[Footnote 149: Mr Barrow estimates the population of Batavia, and the adjacent villages, at 116,000, of which only about 8000 are Europeans; the slaves are supposed 17,000, the Chinese 22,000, and the remainder consists of free Javanese or Malays. The streets of Batavia, he says, present a greater variety of races than are almost any where else to be found together. Among these, however, as is to be expected, the Dutchman is by much the most consequential, when he condescends, which is not frequent, to appear amongst the lower species. Mr B.'s description of this important being may amuse the reader. "The Dutchman, whose predominant vice in Europe is avarice, rising into affluence in an unhealthy foreign settlement, almost invariably changes this part of his character, and, with a thorough contempt of the frugal maxim of Molier's L'Avare, lives to eat, rather than eats to live. His motto is, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.' He observes, it is true, the old maxim of rising at an early hour in the morning, not however for the sake of enjoying the cool breeze, and of taking moderate exercise, but rather to begin the day's career of eating and drinking. His first essay is usually a sopie, or glass of gin to which succeed a cup of coffee and a pipe. His stomach thus fortified, he lounges about the great hall of the house, or the viranda, if in the country, with a loose night-gown, carelessly thrown over his shoulders, a night-cap and slippers, till about eight o'clock, which is the usual hour of breakfast. This is generally a solid meal of dried meat, fish, and poultry, made into curries, eggs, rice, strong beer, and spirits. Currie and rice is a standing dish at all meals, and at all seasons of the year, being considered as an excellent stimulus to the stomach. The business of the day occupies little more than a couple of hours, from ten to twelve, when he again sits down to dinner, a meal that is somewhat more solid than the breakfast. From table he retires to sleep, and remains invisible till about five in the evening, when he rises and prepares for a ride or a walk, from which he uniformly returns to a smoking-hot supper." So much for the portly Dutchman at Batavia,--a sort of animal not unsuccessfully emulated, as to substantials, by a certain genus in some islands of the West Indies!-E.]--E.]
Women, however, of all nations, are permitted to settle here, without coming under any restrictions; yet we were told that there were not, when we arrived at Batavia, twenty women in the place that were born in Europe, but that the white women, who were by no means scarce, were descendants from European parents of the third or fourth generation, the gleanings of many families who had successively come hither, and in the male line become extinct; for it is certain that, whatever be the cause, this climate is not so fatal to the ladies as to the other sex.
These women imitate the Indians in every particular; their dress is made of the same materials, their hair is worn in the same manner, and they are equally enslaved by the habit of chewing betel.
The merchants carry on their business here with less trouble perhaps than in any other part of the world: Every manufacture is managed by the Chinese, who sell the produce of their labour to the merchant resident here, for they are permitted to sell it to no one else; so that when a ship comes in, and bespeaks perhaps a hundred leagers of arrack, or any quantity of other commodities, the merchant has nothing to do but to send orders to his Chinese to see them delivered on board: He obeys the command, brings a receipt, signed by the master of the ship, for the goods to his employer, who receives the money, and having deducted his profit, pays the Chinese his demand. With goods that are imported, however, the merchant has a little more trouble, for these he must examine, receive, and lay up in his warehouse, according to the practice of other countries.
The Portuguese are called by the natives Oranserrne, or Nazareen men (Oran, being Man in the language of the country,) to distinguish them from other Europeans; yet they are included in the general appellation of Caper, or Cafir, an opprobrious term, applied by Mahometans to all who do not profess their faith. These people, however, are Portuguese only in name; they have renounced the religion of Rome, and become Lutherans: Neither have they the least communication with the country of their forefathers, or even knowledge of it: They speak indeed a corrupt dialect of the Portuguese language, but much more frequently use the Malay: They are never suffered to employ themselves in any but mean occupations: Many of them live by hunting, many by washing linen, and some are handicraftsmen and artificers. They have adopted all the customs of the Indians, from whom they are distinguished chiefly by their features and complexion, their skin being considerably darker, and their noses more sharp; their dress is exactly the same, except in the manner of wearing their hair.
The Indians, who are mixed with the Dutch and Portuguese in the town of Batavia, and the country adjacent, are not, as might be supposed, Javanese, the original natives of the island, but natives of the various islands from which the Dutch import slaves, and are either such as have themselves been manumized, or the descendants of those who formerly received manumission; and they are all comprehended under the general name of Oranslam, or Isalam, signifying believers of the true faith. The natives of every country, however, in other respects, keep themselves distinct from the rest, and are not less strongly marked than the slaves by the vices or virtues of their respective nations. Many of these employ themselves in the cultivation of gardens, and in selling fruit and flowers. The betel and areca, which are here called siri and pinang, and chewed by both sexes and every rank in amazing quantities, are all grown by these Indians: Lime is also mixed with these roots here as it is in Savu, but it is less pernicious to the teeth, because it is first slaked, and, besides the lime, a substance called gambir, which is brought from the continent of India; the better sort of women also add cardamum, and many other aromatics, to give the breath an agreeable smell. Some of the Indians, however, are employed in fishing, and as lightermen, to carry goods from place to place by water; and some are rich, and live with much of the splendour of their country, which chiefly consists in the number of their slaves.
In the article of food, these Isalams are remarkably temperate: It consists chiefly of boiled rice, with a small portion of buffalo, fish, or fowl, and sometimes of dried fish, and dried shrimps, which are brought hither from China; every dish, however, is highly seasoned with Cayan pepper, and they have many kinds of pastry made of rice-flour, and other things to which I am a stranger; they eat also a great deal of fruit, particularly plantains.
But notwithstanding their general temperance their feasts are plentiful, and, according to their manner, magnificent. As they are Mahometans, wine and strong liquors professedly make no part of their entertainment, neither do they often indulge with them privately, contenting themselves with their betel and opium.
The principal solemnity among them is a wedding, upon which occasion both the families borrow as many ornaments of gold and silver as they can, to adorn the bride and bridegroom, so that their dresses are very showy and magnificent. The feasts that are given upon these occasions among the rich, last sometimes a fortnight, and sometimes longer; and during this time the man, although married on the first day, is, by the women, kept from his wife.
The language that is spoken among all these people, from what place soever they originally came, is the Malay; at least, it is a language so called, and probably it is a very corrupt dialect of that spoken at Malacca. Every little island, indeed, has a language of its own, and Java has two or three, but this lingua franca is the only language that is now spoken here, and, as I am told, it prevails over a great part of the East Indies. A dictionary of Malay and English was published in London by Thomas Bowrey, in the year 1701.[150]