le face in Batavia
that indicated perfect health, for there is not the least tint of colour
in the cheeks either of man or woman: The women indeed are toast
delicately fair; but with the appearance of disease there never can be
perfect beauty. People talk of death with as much indifference as they
do in a camp; and when an acquaintance is said to be dead, the common
reply is, "Well, he owed me nothing;" or, "I must get my money of his
executors."[144]

[Footnote 144: Those parts of the city are said to be most healthy which
are farthest off from the sea; and the reason given for the difference
is, that a great deal of mud, filth, blubber, &c. is thrown up by the
tide close to the other parts, and soon putrifying from the extreme
beat, adds materially to the influence of the generally operating
nuisances. But it seems pretty plain that the difference can be but
small, as the contaminated air must rapidly defuse itself throughout the
neighbourhood. Admitting it, however, to be appreciable, the inference
is very obvious as to what ought to be done for the bettering of
Batavia, considered as a receptacle of human beings, and not as a putrid
ditch from which gold is to be raked at the certain expense of
life.--E.]

To this description of the environs of Batavia there are but two
exceptions. The governor's country house is situated upon a rising
ground; but its ascent is so inconsiderable, that it is known to be
above the common level only by the canals being left behind, and the
appearance of a few bad hedges: His excellency, however, who is a native
of this place, has, with some trouble and expence, contrived to inclose
his own garden with a ditch; such is the influence of habit both upon
the taste and the understanding. A famous market also, called Passar
Tanabank, is held upon an eminency that rises perpendicularly about
thirty feet above the plain; and except these situations, the ground,
for an extent of between thirty and forty miles round Batavia, is
exactly parallel to the horizon. At the distance of about forty miles
inland, there are hills of a considerable height, where, as we were
informed, the air is healthy, and comparatively cool. Here the
vegetables of Europe flourish in great perfection, particularly
strawberries, which, can but ill bear heat, and the inhabitants are
vigorous and ruddy. Upon these hills some of the principal people have
country houses, which they visit once a-year; and one was begun for th