He Has Twelve Counsellors To Assist
Him, Who Are Called The Rads, Or Lords Of India, And Are Mostly Such
As Have Formerly Been Governors In Other Places, As In Ceylon, Amboina,
Malacca, &C.
[Footnote 213:
This seems to indicate that, of the seven churches,
some belong to the Dutch Calvinists and Portuguese Roman Catholics,
while others are Mahometan places of worship for the Malays, and idol
temples, or pagodas, frequented by the Chinese. - E]
The city is divided by many canals, over which there are bridges almost
at the end of every street, together with booms to lay across, that no
boats may go in or out after sunset. The chief product of the adjoining
country is pepper, of which the Dutch export great quantities every
year; and there are also some few diamonds and other precious stones.
The chief fruits here are plantains, bananas, oranges, lemons,
mangostans, and rumbostans. The mangostan is about the size of a
golden rennet, quite round, and resembling a small pomegranate, the
outer rind being like that of the pomegranate, but of a darker colour,
but the inside of the rind of a fine red. The fruit lies within the
rind, commonly in four or five cloves, of a fine white, very soft and
juicy, within each clove having a small black stone or pip. The pulp is
very delicious, but the stone is very bitter, and is therefore thrown
away, after sucking the fruit The rumbostan is about the size of a
walnut after the green outside peel is off, and is nearly of the shape
of a walnut, having a thick tough outer rind of a deep red colour, full
of red knobs, within which is a white jelly-like pulp, and within that
is a large stone. The pulp is very delicate, and never does any harm,
however much of it a man may eat, providing he swallow the stones; but
otherwise they are said to produce fevers.
This island of Java, on the north side of which Batavia is situated,
extends about ten degrees from east to west, or nearly 700 English
miles. The weather is here extremely regular, and the inhabitants know
how to use it to the best advantage. During the eastern monsoon, the
land-winds are at S.E. Sometimes more southerly; and the sea-winds blow
from the N.E. fine pleasant gales. This easterly monsoon is accounted
the good monsoon, being fine clear and fair weather, and begins in
April, ending in October. The other, or westerly, is called the bad
monsoon, consisting of blustering rainy weather, accompanied with much
thunder and lightning, especially in December, January, and February.
This bad monsoon begins in November and ends in March or the beginning
of April; during which the land-winds are W.S.W. or S.W. and the
sea-winds at N.W. and W.N.W.
The anchoring ground all along the north side of Java, from Madura to
Batavia, is a fine oozy bottom, free from rocks.
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