Batumi

“ Batuta relates that during the interval of desolation the king mounted on the roof of his palace, and seeing the city empty and without fire or smoke said, "Now my heart is satisfied and my feelings are appeased."
Ibn Batuta was a member of this king's court, and had every opportunity of forming a just conclusion. He sums up his qualities thus: —
"Muhammad more than all men loves to bestow gifts and to shed blood. At his gate one sees always some fakir who has become rich, or some living being who is put to death. ”

“ And Eva did not find Batavia the ideal city of Eurasian civilization which she had pictured it at Labuwangi. In this great money-grubbing centre, every trace of spontaneity had vanished and life became degraded to an everlasting seclusion in the office or at home. People never saw each other save at receptions ”

“ 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. ”

“ In the environs of Batavia are a number of villages, some inhabited by Malays, and others by Chinese, who visit the island in great numbers, and carry on a considerable trade, notwithstanding the persecutions to which they have at times been subject. In various beautiful spots, both near the city or the neighbouring hills, and along the sea-shore, are found the large and handsome country residences of the chief merchants and other authorities connected with the Company. There are five principal roads which lead from the city towards the country, and which are planted with high and shady trees. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Among the Battas, the descendants of the rajahs form a class in society, similar to the rangatiras of New Zealand, Tahiti and other Polynesian tribes.
The kampong, or fortified places of the Battas are nearly identical with the pa of the New Zealanders.
The three gods of the Battas, Batara-Guru, Sora-Pada and Maugala-Bulong, correspond in attributes to the New Zealand Maui-Rangi, Tauraki and Maui-Mua. The first is the great god of all, the second has power over the air and all between heaven and earth, and the last rules over the earth.
Cannibalism is common to both nations; also polygamy. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Besides these enumerated nations, which contribute to form the population of Batavia, there are several Armenians and [pg 131] some other Asiatics who reside there occasionally for the sake of trade, and stay no longer than their affairs require, All the inhabitants around Batavia, and for a track of about forty leagues along the mountains of the country of Bantam, are immediately subject to the governor-general, who sends drossards or commissaries among them, to administer justice, and to collect the public revenues ”

“ He was a pirate, no doubt, of a cruel and savage disposition, entertaining a hatred of the Christian race, and accustomed to garnish his trees and vines with such stray professors of Christianity as happened to fall into his hands. "This Turk he had—" is a master-stroke—a truly Shakspearian touch. There are few things like it in the language.
[3]
And every holth she drunk unto him
Vos, "I vish Lord Bateman as you vos mine!"
A most affecting illustration of the sweetest simplicity, the purest artlessness, and holiest affections of woman's gentle nature. ”

“ 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?] ”

“ Batu was the more willing to hurry forward to Hungary, since he had learned that Michael of Chernigoff and Daniel of Galitch had gone to that kingdom. This, however, did not change his plan, though it may have hastened its execution, for the campaign against Galitch and Volynia was notable for swiftness. Batu on his way took through falsehood Ladyjin, a town which fought stubbornly and refused to yield. He promised the people in case they surrendered [243] to spare them and their town. At last they respected his word and surrendered. He slew every man to the last one. ”

“ One remarkable character in Batavia, whose acquaintance we only made during the latter days of our stay, is Raden 270Saleh, a Javanese of high birth, and princely descent, who, born in 1816 at Djokjokarta in the interior of the island, was at the expense of the Dutch Government brought to Europe when a boy of 14, where he lived for a long time at the Hague, and afterwards in Dresden and Paris, turning his attention chiefly to painting, and who, after 23 years' absence, had returned to Java shortly before our arrival. ”

“ 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." ”

“ Some days before this as I was walking the streets with Tupia a man totaly unknown to me ran out of his house and eagerly acosting me askd if the Indian whoom 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 imagind it to be the identical same person had not I informd him to the contrary. ”

“ 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 1835 they sailed from Batavia to Padang, [446] and thence came directly up the coast to the Batu Islands, Pulo Nias, and this bay. From this village they went up into the interior toward Lake Toba, and when about fifty miles distant they were attacked and killed by the Battas.
Considering the friendly reception given the former missionaries, I do not think this journey promised such an unhappy issue.
The Battas certainly do not eat human flesh for lack of food, nor wholly to satisfy revenge, but chiefly to gratify their appetites. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ By Sea it is impossible to attack Batavia on account of the shallowness of the water, which will scarce suffer even a longboat to come within Canon shot of the walls unless she keep a narrow channel walld on both sides by strong piers and running about 1⁄2 a mile into the harbour, which channel terminates exactly under the fire of the strongest part of the Castle, where is a large wooden boom which is shut every night at 6 o clock and not opend again till the morn upon any pretence. ”

“ I am told that the ladies never wear hats or bonnets, [Pg 357] and that the only thing of that sort ever seen in Batavia is when foreigners first arrive here from other parts of the world. A ladies' hat-store in Batavia would not be a paying speculation.
"On certain evenings there is music on the King's Square; and at such times everybody goes there to hear it. The crowd is large but very fashionable, as it is the proper thing to go there; and no one who can get out will venture to miss the performance. ”

“ The word of a rich and loyal trader would mean something with the Ruler down in Batavia. The first thing to do was to find such an ally and to induce him to settle in Sambir. A white trader would not do. A white man would not fall in with their ideas—would not be trustworthy. The man they wanted should be rich, unscrupulous, have many followers, and be a well-known personality in the islands. Such a man might be found amongst the Arab traders. Lingard's jealousy, said Babalatchi, kept all the traders out of the river. ”

“ 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. ”

“ His soldiers paraded in front of his house, and kept their suspicious eyes upon us as we sat; many of them were quaintly dressed in red coats, which once had been worn by British troops, and soft hats with ostrich feathers in them, whilst their black legs were bare.
Ma-Batuen, the chief’s mother, received us somewhat coldly when we penetrated into her hut; she is the chief widow of old Gasetsive, Batuen’s father, a noted warrior in his day. The Sechuana tribes have very funny ideas about death, and never, if possible, let a man die inside his hut ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Extrordinary as it may seem there are very few Javans, that is descendants of the original inhabitants of Java, who live in the neighbourhood of Batavia. But as many countries as the Dutch import slaves from, so many sorts of Indians are there, who are either slaves made free or the desendants of such; they are alltogether calld by the name of Oran Slam or Isalam, a name by which they distinguish themselves from all other religions, it signifying beleivers of the true faith. ”

“ The clouds cannot leap the gigantic bulwark of the mountains at this south-eastern angle of the sea; they cling to the fir-clad slopes or put out hands and scale the escarpments until they become exhausted and dissolve. The town was soon behind us as we wound along the foot of the range on the narrow respite of the shore—Batum, with her grim defiance of the written law of Europe, with her peaceful situation at the gate of the oil industry, of which she receives the products by the railway from the Caspian to distribute them over all the world ”