On arriving at the Custom House, our boat was searched. Miserable houses lined the river on either side; cocoa-nut palms, and other trees, including the Thespesia populnea, were planted about the dwellings; masses of filth, dead and putrid bodies of dogs, hogs, and other animals, float down the river, impeding the boats in their passage: these carcases serve to feed the numerous alligators (Buáya of the Javanese) which infest the river in great numbers, but are useful in removing the putrefying substances, which would otherwise be destructive to health in this sultry climate.
The alligators are held sacred by the Javanese, who consequently never destroy them: indeed, the good understanding seems mutual; for I observed native convicts working up to the waist in the water, not far from these voracious creatures, (reposing like logs on the surface of the water,) without fear or apprehension, injury from them never being experienced. Some say the alligators are too well fed with the offal and carcases coming down the river; others, that the reptiles have a respect for black skins; for should a European enter the river like the natives, he would be attacked by these formidable creatures. I saw a number of these reptiles, one morning, assembled about a dead buffalo, which had floated down the river near the bar; from the size of some of them, they must have survived several generations.
We landed near a row of neat houses, having trees planted in front, which conduced, in this sultry climate, to afford an agreeable shelter from the fervour of the sun: these buildings were principally occupied as stores and offices by the merchants. The streets of Batavia run for the most part in a north and south direction; are kept in neat order, regularly watered, and planted with rows of trees in the Dutch style; these formerly adorned the banks of canals, which intersected the streets, rendering the city as pestilential a place as could be met with between the tropics. During the brief period the island was under the British government, the canals were filled up; the main stream of the “Grand River,” and its tributaries, alone remaining.
The houses in the city are spacious, but only used as offices and stores by merchants and others, on account of the insalubrity of the city during the night; having concluded business by four or five o’clock, P.M. they drive to their residences in the vicinity. On the afternoon of my arrival I drove out with Mr. Vidal, (a mercantile gentleman, resident in Batavia,) to Moolenfleet, about two miles from the city, passing on the road some mansions in the usual style of Dutch architecture, having gardens before them filled with various flowering shrubs and plants, among which the Hibiscus rosa chinensis, Poinciana pulcherrima, and Ixora, in full blossom, were conspicuous from the brilliancy of their colours.
We arrived at a tavern kept by a Monsieur Choulan, pleasantly situated at this place, but it is ill-conducted, (although the best and most respectable,) the proprietor having realized a fortune, does not consider it requisite to devote any further attention on those by whom he acquired it. Our after dinner display disappointed me, from having heard and read so much of the delicious fruits of Batavia, both for flavour and variety; the dessert was miserable; the Rambutan (fruit of the Nephelium echinatum) or hairy fruit, (Rambut signifying hairy,) and some Mangoosteens,[131] were good; the oranges were insipid; and the “Sour-sop” (introduced from the West Indies) was the best fruit upon the table; indeed, I may observe with truth, that I hardly tasted a good fruit during my stay at Batavia, except the Pine-apple and Mangoosteen; but it seems that fruits arrive at perfection in particular districts of the Island of Java; there being one in which Mangoosteens abound; at another, where the land is cool and elevated, pears, apples, and strawberries are produced: every kind is cultivated about Batavia, but none (excepting the pine-apple) attain excellence.
The little Java ponies excited my attention, but these beautiful animals cannot endure much fatigue; they are purchased from thirty to one hundred and fifty Java rupees each; and if exported there is an export duty of nearly two pounds each: the residents are obliged to keep several of these animals, as there are always some incapable of duty from sickness. The Javanese consider that by keeping a species of monkey in the stable, the horses will not get sick, and should they become indisposed, Jacko possesses powers to cure them; the more valuable the monkey employed for the purpose, the more readily will the horses be cured, or the better will they be preserved in health. The Lampong monkey (brought from the Lampong Islands) is highly esteemed for this purpose by the superstitious Javanese for its qualities as a veterinary doctor.
A lad at one residence, who had charge of the horses, threatened to leave his master’s service, on some of the horses getting sick, unless a monkey was procured for the stable; one of the Lampong kind was consequently purchased to attend upon the sick quadrupeds. Soon after the monkey had been in attendance, the sick horses began to recover, and in a short time were declared fit for duty; thus proving (whatever our grooms may think on the subject) that a monkey of the veterinary doctor species is an invaluable appendage to a stud of horses, and ought to be imported and bred by the Zoological Society for this express purpose.
An accident, however, occurred shortly after the monkey had taken up his residence in the stable, which placed him on the sick list, and made him a subject of surgical care. Being tired of driving away the flies which tormented his patients, he sought for variety, and observing, in the horses’ tails, some grey hairs mingled with the black, to prevent the animals looking older than they really were, he began in the kindest manner to pluck them out. A kick, which laid poor Jacko prostrate at a distance, with a swollen physiognomy and fractured fore-arm, was the ungracious return made for this piece of service, thus reversing the old saying of “one good turn deserves another.”[132]
After dinner we drove round the vicinity, passed Weltervreden,[133] where are the barracks for the troops; the situation is considered salubrious. There is also a fine building at this place, used as the state-rooms for the governor, and some part of it for government offices; opposite to this building, in the centre of the square, is a small column surmounted by a lion, erected in commemoration of the battle of Waterloo. I was much gratified during the drive with the neat appearance of the houses, most of which were surrounded by gardens, rendered both brilliant and fragrant, by tropical trees and shrubs, gay with the vivid colouring imparted by their blossoms; and as evening closed, the powerful and delicious odour of the tube-rose (which bears the appellation of “Intriguer of the night” among the Malays) communicated to us the information that those simple white liliaceous flowers were growing not far distant.[134]
In a few of the gardens I remarked that curious, large herbaceous plant, called the “Traveller’s-tree;” (from a refreshing stream of limpid water gushing out from the stem when cut;) it is rare, and not indigenous, I understand, to Java. I recollect first seeing this tree at the Mauritius, and think it was mentioned as having been brought from Madagascar. The native houses in the vicinity of Batavia are almost concealed by the luxuriant foliage of Cocoa-nut, Banana, Jack, and other tropical trees. A neat building we passed, I was informed, was the “English church,” and is under the direction of the Rev. Mr. Medhurst. After extending our drive round the “Kœnig,” or “King’s Plain,” we returned to our hotel.