The Summer Begins Here In May, And Continues Till The End Of October, Or Beginning Of November, During All Which Period There Is A Constant Breeze From The East, With A Clear Serene Sky.

The winter commences in the end of October, or beginning of November, with excessive rains, which sometimes continue for three or four days without intermission.

In December the west-wind blows with such violence as to stop all navigation on the coast of Java. In February the weather is changeable, with frequent sudden thunder-gusts. They begin to sow in March; June is the pleasantest month; and in September they gather in their rice, and cut the sugar-canes. In October they have abundance of fruits and flowers, together with plants and herbs in great variety. Around the city there is an extensive fenny plain, which has been greatly improved and cultivated by the Dutch; but to the east it still remains encumbered by woods and marshes. The city of Batavia is of a square form, surrounded by a strong wall, on which are twenty-two bastions, and has a river running through it into the sea. About the year 1700 there was a great earthquake in Java, which overturned some part of the mountains in the interior of the island, by which the course of the river was altered; and since then the canals in Batavia and the neighbourhood have not been nearly so commodious as formerly, nor has the entrance of the river been so deep; and for want of a strong current to keep it open, the Dutch have been obliged to employ a great machine to preserve the navigation of the mouth of the river, so as to admit small vessels into the canals which pervade the city. Batavia lies in a bay in which there are seventeen or eighteen islands, which so effectually protect it from the sea, that though large, the road is very safe. The banks of the canals are raced on both sides with stone quays, as far as the boom, which is shut up every night, and guarded by soldiers. All the streets are in straight lines, most of them being, above thirty feet broad on both sides, besides the canals, and they are all paved with bricks next the houses. All the streets are well-built and fully inhabited, fifteen of them having canals for small vessels, communicating with the main river, and shut up by booms, at which they pay certain tolls for admission; and these canals are crossed by fifty-six bridges, mostly of stone. There are numerous country-seats around the city, most of them neat and well contrived, with handsome fruit and flower gardens, ornamented with fountains and statues; and vast quantities of cocoa-nut trees planted in numerous groves, every where afford delightful shade. Batavia has many fine buildings, particularly the Cross-church, which is handsomely built of stone, and very neatly fitted up within. There are two or three other churches for the Dutch presbyterians, and two for the Portuguese catholics, who are a mixed race, besides one church for the Malay protestants.

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