1. The Champacka, or Michelia Champacca. This grows upon a tree as large as an apple-tree, and consists of fifteen long narrow petala, which give it the appearance of being double, though in reality it is not so: Its colour is yellow, and much deeper than that of a jonquil, to which it has some resemblance in smell.
2. The Cananga, or Uvaria Cananga, is a green flower, not at all resembling the blossom of any tree or plant in Europe: It has indeed more the appearance of a bunch of leaves than a flower; its scent is agreeable, but altogether peculiar to itself.
3. The Mulatti, or Nyctanthes Sambac. This is well known in English hot-houses by the name of Arabian jessamine: It grows here in the greatest profusion, and its fragrance, like that of all other Indian flowers, though exquisitely pleasing, has not that overpowering strength which distinguishes some of the same sorts in Europe.
4, 5. The Combang Caracnassi, and Combang Tonquin, Percularia Glabro. These are small flowers, of the dog's-bane kind, very much resembling each other in shape and smell, highly fragrant, but very different from every product of an English garden.
6. The Bonga Tanjong, or Mimusops Elengi of Linnaeus. This flower is shaped like a star of seven or eight rays, and is about half an inch in diameter: It is of a yellowish colour, and has an agreeable smell. Besides these, there is the Sundal Malam, or Polianthes Tuberosa. This flower, being the same with our own tuberose, can have no place among those that are unknown in Europe; but I mention it for its Malay name, which signifies "Intriguer of the night," and is not inelegantly conceived. The heat of this climate is so great, that few flowers exhale their sweets in the day; and this in particular, from its total want of scent at that time, and the modesty of its colour, which is white, seems negligent of attracting admirers, but as soon as night comes on, it diffuses its fragrance, and at once compels the attention, and excites the complacency, of all who approach it.
These are all sold about the streets every evening at sunset, either strung upon a thread, in wreaths of about two feet long, or made up into nosegays of different forms, either of which may be purchased for about a half-penny. Besides these, there are, in private gardens, many other sweet flowers, which are not produced in a sufficient quantity to be brought to market. With a mixture of these flowers, and the leaves of a plant called Pandang, cut into small pieces, persons of both sexes fill their hair and their clothes, and with the same mixture indulge a much higher luxury by strewing it on their beds; so that the chamber in which they sleep breathes the richest and purest of all odours, unallayed by the fumes which cannot but arise where the sleeper lies under two or three blankets and a quilt, for the bed covering here is nothing more than a single piece of fine chintz.
Before I close my account of the vegetable productions of this part of India, I must take some notice of the spices. Java originally produced none but pepper. This is now sent from hence into Europe to a great value, but the quantity consumed here is very small: The inhabitants use Capsicum, or, as it is called in Europe, Cayan pepper, almost universally in its stead. Cloves and nutmegs, having been monopolized by the Dutch, are become too dear to be plentifully used by the other inhabitants of this country, who are very fond of them. Cloves, although they are said originally to have been the produce of Machian, or Bachian, a small island far to the eastward, and only fifteen miles to the northward of the line, and to have been from thence disseminated by the Dutch, at their first coming into these parts, over all the eastern islands, are now confined to Amboina, and the small isles that lie in its neighbourhood; the Dutch having, by different treaties of peace between them and the conquered kings of all the other islands, stipulated, that they should have only a certain number of trees in their dominions; and in future quarrels, as a punishment for disobedience and rebellion, lessened the quantity, till at last they left them no claim to any. Nutmegs have in a manner been extirpated in all the islands except their first native soil, Banda, which easily supplies every nation upon earth, and would as easily supply every nation in another globe of the same dimensions, if there was any such to which the industrious Hollander could transport the commodity: It is, however, certain, that there are a few trees of this spice upon the coast of New Guinea. There may perhaps be both cloves and nutmegs upon other islands to the eastward; for those, neither the Dutch, nor any other European, seem to think it worth while to examine.
The principal tame quadrupeds of this country, are horses, cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, and hogs The horses are small, never exceeding in size what we call a stout galloway, but they are nimble and spirited, and are reported to have been found here when the Europeans first came round the Cape of Good Hope. The horned cattle are said to be the same species as those in Europe, but they differ so much in appearance, that we were inclined to doubt it: They have indeed the palearia or dewlap, which naturalists make the distinguishing characteristic of the European species, but they certainly are found wild, not only in Java, but several of the eastern islands. The flesh of those that we eat at Batavia, had a finer grain than European beef, but it was less juicy, and miserably lean. Buffaloes are plenty, but the Dutch never eat them, nor will they drink their milk, being prepossessed with a notion that both are unwholesome, and tend to produce fevers; though the natives and Chinese eat both, without any injury to their health. The sheep are of the kind which have long ears that hang down, and hair instead of wool: The flesh of these is hard and tough, and in every respect the worst mutton we ever saw. We found here, however, a few Cape sheep, which are excellent, but so dear that we gave five-and-forty shillings a-piece for four of them, the heaviest of which weighed only five-and-forty pounds. The goats are not better than the sheep; but the hogs, especially the Chinese breed, are incomparable, and so fat, that the purchaser agrees for the lean separately. The butcher, who is always a Chinese, without the least scruple cuts off as much of the fat as he is desired, and afterwards sells it to his countrymen, who melt it down, and eat it instead of butter with their rice: But notwithstanding the excellence of this pork, the Dutch are so strongly prejudiced in favour of every thing that comes from their native country, that they eat only of the Dutch breed, which are here sold as much dearer than the Chinese, as the Chinese are sold dearer than the Dutch in Europe.
Besides these animals, which are tame, they have dogs and cats, and there are among the distant mountains some wild horses and cattle: Buffaloes are not found wild in any part of Java, though they abound in Macassar, and several other eastern islands. The neighbourhood of Batavia, however, is plentifully supplied with two kinds of deer, and wild hogs, which are sold at a reasonable price by the Portuguese, who shoot them, and are very good food.
Among the mountains, and in the desert parts of the island, there are tigers, it is said, in great abundance, and some rhinoceroses: In these parts also there are monkies, and there are a few of them even in the neighbourhood of Batavia.