogether gay, and affords a gratifying indication of the wealth and importance of this fine colony. ”

“ Some days before this, as I was walking the streets with Tupia, a man totally unknown to me ran out of his house, and eagerly accosting me, asked if the Indian whom he saw with me had not been at Batavia before. On my declaring that he had not, and asking the reason of so odd a question, he told me that a year and a half before, Mr. De Bougainville had been at Batavia with two French ships, and that with him was an Indian so like this that he had imagined him to be the identical same person, until I informed him of the contrary. ”

“ Batavia does not enchant me. The heat is tremendous. We have determined to-day to go and seek freshness on the wooded slopes of Buitenzorg, the summer resort of the Dutch Resident, situated a few hours out of Batavia. The railway-line from Batavia to Buitenzorg is one of the most picturesque in the world. ”

“ All manner of men meet here: drivers of sadoos or hack carriages, small merchants, artizans, Government clerks, policemen, water-carriers, servants, hadjis, [D] not to mention the "corresponding" womankind. They talk, they talk! and they laugh! The affairs of all Batavia are discussed here—matters of business, intrigue, love, money, office, everything, material to make a Javanese Decamerone of, if a Boccaccio would but come and put it into shape. There are several of these warongs about Tanah-Abang and the Koningsplein, and, of course, in the native quarters. ”

“ This hypothesis will readily account for a fact well known, that people whose commercial concerns require their presence in Batavia during the day, and who retire during the night into the country, escape this endemic, while scarcely any who sleep in the town, even for a night, unless those who, by a long residence, are inured to it, escape. ”

“ The treatment of these unhappy men was almost as bad at Batavia as in the Pandora, being closely confined in irons in the castle, and fed on very bad provisions; and the hardships they endured on their passage to England, in Dutch ships, were very severe, having, as he says, slept on nothing but hard boards on wet canvas, without any bed, for seventeen months, always subsisting on short allowance of execrable provisions, and without any clothes for some time, except such as the charity of two young men in the ship supplied him with. ”

“ The French troops which are quartered in the Hague amount to about twelve hundred men; and are under the command of General Victor, who distinguished himself greatly at the battle of Marengo. General Victor is commander in chief of the French forces in the service of the Batavian republic, and is out of comparison more respected than his predecessor, notwithstanding the important services which General Brune rendered to the republic. The French troops, which do not exceed at present eight thousand men, receive their pay from, and are wholly maintained by, the Batavian government. ”

“ A motor-car ride through the residential quarter and round the suburbs of Batavia gives one a good idea of the extent of the town, and, incidentally, of the merging of East and West in the population. Former Dutch residents have left their impress in more respects than one, and one result is a half-caste population which takes a much more prominent part in the affairs of the island than is the case, so far as we are aware, in any British Colony. ”

“ Bata ́via, a city and seaport of Java, on the north coast of the island, the capital of the Dutch East Indies. It is situated on a wide, deep bay, the principal warehouses and offices of the Europeans, the Java Bank, the exchange, &c., being in the old town, which is built on a low, marshy plain near the sea, intersected with canals and very unhealthy; while the Europeans reside in a new and much healthier quarter. Batavia has a large trade, sugar being the chief export. It was founded by the Dutch in 1619, and attained its greatest prosperity in the beginning of the eighteenth century. ”