FOOTNOTES:
[2] Barros, Decada 3, chap. 6, book 3.
[3] Probably Grésik.
[4] Barros, Decada 3, book 5, chapter 6.
[5] Barros, Decada 3, book 5, chap. 7.
[6] The following is the description of Java from Jono de Barros, Decada 4, book 1, chap. 12.
"Before we treat of the expedition of Francisco de Sa, it is proper to state the occasion of the expedition, and how that was connected with the treaty of peace and friendship which, by order of Jorge de Albuquerque, governor of Malacca, Henriquez Lerne concluded with the King of Sunda, on account of the pepper produce in that kingdom.
"We must, therefore, first give an account of the voyage of Henriquez Lerne. The kingdom of Sunda being one of those of the island of Java, it will be best to begin with a general description of that island, that what follows may be understood.
"The land of Java we consider as two islands, whose position is from east to west, and nearly in the same parallel, in seven or eight degrees of south latitude. The total length of the two islands, according to the best authorities, is about one hundred and eighty leagues, although perhaps this is rather exaggerated.
"The Javans themselves do not divide the land into two islands, but consider the whole length as constituting only one; and on the west, where it approaches Sumatra, there is a channel of ten or twelve leagues wide, through which all the navigation of eastern and western India used to pass, previous to the founding of Malacca.
"A chain of very high mountains runs along the whole length of Java. Their distance from the northern coast is about twenty-five leagues. How far they are from the southern shore is not certainly known, though the natives say about as far as from the northern.
"Sunda, of which we are now to treat, is situated at about one-third of the total length of Java from the west end. The natives of Sunda consider themselves as separated from Java by a river, called Chiamo or Chenan, little known to our navigators; so that the natives, in dissecting Java, speak of it as separated by this river Chiamo from the island of Sunda on the west, and on the east by a strait from the island of Báli; as having Madura on the north, and on the south an undiscovered sea; and they think that whoever shall proceed beyond those straits, will be hurried away by strong currents, so as never to be able to return, and for this reason they never attempt to navigate it, in the same manner as the Moors on the eastern coast of Africa do not venture to pass the Cape of Currents."
The following is the substance of a note inserted in Jono de Barros, Decadas, p. 76-77, vol. 4, part 1st, 8vo. Lisbon 1777.
"The island of Java is divided into many kingdoms along the northern coast; and beginning to the eastward, those of which we have any account are—Paneruca, Ovalle, Agasai, Paniao (whose king resides in the interior, and has a supremacy over those just mentioned), Beredam, Sodaio, Tubam, Cajoam, Japara (the capital of this kingdom is called Cheronhama, three leagues from the sea coast, near to which Japara is situated), Damo, Margam, and Matarem.
"In the mountainous interior live a numerous class of chiefs, called Gunos: they are a savage race, and eat human flesh. The first inhabitants were Siamese, who about the year 800 of the Christian era, on their passage from Siam to Macassar were driven by a great storm on the island of Báli. Their junk being wrecked they escaped in their boat, and arrived at Java, until that period undiscovered; but which, on account of its size and fertility was immediately peopled by Passara, son of the king of Siam: and the city of Passaraan, called after his own name, was founded at a very good seaport, and this was the first settlement on the island.
"The Javans are proud, brave, and treacherous, and so vindictive, that for any slight offence (and they consider as the most unpardonable the touching their forehead with your hand) they declare amok to revenge it. They navigate much to every part of the Eastern Archipelago, and say that formerly they used to navigate the ocean as far as the island of Madagascar (St. Laurence).
"The city of Bintam, or Banta, which is in the middle of the opening of the straits of Sunda, stands in the centre of a large bay, which from point to point may be about three leagues wide, the bottom good, and the depth of water from two to six fathoms. A river of sufficient depth for junks and galleys, falls into this bay, and divides the town into two parts. On one side of the town there is a fort, built of sun-dried bricks: the walls are about seven palms thick, the bulwarks of wood, well furnished with artillery.
"The island of Sunda is more mountainous than Java. It has six good sea-ports: Chiamo, at the extremity of the island; Chacatara, or Caravam; Tangaram, Cheginde, Pandang, and Bintam, which have a great traffic, on account of the trade carried on, not only with Java, but with Malacca and Sumatra.
"The principal city of this kingdom is called Daro, situated a little towards the interior, and we are assured that when Henriquez Lerne first visited it, this town had upwards of fifty thousand inhabitants, and that the kingdom had upwards of one hundred thousand fighting men.
"The soil is very rich. An inferior gold, of six carats, is found. There is abundance of butcher's meat, game and provisions, and tamarinds which serve the natives for vinegar. The inhabitants are not very warlike, much addicted to their idolatries, and hate the Mahomedans, and particularly since they were conquered by the Sangue Páti Dama.
"Here four or five thousand slaves may be purchased, on account of the numerous population, and its being lawful for the father to sell the children. The women are handsome, and those of the nobles chaste, which is not the case with those of the lower classes. There are monasteries or convents for the women, into which the nobles put their daughters, when they cannot match them in marriage according to their wishes. The married women, when their husbands die, must, as a point of honour, die with them, and if they should be afraid of death they are put into the convents.
"The kingdom descends from father to son, and not from uncle to nephew, (son of the sister), as among the Malabars and other infidels in India.
"They are fond of rich arms, ornamented with gold and inlaid work. Their krises are gilt, and also the point of their lances. Many other particulars might be added (but we reserve them for our geography[11]), concerning the productions of this island, in which upwards of thirty thousand quintals of pepper are collected annually."
Decad. iv. Chapter 13.
"In the year 1522, Jorge Albuquerque, governor of Malacca, equipped a vessel to carry Henriquez Lerne, with a competent suite and certain presents, to the king Samiam above mentioned, for the purpose of establishing a commercial intercourse. Lerne was well received by the king, who was fully sensible of the importance of such a connection, in the war in which he was then engaged with the Moors (Mahomedans); and, therefore, he requested that, for the protection of the trade, the king of Portugal should erect a fortress, and that he would load as many ships as he chose with pepper, in return for such merchandise as the country required. And further, he (the king) obliged himself, as a pledge of his friendship, to give him annually a thousand bags of pepper, from the day on which the building of the fortress should commence.
"These things being concluded and presents exchanged, Lerne returned to Malacca, where he was well received by Albuquerque, who immediately communicated the result to the king of Portugal, who approved of all that had been done.
"Francisco de Sá was in consequence dispatched with six vessels (the names of which and of their commanders are enumerated), with which he called at Malacca, and accompanied the expedition against Bintam (then in the possession of the expelled king of Malacca), on leaving which he was overtaken by a dreadful storm, and one of his vessels, commanded by Dironte Coelho, reached the port of Calapa (where the fort was to be built), where she was driven on shore, and all the crew perished by the hands of the Moors (Mahomedans), who were then masters of the country, having a few days before taken the town from the native king, who had concluded the treaty with the King of Portugal, and given him the site on which to erect the fortress.
"But although the intended establishment on Java was thus frustrated, the Portuguese continued to have intercourse with that island, at which they frequently touched on their voyage to and from the Moluccas."
Decad. iv. Book i. Chapter 14.
"In August, 1626, Antonio de Britto, on his return from Ternati to Malacca, touched at the port of Paneruca, where he found his countryman, Jono de Moreno, who had twenty Malay junks under his command. From thence he proceeded to the town of Tagasam, whose inhabitants were at war with the Portuguese, and had captured a junk laden with cloves, which he had dispatched to Malacca, and they even attempted to take the vessel in which he himself was, which occasioned his quitting that place, having however first captured a junk laden with provisions."
Decad. iv. Book i. Chapter 17.
"In July, 1528, Don Garcia Henriquez appears to have touched at the port of Paneruca, (Panarukan) for the purpose of taking in provisions on his way to Malacca; and it also appears, that the king or chief of Paneruca sent ambassadors to the Portuguese governor of Malacca in the same year 1528."
The following is the substance of a description of Java from the Decada of Diego de Couto.—Decad. iv. Book iii. Chapter i.
Couto describes the wreck of a Portuguese vessel, and the destruction of her crew by the Moors, who had just become masters of the kingdom of Sunda, in nearly the same words as Barros. He then proceeds to state, that Francis de Sá ran before the storm along the coast of Java, and collected his scattered vessels in the port of Paneruca, and gives a general description of Java in nearly the following words.
"But it will be proper to give a concise description of this country, and to shew which were the Greater and the Lesser Java of Marco Polo, and clear up the confusion which has prevailed among modern geographers on this subject.
"The figure of the island of Java resembles a hog couched on its fore legs, with its snout to the channel of Balaberao, and its hind legs towards the mouth of the Straits of Sunda, which is much frequented by our ships. This island lies directly east and west; its length about one hundred and sixty, and its breadth about seventy leagues.
"The southern coast (hog's back) is not frequented by us, and its bays and ports are not known; but the northern coast (hog's belly) is much frequented, and has many good ports: and although there are many shoals, yet the channels and the anchorages are so well known, that but few disasters happen.
"There are many kingdoms along the maritime parts, some of them subordinate to the others; and beginning at the east (head of the hog), we will set down the names of such as are known: Ovalle, Paneruca, Agasai, Sodayo, Paniao (whose sovereign resides thirty leagues inland, and is a kind of emperor over these and others hereafter mentioned), Tabao, Berdoao, Cajoao, Japara (whose principal city or town is called Cerinhama, three leagues inland, while Japara is situated on the sea shore), Damo, Margao, Banta, Sunda, Andreguir (where there is much pepper, which is exported by a river called Jande). In the mountainous interior there are many kings, called Gunos; they live among rugged mountains, are savage and brutal, and many of them eat human flesh."
"These mountains are exceedingly high, and some of them emit flames like the island of Ternati. Every one of these kingdoms which we have named has a language of its own; yet they mutually understand each other, as we do the Spaniards and Galicians.
"The kingdom of Sunda is thriving and abundant; it lies between Java and Sumatra, having between it and the latter the Straits of Sunda. Many islands lie along the coast of this kingdom within the Straits, for nearly the space of forty leagues, which in the widest are about twenty-five, and in others only twelve leagues broad. Banta is about the middle distance. All the islands are well timbered, but have little water. A small one, called Macar, at the entrance of the Straits, is said to have much gold.
"The principal ports of the kingdom of Sunda are Banta, Aché, Chacatara (or, by another name, Caravao), to which every year resort about twenty Sommas, which are a kind of vessel belonging to Chienhec (Cochin China), out of the maritime provinces of China, to load pepper. For this kingdom produces eight thousand bahars, which are equal to thirty thousand quintals of pepper annually.
"Bantam is situated in six degrees of south latitude, in the middle of a fine bay, which is three leagues from point to point. The town in length, stretching landward, is eight hundred and fifty fathoms, and the seaport extends about four hundred. A river capable of admitting junks and galleys, flows through the middle of the town: a small branch of this river admits boats and small craft.
"There is a brick fort, the walls of which are seven palms thick, with wooden bulwarks, armed with two tiers of artillery. The anchorage is good; in some places a muddy, in others a sandy bottom, the depth from two to six fathoms.
"The King, Don John, conceiving that if he had a fortress in this situation he should be master of the Straits, and of all the pepper of those kingdoms, recommended it strongly to the lord admiral to have a fort built by Francisco de Sa; and even now it would be perhaps still more important as well for the purpose of defending the entrance against the English and the Turks, as for the general security of the trade and commerce of those parts, which is the principal value of India. And it was the opinion of our forefathers, that if the king possessed three fortresses, one in this situation, one on Acheen head, and one on the coast of Pegu, the navigation of the east would in a manner be locked by these keys, and the king would be lord of all its riches; and they gave many reasons in support of their opinions, which we forbear to repeat, and return to Java.
"The island of Java is abundantly furnished with every thing necessary to human life; so much so, that from it Malacca, Acheen, and other neighbouring countries, derive their supplies.
"The natives, who are called Jaos (Javans), are so proud that they think all mankind their inferiors; so that, if a Javan were passing along the street, and saw a native of any other country standing on any hillock or place raised higher than the ground on which he was walking, if such person did not immediately come down until he should have passed, the Javan would kill him, for he will permit no person to stand above him; nor would a Javan carry any weight or burthen on his head, even if they should threaten him with death.
"They are a brave and determined race of men, and for any slight offence will run amok to be revenged; and even if they are run through and through with a lance, they will advance until they close with their adversary.
"The men are expert navigators, in which they claim priority of all others; although many give the honour to the Chinese, insisting that they preceded the Javans. But it is certain that the Javans have sailed to the Cape of Good Hope, and have had intercourse with the island of Madagascar on the off side, where there are many people of a brown colour, and a mixed Javan race, who descend from them."
Then follows the refutation of a ridiculous story told by Nicolas Couti, the Venetian, about a tree that produced a rod of gold in its pith, at which some well informed Javans, of whom Couti inquired, laughed very heartily.
"Marco Polo mentions the greater and the lesser Java. We are of opinion, that the Java of which we are treating is the lesser, and that the island of Sumatra is the greater Java; for he says that the greater Java is two thousand miles in circumference, and that the north star is not visible, and that it has eight kingdoms, Taleh, Basma, Camara, Dragojao, Lambri Farafur, from which it is very clear that he means Sumatra, for it has nearly the dimensions which he assigns it. The north pole is not visible, as this island lies under the equinoctial line, which is not the case with any of the islands situated to the northward, on all of which the north star is seen: and it is still more evident from the names of the kingdoms, for there cannot be a doubt that Camara is the same as Camatra (the ç being soft like s). Dragojao (which is pronounced Dragojang) or Andreguir, and Lambri, still retain their names on that island."
[7] This is the factory which by the recent convention has been exchanged with England for the Island of Banka.
[8] Mr. Muntinghe.
[9] Report of a Committee appointed to investigate East India affairs made to the Government of the Batavian Republic, dated 31st of August 1803, consisting of Messrs. Murman, Sic, Ponloe, Verbuell, D. Van Hogendorp, Nederburgh, and Voute.
[10] In a note on this source of revenue, Marshal Daendels says that he is sensible of the evils arising from the use of this drug, but that the Javans are so addicted to it, that no prospect of success could be entertained from any project for reducing its consumption. Yet even while he is making this observation, he tells us that the Commissioners fixed the sale at 1,200 chests, and that he in his estimate has only taken it at 800. It was afterwards reduced to less than 300 chests, without any fear of disturbance or any danger of illicit trade.
[11] Barros often alludes to his Treatise on Geography, in which he had described particularly all the countries mentioned in his Decadas; but it never was published, having been left in an imperfect state at his death.
CONTENTS
OF
VOLUME I.
| PAGE | |
|---|---|
| Dedication | [iii] |
| Preface | [vii] |
| Introduction | [xiii] |
| CHAPTER I. | |
| Geographical Situation of Java—Name—Extent and Form—Divisions—Harbours—Mountains and Volcanos—Rivers and Lakes—General appearance of the Country—Mineralogical Constitution—Seasons and Climate—Metals—Minerals—Soil—Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms | [1] |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| Origin of the Natives—Javans compared with the Maláyus and Búgis—Comparative Progress of the three Races—Foreign Influence—Persons of the Natives—Manners—Population—Inequality of it accounted for—Population Tables—Increase of Population—Foreign Settlers—Chinese—Búgis—Maláyus—Moors—Arabs—Slaves—Gradations of rank among the Javans—Their Habitations, Dress, and Food | [62] |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| Importance of Agriculture to Java—Soil—State of the Peasantry—Price of Rice—Subsistence of the Peasantry—Dwellings—Agricultural Stock—Implements of Farming—Seasons—Different kinds of Land—Rice Cultivation—Maize, &c.—Sugar—Coffee—Pepper—Indigo—Cotton—Tobacco—Tenure of landed Property | [117] |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| Manufactures—Handicrafts—Bricks—Thatch—Mats—Cotton Cloths—Dyes—Tanning—Ropes—Metals—Boat and Ship-building—Paper—Salt—Saltpetre Works—Gunpowder, &c.—Felling and transporting of Teak Timber—Fisheries | [182] |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| Commerce—Advantageous Situation of Java for Commercial Intercourse—Importance of Batavia in particular—Native Trade—Roads and Inland Carriage—Markets—Influence of the Chinese—Coasting Trade—Exports and Imports—Trade with the Archipelago—China—Kamtschatka—Western India—Europe, &c.—Dutch Commercial Regulations—State of the Eastern Islands—Advantages which they possess—Causes of the Depression of the Nations and Tribes which inhabit them—Japan Trade | [210] |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| Character of the Inhabitants of Java—Difference between the Súndas and the Javans—The Lower Orders—The Chiefs—Nature of the Native Government—Different Officers of State—Judicial Establishments and Institutions—Laws, and how administered—Police Institutions and Regulations—Military Establishments—Revenue | [272] |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| Ceremonies of the Court—Deference paid to superior Rank—Regalia—Processions—Pomp—Rank and Titles—Ambassadors—Ceremonies attending Births, Marriages, and Funerals—Account of the People called Kálang, and of the Inhabitants of the Téng'ger Mountains—The Bedui—Festivals—Amusements—The Drama—Wáyangs—The Dance—Tournaments—The Chase—Tiger Fights—Combat of Criminals with Tigers—Bull Fights, &c.—Games of Skill and Chance—Other Customs and Usages | [343] |
| CHAPTER VIII. | |
| Language—Little known to Europeans—Different Languages or Dialects—Those of Súnda, Madúra, and Báli, compared with that of Java Proper—The polite Language, or Language of Honour—The Kawi, or Sacred and Classic Language—Numerals—Chandra Sangkala—Literature—Compositions in the Kawi Language, and in the modern Javan—Influence of Hindu Literature—Introduction of Arabic Literature—Poetry—The Brata Yudha, a Poem—Music—Painting—Sculpture—Architecture—Arithmetic—Astronomy | [396] |
AN ACCOUNT
OF THE
ISLAND OF JAVA.