the upper and lower towns are traversed by the
Jacatra--sometimes called the Tjiliwoeng--from which branch canals that
spread through the city in all directions, thereby emphasizing its
distinctly Dutch atmosphere. The streets are for the most part straight
and regular, being paved, as in the mother-country, with cobblestones.
Old Batavia contains very few relics of the early days, but it is
quaint and delightfully picturesque and its canals, though anything but
desirable from the standpoint of health, add much to its individuality
and charm. The most characteristic feature of Batavia, that
distinguishes it from all other colonial cities of the East, is that in
all its construction, both public and private, permanency seems to be
the dominant note. The Dutch do not come to Java, as the English go to
India and the Americans to the Philippines, in order to amass fortunes
in a few years and then go home; they come with the intention of
remaining. When their children grow up they are sent back to Holland to
be educated, but, once their schooling is completed, they almost
invariably return to the East and devote their lives to the development
of the land in which they were born.

Batavia, which means literally 'Fair meadows,' was originally called
Jacatra. The Dutch established a trading post here in 1610, the land
being obtained from the natives by a trick similar to that associated
by tradition with the acquisition of the lower end of Manhattan Island
by the founders of Nieuw Amsterdam. The Javanese, it seems, were
reluctant to sell to the Dutch a parcel of land sufficiently large for
the erection of a fort and trading station, but after much discussion
they finally consented to part with as much land as could be included
within a single bullock's hide, which was their way of saying that
their land was not for sale. This crafty stipulation did not worry the
equally crafty Dutch, however, for they promptly obtained the largest
hide available, cut it into narrow strips, and, placing these end to
end, insisted on their right to the very considerable parcel of ground
thus enclosed under the terms of the bargain.

A relic illustrative of the barbarous punishments which were in vogue
during the colony's earlier days is to be seen by driving a short
distance up Jacatra Road, in the lower town. Close by the ancient
Portuguese church you will find a short section of old wall. Atop the
wall, transfixed by a spear-point, is an objec