BATAVIA, a large city and seaport on the north coast of the island of Java, and the capital of all the Dutch settlements in the East. It is situated on the river Jacatra, in a swampy plain, at the bottom of a very capacious bay, and long was noted for the insalubrity of its atmosphere. More recently, however, the late Baron Capellen, one of the most enlightened governors that the Dutch ever sent out, sensible of the superior advantages which Batavia possessed as a place of trade, exerted himself to have the causes of its un-
healthiness removed. He accordingly widened several of the streets, filled up some of the canals, cleansed others, demolished useless fortifications, cut down trees, &c.; and by the introduction of a number of judicious regulations, Batavia has been rendered as healthy as any other town on the island.
The bay is formed by an indentation in the northern shore of Java; and it is protected from the swell of the sea by fifteen or sixteen small islands, interspersed in every direction across its mouth. It is perfectly secure at all seasons, the water being seldom disturbed in any violent degree by the winds. The city is of an oblong form, and the streets are quite straight and regular, crossing each other at right angles. Each street is from 114 to 204 feet broad, and has a canal in the middle, cased with stone, with a low parapet on the two margins, and is planted with a row of evergreen trees, under the shade of which are erected little open pavilions of wood, surrounded with seats, on which the Dutch inhabitants, in the cool of the evening, take their favourite refreshment of smoking. Beyond the trees is a gravelled road from 30 to 60 feet wide, for the various kinds of traffic, and it is terminated on the opposite side by a row of evergreens. The river Jacatra, which rises in the Blue Mountains to the south, flows through the middle of the town, and encircles it by several branches and canals connected with the main stream. Numerous other streams, such as the Ankee and the Tangerang, &c., besides artificial canals, intersect the swampy plain of Batavia in all directions, and connect the town with the surrounding country.
According to Sir Stamford Raffles, in his account of Java, there are now scarcely any remains of the splendour and magnificence which formerly procured for this capital the proud title of the Queen of the East. The public buildings consist of a Lutheran and a Portuguese church, a Mahometan mosque, a Chinese temple, the stadthouse, where the supreme court of justice and magistracy still assemble, the infirmary, the chamber of orphans, and some other institutions. The great church of Batavia, which was finished in 1760, at an expense of £80,000, was taken down in consequence of its foundation having given way. The market is convenient and extensive, and well supplied with provisions. The fortifications by which the city was formerly surrounded, consisting of a wall defended by bastions, were all pulled down before Batavia was captured by the British in 1811. General Daendels directed the demolition of the ramparts, with a view of improving the health of the city by a freer circulation of air; and with the materials he built the new cantonment of Weltevreden, about three miles inland, in a higher and more healthy situation. The castle of Batavia, which is on the north side of the town, next to the bay, is very spacious, and contains numerous buildings and extensive warehouses; but its situation was so unhealthy, that the troops were withdrawn to another place, and it was converted into a depot for naval and military stores and other articles. The town of Batavia has been deserted by almost all of the more wealthy inhabitants, who now have their residences in the environs, principally on two roads leading to Weltevreden; the one east, the other west, through Molenvliet and Ryswick. These elegant roads, shaded with rows of trees, and having on each side sumptuous houses surrounded with fine gardens and plantations, form the fashionable resort at Batavia. Here are situated some of the public buildings of the town, namely, the grand assembly-room, used by government on great occasions; also a large building which contains the treasury and all the other public offices.
Batavia, being a great trading city, is resorted to by many different nations in the East; and its population consists of a mixture of all these, as well as of Europeans. The inhabitants may be divided into the following classes, namely,
Batavia. the Dutch residents, who form but a small class, and can hardly be termed European, so completely are they intermixed with Portuguese and Malay colonists; the different Indian nations, originally slaves; the Moors and Arabs, an active and intelligent race, principally engaged in navigation; the Javanese, who are cultivators; the natives of Bali, of Celebes, Borneo, Macassar, Amboyna, and Madura. The Malays are numerous; they are chiefly boatmen and navigators, and profess the Mahometan faith. The Chinese form the most numerous class in Batavia. They are here, as everywhere else, ingenious, industrious, and mercantile in their habits. Many of them have acquired large capitals; and their industry embraces the whole system of commerce, from the greatest wholesale speculations to the most minute transactions in the retail trade. In their hands are all the manufactures, distilleries, potteries, &c.; they have large coffee and sugar plantations, and gardens well stocked with all sorts of vegetables; and they are the principal traders, smiths, carpenters, stone-masons, shoemakers, shopkeepers, butchers, &c., in the country. But though they form so useful a class in Batavia, they have always been severely oppressed by the tyrannical and arbitrary exactions of the Dutch government. All their religious festivals, every public ceremony and popular amusement, as well as every branch of industry, were subjected to taxation. They were obliged to pay for a license to wear their hair in a long plaited tail, according to the custom of their country, as well as for permission to bring their greens to market, and to sell their produce and manufactures in the streets. A better system was introduced under the British administration of Sir Stamford Raffles; but on the restoration of the island to the Dutch, they again had recourse to their former narrow and severe policy. The mean annual temperature at Batavia is 78°3 Fahr., being in winter 78°1, and in summer 78°6; at mid-day it is from 80° to 90°, and at night 70°. There are several churches, the finest of which is the Protestant church in Koninghs Plaetse, several schools and hospitals, a theatre, museum, bank, and a society of arts and sciences. According to the census taken in 1842, the population consisted of 3025 Europeans and their descendants, 23,108 natives, 14,708 Chinese, 601 Arabs, and 12,419 slaves, making in all 53,861 persons, exclusive of the garrison; and may now (1853) be estimated at about 60,000.
Batavia is a great commercial depot, and is resorted to by vessels from all the Asiatic islands, as well as from China, the East Indies, and Europe. Its trade was indeed heavily oppressed by the restrictions of the Dutch East India Company, who claimed the monopoly or pre-emption of almost all the staple articles of commerce; and who further restricted by their regulations the freedom of navigation. A greater latitude was allowed under the French regulations of General Daendels, though it was still sufficiently severe; and in 1811, when Batavia was captured by the British, the trade was set free from the shackles which had been imposed on it, and it accordingly began to flourish, and is now the principal trading port of those seas.
The exports from Batavia to the other islands of the archipelago, and to the ports in the Malayan peninsula, are rice, salt, oil, tobacco, teak timber and planks, Java cloths, brass ware, &c., and European, Indian, and Chinese goods. The produce of the Eastern islands is also collected at its ports for re-exportation to India, China, and Europe; namely, gold-dust, diamonds, camphor, benjamin, and other drugs; edible bird-nests, biche-de-mer, rattans, bees' wax, tortoise-shell, and dyeing woods from Borneo and Sumatra; tin from Banca; spices from the Moluccas; fine cloths from Celebes and Bali; and pepper from Borneo. From Bengal are imported opium, drugs, and cloths; from China, teas, raw silk, silk piece goods, varnished umbrellas, coarse China ware, nankeen, paper, and innumerable smaller articles for
the Chinese settlers. Of late, however, the Chinese have been superseded by the introduction of British manufactures. A trade is also carried on with Japan, to which cloths, spices, elephants' teeth, wood, tin, tortoise-shell, &c., are sent; and the return is chiefly made in fine copper, China ware, lackerware, and silk goods.
Batavia owes its origin to the Dutch general John Pieter Coen, who, in 1619, took the town of Jacatra by assault, destroyed it, and founded in its stead the present city, which soon acquired a flourishing trade, and increased in extent and importance. The Dutch enjoyed unmolested possession of this place until the year 1811, when the states of Holland having been incorporated with France, a British armament was sent against the Dutch settlements in Java, and to this force the city of Batavia surrendered on the 8th of August. Batavia was restored to the Dutch by the treaty of 1814. Long. 106. 51. E. Lat. 6. 10. S.
See Stavorinus's Voyages to the East Indies; Barrow's Voyage to Cockin China; Sir George Staunton's Embassy to China; Thorn's Memoir of the Conquest of Java; Sir Stamford Raffles's History of Java; Temminck's L'Inde Archipelagique. (D. B.—N.)